"I just don't know what to do with myself." I've got that line of some song in my head and it's true. Since I've cleared the bonus I don't know if I want to continue playing limit, move back to NL, or MTT's. So....I do nothing. Still considering moving to FT because even though the bonus may be hard to clear, the other options (UB & Stars) really offer no bonus from what I've read. So even if I clear $20-$40 per week and play decent poker, it may be my best option.

Only poker I played yesterday was Late MTT ($1.5K Guarranteed on AP). I'm pretty sure I'm over-bankrolled at this point. I only count what I have deposited at AP as my bankroll for that site because I don't ever want to have to deposit to Neteller again. I'm counting 50 buy-ins as my MTT bankroll. Currently $714.57 in AP. That's 50x $14, so why the hell am I playing $5 buyins still? Well, because there's not really many $10-$15 buy-ins on AP. Lot of $5's, then most ever other non-satellite is over $20. Anyway....

3 hands of note last night....
1 - I threw away UTG here, but this was pretty sick. 2nd time in 2 or 3 MTT's that I've seen someone come from back from 5% or less on the flop to win.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?589700
Cliff notes: [Kh] raised 3x UTG+1 - BB pushes for just about 2x PFR w/ [5s], UTG+1 calls.
Board [6s][6h].................WOW!

2 - Terrible board for JJ? Well, not against an imbecile.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?589713
Not only is J4s a limping hand UTG, it's also a hand you call raises with. Can you believe that the big stack here barely made the money.

3 - I made a dumbass move, or dumbass non-move. We are already ITM, but we are just one player away from the next pay level. There is one player who has less than 100 and will be ante'd off (not even blinded) on the next hand. I am short stacked, but can still do some damage (7,185 w/ 500/1000 blinds). UTG w/ A9s, I see the dead stack at the other table, and instead of pushing......I fold. I immediately reach at the screen to see if I can grab my cards back. Dumbass! I ended up pushing A2o 12 hands later OTB and losing to the BB's J6 suited. He flopped a J and turned a 6.

Still good for 13th out of 311.

Last 8 MTT's played -
13th out of 311 ($1.5K Guarranteed)
26th out of 281 ($1.5K Guarranteed)
61st out of 731 ($1K AP Challenge - Freeroll Top 27 paid)
30th out of 283 ($1.5K Guarranteed)
16th out of 232 ($1K Guarranteed)
4th out of 299 ($1.5K Guarranteed)
89th out of 277 ($1.5K Guarranteed - Not ITM)
8th out of 329 ($1K Guarranteed - $1 Rebuy)

Cashed in 6 out of 7 non-freerolls.

Ugh! My MTT run has come to a screeching halt. 2 MTT's (1 sat, 1 reg) and in both, the same guy 1st bent me over, then gave me the business.

1 - 411 person freeroll satellite - Top 5 qualify. I am a big stack for most of the 1st two hours and we are down to about 50. I'm still in healthy shape, just outside top 10.
I raisopen-raise JJ in CO to 5xBB and get called. Flop comes [3d][Kh]. He bets out about 1/2 my PFR. I raise 4x his bet and he insta-calls. Turn is . He bets out half pot and I think and fold. He shows [6d].

About 10 minutes later I still have a healthy stack. Same guy limps UTG and I complete in SB. 4 to flop. I have [2d]. Flop is 2 diamonds with a J. I check, he bets 900 into a 1400 pot. I am only caller. Turn is another J. I bet out 1500 and he calls. River completes my flush and I play sneaky with a check, knowing he is going to bet. He bets 2/3 pot, I c/r all-in and he has the nut flush. 2 hours and finished 37th. Nothing

2 - 294 person MTT. I have absolutely nothing. About 50 minutes in w/ blinds 50/100, open PFR to 300 (980 behind) w/ AJo. Call from BB. Flop TQT w/ 2 clubs. I don't have a club. It gets checked down to river and then BB min-bets 100, I call. He shows AKo.

Very next hand I have JJ. I open-push. Hopefully someone will think I'm tilting from last hand. Same guy in SB calls. He has KK. Finished 159.

One good thing about an MTT is that when you catch a couple of ugly hands in short time span to knock you out, you can't come right back on tilt and lose more than your original buy-in. Well, you can, but not in that tournament. I was putting my rebuy theory to the test in another $1 buy-in, and much like last time, I was card dead in the 1st hour and went into the 2nd hour with less than my original chip amount. I declined to rebuy because I figured it wouldn't make much of a difference. My total investment was $2. Then all of a sudden, because of horrible players who were still playing like they were in the rebuy period, I had over 40K and was in the top 20 in chips with under 100 left. Then I may have gotten a little too aggressive for my own good.

Here are the last 9 hands I played.....(Keep in mind, I had been pretty aggressive up to this point, because I had gotten good cards, but I hadn't had to shown many hands down so I may have looked like a bully.)
1 - Blinds 300/600 Ante 50
($38892.50) CO [9h] - Folded to me, I PFR 2400. BB ($39040) who was an all-in specialist pushing 20K+ into unraised pots at 100/200 blinds, takes a long time and folds. Looked like a blind steal, but I had a solid starting hand in that position.

2, 3, 4 - Fold

5 - Blinds 400/800 Ante 75
($39967.50) UTG+1 [Qs] - UTG ($14677.50), an all around loose and bad player min-raises to $1600. I re-raise to $4800. Button (26577.50), new to the table, calls. BB is all-in for $3100, UTG folds.
Flop [Qh][8s] Pot = 15,225
TPTK + BDFD. I bet 8,800 (26,293 behind), Button pushes for 21,703. I call. He has [Ks].

6 - Free ride in BB w/ [5d]. Flop [6h][4h], I fold to a bet from SB.

7 - Folded to me in SB w/ 77 (12,040). Still 400/800 blinds. I push, BB (57,038) calls w/ [Th]. I double up.

8 - [9d] OTB - CO open-limps, I limp (because I know the blinds would push if I tried to "steal" again. SB folds, BB checks.
Flop [Th][9c] Pot = 3400
Checked to me, I bet 2400. CO calls. check, check. CO bets 1600, I call. CO has [Jd].

9 - (32005) w/ [Qh] in CO. Folded to me and I'm open-raising another pot, 2400. Button (44922.50) calls, Blinds fold.
Flop [3h][9d] Pot = 6600.
TP2ndK + BDFD. I bet 4000 (25530 left) thinking it could still look like a steal continuation bet. Button raises to 14400. I figure Button is getting a little tired of me raising/pushing in front of him and he probably doesn't read me as strong as I am. If I'm going to call, I'm pot committed so I may as well push here. I do and he has [Qc].

I'm pretty shocked that neither of my opponents in the two big pots I lost re-raised pre-flop.

Strange Phone Call
Got this phone call today. Caller ID says "POLITICAL" and it's a local phone number. I pick it up and it's a recording. The voice on the other end is telling me that the Democratic incumbent in Senate is a racist and hates Italian-Americans. Because of this, I should vote for the Republican candidate, Kean Jr. because "we need to stick together". Uhm, Kean isn't an Italian name. How low will they go?

Strange IM Today
My friend, who I haven't talked to since her b'day party a few weeks ago sends me a strange IM today. (I'm changing the names in this story to protect the innocent.)
"IT'S DONNA'S WEDDING THIS WEEKEND!" all in caps.
Backstory: Her friend Donna (which is what I'm calling her for the next 5 minutes), very pretty, very nice, lives near me. I've met her a few times. Most recently, about 7 or 8 months ago. 3 of us all went to another friend's b'day party together. Apparently I was in a good mood that night and very entertaining and about 2 weeks later my friend tells me that Donna was asking about me, but I can't know she said anything. What am I in high school again? Anyway, Donna is a girlfriend type girl. Would have been great, but I had a lot of crap going on and wasn't ready for a GF at the time so I didn't do anything. Couple of months later I hear that Donna is getting married to the father of her child. The story goes, they hadn't been together in years, but he loves her now and she loves him, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, from completely single to engaged in a manner of months. Ok, so a few weeks ago I run into this girl again at the b'day thing and we have a long friendly conversation. No big deal. Then this IM today. Not even hello or anything because I hadn't spoken to my friend since her b'day event. I follow up with "Uhm,.....yay?", to which she replies, "No, she's throwing up. She's sick." I say, "And I need to know this information because.....?". She responds with, "Oh, I just thought you should know." and then she was gone. So my rhetorical question is....WTF was the point of that????

Went back to the $.25 NL game at AP last night because I was still convinced I could beat it. I may be wrong. I made 2 very questionable plays, which I posted in the NL section. Other than that I played, and lost, 1 other decent sized pot, but I don't think anything could have been done there.

232 hands [color=red]-$15.45[/color

Either they're all maniacs, they know what's coming, or I'm really readable. A few rounds in, I limp on the button w/ A8o after CO open limps. I flop TPTK, still not a great hand, but when I bet out on the flop, I am called by BB. Turn is Q so I bet out again and get min-c/r. River gets checked. He has 59o for a missed GSSD, but he hit the 9 on the river to win. This basically sums up most of my NL experience at AP. Get c/r or big bet by ridiculous hands that hit miracle cards.

Here are the biggest hands along with my thinking on each play. Critique if you like...

1 - [Jh] OTB. 3 limpers, I limp as well.
Flop [9d][Js] P = $1.50
Checked to limper directly to my right who bets pot ($26.10 behind). I min-raise to $3 ($43.25 behind). UTG calls ($9.65 behind) - short stacked, but it looks like a draw, right? He can't slowplay a made straight on a multi-way pot w/ 2 spades, can he? Limper to my right calls as well.
P = $10.50
I fell pretty comfortable here and think I'm ahead because nobody got out of line after my flop raise so there probably isn't a straight out there. I bet $5 when it's bet to me. UTG calls, leaving him with just $4.65 (There are a lot of idiots in this game so I just assume he is another one of them.) Other limper folds.
P = $20.50
UTG bets his last $4.65 and what am I gonna do on this board, fold? He has [Ts] for the flopped straight and OESFD. Only hand he could get away with playing this way. I drop $12.90. Was there anything I could have done differently here and lost less?

2 - [Qc] hand posted in the NL section. I doubt I'm getting any replies there, but I'll with-hold results just in case.
I have 30 seconds to count my outs on this hand and decide whether or not to call 2 short stacks. No read on either opponent.
7 handed UTG [Qc] ($50.20) I PFR to $1
SB calls ($8.85 behind), BB re-raises to $2 ($6.70 behind), I call, SB calls.
Pot = $6
SB bets $3.75 ($4.10) left, BB pushes for $6.75.
Pot = $16.45 and it costs me $6.70 to call + probably another $4.10 to see both cards.
I have 2 overcards, I probably can't count all of them.
I have a BDFD for a definite 1.5 outs.
I have a GSSD which may end up spliting the pot with another Ace.
Figure all this out in 30 seconds and tell me whether or not to call.

3 - Also posted in the NL section.
7 handed BB [5h] ($39.30 after posting).
UTG+1, new player, limps ($49.25 behind), MP raises to $1 ($7.95 behind), Button calls ($19.14 behind), I call, UTG+1 calls.
Pot = $4.10
I bet $2.50, UTG+1 calls, 2 folds.
Pot = $9.10
Damn! The one heart I didn't really want. This brand new player limped early, then called about a 3/5 pot bet. What the hell can I put him on and what do I want to do?

4 - Not a big hand or anything, but the only big pair I saw the whole session and actually my 3rd biggest loss.
I opened for $1 UTG w/ 2 red Queens. Loose player 2 off the Button calls. I have him covered, he has $32 left.
Flop [8s][Td]. Pot = $2.35. I bet $2, he raises to $4, I fold. I figured that c'betting this flop gives me the best indication of where I am. If I just check, he could bluff or bet a lesser hand and I wouldn't know. If I get called or raised (like I did), I can be fairly sure he has the Ace although he could have a diamond draw too.

Nothing else really happened, except that I got some idiot to push all-in for $3.55 after my PFR to $1 w/ AQo. He had KJo and I hit a Q on the river which I didn't even need.

So this is what it feels like. Sitting here watching football, slightly bored, but there's nothing running at AP right now that I really want to take part in. I've never played a HU SNG, but they seem to be all the rage now. What the hell, I'll start at the $5 + .25 level and give it a go. 34 hands and 13 minutes later I pick up $4.75. It was so easy, it was a joke. If I had nothing, I bet and he folded. If I had something, I bet and he folded. If I have 2 pair or more, I checked and waited for him to bet the turn. I bluff raised 2x and he folded both. The few times he bet, I folded. I didn't need to get into those fights because he was handing me his chips on all the other hands. I won 28 out of 34 hands and only 10 WTSD. If I can make $10-$15 per hour playing 4 of these per hour to start with, that's not bad. I might have to put away 5 hours per week just for HU SNG's.

45 minutes for $5 + .25 HU SNG's today. 2-1 for the day, 3-1 overall in about 1 hour for +$9.50 total and I should have easily won the one I lost.

1 - Played very well in the 1st one. Opponent was a mirror image of last night's opponent. Dispatched him in 12 minutes.

2 - Guy called me down to the river whenever he had 2 paint cards or an Ace. I had him with 2 pair and then he hit a gutshot on the river. I came back from 170 to take a chip lead again and yet again he hit a 4 outter on the river. 23 out of the 71 hands I saw contained either a 2 or a 3. I had 23 a total of 4x. This one went 22 minutes.

3 - This was my best opponent. I had him crippled with 2 pair, but he took his middle pair w/ A5s to the river to hit a runner runner flush. I was then outchipped 2-1, but the turning point came when we both flopped top pair of Queens. My J outkicked his 4. Finished him off when I flopped a flush with 84s and he had to push his last $315 w/ TPNK.

I want to play about 100 or more of these, showing a significant ROI before I decide to move up.

I AM A HORRIBLE NO LIMIT PLAYER
I am a really bad NL player. The worst part of it is that I don't even know how bad I am. I can't even find most my mistakes. I'm taking garbage hands like top 2 pair to showdown too many times when it's obvious my opponent called a decent bet and hit his gut shot draw. So if somebody can look at these hands and tell me why I suck, then please reply. I really need to work on folding the best hand on the flop when playing NL. PT tells me that I am a tremendous loser long term with 2 pair, so why do I continue to play it? Here are the stats and all the big hands I played today and then I'll go stick my head in the oven, unless someone wants to kick me in the throat first.

3,383 hands at $.25 NL at AP since 10/1
(-$161.34) (-9.54) bb/100

Today's session 270 hands (-$46.37) (-34.35) bb/100

I won $5+ only 1x tonight, I lost $5+ 4x tonight. That makes it 2-6 in big pots this month.
Big pairs were another joke again.
AA 1x flop a set and have to bet on the flop because there is a flush and 2 straight draws on board. Opponent doesn't want to play.
KK 1x. UTG raises 6x (to $1.50). I re-raise to $4. He pushes. I pray it's Queens and call. He has KK as well and he even flops the flush draw which I am lucky enought to avoid and split.
JJ 1x. JJ OTB - 4 limpers to me so I PFR to 8x (that's $2) and 3 GOD-DAMN CALLERS! Of course there is an Ace on the flop, but the guy that takes the pot was the guy that called with QTo.

Here are the hands where I either lost or won $5+. Please comment and tell me how horribly I play and tell me where my thinking is off. (If I show a player's stats, they are always VP$IP/PFR/WTSD.)

1 - [5h] OTB w/ full $50 stack. 1st orbit.
MP1 = $46.80 (No history)
SB = $20.55 (No history)
MP1 open limps, I PFR to $1 OTB, SB calls ($19.05 behind), MP1 min-re-raises to $2, I call, SB calls.
(The re-raise threw me off. Immediately I think AA or KK, but the re-raise was small. Why would you want to give the other 2 players great odds?)
Flop [8h][Kh] Pot = $6.25
SB checks, MP1 bets $1.75, I raise to $5.50, SB calls, MP1 min-re-raises again to $11, both of us call.
I raised the flop because I wanted to know if MP1 had the set or not. Now I KNOW they have the set, but I don't know about SB. He could be a nut with an Ace or he could have a better FD. I hope not, but I have to call here getting these odds don't I?
Turn Pot = $39.25
SB checks, MP1 bets $7.50, I call, SB is AI for $7.05.
I have to call here getting over 5/1 right? And now that SB is AI, maybe I can win a sidepot if I do hit and we both have FD's.
River Pot = $61.30
MP1 pushes, I fold. (-$20.30)
Did I just donk off half my stack, or did I really have no choice the way it played out?

2 - [Jc] in MP2 (8 handed)
SB = $9.50 (Seems tight, only 34 hands vs)
Button = $10.96 (53/9/29 - 81 hands)
UTG+1 limps, I limp, Button limps, SB and BB see flop. 5 handed.
[9c][5s] Pot = $1.25
SB bets $.25, 2 folds, I call, Button raises to $1.25, SB calls.....
I'm not worried about SB. I figure I can call, but I am now getting better than 2.2/1 I need if I push and get called for my 8 outs. I may have more w/ 2 OC's. I can even rep a set by call/pushing and win it right here. The only hand I'm afraid of here is 55 since Button is fairly aggressive and would probably raise 99 or TT pre-flop. If he has something like AT I'm in good shape even if I push. I have at least 8 outs no matter what. Push seems like the best move here.
I push, SB folds, Button calls $9.46 more. Pot = $23.92
Button shows the set of 9's and I miss. How flawed was my thinking and the range I put him on?

3 - [Jc] in BB.
CO = $25 (47/21/17 after 234 hands - 35 PFR CO - 38 PFR OTB)
Button = $33.95 (40/0/30 - after 52 hands)
1 limp, CO raises, Button calls, I call, limper calls.
Flop [Jh][Qh] Pot = $2.10
I lead for $2, 2 folds, Button calls.
Turn Pot = $6.10
Safe card, unless he already has the straight. I think I'm still ahead, he probably has a draw.
I bet $3.50, he calls.
Riv Pot = $13.10
Last card I wanted to see, besides a heart, because now any T does it.
He bets $5, just over 1/3 pot. WTF do I do with top 2 on an ugly board?

4 - [Qd] UTG 7 handed
UTG+1 = $21.45 (53/9/29 - 81 hands) He was Button from 2 hands ago.
I limp, UTG+1 limps, Blinds see the flop.
[Kc][5d] Pot = $1
I bet $.75, UTG+1 calls.
No draws. He would have raised AK. I put him on a lesser K. KJ maybe? I'm 90% sure I'm ahead because we already saw that he raised his flopped set last time.
Pot = $2.50
This card doesn't scare me so I bet $2, UTG+1 min-raises to $4.
WTF? KT? That's really the only way I see that card helping him, unless he was slowplaying K9, but I've already seen him bet his strong hands on the flop. What do I do? He has $16.20 behind, I have him covered.

5 - [Ks] CO. 9 handed.
SB - Same guy from last hand and 2 hands ago. I still have him covered.
2 limpers. I PFR to $1.50. SB calls, 1 tight limper calls.
Flop [9d][6h] Pot = $5
I bet $3, SB calls, 1 fold.
I can't see any draws I need to worry about here that he would have called a decent PFR with. My thinking here is that I want a worse Ace to call and I'm not going to shake off a hand that's ahead of me anyway so I only bet $3.
Turn Pot = $11
I bet $7, SB calls.
I'm still almost positive I'm ahead. Now I want to make him pay, but I want to keep him in the hand.
Riv Pot = $25
I bet $10, PLEASE LET HIM HAVE AQ-AT, but he folds.
I have to bet this river because he will call with a lot of worse Aces. This isn't a case of I'm only called by hands that beat me is it? Anyway, this was the one hand where my thinking really paid off.

6 = [Jc] UTG+1 9 handed
SB = $30.40 (47/21/17 after 234 hands - you may remember him from Hand 3 - I do not respect his raises or pot sized bets at all.)
Button = $37.08 (47/5/26 after 163 hands)
I limp, Button limps, SB raises to $1, BB folds, we both call. NO RESPECT FOR SB!
Flop [Tc][8c] Pot = $3.25
Checked around
Turn Pot = same
SB bets $2, I call, Button calls.
I don't want to raise because I could be drawing dead or nearly dead here, but I'm likely ahead to this maniac so I can't fold. Button threw me off with his call. He may have a T. I have no idea what he has.
Riv Pot = $9.25
I check, Button bets $5.50, SB folds
I do believe this is another one of those hands where I only get called by a hand that beats me, but now I have top 2 again and I don't know what to do. He could have anything from top pair to a boat to a bluff if he thinks it's the only way he can win. I keep thinking that if he had a T he would have made his move on before the river unless he had JT. That is the one hand I'm really afraid of now. What do you put him on? What do you do?

Here is my poker day in a nutshell for Mon 11/6

Played the late night/early morning AP $1.5K Guarranteed which is really Monday since it starts after midnight.
-53rd out of 297. Made my buy-in back +25 cents.
Lost the majority of my stack in the BB w/ [9s]. Flop AQK. Another A on the turn, but one of the limpers stayed around for a runner-runner heart flush with [5h]. Probably my fault because I was afraid to bet that board out of position. That hand pretty much crippled me. Open pushed Q2 in CO 2 hands later and was called by BB w/ A2o.

Stage 1 MTT sattellite to $100K Guarranteed this afternoon. AA OTB. UTG limps, 1 more limp, a raise to $120 and I re-raise to $340. Basically I doubled the pot. UTG calls off about 1/4 of his stack after he limps and flops his set of 2's. Brilliant. I lasted 5 minutes. Somehow I knew that duece was him too. Flop was all rags and I had him pegged for an idiot. What ya gonna do?

$1K Guarranteed at the same time.
94 out of 251. Not even anything to talk about here. A steady diet of nothing after a small win early in the 1st hour. I'm forced to push A9s in the SB vs 1 limper from MP early in the 2nd hour. I had about 1200 and he had 2100. Blinds were 75/150. I probably would have folded ATo there, but they don't think that way in these MTT's. They really don't think at all most times. So if your card dead, there are no moves to be made and your just not gonna cash. You basically gotta wait for your TT+ or AQ/AK and double up.

$2 + .20 Omaha H/L Satellite this afternoon as well.
4th out of 38. I took away $16 and top 3 got the seats. I was actually top stack with 4 left, but the 2nd stack kept doubling up the short stack and sucking out on me. My last hand, I pushed a flopped open ender with no low on board. Opponent had same open-ender with a pair.

5 HU $5+.25 SNG's (2-3 and severly tilting on the last one)
1 - Guy sucked. Was an all-in specialist, but wouldn't go away. He actually slowplayed Aces and I flopped TPGK and he took almost a 2-1 lead. Then he pushed every hand while I kept getting 2's. I finally picked off his push with my A3o vs his T4o. He hit the T on the turn. Exactly 1/3 of my hands contained a 2 or 3 and I picked up 32o 3x in the late stages. This one lasted 22 minutes.

2 - Lost this one too. Very aggressive. Here too, 5 of my last 10 hands contained a 2 or 4 and he was pushing about half of them preflop. My last hand was 96o. I flopped middle pair, pushed my remaining stack, but he had flopped TP. Done. 15 minutes. My oppenent did play well enough to win this one so I can't complain too much. Definitely the best player I've played so far.

3 - My first win. I dominated. I won 14 of the 17 hands played. 5 minutes. Last hand, I raised JTs from the button, he pushed, I had him 4-1 in chips so I called. He had 88. I flopped the nut straight.

4 - 21 hands in 11 minutes. Opponent kept overbetting the flop. I lost 4 hands in a row then hit top pair. Opponent over-bet pot again, I pushed. She had TP too, but outkicked me.

5 - 7 minutes, 14 hands. I only won 6 of them, but I won the 2 biggest. Huge suckout a few hands in, or should I say re-suck. 4th hand, he min-raises on the button, I bet 2.5x his bet w/ QQ. He calls. Flop is 8TK. I pray he has anything but a K here and bet the pot. He min-raises. I know I'm dead, but I'm crippled if I fold. I call hoping I have straight outs as well. He has K6s. I hit the Q on the turn. I finished him off when my 85 for 2 pair was better than his 52 for 2 pair.

5-4 overall in HU MTT's. Just about a dead breakeven day. I've been looking for a good bonus from a "trustable" site today too. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna end up at FT within the next week.

I played my last NL session on AP tonight. It just seems that no matter how I play any particular hand, it ends up being the wrong way in that particular instance. I saw a 3 way AI for a $100+ pot that was won by trip 3's w/ a 4 kicker. There was a flush and a straight on board as well as a possible boat. Trip 3's wins this gigantic pot. I've seen many big pots like this, yet I can't seem to win pots with monsters. I'm also losing a tremendous number of pots to people who call raises w/ Ax (x = <6). I just can't shake them off TPNK when I bluff at a hand and the few times I flop a monster nobody wants to play. My big draws are costing me a lot and missing much more than they are hitting. For example, tonight in about 200 hands, I flopped 4 OESD's or FD's. 3 were for big pots and I lost all 3. The one I completed, nobody wanted to play. Yet, when I get people to call my down looking for miracle cards, they generally hit for a big pot. I've beaten the limit games, the MTT's, and the SNG's at AP, just not the NL games. I'm a big winner at $20 and $25 NL at every other site I've ever played at, yet a big NL loser on AP. I will only play on AP during reloads (which still may be pretty often) from now on.

I played in the midnight $5K Guarranteed as my going away present to myself and I went out, surprisingly enough, against A4. He called my PFR, flopped his Ace. Called my Flop then C/R when I fired a second bullet. No care that I might have raised with a better Ace. Maybe he could see my cards. I actually had KQ and hit my K on the turn. I'd seen him act similarly with pocket 4's prior to this and I was pot committed at that point anyway so away I went. And with that, I bid AP adieu for a while. Full Tilt, here I come.

Month (-$79.95) I always seem to start off the month in the hole and then make it up somewhere around the middle to end.

It'll probably take a few days to get the withdrawal and then get set up with FT. In the meantime, I've been thinking about starting a blog site. I figure with the time I spend posting in here, I could probably do it easily and even use it to make some extra money on the side as well. I forgot who it was, but somebody introduced me to stevepavlina.com about a week ago and I've gotten a few good ideas from his blog. Seems to be a pretty birght guy that knows how to market himself well. Anyway, the couple of days break will probably be good for me.

Welcome To Full Tilt
Deposited $650 into Full Tilt today.
First big pot I play, I flop top set of Queens and get stacked by AJo.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?601978

Result
http://twodimes.net/h/?z=2172236
pokenum -h qd qh - as jc -- 2s td qs
Holdem Hi: 990 enumerated boards containing Qs 2s Td
cards win %win lose %lose tie %tie EV
Qd Qh 811 81.92 179 18.08 0 0.00 0.819
As Jc 179 18.08 811 81.92 0 0.00

Much UN-like AP however, I got it back and finished +1 stack.

GOALS
My goal is to have $1.5K - $1.8K in my Full Tilt account (including bonus) by the end of December and then reimburse myself about $300-500 for X-mas shopping. I think this goal is very attainable. I'm not going to go crazy and force it though. The bonus will clear when the bonus clears.

Pretty Sweet Bluff
Bluff is my only chance to win. Don't think opponent had much, but it definitely beats 8-high. River card was a great card to bluff as I could have been repping TPNK as well as a flush draw. Difficult move to make at $25NL, but opponent seemed like they were paying attention. I just had to bet enough to not make it look like a steal. Gotta make it look like a value bet. Whatcha think?
http://www.pokerhand.org/?602020

My 1st Stack
Wasn't a full stack, but I'll take it. Was worried opponent could have had me drawing just about dead with the nuts, but getting 3/1 on that c/r after big stack folded and I gotta play this, right?
http://www.pokerhand.org/?602039

Finished the session winning $5+ 5x and losing $5 only 1x (set of Queens). Complete turnaround from recent NL experiences. Maybe I can play this game a little.
Full Tilt Stats:
245 hands +$26.25 +21.43 bb/100
Total NL Monthly Stats:
913 hand (-$46.35) (-10.15) bb/100

Cleared $3.84 of bonus, but only adding released amounts to monthly totals.
November: (-$53.70)

Holy Variance Batman!
Played a little .50/1 Limit on Full Tilt today. Well, more than a little I guess (2 hours, 3 tables, 407 hands). They're maniacs I tell you! At least one, and usually more, players with a 20+ PFR on each table. I swear they made everyone except me sign a waver that they must raise on the button before they sat down. I ended up playing a rock-like game because most times in LP w/ hands like KQ, 99, TT, AJ, it was was raised and many times 3 bet before me. Many flops were raised, screwing up some of my draws. Whenever the blinds failed to raise, the blinds usually did it for them, most times with 3 or 4 already in the pot. Many times I completed a mult-way pot in the SB just to have the BB raise the the CO or Button would 3 bet with a hand like A9o and take it to the river. Insanity I tell you!

I really couldn't get much going, or I really couldn't maintain much. Spent almost the entire session between down $10 and $15 until my last go around. I must have pissed a lot of people off too because I won a big pot on a backdoor draw and left the next hand. Wasn't intentional. I was planning on leaving after that hand all along.
[Ts] UTG and just because it was my last hand, I decided to limp in. Questionable limp that I almost always fold in these psycho aggressive type games.
UTG+1 raises and 2 cold callers including the Button. Blinds folded and I called.
Flop [4d][Ks] Pot = 9.5 SB
I'm pretty sure I'm getting sucked in for some extra bets here. Raiser checks, 1st cold caller bets, button calls. 4 outs to nut straight + 1.5 outs for BDFD so 5.5 outs getting 11.5-1. I knew this was a stupid move. I call, raiser folds.
Turn Pot = 6.25 BB
Juicy turn, now I'm check/calling another bet. Bet and call back to me at 8.25-1 on my flush and straight draw.
River DOH!!! I bet my backdoor flush. It's about time I got to do it to somebody else. I can almost hear the other player grumbling under his breath before he calls. Button folds. He had [9d]. Silly bastard deserves it cold calling an UTG+1 PFR w/ A9s.
+7.25 bb

Finished -$4.60 (-1.13) bb/100 over 407 hands.
Basically broke even when you count the bonus cleared.

Pretty darn frustrating day of poker today. 437 hands of $25 NL split into 2 session w/ the 2nd session having an A&B.

Session 1:
Table 1 +$2.95
Table 2 +$4.70
Session total: 156 hands +$7.65 +9.81 bb/100
Hands where I won or lost $5+: 1 (Called a small PFR from shortie w/ AQo in the SB. Hit my Ace and took his remaining stack. He had AA - +$5.50)

Session 2a:
Felt a little sick during this session and left the table. By the time I got back (bout 15-20 minutes later) I had been booted and had to start anew.
Table 1 +$4.30
Table 2 +$3.70
Session total: 114 hands +$8 +14.04 bb/100
Nothing to speak of. Biggest win was $4.10. Biggest loss was $1.75

Session 2b:
Table 1 +$18.45
Table 2 -$38[/color
Session total: 167 hands [color=red]-$19.55 -23.41 bb/100
Daily total: 437 hands -$3.90 -1.78 bb/100

Pretty frustrating to win on 5 out of 6 tables today, but lose/break even for the day. So what happened?

The Erosion Of a Stack
Real quick, on table 1.....AA in EP. Limp, re-raise. BB has KK, so it all goes in preflop. He only has $15 before the hands started. AA in EP again, Limp, re-raise a short stack idiot. He started w/ $7.85, min-raised his AKo, put in another $4.50 pre-flop and then called his last $2.35 on a complete miss on the flop.

Table 2 was just rough. Have you ever felt like you were destined to lose at least a stack at a table, made a couple of good to great laydowns thinking you avoided your disaster, but then realized you were still gonna lose at that table, it's just a matter of when? Here it is:
Hand 1: TT CO just 4 hands in. I start the hand w/ $24 and villain has $21. 7 handed. Villain open-limps from 2 off the button. I raise to $1. SB calls, Villain re-raises to $3 which I think is a very strange play because he was just 2 off the button. Many times I will give a decent player credit for the monster, but I knew nothing about this guy and this was just weird. We both called the raise. [9s][5s] $9 pot. Villain bets $5 and I call, hoping I can get a free pass at the turn if he has something like AQ/J. SB folds. Turn is Pot is $19.25 and he pushes his last $13.20. I fold.

The next 3 hands all happen within 1 orbit....
Hand 2: w/ $15.85 of 1st stack left.
About 30 hands later I have 2 red Aces OTB. 2 limpers and I raise to $2. BB ($23.80) calls the PFR.
Flop [9h][8h] P = $4.60
He checks. I HATE that flop. I bet $4, villain, who had just really been there and done NOTHING so far min-check raises to $8. Well, I PFRed for about 15% and he called. I made him make a mistake no matter what he had, because even if he stacked me, his call doesn't make him money in the long run. Anyway, I fold my Aces and think I made a good laydown. Down to $9.85.

Hand 3: Not too long afterward [Kh] UTG+1 w/ $8.60 left. I raise to $1. BB shortie calls and has only $3.65 behind.
Flop [Qs][Kd] P = $2.10
I bet $2 and what a surprise. I'm getting check-raised again, but I know I'm ahead here. I call his pathetic all-in for $1.65 more. He turns over. [Qc]. He's DEAD to 2 outs!
P = $8.95
Turn
River
I'm down to $3.95. I've had TT-AA-AKs and lost them all.

I type into the chat:
Anybody know what I have to do to win a hand here?
Answer: Get good cards.
Me: I've already tried that. No good.

So....
Hand 4: 2 hands later, still w/ $3.95. [Qd] in BB. $3.70 left after posting.
2 limps and a raise to $1.25. I push my remaining $3.70.
Good news: I got away from a QQ vs AA situation with only a $3.95 loss.

To recap....TT-AA-AKs-QQ all losers and I am now down 1 stack. No matter what, I was supposed to lose that stack no matter what. My table limit is 3 stacks so I reload.

Hand 5: Back to $25 ($25.25 to be exact - I stole a BB hehe). [2d] in CO. Folded to me and I figure I've shown down some extremely good hands and lost so that's gotta be worth a little respect, right? I PFR to $1. SB (min-check raise guy from AA hand calls in SB).
Flop [8d][8c] P = $2.25
He checks, I check behind and take my free draw.
Turn
I figure I can rep that card since I raised so when he checks again I bet $2 and GUESS WHAT??? THE SOB MIN-C/R'es ME AGAIN! So you're telling me that you called 2 of my PFR'es, flop is paired both times, and you flopped trips twice? FU, I got a flush draw. I know your not supposed to draw at flushes on paired boards, but I don't believe you. You flopped trips twice in a row on me. What am I, an idiot? I INSTANTLY call his $2 thinking maybe I should have pushed.
River P = $10.25
He checks. Now there are some possibilities on this board and my 4 high isn't winning anything. I have to bluff here, but don't want it to look like a steal. I bet $7. He calls immediately.
MOTHER EFFER flopped trips on me twice [8h]. So I'm halfway through my 2nd stack. This was the 1st hand I can't really attribute to bad luck, although having the same guy call your raise twice and flop trips on you is pretty effed up.

Hand 6: [6d] in CO w/ $12.65 left. A tight-weakish player with the same stack size as me ($12.50) raises to $.75 right in front of me. I call.
Flop [Kd][3c] P = $1.85.
He cheks. I have a flush draw and he may have something like JJ or QQ where that flop scared him. I bet $1.50 and here we go again. Min-c/r. WTF is going on tonight???!!!
I probably should have just called for great odds, but I knew the rest of my $10.40 was probably going in anyway so I pushed. He called of course. Set of Aces. I missed. I couldn't take the damn free card could I?

Recap......Negative 2 stacks now. In addition to going 0-4 w/ TT-AA-AKs-QQ, I have now refused to take free cards from slowplayers with 3 of a kind while I had a flush draws twice and missed both times. RELOAD!

Back to $25 again.

Hand 7: 5 freakin hands after the last one, AND I KID YOU NOT, guy from last hand raises to $1.25 in CO. I have [8s] OTB w/ a full stack and call.
Flop [Ks][Kd]. P = $3.35
Yeah, another flush draw, another paired board. Another pre-flop raise, check the flop from this guy. You don't have to tell me 3 times. I'll take the free card this time.
Turn P = $3.35
Bingo. Now all he has to do is get me AI w/ his boat and we can be done with it. He bets $1.50 and I just call.
River P = $6.35
He bets $3 and I'm thinking I could just call, but he was fairly tight and he's not raising with KJ. If he has JJ then I'm screwed. I raise to $7.50 and he calls. What a shock! Another person flopped 3 of a kind in a raised pot with me. But this time his AK isn't good enough and I get back about what I lost to him. Keep slowplaying your trips and sets. I'll win.....once every 7 or 8 hands.

Is that one messed up table or what? Feels like I did a lot worse than -$3.90 on the day after that.

Total Full Tilt NL stats:
8 table sessions, 6 wins. 682 hands +$22.35 +6.55 bb/100. Still have a little work to do to get even for the month.

Completely Demoralized
Played in an $8 + .80 satellite for the FTOPS Event #1 Omaha H/L. 54 players and 2 seats. We got down to the final 3. I am 2nd w/ $17,984. 3rd place has $3,972 left. I'M IN!
I raise him all-in PF w/ [8h][Kd][Kc]. He calls w/ [3c][Qs][Ac] and flops 2 pair. After that, the big stack at the table who didn't even need to play kept dumping hand after hand to him and I went out 3rd w/ NOTHING. This is the 2nd Omaha H/L satellite I have bubbled in the past week.

I had another player all-in earlier at the final table in a pot that would have given me a big chip lead w/ [7h][Ah][Ac] vs [3d][As][Qd] on a [8d][3h] Flop. I think this this was a bad beat when he hit a Q on the river, but I don't play enough Omaha to know. I know that no hand is an overwhelming favorite. I guess I'll post these hands in the Omaha section to find out.

The day ended up a little better than it started. 2 hours of 3 tabling .50/1 Limit while watching college football tonight.

Table 1: 146 hands 10/5/13 -$.65 -0.45 bb/100 (Card dead on a psycho aggressive table for 143 hands. I won my 2 biggest pots on this table in the 3 hands before I left)
Table 2: 126 hands 20/10/18 +$11.85 +9.4 bb/100
Table 3: 131 hands 15/6/14 +$1.90 +1.45 bb/100

Session stats: 403 hands 15/7/15 +$13.10 +3.25 bb/100

Those WTSD numbers are pretty pathetic, but it got the job done. It may have actually helped me once or twice because I picked off 2 normally tight players firing 3 barrels at a bluff. They just seemed to want to come after me tonight. Don't know why. I'm less than $1 from clearing the 1st $20 of the bonus. Wasted too much time trying to qualify for FTOPS events the past 2 days.

Full Tilt Limit #'s (all .50/1): 810 hands 16/6/23 +$8.50 +1.05 bb/100
I would really like to get that bb/100 number closer to 5. I was playing 1/2 limit when I left AP, but I'm now playing .50/1 to start on FT until I get a better feel for the games there. I also want to stay sufficiently bankrolled there because I don't want to have to pull any money from my sportsbook accounts until football season is over. I'm treating the $650 that I deposited + the $600 bonus as my entire bankroll right now even though it really isn't.

Had a good day and showed a profit on the college gridirion as well today. Holy crap I am exhausted from sitting on my ass today. I've pretty much come to terms with the fact that I'm not going to have much of a life until the football season, X-mas, and the Full Tilt bonus pass. That's OK. I'm a summer person anyway.