The Triple Up...

Shortly after my 9pm blog post last night about being the donkey at the table of other donkey's... well I did get my triple up. I closed the night with a profit of $75. So it was a good night, a frustrating one, but a good one.

No poker today (unless it's during my lunch hour) but tomorrow I hope to start out the New Year on a positive note with some good poker play. I hate online poker, I would rather play live any day but doesn't look like that's going to happen for awhile until Vegas end of April.

I did get invited to play Saturday at a friends house for a tournament and a cash game after. Last time this guy had a game, there was like 30 people there, so it should be a good time.

Happy New Year to everyone. Have a safe night.

PEACE!

Donkey

I'm the donkey... have you ever just sat back in your chair and watched a train reck happen before your eyes? That's me. Today has been a complete donkey-fest. I mean I have played the worse limit poker ever. I'm chasing flushes, straights with four on the board. It's sick. What is even sicker... I am only down about $10. While I am writing this I folded pocket Q's to a raise, re-raise, and another re-raise on the flop, turn, and river... what did the winner have... pocket Q's also. It's insane. I"m an addict. I need to be on A&E TV show Intervention. I can't stop playing against these other donkey's at the table. I have played some shitty poker the last few hours but the other 9 players at the table has also played by far worse poker then I could ever play. Isn't it a matter of time before I double up? Triple up.

I'm a donkey and I love it... tonight anyway!!

New Poker Table

I had to return a gift that I got my g/f this weekend and when I walked into Kmart (of all places) they had a 84 inch 10 person poker table on sale for $75. I have seen these online for about $299 so I think I got a great deal!!

Shuffle Up and Deal

Random Poker Events...

Santa was good to me, he brought me 10 players to participate in the home league which we will start middle of Jan. It's going to be my run at the WSOP Main Event. After all the title of this blog is "My Poker Path To The Main Event" so here it goes... stay tuned for updates.

PokerStars...
I was playing at a $.10/$.25 NLHE on PokerStars this morning and after about 50 hands I get pocket JJ's. I might have over played them... but the donkey on my left overplayed his big slick and I won a decent pot... I just had a feeling about this guy and decided to go with my gut feeling that he didn't have crap... I was right, he didn't have crap.



Home Game...
I played in a home cash game on Friday, $1/$2 NLHE this game can be very juicy. Seems to be the same college aged morons for the most part with a few middle aged decent players thrown in for good value. The morons tend to be donkey's that like to gamble A LOT. I broke a major rule to begin with, drinking while playing poker. Went out with friends prior to arriving at game so I was a little "happy". I played pretty loose in the beginning because of it, but also felt I was making some great calls based on the players. I lost $100 in the first hour or so. I bought back in with my last $40 and managed to cash out at $220 after about another 2 hours of play. So overall profit of $80.

Some Poker, Some Family, More Poker

It's Christmas time, what's better then some family time... AKA Poker Buddy's!!! So that's what I asked Santa for this year, a few poker buddy's to play in my 2010 WSOP Main Event Home League. Everyone does it right, it's not a strange request for the big white headed jolly guy. Anyone who is reading this, and it may just be my girlfriend, would ask the same thing.

On a more serious note, family is in town, it's nice to have them around during the holiday's and anytime for that matter. It's going to be a crazy few days around here but fun nonetheless.

I have been playing some poker online, doing OK. Playing on both ClubWPT and PokerStars. I have gone back to the $25 max buy-in NL tables and doing really good, getting my confidence back at the NL tables. Maybe I was playing outside of my skill level, letting my cockiness get the best of me. I haven't had any losing sessions in the past few weeks. Not all winning some break even but not losing which is what matters.

Regarding the 2010 WSOP Home League, it's something I have wanted to do for a long time. Me and a close friend have been talking about trying to arrange it for awhile and never seem to get enough people committed to the long 18 month "season" but we are close to getting it off the ground. Hopefully we can round up a few more team members and we will start the season mid January. I'll keep everyone posted.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my Poker Buddy's!!

PEACE

15th.... Not feeling good about it

I played in a 567 person tournament this evening on ClubWPT.com. I was doing pretty good and had a solid chip stack until... darkness. All of a sudden the power goes out in the living room. Mind you, we have a zillion Christmas lights outside and could tell those lights were still on so obviously it wasn't an Electric Company problem. We start going around the house testing all the circuit breakers. Finally after about 20 minutes we find the correct one. Internet is restored, ClubWPT.com is restored, I go back to my table and I only have $2300 in chips with 137 people left. Not good.

The poker Gods were good to me, I had great cards and before I knew it I was chip leader. I continued my aggressive play and had a ton of chips, not in the lead but top 5. 15 people to go I find myself in a big pot with one of the chip leaders, he barely had me covered. I flop the straight, check... check... bet, call, check, bet, all in, call... he had a higher straight then me, I'm out 15th place.

Oh well, life goes on. I had great cards, I played very aggressive and took note of what I was doing right and what I might have been doing wrong.

Until next time...

ClubWPT.com

I started playing on ClubWPT as they were running a special 50% monthly membership fee. So for $9.95 a month I can play in big field MTT's to get experience and the chance of winning some cash and/or prize packages. I played today in the Tournament "HX GiftMembership" which had over 400 players and I came in 3rd. I won 650 Tournament Points which will be used to play in more tournaments. I honestly can't make up my mind if I like playing on ClubWPT.com or not but I have decided I will continue to give it a try until at least my three month membership is done in March.

They also have a TV poker show on and they have one tournament each night for a seat. Prize package is pretty neat, they fly you and a guest out to LA, put you up in a nice hotel, take you to dinner and you get to play at a televised final table on TV. So I will at least try really hard to win one of these tournaments.

Until next time...

PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This PokerStars tournament is a No Limit Texas Hold’em event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 139076

Greektown Casino

I haven't been playing much poker lately, been to busy with the work, holiday's, and just life in general. I did go home to Detroit to visit mom and sis in Detroit this past weekend and I went to Greektown Casino to play some poker.

Normally I play $1/$2 NL but didn't get a good vibe of the table when I walked in so decided to just play $3/$6 limit. I arrived around 5am. They had a full table going of people who had been there all night. It was an entertaining table with two guys getting into it, one guy getting nasty with one of the dealers (uncalled for) and a loose table of drunks. I managed to come home $116 up after about 3 1/2 hours of play. I can't complain.

It was good to be back at the table. I miss it, want to play more. After the holiday's maybe I can get back on tracking of playing more often.

PokerStars Sunday $200K... early exit

Early in the tournament with blinds at $75/$150, in the big blind with Q 10. After reviewing the hand to write this blog, I shouldn't have called the extra $150 out of position against two callers to begin with... then the flop completely misses me, everyone checks around and the turn comes a J giving me a straight draw and I make a stupid call of $900 chasing... how amateur. Ace comes on the river to complete my straight but gives the other guy a full house. BAD POKER just simply bad tournament poker playing all around on my part.

More Online Play

In the last 24 hours I have played one SNG and one MTT. I am disappointed in my result from the MTT as I was in great chip position and got distracted and made a call I shouldn't have made. I am trying to focus on MTT's online for awhile as that's my weakest game. I also started to play 7 card stud online which has been fun. It's fun to mix things up. I'm playing at the micro levels but I have to tell you, with Hold'em being the popular game, there are a lot of novice players in stud and even at the micro games, I'm winning money which adds to the fun factor.


Here are the results:

PokerStars Tournament #106077598,
No Limit Hold'emvBuy-In: $5.00/$0.50
9 players
Total Prize Pool: $45.00

I finished the tournament in 1st place for $22.50.

PokerStars Tournament #105242167
No Limit Hold'em Buy-In: $5.00/$0.50
2664 players
Total Prize Pool: $13320.00

I finished the tournament in 230th place for $13.32.

Poker Update...

I played in two online MTT in the last 24 hours. First was the Sunday $200K and the second one was the daily $30K both on PokerStars.


PokerStars Tournament #102282850
No Limit Hold'em Buy-In: $10.00/$1.
Prize Pool: $225660.00

I finished the tournament in 2296th place for $22.56

The other one was:

PokerStars Tournament #103653291
No Limit Hold'em Buy-In: $10.00/$1.
Prize Pool: $38610.00

I finished the tournament in 96th place for $54.06

Overall a pretty good 24 hours.

First Annual Poolside Poker Tournament

This coming Saturday we will be having the first annual poolside poker party at my uncles house. He has this nice pool, it's August and I love poker. Somehow I have managed to talk him into hosting it at his house. We should have two tables running a $20 buy in poker tournament and then hopefully some friendly cash games on the side afterwards.

It's August and we are in Nashville which means it's 100 degree's outside, so hopefully the weather will play nicely for our little event. I figured worse case, we could take breaks and jump in the pool.

Everyone will be coming over around 3pm but the tournament won't start until around 7pm so my strategy is to let everyone get drunk before the tournament, pretend I am drinking and then take all their money!! Sounds like a good plan to me. I'll update everyone on Sunday with how it went.

Two weeks until we hit the seaside Beau Rivage Resort in Biloxi, I am really looking forward to that. Hopefully the poker Gods will be looking down on me with praise.

"I Have A Dream" MLK

My life has been filled with more important, adult like responsibilities to deal with then with focusing on my dream. Moving into a new house in two days so little time to flirt with the idea of becoming a poker professional. Yet that never stops me from thinking of how one day I will reach my dream...

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I guess when Martin Luther King, Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and gave the famous "I Have A Dream" speech, he probably wasn't referring to poker. Poker is rooted in our American culture isn't it? Look at Texas Dolly Doyle Brunson, he has been playing for 100 plus years.

I did receive my first BLUFF magazine subscription in the mail yesterday so I have at least had the chance to read about all the other dreams that were reached this past June.

I have a little more then 4 weeks before I go to Biloxi for the weekend. Have never been there but I am looking forward to it. Haven't been anywhere this summer for a vacation (Thanks to Bush for F'ing the economy) so it will be nice to go to the beach and also have a chance to get some poker in at the same time.

Keep dreaming... PEACE!

Lessons Learned

Visited the Horseshoe in Southern Indiana this Saturday for their grand opening. Poker room has been completely remodeled, not sure though that it's any better. Tables have a different logo in the center and the color of the room is different, not a big deal.

Arrived around noon and waited about 30 minutes for my table. As I was waiting and people watching a noticed a mature man walking to the counter holding a seat cushion. I make mental note that if someone brings a seat cushion to the casino then two things are for sure: 1) he plans on staying awhile, 2) this isn't his first rodeo and he probably knows how to play poker VERY well. My mental note was to not play at his table.

Horseshoe was running a grand opening special to give $5,000 away every 30 minutes from 1-6pm. 10 minutes prior to the first drawing they make an announcement that you had to swipe your Rewards Card in a special promotional card reader in order to qualify. I immediately start running toward the Rewards Counter to put my name in the hat for the drawing. When I get back to the poker room, my name had been called and I go to my table and who is sitting immediately to my left, Mr. Mature himself.

I get my chips and sat down and within the first few hands I find myself in a big pot with another older gentleman. I had Ace / Q suited and someone had already straddled the pot for $10 so I pre-flop raise it to $20 total, had two callers. Flop comes 9-Q-9 and I bet another $20 and one person reraised me another $40 making the bet $60. My gut told me that he had trips but I then thought that maybe he was trying to pull one over on me. Push the little lady at the table around, I won't stand for that, so I make the call. Turn comes some blank card, I check, he bets, I call. River comes another blank card, I check, he bets, I call. As I'm calling I say "You have trips right" he shakes he head yes and turns over J-9. Maybe my pre-flop raise of $20 wasn't enough to begin with. Why would someone call a $20 bet at a new table, new players, couple hands in with J-9 off suite?

Needless to say, this hand hurt not only my bankroll for the night but my confidence. I played for the next 5 hours like I was a beginner poker player, folding to raises, limping into pots with hands I should have been raising with. It was pathetic. It was a lesson for sure.

At around 7pm I left to go to the Barenaked Ladies concert and got back to the poker room around 10:30pm. During my 3 1/2 hour escape I managed to enjoy a few adult beverages which helped to get my mind back where it needed to be to make some money. I sat back down at the same table and oh by the way, the same mature guy with the seat cushion was still there!!! I played for another 4 hours and managed to make a profit for the entire day up around $250. Overall it was a good trip. Came home with more then I left with.

I learned allot about poker this weekend. I learned about how I play poker and what style of poker I play my best at. I learned to stick to my gut, even if I was wrong on that first hand, losing $40 is way better then losing $200.

I love live play, wish I could do it more often.

PEACE!

Less than 24 hours....

stay tuned...

Family, Friends, Poker, Fireworks

I made it through the July 4th weekend with little poker play. Late Friday night after many hours of adult beverages, a few of us decided to get a friendly game of poker going, $10 buy-in. I think I won so that's always a good thing.

After that we decided to light up the sky with our illegal fireworks, it was a great time. My friend Marcia decided to get a little intimate with one of the illegals and burned a few of her digits. All is good now though, she survived another July 4th and hopefully she will join us again next year.

This Saturday I will be heading to the Grand Opening of the Horseshoe Casino in Southern Indiana. I'm excited and can't wait it to see the new poker room. I plan on playing poker the entire time except when I go to the Barenaked Ladies concert. I love their song "If I Had A Million Dollars", they are a great band and I'm really looking forward to that (thanks to my uncle who got us free tickets)

PEACE

No Poker Is Bad Poker

I want Poker... it's July 4th weekend, no plans to go play poker for another week, will I survive? I'm sure. Hopefully. Surely? Probably.

Bankroll -/+ 0 (that's always a good thing)

PEACE

Finally I have found a way to motivate me to exercise...

Confidence, do you have it?

Haven't been playing to much poker online lately but did play a $11 SNG, came in 2nd for $27 win, then moved to the $1/$2 NL to play for about 30 minutes. Bankroll +$111

I have been doing a lot of re-reading of my NL book along with my PokerVT training, which I know is helping my game. I have more confidence at the tables now, both live and online.

For the next few weeks I'm going to focus on math. Math isn't my favorite subject but if you know anything about poker, it's a numbers game. I need to know the pots odds, the implied odds, quickly be able to know how many outs I have, how many outs I might think my opponent might have. It's not very professional to be using your fingers at the table to count if you have a straight.

It's all good, poker is good, life is good.

3 + 4 + 3 = $700

I touched the felt, I shuffled the chips between my fingers, I come home $700 up. Yep that's right, decided to head to Caesars... well I thought I was going to Caesars. Half way there I started seeing Horseshoe signs. I was thinking where is there a Horseshoe in IN... as I turn into the parking lot of Caesars I see the lucky horseshoe, finally I put 2 + 2 together and realize Horseshoe has bought Caesars.

Poker room is being remodeled to make it better then before. Hell I thought it was a great poker room when Caesars ran it, how much better could it be. Guess I will find out on July 12th when I go back.

When I got there around 9:30 am they had one table going with $1/$2 NL so I put my name on the list. After a short wait I bought in for $300 (table max). This was a good time for me to get to the table. Of the 9 players (me included) I was the only one that had not been there 12 plus hours, this is a good thing. Players were tried, stupid, drunk. Me, bright eyed and brushy tailed.

After about an hour I look down at pocket Aces. I raise in middle position to $15 and get 4 callers.... yes 4 callers so a total of 5 people to the flop. Not what I wanted. Flop came blank, blank K... first person check's I bet $15 and person on my left re-raises to a total of $65 the other 3 players fold. I think about it and call. Turn comes an Ace. DING DING DING... I hit the jackpot. I thought the one guy might have trip King's and I had already been thinking I might have to lay down my pocket rockets but now I'm in glory land baby.

I bet $60 and he goes in the think tank and finally pushes all in... he has me covered... when I started the hand I had about $265 .. of course I call his all in and YEP he had trip Kings to my trip Ace's... River was a blank and I win a MONSTER pot. This puts me at about $650 and I go on for another two hours or so and build my pot to $1000 and cash out.

Two racks of red baby... I'm up $700 for about 4 hours of work.

3 hour drive there... 4 hours of play... 3 hour drive back = $700.

My bankroll will not increase by $700 because I am moving and will be using this money for painters and movers rather then my poker bankroll (I'm being responsible)

Can't wait to get back to the felt.

Happy Friday - Morning Report

Woke up to my morning cup of juice BANKROLL +10.75, not a horrible way to start out the day.

Plans for this weekend poker related, tonight I will be playing at the local poker league, hope to win first place for $50. Last Friday made it to the final table... probably could have done better but I broke another rule; drinking while playing poker. Oh well, it happens right, it was for free though so I won't get down on myself that much about it.

Saturday if the weather is bad, I might play their afternoon game. I need to play more live poker although the local league isn't my ideal practice field but any live game is better then no live play at all.

I am getting an itch for the sound of real poker chips being shuffled between the fingers of want-to-be poker pro's and feel of the dirty felt on the palm of my hands guess I have to wait another 3 weeks before that happens.

That's all I have today... now go play some poker!!!

I came home the other day after another stressful day at work. I walk into the kitchen to find a big gift bag that looks like a wedding gift or a birthday gift, something. I automatically start to think, "oh boy did I miss an anniversary? A birthday? Sweetest Day? Must be some Hallmark day that I had forgotten.

Surprisingly I was wrong. It was a "just because" day. Just because after a week from hell she (my better half) got me a few gifts. Just because I need a pick me up. Just because she loved me. Just because... Isn't the just because days so nice.

The gift contained three awesome items; a new black baseball hat (I desperately needed), a new T-Shirt (who couldn't use one of these), and a really cool plaque that says "Silly Boys, Poker is for girls", all things poker related.... that's me baby.... POKER.

POKER... POK-HER.... POKER... POK-HER.... LIFE IS GOOD.

Mommy Dearest

Enthusiasm

Last night we get home from dinner and my GF decides she wants to play poker online for real money. I encourage her to play poker ONLY because I enjoy it so much and wish she did also as I know she hates talking about it all the time.

So we quickly get both laptops up and running, she logs into her PokerStars account (she already had an account from previous gestures), I log into mine and I transfer her $25 from my bankroll to her account. I set her up at a full ring $.10/.$25 table. She plays for awhile, up and down, nothing major. She then moves to another table where she gets two really bad beats... both bad beats she had trips and the other person heads up had the same trips with a better kicker.

Her enthusiasm for poker quickly went south and I think she got her fill of online poker to last her another 6 months.

Oh well, my fantasy that she would enjoy poker as much as me is forever gone.

BANKROLL (-$25.00)

Trip 10's in the Big Blind

At first I couldn't decide if I played this hand right or wrong. I'm in the big blind and no raises or callers in front of me and it comes down to just the blinds, I check. I have 10 6 of hearts. Flop comes 3 10 10, small blind bets $.50 and I call. I call instead of raise because I was slow playing my trips. Another 3 comes on the turn, which is a good card for me. Nothing on the board scares me. Small blind checks, I check also, again slow playing my trips. River comes a Q of hearts and the small blind bets $2 and I raise it to $10, he then pushes all in for $31.45 and I instantly call.

Now when I look back at it, I wonder if the outcome would have been the same since he had Q 10 and was also slow playing his trips. Should I have just called the $2? Should I have folded when he re-raised me? I think I played this hand completely wrong.

BANKROLL (-$25.00)

Daniel Negreanu

Last night Daniel Negreanu won his 4th World Series of Poker bracelet in Event #20.

Daniel Negreanu has always been my favorite poker pro. He always seems so down to earth in all his interviews, seems to be a fun guy, seems to know how to play poker, etc. Some pro's tend to have big heads, not Daniel. If he does he sure doesn't come across that way.

I have a feeling he will win another one before its all over and I personally hope we will see him at the final table in November.

My poker training you have read about is from Daniel's sponsored PokerVT.com which has online virtual poker training. Daniel has wrote about his participation with PokerVT for months now in his daily blog so I was excited when it launched a few weeks ago. I think it's a really great training site and I can tell already it has helped me improve my online game. We will see if it has helped my live game when I had to the casino on July 12th.

I had my morning cup of juice and increased my bankroll $11.65. Every bit helps.

PEACE!

I have "rules" that I must following in order to keep my poker game on key, here are some of these rules:

* Never drink while playing poker for money
* Never play if tired or bored
* Don't play at work

The last rule "don't play at work" was a rule I put on myself about three weeks ago when I kept having losing sessions on my lunch hour. A guy I work with is also a poker junkie and we play poker at lunch, talk about poker all day, etc. I work in Cubeland, U.S.A. and people are always interrupting me while I'm playing. So I told myself a few weeks back, I am no longer playing at work.

I broke that rule today. I played during my lunch hour and lost $8.43.

At least I wasn't drinking while playing at work!!!

BANKROLL (-$8.43)

Juicy Tables

I have come to the conclusion that the $.25/$.50 6 ring tables on PS are some juicy tables and I love a good morning cup of juice. I just recently started playing the 6 handed tables because the training I have been getting covers a lot on short handed tables. It does make some sense to play these tables online for a few different reasons:

1) You have less bad players to deal with (hopefully).
2) You can keep better notes on 5 players vs 8 players.
3) Easier to pick up on patterns of only 5 players.

Once you get those three things down, you can use it to your advantage against those players. It really has been working for me.

Every morning for the past week I get up and play at least 30 minutes. This is where I seem to be building my bankroll at. Not sure if it's because most of the players are from the other side of the world and they have been playing all night and are tired. Not sure if it's because the tables I have been selecting are just full on donkey's donkin' off all their money. I don't really care what the reason is. GIVE IT TO ME BABY.

The hands I have lost were basically because of bad beats, for an example this morning I had pocket rocket's against one player who pushed all his chips in for a total of around $25, of course I called his all in. He had Q10. Why in the world would someone call all their chips with Q10 off suit? Flop comes 10 10 5 on the board so of course he won... BUT about 15 minutes later, I had my $25 back from him.

I have been playing solid poker, not calling my money away on marginal hands. Not being in pots with marginal hands out of position. I can't say enough about note taking, especially for online. I now look for tables that have people I have notes on playing. I can fold my small blind and big blind if need be. I like to defend my blinds but not at the cost of my bankroll. I have taken a lot of the "gamble" out of my game, which has helped. I'm an aggressive player naturally and I have had to learn to mix my game up, change styles and notice when other players "have my number". I'm happy with my play right now.

As I said in the beginning of the blog, it's morning and my cup is about empty. Need to get in the shower and go to my real job.

Hope everyone has a great day.

BANKROLL +$47.75

Update on WSOP Ladies Event #15

Congrat's to Svetlana Gromenkova who won the bracelet and $244,702 in the $1,000 Ladies World Championship!!!

Dream Flop

Have to work late today so I am going into work around noon so I decided to play a little poker this morning. Playing at a $.25 / $.50 6 handed ring game.

I have pocket trey's in the big blind, one person raises it to $2.00 so I make the $1.50 call. The flop comes, 3-9-5 rainbow. DREAM FLOP. Two players in the pot. I'm first to act and I check, player #1 bets $1.50 player #2 raises to $4. I have the action I want, just not sure I want to play it against two others? I go ahead and re-raise it to $15, insta fold from player #1 and almost an insta re-raise all in from player #2 for a total of $50.95.

At this point, I think I have to call but pray that he doesn't also have trips that can beat me... he has pocket K's.

See for yourself.... (BANKROLL +60.95)

Good Day Of Poker

Hello to anyone that reads this poker blog... I decided to come home and take some of my frustration out on my fellow poker players this evening as I have had a horrible day at work. Anything and everything that could go wrong today did so maybe the poker God's will be nicer to me. Well they were after all. I first played a free roll which was giving two seats to the Sunday Million on Poker Stars. I went out 10th, not bad though, it was free. Maybe next time. I would have done better but I ended up on the phone with my sister and wasn't paying attention like I should have. Oh well, it was free.

I then played two $22 heads up SNG and won both, bankroll up $44.

I then went to the $.25/$.50 6 handed table and doubled.

I had some crazy hands overall for the day. Some hands I got extremely lucky on, some were bad beats, but hell that's poker, right?

World Series of Poker is still going strong. Ladies Event #15 is down to the final two, they will play until there is a winner. It's basically even in chips right now. Good Luck to Anh Le and Svetlana Gromenkova, both have won events in the past so this isn't their first rodeo.

My bankroll +$104

PEACE

Pocket Rockets

Did I not raise it enough pre-flop? I got what I wanted; heads up. I have lost with pocket rockets enough to know, you never want to enter a pot with more then one person with this hand. It's a great... hell it's the best hand to start with in No Limit Hold'em but damn...



I know I have only shown bad beats in my replay hands but damn, how bad does it get!!!!

Next time I'll show a hand or two that I think I played poorly as we know we all do that from time to time.

Basic Poker

Don't have much to report, played a little poker this morning for about an hour. Was playing $.25/.$50 NLHE full ring table. Nothing to exciting to report. No coin flops or bad beats, just basic poker. Really trying to focus on not playing marginal hands out of position, I think that's a hole in my game.

BANKROLL +16.45

Bad Beat - Bubble Girl

Was playing a $5 SNG, was down to four players, only 3 positions paid and then this happens...



A work my way back up to $795 get Pocket 7's and push all in... bad luck is following me...



BANKROLL (-$5.50)

Discrimination in the world of poker....

WSOP Event #1 first bracelet goes to Nedad Medic for $794, 1112.

Final top 9 were:

#2 Andrew Block
#3 Kathy Liebert
#4 Mike Sexton
#5 Amit Makhjia
#6 Chris Bell
#7 Patrik Antonius
#8 Mike Sowers
#9 Phil Laak

Night before the final table PokerStars announced they made a one day deal with Kathy Liebert. Full Tilt announced that they just signed Patrik Antonius on as one of their Full Tilt Pro Team Members (long term deal).

Kathy Liebert is one of the top female players of today. She has over $4 million in tournament winnings yet she gets a ONE DAY deal with PS.

Oh wait, I get it. Kathy isn't what our society calls "model material". She isn't thin and skinny and flashy like a Vanessa Rousso who has less than $150,000 in tournament winnings or Isabelle Mercier who has less than $350,000 in tournament winnings but they are nice to look at, I give them that. Hell I was recently was taken out by Vanessa in a WSOP circuit event, she was VERY nice to look at but I have more respect for someone like Kathy Liebert.

On to the male side of the poker table... typical stereotype of a male poker player... big hairy, ugly guy that has gotten divorced and turned to poker to fill his emptiness or a college drop out 20 something punk that needs a reality check on life.

Let's look at some of the male pro's who have long term deals with major poker rooms:

First there is Mr. Moneymaker (aka Chris Moneymaker) He has won ONE event. Now I give him it was the MAIN event 2003 and he still gets credited today for the poker boom. Doesn't he fit the stereotype, big, hairy and ugly part?

Moving on to the 2004 Champ Greg Raymer he fits that type as well, big and ugly but he might be hairless who knows and who cares.

Mike Matusow team Full Tilt, big, hairy, felon, recovering alcoholic/drug addict.

I guess in 2008 we still have discrimination even in the poker world. I'm hopeful it will change soon and the next big boom in poker will be the lady boom; watch out world here we come.

Now that's why I want to be a professional poker player :)

PEACE!

Typical Online Luck

Typical online luck... someone please tell me you also experience this. I was playing a $6 Heads Up with two tables. I get pocket K's push all in and get called with pocket Q's. Q comes on the Turn and I'm out.

Bankroll - $6.50

$10 SNG

The World Series of Poker is underway and it's an exciting time for any poker enthusiast, I find myself checking all the poker websites to find out the chip counts, who's still in, who's out.

It's been a pretty busy weekend so haven't had a lot of time to play any poker until now. I thought I would play a quick $10 + $1 27 person SNG. I am trying to remember some of the key things I learned through some of my online poker training courses. Overall my style of play is pretty aggressive, I'm comfortable with my style of play but I think at times I am to aggressive. I'm trying to mix up my game and close some of the leaks I have.

I get pocket 9's in the small blind with below average stack of $1045 and the blinds $100/$200 I decide it's a good enough hand to push all in and get one caller which I'm OK with. My one caller has pocket J's. I went out 12th place. Overall I think I played pretty well but was watching TV and checking the poker websites as Event #1 is still waiting for the bubble to go out.

My stat's:
Dealt 71 hands and saw the flop:
3 out of 10 times from the big blind
5 out of 10 times in the small blind
6 out of 51 times in other positions
for a total of 14 out of 71 hands

Bankroll -$11

Introduction

Hello Readers... I wanted to start a blog about poker. Poker has become my passion, my hobby, my interest. As I say that, don't get the impression that I play it 18 hours a day as that's not true. I have a full time (50 hour work week) job in a professional position, have two step-son's, a great partner, plus two dogs and a household to attend to so I have limited time to play actual poker. I also live about 3 1/2 hours to the closest casino for live play so I don't get the opportunity to do that either that often.

Poker though does seem to consume my every available thought and free time (if there is any). I love the game, I love learning the game, I love winning at the game. I don't love loosing at the game but isn't that part of learning it, and just part of poker as luck is a factor?

I currently play online at PokerStars and I have to tell you my online skills doesn't seem to match my live play. I really am not sure why that is. I have decided though that I will never deposit any more money into my PS account. What I have will be my bankroll and it's plenty to work with.

Online I will play MTT, SNG's and mainly small stack NL. I have recently been successful at the $1/$2 NL full ring tables but found that I started to "gamble" to much so in the last week I decided to take a step back. I went back to the book shelve and I am currently re-reading some of the great books in my collection. I also have signed up for one of the premier online poker training sites as well as going back and re-watching my own online video's. (I record all my online play so I can review and see what I'm doing right / wrong as well as watch other players play). Reviewing my own video's has helped me a great deal as I am able to see the mistakes I made and review each step of the hand and then take notes on it.

I have played a three WSOP Ladies Events, the most recent being the Las Vegas Caesars Event #12 on April 28th. This event was exciting for me. I believe there were 165 ladies and a handful of the pro's were there including J.J. Liu and LIPS supporter Susie Isaacs to just name a few. I finished in 60th place which I was very disappointed in. At the time, average stack was around $6K and I had over $10K, in the small blind and got a cheap look at the flop. Well I hit top pair with a J kicker but was out-kicked. When I look back on it now, I shouldn't have been in the pot to begin with. I'll learn from that experience.

All of the events I have played in I have been privileged to have "sponsorship" for the event. Two local business's as well as my own company forked up the entry fee's + a little more to get me there. I can't thank them enough for the opportunity.

As mentioned in the "about me" I have been playing for about 3 years and take it pretty serious and my goal is to win a seat to the Main Event within the next 5 years. I know I can do it. I know I can make some "extra" income doing what I have a passion for. You never know though where Poker might take you so please continue to read my blog as my journey down the Poker Path To....

I will be updating this blog every day that I play poker and give updates on my play, my bankroll, my accomplishments, frustrations as well as my failures. I hope you will enjoy reading My Poker Path To....

PEACE!