Session 14
Had to head back out to work this week, and had the red eye flight to VA. So was able to go to Hollywood Casino in West Virginina on Sunday. Last time I was there I decided to play in one of the bigger games with a small stack compared to the table. This time I decided to play in the 1-2 NL game and try playing a short stack. I only bought in for 100, and did not take long to lose that. I dont play much short stack, so did not really have my strategy down and made a bad mistake. I tried to bet someone off a hand and they made a good call. I had nothing and the flop was 77K and I lead out and bet, the turn was nothing too dangerous, and I went all in for my last 45, still trying to sell that I had a 7. He really thought about it and then called with his K. So, almost worked, but since I was short stacked a 45 bet was not enough to get him off his K. He made a good call but in the end that is not the kind of move you can make with a short stack. The second 100 I got drawn out on. I had been pretty patient and made a few calls that I had to fold pre-flop, and lost some to the fee you have to pay every 30 minutes there. They take a $6 fee every 30 minutes, but they dont take any rake or drop out of the pot. So was down a bit from my second 100. The pot was raised to 12 and decided to call with a suited A 5 in the BB. The flop was 9, 5, A. I was pretty sure that my two pair was good. I checked and not the person who raised me bet 30, there was one caller, so I pretty much had to go all-in with so much in already. The initial better called and the other folded. I was up against A-Q, to my two pair and the turn brought a Q. So there went the second 100. I decided to give it one more shot and glad I did, was able to turn that into 300 and break even for the day. Once I got even I decided to quit did not want to post a bigger than normal loss, and in NL I could lose it all in one hand.
In 300
Out 300
Time 4 hr
BR 3315
Monday, June 27, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Session 13
Session 13
Not the best session, but only lost 40 so not too bad. As long as I can keep my losses minimized I am pretty happy. I did have to re-load this time which does not happen too often so was happy to get 60 of that back. Played for about an hour 4 handed on the second table before the first game got down low enough to get us all into the game. So had to loosen up a little bit 4 handed and ended up a little down after that and when I got to the main game. Played in the main game for a little while and eventually lost my initial buy in. But hit some hands after I re loaded and got back up a little and then decided to call it quits.
This marks my 25% mark toward 52 sessions. Still below the goal, but session 10 and my bad play during that session, has hurt the numbers pretty good. My ave hourly rate is 17.26 per hr. I have a seperate spreadsheet that tracks all my stats by each game type. I have played for 53 hours and there are 2 games that I have played over 20 hours each in, 4-8K and 1-2 NL, and the hourly rate is 22 and 28 respectivly in those games.
In 200
Out 160
Hr. 4
BR 3315
Not the best session, but only lost 40 so not too bad. As long as I can keep my losses minimized I am pretty happy. I did have to re-load this time which does not happen too often so was happy to get 60 of that back. Played for about an hour 4 handed on the second table before the first game got down low enough to get us all into the game. So had to loosen up a little bit 4 handed and ended up a little down after that and when I got to the main game. Played in the main game for a little while and eventually lost my initial buy in. But hit some hands after I re loaded and got back up a little and then decided to call it quits.
This marks my 25% mark toward 52 sessions. Still below the goal, but session 10 and my bad play during that session, has hurt the numbers pretty good. My ave hourly rate is 17.26 per hr. I have a seperate spreadsheet that tracks all my stats by each game type. I have played for 53 hours and there are 2 games that I have played over 20 hours each in, 4-8K and 1-2 NL, and the hourly rate is 22 and 28 respectivly in those games.
In 200
Out 160
Hr. 4
BR 3315
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Session 12
Session 12
Yesterday was a pretty fun day. I decided to check out their tournement for fun. I used to play primarily tournements when I was not so good at the live game. I dont think I could estimate the number of tournements I have played, there was a time for a few years where I was playing 3 to 5 a week. I really liked their structure. The buy in was 60 and you get 7500 starting chips with 15 min rounds and the house adds 500. I played my normal patient tournement game, it was nice the third hand of the game, on the button I doubled up. I called with Q 10 suited and flopped the open-ended straight fush draw. It was bet and I called on the flop and turn. The river he bet I went all in and he called. I hit the straight on the river he flopped a set. About 30 min later I played QQ and won a pot, and then did not play another hand untill right before the final table with AJ suited. I flopped top 2 pair. He bet I raised all in he called with A 7 off. That left him with only 1500 and the next hand he pre-flop all in and I had KQ and he called. He had KJ. I sat down at the final table as just barely the chip leader with 35.5 K chips. There was only 2 tables plus some alternates so it only payed 3 spots, but we agreed to give 4-10 their money back. I could not catch a hand even worth looking at and it was not long before I was no longer the leader. I ended up in 4rth place for my money back. It was alot of fun though and nice to see that my tournement play has not gotten too sloppy.
I then played live. It was a pretty agressive table I watched one guy go through about 700 in the first 2 hours and then when I left he had about 400 in front, I had to loosen up a little becuase there was alot of action and when I was in position it made sense to call with alot of hands becuase if I hit the hand it was a big payout. But that caused me to go up and down alot. No hands too memorable, but I did end on a high note and cashed out 175.
In 100
Out 275
Time 3.75
BR 3355
Yesterday was a pretty fun day. I decided to check out their tournement for fun. I used to play primarily tournements when I was not so good at the live game. I dont think I could estimate the number of tournements I have played, there was a time for a few years where I was playing 3 to 5 a week. I really liked their structure. The buy in was 60 and you get 7500 starting chips with 15 min rounds and the house adds 500. I played my normal patient tournement game, it was nice the third hand of the game, on the button I doubled up. I called with Q 10 suited and flopped the open-ended straight fush draw. It was bet and I called on the flop and turn. The river he bet I went all in and he called. I hit the straight on the river he flopped a set. About 30 min later I played QQ and won a pot, and then did not play another hand untill right before the final table with AJ suited. I flopped top 2 pair. He bet I raised all in he called with A 7 off. That left him with only 1500 and the next hand he pre-flop all in and I had KQ and he called. He had KJ. I sat down at the final table as just barely the chip leader with 35.5 K chips. There was only 2 tables plus some alternates so it only payed 3 spots, but we agreed to give 4-10 their money back. I could not catch a hand even worth looking at and it was not long before I was no longer the leader. I ended up in 4rth place for my money back. It was alot of fun though and nice to see that my tournement play has not gotten too sloppy.
I then played live. It was a pretty agressive table I watched one guy go through about 700 in the first 2 hours and then when I left he had about 400 in front, I had to loosen up a little becuase there was alot of action and when I was in position it made sense to call with alot of hands becuase if I hit the hand it was a big payout. But that caused me to go up and down alot. No hands too memorable, but I did end on a high note and cashed out 175.
In 100
Out 275
Time 3.75
BR 3355
Monday, June 20, 2011
Session 11
Session 11
Not too exciting, I posted a small win. This was one of those nights where I won a lot of money right away in the first 30 minutes, and the sat there for the next 3 hours not hitting a hand or getting a bad beat. It is frustrating to win alot right away and be tempted to leave, but then I feel like I am doing a hit and run, and want to keep playing so stay and lose alot of that back. I lost with AA twice, once in a kill pot, to bleed down my chips, but a win is a win and I will take it. Hopefully can have a better showing the next time to help make back from my bad last session. Overall though I am happy with my play, hitting good hands for big pots right away, I quickly settled down and continued to play tight, unfortuately just got unlucky.
In 100
Out 150
Time 3.5 hrs
BR 3180
Not too exciting, I posted a small win. This was one of those nights where I won a lot of money right away in the first 30 minutes, and the sat there for the next 3 hours not hitting a hand or getting a bad beat. It is frustrating to win alot right away and be tempted to leave, but then I feel like I am doing a hit and run, and want to keep playing so stay and lose alot of that back. I lost with AA twice, once in a kill pot, to bleed down my chips, but a win is a win and I will take it. Hopefully can have a better showing the next time to help make back from my bad last session. Overall though I am happy with my play, hitting good hands for big pots right away, I quickly settled down and continued to play tight, unfortuately just got unlucky.
In 100
Out 150
Time 3.5 hrs
BR 3180
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Session 10
Session 10
This will be a good one for me to remember. I did everything wrong during this session. This will be a good post to re-read before I go and play to remind myself of all the wrong things I did. I got there at 11:00am and got on the list for 4-8, the game started at 11:30, and before we started all the old guys wanted to play 6-12 so I agreeded and bought in another 100 for a starting stack of 200. From here I just played bad. It was a combination I think of having 5 straight winning sessions, being excited about playing 6-12, and not wanting to stay too long, so I was trying to make things happen. It did not take too long for me to lose my initial buy in and then I re-loaded for another 200. That was another mistake mostly because I did not change the way I was playing at all, I continued to try to make things happen to the point where I was playing almost every hand. For some reason I also could not lay a hand down, which is unusual for me. Normally when I feel I am beat will throw the hand away, but for some reason I turned into a complete calling station, and was calling when I thought I was beat...just in case. I have never won doing that, and I was not hitting any hands. I am not so upset about losing, that will happen even if I am playing well. The main point is that I was not giving myself a chance to win, I lost my disicpline and my normal solid play. It was an expensive lesson, but worth it if I learn from it. The positive to take away is that I am still over 700 up, and as long as I dont repeat the way I was playing, even if I lose, I am still giving myself an opportunity to win, and over time I will see results.
In 400
Out 0
Time 3 hrs
BR 3130
This will be a good one for me to remember. I did everything wrong during this session. This will be a good post to re-read before I go and play to remind myself of all the wrong things I did. I got there at 11:00am and got on the list for 4-8, the game started at 11:30, and before we started all the old guys wanted to play 6-12 so I agreeded and bought in another 100 for a starting stack of 200. From here I just played bad. It was a combination I think of having 5 straight winning sessions, being excited about playing 6-12, and not wanting to stay too long, so I was trying to make things happen. It did not take too long for me to lose my initial buy in and then I re-loaded for another 200. That was another mistake mostly because I did not change the way I was playing at all, I continued to try to make things happen to the point where I was playing almost every hand. For some reason I also could not lay a hand down, which is unusual for me. Normally when I feel I am beat will throw the hand away, but for some reason I turned into a complete calling station, and was calling when I thought I was beat...just in case. I have never won doing that, and I was not hitting any hands. I am not so upset about losing, that will happen even if I am playing well. The main point is that I was not giving myself a chance to win, I lost my disicpline and my normal solid play. It was an expensive lesson, but worth it if I learn from it. The positive to take away is that I am still over 700 up, and as long as I dont repeat the way I was playing, even if I lose, I am still giving myself an opportunity to win, and over time I will see results.
In 400
Out 0
Time 3 hrs
BR 3130
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Floor and Ceiling
I have been reading some more about bankroll management and have decided to implement a floor and ceiling guideline. I like this method to decide when to move up betting levels. The idea is to set a number of BB as your floor and a number of BB as your ceiling. When you hit your ceiling you can move up to the next level, when you drop below your floor you go back down one level till you hit your ceiling again. To start with I am only going to vary my floor and ceiling by 50 BB's. As I move up in levels though I will extend that difference or if I end up going back and forth too much then I will increase the difference. As I get higher in levels I plan to increase the difference. So to start with my floor will be 300 BB's and ceiling 350 BB's.
So at 4-8 my floor is (8)(300)- 2400 and when I hit my ceiling to move to 8-16, I can move up; (16)(350) - 5600. I like this because the floor for 8-16; (16)(300) - 4800 so once I hit 5600 and start playing 8-16, I can take a few beats before I hit below 4800 and have to move back down. And if I lose 800 right away playing 8-16, I am either getting real unlucky or not ready to play at that level. Once I get to 8/16 I plan on raising the ceiling to 400 BB's, and this will fit in with my initial goal of hitting between 8000 to 12000 after 52 sessions. If I met my goal sometime before or on my 52nd session I should be playing 10-20 possibly getting ready to start 15-30. The ceiling for 8-16 to move to 10-20 is (20)(400) - 8000 and the ceiling to move from 10-20 to 15-30 is (30)(400) - 12000. So hopefully sometime before the end of my initial goal I will be comfortably winning in the 10/20 game. There are casino's near that play this game, but not nearly as close as the one I have been playing at, so will have to deduct travel expenses by that time. Might have to do the same for 8/16 if I cannot find one within a 30 min drive. I know there are games within 60-90 minutes though.
The point of setting the floor and ceiling is to prevent the varience of the game causing you to go broke. The greater the difference between your f/c the less likly you will go broke.
I will still occasionally use my, no more than 10% of my bankroll rule, at times to take a shot at larger limit or no limit games when I have the opportunity.
So at 4-8 my floor is (8)(300)- 2400 and when I hit my ceiling to move to 8-16, I can move up; (16)(350) - 5600. I like this because the floor for 8-16; (16)(300) - 4800 so once I hit 5600 and start playing 8-16, I can take a few beats before I hit below 4800 and have to move back down. And if I lose 800 right away playing 8-16, I am either getting real unlucky or not ready to play at that level. Once I get to 8/16 I plan on raising the ceiling to 400 BB's, and this will fit in with my initial goal of hitting between 8000 to 12000 after 52 sessions. If I met my goal sometime before or on my 52nd session I should be playing 10-20 possibly getting ready to start 15-30. The ceiling for 8-16 to move to 10-20 is (20)(400) - 8000 and the ceiling to move from 10-20 to 15-30 is (30)(400) - 12000. So hopefully sometime before the end of my initial goal I will be comfortably winning in the 10/20 game. There are casino's near that play this game, but not nearly as close as the one I have been playing at, so will have to deduct travel expenses by that time. Might have to do the same for 8/16 if I cannot find one within a 30 min drive. I know there are games within 60-90 minutes though.
The point of setting the floor and ceiling is to prevent the varience of the game causing you to go broke. The greater the difference between your f/c the less likly you will go broke.
I will still occasionally use my, no more than 10% of my bankroll rule, at times to take a shot at larger limit or no limit games when I have the opportunity.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Session 9
I made it out to Hollywood Casino in Charlestown West Virginia yesterday. It is about an hour and 20 minute drive from my hotel. I was in the poker room playing at about 2:30. I decided I did not want to play in the 1-3 no limit game and that I wanted to take a shot at the bigger 2-5 no limit game. I sat down with the minimum buy in of 300. I had to play extreamly carefully in this game. At least 4 people had about 1500 in front of them and no-one had less than 500 that I could tell. Throughout the game there was plenty of bluffing going on with the big stacks, so really had to be selective of my position and starting hands. Luckily I got off to an early good start. The first hour was good I was up almost 400 after playing 3 hands.
The first hand I played was QQ I was in early position so just called for 5 and then it got raised in late position to 85. I called and there was another caller. The flop brought a K, I decided to check. There was 250 in the pot so if I would have lead out it would have had to be a good sized bet, and if I got raised that could very well have had to call my entire buy-in. The flop was checked around. The turn and river was also checked around, looks like we where all afraid of that K. My QQ won, the other two hands where AJ and JJ. The next hand I played was in the BB with and 8-7. I flopped top pair and lead out and bet 45 and was called. The turn brought a 7 so I lead out and bet 75 and was called. On the river I bet 125 and got him to fold. Then the last hand I played in the first hour was KK and took down a small pot, I pre-flop raised to 20 got one caller, lead out and bet the flop and he folded.
The next 2 hours I could not catch a hand at all, and I bled down my chips a bit after 3 hours total I cashed out.
In 300
Out 475
Time 3 hrs
BR 3530
The first hand I played was QQ I was in early position so just called for 5 and then it got raised in late position to 85. I called and there was another caller. The flop brought a K, I decided to check. There was 250 in the pot so if I would have lead out it would have had to be a good sized bet, and if I got raised that could very well have had to call my entire buy-in. The flop was checked around. The turn and river was also checked around, looks like we where all afraid of that K. My QQ won, the other two hands where AJ and JJ. The next hand I played was in the BB with and 8-7. I flopped top pair and lead out and bet 45 and was called. The turn brought a 7 so I lead out and bet 75 and was called. On the river I bet 125 and got him to fold. Then the last hand I played in the first hour was KK and took down a small pot, I pre-flop raised to 20 got one caller, lead out and bet the flop and he folded.
The next 2 hours I could not catch a hand at all, and I bled down my chips a bit after 3 hours total I cashed out.
In 300
Out 475
Time 3 hrs
BR 3530
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)