Poker Journal for 5/30/09

Poker Journal

6:26 AM - mypalal: Playing 3 table of poker at the moment. Just doubled up thanks to a passive calling station. - (Twitter)

9:20 PM - mypalal: It's my night off from the kid. I'm now playing a lot of poker. Wish me luck. - (Twitter)

Poker Journal for 5/28/09

Poker Journal

12:35 PM - mypalal: Wishing that I could attend at least 1 event at the World Series of Poker. First I need the buy-in. - (Twitter)

12:38 PM - mypalal: First event of the World Series of Poker is starting and I'm watching it all on Twitter. - (Twitter)

Poker Journal for 5/26/09

Poker Journal

6:50 AM - mypalal: had a good poker weekend. Made $100 playing the micro-limit SNG's. Thanks Full Tilt and PokerXFactor. - (Twitter)

Poker Journal for 5/25/09

Poker Journal

7:08 PM - mypalal: Playing a little more poker today on Full Tilt. - (Twitter)

Poker Journal for 5/24/09

Poker Journal

7:37 AM - mypalal: is using any free time to play poker. I'm not an addict, really. I can stop anytime. - (Twitter)

8:54 PM - mypalal: It's getting late. The kid is asleep and I'm ready for some poker. 3 tables tonight. - (Twitter)

9:21 PM - mypalal: Hovering around my starting stack in all 3 SNG's. I can't wait for the blinds to move up before making my move. poker - (Twitter)

9:39 PM - mypalal: I'm moving up to the $5 SNG's and I keep getting sucked out on. poker - (Twitter)

9:53 PM - mypalal: Came in 1st in the $2 SNG. poker. Tripled up on my 90 person SNG. Feeling good. - (Twitter)

9:54 PM - mypalal: Down to 3 tables. Need to make the final to cash. poker - (Twitter)

9:55 PM - mypalal: Sitting in 3rd place. Need to play a little more aggressive but protect my stack as well. poker - (Twitter)

10:04 PM - mypalal: Busted another. Unfortunately his AK ran into my Kings. Still in 3rd place. - (Twitter)

10:07 PM - mypalal: currently in 1st place. Got Queens, called by LAG. Flop A-A-K. He bets out I have to fold. - (Twitter)

10:21 PM - mypalal: They finally moved me to the other table. I'm away from the LAG guys in 2nd and 3rd. Let's see if I can bully this poker table. - (Twitter)

10:23 PM - mypalal: Before I could play a hand, they move me back my original table with the loose aggressives. poker - (Twitter)

10:30 PM - mypalal: Down to 12 people and I'm playing too damn tight. I've got the LAG chip leader immediately to my left. and he is loose. poker - (Twitter)

10:32 PM - mypalal: Just eliminated number 12 with my AK vs. A9. poker. - (Twitter)

10:40 PM - mypalal: This is going to go on forever. poker. - (Twitter)

10:43 PM - mypalal: One to go. poker - (Twitter)

10:45 PM - mypalal: We're down to the final table and my wait has finally paid off. Currently in 2nd place and still have the chip leader to my left. poker - (Twitter)

10:47 PM - mypalal: This is going to be tough. 6 of the 8 have less than 10 bbs. poker - (Twitter)

10:55 PM - mypalal: Took a huge bad beat. My AQ vs A9 and 9 on the river. Then double up with A9 vs QQ and I flop trips. In first. poker - (Twitter)

11:00 PM - mypalal: I'm in first place and only have 10 big blinds. I'm still in shove mode. poker - (Twitter)

11:10 PM - mypalal: Out in 3rd. AJ vs pocket jacks. poker - (Twitter)

Poker Journal for 5/23/09

Poker Journal

6:08 AM - mypalal: Good Morning everyone. I'm up early and I'm playing poker. - (Twitter)

6:14 AM - mypalal: Won a big pot when my four flush hit. Then I immediately lost a big pot in another when a four flush hit me. poker - (Twitter)

6:16 AM - mypalal: Man, I'm playing real bad and sucking out for big chips. poker. - (Twitter)

6:37 AM - mypalal: Finally lost my super short stack table after surviving two levels but only 1 double up. poker - (Twitter)

7:41 AM - mypalal: made $10 profit this morning. Spent $8 in SNG's and won $18. poker - (Twitter)

9:25 AM - mypalal: Now I'm playing another 3 SNG's. poker - (Twitter)

9:40 AM - mypalal: Just hovering around my starting stack in all three SNG's. poker Came back after a few failed steal attempts. - (Twitter)

9:44 AM - mypalal: Doing pretty good. Just grinding my way up the chips stack. poker. - (Twitter)

Poker Journal for 5/22/09

Poker Journal

9:29 PM - mypalal: Playing some poker before going to bed. Running 3 SNG's right now. - (Twitter)

9:38 PM - mypalal: Trying to to play a little looser in the early stages. I figure I can always come back as long as I have some fold equity. poker. - (Twitter)

9:39 PM - mypalal: My first two attempts at floating was a success and a failure. Gave up too many chips when I as deep stacked. poker - (Twitter)

9:47 PM - mypalal: I've got 1,400 in the first SNG. We're down to 5 and I have 14 big blinds. My problem is that I have the 2 big chip leader to my left. poker - (Twitter)

9:48 PM - mypalal: Fold equity low. poker - (Twitter)

10:13 PM - mypalal: Came in 1st in my 1 table SNG's. Lost the 90 player SNG. Not bad. Got my money back from yesterday's loses. poker - (Twitter)

10:15 PM - mypalal: I've noticed the most poker players tweet at night. - (Twitter)

10:23 PM - mypalal: Had a good night of online poker. I'm going to bed. - (Twitter)

Poker Journal for 5/20/09

Poker Journal

7:17 PM - mypalal: Playing a 600 FTP SNG. Winner take all. So far a very passive table. poker. - (Twitter)

9:38 PM - mypalal: I'm moving up to the $5 SNG's. I find myself stealing more pots than usual. poker - (Twitter)

9:38 PM - mypalal: Lots of limping and lots of quick folding. No one has yet to challenge my steals. poker - (Twitter)

Poker Journal for 5/18/09

Poker Journal

9:09 AM - mypalal: I would really like to attend the #WSOPthis year. no money though. poker - (Twitter)

Poker Journal for 5/16/09

Poker Journal

8:10 PM - mypalal: Cool seeing Daniel Negrenau playing poker. - (Twitter)

8:43 PM - mypalal: Back from the movies. I'm going to play poker for the rest of the night. - (Twitter)

9:56 PM - mypalal: Doing well in two tournaments. I'm one table of cashing in one and I tripled up early in the other. poker - (Twitter)

11:31 PM - mypalal: I'm stuck in a very slow moving tournament. I'm doing well, but I'd really like to go to sleep. poker - (Twitter)

Poker Journal for 5/15/09

Poker Journal

2:08 PM - mypalal: Came 1st in 2 of 3 SNG's played at lunch. poker. - (Twitter)

Poker Journal for 5/13/09

Poker Journal

10:26 AM - mypalal: RT @bluffmagazine: Americans Rank Online Poker as Top Tech Issue for White House Consideration - http://tinyurl.com/qdrlg9 - (Twitter)

Poker Journal for 5/12/09

Poker Journal

11:33 AM - mypalal: is going to play 3 SNG's during lunch at the same time. poker - (Twitter)

11:55 AM - mypalal: Playing good at all three tables. Making some good late position steals, laydowns and aggressive hands. poker - (Twitter)

11:58 AM - mypalal: Yes, I'm Mr. Aggressive! poker - (Twitter)

12:00 PM - mypalal: Not sure why people call so loose a big raise in late position, and then flop on a standard cont bet. poker. - (Twitter)

12:01 PM - mypalal: Lost my first SNG. My kings got beat by Jacks. bad beat. poker. - (Twitter)

12:03 PM - mypalal: RT @mypalal: Just pulled a bad beat on another player. Hopefully this will make up for my last bad beat. poker - (Twitter)

12:10 PM - mypalal: down to my last table. poker. I have chip lead here. - (Twitter)

12:37 PM - mypalal: First place in my only SNG cash. It was a tough battle. poker. I made $1.50 today. - (Twitter)

12:53 PM - mypalal: I'm finding that there's a problem with your only mode is Aggressive. You've got to be able to change gears. poker - (Twitter)

11:04 PM - mypalal: won $0.02 playing limit poker tonight. - (Twitter)

Poker Journal for 5/11/09

Poker Journal

9:21 AM - mypalal: broke even playing poker yesterday - (Twitter)

Poker Journal for 5/8/09

Poker Journal

12:45 PM - Two Plus Two Publishing – #70 - Pokercast Episode 70 - Erica Schoenberg, "Poker Bob" Bichler & Jean-Robert Bellande - (LastFM)

8:02 PM - mypalal: is going to play a lot of poker tonight. Catch me at Full Tilt. - (Twitter)

8:16 PM - mypalal: playing 4 tables at one time. So far not so good. poker - (Twitter)

8:22 PM - mypalal: just doubled up against a overly aggressive bully. Flopped a king against his queens. poker - (Twitter)

8:53 PM - mypalal: cashed in 1 of 3 so far. I have 2 more to go. - (Twitter)

8:56 PM - mypalal: down to one. Not a good night. poker - (Twitter)

9:11 PM - mypalal: Currently in 2nd in my 90 person SNG. Got two huge double ups. - (Twitter)

9:56 PM - mypalal: 6 people left in my 90 person SNG. I made the money. i just need to make enough to cover my losses tonight. poker. - (Twitter)

10:13 PM - mypalal: 3 people left. I'm in the chip lead now. poker - (Twitter)

10:17 PM - mypalal: Two bad beats and I'm out in 3rd. I had the best hand pre-flop. poker. - (Twitter)

10:17 PM - mypalal: Broke even for the night. poker - (Twitter)

Poker Journal for 5/7/09

Poker Journal

8:33 AM - mypalal: #Poker players sue LA-based casinos over the Bad Beat Jackpot. Someone's got to ruin it for everyone. http://bit.ly/u02PU - (Twitter)

Poker Journal for 5/5/09

Poker Journal

10:14 AM - mypalal: I'm trying to take Bad Beats in Stride. #poker #badbeats http://bit.ly/16pDkz - (Twitter)

Sometimes You're Just Meant to Lose

With the amount of poker that I play, I’m just not that into bad beat stories. Bad Beats happen all the time and you just have to live it with. If you manage your money correctly, you should be able to weather the storm. Having said this, I have a bad beat story to tell.

Whenever I have about two hours to kill, I like playing a bunch of SNG’s on Full Tilt Poker. Last night it was getting late for me and I desperately wanted to play poker. I had an hour, so I decided to play 2 SNG’s at the same time. I find that if I play several at once, I usually cash and actually make money.  In both SNG’s I was able to build my chip stack and then in all came crashing down. Let’s review both.

Sit-n-Go #1 – I’m on the 3^rd level (blinds: 30/60) and I built my ship stack to 1,800 in chips. Not bad at this stage. I’m in middle position and I am dealt pocket aces. Under the Gun makes a 3x raise of 210. I raise to 450. The button then shoves All-In, UTG shoves All-in and I, of course, call with the best hand preflop. Yes, I have the best hand preflop.

The board then proceeds to show a spade four-flush and the UTG has the King of Spades.  I’m out.

I understand why the pocket Kings called, but why did the pocket 9’s shove? He was not short stacked and with two raisers up front, 9’s are just not that good.

Unless UTG put me on Aces, his call was correct. Maybe I was just not meant to win that SNG.

Sit-n-Go #2 – The second loss was worse. After the first hand I was down to 1,200 in chips. Through some great aggressive play, I built my stack to 3,000. I’m now in second place behind the chip leaders 3,115 chips.

I’m now in middle position again with one limper (blinds: 40/80). I am dealt pocket Aces again.  I make a standard raise of 280. The chip leader on the button calls and everyone else folds.

The flop comes: 8 – 3 – Ace.  Sweet I have trips. The pot is around 700. So I bet 350 as a continuation bet.  The button calls.

The turn comes: 8.  Excellent. I now have a full house: Aces over 8’s.  I check and the button bets 350. I insta-shove and the button insta-calls. He then shows me pocket 8’s. My full house is up against his quads. The river is air and I’m out and I doubled up the chip leader.

May I was just not meant to win.

I didn’t want to press my luck so I quite for the next. I was just not meant to play poker that night.

Now I need someone to come over and fix a broken window…oh and I need a new computer too.

Poker Journal for 5/4/09

Poker Journal

10:49 PM - mypalal: was all-in with Aces. His opponents had pocket kings and nines. Lost when 4 spades made a king high flush. poker - (Twitter)

10:57 PM - mypalal: Lost another SNG. I had a full house Aces over eights. Lost to 4 eights. Oh well, that's poker. - (Twitter)

Poker Journal for 5/1/09

Poker Journal

11:16 AM - mypalal: just went to 7-11 for lunch and will play a little poker before getting back to work. - (Twitter)

11:17 AM - mypalal: I'm going to try and play 3 SNG's again. So far it's been a profitable venture. - (Twitter)

11:39 AM - mypalal: So far a whole lot of nothing. I got pockets aces once. There's a lot of aggressive players. In good shape but running out of time. poker - (Twitter)

11:42 AM - mypalal: Lost my first sng on a coin toss. - (Twitter)

11:49 AM - mypalal: I'm the short stack on the remaining 2 tables. I have just over 10 bb's. looking for places to shove. poker - (Twitter)

11:52 AM - mypalal: Lost my 2nd SNG thanks to a four-card flush. poker - (Twitter)

11:53 AM - mypalal: Down to 1 table with only 11 bbs. poker - (Twitter)

11:57 AM - mypalal: Was dealt Kings but no callers. poker - (Twitter)

12:04 PM - mypalal: Absolutely card dead and short stacked. I'm just hoping to double up and maybe cash. poker - (Twitter)

12:07 PM - mypalal: I more that doubled up with my KK vs AK. poker - (Twitter)

12:07 PM - mypalal: Now at 2800 chips with 100/200 blinds. poker - (Twitter)

12:16 PM - mypalal: crippled with my AQ was beat by KJ. poker - (Twitter)

12:18 PM - mypalal: doubled up when 42 vs AQ. I flopped 4-4-9 - (Twitter)

12:18 PM - mypalal: Cashed when my AQ beat J7. - (Twitter)

12:22 PM - mypalal: I'm out in 3rd. I just got too short stacked. - (Twitter)

9:25 PM - mypalal: is watching of SNG videos on Full Tilt Poker. - (Twitter)

Poker Journal for 4/30/09

Poker Journal

6:36 AM - mypalal: is getting ready for work. I haven't played poker in 2 days. Maybe tonight. - (Twitter)

9:38 PM - mypalal: Great Office episode. Now I'm going to play a little poker before going to bed. Gonna try 3 tables tonight. - (Twitter)

9:42 PM - mypalal: I have 3 $2 SNG tables running on Full Tilt Poker. I'm playing very tight up front. - (Twitter)

9:46 PM - mypalal: I really should be paying closer attention to my poker games. - (Twitter)

9:47 PM - mypalal: I have not had anything close to a decent hand. poker - (Twitter)

9:50 PM - mypalal: Limping w/ KT suited w/ 4 limpers in front of me. Button shoves and I fold. poker - (Twitter)

9:51 PM - mypalal: It's only the second level and there's only 6 players left in one SNG. poker. Lots of gambling in the low limits. - (Twitter)

9:52 PM - mypalal: Make that two of my tables. poker - (Twitter)

10:34 PM - mypalal: There's 3 left and no one wants to come in 3rd. I've never played this long just after the bubble. poker - (Twitter)

10:37 PM - mypalal: some how I have the chip lead w/ 3 players left. I really want to win this. poker - (Twitter)

10:44 PM - mypalal: totally failed at 2 of the 3 tables. Came in first in the 3rd but it took 90 minutes to finish it. Poker. - (Twitter)