My Bad Hands

Since I'm going to start playing poker online, I wanted to try using Poker Tracker. I heard that a lot of online players use it so I might as well. It's a pain to install but apparently it's only hard to install if you've tried and failed before.
Now what it does is it tracks everything that happens while you're playing or even observing poker. It inputs everything in the database and it outputs a whole lot of information I'm not even sure if I'm going to use in the future.
So far, the only report I have studied is my tournament starting hands. My sample size may be a little small, but I have to start somewhere. I was trying to see what I could improve in my tournament play. These are my findings...

ATo - The hand I lose the biggest amount to.
K8o - I really don't notice that I actually play this hand. And I lose often with it.
52o - Half of the time I play it, I'm not in the blinds. I don't know why I do that.

So now that I know, I'll start making sure I'm careful with these hands. I'm not saying that I'll voluntarily fold them just to get rid of them but instead I won't overplay them.

My First Online Cash Game

I logged on to PokerStars but at first I couldn't decide what to play. I originally intended to play an SnG but I couldn't find where they were. So I decided I'd play a ring game instead. I also decided that I'll apply proper bankroll management so instead of looking for no limit games, I wanted my first game to be a limit game only.

 

I headed straight to the lowest limit 7 card stud table and after a couple of orbits, I was up $1. Not bad for a newbie. I left the table after hitting the $1 mark 'cause I didn't want to lose on my first try. But I decided to play again. This time I played $0.04/$0.08 limit 7 card stud high/low. I pushed my quota to $5 but I had a hard time reaching that because it was a very low limit table. I also tried multi-tabling which was to my disadvantage as I wasn't able to concentrate very much.

 

To cut the long story short, I reached my $5 quota for the day after 2 hours of play. I'll probably play HORSE or Razz next time. I doubt I'll be playing NLHE anytime soon as I have a very small bankroll. I may play LHE instead. Or perhaps PLO.

 

My 0 to 1,000,000 may be possible after all. Jesus Fergusson also played 7 card stud when he was going for $10,000 so I must be on the right track. I think I'll still meet my May 26, 2009 target.

Featured Player - Sunshine

Name: Sunshine
Age: 24
When did you start playing? 2.5 years ago. I started playing micro-mini stakes at home with friends.
Where do you usually play? Live games always in The Metro, online on Pokerstars and Fulltilt
What stakes do you usually play? Games I play ranges from 25/50 to 100/200 (in Peso) blinds... It depends on the action, stacks on the table, and who are on the table.
Preference: Online or Live poker? Both
Preference: Cash games or Tournament? Both
Biggest tournament you've entered? (Not necessarily won) APT ($2.5k buy-in)
How does one win in poker? a cliche but patience will remain a virtue..though donkey wins too..lol
Who's the best international player and why? There are a lot coz each and every pro that I know has his own strategy that makes it for them which can be the best for each and every game.
Who's the best local player and why? No comment. lol. But definitely not me...lol...am way far from it..
Fearless forecast: Who will win the Filipino Poker Tour 3? maybe you.. :)
That's a long shot cause I'm not joining :) -ross
What's your most memorable bad beat? I dont keep track of the bad beats I get coz if I do, I would always remember it & just give myself bad vibes everytime I play.
What's your most memorable suck out? I'm a good girl... I dont give bad beats...lol
What's your most expensive poker lesson? (A mistake on your part which cost you the most amount of chips but because it was expensive, you made sure not to commit the same mistake ever) Everytime I bust out...coz it just means I put all my chips in and as expensive as all my chips I just learned the latest poker lesson I would
What's one thing you would like to change about Filipino players? Nothing. I think Filipino poker is doin good & it's even gonna get better soon as people play almost play everyday
What's your advise for people who are just starting to play? Well, you would always see players (who have been in the scene for quite a while) winning on wide variety of hands...seeing some exhibitions on their plays...but when you start playing it, poker basics are always very important and should stick with 'em. Later on you would always get to use 'em no matter how long you have been playing the game. and you'll still see that the poker veterans still use 'em a lot and are still makin money out of it. Oh and that bluffing isnt the essence of poker.

My First Deposit

My poker table was sold and I was paid through PokerStars. I now have $45 in my account. I can’t wait to play. Wish me luck.

0 to 1,000,000 - 1st Update

So far, the 0 to 1,000,000 challenge is on track. I’m still relying mainly on the earnings from advertisements. This includes advertisements from my other blogs. At this rate, I can have the first deposit approximately by early August. I don’t know how long the check would arrive but I’m hoping it’ll arrive before September. I think I’m disallowed by Google to mention how much I earned so I’m just going to keep it confidential.

When Mogs sells my poker table, he’ll transfer some dollars to my PokerStars account. I hope that lasts at least until September.

So far, I’m happy with the results and I feel confident this challenge is going to be a success.

To read about the details of the 0 to 1,000,000 challenge, view the link: http://finaltabledonkey.blogspot.com/2008/05/0-to-1000000.html

Big Players in a Small Table

After a long poker break (not counting the Filipino Poker Tour Freeroll Satellites in PokerStars) I came back to The Metro to play. One of my “rules” limit me from playing while under the influence of alcohol but because I was under the influence, my reasoning was askew.

So I played in the 10/20 table where there were 2 big stacks who were dominating the rest of the players. This was another “rule” I was trying to implement (not to play in cash tables where a few players dominate the stacks or the action). Nonetheless, I sat and played. I guess poker is like riding a bicycle and I was soon able to vie for chip leader after a few orbits through a combination of out-playing, bluffing and donkeying.

Then came Bitoy. Bitoy has been part of the Philippine Poker Community since the early days and as I’m comparably a small table player, I rarely get the chance to sit in the same table with him. He was waiting for something and he decided to sit at my table. It’s always good to have someone who knows what they’re doing on the same table. They dictate the action and it’s easier to follow than the more aggressive plays the less experienced players tend to dictate. I consider myself to be a decent player but I’ve never dominated the flow of the action.

Rini and I were about to leave but since he sat down, we played a few more orbits than what was pre-arranged. We were talking with Bitoy about the days in 41o to which I commented that Bitoy was a benefactor of my poker tuition. Shortly after that he cracked my pocket aces with a runner-runner straight. At first Bitoy couldn’t remember me but then he remembered that I was Ronnel’s friend. He mentioned that Ronnel had moved on to the big table and I was still at the small table. Then I won with a runner-runner straight against his top pair. Then he joked that it’s probably why Ronnel moved up and I was still playing 10/20. Of course the main reason was that I didn’t have the bankroll for the higher stakes but that was beside the point.

Then Edward sat down. You can see how the action on the table changed after he did. Bitoy and Edward were in every other hand and it was pretty clear that the cards didn’t matter. They were simply out-playing the rest of the players. 2 big table players in the same small table, the newer players didn’t have a chance. The table eventually collapsed after Edward busted 3 players.

The session ended with me having a decent profit.

No more poker table...

This morning, my friend Mogs took my poker table. He’s going to sell it for me. My condo unit looks empty without the poker table there. I guess it’s a sign that I have to move on and play online.

Poker Chips For Sale

When I was starting to learn poker, I just had to have a set of poker chips. Only a few people had poker chips then so I bought a set. After a while, poker chips were not enough and I had a poker table made. After a few poker nights, having complete poker set (table and all) lost its allure. I've stopped inviting people over to play poker because frankly, I got tired of cleaning up after them. I seldom bring my poker chips to friends' houses when there are get-togethers because I've been playing so much and rarely see my friends that I'd rather not play.

Which was why I sold my poker table. And which is why I'm selling my poker chips. It's the same set that I bought except I can't throw in the cards. The cards that came with the set are worn and I wouldn't want to part with my other decks of cards. I'll consider throwing in the Modiano big font style cards but it depends on the offer. So what's included is the 300 piece poker chips, dealer button, small blind button, big blind button, 5 dice, a case. I haven't decided on how much to sell it for because I can't remember how much I bought it for, but you can leave a comment with your offer and then we'll talk.

Oh, and I can only sell it within Metro Manila, Philippines.

Philippine Blog Contest

I've entered my blog to the Philippine Blog Contest. I hope I win. Please support.

A Poker Experiment

You watch Survivor and during those parts when the castaways talk to the camera, their names appear below the screen and right below it and their occupation. As if being a bartender has anything to do with what they're actually doing in that remote place but it still gives the audience a background about the castaway. What we do actually does, to a certain extent, define how we think and what we do outside of work.

I've always had this scenario in mind, a poker tournament where players are from different backgrounds. Some possible players would be a theater actor, a lawyer, a psychologist, a mathematician, a professional gambler, a detective, a movie critic, a hypnotist, a beauty queen, an accountant, an economist, an entrepreneur, a manager, a radio disk jockey, etc. And since this is theoretical, Nemo and Shrek's friend Donkey. It is assumed that those who are included can be considered top in their field and that they have never played poker before.

The actor probably can bluff and slowplay his way to being the winner but the movie critic can spot the slightest bit of bad acting and the detective is trained to spot certain tells. The mathematician can compute the odds but the economist will know how to manage his stack but the psychologist probably doesn't need to look at his cards. The hypnotist can make you do anything but the beauty queen is just so beautiful no one can pay attention to the game. The tournament can go any which way but moving it another notch, it can be a series of tournaments and they have the chance of improving their game. Who would be the consistent winner? Some of the top professional poker players have a deep understanding of math but who's to say that only a mathematician can be successful in poker?