Author Archive
Back from LA
I mentioned in my previous post that my life was changing dramatically sooner than later. I didn’t realize that this meant actually… now. I went to LA to interview for a new job and find an apartment. I’m moving from Florida after a year and a half. I had been relocated to FL for a job. Luckily, I did leave myself an exit “plan” when I came here: Give it 2 years and if it’s not working start thinking about other options and use tax return money to move. I try to think of my life as a series of poker moves. My strategy here was that I was sensing things were not going well for the company in FL so I needed to start earlier and try to get ahead of the vibe in the office.
My Poker Frustrations (and a little bit of venting)
Well, 2008 is not off to a good start for me, personally. In 2006 I had moved from NYC to St. Pete, FL for a job. A year and a half later the job has turned out to be one of the worst mistakes ever.. the only good thing about it is the people I work with (in the art dept) and the actual work we create. Everything else… not even close to being good. I believe everything happens for a reason. Moving down here has given me the chance to take my poker skills to the next level. There is actually a lot of good poker in FL and, as it was mentioned in CardPlayer (last month?).. the games are good. There is definitely money to be won (with some adjustment to these players).
Limit Hold ‘em Tourney.. Not so bad.. And a Question of the Day
Last night I played in the AIPS III Event #1 Limit Hold ‘Em Tournament. There were 155 players.. including a few of my fellow bloggers. It’s always nice to play against players who you know. I went out in 35th. Payout was top 27. I probably could have inched into the payout but the blinds made me decide next good hand I got I was going for it…. Overall, I played better than I had expected. Here are a few things I noticed about my play and some hands that I thought were interesting.. and I few things I’d improve on for my next LHE tournament.
Seven Days of Online Poker
The past week has been dedicated to online play. I have some money in my Full Tilt account so I’ve been playing some micro limits NL HE cash games, MTT, and SNGs. I probably put in close to 40 hours of play in the last week. I prefer live play. After reading Azn_Cutie’s post on The Difference Between Online and Live, I started to try to focus in my online games and try to apply some of the same reading skills I find successful in live play. I don’t think I improve my game through online play because I am too easily distracted at home. My cats are jumping on my lap, I watch tv while I play, I look up things online and I’m sometimes even making dinner while I’m in a tournament. That’s no way to play.
NL HE Cash Games
Last night I decided to take a break from a losing streak on low buy-in NL HE tournaments on Full Tilt. I seem to be getting in with the best hand and someone decides to gamble and then draws out on me. I was in a $5 NLHE 18 person SNG last night and we were down to 9. I’m on a semi-short stack. I go all-in UTG+1 w/ pocket 10s. UTG who had limped decided to call for most of his stack. He has Jd-10d so I’m pretty far ahead. However, runner-runner diamonds give him the flush and I’m out. How do you fight against that?
The Closest I’ve Ever Come..
I’m such a nerd I had to screen shot this hand on Full Tilt last night. It was a $5+.50 – 45 person – NLHE tournament… and I ended up in 3rd for $36.
Without further delay… please admire my King High Straight Flush.. that beat out the Ace high flush…
How Not To Suck When It’s Hand For Hand & You Have Chips
We’re down to 11 people in a 100 person NL HE MTT. We’ve been playing for almost 5 hours now. The blinds are 3000-6000 and it’s hand for hand. I’ve had some nice pocket pairs that have brought my stack up to a healthy 63000 at this point. I’ve picked up some small pots with decent hands to add to my stack too. I’m playing well and turning up lucky when I need it.
Goals for 2008
Looking back on my poker goals for 2007, I realize like some of my fellow bloggers, I didn’t really make any goals. I think I just wanted to improve overall, get over some fears and intimidation in live play and build some confidence at the tables. I definitely feel like I’ve taken on these challenges and improved. I did keep my stats for 2007 and came out a winning player. Overall, I’m very happy with what I accomplished in poker in ’07.
I have a few goals for 2008..
Merry New Year!
Happy New Year everyone. I just finished my last tournament of 2007. Although I finished in the black for 2007.. I certainly had a rough down swing to wrap things up. Later in the week I will be posting my resolution for 2008 in more detail: I plan on working on improving my middle game in tournaments. I seem to have issues with playing too tightly at points in my game and I feel I’m missing a lot of opportunities to scoop up pots to keep my stack out of desperation. In 2008 I would like to also play more cash games. In my next post I would also like to share a few poker highlights for me in 2007.. kind of my “best of”..
A Little Holiday Hold ‘Em
Well, I’ve returned back to Florida from spending the holidays with family in South Jersey. I must say that I am glad to be back.. it was cold and rainy up there. I did manage to get in 1 NLHE tournament in Atlantic City yesterday. The Showboat had a $53+12 tourney at 2pm (10K starting chips). My younger brother and I both bought in… There were 75 entrants. I have 2 hands I’d like to tell you guys about. One was the hand I felt was what eventually led to my departure in 24th place and the other my brother went out on in about 50th.
