The 10K Challenge and Thoughts on Life.

Last time I posted I was currently sitting at 108. After losing a $25 bet and a small losing session I am currently sitting at $72 and some change. I feel like I have been playing pretty well. I am really loving the 18 person sitngos and am cranking out a positive ROI in those. I am not sure what my ROI is because my harddrive crashed. If I had to guess Id say its around 20% at the $2 stake.

I recently completed my semester at school. I have gotten 3 of my 5 grades and am sitting with a 2.0 which is good considering I was on academic probation this semester. The other two classes I think I did better than C's so I should be able to raise my gpa.

The Cavs. What else can I say? They have been balling out of their mind. They have won 19 of the last 20 and already have had 2 win streaks of 8+. Their defense has been spectacular this season and they lead the nba in oppenents fg%. They also lead the league in point differential with a 13 point clip. They currently sit with a 20-3 record.

The Browns? What the hell happened? Actually I can tell you what happened. We dont have a NFL head coach or any good cordinators on this team. The Browns lack any fundamentals and its disgusting to watch these "professional" athletes step foot on that field. If it were up to me I would only keep a handful of players on this team. Those include: Josh Cribbs, Joe Thomas, Shaun Rogers, Brodney Pool, Eric Wright, Derek Anderson and Jerome Harrison. The rest of the team is pathetic. Fire Romeo and the whole staff let me get a real head coach please.

Back On The Horse & The 10k Challenge

Well my break lasted about 2 weeks. It was very much needed and allowed me to clear my head. I started playing again on Wednesday the 12th and run my bankroll up to 115 from 85 in less than a day. Im currently sitting at 108.

The money bubble has been killing me I keep running into monsters.

Here's a couple hands to sample why I havent won a sitngo since I have been back:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, 2+0.25 Tournament, 50/100 Blinds (6 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com



BB (t3420)

UTG (t655)

Hero (MP) (t2990)

CO (t1910)

Button (t1645)

SB (t2880)



Hero's M: 19.93



Preflop: Hero is MP with J, J

1 fold, Hero raises to t300, 3 folds, BB raises to t3420 (All-In), Hero calls t2690 (All-In)



Flop: (t6030) 9, K, 10 (2 players, 2 all-in)



Turn: (t6030) 5 (2 players, 2 all-in)



River: (t6030) 6 (2 players, 2 all-in)



Total pot: t6030



Results in white below:

BB had A, A (one pair, Aces).

Hero had J, J (one pair, Jacks).

Outcome: BB won t6030



Now I never claimed to be an ICM master (or know that much tbh). Was this a fold?

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, 2+0.25 Tournament, 40/80 Blinds (5 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com



MP (t3075)

Button (t2270)

SB (t1205)

BB (t4985)

Hero (UTG) (t2260)



Hero's M: 18.83



Preflop: Hero is UTG with J, J

Hero raises to t240, 1 fold, Button raises to t2270 (All-In), SB calls t1165 (All-In), 1 fold, Hero calls t2020 (All-In)



Flop: (t5805) 5, 10, Q (3 players, 3 all-in)



Turn: (t5805) K (3 players, 3 all-in)



River: (t5805) 6 (3 players, 3 all-in)



Total pot: t5805



Results in white below:

Button had 10, 10 (three of a kind, tens).

SB had K, A (one pair, Kings).

Hero had J, J (one pair, Jacks).

Outcome: Button won t5805

November Goals and The Recap Of October

October Goals:
20,000 hands at 10nl.
Didn't even come close to this. I put in 11332 hands at -5.37 bb/100

5o MTT with at 3-5 FT and a win
I only played 28 but FT 2 never came away with a win though. 4th was my best effort.

roi.. closer to positive and probably was positive for october cant really tell.

November's Goals are simple:

Taking a break for awhile & When I return make a profit.

October Goals

This is something I have been doing a lot more of lately. I want to have a good measure of how I am doing. Anyways I laid out a few goals I would like to achieve this month.

I want to put in 20k hands at 10NL this month. I am trying to figure out the science and art of the cash game. I want to be able to have positive win rate and be able to move up to $25 NL in November.

I want to play 50 MTT this month and final tabling 3-5 of them with a win. I do not think that cashing in 10-12 is out of the question.

My final goal is to get my sitngo ROI into the positives. Just downloaded the free trial of SitNGo Wiz so that should help.

One final note. I have a tournament scheduled for the first saturday of this month. $100 buyin 10 people. First place is looking at $700. Looking to take that down. Its a deepstack event with the family and I think it has my name written on it.

Here I go Again.

So I had seriously considered stop playing poker at one point in the last month or so. However I went to Seneca Allegany Casino and chopped (heads-up) an $120 MTT. I had been wanting to start and account on FullTiltPoker for some time now so I can get rakeback. Finally had the cash and a little extra time to do it.

So I deposited $250 of my winnings onto FullTilt and I Stack Green was ready to go. Started off playing 10 NL max (.05/.1) and $6 sit n gos. Lost a few buy ins and no real end of the downswing was in sight. Until I discovered the $13.75 token heads up tournaments. Way outside my roll but I consider myself to be an above-average heads-up player. I have won 3/4 I played in. So the first one I won I used my entry into FT's 11500 guarantee KO tournament. Finished in 29 outta 712 for 68.35 and collected $16 in bounties ($4 each). The very next night I won another token so I decided to play the 32000 guarantee. Had a very nice run, making the final table, finishing 5th outta 1405 and a cash of $2024. I was in 7 coinflips all night and the only one I lost was the last hand of the tournament. Fitting I suppose because I doubled up the first hand of this tournament on a coinflip.

Plan on withdrawing 1200 to put on my loans and get my car fixed. Roll will stand right around $950 once I get the approval to have FT send me a check. As of now I am playing in $15 MTT, $20 Sit n Gos and 25 max NL. First time I have had a decent bankroll and I am looking to start making decent cash. Could also potentially have a few referrals for rakeback so that helps the account as well.

I am playing some pretty good poker at the moment and look forward to building upon my success.

First Live Results

Ouch is all I can say. I wasnt mad with how I played more shocked at how live poker is so much looser. I have read others accounts on live experiences and guess I couldnt gain a full appreciation for how bad players are until I played. Anyways on to the results.

I played in Mountaineers $60 tournament at 715 P.M. 59 people entered and I liked my chances to make the final 7 (ITM). I finished either 15th or 16th couldnt tell you exactly. I really messed up on what turned out to be my last hand. I called an allin when I meant to push. I had AK and checked down to the river on a pretty harmless board so I pushed allin. Dude hit his A5 on the river to knock out myself and the other allin guy.

1/2 was a trip! Very loose table hit a few hands but nothing major. Miracle rivers knocked me down to next to nothing and it was push and pray time. I know I could make money at 1/2 just bought in for 100 then 75. Thats a game in which you need to BI for the max or pretty damn close. I would have liked my chances sitting on 200 in that game.

All together the night cost me 235 plus gas. I liked my play and I plan on going back with the roommates during the school year.

First Live Experience

Sure I have played in bar tournaments a few times and also while I was in Florida last summer I played a tournament in there cardroom. However today is my first live ring game experience. I am going to Mountaineer Casino in West Virginia and plan on playing 1/2 for anywhere between 150 and 200. I will post a new blog with my results either tonight or tomorrow.

Updating my 10k progress

Over the past two months Ive been extremely busy with finals and working like crazy. Plus I met a great girl so time has been scarce. Anyways here is my progress:

On Pokerstars I have played 106 tournaments with total buyins of 718 and total payouts of 774 for a profit of $56.

Cash game wise I have made $47 over 69 hours and 17 minutes.

Account stands at 113.04

On AbsolutePoker I have played 60 tournaments with $710 and total payouts of 600. A net loss of $110. The highlight was winning a PLO tournament only the second time I played it.

One cash game made $3 over two hours.

Account stands at 281.65

Total: 394.69

10K CHALLENGE

Short and Sweet Version here it goes since March 6.

Absolute Poker: Sent my friend $50 to get $50 on PokerStars. Sent a different friend $10 to play some blackjack. Also have withdrew $225 to buy kegs and food. Account is currently at 378.87.

Anyways played in 73 tournies with total buy ins of 965 and total payouts of 1360. A profit of $395

Cash games I have played in 6 (quite a few more actually but I don't record gains or losses of less than $1) I have lost $69. 40 of this was from taking a shot at .50/1 which obviously is way outside of my bankroll but was feeling dumb that day.

Profit in the last month and a half is 325.60 on Absolute and 7.62 on Pokerstars.

PokerStars: Started with the $50 that my friend sent me. Played in mostly sitngos with a couple MTTs. Have had minor success. I have played in 19 tournaments with buy ins of $62 and payouts of $77 for a profit of $15. I must be missing some number because my account only shows a 57.62 for the balance. Oh well not really concerned about PokerStars that account is mainly for fun.

40 to 10k challange update

Haven't had much time this past couple weeks because i got a job. But hey here it goes anyway. The past couple weeks have been good to me I'm up 239.99 and my account is at 344 now. I also cashed out 100 bones to pay for some of my spring break trip coming up. I have final tabled two straight Mtts the last two nights coming in 4th in both made stupid mistakes by not folding when I'm beat you think I would know better at this point but for some reason I still cant lay some hands down sometimes. Oh well other than those mistakes I'm playing pretty well and I attribute that to not playing 10 tournies every day. My mind is fresh and I am able to concentrate hope this continues.

Cavs Make A Trade

Let me first start of by saying that I am huge cavs fan. Personally I thought the cavs would be ok if they did not make a trade before the deadline. I thought they were the best team in the east as of right now. With the trade being made I think this puts us head and shoulders above everyone and here is why: First we got a legit PG in Delonte West his driving and ability to knock down the open shot is gonna make Lebron better. Wally can hit the 3 ball like its his job (and it is) and this spreading of the floor is gonna give Lebron so much room to operate. Ben Wallace is a legit 4 who now will be rejuvinated now that he is on a championship team. Pairing him with Z and Lebron gives us the best frontcourt in the NBA. Joe Smith has a nice midrange jumper and is an adequate defender. Overall I give this trade an A and look for the cavs to make a serious push to win it all this year.

Another Update

Sunday started out well won the first and came in second in the first two sitngos for a profit of 50 only to lose the next two. Gave me a profit of $28.

Monday was an up and down day came in second of one and 3^rd in two others then lost two sitngos and a $5 and $ 10 MTT for a total loss of $7

Tuesday was a long day played in a $5 MTT didn’t cash, lost a $7 sitngo, came in third for $7 won an $11 18 person sitngo for $61 the lost two straight sitngos, followed by a lost at $5.50 and $11 and sent $10 to my roommate. I also played and lost $20 at .05/.10 which was a loss of $12.50 for the day.

Wednesday I lost two sitngos and transferred another $10 to another roommate so I lost $32.

Thursday played two sitngos lost the first and came in second in the other for a profit of $5l

Friday played in two and lost both for a loss of $22.

Saturday I didn’t play because we had a rave party at our house.

Sunday I played in a few tournaments winning one and coming in second in another. Then lost an $11 and $7 tournament. Switched to tables lost my initial $20 buyin and won 12.70. For the total weekly profit of $25.70.

Overall for the week I lost $14.80. I didn’t really play too much because I had a few tests and was planning for the rave party we hosted.

3rd Update

Sunday got back from OU and got right back to the virtual felt. I played in 7 sitngos and cashed in 5 with a net profit of 48.20. Monday didnt play much just a sitngo and $1 rebuy in which i rebought and double addon came in 10th in the rebuy for a profit of 17.90 which brought my profit to 10.90 for the day and 59.10 for the week. Tuesday was the first day i moved up to $10+1 sitngos and had mixed success. I bubbled in 3 of 4 and won the other for a net profit of $1 and a weekly profit thus far of 60.10. Wednesday had nothing to do so I played a lot; played in 10 $10+1 sitngos came in 2nd 27 person and 2nd in a 9 person didnt cash in the others, played in a $2 MTT and came in 138/404 decided to play in $6 sitngos since I was at 190 came in 3rd and 2nd. Altogether this brought my profit -7.20 for the day and 52.90 for the week. Thursday I couldnt play much because I had to study for a test on Friday but I did get two sitngos in Came in 2nd and 5 in $10+1 which brings my profit to $9 for the day and 61.90 for the day. Friday had a decent day played in 7 $10 sitngos cashed in 5; 3 3rds, 1 1st, 1 2nd, and I won a $5 satellite to into a $20 10k guarentee. For the day had a profit of $63 and a weekly profit of 124.90. Saturday was a pretty crappy day played in 8 $10 sitngos cashed twice one being a win in a 27 person for $61 profit and another cash for 5.25 which brought me to a .25 profit so I decided to play some .25/.50 for a switch up after I left both tables I made a profit of 5.06 which brought my daily profit to 5.31 and 130.21 for the week.

2nd Update On the 10k Challenge

The week started out pretty slow. On Monday I was able to place in 5 out of 9 sitngos with a net profit of 3.14 on Monday and on Tuesday I had a net loss of 2.20 bringing my winnings for the week to .94. Wednesday I played a few sitngos and did not place in one. I decided to switch it up and entered a $2 MTT. This gamble ended up paying off, as I took 2^nd out of 361 people for a profit of 89.98. This brought my winnings of the week to 83.77. This brought my BR up to 128 and me to the $5 sitngos. Thursday was a good day I cashed in 4 out of 5 sitngos with one of them being a 27-person tournament for a cash of 30.50. After these cashes it brought my bankroll up to 158.98 and then I sent my roommate 10 bucks. Friday and Saturday I was partying at another school so I did not have poker on my mind. Bankroll is currently at 148.98 and I will give you another update on Sunday.

The first update on the 40 to 10k challenge

I had such a nice chart made out for this but it didnt work out like I wanted so I will have to do this the old fashion way. On Friday I played at some 5/10 cent and ended with a negative 1.03 for the day. Had a couple suckouts nothing too bad but that stung in my bottom line. Sit n gos didnt help my cause either. I ended with a loss of 5.40 for the day. It was one of those days were middle pairs would be getting beat by top pair with weak kicker. My losses for the day were 6.43

Saturday I didnt play that much because I had to fulfill my 20 year old college male duties. I played for about an hour at 5/10 cent and doubled up to eight only to lose 3.90 for the day. The last hand was brutal I raised with AK and the flop came A 8 4, I went allin because the guy was a maniac and paying people off with middle pairs. He called and hit his J on the river (AJ). I also played one sit n go and lost to runner runner flush. That cost me a buck twenty. That brings my losses of the day to 5.10.

Now sunday was my day to play. I felt good today and it started out slow by cashing only once out of my first 4 tournies. After that I went on to cash in 4 of the 5 I played afterwards with 3 wins and 1 second. So for the day I played in 10 sit n gos and won 7.50 on the day.

This brought my net loss for the weekend to -2.37. I liked this because I was telling my friends I was trying for this and was joking I was gonna make it to zero before I even got back to 40. Right now my br stands at 36.31

$50 to 10k Bankroll Challenge

The time has come. I have accepted the bankroll challenge. I am planning on turning $40 into $10k. I will start by playing 2.40 turbo sitngos and $4 in 5/10 cent table games. When I reach $150 I will move up to 5.50 sitngos and the 10/25 cent. After that we will see how it goes. I will keep you updated throughout the week with a breakdown blog from each day.

playing well

About the last month or so I have been in the zone. Since I was fired from my last job it has kinda awakened me. I have been playing the best poker of my life to date. The only downfall is now I have been running cold.. you know what I'm talking about: the pocket pairs getting cracked by two under cards, runner runner straights and flushes.. I'm not getting discouraged however finally I've realized that poker is a long term game and my plays are profitable in the long run. Ive always known this I think I'm just starting to accept it more and more as each day passes. As I do this I notice myself progressing.

Another thing I'm starting to do is play within my BR. This was my biggest weakness and finally I have began to correct it. Do not get wrong I have played outside of it but I don't like the constant grind so I chance it every now again. I have faith in myself to not religiously play outside it anymore to ruin the little roll I built.

Well I am gonna get back to the $1 rebuy. Goodnite.