I'm not even sure many people read my damn blog....especially with all these higher profile people now joining :) Badgerpro, AJunglen the list keeps growing

Oh well, maybe my last goal (#4) will finally be accomplished and I can enter their little community...lol

The title I chose was know your opponent which should be an obvious thing but it's been important for me in the past few days. Some people suggest that before sitting in and playing you should watch a few orbits to see the general play of the players. This is an extremely good idea but sometimes I notice the % of players seeing the flop and I want to get in quick and sap the money from the fish before someone else does. One of the biggest things to know about players is if they're capable of folding? I had two similar hands recently where the type of player dictated whether my play worked or not.

I had just sat down at the table and was in mp with A10s. I raised and the BB called. The flop came 793. BB checks and I bet 2/3, BB called. The turn was a J. The BB checked and I bet 2/3 again, BB called. I assumed that he had a med pair type hand and I could bet him off of that or a draw like 68s. The river was K, BB checks and I bet 2/3 again. He'd shown weakness on all streets and I thought the king was a great card for me as I've been representing a big pair and AK got there too. I didn't assume he had a set or 2 pair because I figured he would raise somewhere along the way or bet the river. He called with A9o. After a few more orbits it was obvious that this guy was calling down with TP on the flop every time and even 2nd or 3rd pair. My note on him is now "Do not bluff"

A similar hand happened another day after I had been watching a few orbits and noticed that this particular player was prone to folding to bets on multiple streets. The villain was in the BB again and cold called. Flop 952r turn J river K My betting was relatively the same with AQo and he mucked showing Queens on the river. I don't bet all 3 streets that frequently but thought it was correct with the board texture in these instances and definitely correct in the second case because of my opponent.

I've consciously made it a rule for myself that if I don't recognize any of the players at the table, to watch a couple of orbits even if the game is super juicy.


Goal Update
I've been somewhat busy lately with things like parent's night and some other random teaching meetings. Lately when I play it's been for 2-3 hours a night...not any time for tournies...although I have donked away at some low buyins.

I've been playing 1/2 and 2/4. I hit my goal to play 2/4 but the 1/2 games have been so damn easy that I've probably played more hours of that level. I'm very near my goal to move to 3/6 but have changed my requirements slightly. I was going to move up to 3/6 when I hit $6000 but am now going to make it $7200. I'm going to give myself a 2 buyin cushion in case I were to drop that right away (which can be common).

For the new readers, I realize 10 buyins is not much for a level and most people suggest anywhere from 40-100 but this is not my total bankroll - it's just for this particular site. My original goal was to be at 3/6 by the end of the year and I'll most likely be there by the end of the month so my goals may need adjusting....hmmmmm

I heard Negreanu on tv the other day talking about being in a poker zone which got me thinking to how much "the poker zone" is very similar to the feeling in sports. Any time I hear that phrase I think of Jordan when he hit 6 threes in one half in the NBA finals as he shrugs to the scorer's table like "I don't know what's going on".

My experience with the "zone" is basketball related. It's an almost euphoric feeling...as if you can do no wrong. When you're in the zone you feel like you can kick the ball in. The hoop feels as big as a pool. It's a great feeling. When you're not in the zone and shots aren't falling you start looking elsewhere for explanations. You start to analyze your mechanics, am I not following through, feet set properly - you hang your head after shots as if nothing is going your way.

The same feeling can be true for poker. I've had times where I feel every decision I'm making is the correct one. You're read on players is spot on and you put players on the correct hand ranges. It's a definite rush. When things aren't going well you start looking at mechanics...hand selection, bet sizes, raising too much?, etc.

So the question is "How do you get in the zone?" It's not something that you can turn off and on when you want it . It just kind of happens. The key is to make sure your prepared so that it will happen. In basketball this means all those years of practice and shooting in the driveway set yourself up to experience this great feeling. In poker this means continually studying the game using books, forums, videos, and other players. If you're prepared it will come.


Goal update
I haven't been playing as much as I'd like to lately since I'm getting into the swing of things at school. I was taking a beat down for a week. I was losing many hands where I was a 70-80% favorite and was getting sucked out on the river...it happens. I've had a decent past few days winning around $1000 and have hit my mark for moving up to 2/4. Next is to get to $6000 to move up to 3/6.

I started school last week so poker has taken a back seat for a little while. I was waking up between 10-11 most of the summer so getting up at 5:45 and working all day has been draining. I know...waaaa...poor me gets the summer off. I tried playing a little last Thursday but it is very difficult to make good decisions when you're drained. I spewed about $800 in cash games that night...half of the losses resulting from me being stupid. This weekend I camped and went to a Dave Matthews concert with some friends so I've had a little poker hiatus. DMB is ok but his fans are crazy, my girlfriend being one of them...I just don't get it.

I wanted to get my poker goals in writing.

1. Make 30-40K a year playing poker
I obviously would like to make much more but I'm trying to make realistic goals. Now that school has started most of this would have to come from cash games during the week. It's very difficult to play tournies during the week because I can't play for 5-6 hrs and go to bed past midnight because the next day would be difficult. I played basketball in college and coached at my school but I quit coaching last year (bunch of different reasons). The stipend wasn't huge but every little bit helps so I'd like to cover that with poker playing so I don't feel so bad about quitting. I constantly get asked why I'm not coaching anymore.

2. Move up to at least 3/6 6 max by the end of the year
I already think I can play at that level but I'd like to take the conservative approach with my bankroll. I'm currently playing 1/2 and have a system for moving up. When I get to 10 buyins with the money in my account I'll move up. For example: When I get to $4000 I'll go to 2/4. I was at $3800 a couple of weeks ago but have spewed a bunch of it away. I had been playing great but my confidence led me to opening up more hands than I should have been and not paying attention to my opponents. It's amazing how little things can affect the way you play.

This is a simple way to move up but it suits me. I could probably win a lot more money if I only played cash but they get monotonous. I need a goal to motivate me to play. That's why bonuswhoring worked so well. There was always a goal to reach...hands played, hours, etc. I have the same problem in video games. I can't play the games that never end like World of Warcraft. It's the satisfaction of beating the game that keeps me going (By the way, Bioshock for 360 is pretty damn cool so far). That's why I enjoy playing tournaments so much more. There's satisfaction in saying you placed X out of 1000 people.

3. Have a decent score on Stars
I mentioned before that for some reason I've always just donked around on Stars. My list of tournaments played and results is laughable for Stars. I'm still not sure which tournaments I should be entering but I'll look at that soon. I actually don't have much money in Stars anymore so I may have to start low.

4. Find a mentor/coach/poker friends
This will probably be the hardest goal to attain. I'm happy with my results but I really think a mentor/coach would really help my game reach the next level. The problem is finding one. I'm sure most of the top players get constant requests from people and that has to be annoying. I'm not going to be a f-ing nat bothering someone to help me out. I also realize that there is probably no incentive for them to help me. I would be more than happy to give a percentage of my winnings if the situation is right.



These are my current goals and I'll fill you in on their progress. #1 is more of a yearly goal as the others are by the end of the year.

After writing my entry today I entered a Stars $109 and finished 2nd to last...lol. I had TP with a fdraw and villain flopped a flush with 24s.

Then I entered the Bodog 25k gtd and took first place. I usually go out Friday and Saturday nights but I happened to be around and cha ching! The 5th place FTOPS was on a Friday too...hmmmmm

Here was a critical hand that gave me the chip lead...kind of a donk move...curious what people think.

Blinds 6k/12k 1200 ante
7 people left

The button was the chip leader and had been active.
Button 360k
Hero SB 165k

He raised to 30K. I had K 9
I figured I was ahead of his range so I rr to 90k
He pushed making the pot roughly 270k and I called getting greater than 2:1
He turned over A J ugh! but I spiked a 9

I was planning on calling a push with my rr as I felt the extra chips would well be worth it. Please let me know what you think.

I started playing poker 2 years ago. The Moneymaker craze was in full effect and many of my friends were hosting tournaments which I never attended. I had never been a gambler and had no idea how to play poker. One night my friends asked me to come over later after a tourney to hang out. When I arrived they had just finished their first tourney and were going to start a new one. They talked me into playing since it was only $10. Small blind, big blind, button…these words were all foreign to me. I had to have a sheet in front of me to tell me what hands beat other hands. I ended up taking second which wet my appetite. A couple of weeks later my sister’s boyfriend was having people over to play so I joined them. There were 8-9 guys who had known each other forever so while they hashed over old stories I sat and paid attention taking 2nd in both of the tournies that night. I was hooked.

I put $100 into Pokerstars later that week and started playing mainly sngs. I would go up and down without really making any money. Then I somehow came across bonuswhores.com in the summer. The site lists all of the bonuses that could be acquired by playing poker. It was extremely easy. I was signed up with 10-15 different sites and would jump around to where the bonuses were. I also started diving into any poker book that I could find. I bought a couple and hit just about every library in my vicinity for the rest. As my poker knowledge grew, I was able to play a very TAG style on 5-6 tables of .25/.50 without barely paying attention and gain a little profit while playing and from the bonus. It was ridiculously easy to grind out a profit this way.

I would dabble in a tournament here and there but never anything expensive. I only entered the extremely small buyins on Stars. In fact as I write this I realize to this day I haven’t played many big tournies on Stars. If you looked at my database you would laugh because it’s filled with mostly $4 180 sngs. I enter those while I’m playing cash games and barely even pay attention to what’s going on. Interesting…I probably need to do something about that…enough of the sidetrack.

The biggest change in my game came when I read Harrington on Hold Em. I played his style to a T. Early in 2006 I won a seat to the 500K guaranteed on Totalbet. It was the biggest buyin tourney I had entered and I ended up finishing 12th. Even though I had won some decent money I was still whoring around entering a tourney here and there, making the money but never a final table. A few months later I won a seat to a WPT satellite where the top 2 people won a $12,000 package to Paris. I was second in chips with 5 left, raised UTG and folded AQo to a push like a weak nit. The blinds were high and I made a play I would never make today but I still won 1K. It still haunts me 

Bonuswhoring built my bankroll but definitely hurt my game. It was so easy that I didn’t have the balls to venture any further. The decline in bonuses was the best thing for my game. I started to move up in limits and ventured into 6 max. Although I was still reading books and 2+2 posts while whoring I increased my reading posts mode drastically in the fall of 06. I read every day and looked at many hand histories that were posted by generous members. Since then my game has changed a ton (definitely not the extreme tight ass I used to be) and has led to some of the scores I mentioned in my first post. I’m a teacher so I’ve had some time to dedicate to poker this summer. This post is getting long so I’ll talk about my goals next time.