Kind of a weird week, not as many hands, very swingy as you'll see below. I spewed a little, but played pretty well at other times and managed to be up at least a little bit for the week.

At this point I'm pretty much playing an even mix of $1/$2 and $2/$4, playing whichever games are softest. I'll be playing a lot less from now on, since I'm heading back to school on Sunday and classes start Monday. All in all though, a pretty decent start to the new year.

For some reason the graph isn't showing up: http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/4404/throughjanuary142008cm8.jpg

The first week of the New Year is gone, and it went pretty well for me:

Being up 4 buy-ins in 700 hands at NL $400 helps! The big spike is 3 hands in short order against the same guy at NL $400. In the first, he slow-played AA preflop and I flopped a set with 99, and stacked him for about +$500. Then I picked up KK, reraised him PF. He raised my flop c-bet on a pretty dry board, I c/c his turn bet, and then donk-shoved the river and he folded. I'll post that hand at the bottom here since I think I missed value there. The last hand, I flopped TPTK on a monotone flop in a 3-way pot, I checked the flop, and he fired the turn for pot then potted the river with the lone ace of diamonds. The KK hand:

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Seat 0: DoyouNoah ($1038.25)
Seat 1: MFJW75 ($441.50)
Seat 2: yunchieh8 ($400)
Seat 3: whyme__why ($479.60) -
Seat 4: RAHZero ($1026.50) -
Seat 5: Im The Pusher ($386) -


PRE-FLOP:

RAHZero posts small blind $2
Im The Pusher posts BIG blind $4
Dealt To: RAHZero


RAISE DoyouNoah ($14)
FOLD MFJW75
FOLD yunchieh8
FOLD whyme__why
RAISE RAHZero ($60)
FOLD Im The Pusher
CALL DoyouNoah ($60)


FLOP:

Pot: $138


BET RAHZero ($75)
RAISE DoyouNoah ($150)
CALL RAHZero ($150)


TURN:

Pot: $513


CHECK RAHZero
BET DoyouNoah ($250)
CALL RAHZero ($250)


RIVER:

Pot: $1013


RAISE RAHZero ($566.50)
FOLD DoyouNoah
UNCALLED RAHZero ($566.50)

RAHZero collected $920.5 from main pot

SUMMARY:
Total pot: $924. .50 jackpot contribution is raked Rake: $3 is raked from a pot of 924. .50 jackpot contribution

Final Board:




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I'm fully willing to get it in with KK on this board against this villain, but I'm not sure if my line is optimal. Based on my play with him, he can easily have all sorts of hands. Overpairs, TPTK type hands, air, etc. On the river, I wasn't sure if he would fire another barrel with all of his air hands, and thought he might check-behind with TT-QQ type hands but talk himself into a call if I shoved. Anyone else have a better line here? C/shove the turn? Or check the river? Or 3-ball the flop?

I pretty much broke even the first couple days of 2008. Was down like $1200 at one point on New Year's day playing slightly hungover, came back to finish down ~$450. Made ~$500 on the 2nd, so total was like +$50 for the first two days. Then yesterday came along:

It's been far too long since I've had a day like that, feels really good. Some fun hands:

VALUE-TOWN!

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Seat 1: JLucik ($226.05) -
Seat 2: sootedpower ($320.33) -
Seat 3: RAHZero ($388.10)
Seat 4: repokerde ($225.90)
Seat 5: monique69 ($113) -


PRE-FLOP:

JLucik posts small blind $1
sootedpower posts BIG blind $2
Dealt To: RAHZero


RAISE RAHZero ($8)
FOLD repokerde
CALL monique69 ($8)
FOLD JLucik
FOLD sootedpower


FLOP:

Pot: $19


BET RAHZero ($16)
CALL monique69 ($16)


TURN:

Pot: $51


BET RAHZero ($36)
CALL monique69 ($36)


RIVER:

Pot: $123


BET RAHZero ($54)
CALL monique69 ($53)
UNCALLED RAHZero ($1)


SHOWDOWN:
RAHZero:

monique69:


RAHZero collected $226.5 from main pot with a pair of tens

SUMMARY:
Total pot: $229. .50 jackpot contribution is raked Rake: $2 is raked from a pot of 229. .50 jackpot contribution

Final Board:


Seat 3: Ah Th Td Js 6s: a pair of tens. - Net Gain/Loss: ($113.5)
Seat 5: 5d Qh Td 5h Js: a pair of fives. - Net Gain/Loss: ($-114)



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Against the same guy:

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Seat 0: The Sicko ($208) -
Seat 1: JLucik ($70.50) Sitting Out
Seat 2: myth361 ($22) -
Seat 3: RAHZero ($423.95)
Seat 4: repokerde ($458.90)
Seat 5: monique69 ($330.15) -


PRE-FLOP:

The Sicko posts small blind $1
myth361 posts BIG blind $2
Dealt To: RAHZero


RAISE RAHZero ($8)
FOLD repokerde
CALL monique69 ($8)
FOLD The Sicko
FOLD myth361


FLOP:

Pot: $19


BET RAHZero ($16)
CALL monique69 ($16)


TURN:

Pot: $51


BET RAHZero ($45)
CALL monique69 ($45)


RIVER:

Pot: $141


BET RAHZero ($150)
RAISE monique69 ($261.15)
CALL RAHZero ($261.15)


SHOWDOWN:
monique69:

RAHZero:


RAHZero collected $660.8 from main pot with four sevens

SUMMARY:
Total pot: $663.30. .50 jackpot contribution is raked Rake: $2 is raked from a pot of 663.30. .50 jackpot contribution

Final Board:


Seat 5: Ac As 8d 7h 7c: two pair, aces and sevens. - Net Gain/Loss: ($-330.15)

Seat 3: 7d 7s As 7h 7c: four sevens. - Net Gain/Loss: ($330.65)


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Sevens are lucky!

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Seat 0: RAHZero ($815.60)
Seat 1: tkirk12 ($259.30) -
Seat 3: mr ladrao ($198) -
Seat 4: Hebe3 ($350.65) -
Seat 5: SHugan ($66.40)


PRE-FLOP:

mr ladrao posts small blind $1
Hebe3 posts BIG blind $2
Dealt To: RAHZero


FOLD SHugan
RAISE RAHZero ($8)
FOLD tkirk12
FOLD mr ladrao
CALL Hebe3 ($8)


FLOP:

Pot: $19


CHECK Hebe3
BET RAHZero ($17)
RAISE Hebe3 ($38)
CALL RAHZero ($38)


TURN:

Pot: $112


CHECK Hebe3
BET RAHZero ($75)
CALL Hebe3 ($75)


RIVER:

Pot: $262


CHECK Hebe3
BET RAHZero ($243)
CALL Hebe3 ($229.65)
UNCALLED RAHZero ($13.35)


SHOWDOWN:
RAHZero:

Hebe3:


RAHZero collected $699.8 from main pot with three sevens

SUMMARY:
Total pot: $702.30. .50 jackpot contribution is raked Rake: $2 is raked from a pot of 702.30. .50 jackpot contribution

Final Board:


Seat 0: 7s 7d Qh 7c 9s: three sevens. - Net Gain/Loss: ($349.15)
Seat 4: Kc Qs Qh 7c 9s: a pair of queens. - Net Gain/Loss: ($-364)



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"Ship the noise!" refers to the guy in the last hand, he types it all the time for some reason. It's a semi-interesting hand for a few reasons. The guy is a pretty big donk, the loose-passive type, something like 35/1/0.5. One thing you have to realize about these guys is that even though they're passive, the river is an easy check-call to snap off bluffs. Huh? It's because they don't value-bet anywhere near enough. With medium to decent strength hands, they'll just check behind on this river, so a big bet is far more likely to be a busted draw than a made hand.

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Seat 0: Feelin Froggy ($107.05) -
Seat 1: sootedpower ($243.05) -
Seat 2: neutron7 ($186.05)
Seat 3: sbbound31 ($214.60)
Seat 4: RAHZero ($392.35)
Seat 5: mocked ($262.30) -


PRE-FLOP:

Feelin Froggy posts small blind $1
sootedpower posts BIG blind $2
Dealt To: RAHZero


FOLD neutron7
FOLD sbbound31
RAISE RAHZero ($8)
CALL mocked ($8)
FOLD Feelin Froggy
FOLD sootedpower


FLOP:

Pot: $19


BET RAHZero ($16)
CALL mocked ($16)


TURN:

Pot: $51


BET RAHZero ($36)
CALL mocked ($36)


RIVER:

Pot: $123


CHECK RAHZero
BET mocked ($123)
CALL RAHZero ($123)


SHOWDOWN:
mocked:

RAHZero:


RAHZero collected $365.5 from main pot with a pair of kings

SUMMARY:
Total pot: $369. .50 jackpot contribution is raked Rake: $3 is raked from a pot of 369. .50 jackpot contribution

Final Board:


Seat 5: Qc Jc Ks 8c 4h: king high. - Net Gain/Loss: ($-183)

Seat 4: Kh 7h Ks 8c 4h: a pair of kings. - Net Gain/Loss: ($182.5)


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Cheers!

Here are my goals for 2008:

1. Get better grades. School is #1 in 2008. I need to do better, I have the capacity to do better, and I will do better. My grades for last semester weren't terrible, and that means that my transfer from Engineering into Economics should go off. I'll be taking a schedule of classes next semester that I'm actually looking forward to, and that should do wonders for my GPA and well-being. I'll need to get at least a 3.0 next semester for my transfer to stick. I'm shooting for at least a 3.3 (B+ average).

2. Get back in shape. Not that I'm in that bad shape now, but I'm not where I want to be. I got away from my workout routine towards the end of last semester. I want to stick to my routine of 4 sessions a week in the weight room, and play a ton of basketball as well. I need to improve my diet as well. It's kind of a pipe dream, but I really miss playing football (I played in HS), and I'd like to get in shape to play sprint football next fall.

3. Become a better poker player. I've been on a bit of a downswing as of late, and I hope to change that going into 2008. School comes first, but if I manage my time right I should have plenty of time for both. I want to play at least 500k hands of NL 200+ in 2008. I'll play a few tourneys or other games here and there, but my focus is going to be on improving my cash game. I really want to get better at HU as well, as I really don't have a feel for it yet. To not break six figures in 2008 would be a pretty big disappointment.