1/30/2010 (Rambling and Some Online Updates)
Saturday, January 30, 2010 at 4:51PM I played poker until 6:30 a.m last night online. I woke up around 2:30 p.m to find a few inches of snow outside. It’s still coming down somewhat steady. I checked the weather a day ago and this was not called for. Interesting because I checked the map a few minutes ago and the storm seems to have blanketed all of Maryland. This isn’t a random cloud that happened to pass through. Sometimes I think I could predict the weather almost as accurately as forecasters by using three simple steps:
Step 1: Setting up a dartboard.
Step 2: Sectioning off the board into reasonable forecasts for each lane.
Step 3: Launching a dart from 50 feet away to make a weather prediction for the upcoming day.
Curios by nature I did a google image search for "weather forecast dartboard" and actually found something. Looks like the one below was used for the Christmas day forecast somewhere. I guess I'm not the first to come up with this brilliant idea of using a dartboard to predict weather:
I can’t think of another profession where you can be so horribly incorrect with such stunning frequency, yet get away with it. Maybe a stock market broker?
About a week ago I realized I needed to clear a $300 bonus on PokerStars by 2/5/2010. I’ve been vigorously working to clear it in time during past week. I’ve played 20 hours in the past 4 days, which is a decent volume considering I had a 9-5 job to deal with as well.
I decided to short stack 200NL to clear the bonus. It was pretty much my only shot at accumulating 2,500 FPP so quickly. The strategy has been working out well so far. Right now I’m up +$300 in the 20 hours played. Last night was by far my most frustrating session, but I still ended up break even in 6.5 hours. I took 3 horrendous beats in a very short time frame which sent me tilting like a psycho. Man the beats online are tough. I never have a problem controlling myself live. But when a series of crazy suck outs all happen nearly simultaneously on different tables online it’s hard not to go ape-shit nuts. I still have to work on my online poker discipline.
As for short stacking 200NL I have generally been buying into two tables at $40 each to start. Though last night I was four tabling by the end. Sometimes when I double up once or twice I will leave the money on and go after bad players with my bigger stack. This is risky business, but I’ve had some decent success hunting certain players. I’ve been extremely focused on table selection and who exactly I am trying to go after on different tables. I’m pleased with the strategy so far. I just think it’s important to tread extremely carefully when I double or triple up my original $40 and decide to leave the full $120 or whatever on the table. All it takes is one bad beat here to have a massive impact on my bankroll.
My roll is $2,049 right now, but I’m only 450FPP away from clearing a $300 bonus. I want to stick with short stacking 200NL for a while (even after I clear it). It’s going well and I’ve been happy with my play. Even if I play break even, the other players will make it worth my while if I select the correct table. Around 5a.m-6a.m last night some extremely crazy games broke out which boasted my FPP total nicely.
I still think PokerStars is WAY TO FRIGGIN TIGHT. It’s a constant chore to find cash games that are worth your time. After I clear the bonus I’m thinking about making a deposit on Full Tilt Poker and checking out what they have to offer. Seems you can get a free 3 month subscription to CardRunners and Hold Em Manager for free if you simply deposit and clear a $100 in bonus on Full Tilt.
I haven’t gone out since I got back from Atlantic City and I’m trying to keep focus. I need to keep focusing on poker, and I need to really cut back going out and wasting money (as dreadful as that may sound). I’ll probably end up playing pretty much all of tonight as well (if things are going well). I’m a tennis fan and the Australian Open final starts live at 3:30 a.m Sunday morning (Eastern Time). I’m going to try to stay up and play poker through the start and end of that match. That would be pretty ballin’.
Off to the tables for me.
Focus focus focus……
Reader Comments (6)
Are you kidding me I go nuts when I lose live because I already know that online is rigged lol.
There is something about online that pisses me off more. At least live when you take a ridiculous beat you have 5 other players starring in amazement at the opponent who just made an incredibly bad play. At least he can't run from your direct eye contact. Also the beats online can occur with such a high and rapid frequency. Live moves slower giving you have plenty of time to recover.
Good to hear you are playing more cash games. I think that is a much better format for long term profitability. I also think short stacking is a good tactic.
Keep us posted as to your results.
Yeah. Online beats are sickening when you're playing 6 tables at once and in a span 17 seconds you get stacked across three tables from bad beats.
It's all I can do not to calmly walk outside with my mouse and keyboard and then curb stomp it until all the anger is out.
But I'm a nice guy. Really.
Forgot to add something - get your bankroll over to Full Tilt and play Rush Poker. It's pretty soft and you amass so many FTP points it's ridiculous.
People say stuff like, "Oh, the rake is so high!" Well, you're still getting rakeback for playing and whether you play 2500 hands in 1 day or over a week you're still seeing the same rake. Only this way you're also seeing a potentially higher hourly rate. It all flows together.
FK,
I'm not going to say I haven't stood up and let out a series of profanities at least once during the past two weeks while playing online poker. Other then that yeah I'm pretty mellow.
I googled "Rush Poker", but haven't looked into it extensively. I can't at work because anything with "poker" is considered gambling and blocked. It seems like it would be rather hard to profile opponents in that format, but they would probably be worse on the average. What do you think of the ring games on Full-Tilt? I think something like Rush Poker would attract just the kind of players to the site that you want.
You find some interesting formats mate ;p.