$3k or Bust Challenge Interrupted

Following Poker Stars' lead, FTP announced this morning that it is suspending real money play in Washington state. What a total drag......especially because now I'm forced to stare at that ugly progress chart for eternity......

$1k Goal Reached; Next Goal $3k

The goal was to turn $300 into $1000 in one year (July 1 to July 1). Got there.....in four months and eight days.

Sushi Cowboy's ST SNG recommendation accounts for the good returns here. Played 521 ST SNGs (ranging in buy-in from $2.15 to $20.90), and netted $499.25, for an ROI of 12.0%. I played comparatively few ring games, and my returns were blah. In a little over 14,000 hands, I earned a whopping $85.08, for an ROI of 2.2%. Earned another $149.57 in rakeback/bonuses...and voila.....$300 is now $1120 or so.

Now that I've basked in the glory of a goal met, it's time for a new goal. $1k to $3k by November 1, 2011. Assuming it'll be considerably tougher, given that the play will likely be better. Time will tell.

Three Months In: Thank G-d for Rakeback/Bonus

Five weeks since my last confession. Extreme turbulence, resulting in no actual overall movement from the actual playing of actual poker. Over the past five weeks, climbed from $550 to $596. Of that $46 climb, -$1 is attributable to playing poker, and $47 is attributable to rakeback and bonuses. As the graph indicates, I went into a major slump, dropping from $550 (at last update) as low as the $380s. A nice 10 day SNG run has propped be back to decency. At the 3-month pole (1/4 of the way), I should be at $475 to be on pace to reach $1000 by June 30, 2011. Significantly ahead of that, at least.

As far as the actual play goes, my SNG-vs-ring game splits have remained somewhat constant. I have fared much better at the ST SNGs. Over the past five weeks, I played 169 SNGs, earning $53.15 on an investment of $1,246. My SNG ROI dropped to 4.27%, which is probably much more realistic than earlier ROIs. Overall (since July 1), my ROI for the ST SNGs is 10.55% (325 total ST SNGs). I'll take it.

My ring game play continued to suck a**. In about 1800 hands (focused much more on the ST SNGs), I dropped about $54, for an ROI of -12.70%.

So why so much (relative) success with the SNGs and so little with ring games? A couple of theories, as discussed with Senor Sushi.

First, the ST SNGs are super easy to play. Practically every decision (95% plus) is an all-in or fold decision. Not a ton of nuance to the play. Those who try to play a nuanced (small ball) game are chum. Simply not enough chips in play to justify limping or raising small. So, while my overall poker skill is probably average'ish, my lack of superior skill is offset by the simplicity of the strategy. All-in....or fold. Not rocket science. As long as there are at least 1 or 2 fellow SNG'rs who call too light or bet wrong, I'm in good shape.

Second, while I generally think of myself as having a pretty decent attention span, sometimes not so much when playing poker, especially when tired (which is often). The ST SNGs last 10-15 minutes max, denying me an opportunity to make a "I'm tired, f** it, I'm all in" move that creeps into my ring game play from time to time. Playing the ST SNGs is liking reading a book of very short stories. They're designed so that you can make it through a couple tourneys/chapters without risking too much and losing concentration. When I play ring games, I'm generally fine for quite a while (playing a relatively small % of pots), and then sometimes the brain goes goofy, I lose focus and bammo, I drop my stack. Not too often, but it certainly happens.

Anywho, that's my theory as to why the ST SNGs have been so much more profitable than my ring game play during this Challenge. I have mixed feelings about them, however. On the one hand, my goal is to turn $300 into $1000, and the ST SNGs appear to be a decent vehicle for making that so. But, on the other hand, I'm not feeling like they're in any way improving my poker playing. "All in or fold" poker is very infrequently the decision facing me in ring games. Perhaps I should play more short-stacked games....but again I'm not sure that's helping me in my overall play. Anywho, that's my rambling for today.

Eight Weeks In: Slipped a Bit

Not a good week in Eeyore land. Played a bunch (2200 hands, including 52 ST SNGs and 1225 hands of ring games, mostly $.10-$.25 NLHE). Including the $11+ of rakeback, I dropped from $555 to $550. Obviously not a devastating blow, but frustrating to retreat despite all the play (and rakeback). Also frustrating because I hit an intraweek high of $615 before going in the shitter.

In the ST SNGs (49 $5+$.30's and 3 $10+$.50's), I still had a positive ROI, albeit a much more pedestrian (realistic) 10% rate.

In the live play, I had a negative ROI, losing 9% of every cent I bought in for. I really felt like I played acceptably, and suffered two memorable beats. (I've bored a few with them already, and I planned to drop links here....only to learn that I never checked the "save hand history" box on FTP. Thought it was automatic. Damn!!!) My "favorite" beat of the weak was losing $70+ pot with AA against K4o and JJ when an A hit the flop.....along with two freakin J's. Ouch.

Will continue to plug away, and will try very hard to get above $600 by this time next week.

Seven Weeks In: Choppy Progress

Bottom line, the 7th week in was a good one, climbing from $482 to $555. From one perspective, that's more than a month's worth of gain in a week, so right on (typed with Good Times inflection). [To reach my stated goal of climbing from $300 to $1000 in a year, the stack needs to increase $58/month.]

That said, my progress this week was mega choppy. Reached an intra-day peak of $587, but then dropped down to $550ish, and sat in that neighborhood for the rest of the week.

Played 52 ST SNGs (all $5 + $.30), and won $102.40 overall, with an ROI of 37%....more than twice my ROI for the prior period. [For the uninitiated, the ST SNGs I play are 6-handed; everyone starts with T300; the blinds start up at 15/30 and increase every 3 minutes; only 1st ($19.50 on a $5 + $.30 SNG) and 2nd ($10.50) are paid] With that likely-unsustainable ROI, the SNGs saved my bacon. Why so much success? I don't know, but my strategy is very, very simple. Depending of course on my remaining stack and where we are relative to the $ bubble, I break the universe of playable hands into "pushing" hands and "calling" hands, with the latter range being much narrower. Bet sizing is almost irrelevant, as I'd say upwards of 90% of bets in these SNGs are of the all-in variety. I focus primarily on just making the final two (the $). I have a fair amount of confidence in my heads up play, and once in the $, I always feel like I have at least a good chance of taking down 1st. I'm interested in Sushi's and take on my (and his) strategy in these. Others' input too please.

My cash game play was really blah. Only played 826 hands, and dropped $33, for an ROI of -9%. I moved up from $.05/$.10 NLHE to $.10/$.25 (all 6-max, deep stack and generally with an ante). While playing $.10, I always seek out the deep-stack tables. At those stakes, I had no problem buying in deep (with my bankroll, I can easily buy in for 200 BBs). Unthinkingly, I continued to buy in at deep stack tables at the $.25 levels, but I don't have the bankroll to buy in deep. Buying in at $25 at a table where others are typically buying in for twice that felt disadvantageous, although I'm unsure exactly why. May be psychological, because with 100 BBs I obviously have plenty of play. I'm interested on any input here. If you can only buy in 100 BBs (the max at normal tables), does it make sense to buy in "short" at a deep stack table or to buy in for the max at a normal table? It's always nice to lots of money on the table to be able to go after (suggesting a deep stack table makes the most sense), but it's also somewhat damaging to one's image to be the short stack. Very interested in input, and to any suggestions on how to alter my play when I sit with a max of 100 BBs at a table where the average stack is 150-200 BBs. This feels like one of those super basic questions I should definitely know the answer to, but alas I don't. Maybe just my own psychology that's getting in the way. None of this is to say that my indecision had much influence on the results over the last week. Super small sample size (typed with obligatory lisp), but I felt uneasy about it.

Also, any thoughts as to when it makes sense to move up from $.10 to $.25? Sitting at $550, it seemed fine, but there was no great science that went into the decision. Premature at $550? Seems in line with what I remember hearing earlier. During Cake Challenge II, I recall Marsh indicating that he'd migrate from $.02/$.04 to $.05/$.10 at a bankroll of $200. I never discussed with him if 100 BBs (assuming buying in at 5% of 'roll) was the trigger, and if so why. Interested on anyone's take on the proper time to move up.

Overall, pleased with the results of Week 7, but need to ground myself a bit more in my ring game play....

Six Weeks In: Back on Track

After a very quick start to the $1k or Bustathon (see Week 1 post, below), I spiraled into the abyss. Lesson clear: don't f****n play online poker when exhausted and stressed out. My nosedive (which took me from the $380's to the $270's in 2500 hands) coincided with my 18 hour a day stressout in preparation for a trial in Denver. (I experienced a similar nosedive during the 3rd month of the Cake Challenge, during a week that my daughter was in the hospital and life was a bit out of control. Wanted to play a little poker to unwind, but ended up spewing chips left and right).

Once that trial passed, I got some rest and my stress level returned to my baseline, my play (and the results) headed back in the right direction. In the past 2900 hands, the 'roll has climbed from $270 to $482.

During "the run," I've played a mess of the ST SNGs recommended by Senor Sushi. Earned $33.25 in profit in 58 SNGs off of an investment of $203.45. A 16% ROI seems pretty decent. My cash game ROI has been crazier, climbing $154 in 1600 hands with a unlikely-to-hold ROI of 36%. All for now......hopefully things will keep on pace.

Two Weeks In: I Miss Week One

This last week has been dreadful in the $1k challenge. Started the week at $351.90, and while I temporarily climbed as high as $380, the 'roll went crashing down. At my nadir, I hit $287. A run-good, play-against-giant-donks 45 minute session that just ended salvaged the week a bit, and the 'roll is back "up" to $338.03, with rakeback.

Honestly unsure that I played too poorly this last week. Had a couple tilt sessions, but predominantly I had experiences like this. $.05-$.10 6-max NLHE. Effective stacks $10. I wake up UTG with AA and open to $.30. Dude to my 3-bets to $.90, button calls, and I raise to $2. I considered flat calling, but decided that I wouldn't mind scaring one of them off. My 3-better calls, and the btn folds. I like that. Flop is QJ4, two diamonds. A little over $5 in the pot, and I have $8 left. I have the lead and the board is wet, so I bet $3.75. Villain obliges by shoving all in. I call, and he turns over 22. WTF? A 2 hits the turn and I toss my laptop across the room (in spirit, at least).

Had a few of those, and only recall doing that once to somebody once myself. So, the Fates owe me a couple.

I also played a bit of Rush Poker. I adopted a quasi-Sushi Cowboy approach. Narrow pre-flop range. While I earned lots of FTPs, I was upside down about $11 in ~ 1200 hands dealt. The variance is, um, high, and while I'm sure that Martin and others can do well by exploiting the natural Rush Poker junkies, I'm not fond of how it changes my poker perspective. Given that my primary goal here is to learn to play better, I'll stick to the regular old boring ring games.

Back to a question I asked before, but didn't see a response to ----> is there anyway to make a URL of FTP hands so that I can post them??? Marty? I'm looking at you....

One Week In: so far, so good

One week into the $1k or Bust challenge, things are going pretty well. I've played almost exclusively $.05-$.10 on FTP. FTP offers the game full ring, 6-max and heads up, and at each table size it offers regular buy in (100BB), short stack, deep stack, "capped" (haven't looked to see what that means) and with antes. My game of choice is 6-max, deep-stack with antes. Seems to drive greater action (avg pot size definitely bigger). Overall, rakeback and signup bonus* included, I'm up from to $351.90. A little over 3000 hands of play in a week (a lot for me).

No particularly notable hands. Normal # of bad beats, suckouts and coolers. In fact, it's unclear to me how to URL'ize hands played on FTP. Anyone know how? Overall, the larger player pool (as compared to Cake) seems like a huge advantage. Not super impressed by the quality of play, overall.

* As for the signup bonus, I deposited $300 back on March 12 in light of 1:1 signup bonus. For every dollar deposited (up to $500, I think), FTP matched it with a dollar. I failed to read the fine print, and didn't play much while the Cake Challenge II was onoging. Last week, when I started the $1k or Bust challenge, I took a closer look at the FTP Cashier, and noticed two things. First, the bonus isn't a simple deposit, but instead is redeemed $.06 at a time, for every FTP earned (so, every dollar in rake = $.06). At $.05-$10 stakes, it takes a while. Second, I noticed that the bonus is paid in $20 increments, meaning you have to earn $20 of redemption, $.06 at a time, before anything is handed over. With 3000k hands of play in a week, I've earned just over $20 in bonus, so at least I got something out of it. Finally, I noticed that the promotion expires on 7/12 (4 months from signup), and thus my $300 signup bonus will likely amount to $20. All of this is my fault, obviously, as I'm sure the terms of the bonus were readily apparent...had I bothered to look. Anywho, at least I got $20.

$1k or bust

Given my assumption that there will be little interest in an immediate beginning to Cake Challenge III, I've decided to begin my own quest. Gonna try to turn my $300 on FTP into $1k in a year. Unsure if that's an overly-lofty goal or a soft one. My instinct is that it'll be difficult, especially given the smaller rakeback and the (presumably) tougher opponents as I'm playing in higher stakes games. I'll start off at $.05-$.10 and maybe $.10-$.20, and will endeavor to abide by proper bankroll management principles (which I understand to be 5% buyin; 10% at risk). Of course, if it's June 15, 2011 and I'm at $412, proper bankroll management may go out the window.....

Interested in:

1) thoughts on whether this is overly- or underly-ambitious;

2) whether anyone else wishes to join in the challenge; and

3) whether a sushi/jason-like book should be established, regardless of the answe to 2.

The Challenge Endeth......

I'm over 95% certain that the Cake Challenge is actually ending today. I've been certain before, but all signs point to July 1 being six months from January 1. Ended at $204.27, up (obviously) 104.27% over six months (and 30,464 hands)....but (more importantly to me right now) up 1300% from my June 4 end-of-session low of $13.07. Hard to (generally speaking) recommend the June POA, but (win or lose) I took the right approach given the enormity of the hole, the remaining time and my somewhat limited opportunity to play.

A rough breakdown of how I did over the six months in various games. Subject to the inaccuracy of today's tabulation, of course. [If someone wants to audit my google spreadsheet, let me know.]

$.02/$.04 NLHE (17k hands) -- $22.28
$.05/$.10 NLHE (1.5k hands) -- ($54.16)
$.10/$.20 NLHE (3.5k hands) -- $4.47
$.25/$.50 NLHE (1k hands) -- $127.38 --> sweet spot or pure, unadulterated luck?
Omaha (various) (2k hands) -- ($48.51)
SNGs and MTTs (various) -- ($74.80) --> tournament specialist

In the end, my best game was clearly Rakeback. Earned $111.20, or 107% of my overall profit, from Rakeback. Super scary. Never figured out HEM (actually, had it set up on wifee's laptop, but never got it properly set up for my laptop bought in February/March).

This experience had two clear phases, and I'm ok with both. The first phase (January-March, when I ran out of steam due to family drama) involved grinding $.02-$.04, one $4 buy in at a time. Played between 3 and 7 tables at a time, and I felt as if 4 was probably the ideal # given my peculiar attention span. Got as high as $200, before dropping back to $150ish. Certainly no master (and probably a pure middle of the road player, at best), but I enjoyed the grind of staying within my means.

Phase two was the "oh shit, this is about to end, I've been unable to play for two+ months, better throw caution to the wind" period. Because of my unique calendar-reading skills, I actually got two cracks at phase two. While some may question whether this approach (single tabling with a huge buy-in) was consistent with the spirit of the contest, it absolutely was. The contest had a finite time period to it. Some blew through their $100 'roll in one or two or ten sessions, early on. So be it. I accepted far greater risk in phase 2 (2a and 2b), and I had many opportunities to bust out. High risk, high reward. Certainly acceptable under the allotted time frame, in light of the scoreboard at the time. No other way to play it out.

Who's ready for Cake Challenge III? I am. I propose starting at $200 or $300 this time. Having climbed to greatness (ok, acceptable mediocrity) via imprudence, I'd be interested in communally giving it a shot using proper bankroll management at slightly higher starting stakes. Any takers??? (chirp, chirp, chirp.....)

One Day to Go in the Challenge

About 30 hours to go, I'll have very little remaining time to add to the Eeyore roll, which (proudly) stands at $167.43, plus about $14 in rakeback coming today/tomorrow). After reaching the $194 apex (and bragging about it my post), I had a horrible session (punctuated by my overplaying AQ), dropping down to $110. Never deterred (again, sole motivation = Whitmore's "I'll gladly short Adam" face), I kept plugging away, and have climbed back up near my June high.

I know Marsh (likely as a result of me raising the topic with him--duh) is re-engaged somewhat, and who knows if $180'ish will be enough to take it down. Regardless, I'm pretty pumped to have climbed out of my late May hole. Some interesting lessons:

* My game (or at least my attention span) seems best suited to play a single table, with stakes that cause me some level of concern. I'm not sure what would happen if I bought in $4 into a single $.02-$.04 table. I like to think that I habituate well to the stakes I'm playing, but I imagine I'd be hard pressed to respect the stakes when the downside risk is $4.

* I spent a lot of time (while playing $.10-$.20 and $.25-$.50) fixated on the 3-bet/4-bet tendencies of my opponents. By focusing significantly on that single facet of the game, and taking copious notes regarding those tendencies, I believe I've been able to exploit my opponents. In a way, the limited player pool of Cake has assisted me. Were I playing on FTP, I would have a much harder time leveraging that info given the huge player pool.

* One important tweak I made, as I put myself into the high risk world of putting a big % of my 'roll to work at one table, was to stop firing if I raised pre and then missed the flop. Assuming the board was accommodating, I certainly c-bet most of the times, but I resisted the temptation, when called pre and on the flop, to keep trying to push my way through. While I may've ultimately bought a few hands, I certainly would've blasted off my stack more often. And, working without a net (given the huge chunk being risked), I simply couldn't endure the volatility.

* It's ok to be bluffed. Again driven by life on the edge, I started to be more willing to simply lay down my hand when my opponent showed a ton of strength in the face of my apparent strength. I'm sure I've mucked quite a few winners, but I'm also sure the approach helped me survive the unique circumstances I found myself in.

Eeyore Has a Fighting Chance

So a good last week for the Eeyore roll. Motivated solely by separating Whitmore from his "I short Adam" money, I've played quite a bit (for me, that is). About 3300 hands since June 1.

My progress has been jagged, but that's to be expected playing $.10/$.20 (and now $.25/$.50) with a tiny stack. Nearly gave up when one cooler and one bad beat dropped me down to $52.20. [While I can hear Chuck and Marsh dismissing those hands as "standard," and they are, they didn't feel so "standard" given the percentage of the 'roll that was consumed.]

Instead of giving up --- once again nearly exclusively motivated by the vision of Whitmore paying Jeh one dollar at a time --- I did what any junkie would do with only a few days left. I bought in for $50 (of my remaining $52.20) at the $.25/$.50 table. In four $.25/$.50 sessions (totaling 300 or so hands), I've increased the 'roll from $52 to just over $194. The players at $.25/$.50, or at least the handful that I've encountered, are horrible. Station after station. I've definitely had my share of "run good," but I've been paid off at every turn. We'll see how it ends. Liking the trajectory of the graph, if nothing else......

Hello Variance, My Old Friend

One week into the $.10-$.20 ($20 buy in) experiment, things are up, then down, then way up, then way way down, then up. Considering that my post-catastrophe bankroll started at $13.07, these swings are huge. My session results:

* up $27.99
* down $20.00
* up $19.62
* up $11.16
* up $13.15
* up $5.83
* down $18.78
* up $5.30
* up $5.00
* down $40.00 (tilt!!!)
* up $32.46

With rakeback, I'm sitting at $69.00, having played over 1300 hands in my post-meltdown period. Heck of a lot better than $14, but a long way to go to get back into it. Check out the crazy graph. Glad I'm still in it, but I basically can't endure more than one or two lapses in concentration or coolers.

Oh, my graph. My beautiful, beautiful graph....is dead

Ok, my June 1/July 1 snafu has been well documented.......and very well exploited for the enjoyment of the crowd. So happy to entertain. Frustrating, but it's in the rear view.

So, I started June with a whopping $29 and change in the 'roll. I'm not going to pitch it in, because, well, I desperately want Whitmore to pay for shorting me. But, there's no way I can get back into contention...in 30 days...by adhering to proper bankroll management. At least, not until I can get the 'roll back to Marsh's neighborhood.

Following my May meltdown, I started June with $29 and proceeded to play a couple hundred hands at $.02-$.04 NLHE.....getting me exactly nowhere. In fact, it got me down to about $22. I shouldn't say it didn't get me anywhere. It got me off my self-induced, "if I could only count to 6 months" tilt. But $22 is $22.

So......with apologies to Marsh and Chris Ferguson.....I calmly and consciously bought in for $20 at the $.10-$.20 NLHE table. 44 hands later, I cashed out at just south of $48, with the overall 'roll at $50.01. My plan, for now, is to continue to buy in (way too large) at a single table in the hopes of sustaining some success. I fully realize that odds are that I will go busto employing this strategy, but I'm not sure what else I can do given my May debacle. I don't have much time or energy to grind it up in June, and even if I had Marty-like dedication and opportunity, I still couldn't turn $22 (or now $50) into $200 by month's end.

Any feedback on this approach????

2010 1Q Report

So...on Tuesday, with 2 days to go in the Sushi portion of the challenge, I sat in the low $170s. Decided I'd try my luck at $.05/$.10 NLHE to see if I could make up some ground on our fair leader. A little out of line probably, but semi-reasonable. Bought in for $8 at a few tables (still under the 5% rule) and proceeded to get crushed. Down about $14 in just 134 hands. Ugh.

With rakeback, the Eeyore 'roll ended at $158.76 (subject to review -- my spreadsheet tells me it should've been $3 higher, but Cake says what it says).

The breakdown (just under 21k hands in total) is as follows:

$.02/$.04 NLHE -- $60.17
$.05/$.10 NLHE -- ($42.25) - ouch
$.02/$.04 PLO -- $2.02
SNGs -- ($32.30) - ouch
MTTs -- $11.21
Rakeback -- $60.01

These results are a little unsettling, especially as I hope to get to the $200 plateau and move out of the micro micro stakes. Ditching the SNGs is easy. Done. But the $.05/$.10 result (which occurred in just 900+ hands) is problematic. I'm somewhat at a loss to explain the results; the following is all I've noticed.

* My (limited) experience is that people aren't simply handing away their money, as they often are at $.02/$.04. That dead money sure does help. Duh.

* I feel like I'm approaching the game a bit differently, which is adding volatility to the results. I'm trying to be a bit craftier (rather than simply playing ABC, TAG poker). By anecdotal memory (as opposed to HEM analysis), I'm 3-betting more from the blinds when the initial raise comes from the button. This approach has me putting more chips at risk than I my typical ABC baseline mode.

* My buy in is a little light, as I tend to buy in for $8 rather than $10. Maybe somebody has some insight here, but I feel REALLY short stacked in this game when I buy in for $8 (as I would if I were buying in for $10) because I'm seeing some really huge stacks. I sat at a table the other day where there were several people above $20 and one over $40. (Perhaps that should've been a sign that these guys had been there a while and were picking off the other players)

Not sure. Any words of wisdom re an approach for $.05/$.10? Eeyore inertia would prefer to go back to being the TAGgiest of TAGs. At least my volatility would lower.

We Are Experiencing Turbulence

My schedule today allowed me to play a lot (for me) of challenge hands. All told, I played about 700 hands across a few different disciplines: micro PLO, micro NLHE and one MTT. It was a crazy turbulent day. In the end, I closed up $3.40 or so (excluding rake back), but it was a jagged road.

First things first, it was a very satisfying day in that I didn't forget the rules of ANY of the games I played. So, that's progress.

PLO was a quick, painful experience. Bought it for $4 at $.02/$.04, and that lasted a displeasurable 18 hands. Managed to drop $1.20 off the bat pushing too hard with middle set (raise your hand if you are surprised). The remainder of the stack went as follows. I am in the BB with AAK8 double suited. Liking that. Villain 1 (UTG) raises to $.14, villain 2 raises pot, villain 3 calls and when it gets back to me I re-pot. Villains 1 and 2 fold and villain 3 raises the tiny bit that puts me all in.....with 5567 badugi. What?!? I felt great until the flop came 66K. Turn and river blanked, and I retired (again) from PLO. Bad start to the day.

NLHE was, again, the profit center. Up $7.63 in 415 hands. As expected, suffered a few bad beats, but hung in there without getting all tilty. Proud of this hand, although the opponent was clearly a moron. While he may've believed he had the best hand when the flop hit, my call on the flop and turn should've tipped him off, especially when the river brings an overcard AND I speed up all of a sudden. Thank you, EBO29.

In this hand, I won a big pot with quads, but I felt pretty frozen pre-flop when he put in the third raise in position. I flatted, but I'm not sure my reasoning was particularly sound. I flatted because I didn't really know what to do. Ah yes....paralysis, the genesis of all great decisions. My "plan" was as follows -- please comment. When this guy (who was new to the table) 4-bet min-raised, I was perplexed. Seemed too small to be a bluff. I decided to flat call (leaving myself $2.50 behind) to see if I could dodge an overcard on the flop -- but think about it, if I'm worried I'm beat, then how does that really help? I suppose it cuts out one of the two scary possibilities (AK, as opposed to QQ-AA). The flop was super kind. I let him keep the lead, and he obliged. The river was gravy. So, ignoring the result, what should I have done (knowing nada about the villain) when he 4-bet min-raises pre???

The MTT was entertaining, but financially a non-event. It was the $.10 R&A variety, and I like my approach to those in general. While people are flailing about trying to "double up or rebuy" with super mediocre, or worse, holdings, I play pretty tight and very aggressive when I do have a hand worth playing. 236 players in this one, and my play was pretty good early on. Took one super aggravating beat, but climbed back in thanks to the R&A.

The money bubble was at 50th, and I cruised into the money without great drama after the rebuy period ended. I sat in 10th or so with about 40k in chips when I was dealt KQo on the button. Blinds (if I recall correctly) were something like 2000-4000 with a big ante. I raised to 10k with KQ and the BB shipped (total 27k). I didn't love putting most of my stack at risk, but I felt like I had to call, getting over 2:1. Villain showed 66 and I never improved. I clawed for a while, but that hand crippled me. Ended up going out in 29th, earning me a $.21 loss for my three hours of effort. From a time element, obviously not the greatest plan ever. But, I more or less play MTTs in the background while playing a few ring game tables. Having some diversity in games going seems to help me concentrate on both for some reason. And, I need as much tournament experience as I can gather. Three hours of tournament experience for $.85 seems like a decent price. Worthwhile???

So, that's it for today. The Eeyore 'roll sits at $178.43, plus I should be earning some decent rakeback this week....just in time for the end of Sushi Book challenge portion. Now, if I can only convince Martin to play 50k tilty hands before April 1......

Eeyore update

I fell off the blog train a few weeks ago, and thus a brief update. My trip to PLO-land lasted a week or so. Was very profitable overall, up $14.96 in 1589 hands. Was on track for a much better result, but then had one horrific 164 hand session where I dropped $14.51. Hello variance, my old friend. I don't remember the details, but my notes say "way too tired, why play?"

That down session sent me back to $.02/$.04 NLHE, where I've played much better than before strolling over to PLO. I've stopped playing the SNGs, and have stuck solely with ring games. In about 3900 hands of $.02/$.04, I've climbed just under $40. The diversion to PLO seemed to reset my attention span and focus, so yay.

When I got back to $180, I started mixing in $.05/$.10, playing 2 or 3 $.02/$.04 tables, while playing 1 $.05/$.10 table. My $.05/$.10 results have been pitiful so far, and I'll have to back off for a while. In 250 hands, I've dumped over $13. Can't say why. Perhaps ordinary variance. I can think of a couple hands where I over-committed, but in general I think I played fine.

But, for now, it's back to the kiddy table until I'm back over $180. As I type, the Eeyore 'roll sits at $175.01 in 19,686 hands. Not bad, not great.

PLO, the Cure for the Common Boredom

In two weeks time, I dropped (like a rock) from $200 to $140. While that cataclysm coincided with the Molly hospital exhaustion/stress, I don't think that explains it. Instead, I'm pretty sure what happened is that I got bored with $.02-$.04 and stopped respecting the stakes. Marsh somewhat alluded to this in a supportive comment when he talked about going up in stakes. Thinking back, I think this is what happened. I got to $180 or so and started transitioning by playing half $.02-$.04 and half $.05-$.10. I played fine at $.05-$.10, but lost enough (through what I believe is ordinary variance) that I decided I needed to bust myself back down to $.02-$.04. But, once there, I was bored. I stopped respecting the stakes and started thinking about bets/calls/raises as "it's only $.22." Disaster.

I've admittedly had a hard time breaking that cycle. I find myself much more interested in playing the double-up SNGs, and have fared well enough in the $2.20 ones (27 of 42) to turn a moderate profit ($15.60 for $92.40 invested). I've fared poorly in the $5.35 double up SNGs (winning just 2 of 7, for a loss of $27.45).

In the last couple of days -- similarly to Royal, apparently -- I decided to play some PLO. As Royal mentioned, the availability of $.02-$.04 PLO on Cake is ridiculously thin. But, I've been able to play one 6-max and one full-ring table at a time, and have had very good success (admittedly small sample size notwithstanding). In just 550 hands, I'm up over $20. I've tried to be very conservative with my starting hands, looking to avoid middle pairs, unless they're joined by connected straight and flush cards. Mostly, I've been looking for big pairs with straight/flush friends. I've tried to remain diligent not to overplay sets (where a better hand is already possible), but to make players pay the max for draws when no straight or flush is yet possible.

We'll see how it goes. I'm sure I'm getting way the best of variance right now. For now, with rakeback, the Eeyore roll sits back above $158.

So Much For the Good Times

My "hot streak" lasted one day. Yesterday, I reverted to form, dropping nearly $20. I lost three of four $2 double-up SNGs and both $5 double-up SNGs. Also dropped about $4 playing $.02-$.04 6-max NLHE.

Yeseterday's debacle felt much more like a "run bad" session than it did a "play bad" one. I wasn't particularly tired, and felt like I played reasonably well. I got busted out of one $2 SNG when my 66 got outflopped by 2-3o. With 6 players left, the huge stack started shoving on every hand. I get the strategy. He had 7k in chips and only needed to knock out one more player. He was the BB and I shoved my last 800 chips with 66. He insta calls, flips over 2-3o and 2-3-9 is the flop. Sigh. Lost another where I got my 1400 chips all in pre with AQs and lost to a runner runner straight to the bozo who put 2/3 of his chips at risk with A7s. Whatever.

So, the Eeyore 'roll now sits at about $135. Barf.

Finally, a Good Day

After a solid week (closer to two) of losing session after session, I finally "put together" (or lucked upon) a big win yesterday. Played about 90 minutes, and won about $20.

Played four $2 double-up SNGs and two $5 double-up SNGs, all at the same time. Won all but one (losing one of the $2 SNGs). Also played a whopping 49 hands of $.02-$.04 6-max NLHE. Won almost $7 in very few hands.......almost all of it on my first hand at one table. Being that it was my very first hand (and thus having no table image) and thinking/hoping that I thought I might get away with my opponents thinking I was a maniac donk, I shoved pre with QQ. Obviously, it worked out. Good play? Bad play?

How to Respond to Three Betters Pre???

Had my first winning day of the week yesterday. Played eight $2 double-up SNGs, winning six of eight. One of the two that I lost lasted less than an orbit. Oh well. Also played 100 hands of $.02-$.04 6-max NLHE, and picked up a whopping $1.15. So, the 'roll sits at $150 and change. In considering adjustments I could make -- at least in the short run -- to get out of the tailspin, I decided to tighten up and stop playing A-rag in 6-max, except maybe to steal from the button. I've been raising from most positions (not re-raising) with A-rag, and I've been getting into trouble this week with it. I was finding myself refusing to lay down the hand to a 3-bet pre, and then finding it (a) hard to believe I was ahead of much, and (b) very hard to lay down on later streets if I hit the A or even the kicker. No particular logical explanation for that, apart from being off my rocker. So, I'm giving that up for now.

As I mentioned to Marsh, one scenario I need to develop more intelligence on is what to do when the SB or BB re-raise my CO or Btn raise when I hold a less than premium hand. If I'm holding a monster (AA, KK, QQ, AK), no problemo. But what to do when I open raise from the CO with ATo, AJo, KQo or 88 and the BB (who may (a) just be sick of me stealing, or (b) be actually holding a real hand) re-pots? Calling seems like the worst choice. So, what to do? While I know the answer is "it depends on the opponent and the opponent's stack," any general guidance on how to respond to blind 3-betters when we hold a sub-monster? (I saw a lot of 3-betting from the blinds during my brief foray into $.05-$.10, and that prompted me to realize that I lack even a general plan for those situations.)

Slumping

Frustration abounds in Eeyore land these days. Because of a sick daughter, I've had the (apparently unfortunate) opportunity to jump online quite a few times in the past few days. The results have been consistent. Consistently bad. From my (intraday) Cake Challenge II high of $201, I've now dropped over $58, and now sit at $142.51.

As I noted in my last post, I stepped up the stakes a bit, but I don't perceive that that was the main culprit for my woes.

** Overall, in $.05-$.10 6-max NLHE, I dropped a whopping $3.47, according to HEM (yes, I'm a proud new owner -- thanks Chuck and Marsh for your enduring technical support). The $3.47 loss is arguably deceiving, because on the day that I reached $201, I busted out at two different $.05-$.10 tables where I was approaching $20 (had bought in for $8 and more than doubled up), but then went haywire and lost it all.

** I played a bunch of double up SNGs, and I believe I dropped the most dough there.

** I have had good success with the $2 10-person double ups (11 of 16: profit $8.80 for investment of $35.20 -- 25%).

** But, I've been miserable at $3 6-max (3 of 8: loss of $8.40 on investment of $26.40 -- 32%) and $5 10-person double ups (0 for 4: loss of $21.40 on investment of $21.40 -- 100%). So, that's where $30 of the $58 went.

My overall evaluation is that I've played far less disciplined this week. I suffered a few painful suck outs a long the way, epecially last night. Ugh. [If I could get the Cake hand coverter tool thingy to work, I'd show you a few, but you've all seen suck outs before.] But, beyond that, I've been stabbing/pushing too much and hero calling way too much. Because of kid health issues and general exhaustion, I would've been smart to simply walk away from the CC II this week, but I've needed something fun to do, and so that's the price I pay, I suppose.

Going to firmly stick with the lower stakes for now and try to muster a reversion to discipline. Hopefully, will get back to the $200 range soon'ish rather than later'ish.

Stepping Up in Stakes a Bit

Starting today's mini session, the Eeyore 'roll sat at $174 or so. Based on something Marsh told me (although possibly misapplying the suggestion), I decided to start transitioning to the higher stakes game. So, I played a mix of games. One $.02-$.04 6-max, one $.05-$.10 6-max, one $2 double-up SNG (10 player) and one $3 double-SNG (6 player). Overall, in under 200 hands, I earned $12 or so, so yay.

Can't say I played particularly well, though. I busted out on the bubble on the $3 double up SNG by vastly overplaying 2nd pair. I had T5s in the SB and (when the field folded to me) I decided to complete the bet. Why??? Flop was ATx, and I bet out. BB calls. Turn a blank and I shove. Why??? Don't recall exact amounts, but my shove was barely more than a pot sized bet and the BB had me well covered. He insta-calls with AJ and that was that.

I played a 2nd $3 double up SNG, and lost 1200 of 1500 chips in the first orbit, when my KK was sucked out on by 88. Dude made a runner-runner straight. I buckled down, found some good spots to shove, and ended up "winning" the SNG (by finishing in top 3). Even had the most chips when it ended.

Basically broke even in $.05-$.10 (won $.55 in 17 whole hands), but I made almost $10 in $.02-$.04. But, I must admit that most of it was made on a hand I played way too recklessly. I failed to grab the URL, but here's how it went. Let me know if you think this was reckless as I do.

I have 87c on the button. Cutoff ($14.04) limps, as do I ($6.64). SB completes, and BB ($1.42) raised to $.24. Cutoff and I call. SB folds. $.78 in pot. [I generally don't limp in 6-max and I generally wouldn't call another $.20 with that hand with only 3 players...especially when one villain has so few chips behind. Can't explain why I called the raise there, other than inattentiveness. 4 tables may be too many for me, as I tend to freak out when I'm called to act on 2 or 3 tables at once. Lame, but true.]

Flop brings Tc-4c-7h (2nd pair and icky flush draw for me). BB checks, Cutoff (very very aggressive player) makes it $.80 to go. I raise to $2.20 [I think my raise is solid enough. Pair, flush draw and backdoor straight draw against a guy who may well have nada], BB insta-calls his remaining $1.18, Cutoff shoves (has me covered by $6+) and....this is where I definitely go off the rails, imo) -- I call. Suddenly, I'm in a $13.80 pot and all-in with 78c. BB turns over a set of 4s and the Cutoff shows 98o. [So, my read on Cutoff -- as maniac deluxe) was right. He committed a huge chunk of chips, on a flushy board with two other players showing strength, one of whom is all in and can't pay him off any more...with a straight draw.]

Turn is 9c and the river is the Qc. Eeyore gets miracle flush for the win.

Too reckless? Feels that way to me, but it becomes easier to justify the play the more I think about it after the fact. My biggest error was probably the $.20 call of the BB's raise pre-flop. Thoughts?

Anywho, by recklessness or unwitting fine play (unlikely), the Eeyore 'roll sits at a little over $186.

Quck Hit and Run

With sundown approaching, I had but an hour or so in between homemaking chores to play some Challenge. I played a combo of games. Two 6-max $.02-$.04 NLHE ring games, one $2 double-up SNG and one (gasp) $2 heads-up SNG.

Very successful all around. In live action, I cleared almost $10 over just 111 hands. The play was pretty standard, except the guy on my right at one table decided he was sick of pre-flop raises and c-betting and seemed to transform into a "I'm calling you down no matter what" tiltasaurus. Two blessings followed. One, he had a very large stack ($12 or so) and I caught cards/flops on four consecutive flops. On the final one, I caught top pair and a flush draw, which turned into a flush on the river. Check-call, check-call, check-call went tiltasaurus. Turned out he had one pair. By the time those 4 hands were over, I had $17.64 in my stack and he was near busto. Having no compunction about hitting and running, I took off.....mostly to protect my way-bigger-than-10% stack.

The double-up tournament was uneventful, and I played about 10% of pots. On the final hand, I picked up TT on the button, flopped a T and knocked #s 6 and 7 out of the tournament. The end.

The heads-up tournament lasted all of 6 hands. Sixth hand went this way. I pick up 69o in the BB. Villian calls from the SB/button and I check. Flop 6J7 (2 clubs). I bet pot (40), villain calls. Turn is an offsuit 9. I bet pot again (120) and villain immediately shoves (1210). At this moment, Molly started screaming and, having to go attend her crisis of the moment, I acted (by calling) a little quicker than I probably should've. He shows [redacted--just rememberd that I'm not supposed to post villain's hand; sorry if you saw it earlier prior to this edit] and the river, a blank, ends the tournament. On a board (6J79) with that many possible straights, should I have mucked? 2 pair in heads up play seems pretty powerful, and the only straights that got there were 5-8 or a gutshot. If he really made a straight, why bet 5-6 times the pot? If the room were less hectic, I probably would've mucked and waited for another spot. Thoughts?

Anyways, in fewer than 150 hands this afternoon, I jumped from under $130 to $143. If I can keep that $/minute pace in tact, watch out.

Woeful Wednesday Somewhat Redeemed

Not only (I said I said NOT ONLY) did I have to miss WNP tonight, but I got absolutely slaughtered at the $.02-$.04 NLHE tables. Easily my worst session during the Challenge, as I plummeted $20.12 over 453 hands of play. My evening was somewhat redeemed by finishing 2nd in a 210 entrant MTT. Very happy with that, although it took SOOOO LONG.

[As an aside, the payout is a mystery to me. It was a $.10 R&A MTT. The tournament page on Cake indicated that 2nd payed a whopping $2.60 (my investment, with R&A, being $.65). But, when I checked the cahier, it looks like I was credited over $12. Confused.]

Never wishing to dwell on the positive, however, Eeyore must bemoan his evening of coolers, coolers, lost flips and painful folds. (In this last hand, I held KK, btw -- WORST RIVER EVER). No way to call, imo. Anyone disagree?

Anywho, too tired to continue blathering. I suppose the good news is that I never really lost my head during the massacre. I got a little tilty, but seemed to pull out of it quickly. I felt like I made mostly appropriate decisions, and tried to adjust to the fact that my image was not so good. In the end, it didn't help, but hopefully will in future sessions. Now to bed....

Sucky Sunday

Jeh likes to point out that I'm the king of premature celebrators (yes, twss). Good thing I bragged yesterday about having not had a losing day in almost two weeks. STREAK'S OVER!!!!

The day started with a 30-person, one-hand MTT. That's right, one hand. Despite my theory of staying out of the fray early, I (un/fortunately) picked up TT UTG in hand #1. I actually thought about folding, but I couldn't do it. I raised pot (to 70 -- blinds being 10-20), next guy calls, as do the cut off and button. Flop is 3-T-J, rainbow. Wahoo. So now I get to exploit the first hand madness that I see in every MTT. I bet out 200 (pot is 310). Guy to my left makes it 600 (YES!) and other two fold. I pause....and when my status bar is just to go blank I shove all in. He insta calls and his JJ is shown. Turn and river are blanks. Super fun tournament.

As for the rest of the day, I played about 460 hands at 7 different $.02-$.04 6-max tables over the course of the day and was a giant loser...to the tune of $8.54. Can't say I played super great or super tilty. I suffered a couple painful beats and did well not to tilt. However, I certainly went haywire on the last hand, losing my biggest hand of the Challenge ($12.54). Ouch. Flopped the toppiest of top sets, but the board also brought 3 clubs. When my opponent check-called the flop, I figured there was a good chance he held one big club. I decided that if I shoved, he'd only call me if he happened to be holding a big flush. Plus, I still had a few outs (boat/quads). Wrong and wrong. And thus went my $6.55. Feedback please. What would you do on the turn? I seriously doubt anybody shuts down on the flop when we flop top set. True? If I check behind on the turn, what do I do when he bets half-pot, pot or all-in on the river. I guess the answer is call, call and fold. Yes?

Oh well. Eeyore retiring (well maybe) for today......

A Few Brief Sessions

Haven't had too much time to play in the past few days. Played a 23 hand session Friday and profited a tidy $3.12 (I believe I win in the dollars-per-minute category). Played a similarly short 105 hand session this evening and netted $4.87. No extraordinary hands. I've been playing (for the most part) patiently and doubling up through the tilty maniacs.

Overall, the 'roll is now at $133.18....having played 4509 hands. Happy with that, and haven't had a losing day since Jan. 18. Here's hoping the Eeyore graph trajectory remains the same....

Overplaying AKo

I'll be brief about my Tuesday play. Same as Monday, I played three 6-max NLHE tables ($.02-$.04) and one $1.10 MTT.

The live play was fine, but I lost two big pots when I was in great shape when the money went in. I nearly tripled at one table, which offset (plus a little) my losses at the other two. For the day, up $.18 overall, including a net $1.28 at ring games.

In the MTT, I think I made a pretty big mistake....and I say that not just because of the result. As always, start with T1500. Thirty players, and we were down to 14. I played less than 10% of hands in the first two or three orbits (multi-tabling helps restrain my urge to screw around), and then I more than doubled up in the course of three hands. I was sitting at about T3200, and the blinds were 100-200, with an ante (I think it was 30). There were 7 at the table, and I picked up AKo on the button. One limper, and I raise to 500. The SB calls and the BB (who I recall having about T5000) raises to 1600. The limper between the BB and me folds. At this point, I feel like I can go all in (I have 2700 left, and there's about 3300 in the pot) or fold. Knowing little about the BB (playing 4 tables makes it hard for me to focus in on every player; and I believe this guy was pretty new to the table), I guess I should've saved my chips for another battle, but I shoved. SB folds, BB calls and turns over AA, with even my Kd covered by his Ad. The end.

Given the stage and chip stacks, should I have waited for a different spot? To be honest, I was looking for reasons to shove. I figured he could be trying to take it down there or narrow the field. "Unless he has AA or KK, I'm fine," I thought. I had almost exactly the average stack size (45k/14 remaining players = 3214). The biggest error was probably playing so aggressively (without a made hand) against a guy who 3-bet the pot OOP when I knew nothing about him. Thoughts?

Happy to have been up ($.18!) for the day....and very happy for rakeback. With rakeback, the Eeyore 'roll stands at $124.61. Look out, world. (rakeback accounts for 55% of the gain over three weeks. wow!)

Solid Monday

Played for a couple hours last night, but most of the excitement occurred in the first three hands at the first table. I 3-tabled $.02-$.04 6-max and played a $1+$.10 MTT (30 players).

At the first ring game, I picked up KhKs in the SB (my 2nd hand). Ended up getting all the money in and the flop brought 3 hearts, including the Ace. Rivered a flush and doubled up. Picked up AdTd on the button on the very next hand. My victim from the last hand raised to $.12 and I flat called. The flop was AA2. We both checked, the turn brought a 6. He bet, I raised, he pushed all in and I called. He had A3o, and I was at $12 after hand three. I played a couple more orbits and then left at $11 when another player doubled up to $11 (didn't want to have 10% at risk).

I lost small sums at the other two ring games (played very well - for me - but suffered a couple frustrating beats, including one gutshot when I had an overpair to the board -- got the villain to call an all in bet on the turn with just a gutshot. He got there.).

In the MTT, I finished 4th, resulting in a $3.60 prize (a little more than 3x's the entry fee). It took over an hour, and so it's unclear to me whether it's a proper investment. This is the third MTT I've entered. I didn't cash at the other two. I'll continue to play them on occasion, as I can use the tournament practice, and I can play one MTT while playing three live games. Anyone else playing MTTs?

Overall, up $6.30 for the session, and the Challenge roll sits at a few pennies below $120. Pleased with that....

Nine Wasn't Enough

Bad sign when you run (ok, slowly amble towards) the computer to play an hour of Challenge poker 15 seconds after 9 hours of "P"PP?

Pretty uneventful session, finishing a whopping $.53 to the good. Doubled my buy-in at one table, and went busto at another. Slowed down on the flop with AA, but shipped on the turn.....and my villain called with an open-ender. Nice river, sir or maam.

Overall, as poorly as I played a "P"PP today, I'm happy with my minimal loss there and my 53 cents of pure, unadulterated, non-furry sugar in the Cake Challenge tonight.

Eeyore's Uptick

Since my Monday buffoonery, Eeyore has been enjoying a nice uptick, from the $91 nadir to the present bankroll of a little over $111. I tightened up, stopped (for the most part) trying to bully my way to pots (note to self: check raising with air is a patently bad strategy in $.02-$.04 NLHE) and have tried to concentrate on NOT tilting when I feel that evil feeling coming on. It's helped. Since then, I've only gone busto at one table and have won nearly each session, as the pretty graph above indicates.

A few interesting hands from today.

I flopped huge on this hand, but was unwittingly behind. No way I was letting this monster (top pair, nut draw) go, and I got there on the river. While behind, I was a 54:46 favorite (not that I knew that at the time). Can't imagine playing this any other way. At worst, I was a 2:1 dog (if he flopped a flush), but I couldn't put him on a flush when he called my pre-flop raise...and the A was on the board and K was in my hand. If he was (e.g., with QJs), he was.....

I played one more ($1.15) MTT, just for variety. Busted out 23rd (of 30), but think I played well. Lost 250 on the first hand. Picked up 99 in middle position, made a 3x raise and a c-bet on the flop when 3 undercards (but two of a suit) came. The villain (who was the BB) called and then bet the pot on the turn when the apparent flush got there. I hovered from there (playing only about 15% of hands) until my busto hand occurred. My executioner made a bad call to my pre-flop raise and got the PERFECT flop. Bye bye, Eeyore. 0 for 2 in MTTs now, and will probably play one now and again for funsies (tm).

Can't decide whether to be proud of this one. The villain had 7To in the SB vs. my 8To in the BB. Interesting flop for us both. I bet aggressively on the flop and turn. It was one of those hands that, when called on the turn, I was 90% sure I was dead. Thank g-d for position, as I got to simply check back, in this case for the win.

With rakeback (yea....rakeback), the Eeyore role sits at $111.22.

How to Extract Value at Micro Stakes

At the risk of running into another slew of "it's player dependent" responses, I'm seeking some input as to how to extract value in pots where I hold a monster. Obviously, it's player dependent, but as a baseline does it make sense simply to steam ahead and hope to be called/bluff-raised...rather than trying to slow play at micro stakes?

In the 2000 or so hands thus far, I've run into this a fair number of times. Here's a very recent example. All I know about this guy is that, in the immediately prior hand, he stacked off on the flop with a horrendous holding. Note how terrible his pre flop calls (plural) were. So, on the very next hand, when I flop 2 pair and river a boat, I'm not afraid of being beat and am concerned from the outset on how to get max value out of this chump. My river check (hoping for a bluff) didn't work.....

Thoughts?

Monday Malaise

Played about 50 hands of PLO (down $2 and change) and about 300 hands of NLHE (down $8) yesterday. At PLO, I played the same loose passive style as I had the day before (before reading Marsh's and Chuck's comments), and had neglibly negative results. If I keep playing PLO, I'll tighten up pre-flop, per Chuck's suggested parameters.

The NLHE turned out to be somewhat of a disaster, although it's hard to pin down how things went awry. On one table, the game broke after 10 hands, with me down a whopping $.19. On another, I played 62 hands before going busto. I nearly doubled up early on, and played tight thereafter, slowly bleeding down to around $6. The table dropped to 3 players, including a maniac who kept raising huge (opening the pot for $2+ with $.06 in blinds out there). I picked up 99 on the button and raised the pot. He (in the BB) came over the top all in (about $3) and I snap called. I would've layed that down (probably) to most other players, including ones I knew nothing about, but this guy was looking to give his money away. This time, of course, he held a real hand.....AQ.....and flopped an A. After that, I got a little tilty and went all in pre with AQ, meeting up with TT, and I didn't improve. On the final table, I ground my $4 for 207 hands, and never once was above my starting $4. Got close, but lost one decent sized coin flip. On my last hand I held $2 and AQs on the button. The CO raised pot, I re-potted and he put me all in. Frankly, I was a little tilted/tired, and I went with it. He had KK and I was done for the night...having lost about $10 overall.

Disappointed with the way I played, but tomorrow is another day. AQ is apparently not my friend.

A Quick and Profitable Visit to PLO Land

Heeding Jason's suggestion (let the criticism begin there), I signed on and 2-tabled $.02-$.04 PLO. Played for only about 30 minutes (61 hands total), but nearly doubled. Won $6.97 (bought in for $8).

A couple observations.

First, I found 2-tabling PLO much more daunting than 3-tabling NLHE. Obviously, it's because of my lack of familiarity and comfort with the game. It felt frenetic to me, and I mistakenly mucked (when I meant to raise) a monster (middle set on an otherwise dry board) when I was trying to bounce back and forth. Frustrating.

Second, I'm sure my pre-flop hand selection was awful. I tended to call somewhat liberally (most runs, any pairs bigger than 7, most big cards, if some suited help) and tried to play tighter on/after the flop. Everything came up roses tonight and so I didn't feel the pain I might've deserved, but any comments on that approach? I was able to do this because both tables were loose, passive (not a lot of pre-flop raising, except occasionally by me).

Because I felt a bit overwhelmed by the "action" of 2 tabling, I didn't track all the hands I found interesting. But here are three for your review/comment. Please let me know what you think of my decisions pre-flop and post-.

1. Wow, I lucked out on this flop. Three players and I limp on the button with 776T and call the SB's pot-sized raise. Flopped middle set (amazing, given he had the case 7), and decided that he was bluff check-raising me on the turn. Looking back, it's very possible that I misplayed every step of this hand....except for the raise on the flop.

2. Was my underbet of the flop a mistake (is it an underbet to bet 40% of pot?), when I flopped 4s full of 3s? I hammered the turn and river, but what is the proper play on the flop there? Super short handed like this, ok with me calling on the button pre?

3. Runner, runner rules. (Man, I do sound like Jason.) This one will make Marsh bellow about my "running like a god" good fortune. Who has a theory as to WTF this bozo was doing on the river? Why did he re-raise me all-in (for an additional $.69 into a pot of $6.00 or so) with, um, absolutely nothing? Weird, but thanks....

Maybe I should try playing just 1 table while I try to figure out some starting hand parameters. Or, do you think the loose/passive play pre-flop & tighten post-flop is reasonable, as long as there isn't too much action pre-flop?

Ran Bad, Played Miserably Worse

What a frustrating two hours. Again, 3-tabling $.02-$.04 6-max. Marsh will be pleased to know that my g-d like running came to an end. So, I ran poorly (missed flop after flop, turn after turn, river after river) and I couldn't get my opponents to fold. It took me over an hour of playing to finally quiet down. Ordinarily, I don't see much sense in limping pre flop in 6-max. Am I out to lunch? My mindset is to aggressively play pairs and big cards (with the occasional wildcard 9Ts mixed in) pre flop. Problem is (especially problematic when NOBODY WILL FOLD) I flopped next to nada. It took me quite a while to stop C-betting and quiet down.

The adjustment I made - with some success (helped me recoup about $4 in losses) - was to raise far less pre-flop, and to (ick) limp in and hammer away when I actually caught a piece. I stopped stabbing and it helped. Is that the right adjustment? Seems odd to play loose in a 6-max game.

As for interesting hands, I was too disgusted with myself to keep active track after a while. A few hands:

1. On this one, I, in position, called a min raise pre with 44. Flopped a set (yes, Marsh, another one -- trust me, this was the only set to greet **TLK 10** tonight) and took it down on the turn. While I heeded the advice not to call a raise from the blinds with a small pair, this one seemed ok, as it was a min raise and I had position. Thoughts?

2. Here, I went kablooee. Head hanging low, but since I did this two or three times tonight, perhaps publicly shaming myself will lead to better discipline in the future. I give the villain points for slow playing his flopped nut flush slowly and letting me impale myself. [BTW, this wasn't the worst play of the evening. On another table, I went crazy pre with 99 in the SB -- I found it wise to 4-bet all in, leading to the ecstatic BB's call with QQ. Duh.]

3. Agree with my fold on this one? I had AQ, btw. The link isn't showing my cards for some reason. This was fairly typical of my evening, but I think the laydown was correct. Agree? Villain was a moster stack ($18 or so at a table with $4 max buy in).

'Tis all. Dropped almost $10 tonight. Ugh. Fortunately, I won't be able to play for a few days. Brain needs to reset.....

Nice Quick Session

Fine......TWSS. Infants.

Logged on for only 45 minutes tonight, 3-tabling $.02-$.04. Actually, most of the 45 minutes was 1-tabling, as a helpful run of cards helped me (essentially) bust one table in 12 hands, and another table broke.

Overall, I played just 97 hands, and was up $8.44 for the night. The only semi-interesting hand once again involved my attempt to properly play a small (middle here) pair in 6-max. Raised on the button with 88. Flop 8-9-10, two hearts. SB bets out, another calls and I raise pot, at which point I was pretty well committed (given stack sizes) if either re-raised (indicating a made straight). Of course, I didn't notice the stack sizes until after the villain smooth call-re-raised me. Got lucky on the river. Feedback please.

Over the next two hands, I hit AA (felting a guy who had 55 and pushed it in pre-flop--maniacs rule), and then QQ (and felted a guy who had JJ). At that point, I had $12 and departed. From a cash management perspective, I could've stayed (nobody had close to having me covered), but the table was down to three players, and I did the Adam chicken thing and ran..... Would you bail in that situation? I think the next biggest stack at the mini-table was between $3-$4.

Overall, up to $104.22. Given my start, Eeyore is less unhappy than normal.....

Ok, Graph Looks a Little Less Sad

Played again tonight (for about an hour). Two-tabling $.02-$.04. I think three tables is optimal for my attention span when I'm doing nothing else, but I'm watching the Simpsons, so two tables seemed smarter.

BTW, I'm **TLK 10** on Cake. Is it possible to search for players on Cake? I.e., is there a function on Cake where I can search to see if MConstant (or the rest of you's) are playing?

Maniacs help. Played better than I had to date. Results were definitely assisted by some of the maniacal playing I was expecting at these micro stakes. A good example, where the huge stack goes nuts with QJo. Thank you, riverinit.

Flat call or raise pre with small pairs in 6-max? Soliciting input on how to play small pairs pre-flop. My instinct is to raise and try to take it down pre. Ignoring the results, in this hand I limped pre with 3s, turned a 3 and lost to a flopped set of 9s. Had I raised on the button, the BB would've either re-raised me off my hand or I would've lost a bigger pot. Right? Or is that too result-oriented? This flopped set worked out better, but I don't see that the result was affected by my pre-flop raise. I won a big pot because my opponent hit two pair on the flop when I hit my set. I'm struggling to understand how the pre-flop raise/flat call affects the results. Thoughts?

Slow played this flopped set into oblivion. Boy, I hit quite a few sets in a short amount of time. In this one, I kept waiting for my opponents to bet out, and then tried to overbet the pot on the river. Fortunately, and inexplicably, my opponent only called with the nuts.

Look mom, I'm a Blogger

Thanks, Marsh, for helping me get this set up. I'm sure Royal and Jeh likewise thank you.....

Rough sledding early in the Challenge for Team Eeyore. I've played only three live sessions (all $.02-$.04 6-max NLHE), plus one experimental $3 MTT, and have, eh hem, lost each time. At present, down a little over 11%. I'm not sure if others have had the same reaction, but my early $.02-$.04 experiences have been different than expected. I expected a lot of pointless, maniacal shoving, but haven't found it. It seems relatively tight and non-tilty. Disappointing, but I'll try to get more disciplined.

Now that Marsh has taught me how to get URL's for sharing hand histories, I'll include those from time to time. Thanks again, Marsh.