Disaster

Yesterday turned out to be a disaster. I left to go to the local art supply store. When I got back my computer was down. Turned out it over heated while I was gone. Needless to say it will not be making a recovery soon. I ordered the parts I need to fix it. They should arrive in a couple days. Until then, good luck at the game guys and gals.

The day of creation.

It looks like today will be about the art. I seem to be more creative with a pencil then a card game.
Here is something I just did up. I am a huge fan of oriental style art, and it sometimes comes out in my art.

When I was unpacking this morning, I found one of my all time favorite photos. This is of my son about 4 years ago. That bike is the one that I was in an accident back in July. The only thing I have left of it is a gas cap that I use for a paper weight.

Last night...

Was an interesting night at the poker club. We kicked off the league in grand fashion. We had a nice dinner cooked by a student chef. Hell of a gal! Our first game was a $250 buy-in. We had 27 runners (not a bad turn out). I managed to work my way thru the field for a 2nd place take down.

Even though, I was happy with my finish. I was not happy with the way it ended. Walked away feeling as if I could have played better when we were closing in on heads up. There were a few bad beats and such. But, I feel my aggression level was a little lacking for.

I also took along a possible client. By the end of the night he offered me the contract for his graphics needs. His reasoning was "What the hell, I have never had any vendor court me like this.". So I took part of his money on the table and now I get the rest for art. Life is good!

As soon as I get my sculpting tools unpacked today, I have a project to work on. This one is just for fun, but hope it will bring out some more work. As soon as it is done I will be posting it.

This was just a doodle over morning coffee. It was done with bic pen.

The days are sliding by...

Since after the move, man-O-man the unpacking is eating up a lot of time (I have too much crap). I have gone from playing from between 6 to 12 hours a day down to a max of 2 hours. I think this morning I woke up in a cold shake from the withdrawls =)

I did manage to run into an interesting group this morning at pokerstars. It was almost as if they did not like money. I had AA run up against 94o for an all-in on the turn. All he had was bottom pair no draws(straight/flush). Another was a flopped straight 98 vrs 22. He shoved on the river, as a bluff I guess. Either way those 2 hands alone equaled up to $370 in profit. The entire table seemed to be of this quality player. Made for an interesting and profitable hour.
I am looking forward to tonight. I will be headed out to the poker club. Tonight we are having a nice buy in tournament along with a chef coming in to cook for us.


This mornings art...
I was toying around with a few sugar skull ideas. This was one of 7. After I paint them I will be posting the rest of them. Trying to decide on what median to paint them in....Any suggestions?

Recovery

Scott is off to a good start on his challenge. He almost tripled his roll for the challenge in one day. Nice job bud!

Yesterday was a good one for me. In just over an hour, I managed to recover everything that was lost on Sunday. It ran so well, I ended up sitting on 2 tables for just under 8 hours. For the first 2 hours I couldn't go wrong (was almost sickening at times).

After reviewing stats from the past few months, I am pleased with the results. I do have one thing that I want to improve. Between the five sites I play on, my ITM% isn't as where I would like it to be. Currently for multi-table tournaments I am at 19%. I would like to see that hit at least 30%. I play a range of games from the $1 level up to the $30 level. On average, I am spending $1100 a week on buy-ins. I think even the extra 11% would result in a much higher ROI.
In an effort to accomplish this, I am going to gamble a little less on certain hands and positions. Pick my spots a little better. I don't have a huge problem with these issues, but it might be just enough of a difference to pick up that extra 11%.
I am also going to experiment with field size. According to my spread sheet I have better results in larger fields (5k+ in size). In the larger fields I seem to be more selective about my aggression levels. I am going to see if I can mimic this in the smaller fields to increase my results.

This was done for Christmas. This is a dove I painted for the mother-in-law. The mirror I painted it on is 2x2 inches, so this is very small.

A new day... A new challenge

The glove has dropped once again. This time, I am giving "Scottie Boy" the chance to win his money back. He will be running the exact same challenge I just completed. There is one side bet on it though. He is wagering $100 that he can complete it in less time.
With all that said...
Good luck my friend, may the cards fall your way. And I will except payment on either of the pokersites when you are done :)

Worst day ever...

After sitting here reviewing the hands from today's sessions, all i can say is WOW. I do believe this is the worse day I have had in poker since I began this journey 7 months ago. I do know this. I have not lost this much money in a single day.
Game play, overall I did well. I made 2 key mistakes. One was not really a mistake. It was just a gamble gone wrong. I limped from early position with a big hand. I was expecting the guy in the cut off to raise. He has been really aggressive from that position. Needless to say, he didn't raise. Result of it is, too many people were able to limp in. I hit a set on a draw heavy board. By the turn there was a 4 card straight on the board so I had no choice but to get out. By the river there was a flush that got completed aswell. Hate it when those gambles go wrong.
The amount of money I lost today is discouraging. I am looking for that to turn around tomorrow. I believe if the cards continue to run as they did today, I will be stepping down buy-ins till it changes.

This is something I doodled out during one of my cool off breaks during poker today. Yesterday being my wedding anniversary (10yrs). Today being Valentines day. Love was in the air, along with the smell of defeat.

Challenge complete!!!

This moving thing has been keeping me really busy. I haven't had much time for things such as poker or blogging. I have been keeping up the amount of games required for the challenge. Early this a.m. I completed the challenge. With the roll for the challenge at 183.91, I entered into a 3.25 90 man sng. I took it down, putting my finishing roll for the challenge at $255.07 with almost a week to kill.

Last night....

Well some how I missed every tournament yesterday I planned on playing. Even though the Superbowl was good game, it was boring. I did win my wagers on it though. Go underdogs!
Now for the challenge...
I did get to move up to another level lastnight. It didn't last long though. I wasn't running well at all. Big hands either getting out drawn or just not hitting.

1. 34th -3.25
2. 61st -3.25
3. 47th -3.25
4. 38th -3.25
5. 16th -3.25
6. 19th -3.25 (I decided to step back down to the $2.20 level after this one. Just wasn't feeling it.)
7. 24th -2.20
8. 45th -2.20
9. 13th -2.20
10. 11th 4.41
11. 19th -2.20
12. 52nd -2.20
13. 83rd -2.20
14. 26th -2.20
15. 7th 7.65
16. 14th -2.20
17. 12th 4.41
18. 29th -2.20
19. 74th -2.20
20. 13th -2.20

After this horrid run the roll for the challenge is at $114.10. Last night was a set back, but still very workable. Not real sure but the mood of the day may have been effecting my play for that session. I am about to review the games. Then I should know for sure.

The art I did last night was a little more on the darker side. The "inner demons" trying to escape.

A little something I sketched for a my daughter. She has a creative writing project and needed a photo to go with the story.
Done with Bic pen and watercolors.

Been busy...

Well, as you may have noticed, I have missed posting for a few days. I am not going to give a daily run down for that many days. I have sent tourney results to the parties that are concerned in the wager. But, to recap. I had a couple good days and a couple really bad days. One of which I couldn't even min cash anything. The roll for the challenge is at $147.93. With just over a week to go, I don't see many issues stopping me from hitting my mark.

After I dig them out I have some hands of interest that I will be posting at Pokerology
for review. Some were hands that left me scratching my head, some were just funny.

...

Monday's run:

1. 17th -1.10
2. 79th -1.10
3. 23rd -1.10
4. 68th -1.10
5. 6th 4.72
6. 11th 2.20
7. 14th -1.10
8. 27th -1.10
9. 9th 2.70
10. 21st -1.10
11. 33rd -1.10
12. 45th -1.10
13. 3rd 12.60
14. 71st -1.10
15. 62nd -1.10
16. 10th 2.20
17. 13th -1.10
18. 24th -1.10
19. 8th 3.24
20. 19th -1.10

After this run the roll for the challenge is at $66.79.

Tuesday's run:

1. 2nd 16.65
2. 13th -1.10
3. 18th -1.10
4. 47th -1.10
5. 43rd -1.10
6. 26th -1.10
7. 12th 2.20
8. 83rd -1.10
9. 38th -1.10
10. 17th -1.10
11. 27th -1.10
12. 6th 4.72
13. 22nd -1.10
14. 39th -1.10
15. 13th -1.10
16. 72nd -1.10
17. 1st 24.82
18. 19th -1.10
19. 12th 2.20
20. 16th -1.10

This run was nice as for profit. This run pushed the roll for the challenge to $106.38. Today I will be moving up to the $2.20 level. They are not turbos so it is a little more up my alley. With 2 weeks to go on the challenge, I am in good shape.

Long weekend......

Over the weekend, I didn't have much time for poker. Busy busy busy....
I did manage to squeeze in my sessions for the challenge.
Here is Saturday's run:

1. 73rd -.25
2. 34th -.25
3. 3rd 3.15
4. 27th -.25
5. 9th .67
6. 48th -.25
7. 63rd -.25
8. 18th -.25
9. 1st 6.23
10. 25th -.25
11. 51st -.25

Ran short on time so that was the end of that run. After those games the roll for the challenge is at $50.13. That means i get to move up to the $1.10 90 man sngs. They are turbos. I am not a fan of the turbos, so lets see where it goes.

Here are the games for Sunday:

1. 17th -1.10
2. 29th -1.10
3. 8th 3.24
4. 80th -1.10
5. 32nd -1.10
6. 14th -1.10
7. 19th -1.10
8. 4th 8.55
9. 11th 2.20
10. 16th -1.10

Again was short on time. I did barely get in my min. 10 games. After this run the roll for the challange is at $53.12. I should have done better in this run. I was distracted and my mind was elsewhere.