PokerStars Game #18998702736: Hold’em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) - 2008/07/21 - 19:30:05 (ET)
Table ‘Palma III’ 6-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: KJatl ($26.40 in chips)
Seat 2: MaxUT ($24.65 in chips)
Seat 3: Supadom ($18.95 in chips)
Seat 4: MooneyCult ($24.25 in chips)
Seat 5: deron1 ($54.25 in chips)
Supadom: posts small blind $0.10
MooneyCult: posts big blind $0.25
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to KJatl [Js Jd]
deron1: raises $0.75 to $1
KJatl: calls $1
MaxUT: calls $1
Supadom: folds
MooneyCult: folds
*** FLOP *** [Jc Qc 7c]
deron1: bets $5
KJatl: raises $7 to $12
MaxUT: folds
deron1: calls $7
*** TURN *** [Jc Qc 7c] [7s]
deron1: checks
KJatl: bets $13.40 and is all-in
deron1: calls $13.40
*** RIVER *** [Jc Qc 7c 7s] [9c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
deron1: shows [7d 7h] (four of a kind, Sevens)
KJatl: mucks hand
deron1 collected $52.15 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $54.15 | Rake $2
Board [Jc Qc 7c 7s 9c]
Seat 1: KJatl mucked [Js Jd]
Seat 2: MaxUT (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 3: Supadom (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: MooneyCult (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: deron1 showed [7d 7h] and won ($52.15) with four of a kind, Sevens

My first 2,000 hands at PLO on Full Tilt were, simply put, amazing. I was winning at a nose-bleed rate of around 20BB/100. Then the swings hit. Now at just 3,300 hands, my winrate has rapidly shrunk to just 5.12 BB/100. It’s extremely frustrating, and for some reason it especially pisses me off when I get it all in and lose to a worse draw than I had, like in the hand below. Hands like this have been happening far too often.

Honestly, I’m not a good PLO player. I’m merely BETTER than the absolutely terrible players at the stakes I play. I’m not going to outplay my opponents, I merely try to get my money in good. In order for me to be profitable, I really need to have my hands hold up, or for my big draws to get there. All of my wins or losses are from my big hands. My bankroll depends on me actually winning those pots. It’s not like in Hold Em where I can win a dozen small pots from blind stealing or using position, and those small wins add up to something meaningful.

————————

I ran the numbers on this hand, I’m a 71% favorite on the flop.

FullTiltPoker Game #7316609426: Table Tanbark (6 max) - $0.10/$0.25 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 15:48:23 ET - 2008/07/21
Seat 1: Relentless12 ($11.95), is sitting out
Seat 2: filthymind ($26.10)
Seat 3: tyclove ($54.25)
Seat 4: pyrolein ($25.50)
Seat 5: pornoflozi ($10.10)
Seat 6: pigInThecity ($28.10)
pigInThecity posts the small blind of $0.10
filthymind posts the big blind of $0.25
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to filthymind [As 6c 2s Ah]
tyclove has 15 seconds left to act
tyclove folds
pyrolein folds
pornoflozi raises to $0.75
pigInThecity calls $0.65
filthymind raises to $3
pornoflozi has been disconnected
pornoflozi has reconnected
pornoflozi has 15 seconds left to act
pornoflozi is sitting out
pornoflozi has timed out
pornoflozi folds
pigInThecity calls $2.25
*** FLOP *** [6h 6s Ts]
pornoflozi has returned
pigInThecity checks
filthymind bets $6.75
pigInThecity raises to $25.10, and is all in
filthymind calls $16.35, and is all in
pigInThecity shows [Qs 3h Js Ks]
filthymind shows [As 6c 2s Ah]
Uncalled bet of $2 returned to pigInThecity
*** TURN *** [6h 6s Ts] [Qh]
*** RIVER *** [6h 6s Ts Qh] [9c]
pigInThecity shows a straight, King high
filthymind shows three of a kind, Sixes
pigInThecity wins the pot ($50.35) with a straight, King high

I finally got around to setting up an account on Full Tilt Poker through a rakeback site. There’s no question that I’m missing out on a LOT of money by not getting any rake back. So I’ve been playing on Full Tilt. Ironically, I’m not entirely sure if I’m actually earning rakeback or not… I guess I’ll find out in about a month; and see whether or not I get 27% of the rake I paid put back into my account.

A few things about Full Tilt: I don’t particularly like the interface. The betting slide is not nearly as useful as the one on Pokerstars; you move it just a bit to raise preflop and it seems to go to 20x the BB by default. It just doesn’t go smootly in the betting increments.

And I absolutely HATE the fact that it only gives you what seems like 5-10 sec preflop to act before it folds your hand. Atl east Pokerstars gives you a timebank if it’s your first delayed action. When I’m playing 4-8 tables, especially at PLO, it takes me a short moment to fully grasp what’s going on at a particular table. Full Tilt simply doesn’t give me enough time to think.

Also, the way Full Tilt is setup for waiting to for the BB before you post, is really strange. I often miss the damn blind completely and have to post out of position anways to avoid waiting another full round.

Lastly, the software crashed on me today. Now I understand that no program is 100% stable, but I honestly can’t remember the last time Pokerstars crashed one me, and I’ve been playing on it for years. I’ve only played on Full Tilt for a few days and I’ve already experienced a crash? Not a good sign.

And now for another PLO Royal; my first on Full Tilt:

FullTiltPoker Game #7201567460: Table Stanton (6 max) - $0.10/$0.25 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 5:33:47 ET - 2008/07/13
Seat 1: hawkinman ($30.45)
Seat 2: pojo55 ($16.25)
Seat 3: filthymind ($34.45)
Seat 5: hAt77 ($25.75)
Seat 6: nlmoa ($9.10)
hawkinman posts the small blind of $0.10
pojo55 posts the big blind of $0.25
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to filthymind [2c 3h Ts As]
UnionJacks sits down
UnionJacks adds $25
filthymind has 15 seconds left to act
filthymind calls $0.25
hAt77 calls $0.25
nlmoa calls $0.25
hawkinman calls $0.15
pojo55 checks
*** FLOP *** [Js Jh Ks]
hawkinman bets $0.60
pojo55 calls $0.60
filthymind calls $0.60
hAt77 calls $0.60
nlmoa calls $0.60
*** TURN *** [Js Jh Ks] [Qs]
hawkinman has 15 seconds left to act
hawkinman bets $2.10
pojo55 folds
filthymind raises to $6
hAt77 calls $6
nlmoa raises to $8.25, and is all in
hawkinman calls $6.15
filthymind calls $2.25
hAt77 calls $2.25
*** RIVER *** [Js Jh Ks Qs] [9s]
hawkinman checks
filthymind bets $25.35, and is all in
hAt77 calls $16.65, and is all in
hawkinman has 15 seconds left to act
hawkinman has requested TIME
hawkinman folds
Uncalled bet of $8.70 returned to filthymind
*** SHOW DOWN ***
filthymind shows [2c 3h Ts As] a Royal Flush
hAt77 mucks
filthymind wins the side pot ($32.15) with a Royal Flush
nlmoa mucks
filthymind wins the main pot ($35.40) with a Royal Flush
hAt77 is sitting out
nlmoa adds $8.65
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $70.55 Main pot $37.25. Side pot $33.30. | Rake $3

PokerStars Game #18749671480: Hold’em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) - 2008/07/11 - 18:57:07 (ET)
Table ‘Signe’ 6-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: KJatl ($24.55 in chips)
Seat 2: marcostes ($23 in chips)
Seat 3: Danielino85 ($9.20 in chips)
marcostes: posts small blind $0.10
Danielino85: posts big blind $0.25
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to KJatl [9c Tc]
KJatl: raises $0.75 to $1
marcostes: calls $0.90
Danielino85: calls $0.75
*** FLOP *** [6c 4c Ks]
marcostes: bets $0.50
Danielino85: calls $0.50
KJatl: calls $0.50
*** TURN *** [6c 4c Ks] [Kc]
22dsnyd22 joins the table at seat #4
marcostes: bets $0.50
Danielino85: calls $0.50
KJatl: raises $1.50 to $2
marcostes: raises $19.50 to $21.50 and is all-in
Danielino85: folds
KJatl: calls $19.50
*** RIVER *** [6c 4c Ks Kc] [7c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
marcostes: shows [8c 5c] (a straight flush, Four to Eight)
KJatl: mucks hand
marcostes collected $47 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $48 | Rake $1
Board [6c 4c Ks Kc 7c]
Seat 1: KJatl (button) mucked [9c Tc]
Seat 2: marcostes (small blind) showed [8c 5c] and won ($47) with a straight flush, Four to Eight
Seat 3: Danielino85 (big blind) folded on the Turn

A few days ago I decided to spend some of my saved-up Pokerstars FPPs on one of those ‘VIP Sit-n-Gos’. It’s 15,000 FPP buy-in, and the prize pool is $2k, with first place getting $1k and the top 4 spots being in the money. The Pokerstars pro I’m up against is Lee Nelson; the player who knocks him out gets a $250 bonus.

So with over $1250 potentially up for grabs, this is by far the biggest SNG I’ve ever participated in. Unfortunately, I haven’t played SNG’s on a regular basis since I can remember. Frankly, I’ve never particularly liked playing them all that much. I feel like they are robotic in nature and almost always come down to who can win the coin flips. As a matter of fact, I think I can count the number of SNG’s I’ve played this year (before today) on one hand. Needless to say, I need a tune-up.

So this morning I put on my poker face and fired up pokerstars and proceeded to do a marathon session of 20 straight SNG’s. The results weren’t pretty, although I can say with certainty that at least 70% of the time I busted out with the best hand when the money went in.

Anyway, after 20 $5.5 SNG’s played, here are my results:

SNGs Played: 20
Times Cashed: 7
First Place: 1
2nd Place: 3
3rd Place: 3
Bubbled: 3
Percent ITM: 35%

Total Profit: -$25.5

Even after ‘cashing’ 35% of the time… my PROFIT is negative. Another reason I hate SNG’s. To turn a profit, you have to get 1st place frequently… and in my experience, the difference between 3rd and 1st is often simply what cards you get and whether or not they hold up.

Results aside, I feel pretty practiced up and I think I’m bringing my A game for this VIP SNG. I’m going to record it and comment as I play, and I will most likely be uploading the video afterwards.

PokerStars Game #18700713099: Omaha Pot Limit ($0.10/$0.25) - 2008/07/09 - 16:37:06 (ET)
Table ‘Rhodope IV’ 6-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: atilla1968 ($25.35 in chips)
Seat 2: skrabukes ($53.45 in chips)
Seat 4: KöttochSvets ($23.50 in chips)
Seat 5: KJatl ($25 in chips)
Seat 6: barksdail ($31.45 in chips)
barksdail: posts small blind $0.10
atilla1968: posts big blind $0.25
ArjenA: sits out
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to KJatl [6s Qc Jc Th]
skrabukes: calls $0.25
KöttochSvets: folds
KJatl: calls $0.25
barksdail: folds
atilla1968: checks
*** FLOP *** [Ac 5s Tc]
atilla1968: checks
skrabukes: checks
KJatl: checks
*** TURN *** [Ac 5s Tc] [Kc]
atilla1968: checks
skrabukes: bets $0.50
KJatl: raises $1.25 to $1.75
atilla1968: folds
skrabukes: folds
Uncalled bet ($1.25) returned to KJatl
KJatl collected $1.80 from pot
KJatl: shows [6s Qc Jc Th] (a Royal Flush)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $1.85 | Rake $0.05
Board [Ac 5s Tc Kc]
Seat 1: atilla1968 (big blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 2: skrabukes folded on the Turn
Seat 4: KöttochSvets folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 5: KJatl (button) collected ($1.80)
Seat 6: barksdail (small blind) folded before Flop

I’ve dealt to, bumped into, and talked to a LOT of poker pros this summer, and decided to make a little list with brief descriptions of my impressions of them.

In no particular order:

Shanon Elizabeth - Easily the most enjoyable pro I’ve ever dealt to. She nearly always has a smile on her face and has a great positive energy. She’s pleasant (visually and otherwise) to both the players she’s around and the dealers.

David Williams - He wasn’t in a great mood when I dealt to him, as he was on the verge of elimination with a very short stack. Still, he was alright if a little bit pushy. I’m sure on a better day he would have been a fun guy to have at the table.

Shannon Shore - Extremely reserved at the table. He’s a very quiet player, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard him say anything negative directed towards me or another player.

Men “The Master” - I’ve dealt to him a few times and both times he was telling me how to do my job. And it wasn’t like I made a mistake either. He told me to call out the high hand in a Stud tourney after I had just called out the hand (he had his headphones on and didn’t hear - NOT my problem). He told and motioned for me to wash the cards (spread them out farther) as I was washing the damn cards. I can easily see how he has a bad rep with dealers.

Eskimo Clark - I’ve never seen this guy smile. He’s a little pushy like “The Master” but more calm about it. Not really a prick, but one of those guys that just doesn’t display a personality. And he’s never tipped me in at least two cash games I’ve dealt with him at the table. Not ‘cool’ at all Mr. Eskimo.

Phil Ivy - This guy spent more time on the phone talking about some sort of prop bet than he did playing poker. I only dealt to him at one table of a tournament, but I constantly had to put in his antes for him because he wasn’t really ‘in’ the game. The first time I reached for his chips I was a little shaky because I was basically ’scared’ to touch Phil Ivy’s chips. It’s dumb, I know, but I had this vision of a pissed off Ivy and being known as the dumbass dealer that got Ivy to blow-up.

My fears were unfounded. He seems like a very cool and laid-back guy. I made a slight mistake once when I announced the wrong hand to ‘bring in’ in stud and he simply said ‘I think it’s on me.’ I know it’s a minor thing, but a lot of people take stupid little things like that and turn them into issues, he is not one of those players. I hope I get to deal to him again before the Series is over. I’d love to get a chance to talk to him a little bit.

Jamie Gold - I dealt to him in a 25/25 NL Cash game. He’s the only player I’ve ever personally seen give a dealer a $25 chip as a tip. Unfortunately, he didn’t win a hand when I dealt to him. Still, he was the only one who even replied to me when I sat down and greeted the players. He seems like a decent stand-up kinda guy.

Barry Greenstein - I’ve bumped into him several times in the employee only hallways. A reserved guy, he came off as very polite. I congratulated him on his Bracelet win and he was gracious and thanked me, and that was about the sum of our conversation.

Phil Hellmuth - I saw him on his way back to the 50k HORSE tournament, and he got approached by no less than 3 different people for photographs/signatures. A lot of people would have brushed them off and gotten back to the tournament at hand, but he was patient for his fans. I really respected him in that moment. Also, he’s amazingly tall in real life.

I’ve really, Really been struggling in poker lately. Online, live, NLHE, PLO, you name it. I’ll have huge nights followed by disastrous ones, and in the end I’m basically breaking even over a long period of time. Since I’ve been dealing at the World Series, I see sooo many bad habits and bad plays. The most common mistake is people unable to get off of marginal hands. The other significant instance where people go busto is due to suckouts. I’ve dealt out some absolutely gross suckouts in huge pots in both cash games and tournaments. I’ve been cussed out more times than I care to count, from players on the the very edge after two and three outters have cost them their tournament life, or a $10k pot.

I absorb a lot from my time dealing, and I try to use that knowledge and experience to improve my own game. Honestly though, I just don’t see where I’m going wrong. I’ve been looking up a lot of the big pots I’ve lost and running the hands through calculators like Poker Stove and Cardrunner’s hand calculator for Omaha and time and time again I’ve been shown that I got my money in good, often as a 3-1 or more favorite. So, part of me feels like I could just be on the shit side of variance over the past several thousand hands (quite possible). And when I DON’T get my money in good, an overwhelming amount of time it’s an out-and-out cooler, (set over set, Aces vs Kings, etc.).

Still, I can’t help but look at the outcome. I’m getting absolutely nowhere. My online bankroll is roughly the same now as it was 40k hands ago.

After 44 hours of Live play at 1-2NL, I’m up a measly $258, averaging a petty $5.83 per hour. Granted, I am making a profit over a decent number of sessions, but still.

I think these results show I’m a winning player, but there’s gotta be a reason I seem to be ’stuck’ as only a *marginally* winning player. I have simply not been crushing any of the games I have played in like I used to. Are the games getting harder? Possibly, but I don’t really think that’s a major factor. I think part of it is that I haven’t been able to really get into ‘poker mode’ as often compared to when I originally built my pokerstars roll. I was like a machine then, playing 8 tables and having some really good instincts and overall feeling like I was “In the Zone”. Now I find it hard enough to even play 4 tables without my mind wandering over to my other screen to chat with friends or watch the newest UFC fight. Much of the reason is because I feel like it really doesn’t matter whether or not I devote 100% of my attention to the poker tables (note: this only applies online). It seems I still get my money in good and lose, regardless of whether or not I’m paying more attention to Joe Rogan’s commentary about side control.

The fact is, as I go through the hands where I’ve lost big pots, I am NOT making big mistakes. I’m generally playing the hands well, and more often than not, I’m getting my money in as a favorite. I just looked up a big PLO hand where I lost my entire stack (about $50 at a $25 buyin table) as a 70-30 favorite. Again, I played the hand fine, I got my money in as a favorite, and I lose. There really is nothing there for me to learn from, which makes it really difficult and frustrating for me as I try to assess what I’m doing wrong. Variance aside, I KNOW I must be doing things wrong. I’m sure I have leaks in my game. I’m aware of some of them. But sometimes I just want to throw my computer out the window when I try so hard to play good poker and avoid the mistakes and plug the holes in my game, and I still constantly LOSE, or just break even which feels nearly as bad. I feel a tremendous lack of progress, and I just don’t know how I’m going to get the ball rolling.

Just got home from the Rio/WSOP. The entire venue was under-crowded to say the least, but I’ve been told by everyone and his brother that it gets absolutely insane as soon as the first Bracelet events start. Right now (May 29th) there really isn’t much going on besides relatively small nightly tournaments and satellites, and an odd assortment of cash games. I passed Gregg Raymer on my way to clock in and he seemed like a nice guy. I didn’t deal to anyone noteworthy tonight but I’m sure I will as the Series proceeds. I’d like to get some pictures of the event and maybe even some of myself with some of the top pros, but I don’t know if it’s allowed because I’m an employee.

All in all, I’m definitely looking forward to the rest of the event and I’m glad I got my Day 1 behind me. I intend to post updates as things happen and hopefully I’ll get some interesting stories to write about. I really don’t have much to say about tonight; the nightly tournament I dealt was overstaffed and underpopulated, which made for a rather boring night as I was constantly on a break after a single down. Oh well; it served as a good warm-up for things to come.

Whelp, I passed the 100k hand mark since I started playing again this March. A few misc stats:

Total Hands: 103,146

- I’ve been dealt pocket Aces 430 times. The odds are 220:1 to get pocket aces. If real life reflected the odds; I should’ve had them 468 times.

- My total profit (from 10nl, 25nl, and 50nl) is $1,847.95. My Total Rake is $2,571.50. Not getting rakeback is really killing me.

- The single hand I’ve been dealt most is AQo, with it being dealt to me 1,027 times. I win with this hand 65.73% of the time.

- The hand I’ve been dealt the least is Q8s, being dealt to me only 269 times.

- The ONLY hand I have 100% Won $ at Showdown is T2s. I guess Doyle Brunson was onto something…

- My W$SD percentage is actually slightly higher with KQs than with AA. (70.18% compared to 69.79%)

- The hand I cold-called a raise preflop with most often was KQo, which I cold-called 74 times. Pocket Pairs 77, 22, and 55 were all tied for 2nd with 50 cold-calls each.

- I’ve only made 169 check/raises total. (Note to self: probably not checking/raising enough).

- I made Quads 24 times (including quads on the board twice)