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.