1/2 and Oct/Nov goals

Well October was my best month ever. +$999.54 = $463.64 at .5/1 6 max, $288.75 at 1/2 6 max, $315 from the turbo takedown and -$67.85 in 2 cash HU sessions and 4 other sngs and mtts.

Oct Goals
Play 24k hands CHECK Played 23,666 hands of .5/1 (ran at 1.98/100) and 1,982 hands of 1/2 (7.28/100).
Move up to 1/2 6 max LHE when I hit $1200 CHECK
Make Goldstar by the 25th to play in freeroll CHECK

Nov Goals
Play 20k hands
Retain Goldstar and go for platinum if it looks possible at ~ 10 hours a week


Last night was my first perfect start when moving up. 1/2 is certainly more aggro than .5/1 but the players are probably just as bad. We'll see. Here's my favorite hand from last night's 4 hour session:

PokerStars 1/2 Hold'em (6 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com

Preflop: Whatever is CO with 5d, 5s.

2 folds, Whatever raises, Button calls, SB calls, BB calls.

Flop: (8 SB) Qh, 7d, 3s (4 players)

SB checks, BB checks, Whatever bets, Button calls, SB raises, BB folds, Whatever calls, Button calls.

Turn: (7 BB) 5h (3 players)

SB bets, Whatever raises, Button calls, SB 3-bets, Whatever caps, Button calls, SB calls.

River: (19 BB) 4c (3 players)

SB bets, Whatever calls, Button raises, SB calls, Whatever calls.

Final Pot: 25 BB

SB has 4d Qd (two pair, queens and fours).
Whatever has 5d 5s (three of a kind, fives).
Button has 6c 6d (straight, seven high).
Outcome: Button wins 25 BB.

Here's my chart from last night along with the October cash game chart:

Quote of the Day

Tilt is evidence of arrogant ignorance.

Kinda.

It's a pride thing for sure.

Upswings are good

First things first. I now realize that the rate of rake goes down as you move up so getting 10k vpps is not as simple as moving up from .5/1 to 1/2 and playing the same number of hands. I haven't really looked but I would guess that I would need to increase my hands by at least 33% to get 10k vpps in November and make platinum star. I seriously doubt I will be able to do that. However, I should easily be able to make 12k fpps (if I hang at 1/2) which will be plenty sweet.

Thursday ($64.75) 20 minutes of $50 HU - played fine but the villian just had the deck hit him in the face repeatedly as in KK once and AA twice and flush over flush once. Not fun.

Saturday +$22.65 30 minutes 3 tabling .5/1

Ah also played and 100 fpp 20k and the Goldstar 100k freeroll. Went out in both early but the Goldstar bust-out was especially sweet. 99 > QQ > JJ. 99 pushed and JJ called and I called with QQ only to see a 9 flop. Weeeeee. Would've more than tripled in the 1st level to a 5k stack. Oh well.

Sunday +$40.65 1 hour 20 minute session 3 tabling while playing the 5k fpp takedown mtt

Which leads me to the Turbo Takedown. What a beautiful tournament. 3k starting stack and 10 minute levels combined with the fact that people only paid fpps to play = an extreme donk-fest with an extreme payout of 100k for 1st and a min-cash of $90 in 4000th. 8,632 runners and we hit the cash an hour and a half in.

My first big hand was 40 minutes in sitting below average but not feeling any pressure with an M of 23:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t100 (9 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com



SB (t2650)

BB (t4070)

UTG (t3040)

UTG+1 (t7985)

MP1 (t6860)

MP2 (t2615)

MP3 (t2970)

Whatever (t3545)

Button (t2785)



Preflop: Whatever is CO with Jd, Jc.

UTG calls t100, UTG+1 raises to t400, 3 folds, Whatever raises to t800, 3 folds, UTG folds, UTG+1 calls t400.



Flop: (t1850) Ah, 3d, 9s (2 players)

UTG+1 checks, Whatever bets t400, UTG+1 calls t400.



Turn: (t2650) 8s (2 players)

UTG+1 checks, Whatever checks.



River: (t2650) Qs (2 players)

UTG+1 checks, Whatever checks.



Final Pot: t2650





UTG+1 has Td Tc (one pair, tens).

Whatever has Jd Jc (one pair, jacks).

Outcome: Whatever wins t2650.

I chipped up from 4800 to 6300 over the next 30 minutes and then this hand happened as we approached the bubble:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t300 (9 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com



UTG+1 (t5240)

MP1 (t4045)

MP2 (t2715)

MP3 (t3960)

CO (t6185)

Button (t1690)

SB (t2195)

Whatever (t6385)

UTG (t10565)



Preflop: Whatever is BB with Ah, 5h.

1 fold, UTG+1 raises to t600, 6 folds, Whatever calls t300.



Flop: (t1100) 5d, Qh, As (2 players)

Whatever checks, UTG+1 bets t900, Whatever raises to t5760, UTG+1 folds.



Final Pot: t7760



No showdown. Whatever wins t7760.

Three hands later this gift was given and it put me comfortably above the average and able to cruise into the money:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t300 (9 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com



SB (t3365)

BB (t3970)

UTG (t2640)

UTG+1 (t3885)

MP1 (t6110)

MP2 (t1615)

MP3 (t2645)

Whatever (t8035)

Button (t10715)



Preflop: Whatever is CO with As, Ad.

2 folds, MP1 raises to t600, MP2 raises to t1590, 1 fold, Whatever raises to t8010, 3 folds, MP1 folds.



Flop: (t10350) Ts, Td, 5c (2 players)



Turn: (t10350) Kd (2 players)



River: (t10350) Th (2 players)



Final Pot: t10350




MP2 has Ah 7h (three of a kind, tens).

Whatever has As Ad (full house, tens full of aces).

Outcome: Whatever wins t10350.

This next hand was maybe a horrible call on my part. I felt his range was huge as a tiny stack that had just made the money and I was hoping for a 60/40 which is what I got.


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t600 (8 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com



UTG+1 (t9114)

MP1 (t4220)

MP2 (t1767)

CO (t4036)

Button (t14750)

SB (t6660)

Whatever (t10025)

UTG (t10890)



Preflop: Whatever is BB with 2d, Ac.

3 folds, MP2 raises to t1717, 3 folds, Whatever calls t1117.



Flop: (t3184) Ts, 9c, Tc (2 players)



Turn: (t3184) 4h (2 players)



River: (t3184) 7h (2 players)



Final Pot: t3184



Whatever has 2d Ac (one pair, tens).

MP2 has Kd Qs (one pair, tens).

Outcome: Whatever wins t3184.

Chipped up to 17,000 with some blind steals before losing an 8k pot versus a shorty pushing with 77 after a K8o blindsteal versus my AQ in the BB. So just like that a few hands later I was back down to under 12,000 and every steal was worth 3600+ chips. I then stole 4 times in 16 hands from late position with KQ, J2 soooted, J10o, and AQ to move my chipstack up to 23k without seeing a flop. Here's the next important all-in hand:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t2000 (9 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com



UTG+1 (t6609)

MP1 (t5366)

MP2 (t19337)

MP3 (t41868)

CO (t14716)

Button (t15030)

SB (t9565)

Whatever (t23467)

UTG (t9080)



Preflop: Whatever is BB with 3h, 9s.

4 folds, MP3 calls t2000, 2 folds, SB completes, Whatever checks.



Flop: (t6600) Tc, 9h, 3c (3 players)

SB bets t7365 (All-In), Whatever raises to t21267, MP3 folds.



Turn: (t35232) Js (2 players, 1 all-in)



River: (t35232) 6c (2 players, 1 all-in)



Final Pot: t35232



SB has Th 8c (one pair, tens).

Whatever has 3h 9s (two pair, nines and threes).

Outcome: Whatever wins t35232.

5 hands later I got moved to a new table and my first hand there was pretty huge - I was even able to stupidly get a little value-town going on a scary river card since I put him on AK-AQ:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t2000 (9 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com



UTG (t18727)

UTG+1 (t55386)

MP1 (t36313)

MP2 (t43447)

MP3 (t20640)

CO (t90162)

Button (t12945)

SB (t10026)

Whatever (t35632)



Preflop: Whatever is BB with Ah, 9h.

2 folds, MP1 raises to t4999, 5 folds, Whatever calls t2999.



Flop: (t9598) Jh, 9c, 3d (2 players)

Whatever checks, MP1 bets t6499, Whatever calls t6499.



Turn: (t22596) 4d (2 players)

Whatever checks, MP1 checks.



River: (t22596) Jd (2 players)

Whatever bets t6000, MP1 calls t6000.



Final Pot: t34596



Whatever has Ah 9h (two pair, jacks and nines).

MP1 has Tc Ad (one pair, jacks).

Outcome: Whatever wins t34596.

And then the very next hand for a top 10 chipstack with 700 left:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t3000 (9 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com



BB (t18527)

UTG (t55186)

UTG+1 (t18615)

MP1 (t43247)

MP2 (t20440)

MP3 (t89962)

CO (t12745)

Button (t8826)

Whatever (t55730)



Preflop: Whatever is SB with Kh, Kc.

4 folds, MP3 raises to t9000, CO raises to t12445, 1 fold, Whatever raises to t55430, 1 fold, MP3 folds.



Flop: (t78675) Js, 6h, Qd (2 players)



Turn: (t78675) As (2 players)



River: (t78675) 6d (2 players)



Final Pot: t78675




Whatever has Kh Kc (two pair, kings and sixes).

CO has 9d Ac (two pair, aces and sixes).

Outcome: CO wins t78675.

Blah. 20 minutes later I had gotten down to 38k and below average again when I won a coin-flip aipf with AQ versus 88. 10 minutes after that the hand that would ultimately decide my bust-out happened. The villian was by far the loosest player on the table and doubled me with this strange call:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t5000 (9 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com



UTG+1 (t173316)

MP1 (t125283)

MP2 (t50850)

MP3 (t57826)

CO (t118226)

Button (t88544)

Whatever (t50670)

BB (t104998)

UTG (t150459)



Preflop: Whatever is SB with Ah, Ad.

1 fold, UTG+1 calls t5000, 5 folds, Whatever raises to t50170, 1 fold, UTG+1 calls t45170.



Flop: (t104340) Kh, Qh, 6d (2 players)



Turn: (t104340) 5h (2 players)



River: (t104340) Jc (2 players)



Final Pot: t104340



Whatever has Ah Ad (one pair, aces).

UTG+1 has Qs Ts (one pair, queens).

Outcome: Whatever wins t104340.

Lost a 37k flip vs a shorty's 55 and then came my bust-out hand after a couple of steals. This is the same guy that called my 50k push with Q10 soooted. I wince now when I look at my chip position. Average was 93k and I had 82k for like 130th out of 280 left or so and a prize bump of $138 to $453 coming at 199 left. I just really felt like he had ace high or an underpair because of his previous play. The one tell that was arguing for something much stronger was his min-raise. Oh well. This is pretty typical of my bust-out hands when going deep. Sigh.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t6000 (9 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com



UTG+1 (t158746)

MP1 (t111683)

MP2 (t67900)

MP3 (t87426)

CO (t75226)

Button (t89344)

Whatever (t82890)

BB (t92898)

UTG (t229285)



Preflop: Whatever is SB with Jd, Kd.

1 fold, UTG+1 raises to t12000, 5 folds, Whatever calls t9000, BB calls t6000.



Flop: (t31800) Jc, 6d, 4s (3 players)

Whatever checks, BB checks, UTG+1 bets t24000, Whatever raises to t70290, BB folds, UTG+1 calls t46290.



Turn: (t172380) Td (2 players)



River: (t172380) 2h (2 players)



Final Pot: t172380



Whatever has Jd Kd (one pair, jacks).

UTG+1 has As Ad (one pair, aces).

Outcome: UTG+1 wins t172380.

So I'm now at $1431 after making $138 5 tabling .5/1 last night. I'll move up to 1/2 6 max next week and see how realistic attaining platium star is.

Goal attained

I am now a Goldstar on Pokerstars. Weeeee. I'm pretty disappointed with the month so far however. I am up $238.89 in October after adding $5 last night in 5 hours of play. Sigh. I'll attach last night's chart at the bottom.


On Tuesday I tried a couple of 2000 fpp 6 person hyper turbo sngs. The top 2 spots pay 5000 fpps for the monthly turbo takedown mtt and 3rd place pays 2000. You start with 750 chips and 3 minute levels with blinds starting at 25/50. On hand 8 I got JJ and pushed 700 over a K10o 550 chip push. King on the turn. The next hand it folded to me in the SB and I pushed with AQ and somehow the big stack BB folded the 100 more. I went out on the next hand I believe when I pushed 68o and couldn't beat KQ. Whatever.


3 minutes later I was playing in sng 2 and got JJ on the first hand. Mid position opens up to 300 with A10o and I push and go out when the ace hits the river. My first thought was 'did I really just spend 4000 fpps in 5 minutes?' I then played a little $50 NL HU and got up to $64 after 7 hands when KK < 25o on a 652 flop. Weeeeee. My opponent immediately quit so in 10 minutes I had blown through 4000 fpps and $25 on 3 horrible hands. Poker.


Oh and then yesterday I played a $10 'double up' turbo sng. It's a 10 person sng that pays the top 5 spots double the buy-in. I busted 10th obviously because I'm not very good at poker.


I have realized now that becoming a Supernova is not out of reach at 1/2 6 max. If I can earn 5,000 vpps at .5/1 in a month it stands to reason that I can do 10,000 at 1/2. It would be close 5 tabling and to give myself a comfort zone I would have to eventually go to 6 tables I think. Anyway, 10 months of that in 2009 would get me to the Supernova level.



Hopefully I'll eventually get pokertracker HUD working on my computer and my win-rate will be better than 1.5/100 BB!


The plan right now is to play the $20k 100 fpp VIP tourney along with the $100k Goldstar freeroll Saturday and then the 5000 fpp (or 9000 fpp as I like to call it) Turbo Takedown Sunday.

Wednesday:

Good Session

These sessions are almost fun. Got hit with a ton of rivered badbeats the last 1000 hands but I can't complain after how I ran the first 1000.


$179.10 in almost 5 hours of 5 tabling. One more session till goldstar and the $100k freeroll Saturday.

Another downswing

Wednesday night was horrible. Typical horrid beats followed by tiltish tendencies. Nothing horrible on my part but I was certainly playing too many hands again and getting rivered very consistently.


Lost $224 Wednesday and then played Sunday for 20 minutes and made $60. Whatever. Here's my chart for .5/1 so far. How depressing. 18,809 hands and .81BB/100. Weeeeee.

3 more sessions till goldstar

Here's the session from last night. Typical stuff. I did fold the best hand (AA) on the turn in what eventually became a $24 pot before I had a read on the two yahoos next to me. Stuff like that stings a little.

Ha my very first hand of the night was AK getting rivered by 1010 in a $14 pot. I don't know if I played good or was running good last night but I'm now at exactly 2.00 BB/100 thru almost 16k hands at .5/1 6 max. Ye olde bankroll is up to $970.

4 more sessions till goldstar

Can't wait. These 5 hour sessions blow. Seriously. The last 45 minutes each night have been a true grind. Set over set 3 times last night.

I am now running at 1.59 BB/100 thru 13,245 hands at .5/1 6 max. Gross. Looks like I'm going to have to go to pokertracker 2 to fix my lagging HUD problem. Having a working HUD at my tables will have to help I would think.

$864.37 on my way to $1,200 and the promised land of 1/2 6 max where I can look forward to $200 swings. Woo-hoo!

Grinding

My routine has been 2500 hands twice a week 5 tabling for 5 hours. I would prefer to 5 table for 4 hours but in order to make goldstar before the 100k freeroll on October 25th I gotta do 10 hours a week. It's a grind but I think the volume of hands is certainly helping the tilt factor. I hope so anyway. I am at 1.94 BB/100 through 7700 hands so far this month. I was hoping to be over 3/100 so I have a long ways to go. Here's my chart from last night: