The grind

[Jdawg0913]

all right finally placed in top 3 on a free roll. now to take this one down and buy into a tourney for real money later tonight.

Great work sir. Good luck!

[Jdawg0913]

A three figure loss lol

I felt like I played well but I wound up losing $128. It was a long grind. I never really sustained any momentum. I was down from the very first hand. Poker is goofy sometimes. You feel like your doing everything right, you feel like you are at the top of the game but it doesn't work out. The cards don't fall your way, your opponent sucks out, or maybe the fates are against you. Either way, poker is a rocky ride. You can't fret over every bump along the way. You have to be confident in your game. You have to be confident that you can withstand these fluctuations. Things will work out if you practice and trust your game. Poker is definitely a marathon not a sprint. I am definitely in for the long haul. Vince Lombardi said success washes away the agonies of striving. Every step back will just make every milestone that much sweeter. Good luck and see you on the felt.

[Jdawg0913]

Tournament stupidity

I just played a semi heartbreaking tournament. I struggled throughout and then finally got some momentum. It was a $240 survivor tourney. 1 in 5 would get $1,000. I was starting to play better and got some good situations and then I made a big mistake that cost me the tourney. There were 11 people left and 6 getting paid. I was utg with 88 and decide to raise off of a 22 bb stack. I got 3 bet by the tightest player in the world. This is an obv fold pre flop. The limits just went up and I rationalized that since my stack was going to become an under 20 bb stack regardless of calling or folding. I decided to call and set mine without proper odds which I know to be a huge mistake. But I did it anyway. Flop is 5 3 3. I know this and check fold. Tight guy has Kk or aa. I check he shoves and I forget my plan. I called. He has aa and I'm out of the tourney. My play was bad. But forgetting my plan was worse. I convinced myself he has ak. Knowing the player, this is a terrible play. He never has worse than Kk here. But I will take this as a learning lesson. Trust my reads and don't act impulsively. Hopefully, I can put this behind me and start building the bankroll. Until then, good luck and see you on the felt.

[Jdawg0913]

.......

No clever title today. I'm at a loss for words. I just had another miserable 6-12 oe session. My bankroll took a severe hit and the future looks bleak. I need to reevaluate and reboot. I think I have to change it up. 6-12 oe has not been going well the last three months. I might have to consider playing nlhe again and mix in some low stakes limit Holdem. The year is a third over. I am not giving up but things are not where I wanted them to be at this point. After January, I thought this was going to be my best poker year ever. There is still time but I need some run good and soon. I will play one more session of 6-12 oe Sunday. Then, I am going to take a little time off to come up with a smart plan for rebuilding my bankroll. I enjoy 6-12 oe but it would be foolish to pursue it if it costs me my bankroll. Sunday might be my last session for oe for a while unless it is a decent winner. During my time off, I will work on my game and work out the kinks in my approach. They always say it is darkest before the dawn. I truly and sincerely hope they are right. Lol. Good luck and see you on the felt.

[jmspinner]

Great to realize your goals before you start to play! Good luck!

[Jdawg0913]

April was not much better.

The month started off well. I was accumulating small wins and my losses were small. Then, the last week, it all went poorly. I bubbled a survivor tourney and had a big loss at 6-12 oe. I turned a winning month into a loser. But I have to think about what I have learned. There are a couple of takeaways from my poor March and April. One takeaway, I am not a good short handed player. When the game gets short I have to leave the table. Second and most importantly, be happy with small wins. They are absolutely ok. I feel like I go into every cash game session or tourney looking for a $500 or $1,000 pay day. That's unrealistic. I have to begin to accept small wins and even small losses. Moreover, I have to do a better job of dodging big losses. These two aspects have been the reason for my failures this year. Way too many big losses. Losses I could have avoided if I just walked away. I need to change my approach at the table. If things look bad, just walk away. It's not like I never can play. I can play whenever. There is no reason to be chained to the table. This is something I will really work on this month. I may tweak my rules to better enable me to walk away. Also, I am taking some time off and get my head right. I need a break from poker. I am going to spend some time with my friends and wife and put poker on the back burner. I will post my goals for May in the next post. Right now, it's time to relax and get away. May will be a turnaround month for me. I can feel it. In any regard, good luck and see you on the felt.

[mfahey]

I am trying to start making money in some online poker any one have any words of wisdom?

[Jdawg0913]

I am trying to start making money in some online poker any one have any words of wisdom?

First, this site is great. Earn points and enter tournaments. I have built a small roll from freerolls here and I highly recommend it. Next, research strategy articles on this site and the internet. Find the type of game you feel comfortable with and practice practice practice. Finally, exercise good bankroll management and you will be a winner in no time. Be patient and good things will happen.

[Jdawg0913]

April showers bring May flowers lol

Corniest line of my blog so far. Just played 6-12 oe and did really well. Booked a $228 win and played really well. I didn't play too many poor hands and I really focused on position. I really tried to think out my moves rather than go on auto pilot. I also instituted a couple of changes. It's a lower risk approach to ensure a better management of my bankroll. A couple of changes deal with my stop loss limit, booking wins, and taking breaks. For the loss limit, I never really had one. I would just bring two buyins and see what happens after 6 hours. That was a dumb idea. Some days I would lose 30-50% of my roll. This new measure will make sure that never happens again. As for booking wins, for the time being, I will try my best to book wins no matter how small. The way I am going to go about that is a little complex. I do not advocate this in general, but seeing that my bankroll is at a delicate state right now, I do not want to risk much and I need to be happy with small wins. My formula is this: take my average win rate at that game and multiply it by 6 hours. For example, my 6-12 win rate is $12. So my goal is to win $72 a session. Once I get over $72, I play with that extra and try to make another $72. Then rinse and repeat. If I can't make more than my $72 I walk away. Finally, I never took enough breaks. I would play 6 hours without missing a hand, that's crazy in hindsight. Think about working your day job without a single break. This can't be good for my play. So, every two hours I have to take at least a five minute break. I did it last night and the world did not end lol. I use to be afraid I would miss that session changing hand that would win me hundreds of dollars that night. Well, I missed several hands and I still came out a winner. It's funny what you can be afraid of sometimes. I can't believe I wouldn't allow myself to take a break because I would miss something. But that will never happen again. I will take breaks, I will book wins, and I will minimize my losses. With these changes I think I will put myself in good position to build my bankroll up. Hopefully, my first session of the month will be indicative of the entire month. Good smart play and terrific results. Good luck and see you on the felt.

[StonefaceAA]

The grind is the way life should be playing poker