I really have to write more. The last few weeks have been good for my poker. My bankroll is now over 50 dollars. In another week or so I will be able to move up to the .10/.20 games. It will still be micro stakes but it is progress.

I have been focusing on three key areas to improve my game:

1. Play in position. I have been stealing blinds like an IRS agent lately. I refuse to play borderline hands in early position.

2. Improved play from the blinds. I realized that I was folding too much from the blinds. I reviewed Ed Millers book on winning small stakes hold'em, applied the knowledge and saw an instant improvement.

3. More value betting. This can't be over estimated. At the micro stakes level people are calling you down with a lot of second and third best hands. If you have a real hand bet it. Your mouse hand should be tired at the end of a session from all of the times that you have clicked the BET button.

So, untill next time...Bet your hand!

A step in the right direction

I managed to push my bankroll up over thirty dollars last week. I now have the 300 big bet bankroll needed to move up from 2c/4c to 5c/10c limit hold'em. Its still the micros but every bit of progress helps. It feels great to have accomplished a goal. Now I am focusing on getting to 60 dollars so that I can move up again.

I played my first session at the nickle/dime level this afternoon and I was surprised at how much tighter the players were. I rarely had more than two callers and a lot of pots ended up heads up. Raises got more respect. I was able to steal a lot of blinds. Mind you, my opponents weren't particularly deceptive or anything but they did seem to have the sense to fold a lot preflop and to acknowledge that their opponent might actually be holding good cards. On the one hand its nice to play something resembling serious poker but on the other hand its not nearly as profitable as when four idiots call you down to the river with random junk.Anyways, I booked a solid winner today, nothing spectacular but it beats the alternative.

The latest cool site that I want to tell people about is www.tableratings.com. You can track any online poker player on pokerstars or fulltilt.com if you know their screen name. Its a great way to keep track of your results as well as following the big name pros.

Until next time,

Good luck on the felts

My Poker Role Model

The last 3 weeks have been busy outside of poker so the blog had to suffer. Okay, to be honest, the poker suffered too. I had too many nights where I either couldn't play or I could only play a short session. This weekend though I got in two fairly long sessions (about a 1200 hands total) and I have the bankroll back in black.

Last post I promised to write about my inspiration for playing poker with ambition. Dusty Schmidt is an onliine poker legend. He is a former high level (nearly PGA) golfer as well as a business man who took up online poker early in the last decade and has made around 3 million dollars in online cash games. He has recently written a book called "Treat your Poker Like a Business" and will soon publish an autobiography. I haven't gotten his book yet but I have read numerous interviews the man has given and his approach to poker seems simple but brilliant.

First, he isn't playing for ego. He has no interest in getting on tv or trying to stare down the likes of Phil Ivey. He searches for situations where he feels he has an edge and tries to exploit them. Also, he credits a lot of his approach to simple hard work and volume. He is reknown for his long sessions and multi-tableing. He tries in every way to run his poker like he used to run his family's business. He uses discipline, hard work and a focus on the bottom line. It sounds like common sense but before you dismiss his ideas with "everyone knows that stuff" ask yourself, are you getting what you want out of poker? If not you might reconsider your approach. Also, its one thing to "know" an idea, Its another thing altogether to have the focus to apply the idea all of the time. I really think that Dusty is a perfect example of the idea of "deliberate practice" that has gotten a lot of exposure thanks to writers like Malcolm Gladwell in his book "Outliers". The basic idea is that talent isn't something that you are born with, it is a skill that you develop through years of very focused hard work on your craft. The main component of "talent" is in most cases the opportunity to pursue your passion and most importantly your willingness to do the necessary work.

I'll leave you with two links. There is a wonderful thread where Dusty takes all questions at "cardschat.com" .

Also here is Dusty's site where you can read excerpts of his book. "dustyschmidt.net".

Until next time,

Good Variance to you.

Plugging the leak

It's been a busy week couple of weeks. I have been on a minor downswing. I lost about 7 dollars in bankroll at the microstakes limit games on pokerstars. I suppose that isn't a minor downswing since its about a third of my bankroll but that's why you need to keep a healthy bankroll relative to the limits you play at, to survive swings.

I wish I could blame variance on all of my losses but I still get sucked into chasing with second pair too often. That seems to be my most persistent leak. I have zen like discipline when it comes to starting hand selection but if I have pocket queens and the board has an ace on it and somebody is all but IM ing me that he has an ace I really fight laying down the big pair.

How am I fixing this? Before each session I am writing out goals for the session. It looks something like this:

DATE:

TIME STARTED:

TIME ENDED:

GAME: (type of game and limit)

BANKROLL/START SESSION:

BANKROLL/END SESSION:

GOALS FOR SESSION:

1. Number of hands I have to play this session
2. Avoid misclicks
3. play top pair top kicker or better. STOP CHASING WITH SECOND PAIR!!
4. Bet for value.

Anyways, writing it down before I start seems to help. My last two sessions went a lot better and while they were slightly losing, I can attribute that to variance.

So that is how I am working to identify and fix my current biggest problem.

I know I keep promising links, what can I say, I'm a lazy blogger. To get you started, I'll point out the most important poker forums on the web. If you found my blog you probably already know about David Sklansky and his company but if you don't than go to twoplustwo.com

It is full of professionals and serious amateurs who discuss the game at a very high level. One word of warning. Before you plunge into the current posts read the FAQ and the stickys. They contain a goldmine of instruction and links. Just as importantly they contain a glossary of the hundreds of abbreviations that members routinely use in the forums. Without a cheat sheet, you'll feel like your trying to order off a menu written in Mandarin Chinese.

Next post I want to talk about the man I consider my role model for what I want to accomplish in online poker.

Until then, Good variance !

Limping will cripple you

This week has been awesome. I finished on a rush and have my bankroll in the positive. While I needed good variance like anyone else, I think I did play well this week. My starting hand selection was solid and I am learning to let hands that miss the flop go without betting on the more expensive turn and river rounds.

One leak that I have to work on is too much limping. If a hand is good enough to bet its good enough to raise. The problem with limping is that I let people with marginal hands hang around at low cost. When they hit their crazy draw and suck out its my own fault. A raise might have knocked them out. Most of the time I'm good about this but last night I kept limping with AJ suited. It cost me a couple of times. The only time to limp is in late position with many callers and a hand that plays well in a multi-way pot.

Small mistakes are still keeping my win rate below where it should be. Just yesterday, I clicked call instead of fold on 7/3 off suit and folded a hand where I had pot odds to continue but I got lazy and screwed up the math. According to all of the experts the difference between an average winner/break even player and someone who beats the game for a real profit is 1 big bet per 1000 hands. I need to maintain my focus. Each decision has to be made deliberately. One forum poster emphasized using more of your allotted time. Even on automatic decisions I should take an extra couple of seconds and go through why it is an "automatic" decision and consider alternatives. According to those in the know, poker, at a certain point, is not so much about playing better as it is about sucking less. I have to eliminate my C game and only play my A game. I don't need brilliant insights so much as I need lack of mistakes.

Next post I'll start posting some links. That way google can discover me and if someone reads this they can visit some of the great sites that I have found.

Multi-tables and other things

One of the unique things about online poker is the ability to play more than one table at a time. Assuming that you can play winning poker to begin with, it stands to reason that playing more tables equals more hands per hour which means more profit. Apparently it is standard procedure for online pros to play four or more tables at a time.


I have been experimenting with playing two tables at once. The results have been mixed. In the short run multi-tabling has cost me money. Long term it will help me become a winner. When I multi=table I make too many errors. I have clicked call instead of fold, misread my hand, and generally played too fast. On the other hand, after playing two tables, when I returned to one table the game seemed to have slowed town. I no longer feel rushed at the table. Also the stint at multi tabling exposed my lack of discipline and various post-flop errors. For the short term I have returned to one table only and my focus and play is much better. My long term goal is to play 4 tables at once profitably.



After two weeks I was down 2 dollars. I was actually down 4 until I had a nice run at the micro level no limit. Today I posted a 4o cent win at .02/.04. Obviously 40 cents is nothing in the big scheme of things but it does amount to 10 big bets in approximately 2 and a half hours and 97 hands. By going to only one table I am adjusting my hands per day goal to 100 hands per day.



I have been playing better the last couple of days. Three things have helped me.



1. I switched to one table at a time. See the discussion above.



2. I tightened up my pre flop play. I had been using the chart in Sklansky and Miller's book on low limit hold'em. Upon reflection I think that it is too loose for a player at my current level. Many of the hands put me in a position where I had to make a lot of tough decisions post flop on borderline hands that were sometimes best but too often second best and costing me a lot of bets.



3. I put away my starting my starting hand chart. I had been playing with the Sklansky/Miller book open in front of me. However, long term, what I need to do is understand why certain hands can be played in certain positions. I need to think for myself. I have tightened up my starting hand selection and I am making decisions based upon my opponents and what I think I should play. This is helping my play right now and it will now and long term it will teach me to think about poker in the correct way.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading and I'll see you next week.

chopping wood

Okay, so Its been a week since I started the great poker drive. I'm down a little over a dollar and I've played almost 600 hands. What have I learned? Two things: 1. When I stop playing middle pair on the flop I do much better and 2. 600 or so hands isn't really enough hands to tell anything. Variance is a bitch. In order to account for wild luck swings where I play like a lobotomized chicken and win anyways and those other times when my pocket aces get cracked by some Rhodes Scholar who thinks its a great idea to call three raises preflop with 6-5 suited and then back doors his flush you have to play many hands. According to the guys and gals at the 2+2 forums after around 30,000 hands I will begin to have an idea of whether or not I am playing with a positive expected value i.e. Am I the sucker at the table or not?

By the way, I suppose I should mention that the games I play are Texas hold'em limit and no limit. I am also learning Razz but I have yet to play it for money.

Anyways, I am trying to focus on the big picture. I am trying to ignore individual ups and downs and focus on continuing to work on my game and get in lots of hands. The more practice and study the better. I am trying to just put blinders on and keep chopping wood so to speak.

One thing I am doing to keep my focus where it belongs is, I am just recording the number of hands dealt each day. I will update my bankroll figures at the end of the week and figure my wins and losses per 100 hands rather than per hour. I don't want to fall into the trap of planning my WSOP bracelet fitting every time I am up a few big bets or drowning my sorrows in Cuervo every time I don't book a winner.

Over all I am focusing on things I can control:

Play good starting hands

make good post flop decisions

play as much as possible. My current target is to be dealt 200 hands per day.

Next post I'll discuss rather or not to play multiple tables.

post flop play

I generally play preflop very well. I am familiar with Sklansky, Hellmuth, Andy Bloch and other's ideas on how to play the first two cards. I keep a chart in front of me while I play and I am very aware of position. When I choose to get involved in a hand I usually have something worth playing.

After those first three cards hit the table, its a different story. I cringe when I think of all the times that I have chased with middle pair or top pair weak kicker, or top pair on an obvious flush or straight board that was getting action. I often seem to play with blinders on. Never mind that half the table is betting into me my cards are all that count and I think my pair of sixes will be fine, thank you very much.

Well, in the last two weeks, I have been reading Miller, Sklansky, and Malmuth's "Small Stakes Hold 'em" and something seems to have clicked. Near the beginning of the book the authors comment that most people focus too much on starting hands when what they need to do is focus on playing the flop well. I took those words to heart and I have been reading and rereading the post flop material. It seems to be helping. I am looking at a board in terms of potential flush draws and how connected it is. If my pocket kings catch a rainbow flop with junk I feel like I'm the favorite and I play like it. If a flop comes down with two suited cards and some connectors I slow my roll if there is raising or bet to protect my hand as needed.

The thing that really sets Sklansky's books apart from a lot of poker books is that he doesn't focus on giving you cut and dried cookie cutter answers. Instead he teaches you what questions to ask. He shows you how to analyze the game.

Its getting late so that's all for now but next time I'll review my first two playing sessions since I started this blog and committed my self to playing serious poker and making money.

building a bankroll

Well, sixteen cents isn't even enough to play the 2 cent/4 cent game at poker stars. I will deposit ten dollars this Friday. This will give ma a 250 big bet bankroll at the 2 cent/4 cent level. My plan is to deposit 10 dollars every two weeks until I have one hundred dollars on deposit at poker stars. This will give me 200 big bets at the 25 cent/50 cent level.At this point the bankroll will have to become self supporting. I f I drop below 200 big bets I have to move down a level. If I am winning and I accumulate 200 big bets at the next level, I can move up.

Of course all of the money management in the world won't help if I don't play winning poker. My game has more leaks than a National Enquirer convention. I have to take some major steps to improve my game. Next post we'll take a look at how I plan to improve my game.

Sixteen Cents

A dime, a nickle, and a penny. That's my poker bankroll. Can I turn it around? Can I turn those coins into a fortune on the green felt? I have been fascinated by the game of poker since I was sixteen years old and I read "The Biggest Game in Town" by A. Alvarez. His iconic account of the 1981 world series of poker is thought of by many as the finest book of its kind. When Chris Moneymaker won the main event in 2003 I was one of the millions inspired to try my luck at the game they call Texas Hold'em. I played for two years on a variety of online sites and when I cashed out for the last time I was around fifty dollars ahead. Chris Ferguson wasn't losing any sleep over me but most people lose money so I wasn't complaining.

In November 2009 I decided to scratch the poker itch again. I deposited twenty dollars on poker stars and now, as of January 4th 2010 I have sixteen cents. I could blame bad beats, mostly though it is bad play that has brought me this low.

I have a goal. I want to make 1,000 dollars per month playing online poker. I want to learn this game and use it to change my life. Can I do it? This blog will record my journey. Care to come along?