Another November Entry? I must be crazy

After the long grinding weekend my volume has been tapered off due to school work and spending time with family and friends over break. The rest was welcomed and needed and I am ready to get back at these last couple of weeks of undergrad.

We last left off about 10 days ago with my roll standing at $437.30. I have since put in 54 games with a ROI of 6%. Ive been getting it in ahead but just have not had the holds these last 9 sets. Currently the roll stands at $451.15.


On the personal bankroll front I cashed out a majority of my roll and left $88.51 left on FTP. I am not sure if I will leave this part of my roll in or cash out with the $150 I currently have tied up in a stake. More to come on that front in the next blog. Until then I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving weekend and good luck in your Christmas shopping!

Goals Exceeded!

Well this weekend was very successful for me. I was able to exceed both goals and severely cut down on the amount of play Ill need for the next month and half to reach my $50 Stellar Reward from Pokerstars. Let us take a look at the goals again and the results will be next to it in parenthesis.

120 games (121 games)
10% ROI (12% ROI)

+$48 profit

Overall I was very happy with my play. I did have a few hands come up regarding spots I am unsure but I ironed those out with the coach. The weekend started with a huge upswing and finished Sunday with a nice ole downswing to bring my ROI back to reality.



There are times in our game where we feel like we cant lose and by that graph Ill let you guess how I was feeling until Sunday.

Bankroll: $437.30

Im Challenging Myself This Weekend

That is right I finally have some free time and am looking to put in some volume this weekend. I am looking to put in 120 tournaments with an ROI of 10%. I need to put in some volume so I can get closer to unlocking my first $50 stellar rewards bonus. At this point Im about 12% of the way to the 1000 points I need to achieve to get to my goal. Its going to take some work because my 6 table sets only unlock 13.2 points. At this pace Id have to put in 141 sets. By putting in these 20 sets Im aiming to it can drastically cut down the amount of volume Id have to put in before the New Year. And with final exams and paper I can clear myself of the stress of having to deal with volume and school towards the end of the year.

I will update my progress on this challenge on Sunday night when I finish my last set. Good Luck to me and may I have the run good with me this weekend.

Hiatus from blogging

My hiatus from blogging has been caused by this damn thing called school. In my last semester my 18 hours are keeping me extremely busy and while I still put in some sets its nowhere near the amount I looked to start playing when I first started this stake.

Anyways we left the last blog post with a BR of 387.55 and in the midst of a downswing. The downswing happened to continue for another month or so. I ended up losing 7 buyins in September and 27 in October. It was ugly nothing I did would work out for me. I am running a little better now and actually luckboxing some hands that I should not be winning. Variance is fun isnt it?

Either way its important to note that November is going extremely well for me right now. It started with me putting in some volume while I was working security for a tour company. I get paid to make sure kids stay safe on DC trips and play poker & facebook all night. Well I was 4 tabling and simply crushing. I feel I have my confidence back and noticed some spots I was missing in the past month and half.

Bankroll for my stake currently stands @: 389.70

Now an update on my personal Bankroll.

After a couple successful stakes being returned I had some money that I could play around with. I don't remember the last time that I updated my personal bankroll and that's probably because its been ~6 months. Having a personal bankroll to mess around with while I grow my stake is rewarding because I can play some games outside of the parameters of my stake. While I am not playing $25 tournaments with 2000 people its nice to fire up a small stakes MTT like the 8.80 180max on FTP. These are perfect because they allow you to play a MTT without wasting 6 hours of your day. Fortunately for me I was able to make a nice cash in this tournament when I finished 2nd out of 118 for $175 and company that with a 2nd in a 45man $11 sitngo for $113 I was able to withdraw some money for the holiday season.

Also while in DC I was able to win a ticket to the SitNGo Madness Freeroll on FTP. It takes place tomorrow night which is a bummer because I'm not sure I can play it at 11:59 since my friends are having a blowout party. The private bankroll currently stands at 156.47 which consists of:

FTP: 89.42
Pokerstars: 67.05

Chips and A Dip

Well lack of chips but a huge dip.. Ive officially hit my first downswing of the stake. Ups and downs of poker happen all the time, when dealing with games of stats variance will always creep in. However, you will never get better if you are content on calling a downswing just variance. One can get so caught up in variance that they ignore spots/plays they usually make and thus further spiraling them into a downswing.



I once was that guy. I now know that minimal effort will get me to be a break even player. But I cannot settle for break even. I want to win and not only win but CRUSH. I have a coaching session tomorrow to go over my play. I am doing what it takes to break over the hump and start CRUSHING.

Back at school.. and Im Feeling Good

Got back on campus for my last semester on Saturday. I proceeded to head out to Canton and visit with some old friends. Besides the guys at the bar wanting to get into a dick measuring contest it was a good night.

Anyways on to the poker update. I had a coaching session today and was generally pretty happy with how I played. I did fudge up a few hands but those mistakes are happening few and far between. Today was a great day as was yestarday. The last two days over 39 games Ive ran my stake up $71.80. Besides those days Ive had one losing day since my last update and it was less than a buyin.

Currently the Bankroll stands at 459.80

The weekend slowed me down

After a weekend of work and a blackout drunk HS 5 year reunion I was able to put in a few sets the last 2 days. Monday I put in 6 tournaments and cashed once in 3rd. Yestarday I put in 6 sets and I cashed in 2 giving me +2 buyins on the day. Today I played 2 sets the first set went great finishing in 1st and pulling in 2 3rds however the 2nd set was downright awful. I was making good shoves and just was being punished. That happens in our game.

Overall the stake is still up and Ive been up in 5/7 days Ive played. Got a HH review with the coach/staker tomorrow and Ill be back with another quick update.

BR: 383.40 (+43.40)

Stake Update

The stake started Monday and Ive put in ~ok volume for my week. I started 6 tabling and bumped it up to 8 but I wasnt happy with my play at the 8 tabling so I lowered it back to six. I really like how Ive been playing and while Ive missed a few spots because Im shaking off the rust I still think my plays are sound. The stake started at 340 and after 44 tournaments this week Ive run it up to 386 and have been beating them with a 22% roi (Im running pretty well) 22% roi is high I think a 12-15% clip is more realistic. Ive had two sessions now with my coach and my game has really been getting back to A Game shape. Lets keep up the br building.

The Stake

In the past and currently I have been dabbling in staking people. I knew it was going to be hard for me to put in sitngo volume this summer and decided to let other people work my bankroll for me. Ive had good stakes Ive had bad stakes but all in all I would say Im making money off of the people Im staking.

Which leads me to my next point. Starting today I will now be the benefactor of a stake thanks in part to a good buddy of mine The Rant!

The stake is for $340 and will last 3 months. I will be grinding the $3.40 18man turbos on pokerstars. The stake is 60/40 split and I get coaching once a week. I plan on trying to put in around 75-100 sitngos a week. More sitngos means more money for both of us so lets hope thats the low end of the spectrum of the volume I can put in.

So lately..

I have started to get that desire to play some more poker. I fired up a few tournies the other night and profited a whopping $7 but the nice thing was knowing that I have not lost my edge. As the people who read my blog you all know I was playing 18 person turbos in my latest poker endeavor (and probably will be again soon) however right now I am ignoring all aspects of bankroll management and trying to hit a big score really quick. So here I am on a Friday night about to fire up some more tournaments instead of going out drinking like my normal people my age. Oh the life I live.

Quick Update

I rarely play poker anymore.. This summer is my last summer before I graduate and I want it to count. So far this summer has been pretty damn fun. Ive made quite a few new good friends and partied a lot with the fresh wave of foreigners that work at the Firehouse Winery with me.

I have been playing a little Rush Poker on Full Tilt when Ive had the time and at first I didnt like it but now when I realized I can beat it and put in 1000 hands in about an hour playing 2-3 tables I really cant focus on any other form of poker.

I wish I had the time where I could go back to my cash cow and play some MTT but this summer has been so hectic that when Im not working/partying Im usually sleeping. When I get back to school I plan on setting aside some time so I can play some MTT again and make me some money. That is if I even remember how to play haha.

Love and Peace,
Eddie

Quarter Year Update, March Update

This year started off with a BR of $150. My goal was to reach $2000 and be grinding the $16 18 man turbos. January was a rough month. It was the first time Ive reached silver star status on Stars but I just was not playing well. I ended up losing about 1/2 my bankroll. That is when I got coaching and since then things have been great. Ive increased my bankroll 5x over and have a better understanding of bubble plays. This graph below is a graph of my sitngo winnings. The one thing it doesn't include is the Final Table I made in February for a score of $185 (5th).



March was a very fun month for me. They say that March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb and according to my graph I 100% believed that. It was time for me to put some work into my game. I went back over some old HHs from earlier in the month and found out I was missing quite a few spots. It took me a couple sets but now I'm making those push/folds I should have been making in the first few weeks. The last week or so have March has been a skyrocket month for me. My last couple sets were rough but I did end up making some money when things were looking bleak the first 3 weeks.





My bankroll started right below the $600 mark in March and is currently sitting at:

AbsolutePoker: 281.56
Pokerstars: 326.30

Total: 607.86

This year has been the most successful year of me poker playing despite only being at the end of March. I have taken my game more serious than I ever had and am putting in efforts that I never thought about. I just used to be content with playing break even poker and now I crave winning. I mentioned earlier I got coaching and it has been paying huge dividends. I plan on playing another 1000-2000 6.50 18s before moving up and in this time I want to make sure I get a few more coaching sessions and that I'm ready to make the jump to the $16 18 man sitngos. Since the coaching Ive got about an 8% ROI which was my goal to have for the $16. I figure I need a bankroll of around $1500 to start grinding the $16 and am my way there.

Feb Update 2

The bankroll stood at 539.46 since the last update. Since then I have unlocked my 2nd $10 bonus on Stars and also bought $50 (5%) of a buddies action who plans on grinding .25/.50 on FTP.

I still am 8 tabling $6.50 turbo 18s and probably will be at this level for awhile. I want to put about 1000 games in before I move up just to make since I am confident in my push/fold ranges. I had another review of a few tournaments with my coach and found I was still missing some spots. Since we went over those I have been on a nice little heater. I need only one more tournament to reach Silver Star staus.

This was a quick update I know but the Bankroll currently stands at:

Pokerstars: 337.60
Absolute: 271.56

Total: 609.16

February is Almost over.. Why not update?

Time for an update. When I left off the bankroll was at 167.37. I was playing 6 $3.40 turbo 18s. I was in a downswing/playing bad so it was time for me to get some coaching. I turned to the one guy who I knew wouldnt steer me wrong and that man is ACBarone. Barone has been beasting sitngos for the last few years and I knew he would help me find leaks in my game. You can read his blog here: The Rant

Getting coaching from Barone completely changed my outlook on sitngos. I didnt realize I was one huge leak. After getting the advice I have seen nothing but an upward swing in my results as evidenced by this graph:




Anyways January was a pretty crappy month for myself. It really was depressing knowing I was not playing well. But the coaching humbled me and now I know what I have to do to improve my game. Anyways onto January's figures:



February has been a completely different story and the coaching has been a big part of that. My confidence is at an all time high and I finally think Im starting to get the hang of this monster they call sitngos. Im very close to achieving Silver Star status again on Stars and should be able to deliver that by the weekend. I now am starting to 8 table $6.50 18s and so far the results have been a little better than I know I can sustain but for right now Im just enjoying the ride:



Another big boost took place on Thursday Feb 19th when I Final Tabled the $3 rebuy and finished 5th. It felt good to get a MultiTableTournament in and felt good to be back where I belong at the Final Table. Obviously when I make it that far nothing but 1st is a disappointment but in growing my bankroll any score is great.



The bankroll stands right now at:

Absolute: 271.56
Pokerstars: 267.90

Total: 539.46

WBCOOP

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! The WBCOOP is a free online Poker tournament open to all Bloggers, so register on WBCOOP to play.

Registration code: 637975

Mid January Update

At the beginning of the month I made it a goal to achieve Silverstar Status on Pokerstars. Ive strictly been playing turbo 18s. I decided to jump start the grinding by starting to 6 table. Now usually I dont play anymore than 3 but with my monitor I can tile and have no problem seeing all six tables at a time making it much easier to focus on the action. I got in about 100 tournies before getting back to school on the 10th. Coming back to school was definitely going to hamper my ability to grind. I have not had to much difficulty yet as my classes have just started and have not had to much reading/homework to date. Thats why I need to reach silverstar so I dont have to put in as much volume in the later months when school starts to become hectic.

The first two weeks so far have brought an average run of card with some pretty average run good. Its tough trying to build a roll when all you are doing is going up 2 buy ins then back down 5. (Click the thumbnail to take a look at the graph below to see what Im talking about.) Id love to get a boom switch but with the boom switch comes the lack of evaluating on my part. Ive been posting lots of hands concerning bubble play because that is where I need the most help. Id love to get some coaching/teamviewing sessions but I do not really have the disposable income at this point.



Just finished today (18th) with my new record for sitngos in a day with 50. Im 74% of the way to silverstar and should not have much of a problem reaching it with 13 days left. I have been using my FPP to try and satelitte into the 250k guarentee and then if I win withdraw and keep the $T.



Bankroll currently stands at:
Pokerstars 71.18
Absolute 96.19
Total: 167.37