Rags to Riches: My Quest to Poker Glory

I haven't played for the past few nights because I have been busy with other things. I plan to be at the virtual felt tonight though so if you are around PokerStars, stop by and say hello (dharrison).

-d.arthur

Well it is early in the night but I already feel like I am playing better (at the 5c/10c level). Not having to constantly worry about 'if I lose my buy-in, what will that do to my BR' works wonders. This really got me wondering. Maybe the typical 25 max-buy rule for bankroll stability isn't good enough for me. I think that I play my best when I know that the money that I am playing with means NOTHING to my bankroll. I need to be able to go at every pot with my whole heart, without any regard to the money whatsoever, otherwise there is no reason to be playing at that level.

Following the 25 max-buy rule you are still risking 4% of your bankroll when you sit down. Now, I think that we all are aware that it is pretty easy to go through four or five buy-ins in one sitting (with or without tilt, you can easily get bad beated out of five buy-ins in a day). {4%} x {5buy-ins} = 20% of your roll. That is a significant chunk. Coming to the realization of this information I have decided to up my bankroll requirements to 45-50 buy-ins. This means that before I can move back up to 10c/25c ($25 buy-in), I need to have $1,250 back into the roll. This is going to make moving up in levels a lot more long and tedious process, but my comfort level will go through the roof.

I am going to post a HandHistory from my Stars play tonight with an explanation of why I play better with a secure feeling that if I lose my buy-in, it won't be a big deal (I'll try to comment it in caps and highlight/bold it to make it as easy to read as possible).

PokerStars Game #4445752458: Hold'em No Limit ($0.05/$0.10) - 2006/03/28 - 18:57:01 (ET)
Table 'Xanthippe IV' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: cole7667 ($10.50 in chips)
Seat 2: DHarrison ($11.55 in chips)
Seat 3: bobo62 ($21.65 in chips)
Seat 4: RobynJoanne ($11.80 in chips)
Seat 5: bfd270 ($3.35 in chips)
Seat 6: Futbal37 ($3.80 in chips)
Seat 7: ~idonigl~ ($2.40 in chips)
Seat 8: hendy ($10.55 in chips)
Seat 9: LoveHina ($9.80 in chips)
RobynJoanne: posts small blind $0.05
bfd270: posts big blind $0.10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DHarrison [Kc 8c]
Futbal37: folds
~idonigl~: folds
hendy: folds
LoveHina: folds
cole7667: calls $0.10

I HAVE GOOD POSITION SO I DECIDE TO RAISE IT WITH A MARGINAL HAND. PLAYING AT A TABLE WHERE I AM CONCERNED ABOUT LOSING THE BUY-IN, MY GAME GETS TOO TIGHT. I END UP GETTING OUTPLAYED ALOT BECAUSE I AM IN CONSTANT FEAR OF MY OPPONENT HAVING THE NUTS AND TAKING MY STACK. HERE I HAVE THE FREEDOM TO RELAX AND PLAY UNCONCERNED.

DHarrison: raises $0.30 to $0.40
bobo62: folds
RobynJoanne: folds
bfd270: folds
cole7667: calls $0.30

I GET ONE CALLER BUT I HAVE POSITION ON HIM AND THE LEAD IN THE HAND, LET'S SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.

*** FLOP *** [2d 4h 9c]

I COMPLETELY MISS THE FLOP BUT I HAVE POSITION AND THE LEAD. LET'S SEE WHAT MY VILLIAN DOES.

cole7667: bets $0.30

HE BETS INTO THE PREFLOP RAISER. I LIKE TO DO THIS SOMETIMES AS IT REALLY TENDS TO CONFUSE THE RAISER. IT ALSO LETS ME 1) TAKE THE LEAD IN THE HAND AND 2) GET TO THE TURN CHEAPER THEN I WOULD HAVE HAD I LET HIM BET OUT. THIS IS WHAT I THINK HE IS DOING HERE (AND IF HE IS NOT IT WILL BE EASY ENOUGH TO TELL BY HOW HE REACTS TO WHAT I AM ABOUT TO DO).

HOMEY DON'T PLAY THAT. I RAISED PREFLOP, I HAVE THE LEAD IN THE HAND, AND I DO NOT PLAN ON GIVING IT UP WITHOUT A FIGHT. I WANT TO FIND OUT IF THIS GUY IS SERIOUS ABOUT HIS HAND, OR IS HE JUST TRYING TO CONFUSE ME. LET'S PUT THE PRESSURE BACK ON HIM. I POP IT UP.

DHarrison: raises $0.85 to $1.15

NOTE: THIS IS SOMETHING THAT I WOULD BE TOO AFRAID TO DO WHEN CONCERNED ABOUT THE MONEY. PLAYING AT HIGHER STAKES (IN COMPARISON TO THE SIZE OF MY ROLL) I WOULD HAVE FOLDED TO THE FLOP BET. NOT CARING ABOUT THE INSIGNIFCANT PORTION OF MY ROLL THAT MY BUY-IN REPRESENTS ALLOWS ME TO OPEN MY GAME AND FREELY USE ALL OF THE WEAPONS IN MY ARSENAL WITHOUT FEAR.

cole7667: calls $0.85

HE CALLED. THIS ISN'T A GREAT FEELING FOR ME. HOWVER, SINCE HE JUST CALLED INSTEAD OF RERAISING SAYS TO ME THAT HE EITHER 1) HAS TOO MUCH OF AN EGO TO FOLD. HE DOESN'T WANT TO ADMIT TO HIMSELF THAT HE HAS BEEN PICKED OFF, 2) HAS A HAND THAT IS MERELY OK....ONE THAT HE DOESN'T HAVE GREAT CONFIDENCE IN, OR 3) HE IS SLOWPLAYING. EITHER WAY WE WILL GET SOME GREAT INFO BY WHAT HE DOES FOR HIS FIRST ACTION ON THE TURN (SEE HOW POWERFUL POSITION IS!!!)

*** TURN *** [2d 4h 9c] [7h]

cole7667: checks

HE CHECKS. IS HE EITHER 1) CONCEDING THE HAND, OR 2) SLOWPLAYING? ONLY ONE WAY TO FIND OUT. THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL I AM GOING TO GIVE HIM A FREE CARD. LET'S BET AT HIM . IF HE CALLS/RAISES HERE I AM ABSOLUTELY DONE WITH THIS HAND AS I ONLY HAVE KING HIGH. IF I GET RAISED, RERAISING WOULD BE OUT OF THE QUESTION. HE CALLED A RAISE PREFLOP, A RAISE ON THE FLOP, AND WILL HAVE JUST CHECK RAISED MY TURN BET. IF HE DOES ALL THAT ON A COMPLETE BLUFF THEN HE DESERVES MY MONEY.

DHarrison: bets $2.25
cole7667: folds

I BET ABOUT 3/4 OF THE POT AND HE RUNS HOME TO MAMA JUST AS I HAD HOPED.

THIS IS JUST ONE EXAMPLE OF A HAND THAT I WON BECAUSE I WAS PLAYING CONFIDENT INSTEAD OF PLAYING SCARED.

bfd270 is sitting out
DHarrison collected $3.10 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $3.25 | Rake $0.15
Board [2d 4h 9c 7h]
Seat 1: cole7667 folded on the Turn
Seat 2: DHarrison collected ($3.10)
Seat 3: bobo62 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: RobynJoanne (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: bfd270 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: Futbal37 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: ~idonigl~ folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: hendy folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: LoveHina folded before Flop (didn't bet)



I hope that was clear enough for you guys to read/understand. So if you get one thing from todays post it should be....Play with confidence.

-d.arthur

I think that playing scared is my No.1 problem at the moment. Because of this I have decided to drop down two levels below where I was playing last week to rebuild confidence. I am going to play 5c/10c for the next few days. This will accomplish two things. 1) It will let me attempt new strategies while not putting stress on my roll. 2) It will eliminate the fear that I am feeling (because if I get outdrawn, the money lost will not be as daunting).

Hopefully this step will allow me to rebuild my confidence and I'll be profitable at the tables again. Confidence is my biggest weapon, without it I'm useless.

-d.arthur

I tried everything tonight. I played a little limit hold 'em (50c/$1), I played a little pot limit hold 'em (10c/25c), I played a little Crazy Pineapple, all to no avail (another -$50). I am desperate at this point and am seriously considering blowing this whole thing off. Gah!!!! I know that I do not actually mean that, and that these feelings will subside sometime around lunch tomorrow, but that is the level of frustration that I am feeling at this instant. It is to the point where when I play a hand, I am EXPECTING to lose it. This is the problem, sitting down at the table with the expectation of losing is NOT the way to play but I do not know how to combat it. I've tried taking a few days off, I've tried playing other games, I've tried switching to tournaments...I don't know what else to do.

So I dropped back down to 10c/25c on Saturday to resume the grind and proceded to lose another $150. I do not think that it is possible to grind at this level on FTP, there is no action whatsoever there. So, with the roll somewhere between $900 and $1,000 I am moving back to Stars, where I know there is action to be had. If anyone knows of a better site with good action at this level please leave a comment for me.

....back to the grind.

edit: I am also considering a move to limit. I always had great success with limit but didn't enjoy it as much as NL. We shall see.

I took a shot at the big time last night and failed miserably. I sat at a 2/4 table and was holding my own pretty well until I flopped two pair against someone elses bottom set. I lost about $300 yesterday which puts me back down around $1,100. I want you all to learn from my mistake. While I do think that it is ok to take a shot at the big time every once in a while, if you fail, you need to take it like a man, drop back down to your normal levels, and not tilt off the rest of your stake. I was really sick to my stomach when I lost that hand but I had assessed the risks before I sat at the table, and was willing to risk the money for the shot at the potential rewards. All this means is that I have to go back down to 10c/25c for another week to rebuild my stack enough to play at 25c/50c. The loss of the $300 hurts, but the pain is fading with time. I take solace in the fact that I didn't lose the money because I was outplayed, I lost the money because I was out-flopped.

And now back to the grind.

Here are the pics finally. I blacked out the account numbers and my personal savings account balance for obvious reasons. Don't wanna give you'all another reason to be jealous of me :P



Status:
Bankroll (Last Post/Today) | $1,116.58 / $1,343.33
Profit | $226.75
10k On-Pace? | $1,155.67
Jan. 1st 2007 Goal | $8,656.67

Hopefully you guys will understand how to read this. I'll bold the relevant parts to make it easier.


PokerStars Game #4381415140: Hold'em No Limit ($1/$2) - 2006/03/22 - 22:40:21 (ET)
Table 'Isonoe II' Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: Nitewin ($368.50 in chips)
Seat 2: rio tha hero ($277.50 in chips)
Seat 3: expert4 ($108.10 in chips)
Seat 5: scubamagee ($169 in chips)
Seat 6: DHarrison ($217.95 in chips)
Seat 8: kovachs ($194.30 in chips)
Seat 9: cyberpeogh ($418.45 in chips)
DHarrison: posts small blind $1
RVL2376 joins the table at seat #4
BpimpO: is sitting out
kovachs: posts big blind $2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DHarrison [As Ad]
cyberpeogh: folds
BpimpO leaves the table
Nitewin: folds
rio tha hero said, "im not gonna bluff with another player in aswell"
rio tha hero: folds
expert4: folds
scubamagee: raises $6 to $8
DHarrison: raises $16 to $24
kovachs: folds
scubamagee: calls $16
*** FLOP *** [Ah 5c 3d]
DHarrison: bets $10
scubamagee: calls $10
*** TURN *** [Ah 5c 3d] [Ks]
DHarrison: bets $40
scubamagee: calls $40
*** RIVER *** [Ah 5c 3d Ks] [7h]
DHarrison: bets $100
scubamagee: calls $95 and is all-in
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DHarrison: shows [As Ad] (three of a kind, Aces)
scubamagee: mucks hand
DHarrison collected $337 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $340 | Rake $3
Board [Ah 5c 3d Ks 7h]
Seat 1: Nitewin folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: rio tha hero folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: expert4 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: scubamagee (button) mucked [Ac Kc]
Seat 6: DHarrison (small blind) showed [As Ad] and won ($337) with three of a kind, Aces
Seat 8: kovachs (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: cyberpeogh folded before Flop (didn't bet)


This puts me up for the night by a decent amount.

I am extremely frustrated at the moment. I played damn near perfect poker tonight and ended up down nearly $200 because people decided to chase (and hit) every friggin' draw on the board. Because of this I have to move back down to the 10c/25c level AGAIN!

Thought this was funny hehe.

This is a very controversial issue among the people that I hang around with at Cardplayer.com. Some are dead set against it, saying that it is impossible to play your A-game with many tables open, that there are too many opponents to keep track of. Others say that it helps them alleviate the boredom caused by the downtime that inevitably comes with poker.

I am of the second school. I always multi-table unless I am trying to relax or I'm eating while playing. Typically I will start at one table as a warm up. I will play one or two orbits at the one table. Then I open a second table and play five to ten more orbits. By this time I consider myself to be in the zone. I have a feel for these two tables and am ready to open a third. I never go over three tables though. Having four open I think crosses my personal threshold of concentration. Three I can handle, at four I start making mistakes.

I would also like to say that my style happens to be optimal for multiple tables. I do not play many hands, and thus I have a lot of down time. Having three tables worth of hands coming at me (typically 3 to 6 hands per minute as opposed to 1-2 hands per hand at 1 table) saves me from playing that K/To like AA after a long drought.

If you are a LAG player I do not think that multiple tables is the way to go. Playing that style requires you to pay attention to the players at your table. You have to see who is bluffing alot, who is folding to raises etc....You simply cannot pay attention to that kind of detail playing three tables (24 opponents) at once.

Summary:
Pros | Alleviates boredom, see more hands, profitablility/hour increases, fits the TAG player
Cons | Cannot pay attention to opponents in detail, doesn't work for the LAG player

-d.arthur

I get a lot of questions regarding my opinions of the strength of players at the various online poker rooms. I've have played in many so I will put a few thoughts together for those who are interested.

Poker Stars:
I have logged hundreds of thousands of hands on Stars. This is the site that I started on and have been playing pretty consistantly on since 2002. I think that this is where the most experienced online players live. The site has been around for the longest time so it tends to have better players. Don't get me wrong, the majority of players can be beat and there is definately money to be made, but overall the competition here is the strongest on the web in my opinion.

Style to use to beat the site - you can use standard moves on Stars. People will fold to a continuation bet, recognize when they are being priced out of a draw etc....Pretty much vanilla poker at its finest, but even vanilla poker can be profitable. sLAA is the best style for Stars (slightly Loose Agressive Agressive)

Party Poker:
I have played around 5k hands here and believe that this site has the weakest competition. Never in my life have I seen people willing to put so much money into a pot with a draw or an overpair. Party Poker has the reputation as a site notorious for bad beats. This is because people will pay just about anything to draw to their hands. As a solid player this is exactly what you want because statistically, people will miss their draws more than they make them, and when they are calling bets that should be pricing them out of the draws, you are +EV.

Style to use to beat the site - because people are willing to put so much into pots on a draw just be patient, and wait for monsters. Play all PP's and hope to flop a set. Play small suited connectors (against multiple people, in LP, and for as cheap a flop as possible) and hope to flop a monster (meaning a straight or a flush, pairs with SC's are worthless, toss them). When you hit the flops with the above mentioned hands bet 3/4 of the pot on each street. People will call you down but keep betting. Occaisionally you will be outdrawn and it will hurt but do not worry about it. You will be on the good side of the chips the majority of the time.

Ultimate Bet: Don't play here. It's as simple as that. The software is slow, disconnections are rampant, you are lucky if you can log in, the interface sucks and worst of all when you finally do get into the game it's a fucking rockgarden. You get no action with your monsters. If you are a LAG (Loose Agressive) player I guess it would be heaven for you if you can stand the disconnections, but I am not, so I hate it. Also the bonus structure takes forever to clear.

Style to use to beat the site - LAG or not playing there.

Absolute Poker: I played about 1k hands here. It isn't bad. Dealing the hands seems to be a bit slow but other than that the UI isn't too bad and the competition seems pretty strong. I'd stay away simply because there is more money to be made elsewhere. Also the selection of games here is pretty weak. Not many tables.

Full Tilt Poker: I am still popping my cherry on this site but so far I really like it. There are tons of tables, lots of players and the competition seems to be between Party and Stars. Just the right mixture of Donkies and Fish. This site is going to be my main site for the forseeable future because I have $500+ in bonus money to clear AND a RakeBack program (where I receive a percentage of the rake back into my account at the end of the month).


I plan on trying out BoDog and Pacific poker in the future. As soon as I have a good idea of a few more sites I will post another set of reviews.

Hope this helps someone.

Summary in order or profitability:
1. Party Poker (if you have the patience to play ABC poker)
2. FTP
3. Stars
4. Absolute
5. UB

-d.arthur

You've stroked my........ego enough for me to continue with the blog. I had made a good amount of progress since the last post and have carried through on my idea to syphon money out of the poker account and into a hi yield savings account which I created through ING Direct. The process is time consuming (two days going from poker account to neteller, two days from neteller to checking account, two days from checking account to ING account) but serves a couple of purposes.

1) Allows the poker funds to continually grow whether I am playing or not (nearly 4% interest).

2) Prevents me from re-loading instantaneously and donking off a lot of money when I know that I shouldn't.

Some may say that benefit 1 shown above is technically cheating in regards to my $10k quest because the money earned from interest won't be earned through cards. To that I say that it won't be enough to make a difference. Even with $1k in the account I'd only get $40/year in interest.

Seeing as how it does take so long to get the money back and forth I plan to only transfer into the account once a month. On the first/last day of the month I will take a look at where I stand with my bankroll versus the stakes that I am currently playing and decide what % of the funds I can safely afford to remove without disrupting my play.

Once all of the money settles back into the various accounts I will post the proof pics and status updates. I will however tell you that I am well over where I was when I last posted, to find out just how much you will have to wait and see (the funds should be settled by the end of the week, I did the last of the withdrawls today).

PS: I am playing mainly on FTP (Full Tilt Poker) these days. I have $600 in bonus money to clear there. I really like the software too. It's a bit cartoony, but I like it.

PPS: And guys, thank you from botttom of my heart for the support. It means so much to me to know that I am entertaining/educating people. If I can save/help 1 person with what I write then it will all be worth it. [/cliche]

Since nobody seems to be reading this or caring what I'm doing (no comments for the last five posts) I am going to stop the blog. I am not giving up the quest, but with no one reading this there is no reason to waste my time doing the posts and articles.

I took yesterday off from poker (because sitting in an office chair all day, then coming home and sitting in the chair in front of my home computer is reeking havoc on my back. I needed to stretch it out a bit). However I will be in position to move up to 25c/50c again very soon. I was playing in my live home game on Thursday night and lost $70 rather quickly so I decided to cool off while I played online for a bit. Long story short I was quickly up $150 online so I walked away, rebought back into the live game and won all but $10 back (of the $70 that I had lost earlier). Confidence is a beautiful thing for a poker player.




Status:
Bankroll (Last Post/Today) | $1,003.08 / $1,116.58
Profit | $113.50
10k On-Pace? | $1,382.42
Jan. 1st 2007 Goal | $8,883.42

I played in a $10 tourney tonight with my friends at the CP (cardplayer) forum. It was fun, 15 people. I almost made the biggest comback ever. I was down to 60 chips (with the blinds at 15/30) within the first fifteen minutes of the tourney, and came back to take fifth place. It wasn't good enough for a cash but we all had fun. Hopefully we can do it more often. It's at least good for bragging rights.

Now onto my progress. I shifted money around again tonight so I have $505 out in electronic space, but I will post the progress pics anyway for the accounts that have money in them (Ultimate Bet, Absolute, and Stars).

I'm not sure where I am going to put this $505. Any suggests are welcome. I here that the competition at Pacific Poker is pretty shitty, maybe I'll try it there. I also heard the same thing about Bodog. Too many choices. Sooooo many fish, so little time.



Status: This puts me right at $1,002. A dollar short of where I was when I last did an official status update. I'm not gunna redo the math because it's only a buck. Stick with me guys, I don't want this $1k mark to be another plateau for me like $700 was. Show me the love baby!!!

Ok, I don't have exact numbers for you but I stuck to my word last night, swallowed my pride, and moved back down to 10c/25c. I just could not justify losing another 10-15% of my bankroll due to bad beats at the 25c/50c level.

So last night I was up and down, didn't hit many flops which was real frustrating (especially after the four hour mark), but ended the session up about $25. This, plus the $75 in Party Poker bonus that I unlocked actually puts me up at Party even through the losing streak of two nights back. I originally deposited $500 to get the max bonus, and now I have $507. Not much in the way of progress, but it is mentally satisfying to have the losses back. I will now stay at 10c/25c until I have $1,200. No shortcuts this time. I'll post the official numbers when I get home later tonight.

-d.arthur

side note: Be careful when you play on new sites for the purposes of unlocking a bonus. I found myself not playing my A-game. I was trying to get through X amount of hands as quickly as possible to get the bonus, not playing like I usually do, and it obviously affected my game. I will try to avoid this habit when unlocking the bonuses at the other sites. After all, what good is unlocking the $75 bonus if I lose $100 to do it.

So I put $500 into Party Poker because they had a good bonus offer going (750 raked hands for $75). So I was doing pretty well, was up about $40 or $50 then I had AA cracked two times in the span of thirty minutes by K/Jo and 2/3o respectively. I did not slow play either hand. Here is how they turned out.

The first time (the K/J hand), the flop came 10hi with a gut-shot draw to the Q for the K/J (I raised 3xBB PF). He ended up calling pot sized bets on the flop and turn and ended up catching runner runner J. This really pissed me off but hey, I WANT him calling those bets because the majority of the time I will win the pot. I lost $40 on this hand.

The second time I again raised 3xBB PF flop comes 3/3/6 (two diamonds with me holding the Ad). I make a pot sized bet which gets check/called by the only other person in the hand (he was the BB, I was UTG). Turn was Xd. Again pot sized bet by me, he check/called. River was 2d. I forget exactly what happened here. I think he made a $10 bet or so which I called with the nut flush, he turn over 2/3 for the full house. There is just nothing I could have done to win that hand. I lost another $40 or so on this hand.

I got really pissed and tilted off approx. another $20 before realizing what I was doing and getting up. I am posting this to keep with my pledge to post both the good and the bad that happen to me along my quest. This loss brought me down to about $900 again. Because of this I have decided to drop back down to 10c/25c until I can build my roll back up to $1k so I can take another shot at the higher limit. I feel like this is the smart move at this point.

The only good thing is that the losses will be mostly negated by the bonus money ($75) that is almost unlocked.

thanks for sticking with me guys.

-dh

Well, as you can see I hit the milestone today. $1,000 dollars. This is a huge step for me. Not only is it a tremendous step in the right direction, it is confirmation of the skills that I was pretty sure I had. $50 -> $1k in exactly six weeks. Next milestone is $5,000 though I don't expect to hit that for at least a few months. Maybe July. Anyways, I will be moving up in limits to 25c/50c NL now. This will help me to unlock all the bonus money that I have a whole lot quicker than I am currently.




Status:
Bankroll (Last Post/Today) | $852.40 / $1,003.08
Profit | $150.68
10k On-Pace? | $1,496.92
Jan. 1st 2007 Goal | $8,996.92

I want to take a second to emphasize the importance of table selection. I have been playing poker online for the better part of the last three years but until recently I never really put much stock into table selection. I am embarassed to say this but now I feel that table selection is probably the most important factor in determining whether or not you make a profit playing online poker. I will explain.....

For those of you that have been reading this from the beginning you know that I consider myself to be a tighter than average player. In order for this style of poker to be profitable I need the table that I am playing at to be condusive to paying off my big hands when they finally come around. For example, if I fold every hand that I play for an hour, finally pick up AA or KK, raise the pot, only to have a table full of timid people fold around to me, I will not be profitable in the long run. On the other hand if I am at a table full of loose aggressive people that are willing to see a flop with just about any two cards then I am almost guaranteed to get paid when I get my monsters.

So keeping that in mind you must use the following rule to decide which table you are going ot sit at.


If a table has a small average pot size, it generally means that not many players are calling big bets and taking their hands to the river. The loose agressive player can bully this table around. His natural style is profitable at this table because it is the opposite of the rest of the people there.

Conversely a table with a larger average pot size has many people calling bets on draws and going to the showdown. This type of table is perfect for the tight agressive types. He can wait patiently for monster hands and cash in.

note: average pot size is a typical stat that most poker sites display next to the table name in the lobby.

If I am ready to play an online session, and there aren't any tables that I feel will be profitable for me, then I do not play. Sure it sucks because I was looking forward to a nice session of my favorite game, but why play if the odds aren't in my favor. To get around this problem I have poker accounts on four or five online poker rooms. Chances are that at one of the sites there will be a table that fits my playstyle.

And just as a side note I find that Thursday-Saturday evenings (usually 9:30pm - 2:30am EST) are the most profitable times to play for me. At this point a lot of people like to have a few beers and gamble a bit. This situation is extremely profitable for a player like me.

So please, keep this in mind next time you decide to sit down at the table (unless you see DHarrison there, in that case, keep you money in your wallet unless you want to make a donation to my quest :P).

-d.arthur

Finally got all the money back from electronic space and back settled into my accounts. Here is the latest info.




Status:
Bankroll (Last Post/Today) | $800.78 / $852.40
Profit | $51.62
10k On-Pace? | $1,647.60
Jan. 1st 2007 Goal | $9,147.60

I decided to retake to the goal of unlocking all the bonus money that I have built up on various sites before they expire. To do this I had to put some money into my Ultimate Bet account, Full Tilt Poker account and I am going to open an Absolute Poker account as they are offering a 100% initial deposit bonus up to $300. Because of this a lot of my money is currently in limbo somewhere in electronic space between my Pokerstars account and Neteller. Once all of my money gets back into poker accounts I will post pics of all the different account status pages to prove to you where I'm at.

That being said I am up to $835 after some wins on Ultimate Bet last night. The profit is coming slower as I am playing lower limit games at these new sites until I get used to the interfaces a bit more. Having played 95% of my online poker at Pokerstars I feel very disoriented at the new sites and don't want that to affect my play, so I am easing myself into it.

update: I just found out that Pokerstars is offering a 20% redeposit bonus (up to $120) to celebrate their satelites into the WSOP so I am going to redeposit enough money back into Stars in order to get the maximum bonus ($600). More updates to come.

To everyone that is reading/enjoying my quest to reach $10k by years' end. I have a chance to add more money into my bankroll but I need your help. Google is paying me to put ads on this site. I get paid per click based on how many people vistit the ad sites from my site. So, if you have an extra 3nanoseconds, please click a link or two on your way out. It will help out my roll incredibly.

thank you so much.

-d.arthur

I cracked $800 bucks tonight. I actually only played for a very short time and happened to have a few people try to bluff me at the wrong time (while I was holding monster hands) and was able to pick up some huge pots in a rather short period of time. I hope that I can break the $1k mark this weekend. It would be a huge milestone for me. It would mean that I turned $50 into $1,000 in less than six weeks time. By far the best run that I have ever had.




Status:
Bankroll (Last Post/Today) | $752.63 / $800.78
Profit | $48.15
10k On-Pace? | $1,699.22
Jan. 1st 2007 Goal | $9,199.22

So I'm healed up for the most part and back on the horse. I can honestly say that the time off gave me a fresh set of eyes for the game. I feel like I am seeing everything a lot clearer now. If any of you are having a tough time with your game, try taking a few days off and see what it can do for you.




Status:
Bankroll (Last Post/Today) | $710.01 / $752.63
Profit | $42.62
10k On-Pace? | $1,747.37
Jan. 1st 2007 Goal | $9,247.37

For the past few days I have been feeling absolutely shitty. It all started when I forgot to close my bedroom window before I went to sleep last friday night. Ever since then I have had this killer cough that I just can't shake. I've had to sleep sitting up in a chair because if I lay down the coughing becomes uncontrollable (which keeps the wife awake, and no one wants a grumpy woman on their ass).

Because of the way that I am feeling I have decided that it would not be in my best interest to be playing cards. I really need to have full concentration and be in my right state of mind (and not doped up on Q) in order to be on top of my game.

So until I can shake off this......whatever it is, I'll be abstaining from poker. Hopefully it won't be more than a few more days.