It's seemingly impossible for me to lose in june. I'm up like ~60k.

I'll get all my shit together soon and post the goodies.

PokerStars Game #18203541736: Hold'em No Limit ($5/$10) - 2008/06/17 - 17:25:25 (ET)
Table 'Rosalind II' 2-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: Zugwat ($1936 in chips)
Seat 2: Heir_Aparent ($2816.50 in chips)
Zugwat: posts small blind $5
Heir_Aparent: posts big blind $10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Heir_Aparent [6d 8s]
Zugwat: raises $20 to $30
Heir_Aparent: raises $70 to $100
Zugwat: calls $70
*** FLOP *** [7c Qs 4d]
Heir_Aparent: bets $141
Zugwat: raises $224 to $365
Heir_Aparent: raises $356 to $721
Zugwat: raises $356 to $1077
Heir_Aparent: raises $1639.50 to $2716.50 and is all-in
Zugwat: folds
Uncalled bet ($1639.50) returned to Heir_Aparent
Heir_Aparent collected $2353.50 from pot
Heir_Aparent: shows [6d 8s] (high card Queen)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $2354 | Rake $0.50
Board [7c Qs 4d]
Seat 1: Zugwat (button) (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 2: Heir_Aparent (big blind) collected ($2353.50)

This is decidedly the sickest hand I have ever played: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showthread.php?p=4620247#post4620247

Despite the suckout, I'm at the top of my game right now. I haven't actually played that much poker in the last month, but managed to finish may 20k in the green and have already netted 22k~ in june. Things have come together very well and I think the combination of shortening my sessions, exercising regularly and playing 3-5 tables maximum has undeniably been the catalyst in my increased profitability. My hand reading has also improved, but my success is mostly a function of playing when I'm in the best state of mind to make rational decisions.

I have some general life information I'd like to post as well, but I got to go take the dog outside for a little while. Sorry my posts always suck; I'll try to write a more comprehensive entry sometime in the near future.

Good luck at the tables

What's good, doggies. I'm in chicago right now and will be staying with a few friends in their apartments/dorm rooms (they both goto UChicago) until tomorrow when I fly back to saint louis around 2 P.M. I have some downtime right now, just sitting in a dorm room, so I though I'd take the opportunity to write a quick blog. Poker has gone well recently. I ended up ~15k for april and I've been running through fools to start may, already up >10k, despite having put in a limited amount of hands. I'm overall quite happy with my play, especially my bankroll management and consistency with regards to focus during sessions. I'm very pleased with stars adding $345 HU SnG's. I don't have enough yet to withstand the potential variance of the 500's, but I'm sick bored of the $200 heads up games. So basically, it's the perfect median for me. Also, I've moved up to 400 NL for my HU cash games and have experienced some nice success. Now that I've moved back up again, and am feeling motivated/fired up to play a lot of poker, my plan for when I get back is to grind as much as possible the last few weeks of may. I'm going to go read a little, then get some dinner and hopefully catch some of the lakers game. Peace and good luck at the tables.

Setting the standard for future heads up winrates.

I'm a blogging whore today it seems. I'm sitting around and have nothing to do before I leave for the gym in like 20 minutes, so I think I'll show off some of the cool shit- stats and graphs. I haven't posted anything of the sort recently, and from my own personal blog browsing experience I know that one of the most essential components to an interesting blog is the inclusion of tangible poker shit- graphs, pokertracker stats and hand histories. I'm on my laptop which I still haven't registered for PT, and I'm pressed for time, so I'll just post my sharkscope graph and add the rest on later.

Game 1,000 started roughly around the middle of february. It's nice to have a concrete indication of success and improvement. Looking back on graphs like this that document my progression as a player can very encouraging and reassuring. Obviously this graph isn't out of this world spectactular, but SnG's are probably the form of poker I spend the least amount of time studying and playing (although I have played a ton of them recently), so I'm proud of my results. I also think I can continue to beat the games at a pretty sick rate for the forseeable future.

I have to go since I'm already gonna be late, but I'll post my sharkscope graph for only $200 HU SnG's before I dip out.

God dammit, I'm having difficulty uploading the graph for some reason. I'll just write out my stats:

Games Played: 1083

Average Profit: $15

Average Stake: $220

Average ROI: 6%

Total Profit: $15,750

I'm happy with these results and think my winrate is sustainable. In fact, I'm looking to improve on a few things and raise my ROI to 7-8% before all is said and done. Gotta go though, peace.

I just finished responding to a comment a friend of mine left on my last blog, and while looking it over realized it was long enough and provided enough relevant substance to make for its own brief blog. Jared, a.k.a the infamous Iversonxx3 (I think that's how it's spelled), asked why I drifted back to degeneracy and started playing the $500 HU SnG's, instead of grinding the $200 ones like I had been consistently for the past month. My response:

I'm easily well rolled enough for a shot at the 500's. My wire cashout with stars was cancelled because of some slight confusion on both ends, so I had a 15k bankroll to work with at the time. I decided I would take a 3-4 buy in shot at the stakes. Also, the regulars (with the exception of maybe one or two guys) at these stakes will never sit with me, so I was almost guaranteed a shot at some fishies. I was definitely not disappointed by my matches - in fact, I was pleasantly suprised at how absurdly weak some of the players were. Anyways, I think I went 4/6 or so during my first session, but ended up losing my last two to break even. I cashed out again that same night, so unfortunately I can't take a legitamite shot at the 500's just yet. I'm fairly certain I have an edge in them. That being said, the variance in them is pretty ridiculous, and I want a 20k roll before I start playing them seriously. My goal is to make them my regular game by early/mid june though.

Feeling pretty good after a durresque river bluff raise. Note how many chips I have on top of his river bet. Nine high was probably good, shoulda just value called my nutts.

Poker Stars, $550 + $20 NL Hold'em Tournament, 15/30 Blinds, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com Hand History Converter

BB: 2,026
Hero (SB): 974

Pre-Flop: (45) 4d 9h dealt to Hero (SB)
Hero raises to 90, BB calls 60

Flop: (180) As 8s 8d (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets 120, BB raises to 240, Hero calls 120

Turn: (660) 2d (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero checks

River: (660) 6s (2 Players)
BB bets 420, Hero raises to 644 and is All-In, BB folds

Results: 1,500 Pot
Hero mucked 4d 9h and WON 1,500 (+750 NET)

Ship it crucial

I've been playing very well during the past few weeks and have experienced some nice success. My focus and determination have paid off, and I'm up roughly 6k since early april. I've made a concerted effort to cut down on my distractions; I spend far less time on AIM, watching TV and browsing 2p2/the internet in general while I'm playing. I think the biggest catalyst in the change of my overall approach to playing is the decision to put in sessions, almost exclusively, on my desktop computer. My strategy is pretty simple, but effective; these aforementioned detrimental distractions are, for the most part, unavailable to me when I force myself to play on the PC in my bedroom. There is no television in my room, and my desktop prefences don't utilize the auto sign-in option on Aim. Basically, as long as I can force myself to avoid the temptations of my living room, I'm able to put myself in a really good position to have a productive session.

So yeah, things have been going pretty smoothly. I've played slightly less HU Sng's (which I've played quite a bit recently) in favor of HU 200 NL cash and some MTT's. I've ran well over expectation in my cash games but I feel very, very strongly about my edge.

Anyways, when I get on my desktop tommorow, I'll post some hands and graphs/stats. Good luck at the tables.

Wow, this shit is great. I had forgotten about how totally fucking hilarious Jack Nicholson is in this movie.

That is all.