Here's a better look at the hand. I don't post on 2+2 anymore, so some feedback is appreciated. I hope all if well with you guys, long time no blog. You will see more of me. GL all......

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2727229

Well this is pretty self explanitory. Tell me what you think. This is a hand from 5/10 earlier today:

PokerStars Game #17993698897: Hold'em No Limit ($5/$10) - 2008/06/08 - 04:30:33 (ET)
Table 'Bancilhon' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: Kardius ($995 in chips)
Seat 5: fivecentmike ($851.55 in chips)
fivecentmike: posts small blind $5
Kardius: posts big blind $10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to fivecentmike [5h 7d]
fivecentmike: calls $5
Kardius: raises $30 to $40
fivecentmike: calls $30
*** FLOP *** [Qd 4s 6h]
Kardius: bets $60
fivecentmike: calls $60
*** TURN *** [Qd 4s 6h] [8s]
Kardius: checks
fivecentmike: bets $100
Kardius: raises $200 to $300
fivecentmike: raises $451.55 to $751.55 and is all-in
Kardius: calls $451.55
*** RIVER *** [Qd 4s 6h 8s] [2d]
ALLIN9865 joins the table at seat #6
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Kardius: shows [Qs As] (a pair of Queens)
fivecentmike: shows [5h 7d] (a straight, Four to Eight)
fivecentmike collected $1702.10 from pot
fivecentmike is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $1703.10 | Rake $1
Board [Qd 4s 6h 8s 2d]
Seat 1: Kardius (big blind) showed [Qs As] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 5: fivecentmike (button) (small blind) showed [5h 7d] and won ($1702.10) with a straight, Four to Eight

By the way......Heir Apparent or whatever your name is, are you ready for rematch, you are going to donate. Please announce on here when you are ready I want the WORLD TO SEE THIS. YOU WILL LOSE!!!! PLEASE DON'T PUNK OUT.

Well after that whoopin' at 1/2 6 max last Saturday I pretty much have stayed away from 6 max all together. I've concentrated on 1/2 HU. I haven't been in that many hands but the ones I have been in have been good. I really feel like I can sit down wih any opponent and have an edge on them just by exploiting their weaknesses. Here's how the last 6 days have gone.

Here's another one:

PokerStars Game #17091666457: Tournament #86191427, $25.00+$2.50 Hold'em No Limit - Level X (300/600) - 2008/04/29 - 22:43:21 (ET)
Table '86191427 147' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: charliehalf (5729 in chips)
Seat 2: RickyZ1111 (14593 in chips)
Seat 3: Boooooty L (28280 in chips)
Seat 4: fivecentmike (36181 in chips)
Seat 5: Annette_15 (12368 in chips)
Seat 6: THEEE LORD (12226 in chips)
Seat 7: nickvinin (16922 in chips)
Seat 8: JJThunder (4813 in chips)
Seat 9: BigRed0000 (15498 in chips)
charliehalf: posts the ante 50
RickyZ1111: posts the ante 50
Boooooty L: posts the ante 50
fivecentmike: posts the ante 50
Annette_15: posts the ante 50
THEEE LORD: posts the ante 50
nickvinin: posts the ante 50
JJThunder: posts the ante 50
BigRed0000: posts the ante 50
nickvinin: posts small blind 300
JJThunder: posts big blind 600
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to fivecentmike [9h 9s]
BigRed0000: folds
charliehalf: folds
RickyZ1111: folds
Boooooty L: raises 900 to 1500
fivecentmike: raises 1833 to 3333
Annette_15: folds
THEEE LORD: folds
nickvinin: folds
JJThunder: folds
Boooooty L: calls 1833
*** FLOP *** [8c 8d 3h]
Boooooty L: checks
fivecentmike: bets 5555
Boooooty L: raises 9445 to 15000
fivecentmike: raises 17798 to 32798 and is all-in
Boooooty L: calls 9897 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [8c 8d 3h] [2c]
*** RIVER *** [8c 8d 3h 2c] [9c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Boooooty L: shows [Ks Kd] (two pair, Kings and Eights)
fivecentmike: shows [9h 9s] (a full house, Nines full of Eights)
fivecentmike collected 57810 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 57810 | Rake 0
Board [8c 8d 3h 2c 9c]
Seat 1: charliehalf folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: RickyZ1111 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Boooooty L showed [Ks Kd] and lost with two pair, Kings and Eights
Seat 4: fivecentmike showed [9h 9s] and won (57810) with a full house, Nines full of Eights
Seat 5: Annette_15 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: THEEE LORD (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: nickvinin (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: JJThunder (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: BigRed0000 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

well I HARDLY ever play tournies, but I must say that I am running well in this one. Let me give you an example of a hand against Annette_15:

PokerStars Game #17091177807: Tournament #86191427, $25.00+$2.50 Hold'em No Limit - Level IX (200/400) - 2008/04/29 - 22:19:50 (ET)
Table '86191427 147' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: charliehalf (9629 in chips)
Seat 2: Tiger Bjeld (8900 in chips)
Seat 3: Boooooty L (28630 in chips)
Seat 4: fivecentmike (13478 in chips)
Seat 5: Annette_15 (30036 in chips)
Seat 6: THEEE LORD (5700 in chips)
Seat 7: nickvinin (18807 in chips)
Seat 8: JJThunder (6413 in chips)
Seat 9: BigRed0000 (7824 in chips)
charliehalf: posts the ante 50
Tiger Bjeld: posts the ante 50
Boooooty L: posts the ante 50
fivecentmike: posts the ante 50
Annette_15: posts the ante 50
THEEE LORD: posts the ante 50
nickvinin: posts the ante 50
JJThunder: posts the ante 50
BigRed0000: posts the ante 50
fivecentmike: posts small blind 200
Annette_15: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to fivecentmike [5c 4s]
THEEE LORD: folds
nickvinin: folds
JJThunder: folds
BigRed0000: folds
charliehalf: folds
Tiger Bjeld: folds
Boooooty L: folds
fivecentmike: raises 699 to 1099
Annette_15: raises 2000 to 3099
fivecentmike: raises 5900 to 8999
Annette_15: raises 11001 to 20000
fivecentmike said, "good luck"
fivecentmike: calls 4429 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [8s 2h 5s]
Boooooty L said, "lol......over and over day after day"
*** TURN *** [8s 2h 5s] [7s]
*** RIVER *** [8s 2h 5s 7s] [2s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
fivecentmike: shows [5c 4s] (a flush, Eight high)
Annette_15: shows [Qc Qd] (two pair, Queens and Deuces)
fivecentmike collected 27306 from pot
Boooooty L said, "sik"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 27306 | Rake 0
Board [8s 2h 5s 7s 2s]
Seat 1: charliehalf folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Tiger Bjeld folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Boooooty L (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: fivecentmike (small blind) showed [5c 4s] and won (27306) with a flush, Eight high
Seat 5: Annette_15 (big blind) showed [Qc Qd] and lost with two pair, Queens and Deuces
Seat 6: THEEE LORD folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: nickvinin folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: JJThunder folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: BigRed0000 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Who cares? Yeah thats the title.

Whats the point of my bloggin here I debate with myself. Not like I expect everybody to say "Ooooh", "Aaaaaah", its fivecent - Nickel Bastards blog. But what exactly am I doing blogging here. After all does anybody read this thing or has it been me hitting refresh this whole time?

I thought the point of starting this blog was to share my experiences with poker and how I was going to try to do this full time. Then I look back at this thing and say, WOW, everyday is the same old shit. Post some hands, post my wins losses for the day, and talk about how I want to put in more hours but obv. thats not going to happen cuz I only talk about it.

So I have to stop and say "Hmmmm, do I need to blog anymore? Does it serve a purpose? Well today I will find out. I'm going to post another typical boring blog. If I don't see any comments or responses to this, I guess there is no point right? Okay so i'm not a writer or anything of that nature, but if I was. Lets say I wrote a book and all they did was sit on the shelf and never sold, should I continue writing, the answer is get better or FUCK NO.

So i'm just trying to find out if this blog has a purpose and I know I am repeating myself, but I can gather these thoughts inside my own head and still progress in this game of poker. So if for no other reason you read this blog other than to scroll through all the blogs on the server, just let me know, is there a point for me to blog????

Okay well here we go again, Same old shit. Here's how the day went:

Guess what? I won at 1/2 HU again. Yeah I realize this is my strongest point and yet I choose to put in 4 times as many hands at 6 max and not be profitable. There goes another thing that I don't know if I have a reason for. I play a game that is very profitable, over 20BB/100 now for 7K hands, and yet I choose to devote more time to a game that is returning 3BB/100. That sounds like a smart man that just can't figure it out.

I dont' know where poker is going for me, or if I will actually quit the full time job to play "Pro" poker. But what I do know is that for now it provides another source of income and at the end of the day its the only hobby I haven't taken up for 6 months and then got sick of it.

Well i'm not posting hands tonight, cuz whats the point?

Well i'm off to sleep this blog is boring the fuck out of me, and I'm sure there's some more interesting blogs to read:

- Like the guy who blogs on a poker web site about about this dating life

- Or the guy who blogs on this site about how he wants to start his own company (Pretty much a competitor to here), and wants feedback from the members of this site. Hey buddy let me go to Wal-Mart and ask the customer what they would like to see in my store, El Wal Marto, after all this country is nothing but illegal immigrants. Yeah see how that one flies with the management of Wal Mart.

-Or the guy who blogs about how how he practices "Zen Breathing", and how he got "Pwned" by everybody he played with, and how he loses money but yet chooses to spend more than he lost on a car.

Yeah thats it Peace!!!!!!!!!!!

After getting my arse kicked yesterday I decided to focus on just 1/2 HU today. This is has been my bread and butter and although I play more 6 max I have carefully analyzed what makes more money for me. I played 500 hands and booked a win. Its good to be back in the green, here's how the day went:

26BB/100 is very good, over my last 6K hands I'm running at 18bb/100. This is a very strong # and I hope it will continue for me. I battled one guys HU for about 1 1/2 hours, I made some nice bluffs (even though he called them down) that set me up later on in the match.

Sometimes people forget that a bluff not only has a chance of buying you the pot right then and there, but it if fails and it will, we need to take advantage of that later on and take them to valuetown.

So here's some of the hands from my long HU match.

This bluff I played pretty bad, its pretty obv. I missed my draw, but not too worried about it as I'll get it back later:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2529980

This bluff was NEVER working, i'm not repping much, especially with two Aces on board, but it helps to have to call down lighter in the future:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2529990

9, 3 offsuit is the nuts:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2530004

And here's the hand that I was setting up all along:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2530016

I really feel I can sit down with any opponent and have their number as long as they don't hit and run. Its really easy to pick up on their weaknessess and exploit them. I've been doing a good job of notetaking as well, sometimes I'll just sit in on matches to get any piece of information that well be helpful in the future.

I've also been playing a lot of shortstacks. Most people don't like to play them, but I don't have a problem with it, after all money is money.

Well got some chores to do for now around the house, good luck on this Sunday to you all.

Mike B.

Well I posted a nasty loss at 1/2 6 max today and I think I pushed the pace a little too much. I definately remember the game being a lot different when I played it before. But no worries back to .50/1.00 6 max for a while until I get back in the groove, then we'll go for it again. Here's the ugly stats, good thing heads up is still going good for me:

I'll go ahead and share a hand in which I completed F$###D up. I did not see the paired board for some reason, other wise I would have insta-folded the river. Oh well my mistake, here's the 1K pot I lost at 1/2 6 max today:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2527703

On the bright side, here's a pot worth over $1,200 from 2/4 HU today:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2527707

All in all i'm not down, just more excited to get my game up so i can be successful at 1/2 when i do go back. i feel if things go right for the next 2 to 3 weeks i'll be back there. until then i'm going to study some hands and start watching a lot of 1/2 so i can take some notes on the regs. after a loss i get into the mindset where i want to fix any mistakes I made and come back better than before.

well i've got some studying to do and off to bed after that. lets hope tomorrow we can be back in the green.

Good luck and good night.

Yeah I felt a little frisky tonight. I decided to stay in and play some poker. Usually its Friday and i'm off to happy hour, or to Dave & Buster, movies, crap like that. Well I was talking with another CR member earlier and he said you have to play on Friday nights the games are so soft. And I come to think of it and realized yeah I'm probably passing on a bunch of money.

So if I'm going to play on Friday why not 1/2?....after all I am rolled for it. Well here's the practice sesh of 1/2:

Another brief HU session. we are 11 hands into it and I pick up JJ, he bets and I three bet, he shoves, and I call......ship it.

Well since I had an okay sesh I am off to grab some drinks, the night is young and there's plenty of liquor looking for a home.

Until tomorrow!!! adios amigos.

I just finished 8 tabling some 6 max and then proceeded to play some heads up. Well 11 hands into the match I stack him and he sits out so then guess what I do......I stop playing for the day. Yup did it again, and I'm not even afraid to say yeah I'll call it a day even if I didn't put in that much time at the tables. I did play a 1 1/2 hours 8 tabling so I guess work has been put in, and after I'm done studying it'll be a good 3 hour day.

I think I set my April goal for 5k, but I can't remember if I put that in my blog or if I mentally had set that goal. I know a monetary goal isn't always the best kind of goal to shoot for but I did set one this month and it was 5K. Here's the month to date stats before today's session:

Notice a big chunk of my winnings is from above from normal .50/1.00 6 max game. I haven't been too profitable there I guess. But I have been profitable and 1/2 HU and I did dabble in a little 2/4 HU as well as some 1/2 6 max.

Here's today's sesh:

So I'm about 1K off my goal. I'm pretty sure I'll get there but regardless its about me playing good for the rest of the month that is most important. As long as I do that I'm a happy camper.

And here's some of the hands:

This is my BIGGEST LEAK by far. When he raises the flop, I look at his bet sizing, he's a TAG player, and I make a nice read. I say this guy has to have a set, well me being the retard that I am, I go ahead and get it all in, I did manage to suck out but I need to stop doing this!!!!!:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2517329

Standard resuck out by me:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2517353

Here's the 1/2 HU hand that made him quit me. I really love throwing this little more than min raise bet out there heads up, its smaller than the standard raise and when they are in position they will always call. I know sometimes it will backfire but not today:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2517359

Some losers:

Me being a donkey and not folding QQ pre flop after I know I'm beat:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2517376

Donkey me again, the whole time I'm calling I'm saying in my head "I know he has slick":

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2517393

And thats a wrap for hands.

I'm pleased with the way this month is going and if it continues I'll be cracking more at 1/2 6 max sometime next month. I've already beat this limit before and am comfortable there. Its been a few years since I played there consistently and I know the game has changed but I know I have an edge there and for the most part its gonna be standard TAG play.

If you have read my first blog entry I made a little over a month ago I talked about wanted to quit my job to play full time, I said I would need a 50K roll to do this and after doing a little calculating I should be there within 6 months. If I do hit that mark I might have to re-think the situation a little.

The reason for this is I'd have to cash out 6 months worth of bills just to have a cushion. I feel I would need 18K just for this, plus another 5K or so to pay for the taxes for cashing that much out. That would only leave me with a 27K roll. I'm sure that roll would be big enough to grind 2/4 6 max but honestly I'd rather have a 40K roll to do that. So we'll just take it month by month and I'll keep you updated on my journey into full time playing.

Well ladies and gents, until next time.

Blog you later.