Sunday, December 25, 2005

Party $10 SNGs

A fellow FCPer, Tremomey, suggested that I playsome O8 SNGs and MTTs in addition to my low-stakes cash games in the comments to yesterday's post. I decided to give it a test run today, just to feel out the competition. All I can say is...I can see these things becoming my cash cows.

I played 2 $10 O8 SNGs, placing 1st and 3rd respectively. I also played one $5 SNG, where I placed 4th. Overall, that means I invested $25 (+$2.50) for a return of $70. Not too shabby at all. I can't wait to play more of these things -- the players are just horrendous at Party.

I admit that I played like a donkey earlier today in cash games at Party. I was just feeling a little sick and I called raises OOP with horrible hands, and then played them through. No particular reason other than I wanted to have a little more fun on Christmas.

UB: + $6.97
Party: + $ 27.03
Total: + 34.00

Left to go: ($2166.00)

Saturday, December 24, 2005

Christmas Eve Play

Well, I got in about an hour of play late this evening after visiting the relatives' house for the annual Christmas Eve celebration. I 4-tabled once again with absolutely mixed results. I paid off a boat on the river when I made the nut flush which really hurt me. Definitely my biggest leak in any game: I pay off way too many hands. Since people love hand histories, here is one I enjoyed:

http://www.pokerhand.org/index.php?page=view&hand=197262


Have a Merry Christmas everyone.

UB: + $6.97
Party: + $6.89
Left to go: ($2186.14)

Friday, December 23, 2005

My New Quest: WSOP '06

Well, this site has lingered long enough without an update. A lot has happened since the last time I wrote; in fact, so much so that I will spare you the details. Suffice it to say, I had my biggest cash in a tournament ever (4th place at FullTilt for 1.1k), but hold'em cash games have been kicking the snot out of me.

I just wasn't having fun anymore. Plain and simple. I would log in hours upon hours, cursing at bad beats and trying to keep myself from tilting -- I wasn't playing my best poker game. All the work I've put into my game the last couple of months just vanished as I tackled the higher stakes games. On top of that, I was feeling the dark side of variance.

Now, I've decided to have a little bit more fun with the game. After speaking to a fellow FCP'er last night about the WSOP and our mutual desire to play in the first Omaha H/L event this year, I've come up with a little challenge for myself: I will make enough to directly buy-in to the event (2.2k) playing absolutely nothing but low-stakes Omaha H/L between now and the middle of June. This sounds absolutely stupid, because I could probably go and play 2/4 limit hold'em within my bankroll and make the same amount of money drastically quicker, but I think doing that misses out on some chances to really improve my Omaha H/L game.

I have several goals for this challenge: first, I obviously want to make the necessary funds (and then some); secondly, I want to get in as many Omaha H/L hands on different sites as possible. I've got Omaha Tracker up and running, and I feel I need tens of thousands more hands to fully look at my game and make the necessary changes before the WSOP event. I don't want to go there to just awe at the pros at my table. I want to be able to sit down with them and feel confident that I can play my game without being absolutely slaughtered by them. Thirdly, I want to just go back to having some fun at low stakes. I played .1/.25 PLO8 for so long and then immediately just jumped up a couple of steps and started to play 2/4 and 3/6 limit O8 after a series of tournament cashes. I wasn't ready for it. Although I made money playing those games and I was definitely better than most of the players, I just cared too much about the money. Then when things fell apart in the hold'em cash games, I just quit looking at my Omaha H/L game. Playing low-stakes O8, a game in which I absolutely know I can beat, will allow me to have a little bit more fun.

So, this blog will transform into a journal of my quest to the WSOP O8 event. I transferred some of my money around to various poker sites earlier tonight and got started on the quest. I four-tabled UB (who are having a nice 25% reload bonus) and Party for about 25 minutes tonight and finished up a massive $7.10. I'm much too tired to play tonight, so this blog entry is the last thing I'm doing. Happy Holidays to all of you.

Today: +$7.10
Total: +$7.10
Left to go: ($2192.90)