Mixing it Up

Have been playing a lot of Stud8 and Omaha8 this week to mix things up a bit. Playing it at 2/4 and mixing it into a rotation with 100NL. I must say it helps rack up the fpps in a hurry. I played a ton yesterday but still I was surprised I ended up with over 1600vpps on the day. So about 5600fpps. Not bad. Ended up ahead too so that is a big bonus. The problem with Stud8 while multitabling though is at times it can be tough to make all the reads. I made a couple of mistaken snap folds on 5th and 6th street and timed out a couple of times which cost me at least $50. At one point I was playing 11 tables with a mix of 5 Stud8, 2 Omaha8 and 4NLH tables. This included some table overlap as well. It's amazing I ended the day ahead to be truthful, but I really was playing quite well except for the noted errors. I also ran pretty well. In the future I will try to mix these games in more often, but keeping it to 9 tables until I change my monitor setup.

The NHL trade deadline was complete bust for the Canucks. We lost out on Brad Richards and a couple of other big name guys. It sure would have been great to have added a big name to this team. Instead they traded Matt Cooke (good riddence) for Matt Pettinger of the Capitals. It is a good deal in my opinion but the lack of a big scorer up front is going to cost this team moving forward. They lack just one or two guys up front that would make all the difference. They were able to keep all the young talent on the farm though so going into next season they should be in a very strong position to contend.

Back to work tomorrow. Had a good break except for so family sick time. I was able to get a few things done in the yard and have a good game plan to get the yard looking way better this year than last. Also starting to feel good about my game going forward into March. I think I have turned a corner. Looking to hit my goal of 310000fpps (@$5K) in the next week. I will start converting them to cash after that and that will be a boost.

Sleep time.

Poker Doldrums and NHL Trade deadline

I am getting really lazy about posting this month. If you didn't already know I am not cruising along like in January. Still just flashes of feeling a strong comfort level at the table. It has been really spotty. One day, I feel great and the next I am just playing, struggling to find a way to break even if possible. On the whole I am still down on the cash tables a couple of buyins but up overall via tourneys and fpps on the month. Coming to grips with the fact that I am not suddenly a super poker stud from a couple of changes. I think I might tone down my pre flop aggression a bit and get back a little closer to where I was in January. I feel a comfort level at the 100NL game when I am a bit tighter than what I have been trying to do in February. But I do not want to completely fall back into that shell I was in last year. There has to be a happy medium there where my comfort level meets increased aggression. Part of the problem has been I have been getting big pairs stacked on me this month whereas I was really on a heater last month with them. It seems when I get coolered it is against a big stack but when I cooler an opponent it is against a small stack or the guy smells something. I had one hand the other day where I flopped quads. My opponent turned a full house with 99 on a 66J9 board and we never got it allin!!! The river was a K and he merely calls a reraise I put in on him. I couldnt believe his call. It was really poor I thought and I told him so. Surely you must go allin with that hand!! I believe I was in the sb which made it so the more rediculous. He says he put me on JJ even though there was no raise preflop! This actully happened once before to me a couple years ago on a very similar board. Meanwhile guys are coming over the top of me with hands like K8 and hitting two pair on the river to stack me when I have been betting hard at them!! WTF!!

I have also run out of $T so to breakup the monotony of the NLH cash games I have been playing some $2/4 Omaha8 and Stud8. Although I do not have pokertracker for these games I am pretty sure I am down in the Stud8 and up in the Omaha8 and maybe close to even or down a touch in these games. Definately feeling more comfortable in the Omaha8 game at this level and feel like I'm more likely to gamble it up in the Stud8 game but the Stud8 is more fun for now and I think I'm not bad at it. For a time back a couple years ago I felt Stud8 was my #1 game until I started getting pummelled atit! Played a few hands of 2-7 Triple Draw as well but that game has a huge variance so it really is gambling to only play a limited number of hands and I was down a touch. It's a fun game though! So it did its job.

I am within 20000 fpps of earning 310000 and when I get to that milestone that is when I will no longer bank fpps. Instead I plan to leave those in my account and start grinding fpp sit and gos for $T which I will use for multi-table sit and gos and tourneys to supplement my bankroll. I am looking forward to that because that will for sure break up the monotony of the cash game tables. WSOP satellites will also be coming online very soon I think. They are due anytime now.
I will probably use some fpps for that as well.

NHL trade deadline is on Tuesday and noon pst. After watching the Canucks crush the Wings the other night and get points in 9 of 10 games I am officially calling all aboard the bandwagon. This really could be the year my friends and I predict Dave Nonis is feeling that way as well. He is going to make a splash at the deadline and I really hope it is Tampa super stud center Brad Richards he gets. It will cost some quality prospects and guys that are just breaking into the league but I do not care. Richards is a huge upgrade on ANY forward on the team and immediately becomes the second most important player on the team. IF we get him! Here's hoping. If they do not get Richards than maybe a guy like Erat or Satan would be worth getting if for cheap which is all Nonis woud send for them. We'll see. I am really stoked to see what happens!! Go Canucks Go!!

Playing dead even

Well, its been a frustrating month poker wise. If not for fpps and my satellite win I would be down this month. I just cannot seem to get anything going at the cash tables. One day I will be feeling great and my poker mojo is working and Im dominating and the next I just don't have that feel and end up down. UP and down all month. Hoping for a breakout and doing everything I can to guard against a real downswing. My hope is that this is a variance downswing and I am riding it out. But it is hard to keep from donking off. I do feel that for the most part I am playing well so I will definately keep grinding this week. I have quite a bit of time in the next week to play so it could well be a defining week for me if my bankroll starts moving in a distinct direction. Right now though it is in a state of stasis. I wonder if my tinkering with my game has led to this but it is really too early to tell. I know some more adjustments are in order so who knows.

Time for bed now but if I post tomorrow I will try to post a series of hands I had with a good 100NL regular where I was able to get the best of him but it was definately a place where the thinking cap had to go on. The hands were played by both of us at a couple of thought levels above what normally goes on at 100NL. So stay tuned for that...its really fascinating I swear..LOL!!

Satellite Win to Start the Month

Last night I played $7 turbo rebuy with a 1 hour rebuy period satellite into a EPT $650 qualifier. I had just watched a rebuy qualifier and it was a complete agro crazy allin fest so it looked like fun. Plus I love rebuys. In general rebuys are great because they are full of guys who don't rebuy!! This one being a satellite was even better. We ended up with 3 $650 seats up for grabs and the next three guys got $109 each. There were 80 or so starters and with 5 minute levels the action was fast and furious the entire tourney even after the rebuy period was over. In fact I think the action got even crazier. I came out of the break in 23rd out of only 32!! survivors. I told ya rebuys are great! But I still had like 10bbs. So I had a whole entire orbit if I wanted before the situation would get dire. It wasn't long though and I ended up near or with the chip lead for alot of the final two tables in a lot of dominating positions like QJ vs Q10 allin preflop. That sort of stuff. I was making some sick calls I tell ya! But because of the structure it was generally necessary for everyone to be pushing and calling pretty damn light. With about 6 to go I had over 300k chips and the next closest guy had like 100k. I bullied and pushed and in short order finished off the last guy. I probably eliminated half the field after the break! Anyway it made my day. I was down a bit at the cash tables but the win more than made up for it. I decided not to play the qualifier for EPT San Remo but eventually I will start trying to play some sort of qualifier. I think I might try these turbo rebuy qualifiers. Lots of fun.

Tonight, I thought I played really well at the cash tables. Ended up ahead about $300. All in all a really good start to February!