For the good of poker would it be better for Russian Ivan Demidov to win the WSOP? More exposure means more players

grinding it out playing poker $0.25 - $0.50 making $100 USD an hour!

I have just been watching the last episodes of WSOP to catch up on everything until the final table starts next week.

Today I am not doing much towards poker, I am trying to figure out video recording off my screen so I can do some video reviews!

Yay! we now offer rakeback on our website 27% - 50% on most major websites check it out at http://rakeback.somethingaboutpoker.com/

Just finished a news blog

I just finished doing a quick blog for my site about Dennis Phillips, He is the chip leader for the up and coming final table, He is auctioning off part of his clothing to feature a sponsor and is giving the proceeds to charity! Good guy for doing thate. He should get a lot of card karma.

Good Luck Dennis!

This is the Updated Version of my Full Tilt Poker Montage On You Tube

Time To Re Evaluate

I have not posted a few weeks, and it has been due to a number of things. First one is that my bankroll as come to a crashing halt from last week as I came home drunk one night after work and thought it would be fun to play on the $1 -2 limits, what a major shock that was, as I promptly got caught in a set over set with me having the bottom set, and I lost $100.

After that incident I have played numerous sit n goes trying to rebuild only to sink down some more. Now the bankroll is down to $120 and I have failed in managing my bankroll correctly over the last month.

I have put this down to a number of things.

- Not getting use to working night shift as I have been playing to tired, straight after work instead of going to sleep first.

- Playing to fast (Bluffing), trying to recover from losses instead of grinding it out, which I am better at.

- Making good reads and putting opponents on hands, only to call them anyway to confirm my suspicion.

- Having a busy life and not finding time to just relax, I have been working at work, plus working to build the website and playing poker as well which can be like a full time job.

So now is a time to re evaluate how I am going to achieve this goal, online I am pretty much a break even player, my stats on shark scope indicate so.

What I need to do is break though to being a highly profitable player. To actions I have taken today.

- I have joined the Real Poker Training website, which features a number of online professionals to help improve your game. I have done this so I can improve the areas of my game as well as have a group of people I can go to for advice.

- I am definitely going to purchase Poker Office, This is the best software to get, to record the stats on my game to review.

Well after these steps are taken, I will also look at managing my time wisely by leveraging work on the website by contracting out, take less days at work, get more rest and never play drunk again!

Hopefully I’ll have better information to report and good progress in the next few months.

Matt
Somethingaboutpoker.com

Bank Roll Is Up Woot!

After I used the FPP's to play in the sit n go's, I have managed to transfer them into cash winnings, I started entering into 10 man single tables, for $3.40 each. I came 1st a few times and cashed in the top 3 placings.

Now! the bankroll is on $341, and I'm sticking with the grinders mentality to make my goal, I did play a $5.50 tourney and a $11 tourney with no luck, I Had A-A in the $11 event and got it all in against K-K, only to have a king spike on the turn, sending me home early.

The FPP's are low now, so I will have to head back to the ring games and put my grinding hat back on.

Matt
Somethingaboutpoker.com

Playing Sit N Go's

Just a quick post, I have been playing sit n go tourneys with my (FPP) frequent player points. I had about 540 points which was enough to enter into 7 of them that cost 70 FPP each.

You play them like a free roll, because most of the players are maniacs, and will push all in with anything half decent. They were satelite tourneys, meaning that first place paid for a ticket to the Sunday Guaranteed $100K tourney, worth $11.

What I did how ever was un rgister from the event so I could get credited the $11, PokerStars gives it back to you in Tournament Dollars, which you can use for more Sit N Go's with cash prizes.

I ended up winning 5 out of 7 and got my tourney dollars up to $55, not to bad. Now i'm going to enter $3.40 - 10 people events and report back on here.

Finding Time and Keeping Motivated

At the moment I have been working night shift at my J.O.B, if you don’t know, I am actually a Black Jack Dealer at my local casino which is just across the road. It’s a great job because I get to do shift work which gives me time off, plus I get to tune my gambling instincts watching how other people gamble.

I have been trying to find a good time to play, having to ready myself for night shift work by sleeping all morning and working at night. I have also been putting in a lot of effort into my website by adding content and new reviews etc.

I have only managed to play a few times and was just about to start a new session but wanted to add a quick blog before I start. The account is now on $284 and my aim is to get it over $300 in the next few days. I have talked to other friends and colleagues at work that are currently playing online, and I was feeling like I was out of my depth when one of the guys I was talking to, was talking about how he plays at the $2-$4 NL and has a bankroll of up to $3-4K.

I definitely had to realize that it is about patience and that my time will come.

By the way I am looking at another website at the moment that has fantastic resources for improving your game; it’s called Poker Dynasty and it is worth checking out!

Matt
Somethingaboutpoker.com

Staying Off Tilt

I must admit I came close to going on tilt for the first time, when I had a succession of bad beats over a few days; luckily I managed to keep my focus again to keep the journey alive and thriving.

I have been trying to work out how many tables at one time is best for me to play at and the most profitable, I started out playing 4 tables at the 1c-2c level and found that comfortable enough, Then I cut down to 3 tables as I started to get distracted because I play on turbo tables, Last night though I managed to drop down to $230 in the bank roll before playing only one table to bring it back up to about $270. I found my focus was really sharp on one table only.

I was sitting at the table with about $40 which is 4 times the buy in ($10), there was one real calling station at the table that was calling value bet after value bet and I didn’t want to leave until he left.

I haven’t really been in tune to the tourneys for a while so I’m thinking of sticking to cash games until the $300 mark and then make plans to attack the tournament side of things properly. I didn’t manage to qualify for any Sunday tourneys as I felt too tired from work and was making bad decisions.

Matt
Somethingaboutpoker.com

Up and Down Week

I have neglected the blog this week as I have been working on the Somethingaboutpoker.com website getting my IT team to fix a few bug issues and also adding some new reviews of websites which will be going up over March.

This means I haven’t had fulltime to play and have been online only for short sessions, I am still grinding it out at the 5c -10c and am still trying to get use to the play, a lot of people are willing to gamble and call all ins with very slim draws etc, in the 1c – 2c I found that some people were easy to bluff because that might have been all the money that they had, but on the new level people are calling me down, I might have to work harder on being tight.

I got the account up and then succumbed to some sick beats having set over set on me, I hit two sets on the flop with my opponents having Q-Q and also A-A only for me to re raise them all in and them calling to hit their two outer on the turn or the river.

Other than that the account is comfortably on $250, and I hope to make more time available to keep the momentum of my winning sessions.

I also played pub poker at a local bar last Thursday night, it had been along time since I played live, and man did I feel a bit rusty, I could feel my heart beat again when I had K-K under the gun and also when I pulled off a bluff. I didn’t last very long though as the blinds were moving fast and I got it all in with A-10 clubs to have a friend from work who invited me, call me with Q-Q busting me out of the tourney, Oh well hopefully I’ll get another shot if I’m not working that night.

All the Sunday tourneys are happening tomorrow so I’m going to see if I can go and Qualify.

Matt
Somethingaboutpoker.com

Dam Internet Connection!

I had a bit of trouble with my internet over the weekend, it kept cutting off during my cash game play online and I couldn’t get a rhythm going with my play. It got me thinking what if I had been in a major final table or something and you were in the top ten with first prize being a 6 figure pay out? I would be crushed!

I looked at the internet company’s policy and the best they said they could probably do is reimburse you for the day of down time. Gee great that equals about $1 for me, lucky I wasn’t having a crack at the Sunday Millions on the bubble.

I must have gone up and down over the last few days, I took the account from $221 up to $235 and then with the internet fiasco it dwindled down to $229, Lucky today that everything seemed to go alright, my patience was good, my reads were good and I played generally well getting the account up to $240.

I feel like I am playing with total comfort now and I am looking forward to the bankroll increasing everyday!

Matt
Somethingaboutpoker.com

Next Stop $500!

I thought I would write a quick blog to say that I have still been running well with my play being patient and consistent poker. I have the bankroll up to $221 by playing at the 5c-10c NL tables and by playing a couple of Sit N Goes as well.

Most of the bankroll increase came from a hand I played out in a cash game, I had 10d-8d on the button and made a standard bluff raise to steal the pot, I ended up getting raised by the big blind and then another caller to the raise in late position.

I called to see if I would get lucky on the flop and I hit the jackpot when 10s-2s-8h came down on the flop giving me top two pair.

The initial re raiser bet half the pot and late position guy calls, this brought the pot up to about $3.50 and I had $9.80 in my stack.

Now when it comes to medium pairs, two pairs or even bottom two pairs, I like to play them aggressively and punish the chasers going for their draws, The hands I was worried about the most were spade flush drawing hands and something like 9-7, J-9 or even Q-J to some real fish player going for the gut shot.

Anyway I put the initial re raiser on may be either J-J or A-K with a total miss of the board and my gut said that the late position guy was definitely drawing with one of the previous hands I mentioned, All of a sudden my instinct took over and I just pushed all-in for my whole stack at risk (If I lost this hand I still had $200 available- I didn’t want to go below my previous goal).

My instincts were correct, early re raiser folded straight away and late position player tanked for a while and then decided to call… I was screaming for total blanks to hit the board and everything looked pretty harmless when a 5c came on the turn and then 4d on the river, I took down a pot of about $19 and the late position guy flipped over Js-9s which gave him the up and down straight draw and flush draw combined.

I worked out his odds on the flop with an online odds calculator and it was a perfect 50-50 coin flip situation… Phew got lucky on that one. I still didn’t think he had 15 outs to make a hand though; I generally want to make sure I have at least 65% -90% odds to win when ever I go all in on a cash game.

A lot of people like to chase online, but I think overall by playing aggressively the majority of the time this should pay off,

Matt
Somethingaboutpoker.com

Breakthrough!

Finally I have reached my first goal of reaching a $200 bankroll…Hoorah! I started doubting whether I could get back over $200, its funny when you set goals for yourself and then you end up focusing too hard on just the monetary goal and not actually playing well.

That is the biggest lesson I have learnt over the last few weeks grinding it out. I must have been going up and down and all of a sudden when I got close to $200, I started to tighten up my play and not use the same strategy that I have been employing.

I must admit, I started to land some big hands against people who were either drawing or had top two pair and I hand top set. One hand I had A-J and the flop came down A-J- Rag with two clubs. Joe blow in early position pushed all in for $8 and I called and stacked him when he missed his flush draw.

Also I had A-A and the flop came out J-8-6, against 2 callers I checked the flop feigning weakness (dangerous I know), opponent best turn card comes an A,I check again opponent bets the pot, I raise, he goes all in and I call with my A-A-A vs. his A-J top two pair.

That was enough to put my bankroll past the $200 goal mark. Now for the next goal along the path…$500, I can’t wait to reach this level because then I will feel comfortable moving up to the 10c – 25c level which is $25 to buy in at the tables.

Well I’m finished for the night and will get some rest for the next goal at hand!

Matt
Somethingaboutpoker.com

Stuck In Neutral

Over the last few days I came close to achieving the first goal taking the account up to $198.80c but fell at the first hurdle trying to make the extra 20c needed to reach the $200 mark, I have still been playing the micro limits.

I flopped a straight and a flush draw holding 5d - 7d with the flop coming down 6d-8d-9h, so I had the up and down straight flush draw as well. I checked the flop tight player in late position bets into me with a pot sized bet, I call hoping to get more action on the turn, the 8s comes out, I bet half the pot, tight player calls. The river comes the Kh, I think is a blank I bet the pot and tight player re raises me all in for 3 times the pot? I couldn't make sense of the hand so I ended up calling but I should have listened to my gut saying he had a full house.

Tight player flipped over 9-8 to take down the pot, I steamed a little bit after that hand and after a great run went back down to $183 in the bankroll, still steady though and I have to be grateful that it is a lot higher than when it was only on $39 in January.

I know that when I stick to the game plan I will achieve the $10,000 mark and the ticket to the WSOP!

Matt
Somethingaboutpoker.com

Still Playing in the Zone…

Well my good play is still around, mind you I had to warm up a bit for the first 2 hours, I started out playing micro cash games and promptly lost a few buy ins going down to $140, I think it was a combination of being tired from work, trying to hard to make money and a little bit of tilt from a bad beat with my KK getting cracked.

After a bit of composure, I managed to pull myself together, I had a bit of a break chilled out from steaming, maybe I still hadn’t decompressed from work yet or something? Anyway I started playing a couple of $3.40 Sit N Go’s I ended up coming second in 2 of them, I should of won them both but gambled at the wrong times. The stack went back up to $155 and then from there I proceeded back to the cash games short hand tables and went on a good run.

I have now managed to get the bank roll up to $180, just through shear determination and some belligerent play. On one table I must of raised 3 times the blinds about ten times in a row, one of the players was getting so sick of me doing this that when I had AA in the hole and did the standard raise again he popped for a huge raise so I went all in and he instant-called with QQ to no avail I stacked him.

He later on tried to make a move on me and I made another “Sick Call Kenny” by calling him down with K-Q winning the hand with King high! I new he was tilting from the previous hand so I had him read well and he kept away from me for a number of rounds and I stole his blinds with ease after that.

I’m a bit tired now and want to leave the bank roll on a nice round digit, I have a couple days off so will spend some time putting content on the website, and fitting in a few games, I hope I can get the account up to $200 before I go back to work!

Matt
Somethingaboutpoker.com

$160 and Climbing

Hey just a quick blog entry before I hit the sack. I've been carry on my steady run on PokerStars playing the micro limits and have got the account up to $160, I am definitely grateful for being determined and staying on focus and I can just smell the $200 goal around the corner!

Its great playing with goals, it keeps me on track and the rewards are starting to show, I have been playing to make a $3.40 buy in to enter a sit N Go. I entered one but was pretty much card dead through and busted out with A-K vs. 9-9 on my final hand.

Cash game has been going well though, I made a real “Sick Call Kenny” Call with 3-3 on the button, Guy in late position raises standard raise I call hoping to hit a set or I’m folding. The guy checks the flop when the board is all ragged, he Minimum bets the turn I got curious then called as I thought he was flush drawing when two clubs showed, and then he bet 5 x the pot on the river? The play seemed so strange that I thought that I must be leading with my bottom pair? So I called and he showed Q-J off suit (No clubs).

He promptly called me a fish then left ha-ha!

Matt
Somethingaboutpoker.com

On A Good Run!

I have played my longest session so far, being about 4 hours. I have worked out a system now where I play the micro NL games to build up my bankroll and then invest a buy in or two into a one table Sit N Go $3.40 entry, this builds it up in one hit if I win because the pay out is $15 which is pretty good.

So far it has been working out great with the variance holding well for me, I have been trapping a lot of players by playing straight forward poker, what I have noticed is that most players at these limits hardly ever raise and would prefer to do just Check, Call hands down, this has made it hard to bluff but on the flipside, it means I can value bet my good hands and get paid off on them.

Another tactic I have been employing is that I always bet my sets or trips down instead of check raising, I have noticed that players cannot put you on trips when you bet into the flop and will always try for a re raise either on the flop or the turn, this is great because I can either slow play by calling their raise, checking the next card and inducing them to bluff another bet or minimum re raising them if I put them on the top pair.

Another hand I did this with against an opponent was when I flopped a straight, I had K -9 off suit and called the player in the small blinds raise, I was on the button, the flop came down 10-J-Q rainbow-giving me the straight.

He led out betting the pot, now because he did this I assumed he didn’t have the Broadway straight as I had never seen him play a hand like that. I flat called the flop then re raised him all in on the turn when a blank card came and he instantly called, I never got to see what he had as his hand hit the muck and I raked in a $10 pot.

So far I have been playing a Loose Aggressive style in cash games but a more Tight Aggressive play in the tourneys, out of 3 Sit N Go attempts I won 2 which I’m happy about however my cash game has been up and down, I have been either breaking even or making enough to enter the tourneys.

See the image below of my Bankroll now on $150, just $50 away from a level increase; I can feel my game getting better each day because I have made myself accountable with writing this blog.

Matt
Somethingaboutpoker.com

Learn To Improve Your Game While You Play

I managed to make some time to play another short session; I still haven’t been playing long sessions due to work and not playing tired as one of my requirements, even though I am playing on the micro stakes building up my bank roll it is very easy to lose focus and drop 4 - 5 buy ins in a setting.

I have still been playing loose aggressive for the first half of my session before tightening up with a bit of a stack, targeting the short stack desperado players. The bank roll is now up to $124.05 and just $76 away from going up a cash level.

To stop the boredom of play and remain on the path of improving my game I have been making sure that I have been listening to audio pod casts from the 2+2 Poker Cast that is part of the 2+2 forum.

A lot of the topics of discussion and people they interview are very advanced online players, and in just a couple of the interviews I have listened too it has made me really think differently about the game.

One of the differences I have noticed is that the great players who consistently win analyze their games after each session to find where they need to improve and adjust.

I highly recommend checking out 2+2 Poker Cast and listening to their broadcasts here is their premier audio debut below.

Multi Tabling or Single Table and Focused?

Over the last couple of sessions I have been working out what the best option is for me when it comes to setting up my games and exactly how many tables I should I play, at one time.

I tried all the way up to 8 tables and couldn’t handle the pace, I mostly play on short tables with only 6 players anyway and they are all turbo tables with less than 30 seconds to make a decision, so 8 tables caused me to time out too much.

The most comfortable for me was either having 3 – 4 tables running together, but is this always a good strategy especially when you are risking 4 times the buy-ins in one session? I personally find that when I am entering a tourney, is that I can only mentally handle at my best 1 at a time. I have entered 3 at once before and cashed in all 3, But I didn’t win any of them. When I enter only one I usually have good focus and make it at least to the top 3 out of (18 - 45 people).

With cash games I find that playing only one table can be a bit boring and I easily lose my focus and start surfing the internet and end up getting more distracted that my mind wanders away from decision making which is very important in poker.

I have still been on the grind hanging in there with the variance of the game, My discipline is holding out good as I have not had the urge to go up to the higher limits just to build the bank roll faster. The account is now on $117.27 and the next target to achieve is $200, once this bank roll target is reached it means I can go up a level to the 2c – 5c tables… Cool!

But for now I just need to make time to play longer sessions and stick with the plan!

Matt
Somethingaboutpoker.com

Raise, Raise And Raise Again

Back to the blog again, I was suppose to write about how I went on the PokerStars Sunday 100k Tourney, for some reason PokerStars crashed with an overload and the tourney was cancelled. At least I got a refund in tournament dollars that I can use.

I have only played a couple of short sessions this week and have managed to kick and drag the account up to $108, I have been keeping the discipline of my strategy and it has been working out. The way I have been playing at the low limits is very aggressive when I first buy in, meaning that I raise, raise and then raise again usually 6 times the blind of 12c. What this does is creates a very loose image of me and also loosens up the table, and then when the short stacks start pushing all in I make sure I have a premium hand to call.

A lot of players at the micro limits are either very tight players because they have used all their money up and can only play at that limit, or very loose players and don’t care about a $2 or $5 buy in, you learn which type they are within a short time and can adjust your strategy appropriately.

I also entered 3 sit n go tourneys, bummed out in 2 and then came 2nd out of 18 in a $1.75 tourney winning $8.10 and the best part was that I only used my tournament dollars, I think I will get my points up again and try to win another ticket to the $100k tourney but, deregister from it so I can use the tourney dollars.

I was looking on You Tube yesterday and came across this funny clip on a online poker player “Bill Fillmaff”. You may have heard of him…Absolutely hilarious stuff he does with his wins and bad beats he gets.

Check it out below

Matt
Somethingaboutpoker.com

Qualifying Online for Tourneys

I have just finished a short stint of play with some cash games and trying to qualify with the PokerStars Sunday Tournaments that are scheduled. I tried 3 times for the Sunday Millions tournament entering a satellite paying with my frequent player points 375 FPP a pop.

Unfortunately I didn’t qualify this time around and it’s a real bummer because this is the first Monday off I have had in a while and because I live down under in Australia all the US tourneys start Monday Mornings. I did manage to qualify for the Hundred Grand tourney with a first prize of $12k so that should be worth a go.

It only cost 70FPP at a one table tourney and I managed to wipe the floor with everyone, except the heads up guy was pretty persistent, I did frustrate him and grind him out where he called my all in with K-Q suited against his 5 -7 desperation call.

I struggled in the 36 people Sunday Millions qualifiers because I kept getting called down with random hands, I made 9th in my first attempt ended it with 9-9 vs. A-J off suit and in my 2nd go at it I was the first one out when I got A-A in the big blind and re raised a guy in late position who had K-Q off suit who flat called me, caught a Q on the flop and decided to push all in catching his K on the turn…AAARRGGH!

I better get some rest because the tournament starts in 3 hours, Oh yeah! I also got the bank roll back up to $100 so things are looking well. I will get a few hands to talk about when this tourney is over and hope to blog about the juicy cash that I will win!



Matt
Somethingaboutpoker.com

Grinding It Out…

Finally I have myself sorted out mentally and have approached the game with more discipline and in control of my bank roll and my emotions. I have stuck with my poker challenge guidelines of only playing at the 1c -2c table, and the last couple of days have been better.

The poker account is looking healthier than it was when it was on $39, but let’s not dwell on that, it is now on $97.28. I have been playing nothing but solid tight aggressive poker, I have minimized my bluffs and have attempted bluffs only when I have a good read on my opponents, I still have not downloaded any software to read percentages and have just done it all on feel.

It’s great playing poker when you are not scared money, the max buy in that I play is $5 and I usually play 3 tables at a time. I find it a lot easier to go all in on these tables as opposed to trying it at the $25 buy in tables.

You still get a lot of funny characters on the micro limits, the desperados with no money left, the young punk kids who keep telling everyone how bad they play, the poker geek who tells everyone what their odds were of hitting such and such a draw and also the ever present fishing calling station %#@$! Players that keeping chasing me down (Great When you have a hand), I do notice that a lot of people over value hands like A-Q and A-K at these levels and also play them incorrectly by calling my all ins (when they haven’t hit a flop) with them instead of pushing all in. Well if it wasn’t for these players I wouldn’t have got the bank roll back up, so I am very grateful that there are players around worst than me!

I just want to focus on improving my game so that when I have the bank roll up I have enough skills to match it with the higher limit players, I want to crack the code in each level I go up in.

All the best!

Matt
Somethingaboutpoker.com

Rules Are Meant To Be… Followed!

I have a confession to make; I have already broken my rules that I set up for myself, why? I guess I got impatient with my own personal challenge and went up to the 10c – 25c table hoping to make a quick $100 -$200 in a sitting…Boy was I wrong.

Each buy in was $25 on the table and I bought in on three tables, I started off really well and I thought I could cheat my own rules, No good at all because RULES are meant to be FOLLOWED! I lost two bad beats one was a set of QQ vs. a runner flush and then the other was a cold deck with me having KK vs. AA, gosh this already happened to me in a previous post.

What I didn’t take into account was the variance and the fact that the rules are in place to protect my bank roll from going bust, I went all the way down to $39, luckily I have built it back up to $86, funny that I didn’t want to post on the blog ha-ha… I was trying to make the money back first.

A couple of lessons I have learnt is that you have to have patience, discipline and trust your game play at the right level. I went on tilt when I lost those two hands and almost couldn’t stop myself, I realized I wasn’t playing properly at the 10c – 25c tables (Scared Money), when I went back to the 1c -2c table though, I started killing the tables and built it back up again.

Whether my bank roll goes up or down I will always make sure I share the lessons learnt on this blog right here.

Ok… Time to follow the Rules!

Matt
Somethingaboutpoker.com

Conflicting Types of Stats

I did some research last night about my game with some of the data building websites, first I looked at Sharkscope.com to see where I stood with my sit n go tourneys and then I looked at poker crusher™ for my general game as well.

Sharkscope.com was really interesting because it showed all my tourneys that I have ever entered and it showed quite a few for my PokerStars account (Over 1000 Sit N Go tourneys entered) as you can see from the image below of the graph you can see how I started out as a loosing player and then started to win more often or at least cash in the tourneys.

On poker crusher how ever when I check what their assessment is of me I come up as a RED FISH at PokerStars cash games, BOMB at FullTilt cash games and a SHARK at the tourneys which sounds about right I guess. I have been playing a lot more at PokerStars so that must give a clearer picture.

I’m going to sit down and look at these stats more and figure out how to read and understand them properly and figure out how to improve my game from here.

On another note at least I have my PokerStars Account back up to $134 last night, just got to keep pushing forward!

Matt
Somethingaboutpoker.com

Plug The Leaks In My Game!

In the last few days I have been playing online at PokerStars with my online challenge. It hasn’t been the best of starts with my bank roll already falling $20 down to $121, mainly because I have been distracting myself with the somethingaboutpoker.com website and getting content on it, that I have been neglecting my own game.

Now I know that I will have to put more of a concentrated effort towards my goals to improve my game. One of the tables I was playing on was full of loose aggressive players and I was one of them, I kept on raising each hand to create a loose image so that when I did get a big hand hopefully I would get paid off on it.

Well by the time I got KK under the gun and then limped/raised the player in late position, he went all in and I called and he ended up winning with AA…Ha-ha, Oh well only 22 – 1 odds I guess,.

Next everyone thought I was steaming, and I was a little bit, but it doesn’t mean that my QQ should get run down by mister J-8 who thought I was full on tilt with my re buy does it?

I know this happens a lot and it is one thing I have to get use to and learn how to overcome the odds in the long run, I spoke to a friend the other day who uses Poker Office ™ Poker Analysis Software and he absolutely swears by it, he has highly recommended it to me and said that it will help plug leaks in my game and find holes in other peoples play.

So I will look more around and consider whether I will buy it or go through a room sign up to get a free copy of it.

Matt
Somethingaboutpoker.com

More On My Personal Poker Challenge

I'm just going to talk more about how to set up my goals for my poker challenge. Now I have scoured the internet for various ideas on how people have set a challenge up for themselves, and a lot of people have got some great concepts and mostly all centered on money.

I'm not saying money is a bad thing to focus on, as that’s how most people measure poker success is with the size of your bank roll and how you built it up. What my main concern is that sometimes the monetary goal is the end result that people are looking for, some people have goals to be financially free, some seek fame and fortune by becoming a poker celebrity, what ever the goal is, it must be backed with a strong enough desire for to want login to your account every day to achieve it rather than donking off your bank roll.

I have already defined what my goals are in the last blog, I just wanted to discuss that there always has to be more than just the money.

Now for the rules I have set up for myself.

RULES:

- I must have 20 buy-ins for each level I play at in a ring cash game i.e. (This is so I don't quickly go bust by buying in to a table that can send me broke with one hand)

- I must always buy in at the highest amount and never play at a table if I am the short stack. i.e. (this is so I am not displaying myself as an easy target and use the stack more)

- I must play more of a solid consistent game rather than try big time bluffs i.e. (Keep it simple in the lower limits and build the skill up slowly)

- I must buy into sit n go tourneys only for less than 5% of my total bank roll i.e. (Once again to sustain the bank roll)

And that’s all the basic rules I have set up for myself. I think that should be enough to keep me going for now and i can always adjust where necessary if things aren't working out.

As I plan to go along this journey there are a number of things I will talk about as minor goals to help me along the path. For instance I don't even have rake back like most sensible online players do, so I will have to investigate this further, to get a good return.

I also want to find decent software online that I can use along with my play, as long as it is legal, I don't even use a heads up display! That’s where I look more like a live player, so I plan to get with the program and get one.

Plus there is also Shark Scope that I want try that gives you all the stats on your play, I first want to read how to interpret the stats I'm seeing of myself and then learn how to improve them.

I have a long way to go, but I know the journey and the learning process will be worth while.

Matt
Somethingaboutpoker.com

Setting up My Poker Challenge!

Last time I talked about how poker professional Chris "Jesus" Ferguson set up his own personal challenge online to turn $1 into $10,000 and how he managed to do it within 16 months. Well now I have already created my own version of this challenge and have had minimal success due to a number of things the main cause has been DAM laziness!

Recently I have moved my poker challenge over to blogger here away from my website blog at Somethingaboutpoker.com the reason for this is because I wanted to focus the website more on poker business issues such as, poker resources, websites reviews, professional players and tournament results etc.

This way I can use this blog for my own outburst of bad beats raves, slick move rants and much more. I must have set up my own challenge about 6 months ago and have done hardly anything with it, life got in the way and I took a break from the game.

I couldn't play at the local casino anymore because I got a job there as a Black Jack Dealer, and I had to play pub poker tourneys and online poker only. This was very hard because I was so used to playing live and am still struggling with the transition of online play as my live table reads were pretty good in my biased opinion.

So anyway here are my challenge specifics, the goal is to make $10,000 (Nothing exciting like a million dollars) Plus Qualify in time for the Main Event WSOP 2008 all to be done online through one account playing at Pokerstars.com

I have approximately 5 months left and the bank roll balance which I started on $100 USD is now on $142.29 as of this very minute, yikes I checked. So I better get my A into G and start banking some money!

I'm a bit tired at the mo as I have been working on parts of my website and played a bit of 1c-2c NL Holdem (Frustrating playing at those levels), I will do another post tomorrow to talk more about the rules that I have set for myself, Statistics to aim for, secondary goals etc

Matt
Somethingaboutpoker.com

Chris Ferguson's Personal Poker Challenge And Everybody Else

Here is a story that has been circulating around the web for a while now, and every poker room you step into play poker live or online, you hear the legendary story of how Fulltiltpoker.net poker pro Chris "Jesus" Ferguson turned $1, yes you read that correct $1 into $10,000 by building his bank roll up slowly starting at the micro limits.

Now you would probably wonder why anyone would even attempt such a crazy goal like this especially if you are already an established poker pro on the regular poker circuit taking down WSOP events that have 6 figure money prizes to be won. Was it a publicity stunt for Fulltiltpoker.net? Did Chris just want to prove he can do it? Was it a divine poker awakening?

Chris Ferguson has stated that he did it to show people that you don't need much of a bank roll to start with at all to be able to progress forward to make money out of the online game, he also said that all it requires is discipline on your part in staying within the rules you set your self, i.e. not playing beyond your bank roll and risking it all on one hand, but grinding it out to the final goal. Read More About Chris Ferguson's Money Management.

Well after Chris achieved his Goal of turning $1 into $10,000, he quickly made another goal for himself of starting from nothing and turning it into another huge bankroll. A lot of people on the net playing online poker have tried to duplicate this and started there various own blogs putting time limits on themselves and blogging about it to the rest of the world.

The question is how many will succeed and what will hold most people back, I want to look further into this because what Chris Ferguson did has also sparked my imagination and aspiration of achieving something similar online as well. But the first step I want to do is investigate further to see what people are doing out there online and what holds people back whilst pro's like Chris strive forward and build those bank rolls.

I will spend some time reflecting on these questions then post my own personal challenge to myself to starting posting on this blog right here!

Matt
Somethingaboutpoker.com

Psychic Poker Powers?

Are top poker players psychic with there abilities? I mean is it totally possible to predict what cards will come on the flop, turn or the river by mathematics? Science? Or the supernatural, I know I have heard that poker pro Phil Laak has studied what is called Lucid Dreaming which is some really weird stuff of getting into your opponents head space...

But what about total predictions of the way hands fall on the felt? Have you ever played online and just know that the flush card is going to come? Or that a board is going to pair?

Anyway I was looking on You Tube and found this clip of Daniel Negreanu calling his running cards during a National Headsup match in 2006, watch below and see Daniel's PSYCHIC POWERS in action!

Enjoy the clip and tell me what you think.

Matt
somethingaboutpoker.com

The First Post Of A Long Poker Journey

Well I guess this is where all good things come to start, from absolutely nothing but an idea to moving forward through a series of goals and the all important climactic high and so forth...

Forgive me for my general ramblings as this will be one of many rants and raves that I will be having on my very own poker blog, There are thousands if not millions of websites on the subject of poker that have been put up by people wanting to get into the game as well as wanting to earn commission from having links and reviews on there blogs or websites...

So why should I miss out on the opportunity, well very quickly I have made this blog using the Google resource of Blogger.com (very useful and FREE!) plus I have already created my own website which took longer than I bloody thought it would, you can find it here at somethingaboutpoker.com.

I guess I will be using the Blogger site more so to discuss my own personal game and to get those DAM BAD BEATS off my chest, got to complain to someone when I lose a huge pot don't I! It might as well be the world!

And I will use the somethingaboutpoker.com website for more of commercial endeavours etc.

Well I am looking forward to communicating with all of my readers and hopefully get something going with my poker blog, Ok off to win the WSOP...

Lets Go!

Matt
somethingaboutpoker.com