See-Saw

First off, the Toronto Zoo was amazing. One of the exhibits lets you pet stingrays. That was one of the coolest things I have ever done. They were soft and squishy.

So I was up and down with the bankroll today. I would play HU be able to move up and then not make the money. Then repeat. So time for update.

Games Played - ITM - Net:
5 $1.20 18 man - 1 - $-4.20
4 $1.75 18 man - 0 - $-7 (I know, not $1.20s, but these are turbos so they are faster to play and I've been sticking a few of these in when I'm short on time.)
2 $5.25 HU - 2 - $9.50

Total Bankroll: $113.93

I Thought I Knew How To Play Poker

Total Bankroll: $110.88

Enough said.

Another Kind of Play Time

I didn't play any poker today. I took my two boys to Storybook Gardens today. If you don't know what that is, just google it, it'll probably show up near the top of the list.

We had a blast. Looked at a few animals, went on one ride--they had age restrictions and my oldest was only able to go on the one. Then splash pad time! We lathered on the sunscreen all day, but the back of my neck is still beat red.

This week-end the family is going to the Toronto Zoo, so I will try and get some more poker in tomorrow as I probably won't play any on Saturday or Sunday.

Bad Day

The 9 man SNGs are sending me into super donkey tilt. I've never been sucked out on so much. Hands like my AT vs A9 no good, my AJ vs AT no good, my KK vs QQ no good (well this one is a no brainer).

Games Played - ITM - Net:
3 $3.25 45 man - 0 - $-9.75
3 $6.50 9 man - 0 - $-19.50
3 $6.50 6 man - 2 - $16.50
1 $11 9 man - 0 - $-11.00

Total Bankroll: $135.93

I Should Update

But I'm tired and I'm heading to bed soon. Nothing really exciting happened anyway, I was up some and down some. My total bankroll right now is $159.68.

Shoot Me Now

Apparently, I have lost the ability to play SNGs. Or this is just the cruel joke of variance. Either way, my fucking god, I want it to end. I've had to move down--for real, not because I'm reading the board wrong. Look at those beautiful stats, those ITMs are all 3rds.

Games Played - ITM - Profit:
5 $6.50 9 max - 0 - $-32.50
5 $11 9 max - 3 - $-1.00

Total Bankroll: $160.88

Hopefully, once I work my way back up I can start winning again, otherwise I'm stuck in an endless loop. It'll just be like banging my head against the wall. I still have to laugh though, before I started this challenge, I was running a 26% ROI on the $6.50 9 man turbos (this is from the 151 games tracked in my PT).

I'm Dumb

I've been over $200 in my bankroll a couple times, and I don't know why, but I was thinking that meant I had to play the $11 or less 9 max square. But that square FINISHES at a bankroll of $200! I was playing those SNGs unnecessarily. This really sucks too, because I've been running bad at them and now I'm back below $200. Urgh!

I'll quickly update, but I'm going to try and get a few more games in today. Also, I've been looking at the board, the next square I play is the $11 90 man KOs, which is on Tilt. I've been playing this on Stars as I am broke on Tilt (boy do I run bad there). I like KO tournies, but I don't want to play both Stars and Tilt. I will have to substitute a different game that I can play on Stars.

Games Played - ITM - Profit:
1 $6.50 6 max - 1 - $16.90
2 $6.50 9 max - 0 - $-13.00

Total Bankroll: $194.38

Suck-out City

No online poker yet today, but I did play live last night. Of course, it was just our monthly home game.

I ended up busting out of the tournament 6th, so no points that way, but I did have two kills so some points there. Good thing, because Brett is in second for the overall league and he came in 3rd to start catching up to my 1st place in the league.

The cash game was awesome last night. At one point, there were 10 of us at the table--it was very crowded. I started out well early, doubling my buy-in, then later losing most of it too Mooney. I will have to admit, Mooney is developing a LAGgy style that is beginning to work for him. He's starting to place high in the tournaments and last month, he made about $100 at the cash game.

Anyway, it gets to the end of the night, most of the people had left and we still had 5 people playing cash, but it was pretty much everyone's last hand. For the last two hands, Mooney had been going all in dark. Since, I only had a few bucks left in front of me, I decided to do the same.

So the hand is dealt, I'm UTG, the guy to my left folds, then it's Mooney, already all in, then it's Jeff, since he's the SB and he's up against two random hands, he calls, then Brett in the BB states he's all in too! Wow, this is turning into a crazy hand. Jeff calls, since most of his chips were already in the pot. I had 94s, I forget Mooney's hand, Jeff had something like Q9s and Brett? He had AA! What a hand to get at just the right moment.

The board is dealt and we are all laughing. My suit was spades, I get two on the flop, either Jeff or Mooney pair, the turn is blank, then the river.........another spade!!!! I burst out laughing, I was expecting to go broke and I come away from the end of the night with a good profit. Since I was short, there was a side pot, so Brett didn't lose too much with his AA as his hand held up against the other two.

Poker night is always a blast and this was another great night with a funny ending. We are looking forward to next month's. It's our BBQ too and we will be switching the game from freezeout to $2 rebuy. We are expecting a bigger prize pool than normal. Let's hope I win that and get closer to a lock on first for the league. :)

Saturdays Are Busy

Rob's work was having a BBQ today, so we spent most of our time there. Plus Saturdays are grocery day. That means, not much poker played. But still there's a small update.

Games Played - ITM - Profit:
2 $6.50 6 max - 2 - $23.00

Total Bankroll: $190.48

Let the Running Bad Begin

Haha. I knew it couldn't last. So I was playing both $11 and $6.50 9 max games today. It didn't go well--Blibbity Blabbity will be happy. ;)

Games Played - ITM - Profit:
5 $6.50 9 max - 1 - $-21.70
3 $11 9 max - 1 - $-15

Total Bankroll = $167.48

Yuck. Gotta move back down a square. Hopefully, the trend doesn't continue and I move back to square one. That would suck.

That Was Quick

So I'm up anywhere from 5-6 AM in the morning for feedings and since at 7 AM there is a $11 tournament, I played that for my Chance square. I didn't make the money, my JJ ran into AK, otherwise I would have been in good shape to go deep. I then moved onto the $6.50 6 max. I'm playing on Stars and all the 6max at that level are turbos. I wasn't too concerned since I play a ton of the 9 man turbos at the same level.

Games Played - ITM - Profit:
1 $11 MTT - 0 - $-11
1 $6.50 6 max - 1 - $16.90

Total Bankroll = $204.18

I was quite surprised I finished first in the SNG. I was crippled early when my KK ran into ATs. We got all in of a rag flop, he was on a flush draw that got there. It definitely goes to show you that push or fold mode can turn a tournament around and win it for you.

So, I'm quickly off to the next square. The $11 or less 9 mans. I prefer the turbos, from past experience, I have a better ROI on them, so I may play the $6.50 9 man turbos for this. I'm not sure. I may test the waters at the $11 ones and see how it goes. My SNG skills have improved since I last played a non-turbo 9 man.

$4.40 180 Mans

I've completed the $4.40 square and I actually lucked out and did well in one of them. So here's an update.

Games Played - ITM - Profit:
1 $3.25 45 mans - 0 - $-3.25
3 $4.40 180 mans - 1 - $72.48 (I finished 3rd in the one)

Total Bankroll = $198.28

So following the board, I can skip the first blue square ($3.25 or less 45 mans @ $150) and move onto the $6.50 or less 6 mans @ $175. In fact, I'm less than $2 short of moving up. Plus I can still play the Take a Chance square.

Another Square Done

So I've completed the $1.20 18 mans. The bad players definitely made this easy.

Games Played-ITM-Profit:
4 - 3 (2 1st and a 4th) - $11.40

Total Bankroll = $126.65

I suspect after the next two bonus squares, I will have to play the $1.20 again for a bit. I'm not worried about the $3.25, but I suck ass at the $4.40s. If I don't make it to the money for any of those, I will be below the $125 requirement and will have to move up again. Good thing I only need to play that $4.40 square once.

No Love on the MTT Front

Alex decided he wanted to play "racecars" all day(that's Mario Kart Wii) and Ryan was actually asleep when the tourney started so I was able to get a game in. Unfortunately, I finished 568/2218. Only 324 made the money. It just wasn't a lucky day for me. My AA was no good against 66 and then later when a guy pushed all in 3 hands in a row, I pick up AQo and of course call when he does it again. He then flips over AA. I flop a KJ but don't end up cracking his aces. Luck just isn't my forte.

So my bankroll is still $115.25, since the $5.50 wasn't part of the intial $100.

Square One Done

Just finished another HU match and won. Woohoo! It's nice to run hot, too bad it can't happen all the time. So that puts my total bankroll to $115.25, so I can move on. There's a $5.50 ($5000 guaranteed) MTT later today so I might try to squeeze that in. That is if Alex doesn't want to go for a swim. He comes first of course. And then after that, I can hit up the $1.20 18 mans.

I Don't Like Head's Up

Quick update for today, since I'm not sure if I will be able to play anymore tonight.

Games Played:
5 $5.25 HU sng - ITM 3 - Profit: $3.75
1 16 man $5.25 HU sng - ITM 1 - Profit: $6.75

Total Bankroll: $110.50

I'm not a fan of HU. All that work I've done and I've only made $10. I do hope to finish this level tonight, I really want to be able to play something other than HU.

Monopoly Challenge.

Since I've been having fun with poker lately, I've finally stopped procrastinating and have started the Monopoly Challenge. I definitely think this will be good for me. One, it will help me build up a roll and two, it will force me to play games I've never played before. So here are the details for those who aren't aware.

The board:


The rules:

* Start at the "Go" Square and try to move around the board.
* Each property square has a value on it, your heeb bank roll must reach that value in order to have access to the next square.
* You must follow the bank roll rules for that square.
* If you have compleleted a property square, then you have access to that square and can play those levels any time you want (for example, once you have passed $112.50 and can move to square 2, you can still play the heads up games for square 1 if you choose).
* You cannot play any squares for which the bankroll has not been met.
* Non property squares such as Challenges, Take a Chance, Series, Cash Challenges, etc, are 1 time gigs. You do them the first time you reach them and they are not to be repeated.
* If the bankroll at any point falls below the value of a property square, you lose access to that square until you have reached that value again. Losing that square does not allow you to redo Challenges, Take a Chance, Series, Cash Challenges, etc When you repass them.

The starting bankroll is $100.

Let's see what I can do with this. Updates will follow.

I was right

Well, I said it. I mentioned out loud that I was doing well when I played. Well, not so much anymore. Blah.....! I guess I just have to ride it out and wait for the upswings to come back.

Busy

As expected, I'm getting very little sleep. I am getting some poker in, but not much and nothing serious.

I hit up a few micro tournies on Stars, but have been having a horrible run at though. More often than not though, when I have time to spare, I've been hitting up the $10NL cash tables. Cash is so much easier to shut down on a moments notice, you know, when a one month old starts loudly protesting the lack of food in his stomach. I'm running well so far, of course, by posting that I've just jinxed it and I'm now in for a major downswing.

I've also been thinking about trying out a poker Monopoly challenge. Check out the pokernutz blog as BlibbityBlabbity is running it right now. I figure this would be a good way to build up a bankroll, but I've been procrastinating about getting it started.