Thanks KennyG,

So basically, a full buyin at the 1/2 level is $200, so you'd want $4k in bankroll before playing 1/2, then $8k before moving to the 2/4 level, right?

Another thing, I've read that your stats show you as a very tight aggressive player. It seems though when I play that tight, I never get action when I'm finally in a pot. How do you get all that action when you are hardly playing more than the blinds?

That's always been one of the things I've grappled with. When you play by the book it seems like everyone folds when you move in. Then, when I loosen up a little, I end up running into trouble.

Thanks and cheers.

August 17th, 2006
Variance loves Kenny

mood: awake

I love poker. I'm not on a good streak, but it doesn't matter. Where else can you get such crazy excitement?

Two nights ago $+3700
Last night: $-3300
Today: $+1000

I'm trying to not get stressed out anymore by big losses. Lately I've been looking over my hands and I'm in situations where I'm playing well but the hands just aren't holding. It's just a cold deck. I'm getting in with the best of it for the most part, and I'm keeping pots small that I get outdrawn in.

I'm just trying to keep all my emotions postive while making sure I catch any leaks in my game. I've been very happy with my play the last few sessions.

I will never underestimate variance ever again. Without it poker wouldn't be very exciting anyway.
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Here's a hand that was a joy to play:

I was playing 3 handed and this guy was trying to boss the table. I had to put him back in line.

Dealt [6h] on the button i raise to $35. The man calls in the BB.

FLOP$ 70
[2c][8d]

He bets $40. I call.

TURN$150
[2c][8d][Qs]

He bets $90. I raise to $240. He says "Show me the deuce... such bs"

He folds and I show him my K6o. He leaves the table immediately without saying anything.

Not a monster hand or anything but I thought it was hilarious. I think that was my only crazy marginal play of the night. Glad it worked!

Ha ha ha! Love it.

Things mustve turned sour in a hurry last night after I left because you were doing well.

turned sour? i won 1500 last night.

oh no the -3300 was the night before.

3 quad hands in 4 hours?

I'm running well now! I think I can offically declare the losing streak is over. It helps when you flop a billion sets and quads.

Last night I decided to play some Bodog because Prima was having issues. Great idea. lol. In 30 minutes I was down over 2 buyins. The first hand I lost an overpair to a set. There was no excuse for it though.... I've played with the guy a few times and never took notes. If I had, I would have known he plays like 5 hands an hour. $900 wasted on that hand.

Few minutes later I get JT, raise it in late positon, and flop the nuts. I do an allin 3 bet and get called by bottom two. He filled up on the river however.

I was close to tilting that entire 3 hour session. I was always right on the verge, but never crossed that line. Haha I'm getting better at losing.

Anyway, I ended up leaving up $8 dollars. I would have been happy leaving down just 1 buyin, so obviously I was proud of myself to finish above even. haha... soooooo close to tilting.

Mike Caro talks about that feeling. When you just "don't care" anymore. You throw money in the pot to watch it all go away and see who can suckout on you this time. I know that feeling so well, but I haven't acted on it in months. One of my big goals was tilt and I'm really getting good at avoiding it, or just leaving the game when I feel it coming. I was not born with that talent.

So anyway, the good news. Prima 6 max is going real well for me. I've been catching great cards. I've been playing well, but the cards are the story. Set after set, quads after quads. I hit quads 3 times and got heavy action on 2 of them. You really can't ask for more then that.

I busted out a shortstack twice and then made him fold the best hand preflop w/ an isolating reraise from UTG. It's so easy to be on your game when the cards are coming like they were

My win rate over 1000 hands is at 24PTBB/100... obviously that's not gonna hold. But I'll enjoy it while I can! My stats are different then 5-max. Though I feel like I'm raising constantly:

VP$IP 20.32
PFR: 12.10
------------------------------------------------

Here's one of the quad hands for fun:

Dealt [Qs] in the BB

Button makes it $40. He's got me covered and I have a double stack. He seemed pretty decent postflop and he's a winning player. Stats are 27% and 12%. I opt to just call this time, and MP poster folds.

FLOP$95
[Qc][Qh]

I check.. he bets $80. I check raise to $250. After I made this raise I kinda cringed. But initially I did it because I thought he wouldn't give me credit for a queen and it would build the pot for the double stack. He called and my doubts went away.

TURN$595
[Qc][Qh]

Interesting card. Obviously at this point I'm praying he has JJ or AK. Again I decide to lead out because I think these hands are very plausible at this point. I didn't wanna make it to big or too small.. I thought $400 would be right. Kinda seems probing, a little timid but not too much. (I did not like a check here as a check raise would scare him off a straight... and if i just check/called he would mostly check behind on the river. If he has a full boat I'm getting his money either way.) lol This whole thought process took like 5 seconds... and I did go ahead and bet the 400. He called.

RIVER$1395
[Qc][Qh]

Wow. KK hit the boat. AA has a straight.. AK will have an even harder time folding now to my allin....wow.

I push for $1300 and he folds instantly. He said he had K9.

Sucks that the king scared him off but I think my play and thought process throughout the hand were exceptional.

August 22nd 7:10am

Cards, Cards, Cards.

Mood: Going to bed real soon.

I'm on an insane rush of cards. I have yet to have a losing session on Prima 5/10 since I started last week. (Don't worry I know it'll come.) I'd love to say I'm an awesome player but anyone should be able to win with these cards.

It seems so easy right now. It's a good thing I know better. Two months of bad cards gave me a hard lesson that can only be learned through experience. It built character!

I'm closing in on the 100k mark for the year. I could do it in 1 or 2 sessions, or it could take another month or two, depending on my cards hehe.

Now that I'm on a hot run of cards I can look more objectively at the last two months. I'm proud of how I handled myself. I realize it was awful too. One day having tears coming out of my eyes after losing hand after hand.. and a few days later calling Shobute after having my confidence completely shaken by dramatic yet cold variance.

I realize I've droned on and on about the losing streak and how I handled it etc etc. It's such an important part of my poker career. I think it may have been one of the hardest tests of my life. Being beaten down constantly, day after day, hand after hand. I don't think it can be described in words. It must be experienced.

The oddest thing about it all: I've come to love poker more through this whole fiasco. What a bold challenge this game is!

----------------------------------------------------------
Fun hand of the day:

Prima Poker skin
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $5/$10
5 players


Stack sizes:
UTG: $990.00
Hero: $1215.50
Button: $218.00
SB: $1015.75
BB: $956.00

Pre-flop: (5 players) Hero is CO with
UTG (poster) checks, Hero raises to $40, Button folds, SB calls, 2 folds.

Flop: ($100, 2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $70, SB calls.

Turn: ($240, 2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $140, SB calls.

River: ($520, 2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $200, SB raises to $400, Hero raises all-in $765.5, SB calls all-in $370.75.
Uncalled bets: $370.75 returned to SB.

Results:
He had AA for a river set. I took it down.

Final pot: $1685.5