um, what was I writing about?

Not much to say. I'm really not playing a whole not. Now, I'll quantify that by saying I probably didn't see more than 500-600 hands this weekend, but that's not much for me lately.

I was all hard core on this SnG experiment, but after 50 or so I'm starting to wonder if the time vs. ROI is worth it. Yes, there's much less risk, but it's just such a grind. Right now, I'm in the upper 40% on my $10 SnG's, so there's definitely a good steady stream of cash, but you're probably looking at hourly rates at around $5/hr unless you multtable. My time is worth more than that. On the other hand, I need to stay at a level that my BR can sustain. I could probably move up to $20, but I've seen looser play and more donk calls at that level than anywhere. $10 is pretty predictalbe and I'm very comfortable there.

I love MTT's, but they own me right now. I have played in 5 MTT's in the last week and have gotten busted in ways I couldn't dream up if I tried. Sick. As much as I love them, I'm off them for a while.

On a personal note, I'm STILL trying to get my damn house refinanced. This is pretty ridiculous. I've been broke for 4 months because I've been trying to get this thing done, paying appraisers, keeping a certain amount in the bank, yada yada yada......IT SUCKS. I NEED SOME EXPENDABLE INCOME. I think I might, just maybe, get something done in the next week and a half. I sure hope so.

The BR is stuck in neutral.....which is a good thing because I wasn't having much good happen and to not be losing money is definite plus. I went through a similar run over the summer and lost....well, I lost a bit. Of course, I was playing pretty poorly back then, so I might have that to attribute that to my losses, too.

Some things I can attribute to my slow growth as a poker player.
1) Not overplaying TPTK
2) A bad laydown is a small mistake compared to a bad call
3) Knowing when to get up from a table
4) Aggression is good, controlled aggression is better
5) Spreading out bets throughout a hand can show strength better than one big bet on the flop
6) Playing the proper limits (in line with your BR) is a must
7) If you don't feel like playing.....don't

Number 7 has been coming up a bit and I've been laying off. I went at it super hard over the last 3 months and it might be good to take a break. I think I'm starting to realize that getting my BR up to my goal may take a bit longer than I'd like, but I'm not going to rush it, I've got time.

I'm just going to have to deal with it

I'm in another rut.

3 outers, donks calling down ridiculous bets and drawing out, etc.....I'm not doing much lately.

MTT's are an absolute joke. I've played 4 in the last week and haven't gotten past the 3rd level in any of them and each time I was at least a 2 to 1 favorite going in. Cash games, well I'm about even there, but I've had a lot of 2nd best hands which have cost me a bit. The good thing is that I'm playing a bit smarter, so I haven't lost as much. SnG's are keeping me afloat. It's kind of amazing, but they play different than regular poker. I've got a solid gameplan that I use with all SnG's and it's been holding up while I've been smacked around in MTT's.

The one positive from all this is that my BR isn't taking too bad of a beating. I've lost some, but, trust me, it could be a lot worse. Since I've changed things up, I feel that I'm definitely playing better, but that I've probably go new leaks, too. Now, I have to identify those leaks and do what I can to fix them. I've talked about buying PokerTracker for a while now, so I think that's a natural progression in my poker education.

I just hope this is a short run.....I'm starting to thing I'm 3 s.d.

What a weird ass day

The SnG experiment continues. I'm ahead, but that's about all I can say.

I still don't know if this is the best way to build a bankroll, but it's definitely trying enough. I've been focusing on the $20 lately because they give me a better return on my time. Also, I thought the play might be a bit better.....wrong. I've seen some of the donkest calls ever at the the $20 level. I put a guy all in with TPTK and he called with bottom pair, 8 kicker. Of course, he hit the 8 on the river to all but bust me.

It's been a sick few days for me. I've played in three tournament over the last couple of days and played a total of TWELVE hands. Last night, I get QQ in the SB, two limpers, two weak raises, and I move in to protect the ladies. BB had AA....what fucking timing. THEN, I play in a cheap little MTT this morning and get QQ the first hand on the button. I make it 100 and get a call. J high on the flop, I make it 400 more, call. Rag turn. Check to me. I move in, he calls with AJ....you can guess what the river was.

THEN, TO TOP IT ALL OFF.....play the $10 + 1 midnight tourney on UB. Get 77 in the cutoff, lots of limpers, I limp, too. Flop is 2 7 J rainbow. MP+1 bets the pot, CO calls, I call. 9 on the turn, MP bets out 250 more, I move in, he calls with J 9. Yep, you guessed it J on the river.

I thought I would have some sort of nuclear moment, but I pulled it together and made a good chunk of my losses back playing some .25/.50 NL. I don't know if I got lucky or what, but this had to be the fishiest table I sat down at in a long time. Bluffing with bottom pair, chasing flushes, folding to any reraise. It was nice.

I'm still fairly confident I'm playing OK, just having a horrible run in tournaments.

As long as I can maintain the BR, I'm happy. Sooner or later, things will work out and I'll start adding to it again.

I am dropping back down to the $10 SnG's for a bit. I hate to, but these $20-no cashers hurt.

The SnG experiment

I'm doing a month long stint where I'm playing SnG's exclusively to get a handle on how good of an investment of my time they really are.

Well, I' about a week in a just over break ever.

Considering the fact that I've been card dead for the last 4 days, I'm kind of excited about the long term possibilities here. I've never really tracked my SnG performance or noted how I played, so this is a bit of a learning experience. After 21 SnG (a mix of $10 and $20), I'm up around $20 or so. Considering the fact that I played 6 over the lest 2 days and saw a total of THREE pocket pairs, that's not too bad. I cashed in a $10 last night and never saw anything until we were down to 4. I doubled up with AA, busted a guy. A few hands later I went out when I pushed with TPTK.

Had a horrible experience over the weekend when I played in a home game and dropped around $100. It wasn't the money that bothered me, but the fact that these people were soooooo bad that it affected my play. I'm starting to come around, but I don't know if I can go back there. It's hard to win against a large group of weak calling stations with a small capped NL game.

I'll be glad when I can get some time to focus on MTT's. I need me some final tables.