Kinda back,

Played sporadically and uninspired until a few days ago where I, still uninspired, managed to convert my last Tournament Dollar into $3 in a small $1 turbo MTT. I played the same MTT the next day and final tabled, taking 3rd for $40ish. A few days later, I finally didn't finish ITM, but a day after that I final tabled yet again, taking 4th.

Bankroll is at $55ish probably and I'm not really putting in any hours whatsoever. That $1 turbo lasts ~2 hours and I rarely even play that. I've got family in town this break so my playing time is scarce.

Will probably pick things up again sometime in the future. Just wanted to let you guys know that I have some sort of bankroll on UB.

Happy New Year,
BnB

Ugh..

Poker's given me no joy ever since withdrawing. I withdrew solely to fix my banking fiasco when I overdrew for like the fifth time. My credit must be horrible-looking at this point. Anyways, ever since taking money out I've had no desire to play poker. I hate playing these $5 MTTs and under. $75 first place prizes give me zero incentive. Not to mention, I feel like I'm overthinking when I play. I can play perfect for 2 hours and then out nowhere decided to 3bet squeeze all-in with Q7o and get called by the 2nd caller with AQhh. I feel like this will work in the upper levels (calling with AQhh for essentially all your chips? Seriously? You only beat worse Aces, and who 3bet squeezes that after playing perfectly for 2 hours?!) Tilt.

I'm looking at having to re-deposit during December. Unless I make something happen in a big tournament, which doesn't look like it's going to happen.

Until next time I decide to play,
BnB

PS Have a good Christmas break everyone.

Birds n Bees finishes 6/140 un UB $2 for $16.80

It's really hard to give a shit about $16.80, but its back to square one since withdrawing. I guess I should be happy?

Blogger is giving me trouble with uploading the image, but I'll edit this with a PokerDB link once that comes up.

Birds n Bees finishes 8/96 in UB $5 MTT for $21.60

Forgot to take screenshot.

http://www.bluffmagazine.com/thepokerdb/tournament.asp?tid=553265

Birds n Bees finishes 3/211 in UB $1000 Guaranteed for $110

Probably should have won this given chip stack at one point, but played horribly 3-handed and lost a ton of chips. Throw in some spotty internet connection and it was gg me. I'll take $110 though, since I withdrew monies earlier this week.

UBOC Qualifier was fun.

AK < AT, gg me. No UBOC.

UBOC 9 20 Seat Qualifier in < 2 hours...

... I'm excited. After by big score on FTP yesterday, I hope I can get things rolling in this tournament. I want to play in a UBOC event so so badly.

Show da Scrilla finishes 1/351 in FT $3 for $215.86

Finally, I took down a Full Tilt tournament. This is my biggest win on Full Tilt since my $155 score there in a $1r over the summer, and only my second triple-digit score on Full Tilt in my career. Hopefully, with my new bankroll, there will be more to come.

I feel incredibly comfortable playing $1-$5 tournaments with my bankroll, and will try mix in some $10's as well since they run pretty regularly on FT and I can't imagine them being too difficult to beat.

I'm just glad to be rolled for things! I can also successfully play NL10 with this bankroll.

Good day.

Full Tilt bankroll: $255

Tournament Report: UB $5 MTT

I haven't written a tournament report in a long time and I'm in the mood for one.

Today I'm playing in a random $5 MTT on UB. The tournament started at 1:30PM (CT) and is going quite well thus far. I have 3815 in chips and the average is 2823. I won a huge hand AA>KK to rocket me into the Top 10. 96 entrants started the tournament and

51 remain one hour in.

FIRST BREAK.
Blinds: 50/100 (3815 in chips)
Hand 1: 8c2c BB, UTG raises x2, OTB pushes, I fold, UTG folds.
Hand 2: 7h6d OTM, I openraise to 275, BB calls. 856r flop. BB checks, I c-bet 450 and take it down.
Hand 3: Fold.
Hand 4: 44 CO, I openraise to 300 and SB pushes for 3.2k. I fold.
Hand 5: JJ CO-1, I openraise to 300 and CO and SB call. 448 flop. I bet 665 and take it down.
Hand 6: Ad3d, I open raise to 275 and steal the blinds.
Hand 7: 6c2c fold
Hand 8: Openraise ATo UTG+1 to 300 and steal the blinds.
Hand 9: Fold T4o from UTG.
Hand 10: J9o from the BB. UTG raises, MP pushes, I fold, UTG calls with AK and beats JJ.
Hand 11: T7o from the SB. Fold to 3-bet.
Hand 12: Q4o OTM. Fold to MP raise.
Hand 13: 54o in the CO. Fold to EP raise.

Blinds: 75/150 (4540 in chips)
Hand 14: 82o CO-1, folded to me, I fold.
Hand 15: KQo in MP, I openraise to 425 and take the blinds.
Hand 16: KJdd in MP, I openraise to 455 and take the blinds.
Hand 17: T2hh UTG+1, I fold.
Hand 18: QTdd UTG, I limp, UTG+1 raises to 450, button pushes for 965, I fold.
Hand 19: 93o in the BB, UTG minraises, EP pushes, I fold, UTG folds.
Hand 20: 98o in the SB, fold.
Hand 21: Q5o OTB, fold to MP push for 2155.
Hand 22: K2o in the CO, fold to UTG raise to 525.
Hand 23: 63o in the CO-1, fold to UTG push of 2380. His QQ < JTs and is eliminated.
Hand 24: T2o UTG+1, fold. (40 players remain)
Hand 25: 97o UTG, fold.
Hand 26: KTo from the BB, CO calls, SB folds, I check. We take HU flop of Q76 with two clubs. I check, he checks. 4d on turn. 2 diamonds out. I check, he minbets, I fold.
Hand 27: J3o in the SB, fold to MP raise.
Hand 28: T2o OTB, fold to MP raise.

Blinds: 100/200 (4390 in chips)
Hand 29: With one other limper, limp with T7hh in the CO. We see a 94K flop with 2 hearts. Folded to me, I bet 550 into an 800 pot and take it down.
Hand 30: 84o in the CO-1, folded to me and I fold as well.
Hand 31: 93o in MP3, folded to me and I also fold.
Hand 32: 92d in MP2, folded to me, and I fold.
Hand 33: J6o in MP1, folded to me, and therefore I fold.
Hand 34: A3o UTG+1, UTG limps and I fold. (35 players remain)
Hand 35: Player to my right is moved to another table, I am the new BB and hold 43o.

Fold to UTG+1 raise.
Hand 36: Q9o in the SB, folded to me, I raise to 600 against the BB and he calls. 9T2 board with 2 spades and I have none. I lead out for 450 and am called. Turn is another 2, I bet 900 this time, he folds.
Hand 37: Q9 OTB, I fold.
Hand 38: Q8o in the CO, I fold to MP minraise.
Hand 39: T4o in the CO-1, I fold with one limper in.
Hand 40: T6o in MP, I fold. (30 players remain)

Blinds: 150/300
Hand 41: 97cc in MP, UTG limps and I do as well. SB pushes for 1945, UTG folds, I do too.
Hand 42: fold 52o.
Hand 43: limp 33 UTG, SB calls, BB checks. KA2 with two spades. Check check check. A of spades on turn, SB leads out, BB calls, I fold.
Hand 44: TJo in the BB. Tightest player at table opens to 900 so I fold.
Hand 45: J3o in the SB.
Hand 46: Q7hh OTB, I fold to MP raise from tight player.
Hand 47: 64o in the CO, I fold.
Hand 48: J3dd in the CO-1, tight players in the blinds. I raise to 825 and CO calls. Blinds fold as expected. 89Kr board. I check, he bets 5040 all in into a 2100 pot. I fold.
Hand 49: I fold T9o after UTG minraise.
Hand 50: Fold 63o
Hand 51: Fold 43o UTG+1
Hand 52: Fold T3o UTG.
Hand 53: 85o in the BB, I fold to tight player's MP raise.
Hand 54: J7o in the SB, I fold after one limper. (25 players remain)
Hand 55: J8o OTB, I fold with one limper in.
Hand 56: J6o in the CO, I openraise to 825 and take the blinds.
Hand 57: 84o in the CO-1, I openraise to 825 and take the blinds.
Hand 58: T4dd in MP, I fold with one limper.

Blinds 150/300 (25 antes)
Hand 59: AQo from UTG+1, I raise to 875 and BB calls. AT9r flop. I c-bet for 1350 and

BB folds.
Hand 60: AJo from UTG+1, I raise to 875 and take the blinds.
Hand 61: 66 from the BB. UTG minraises to 600, button pushes, I fold. UTG minraised

with AKo and beat QQ.
Hand 62: 64o from the SB, fold with one limper.
Hand 63: J8hh on the button, I openraise to 865 and steal the blinds.
Hand 64: A7o from the CO, I openraise to 875 and steal the blinds.
Hand 65: J3o from the CO-1, I fold solely for image control.
Hand 66: Fold K5o from UTG+1.
Hand 67: Fold 85o UTG (20 players remain, I am in 8th place)
Hand 68: QQ in the BB, 2 limpers, tightest player ever raise to 750. Such a small bet and it worries me, but I push all in. Limpers fold. Right player calls with AKo.

3T7A8, he wins.
Hand 69: Fold K4o in the SB with the button limping.
Hand 70: KTo on the button, I openraise to 890 and take the blinds. I've been stealing with relative ease.
Hand 71: T9o in the CO, I openraise to 890 and the button pushes for 7530. I let the

time clock dwindle and fold. So much for stealing with ease.
Hand 72: Q9o in the CO-1, I open raise to 875 and this time the button pushes. I fold.
Hand 73: Officially shortstack, with a stack of 1925. Fold 62o in MP3.
Hand 74: Fold Q2o with one limper.
Hand 75: Fold 42o.

SECOND BREAK. I'm 20th/20 and not in good shape.
Blinds 200/400 (50 antes) (1875 in chips)
Hand 76: Push 84hh from UTG+1 and somehow steal blinds.
Hand 77: Push J9o from UTG and called by 44. 9h peels off the deck first and I knock out the shortstack. 7680 in chips.
Hand 78: AJo in the BB. UTG minraises (AKo last time) I call with AJo. 996 with two clubs, I bet pots, I fold.
Hand 79: Q6o in the SB, I fold with one limper.
Hand 80: 42o OTB, fold to one limper, MP pusher.
Hand 81: Fold 82o from the CO to CO-1 minraise.
Hand 82: Q8o in the CO-1, I open raise to 1100 and tightest player pushes. Odds to call so I do, however, and he shows AQ. I'm dominated, but hit flush to KO him.
Hand 83: Fold T4o.
Hand 84: Fold A5o in MP.
Hand 85: Fold K7o UTG+1.
Hand 86: Fold Q2o UTG.
Hand 87: 74o in the BB, I fold to UTG limp, MP push. UTG folds, possibly exploitable?
Hand 88: I fold 98o after very tight player limps. Tight player had AJo. (15 players remain)
Hand 89: 54o OTB, I openraise to 1100 and steal the BB, as SB had just been eliminated.
Hand 90: Q9o in the CO, fold after one limper. (12 players remain, 10 cash)

Blinds 300/600 (75)
Hand 91: I openraise T9o UTG+1 to 1675 and SB calls. 2JJ board, and he shoves. I fold.
Hand 92: I fold Q8o UTG.
Hand 93: T8o in the BB. I push 6150 after SB completes. He ponders for a long time before calling with A6s. I lose the race, and am elimated in 12th.

Bubble boy.

Withdrew $500 from UB...

... so I can enjoy the fruits of my labor.

This leaves me with, a little bit above $50 in my account. Back to square one, and I don't mind it one bit.

Birds n Bees finishes 18/222 in UB $2000 Guaranteed Bounty

Hey, at least it's something. At this rate, I'll take what I can get.

Nov. Recap; Dec. Goals.

I didn't play for the first half of November because I was busted. I only had $22 TDs in my account on UB when I decided to gamble and play a $11 MTT on November 12th. The risky choice was the right one, however, because I took 2nd place for a very nice $250 score.

I cashed in 21 other tournaments/qualifiers for the rest of November, 16 of which were final tables. I had 5 second place finishes and 2 first place finishes, both coming in the 12PM $2000 Guarantees. The first places finishes were just 3 days apart, and were the highest cashes of my career, $664 and $567. In total, I had 6 three-digit cashes.

For the month as a whole, I cashed for $2459.37 in tournament winnings in 19 days, which is just under $130/day.

Unfortunately, as far as net profit goes, I've made $851.35. Still not bad considering I had exactly $0 in my account 20ish days ago. If I can consistently make that much money in two weeks, I'm going to have a hard time wanting to go to work over Christmas Break.

In December, I would like to have my first four-digit cash. First, this means that I'm going to have to have a variety of big cashes to pad my bankroll up to over $1000, preferably $1500. Tournaments that pay out four-digit figures have buy-ins of at least $25+2, so I'll need to be adequately prepared. Not to mention, they are tougher to beat than the $5 and $10 MTTs I'm used to, so I may need more time to take one of them down.

In December, I would also like to play and obviously cash in a UBOC event. I've been trying like crazy to qualify for these tournaments, and have been HU in UBOC Qualifiers twice, only to have failed both times. In both occasions, I had my opponents dead to 3-7 outs and still managed to get sucked out on. So standard. I'm playing in a 20 or 30 Seat Qualifier to UBOC Event 9 this Wednesday, so I'll have my best chance to qualify for that tournament. Hopefully, there isn't a sick 200+ field to navigate through though. I'd like a crowd of like, 20 or 30.

I'd like to play 0 hands of cash games this December, but knowing me that will be difficult to accomplish. There is something so appealing about making large sums of money in a short period of time. I dream of stacking people over, and over, and over again, in a half an hour session. Unfortunately, this never happens. NL50 is tough, and November was not good to me. In total, I think I lost $158 in cash games. For what its worth, I was up $292 at one point, so maybe things aren't as bad as I'm making them seem.

Either way, I'd like to get involved in some sort of Hand History review on 2+2. I feel like there are leaks in my game as far as NL50 is concerned. You simply can't play ABC poker the way you do in NL10. People are so much smarter, and I need an arsenal of moves to be able to beat them. I feel like I play very good small pot poker (raise pre-flop, c-bet, take it down), but that doesn't seem to cut it in NL50. I need to be able to float (call a raise in position, outplay them post-flop regardless of hole cards), bluff (using obvious bluff techniques like betting a paired board, 3-to-a-flush board, and obvious 3-to-a straight board). I also feel like perhaps I should limit the number of NL50 tables I play to 2-3, at least for now. I just feel like I'm not playing to the best of my ability when I 5-table at NL50. I'm confident that eventually I'll be able to, however.

So, my goal for December (if I'm able to stay in Houston the entire Christmas Break and not have to go to Mexico) is to make over $1750 in net profit. I'd also like to the first four-digit cash of my career.

Another UBOC Qualifier that I can't take down

For the second time, I got HU in a UBOC Qualifier and failed to take the seat down. We were all in preflop, K7 v A4, and I got a magical 2K5 flop. The turn brought a 3 giving him the nuts and a massive, insurmountable, chip lead.

I hate playing poker right now.

To those who limp preflop with AA: FU!

I hate, with a passion, people who limp with AA in EP. They always seem to entice a lot of limpers, severely ruining their chances of winning the hand. Bad call. Not only this, I always seem to wake up with big pair in LP, raise it up and consequently save them from certain bad beat. I played the $10k Guranteed today and had this play pulled on me twice.

There were about 4-5 limpers already in the hand and I found JJ on the button. I bet pot and got 2 callers, an EP and a LP. The flop came xQx, EP checked, LP pushed, I called, EP check-shoved, and I folded. EP showed AA and LP had QK. I lost nearly 1/2 my stack there.

In the bust out hand, after losing a pot, I was steaming and with one limper, pushed 99 in MP for around 20 big blinds. Of course the EP limper had AA and it was gg me.

I hate that stupid play. Tilt.

0/6 in Saturday tournaments. Whiff.

Today I played in the following tournaments...

1. $20+2, $10k Guaranteed
2. $15+1.30, $4k Guaranteed Bounty
3. $5+.50, $2.5k Guaranteed
4. $50+5, $5k Guaranteed
5. $10+1, $1.5k Guaranteed
6. $6+.50, $2k Guaranteed Bounty

... and had no results in any of them. I am highly disappointed. Every Saturday, I wake up dreaming of making it deep in these tournaments, particularly the $10k Guarantee. I would love to take down that $2500 first prize, and one day, I am going to.

I played horribly and feel like I was not myself and did not play to the best of my ability. I made poor judgments the entire day, and had piss-poor performances as results. I'm pretty embarrassed of the way things went down today, and I hope to turn it around tomorrow with some solid performances.

Since I've work tomorrow, I don't plan on playing many MTTs. Before work, however, I would like to play the $22 $2k Guaranteed at 11AM as well as the $11 $1.5k Guaranteed at 12PM. Afterwards, depending on when I get off, I'd like to play the following.

1. $38, $9k Guaranteed Bounty @ 6:30PM
   
2. $5.50, $1.5k Guaranteed @ 7:31PM
3. $12, $5k Guaranteed Bounty @ 8PM
4. $27, $6k Guaranteed Bounty @ 9:30PM
5. $27.50, $6k Guaranteed @ 11PM
6. $6.50, $1.5k Guaranteed Bounty @ 12AM
7. $1.10, $1000 Guaranteed Rebuy @ 1AM

So sick that I'm rolled to play for all of this, I love it.

Congratulations to my friend, "mjkinney," for placing 4th in a UB $2 Bounty. Good job sir.

UltimateBet Bankroll: $1127.

Birds n Bees finishes 4/425 in UB $1500 Guaranteed for $148.75

So, so disappointed about this one. I battled back from being shortstack the entire final table. 4 handed, I had about 75k while every had monster stacks of ~150. It was a daunting task ahead of me. I got myself all in pre-flop 33 v AQo, and somehow held. I remember yelling at my computer "please God, hold once!" and luckily that happened. I was back in it.

I finally had a stack I could steal blinds with. The entire table sat back and let me. I had them completely at my disposal. I was surprised because earlier in the FT I realized that there were not many soft spots at the table whatsoever. The final four was no joke at all.

In the bust out hand, I held 87o in the BB and it folded to the SB. With the blinds at 2500/5000(500), he minraised to 1000. I elected to call and hit the flop dirty, 478. He led out and I decided to just smooth call. I'd been battling back as a shortstack the entire tournament and wanted to get the most out of this as possible. The turn brought a K, and we both checked it. The river brought a Q, and he led out for a very thin bet. I wish I'd read it was a value bet, but unfortunately I did not. I pushed for my remaining stack and he snapcalled with KK for a turned set. Brutal. I busted in 4th place and received $148.75 for my efforts.

Here is the painful bustout hand, once again:

Hand #48484942-82 at Fri830pmG-Final (No Limit tournament Hold'em)
Started at 01/Dec/07 00:49:53

Sjay5 is at seat 1 with 178295.
Birds n Bees is at seat 4 with 167030.
scooter3709 is at seat 6 with 189820.
sucoutvctm is at seat 7 with 102355.
The button is at seat 6.

Sjay5 posts ante (500).
Birds n Bees posts ante (500).
scooter3709 posts ante (500).
sucoutvctm posts ante (500).
Sjay5 posts the small blind of 2500.
Birds n Bees posts the big blind of 5000.

Sjay5: -- --
Birds n Bees: 7s 8d
scooter3709: -- --
sucoutvctm: -- --

Pre-flop:

scooter3709 folds. sucoutvctm folds. Sjay5 raises
to 10000. Birds n Bees calls.

Flop (board: 4h 8s 7d):

Sjay5 bets 12500. Birds n Bees calls.

Turn (board: 4h 8s 7d Kh):

Sjay5 checks. Birds n Bees checks.

River (board: 4h 8s 7d Kh Qs):

Sjay5 bets 17500. Birds n Bees goes all-in for
144030. Sjay5 calls.

Tournament all-in showdown -- players show:

Sjay5 shows Kd Ks.
Birds n Bees shows 7s 8d.

Showdown:

Sjay5 has Kd Ks 8s Kh Qs: three kings.
Birds n Bees has 7s 8d 8s 7d Kh: two pair, eights and sevens.


Hand #48484942-82 Summary:

No rake is taken for this hand.
Sjay5 wins 335060 with three kings.

Birds n Bees finishes 1/105 in UB $2000 Guaranteed for $567

Bad cash; Stage 1 Qualifier taken down

I'd estimate I lost ~$150 in cash games today. I did okay with my usual 5-table NL50 session, finishing up a buy-in or so. I then decided to work on my HU game and 4-tabled NL50 HU, and lost about $50 there. I chased with NL400 and lost around $30 there. To top the night off, lost $45 5-tabling NL50 for like 20 minutes.

So, meh, not a great night. Haven't been in the best mood tonight, so I'm done for the night. I wish I'd said that $150 ago.

In positive news, I took down a Stage 1 UBOC Qualifier today. This means that on Wednesday, I'll be playing in a 20/30 Seat Guarantee, with entry into one of the UBOC events. It'd be awesome to play in a UBOC over the Christmas holidays.

I don't know if I feel much like playing tomorrow. I doubt that statement will stand when I have nothing to do and find myself in front of a computer, but hopefully it will hold.

Birds n Bees finishes 34/380 in UB $1500 Guaranteed Bounty

Birds n Bees finishes 7/372 in UB $1500 Guaranteed for $79.05

Actually pretty upset with the way this one turned out. 77 in MP and an UTG raiser comes in for standard 3-3.5x raise. I opt to push for 30BBs total with 77. Yeah, some people call here and hope to flop sets. I, on the other hand I 1) don't want others to join, 2) don't want others to reraise and push me off hand and, 3) want to take it down right now. After much, much debate, raiser elects to call with KQo. Board comes KQTTT, gg me.

At least I was the favorite? I don't really know what to say.

uBet Bankroll: $1175

+107, NL50, 5-tabling

820 hand session (~hour and a half) went really really well. I was up to around $200 but decided to stay at some tables and play HU and obviously I lose a lot. I felt like I played okay in one but then lost a huge flip, AK v 55/88, and that was that.

+107 is noice though, it gets my bankroll above $1k for the first time since the summer.

I'm ITM of the $1500 Guarantee, average in chips. 16 players remain. Screenshot coming as soon as that one is over. Hopefully I can take her down.

Won just a bit over 3 buy-ins at NL10 on Full Tilt

+$32.05 for a much needed pad to my bankroll at Full Tilt.

Full Tilt Bankroll: $63

I also won't be playing much for the remainder of the week because I'm swamped with shit to do for work. Its been a good past few days though.

Birds n Bees finishes 1/123 in UB $2000 Guaranteed for $664.20

FINALLY! I TOOK ONE OF THEM DOWN!!!!!

Birds n Bees finishes 17/317 in UB $1500 Guaranteed for $11.88

Birds n Bees finishes 2/185 in UB $1500 Guaranteed for $296

I'm so terrible HU. I really thought I had this tournament but eventually it came down to me not having the balls to call immense 3-bets. The guy who took this down played phenomenally and it would've been quite the feat to have taken him down. Kudos to him.

I played very well this tournament, but was pretty reluctant to get involved in hands. I'd attempt steals and have to lay them down to reraises. I've got to get over that because I'm confident the tournament would've been mine had I called a few of those times.

I'll take $300 though.

Show da Scrilla finishes 27th/496 in FT $3 for $9.65

Overexcerting myself. Not getting anything done.

I don't know why I always load up too many MTTs to keep up with. My skill just goes to shit if I'm multi-tabling too many.

Birds n Bees finishes 6th/256 in UB $1 Rebuy $1000 Guaranteed for $59.51

I final tabled the UB $1 Rebuy $1k Guaranteed for the 5th or 6th time in my career, this time finishing 6th for nearly $60. I played pretty well and made a few questionable calls when I small pocket pair, had raised pre-flop and was faced with an over-the-top shove. All in all though, I think I played pretty well. It being the 5th time I've made this final table is pretty amazing.

I got really lucky on the last hand before the rebuy period ended. The pot was huge already, with a raiser and various callers, so I just pushed in 4500 with wired 9s. Everyone called and this massive 21k+ pot was created. The board came all clubs and I was the only one in the hand with a club. I turned the nuts and shipped a sick pot, that pretty much gave me easy coasting throughout the entire tournament.

Show da Scrilla finishes 34th/987 in FT $1 $500 Guaranteed "The Ferguson" for $4.14

Played pretty well but eventually (I don't remember how) got too shortstacked and pushed 6BBs with J7 into KQ and AA. Sucks to play for so long and not get a bigger score.

Birds n Bees finishes 43rd/793 in UB $2 Bounty for $2.77

I also had 5 KO's good for $5 in bounty money.

I couldn't play as much as I would've liked to play today because I got called into work. I'll play my ass off tomorrow, hopefully. No work tomorrow for sure.

I'm playing really good poker right now and running deep in everything. There were a few cases of gross suckouts JJ < TT and TT < 99 happened twice today, ughhh, that were for huge pots. Unfortunately I couldn't hold.

I may or may not play more tonight. Depends on what happens with friends. If I do play however, I'll obviously post.

Also, I'm back on Full Tilt.

uBet: $92
FT: $47

Back from Thanksgiving Break.

uBet bankroll is around $102 right now and I'm back from Thanksgiving Break. I hope everyone had a fantastic break.

I've been itching to play poker and will be doing so on UltimateBet all day today, so rail me if you get the chance. I'm 0/2 in tournaments thus far with TT<99 style="font-weight: bold;">

+$30, NL10 6max 5-tabling

Finally, a productive night multi-tabling. Its a complete grind, but after 700+ hands I finished up $30. Its been so long since I've had a successful session multi-tabling and I'm glad I finally was able to get a winning one going.

Bankroll is a bit under $100. Roller coasterin' son of a bitch.

Birds n Bees finishes 26th/440 in UB Bounty $1500 Guaranteed for $12

I played great but eventually blinded down to <10BBs and pushed A9 in MP. SB pushed and BB auto-called. SB had JJ and BB showed AA. Completely wrong time to shove. x9x flop gave me hope and 9 on turn had me up out of my chair. It was short-lived however as the river brought a J to give the SB Jacks Full and end my tournament run. I made $12 for 26th place as well as $6 in bounties, which I gave to my friend since I gave him a bad beat (ish) earlier today.

My MTT game is becoming pretty sick. I'll explain some of the changes I've made to my game in an upcoming post.

$3/$6: -$240

Got spanked. They can play up there, let me tell you.

Birds n Bees finishes 2nd/67 in UB $5 for $67

After the first hour of play, I had 1475 chips from a starting stack of 1500. Pretty horrible. I was patient and played well however, and finally persistence paid off. I made the final table 1st in chips, and with 7 left had 2x what 2nd place had. I was nearly x3 above average.

Unfortunately I had to leave to have lunch with my girlfriend. My good friend BigSlick took over when I was 4th/4 and had 1/2 the chip average. He worked his magic and ended up taking 2nd place for me. Appreciate it man.

Lucky day.

Don't really remember what happened, haha. Days are running together. After the previous post, I lost close to my entire bankroll the next day. I've managed to salvage it, however, and its currently at $300. I'm being ballsy and buying in for the minimum and playing until I can afford to play at higher stakes. I bought in for $30 at $0.50/$1 and got it up to $42ish. I then bought into a $1/$2 game and ran that up to about $84 I think. I'm now sitting at a $2/$4 table with $300. When I hit $120 (minimum buy-in for $3/$6), I looked for $3/$6 tables but there were none open. After tomorrow, I won't be able to play for an entire week, so I'm trying to get in what I can before Thanksgiving Break.

I watched the FTOPS religiously this past week and have learned so much from these players. There are a ton of brilliant online players and my respect goes out to each and every one of them. They're truly masters of the game. I feel that my MTT game has improved immensely through watching them, and I hope that it translates to some deep runs in the next few months.

I'm also planning on reading some poker books over break, which I haven't done, ever. I want to read Full Tilt's MTT book, so hopefully I'll be able to read a few chapters of that.

- Saeid

FT'd the same $10+1; qualified for Sat. majors

Decided to play MTTs today and had a really solid day. I cashed for the Saturday $2.5k Guarantee ($5.50 worth) as well as the Saturday $10k Guarantee ($22worth, I think). I spend $6.60 on entires for those so in total I saved about $20-something.

I ran deep in a lot of tournaments as well. I got 12th in a Turbo $1r which was good for $20ish, I believe. I'll PokerDB all this tomorrow to double check. I also final tabled the same $10+1 MTT for the second time. This makes back-to-back FT appearances for this tourney. I played well and got 5th place, good for $110.

Bankroll looks nice, considering it was nothing 2 days ago.

uBet Bankroll: $340.

Back.

Wow, its been a while hasn't it? Sorry for the hiatus, but things didn't run well when I jumped to NL25 and I no longer felt the desire to blog. Negative posts are no fun and writing about going busto is tough. I did go bust though, all $375ish of it, and only had 22 Tournament Dollars in my account.

I didn't play poker for over a month and focused on school and work. I'm opening my own business soon, burnthiscity designs. Its a visual media design/band management company, and I'm very excited about getting it started.

I finally decided to play poker about 2 nights ago. I bought into a $10+1 MTT using TDs, which was not very smart since it was 50% of my TDs. I made my way through the 156 player field and took 2nd place, good for ~$249. It was great to play so well. I remember a lot of hands for a ton of chips where I'd just straight shove-bluff to take it down. I didn't really have a process of deciding when to shove but things worked out. Just the pressure of being put all-in was enough to push my opponents of their hands.

Something really odd happened at the tournament, which I wrote about at 2+2 here:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=12942018&an=0&page=0#Post12942018

So, I'm back to playing cards. I'm not really sure if I'll be grinding MTTs or cash, but I'll try to post results nightly.

Wednesdays Notes

Tuesday's Notes (Late). I didn't post cause not a whole lot happened. I believe I played close to 1300 hands and made something like $10.

Wednesday's NL10 Session. I played very well today and had one of my nicest days of NL10, finishing up a very welcome $50.85. I played nearly 1900 hands and have surpassed my goal of 10,000 hands at NL10.

The 2+2 post. This never happened. After trying to navigate the forum and find out where to post stats/graphs/results/whatever and being unsuccessful, I decided to forget about it. I don't really need anyones expert opinion on how I'm doing and whether or not I should move up to NL25.

NL25 6-max. Yeah, I think it's time for me to move up to $0.10/$0.25. My bankroll is where I think it needs to be: at 15 BI's for NL25, aka $375+. Starting tomorrow, I'll begin my journey at NL25. Here are some really simple goals, however:

• Play no more than 5 tables at a time.
• Try to play 1000 hands/day unless running horrible/tilting. If doing really well, continue playing for as long as I'd like.
• Play 10,000 hands total of NL25.
• If bankroll falls to below $300, move back down to NL10. Grind up to $375.
  
• Can't move up to $0.25/$0.50 until I have $50 x 20 BI's = $1000.

NL10 running results. Here it is, the results of 10 days of really hard work and dedication. I present to you my results at NL10:



I finished up a delicious $187.15, making something like $9.13/hour.

I've also quickly taken a look at my PokerTracker stats. Everything is just solid. I play comfortable at 22/16/2.5 (VP$IP/PFR/AF). I steal the blinds frequently, at 32%. I have a 60% showdown win percentage, which is decent IMO. I get tighter the further away from the button I am. The only thing of concern, IMO, is that I lose money from the BB. Although this number is small (-$2.49) I still don't like having leaks in my game. I'm currently writing it off as variance yet keeping it in my head that maybe I need to protect my blinds and 3-bet from the BB a little bit more. Its just really scary for me to call a bet OOP but I assume I need to overcome that ridiculous fear. Especially if the raises are coming from the Button where they can be pretty much holding ATC. I should just look at the opponents Attempt to Steal percentage and if its 30% I can call wide and if its 12% I can call tight.

Anyways, I'm off to bed. Exhausting day, for some reason.

uBet Bankroll: $376.86

Monday's Notes

1288/1000 hands played. I'm really tired so I'm just going to post today's results and the NL10 running total. Today was a really up and down day and here is the graph. I did my best to avoid getting stacked if I didn't have to but I think that KK v AA on a QJx board, AQ v 22 on a A2KQ board, and KK v Q9 on a Qxx board that finished out Q9, are all legitimate ways to get stacked. I'm fine with them all.



NL10 running total. 7,705 hands played, 2,295 to go.


Should play the remaining hands in ~2 days. The plan is still to post my PokerTracker stats on 2+2 and see what they say, however, if I don't have a $400-$500 bankroll by 10k hands, I'll be grinding $NL10 for just a little bit longer. I really do want to be adequately stacked for each level.

uBet Bankroll: $349.07

Sunday's Notes

No MTTs Played. For the first time in a long time, I didn't play any MTTs today. I'm completely confident in my NL10 6-max game and don't want to stop.

1923/1000 hands played today. Dirtey.



6.4k hands down, 4.6k to go. Here is a look at my running total at NL10 6-max. I began last Monday.


Lay Down of the day.
Hand #45623292-59098 at Rocky Mount (No Limit Hold'em)
Started at 30/Sep/07 19:00:49

h0rny is at seat 0 with $9.82.
onegreenchip is at seat 1 with $16.13.
Birds n Bees is at seat 3 with $10.41.
skybox43 is at seat 4 with $7.24.
arnet75 is at seat 5 with $10.42.
The button is at seat 3.

skybox43 posts the small blind of $.05.
arnet75 posts the big blind of $.10.

h0rny: -- --
onegreenchip: -- --
Birds n Bees: Qh Kc
skybox43: -- --
arnet75: -- --

Pre-flop:
h0rny calls. onegreenchip folds. Birds n Bees
raises to $.45. skybox43 calls. arnet75 folds.
h0rny calls.

Flop (board: Td Jh Ks):
skybox43 checks. h0rny checks. Birds n Bees bets
$.50. skybox43 raises to $2. h0rny folds. Birds n
Bees folds. skybox43 is returned $1.50 (uncalled).

skybox43 opts to show Ac Qs.
skybox43 has Ac Qs Td Jh Ks: straight, ace high.

Hand #45623292-59098 Summary:
$.12 is raked from a pot of $2.45.
skybox43 wins $2.33.
----------------------------------------------------------------

Bad Beat of the day.
Hand #45622894-64495 at Tallahassee (No Limit Hold'em)
Started at 30/Sep/07 15:08:08

coolchris21 is at seat 0 with $9.55.
jl815 is at seat 1 with $12.38.
Chillbaer is at seat 2 with $9.98.
unome2 is at seat 3 with $2.50 (sitting out).
BLASTARD25 is at seat 4 with $9.19.
Birds n Bees is at seat 5 with $19.92.
The button is at seat 5.

coolchris21 posts the small blind of $.05.
jl815 posts the big blind of $.10.

coolchris21: -- --
jl815: -- --
Chillbaer: -- --
BLASTARD25: -- --
Birds n Bees: Ks Kh

Pre-flop:
Chillbaer folds. BLASTARD25 raises to $.35. Birds n
Bees calls. coolchris21 folds. jl815 re-raises to
$2.60. BLASTARD25 goes all-in for $9.19. Birds n
Bees goes all-in for $19.92. jl815 folds. Birds n
Bees is returned $10.73 (uncalled).

Preflop Commentary: I only called BLASTARD25's raise because "jl815" was in the blinds and he always 3-bets. Although I was planning on BLASTARD25 folding and then me pushing over the top of "jl815," this still played out perfectly.

Flop (board: 7s 7h 6h):
(no action in this round)

Turn (board: 7s 7h 6h 4h):
(no action in this round)

River (board: 7s 7h 6h 4h Td):
(no action in this round)

Showdown:
Birds n Bees shows Ks Kh.
Birds n Bees has Ks Kh 7s 7h Td: two pair, kings and sevens.
BLASTARD25 shows 6c 6d.
BLASTARD25 has 6c 6d 7s 7h 6h: full house, sixes full of sevens.

Well... almost perfectly.

Hand #45622894-64495 Summary:
$1.05 is raked from a pot of $21.03.
BLASTARD25 wins $19.98 with full house, sixes full of sevens.
----------------------------------------------------------------

Feel Good hand of the day.
Hand #45622882-70489 at St Johns (No Limit Hold'em)
Started at 30/Sep/07 13:55:32

Birds n Bees is at seat 0 with $13.09.
mass4040 is at seat 1 with $16.67.
MAG992003 is at seat 2 with $9.90.
nonameFF is at seat 4 with $9.93.
The button is at seat 4.

Birds n Bees posts the small blind of $.05.
mass4040 posts the big blind of $.10.

Birds n Bees: Ah As
mass4040: -- --
MAG992003: -- --
nonameFF: -- --

Pre-flop:
MAG992003 folds. nonameFF folds. Birds n Bees
raises to $.30. mass4040 calls.

Flop (board: 2d 6s Ad):
Birds n Bees bets $.45. mass4040 calls.

Flop Commentary: I don't care that I flopped a set of aces, there are still two diamonds out there. Just like I would lead out with AK, 22, and 66 here, I'm leading out with AA. All these hands are still vulnerable to a diamond. Also, with him calling, he almost certainly has AK or a diamond draw, more than likely a diamond draw since he didn't raise.

Turn (board: 2d 6s Ad 6h):
Birds n Bees checks. mass4040 checks.

OK, now a diamond can hit.

River (board: 2d 6s Ad 6h 5d):
Birds n Bees checks. mass4040 bets $8.50. Birds n
Bees goes all-in for $12.34. mass4040 calls.

This couldn't have played out any better.

Showdown:
Birds n Bees shows Ah As.
Birds n Bees has Ah As 6s Ad 6h: full house, aces full of sixes.
mass4040 mucks cards.
(mass4040 has Kd 8d.)

Hand #45622882-70489 Summary:
$1.30 is raked from a pot of $26.18.
Birds n Bees wins $24.88 with full house, aces full of sixes.
----------------------------------------------------------------

Moving up to NL25 6-max? I will more than likely be making the move up to $0.10/$0.25 within the next week or so. Here is what I would like to do before then:

• Play a total of 10k hands @ NL10 6-max.
• Post 10k results/stats from PokerTracker at 2+2 for feedback.
• Have a bankroll between $400-$500.

uPoints. For every raked hand I'm involved in, I get a certain amount of uPoints. Accumulate enough and you can transfer in these uPoints for cash.

• 750-999 points, 3 cents per point
• 750 points, $22.50
• 999 points, $29.97
  
• 1000-1999 points, 5 cents per point
• 1000 points, $50.00
• 1999 points, $99.95
  
• 2000 or more points, 7.5 cents per point
• 2000 points, $150

I've got 216 points now and I've got until Thursday to get at least 750. Eek. That is a lot of poker. It'd be nice to get this bonus but we'll just have to see if I can make it happen. Ultimately, I'm fine with the way things are going. It'd just be nice.

uBet Bankroll: $334.38

Saturday's Notes (Edited)

The Saturday Majors. I whiffed in every major Guaranteed tournament I played in: the $10k Guaranteed, $2.5k Guaranteed, $2k Guaranteed Bounty, and the late-night $2k Guaranteed bounty and $1k Guaranteed. Oh well.

1428*/1000 hands played. According to PokerTracker, I played 1,428 hands today. However, midway through the session I realized that two of my tables weren't getting results. I have no idea how many hands I actually played.

I played very well this session which is why I kept on playing. According to PT, I finished up $30.02 on the night but it is actually $34.77. Again, PokerAce Hud was being retarded and wouldn't fetch hands.

Bad beat of the day.
Hand #45623640-54420 at Addison (No Limit Hold'em)
Started at 30/Sep/07 05:29:29

Duke29757 is at seat 0 with $2.33.
Mrs_Sakki is at seat 2 with $3.50.
X50outzX is at seat 3 with $13.25.
Birds n Bees is at seat 4 with $55.23. Sick stack!
The button is at seat 2.

X50outzX posts the small blind of $.05.
Birds n Bees posts the big blind of $.10.
Duke29757 posts out of turn for $.10.

Duke29757: -- --
Mrs_Sakki: -- --
X50outzX: -- --
Birds n Bees: Ts Th

Pre-flop:
Duke29757 checks. Mrs_Sakki folds. X50outzX raises
to $.60. Birds n Bees re-raises to $1.90. Duke29757
folds. X50outzX calls.

Flop (board: 5s 2s 5c):
X50outzX checks. Birds n Bees bets $3. X50outzX
goes all-in for $11.35. Birds n Bees calls.

Turn (board: 5s 2s 5c 6d):
(no action in this round)

River (board: 5s 2s 5c 6d Jh):
(no action in this round)

Showdown:
X50outzX shows Jd Ad.
X50outzX has Jd Ad 5s 5c Jh: two pair, jacks and fives.
Birds n Bees mucks cards.
(Birds n Bees has Ts Th.)

Hand #45623640-54420 Summary:
$1.33 is raked from a pot of $26.60.
X50outzX wins $25.27 with two pair, jacks and fives.
----------------------------------------------------------------

Feel good hands of the day.
Hand #45623640-54393 at Addison (No Limit Hold'em)
Started at 30/Sep/07 05:22:06

ShushuPay is at seat 0 with $9.92.
X50outzX is at seat 3 with $20.02.
Birds n Bees is at seat 4 with $36.50.
fg648 is at seat 5 with $10.63.
The button is at seat 5.

ShushuPay posts the small blind of $.05.
X50outzX posts the big blind of $.10.

ShushuPay: -- --
X50outzX: -- --
Birds n Bees: As Qh
fg648: -- --

Pre-flop:
Birds n Bees raises to $.35. fg648 folds. ShushuPay
folds. X50outzX re-raises to $1.30. Birds n Bees
calls.

Flop (board: Qs Qd 3c):
X50outzX bets $2. Birds n Bees raises to $8.65.
X50outzX calls.

I played this fast because its so transparent if I'd just smooth call his $2. In other words, he'd have known I had a Queen. I played this hand as if I had a medium pocket pair and didn't think the Queen hit him. He probably believed this as well.

Turn (board: Qs Qd 3c Ac):
X50outzX goes all-in for $10.07. Birds n Bees calls.

River (board: Qs Qd 3c Ac 8c):
(no action in this round)

Showdown:
X50outzX shows Ks Kc.
X50outzX has Ks Kc Qs Qd Ac: two pair, kings and queens.
Birds n Bees shows As Qh.
Birds n Bees has As Qh Qs Qd Ac: full house, queens full of aces.

Hand #45623640-54393 Summary:
$2 is raked from a pot of $40.09.
Birds n Bees wins $38.09 with full house, queens full of aces.
----------------------------------------------------------------

Hand #45623640-54359 at Addison (No Limit Hold'em)
Started at 30/Sep/07 05:04:01

ShushuPay is at seat 0 with $9.50.
Iceman_CO is at seat 1 with $9.80.
pennstate13 is at seat 2 with $25.16.
X50outzX is at seat 3 with $36.12.
Birds n Bees is at seat 4 with $16.95.
fg648 is at seat 5 with $10.23.
The button is at seat 5.

ShushuPay posts the small blind of $.05.
Iceman_CO posts the big blind of $.10.

ShushuPay: -- --
Iceman_CO: -- --
pennstate13: -- --
X50outzX: -- --
Birds n Bees: Kh Kd
fg648: -- --

Pre-flop:
pennstate13 folds. X50outzX raises to $.35. Birds n
Bees re-raises to $1.20. fg648 folds. ShushuPay
folds. Iceman_CO folds. X50outzX re-raises to
$2.85. Birds n Bees calls.

Flop (board: Qh 8h 8c):
X50outzX checks. Birds n Bees checks.

Turn (board: Qh 8h 8c 4c):
X50outzX checks. Birds n Bees bets $4. X50outzX
goes all-in for $33.27. Birds n Bees goes all-in for
$14.10. X50outzX is returned $19.17 (uncalled).

River (board: Qh 8h 8c 4c 2d):
(no action in this round)

Showdown:
X50outzX shows Ah Qd.
X50outzX has Ah Qd Qh 8h 8c: two pair, queens and eights.
Birds n Bees shows Kh Kd.
Birds n Bees has Kh Kd Qh 8h 8c: two pair, kings and eights.

Hand #45623640-54359 Summary:
$1.70 is raked from a pot of $34.05.
Birds n Bees wins $32.35 with two pair, kings and eights.
----------------------------------------------------------------

1000 hands/day graph (since start)

Total Hands: 4494
Total Profit: $65.31


UB Bankroll: $263.10

Friday's Notes (Edited)

6th/132, UB $1.5k Guarantee. I was really shortstacked entering the final table but managed to steal enough to survive and bust in 6th place. I pushed 98hh and ran into an ugly 88 and that ended my miraculous final table run. Overall, I played very solid and very tight. 6th place was good enough for $90. I'm happy with how I'm playing. This is my 2nd final table in 2 days which has me feeling pretty confident. Tomorrow I'll be in two huge tournaments: the $10k Guaranteed at 1:30 and the $2.5k Guaranteed at 2:30. I'm also pondering playing the $2k Guaranteed Bounty at 5:00. All-in-all, I'm spending a max of $13.10 in tournament entries tomorrow. This is due in large part to qualifying to these tournaments in $1/$1r qualifiers. Without these satellites, I'd be spending something like ~$31.

272/1k hands played. Again, ran horribly. I think I finished down $24.35. The 1k hands/day are starting to get to me. I think I should play tighter and maybe more passive. Perhaps I just need to stick to an ABC game. At the same time, I'm not playing any differently than I did 2-3 days ago when I was up almost $110/1850 hands, so I suppose I'll just write this off as plain bad luck.

In other news, ValueKill is back at UB and raping. He is up ~$110 doing the 1k hands/day thing, so sick props to him.

Bad beat of the day.
Hand #45622825-79797 at Clinton (No Limit Hold'em)
Started at 28/Sep/07 23:06:02

cmagic is at seat 0 with $12.04.
Birds n Bees is at seat 1 with $14.36.
RAVEN2934 is at seat 3 with $4.14.
rmoney6969 is at seat 4 with $17.91.
LorMan is at seat 5 with $15.92.
The button is at seat 1.

RAVEN2934 posts the small blind of $.05.
rmoney6969 posts the big blind of $.10.

cmagic: -- --
Birds n Bees: Jd Jh
RAVEN2934: -- --
rmoney6969: -- --
LorMan: -- --

Pre-flop:
LorMan folds. cmagic raises to $.40. Birds n Bees
re-raises to $1.35. RAVEN2934 folds. rmoney6969
folds. cmagic calls.

Flop (board: Ah 4d Ad):
cmagic checks. Birds n Bees checks.

Turn (board: Ah 4d Ad Kc):
cmagic checks. Birds n Bees checks.

River (board: Ah 4d Ad Kc Js):
cmagic goes all-in for $10.69. Birds n Bees calls.

Showdown:
cmagic shows As Kh.
cmagic has As Kh Ah Ad Kc: full house, aces full of kings.
Birds n Bees mucks cards.
(Birds n Bees has Jd Jh.)

Hand #45622825-79797 Summary:
$1.21 is raked from a pot of $24.23.
cmagic wins $23.02 with full house, aces full of kings.
----------------------------------------------------------------

Brag of the day.
Hand #45622885-69496 at Upper Saint Clair (No Limit Hold'em)
Started at 28/Sep/07 22:52:27

fantom001 is at seat 0 with $6.05.
shootin10s is at seat 1 with $4.70.
jdbchips is at seat 3 with $11.51.
fishook66 is at seat 4 with $5.75.
Birds n Bees is at seat 5 with $9.70.
The button is at seat 4.

Birds n Bees posts the small blind of $.05.
fantom001 posts the big blind of $.10.

fantom001: -- --
shootin10s: -- --
jdbchips: -- --
fishook66: -- --
Birds n Bees: 9s 8h

Pre-flop:
shootin10s calls. jdbchips calls. fishook66 calls.
Birds n Bees calls. fantom001 checks.

Flop (board: Qd 7h 6s):
Birds n Bees checks. fantom001 checks. shootin10s
checks. jdbchips checks. fishook66 checks.

Turn (board: Qd 7h 6s 5c):
Birds n Bees bets $.30. fantom001 raises to $.80.
shootin10s folds. jdbchips folds. fishook66 folds.
Birds n Bees calls.

River (board: Qd 7h 6s 5c Ts):
Birds n Bees checks. fantom001 bets $1.25. Birds n
Bees raises to $5.85. fantom001 goes all-in for
$5.15. Birds n Bees is returned $.70 (uncalled).

Showdown:
Birds n Bees shows 9s 8h.
Birds n Bees has 9s 8h 7h 6s Ts: straight, ten high.
fantom001 shows 4s 3d.
fantom001 has 4s 3d 7h 6s 5c: straight, seven high.

Hand #45622885-69496 Summary:
$.62 is raked from a pot of $12.40.
Birds n Bees wins $11.78 with straight, ten high.
----------------------------------------------------------------

16th/126, UB $5. Meh, I think I played fantastic and was about to double up huge, having my AQ up against A2hh. Unfortunately, the flop came with 2 hearts and my opponent hit on the river. I can't complain though! I also remember another hand in a tournament where I had my opponent dominated and still lost. Eh. If anything it makes me feel better. Just sucks that it had to happen at that moment exactly. I won an insignificant $6.30 for my efforts, but I'll take what I can get. ITM is ITM, and I lost with the best hand. There is no such thing as a better situation so I can't complain.

Tonight's Schedule. I think my day is pretty much done. I've got 3 tournaments left today. The first is already underway and is a low buy-in $2.20 Bounty that started with an impressive 752 players. I'm playing near-perfectly and am keeping up perfectly with the chip average. Next is the $6.50, $2k Guaranteed Bounty at 12:00 a.m. followed by the $1r, $1k Guaranteed. Should any of these 3 tournaments see me in the money, I'll edit this post.

[EDIT: 45th/343 in UB $1k Guaranteed $1r] Yeah, I bubble this tournament last night. I was doing super fantastic and had a sick stack until I ran KK into AA. His PFR was 7 and I guess I should respect that? Although, I can see him playing KK, QQ, and JJ in the same possibly way. Just unlucky. I was crippled but managed to quadruple up with AQ > JK > some other retarded holdings. I ended up slightly below average and it seemed like I was going to make the money. A player who had just been seated at our, "punko" and had pushed his first hand from UTG+1. He was a shortstack. He took the blinds with this. Then, from UTG, he pushed again. I made an (in my opinion) easy call from the SB with AT and he showed TT and although I flopped an Ace the board finished with running clubs to give him the T-high flush. I don't know if I should have my tournament life on the line with ATo. I wasn't shortstack per se and I probably could have waited around just a little bit longer for a more decent holding. ATo is nowhere near the Top 5% hands. [/EDIT]

FTP Strategy Guide: Tournament Edition. I plan on waking up tomorrow, having a meal, and reading this book until its time to play the $10k. Its such an insightful read.

UltimateBet Bankroll: $258.85

Thursday's Notes

867/1000 hands. Things were going okay but not fantastic. I don't think I was ever up a complete buy-in at any given point. I finished the session wih 867 hands and a BB/100 hands of -7.27. Meh, I finished the session down $12.61. I feel like I played well and just kept running monsters into bigger monsters. So frustrating.

Some big hands:

Hand #45622854-69305 at Homewood (No Limit Hold'em)
Started at 27/Sep/07 18:08:32

Lions 8 is at seat 0 with $17.36.
briar66 is at seat 1 with $4.86.
ShushuPay is at seat 2 with $7.96.
lolpwned is at seat 3 with $17.56.
Zigaoee is at seat 4 with $9.30.
Birds n Bees is at seat 5 with $10.29.
The button is at seat 3.

Zigaoee posts the small blind of $.05.
Birds n Bees posts the big blind of $.10.

Lions 8: -- --
briar66: -- --
ShushuPay: -- --
lolpwned: -- --
Zigaoee: -- --
Birds n Bees: Qs 9c

Pre-flop:

Lions 8 folds. briar66 folds. ShushuPay folds.
lolpwned folds. Zigaoee calls. Birds n Bees raises
to $.30. Zigaoee calls.

Flop (board: Qc 6h 9s):

Zigaoee checks. Birds n Bees bets $.35. Zigaoee
raises to $.70. Birds n Bees calls.

Turn (board: Qc 6h 9s Js):

Zigaoee bets $2. Birds n Bees goes all-in for $9.29.
Zigaoee goes all-in for $8.30. Birds n Bees is
returned $.99 (uncalled).

River (board: Qc 6h 9s Js 4s):

(no action in this round)

Showdown:

Birds n Bees shows Qs 9c.
Birds n Bees has Qs 9c Qc 9s Js: two pair, queens and nines.
Zigaoee shows 6d 6s.
Zigaoee has 6d 6s Qc 6h Js: three sixes.

Hand #45622854-69305 Summary:

$.93 is raked from a pot of $18.60.
Zigaoee wins $17.67 with three sixes.
----------------------------------------------------------------

Hand #45643686-85459 at Broomfield (No Limit Hold'em)
Started at 27/Sep/07 16:52:25

westicles89 is at seat 0 with $6.18.
johnsmith141 is at seat 1 with $6.22.
emf85 is at seat 2 with $10.14.
meyersj is at seat 3 with $3.44.
Birds n Bees is at seat 4 with $9.59.
Cr1msonking is at seat 5 with $3.52 (sitting out).
The button is at seat 3.

Birds n Bees posts the small blind of $.05.
westicles89 posts the big blind of $.10.

westicles89: -- --
johnsmith141: -- --
emf85: -- --
meyersj: -- --
Birds n Bees: 4c 4s

Pre-flop:

johnsmith141 calls. emf85 folds. meyersj calls.
Birds n Bees calls. westicles89 checks.

Flop (board: Jd 8s 4d):

Birds n Bees bets $.25. westicles89 folds.
johnsmith141 folds. meyersj raises to $1.15. Birds
n Bees re-raises to $3.85. meyersj goes all-in for
$3.34. Birds n Bees is returned $.51 (uncalled).

Turn (board: Jd 8s 4d Js):

(no action in this round)

River (board: Jd 8s 4d Js 5h):

(no action in this round)

Showdown:

Birds n Bees shows 4c 4s.
Birds n Bees has 4c 4s Jd 4d Js: full house, fours full of jacks.
meyersj shows 8c Jh.
meyersj has 8c Jh Jd 8s Js: full house, jacks full of eights.

Hand #45643686-85459 Summary:

$.35 is raked from a pot of $7.08.
meyersj wins $6.73 with full house, jacks full of eights.
----------------------------------------------------------------

Hand #45622836-71588 at Bithell (No Limit Hold'em)
Started at 27/Sep/07 17:06:53

2w3e4r is at seat 0 with $2.13.
emf85 is at seat 1 with $11.59 (sitting out).
Zenabi23 is at seat 2 with $5.54.
micheldi is at seat 3 with $4.45.
Birds n Bees is at seat 4 with $10.66.
firetamer101 is at seat 5 with $5.07.
The button is at seat 4.

firetamer101 posts the small blind of $.05.
2w3e4r posts the big blind of $.10.

2w3e4r: -- --
Zenabi23: -- --
micheldi: -- --
Birds n Bees: 6d 8d
firetamer101: -- --

Pre-flop:

Zenabi23 calls. micheldi folds. Birds n Bees calls.
firetamer101 folds. 2w3e4r raises to $.20.
Zenabi23 folds. Birds n Bees calls.

Flop (board: Kh Td 4d):

2w3e4r bets $.10. Birds n Bees raises to $.30.
2w3e4r calls.

Turn (board: Kh Td 4d 7h):

2w3e4r bets $.10. Birds n Bees calls.

River (board: Kh Td 4d 7h 9c):

2w3e4r bets $1.35. Birds n Bees raises to $5.40.
2w3e4r goes all-in for $1.53. Birds n Bees is
returned $3.87 (uncalled).

Showdown:

Birds n Bees shows 6d 8d.
Birds n Bees has 6d 8d Td 7h 9c: straight, ten high.
2w3e4r shows Qh Jh.
2w3e4r has Qh Jh Kh Td 9c: straight, king high.

Hand #45622836-71588 Summary:

$.22 is raked from a pot of $4.41.
2w3e4r wins $4.19 with straight, king high.
----------------------------------------------------------------

Brutal, huh?

Biggest hand of the night:

Hand #45622885-66743 at Upper Saint Clair (No Limit Hold'em)
Started at 27/Sep/07 17:52:23

bigwood79 is at seat 0 with $7.08.
cardinal8756 is at seat 1 with $16.42.
Lions 8 is at seat 2 with $9.85.
jelly_man is at seat 3 with $9.33.
micheldi is at seat 4 with $6.54.
Birds n Bees is at seat 5 with $10.48.
The button is at seat 3.

micheldi posts the small blind of $.05.
Birds n Bees posts the big blind of $.10.

bigwood79: -- --
cardinal8756: -- --
Lions 8: -- --
jelly_man: -- --
micheldi: -- --
Birds n Bees: As Ah

Pre-flop:

bigwood79 folds. cardinal8756 folds. Lions 8 folds.
jelly_man folds. micheldi calls. Birds n Bees
raises to $.30. micheldi calls.

Flop (board: Td Kh 3h):

micheldi checks. Birds n Bees bets $.35. micheldi
raises to $1.65. Birds n Bees goes all-in for $10.18.
micheldi goes all-in for $6.24. Birds n Bees is
returned $3.94 (uncalled).

Turn (board: Td Kh 3h 7d):

(no action in this round)

River (board: Td Kh 3h 7d 8s):

(no action in this round)

Showdown:

Birds n Bees shows As Ah.
Birds n Bees has As Ah Td Kh 8s: a pair of aces.
micheldi shows Kc Ad.
micheldi has Kc Ad Td Kh 8s: a pair of kings.

Hand #45622885-66743 Summary:

$.65 is raked from a pot of $13.08.
Birds n Bees wins $12.43 with a pair of aces.
----------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday's Notes (Really long)

1st/77 in UB $5 MTT. I knew it would just be a matter of time before I took one of these down. It is with complete humbleness when I say that this MTT was a walk in the park. Before I knew it, we were down to 20 people and although I was below average I had a healthy stack. I played super tight and it paid off. There was one, humongous hand, that essentially gave me the tournament. With (I beleve) 5 players to go, I sucked out huge when I pushed KTo into AK. Thankfully, the board came 5T5xx and essentially gave me the chip lead. After that, not a problem. Its a completely new feeling to be able to say that an MTT was easy but I think I'm finally there. I feel like the 1k hands/day have been a great help to my patience. I'm planning on playing a ton of these $5 MTTs this coming week.

First place won $109.76.

Only played 400/1k hands. I got stacked by the same player twice and also doubled someone else up 3. I finished stuck $18. Things started out all right. Small pot poker all the way up to a net profit of $10. Then, disaster.

This hand, I knew I should have folded. I KNEW KNEW KNEW KNEW IT.

Hand #45627181-14078 at Cedarbluff (No Limit Hold'em)
Started at 26/Sep/07 23:17:10

guobayen is at seat 0 with $1.30.
Birds n Bees is at seat 1 with $10.58.
BigBrownCow is at seat 2 with $3.71.
mmgod15 is at seat 3 with $3.11.
imbroke77 is at seat 4 with $11.52.
teaestea is at seat 5 with $4.58.
The button is at seat 4.

teaestea posts the small blind of $.05.
guobayen posts the big blind of $.10.

guobayen: -- --
Birds n Bees: Jc Js
BigBrownCow: -- --
mmgod15: -- --
imbroke77: -- --
teaestea: -- --

Pre-flop:

Birds n Bees raises to $.35. BigBrownCow folds.
mmgod15 folds. imbroke77 re-raises to $.60.
teaestea calls. guobayen folds. Birds n Bees calls.


Flop (board: 3c 5s 8h):

teaestea checks. Birds n Bees checks. imbroke77
bets $1. teaestea folds. Birds n Bees calls.

Turn (board: 3c 5s 8h 2s):

Birds n Bees checks. imbroke77 bets $2.45. Birds n
Bees goes all-in for $8.98. imbroke77 calls.

River (board: 3c 5s 8h 2s 6d):

(no action in this round)

Showdown:

Birds n Bees shows Jc Js.
Birds n Bees has Jc Js 5s 8h 6d: a pair of jacks.
imbroke77 shows Qd Qs.
imbroke77 has Qd Qs 5s 8h 6d: a pair of queens.

Hand #45627181-14078 Summary:

$1.09 is raked from a pot of $21.86.
imbroke77 wins $20.77 with a pair of queens.
----------------------------------------------------------------

The first red flag was his min-raise preflop. Obviously I was calling it. I agree with my c/c line on the flop, in case he had AK/AQ (although doubtful with his rr pf). Anyways, I should have c/f'd the turn. Ugh, tilt. I'm better than that.

Another hand, where I tilted off a stack on a draw.

Hand #45627181-14081 at Cedarbluff (No Limit Hold'em)
Started at 26/Sep/07 23:19:42

guobayen is at seat 0 with $.88.
Birds n Bees is at seat 1 with $9.85.
BigBrownCow is at seat 2 with $3.61.
mmgod15 is at seat 3 with $3.11.
imbroke77 is at seat 4 with $22.01.
teaestea is at seat 5 with $3.98.
The button is at seat 1.

BigBrownCow posts the small blind of $.05.
mmgod15 posts the big blind of $.10.

guobayen: -- --
Birds n Bees: Jc Ts
BigBrownCow: -- --
mmgod15: -- --
imbroke77: -- --
teaestea: -- --

Pre-flop:

imbroke77 calls. teaestea calls. guobayen folds.
Birds n Bees raises to $.55. BigBrownCow folds.
mmgod15 folds. imbroke77 calls. teaestea calls.

Flop (board: Qs 9h 6h):

imbroke77 checks. teaestea checks. Birds n Bees
bets $1.20. imbroke77 raises to $3. teaestea folds.
Birds n Bees calls.

Turn (board: Qs 9h 6h Tc):

imbroke77 bets $7.80. Birds n Bees goes all-in for
$6.30. imbroke77 is returned $1.50 (uncalled).

River (board: Qs 9h 6h Tc 3s):

(no action in this round)

Showdown:

imbroke77 shows Ac Ah.
imbroke77 has Ac Ah Qs 9h Tc: a pair of aces.
Birds n Bees shows Jc Ts.
Birds n Bees has Jc Ts Qs 9h Tc: a pair of tens.

Hand #45627181-14081 Summary:

$1.02 is raked from a pot of $20.40.
imbroke77 wins $19.38 with a pair of aces.
----------------------------------------------------------------

I obviously didn't see him holding AA here. He l/c the flop and c/r the flop. If anything he has AQ, but very rarely AA. Regardless, I shouldn't have been in the hand after the flop and especially after the turn. Tilttttt.

Here is another stupid play by me, but thankfully it didn't cost me as much.

Hand #45623297-51448 at Pinellas Park (No Limit Hold'em)
Started at 26/Sep/07 23:16:01

Vormancian is at seat 0 with $9.90.
Birds n Bees is at seat 1 with $8.85.
damageinc71 is at seat 2 with $7.97.
iMotiv3x is at seat 3 with $10.97.
veigh2 is at seat 4 with $5.85.
kartum9 is at seat 5 with $4.59.
The button is at seat 4.

kartum9 posts the small blind of $.05.
Vormancian posts the big blind of $.10.

Vormancian: -- --
Birds n Bees: Jh As
damageinc71: -- --
iMotiv3x: -- --
veigh2: -- --
kartum9: -- --

Pre-flop:

Birds n Bees raises to $.35. damageinc71 calls.
iMotiv3x folds. veigh2 calls. kartum9 folds.
Vormancian folds.

Flop (board: Tc 9d Qh):

Birds n Bees bets $.80. damageinc71 folds. veigh2
raises to $2.10. Birds n Bees calls.

Turn (board: Tc 9d Qh 6d):

Birds n Bees checks. veigh2 goes all-in for $3.40.
Birds n Bees calls.

River (board: Tc 9d Qh 6d 5d):

(no action in this round)

Showdown:

veigh2 shows Qd Ts.
veigh2 has Qd Ts Tc 9d Qh: two pair, queens and tens.
Birds n Bees mucks cards.
(Birds n Bees has Jh As.)

Hand #45623297-51448 Summary:

$.61 is raked from a pot of $12.20.
veigh2 wins $11.59 with two pair, queens and tens.
----------------------------------------------------------------

Qualified for Saturday's $2.5k. This satellite was difficult than most because it wasn't a rebuy. $1 got you T1500 chips and that was all you got for the event. I just realized that the seat is worth $5.50 so needless to say I'm not too terribly excited but I guess this was something worth mentioning to the masses.

Qualified for Saturday's $10k (again). I emailed UB today asking them what would happen if I won another seat into Saturday's $10k. Although they gave me an odd answer, I think what they were trying to say is that I get Tournament Dollars. They just worded things really weirdly and I kinda got the feeling that I could only use the TD's for certain tournaments. I don't know. Anyways, I won T$22. Hopefully I can use that in not this weekend's tournament but next weekend's.

Bubble Boy. I was one of the big stacks going into the final table of yet another $10k Qualifier. The blinds are so sick towards the end of the tourney. Anyways, I rarely play a hand, yet felt like I had to in this situation. There was a shortstack with like 5-6BBs left and it was folded to me on the button with 88. Am I seriously supposed to fold this? I raised, he pushed, I called, and it was 88 v KK. I think his pushing range is pretty loose here and there are a ton of hands I beat, including 22-77, A9+, KT+, QT, hell, maybe even JT+. Its just unfortunate. I ended up busting in 9th, which won me a consolation prize of $4. Meh, I wanted another T$22. Ugh.

Bankroll. $284.46

Day Two: Only 710/1k hands played

Yesterday I played phenomenally and finished with a $/100 Hands of $4.20/100 which is really solid. I didn't know I could have better days.

Well, yesterdays session started w this and I never looked back. (Unfortunately, I didn't have PokerTracker on at the time). I had AA on the BUTTON and there was some action before me. A player had raised to $.40 and had gotten a caller. I repopped to something like $1.60 and they both pushed, in succession, putting in $5.40 and $6.91 to the pot. I obviously called and they showed JJ and 77 and I held.

I also ran into a tilting player, who was seated at 3 of my 5 tables. The biggest pot of of night (when PT was on), is as follows.

Hand #45623642-40117 at Pleasant Grove (No Limit Hold'em)
Started at 25/Sep/07 19:18:54

Blondiest is at seat 0 with $6.62.
ericjemad is at seat 1 with $4.28.
Kris Krash is at seat 2 with $15.97.
nicolom is at seat 3 with $8.03.
Birds n Bees is at seat 4 with $29.89.
J_White is at seat 5 with $9.90.
The button is at seat 4.

J_White posts the small blind of $.05.
Blondiest posts the big blind of $.10.

Blondiest: -- --
ericjemad: -- --
Kris Krash: -- --
nicolom: -- --
Birds n Bees: As Ac
J_White: -- --

Pre-flop:

ericjemad calls. Kris Krash raises to $1.50.
nicolom folds. Birds n Bees re-raises to $4.75.
J_White folds. Blondiest folds. ericjemad folds.
Kris Krash calls.

Flop (board: 6d 5c 7s):

Kris Krash goes all-in for $11.22. Birds n Bees
calls.

Turn (board: 6d 5c 7s 4d):

(no action in this round)


River (board: 6d 5c 7s 4d Ts):

(no action in this round)

Showdown:

Kris Krash shows 9d Kd.
Kris Krash has 9d Kd 6d 7s Ts: king high.
Birds n Bees shows As Ac.
Birds n Bees has As Ac 6d 7s Ts: a pair of aces.

Hand #45623642-40117 Summary:

$1.60 is raked from a pot of $32.19.
Birds n Bees wins $30.59 with a pair of aces.
----------------------------------------------------------------

I only put in 710 hands today because I ran out of time. I played a few MTTs earlier on in the day and then got busy with dinner and live poker (more on that to come). I ran at a sick $8.06/100 hands. Dirt.

I had one hand yesterday that still has me confused. The hand is as follows. Please read and I'd appreciate commentary.

Hand #45622825-73650 at Clinton (No Limit Hold'em)
Started at 25/Sep/07 19:43:07

holly0485 is at seat 0 with $10.14.
smashhit is at seat 1 with $1.96.
Kris Krash is at seat 2 with $20.27.
Birds n Bees is at seat 3 with $21.43.
Boun67 is at seat 4 with $4.45.
PolyCrypt is at seat 5 with $10.
The button is at seat 2.

Birds n Bees posts the small blind of $.05.
Boun67 posts the big blind of $.10.

holly0485: -- --
smashhit: -- --
Kris Krash: -- --
Birds n Bees: Td 8d
Boun67: -- --
PolyCrypt: -- --

Pre-flop:

PolyCrypt calls. holly0485 folds. smashhit calls.
Kris Krash calls. Birds n Bees calls. Boun67
checks.

Flop (board: Jc Th Tc):

Birds n Bees bets $.35. Boun67 folds. PolyCrypt
raises to $.90. smashhit folds. Kris Krash folds.
Birds n Bees re-raises to $3.20. PolyCrypt goes
all-in for $9.90. Birds n Bees folds, showing Td 8d.
PolyCrypt is returned $6.70 (uncalled).

Hand #45622825-73650 Summary:

$.34 is raked from a pot of $6.90.
PolyCrypt wins $6.56.
----------------------------------------------------------------

The good news is that this was the biggest pot I lost all night. Yeah, $3.30 was my biggest loss of the night. Dirt.

I'll be posting the hand on 2+2 and see what they think.

As far as live poker is concerned, I played a $10r two nights ago. The structure was a starting stack of 75 chips and 15 minute blind intervals that started at 1/2 and progressed 2/4, 3/6, 4/8, and held at 5/10 for a while. HU was 10/20. Overall I think I played pretty well. I had one mistake later in the game that crippled me to like 20 chips with the BB6 or BB8 where I continued with my preflop aggression and reraised all-in with KQo and no fold equity on a baby board or like, x79 or x7T. Opponent had K7 and pretty much had me drawing dead.

Besides that, I played well I think. I pushed in a BvB situation with T7o when the SB limped. I was kinda shortstack but had a pretty decent sized stack. It was probably over 90% of his stack. He called with 22 and I hit a 7 on the turn to double up and cripple him.

HU, I reraised ai with 44 and my opponent called with ATo. The board came something like JxJ4x and that was the ball game. Net $60.

I also played NL10 4-handed yesterday with buddies and left with, meh, $7 net. I think the most important thing there is that we all had a good time.

Whew... First 1k hans and analysis

NL10, 6max
5 tables
118 minutes
1,033 hands

Here are the results in Poker Grapher:


Do you have sufficient preflop aggression? (divide "PF Raise %" by "Vol. Put $ In Pot")
From BUTTON? Yes.
From CO? Yes.
From HJ? Yes.
From UTG? Yes.
From BB? No.

Are you positionally aware? ("Vol. Put $ In Pot" should decrease from BUTTON > UTG)
From BUTTON? 27.40%
From CO? 25.00%
From HJ? 26.06%
From UTG? 16.67%

How's my stealing? (Att. To Steal Blinds)
30.80%. Good.

Defending the blinds.
Good.

Heads-up play
+$26.14 when I raise. Good.
-$7.31 when I called a raise. Bad.

Multiway pots
+$17.89. Good.

Pocket pairs
VPIP = 92.54%. Good.
PFR = 59.70. Very good.

Suited connectors.
Good.

Unsuited connectors
Good.

Postflop aggression
Good.

Check-raising
~%3. Too much. Play more straightforward.

Overall, good day.

Net profit: $43.38

Won a Seat to the UB $10k Guaranteed

Just wrapped up a $1r Satellite and finished 10th, good enough for a $20+$2 seat in this Saturday's UB $10k Guaranteed. This'll be my second biggest tournament after the big Sunday $200k Guaranteed that I've played in twice and made ~$300.

My tournament game has gotten a lot better. I'm patient during the first hour and try not to make too many moves then. Once the second level starts, I become more aggressive, especially with a short stack. I'm feeling confident.

Anyways, time to play 1k hands of solid poker.

"Birds n Bees" and "valuekill" team up.

Does anybody here remember me talking about a player named "valuekill?" He used to 4-6 table NL200 and NL400. It seemed like he was always winning, no matter what. Whenever I selected a table to play at, I'd stay away from his. I always railed him and loved watching him play. I wanted to be like him.

I remember exchanging AIM screen names with him a few months ago. Since I started playing again, I realized that he is never on anymore. So, I decided to send him an IM and see what was up.

He moved over from UB to AP and is grinding it out over there at NL10. Sick. He said he busto'd himself and was rebuilding.

It breaks my heart because I know this guy is a superb NL100 and NL200 and possibly even NL400 player. To see him stuck grinding NL10 kills me.

Anyways, we got to talking about bankroll management and decided to team up/be a support system for each other. The agreement is as follows:

• Play within your bankroll
• 20 buy-ins for NL10-NL50 ($200-$1,000).
• Must have 50 buy-ins to play NL100 ($5,000).
  
• Must have 100 buy-ins to play NL200 ($20,000).
  
• 2 hours of poker or 1k hands per day
• I will personally probably play more since I have a bit more time than he does. However, I'll also be mixing in tournaments in addition to the cash games.
  
• 5-table maximum
• I'm comfortable with 6 but whatever. 5 is probably better.
  
• 30 minutes of analysis
• We share interesting hands with one another and offer thoughts/suggestions/critiques/etc.

I love this plan.

I've got to get PokerTracker and AceHUD working again however. I miss their input and also need to save the hands from my sessions to be able to share with "valuekill."

Also, I will probably be changing my UB name in the near future. I am joining a rakeback program and need the money that that'll bring in.

I also plan on having enough UB Points per week to transfer into cash. I'll be playing a lot of cash games now.

Looking forward to this. I'll have the results of Day One posted later tonight.