I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel down...

FT Bankroll: $524.77
PS Bankroll: $41.26
Total Online Bankroll: $566.03

Well, after my run in the FT $750k, going back to grinding at the $0.25/0.50 level just doesn't seem to be as fun. I sit there thinking back to a hand about 60 people before the money bubble where I got all of my chips in against a raiser before me, with his AJ vs. my AK and my hand holding up. The thrill and excitement that came along with winning that hand, I don't know that I have experienced that, maybe ever, in online poker.

Now, I sit down this morning and 4-table some cash games on FT and mosey along with nothing really exciting happening, and then I win an $85 pot when all of the money gets in on a flop of Q94 when I am holding Q9suited when I call from the button against a raiser to $1.75 and another caller. Maybe a loose call, but it worked out well when the original better overshoves all-in with pocket aces and he doesn't catch up. Now that was fun, but the prospect of $130k for the winner of the FT tourney, that pot of gold out there was much more thrilling than this $85.

Because the FT tourney took away basically an entire Sunday afternoon with my kids, I will not be trying to qualify anymore for that tourney until at least next year, say May or June when my wife goes up to Canada on vacation with the kids for 5 weeks. But for this one time, man, what a thrill.

Good luck at the tables all, hope to see you all there, and good luck.

Ryan

Busted in 420th

Well, this taught me a lot of things, especially being my first time in a big tournament like this. My final hand I should not have been in.

I crossed the money bubble in 180th out of 522 people with a healthy 23.5k in chips. I raised 3 times after the money bubble, once with nothing from the cutoff to steal blinds, and got re-raised all-in by someone with 15k in chips in the BB and folded. Then, I raised with AQdd from middle position a few hands later. The flop came 3 low spades, and eventually folded on the turn.

I was down to about 12.5k in chips, and called from the button with QJss (blinds were at 500/1000 I think, one guy raised to 2400, another guy called, so did I, and so did the BB. So there is 10k in the pot, I have 10k left. Flop comes J65 rainbow. I ended up with all of my money in, and one of the guys in middle position had hit a set of 5's. Good game me. I should not have been in the pot on the first place, but such is life.

It was a fun run for 4 1/2 hours, and I was happy to cash in my first Sunday major tournament. Thanks for all of those who railed.

See you all at the tables.

Ryan

$750k - 2nd break

Overall, a great hour for me, got seriously involved in 3 pots, and won them all. I am sitting on about 10.5k chips, avg stack is 6,800, and I am sitting around 300th with 1600 left, with 522 getting paid.

The first hand is not retrievable, because I got moved right after the hand, but I had JTdd on the button, it is limped in 3 spots, I call, SB completes, BB checks. I have about 2,600 at this point, short stack in the hand. Flop comes KdQh4d, I have an open-ended straight draw and a flush draw, BB bets 400 with about 1000 in the pot, folded to me, I raise to 1000, he moves all-in and I call, He shows KQos for 2 pair, I hit a diamond on the river to stay alive.

Now my stack is a healthier 5,500ish, when the following hand occurs:

Full Tilt Poker Game #3997198196: $750,000 Guarantee (29181959), Table 60 - 60/120 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:35:02 ET - 2007/10/28
Seat 1: Pechorin (6,950)
Seat 2: BarFine600 (3,180)
Seat 3: Shark point (8,375)
Seat 4: Shkn_Nt_Strd (2,730)
Seat 5: PJS JR (5,155)
Seat 6: JohnyDallas (14,697)
Seat 7: pfino (4,170)
Seat 8: luckychewy (2,210)
Seat 9: lolo163 (3,500)
Shark point posts the small blind of 60
Shkn_Nt_Strd posts the big blind of 120
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PJS JR [6h 6s]
PJS JR calls 120
JohnyDallas folds
pfino folds
luckychewy has 15 seconds left to act
luckychewy raises to 420
lolo163 folds
Pechorin folds
BarFine600 folds
Shark point folds
Shkn_Nt_Strd has 15 seconds left to act
Shkn_Nt_Strd folds
PJS JR calls 300
*** FLOP *** [5c 8c 3s]
PJS JR checks
luckychewy has 15 seconds left to act
luckychewy bets 625
PJS JR raises to 2,040
luckychewy calls 1,165, and is all in
PJS JR shows [6h 6s]
luckychewy shows [As Kh]
Uncalled bet of 250 returned to PJS JR
*** TURN *** [5c 8c 3s] [9d]
*** RIVER *** [5c 8c 3s 9d] [Ts]
PJS JR shows a pair of Sixes
luckychewy shows Ace King high
PJS JR wins the pot (4,600) with a pair of Sixes
luckychewy stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4,600 | Rake 0
Board: [5c 8c 3s 9d Ts]
Seat 1: Pechorin didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: BarFine600 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: Shark point (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: Shkn_Nt_Strd (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: PJS JR showed [6h 6s] and won (4,600) with a pair of Sixes
Seat 6: JohnyDallas didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: pfino didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: luckychewy showed [As Kh] and lost with Ace King high
Seat 9: lolo163 didn't bet (folded)

I was hoping to see a hand like AK, and my hand was lucky enough to hold up. A little while later:

Full Tilt Poker Game #3997324577: $750,000 Guarantee (29181959), Table 60 - 80/160 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:47:11 ET - 2007/10/28
Seat 1: Pechorin (5,310)
Seat 2: BarFine600 (3,420)
Seat 3: Shark point (7,535)
Seat 4: Shkn_Nt_Strd (2,790)
Seat 5: PJS JR (7,305)
Seat 6: JohnyDallas (16,872)
Seat 7: pfino (4,650)
Seat 8: KwaziWabbit (6,692)
Seat 9: lolo163 (3,080)
Pechorin posts the small blind of 80
BarFine600 posts the big blind of 160
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PJS JR [Js Jh]
Shark point folds
Shkn_Nt_Strd folds
PJS JR raises to 420
JohnyDallas folds
pfino folds
KwaziWabbit folds
lolo163 folds
Pechorin has 15 seconds left to act
Pechorin calls 340
BarFine600 folds
*** FLOP *** [Td 2c 3h]
Pechorin checks
PJS JR bets 960
Pechorin calls 960
*** TURN *** [Td 2c 3h] [9s]
Pechorin checks
PJS JR bets 5,925, and is all in
Pechorin folds
Uncalled bet of 5,925 returned to PJS JR
PJS JR mucks
PJS JR wins the pot (2,920)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,920 | Rake 0
Board: [Td 2c 3h 9s]
Seat 1: Pechorin (small blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 2: BarFine600 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: Shark point didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: Shkn_Nt_Strd didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: PJS JR collected (2,920), mucked
Seat 6: JohnyDallas didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: pfino didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: KwaziWabbit didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: lolo163 (button) didn't bet (folded)

I realise my push on the turn screams overpair, but I just did not want to check to check-raise and have my opponent check behind (which he most likely would have) only to see an A or K on the river to question whether my hand is good.

Lost one hand before the break when I raised with 77 in middle position and got re-raised all-in by the SB who had about 3,800 chips. I decided to fold after much contemplation, as I did not feel like racing against that many chips. Maybe I was dominated, who knows. But losing would have knocked my down from 10.5k to about 7k. Maybe it was weak, but I didn't care to risk it at this point.

Off the the next level, 120/240 (25 ante), will let you know how I fare.

Ryan

50FTP = $216

After reading Loretta8's blog on turning 50FTP into a $750k ticket, I thought I would try the same. The first couple 50FTP tournaments went poorly, but I won the third. The satellite into the tourney was not easy. I actually was chipleader with about 20 left, then lost a huge all-in PF with my KK vs. AA. I made a valiant comeback, and ended up winning, don't really know how, but I did.

I am writing this just after the first break of the tourney, and I am at 3200 chips from a starting stack of 3000. Won a couple of pots, nothing over 200 or 300 chips. Just kind of hanging around, because it seems as though the blinds are very low compared to stack size. Now that we get into the 2nd hour, things change a little.

I will post an update as I can during the breaks. Thanks for railing, if you are.

Ryan

Back down to Earth...

PS Bankroll: $33.59
FT Bankroll: $305.11
Total Online Bankroll: $338.70

Well...

My run of good fortune is pretty much over. I guess I am not the poker player I thought I might be. My Pokerstars account has dwindled by taking a series of beats, being card dead, and then proceeding to go on a major tilt. At one point, I lost over $75 on 2 successive hands having AJ and AQ, and open-pushing with both because I was steaming, and getting called once by KK and the other time by AA and losing of course.

When I get some time, I am going to play a few MTTs with my remaining money, maybe a $5 or $10 and see if I can make a deep run and build the bankroll back up. If not, I probably won't deposit any more on PS.

My FT bankroll was as high as about $350. I then proceeded to lose another series of beats, some bad, some not so bad. 4-tabling it the other day, I was all-in 3 times within 5 minutes with KK, AA and JJ, to be called with inferior hands each time and losing all 3 for about $100 worth of beats. The bankroll went all the way down to about $130. Almost back to where I started.

In the last 3 days, my luck has come back a little, and the very few times I have gotten all of my money in, I have been a favorite and won. I also flopped flushes twice with small suited connectors and got paid off both times, once with the guy holding A-rag with the A of the flush cards, and the other time with TPTK, and had him drawing dead on the turn. So the FT bankroll is back to healthy, will be playing cash there, and an MTT or two on PS when I have a few hours to spare, which is basically never at this point. Work 50-60 hours a week, and then working with my wife after hours and being with my 3 kids, that fills up my day and then some. I really don't want to play tired, even as much as I am addicted to the game.

I don't know many people on FT, although I have been railing Loretta8 and Tony Eusebio without them knowing. They are really the only 2 people I know there, and I read their blogs, so I thought I would see how they were doing. Good luck to them, and the rest of you at the tables.

Ryan

Holy Variance...

Ending PS Balance: $305.73
Ending FT Balance: $335.21
Total Online Bankroll: $640.94

First of all, just to reference to my previous posts:

1) Lost over $100 yesterday 4-tabling on FT, then later on PS. It was as though I couldn't even buy a pot. Got to be at the end, I tilted off some money on a KKT4 board with 77, then when the 9 came on the river, I pushed, and of course the guy called with AK.
2) PS says I don't qualify for the bloggers tourney. That's ok really, don't know if my schedule would have fit to play anyways...

To my post of the day:

After getting poor results 4-tabling it yesterday, I was going to take a break. Yah right. I can't take a break, I love playing poker too much. So I hopped on this morning and decided to 2-table it for an hour or so before work. Got in about 200 hands between the 2 tables with wonderful results. I played 3 big pots and won all 3. (Playing $0.25/0.50)

Pot 1: I have 77 on the button, middle position raised to $1.75, I call, SB and BB both call. Flop is 7s4s3s. Pretty good flop for me, but obviously I am still not comfortable with 3 spades out there. It is checked to me, with $7 in the pot, I put out a $3 feeler bet to see what's up. If someone calls, I figure the As is out there. The SB folds, BB now raises to $8 (with $15 behind), middle position calls. $hit. Someone's got the flush, so the board has to pair. Of course I call the $5 after taking quite a bit of time. The turn is a beautiful 4c. BB immediately moves all-in, middle position thinks for a good 30 seconds, and as I am yelling CALL CALL CALL to the monitor, he folds, of course I call and scoop the pot when the BB shows 9s8s for the flopped flush. Nice $60+ dollar pot.

Pot 2: I have KK in middle position, and after 1 limper, I raise to $2.50. Late position calls, as well as a very loose BB (who has everyone covered), early limper folds. Flop comes 933 rainbow. I like this flop a lot. With about $8 in the pot, I bet $3 making it look like a standard continuation bet. Late position calls, and the BB raises to $14. It could be argued that I should have thought about it a little more, but because he was such a loose player, I put him on K9 or A9, no way he slowplayed AA on me, I insta-shove for my remaining $30ish, late position folds and BB insta-calls. Oh oh. Turn 4, River 3. I scoop the pot when BB shows T9os?

Pot 3: I was just about to head up and shower, and decided to take one more orbit around the only table I had left open. I middle position, I find 9h9d, after the first 3 players limp. Now, some would say raise, but if I raise to $2 or $2.50, the donks say 'POT ODDS, had to call!' If I raise to $4 or $5, I get no action. I decide to limp, and by the time we see the flop, there are 7 players. Eeeesh. My mood changes when the flop comes Q93 rainbow. Check, check, guy behind me bets out $5 (with $18 behind) into a $3.50 pot. I thought that was strange, definately doesn't have JT, maybe QJ or Q9, who knows, anyways, I call, everyone else folds. Turn is a J, he now checks. I bet $7, and he calls after thinking about it for a moment. He's got $11 left, so I put him all-in after and Ace hits on the river. He seems to relunctantly call, and mucks. I look at the HH and he has 33 for a set of 3's. He played it as though he thought he was behind the whole way, which he was. I still managed to get all of his money.

So, life has been restored to my bankroll. The goal is to hit $1k by the end of the month. If I can achieve that, I might reward myself with a buy-in to a $50-$100 tourney and see if I can really give myself a boost with a deep finish. If not, we will just keep pluggin' away at 50NL and see what happens.

Thanks for ready, see you at the tables.

Ryan

What happened??

Ending PS Balance: $201.33
Ending FT Balance: $335.21
Total Online Bankroll: $536.54

Bad, bad bad bad bad bad bad.

Bad.

Details later. But it was baaaaaaaaad.

Ryan

Wild Weekend!

Ending PS Balance: $242.55
Ending FT Balance: $401.86
Total Online Bankroll: $644.41

Was a crazy weekend to day the least. Got in about 3000 hands of 50NL buying in for $30. I don't know if it is fear that prevents me from buying in for the full amount. I guess with my roll as it stands right now, I can stand to lost 2 buyins at $30, but two @ $50 just seems to be too big of a risk. I tend to keep my pots small, pick up blinds when I can, so I don't really feel the need to be a big stack.

Started out Saturday morning on Pokerstars playing 4 tables. After about 700 hands, I was up on 2 tables, down on 2, basically even for the session. I was getting pretty bored, and my kids were about to get up. (my wife sleeps in until at least 10 on the weekends, so my poker time is usually between 5am and 8am when the kids get up.) Anyways, I figured it was time to get aggressive or quit for the day. I decided the following hand was an opportunity for some post-flop agression:

In the cut-off, I get dealt 8d7d, I have really enjoyed playing more suited connectors lately, they definately have good value. 3 limpers before me, I decided to limp and see what happens. Blinds check, 6 people to the flop, all with stacks between $25-45:

Flop: 8h7hKc There's $3 in the pot, and the BB puts in a $2 bet, 2 callers before me. So, there is $9 in the pot, 5 people left in the pot. Do I put in a raise now? Hope someone has AK or KQ and pays me off? There are some cards that I definately don't want to see on the turn, so I take my time before putting in a raise to $7. Small blind now re-raises to $17, which represents 60% of his stack, so he is committed for sure. BB goes all-in for $29 total, two previous callers fold, I call all-in for about $27 and the SB calls as well.

SB: AcAs
BB: AhKh

Man, was I sweating those last 2 cards, which put a 3rd heart on board (2h) on the turn, but a lovely 8c on the river to complete my boat and take the main pot of about $85. Of course, the small blind then goes crazy about me playing 87, only to get $hit from the rest of the table about limping with Aces in the SB with 5 other players. Needless to say, it was a nice boost.

So I ended the morning session up about $60.

On Sunday morning, I four-tabled again PS, and was up about $80 collectively on all 4 tables by playing no big pots. I think the biggest pot I won is when I called an all-in bet with QQ from a short-stack pusher who had AK. Queens held up for a $24-25 pot. Unfortunately, right before I ended my session, I raised in late position with Ah8h, only caller was the BB. He checked a flop of JT7 with 2 hearts. I put in a bet of $3 which he called. Turn comes an off-suit 9. I'm excited. So excited that I turn blinders on when he raises my bet on the turn, as we get all the money in (I had about $42 total when the hand started). I figured I was on a freeroll until the river is a blank and he turns over KhQh for the nuts. #$*&%@*!$^. That cut my profit in 1/2, but still a respectable $40-45 profit for that session.

Later on Sunday, I tried my luck at a $20+2 45-man SNG on FT, which I busted out in 31st after getting no cards, and losing a race with AJ suited vs. 66. Crap. Then hopped on the $0.25/$0.50 cash tables on FT and did very nicely. Was lucky to get All-in preflop twice, once with QQ vs. TT and the other with KK vs. QQ.

Anyways, I've been running, good, let's hope it keeps going. Good luck to everyone, hope to see you at the tables.

Ryan

Pokerstars!!!

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 8476253

Do I qualify? I don't know, I started my blog before seeing the ad, should that be enough to be able to play? I hope so.

Down, Down, then back up...

Current PS Balance: $137.26
Current FT Balance: $358.44
Total Online BR: $495.70

Work has been crazy lately, and it's been tough to get 3 minutes to post anything. The summary of the last week:

PS Balance has fluctuated between $100 and $230 in the last week. Taken some pretty rough beats, had aces cracked AI PF against kings, queens, jacks and 6-3 suited.

FT has gone much better. Took a $30 buy-in on a $0.25/$0.50 cash table up to $110 by rivering a flush, a straight, and then getting AI PF against TT with my QQ and having it hold up.

Early this morning, I played a MTT with 350ish people in it and made the final table. Got lucky with 14/15 players to go by getting all-in as a short stack with A5, Q4 and J8. Even though each was a slim PF favorite, having them all hold up was nice. 10th and 9th place went out simultaneously, then down to 8 with 15k chips in the pot and me having 9k left. 4 players, and the flop came out 6h2h2c. I was holding AhTh and didn't have anything else to do but push. The chipleader called my bet with 45os. A non-heart 5 on the river sealed my fate. Was a nice $190 cash, but with $1,850ish for first, I was disappointed.

That being said, my $200 initial bankroll is up close to $500, so we are on the right track.

Thanks for reading, and see you at the tables!

Ryan