Every Session Is the Worst Session of My life (6.18.2010)

As you may have drawn from the title: nothing is really changing for me on the virtual tables.  I crammed in a 4 hour session Tuesday and dropped $140, running -$120 in EV.  Then last night I played 5 hours and ended up down -$140.  I actually felt happy to only be down 140, I really ran terribly.  It’s hard to comprehend losing the amount of 80%+ equity situations that I have in the past few months.  It’s absolutely disgusting.  There is no reason that any normal person should end up with a net dollar loss after playing the session that I did last night.

I got myself in the right situations and my stats were fine, just kept getting hammered by unthinkable bullshit.  I do still have a 3-bet leak, but I can’t for the life of my figure out how to plug it.  But yeah it’s tough to open up your game and jam 20 more spots per thousand hands when you are bleeding, when you run -EV every session, when you lose every two outer, when you lose every suck-out, when you finally get the courage to aggressively JAM a range and the luck-box catches the top 5% of his range EVERY FUCKING TIME.  If you can’t hold KK over QQ all in pre how the hell are you going to jam with TT or AJ in a slightly EV spot and hold?  I’d love to filter out just how many two-outers I have lost vs. won in the past two months once the money is all in.  I’m sure HEM has a report to show these sort of numbers, but I doubt I will actually dig around and generate the report.  What is the point of dwelling on the past? 

Anyways my mind-set and philosophy is part of my problem right now with the 3-bet leak.  I feel I can still win by not pushing in the extra 10-20 spots per 1,000 hands, but not when I lose every single huge all in situation with dominating equity.  I still think it’s better to be conservative when you’re in a losing streak.  Don’t try to do too much, but always be looking for spots to expand.  When expanding my 3-bet pre-flop pushes it needs to be 100% based on ranges.  It’s tough because I don’t have a large hand database on many of the casual players, so it often feels more of a border-line push than it actually is.  Also the casual is going to call more, but you will be in a lot of 55-65% equity situations, which has huge variance.  The main strength of the 3-bet shove pre-flop is it FOLDS OUT HANDS, that is its purpose.  I definitely need to be 3-betting regulars as much (based on their ranges from certain positions) because they fold a lot.  They are less likely to call of 17BB with a marginal hand.

Anyways I don’t have my log with me at work, but these three hands sum up last night’s session:

AT < T4s all in on the flop.  -$80. My top three of a kind loses to an unthinkable runner runner flush.

Board is Th Th 3s

I don’t even remember the specific turn and river cards.  I shoved him $35 all in on the flop after he re-raised me and he instantly called.  The pot was already big and I didn’t want to get tricky here, especially with the flush draw showing.  His range was very bad.  I thought he was likely to be holding trips dominated with a weaker kicker, a flush draw, a poorly played over-pair, a mid pair, or a set of threes.  I just remember the turn was spade, and so was the river.  I was 80% equity to win even on the turn.  And its massive dominating spots like these where I never hold, and this is why I don’t show profit.

KK < QQ all in preflop.  - $60

TURN QUEEN.  This is very quickly turning into my signature move.  Get all in pre-flop with KK AND LOSE TO A BITCH MOTHER FUCKING QUEEN.  This nightmare scenario just keeps occurring, it’s like a sick joke.

So if I won those two pots I’m even for the session. 

KK < AK, QQ all in preflop.  -$80

The standard idiot-box queen on the flop.  So basically if I’m holding KK and there’s a queen anywhere on the board I INSTANTLY LOSE.  LOL @ my luck with KK vs QQ.  It’s just so depressing.

The 3 way with KK wasn’t even that bad.  There were two other two outers I lost all in preflop.  Also at least three other 70% equity situations lost.  So that’s my session yeah whatever.

Summary

I’ve already put in 9 hours during the week so that should take some pressure off me to play during the weekend.  I expect to put in at least 20 hours this weekend, but we will see.  The only plus is I’ve already cleared 2k VPPs this week, which brings me to 84,000 VPPS (84%).  I just have to stay focused and keep making the right decisions.  I’m brain-dead at work right now and not in a great mood.  I’ll be sure to throw in some more miserable updates from the weekend.  I’m sure I’ll continue losing 4 out of every 5 80% equity situations, I’d expect nothing less.

Schedule Today/Tonight

A)  Suffer through the rest of my day job like a zombie for four hours.

B)  Buy at least two 5-hour energies.

C)  Hell on earth commute: 1 hour.

D)  Destroy a nap when I get home: 3-4 hours.

E)  Hopefully get in a groove and play at least 6 hours tonight.

F)  Wake up and force myself to work out in 95 degree weather.

G)  Repeat only with more poker.

Updates and SN Time-Line Adjusted (6.14.2010)

The Week and Going Forward

I just got back from the beach late last night.  It was an awesome time.  I’m having some serious beach/Russian-girls/friends/partying withdrawal.  I feel bad that I did sort of bail out of my original plan to play as much poker as possible during my week off, but that’s life.  I went out Thursday night and I had some issues with a friend.  She ended up pissing me off very badly.  The situation helped push me to take a last minute trip when I woke up Friday morning, which I did.  Also I decided to not call her again for a long time, even know we have been friends for about 7 years.  We also hooked up a while ago and we are attracted to each-other, but I won’t get into this.  It’s a confusing situation that only I would be in.

Anyways, this was the first time I took off a week from the day job during the past year.  I didn’t miss it for a single minute.  So now it’s back to the grind, which is really depressing to even think about.  Then again my past amazing weekend should be used to remind me of what I am exactly fighting for.  I’m fighting for my freedom. 

Last week was not going so great on the poker tables, I’ve yet to find a win-rate.  However, there were some positives from the experience:

1)  I can see myself being able to handle playing full-time. 

Last week I played over 9 hours 6 days in a row and did not feel burned out. 

2)  I can handle the lifestyle. 

I didn’t mind going to bed at 5- 6 a.m, waking up at 1:00p.m, enjoying some of the day, and then playing poker again at night.

3)  I’m closer to Supernova.

82% there.

And some reasons for net loss on the tables:

1)  I was over-working myself without taking enough breaks. 

Playing poker 9.5 hours a day was a little much.

2)  A hybrid short-stack strategy is risky, and it sucks when you’re on the bad end of it.

Bum hunts were miserably failing, and some big lost pots added up which I discussed in previous posts.

3)  I was a little too aggressive based on my bankroll. 

I got involved in a lot of border-line spots shove 3-betting all in preflop.  Going forward I’m not going to try to do too much, but I will constantly be looking for spots to expand and improve.  When you’re running like shit it isn’t wise to push very borderline spots with a small bankroll.

4)  I ran VERY badly. 

It’d be nice to run BREAK EVEN EV for a week.  YES I’LL TAKE BREAK EVEN, my life is that messed up.  I can’t even stress enough how thrilled I’d be to run break even EV for 40 hours.  I’d probably throw a massive party.  BREAK EVEN EV PARTY!

5)  I put much of my play in during the tougher stretch of the week. 

I busted on the tables Sun-Wed.  Really the better traffic would have been Wed-Saturday.  If I could go back in time and do the week again it would have been smarter to go to the beach Mon-Wed, and play poker Thurs-Saturday.  I thought part of the reason I ran up $100 in less than 2 hours on Thursday was because horrible players were flooding the tables, even more so than usual.  Then again if I went to the beach Mon-Wed there would have been a chance I just stayed down there the entire week.  Doing the trip Fri-Sun at least forced me back since the day job called on Monday morning.

Adjusted Time-Line to Supernova:

Right now I stand around 82,000 VPPs, I’m 82% there.  Though if I keep running this badly I might not even be able to quit my job once I hit Supernova.  I’m hoping things chill the fuck out from an EV standpoint going forward.  But if my win-rate isn’t there once I hit then I simply have to construct my next plan of action.  It might even turn too dropping to full buy in at lower stakes. 

Week 1:  June 14^th ( Monday)- June 20^th (Sunday)

Mandatory Target: 5,000 VPPs.

Estimated Time: 24 hours of 12 tabling.

Notes:  This week is really going to suck.  I just teased myself by taking a quick trip to the beach.  The hardest part is going to be refocusing.  I have to get ready for a continued war.

Expected Total at Conclusion:  87,000 VPPs.

(EDIT 88k VPPs at 6/21/2010.  On pace)

Week 2:  June 22^nd (Tuesday)- June 27^th (Sunday)

Mandatory Target: 5,000 VPPs.

Estimated Time: 24 hours of 12 tabling.

Notes:  The targets mentioned are mandatory.  Hopefully at this point I will be mixing in some 16 table sessions during peak times to help pick up VPPs.  If I do this I can be working more efficiently.  However, I’m not forcing anything if things continue to go horribly.

Expected Total at Conclusion:  92,000 VPPs

Week 3:  June 28^th (Monday) – July 4^th (Sunday)

Mandatory Target: 5,000 VPPs.

Estimated Time: 24 hours of 12 tabling.

Notes:   In my first time-line projection I had a week set aside that would be used to map out a Supernova win-rate.  I think this is a little un-necessary.  I really only need to play about 10 hours at Supernova to see how many FPPs I would be earning.  Then I just figure out the win-rate I need to be at with the FPPs/expected bonuses combined.

Expected Total at Conclusion:  97,000 VPPs

Week 4:  July 5^th (Monday)- July 11^th (Sunday)

Mandatory Target: 5,000 VPPs

Estimated Time: 24 hours of 12 tabling.

Notes:  At the conclusion of this week I should be able to take my last 40-50 hours of play and map out a win-rate (hopefully?) going forward.  If I’m winning anything per 100 BBs I’m very happy.  If I’m playing break even I’m still making more than my day job.  If I’m slightly losing, I still might be ok as crazy as that sounds.  If I’m losing substantially then I will be forced to push back my corporate secession date and regroup.

This may be the time to put in a 2-week notice.  Or if things are going well fuck the two week notice and GOOD-BYE TO YOU.

Expected Total at Conclusion:  103,000 VPPS (Supernova hit)

Weeks 5 and 6: July 12^th- July 23^rd.

The last two weeks I rot in a dark shitty office?  Take this time to get focused and prepared for your next challenge in life.  Keep grinding out at least 5,000 VPPs during these two weeks, but at this point I won’t have to kill myself with two jobs, since my path is finally set going forward with the decision to quit.

July 26^th (My personal independence day):  Freedom, purpose, and passion now return to my life for the first time in almost three years.  EVERY WEEK, EVEN FROM MONDAY- FRIDAY.

Updates 6.11.2010 (Bailing Out, Heading to the Beach.)

So I played two hours Thursday night.  I ran decent and was up a $100.  I also ran +$50 EV HOLY SHIT WHAT THE FUCK?  This breaks a seven session losing streak.  Is this a parallel universe? Am I typing this while in the twilight zone?  What the fuck is going on here?  As small as it was it gave me my confidence back.  As I played I had a bit of a theme in mind that I’m going to try to remember as I play from here on out:

“DON’T TRY TO DO TOO MUCH, BUT ALWAYS BE LOOKING FOR SPOTS TO EXPAND AND IMPROVE.”

Then something interesting happened.  One of the more attractive friends I know really wanted to meet up so I completely caved.  I logged out around 10:00 p.m On Thursday night.   Next I went on a complete rampage and got wasted, had a blast. 

I woke up this morning and said to myself: “you know I really wish I was at the beach”.  I called a friend I haven’t talked to in a few months and he immediately picked up.  The conversation went:

Friend:  “What is up my man”

Baglife:  “What be up dawg”

Baglife:  “Hey you uh want to go to the beach, bail the fuck out of here?”

Friend:  “Yeah I’m game, calling out of work now”

So I mean that was basically it.  He’s on my way to my house.  I’m all packed up and should be out of here in about 20 minutes.  It helps because I have a place in Ocean City, MD.  It’s not the most luxurious destination in the world, but it really is a diamond in the ruff party town.  And there are so many pretty Russian girls there it is UNBELIEVABLE.

They are all 18-22 and drop dead gorgeous.  There seems to be some sort of college program during the summer where they are allowed into the country to work for the summer.  They generally have different goals.  Some of them want culture experience, some want to do whatever it takes to stay in the U.S.  Some take the easy way out, find a guy, ruin his life, get a nice green-card, and THE FAIRY TALE GOES ON.

More on this later, have a good weekend all.

Mid-Week Review and Last Night’s Session (6.10.2010)

Last Night’s Incredible Session (Down -$165):

The nightmare continues here.  This is the 8^th session in a row I have ended up a net loss.  Can it get any worse?  Yes of course it can!  Whenever I’ve concluded that it isn’t humanely possible to run any worse I find a way.  Going to review a few hands below.

Hand 1)  Ad Jc < As Jd - $105

This has got to be the funniest thing I’ve seen all week.  So I left a $50 full stack on this table to go after a bad player.  Sure enough I get into a hand with him.  I raise him pre-flop he calls.

Board:  8s, 8d, 9d

I check the board because I know he’s a complete call-box, and c-bets have no value here.  This is the type of guy who would call his ex girlfriend even if she put a restraining order on him.  His fold to C-bet is around 10%. 

Turn 7d

This gives me the top flush draw.  Note they aren’t clean outs, but clean enough with this fool.  He bets $3 into a $6 pot and I call.

River Td

Board:  8s, 8d, 9d, 7d, Td

So I hit my ace high flush.   But he hits the nut straight flush, lol.  Ok wow.  He leads out a $10 bet on the river, I raise to $30.  He then shoves all in and I call my final $18.  I was actually thinking in my head ok this guy has the straight nut flush, he absolutely has it.  Based on his range, I didn’t think he had the full house, but the nut straight flush seemed more probable.  I was just praying he happened to have a king-queen high flush, or over-pair.

That had to be one of the more disgusting things I’ve seen all week.  Sure he could have had a full house, but based on his range I have to get all in with an ace high flush.

Hand 2)  AK < 8To all in preflop.  - $45

He jams his life preflop with 8 T off suit, hits an EIGHT, and fucking holds.  There certainly is money to be made, I just never make it.

Hand 3)  KK < 99 all in preflop.  -$40

I’m 80% equity, but turn nine = GG.

Hand 4)  AK < AJs all in peflop.  -$40

All in with 70% equity preflop here.  He holds three of a kind jacks by the river.

Hand 4)  KK < AQs all in preflop.  -$35

70% equity again.  Flop queen.  Turn Ace.  Ok I understand AQ is better than my KK ALWAYS.

Hand 5)  AK < TJs all in preflop.  -$40

He hits the jack and holds.

Hand 6)  AK < 56 all in on the turn.  -$41

Again I can’t seem to hold with an all in 80% equity spot.  He rivers the 4 for the suck-out straight against top pair/ top kicker.

And that is the story of this week.  If I hold on even half the small pots mentioned above I’m fine for the session.

Running Bad and Over Working Myself

Right now I feel like every time I play a session I will find a way to lose.  It really is a terrible feeling, and I must say this is the lowest I’ve been in a while from a confidence standpoint.  I still have confidence going into my sessions, I just don’t ever expect things to go well for me, and they never do.

I’m not sure how much more of this I can take this week.  I may just go away this weekend and say fuck it.  Enough is enough.  I think I really have been pushing myself to hard to hit Supernova though.  Here is the amount of poker I’ve played during the past week:

Friday (6/4/2010):  9 hours

Saturday (6/5/2010):  9.5 hours

Sunday (6/6/2010):  9.5 hours

Monday ( 6/7/2010):  10 hours

Tuesday (6/8/2010):  10 hours

Wednesday (6/9/2010):  9.5 hours

So over 57 hours in the past 6 days.  I really went into this week hoping that I would run somewhat like a normal person, and that would make things easier.  Even if I ran very bad and lost 2 out of every three sessions I still would have been fine.  Instead it continues to be an absolute nightmare.  I’m down -$865 in the last 10 sessions.  This isn’t a lot in the overall scheme of life, but it really is.  I have 100,000 FPPs in my account that will be worth $1,500 at Supernova level, but I’m not at Nova yet.  If I spent them now they would be worth $1300 (which I refuse to do).

Super-Nova Push and Bankroll

I am officially 82% to Supernova as of today.  By the time I hit Supernova I will have amassed over 150,000 FPPs.  They will be good for $2,900 combined.  So I’m somewhat looking at the “pending” $2,900 as part of my bankroll.  Right now I have around $2,300 in my online account.  The $2,300 is way under-rolled, we all know how fast money can swing in this format.  Therefore, three-fifths of my online bankroll is PENDING.  This is stressful to say the least.  For any normal person $5,000 should be enough to 12-table 100NL short-stacking.  However, I have to be careful when I leave full stacks on.  I’ve really been getting burned on huge unavoidable pots this week when I stack up full and take a shot.  However, I’m not going to stop doing it.  I’ve gotten myself in really good situations, they just haven’t panned out.

I just have to keep in mind going forward that it is my absolute job to find a way to profit during each session.  This will look up eventually; I have confidence in my skill and ability.  As for my bum-hunts not working out, I’ll get a full $50 in with 70%+ equity every time, so whatever.

And I leave you with five hands that have ruined my week:

A)  AQ < 88.  -$100 pot.

This was from Wednesday’s session.  I flop top two pair, and he hits a set on the turn.  This was a full stack lost, which I built up bum-hunting a table.  Before I could leave the table I got involved with this pot with a regular.  The guy really isn’t an amazing player by any means.  He’s certainly stacking off with less than a set here.  He is stacking off with AK, Ax, or even a flush draw.  This is pretty damn tough to hero fold.

B)  KK < A8s all in preflop.  -$100 pot.

This was also from Wednesday’s miserable session.  When good bum-hunts go bad PART II, THIS WEEK ON FOX!!!  The entire reason I left this stack on the table was to go after this guy.  His stats were 40/20 or something really stupid.  Board runs out:

4, 6, 4, 5, 7

HE RIVERS THE FUCKING STRAIGHT!  This hand was without a doubt ruin my life material.

C)  AQ < 75s  all in on the river.  -$100.

This was another when good bum-hunts go bad.  This dude was absolutely bleeding money on the table and one seat to my left.  A dream scenario.  I left my stack on to go after him.  I previously saw him stack off $50 with a high card ten.  The guys stats were 82/26/23 in a 100 hands, just to give you an idea of how maniac his range was.

So he turns the nut straight against my top pair, top kicker.  I have to pay him here, completely unavoidable.  After he won the pot he distributed his $100 stack to the rest of the table in the span of about 15 minutes.

D)  QQ < K8o all in preflop.  -$90

I almost puked.  IT’S THE SAME FUCKING GUY.  LOL.  HE calls of $35 pre-flop with K8 off-suit and hits a KING on the flop.  An 82/26 player single handedly took $100 from me.  Wow I should have just called up the 21-year old stripper with a kid and went on a date.  KID CAN COME.  KIDS ARE A++.

E)  KK < AA all in preflop.  -$110

This was some legendary bull-shit.  I was on a table where I ran $20 up to $160 and decided to leave the stack on.  Of course I got involved with a regular where he is awarded AA over my KK.  I was really disappointed with myself here because I cold-called the final $40 preflop.  I really have to hero fold here.  What else is this guy possibly 5-betting me preflop with?  We have played over 2,000 hands with each-other, he knows damn well I’m a tight player.  Do you really think he’s making this push with AK or even QQ?  Not against me.  Terrible play on my part, but still unlucky.  This really kicked off the worst week of my life.

Win two of these and I'm only down what around $650 for the week?  Win three and it's only $550, which is completely managable.  That wouldn't nearly sound as bad.  That is all for today.  I think I should really go out tonight or Friday and get refocused.  FML.



Tuesday Rape -$384 Losing My Mind (6.8.2010)

Down -$384 In 5 hours.  I just lost my mind and sent Pokerstars an email.  Putting in 3 more hours tonight and then going to bed.  I hate everything.  Maybe there is a 1% chance they will read the email and remove the doomswitch from my account who knows.  Fucking bullshit.

To:  Pokerstars Customer Support

SUBJECT LINE: Losing My Mind.  How do You Ensure Your Shuffle is Random (I’m blowing off some steam, but seriously?)

"Hello,

I’d like to start by saying I am passionate about playing poker.  I take it very seriously.  I won’t stop until I play poker full time, and it is self-sustaining.  I want to make a career out of it.  If it does not work out on your site, I will move to another site.  If it does not work out on another site, I will move to Las Vegas to pursue it professionally.  I’ve recently been making a push on your site for Supernova status the last few months.

Let me say it has been an absolute nightmare.  I have run under $5,000 in expected value during this time frame.  I know many regulars who have not ran under $5,000 EV in millions of hands played.  Keep in mind I normally short stack 12-16 100NL tables at once ($20 buy in each).  So this is a ridiculous amount of money to swing.  I just honestly don’t even understand how it’s possible anymore.  I’ve ran under $5,000 in expected value in 250,000 hands, which is quite unheard of.

I feel sick to my stomach as I’m typing this.  I wish you could look at my hand log and explain to me how it is even possible.  I write this after my last 3 hour session, which I ran under EV again for the 9^th time in 11 sessions (even by Hold Em Manager standards).  Looking at my last session:

KK < AA all in pre. -$43

AK < AA all in pre. -$40

QQ < AA all in pre. -$40

AK < AA all in pre. -$60

QQ < AA all in pre. -$33

For starters, how do you run into AA all in preflop 5 times in 3 hours with AK+?  But whenever I’m holding AA I get absolutely destroyed.  It’s like the deal is trying to mess with me.  In the same session, here is what happens when I get dealt AA:

AA < K8s.  He flops the flush.  I flop top over-pair and the nut flush draw.  He somehow holds.  -$50

AA < 55.  -$30.  FLOP five.

AA < QQ. -$40  Flop queen.

So where is the balance again?

In the same session we have a player playing 90% of his hands and committing all in with basically any two cards.  He smashes me for over a $100 of course.  QQ < K8 off-suit all in preflop ($90 pot gone).  And he instantly FLOPS the king, just wow.  Then AQ < 75s as he turns a miracle nut straight against top pair top kicker (another $96 gone). 

Please explain to me how you ensure your shuffle is random?  Because I am absolutely losing my mind, it doesn’t even make sense anymore. 

We also have in THE SAME SESSION:

TT < KTs all in pre-flop.  I make a great play again and get punished.  He cold calls and somehow flops the nut flush.  -$40.

I have to say it’s really getting old.  I don’t know what I’ve done as a customer to deserve this week after week after week after week after week after week.  But I wanted you to know that if I decide to completely cash out and leave when I hit Supernova, this is why.  There is only so much one person can take.

I know it’s terrible luck and I can’t even believe I’m typing this email.  But let me say this is not just one session.  This is the way it has been going for me the last 3 months.  There is never a session where I actually run surprisingly well, or the polar opposite of what I talked about above.  Absolutely never. 

I want to believe with all my heart that your deal is completely random.  I love your software, customer support, and service.  I want to believe I’m just the most unlucky person on the face of the planet.  Hopefully future generations can use my hand history on your site to do a case study to explain variance.  So I’m off to deposit another doomed $600. 

Hopefully I can look back at this email and laugh one day, but I don't see that happening.  Hopefully you get a good laugh though. 

Cheers!

Baglife"

6/9/2010 EDIT RESPONSE FROM POKERSTARS:

(This is why I stay with Pokerstars.  They act like they actually do care.  I'm just blown away by such an amazing response to my waste of an emaill.) 

"Thank you for your email.

First, I am sorry to hear that you have had a hard time at PokerStars. I can
empathize with you in regards to the highs and lows that poker sometimes
dishes out. Whether playing online, at a friend's house, or in a casino, the
nature of the game dictates that sometimes we both will have downswings and
be on the end of some bad beats.

Please also keep in mind that Poker EV graphs are not conclusive and should
not be the only tool to look at when determining how badly you may be
running or how well you have been playing. This topic is discussed
extensively on poker forums such as 2+2. It is important to remember that

streaks of good luck and bad luck do occur and can often last for a long
period of time. What we can say is that over an infinite number of hands,
both your actual winnings and expected winnings should be equal at
point-infinity.

Furthermore, it is natural for poker players to seek reasons for why
downswings occur, as you have, however the simple fact is downswings are
inevitable in a random shuffle. Downswings usually occur due to variance in
results that do not match expected outcomes. They cannot be logically
connected to anything else. Unfortunately when facing extended losses, many
players become emotional, and find logic hard to grasp.

For example, it is important to understand, each poker hand is an
independent event. The cards that come on one hand have no effect on the
cards that are dealt in the next hand. This means there is no pattern in
results. It makes no sense to aggregate independent events because there is
no connection between them. Each hand is demonstrably independent from every
other.

And yes, we can assure you that our shuffle IS completely random, which
favours no player over any other. The methods we use ensure complete
randomization of the cards, and complete unpredictability of the cards to
come. You can see the description of these methods at:

http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/room/features/security/

In addition, we analyse hands dealt daily to see if there is any
statistically significant variance from expectation.

We even gave the software source code to the largest consulting firm
specializing in software security and quality, Cigital, who reviewed
PokerStars' shuffle and found it to be fair and random. You may read about
this analysis at:

http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/rng/

If you are still concerned about PokerStars' games, I can only advise you to
perform your own analysis. You have played 815,246 hands on our site and you
can request your full hand history from us and input it into some
independent poker analysis software, such as PokerTracker, PokerOffice, or
Hold'em Manager.

Your own hand histories will clearly show our shuffle IS random.

I hope this has alleviated your concerns. I wish you the best of luck in
your endeavours to achieve Supernova and your future poker career.

Best Regards,

Alexander L
PokerStars Support Team"