Aug 21 5 to 7pm

Olympics are still raging but I am up to $40 and playing in 25 cents to 50 cents tables. still seeing all the same things: patience mixed with aggression is the key, you win approximately 10 percent of pots when playing with 10 people. Expecting an increase in the rate at which my funds increase due to the higher stakes.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 56 hands and saw flop:
- 3 out of 5 times while in big blind (60%)
- 2 out of 6 times while in small blind (33%)
- 18 out of 45 times in other positions (40%)
- a total of 23 out of 56 (41%)
Pots won at showdown - 4 of 7 (57%)
Pots won without showdown - 2

Aug 8 Olympics and $36

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 106 hands and saw flop:
- 7 out of 11 times while in big blind (63%)
- 5 out of 13 times while in small blind (38%)
- 17 out of 82 times in other positions (20%)
- a total of 29 out of 106 (27%)
Pots won at showdown - 2 of 2 (100%)
Pots won without showdown - 7

reached $36 for the first time.

Aug 2 to Aug 3

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 203 hands and saw flop:
- 16 out of 22 times while in big blind (72%)
- 10 out of 23 times while in small blind (43%)
- 48 out of 158 times in other positions (30%)
- a total of 74 out of 203 (36%)
Pots won at showdown - 14 of 28 (50%)
Pots won without showdown - 4

won less the ten percent of the time but still wound up up for the night.

$32.91

July 29

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 84 hands and saw flop:
- 7 out of 9 times while in big blind (77%)
- 5 out of 11 times while in small blind (45%)
- 18 out of 64 times in other positions (28%)
- a total of 30 out of 84 (35%)
Pots won at showdown - 3 of 7 (42%)
Pots won without showdown - 4

Sat and lost for about 70 minutes and then won one big pot.

Added a little to leave with $31.25. The creep towards $50 goes on.

July 28th

Oh yeah, broke $30 for the first time

i am at $30.66 less than 3 months after starting with zero. May not sound like alot but it feels a whole lot like progress and it's getting fun.

July 27&28

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 286 hands and saw flop:
- 26 out of 33 times while in big blind (78%)
- 14 out of 31 times while in small blind (45%)
- 70 out of 222 times in other positions (31%)
- a total of 110 out of 286 (38%)
Pots won at showdown - 21 of 33 (63%)
Pots won without showdown - 9

Some stuff you just have to learn for yourself, but the more that I play the more that I see that its not the cards. Everyone gets hands, so if you are at a table with 10 players, you will win about 10% of the time. I have bad runs and good runs but it never gets lower than 5 % or higher than 15% over a long session. It's what I get paid off when I win and how much I can save when I lose. I have only heard that about 1000 times but it doesnt sink in until you see the numbers repeatedly.

This is getting fun.

July 26 tourney

found a 25 cents tourney to play. will follow up.

July 26

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 190 hands and saw flop:
- 17 out of 22 times while in big blind (77%)
- 7 out of 20 times while in small blind (35%)
- 33 out of 148 times in other positions (22%)
- a total of 57 out of 190 (30%)
Pots won at showdown - 12 of 15 (80%)
Pots won without showdown - 9
on a pretty good run. Bouncing between 20 and 25 dollars. Hard to lay down medium hands at this level becasue players will bet to the end with even less. still need to tighten play. Currently at $27.54 and thinking of playing a tournament.

July 23

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 50 hands and saw flop:
- 5 out of 5 times while in big blind (100%)
- 3 out of 5 times while in small blind (60%)
- 11 out of 40 times in other positions (27%)
- a total of 19 out of 50 (38%)
Pots won at showdown - 4 of 6 (66%)
Pots won without showdown - 2

Been playing 10/20 up to $26

July 12 to 13th session.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 102 hands and saw flop:
- 6 out of 11 times while in big blind (54%)
- 4 out of 12 times while in small blind (33%)
- 20 out of 79 times in other positions (25%)
- a total of 30 out of 102 (29%)
Pots won at showdown - 7 of 8 (87%)
Pots won without showdown - 2

Jumped up to 10 cents/20 cents. Did ok despite winning only 9 of 105 hands.

bankroll is up to $22.79

yeah me.

July 4

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 152 hands and saw flop:
- 17 out of 19 times while in big blind (89%)
- 7 out of 16 times while in small blind (43%)
- 33 out of 117 times in other positions (28%)
- a total of 57 out of 152 (37%)
Pots won at showdown - 9 of 16 (56%)
Pots won without showdown - 6

$14.35

June 28

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 86 hands and saw flop:
- 11 out of 12 times while in big blind (91%)
- 5 out of 11 times while in small blind (45%)
- 12 out of 63 times in other positions (19%)
- a total of 28 out of 86 (32%)
Pots won at showdown - 10 of 13 (76%)
Pots won without showdown - 1

up to $13.24, highest total in awhile good session.

June 23

ing current Hold'em session you were dealt 100 hands and saw flop:
- 9 out of 12 times while in big blind (75%)
- 6 out of 12 times while in small blind (50%)
- 27 out of 76 times in other positions (35%)
- a total of 42 out of 100 (42%)
Pots won at showdown - 8 of 12 (66%)
Pots won without showdown - 1

Pretty good night moved back about $10 probably could have jumped out earlier as I was playing distracted by a few things, never a good thing.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 100 hands and saw flop:
- 10 out of 12 times while in big blind (83%)
- 5 out of 11 times while in small blind (45%)
- 18 out of 77 times in other positions (23%)
- a total of 33 out of 100 (33%)
Pots won at showdown - 4 of 5 (80%)
Pots won without showdown - 4

Played 100 hands won a total of 8 at a table of 10 sometimes less and finished up about a buck at $9.05 proving once again that it is not how many you win but which. Starting to do better at loose table by playing just enough hands so that they can't put me on a hand when i get one.

June 21

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 61 hands and saw flop:
- 4 out of 6 times while in big blind (66%)
- 2 out of 7 times while in small blind (28%)
- 20 out of 48 times in other positions (41%)
- a total of 26 out of 61 (42%)
Pots won at showdown - 8 of 11 (72%)
Pots won without showdown - 1

finished with 8.03

chugging my way back to 10

Final post for session one June 21

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 57 hands and saw flop:
- 5 out of 7 times while in big blind (71%)
- 3 out of 8 times while in small blind (37%)
- 19 out of 42 times in other positions (45%)
- a total of 27 out of 57 (47%)
Pots won at showdown - 6 of 12 (50%)
Pots won without showdown - 4

Played more hands with good cards. Won 10 pots out of 57.

finished with $6.60

Is the tide turning Sat June 21

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 36 hands and saw flop:
- 2 out of 4 times while in big blind (50%)
- 2 out of 5 times while in small blind (40%)
- 13 out of 27 times in other positions (48%)
- a total of 17 out of 36 (47%)
Pots won at showdown - 3 of 7 (42%)
Pots won without showdown - 3

Patience is starting to pay off

Sat June 21

Back on the Horse.

Playing again, premium hands. still no break through on this down turn. I will keep you posted.

Another down down down session

Played about 185 hands last night. I wasn't getting much in terms of cards so I saw about 32% of flops which is below average for me. Why did I lose if I remained relatively tight for me. I won a total of 10 pots out of 185. Since there were ten people at the table most of the time. Over a long period of time, I should win about 10% of the pots, but I was winning about half as many. While 185 felt like an awfully long time it is not poker long. I could tighten up to reduce my losses but this becomes a bad strategy if taken to extreme when playing for low stakes with a low blind and first bet on most hands. Best bet for me is to down shift to a lower table 2cents/4cents until I built up my stack and can better withstand a 3 dollar loss.

How is that for half full

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 64 hands and saw flop:
- 6 out of 8 times while in big blind (75%)
- 5 out of 9 times while in small blind (55%)
- 14 out of 47 times in other positions (29%)
- a total of 25 out of 64 (39%)
Pots won at showdown - 0 of 2 (0%)
Pots won without showdown - 0


Ok, 64 hands and no wins. seems like a bad day but the upside was I stayed with the plan, played strong strating hands and didnt get frustrasted when things didnt go my way. cost me about $1.40 but could have been worse.

June 15 session 2

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 146 hands and saw flop:
- 12 out of 16 times while in big blind (75%)
- 9 out of 17 times while in small blind (52%)
- 36 out of 113 times in other positions (31%)
- a total of 57 out of 146 (39%)
Pots won at showdown - 10 of 12 (83%)
Pots won without showdown - 6

Finished with $7.83 after winning slightly more than 10% of the hands.

June 15 session 1 short and sweet

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 5 hands and saw flop:
- 0 out of 0 times while in big blind (0%)
- 0 out of 0 times while in small blind (0%)
- 3 out of 5 times in other positions (60%)
- a total of 3 out of 5 (60%)
Pots won at showdown - 1 of 2 (50%)
Pots won without showdown - 1

5 hands two nice pots in and out

$6.35

Woo Hoo!

sat june 24

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 114 hands and saw flop:
- 6 out of 14 times while in big blind (42%)
- 6 out of 13 times while in small blind (46%)
- 24 out of 87 times in other positions (27%)
- a total of 36 out of 114 (31%)
Pots won at showdown - 8 of 13 (61%)
Pots won without showdown - 1

$5.63

Fri 06/13

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 27 hands and saw flop:
- 3 out of 3 times while in big blind (100%)
- 1 out of 3 times while in small blind (33%)
- 6 out of 21 times in other positions (28%)
- a total of 10 out of 27 (37%)
Pots won at showdown - 4 of 4 (100%)
Pots won without showdown - 0

Finished with $4.69

Whats the story morning glory?

So, I do all this talking about my goal and tracking my play and then I disapear for 8 days during which I lose 90% of my stake coming back with absolutely no insight into what was hurting my performance. Although this is typical of how things go when you are steaming(and yes you can steam for 8 days if you are playing in 2 hours bursts), it does not help me to prevent such a downswing the next time. Most downswings are not indicative of terrible play. Remember, excellent play only gives you a slight advantage over average play in terms of short term monetary outcome, so it doesnt necesscarily take much too give away that advantage and more.

so my take aways in lieu of any hard data are:

1) Play the cards you have
2) Don't try to beat one player that you think is weak
3) Don't let it get personal, it's not.

not much but I will try harder next time to document my decisions during a run of "bad luck"

Let the rebuiding begin

spent the last week or so on tilt and went from $14+ back down to about a $1. Start to build back up but I need to sit down and analzye my tail spin. Some give back was inevitable but I need to see where i was contributing to the steepness of the decline.

currently at $3.42

- 1 out of 1 times while in big blind (100%)
- 0 out of 1 times while in small blind (0%)
- 3 out of 9 times in other positions (33%)
- a total of 4 out of 11 (36%)
Pots won at showdown - 2 of 2 (100%)
Pots won without showdown - 0

Whats up with Gus?

Has anyone else noticed that there seems to be a new Gus Hansen at least when it comes to televised poker. This year the guy famous for coming full bore with any two cards seems to have downshifted and is playing a more patient controled game. Here is the thing though. The other pros aren't buying it. When Hansen hit a streak of strong starting hands (as everyone eventually will), several of the other players(all big name pros as this was poker after dark)started making comments like"there goes Gus". Now obviously they did not share the advantage of seeing his cards, but surely even a pirate like Hansen deserve some credit for occaisionally having the goods. Is this shift in playing style just a reflection of the forum(i.e. a smaller tourney against peers)? Is Hansen taking advantage of his own well deserved reputation?
I can't say for sure but this is an excellent example of mixing up your play and the advantage it gives you even against some of the saviest players around. It should be noted that although Gus got out to a strong start, Johnny Chan would up winning by playing his normal combination of tight play with strategic aggression.

05/31/08

Had a few up and down session late in the week. In fact wound up losing about $4(33% of bankroll) during on long session of 5 cent/10 cent. Just have to remember to stay tight when the level of play around me slips and to not get frustrated when someone runs me down on the river. If someone ran me down then they were playing catch up and thats exactly what I want. finished tonights session at $13.44. Saw about 44% of flops and won 22 hands out of 172 played at a 10 person table.

$13.44

Thurs -05 29-Fri 05 30

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 52 hands and saw flop:
- 7 out of 7 times while in big blind (100%)
- 4 out of 6 times while in small blind (66%)
- 10 out of 39 times in other positions (25%)
- a total of 21 out of 52 (40%)
Pots won at showdown - 6 of 7 (85%)
Pots won without showdown - 1

Played two session tonight. First had a few aggressive players raising every pot so I tightend my play and won a decent amount playing only 20% Of hands. Second session I drew premium hands often and won 8 pots out of 52 hands while playing double the percentage of hands.

Total is currently $13.01

05/23/08

dropped $2.20 on a tourney last night. knocked out before the money.
Today

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 37 hands and saw flop:
- 4 out of 4 times while in big blind (100%)
- 2 out of 3 times while in small blind (66%)
- 13 out of 30 times in other positions (43%)
- a total of 19 out of 37 (51%)
Pots won at showdown - 7 of 7 (100%)
Pots won without showdown - 1

$12.12
had great cards and played more hands.

05/22/08 session one 5 cents/10 cents

entered play with $09.40

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 25 hands and saw flop:
- 4 out of 4 times while in big blind (100%)
- 4 out of 4 times while in small blind (100%)
- 6 out of 17 times in other positions (35%)
- a total of 14 out of 25 (56%)
Pots won at showdown - 4 of 5 (80%)
Pots won without showdown - 2

$11.76

May 21 & 22

Played a few session with creating an entry. Lost twice at 2/4. I was playing about 34 to 35 percent of flops which was actually down from my earler winning sesion. played conservative but I was just not getting any hands. Felt like I was losening my play but the percetages actually showed that I was playing fewer hands.

dropped total to around $6.50. Then played at 5/10 for two days and I am now at $9.40 down from a peak of $11.o5.

may 16 session 2

09:00pm
$7
05/16

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 44 hands and saw flop:
- 3 out of 5 times while in big blind (60%)
- 5 out of 6 times while in small blind (83%)
- 10 out of 33 times in other positions (30%)
- a total of 18 out of 44 (40%)
Pots won at showdown - 3 of 4 (75%)
Pots won without showdown – 1

09:43

07.50

enter tourney 25 cents

finished 212

70 cents

$7.95

05/16/2008- 05:21 pm

05:21pm to 05:51 pm

Starting balance $5.27
Finishing balance $7.00

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 24 hands and saw flop:
- 0 out of 3 times while in big blind (0%)
- 3 out of 4 times while in small blind (75%)
- 9 out of 17 times in other positions (52%)
- a total of 12 out of 24 (50%)
Pots won at showdown - 4 of 6 (66%)
Pots won without showdown - 0

May 15 06:40pm

started play with $4.81

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 201 hands and saw flop:
- 17 out of 23 times while in big blind (73%)
- 13 out of 20 times while in small blind (65%)
- 52 out of 158 times in other positions (32%)
- a total of 82 out of 201 (40%)
Pots won at showdown - 13 of 20 (65%)
Pots won without showdown - 7

finished 11
5.27

Session 2 on 05/14/08

entered play at
09:51pm
bal- $3.12

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 93 hands and saw flop:
- 10 out of 12 times while in big blind (83%)
- 8 out of 10 times while in small blind (80%)
- 22 out of 71 times in other positions (30%)
- a total of 40 out of 93 (43%)
Pots won at showdown - 12 of 15 (80%)
Pots won without showdown - 1

left play with $4.81

Chris Ferguson Article Link

Below please find a link to an article about the "Ferguson Chalenge". Some good tips on bankroll management.

http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/chris-ferguson-challenge

Here we Go!

Ok with the explosion of Poker and online Poker in the past ten years there are certainly many who with much reason would say that the topic has been dealt with exhaustivly in blogs, books, tv, chatrooms, watercooler....
However, legislation signed into law in 2006 by President Bush called the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). According to the UIGEA, "unlawful internet gambling" means to place, receive, or otherwise knowingly transmit a bet or wager by means of the internet where such bet is unlawful under any law in the State in which the bet is initiated, received, or otherwise made. Thus, the UIGEA prohibits online gambling sites from performing transactions with American financial institutions. As a result of this law, internet poker became more complicated and difficult for many US residents. Most of this difficulty revolves around deposits to the site from US financial institutions, most of which will not process such requests.

There are, however; a number of workarounds for this. One of the simplest and certainly the cheapest is to play on any of the plethora of sites that offer frequent(usually once per hour) free tournaments for admittedly small cash prizes. While playing two or more 5 hour tournamens for cash prizes that start at as little as 60 cents may seem to possess little appeal, let be honest about a few things:
1) you get what you pay for.(in this case what you dont pay for)
2) even low stakes poker is still poker
3) you probably watch that much terrible tv in an average week

Recently while watching Poker after Dark(M-F 2:05am-03:05am NBC), I came across yet another reason to play these games. Chris Ferguson was talking about playing free online games with the goal of building up to a $10,000 stake. He had just finished this feat within his goal time of one year and Huck Seed was looking for side bets on whether he could do so also.

Now I am clearly no Chris Ferguson or Huck Seed for that matter but this seemed like an interesting goal to set. So I am establishing this blog to track my trek from zero to $10,000. I play on PokerStars under the screen Flatleever. I started this Sunday, winning $1.00 in a weekly second round free tourney by placing in the top 500 finisher out of 5000 or so entrants. Since then I have built my total to just over $3.00 by playing 2cents 4 cents cash games. I will begin posting my stats and tracking my sessions. Can I get to $10,000? We will see but probably not for a long long time.

Stats for 05/14/08 7pm session

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 60 hands and saw flop:
- 6 out of 8 times while in big blind (75%)
- 4 out of 7 times while in small blind (57%)
- 13 out of 45 times in other positions (28%)
- a total of 23 out of 60 (38%)
Pots won at showdown - 5 of 8 (62%)
Pots won without showdown - 2

Wish me luck and make sure to say Hi! if you see me playing.

Out here.