Update

I played about 27 SNG's this weekend I played a little of everything. Alot of $20's some $27 Turbo's and one $60 Turbo. Overall I came out a looser. I lost about $30 on the 20's, $125 on the $27's. I came in 3rd on the $60 turbo. I have decided the higher level turbo's are complete crapshoots. I swear I have never seen more BS beats than at that level. I think 50% of the turbo's I played that I didn't money I got 4th. For a while it seemed I was destined to get 4th. It didn't matter If I got agressive, Tight, or loose on the bubble I would somehow always be that fn bubble boy. The $60 dollar turbo I was chip leader when we got down to 3 and the blinds shot up to 800/1600. within a matter of two hands and two ugly beats I was out. The bad thing is that first payed $250 and third got $99.

So for the weekend I am down like $100. The good news is I almost cleared my $100 bonus on PS. I needed 700FPP and I am at like 600FPP.

I have decided to step away from the SNG challange until my roll gets larger. I am going to Bonus Whore for a while. Once I complete the Pokerstars Bonus I will Cash out and find another bonus to clear. It will probably be Absolute poker since I have like $200 pending there.

I still haven't calculated my overall bankroll yet.

7/28/06

Cash Games: $0
None

MTT: -11.00
I ran my KK into AA in the second hour. Had a pretty good stack too.

$22 SNG Challange: +$82
I played 11 SNG's today. Place (7,3,5,4,4,7,2,7,1,1,2)
It was really fun playing heads up three at a time there at the end..

Thoughts:
My computer had a virus so I had to reformat my drive. I haven't got my spreadsheet loaded back into the computer. I don't really know where I stand on my overall roll. I will figure it out tomorrow. GL everyone in the WSOP.


____________________________________

Daily Total: +$71
Bankroll: ?

New Challange

I have decided to continue with a SNG Challange. I have done a $5 and $10 previously.

$5 Stats
# played = 102
ROI = 31%
ITM = 45%
Profit = $182.20


$10 Stats
# played = 99
ROI = 14%
ITM = 41%
Profit = $158.00

My next goal is to play 100 $20 SNG's. I started this today . From my experience the play at the $20 level is easier than that at the $10 level. The players at the $10 level are alot tighter. The $20 players are more agressive and like to make moves. We'll see how it goes.

_______________________

$20 SNG Challange:

Today
Played: 2
Place: (2,4)
Profit: +$10.00

7/26/06

Didn't play today. Had to work 12 hrs. I will be back at it tomorrow.

7/25/06

Cash Games: $0

MTT:$0

SNG: -$8.00
I played 8 SNG's. I started off bad taking a couple beats and finished a little stronger.

Thoughts:
I think my next goal will be to first get my roll to $700, then do a 300 $10 SNG challange. I haven't decided yet but that is the goal for now.

____________________________________

Daily Total: -$8.00
Bankroll: $505.55

6/23/06

Didn't play today.

6/24/06

Didn't play today

6/22/06

Didn't play today.

6/21/06

I didn't play any today.

7/20/06

Cash Games: -$7.30
I played 271 hands 25NL on pokerstars. -5.39 ptbb/100

MTT: -$54.49
I got kind of carried away with the MTT's today. I played 4 rebuy tourny's 1 $5 and 3 $3 and didn't cash in any of them. I think I am going to stick to only freezeouts until I get my roll up higher.

SNG: +$12.00
I played a few SNG's and did ok.

Thoughts:
Don't play rebuy's for a while.

I need to set some more challanges. I think I will do a 500 $5 SNG Challange. I think.....
I have been thinking about this for a while. While playing at the low stakes tables I think you keep yourself in a rut. I think you make more moves with your top pair and less valuable hands because you know people will call you down and pay you off with bottom pair or nothing. I am wondering if this puts you in a bad position when you move up in stakes. The better players are not paying you off and your style is going to change the more you play with donkeys. With that being said is it a "bad" thing to spend an extended amount of time at the lower stakes. I would think your game would be modified greatly over time. Really "top pair" is a good holding at the low stakes tables.
____________________________________

Daily Total: -$49.79
Bankroll: $513.55

7/19/06

Cash Games: +$2.7
I played 74 hands 25NL on pokerstars. 7.3 ptbb/100

MTT: $9.92
I played 2 4.4 180 man SNG's. I placed 8th in one of them and lost the other QKs vs Q3s preflop. The final hand is posted below with explaination.

SNG: +19.5
I played 2 5.5 dollar's (1st and 4th) and three 6.5 turbo's (1st, 6th, 4th)

Thoughts:
I went into the final table of the $4.4 tourny second in chips with a substantion lead compaired to the rest of the field. There is no doubt I was the best player at the table. I was playing some great poker until my bumb ass played this hand:

POKERSTARS GAME #5608413347: TOURNAMENT #28362586, $4.00+$0.40 HOLD'EM NO LIMIT - LEVEL XII (800/1600) - 2006/07/19 - 04:39:25 (ET)
Table '28362586 18' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: too.chewy (29204 in chips)
Seat 2: SandbergFan (15090 in chips)
Seat 3: blabla6677 (27628 in chips)
Seat 4: TonisD1 (16139 in chips)
Seat 5: JAGTECH2 (27243 in chips)
Seat 6: \/iper (65526 in chips)
Seat 7: Beer Luggin (25748 in chips)
Seat 8: ihatepoker11 (17447 in chips)
Seat 9: RaisinYa (45975 in chips)
too.chewy: posts the ante 75
SandbergFan: posts the ante 75
blabla6677: posts the ante 75
TonisD1: posts the ante 75
JAGTECH2: posts the ante 75
\/iper: posts the ante 75
Beer Luggin: posts the ante 75
ihatepoker11: posts the ante 75
RaisinYa: posts the ante 75
\/iper: posts small blind 800
Beer Luggin: posts big blind 1600
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RaisinYa [Kh Ac]
ihatepoker11: raises 15772 to 17372 and is all-in
RaisinYa: raises 28528 to 45900 and is all-in
too.chewy: folds
SandbergFan: folds
blabla6677: folds
TonisD1: folds
JAGTECH2: folds
\/iper: raises 19551 to 65451 and is all-in
Beer Luggin: folds
ihatepoker11 said, "nh's"
*** FLOP *** [Ts Jh 7h]
ihatepoker11 said, "h"
*** TURN *** [Ts Jh 7h] [9c]
*** RIVER *** [Ts Jh 7h 9c] [8h]
ihatepoker11 said, "ka"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
\/iper: shows [Qc Qd] (a straight, Eight to Queen)
RaisinYa: shows [Kh Ac] (a straight, Seven to Jack)
TonisD1 said, "if ever u dont wanna set"
ihatepoker11 said, "gg"
\/iper collected 57056 from side pot
ihatepoker11: shows [Ks Ah] (a straight, Seven to Jack)
\/iper collected 54391 from main pot
Beer Luggin said, "nh again"
TonisD1 said, "n1 viper"
SandbergFan said, "wow that was sweet for me lol"
*** SUMMARY ***

I don't know what I was thinking (actuall I wasn't thinking). I for some reason auto pushed allin without even thinking for a second what I was doing. I had a good read on the first player the whole tourny we were at the same table. He was really tight and a decent player. If I would have actually thought about the situation It should have went like this.

The player has just pushed UTG he has about 40% of my chip count. I have AK a good hand but what am I up against. What hands would a tight player not really in push mode push with. These are the core hands (AA, KK, QQ, AK) I believe those are the only hands this player is making this move with. Of those hands Two I am a huge dog, One is a coin filp, one is a split. I really wish I would have taken a second to analyze the hand. This was an easy fold and costs me over $200. I am 90% sure I would go on to win the tourny without playing this hand.

The call the guy made behind me was questionable. Two people UTG go allin, his QQ is probably not good. I say 70% of the time one of us had AA or KK. Either way this had made me not sleep well at all last night.

At least I learned a valuable lesson. You must treat each hand independently. No hands should be played without a through examination of the conditions in the hand.

I still had a pretty good day overall..
__________________________

Daily Total: +32.12
Bankroll: $553.32

7/18/06

Cash Games: +$22.1
I played 14 hands 25NL on pokerstars. 315.71 ptbb/100

MTT: -$4.58
I played three $4.40 180 Man SNG on Stars. I placed 12th in one making $8.64. The other two I went out to underpairs hitting their sets.

SNG: -$7.9
I played another 5.5 SNG and the bad bs beats just don't stop. I played this hand great and I can't Catch a break.

POKERSTARS GAME #5597338805: TOURNAMENT #28308579, $5.00+$0.50 HOLD'EM NO LIMIT - LEVEL III (25/50) - 2006/07/18 - 03:03:53 (ET)
Table '28308579 1' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: jungy121 (1970 in chips)
Seat 2: MrDagnino (1952 in chips)
Seat 3: RaisinYa (1180 in chips)
Seat 5: scammer44 (1523 in chips)
Seat 8: Zenapathy (5030 in chips)
Seat 9: jetboy1 (1845 in chips)
jungy121: posts small blind 25
MrDagnino: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RaisinYa [Kh As]
MrDagnino is connected
RaisinYa: raises 150 to 200
scammer44: folds
Zenapathy: folds
jetboy1: calls 200
jungy121: folds
MrDagnino: folds
*** FLOP *** [5s Kc Jc]
RaisinYa: checks
jetboy1: bets 250
RaisinYa: raises 730 to 980 and is all-in
jetboy1: calls 730
*** TURN *** [5s Kc Jc] [6c]
*** RIVER *** [5s Kc Jc 6c] [4c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
RaisinYa: shows [Kh As] (a pair of Kings)
jetboy1: shows [Ac Js] (a flush, Ace high)
RaisinYa said, "fu"
jetboy1 collected 2435 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2435 | Rake 0
Board [5s Kc Jc 6c 4c]
Seat 1: jungy121 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: MrDagnino (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: RaisinYa showed [Kh As] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 5: scammer44 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Zenapathy folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: jetboy1 (button) showed [Ac Js] and won (2435) with a flush, Ace high


Thoughts:
I almost had a big day with the 4 dollar MTT. I hope I can get a big score on a MTT pretty soon.
____________________________________

Daily Total: +9.64
Bankroll: $530.84

7/17/06

Cash Games: +$19.80
I played 43 hands 25NL on pokerstars. 92.09 ptbb/100

MTT: $0

SNG: +3.5
I played 1 5.5 dollar turbo and got third

Thoughts:
A big congrats to Actyper who won a WSOP ME seat and ScottE51 for winning the BPT.
____________________________________

Daily Total: +23.3
Bankroll: $521.2

7/16/06

Cash Games: +$26.30
I played 159 hands 25NL on pokerstars. 33.08 ptbb/100

MTT: -$17.80
I played a $3 rebuy and a $5 tourny on pokerstars. I made it pretty deep. I picked up my aggression at the wrong time in both and ran into bigger hands.

SNG: -$13
I played 2 6.5 dollar turbo's and lost both. Bad beat city.
Thoughts:

____________________________________

Daily Total: -$4.5
Bankroll: $497.9

7/15/06

Cash Games: -$5.00
I played 494 hands 25NL on pokerstars. -2.02 ptbb/100

MTT: $0

SNG: $0

Thoughts:

____________________________________

Daily Total: -$5.00
Bankroll: $502.40

7/14/06

Cash Games: +$11.60
I played 209 hands 25NL on pokerstars. 11.1 ptbb/100

MTT: $0

SNG: -$1.20
I played one 5.5 and one 6.5 turbo on pokerstars placing 6th & 3rd respectively. I made a bad move three handed that left me shortstacked.

Thoughts:
Didn't have a long session today.
____________________________________

Daily Total: +$10.4
Bankroll: $507.40

7/13/06

I am going to be playing with the formating of this for a couple of days.

Cash Games: $11
I played some 25NL on pokerstars.

MTT: $0

SNG: $10
I played one 6.5 turbo on pokerstars placing 2nd.

Thoughts:
Not much. Trying to regain some controll after the last couple days. Only played for about 1 hr.
____________________________________

Daily Total: $21
Bankroll: $497

More rambling

I had another bad session last night. I don't know if the structure of my challange is to tight and doesn't leave alot of room for varience. I am going to change the challange, I haven't quite figured out how I am going to do it. I think I might just do some thing like a 10k challange or something like that. Using a combination of SNG's MTT's and Cash Games. I think I need to have the flexablility to mix things up when I am running bad. I was only focusing on NL leaving myself no outs when I am running bad. Therefore I think I am going to go back to my old style of recording daily wins and losses and my total bankroll. When I strated this challange I had 1326 total bankroll. I cashed out 1k and left the 326. I now have around 500.

I don't think I will set a time limit on my challanges anymore. When I set time limits It forces me to focus too much on the goal and not enough on the way I am playing or the way I am trying to get there (overplaying my roll).

I also think I am not going to play more than two NL tables at a time. I think I am leaving alot of money on the table by not focusing on the way players are playing and taking advantage of them.

We'll see how things go. I hate to just abandon a challange in the middle but I think that my be the best thing to do at this point....

Taking a break

I am taking a break from the challange. I don't know how long but I am not on my game and that is mixed with horrible bad beats. I think I just need a break. I moved some money to pokerstars and I am going to hit some sng's up and see where I stand in a couple of days.

Very Funny

I find it very funny the way things work. An article on pocket fives by Chris Wallace " http://www.pocketfives.com/18583B22-DF05-40E4-8D1E-2FE03AB82102.aspx " about that little demon on your shoulder that always want his way. Read it, its very true, to me atleast.

Anyway that demon got a hold of me today and took me down a very dangerous road. A road that I have seen so many times it makes me wonder. I started today off with a bs hand that put me on tilt and that little demon started to presuade me. I floped top two pair AK on a AKx board with two clubs, I bet the pot and get one caller. Another x came no club So I bet the pot agian about 10, he calls the river comes a club and I can't seem to fold to his all in (J2c). So I started off down $25.

Some how I talk myself into playing at the .25/.50 tables. I was still playing good poker, I just couldn't get anything going. Talk about the shitiest cards someone could get. I get allin on the turn with KK on a all unders board and an idoit calls with AQ. Of course the A hits on the river all on a I drop another $50 there. I then move to the .50/1 tables. (When I say move I mean three tables at a time) I start to make head way making 60 back and then Dumb more than a hole buyin with the K high flush vs the A high. I am now down about $150 and continue to play. I get allin with JJ vs 10's and he spikes a 10 putting me down $250. I have played at these limits before and know the varience that goes along with them. I am still chasing that money and move up to two 1/2 tables. I was hoping that my luck would finally catch up with me and I could erase this huge lose I should haver had. That luck (Skill or whatever) does come when I flop two pair with A 5 (A53) and get allin against AK for a 450 dollar pot. I played a few more hands and then logged off.

I didn't really want to post anything about what happended today in hopes that I would forget about it and continue with my challange, until I read Fox's post today. It is kind of convient that he posted this the same day I was struggling with the problem (fox must be watching my play).

In the past I would do this constantly, sometimes comming out a big winner and sometimes losing most of my bankroll. I fell stupid that I would risk the callange I am currently working toward by repeating the errors of my past. I don't think I will do this agian for a long time. It is just hard to not get tilited when someone makes such a BS move and gets rewarded.

Overall for the day I think I am down about $50. The week I am not sure of I still need to do a weekly recap.

I plan on just moving up to the $50 level. I have somewhere near $850 on this challange so far. That is about 15 buyins which isn't a great area to be in. I think I will do fine and I will see how things go. If I end up dropping a couple hundred I will just move back down and grind it out some more. Let me know what you think.

Update.

I haven't posted in a couple days, week 5 is over and it wasn't a good week. I think I am going to change some of my challange the next couple of week and hope I can get something flowing.

I will post a weekend recap prob tomorrow.

7/10/06

I was up really late last night coming home from Holiday World. I got a really short session in before I was off to work.



NL Challange

$25NL: $8.75
Hands: 70
PTBB/100: 25.0

7/09/06

I didn't play today. I went to holiday world in Santa Claus IN. It was alot of fun.

7/8/06

I played 400 hands today. Things were flowing, I had a good night.


NL Challange

$25NL: $39.65
Hands: 403
PTBB/100: 19.68

7/7/06

I am having a hard time getting things moving this week. I played alot of hands and made about 15. My biggest hit was KK vs QQ all in preflop. The flop comes a Q. Overall I am making money. GL everyone.


NL Challange

$25NL: $16.70
Hands: 828
PTBB/100: 4.03

7/06/06

I didn't start the week off all that great. I started my session playing like an idiot. I made a couple rediculous moves and lost two buyins right off the bat. On was I flop a straight on a all diamond board. This guy pushes his whole stack in. I am thinking he wouldn't play a flush like that he must have two pair or something. I call he has a low flush and was trying to protect that not two pair. So I spent the next 350 hands making my two buyin's back. I guess you do have to trust your reads though.



NL Challange

$25NL: $2.75
Hands: 395
PTBB/100: 1.39

Week 4 Recap

Week 4 was a decent week. I played only 6max tables this week. I made about $150 this week. I don't know if I will ever be able to play the amount of hands I need to play. I have so many obligations with work, family, and the house it is hard to put in a good amount of hours. I am building slowly and haven't overplayed or moved up in stakes once. This is a great accomplishment for me because I was always prone to moving up in stakes when I take a beat and go on tilt. The challange is moving along nicely and I hope I can maintain a steady increase in my roll in the following months. I don't think I am going to cash out any money for a long time. I would like to stay on pace and be playing 3/6 and 5/10NL by this time next year.

NL Challange

Week 4 Totals

$25NL : $148.2

Hands: 2321

PT-bb/100: 12.8

Actual BB/100 : 25.6






NL Challange To Date:

Here are the Stats for the Total Challange thus far. 6-max and 9-man tables combined

Table Hours Played : 138.55

# Hands Played : 9039

$ Per Table Hour: 3.98

VPIP% : 21.13

W$SD% : 57.09

AF with Preflop: 0.88

AF w/o Preflop: 2.23

Total $ won: $552

PTBB/100: 12.21

7/5/06

Well today puts the end to week 4. I have completed one month of my NL Challange and I like how things are going. I will do a week recap shortly.


NL Challange

$25NL: $19.85
Hands: 412
PTBB/100: 9.64

7/4/06

Didn't play alot today due to it being the 4th. I made $20 for about 120 hands. I should be getting some longer session in this week and next.


NL Challange

$25NL: $20.00
Hands: 128
PTBB/100: 31.25

7/3/06

I played a very long session today. I played only 6max tables. The day was really just up and down. I am experiencing alot of varience right now. I was up alot then down alot. I fought my way back up to a little over even.


NL Challange

$25NL: $14.60
Hands: 1201
PTBB/100: 2.49

7/2/06

Didn't Play today. I just couldn't get around to it, the BPT was cancelled so I just said f it.

I am falling behind on my challange. I think I can catch up. I won't make any changes until I have went one month without meeting stated goals.

7/1/06

Didn't play at all today. I cleaned my garage out allllll day. I will play sunday in the BPT and get a long session in on the cash game. GL