One thing that will help you with your NL25 game, especially at UB, is starting to keep track of players. The guys that you see over and over again are the guys who are good...if they were bad, they'd bust out or drop down. For some reason UB attracts guys who hang around at the 25NL level...not a ton, but enough that if you get a lot of them at one table it can really skew your results. This is not a bad thing!!! This is the same thing you are going to face at 50 and 100, so might as well get used to it.
Just try to take the player into account as you make your decisions, especially post flop. If it's a guy you have seen a lot, it's less likely that your overpair is good if he's pushing on you.

Keep it up. If you can beat NL25 you can beat NL50. Clearing bonus at NL50 becomes a much easier proposition, and it can help flatten out the downturns in your bankroll.

Best of luck.

FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 2006

Finished down $64.74 tonight. Scary guys. By far the worst session I've every played. Tonight was the night of second best hands. Amazing how you can get 5 sets and still lose over 2 1/2 buy ins. BUT, having just recently come out of a downswing unscathed, I guess this is just one of those losses that comes from time to time.

I didn't actually help matters much either - overplayed a couple of key hands and payed off a flush (there were several other suckouts tonight which I didn't pay off). Let's hope there's not another session like this coming anytime soon, or else it's back to $10 NL to lick my wounds for awhile.

Sets 5-21
AA: 5
Ace Magnets: 4
QQ: 1


Tables played: 4 full ring
Time played: 2 hours

Finish for day: ($64.74)
Bankroll as of 4/28/06: $767.55

Countdown to $50 NL: $232.45

SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2006

Finished down $16.28 tonight. I'm not running well. I'm not playing well. Funny how I thought that I'd come out of my slump, now I'm right back in it and facing the possibility of having to drop back down. I think I'm trying too hard to force the action, and FPS has reared its ugly head I'm sorry to say. I'm suprised how easy it's been for me to veer away from solid ABC poker. Making too many CB's on broadway loaded boards that I miss, not "respecting" flush chasers, etc. I call too many PF raises with my low PP's when the implied odds aren't there. That said, I did lose a big pot when my set ran into a rivered flush after I was all in, and a couple of other key hands were cracked as well...eventually I'll get my shit in order.

Sets 1-11 (lower tonight due to my not calling so many PF raises - see above)
AA: 1
Ace Magnets: 8
QQ: 1


Tables played: 4 full ring
Time played: 2 hours

Finish for day: ($16.28)
Bankroll as of 4/29/06: $751.27

Countdown to $50 NL: $248.73

SUNDAY, APRIL 30, 2006

Finished up $13.75 tonight. i still don't have 100% confidence that's I'm back on my game, but I played a bit better tonight than I have the last few days. Got unlucky again tonight - had a few key hands beat, but didn't stack off or anything like that, so not catstrophic. Sometimes I get the feeling that I'm being pushed off hands - was on tilt briefly when I folded JJ on a 10-high board at the turn after 3 opponents called my pot sized flop bet, and led out the turn. Best hand was A-10 at showdown. I have to assume that everyone at $25 NL isn't using poker tracker and getting expert reads on my controlled game, and just keep at it (there are a few, I'm sure, but not the majority). In retrospect, no one raised at any point after the flop, I think I played a bit too meekly there.

Sets 2-19
AA: 4
Ace Magnets:1
QQ: 3


Tables played: 4 full ring
Time played: 2 hours

Finish for day: $13.75
Bankroll as of 4/30/06: $765.02

Countdown to $50 NL: $234.98

WEEK ENDING APRIL 30, 2006

Well another humbling week. Very hot and cold. Worked my way out of last week's slump only to fall back into a deeper one over the last few days. Playing at the BTP table over the last couple of days has opened my eyes as bit as well - I realize that I have a long way to go in terms of learning this game. ABC poker is only the very first leg of the journey.

I'm seriously considering getting PokerTracker - I've come to the conlusion that as I continue to move up, I'm going to run into more and more players that are using it, and it may even get so bad that I might as well be playing with my cards face up. I'll be doing some reading of the artcles here and will likely purchase it with the first $55 that I win at $50 NL, when the time comes. If I can't use UB's mini-view to see the stats, I'll have to also adjust to playing full-size multiple tables, which will be another adjustment.


4 tables
7 days play

Net finish for week: + $32.77

Bankroll as of 4/23/06: $765.02

Emoticon of the Week:

MONDAY, MAY 1, 2006

Finished down $16.67 tonight. This was 100% my fault, and had nothing to do with bad play (well kind of), bad cards, bad beats, tilt or anything else. I had AA and 10-10 going at the same time at two different tables...I think you know what I'm going to say...well I'll say it anyways - I was reraised and pushed in with the 10's by mistake. Opponent had AA and stacked me. I hope I made his buddy list. Dragged in a couple of decent pots to not be down an entire stack for the night...still, getting awfully close to having to drop down...

Sets 0-7
AA: 2 (see above)
Ace Magnets:0
QQ: 3


Tables played: 4 full ring
Time played: .8 hours (tables were breaking up, so I said the hell with it for tonight)

Finish for day: ($16.67)
Bankroll as of 5/1/06: $748.35

Countdown to $50 NL: $251.65

TUESDAY, MAY 2, 2006

Finished up $34.90 tonight. A nice session tonight, thanks to a good run of cards and no stupid plays. Despite suriving a couple of stack crippiling suckouts, was still able to finish strongly. Hit plenty of sets, and got paid huge on a couple. Key hand of the night was having to dump AA in the face of a KQx flop after my reraise was called - hate when that happens. Villian was kind enough to show me his set of kings. Onward.

Sets: 9-39
AA: 4
Ace Magnets:3
QQ: 2


Tables played: 4 full ring
Time played: 2.4 hours

Finish for day: $34.90
Bankroll as of 5/2/06: $783.25

Countdown to $50 NL: $216.75