Day 12

Another day at Party. I had a nice winning session early, then got a email from PokerTracker letting me know how retarded that I am. Turns out I forgot to check the 100NL and that is why no hand histories from Party. It's the same limit I play everywhere, but its got a different name. So I check the 100nl and see my stats at Party for the first time. I only have 2000 hands stored, but I am winning at $36/100 hands which is close to $90/hr not counting any bonuses. My statistics are pretty similar to what I have on FullTilt, but my win rate is about 3 times higher. It is probably a combination of Party being way fishier, and the small sample size of me running pretty good. I configured PokerAce HUD for Party, and ran my first session there ever with the HUD.

About 10 minutes in, I open to $4 (4x) from the button with 99. SB reraises me to $11 total, BB folds and its back on me. SB has about $70 behind. When the preflop betting starts to get north of 10x, I start to be very concerned that AA or KK is out there. With this guy in the SB, I don't think he is defending with crap. A range of TT-AA and AK is way ahead of me here. I could play for a set, but I am barely geting the rule of 10 here. I fold and make a mental note of this guy on my left.

About three hands later, I open raise to $3 with AQo, and same guy min raises me to $6. Normally, I would give solid weight to folding, but I am not going to put this guy on AA/KK twice in 4 hands, and the reraise seems too small for AA/KK anyway. I call and take a QT5 rainbow flop. This guy seems to be aggressive, so I check to let him do the betting. He bets $11, I call. Turn is a 5, and I decide to let him bet it agian. He bets $22. I started the hand with about $80. A call here pot commits me. It is a push or fold situation. My read is he does not have the AA/KK, and with no flush or straight, my 2 pair is ahead of nearly all other hands. I push, he insta-calls with AA, and I rack out.

This was my first rack out since Day 2 of the challenge where I ran set into higher set twice. I don't really like the way I played the hand, but I think you could argue it was correct. I hate getting into big pots like this with just a pair, but I did. Anyway, that loss pushed me down for the day. The $100 bonus should be cleared on DAY 13, but I may stay on Party for a while and see if I can keep up a higher win rate then I get on FullTilt.

PartyPoker 670h -52.35
Day 12 Total -52.35

Challenge Total $636.60

Mansion Sportsbook Offer

I plan on running the $1,100 sportsbook offer shown above. Everthing about it appears impossible, but I really think it is legit. See at the bottom an email from PokerSavvy attesting to the validity of the deal, and an email from Mansion Support. If you want to run this you can make it a $1000 or nothing coinflip, or you can hedge it, and be a sure winner of $500. I will show you a way to make it even better than the $1000 coinflip. If you like the idea, use the link to the side under Bonus Whoring so I can get some credit.

First, sign up with pokersavvy through my link. Then sign-up to Mansion though pokersavvy following the instructions, and make the $1,100 deposit. If your credit card will work for a deposit, I would deposit as much as possible via credit card, and the balance with neteller. Using a credit card will alow you to stop payment on at least a portion of it if Mansion renegs. By going through pokersavvy, you will earn 900 savvy points which you can convert to $90 neteller, so you will get a free $90 in addition. Placing the $1,100 bet will clear the pokersavvy requirement making the extra $90 immediatly availaible.

Second, hedge the bet at another online sportsbook. If you want to guarantee a win you need to do this. World Sports Exchange has a 20% deposit bonus, and Bodog has an instant 10% bonus. You will need to bet 5x the deposit plus bonus on sports at either site to clear the bonus. Bodog also allows you to clear the bonus on poker, and is a decent poker site. If you are a big sportsbetter go with WSEX, if not use bodog. Also depending on how much sports betting you might do, you may want to under hedge it (i.e win 250 with miami/750 with pitt), then you will not have to bet as much afterwards to clear the bonus. Bodog is an instant bonus, so if you hedge there and lose, you could potentially just walk away.

Third, place your bets. Check the lines (to make sure they are the same or close at Mansion and another) and place the Mansion bet first. Make sure you bet on the -11 to win 10 line that they specify. You will want to get Pitt at -4.5 or 4 as the line as been jumping around. If the line is the same at another site, your hedge bet on Miami is golden. You probably will see a 1/2 pt difference, but no more. If you get pitt -4.5 at Mansion and Miami +4 elsewhere, and the spread lands on 4 your hedge will push and you will not win money (beyond the free $90, and sportsbook bonus), but all other outcomes will have you winning.

Its a little crazy, but its hard for me to pass up $500 with little to no effort. It looks like they are going to lock down the promo over the weekend, so be ready to place your bets around Tuesday next week.

Mansion Email

Dear MANSION Member,

Thank you for your email regarding our Pittsburgh Steelers 2006 Superbowl Champs Promotion. This deal is too good to miss and there’s no better way to kick off the NFL season and no better place than at MANSION.


IMPORTANT NOTE:

The Pittsburgh Steelers game will be unavailable from Thursday 31 August 23:30 GMT during the pre-season games over the weekend.

The Pittsburgh Steelers promotional bet will be back on the website at 15:00 GMT, Monday 4 Sep 2006


How to qualify

To qualify for this promotion, simply visit the MANSION Sportsbook after 15:00 GMT on Monday 4th September and place a Point Spread (Handicap) minimum bet of USD $1,100 to win USD $1,000 (or currency equivalent) on the Pittsburgh Steelers for their game on Thursday 7 Sep 2006 (00:30 GMT 8 Sep 2006).If your bet is not a winner, MANSION will refund your losses of USD 1,100 (or currency equivalent).

In order to wager $1,100 to win $1,000, you need to choose the primary line –(currently -4.5). This line may move, but in order to qualify for this bonus, you must bet the line with odds of -110 (1.91). You are not permitted to buy points, or play a parlay or a teaser bet.

We are pleased to inform you this fantastic offer is open to all MANSION players (subject to the terms and conditions);welcoming both new and existing Members to take advantage of this great promotion.


Making a deposit

MANSION account policies limit the maximum amount that may be deposited via credit card within the first 90 days of opening your MANSION Member Account. If you are opening a new account and intend to deposit via credit card you need to be aware of these deposit restrictions. We recommend that you consider one of our alternative deposit methods including Bank Wire, Money Transfer, NETeller, Firepay, Moneybookers or ECOcard. The limits for these deposit methods can be found in the FAQ section on our home page.


5 Easy steps to placing the bet

Visit http://www.mansion.com/, select the Sportsbook tab and log into your account;
Select American Football in the menu on the left, and choose NFL;
In the list of events, find event 101, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ game. Tick the box underneath the Steelers;
Click 'Add Bets', this brings up the bet slip. Make sure you bet $1,100 to win $1,000 (or currency equivalent);
Once you are happy with your selection, press ‘Confirm Bets’. Your bet has now been placed.

Bet settlement

(At the current handicap of -4.5)

If Pittsburgh wins by 1, 2, 3 or 4 points, your bet is a loser and your wager refunded to your MANSION account.

If they win by 5 or more your bet is a winner and your initial wager and winnings will be returned to your MANSION account.
Please note the above examples will not apply if the handicap changes.

Withdrawing your funds

Any funds that you may wish to withdraw can be withdrawn immediately, there are no restrictions or wagering requirements on the refunded funds or any winnings that are gained from this promotion. However any withdrawal will be subject to our ‘Withdrawal Policy’ as agreed to upon registration.

The MANSION Withdrawal Policy provides for the provision of identification and documentation in order to verify the age of customers and to protect both MANSION and its valued customers from Internet-based fraud.


Photographic ID
Supplying current, valid photographic ID to MANSION is a prerequisite of any MANSION account holder before making a withdrawal for the first time. This can either be a photographic driving licence or passport. When sending your ID to MANSION, please make sure that your photograph and signature are clearly visible.


Credit/Debit Cards
We will also require a copy of the front and back of every card used to make a deposit to an account before a withdrawal can be made. When sending us the copy of the back of your card, please make sure that the signature is clearly visible. If you have any concerns about sending a copy of your card, you may block out parts of the card number (along with the three digit security code on the rear of the card) provided that the last four digits of the card number are clearly visible.

ID can be sent to us in one of three ways:
via email to customerservice@mansion.com
by fax to +350 41001
by post to MANSION Member Services, PO Box 1234, Gibraltar.
ID need only be sent once. When received and processed, your account will be updated within 72 hours and you will be able to request withdrawals from your MANSION account online.


Terms and Conditions

At this time we cannot confirm the end date of this promotion. As per the promotion's terms and conditions, MANSION reserves the right to withdraw or amend this offer at any time without prior notice, however once your bet is on it will be subject to the terms and conditions at the time of confirmation.

We advise all our members to read through the terms and conditions thoroughly before placing any bet. These can be found by clicking the ‘Promotions’ link from the navigational menu found on the MANSION home page.
We hope this clarifies your query. Should you require any further clarification on bets already placed, or assistance on this or any other matter, can we suggest that you send us a live chat session which can be initiated from the 'Contact Us' page on our site.


Contact Us

Should you require any further clarification or if this email does not answer your query fully may we suggest that you send us a live chat session which can be initiated from the 'Contact Us' page on our site.


Kindest regards,

MANSION Member Service

http://www.mansion.com/
"Where The World Plays"
Email: customerservice@mansion.com
Tel: +350 41000

Poker Savvy Email

Hi all,

We had to get out a quick email to let you know about an awesome offer at MANSION right now. It's really amazing and unlike anything we've seen in the online gaming world until now. (Thanks to PokerSavvy user brendanb for pointing it out to us). Here's the story. If you place an $1,100 bet on the Pittsburgh Steelers in their Thurs Sept 7 game vs the Miami Dolphins, MANSION will guarantee that you don't lose:1) If the Steelers cover, you get win $1000 plus your original $1100 = $21002) If the Steelers do not cover, MANSION will refund your $1100 bet to your MANSION account within 3 days of the end of the game.So it's a totally riskless bet on the NFL regular season opener.Many users have said it sounds too good to be true and it does feel that way. But apparently MANSION did this same thing on an English soccer game a few weeks back and paid out the refunds as promised. They have very deep pockets and are trying to aggressively grow their customer base so that's why they're doing this. Our feeling is that it is definitely legit.And yes, you can also earn your 900 SavvyPoints worth $90 at Neteller when you sign up via PokerSavvy. And since you can clear the MANSION SavvyPoints with betting $50 in the sportsbook when you place your Steelers bet you'll automatically get your SavvyPoints at the same time. So combine that with the NFL offer and this is a huge promo.Thanks, and GO STEELERS!--The PokerSavvy Team

Rockstar, Yeah Right

Last night I ran out to get some grub for the kids as the wife was working late. I usually try to get something semi-healthy, so I ran over to Boston Market. BM is one of the best places to get a home cooked meal without doing the cooking, and I make too much playing poker to waste my time cooking. The only problem with BM is that although their menu is pretty simple, it seems to take a long time to get your food, especially during the dinner rush between 5-7pm.

On this night, it was past 7 so I had some hope for a rare quick in and out at BM. As I pulled into the parking lot, it was pretty empty. Looking through the glass, there was no evidence of a line. Too cool. I walk in and there is a couple making their order up front and no one else. Sweet! However, it started taking a long time to place the order. WTF. It was an elderly couple. The lady weighed something like 300-400 lbs, and was wearing what looked like a patchwork country quilt that she had cut a hole out off the middle and squeezed her fat head through. Some black leggings and Birkenstock sandals completed the ensemble. The husband was a tall, skinny lurch looking guy, with long grey hair down below the shoulders (Jack Spratt?). Patchwork quilt lady (I will call her tent lady from now on), was angrily barking orders at the cashier, and berating the old lurch looking guy (I will call him 65 year-old rock star from this point). To complicate things further, the cashier was a trainee and had someone over his shoulder barking orders. So tent lady barks at 65 year old rockstar, who says something meekly that tent lady then barks at the trainee, who is confused and asks the manager for help, who tries to explain, but apparently the two don't speak the same language so nothing seems to be getting done so why not try choosing a couple of fricking sides tent lady and completing you fucking order so that you can fatten up and explode leaving this pathetic 65 year old rock star with a shot at banging some hippo in the 250 pound range with less of an attitude. Pointing at them might work! After what must have been 10 minutes, they work things out and I get to make my order.

While I am waiting for my food I start thinking about the 65 year-old rock star. This guy rolls into BM with a 300+ pound waste of human existence, barking orders from a hole cut in a patchwork country quilt serving as a dress/tent. Does this guy actually think he is cool with the long hair and all? Listen 65 year old rockstar, you are NOT COOL. Rockstars don't take orders from their groupies, and tend to have groupies who weigh less than 300 pounds, and have some sort of fashion sense. Cut your hair, forget about thinking you’re cool, and start considering suicide. It's your best bet at this point. Rockstar, yeah right!

Day 11

I played exclusively on PartyPoker on Day 11, chasing down a fresh $100 bonus. I love the players on Party. My style of play works well against most of them. These guys tend to let you grab the small pots with little to no fight, but at the same time tend to get way out of line in the biggest pots. I couple times I called a 4x raise preflop with a small pair looking to flop a set. Then I would miss in a three way pot with a couple big cards out there. Normally, I am gone in these situations, but these guys went super weak after the flop, and seemed to beg me to buy the pot. I did both times. I probably should make this my main site, but I hate the software interface. It is harder to multitable, when you can't see your own avatar. For some reason, I have never been able to get PokerTracker working on Party. I have it set up, and it imports the hands, but I never see them in the data base. Without stats and without PokerTracker, it will be hard to report how many hands that I played, but I will report how many raked hands I played which I can see in the bonus section.

PartyPoker 257rh +143.55
Day 11 Total +143.55

Challenge Total +688.95

Day 10

I started the day off with a tough session where I was down early, but came back late to cut the losses way down. There were a couple of interesting hands. One I limped with AT late and hit a T45 rainbow flop. I minraised a pot bet and got heads up after the flop. A 6 came on the turn, and for some reason I was worried about the straight. Turn went check/check. Then the river dropped a 9, and I called a 2/3 pot bet and lost to 56o. The guy bet/calls the reraise on the flop with 2nd pair crap kicker, pretty much drawing dead then hits 2 pair on the turn while the board appears safe. I could have reraised bigger I guess. Ultimately, the way I played it cut my losses. The second hand I had 93o in the BB and flopped 99A. I check called the flop, check raised the turn, and the board ended up 99A43 giving me a rivered boat. On the river, I bet $5 and was rerasied to $10. Looking at the board, I was only getting beat by AA, A9, and 94. AA was pretty much out the way the hand was played, and 94 is not a MP limping hand. I actually considered checking behind, but figured I had to be ahead, and it would be worth throwing out another bet. I figure I get called by any 9, maybe any A. I reraise $5 more, and the guy tanks. Eventually he calls, and I know I have won, but he flips up A9 and drags the pot. Donk! The table started ripping this guy apart for not reraising at the end. They were right, but don't tell him that. I typed in "nough coaching".

I played another session later, and won back what I had lost earlier plus a small amount extra. I thought about booking the win, but that really needs to stop. So I ran some low limit S&Gs to be on the safe side. I ended up cashing in just 1/5, with 3 bubbles. I saw tripjax in a HORSE S&G and nearly stacked him when I had AA vs. QQ early, but it was limit and I only got 1/2 his stack.

PartyPoker has an August Reload Bonus, so I will be playing there for the next 2-3 days clearing $100 in free money.

FullTilt 368h +12.15
S&Gs -19.70
Day 10 Total -7.55

Challenge Total +545.40

Day 9

I took off day 8 to go to blogger day at Del Mar with Joe Speaker, Bobby Bracelet, Bill Rini, and Yosoynevo. I will try to write a trip report, If I can find a way of not incriminating myself.

On Day 9, I played one orbit on a few tables before having to give up the PC. Later that night, I was bored with cash games for some reason and ran some S&Gs. Mostly HORSE, but a couple of Turbo 9 players. I ended up cashing in 3/5, and winning another HORSE S&G. The flow of the HORSE S&Gs works out pretty well for me. My strongest games are Holdem, Omaha, and Razz. I try to chip up early in these three segments, and tend to sit out much of the Stud (unless I get a huge starting hand). With the antes pretty small and the levels starting to get big, the bubble is usually burst in the stud segments. So I get back to holdem in the money, with a smallish stack, and after playing ridiculously tight for the last 20 minutes. When I pick up the aggression at Holdem, I tend to get respect, and chip back up quickly. The tourney usually ends in the 2nd Holdem or Omaha segment, so I don't have to get through stud again. The strategy is chip up early, sit out the middle, and rally hard late, and it seems to work although these are micro stakes.

For the weekend, I hardly played at all, which is two weeks in a row now. I usually do my best on the weekends, so this will have to stop soon if I want to clear the challenge early. I am a little disappointed that I appear to be mailing this one in.

FullTilt 32h +32.75
S&Gs +17.20
Day 9 Total +49.95

Challenge Total +552.95

Day 7

I played just enough hands to clear the last obtainable $20 bonus on FullTilt, then took the night off. I also skipped Day 8 all together to go to blogger day at Del Mar.

FullTilt 350h +20.40
FT 280/300 bonus +20.00
Day 7 Total +40.40

Challenge Total +503.00

Day 6

Another pretty good day. I ran up quick early and could have booked a nice win, but kept playing and got in the most hands so far in the challenge. It looks like I will be leaving bonus money that expires tonight on the table at FullTilt which kinda sucks. It was a wild day with up and down sessions, but I finished nicely up.

At the end of the night, I was getting a little burned out on the cash games, so I ran 4 S&Gs. Two were $5.50 HORSE, one was a $11 6p holdem, and one was $6.50 9p turbo. I took second in the 6 max, only after getting my heads-up opponent all-in and drawing to 4 outs on the river (which he hit). I took 3rd in the 9 player turbo. In the HORSE, I went out semi early in one, and was left with >200 in chips in the other with 4 left. Somehow, I clawed and stole my way to heads up 11k to my 1k against the long time chip leader. I played super aggresive, and got up to 4.5k, but was knocked back to 1k at the break. After the break it was holdem, and this guy seemed to be a stud specialist. I pushed hard nearly everyhand, and rallied back to take the lead in the holdem segment, and finished it off for the win a couple hands into the Omaha. I was on life support for like 30 minutes, but pulled out my first HORSE win. Yeah! Overall I cashed in 3/4 S&Gs and really should have won 2 of them.

FullTilt 806h +95.55
FT 240/300 bonus +20.00
FT 260/300 bonus +20.00
Sit & Gos +23.30
Day 6 Total +158.85

Challenge Total: +462.60

Day 5

Another day of a couple good sessions and then skipping a late night session to "book" the win. I suck. Had a decent lunch time session, then right after work had one of those dream sessions where everything is going right. Didn't win a ton of massive pots, but I love sessions like that. I am going to really need to pick up the pace and play more hands if I want to clear my FullTilt bonus before it expires Saturday.

FullTilt 408h +140.70
Day 5 Total +140.70

Challenge Total +303.75

Cash Game Selection and the Rule of 3

I am pretty much a cash game specialist, playing mainly on FullTilt. I play 4-5 tables at a time usually. FullTilt usually has about 15 +/- 5 tables running at $.50/$1 nl. I thought I would let you in on how I select the tables I play on. Its a little different than anything I have read before. I tend to use the "Rule of 3". This applies to FullTilt, but could be used at most other sites.

1) Percentage of Players per Flop

I use this as my first sort. I sort descending from the highest % down. Because my cash game is squeaky tight, I want as loose a table as possible, so my superior preflop hand selection will get paid off. The LAG prolly wants to reverse this sort, but this is what works for me.

2) Number of Players at the table

I want a full table, or one that will be full when I join. If you are multitabling you do not want to be making adjustments based on the number of players seated. If we lose two players (7 handed or less), I will generally sitout at the next BB unless I have been running over the table. Also, the players/flop % is not reliable for shorthanded play. Since I am using players/flop as my first criteria, I need to make sure we are talking about 8 or 9 handed tables so I am comparing apples to apples.

3) The Rule of Three

Now for the good stuff. My next sort is on how many players have the full buy-in. I like to limit this number to three max, but in general, the smaller the better. Here is the thinking behind this. Good cash game players tend to buy-in for the maximum, and reload to the maximum allowed at the table often. Anyone who is sitting at the table with less than 1/2 the maximum buy-in, is not a good player by this definition. This is a handy trick when multitabling. Give the bigstacks credit for being good, and the shorties credit for being donks in the absence of any other info. Sure a donk may buy in for the minimum and run up north of the max buy-in from time to time, but that will only make me think the table is stronger than it really is. Also, a good player may be taking his first shot at this level, and may be buying in light, but this is also a semi-rare exception. In general, if you follow this rule, you will land on tables that have enough bad players to eeek out a nice profit. You want to really lean on the smallish middle stacks, and call down the small stacks when they appear desperate. The main drawback to playing against more middle to small stacks is you may not play your biggest hands against someone with enough chips to double you up. But, the opposite is true, and there will be less tricky good players with enough chips to stack you. When you run across a table that no one has a full buy-in you have just found a goldmine. You can buy-in and be the immediate chip leader, against a table full of poor players. When trying the higher limits, these are the tables you look for.

4) Average Pot size

Most people use this as there highest sort, and I have to give them some credit. The bigger the pot sizes in general, mean someone is making some big mistakes, but also that someone knows how to take advantage. It tells you there is a mix of skilled and poor players at a given table. I am definitely going to use this as a determining factor on table selection, but only after the above 3 sorts. Once in a while you will come across a table that has a ridiculously high average pot size. These tables can be very profitable, but they take a lot of focus to play properly. You probably want to reduce the number of tables you are playing if you want to take on one of these multi-maniac tables

5) Seat selection

Since I am opening mainly full or one shy tables, you really do not get to pick your seat. At the beginning of a session, I usually sign up for a few extra tables, and will fill the seats as they come up. Once I get my 4 or 5 tables open, I will use opening an extra table to allow me to close the worst table I have open. This is usually done to get out of a bad seat (i.e. Bigstacks or maniacs to your left).


These are my thoughts on the subject. I am usually in a hurry to get the 4-5 tables started so I don't have time to watch a bunch of tables and pick and choose. This seems to be a quick way to get to the fishiest tables that will make you money. Its also very unlikely you will end up at a table with all good players this way, so all tables should be beat-able. Some other sites are different. For example PartyPoker tends to have more people with max buy-ins per table even though it is still real fishy. You may want to take a look at your site, and see how many bigstacks/table is typical, and try to find tables that are less than typical. Also, beware of the monster stacks (i.e. 4x+maximum buy-in). I would shy away from all tables that have more than 1 monster stack. It is rare that fishys will run there stack this high so you are looking at a good to great player in most cases who has the chips to mess with you.

Day 4

I just played for about 1/2 hour on Day 4, but booked a nice win. I may be altering how much I play to book wins which could start to be a problem if I am going to keep this challenge going. I plan on getting 2-3 hours in at the tables today.

On another note, I have to congratulate my boy Smokkee, who won the 8k on FullTilt the other day. This guy is a tournament specialist who was way overdue for this type of a finish. Nice job smokkee. and keep it up!

FullTilt 108h +55.35
FT 220/300 bonus +20.00
Day 4 total +75.35

Challenge Total +163.05

Day 3

I tried to mix things up a bit today and play a few 18p sit&gos and the Hoy as well as the usual .50/1 nl cash game fare.

I ran 4 $10 18p S&Gs and got 11,6,4, and 4. I basically took coin flips to move up after the bubble in both cashes, but did not hit. In the 6th place finish, there was a guy with 14k in chips, and I could have limped into the money, but pushed too hard and was out kicked. Overall decent results, but an $8 loss.

In the Hoy, I was card dead bad the first hour, but stole a blind here and there to only slowly lose chips. Down to about 850 in chips, I pushed with 55 and got called by KK and was knocked down to about 170 in chips. Blinds were 100/200. I folded until my BB and won when my Q6 turned into broadway. I doubled through again a few hands later when my any two cards hit a T. I then reraised all-in with QQ for another over double-up. Then UTG I pushed with K4s, and got called by Jordan's KJo. I rivered a 4 for the boat, and was up north of 2500 in chips and at the final table. Down to 8, I took a ding to my chips, then after a late 3x open to 600, I reraised All-in to about 1650 from the button with ATo. A little tank time, but initial raiser called with 66 and I did not improve and was out in 8th. I like the move I made though. The raise looked a little "stealy", and I did have some folding equity there. As it was, I took a coinflip with pot odds with the dead blinds and antes. I needed to chip up in that situation so it was worth the risk.

Cash games were very good to me. I flopped the nut striaght, and got a guy to bluff an entire buy-in when the board paired on the turn. I got a set paid off big time, and caught AA a couple times (first two since my break).

FullTilt 373h +171.75
S&Gs -8.00
Monday at the Hoy -22.00
Day 3 Total +141.75

Challenge Total: +87.70

Day 1 & 2

Well I started my 30 day challenge. I feel a little rusty, but thought I played ok after the big layoff. It seemed like I was getting played back at more than I am used to, but my sample size is pretty small. I got off to a decent start on day 1, but I ran a flopped set into a higher flopped set twice on day 2 which cost me big both times. Kinda felt I was beat both times, but it's pretty tough to fold a flopped set on a safe board. I didn't play as much as I would have liked, so I will try to pick up the pace starting today with Day 3.

Day 1
FullTilt 105h +55.30
FT 180/300 bonus +20.00
Day 1 Total +75.30
Challenge Total +75.30

Day 2
FullTilt 503h -149.35
FT 200/300 bonus +20.00
Day 2 Total -129.35
Challenge Total -54.05

15 Days Without Poker

I'm Back!

15 days without poker is easily a record for me since I started playing seriously. And you know what? I hardly missed it. When your chillin in the islands (Maui, Big Island), with so much to do, its not hard to completely forget about poker altogether. I think the hardest thing was not being able to follow the WSOP ME, as I did not have internet access for the first week.

I have to congratulate the latest winner who was once again an amateur. I would like to dig in a little more, and see how he did it, but have not had the chance yet. Also nice job to A.C. for representing the established pros well.

So now that I am back, its time to shake things up a little and get back on track. To shake the rust off and grow the roll, I am going to do a 30 day challenge. Starting tomorrow, my goal is to win $1200 in 30 days. I will post daily as much as possible for the one or two of you out there who are interested. I will quit the challenge when I get to $1200 or to 30 days whatever comes first.

When the challenge is done, I am going to do the doubleas ladder challenge, and try to get moving up on the stakes quickly. I wanted to get to $5/10 nl by the end of the year, so I have lots of work to do. I will either use the $1000 I have at parked at Party or my winnings from the 30 day challenge to fund my ladder challenge. I am going to limit myself to 2-3 tables at a time until I am very comfortable at each level. Below is the structure I will use for the ladder challenge.

Starting Bankroll $1000+

Play .50/1 nl - Bankroll >$800
Play 1/2 nl - Bankroll $800-1600
Play 2/4 nl - Bankroll $1600-2400
Play 3/6 nl - Bankroll $2400-4000
Play 5/10 nl - Bankroll $4000+

A couple of notes:

1) My starting bankroll is just a small portion of my overall online bankroll, so it will not be too painful if I bust.

2) If I can get to $5000, I will remove the $1000 starting amount so I can freeroll the challenge.

3) My ultimate goal here is to make one of the higher levels my ATM. $.50/1 nl is my ATM right now, but it needs to be a higher, much higher.

Wish me luck and check often for updates. Again, I will be starting the ladder challenge after I work the rust off through my 30 day challenge.

S&G Machine, Razz, and the FT8K

I have become quite a S&G machine as of late. I used to crush the 18P S&Gs, but left them for a more consistent cash game. I only had a couple of weeks between the WSOP and a 2 week vacation in Maui that will be poker free, so I have been playing S$Gs exclusively. I have been running pretty good in them. I have been playing a crazy mix of 9P/18P/45P, turbo/no-turbo, and have been keeping records. Too little data for trends, but in general I am doing well across the board. It would be interesting to compute my win rate, but I have not tried.

I am kind of just chillin poker wise right now. When I get back from Maui, I am going to do the DoubleAs ladder challenge and try to jump my cash games stakes up quick. I already have 1k of my bankroll put aside at Party for that purpose. The promo they are running right now, where they rebate you cash at the end of the month looks cool, but I will miss 1/2 of the month.

I have dabbled some at Razz cash games on FullTilt. I am about break even over all. I don't really have my preflop strategy down yet, so I am probably not folding nearly enough early. It seems like with a dialed in preflop strategy, you could crush that game pretty easy.

A funny thing happened when I bought in for $200 the other day at a $.50/1 Limit Razz game.

Razzy: Think that's a little overkill
Blinders: I like to bully the table

About 20 hands in, I had a pretty good draw to a low, but had KK showing up. I called Razzy down and made a 7 on the end, then checkraised him.

Razzy: Luck
Blinders: Skill
Razzy: Luck
Blinders: Skillz, I had outs for days
Razzy: lol, you had 2 Kings showing
Blinders: You should try betting more, $1 don't scare me when I got $200 behind
Razzy: This is limit
Blinders: So

I tilted this guy bigtime, and figure he dropped an exra $2 to me over the session as a result.

I had a streak of 0-7 on the $8+.70 Token S&G recently that was pretty funny. I have to win way more than 1/2 of them long term, but I was in some strange funk I guess. Since I turned on the S&G machine a few days ago, I am back on track taking down 3/3 and one for a $14 consolation prize.

I used a token to run the FullTilt 8k last night. I also ran the Bodog 3.5k, and a PokerStars $20+2 tourney. They all started at 10PM pacific. If I could find two more MTTs that run 300-700 players, I could start 5 similar structure MTTs at once. I get knocked out of the bodog and the PS about 1/2 way through the field. I go my first 35 hands in the FullTilt without winning a pot. I still have like 1150 in chips, so I hang in there. At the first break, I got about 2k. Not much happens during the second hour, until late. I catch KK three times in two orbits, and win a bigger pot each time running my stack north of 10k. There are about 88 people left, top 63 paid at the 2nd break. I play pretty loose with my chips around the bubble and run my total up and down (as high as 17k, as low as 6k). We burst the bubble and clear two more tables pretty quick. I make a few blunders, and get my stack down to about 6k. Eventually blinds $500/1000, I open push from MP with KQs (4500 behind), and get called by AJo. No help and IGHN in 41/663. I think thats 2 for 2 now cashwise in this event which is decent, but again no where near the top. A few key hands playing out different would have been huge.