Wow. I'm telling you, you look up running bad in the dictionary and you will see my face smiling back at you.

I'm actually pretty happy with my play tonight. I lost a crap-ton of money on five hands that I played pretty damn well...just ran into bigger monsters. Or, I'd push with the best hand.......and then get sucked out on.

I worked at stack up to about $450 at one table and got sucked out on for my entire stack on the river after (basically) pushing the turn with the best hand (I had $297 behind, I bet $200 into a $303 pot, why I didn't just push I don't know....he would have most *definitely* called on his flush draw b/c he was crazy, so the results would have been the same). He hits his flush on the river and that was wonderful.

My AA ran into Q9 *again*, but this time I played it well. Raised a lot preflop, bet 80% of pot on flop, check-raised turn and wouldn't you know it I ran into 2-pair again with AA on a harmless board (Q379 rainbow board, yes he did turn 2-pair...I check-raised the turn b/c this guy was a "floater" that would call any flop bet and bet out 50% of pot on ANY turn, no matter his cards).

I flopped a set with AA on a 3-flush board and bet out pot, only to get called by two people......wouldn't you know 4-flush comes on turn and I have to let it go....

I got TPTK with AK on an AJT board.....wouldn't you know the other guy had KQ? I actually folded that one on the turn b/c of my read on the guy.....but I had a deep stack and had to bet into a LOT of people on the flop, and was OOP so had to bet even more on turn...so the pot got huge....and it cost me bunches. (btw guy showed his KQ)

Set over set = goodbye buy-in.


I feel like I have never missed more flops in my life. I also feel like when I do hit a big hand (like a set), nobody plays back at me at all. Or, better yet, when I hit a great hand I get piss-pounded by an even greater hand. Erg...

So......I'm thinking that I'm going to drop back down to NL100 for a little while to get my groove back.


Wow....Minus $1500 (close) in a week. Nasty, nasty stuff. Lots of bad play earlier in the week, but tonight.....erg.


Good luck at the tables everyone. You won't see me around until at least Sunday Night, as I'm going out of town tomorrow.

Good day.

I lost another $335 tonight playing like a retard. This is my second day in a row playing TERRIBLE. If you'd like to look at some absolutely donktastic plays, please read below.

P.S. I also had a set vs. set again tonight, and another 2-3 suckouts that were pretty horrible. But those I can't control. The following plays I could have.

At the bottom I have it listed out in detail how much I lost from these six hands.....how much I should have won from these six hands.....and what kind of difference it would have made on my BR for the past two days. It's not a pretty picture.



I should have reraised preflop and stayed out of this mess. This hand is a total joke. My reason for not reraising? Well, SB and BB had been reraising quite a bit. The old "preflop trap." WTF was I thinking? After somebody bet small and *everyone* called on the flop it should have also been obvious that my AA was dead here, somebody has got to have a 7.

***** Hand History for Game 3891685079 *****
$200 NL Texas Hold'em - Wednesday, April 05, 01:55:36 ET 2006
Table Irish Ayes (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 3: Mazzze80 ( $172.70 )
Seat 6: Al_Davis111 ( $187.75 )
Seat 4: UltimateGW ( $194.70 )
Seat 1: fudfud422 ( $76.20 )
Al_Davis111 posts small blind [$1].
fudfud422 posts big blind [$2].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to UltimateGW [ Ad Ah ]
Mazzze80 raises [$7].
UltimateGW calls [$7]. WTF JUST CALL WITH AA on BUTTON? RERAISE FOOL!
Al_Davis111 calls [$6].
fudfud422 calls [$5].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 7s, 7h, Qh ]
Al_Davis111 bets [$5].
fudfud422 calls [$5].
Mazzze80 calls [$5].
jakeforce has joined the table.
UltimateGW raises [$30].
Al_Davis111 folds.
fudfud422 calls [$25].
Mazzze80 folds.
** Dealing Turn ** [ 3d ]
fudfud422 is all-In.
UltimateGW calls [$39.20].
** Dealing River ** [ 4h ]
fudfud422 shows [ Td, 7d ] three of a kind, sevens.
UltimateGW shows [ Ad, Ah ] two pairs, aces and sevens.
fudfud422 wins $174.40 from the main pot with three of a kind, sevens.


Again, I should have reraised here and stayed out of this mess. Then again, the guy with Q9 here probably would have called along anyway so I probably lose a big pot here no matter what. Again, though, if I reraise here I save myself a lot of problems in the end.

***** Hand History for Game 3891642395 *****
$200 NL Texas Hold'em - Wednesday, April 05, 01:48:08 ET 2006
Table Irish Ayes (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: LuckyFlucker ( $153.20 )
Seat 2: JQ12HB ( $160.94 )
Seat 3: Mazzze80 ( $173 )
Seat 5: Red_Dawg ( $173.52 )
Seat 6: Al_Davis111 ( $77.65 )
Seat 4: UltimateGW ( $198 )
UltimateGW posts small blind [$1].
Red_Dawg posts big blind [$2].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to UltimateGW [ Qh Ad ]
Al_Davis111 folds.
LuckyFlucker calls [$2].
JQ12HB raises [$4].
Mazzze80 folds.
UltimateGW calls [$3]. WTF JUST CALL??? THE GUY MIN-RAISED!
Red_Dawg calls [$2].
LuckyFlucker calls [$2].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 2c, Qd, 9c ]
UltimateGW checks.
Red_Dawg checks.
LuckyFlucker bets [$4].
JQ12HB calls [$4].
UltimateGW raises [$25].
Red_Dawg folds.
LuckyFlucker raises [$42].
JQ12HB folds.
UltimateGW raises [$125].
LuckyFlucker is all-In.
** Dealing Turn ** [ 9d ]
** Dealing River ** [ 7s ]
UltimateGW shows [ Qh, Ad ] two pairs, queens and nines.
LuckyFlucker shows [ Qc, 9s ] a full house, Nines full of queens.
UltimateGW wins $0.80 from side pot #1 with two pairs, queens and nines.
LuckyFlucker wins $315.40 from the main pot with a full house, Nines full of queens.
>You have options at Table 95603 Table!.


Notice the stack sizes on this one. Flyboy is a small stack that chose to *min-raise me* here. I immediately put him on a high pocket pair (AA/KK), yet I didn't follow through with my read on the flop. I kinda just said "screw it, you're a small stack if you have KK/AA here I'll pay you, I have TPTK. Stupid play by me given my read.

***** Hand History for Game 3880764620 *****
$200 NL Texas Hold'em - Monday, April 03, 23:46:33 ET 2006
Table Table 95615 (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: Gaucho44 ( $225.65 )
Seat 3: storman99 ( $257.40 )
Seat 4: mrcoughman ( $441.28 )
Seat 2: UltimateGW ( $200 )
Seat 5: omegaking ( $244.80 )
Seat 6: flyboy04 ( $69.60 )
omegaking posts small blind [$1].
flyboy04 posts big blind [$2].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to UltimateGW [ Ac Qd ]
Gaucho44 folds.
UltimateGW raises [$8].
storman99 folds.
omegaking folds.
flyboy04 raises [$12].
UltimateGW calls [$6].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3s, Jh, Qs ]
flyboy04 bets [$15].
UltimateGW raises [$56].
flyboy04 is all-In.
** Dealing Turn ** [ Tc ]
** Dealing River ** [ 8h ]
UltimateGW shows [ Ac, Qd ] a pair of queens.
flyboy04 shows [ Kh, Ks ] a pair of kings.
UltimateGW wins $0.40 from side pot #1 with a pair of queens.
flyboy04 wins $138.20 from the main pot with a pair of kings.


Again, notice stack sizes. I've been getting into the habit of pushing smaller stacks around...but when they've got the nuts (or close to it) they usually let you know in VERY readable ways. He cold-called my reraise on the turn here. With only AT what hands can I possibly beat here? A9? A8? The river push is insane. Only hands that call me here either 1) beat me (which is most likely), or 2) split the pot with me because he has AT as well. Again, another stupid play.

***** Hand History for Game 3882261338 *****
$200 NL Texas Hold'em - Tuesday, April 04, 01:49:41 ET 2006
Table Table 96706 (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: alcbb ( $164.53 )
Seat 4: GoTribe2006 ( $210.20 )
Seat 5: winbig003 ( $86.05 )
Seat 6: Chip_Remover ( $177.55 )
Seat 3: UltimateGW ( $218 )
Seat 2: bait455 ( $216.15 )
Chip_Remover posts small blind [$1].
alcbb posts big blind [$2].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to UltimateGW [ Ac Td ]
bait455 folds.
UltimateGW raises [$8].
GoTribe2006 folds.
winbig003 calls [$8].
Chip_Remover folds.
alcbb folds.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qc, Qh, 5d ]
UltimateGW checks.
winbig003 checks.
** Dealing Turn ** [ As ]
UltimateGW checks.
winbig003 bets [$10].
UltimateGW raises [$35]. WTF? WHAT CAN I BEAT HERE, A9 or A8?
winbig003 calls [$25].
** Dealing River ** [ 5c ]
>You have options at Table 96555 (No DP) Table!.
UltimateGW bets [$43.05]. WTF IS GOING TO CALL ME THAT DOES NOT BEAT ME?
winbig003 is all-In.
UltimateGW shows [ Ac, Td ] two pairs, aces and queens.
winbig003 shows [ Jd, Qs ] a full house, Queens full of fives.
winbig003 wins $172.10 from the main pot with a full house, Queens full of fives.


This play is terrible too. I am ahead on the flop but then the board is a 4-to-the-straight board. I have two-pair but I get reraised on the turn. I should probably have dumped the hand right there but I didn't. Why? Well, this guy was what seemed like a maniac, but wouldn't you know it he always showed down something really great? I call on the turn, check the river, and then call a massive bet. What can I possibly beat here? A bluff, and that's about it. Yet I called anyway.

***** Hand History for Game 3881772709 *****
$200 NL Texas Hold'em - Tuesday, April 04, 01:13:55 ET 2006
Table Table 96061 (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 3: mjr44333 ( $82.58 )
Seat 4: RearNkdChoke ( $282.23 )
Seat 6: BLUFFA71 ( $347.56 )
Seat 2: UltimateGW ( $224.65 )
Seat 1: bcgdy ( $198 )
bcgdy posts small blind [$1].
UltimateGW posts big blind [$2].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to UltimateGW [ 7d 8d ]
mjr44333 folds.
RearNkdChoke folds.
BLUFFA71 raises [$4].
bcgdy folds.
UltimateGW calls [$2]. WHY CALL OOP WITH THIS GARBAGE EVEN FOR A MIN-RAISE? FOLD!
** Dealing Flop ** [ 8c, 6c, 9s ]
UltimateGW checks.
BLUFFA71 bets [$2].
UltimateGW raises [$10].
BLUFFA71 calls [$8].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 7s ]
UltimateGW bets [$20].
BLUFFA71 raises [$55].
UltimateGW calls [$35].
** Dealing River ** [ 2s ]
UltimateGW checks.
BLUFFA71 bets [$121.63].
UltimateGW calls [$121.63].
>You have options at Table 96262 Table!.
BLUFFA71 shows [ Td, Jc ] a straight, seven to jack.
UltimateGW doesn't show [ 7d, 8d ] two pairs, eights and sevens.
BLUFFA71 wins $380.26 from the main pot with a straight, seven to jack.
Betty_Busto has joined the table.


This one takes the cake. I knew *exactly* what boknows69 had in this hand. I raised UTG with AA here, get a caller behind me. Then boknows69 decides to raise the roof on me here. Instead of reraising over the top of him I call....which allows Mr. A5 diamonds to make the call as well. Wouldn't you know it that the flop comes all diamonds. All-in, all-in, all-in.....and I lose a massive pot yet again because I was stupid with AA preflop.

***** Hand History for Game 3891879487 *****
$200 NL Texas Hold'em - Wednesday, April 05, 02:31:09 ET 2006
Table Table 95603 (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 2: boknows69 ( $480.91 )
Seat 5: EEEasyMoney ( $113.60 )
Seat 3: UltimateGW ( $200 )
Seat 6: nutsy128 ( $0 )
Seat 4: RobUazzs ( $239.70 )
Seat 1: fudfud422 ( $53.40 )
fudfud422 posts small blind [$1].
boknows69 posts big blind [$2].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to UltimateGW [ Ah Ac ]
>You have options at Table 96799 Table!.
UltimateGW raises [$7].
RobUazzs calls [$7].
EEEasyMoney folds.
fudfud422 folds.
boknows69 raises [$35].
UltimateGW calls [$30]. WTF? I NEED TO RERAISE TO ISOLATE!
RobUazzs calls [$30].
** Dealing Flop ** [ Td, 4d, 9d ]
boknows69 is all-In.
UltimateGW is all-In.
RobUazzs is all-In.
** Dealing Turn ** [ As ]
** Dealing River ** [ Qc ]
boknows69 shows [ Kc, Ks ] a pair of kings.
UltimateGW shows [ Ah, Ac ] three of a kind, aces.
RobUazzs shows [ Ad, 5d ] a flush, ace high.
boknows69 wins $241.21 from side pot #2 with a pair of kings.
RobUazzs wins $79.40 from side pot #1 with a flush, ace high.
RobUazzs wins $599 from the main pot with a flush, ace high.


Hand #1 = -$76.20 (Should have won $10 or $20)
Hand #2 = -$150.00 (Should have won $7 to $17)
Hand #3 = -$69.90 (Should have lost $30)
Hand #4 = -$86.05 (Should have lost $40)
Hand #5 = -$191.63 (Should have lost $2)
Hand #6 = -$200.00 (Should have won $200)


Actual losses = -$773.78

If I would have played these hands correctly = $144

Total Swing = $917.78

Wow, all of the sudden I'm a winning player for the last two days of play if I had just played these SIX hands correctly. Come to think of it, if I play these hands correctly I probably play better in other hands as well....and now I've won some real money over the last few days instead of dropping $900+.

Meh.

Don't do it. It sucks.

I ran into some killer hands tonight. A few bad beats here and there, a few people that after playing the hand it's like, "Umm, you called my raise preflop with WHAT?" And then your usual can't bet the fish off of his flush draw, that happened countless times tonight where I'd bet a hand hardcore the whole way....only to see a river 3-flush-board and get bet into hardcore.

Ahh the swings of poker, gotta love 'em. -$488 tonight. That's a pretty big chunk of change. Some of it's my fault....actually, quite a bit of it is. But the cards just weren't hitting me right tonight.


I also don't think I should have played tonight. I was tired the whole time and just wasn't "sharp" like normal. Ohh well, there's always tomorrow. Or the next day. I might not get poker in tomorrow b/c my team I coach has a double-header, but we'll see. Last time I played after a double-header I was tired and didn't play well, only winning like $6......so we'll see if I get to play.


Gotta get this ship back on track soon, though.


Good luck, good cards, and good day.

HIYO! Okay, so I forgot about the time change thingy that happened a couple hours ago. I kept looking at my clock and I'm like, "Okay, 3:15 no problem." Then I look at our digital cable box and it says 4:15. I'm like, "Ohh yeah....dammit, the time change thingy happened!"

So anyway, about the time I realized what the *actual* time was I decided to make a STIFF drink for myself. I figured I'd watch a little TV and then go to bed....but instead I'll make another blog post. What fun.

My drink is a little too strong (even for me), but it's doing my body good right now. I really, really, really like to drink and this is my first drink since last weekend so I'm going to enjoy it.



So last night I finally came back to earth and I made a whopping TWELVE DOLLARS playing NL200 6-max for about three hours. It was one of those nights where I knew I shouldn't have played, where I was making a *lot* of bad decisions....and I paid for it. I got stacked a few times throughout the night, but luckily I stacked a few peple myself and a barely broke even.

I learned a valuable lesson last night, one that I've learned before but I need to really pay attention to. If I'm not "feeling it," I shouldn't play poker. I've had some nights like that in the past where I'm not "feeling it," and I end up dropping money. Who woulda thunk it? You know, come to think of it, I've had entire weeks where I've felt like that.....and wouldn't you know it, that's when I've had my huge downswings.



Anyway, I played again tonight instead of going out (the fiance's out of town and Saturday is usually our "couple's night". I made another $360, bringing my total for the week up to $1970.37. Almost two thousand fricking dollars in a week. That's entering "holy shit" territory, at least for me. To be honest, though, it's not a big deal at all.....it's all really just numbers on a screen to me anymore. What makes it crazy is that's about as much as I would make as a full-time teacher in a MONTH......so, wow.

So, I'm sticking with this for the next few weeks/months. I'm gonna see how much money I can make, and who knows, maybe I'll turn "pro." I put it in quotation marks because this still seems so "out there" to me...

(also, before I go any further, I ran well this week....but it wasn't anything insane. I know that 2k every week playing NL200 may not be reasonable, or mabye it is, but I can at least make 1k per week doing this...)

Substitute teaching is over with for me. I'm done. I'm in line for a full-time job for next year, but even *that* may be out of the picture. It's not 100% because of poker, but that *does* have something to do with it......maybe I'll get to that in another post.

I'm going to work out a schedule with my fiance for when I will play poker....I can't spend every night on the computer while she goes to bed alone, that's not healthy. So when we work it all out (she is all for this btw), I'll let you guys know.


Okay, I've rambled enough. I'm going to finish my drink and crash.

Good cards and good day.

Umm, yeah, you can say that.

My last 18 days? 13 days of play...3.1k.

Since the fiance has been out of town? Three nights of play. 1.4k.

I don't know when it happened, but somewhere over the last two and a half weeks NL 6-max really started to "click" for me. I hope it keeps clicking.



I would write more but I'm exhausted right now. I'll try to be a little better about updating my blog more often, so hopefully I'll post again soon.


Good luck at the tables, and good day.

I just watched Gabe make about 1.3k in a little under an hour. He was playing NL1000 6-max on Party Poker. I'm pretty jealous.

This is another reason why I need to move up stakes quicker.

I am now playing NL200 and am beating that game pretty soundly. Hopefully on Friday/Saturday I can play some NL400 and run well. It's perfect timing to try that game out. I am easily BR'ed for it and my GF will be out of town so I'll have time to play a ton...

I'll let you know how it goes.

Poker is going well for me. I'm up about 1.8k over the last two weeks. As I said a few sentences ago, I'm beating the NL200 game at a pretty good clip. Hopefully I never ever ever ever ever ever step back down to NL100. $0.50/$1.00 blinds seems almost silly now to me.

Hi. Today I am substituting in a choir class.

I really want to off myself and just end it all right now.




That is all.

Well, I didn't stick to my Spring Break plan. After making $706 my first two days I decided to take a shot at NL200 (before I reached 1k) and things didn't go well. Nothing too crazy, I played a little over-aggressive and lost about a buy-in. I flipped back over to NL100 and lost another buy-in, then I had a few nights of break-even play (and a few nights I didn't play at all)......So that's how my Spring Break went. Overall I was up around $415 for my break but I didn't play nearly enough.

I'm back on the substitute trail so I'll have plenty of time to play over the next few weeks...Tonight I got off to a good start making $429 playing strictly NL100 for about six hours. The deck wasn't necessarily hitting me in the face but I ran well and played well. One table in particular was AWESOME, with just about everyone seeing every single flop...When I'd get a big hand, I'd pop it, a few would come for the ride and then fold to a c-bet. It was sweet.

I only saved one hand from this session but it's a beauty. I also saved a comment from the chatbox on one of my tables. I was absolutely running over the table a few times and this was said:

burny35: ultimate ur a fag man
UltimateGW: sorry I can't help it


LOL. Here's the hand. Usually I'm folding in a spot like this (check-raised all-in on the river) with only TPGK, but I had a read on this guy. He was playing his big hands fast all night and then all of the sudden he slows way down.....and check-raises me all-in on the river. For some reason this was an INSTA-CALL for me on this particular hand (I knew he had air). I was quite pleased with myself after this one.

***** Hand History for Game 3780461402 *****
$100 NL Texas Hold'em - Sunday, March 19, 22:03:51 ET 2006
Table Table 96443 (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 2: ChiyaPet ( $78.10 )
Seat 3: oclonghorns ( $141.75 )
Seat 4: DBD1234 ( $71.25 )
Seat 5: david3p ( $180.35 )
Seat 6: lphie979 ( $78.14 )
Seat 1: UltimateGW ( $119.40 )
DBD1234 posts small blind [$0.50].
david3p posts big blind [$1].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to UltimateGW [ Ks Qd ]
>You have options at Wild Child Table!.
lphie979 folds.
>You have options at Wild Child Table!.
UltimateGW raises [$4].
ChiyaPet folds.
oclonghorns folds.
DBD1234 calls [$3.50].
david3p folds.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 2c, Jd, 7d ]
DBD1234 checks.
UltimateGW bets [$6].
DBD1234 calls [$6].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 3h ]
DBD1234 checks.
UltimateGW checks.
** Dealing River ** [ Qs ]
DBD1234 checks.
UltimateGW bets [$12].
DBD1234 is all-In [$61.25]
UltimateGW calls [$49.25].
UltimateGW shows [ Ks, Qd ] a pair of queens.
DBD1234 doesn't show [ Kh, 9d ] high card king.
UltimateGW wins $140.50 from the main pot with a
pair of queens


Anyway, that's all I've got....Sorry so bland and not much content, it's 3am and I am tired. Good night and good luck.

(EDIT: This is my second post in two days, so if you haven't read my previous blog entry and would like to, please scroll down)

Poker is going great for me at the moment. I'm making more money on my big hands and losing the least on hands where I'm behind. I've made some tough laydowns lately that, at times, I haven't made (and have paid for it). It's a good feeling to run well *and* play well at the same time.

After "Day 2" of my Poker Spring Break I am up $703 (with $100 of that being the Party Poker Bonus). Made a cool $303 tonight without playing very long (maybe three hours), after making $300 on Day 1 in about seven or eight hours of play.

Having nights like these make me shake my head in amazement sometimes. I'm playing a freaking game and am making more money (lots more) in less time (lots less) than my normal day job. Makes me wonder, at least sometimes, about what it's going to be like when I finally move up in levels. I'll be making even more than I am now, lots more...

My goal for Spring Break has changed. Once I hit the 1k mark I am going to move up to NL200 6-max and give that a go, and hopefully never return to NL100.

Here are my big money hands from the night.



I had only been at the table for two orbits when I hit this gem. My opponent had played EVERY hand in the two orbits I had been there (even calling raises out of position). He would fold to a c-bet unless he hit something, and would REALLY get crazy on the turn/river if he had a hand. I saw him get paid off twice on weird two-pairs, and once on a set.

I didn't play the hand perfectly by any means. I fudged up on my turn bet ($9 into a $23 pot), but I think my saving grace was c-betting the flop hard (AA, KK, QJ, could have been my hand range), which disguised my AK a little. Either way, the end result is the same, I doubled up.

***** Hand History for Game 3737274534 *****
$100 NL Texas Hold'em - Monday, March 13, 23:40:29 ET 2006
Table Saint Jude (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: Atika33 ( $96.85 )
Seat 4: IJuwedU ( $111.30 )
Seat 5: DrSues02 ( $101.50 )
Seat 6: graffx099 ( $559.76 )
Seat 3: UltimateGW ( $127.05 )
Seat 2: a_m_n ( $100 )
Atika33 posts small blind [$0.50].
a_m_n posts big blind [$1].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to UltimateGW [ Kd Ad ]
UltimateGW raises [$4].
IJuwedU folds.
DrSues02 folds.
graffx099 calls [$4].
Atika33 folds.
a_m_n folds.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 2d, Js, Qs ]
>You have options at Sarahbella Table!.
UltimateGW bets [$7].
graffx099 calls [$7].
** Dealing Turn ** [ Tc ]
>You have options at Sarahbella Table!.
UltimateGW bets [$9].
graffx099 raises [$20].
UltimateGW raises [$51].
graffx099 calls [$40].
** Dealing River ** [ 6c ]
UltimateGW is all-In [$56.05]
graffx099 calls [$56.05].
UltimateGW shows [ Kd, Ad ] a straight, ten to ace.
graffx099 shows [ 2h, 2c ] three of a kind, twos.
UltimateGW wins $252.60 from the main pot with a



In this hand everybody else was limping in, I'm sitting with 56o on the button so I decide to come along for the ride.

I don't know if I liked how I played this hand, but ehh, fuck it. I doubled up.

***** Hand History for Game 3737270760 *****
$100 NL Texas Hold'em - Monday, March 13, 23:40:03 ET 2006
Table Sarahbella (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: Atika33 ( $81.20 )
Seat 2: mikedani61 ( $161.30 )
Seat 3: dd3mon ( $114.80 )
Seat 6: shadow2131x ( $354.15 )
Seat 4: UltimateGW ( $97 )
Seat 5: vulturesrow ( $99 )
vulturesrow posts small blind [$0.50].
shadow2131x posts big blind [$1].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to UltimateGW [ 5d 6h ]
Atika33 calls [$1].
mikedani61 calls [$1].
dd3mon calls [$1].
UltimateGW calls [$1].
vulturesrow folds.
shadow2131x checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 8h, 5c, 5h ]
shadow2131x checks.
Atika33 checks.
mikedani61 bets [$10].
dd3mon folds.
mikedani61: lalalalalalalalal
>You have options at Saint Jude Table!.
UltimateGW raises [$30].
shadow2131x folds.
Atika33 folds.
mikedani61 calls [$20].
** Dealing Turn ** [ Ah ]
>You have options at Saint Jude Table!.
mikedani61 checks.
UltimateGW checks.
** Dealing River ** [ 8s ]
>You have options at Saint Jude Table!.
mikedani61 checks.
UltimateGW is all-In [$66]
mikedani61 calls [$66].
mikedani61 shows [ 9h, 9s ] two pairs, nines and eights.
UltimateGW shows [ 5d, 6h ] a full house, Fives full of eights.
UltimateGW wins $194.50 from the main pot with a full house, Fives full of eights.


Here's a case where a small stack tried to get cute and limped AA UTG. Sorry buddy, good game.

Here's also a case where two-pair does not give you a license to print money. The cool thing about this is my opponent (who was also the villian in the previous hand) was talking mad shit in the chat box to anyone that would listen. He was also over-betting the piss out of just about every flop he was in (taking some of my money in the process), so I knew it was just a matter of time before he'd give his stack to me.

A nice little BB Special for UG.

***** Hand History for Game 3737505553 *****
$100 NL Texas Hold'em - Tuesday, March 14, 00:08:03 ET 2006
Table Sarahbella (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 1: Atika33 ( $89.90 )
Seat 2: mikedani61 ( $102.26 )
Seat 4: UltimateGW ( $159 )
Seat 3: wickedlies ( $43.80 )
Seat 5: thump19 ( $22.45 )
wickedlies posts small blind [$0.50].
UltimateGW posts big blind [$1].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to UltimateGW [ 9h 5c ]
thump19 calls [$1].
Atika33 folds.
mikedani61 calls [$1].
wickedlies folds.
>You have options at Saint Jude Table!.
UltimateGW checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 6s, 7h, 8s ]
UltimateGW checks.
thump19 is all-In [$21.45]
>You have options at Saint Jude Table!.
mikedani61 raises [$42.90].
UltimateGW is all-In [$158]
mikedani61 is all-In [$58.36]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 2d ]
** Dealing River ** [ Th ]
mikedani61 shows [ 6d, 8c ] two pairs, eights and sixes.
UltimateGW shows [ 9h, 5c ] a straight, six to ten.
thump19 doesn't show [ Ah, Ac ] a pair of aces.
UltimateGW wins $56.74 from side pot #2 with a straight, six to ten.
UltimateGW wins $159.62 from side pot #1 with a straight, six to ten.
UltimateGW wins $65.85 from the main pot with a straight, six to ten.



That's all for now. Good luck, and good day.

I'm sick. I'm not terrible or anything, just a slight fever, a runny nose, and I feel a little achy all over....but dammit if this doesn't suck. I guess it's perfect timing, I'm one of those teachers that will have to be on my death bed to make me miss a day of school, but still. Being sick when you're on vacation is never fun.

Anyway, things are going well for me right now. My long-term substitute position has ended and it went fantastic. I'm a little bummed that it's over, because it was nice to actually *teach* every day, to make an impact daily on students' lives, etc... But at the same time I'm kinda happy that it's over. I was teaching Communication Arts, which was fine, but to be honest it's not my cup of tea (I'm a Social Studies guy). I'll now have more time for poker, too, which is probably better money-wise for me in the long-run.

Things are definitely looking up for me on the job-front for next year. There is a position open for next year at the middle school I just finished teaching at and it sounds like I'm "their guy" for the job. Everyone I've talked to says there's absolutely no way they won't hire me, but until I sign on the dotted line I'll still be a little nervous.

So how is poker going? Well, because of teaching/coaching I've not really been able to play a whole lot over the past few weeks. It has sucked. I'll have a few hours at night where I can play but I will choose not to, basically because I know I'm too tired to be on top of my game....and because I know that once I play I run the risk of turning a 100-200 hand session into a five or six hour marathon (school the next day be damned).

I am looking forward to playing LOTS of poker over the next week or so. I've made it a goal to make at least 1k in the next week playing NL100/200 6-max. So far I'm off on the right foot making $303 last night playing strictly NL100. I came really close to clearing the $100 Bonus at Party Poker, so I might as well by up $403 after my first night. Not too shabby...

I'll be back on later in the week to give a report on how pokering is going.

Before I leave today, I want to post a few hands with absolutely no content. What you'll see in these hands are just stupid people giving me money, and I'm okay with that.



I may have played this hand a little weak. My read on the guy was that he was a maniac, min-raising almost every hand and betting everything if he smelled weakness. I had come over the top of him a few different times with big hands and he had always folded preflop *or* to my flop c-bet. This time he min-raised me preflop. As the hand played out it smelled of AA/KK/AK, but I couldn't tell which one it was so I just called him down. Stacks are semi-deep too here.

Also, I think a re-raise by me at any point in this hand cuts off his action, so I probably got the absolute most out of my hand.

***** Hand History for Game 3731228799 *****
$100 NL Texas Hold'em - Monday, March 13, 04:25:42 ET 2006
Table Fishsticks (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 3: xi_32 ( $48.06 )
Seat 5: UltimateGW ( $140.90 )
Seat 6: ImBen27 ( $86.42 )
Seat 2: SDeeSU ( $285.60 )
Seat 4: JONeeSTAX ( $136.30 )
Seat 1: ih8txhldm ( $21.40 )
ImBen27 posts small blind [$0.50].
ih8txhldm posts big blind [$1].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to UltimateGW [ Ah Kd ]
SDeeSU folds.
xi_32 folds.
JONeeSTAX raises [$2].
UltimateGW raises [$8].
ImBen27 folds.
ih8txhldm folds.
JONeeSTAX raises [$12].
UltimateGW calls [$6].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 9d, As, Kc ]
JONeeSTAX bets [$15].
UltimateGW calls [$15].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 9s ]
JONeeSTAX bets [$15].
>You have options at Moon Raker (No DP) Table!.
UltimateGW calls [$15].
** Dealing River ** [ 5c ]
JONeeSTAX bets [$40].
UltimateGW calls [$40].
JONeeSTAX shows [ 7c, 7d ] two pairs, nines and sevens.
UltimateGW shows [ Ah, Kd ] two pairs, aces and kings.
UltimateGW wins $166.50 from the main pot with two pairs, aces and kings.
>You have options at Moon Raker (No DP) Table!.
SDeeSU has left the table.



This hand was interesting, but at the same time just a *little* scary. This guy had been cold-calling raises with everything under the sun and had shown down some funky hands. I raised AK in MP and the SB called. He check/called my c-bet when a 9A9 flop came. He checked to me and I checked as well, hoping to induce a bluff on the river (if I bet the turn I think he gets away from his hand, whatever it is). The river as another 9, giving me a full house. He pushed his entire stack in and I thought two things. I thought we were either splitting the pot or he could potentially have quads.

He flips over QT. WTF?

***** Hand History for Game 3731224636 *****
$100 NL Texas Hold'em - Monday, March 13, 04:24:17 ET 2006
Table Moon Raker (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 5: UltimateGW ( $153.51 )
Seat 4: okkos ( $49.34 )
Seat 2: mosse80 ( $92.57 )
Seat 1: shogo71 ( $36.89 )
Seat 6: RustyTaylor ( $16.02 )
Seat 3: ins0lence ( $88.96 )
mosse80 posts small blind [$0.50].
ins0lence posts big blind [$1].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to UltimateGW [ Kc Ah ]
okkos folds.
UltimateGW raises [$4].
RustyTaylor folds.
shogo71 calls [$4].
mosse80 calls [$3.50].
ins0lence folds.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 9s, As, 9d ]
mosse80 checks.
UltimateGW bets [$9].
shogo71 folds.
mosse80 calls [$9].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 4h ]
mosse80 checks.
UltimateGW checks.
** Dealing River ** [ 9c ]
mosse80 is all-In.
>You have options at Fishsticks Table!.
UltimateGW calls [$79.57].
mosse80 shows [ Td, Qd ] three of a kind, nines.
UltimateGW shows [ Kc, Ah ] a full house, Nines full of aces.
UltimateGW wins $187.14 from the main pot with a full house, Nines full of aces.



That's all I've got. Good day.

Still grinding the NL100 6-max, dabbling in NL200 6-max from time to time as well...Still doing okay, but not as well as I would like to. I find myself grinding and grinding, making money at a decent rate.....and then with one or two hands I lose it all. I guess that's the nature of NL.

Through about 10k hands I'm running 8bb/100 at NL100, which isn't too shabby. I'd like to see the number be a little higher than that. I'd also like to see more money coming in, I seriously need to move up in levels....every time I do though, it seems I drop a buy-in or two real quick and move back down. I'll get there...



Here's my "hand of the night." This is what getting yourself a free card is all about. On the flop I re-raised my opponent on a semi-bluff in position. On the turn he caught two-pair but failed to bet, and I was able to see the river for free. The river gave me a straight and I was able to destack my opponent.

***** Hand History for Game 3677278066 *****
$100 NL Texas Hold'em - Sunday, March 05, 21:31:33 ET 2006
Table Leocadia (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 2: bfunggoy ( $61.50 )
Seat 3: MACNINJA1 ( $93.15 )
Seat 5: LaylaBobbins ( $187.68 )
Seat 6: SB006 ( $233.92 )
Seat 4: UltimateGW ( $97 )
Seat 1: psteveo ( $67.40 )
MACNINJA1 posts small blind [$0.50].
UltimateGW posts big blind [$1].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to UltimateGW [ Ts 8d ]
LaylaBobbins folds.
SB006 folds.
psteveo folds.
bfunggoy folds.
MACNINJA1 calls [$0.50].
UltimateGW checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 7d, 9d, 2s ]
MACNINJA1 bets [$2].
UltimateGW raises [$7].
MACNINJA1 calls [$5].
** Dealing Turn ** [ Ks ]
MACNINJA1 checks.
UltimateGW checks.
** Dealing River ** [ Jc ]
MACNINJA1 bets [$20].
UltimateGW raises [$50].
MACNINJA1 raises [$65].
UltimateGW is all-In [$39]
MACNINJA1 is all-In [$0.15]
MACNINJA1 shows [ 9s, Kd ] two pairs, kings and nines.
UltimateGW shows [ Ts, 8d ] a straight, seven to jack.
UltimateGW wins $3.85 from side pot #1 with a straight, seven to jack.
UltimateGW wins $183.30 from the main pot with a straight, seven to jack.


Anyway, that's all I've got. Back to the "grind" of the work-week. Tomorrow starts my last week as a long-term substitute. From there I get Spring Break, and then it's back to the daily grind of substituting wherever they put me. The one good thing I have going for myself is I am 99% sure I will be offered a job at the end of the week for *next* year...Once that happens I won't worry too much about working every day knowing I have stuff lined up for next year. Plus, it'll give me time to focus on poker where I can (most likely) make double what I would as a substitute (if not more).

Anyway, I hope all of your cards are good ones. Good day.

Baseball tryouts are upon us, boys and girls. What does that mean for George? Well, that means George is tired as hell for the next few weeks. I teach all day and then coach baseball for three hours at night. Throw in a quick workout at the gym and I am gone from my house from 7am-8pm every day.....it's fun, but dammit if I'm not pretty tired right now.

I'll get through it...Only three more "real" days of teaching before Spring Break begins, which I absolutely can't wait for. We'll have class Monday-Wednesday, Thursday is a Career day for the kiddies so my day is easy, and Friday we have no class (but have to be at school for the whole day).

So, how's the pokering been going? Quite well, actually, for the amount of tim that I have played. In my last blog post I listed my reasons for my downswing, and stated that I wasn't going to play for a while unless I "felt it." Well, sure enough the next day I "felt it." I finally got a good night's sleep for once, I felt sharp and fresh.......and after a six hour session I left the tables $500 richer (Okay, $497.83 richer but FIVE-HUNDO sounds so much sexier). Woo-hoo, downswing over. I ran pretty well, but more importantly, I *played well*, and it had been a while sine I had done that...

After that night I took a small break from poker so I could stay on a good sleep cycle for teaching/coaching. I didn't play Sunday-Wednesday, which is ridiculous if you know me at all. Last night (Thursday) I played about two-hundred hands, ran well and played well and walked away with $69. I was *so* tired yet extremely focused the whole time...I quit when I felt myself getting on the verge of being too tired to play, which is a huge step for me (a few weeks before I would have kept playing and stayed up until 3am even though I would have work the next morning).

I'm still mostly playing NL100.....NL200 wasn't very nice to me, but I'll be back up there soon enough.

Anyway, that's all I've got for now....Good luck at the tables everyone. Good day.

Ahh, the joys of learning a new game. Well, at least that's what I'm going to tell you (and myself) about my last ten days of poker.

Nah, honestly, I'm not going to kid myself. Yes, it's true, I've taken my fair share of bad beats lately.....but everone does. I've been sucked out on a few more times than usual...but that's variance, I can hang with that. I've gotten KK busted by AA.....that happens sometimes. But you want to know the real reason why I'm finding myself, today, on an $1100 downswing?

Because I've been playing bad. End of Story.

Yeah, with the way I've been running lately I probably would still be in the hole for the last ten days or so. But not $1100 in the hole. I've made some insane calls and have run insane plays on people that have cost me the majority of that money. I can think back to four or five hands that I had no business pushing/calling, or could have played differently, that could have saved me at least $700. I'm sure if I thought a little harder, or looked at Poker Tracker a little, I could find even more.

Part of it is just learning a new game. In the beginning, 6-max seemed like the greatest thing ever. It was EASY MONEY. I was running very well at first, but on top of that, I was playing great poker. Well, the "honeymoon period" of 6-max is over. I'm no longer running well....and I'm no longer playing great poker.

What's the cause of it? I dunno, there are a few reasons. One is that I've been over-playing drawing hands but *not* over-playing my big MADE hands. Another reason is that the variance has caught up to me, I'm no longer running AWESOME like I was...Yet another reason is that I've been bluffing far too much.

The biggest reason, though? I've been playing tired. There, I said it, I typed it out so all can see. For those of you that don't know, I'm a teacher. I've been on a long-term position for the past six weeks or so. The daily grind of teaching is tough, with all the planning, grading, time, and effort that it takes to be a great teacher. I've been doing that to the best of my abilities.....and also playing poker into the wee-hours of the morning, even though I have to wake up at 6am every day.

It's finally caught up to me, and I'm playing like shit because of it.

For those of you that have read my blog before for a while, you'll remember my downswing that happened in late-December. It coincided with the end of a skiing trip I took where I got very little sleep for a week and my Winter Break where I got very little sleep because I was doing one of two things: playing poker into the wee-hours of the morning or staying up drinking with friends into the wee-hours of the morning.

A few days ago it hit me that my downswings had a LOT of similarities...The similarities? Tired poker equals terrible poker, at least for me. I know for a fact that during both downswings I wasn't feeling sharp at any point during them......and isn't it funny, I lost a bunch of money during both. WEIRD.

So what am I going to do? I'm going to take another break to clear my head a little bit. In December I took a much-needed break and caught up with friends and family, and it was a blast. Now I have something else to look forward to: Baseball. On Monday we start tryouts at the high school I'm coaching at. My days (at least for the next few weeks) will be packed with teaching and coaching from 7am to 7pm. That leaves little time for relaxing with my fiance, getting good sleep, and least of all, poker...

Will you see me at the tables? I'm sure you will, but only when I'm feeling fresh. Those days may be few and far between, though. My goal right now is to make it to Spring Break and then get things back on track with poker...

Until then, good luck at the tables everyone......and good day.

Okay, so the other night I was a stupid ass and I tilted off a bunch of money. I'm not proud of it but I figured I'd tell my story here, in hopes that my stupidity will help others out some how.

I didn't think I was prone to tilt. I'm a roll with the punches sort of guy, usually laughing off bad beats and/or stupid plays. This time I didn't...

One of my first hands of the night is the hand that sent me off to Tilt Land. There was an absolute retard on my immediate left that had sucked out twice in the ten hand I had seen to build up a big stack. I'm in the SB looking down at QQ. The button limps, so I make it $5 to go (playing NL100 6-max here). The BB decides to make it $20 to go, and hte button folds. So what do I do? Well, this guy probably has two big cards I'm thinking, but doesn't have me beat right now...so I make it $50 to go. He calls. Flop is 422 rainbow. I push the flop, he calls and flips over ATo. Turn is an ace, river is a ten for good measure, and goodbye $102.

That's one of the worst plays I've ever seen in a cash game, so I wasn't happy about it. It was so bad, though, that it was funny. Or so I thought. It totally changed the way I played for the next thirty minutes or so.

About ten minutes later (on another table) I had built my stack up to $150 or so. I'm in the SB with TT. Tons of limpers, and but button makes it $6 to go. I call hoping to flop a set. Everyone else folds. Flop comes Q72 rainbow. I check, button bets, I call. I check again, button bets 2/3's the pot...and I 3-bet him. He cold calls. The river is an ace (which put 3-flush on board), I open push....and dude calls me with QQQ. Okay....That was STUPID.

About ten minutes later...I'm playing HU with some knucklehead. I'm pounding on him pretty good, taking down about ten hands in a row with absolutely nothing. Then I get AQs in SB. I make it $5 to go. He raises to $20. Instead of folding or calling to see a flop, I flat push.....and he flips over AK. Board comes AKK45, so I lose another buy-in...FUN STUFF.

I am flipping pissed at this point...I mean, I am HOT. So do I stand up or play more poker? Well....I decide to quit for a while (which I'm so glad that I did). I dropped about $380 within 30-minutes just being retarded. I had never done that before...

Anyway, I take a break of about 20-minutes...Cool off, come back and load up some more tables....and I proceed to win $425 over the next few hours, so I actually made a profit for the night......but the Tilt Monkey took what *could have* been a great night and turned it into barely a good night.

I definitely learned something from this....Hopefully you were able to as well.


Good luck, good cards....and good day.


P.S. I'm still running decent at NL100 and NL200. I'm up about $1400 over 9k hands or so. I'm liking it, I just wish I had more time to play.

It may help to go read Courtiebee's latest blog post before reading my message, so you can have a good idea of what's going on. She wrote a post and this is my reply to it...I posted it on the main forum, but I figured there was enough content in it to post in my own blog. There are many people that won't agree with what I have to say here, or think I'm silly for thinking the way that I do....Others may agree. Bah, read it yourself and form your own opinion.

Good luck at the tables everyone, and good day.


Courtiebee,

I'll get this out of the way quickly, but I just thought you should know that I think your blog is great. It is well written and I enjoy reading it.

Anyway, that's not why I came to this thread....I came here to talk about your "problem" that you discussed in your latest blog post. Youre "problem" that you have? You're a Bankroll Baby.

Courtie, welcome to my world.

I'm not sure if you've gone back and read many of my blog posts, but I've discussed being a Bankroll Baby a time or two. I've talked about how I played NL25 until I had a BR of over 3k....and about how I didn't make the jump to NL100, full-time, until I had about 6k behind me (I skipped NL50 almost entirely for various reasons). I just recently switched to NL100 6-max, but as of right now I'm still sitting here with over 100 buy-ins behind me at this level. Just one month ago I was playing NL100 (6-max and full-ring) with 130+ buy-ins behind me (I just dipped into the BR to buy two dope-ass monitors and paid of some other bills).

Insane? Some think so. (EDIT: I plan on making a jump up to NL200 soon, though, my excuse now is that I'm learning a new game, 6-max, which is a valid excuse I think)

Anyway, I've talked about my "problem" at great length...but the more I think about it, the more I am starting to believe that it actually isn't a problem at all. It's one of those "it is.....but it isn't" sort of things.

Poker attracts many different types of players. The extremes are those people that play with a reckless abandon, those that pay no attention to bankroll management.....and then you have people like us, those that play with, what some would consider, too much "cushion." The rest, or the majority, fall somewhere in between.

I used to kick myself all the time, much like you are doing, because I wasn't moving up levels fast enough. I thought, and others told me (correctly, as it turns out), that I was missing out on making more money by playing lower stakes. Even with knowing this, and hearing it from others, I still couldn't change the way I felt about my situation.

Why did I feel this way? Why did I move up levels so slowly? Well, for the longest time I couldn't handle "the swings of poker." I couldn't handle losing a few buy-ins at NL25. Each and every time I did I thought it was the end of the world, that my game was going in the shitter, that if I couldn't beat this game 100% of the time then really, how good was I? If I wasn't able to handle losing a buy-in at that level, and realize "that's just poker," then I knew I wasn't ready to move up to NL100.

I was also at a nice comfort level. The money still mattered, the money I was making was great, and really meant something.....to me. I remember hopping into bed after a late-night session and telling my (now) fiance, "I made $60 tonight!" Who woulda thunk it that you could make that type of money doing something you love so much. I almost laugh at that comment now, but jeeze, $50-60 in a night used to be such a HUGE deal...

Over time, with the help of others and by myself, I started to see "the big picture," if you want to call it that. I started to understand that in order to make more money I had to put more on the table. Would I lose more if I lost a buy-in? Of course, but I would also MAKE more money if I could keep a consistent win-rate going too. Getting to this point has increased my profits a LOT.

Slowly, but surely, my thought process has changed...I'm still a Bankroll Baby, don't get me wrong....but I'm getting close to losing that tag for good. I now have goals for when I want to be playing at certain levels which is something I *never* used to do. I used to always say, "I'll move up when I'm ready." Now I *know* I'm ready for NL200, so I'm going...and my game is ready for NL400 and I will be there just as soon as I conquor NL200 for a while.

So, back to my original point. Do I think being a Bankroll Baby is bad? It is.....and it isn't. It is because you're not going to, at least theoretically, maximize your profits by playing over-rolled. Being a BR Baby is a good thing, though, because you're still *learning the game.* You're a newbie at this (much like I was). In the beginning, I was constantly learning, constantly watching all of my tables that are open, constantly processing information that was going to help me 10, 20, 50, 2349, 11,239 hands from then. I knew that at *some point* I was going to move up in levels when I was *ready*.

Poker, to me, is a marathon, and should be treated as such...Go at your own pace. Sooner or later, you'll get used to the money, you'll get used to the swings....and you won't be as much of a BR Baby. Then you'll jump up levels and find out it's not so hard.....and then you'll jump up levels again, and maybe find out the same thing.....You'll be playing higher and higher.

It's not how you get there.....it's just that you get there. I hope to be playing 5/10 or 10/20 some day. Maybe even higher. If it takes me a few years to learn and build a roll, I'm cool with that.

I know I rambled there towards the end....but seriously, don't kick yourself for being a Bankroll Baby. It's natural for people like us, and it's okay. All of those numbers for moving up levels, all those stats that explain how many buy-ins you need for each step....it's all bullshit. They're just numbers. What's good (and safe feeling) for one will not be good (and safe feeling) for another. Some people can't play unless they have their entire BR on the line because it's not a rush for them....others need to play with huge cushions, because the money matters to them at all times.

So my advice? Move up when you're ready, move up when it feels right. You'll know when. You'll love it when you do with the amount of money you'll start raking in...


Good luck,
UG

Ehh, I figure I'll pull a "gabe" here and post a few of my interesting hands from tonight...Won a few buy-ins plus some playing NL100 6-max (plus $225 for the night). I'm running at about 21bb/100 right now overall for the game (I just realized in my last post I was giving my PT BB/100, which is half of what it really is in NL)...

By the way, please scroll down after this post if you missed my latest blog entry...I'm posting back-to-back here, you wouldn't want to miss out on my previous masterpiece, would you? :roll:

Three huge winners here, along with two hands that I lost on. On the hands I lost, one I played beautifully (laid it down when I knew I was beat), the other hand I lost I played like a donkey. Can't win 'em all.



This hand....I felt like getting a little crazy. I only run about 18/8 in 6-max which is pretty tight, but I decided to raise a suited-gapper. It turned out well.

***** Hand History for Game 3530919718 *****
$100 NL Texas Hold'em - Friday, February 10, 21:39:21 EDT 2006
Table Table 65037 (6 max) (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: eatbullets ( $87.50 )
Seat 3: sknotrocket ( $80.60 )
Seat 4: Gg_n00b_Gg ( $89.15 )
Seat 5: ILikeRivers ( $300.88 )
Seat 6: omega353 ( $104.30 )
Seat 2: UltimateGW ( $98 )
Gg_n00b_Gg posts small blind [$0.50].
ILikeRivers posts big blind [$1].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to UltimateGW [ 8d Td ]
omega353 calls [$1].
eatbullets folds.
UltimateGW raises [$5].
sknotrocket folds.
Gg_n00b_Gg folds.
ILikeRivers folds.
omega353 calls [$4].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3d, 4d, Jd ]
omega353 bets [$5].
UltimateGW raises [$20].
omega353 calls [$15].
** Dealing Turn ** [ Th ]
omega353 checks.
UltimateGW bets [$40].
omega353 is all-In [$79.30]
UltimateGW is all-In [$33]
** Dealing River ** [ 5h ]
UltimateGW shows [ 8d, Td ] a flush, jack high.
omega353 shows [ Ad, 4h ] a pair of fours.
omega353 wins $6.30 from side pot #1 with a pair of fours.
UltimateGW wins $194.50 from the main pot with a flush, jack high.


This next hand SUCKED. I knew UTG had a *HUGE* hand here that he wouldn't be able to get away from, no matter the flop. The call from the CO scared me, so I raised about 20% of their stacks. Both called. UTG went all-in (which I was expecting, I was going to call and pay off QQ if he had it), but then the CO went all-in so I made a crazy lay-down here...

***** Hand History for Game 3530990076 *****
$100 NL Texas Hold'em - Friday, February 10, 21:50:34 EDT 2006
Table Table 65037 (6 max) (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: eatbullets ( $110.15 )
Seat 3: sknotrocket ( $88.05 )
Seat 4: Gg_n00b_Gg ( $89.45 )
Seat 5: ILikeRivers ( $277.18 )
Seat 2: UltimateGW ( $168.10 )
Seat 6: TrouQ ( $114 )
eatbullets posts small blind [$0.50].
UltimateGW posts big blind [$1].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to UltimateGW [ As Ad ]
sknotrocket calls [$1].
Gg_n00b_Gg raises [$5].
ILikeRivers folds.
TrouQ calls [$5].
eatbullets folds.
UltimateGW raises [$19].
sknotrocket folds.
Gg_n00b_Gg calls [$15].
TrouQ calls [$15].
** Dealing Flop ** [ Th, 3s, Qd ]
UltimateGW bets [$40].
Gg_n00b_Gg is all-In [$69.45]
TrouQ is all-In [$94]
UltimateGW folds.
** Dealing Turn ** [ 5c ]
** Dealing River ** [ Qs ]
Gg_n00b_Gg shows [ Kh, Kc ] two pairs, kings and queens.
TrouQ shows [ 3h, 3c ] a full house, Threes full of queens.
TrouQ wins $24.55 from side pot #1 with a full house, Threes full of queens.
TrouQ wins $237.40 from the main pot with a full house, Threes full of queens.


This one is pretty standard...Nothing I could do here except take somebody's money.

***** Hand History for Game 3530329219 *****
$100 NL Texas Hold'em - Friday, February 10, 20:02:24 EDT 2006
Table Table 72426 (6 max) (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 2: Unicum1584 ( $106.05 )
Seat 4: prefontaine ( $73.90 )
Seat 5: swagmonger ( $64.67 )
Seat 6: mattyb0y103 ( $96 )
Seat 3: UltimateGW ( $104.15 )
Unicum1584 posts small blind [$0.50].
UltimateGW posts big blind [$1].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to UltimateGW [ 8s 8h ]
prefontaine calls [$1].
swagmonger folds.
mattyb0y103 folds.
Unicum1584 raises [$3.50].
UltimateGW calls [$3].
prefontaine calls [$3].
** Dealing Flop ** [ Tc, 8c, 5s ]
Unicum1584 bets [$9].
UltimateGW raises [$18].
prefontaine folds.
Unicum1584 raises [$36].
UltimateGW is all-In.
Unicum1584 calls [$55.15].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 7c ]
** Dealing River ** [ Qh ]
Unicum1584 shows [ Kc, Kd ] a pair of kings.
UltimateGW shows [ 8s, 8h ] three of a kind, eights.
UltimateGW wins $210.30 from the main pot with three of a kind, eights.


Hi. I'm a donkey. Please take my money even though I know I'm beat here. Thank you.

***** Hand History for Game 3531429490 *****
$100 NL Texas Hold'em - Friday, February 10, 22:59:12 EDT 2006
Table Table 65037 (6 max) (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 1: brucel7672 ( $90.60 )
Seat 2: UltimateGW ( $110.80 )
Seat 4: swordfish3a ( $101.48 )
Seat 5: H_Rockets ( $161.87 )
Seat 3: TrouQ ( $113.80 )
H_Rockets posts small blind [$0.50].
brucel7672 posts big blind [$1].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to UltimateGW [ 9h 9s ]
UltimateGW raises [$4].
TrouQ folds.
swordfish3a folds.
H_Rockets calls [$3.50].
brucel7672 calls [$3].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 7h, 6d, 7s ]
H_Rockets checks.
brucel7672 checks.
UltimateGW bets [$9].
H_Rockets calls [$9].
brucel7672 folds.
** Dealing Turn ** [ 3h ]
H_Rockets bets [$8].
UltimateGW raises [$25].
H_Rockets raises [$34].
UltimateGW calls [$17].
** Dealing River ** [ 4h ]
H_Rockets bets [$25].
UltimateGW calls [$25].
H_Rockets shows [ 6c, 6h ] a full house, Sixes full of sevens.
UltimateGW doesn't show [ 9h, 9s ] two pairs, nines and sevens.
H_Rockets wins $162 from the main pot with a full house, Sixes full of sevens.


Please, BLUFF ALL OF YOUR MONEYZ TO ME.

***** Hand History for Game 3531796952 *****
$100 NL Texas Hold'em - Friday, February 10, 23:57:01 EDT 2006
Table Table 65037 (6 max) (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 2: UltimateGW ( $129.50 )
Seat 4: swordfish3a ( $84.13 )
Seat 5: H_Rockets ( $342.11 )
Seat 1: AngelFish__ ( $84.75 )
Seat 3: Teletran1 ( $99 )
Seat 6: stud_pitcher ( $112.15 )
Teletran1 posts small blind [$0.50].
swordfish3a posts big blind [$1].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to UltimateGW [ Jd Jc ]
H_Rockets raises [$3].
>You have options at Table 72426 (6 max) (No DP) Table!.
stud_pitcher folds.
AngelFish__ calls [$3].
>You have options at Table 72426 (6 max) (No DP) Table!.
UltimateGW raises [$12].
Teletran1 folds.
swordfish3a folds.
>You have options at Table 72426 (6 max) (No DP) Table!.
H_Rockets folds.
AngelFish__ calls [$9].
** Dealing Flop ** [ Jh, Ad, 9s ]
AngelFish__ checks.
UltimateGW checks.
** Dealing Turn ** [ 9d ]
AngelFish__ bets [$15].
UltimateGW calls [$15].
** Dealing River ** [ 8c ]
AngelFish__ is all-In.
UltimateGW calls [$57.75].
AngelFish__ shows [ Qh, Kh ] a pair of nines.
UltimateGW shows [ Jd, Jc ] a full house, Jacks full of nines.
UltimateGW wins $171 from the main pot with a full house, Jacks full of nines.



That's it. Good luck, and good cards. Good day.

Before I get started, let me just tell you something. I hate grading papers. I fucking hate it. It takes time away from other things in life (like poker, sleeping, working out, watching paint dry, twidling my thumbs, stuff like that). Let me teach, let me coach, but goddammit....don't make me grade papers. Especially not 110 of them. If I absolutely must grade them.....give me over-time or something, PLEASE. Other people get over-time for their jobs, but when I have 4-5 hours of grading me staring me in the face I don't get any.......Ehh, the life of a teacher. Bah. Anyway.....

***********************************************************************

It's been a while so I figure I'll post another update to my blog. I'm not really sure how long this one will be. If I'm feeling it (which I'm not right now), I'll just let if flow...If not, it'll be a pretty short post.

A few weeks ago when Bodog Poker switched their interface (to the absolute shittiest interface that will ever be created by a online poker company), I thought it was one of the worst things that could have ever happened to my poker career. All of the sudden, in the blink of an eye, my personal ATM was gone. I no longer had a place where I could realistically make $25-35 per hour 2-3 tabling NL100. I no longer had a place where I could make $5600 in two months *without even trying*. I just sat there waiting around for good hands, pounded the piss out of them when I got them, and got paid.

When it happened, I was pissed. I was upset. I was bummed. I called their customer service a few days in a row thinking it was some sort of sick joke. I thought they'd change back to their old interface because every post on every forum that I've seen has been negative towards their new interface. Then I heard the bad news. They were never going to go back to their old interface, they were only going to make changes to their "new and improved" version.

Hearing this, I cashed out my money and walked. I'll take my $300-500 in rake somewhere else, I guess.

I took my money and sat on it for a few days. I talked with other players and asked them where they thought I should play. Party Poker? PokerStars? Prima? B2B? Full-ring? 6-max? Choices, choices...

I decided to play NL full-ring at Party Poker. I took my same super-lame-ass-camping-style there, too, hoping that I'd get paid off on a nightly basis just like I did at Bodog. That is *not* what happened. I didn't lose a lot either, which is *good*, but it's almost impossible to lose playing my super-lame-ass-camping-style so that's not really saying much. Overall, after two weeks of play and 2000 hands, I lost a grand total of $187. I know, I know, small sample....but after looking at the players in these games, and noticing that the pots didn't get out of control very often....I realized that style was NOT going to pay off in that game.

So I was left with a few choices....Switch sites, switch styles, or switch styles *and* the game I was playing. I chose the latter.

I went to 6-max and it's been the absolute BEST thing I've ever done for my poker game. I'm actually *playing poker* now, not just waiting for huge hands to hit me in the face. I still probably play a little too tight (running about 18/8 right now), but I'm working on it (trust me, that's a LOT better than the 9/3 I used to run at NL full-ring most nights).

So far I'm running a hair over 10bb/100 after about 3800 hands. I'm going to play somewhere around 10k before I move up in levels (I may change my mind about that soon, though). I'm also up 300+ euros on the B2B network clearing their Bonus.....so, over the last two and a half weeks I'm up over $1k, which is pretty sweet. Especially even more so because I went two weeks without making any money....


Anyway, so that's the update for now....Hopefully everything is going well for everybody. Take care, good luck, and good cards.

LOL. I can't believe I'm actually calling this "fan mail." I'm calling it that because calling it "fan mail" is hilarious to me for some reason. Anyway, I received a message on the boards from Miffed22001 and replied to him. I figured instead of posting it in my blog comments section, I'd just post the reply here for all to see. Enjoy.






Thanks a bunch. I really need to start updating it more. When I started the blog I was only working three days a week or so, so it wasn't a big deal to stay up late after a session to go through my day or my thoughts. Since then I've started a (temporary) full-time job. By early March things should be back to how they were in November/December so I'll be able to update it more often.





Hit me.





The following statements may seem a little silly to some...and downright asinine to others, but it's how it goes.

There are a lot of factors that go along with me being a BR Baby. One you touched on. For whatever reason, I've looked at poker (at least somewhat) as an investment. As you may have read, I don't have the greatest paying job. I'll never get rich teaching. So watching this money grow and grow has been fun...I've put $54.90 into my Neteller and I've watched it grow to around 14k in less than a year. That is *ridiculous* to me. I've barely had to touch any of that money so it's pretty much all gone to savings.

I could get into how I don't feel ready, how I feel I'm still learning the game (been playing for less than a year) and have a LOT to learn before I move up, how this is a marathon and not a race...how I'll be playing higher stakes here in a few months, yada, yada, yada...I could get into all of that. But you know what it all boils down to?

Money. I'm still too attached to it to how much it actually is. As a teacher I'm lucky if I take home $1600 after taxes. If I lose $400 in a night....whoa. It took me forever to move up from NL25 because I would still get pretty hacked-off to lose $25-50 in a night (although it rarely ever happened). Now, playing NL100, If I have a few losing sessions in a row it messes with my head too much. I start to think, "Fuck that, I'm taking my ball and going home," and I don't play for a while. If I'm getting this hacked off about 3-4 buy-ins (when I have 130 or so to back it up).....then that menas I'm still not ready. I guess it's wise that going about it like this if I feel this way, but I dunno, maybe I'm wrong?





When I've moved up to NL200 I have been a winner. But I find myself playing too tight at that level, too afraid of blowing it all. Even though it's the SAME GAME, I feel like because the blinds go up it changes. Because the blinds go up the people around me are better (which there is some truth to). I give WAY too much credit to people at the higher levels...And the way I look at it, if I lose four buy-ins at NL200...jeezus, that's 1/2 my monthly take-home. I haven't gotten to that point where it doesn't matter yet, where I can just sit back and play my game...





Yeah, I play pretty damn tight at the poker table. It's funny, I've always read that "people play poker like how they live their lives," and for the most part, it's true. I'm putting my money in when I know I have the best of it, otherwise, I'm gone.

Now that I've moved to 6-max my game has done a 180. I've become a lot more aggressive, I play a lot wider range of hands....I'm sure I'd still be considered a tight 6-max guy....but I'm learning (and winning) as of now, so hopefully it continues.

What would I do if I were to play MTTs? I'd go to Ventrillo. A *lot*. I'd hang out there every time I was playing. I'd try to hook on with a "coach," of sorts, and I've talked about this with a few members from around the forum. I'd have to make some big-time changes in my game...I play just fine when the stacks are deep, and have no problem playing the short-stack......but the middle rounds would kill me because I'm so damn tight. It's something I will definitely look into as my game evolves, but right now, I'm not going down that road.





Yeah, being a teacher is rough if I want to play MTTs and be successful (both at my job, and at MTTs). I've actually found myself playing some "tired poker" the last few days because I've been playing so much 6-max...and it's really been tough on my game. My reads aren't as crisp, my betting patterns are weird, I make silly plays when I shouldn't...and I've paid for it.

I have the PERFECT game for the early rounds of an MTT...if I could ever learn how to play after the first hour I could be good. But isn't that everybody?





Thank you. I definitely need to post more...my game (and profits) were so much better when I took the time to analyze everything. Everything was so much better when I wasn't working all the damn time too, but that's how it goes. Again, in March things should get back to normal. I'll start coaching baseball full-time, subbing part-time, and playing poker the majority of the time. At least I hope that's how it goes.




So there you have it. My first (and only) letter from the mail bag, lol.

Just to update you all on what I've been doing lately...I've switched to 6-max, as you have read. I'm playing over at Martins Poker doing their INSANE Bonus and am playing regularly on Party Poker at night.

I've been doing well so far...the last two days have been pretty rough on me, but I'm getting by. Part of it has been the fatigue factor that I just spoke about...The other part has been ridiculously bad beats. You see some crazyassmotherfuckingshit sometimes in poker. Like 2-outers. Or runner-runners. Or when you make a perfect read on a guy and your all-in raise gets called, and your 60/40 doesn't hold up. That happened yesterday in a span of twenty minutes.....I go from what should be a $350 upswing to a $350 downswing just like that. Those $700 swings KILL ME.

They kill us all.

I'm still up about five buy-ins playing NL100 6-max, so things are still okay.

Anyway, that's all I have for tonight. Hope all is well with everyone (all three of you). Take care, good cards, and good day.

Hey everybody. Remember me? It's been a while since I've posted in my blog. I figured I'd take a moment to let everyone know what's going on with me, what's going on with my game.

I haven't been playing as much as normal, and definitely not winning as much as I was a few months ago. There are a few reasons for this, so I'll go ahead and list them out for you.

1. I started a new job. As many of you know, I'm a substitute teacher. Normally I substitute in a random school for a random teacher on (just about) a daily basis. As a "random substitute" I don't do any teaching, I basically show up and hand out worksheets and/or pop in a video for the kiddies to watch. So I'm a glorified baby-sitter that gets to surf the web and get paid for it.

From August through October I had a long-term substitute job (maternity leave). I was able to actually teach, so I loved it. I had extra time at night becuase I didn't have to plan too often, so I was able to play poker for two plus hours per night. When that job ended I was back on the substitute-circuit, but I increased my poker-play like you wouldn't believe. I started playing poker until the wee-hours of the morning almost every day. With my profits from poker I found it almost pointless to work on a regular basis, so I worked when I felt like it.

Now I've got another long-term substitute position (again, for maternity leave). It's great, I get to teach every day again.....but instead of teaching history (that's where my background is), I'm teaching 7th grade Communication Arts. It's still fun as hell, but it's definitely cut into the amount of time I can put towards the game...

2. The next reason (which also causes reason #3), is my site went batshit on me. For those of you that read the FTR forums (why would you be here if you didn't), you know what site I'm talking about. My site changed it's interface and is absolutely UNPLAYABLE now. This caused me to step away from playing poker for a few days. All of the sudden I had to find a new site to play on. Not a big deal, right? Wrong. The site I was playing on was so uber-fishy that you could just sit back and expect to get paid on a nightly basis (unless you did something totally stupid or got bad-beated). At times it felt like I was just making my nightly stop at the ATM. It was THAT good. I know that there's probably not another site out there quite like it, so I took a break for a few days to search around....and wasn't able to find one.

3. I started playing on Party Poker. You'd think that changing sites wouldn't be that big of a deal, but it has been. Playing with my old style (see: nut-camping), I was able to sit back and let the money just flow to me on a nightly basis. On Party Poker, it's not quite that easy. So, I've had to change my game up a little bit. With changing your game, and learning new ways to play, there is always going to be a learning curve. My learning curve has been about two buy-ins at NL100. No big deal since I still have about 130 buy-ins or so behind me.

Plus, another huge change I've had to deal with is the interface of Party Poker. You see, I'm a visual learner. When I played at my old site I had these nice little avatars to look at with purty pictures to remember everyone by. I could play with a person at the beginning of the month, not play with him/her for three or four weeks, and then see him/her again and remember how they played the last time. Especially within a few orbits. At Party Poker you can't really tell the difference between each player (except for their name), and the names just don't register as well for me. And since I'm too lazy to figure out what's up with my Poker Tracker (I keep getting errors on importing hands), well, my reading ability isn't quite as strong.


So....For the time being I'm going to keep plugging away at Party Poker full-ring. In the very near future, though, I am going to switch things up and start playing 6-max. That's "where the money is at," so I might as well go see what I can do there. Playing full ring is a little boring (at least when you're not raking in huge gobs of money every night), so I think it'll be good for me.

With this switch I'm going to need a little bit of help. A few fellow FTR'ers have offered to "ghost" me while I play for a few sessions. Hell, I'm even up for just watching someone else play if they'll walk me through each hand they play. I'm here ready to learn how to make more money...

I guess that's all I've got for now. Good luck to everyone, good cards too. Good day.


P.S. I'm reading "The Book of Bluffs" by Matt Lessinger. A great read so far.

Okay, so if you read the forums you already know my take on things...The site I was playing on (and doing quite well on, thank you), decided to scrap their interface to go with a new one. Well, the new one sucks, so I won't be playing there in the near future. What's funny is that site was banking off of guys like me. I probably put close to $600 in rake into their pockets per month. In my "peak months" when I was able to play quite a bit....it could have been closer to $1000 a month. That's a grip load of cash.

Hopefully enough players like me tell them to fuck off and they'll go back to their old interface, or maybe a newer (and better) interface. We'll see.

I'm not sure where my next stop will be poker-wise, but I'm on the hunt for a new site. I'm sure I'll find one in the next few days or so and give it a shot. Until then it's probably no poker for me...

Things with me are good...I rebounded from my downswing and ended up making about $1200 from December 23rd to January 10th. I'm up about $800 or so since December 23rd. It's a far cry from my November and December totals, but I'll take it...

Maybe I should take up six-max?

On a personal note, I may not be playing poker quite as much over the next two months or so. My long-term job started today. It wasn't supposed to start until the end of the month but the girl I'm subbing for was induced into labor a few weeks early.....So I'll be teaching every day, waking up at the butt-crack of dawn every day. I'm actually excited about it because now I actually get to TEACH on a daily basis.....but man I'm gonna be tired.

I guess that's it for the day. Kinda random, kinda here and there....that's kinda how I feel right now though, I'm whipped from teaching all day.

Good luck at the tables......Good day.

What's going on, everyone? Hopefully everyone had a gre