Last Poker Before 2005......

Poker for 2004 looks like it has come to an end..........there is a SMALL possibility that I will get in some table time tonight but more than likely tonight will be spent packing and getting a good night's rest for the drive to the in-laws house tomorrow where we will celebrate Christmas and welcome in the New Year.

The last two nights have been uneventful at the tables........I finished up a couple BB Monday and down a couple more BB than that on Tuesday.........I am pissed at myself for the way I played last night........I went on tilt after a maniac at my table who raised and raised and raised and showed down several hands that I would have beaten........it was my own fault and I realized I was on tilt only after steaming away half my stack........caught myself pushing with hands that I knew were beat with the texture of the board........and pushing with players that weren't maniac's...........I did catch myself and build my stack backup somewhat which is a great improvement over my old self who wouldn't pick up that I was on tilt until my stack was gone. I actually can't remember the last time I had gone on tilt when playing which is a definite improvement.

I'm very happy with the direction my playing is going and look forward to continuing to improve my playing in 2005.

I wish everyone a happy and prosperous New Year.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.........and looking forward to the New Year.

The holiday's thus far have been hectic but fun.......nothing like watching the kids open their presents from Santa.........never imagined how much fun that would be.......priceless.

Poker time has been limited with all the holiday gatherings......played for the first time last night since before Christmas.........it was a decent night.........up 15BB on one table and down 1BB on the second after 2.5 hours. I can see my game improving over time..........I am still making calls I shouldn't at times.....calling it down when I see I am beat.......but I am more and more able to get away from my top pair when that three to a flush comes and that previous caller is raising all of a sudden. Improvement that is welcome.

I am slowly reading SSHE.......enjoying it thus far but not far enough into it yet to talk about. Hopefully I'll get a good chunk into it over this week between Christmas and New Year's.

Another 40BB and I'm moving up limits. I've set 300BB as my goal in order to move up to the next limit......I may increase that before I move up to 2/4 or 3/6 to give myself more of a cushion......we'll see how comfortable I am with my game at that point. I want to have the bankroll that I am comfortable with in moving up levels........Is that 300BB? At the lower limits I think it probably is.........I'll find out here pretty quick. If a 300BB bankroll in a higher limit makes me tentative and change my game than I'll make my goal higher before I move up.

I've done a lot of thinking about WHY I have fallen in love with Poker.........WHY do I strive to get better........I have always been a competitive person.....Poker definitely satisfies that competitive desire.........Money is definitely another reason.......I have no dellusions of becoming a full time poker professional in the future........to those that are I say congratulations and great for you......I simply wish to supplement my income and help improve my standard of living......... my winnings will eventually be used to pay down debt......credit cards......mortgage......car payments.......I will resist withdrawing ANY winnings until I reach a suitable bankroll and limit level and at that point will probably set up a systematic withdrawel of winnings over X amount with 1/2 going towards bankroll and 1/2 becoming a poker debt paying payday. My long term goal is to have poker winnings help me become debt free in 8-10 years.......this includes my mortgage! I like having a LARGE goal to work towards and I will set smaller goals to help me achieve this large goal. I believe this is all possible and will work towards making it so.

I will be posting very sporadically through the New Year as I will be out of town at the in-laws with no internet access for 4 days.........I wish you all a Happy New Year!

Take Care.
Baz

Van Guy? and PP Confusion.....

Well........the day I never expected is here........I am officially a Van Guy.

Purchased a mini-van yesterday.........never thought I'd be that guy......but it's necessary......we are a one vehicle family........A three year old.......a two year old.....and a newborn on the way in a couple of months.......the old vehicle couldn't handle the load. I have to admit.......it doesn't bother me like I thought it would........and it is damn nice.......with the DVD player for the kids......the guys will probably make me drive now on the rarer and rarer guys night out.......Rounders in the DVD on the way to the bars ain't sooooo bad.....except that I'll be driving........2005 Dodge Grand Caravan......will be with us for a LONG LONG TIME! I thought I'd get to play last night but with the LONG day at the car dealerships I decided to get a pay per view movie with the wife and chill........it was nice and my wife appreciated it as well......I was drained from the haggling and didn't want to have to concentrate on poker. Did I mention I HATE the whole car salesman dance...........HATE IT!

Anyway.......I've been working off my party poker bonus......I'm determined to get it done tonight.........I'm up 55BB in addition to approaching my bonus clearing so unless I get exhausted and start losing concentration I'll be finishing this off tonight.

I am confused with the buddy lists at Party.......I have listed a couple of players there......the REALLY fishy ones I've come across and would like to find again if possible.......well tonight I saw one was online.......I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to find out what table he was at......I tried double clicking the name and that did nothing.......I wasn't sure what the "invite" button was for so didn't want to hit that without knowing.......HELP! I'd appreciate any help anyone can give me.......will definitely help me in the future.

As far as poker goes....I've been happy the direction my game has been going thus far......I'm looking forward to 2005.........I've been grinding .50/1 and am approaching the bankroll needed to move up.

Some general things for 2005:

• Continue working to improve Post-Flop play
• Improve reading texture of flops
• Work on calculating of outs and odds
• Continue reading poker books
• Work on understanding and getting more and more use out of Poker Tracker
• Continue working up limits

I am thinking of sitting down and writing out more specific goals for the upcoming year.....we will see if I can get around to it.

I want to thank Human Head (I think I have that right...if not I apologize) for the comment concerning the Ameristar casino in KC.......I was under the impression that all the casino's in KC were riverboats.......this is not the case. After talking with my brother-in-law he tells me we will be playing at the Ameristar when I'm in town.....$3/$6......Can't Wait!!! Hope they are indeed soft.

Speaking of live poker.......the riverboats here in Chicagoland all now have poker "rooms" or are in the process of getting them......I'm going to be calling them tomorrow to see what games and limits they spread......might be taking a trip to play some next week before heading to the in-laws over New Years to celebrate Christmas......will keep you posted.

Probably my longest post ever......hopefully I will get more consistent with the posts and not be mindless drivel.

Baz

Bonus Whoring and Unexpected Live Poker Upcoming

Checked Neteller this morning and my withdrawal FINALLY made it there......lost a Friday night of poker that I was planning on playing.........oh well......tonight I make my Party deposit and hit the tables hard! I don't have the bankroll to take full advantage of the bonus......YET.....but I will put everything I have there in the meantime to take advantage as best I can.......should clear what I'll get very very easily.

I just found out that on my trip to Kansas City in a couple weeks I'll be getting in a day of live poker. My brother-in-law has planned a "guys excursion to the riverboat to play some hold 'em". He's never played in a casino/riverboat and wants to give it a try. A couple of his buddies will be joining us as well.......it will be a whole morning and afternoon of poker......it will be interesting to see how it is handled on the riverboats in KC. One of his buddies is a dealer at another riverboat in KC and has a lot of info on the various boats available. I'm looking forward to it.

Not To Be Tonight....

I tried to move my bankroll over to Party for their bonus whoring opportunity tonight........alas.......not to be.......I got on around 4pm to withdraw it to Neteller figuring it would be there be this evening.........no good.......I have a long day at work tomorrow so I won't be staying up waiting and hoping.......I will simply have to deposit tomorrow evening.......damn.

I've been enjoying reading all the Vegas reports still pouring in......I found bloglines today and that will definitely keep it easier to keep up to date on the blogs I like to read....no more wasting time going to blogs that haven't been updated.....sweet!!!

Anyway.....I'll take another shot tomorrow........I had .33 left at UB so I went to the .01/.02 NL tables......1st hand all in with the Hilton Sisters........held up........next hand my top pair kings got busted when the other guy rivered his two pair.....UB bankroll officially at 0.

I plan on getting plenty of poker in this coming week so plan on more.

Baz

Don't You Hate It When.....

Don't you hate it when work gets in the way of poker time?

This week at work has been kicking my butt.......late nights every night......Tomorrow night I will be home at a decent time and will get the chance to play some poker.....can't wait.

The good news is I'm not working that much over the next two holiday weeks so I should get plenty of virtual table time.....the holidays will damper it a bit but I will definitely enjoy the family time.

I've been enjoying the various blogs about the blogger tourney in Vegas.....everyone's impressions of each other in a lot of first time face to face meetings. Good stuff.

I want to get more of the bloggers I read daily linked up.........I will work on that before the new year.

Baz

A Little Bit Of Everything.........

I'll start today off by saying I'm definitely JEALOUS at the time it sounds like everyone had in Vegas this past weekend.....as if there was any question that it would be a blast.......I'll be looking forward to reading the updates and reports....I'm guessing it will be a couple of days while the bloggers continue their recovery and try to ease back into their "normal lives".......Thanks to Tao for the initial trip/tourney update.

This weekend was crazy on my homefront........Had to work all day Saturday so I missed the every other month NLHE tourney that I love........it started at 2pm and I wasn't done with work until 6pm.......I did head over there for the side games after.......I can't handle the crazy dealer's choice games any longer......bloody guts......B52........etc.....etc.....etc......it's more of a crapshoot and drives me crazy......takes longer to explain the rules to the people than to actually play some of the games.......there were 46 people this time which is great and just about topping out as far as their space goes.......they run a very nice home tourney complete with raffling of a couple items.....chip set......poker table top.....beer mugs.......neon beer sign.....poker clock.......and provide dinner, pop, and beer. I finally played in a side sit and go and got my money back for taking 3rd.....basically had a great time hanging out, watching the finish of the tourney, drinking way too much, and socializing. I left with $1.50 more than I came with so overall I was a winner.

I didn't play any online poker over the weekend and look forward to playing tomorrow evening. Sunday night was my review that I was looking forward to.......it was great to actually spend an hour on the phone with someone who knows what they're doing and plays poker for a living reviewing and replaying hands that I actually played pointing out where I went wrong......where I was too passive......where I was too aggressive.....where I held on too long.......basically pointing out leaks and things to work on............I had around 2500 hands and he even pointed out and asked me what I was thinking when I played A3o in early position..........he found ONE HAND that I had called when I shouldn't have........I remember the hand specifically because I was trying to 3 table and couldn't handle it......I accidently called and this one hand was one that was brought up......amazing......showed me that they do take the time to really look over how I am playing and are working with me to improve my game.....I was very happy with the review and am very pleased thus far that I signed up for the program......I look forward to my next review.....hoping to fix some of my leaks......basically a big leak of mine now is holding onto pairs too long when I am obviously beat.......having KK in the hole when an A flops and the pot is being raised I'd call it down playing hoping poker...hoping they don't have an A.......I'll be working on it.

After my review I thought about playing online as I was pumped but the kids Christmas gifts aren't going to put themselves together so I started that process after we got them to bed.

Tuesday night I'm hoping to play some online but I may have to work late so we will have to see......it's going to be a rough week at work so it will cut into my poker time.....the good news is next week is VERY LIGHT so the poker playing will increase dramatically.

Baz

First Review Coming.......

It's been too long since my last post..........my wife's grandmother passed away causing us to turn right back around and leave town upon our return from the Thanksgiving holiday........it was a long weekend and beginning part of this week but we are back now......life goes on......

Sure wish I was going to be able to be in Vegas with all the bloggers this weekend.....sounds like it'll be a blast......can't wait to read all the reports.

So......I had decided to get some help with my game..........I have logged 2500 hands and am ready for my first review......I only needed 1500 at Empire but 1000 of those came at Party as I bonus whored for my bankroll's benefit.......so here I sit after logging on last night at Empire.......waiting my first review this Sunday..........I am looking forward to having someone who's been doing this a lot longer than me and actually makes REAL money at it point out some leaks in my game and help me work to make it better..........

I fired up 3 tables last night on Empire.........BIG MISTAKE..........I'm sticking to two for awhile.....I just couldn't keep up with three right now.........two is comfortable...........I lost 25BB on one, earned 10BB on one, and earned 35BB on the other..........so all in all it was a good night but could have been better because the 25BB lost was mostly due to 2 critical errors mostly due to 3 tables at the same time............lesson learned.

I am going back and forth on whether or not I should use the new monitor my wife bought me.........it doesn't have the resolution of my current monitor but is a flat screen.............I'm thinking of going to a dual monitor set-up............I just need to get an adapter......what to do.....what to do.........we shall see.

I won't be playing tonight but will be later Friday evening after I take some time to look over my PT info and have some specific questions for my review...........home game Saturday night and then my review Sunday night followed by some more poker......hopefully..........

Just started reading SSHE...........very interesting already and I just started it......looking forward to getting a chance to read more of it over the next couple of weeks.

That's all for now........swamped getting caught back up at work.......til next time.

Baz

Short One...

Things have been hectic since the Thanksgiving trip..........thought I'd have a break from poker over the trip.........I did have a break from online poker and got a chance to think about my poker game overall and how it's evolving..........I did play poker however.......everyday against my ultra-competitive brother-in-law.......it was a blast.....low stakes.......my father-in-law got in on the action a couple of times but mostly it was me and him heads up......$5-$10 each a session.....no limit hold 'em..........I had never played much strictly heads up......it was a learning experience........he's a solid player and we went back and forth with him ultimately finishing up on the weekend with the final game we played............I did finish the weekend 4 games up on him in Madden on PS2 however..........

I'm working on clearing my Party bonus for my bankroll and have been increasing my BB/hour slowly back toward the positive.........I was sitting nice last night up 20BB on one table when my pocket Aces hit AQQ on the flop..........I saw dollar signs.........and the beautiful thing was there were 6 that saw the flop and 3 of them were raising for me...........with only one folding after the flop..........turn was a 10.........again they were raising for me..........capped.........a Q at the river and........you guessed it........my Aces full of Queens just got beat by four of a kind......what can you do............

I really want to start looking at my pokertracker info and figure out how to manipulate and use it..........I know my hands are too low for any significance right now but at least I can get more comfortable and knowledgeable about the program......I am planning on downloading the GameTime + program..............anyone use that?

Comments are appreciated.

Thanks....short one tonight.
Baz