Tilt

I came face to face with that word last Sunday and it wasn't a good thing. I had logged my 8th straight winning day and was up 18 units total. I woke up Sunday ready to break the 20 unit mark when things started badly.

I open up 2 tables and play tight as usual early on and I pick up Ad Kd on one table and KdKc on the other!

Table 1: Hero - AdKd, I raise pre-flop and get 2 callers. The flop was 7d 5d Qs. One of the reasons why AK is my favorite hand (even more then AA) is because it's so easy to fold! Here I had the nut flush draw so I bet a feeler bet and got one guy to fold and the other one to call. The turn comes 10d completing my flush so I bet the pot and got a reraise! I look at the board and unless the board pairs for a full house then I was sure I had the best hand so I raised all-in. Opponent calls and shows 4d 3d for a flush but I had the nut flush!

The river comes 6d giving him a straight flush over my Ace high flush.

Table 2: Hero - KdKs, I was able to get it all-in after the flop and my opponent shows a bluff 3c 3d. The final card was a Jack of clubs! The bad thing was there were 3 other clubs on the board giving him a flush over my cowboys.

So I lose 4 units for a double knockout and my seat wasn't even warm yet. I was extremely frustrated and opened up 3 tables to try and make up my losses. I ran bad in 2 of them and was marginally up in 1. In the end, I made some very bad calls and lost all 3 sessions for a whopping 10 unit loss.

I came into my senses and realized I was in the grip of major tilt. And tilt comes a lot stronger when you are playing online since your next game is just a click away! I had to mentally stop myself from commiting anymore bad decisions and shut down my PC.

I didn't play anymore poker that day. I sat down and watched the Waterboy on cable and called up my girlfriend at home. Went to the grocery, finished my laundry and played some Diablo 2. I think doing so probably saved my bankroll.

Tomorrow is another day and I still remember when I ran -20 units and made +21 units the next day after. Stop thinking of the past and concentrate on the present. The only way to build your bankroll is to focus making one unit at a time.

Consistency and Patience

Well here's an update to the multitude of my readers (I count about 3 people). I have logged in my 7th straight winning day using the system I have outlined previously. I am averaging about 2-3 unit wins a day which may be slow but I am aiming for consistency. I have moved up to 2 tabling and still doing ok.

Basically I load up with a 2-unit session and stand up whenever I win 1 or 2 units. If the table is hot then I stay for a few more hands (and I had won 7 big units from a hot table once) Whenever I run bad and lose 2 straight sessions I take a break to prevent tilt. Maybe a couple of hours later, I don't look back at what happened and concentrate on winning those elusive units again, one at a time.

I have now made up the losses I had at pacific and finally made profit. Along with the wins, I expect a big payout a few weeks from now from the bonus and rakeback. I have also shown my system to 2 of my friends here in the US and last I heard they were profiting pretty well at it. If any of you want a quick breakdown of how to start and play online poker (barring issues if you are trying to play from back home) just send me an email and I would gladly let you know all that I have learned. Once I make a 400% profit on my investment I will post every small tip I have learned here so watch out for that!

Of course am only at about 40% ROI so that might take awhile. But then again, if I'm going to be giving tips I better make sure they work first right?

Have a blast at the tables

Rising From The Ashes

Last Saturday started out pretty bad. I had lost my $200 deposit at Pacific and was tilting and decided to put in another $400 at Full Tilt. I was feeling good and was up by around $20 when I started playing horrible poker...

At the end of the day I was down another $200. I shut off my PC and started thinking. I needed to find a system that allowed me to minimize my risks since I already lost 65% of my bankroll in 2 days. I also needed to plug the leaks in my game.

I buckled down and pulled up a pad. I wrote the following things down

1. Detach yourself from the money.
2. Minimize our risk
3. Know when to fold
4. Know how much to bet
5. Respect position

From this list I was able to set out a gameplan. First, I translated my last $200 into units. 20 units of $10 each and my goal was to start earning units (and not cash) I also decided to play single table ring games and to play them like SnGs. Basically, I will steal the blinds when the opportunity dictates and I will protect a big stack if I get it. I also started to realize when to fold AA and KK based on betting strength.

Finally - I set a goal. I wanted my 20 units back ($200) So early on Sunday, I sat and concentrated with the list I created last night. I played 2-unit sessions and stood up anytime I doubled my stack. I lost some sessions through bad beats but continued playing good poker. On some difficult tables I would leave if I had won 1 unit. At the end of the day....

I won a total of 21 units, and overall was up by 1 unit! I was excited... it seems I have a winning strategy and had been able to plug the leaks in my game.

I only have a couple of hours to play on the weekdays but I was pleased to grind out 2-3 units per day consistently. Currently on my third day and am running at +12 units from a -20 units of Saturday. A new goal I have set is to hit +140 units since with a projected $200 rakeback for this month and the $400 bonus from FTP I can profit $2000 from this site. After this is done I can either move to another site to maximize bonuses or increases my table limits. Overall I think the stuff I wrote above applies to any limit and should be a good baseline for proper bankroll management.

And that was the most damaging leak I had. I didn't know how to manage my bankroll. I was afraid of losing more so I made wrong decisions. I was playing loose when I won big pots and ended up losing more then I won. And it's only fitting that the first lesson I learn is the most important point in playing poker. Learn to manage your bankroll... only then can you allow your skill to take you where you dream of going.

New Lessons Learned

Ok after a horrendous run on my first bankroll, I have bought in for another $400 and this time I am taking good care of this one. I just loaded to Full Tilt with a 100% bonus (bad part is I would need to play close to 7,000 hands before I can get that bonus)

I have played close to 500 hands and am roughly up by $100. Here are some valuable lessons I have gained.

1. Bad beats will happen and it's better to just move along. I have seen quite a lot of them happen to me but one hand doubled my stack when I was the one who dealt the bad beat. I had pocket 3s and decided to call the minimum raise by a guy on the button.

The flop was A-J-3. Four players in and the first guy bluffs at the pot with the min bet, I smooth call and had the pre-flop raiser raising 6X. First guy folds and i call. The turn comes with a blank and I figured he hit the ace or at best AJ so I slowplay and check. He makes a pot sized bet and I re-raise all in. $85 in the pot and I was happy with what I THOUGHT was a good play. He instacalled me and showed pocket aces.....

River gives me.... a 3!! For quad 3s over his full aces. Sometimes miracles do happen.

2. I thrive in tournament play and not in cash games. However, the SnGs I feel pay off too little for placing 3rd out of 10. So what I have done is play my cash games LIKE SnGs. This means I buy-in for the minimum amount and have a goal of doubling my stack by playing tight. This allows me to hit my bonus by not playing too many hands and is pretty easy because I just need to aim for doubling my stack. Blind steals are also valuable since at the minimum buy-in the blinds are about 5% my stack. 20 successful steals and I've done what i came to do.

Finally, when I go all-in I signify more strength then a strong bet. I also do not stand to lose my entire bankroll as I cannot be outplayed after I am all-in.

3. When playing on Full Tilt they have player notes and color coordination. I simply flag a player Green for a good player, a red for a calling station and a blue for a bluffing maniac. Its won me quite a bit by making value bets against the calling stations, knowing that a check raise by a good player is to be respected and an overbet by a bluffing maniac allows you to get massive pots.

Lost A Zero On My Bankroll

I started out with $300 and after 2 days of online poker I lost 0. Yes zero.... but sadly its the digit at the back of my bankroll....

You heard right. Am down to $30 from a string of massive beats. Its not that I've been playing above my bankroll or playing like a fish, but I have been getting hit by 2-3 outers all day.

My cash games were doing fine and I was up to $350 when things started taking a turn for the worse. Here are some highlights...

1. I got it all-in for $30 on KK preflop with 2 callers. They BOTH had AA and they split the pot.

2. I had AK and raised for a good amount. I get called by one guy and the flop was AK2. I check and he bets out the min bet. I raise 3X and he goes all in. Hmmm I was 50% sure he had me beat but how the heck could I fold 2 pair AK? He did have pocket deuces...

3. I had KQ clubs and got 2 clubs on the flop. There was a bet but I had great odds to call so I did. Turn was a club completing my flush. I bet the pot and got one caller. The turn was another club.... I check, he bets half the pot and I call. He shows A club 2 spades.

I gotta cool down a bit but am taking hits left and right. But all is not lost due to 2 things:

First - I have a budget of $1,000 total for online poker. Am just going to be playing in different sites to maximize bonuses.

Second - I referred my friend and there is a nifty $150 referral bonus at pacific poker! However, he needs to wager a total of $8,880 at the site for me to get it. Bah am not counting on this one.

Final thing I wanted to mention was that am experimenting on limit poker. There are a lot of benefits from it and if I can consistently etch out a profit I will let you guys know what are my thoughts on it.

Running Total - (-$270)

Getting My Feet Wet

I learned about Poker in Manila a few months ago when the first Philippine Poker Tour was conducted. At that time a friend of mine knew someone selling a seat for P18K and I was sorely tempted to buy it and take my shot at fame (as well as a million pesos)

Then it came to my attention that satellites were running for as cheap as P1,500 with winners getting cash and a seat to the main event. Gave it a try, lost my first 2 tournaments, and struck gold on the third attempt.

Sadly, I placed 12th on the main event with 170+ players, 2 places shy of the money. When there were only 15 players left, I was second in chips. 2 bad hands and a bad decision later and I was out at 12th.

I was devastated. I felt like quitting poker even before I truly learned how to play the game. I went to my girlfriend and pored my frustrations all night. She was very understanding, and told me that it was just one game. If I wanted to be one of the best, then I should see this as one single bad hand in the course of a lifetime poker match. She was very supportive and that's just one of the many reasons why I love her.

I read books, formulated my own strategies and started entering in the other minor tournaments as well as the cash games at the ACF. I had a very good run and won around P40,000. But then I lost my concentration and confused ring game tactics vs tournament which led me to lose about 70% of my profits. Went back to the basics and focused on tournaments, winning a few SnGs to get back up to +P35,000.

Now comes a new chapter in my poker life. I have been assigned to the US for a 3 month job assignment and now have easy access to online poker. After playing single table matches, the speed of play as well as the ability to multi table with online poker seems daunting but at the same time very rewarding. Playing well essentially doubles or triples potential winnings and I was eager to take a crack at it.

Hence, today is the first day of that journey. This is where I will document all of my experiences, tips and tricks I have picked up as well as strategies that worked for me. I hope you guys will have a good time browsing through my ramblings.

First update - I was able to activate everything I needed at 5 am today and got in my first $300 ($200 deposit and $100 bonus from Pacific) Played a few very low limit tables (before heading off to work) to get a feel for things and won roughly $6. Hehehe you gotta start somewhere.....