Got out of the gates quickly again today. I played very well and caught a couple of big hands. I decided that I was going to play in the daily double tournament tonight. It is 2 tournaments that run at the same time and you get a bonus if you finish in the money in both and another bonus if you finish the highest in both. I figured if I lost in both I would still be up over $60 for the day so I took a shot. After the first hour things were not looking good. I was down to $800 in chips in both tournaments. I knew that I would have to take a few chances to get my hands on some chips. I got knocked out in one and in the other I caught a couple of hands and was able to build up my stack. I was able to get as high as 63rd place with 200 people to go. The top 180 out of 1,228 finished in the money. I was moving along great until my KK ran into Aces. My stack to a big hit but I was able to finish in the money and ended up in 153rd place. Not a bad result considering after the first hour I thought I had no shot. So I ended up winning $86.90 in cash games and lost $6.81 in the two tournaments. My end result was $80.11. Not a bad day at all. That brings my total for the week to +$50.11 and my grand total up over 900 at $926.22. I am almost half way to one of my goals which was to build my bankroll to $2,000. So I am feeling pretty good about the way I have been playing. I have learned a lot and I am trying to continue learning each day.
7/29
Today started off great. I was up $29 in my first session. The rest of the day did not go so well. I flopped two pair a couple of times only to find out that another player had flopped three of a kind. So I ended up losing a couple of big pots. I managed to win one here and there but, for the most part things were just not going my way. I still played pretty well and made good decisions. I finished the day down $17.60. It seems like today should have been a lot worse. I think that by tweaking my playing style a bit that I am able to lose less on a bad day. Hopefully my disaster days of losing $50-$100 are a thing of the past.
I am now down only $30 for the week and my total dropped a bit to $846.11. Strangely enough I feel more confident after the past two days. It’s kinda like surviving a bad storm. The bad hands kept coming down like rain. The wind came blowing in on the river and swept away some of my pots. But when it was over, I was able to take everything they threw at me and I only lost $30. I feel that tomorrow is going to be a sunny day and the poker gods will be smiling down on me.
7/28
I was on a little roll winning the past 4 day. I was looking to keep the streak going and also to getting off to a good start to the week. The cards however were not cooperating with me. I thought that I was playing pretty well but, everytime I would get up I would get knocked back down. The difference today was that I kept my composure and did not go on tilt. Which resulted in me only losing $1.40 in cash games today. That night I decided to switch things up a little and play in a tournament. I thought I played pretty well considering I was not getting many premium hands. I just missed cashing out. I have been wanting to start doing some tournaments and had fun playing in this one. So I ended up the day losing $11 in the tournament and $1.40 in cash games. That brings my losses for the day to $12.40. My total is now $846.11
Progress Graph Thru 7/28
Here is what my graph looks like after 11 weeks. I seem to be moving in the right direction again.
7/26
Saturdays are a fun day at the magic shop where I work. We have a couple of magicians that come in and hang out most of the day. It cuts into the amount of time I play but, it is a nice release from the everyday grind of poker. Today I only spent just under 4 hours at the tables. It still turned out to be a very good day winning $86.65. I have been working on maximizing the amount of time that I play. By playing better and reducing the number of mistakes I was able to average $22.41 per hour today. I have also moved up to playing 5 tables at a time at the $25 NL rooms instead of 4. Before I had some problems playing 5 tables but, since I have reduced the number of hands I play it has become easier. I am going to stick at 5 tabling it at the $25 NL rooms for awhile to continue to build up my bankroll. I want to have sufficient funds when I decide to move up to the $50 NL rooms.
Today’s results put me up $78.70 for the week and my total ascended to over $800 to $826.46. I am almost halfway to one of my goals which was to increase my bankroll to $2,000. In September the weather will start to cool off here in Vegas and I would like to start getting back out and playing in some live games. If I can continue to play the way I am I should be able to do so comfortably without risking to much of my bankroll.
7/26 Day 46
Today I started off very well. My new strategy of trying to play only premium hands in position has been working for me. I was up over $60. I decided that it was time to step up to the $50 NL tables and try my strategy there. It seemed to be working well at the higher stakes too. I was slowly building up. Then I hit a bump in the road. I had AA and raised before the flop against a short stacked player. He moved all in for $16 and of course I called. He had pocket 7′s and hit a 7 on the river to win the pot. So usually when driving and you hit a bump in the road and your car is making a strange noise you pull over. However, I chose to try and ignore it and keep on going. I made a few questionable plays which cost me some money. I was starting to quickly descend. I was at least smart enough to stop before I lost money for the day. I ended up winning $8.75. Not a great day but, it could have been worse. I have been trying to take a break after a bad beat and I was getting pretty good at doing it. Today I decided to throw caution into wind and it blew back in my face. Another lesson learned lol. So for the week I am now only down $7.95 and my total now sits at $739.81. I just got Rome season one on DVD and I am going to take a break and watch it. Tomorrow I will try to get back to my game plan and stick to it.
7/24
I started off the day on a losing streak. I thought it was time to take a break for awhile. Then when I returned to playing later in the afternoon, I decided to play less starting hands. I wanted to play only quality hands and play them in position and play them more aggressively. The result was tremendous. I realized that by playing better hands I had less chances to make mistakes. I managed to get back to even pretty quick. The other thing I was trying to achieve by playing better hands was to improve my win per hour rate. My average per hour for the month is $1.49. Today my average was $5.23 which is a huge improvement. I continued my winning streak later that night and was able to turn the day around. I finished the day up $37.45 I was pretty happy with the result after a bad start to the day. I am now down only $16.70 for the week and my total jump back over $700 to $731.06. I feel my new strategy of playing less hands seems to be working out well. I will be implimenting the same strategy tomorrow and hopefully keep winning.
7/23
So I can’t seem to play consistent. I have a good stretch followed by a bad stretch or a good day followed by a bad one. I probably played way to much today which did not help my bottom line. I ended up losing $41.85 for the day which puts me down $54.15 for the week. I still think I can turn it around for the week if I can get back to playing shorter hours with more focus. My total dropped again below $700 coming in at $693.61.
Results 7/22
So I got off to a pretty solid start today winning $10. I took a little break and came back to win another $5. After another break I won another $10 bring my total for the day to +$25. I lost a little bit in the afternoon dropping down to +$17 for the day. I took a little nap and came back and played some more that night. I had a pretty good session and one great hand which you can look at in my last post. I finished the day up $38.35. Not a bad day. I was happy with the way I played today. I played good tight aggressive poker which is my style. I also was able to walk away and take breaks after winning a little each session. I also cut my losses on the session where I was losing. I think playing more sessions for shorter periods of time works out better for me. I seem to lose focus when I play for long periods of time. Poker is more than just playing your cards. It is also knowing when to quit!!! I seem to be learning how to become a well rounded poker player in all aspects of the game. I am pretty happy with my progress so far. I went through a couple of bad stretches but, I chalked them up to learning experiences. Hopefully, I won’t make the same mistakes again that put me in those bad situations.
So I am still down a bit for the week at -$12.30 but, my total is back up to $735.46.
