Week 4/5

This is a combined update for the past 2 or 3 weeks. I forgot to post when i left for spring break, and now it is the end of another week, but i did not count spring break as a week in the challenge. I have now made the determination that i play like GARBAGE when i use T$, It's like play money to me. So from now on, when/if i win a million or any other satty, I will use that towards that tourny or another like the warmup or 2nd chance.

Some of you may know, I won another $4.40 180 player on stars for another +200 cash. This was by far the most fun tournament i have ever played. At 100/200 + 25 antes, I lost a race for most of my stack and i was left with 350ish chips UTG with A6, I tripled against AK and KJ obv, then doubled again with QJ dd vs 66. I played very maniac agressive on both bubbles, and it was so much fun. Even tho i was hung over and very exhausted from getting back from florida the previous day.

As for my plans, I am going to keep the winnings online and give the $10 180 players a good shot. $500 is a decent bank roll for it, but i just hate how they dont fill as much. I'll also mix in a $10 MTT and the $3 rebuy with a $15 limit.

Weekly Profit $83.36
Total Profit $345.12
Amount to go: $2,238.24

Tournaments won: 3
To go: 3

Week 3

This week since the win of the triple shootout, I honestly haven't played much and really havent cashed since then. I started up a spreadsheet tracking my daily play, along with ROI calculated per tournament, daily, and weekly. I have won 2 tournaments since the start of this goal and i set a goal of 3 to start. I am going to up the goal to winning 6 tournaments by graduation including a win of over 1k entrants.


Weekly Profit $142.17
Total Profit $261.76
Amount to go: $2,238.24

Tournaments won: 2
To go: 4

It doesnt matter if you win by an inch or a mile....

Winning's winning!!!

So I might have played the best poker I ever have last night in qualifying for my 4th seat in the sunday million by ways of a $3.30 Triple Shooout. I have not reviewed the entire tourny yet via PXF, but my final table play was pretty maniac esque. Like BCM11 said, SNGs aren't poker, they are a video game. And last night i basically beat the final boss in winning this seat. Which unfortunately I will not be able to play, even tho there is an extra $500k added by stars for the 1 year anny of the tournament. I have fraternity stuff at 7pm on Sunday not to mention the drive back to Athens from Cleveland. I will use this excess BR to start to mix in the $10 180 players. I think my $500ish BR will sustain the mix of both 4.40s, 11s and $5 and under freezeouts. Here is the closing hand by which the top 3 finishers got the seat:

Seat 1: lilOUmikey (2480 in chips)
Seat 3: EduardoBerto (1132 in chips)
Seat 4: SocietyRed (3475 in chips)
Seat 5: Luggie34 (1913 in chips)
lilOUmikey: posts small blind 75
EduardoBerto: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to lilOUmikey [Kc 6d]
SocietyRed: folds
Luggie34: folds
lilOUmikey: raises 1350 to 1500
EduardoBerto: calls 982 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [Kh Ts 2h]
*** TURN *** [Kh Ts 2h] [Js]
*** RIVER *** [Kh Ts 2h Js] [4s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
lilOUmikey: shows [Kc 6d] (a pair of Kings)
EduardoBerto: shows [4d Ad] (a pair of Fours)
lilOUmikey said, "gg all"
lilOUmikey collected 2264 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2264 Rake 0
Board [Kh Ts 2h Js 4s]
Seat 1: lilOUmikey (small blind) showed [Kc 6d] and won (2264) with a pair of Kings
Seat 3: EduardoBerto (big blind) showed [4d Ad] and lost with a pair of Fours
Seat 4: SocietyRed folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Luggie34 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Yes maniac push but BAD CALL as well, sure i did it twice in a row before, but honestly WHAT CAN HE BEAT OR BE FAR AHEAD OF THERE!?!? Ship

oh one more thing,

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Week 2, Better

As you can tell, I did take down a 4.40 for $216 to get me out of a huge varience rut. The following night, I think the next 4.40 i played, i got 3rd for $86. It felt great to get back to my winning ways, and I think i am playing better because of it. Playing with confidence is the key. Thinking that your AK will not hold against AJ is not a good mindset. Think as if you played well enough to get in ahead, and if you don't win that one, youll get the other 70% of them. Sure there are frustrating times that you need the hand to hold, but the odds dont give a shit about where your at in your tourny.

I did not play much today, a few 4.40s and 2.20 triple shootouts for the million, so many bad players in those on sundays you just gotta take shots at them. I did play in the $3R, paid $6 total, and made it into the 2nd hour, but AK is not as good as AJ like stated above. I won't play these often if at all at this current BR, i just wanted to play a tourny at the time, and gave myself a $9 limit. Until I get my BR over $400, i will stick to $5 and under freezeouts, $4.40s and the occasional 7.70 PL 360 max (bread and butter as i call it)

Weekly Profit: $163.97
Total Profit: $119.59
Amount to go: $2,380.41

99th Element on the Periodic Table

SHIPTONIUM!!!


So after working concessions for my business frat last night until 930ish, which the crowd was like 8k hillbillys, I came to donk off the rest of the $40 diminishing BR until the sickness began. I played pretty decent and got the breaks needed to win a tourny, tried to steal from a limper with 34os from the button, SB woke up with JJ, and limper had AK, flop was 744, NOT A PROBLEM. I was due to say the least, and im sure a lot of the losses were due to overthinking the donks of the $4.40. Lesson learned to say the least. I will further ellaborate tomorrow on my weekly challenge update with more of a recap of the week.

Week 1, UGH!

Couldn't really get anything going this week. No FT's in the 4.40's and nothing too deep in MTT's. I made it deep in the $5 freezeout again, but I had to go to class, so BCM donked me out obv. One thing i have realized is when I'm playing bad. In the past i just blamed it on Lee Jones but i now know when i need to regroup. I don't really have much going on this week class wise, so I'm looking to get back on the winning track that i was in december.

Daily Profit: $48.38
Total Profit: $48.38
Amount to go: $2,548.38

Update

Greetings all, I have not updated for a few reasons since i set the graduation challenege.
1) I was having trouble depositing money on pstars, which has now been taken care of
2) I had not decided how i wanted to treat this challenge
3) I just hadn't played that much.

So here is the update, I just started getting back in the swing of things with a solid BR on stars, so ill be able to play to the best of my ability. I am going to stick to 4.40 180 players and $5 or less MTT's and I will throw in my bread and butter, the 7.70 360 max PL MTT. I will update my progress at the end of each week because MTT play will definitely not produce a positive income daily. These will come every sunday until graduation with maybe the exception of the Sunday after Spring Break because I do not plan on playing at all then.

I will also be posting hand histories via poker x factor, i know not everyone can view them but it is definitely a good tool. Here is one from a 180 player from sunday where i feel like i played pretty terrible but somehow got 5th.

http://www.pokerxfactor.com/HH46001/13274_20070217_234936

Enjoy,
lilOUmikey

Graduation Challenge

So I have not posted here for a while but I feel like I need to. Since making my comeback about 2 weeks ago, I have made progress in my play but not the BR. I have been trying new things to see what works and what doesn't at certain points of tournys. I've made 3 FT's but havent produced any profit since redepositing.

I looked it up and see that there are about 120 days left until I graduate (Sigh). That is minus the 7 days I will be in Panama City FL for spring break. I am setting a $2,500 goal for this challenge, a little over $20 profit per day. If i focus on this goal and playing my best poker, I see no way i cannot make this goal a reality.

During this goal, I hope to be able to move up levels somewhat, and only cash out if i needed the cash for something. BCM and I have discussed him staking me for the $10 and $20 180 players which could make this goal pretty achievable by the end of April (I graduate in June). In this time, I also have the goal to win 3 more tournies, 1 being a large field MTT (more than the 360 max). I will track my progress here, maybe not daily because until after spring break my schedule doesnt allow playing every day.

Daily Profit: $0.00
Total Profit: $0.00
Amount to go: $2,500.00

Its been a week....

So I haven't posted in a week exactly mainly because there was nothing special going on in poker for me, i didnt play much besides today. Too bad i did play today because it was the worse ive run EVER. Q10 beats my JJ on a J8x board, Q10 openshoved in EP. That was the sickest but everytime i got my money in good post flop, the caller sucked out, not everytime, but thats how i went busto in every tourny i played today.

For a couple reasons i have decided to take an extended break from the tables online:
1) I leave for Vegas in 2 days and won't be playing online while there.
2) School will start right after that, and poker was the source of my sub par grades last quarter, and this is my last quarter that will show up before graduation/transcripts.
3) This has been by FAR my best month playing poker EVER! I feel like i will be trying to keep pase with it while school is going on.

I forsee coming back come spring aka post March 24th, which is after spring break.

End of month results/thoughts:
I have no exact profit numbers because i stopped keeping track, but after review of my bank statement, i cashed out a cool $900. I would assume my BR was at about 200 at the start of the month, so $700 profit is not too shabby.

I feel like i have improved my game ten fold. I have much more confidence in any game i sit down to. The sunday million was a key in that. I also took down my first MTT, well chopped the chowder but still a take down. It was nice to finally get that under my belt. I'm going to miss the thrills and chills for the next couple months, but the fact is that school comes first. And with my college career winding down, i do not want to have to spend some nights at home in front of my laptop rather than spending times with people i might not see much of after graduation.

Sunday Million

So my first time in the million, i made the money, the first level of the money, but i am happy overall. The reason i made the decision to play is that if i were to defer my tourny entrance, the t$ would not feel like money to me and i wouldnt play as well as if it were real money. It was also a great day for team phenom, all of us cashed, with phenom making the best payday of almost $1200. Congrats to him and also BCM for putting forth a strong tourny. We all played our best today. So it was a good investment in playing and also taking 5% of both because that is about an added $70 profit, SHIIIIIIIIIIIP.

This upcoming week, the week before vegas, i look to keep my game sharp. I'll dabble in the $10 180's a little, if i don't feel comfortable, i will move back down to the $4's. We will see.

GG TEAM PHENOM, next stop the WSOP MAIN EVENT FT!!!

A little break is needed

Over the past 24 hours or so, I have been playing very very solid poker. However, making all the right plays is only part of the game that we call "no limit texas hold'em". After having my AA cracked in the 2nd hour of the $22 deep stack by QQ all in pre, I basically dominated a $4 180 player to finish a VERY DISAPOINTING 5th place. The freefall from having 2x more chips than anyone else begun with my 44 on a AQ4 flop, all spades, checked to me, i bet, and got reshoved, i instantly called to see AA on the other side of the table. A few hands later, I wake up with 88 in the BB looking at a 3x button raise, so i play the bully of the table and squeeze to see myself being called by A7, flop is 779 SIGH. The final dagger was AA vs AK preflop with me once again trying to squeeze with the "best hand". I made all the right plays, its just that the cards did not fall my way.

So with my big sunday million coming up, I have decided to take the next 2 days off of playing online poker. I need to cool down, and get in a more relaxed mode. I plan on playing the $10 deep stack sunday at noon to warm myself up for the million. If the same thing happens, i might have to make the executive decision to wait on the million. If my mind keeps thinking "how can my best hand not hold up" mentality, then i will make the decision. If i take the next 2 day off and start from scratch sunday, i see no problem in taking down the 190k first place in the million.

Million Percentages
-lilOUmikey (90% own, 5% BCM, 5% Phenom)
-BCM11 (90% own, 5% lilOUmikey, 5% Phenom)
-thephenom919 (90% own, 5% lilOUmikey, 5% BCM)

Wednesday

So after i slept thru my alarm for work (sigh), I made up an excuse that i had things to do around the house. It's nice to be working for your dad, and he is not in town :-) So i played some MTT's, SNG's and AID's. oops just all but the last one. Not much luck in the MTT's or the SNG's, I even played some $10 HU's and i have come to the definite conclusion I SUCK AT HEADS UP TOURNY'S. If anyone who reads this see's me in a HU, I will send them $1 via pokerstars.

My last tourny of the day was a DS for the Sunday Million. I definitely didn't deserve to donk my way to winning it, but i did. I had two suckouts in crucial situations, my k7 beat AK with a str8 and after a 9 high flop and me moving all in with q9, being called with qq, the river 9 brought a joy to me. I topped it all off with hitting a flush to ship the sherbert. I raised in the SB w/ J9dd. flop came 4 8 10 two d's, i bet into BB, he shoved and i called, flush turned to crush his k10, GG him and on to sunday for me.

I am playing in the Sunday Million on the third time i have qualified for it. "Third time is a charm" right? BCM and I will be taking 5% of each other just to make it more fun.

A decent day at the office

After getting back from celebrating my boy bill's 21st last night, i got cumfy in my recliner with laptop on lap and played a little cards. The day couldnt have started out worse with the way i was running on the tables. I played a few triple shootouts to the sunday million, didnt make a FT. I then sat down at my daily $7 +.70 360 max PL holdem tourny. 5 hours later the pot was chopped evenly 2 ways for a scoop of $516.60. I played the best online poker i ever had. Before it got short handed i played 13% of hands and won 11/13 showdowns. Once it gets shorthanded, those stats get a little skewed. I made 1 mistake all tourny and it occurred HU. A hand was checked thru to the river where i hit my jacks up, bet into the guy (i have a 4:1 chip lead at the time) he raised and i came over the top all in. Turns out my 2 pair gave him a set of 6's. SHOULD HAVE CALLED. Lesson learned.

Well i guess i have reached the goal for $500 that i set a week ago. I still look to keep my game solid for the upcoming vegas trip with bcm11 and kennyj257. I am not setting a goal except to play my best at all times. A special thanks goes out to the founders of teamphenom for the FT commentary that kept me calm during the takedown.

Day 1 of Cash

Wow its nice to be on the good side of a cooler:

*** RIVER *** [7c 5s Qs 5d] [Ks]
buldos: checks
JaccoH: bets $3
lilOUmikey: raises $6.65 to $9.65 and is all-in
buldos: folds JaccoH: calls $4.50 and is all-in
*** SHOW DOWN ***lilOUmikey: shows [5h 5c] (four of a kind, Fives)
JaccoH: shows [7s 7d] (a full house, Sevens full of Fives)

Been running pretty well today, so im gonna quit while the gettin is good. I played a bunch of .05/.10 along with a $5 MTT and some 5 card draw. I cashed for the 2nd level of the $5, not a good hand all day there. And the 5 card, i hit and run after i hit a flush vs a straight, i told myself if i got up $5 then i would leave, and i did.

Starting BR: 175ish (didnt note before starting)
Ending BR: 224.79

Profit Today 49.79
Cash game total profit 49.79

edit

so i was watching this movie, really sweet (The Island), and sat down at a 5 card draw table just to pass the time. I ended up getting delt a full boat, and cracking a flush. That was a $50 pot SCOOOOOOOOPED.

So ending BR 280.74

Profit Today 105.74
Cash Game total 105.74

The discovery of cash games

Yes i know they have been there this entire time, but i figured id give them a shot. I feel like the 5 card draw tables are fun and also have a potential for high profit. Its weird how to play it well, I really cannot describe it. I think i might take a break from the MTT's for a little while except the occasionaly 180 and the sunday $10 deep stack. The $500 goal has been put on the back burner for the mean time because i have been running even for the last week. I will track the progress on here.

To ship or not to ship?

If you cannot tell, consider it shipped!!!! I finally have broken the curse of the bambino and took down my first $4 180 player tourny. I had a sick run of cards in the middle rounds, followed by some lucky hands later then brilliant short handed play to bring home the bacon. I only played one other tourny today which was a $5 + R which was to just hold me over while i played the 180. I made it thru the first hour with about 5k in chips, i didnt add on because well that was in the middle of my hotstreak in the 180 and frankly missed the 5 minute period, oops.

Ok so now the ROI system will be SLIGHTLY skewed, currently the $4 ROI is at 623%. Based on this success i would like to set a $500 goal not including this win by Christmas, 25 days to be exact. $20/day is doable under my no school and work only during the day.

Sunday Funday?

I have continuted my success in the $4 180 player SNG's by making 2 final tables out of 5 played. Another 4th and a dissapointing 8th. The 8th might have put me on a good deal of tilt, but it didnt really matter because it was my last game of the night. AA lost to K10, and KK vs AA with 12 left really hurt. I will take the day as a positive one obv, but if those AA held, i think i could have taken that tourny down lickedy split. I also played 2 big MTT's, a $5 2k players and a $9 360 max. Got 98th in the $5 and bubbled in the $9

I have some advise for those of you playing these low limit MTT's, and its a huge cliche, but SPEED KILLS! I have tightened up a lot after the recent downspell. In the games that I have placed well I have played between 9 and 11% of hands. And things have turned around 100%. Another piece of advise coming from the one and only Steve Dannanman (not spelled right). Not making the right call is only a small mistake. These tournys are about making good folds, not good calls.

Oh and Cleveland Browns, PLEASE DRAFT A QUARTERBACK with the crap season you have put together!!!!!

$4 180 ROI - 280%
MTT ROI - 13.49%
Other SNG - N/A

New Tracking Strategy

With school being out for about another 5 weeks, I am taking a new strategy in tracking my profit, and my own ROI. I have created a spreadsheet with three tabs: $4 180 player, MTT's, and other S'ngo's. This will give me more insight on which tournaments my playing style favors. I will keep the updated numbers after all of my posts.

On a non-poker note, the Ohio Bobcat football team has won its first piece of a conference championship in 38 YEARS!!!! They have also secured a bowl birth, likely the GMAC bowl in Mobile AL. They play Central Michigan this Thursday at Ford Field in Detroit for the MAC Championship. I sure as hell will be in attendance.

$4 ROI - 436%
MTT's - N/A
Other SNG's - N/A

So ive been called out....

OK OK OK, I know i have not updated this for a little while but to tell you the truth, not much exciting as far as poker is concerned has happened. It was the dryspell of all dryspells. I figured last time i went thru a stretch like this, I decided to change the theme of my pokerstars tables. I just downloaded the sea or marine theme thinking that more fish would be sitting at my table then. So far its working, I won a $5 27 player SNG and went somewhat deep in a 180 $4. It is really nice when hands hold up. I did have a sick run in the tourny, but a lot of the hands weren't called preflop. I hope i can keep it up throughout the month.

Variance Day

Only cash of the day was from a $1.50 2 table HORSE SNG. I have also decided to come up with a tally of races all in preflop just out of curiosity. It will start tomorrow.

Today -$40.50
Month -$40.50