Taking a break

I have simply got to quit playing live poker for awhile and concentrate on tournaments. I find myself having way too much fun (which is not a bad thing) and staying too long, getting tired and spending too much money (this is a bad thing). So, I am going to play ONLY tournaments until at least the end of March and see what happens. This should save me tons of money and give me some very good practice for Las Vegas this summer. Hopefully. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. If I don't play live, I will easily be able to save enough for some fun in LV or maybe a poker cruise to Alaska in August. That sounds like way too much fun, although it would be more exciting to have someone else that I knew go with me. I'll have to work on that. I'm going to keep records on my tournament play and see if I make any money. I never keep records which is another bad thing, but I'm one of those people who try and then get lazy. I'm going to try super hard this time. Wish me luck!

I'm Not Off to a Good Start

Boy, did I get stupid in Sunday's 10:00 tournament. I didn't play any hands at all for 20 minutes. Then, in the big blind I find A-Q off suit. The blinds are at 25-50 and three people limped in, so I made it 200 to go. Naturally, they all called me. This is probably because they all thought I had 7-2 or something. Oh, well. The flop was Q-6-3 rainbow. I felt pretty comfortable about my hand. As I was first to act, I went ahead and bet 300. One guy called me and the other two folded. The turn was a 2. I still wasn't concerned and bet out 600. The remaining player raised to 1500. Now, I didn't immediately get stupid. I thought about it for awhile, but I honestly couldn't put him on a straight. I just couldn't do it. He called 200 cold before the flop. How could he possibly have a 4-5? I thought at worst he had the same hand I did. He was in the middle of the table and not in the blinds, so why would he play something like 6-3, Q-6 or Q-3 or 4-5 with a 200 raise? I was totally convinced I had the best hand or at worst a tie. So then I got stupid and went all-in. He called immediately with his 4-5 of hearts and that was the end of my tournament. I couldn't believe it. I was actually stunned. It was the only hand that I had played and boy, did I play it badly. I feel better getting it off my chest, but I still feel extremely stupid. I tried to put him on a hand, but I just didn't see him calling 200 before the flop with a 4-5. Wow.

Another Resolution

After having blown a terribly stupid amount of money playing low limit on New Year's eve, I have decided to change my playing habits a bit. I am not going to play at all until January 10 at the earliest because I blew most of my budget for this pay period. I will only play the $40 tournament on that date and if I don't make money, I will not play again until January 17. I am only going to play tournaments and 10-20 for awhile. I will not play 10-20 until I build up at least a $400-500 buy-in from tournament wins only. I am really going to concentrate on bettering my tournament skills and not playing really super low limits for a couple of months. This is what I refer to as poker "tough love". I need to get my head straight and quit blowing so much money on low limit crap. Wish me luck!

Poker Resolutions for 2009

I try this every year and it never quite works out, but I'll give it a shot.

1. Quit playing crummy aces. In other words, no playing A-7 off suit at any time unless I'm in the blind and there's not a raise. Most of the rules assume that I'm not in the blind.

2. Always leave my checkbook and/or debit card and/or credit cards at home and only take with me the money I can afford to spend. I'm doing fairly well at this already, but I forget sometimes and I invariably get into the money . . . bad girl!

3. Try to be a little tighter in the low limit games, but still have fun. We have the monte carlo board which tends to make me be a more stupid player than I already am. Ignore the board and play the cards I know I should be playing and throw the other ones away.

4. Attempt to study betting patterns more and get better at betting (in tournaments) myself.

5. Continue reading poker books. One can never learn too much about this game.

6. Keep having fun with my favorite garbage hand because if one cannot have fun, one has no reason to play. Period.

7. Remember what Doyle Brunson says at the beginning of "Poker After Dark". We don't stop playing because we get old. WE GET OLD BECAUSE WE STOP PLAYING. This ties in with #6.

8. Try not to go on tilt.

9. Respect other players at all times even if they don't respect me. Don't let them get to me or put me on tilt either.

10. Never give up. Never surrender. Never get out of the boat (that's from "Apocalypse Now").

I think that's it. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ME AND TO EVERYONE ELSE!!!

Another Notch on the Belt!

I took third place in last weekend's Saturday tournament for $180 gross. Perhaps I am on a small roll or over the worst of it anyway. The biggest problem I have is patience and I'm trying really hard to get over that. It's tough. I am also trying to figure out things like how much to bet in certain situations, i.e., if I flop a set, do I bet? If I do bet, do I bet one-half the pot? Two-thirds? Are there any hard and fast rules in this regard? I don't think so. I guess a lot of it depends on who is in the pot with you. If it's an aggressive player, perhaps checking and letting them bet is best depending on the lay of the land. If there's a straight or flush draw, it's probably best to lead out.

These are the things I have the most trouble with - the strategy part. It's like a little war and the chips are your soldiers. I have been reading "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu and that has a lot of great stuff in it for poker players. My favorite "rule" has always been, "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer." When you hit a big hand, you want them to bet or call. I guess this is the one thing I really love about poker - the unknown qualities of every hand and how they can change on the turn of a card - and what you do about it. Fascinating.

Happy holidays everyone. I probably won't be playing again until Saturday. I think I'll win it this time!

I'm Feeling MUCH Better Now!

Yes, I still have it. Yippee! On Saturday (13th) I played the 8:00 am. tournament at the Moose and just about decided to hang up my spurs. I had terrible luck. However, being the tough cookie that I am, I then changed my mind and said, "What the hell! I can do this." So, I came back Sunday morning, played the 8:00 a.m. tournament and won it!! Yes!! I only made a profit of $130, but you have no idea how good this made me feel. I then went on to take 4th place in the 10:00 a.m. tournament for $200, so I had a two-for-two cash day and I am on top of the world. I have Monday afternoon off (I set it aside just for goofing off on a weekday) and I just might go play a little live poker, although I am still having atrocious luck in that arena. The thing is that it's still fun, so there you go.

Anyway, happy holidays to my fans (all one of them) and best wishes for a happy and prosperous new year!

I Need a Little Break

Things have not been going all that well lately. I can't seem to hit in live games or in tournaments. I have a poker budget and I am out of money until the 15th. This might be a good thing because I am getting frustrated and annoyed and when that happens, it's probably not a good idea to play at all.

Example: Friday night. I decide to play live for awhile instead of just going home and resting up for the Saturday tournament. My budget is such by this point in time that I only have $200 for the weekend. I blow $100 of it Friday night. Blah! I flop two pair & get beat by bigger two pair. I flop a set and someone has a bigger set or rivers a boat. Good grief. It is downright ugly. Finally, I'm down to my last $12 and I decide to just go all in with pocket 8s in a kill pot (3-6 game, so now it's 6-12). I end up with 8s full of 10s and a guy with J-10 gets a jack on the river for jacks full of 10s. OK. That's enough. No rebuy for me.

I still have $100 of my poker budget left, so I go home & come back again for the $40 tournament on Saturday morning. Again, I have atrocious luck, getting beat about three times on the river. Frustration finally sets in and I go all-in with A8 offsuit in the cut-off with only the blinds to beat. I get called (believe it or not) by A9 offsuit and that's the end of that. I decide not to play any more this week.

However, by Sunday afternoon, I am totally bored, having completed all my weekend chores, etc. I take my final $60 down to the Moose and last approximately 45 minutes, getting killed consistently when I have the best hand until the damned river. My last hand was A7 (the blinds were coming and I only had $6 left so I went all-in). I flopped 2 pair and got rivered by a straight. I am beginning to feel like my buddy Phil!

So, long story short, I think I will take a break until payday. I don't want to go over my budget anyway. I'm really trying to work on that because if I let myself do so, I will spend money that I shouldn't spend and that's not good. So, I will take a one-week break and try not to even think about poker for that entire time. Now that I have this all off my chest as it were, I shouldn't have a problem. When I play my next tournament on December 20, watch out! It will be a new me!!