Reid Bill thoughts

Poker world was buzzing this week about the reid bill regulating online poker as an add on to the tax bill extending the bush tax cuts. The bill ended up not being tacked on but is apparently not dead yet. Opinions varied as to whether the bill was good or bad for online poker. I have to say I was pretty split.

A part of me was incredibly excited at the prospect of regulation, I dreamed of all the idiots that would now be able to deposit easily and stay in action. I don't feel any loyalty to Full Tilt, the site I play on, if land based casinos opened sites where their were soft games I would gladly withdraw every cent off of full tilt.

However some of the stipulations did frighten me, most of all the 15 month blackout period where there would be no online poker in the US. Besides being really bummed about the not being able to play, my lack of confidence and distrust of the US gov't really makes me feel like there would be an 80% chance of shit getting royaly fucked up by politicians and regulators.

Change is exciting and nerve racking, I'm not going to stress about it until something actually happens, I am afraid however that unless something significant happens in the next 12 months the online poker landscape will look pretty bleak.

P..S. Still grinding plo25 bankroll=$1200 on a pretty long break evenish stretch, I'm a couple good days away from moving up to plo50.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Shifting Gears

It's so much easier to update this thing when things are going well. I totally changed the focus of my poker playing, the sit n go grind was stagnant. Maybe it was because my multi-tabling abilities weren't what they needed to be, but whatever the reason was, the combination of of not seeing my bankroll grow, and RainmanPoker Training closing shop I decided it was time to try to make a move or quit. So with about $700 in my account I began my quest to learn omaha cash. I cancelled my PokerVT subscription, joined Deuces Cracked, began studying videos, while playing PLO10 6-max. Once I got to 30 buy ins (around $800) I moved up to PLO25. My plan is to continue to with the 30 buy-in minimum and my goal is to reach PLO400. My bankroll is currently at $1,200 and I have been really enjoying the new game, the gamble, and the weak play at this level. I have been running good without a doubt but enjoy being able to have winning days almost every day without needing to 16-table. Rakeback is also huge, because there are so many more all-in pots and the rake is high compared to the stakes, I'm racking up rakeback and FTPs which also allow me to earn free CardRunners membership each month pretty easily. Hopefully I'll be updating more often now, because that will mean I'm doing well at the tables.

back to basics

Just a quick update today, going to be trying to play more 45 and 90 mans this month, rainman training will start up again in september, the heads-up games are good for when i dont have a lot of time, but I have to stay sharp play the MTSNGs if I want to grow my bankroll, which is at about 700. Going to be playing strictly $11 HU turbo SNGs, or combinations of $5 45-mans and $3 90 mans. Those are the two games that I will be able to do volume without risking going broke, and are the ones that I have ROIs in the 20% area.

Back Home

Back from the trip, kinda bummed about being home with not a ton to look forward to, but summer is great regardless. Been playing a little, and after watching a couple videos on Heads-Up SNGs I was inspired to give them a try. I've done pretty well, each day I've single tabled and played anywhere between 15-30 and have had 3 winning days in a row. I never understood the power of the "rematch" button, it is truly where most of your value is in these games. The ability to get a fish to play you multiple times in a row is so huge. Even against a player who isn't bad, playing him a couple times will give you so much information about his game that, if you are able to adjust appropriately, you'll be putting yourself in consistently good spots. I also like the time factor, I've been playing Turbos (not super-turbos) and I find it gives me plenty of time to play, and if I'm involved in an especially long match, I feel like my above-average push-fold game gives me the advantage when the blinds get high. Playing heads-up i've worked the bankroll up to 800, I have to play more to see if I'm actually good at these or just running good.

Finally, a trip update

Okay so blogging on the road didn't really happen, I am in my last week of traveling, I'm leaving from London tonight to spend the weekend in Amsterdam, then coming back to London for a day before returning home to the USA. My trip has been incredible, here is the list of places I have already been in chronological order: [Barcelona (Spain)], [Rome, Florence, Tuscany, Rome, Sicilian Island of Salina, Scylla, Reggio di Calabria, Bari (Italy)], [Corfu, Mykonos, Santorini, Athens (Greece)]. My favorite place for partying has definitely been Mykonos, absolutely over the top insane, clubs, bars, beach parties, totally ridiculous. Florence and Rome where both also very fun and the cities are just so beautiful.

Poker has not played much of a role in my trip, I read Pearljammer, Rizen, and Apestyle's new book, the second part of the Winning Online Tournaments series which I thought was pretty good. Last night I actually played for the first time at a local Casino here in London called "The Mint". Played 1-2 cash in one of the strangest games I have ever seen. Limp-calls and limp-reraises were very standard, as well as 10x BB opens, and straddled family limped pots. I sat down with two hundred pounds, and finished 10 hours later with 205. I got called out many times for being tight and was able to use that to my advantage as the night progressed. I playing a bit scared though because of my upcoming trip to Amsterdam, I wasn't 100% comfortable with losing that cash right before what has the potential to be a very fun weekend.

I followed the Main Event action as much as I could, a little bummed we didn't more online legends in the November Nine, but am very happy Jason "PBJaxx" Senti was able to grind his way in there. Really bummed I haven't been able to attend any of the Rainman's webinars while I've been abroad, when I get home I'm going to beg and plead to get copies of Bodeye's 90-man series.

Not looking forward to going home very much at all, although it does mean I'll be able to get back to playing, it also means I have resume the job search which is just soul-crushing. I'm trying to line up some part time work teaching tennis lessons as well because after the amount of partying I've done in the last month my bank account is on life support.

I'm going to try to get the blogger app for iphone working and then upload some pictures in my next post.

Uhhh... fail

Bankroll is below 700, which means time to move down in stakes. I'm pretty bummed out, I really think I'm playing well, but it's very hard to stay positive. I asked Bodeye about my awful ROI in the $10 45mans and he said that my current sample size of 400 games doesn't mean much, and that 4,000 would give me meaningful number. Part of me wants to go learn the math behind these numbers for meaningful sample sizes, these huge volume numbers tilt me almost as much as my recent results.

My monthly challenge is also nowhere close to being completed. I haven't played enough because of all the distractions I anticipated initially before I came back home. Parents, job search, and friends being around have all contributed to me not playing. I don't know where to go from here with poker, when I do play I'll be playing $3&$6 90mans and $5 45 mans. I'll have the next month to think about what I want to do with poker and my life, as a graduation gift I'm going on an incredible trip though Europe, meeting some of my friends on the way. Here is the breakdown:
3 days in Barcelona with my college room mate, then in Rome I meet my friend from home I'll call him "Bearjew", then a train to Florence where we meet my other friend from home who speaks italian. Then I think we go back down to southern italy for a bit, then take an overnight ferry to Croatia. We go to Dubrovnek, Split, and other places in Croatia for about a week, then go to Athens. A couple days there then we are still deciding on which greek islands to go to. I think the plan is to do two, then go back to athens, where I will split up with my two home friends and head to London. 5 days in London with some of my former housemates and then back home. It's the first thing I've really had to look forward to this summer and I'm really excited about it.

I won't have any time to play but I'll update the blog as I travel and put pictures and stuff up of all the sick places I'm going.

Strugglin

It's been too long since my last post, it's because I usually post after good things happen, and recently I haven't had a lot of good days at the poker table. I'm down to around $900 and my results have been really swingy. My current downswing is not an abnormal one, I've seen other good players that have had worse runs, what is beginning to worry me though is the gap in my results in the $5 tournies and the $10. I've played over 1,000 at $5 and my ROI is about 23%. I've played about 350 $10s and my ROI is -20%. Since these two tournaments are basically the only ones I play, my bad luck in the $10s is what is holding me back. I do not think the play is better in the $10s although it is a bit tighter. I notice that in the 5s, once the blinds get to 150-300, you are basically at the final table every time. However, in 10s, I think the final table bubble burst a bit later. I find myself placing 15th-7th in the 10s far more than I do in the 5s.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time thinking about what I'm doing wrong in the 10s, because the answer is probably nothing. The solution is going to be to just play more, which I plan on doing this week, I'm waiting for my new mouse to be delivered, my old one decided to stop working for no reason, and Logitech customer service was EXCELLENT, they're sending me a replacement free of charge and should be here this week.