I'm rich!

Well, not really. Made a "spin up" video - trying to see how much I can turn $100 into in 30 minutes. Made it to $183.30 and to be honest I was suprised I didn't go bust.

Some "interesting" hands

My god, the play at $0.25/$0.5 is poor....

Full Tilt Poker Game #3210650326: Table Lindell (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Hold'em - 13:27:45 ET - 2007/08/10
Seat 1: gekko unltd ($66.55)
Seat 2: edward2ndbase ($44.85)
Seat 3: pokermarx ($90.15)
Seat 4: 32suited ($52)
Seat 5: Deadwood41 ($53.65)
Seat 6: Tall_Mat ($50.65)
Deadwood41 posts the small blind of $0.25
Tall_Mat posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Tall_Mat [7h 3s]
gekko unltd folds
edward2ndbase folds
pokermarx calls $0.50
32suited calls $0.50
Deadwood41 calls $0.25
Tall_Mat checks
*** FLOP *** [3h 3d 6d]
Deadwood41 checks
Tall_Mat bets $2
pokermarx calls $2
32suited folds
Deadwood41 has 15 seconds left to act
Deadwood41 calls $2
*** TURN *** [3h 3d 6d] [7s]
Deadwood41 checks
Tall_Mat checks
pokermarx bets $5
Deadwood41 folds
Tall_Mat raises to $16
pokermarx has 15 seconds left to act
pokermarx raises to $40
Tall_Mat: 66? <- lol, how precient is this comment?
Tall_Mat has 15 seconds left to act
Tall_Mat raises to $48.15, and is all in
pokermarx calls $8.15
Tall_Mat shows [7h 3s]
pokermarx shows [9s 6h]
*** RIVER *** [3h 3d 6d 7s] [6s]
Tall_Mat shows a full house, Threes full of Sevens
pokermarx shows a full house, Sixes full of Threes
pokermarx wins the pot ($101.30) with a full house, Sixes full of Threes
Tall_Mat adds $50

Still, sometimes the good guys win:

Full Tilt Poker Game #3210673356: Table Stewart (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Hold'em - 13:31:23 ET - 2007/08/10
Seat 1: Big Terd ($24.80)
Seat 2: Peterpihl ($50)
Seat 3: TravDiddles ($18.45)
Seat 4: khop1 ($50.30)
Seat 5: Money Maker 852 ($10.90)
Seat 6: Tall_Mat ($83.35)
khop1 posts the small blind of $0.25
Money Maker 852 has 5 seconds left to act
Money Maker 852 posts the big blind of $0.50
5 seconds left to act
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Tall_Mat [6c 6d]
khop1: like i said doggy call or quit crying
Tall_Mat raises to $1.75
Big Terd folds
TravDiddles calls $1.75
khop1 folds
Money Maker 852 has 15 seconds left to act
Money Maker 852 folds
*** FLOP *** [6h Th 6s]
Tall_Mat checks
TravDiddles bets $2
Tall_Mat calls $2
*** TURN *** [6h Th 6s] [8d]
Tall_Mat checks
TravDiddles bets $4
Tall_Mat raises to $8
TravDiddles raises to $14.70, and is all in
Tall_Mat calls $6.70
TravDiddles shows [Ts Ac]
Tall_Mat shows [6c 6d]
*** RIVER *** [6h Th 6s 8d] [9h]
TravDiddles shows two pair, Tens and Sixes
Tall_Mat shows four of a kind, Sixes
Tall_Mat wins the pot ($35.80) with four of a kind, Sixes

Baseball-tastic

Been playing this baseball game recently - and level 9 was proving to be a complete bugger. This morning got 26,661 points and completed it so that's definitely a result - I can stop wasting time on it and waste even more time playing poker instead!

Doledrums

Can't seem to get anything going at the moment. Played a couple of sessions getting up 2-3 buy-ins and then ending up level. Had some corkers today - AA all-in preflop vs 55, obviously didn't stand a chance. Misplayed a KQ hand rivering a straight which gave someone else a flush that I hadn't bet them out of chasing. Then against a very aggro player saw a raised pot with KT and the flop came T42 two hearts. I bet, he raised, I shoved for 110BB and he called with 7h8h. River gives him the flush and there goes 250+ big blinds.

All in all I think I played ok though. Early morning UK time certainly seems to be the best time to play on Full Tilt - lots of tired Americans giving away money...all I need to do now is hang onto it once I've got it.

I play sooooooo bad

Bleugh - that's the only way to describe it really.

Firstly stacked off with AQ on an A73 board - I was sitting there thinking "he has a set" and yet still couldn't quite stop myself re-reraising all-in on the flop. He had A7 which in all honesty was about as good as I could hope for.

Then I raised UTG with QQ, button calls, SB calls, BB re-pots it. I of course sense a steal going on so shove...and he has AA.

Just to really make my day I get KK in the C/O. I raise, the button calls. J72 2-club flop. I bet $11, the button min-raises. Now he had done this a few hands earlier when I had KJ on a KT3 board and I folded but this time I was going no-where, so I shoved and he calls with...Ac6s ummmm WTF. Of course, turn 6, river 6 and there goes a $240 pot.

Ended the session down $280.

BTW - there's an interesting article on the Full Tilt website about Chris Ferguson turning zero into $10,000 by exercising the sort of bank-roll management I wish I could stick to!

Thanks for the comments

You're right, 30 buy-ins is about what you need to be properly bankrolled at no limit, but I have my roll spread over 3 main sites so I'm using 10 buy-ins per site...maybe a bit of self justification for playing over the right stakes but at least there's some logic to it!

Played a bit (2k hands) over the weekend and ended up +$376.85 or 9bb/100 It would have been so much better if I hadn't donked a couple of hands - one getting it all-in pre-flop with AK in a 3-way pot (actually, not such a bad move really - I raised the button, SB re-raised and the BB flat called, so I shoved) which turned out to be AK v AK v QQ and the Q's held. The other hand was a shocker really. I had been having a bit of a war with another player on the table - lots of 3 betting and calling light when I raised A5 sooooted from the CO. He re-raised in the SB and I called. Flop came 456 rainbow, he bet 2/3 pot and I came over the top...he had 66. ooops.

Actually I don't think I played all that well - I was 19/11 and a bit on autopilot but there we go...

I never was any good...

...at following rules.

So after my last post I sat down at a $2/$4 HU table on Ladbrokes and moved my bankroll there from $1,398 to $742. Since then I have played $0.5/$1 6-max and it's now at $1,828.

On FTP I played some PLO and got my bankroll down to $450. Since then I've played $0.5/$1 6-max and it's now at $990.

On UB I played some $1/$2 PLO and got my backroll down from $1,326 to $795. Haven't been back there since.

Anyway, despite donking off $1k+ at higher tables I am actually up since my last post by playing a game I know I can beat. I think there's a lesson in all this ;-)

I have also come to the conclusion that beating the $0.5/$1 game is more about minimising losses than maximising gains. In other words a marginal fold is preferable to a marginal call.

An example: 4 handed on a $0.5/$1 table, I have $190, villain has $400. I get QQ in the big blind, villain raises to $3.50 UTG, I re-raise to $14, he calls. Flop Jd8d4c, I bet $25, he moves all-in. What do you do? Certainly a couple of weeks ago I instacall...

Let's think about what he's shoving with here.

AdXd, AA, KK, QQ, JJ, J8, Td9d, 88, 84, 44.

From the pre-flop action we can discount AA (he 4-bets), A9 or worse, J8 and 84 he folds. Probably he folds Td9d and 44 as well but we were deep so maybe he calls.

Putting this range: AdKd, AdQd, AdTd, KK, QQ, JJ, Td9d, 88, 44 into pokerstove vs. my QcQs shows I have 20% equity. Ok, he may show up with a few other random hands but it's not going to affect it enough to make this a call.

I folded (incidentally he showed AdQd so it was a coinflip pretty much).

Certainly however folding here has plugged a leak in my game.