I have not really written a lot in here last month and I need to sort that out. I think I can use the excuse of massive personal life changes for a little of it but also I just have not been playing. This is not a good development as one of my plans for after the American move is to send money back from poker to cover off various little things I need to take care of. Also it seems after the move I cannot get a green card for about 90 days so I need something to bring in a few dollars and with all my time spare, 2+2=4?

Right, back to the plot. I have taken a week of this week since I was pretty bummed following my retarded showing last week. I was bummed since I know I lost $100 all through me being dumb. Nothing else. Well in times like this its good just to take a few seconds and gather thoughts.

I think I have been mixing my tournament style with my ring game style, and its cost me in the ring games. Its great to catch some cards and break someone but I have learn to take more time with the cash games. Also I think I need to give a little more credit to opponents as I know I have over pushed sometimes because I think the guy is a no-mark.

Well back to the now. I finished about even all told last month. With my tournament results I wiped out what I lost on the ring games, which was about $100 the last weekend of the month. Before that I was up about $50, but I have unleashed about $250 in bonus money too so life was good. Technically I was still up about $200 for the month but I guess it ended on a sour note for me.

Well good news!

First day back so I attacked 3 $50NL tables for 2 hours today.

Result:

Hands: 366
Amount Won: $120.85
BB/100: 33.02

I want to know what is the difference between Ice's BB thingy and PT's BB thingy. Explain someone?

I am very happy with this. It seems its been a while since I had a real break through day. I've just been having modest wins against huge losses. I am sure I shall piss away this great start to the month at some point, starting tonight when I play again but its just nice to be well in the green. Also I played well. I kept things on an even keel, took advantage when I could but also extracted myself from some bad places quick.

Strangely looking at my stats from today two things stand out. One is my Won@SD percentage is really good (58%), I have been struggling with that since going to NL. The other is I was actually very passive today (1.35 overall) which is odd for me. I was about 14.5 on the flop so maybe its not anything to worry about though.

I think I am gaining more sophistication into my game. I am using check now for different things, which I think has very different function to limit. I am also varying my play and making use of that. I think I have also slowed down a little, made my game a little lower in variance. I think before I have been too eager to play big pots. Now I am happy to win a dozen small pots and leave with a profit.

Well shall update soon.

Rich

Rich,

Pokertracker was designed for limit games, so BB/100 means "big bets" per 100. So, if you're playing $50 NL with .25/.50 blinds, a "big bet" would be $1, and this is what PT measures your winrate in. But since big bet has no meaning in a no-limit game, it makes sense to just convert it to "big blinds", so just multiply the PT BB by 2.

-TW

Well I am writing this the morning after the night before.

Nothing really to read into that sadly as I spent the night playing poker but it was good night. I officially finished the day up $140.82. This is a big deal since while I know its not my biggest winning day the fact I cannot remember the last time I won $100 means its long over due. I am also hoping is going to the be the first of many and a justification of the work I am doing to convert to NL.

I have to confess a little here, I only won something like 62 cents in second NL session though I was never up more that $20 and was down about $40 at one point. After I finished the missus was on UB grinding out bonus money on $0.50/$1 so I decided to show up like Billy Big-Bollocks and show her how the game is played.

This was really eventful for one poor guy who shall remain nameless. I decided to pick on him by raising most of his bets and damned of I didn't out draw him about 3 times to break big hands he had. Best being 55 and having the open ended straight draw on the turn then boating up on the river. For the genius of this hand to appreciated you should know I raised with it MP and he reraised me. I also got into a raising war with him on the flop when I had QJs and was drawing to the flush. I hit it but to make matters grand the turn was of the same suit to, trouble for him was A and K were on the board so him jamming me back on the river was fun.

$20 in half an hour, nice. She sadly lost about $20 last night which was gutting as she had been on a win streak for about a month, and earned more than me last month since I suck. She has been doing very well playing at the moment one table at a time and using the down time to guess peoples hands, make good notes etc. I think she has the right idea with her tight/aggressive play but needs to become a little card savvy. I think though she will get there and I am hoping she will start posting some hands and stuff to speed her along.

One thing I have not done and will start doing more of is posting my hands. I think I have been unwilling while I feel I am developing, which is stupid as its the most important time but now I have some kind of game I am going to be sticking stuff up seeing what I get back.

Well I need a few hands today to kill on bonus, then is straight back into Party for the June reload, then they are offering me another before 20th June so I am hoping it will be a nice Party month.

Rich

Boring day today. I played the last 130 odd hands to get the bonus off Party. I lost $9 doing to but considering I lost the two big all-in hands I had (QQ vs AA but he was small blind and I was big so it looked like a dick size contest to begin with, the other I forgot but it was gay, wait AQ vs Q8, don't ask) I am considering this a moral victory.

I had the reload bonus fiasco though I know this is prob totally my fault, just sucks ass. I decided not to play any tonight as I had money moving about and I was a little ticked. I did play two freeroll tournies instead since I have no other use for those Party points. I lost in one to flush over a flush then in the other when I got outdrawn for a straight. Pretty gay stuff but I never last over an hour in these things.

I am happy with the way the weekend has gone and feel pretty energised to go on and play more, win more etc. I made $128 overall this weekend plus I got another $100 in cash out. Not bad work for a few hours. The aim now is to make sure I keep my hours up. Since I am now not going to be doing the Party reload until a better one comes it looks like I shall work on my cash mountain in UB.

Well I got to go and do that sleep thing but I am back to the rock face tomorrow.

Rich

I am in THE mother of all bad moods right now.

Its now the morning after the night before. Last night as per my plan I played some UB. As sessions go it was pretty much a roller coaster. I lost two stacks quickly on hands which when reflected on were actually dumb plays by me. I was at one point staring down the barrel of $100 plus loss. Well in the theme of the best American sports movies I started to cling my way back to break even playing some of the best play ever. Then it happened...

I was about $35 down with three tables where I had large stacks and bullying like a mad thing when my computer decided to commit hari kari. It freezes then dies. Upon attempts at rebooting I find it is telling me my hard drive is bad! I basically hot wire the damn thing to boot and in an act of desperation error check and fix it but no joy.

Now this is the part where the cameras start rolling. I know I got this laptop last summer so it may still be under warrenty. I dig out the reciept and what is the date? 5th June!!! Jesus Christ almighty, what have I done to deserve this?

Well I decide to take this morning off to take it back to the shop and see if I can blag it that this happened a few days ago and get it repaired. I go to PC World where I got it which is a big computer store including on-repair facility. Worse case I have to pay, well I shall suck it up. But non, they will do not repair laptops on-site (?!?) and give me some telephone number to call someone else to collect it on another day, mess about with it and return it at some distant date. Sadly I might have let myself down here with a withering sarcastic summary of the situation to the hapless PC World serf which I doubt endered her into going the extra mile for me. Well pish to them, I have put it into another computer place and I am currently waiting with retracted bollocks for the repair bill to come.

Since I am also a dumb shmoe who doesn't do the whole backing up thing there is a change I might loss my PT database. This might be no bad thing in terms of losing my dodgy play but still nothing to be happy about. Well since this thing is kinda bootable I it might not be so bad, we shall see.

This does mean I might be absent for a few days but rest assured I will need to play every hour god sends when I get back to make up the money this is costing me. I have no doubt this will involve more tom foolery while I try not to lose too much money and make a living from my bonus's.

Out of interest who or what do I need to shag to get this leader board updated confirming my position as BTP Daddy???

Rich

I am now into the first weekend of my gay-computer imposed poker exile.

I guess one good thing about this has been I know I am not addicted. I have had a relaxing week of cinema (Sin City rocks), friends and stuff. The arse of this situation being it coincided with a 1 month alcohol abstension. So to clarify, no drink, no gambling and no women (love you honey if you're reading this). Guess all I got left are drugs which I cannot do as they mess with my hay fever meds (not to mention get me into trouble with my mom) and biting my finger nails. What a life I lead!

Well according to the computer dude I am back in business on Monday. I am taking the opportunity to also get my computer pimped up, more power!!! Once back I am going to have to impose some serious butt kickings on the fish of UB. With the latest reload I now have about $1200 in bonus money, this is just getting insane. I have worked off $15 this month though, woo-ho.

Man, I cannot believe after all my bitching and whining I am only second on the BTP leader board! Crappola. Guess I better step up my quest to win one though I suspect the missus might trump me at this rate, can you imagine the ball busting that would put into our marriage?

Incase I haven't put this I should annouce that as of April 2006 I shall be crossing that line and attempting to become American. Having used the power of my accent to bag one of your finest specimens I am going to convert to the great satan and buy a pick up truck. This will of course lead to some drawn out legal arguments as to my place in the Massive. I am keen still to fly the flag but I am open to bribes.

Since I have a wedding to pay for this doesn't mean I am going to neglect my poker, and by definition use this journal to whine about bad beats and stupid fish etc. I am resigned now to spending the rest of days as a poker junkie since the more I win, the more I want to win. Also there is always someone like Ice who earns millions of dollars in his spare time to aspire to. I feel right now I am pretty near the bottom of a long stair case but one I will climb.

I was checking and it was May 24th I made my first deposit into NETeller. I am now over one year then as a poker player. Doesn't really seem that long but I guess the first 3-4 months I didn't really have an aim and was playing for the novelty value. Even now I am not really sure at what point I wanted to get more interested in the game or why. It just seems a logical progression for me to want to know more, play more and get better.

So where am I now? Well I have taken out for more from poker than I have put in. I have got a pretty good limit game, I would like to think my tournament play is good and I am developing a NL game. I have had some good wins, some amazing losses. It still pains me that I have lost more in one day than I have won in one day. I guess though this stuff is character building.

I think playing poker has helped me personally. I do not know if other players have found this but I think I am far more decisive. Since poker is a game of decisions when its boiled down it shouldn't really surprise me that as I get better at the game my decision making becomes better. I think the real big thing for me has been the ability in life to make fast decisions based on imperfect information. I wouldn't say previously I dithered, more now I am pretty fearless in assessing and moving.

This last year that has had a massive impact on where I am now. From finishing a long term relationship to the decision to get married and move to another country. I am not saying it is because of poker this has happened but I think it has helped me to grasp the nettle so to speak. I have goals for the next 12 months and making some money now out of poker is one of them. I also am going to keep on learning, improving and hopefully start to give a little back to others climbing the same ladder as me.

My big goal now is to keep working on my NL game and get to the $100 tables as fast as I can. I also want to get the hours in. It seems I am now going to have a period next year of 4 months where I shall be playing full time. I want to put the hours in now to make my game and menatility as bullit proof as can be for when those days come.

Sorry this has been a long one, I guess I have nothing better to do...

Back to biting the finger nails.

Rich

Hi darlin,

Just to clarify for all of Rich's fans, he can drink alcohol-he just can't buy it. So no sympathy for him. His computer issue really is frustrating, he even had me check on bonus stuff for him. I can tell he is having withdrawals, but not the addictive kind.

As for me I am slowly but surely playing, even without Rich's reminders and encouragement to do so. I would prefer him to beat me in overall winnings for the month, as I am surely not as good as he claims I am-and definately not at his playing skill level.

The new goal for our poker money is for our wedding expenses and airline tickets back and forth. And it was his idea! So as you can deduct I am all for him playing his alotted number of hours a week on poker that he set for himself. I have even set a goal number of hours for myself. I cannot stand to play longer than an hour and a half per session before I get bored and start looking out my window or suddenly noticing that I should be doing laundry or cleaning something, or maybe even studying up on my school work (Graduate school). Rich thinks I should play about 3-4 nights a week with my 1.5 hour time limit. He also thinks I should set up my own journal on this site, and rereading what I have written so far I am starting to agree as this should be about him, not about me. I think once his computer is back I will have him help me to set up a journal and post some hands I have been confused about. Maybe I can get some feedback on them because I know Rich is biased in a loving way about my skills.

So Rich honey, I have decided you need to help me start my journal. I can't wait until you are back online.

Love,
Whitney

Way to busy to write and I have done nothing worth mentioning.

Thanks for the kind words honey.

Right, got to download a million poker sites and do loads of stuff.

Speak soon

Rich

It was back to rock face last night.

I played for about an hour, not a huge session but I was a bit tired and wanted to ease back in. Plus with no PT database to call on I am playing a little carefully. I played a nice controlled session on 2 tables making a nice $40. I got AA twice and KK once, winning all three, and I had this hand...

Ultimate Bet No-Limit Hold'em, $.50 BB (10 handed)

CO ($59)
Button ($50.45)
SB ($8.05)
Hero ($73.65)
UTG ($55.05)
UTG+1 ($22.40)
UTG+2 ($14.10)
MP1 ($27.90)
MP2 ($19)
MP3 ($13)

Preflop: Hero is BB with , .
7 folds, SB raises to $1.5, Hero calls $1.

Flop: ($3) , , (3 players)
SB bets $3, Hero calls $3.

Turn: ($9) (3 players)
SB bets $3.55 (All-In), Hero calls $3.55.

River: ($16.10) (3 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $16.10

Results below:

SB has Jd 6s (high card, king).
Hero has 4s As (straight flush, five high).
UTG has (straight flush, five high).
Outcome: Hero wins $16.10.

Typical I only get to pick off a short stack with that hand, but I guess its cool that it happened. Otherwise I felt good playing again, guess I missed it more than I thought. I am taking tonight off since I have to do some packing and sorting stuff out. I am away all weekend, seeing the parents so no play from me till Monday.

I have decided to use the loss of my PT database as a new start. I have spent the last year really learning the game, now is the time to start refining and making a success of myself. No more weak tight play to look at, its going to be all good stuff from now.

Good luck all and have a good weekend.

Rich

Piss Wank!

Well I am back now playing. I skivved off last night since I had a head ache and felt in a crappy mood due to hay fever. Well I wasn't feeling awesome tonight but figured since I am not likely to get in many hours this weekend I should put some time in tonight.

Mistake.

To be honest with you I do not think the results reflect my play as I felt once I got into it quite good about things. Bottom line is though I conspired to finish about $110 down. One stack was in a AA vs KK situation, all-in on a low flop and he rivers the K. The other big loss was me trying something. I stuck a guy with $30 all-in when I had a flush draw and an open ended straight draw. He called it and took it down with 2nd pair. I do not think this was a stellar play by me but I had the read right. I had played it a bit goofy so I was hoping to represent a mega hand and it went wrong. Still I had about half the deck to take him out, bah. I think this was a slightly tilty hand though, I figured I had missed every draw all night so I was due a hit. Another big hand I lost was AQ vs AK, I connected but he hit the straight on the river.

I think that hand about summed it up. I lost all the big pots, missed all my draws and got no action from my big hands (except the AA). I kept it semi-respectable by stealing and playing smart. I also got out a of a lot of potential bad situations which I was happy with. I do not think I made too many bone plays but just got no rub.

Well if you can afford to win you can afford to lose, does suck though. It does take a little getting used to in NL the way you can play 200 hands really well, but lose 2 or 3 and thats the bottom line you finish with. Well on another night I win $150 so what goes around will come around. I quit pretty fast after the flush/straight draw loss as I had one of those "here we go again" feelings where you just expect everything to go tits up.

The good news is I feel more comfortable at the table and think my overall play is improving. I do think I am playing maybe a little too ABC and I should mix things up a bit more. I guess I have nightmares about posting hands where I have tried something goofy just to mix it up and its blown up in my face. This is a gay worry though so mixing is going to be my next task.

Looking at the stats after 500 hands (which is not a valid sample I know) I am playing more hands (15% VP$IP) but raising a lot less (4.5%). My aggression is high and tappers downs from a high point on the flop, which is the model I try to play. I am 45% at showdown which could be better but nothing I am super worried about. I still think I just need hands and to spend a little more time thinking through my game.

I am currently debating whether or not to bother with the Empire bonus, at the moment I am thinking not to bother as I hate putting myself in a position where I "have" to play. I think I have other places to play so I should.

Speaking of which...good news, I got $12 off UB, only $1188 to go!

Rich

I am writing this for a second time as somewhere along the line I got logged out of the site, grrr.

It seems like a while since I wrote on here. During the weekend I had little brother up in London but I soon got bored of him, packing him off early on Sunday so I could play a tournament at the Gutshot.

It had about 30 players and a two hour rebuy period (?!?) I managed to stratch out a 6th place finish taking up only one rebuy. This was just as well since it seemed players rebuying near the end of the period were becoming instant short stacks and having to push. Sadly my 6th place left me bubble boy plus 1. Not really great after 5 hours but I tell myself I do this for fun...

I am not going to talk about my cameo in the BTP tournament. Laugh it up yourselves. I am chuffed though that the lady did well, even if she didn't manage to knock out TW. I think I am going to have to start worrying she will soon be wearing the visor in the house.

I played some $50NL on UB tonight. I had a nice 2 hour session. I finished up $40 in a session where I seemed to be down $20 for 90% of it. Normally its the other way around so I am not complaining. I had one sticky hand that I have posted in the NL section, would put the link but I am scared of being logged out again.

http://livepokerforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4329

Hope that works.

Well I had a little more to write but I need sleep so I shall make it up to you all tomorrow. Good luck.

Rich