march results

cash games
nl25 (full ring)
1495 hands for -$4.55
-0.61bb / 100

nl50 (full ring)
1043 hands for -$148.90
-14.28bb / 100

nl25 (6 max)
2255 hands for +$36.70
3.25bb / 100

total
4793 hands for -$116.75
-1.77bb / 100


full tilt bonii +$40
full tilt rakeback +$4.19

total march -$71.86

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2008 to date +$135.76

wow, not a great month really looking at the results, but if you looked at it from a learning perspective and an overall game improvement position this month would be far ahead of all the others combined. as you may have seen i completely ripped my game apart and started again and i'm feeling really good about it. every aspect of my game has improved and from a long term point of view i should be able to substantially increase my winnings from losing so heavily this month as it really kick started me to look at my game critically.

for me, next month is hugely important. hopefully it can really be a defining point in moving up the levels. my usual volume targets stand but once i've won about $50 more i'm going to combine my bankrolls and take another, better financed shot at nl50. hopefully with my game improvements over march i can make nl50 my new permanent home.

i'd also like to up my win rate from around 3bb / 100 to more like 8-10. i don't think this is gonna be a huge problem as i feel my new style of play can sustain this, but only time will tell.

so with that said i think i'm done for march now, hope everyone enjoyed better results then me and see you at the tables in april.

february results

cash games
nlh25
4290 hands for +$70.55
3.29bb / 100


pokerstars bonii +$50
full tilt bonii +$20

total february +$140.55

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2008 to date +207.62

crazy month again, i wasn't in profit until the last week of february and then finally my patient aggressive play was rewarded with some of my bigger hands getting called and holding up. with things finally coming together i've actually managed to post my best month profit wise so far in my short poker career. add in a few bonii and i'm pretty chuffed with it.

reviewing my hands i see that i probably could have performed even better then i have if it wasn't for some truly horrible suck outs. thats variance i guess and i was rewarded in the end by continuing to make the right decisions. i did however have one suck out of my own when i ran my jacks into kings, bad thing was i new he had me beaten but i pushed over the top anyway and managed to hit a third jack on the river :) i thought i was never going to suck out on anyone but i finally did. woop woop

i'm seriously considering getting a subscription to cardrunners at the moment. i watched an introduction video and i have to say i remembered so much more from that one video then i do reading chapter after chapter of dry poker books! anyone else out there have a subscription and think its worth it?

think thats about everything for feb, thanks for reading and commenting this month. hope march is good to everyone, unless your playing me!

january results

cash games
nlh25
3018 hands for +$37.07
2.46bb / 100

party poker bonii +$30.00
poker office software bonus valued $79 (not included)

total january +$67.07

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2008 to date +$67.07

so a bit of an erratic month in january. i can't say i played any better then average. i feel i ran well in spots and i played a patient game giving me opportunity to maximise some big hands, however there were stupid mistake in there that really dented the overall result in places.

i do feel that i'm slowly absorbing some of the more complicated concepts as i keep getting these eureka moments in strange places. i'll be in the gym or something and all of a sudden out of nowhere i'll suddenly be like, wow, now i get that hand, why didn't i see the implied odds there. or of course that play meant uber strength why am i calling when i should be folding! strange how these things must be working away in your subconscious and then pop to the from when they are done...like a microwave cooking a curry...ping!!

i need to sort out some serious hands in feb as due to my holiday i didn't get to play the amount i wanted. i also think i'm going to move my play over to full tilt so i can take advantage of the rake back, unless anyone can convince me another site is way better. i also want to post some simple strat stuff as well. nothing major but will get me thinking about poker properly.

thats all from me, me thinks. hopefully will kick off feb in style shortly

december results

cash games

nlh25
2123 hands for +$60.90
5.74bb / 100

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2007 finale +$21.71

so a good december in my opinion. i know i haven't set the world on fire with the dolla i have won but its a profit and am fairly happy with c. 6bb/100. if i can sustain that as i move up the levels then i will be chuffed.

there have been some rather dramatic swings as you can see above, some all ins that didn't go my way and others that did. i actually ran pretty much on expectation overall so i have made some bad decisions which i need to fix ready for 2008 and i plan to revisit all my showdown hands.

i did also want to post my last hand of 2007 (off on hols tomorrow) which i think is a great way to end the year

Poker Stars, $0.10/$0.25 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 9 Players

BTN: $40.30
SB: $30.50
BB: $4.95
UTG: $5.60
UTG+1: $14.30
UTG+2: $25.50
Hero (MP1): $20.55
MP2: $23.50
CO: $8.65

Pre-Flop: Q Q dealt to Hero (MP1)
UTG folds, UTG+1 calls $0.25, UTG+2 folds, Hero raises to $0.75, MP2 folds, CO calls $0.75, 2 folds, BB calls $0.50, UTG+1 raises to $2, Hero calls $1.25, CO calls $1.25, BB calls $1.25

Flop: ($8.10) Q A 6 (4 Players)
BB bets $2.95 and is All-In, UTG+1 raises to $5.90, Hero raises to $18.55 and is All-In, CO folds, UTG+1 calls $6.40 and is All-In

Turn: ($35.65) Q (3 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($35.65) 3 (3 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $35.65 Pot ($1.75 Rake)
BB mucked T 6 and LOST (-$4.95 NET)
UTG+1 showed K A (two pair, Aces and Queens) and LOST (-$14.30 NET)
Hero showed Q Q (four of a kind, Queens) and WON $33.90 (+$19.60 NET)

ship it!!

merry christmas everyone, hope santa brings you all pocket aces and i'll be back at the tables in the new year, although expect some new year goals to be posted shortly

goal update

as promised here is a quick update on my goals. managed to bring the cash back to pretty much even but still need to play a stack of hands to get to the end. the challenge is taking longer than i would like mainly due to a crazy work schedule and xmas parties. need a bit of refocus and maybe a decent session this weekend

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the goals i have set myself is as follows;

nl25 9 handed ring games
single or double tabling only to ensure ability to learn from my and others play

1138 of 10,000 hands

$0.24 loss

sng 9 handed $5 + 50c

7 of 25

1st = 1
2nd = 0
3rd = 3

$11.00 profit

max $10 + $1 mtt with 100+ runners

0 of 10

final tables = 0
cashes = 0

goal update

jesus! i must have upset someone, somewhere, somehow! just had another horrible session on the cash tables. i couldn't do anything right, every hand i played i got beat. my a/k gone done over by a/j, my two pair got sucked out on on the river for a straight, set over set. oh, and the one big hand i that was gonna make the difference to the session saw q/a fall on the turn and river to counterfeit by better kicker!

oh well though, this is poker, its variance, its part of the game, its sh*t! see below for current position vs my goals

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the goals i have set myself is as follows;

nl25 9 handed ring games
single or double tabling only to ensure ability to learn from my and others play

634 of 10,000 hands

$39.44 loss

sng 9 handed $5 + 50c

5 of 25

1st = 0
2nd = 0
3rd = 3

$0.50 loss

max $10 + $1 mtt with 100+ runners

0 of 10

final tables = 0
cashes = 0

my goal monitor

the goals i have set myself is as follows;

nl25 9 handed ring games
single or double tabling only to ensure ability to learn from my and others play

0 of 10,000 hands

$0.00 profit/loss

sng 9 handed $5 + 50c

0 of 25

1st = 0
2nd = 0
3rd = 0

$0.00 profit/loss

max $10 + $1 mtt with 100+ runners

0 of 10

final tables = 0
cashes = 0

I will update and repost as i move through the challenge

wish me luck!

time for some goals

as you may have read previously i wanted to set myself a series of goals that i feel will help develop my game and give me a solid poker foundation to work from.

now the numbers i set myself may not seem huge compared to what most players churn out over the course of as little as a day, but my plan is to do this through single table action only. at this stage in my poker career there is no point in booting 6 to 12 tables and cranking out cash game hands or sng's as i just won't be able to pick up anything from the play. if i've got 3 tables blinking on my turn then i'm not going to be able to evaluate the play, the player and my position accurately and because i don't have the experience to call on, my decisions will probably be more panic based then educated!

therefore in the subsequent post i outline my goals and a simple reflection of my current standing, which is obviously at 0 as the challenge has just begun! i will continually update this post with my progress vs my goals and hopefully i will succeed in becoming a better player. from there who knows where i will go but at least i will have some experience under my belt to use and build on.