11

So I finished the day down but not by much. i was all over the place. I made so great reads eg this one:http://www.pokerhand.org/?640452.

and a really bad read which cost me 150bbs in an unraised pot. Stupid Pride!

I think I need to do some more analysis of the hands I play instead of just saying im Up/Down. Im gonna change the way I write the blog from Sunday. Add a weekly graph, analyse my tough hands etc.


Taking tomorrow off and going to the beach regardless of the weather. Im gonna tear it up on Saturday and sunday.

10

Poker:
I was on such a high after hitting my goal. I was planning to take wednesday off too and go surfing but the weather was rubbish. Within 25 mins of sitting down I had droped 3 buyins. I ran my TPTK in a reraised pot into a set and then I ran my KK in a reraised pot into a set again. Then I had a dude suck out on me. So I dropped to the $100's and picked up 2 and was not tilting at all so I went back to the $200's and dropped a buyin. I was not in the mood to play so I stopped for the day incase I started to tilt off some cash.

Today:I made one of the worst calls ever for my stack with trips when I thought he was messing, I was wrong! I am even for the day after a small increase. Its lunch time today and then Im going back to husstling. I will make back my losses of yesterday. I am down about $300-$400 so I need to get a move on to hit my goal.

So I took Tuesday off as usual and my girlfriend wanted to go shopping. I hate shopping but sometimes you have to do these things. I wanted to get her something cos I ha such a good week so she was trying something on and she liked it so before she could get out of the changing room i picked up the same size and had it in a bag paid and waiting for her. Baller! well not quite.

Surfing tomorrow and "working" on Sat and Sun.


Anyway, Luch then Poker then I'll let you know how i get on.

9

I did it! I made over $1500 by today. (I gave myself an extra day because I went surfing)

I made $1433 through poker winnings and about $250 or more via rakeback. I have not got the up to date rakeback amount. So as you can imagine im chuffed. I just wish it was easier to get my hard earned money from Neteller to my bank. I must send them an e-mail.

I played very well most of the week. I just wish I didnt have that bad day on wednesday. It could have been $2k That will be my next goal. I am only working 3 days this week so $1000 is the goal. I have to reward myself for achieving my goal. I saw a few t-shirts that I want but another thing I want to do is swim with sharks, Im a bit of a madman. There is a place you can do it near where I surf, ironic right! i might have to get my Scuba certification first.

I am going to give about 5% of that to a charity also. I bought a few things from and donated to www.livestrong.com. i am a big fan of Lance and think his story is a testament to the power of the mind and what people could achieve if they put their heart and sole into it. I have not received any of the stuff yet though.

I went to see "borat" today. That shit was funny as hell. I want to see Jackass 2 next.
There were some bits that I was literally falling around laughing at. I ahve a very loud hearty laugh too. I love stand up and all types of comedy and hope to have the balls to do stand up myself one day.

Goal by Sunday- win $1000
(when I say win I mean rakeback not included)

8

I went back to the tables and had another nice session. I picked off another $250ish

My week as a whole was great apart from the mess up I had at UB while looking for good tables. OH well. My luck evened itself out or maybe for the better. I played 3800 hands. I usually aim for 4-5k hands and considering I took 1 day off I am happy enough. I hope this run of fortune lasts for another while. I could use the cash.

I was 21.4 vpip and pfr of 17.2, I think this was due to the stakes as I usually like to play looser but Im very happy with my BB/100 of 11.9

This was my biggest win of the week. Not sure what he was playing but suited me fine.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?632643

A cheeky little number, The pf call was marginal at best as I wasnt deep but worked out!
http://www.pokerhand.org/?632676

One major Mind fart was this hand and I even siad outloud this guy would only do this with a set, And then decided he prob had 99 instead.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?632677

I did catch someone who really didnt believe me and it was a semi loose call but i didnt think he had me beat.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?632689

Since I set my goal of $1500, Im up $936. And with one more day to achieve the goal I think I can do it.

7

So I didn't get a session in yesterday. I went surfing early and didnt get back until it was about 7pm and I was shattered. I would not have played my A game as I was physically exhausted and therefore mentally not up to playing.

This adds another day to my challenge so I have until tomorrow to hti the $1500 mark. If my GF is working that is cos I usually take a day off when she does.

I am going surfing again on tuesday and I think I am getting the hang of it now. I was up on a few waves and I caught a big one which I rode for about 5 seconds. I know it doesnt sound like much but when your moving and trying to stay balanced, It is.

I am having a very good day today and I am taking a break for the moment. I'll hit the tables in another 30 mins. I think im up about $600 for the day. I would be right on track to achieve $1500 if I didnt have that mind fart and ran into that maniac who scalped me.

I learned from my mistake though.
What I did wrong was to go to a site that I haven't played on in weeks and go straight to the $200's without any practice at the $50's or $100's. I was not comfortable on the tables and it showed cos my play was bad. I moved back to Poker.ie and although it can be hard to find a weak table at some times, there are always fish floating around.

UB is good and I'll go there as my fist choice when I cant find any juicy tables but I tried to play at FTP and although there are so many mookes, the software is very slow and with my cheapo wireless internet, I cant play there. I might take a look at Party for my no 3 choice as I have heard that the tables are still really weak.

Will update after the session ends.

6

I have been up and down like a cheap hookers pants on a busy night.

To achieve my no.1 goal of $1.5k by sunday, im even so still $1500 to go. I was down $700 and then I move back down to the $100's and now im even again. I might get a quick little sesh in tomorrow early enough before I go surfing.

I took a few days off and relaxed. I think a day off after the last 2 stressful days wont do me any harm personally. I may not achieve my goal but I will be able to add another day onto the challenge as it was origionally planned for 4 days, not 3.

The stress can be a real pain in the ass cos after the $700 downswing which I might add, $500 was to 1 guy who was at $40 when I sat down but at $700 when I left. He was like 80/40 and sucked out every time until I had no money left on the site, I split cos I was playing badly and I would have lost more instead of beating him. I was low after that and then today I was on top of the world again after my session. I played well and I hit some good cards with the occasional suckout against me included.

Its very important IMO to be able to switch off your emotions about poker when you leave the tables cos if you dont you will have some probs.

Goal by June 2008.

Have $500,000 saved in my BR/investments. There is something good to work for!

5

Goals:

Short term:
Make $1500 by Sunday 26th November.

Make $1000-$1500 a week on average up to Christmas.

Have the BR to be continually playing $1/$2 by10th December. and be achieving a PTBB/100 of 5+.

Medium term:

Have made $6000 by Christmas.

Be playing $2/$4 by February.

Get better at tournament play and have won a $20+ by March.

Be making $2000+ a week by march.

Long term:

This in my driveway by June 30th:

This colour or black with a Cream interior.

(More goals soon)

4

4

Life:
I took 3 days straight off poker to do a few things and keep my game sharp. I went to see U2 who were fantastic. Great gig, the atmosphere was great and the crowd really got into the mood of the concert. U2 are always great and I think the only way that they would have been better if I was at home. we got really close to the front cos we got there pretty early. It was too much effort to keep going out to get beers so we didnt have that many. Some hippie dude was trying to get up the front and we could here him about 5 people behind us and he was saying " I just have to get up there to my mate in the red t-shirt" So we take no notice of him and he starts shouting out Jeff, Jeff. I think who is he talking to cos I see nobody in a red shirt except me and then the penny dropped, He was using me as a decoy to get further up the front. Lets just say that people were lookin at me going " your mate aint comin any closer". That was funny.

Weather has been rubbish again so no surf or beach but I had a relaxing few days. It seems like it is taking forever to get money out of neteller. really annoying.

Poker:
The week started really slow, swingy sessions but I always finished where I started. 2 days playing and I was up $6. Pittyful.

Then on friday I had a stormer and won like 7 buyins. That was nice even though I had a few hands which just wouldnt go my way and I started to get really frustrated. The only bonus is that I still have a very good control of tilting. I dont do it, simle as that. I have only ever tilted twice. I got stacked when my set got cracked adn the next hand I got stacked again with AQs TPTK. And one other ill timed bluff.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?614815.

For some reason that I cant figure out Pokertracker is not recording any of my hands so I cant see exactly how many hands I've played and how much i've won but its about 12 buyins. That includes about 3 via rakeback. I am playing well but not fantastic, I am making some small mistakes but lukily they are only in small pots.

My BR is quite well so while playing 2 tables of $.50/$1 I am playing a $1/$2 table aswell and I seem to be doing very well there. i know I can beat that game and if I had another income aswell as poker I'd be there killing it. I am thinking of getting a temp job for christmas so I can grow my roll cos I am in a difficult spot right now of making enough to survive but not enough to increase stakes. I am taking a risky line by playing some $1/2 but It needs to happen. I found that I am playing more passively and tight on those tables .

I stacked someone who was semi deep, we each had 300 ish and that was a lovely feeling.It was my biggest pot to date( that I won) by about $10.

Next post will be some goals. Small and larger.


Good luck at the tables.

3

A good week.

This week "PokerPaidfor":
My food,
My rent,
Surf board rental.
An Internet connection so I dont have to keep paying $50 a week to use an internet cafe. Finally!
My girlfriend put some U2 tickets on her credit card cos she bough them on Ebay but im gonna give her the $$$.

This weeK I am up about $600ish with a PTBB of 8/100 hands. Im happy with that.

Here is one fo teh Donk plays I made this week(today actually). I can be such a fish at times!

Hand 1

I did hit some nice hands too.

Hand 2

I knew this dude was at it and it makes it even sweeter as he called an allin on the turn against me earlier in the week( my biggest pot loss for the week) when I had top 2 pair and he had a J5s flush draw. I only realised it was him after the session.

Hand 3

I couldnt loose with JJ this week, I made $620 this week and made $608 with JJ. Was Nuts.

2

I am in a land down under.

I am an young Irish boy and I am in the middle of my round the world trip at the moment. I decided that being a sheep like everyone else was boring and I didnt want to do it. So I used some poker winnings and some money from dealing cards and some from the family ( yes the Mafia ) and I bought a round the world ticket. That is def the coolest thing that "Pokerpaidfor". I am living in Sydney at the mo and playing a game a few days a week is my job.

I have steadily grinded my way up through the low limits and I am currently playing the $100 6 max tables on an array of sites. 3 main ones, Full Tilt, Ultimate Bet and Poker.ie which is a prima skin. I had a brief 2 week stint at the $200 but I may have shot myself in the foot by partying too much and spending too much money which made me have to take too much out of my BR to sustain playing the $200's. Then I hit a monster downswing and had another brief stint in the $50's. I almost lost so much that I would have been forsed to get a job but lukily i managed to grind my way out of that just in the nick of time! literally I was $100 away from getting a job.

I have had periods where I was maintaining 12-15 PTbb/100 and then a month where I made a loss of $400. Im on an upswing at the moment so there wont be anything too crazy that "PokerPaidfor" until I have made some cahs again and can get myself up to the $200's. Even moving up that one level will dramatically increase what "Pokerpaidfor" cos instead of pulling out $400-$600 (4-6 buyins) a week to live off, I'll only need to pull out 2-3 buyins. That is goal number one for now. Get my roll up to 25 buyins( OK I'll settle for 22/23) for the $200's before moving up again. I know I can beat them, I've done it before.
I have to get my bank account in order though. It is in huge overdraft but I should have enough coming in to it soon to swing that around.(Tax refunds etc.)

1

1.

And the blog starts! OK, a brief history of me/poker and a few things that poker has paid for.

If you haven't guessed, I play poker. I have even managed to make a profit from playing poker and I decided that I dont want to have a job where someone tells me what to do and the only way to increase my income is work more hours. Eh not for me!

So Poker it is! ( I have had a sales job for all you smartasses out there.)

I am grinding my way through the Small Stakes No Limit Holdem(SSNL). I play cash games 99% of the time as this is where I believe it takes skill and constant good play to succeed. It is also where the real money is. I started playing sit and goes about 2and 1/2 years ago. I worked that up to $500 and took the whole lot out just before Christmas and that was the first time "PokerPaidFor" anything. I bought a few peoples presents. That really felt good knowing that I was buying stuff with Other Peoples Money! hehe! Then I thought that I would play tournaments as I wanted to play on TV and get a "Big Score" Unfortunately that never happened. I was playing about 2-3 tournaments a week and using the $5,$10 and $20 sit and gos to try and make that big score. My bankroll never exceeded $500.

I moved to No Limit cash games about 8 months ago and I have woked my way up from $10 cash games. Those games were mentally tough cos of all the donkeys and bad players down there, Dont get me wrong, I was a pretty poor player too but I knew what I had to do to get better. I battled through grinding a steady profit and moved up when I had a big enough BR(Bankroll).

"PokerPaidfor" my laptop which is pretty sweet.It was the first big thing that pokerpaidfor. I used about 3/4 of my BR for that.

You will hear about my rise through the stakes and how I do it.