Hiatus?

It's been so long since I actually updated from my last blog post and sorry to the few followers I did have. I'm really not sure the to update with since my SNE chase was crushed due to Black Friday. I'll just update with what's been happening over the last two months.

I did receive my funds back from Pokerstars and I can't be more thankful enough, however I did not head to Vegas to play. I decided to head to somewhere more local, Mohegan Sun, which was a way cheaper alternative for me (have bills to pay now :/). I went with my friend Matt and had more fun that expected; I admit I was somewhat nervous and didn't do as well the first day, losing about 100-200ish. I pulled through the next few days, playing way better and ended the trip up a BI playing 200NL the entire time. One of the things that did surprise me was how focused I was during the trip, I didn't even listen to my iTouch once when I was playing! 24 tabling to playing 1 table is quite the adjustment, but without another source of income, I was determined to win.

Yeah, so I had a good time and will be heading back there in two weeks or so to play in their Summer Showdown. Let's see if I can luckbox a donkament ;)

Besides that, I haven't been pokering much. I did deposit to RPM poker, but grinding microstakes is not the same lol. I'm relaxing and enjoying my time off away from poker, but I have to start getting down to business cause I need the income!

Maybe on my next blog post, I'll elaborate more on my first live experience, but for now I'll officially say my blog will have some inactivity. You never know, I might get the blogger's itch again and start updating weekly~ See ya.

Plans

It took me some time to digest what has truly happened this last week or so. I'm not sure what the best word is to describe my emotions about "Black Friday." I am just really disappointed that I would not be achieving SNE this year. However, I will remain optimistic and yes, there is a reason for the optimism. For one, Pokerstars and Full Tilt has made a agreement with the DoJ to return the player funds ASAP. With so much uncertainty of whether we will ever see our funds again, this is truly a blessing.

Let's just hope this is just a setback for online poker and that this will be a push for regulation in the game we love and hate.

So, what our my plans now? Unfortunately I cannot play live until next month when I turn 21, so in the meantime I will be praying I can get my funds ASAP and chilling in my apartment. If I happen to receive my funds before my birthday (May 26), I'll most likely be planning a trip to Vegas to play in the Deep Stack Extravaganza Series at the Venetian. I'll play in a couple of their lowest events ($340) and grind some cash during my time there.

Marching Down

I'm not really sure what to write without this becoming a massive whine post. March was really frustrating to say the least and I think for like the second or third time in my poker career, this was a losing month for me at the cash tables. Thankfully for RB and bonuses, I profited, but in no way am I happy about it. I set goals for myself in the beginning of the year and I didn't want to have one losing month at the tables. There was nothing I can do to climb out of this downer and I tried.



If I posted a EV graph, I guess I have to post it from now on when I do run good :)

Yeah I think at one point I was to 20 BI's below EV and from my older posts, I always reiterate that EV isn't always a true indication of what is really "happening." So yes, there is definitely some tilt and spew in the graph, on the other hand there are also major coolers etc...


Ok so this is in my opinion, my most dreaded portion of the post when I actually discuss my monthly profits, since I didn't have that good of a month.

Cash:-3600 (1200 of it is from 400NL)
Tourneys: -600 (includes a stake to a friend for Sunday Million)
Bonuses/Milestones: +6600

Totals: +2400

So basically, I am back where I started. A bad BE player.

state of the games &

It has been well over a month since the Pokerstars Ring Game changes (FEB 10) and though this maybe won't be the most accurate assessment of the games, I feel since the changes, the games have been better. There is a mix opinion of this and I notice on the 2P2 Pokerstars Regular thread that it's really split in between the middle of this debate. Generally, I would think the poker community leans towards the assessment of the games improving since the changes. However, some really well respected big winners at SSFR think otherwise.

Sometimes Pokerstars fall under huge critique from the whole poker community especially in this last year with not many promotions and questionable changes made in the gameplay. But, recently Pokerstars has been making fantastic progress in my opinion and I must give kudos to them. Listening to the community for the ring game changes, having more promotions like the introduction of Home Games, which is surprisingly bringing more casual players in the game and few days ago, the announcement of the 60 Billion Hand Promotion. To be honest, I am actually surprised they are doing this and I hope I actually hit a milestone!

VPP count : 208K

Also, sitting out on the next big blind is the nuts.

variance :(

I try not to pay attention to EV, but my last two sessions have been brutal. Hopefully it turns around by the end of the month or it will be my first losing month in awhile.

in and out

So I made a fantastic run in the Sunday Million 5th Anniversary.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, 215 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds (9 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button (t10000)
SB (t10000)
BB (t10000)
UTG (t10000)
UTG+1 (t10000)
MP1 (t10000)
Hero (MP2) (t10000)
MP3 (t10000)
CO (t10000)

Hero's M: 133.33

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 7, 7
2 folds, MP1 bets t300, Hero calls t300, 4 folds, BB calls t250

Flop: (t925) J, 7, 6 (3 players)
BB checks, MP1 bets t1000, Hero raises to t2200, BB raises to t9700 (All-In), MP1 calls t8700 (All-In), Hero calls t7500 (All-In)

Turn: (t30025) A (3 players, 3 all-in)

River: (t30025) 8 (3 players, 3 all-in)

Total pot: t30025

Results below:
BB had J, J (three of a kind, Jacks).
MP1 had A, A (three of a kind, Aces).
Hero had 7, 7 (three of a kind, sevens).
Outcome: MP1 won t30025

One dream. One hand. And I am out.

Month 2

I'm at 143k vpps and behind for the pace. However, this month I'm going to start really cracking down and get back on pace. February was good, as I did run way much better than January, so it is encouraging. I just hope it continues as long as possible.



So final profits for February is...

Cash: $3810
Tourneys: $0
Bonuses: $4300
----------------
$8110

FPP wise, I lost track and won't even bother to try out how much I earned, too lazy :(

CHICAGO

Yesterday was my girlfriend's birthday and after a nice dinner, I took her to see the musical Chicago. In before all the guys say "OMG broadways is like gay," I actually enjoy these things and my girlfriend is a huge fan of musicals so it was a ideal gift for her. Living or visiting New York, any Broadway show is a must see even if you aren't a fan of the theater stuff. It is just a good experience and last night lived up to all expectations. So guys, if you ever get a chance or do have a chance and do not know what to give to your significant other or girlfriend; musical shows are a perfect gift. She will sure love it ;)

These next few days, I'm going to play as many hands as possible to close in on my needed pace for the SNE chase. I'm currently at 7 days behind, so hopefully by the end of the month, I can narrow it down to 3-4 days. Next month, I really anticipate to be cracking and be over pace for once. I'm also excited for the Sunday tournament play as there would be the Turbo Takedown and the 5th Anniversary of the Sunday Million. The Sunday Million prize pool will be 5 million! It would be the highest guarantee for the tournament and first place is 1 million and a Lamborghini. I will be playing for sure and maybe some magic can happen :)

***EDIT***
Oops I was mistaken as the Sunday Million Anniversary is actually on March 6.

Couldn't Think of a Title

It has been two weeks since my last update and everything has been good except my vpp count. I'm going to be a bit busy this month with moving out and buying the necessary things for my apartment, as well as other personal matters. My vpp will suffer, but I will have to see if I can still somehow pull back to pace, which is definitely possible or if that workload will carry on to March when life is less busy. This month I started out terrible profit wise continuing the trend of latter January. As you can see from the graph below, I was down 3k at one point, but there was hope. The poker gods had answered my prayers in the last week or so and provided me with a heater to pull it back up.



Yesterday Valentine's dinner with my girlfriend was pretty good and it was what I expected. We didn't eat in the city and I chose a place somewhat more local to us and it turned out great. The decor was nice; it was romantic and everything. Most importantly, the food was really good. Not going to post all the pictures, but here are like two. Note: I'm really bad with the camera.




Ok so I'm hoping to catch up within my next blog post, good luck everyone.

January Review & More

January was a tough grueling month and it's only a indicator of what is ahead in this SNE chase. The good news is, I'm ready for it and even more focused now in achieving my goals. I'm currently at about 82k vpps, so I'm right where I need to be. Profit wise, I could of did better in my opinion, but I did make a nice comeback in the end from a 3k deficit and profited 500 at the cash tables. It's not what I had in mind, but as long as I'm above break-even, I'll take it and won't complain. Hopefully I can do better next month!

Final Graph:




WBCOOP & Sunday Tournies Review

The WBCOOP was a fun tournament, it was my first time hearing about it a couple of weeks ago, so I decided to take a shot at it. I didn't manage to play in all the events and only cashed in one event, that being the first PLO event. I earned a $33 SCOOP ticket and free money/entries are always nice. Kind of funny how it was the only event I cashed in and went 0/3 for the NLHE event (Rarely, rarely play PLO)

I don't usually tourney, but I did yesterday, since there were a couple of big tournies running (Turbo Takedown, WBCOOP ME, etc...) I made only a small profit of like 40 bucks of them. Couldn't really get into a groove in them and before you know it, I was knocked out in majority of the tournaments I was playing. I however did manage a decent run in the Sunday 1/4 million and was where my profit came from lol.

Profit for January

Not sure if I should be discussing this, but I'll give it a go, since I feel like I have nothing to hide and it might inspire future SNE chasers. Also I guess people can sort of tell how much I make with PTR being so accessible.

Cash Table Earnings: $470 as seen above graph.
Tournament Table Earnings: $78 (includes SCOOP ticket)
Bonuses: 4K + Stellars ($900) = $4900
FPPs: I forgot how many FPPs I started with and earned, but I know it's no less than 30k and not higher than 50k. I'll choose 40k because it gives us a middle ground. 40K X .016 (FPP value of the 4k bonus) = $640.

Using my handy dandy calculator, it adds up to...

$6088. (Note: SNE is more end heavy bonus wise because of the milestones, so profits in the first few months are not as much in the latter months.)

four days

running terrible. stuck 3K. massive grinding to ensue.

***Update***

Only down 1.3k now. Might put another session in tonight, but highly doubt it.

Even More Swongs

Week 2 of the SNE chase is in the books and I am at 40k vpps. I'm going to put a session in later in the day and I should be then either back on pace or half a day behind pace (depends on how much I decide to play). I wasn't able to get ahead of pace this week because I'm planning to move out on the 1st! I'm very excited about this; it gives me a chance to be more independent. But, also it adds more responsibility and pressure with bills to pay now. I'll probably post pictures of the apartment once it is furnished and stuff.

Well back to poker, I suffered more swings and as you can see below when I was at my peak money wise, I received the doomswitch. I won't complain, but really it was the runbad; the usual beats etc... During that stretch, it seemed forever and I did lose some confidence, but I took everything into perspective. I knew I was a winner (very marginal winner lol) at the 200NL FR games and that I would climb out of this. I did end up climbing out of it for now, but there is still another two weeks in January and another 11 months to go. I'm not sure how I'm going to run in the future and this setback could be a blessing in disguise in preparing me mentally in what is ahead.



This was basically my face when the downswing was happening.




Oh one last thing to note, for anyone following this blog, THANK YOU! I really do appreciate the support and if any followers or lurkers have their own blogs, post it here and I'll make sure to follow! Maybe once I reach like 10 followers or some set number, I'll hold a draw and buy that lucky winner into the Sunday Million.

updates, updates

As of right now I am about 20k vpps in the SuperNova Elite chase. I'm actually a day behind, but it's no biggie, I will make it up in the following days. I know it's important to always stay ahead of pace and it's one of the most frequently given tips from past SNE achievers. I promise I'll be back on pace!

So far, the chase has been good. I think one of the hardest things that I see right now and into the future is playing your best game when running bad. It's just very difficult in general and I have to, have to minimize my losses when it comes to variance. Even though, I am only a week into this run, I can't emphasize enough to try and not spew money in certain spots because it does add up over the course of these million hands. Let's see if I can hold on to this notion and see how my yearly profits would be.

Also, I underestimated the swongs involved in the SNE chase :(



It is so important I stay positive in profits this entire way because it gives me confidence in making the right decisions. Oh yeah, I have to e-mail PS for a avatar change, been procrastinating on that lol.