Malfunctioning Poker

The voyage.

2010-08-23T23:33:00.000-07:00

This last week has been an interest voyage for sure. I have watched my wife go from being middle of every field to trying to conquer all. All though it was a short dance with glory, it was fun to watch. Now she is back to her same old bag of tricks. Playing from out of position. Calling down with crap hands.....

Me, other then over the Sunday, I didn't get to play much. Got a new touch screen pc for my art. I have been busy since trying to adjust to it. For those that just use a computer for fun and games, you probably wouldn't understand. It is like trying to learn to fly with one wing.

My sunday games... they were fun to play. But, that is about all I have to say for them. I cashed a few and made back the money invested. Nothing overly interesting .......

Fun times!

2010-08-20T03:42:00.000-07:00

The last few days have been interesting. I have spent more time on my wife's game then mine. She is doing good for the amount of time that she has been playing. I just want to see her do better.

The time that I have been playing has been spent on cash tables. I am going to take some time this week and hopefully build up the roll I have on tilt. Beginning to miss playing there.

Took the day off yesterday. A good time was had by all. Watched a couple movies. Went out to eat. Did open house at the kids' school. Actually got a full night of sleep. First time for that in a long time.

Anywho, off to the tables.

OUCH!!!

2010-08-13T20:47:00.000-07:00

Today I am walking away from my computer with my butt in hand. I really feel like I have had my ass handed to me. The goofs are out today.

I had time after time getting called down by bottom pair to catch their ace on the river. I that battle once. I was lucky enough that my top turned into a flush. Mother variance has killed me today.

Maybe tomorrow will make up for today.

Picking them up....

2010-08-13T09:25:00.000-07:00

Most of the week was spent online as normal. Due to my condition, it is a bit of a challenge to get to the casino. But, I managed to make it there yesterday. It was fun for a change. Within the first 2 hours I dropped 2 buyins. 2 hours later my stack is sitting 3.5 buyins deep. At this point I took a dinner break. Had a nice burger thanks to my points.
After dinner I played for an additional 2 hours. I ended up realizing about an hour back from my break the table was dead. I stuck around for an extra hour to see if I could get a seat change, but they didn't open any new tables. So I headed off. I walked just above break even (3 buyins invested, left with 3.2 buyins). That was my first time back at a live game in 5 months.
The best time of it was getting to hang out with Pineapple again. He is an old timer that has been playing since the mid 40's. He has a lot of great stories of the game and it's players.

The week online wasn't any more productive. No cash in any of my MTT's. I didn't get time to play many SnG's, and didn't do well at the ones I did play. I did multi-table rush alot this week. I made a little there. Picked up a lot of good hands and ran into a lot of better hands :)

After the week I had with rush, I think I am going to make that my grinder game for now. We will see how it goes. I have been grinding small MTT SnGs. It is a big change from what I was doing. But I am looking forward to it aswell.

I got up this morning and felt in the mood to paint. While I painted I reflected on my dog that was run over a week ago. I combined images of the front end of a car and a head weeping. It is a little "robot-ish", the images didn't come out of my head properly. But anyway, here it is "When the Metal Weeps".

I know you can't see all the detail in the photo. But, I really like the way eyes and the "grill" came out.

Here's to my lost friend, Maliki!

A horrible rebuy!

2010-08-10T23:50:00.000-07:00

Tonight I had probably the worst rebuy tourney I have ever had. Every time I had a premium hand it would get busted on the river. And I mean every time (I have the hand history to show for it). I ended up doing a double buy 5 times before the add-on. I was very happy with my game play. From what I can tell, I didn't do anything wrong (other than being unlucky). It was just one of those freak games. Something about getting your AA or KK cracked by a smaller PP always makes me want to rebuy.
Some how I still managed to beat out 60 to 65% of the field. I was proud of that considering after the add-on period I kept getting knocked down to around 5x the bb. I would double and triple up, then a few hands later pick up a monster to run into straights and flushes.
There is one interesting thing about the tourney. Every one of the hands that got cracked, I really can't blame the guy for seeing the flop and running down with draws or over pairs to hook up with the river. At least I am not having to complain about the joker with J3o catching running 3s.

A week later.

2010-08-10T09:41:00.000-07:00

Things have been running decent for me. I have been running a lot of rush poker due to the lack of time I have had to spend this week on poker. I am starting to get addicted I believe. Rush is almost perfect for those that are short on time.
I ended up leaving a table open all day (almost 18 hours). Through out the day I would play for a bit then sit out and go work on the car or something. After it was all said and done, I logged a little over 2000 hands and quadrupled my buy-in (not bad for not playing all day).
The rest of the week was just average at best. Pick up a few chips and drop a few. I am looking forward to things slowing down over the next few weeks. I would like to get back into a more of a serious MTT mode.

The wife has also been playing alot of rush here this week. She has mixed reviews of the game. But those are directly tied to her performance.
From what I have seen of her playing this week, she is doing decent and moving onwards and upwards.

A big fat BLAHHHHHHHHH!!!

2010-08-02T18:30:00.000-07:00

I wished I could say the last 2 days have been good. Really I do.
Now onto reality.
I bubbled the 35k on ftp. 93o beat out my KK. The result of that was crippling my stack to 3x BB. Very next hand I got AQs with 4x raise before me. So I figured I would take the shot at it and jumped on in there. Half the table called. And out I went. The 4x raiser had KK and no help for me. That was a little defeating of a tourney for me. The bright side of it, I only had $1.10 invested (thanks to the step sngs on tilt).

After that tourney, I played a few more $26 mtts. No luck at all in any of those. So I went back to the steps to get more tickets. I did well with those. I have 4 more step 3 tickets ($26 value) off of a 6.60 investment.

Then I moved on to some Rush. I did decent for about an hour, then it was all down hill. Ended up having to rebuy twice before I threw in the towel.

Today was much of the same. I managed to min-cash a couple games on stars. Before playing those, I was killing myself on ftp. In all I lost close to $200 in a day and half. I know it happens. That is not the defeating part about it. It is the hands that have been in play that are troubling. I wished they would play those hands when mine are hitting.

Well off to watch a movie with the ole lady. She downloaded Green Zone and seems to think I will like it. Good night and good luck to all!

Back on FTP

2010-08-01T10:42:00.000-07:00

I finally got some of my money moved back over to Fulltilt. Yesterday was the first I've actually played on FTP in 6 months (other than the P-ology tourneys).
I tinkered with the rush poker for awhile. Obviously, rush is a bit more fun then normal poker. But after a while I found that people serious have trouble folding an ace hand in that game. I got caught on the river so many times by that ragged ace. But all in all, I didn't do too bad on the rush just over doubled my buy-in.
After that I did some of the steps there. Pulled down a few tickets and called it a day.

Scottie is still chewing on me about beating me in the wager. I am going to have to come up with a new wager soon to shut him up.

Defeat!!!

2010-07-30T10:36:00.000-07:00

Scottie won the little step wager. The wager ended with me being on step 6 of my 3rd attempt. Although I was happy with my profits from the steps themselves, I am not stoked about the loss of the wager. He finished his steps in 2 attempts. Good job Scottie, I am looking forward to the next challenge.

On the brighter side of things, I have made it to the leader board of the battle of the planets on stars for the 2nd week in a row. I am going to go on a push and see if I can get in enough games to place in the "High orbit" board as well.

I had a huge hand in a tourney yesterday. I hit another royal on the turn. I ended up tripling my stack, and knocked out 3 short stacks all in the same hand. I was payed by a set, low-end flush, straight, and 2 pair. Obviously, I received several comments from 2 of them that were funny. The usual Donkey, and a few "go F*** your mother".....
I enjoy when folks get that upset. Makes me feel that I am doing my job correctly.

Fun days

2010-07-26T15:27:00.001-07:00

I wouldn't stretch things and say the last couple days have been too profitable (floating in and around break even). Even though I have had a huge case of the "ups & downs" it has been fun. I have seen several rare and funny hands occur the last couple days.

My little wager with Scottie is going. Not well on my part. I am on step 5, and my third attempt. He is on step 5 and his second attempt.
We are both still making money. His is just a little more so far. We shall see how it turns out. I am just in a bit of bad run right now.

I am working on a design for Justin's sleeve. It is a large design and the tattoo artist should have a lot of fun doing it. I will start posting the different sections of it as I get them done.

Getting out run.

2010-07-24T19:15:00.000-07:00

Scottie is still on his second attempt. He has made it to the 5th step though. He is holding up nicely.

My first attempt went like crap. I opened up by basically running over the first game. Then in step 2 absolutely fell apart. I was knocked out 17th out of 18. My second attempt has gone a little better. I made it thru the first step relatively easy. Step 2 I got a repeat with 2nd place. Then the next game I took 3rd forcing me to play 1st step over. That first step I took a 2nd then a 1st place. I played the step 2 and got a nod to move to step 3. I am going to pick up from there in the morning. I am in mid-swing of a MTT. Starting field was 3668. I have found myself in 13th with 147 runners left. It's getting time to concentrate on this game instead of SNGs.

The wager begins.

2010-07-23T10:06:00.000-07:00

I finished my little effort at getting into the battle of the planets leaderboard for the week. I managed to slide into the middle of the board. I was attempting to make it to the top 10 for the bonus tournament that is offer. No luck there, but I will get the additional money for making the board.

Scottie has made it to step 4 of the wager and is still on his second attempt. He has spent alot of time bouncing back and fourth between step 3 and 4.

Since I finished what I set out to do. I will begin my part of the wager today. Good luck to you my friend.

Another day in the dust.

2010-07-21T08:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, wasn't that bad of a day. I spent the majority of the day on ring games. Towards the end of the day I found myself playing 18man SNGs. The 18mans went really well. I have to win 2 more or place in 4 to make it on to the weekly Battle of the Planets leader board. Considering the amount of games I have left to play for the "low orbit", I should be able to accomplish this without much effort.

A friend of mine ran across this ladder for 18man SNGs this morning.

We both thought it is interesting and could be a lot of fun to run. So, since I have different objective for the remainder of the week. We placed a $20 wager on his ability to run thru it. He has 4 chances to complete all 7 steps. There is an additional $20 wagered on who will go the furthest. And finally, there is an additional $20 wagered on my performance (so he will have a chance to win his money back). I will run mine either this weekend or early next week.

Right at the moment, he is on his first stab at it. He is on game 3 and currently on step 2. He took 2 in his first, first in his second, and is sitting in third with 7 to go on his third.
Go gettem' Killer!

Poker can be boring sometimes.

2010-07-20T07:08:00.000-07:00

The last two days have been almost event free. I have not had that many bad beats. On the other hand, I haven't had any notable wins either. So I guess that would be considered strange (no bad beats).

The last two days of play have been pretty much all break even sessions. Sunday was so close to break even, I posted a $.46 loss. Monday, wasn't as close. I lost just over $9.
Most of my hands were just missing everything except the muck pile. Both days, I had a couple big blind specials that allowed me to stay afloat on or around the break even mark.

Hopefully today will swing back up into the profit side of things.

Back home and ready to rock...

2010-07-18T06:31:00.000-07:00

We got in a little after 1am last night. I was a nice little trip. Obviously, I don't have that much fun around my in-laws, but the wife and kids enjoyed themselves. So I claim it was a success.

This week in poker I will be working on MTTs more then anything. I plan on playing some of the larger ones on stars, ap, and cake.

Sometime this week I will be withdrawing some money from stars, allowing me to deposit some on fulltilt. Which is where I prefer to play more comfortably.

I will begin posting art work again here soon. I haven't had a chance to work on anything lately.

Any who off to the races.............

The week of poker is at a close for me....

2010-07-15T10:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, in not so many words, really freakin' sucked. I suppose it is variance smacking me around a little bit for the good run the other day. I had just a few too many bad beats. Then a few hands of getting unlucky with hands like KK. Considering the things I was beating those sort of hands with the other day, I can't really complain.

Well the poker week comes to an end for me today. The family and I are headed out for a short trip to eastern Tennessee. We will be returning late Saturday night.

So good luck to anyone playing.

Interesing few days

2010-07-14T07:58:00.000-07:00

Saturday, I went on a hell of a binge in poker. It was one of those fluke days that I could not go wrong. I would venture an estimate to say close to 90% of the pots I entered into I won. Most hands were not monsters until the flop or turn. Even winning with absolute crap hands. That day I ended up pulling an extremely long session, tripling my online bankroll. It was an exhaustingly sick day for poker.

The next day was the exact flip side of the coin for me. There was nothing I could have done to win a hand it seemed. I guess the run of good fortune had come to an end.

Monday was a little better for me (not a lot though). I ended up winning a $2 180 man. But, that was the only thing that I was able to cash in.

Tuesday, a friend wanted me to play a couple games for him on AbsolutePoker. They went well. Bother were rebuys, I took 8th in the first, and 12th in the second. He was pleased with the results. I felt I could have done better, especially in the one I took 8th in.
I really should play more rebuys. I always seem to do well in them.

Tuesday also marks the day of my wife's first win in a MTT SnG. She has been doing pretty decent since she began her poker voyage. She has been enjoying herself, and I have enjoyed the side effects it has had on our relationship. For any couples out there I would strongly suggest that you both try to play. Not that we had any really large issues, but her playing has brought us closer together.

Also watching her learn has helped my game a little. If nothing else, it reminds me not to over think all the time ( serious issue of mine).

Well onward and upward...time to get to the poker thing!

Good days are here again.

2010-07-09T23:14:00.000-07:00

This evening I played on AP. It went really well. I played 4 rebuy tourneys. I final tabled 2 of them and finished in 12 in another. The 4th I was knocked out a couple spots before the bubble. All for a decent return on my money.

In the first rebuy, I was just astonished in the way the cards were falling for me. My hands would be strung together. I would have 5 to 8 winning hands in a row then nothing for an hour. Which isn't all that strange. It was just the strength of the hands I was hitting that was strange. In the same game on one table I flopped a royal, hit quads 3 times, and had 2 straight flushes. This was over a span of 2 hours. It was just one of those sickening games, leaving you wondering when the bottom was going to fall out of it. I ended up in 2nd on this one. The bottom waited till we were down to 4 players to fall out.

The second and third didn't go as smooth. Both of those I actually had to play cards. I especially please with my 7th finish in the 3rd game. Nearing the bubble I was in dead last holding 5 big blinds. Due to a couple forced calls from the big blind as soon as the bubble passed I was actually back in the game. About 30 to 45 minutes after the bubble I had a key hand that was the turning point for the game for me. I was back down to 11 times the big blind. I was dealt 65 of clubs in the big blind. The very nice gentleman in UTG+1 limped with aces then it became a family pot. The flop came 345 (rainbow). After checking it, the fellow with aces 2x bet the flop, everyone called. The turn came a second 5. I shoved and ended up with 3 callers. the river was 6 (saving my neck from the fellow with 26 of hearts. After that hand I had enough chips to start fighting back and taking down blinds repeatedly.

On a side note, the fellow with aces later said he misread his hand at a glance. He was under the impression that he had A4 until it was too late.

Strange change of pace.

2010-07-06T21:05:00.000-07:00

It seems that I have found a more balanced game in ring games. Before my leave of absence, I was more balanced in MTT sng's.
I am finding my way back thru the paces in MTT sng's. It does seem to be a lot more work then I thought it would though. I am still holding steady at a decent 20.7% cashing.
The shinning light so far seems to be my ring games. I am posting a nice return on those games.

I understand it is a little early in my return to cast judgments on stats. I am just taking the good with a smile, and adjusting the bad as I go. You can't build a house without going one brick at a time.

Doing the laundry.

2010-07-06T08:56:00.000-07:00

I guess the old saying "everything comes out in the wash" still stands true. Things are beginning to come back. I am back to being able to put solid reads on hands. My instincts still need a little nursing along. My decision making has greatly increased.

Over the last two days I have cashed in 21% of my games. Not great, but a huge improvement.

With that said, I am back to the grind to see what today brings my way.....

getting a little better

2010-07-04T08:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's run was a little better. I actually placed in a couple, and won one 90man.

The funny thing is that my 90 man win in a $0.25 game was as exciting as my first $1k+ win awhile back. Mainly I guess it was just fun to win something after such a long time.

Happy 4th to everyone...let's go blow up somethings

I'm back.

2010-07-02T08:04:00.000-07:00

After a sitting out for a few months I am back.

I played 3 games last night along with 2 hours of ring games. I came out of it with nothing but a less in practice makes perfect. My decision making skills are so rusty it's funny. It was a good thing I didn't step out of the micro buy-ins.

For now, I am going to concentrate on the basics in an attempt to let things soak back in.

Starting to feel the pains...

2010-03-03T03:25:00.000-08:00

Just over 27 hours into the marathon, I am really starting to feel the pains of no sleep (not to mention the coffee is just running thru now :) ). I am obviously not where I wanted to be at the end of this. I am at 163% ROI for this session. I have a few really nice wins. Along with some really ugly beat downs. Easy come, easy go right...
I am stuck in a tournament right now. After this is over I will be calling it a night. This tourney has about another 2 hours left in it (if I make ft).

And the roller coaster continues...

2010-03-02T10:43:00.000-08:00

Up and down, round and round here we go again.
There are some crazy ass people out today. I find it funny how folks get locked into a hand. They can't seem to see the sky for all the clouds.
I ran across a hand I got involved in. I get dealt QQ from the cut-off. The nice fellow from UTG had min-raised (with a caller directly behind him). A fellow in mid position made it another 6x to go (total of 8x to call). I flatted, the guy in mid position has been playing a nit, and had a feeling i was behind. I wanted to see how the hand played out, maybe go for a steal on turn. The guy from UTG flats, the guy in UTG+1 min raises the reraise. Red flags really go off at this point. Middle position shoves and gets 2 callers (I fold obviously). They turn over UTG J7s, UTG+1 QQ, and middle position AA. I would have ended up hitting the river for a 4 card flush (still a very good fold though). UTG got a nice little note. He was willing to dump $108 into the pot with that hand. I can understand the AA. I felt the really blinded one was the UTG+1 guy. The way the hand played it was obvious the mid position fellow had AA or KK.

6 hours in so far....

2010-03-02T07:44:00.000-08:00

A few hours in I am having mixed results. I have been playing a mix of games (cash, sng and mtt). I am clearing a profit so far in this session.
I started out in the micro level to get the feel back. I did horrible at those levels. As soon as I stepped a little it started running better for me. I am playing the $20 buy-ins now. I am hoping the roller coaster that I have been on levels out.

On a mission...

2010-03-02T00:51:00.000-08:00

After missing a little over a week of play, I am on a mission. I need to recoup my losses (computer parts aren't free). I am going to start small in the buy-in department to knock off the dust. After I am comfortable my mind is still functioning, I am going to go on a marathon session. This should be fun. I haven't done a long session in a couple months.

I'm back...

2010-03-02T00:14:00.000-08:00

It is nice to have a computer that is not malfunctioning. I had a few problems with the old system that I was not initially aware of. I ended up having a bunch of data loss on top of it all. Not exactly a good turn of events, but it's time to move up and on............

Disaster

2010-02-20T05:16:00.000-08:00

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.

2010-02-19T05:59:00.000-08:00

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...

2010-02-19T03:58:00.000-08:00

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...

2010-02-18T11:58:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-16T06:32:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-15T07:07:00.000-08:00

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...

2010-02-14T22:59:00.000-08:00

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!!!

2010-02-13T07:35:00.000-08:00

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....

2010-02-08T07:17:00.000-08:00

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.

34th -3.25
61st -3.25
47th -3.25
38th -3.25
16th -3.25
19th -3.25 (I decided to step back down to the $2.20 level after this one. Just wasn't feeling it.)
24th -2.20
45th -2.20
13th -2.20
11th 4.41
19th -2.20
52nd -2.20
83rd -2.20
26th -2.20
7th 7.65
14th -2.20
12th 4.41
29th -2.20
74th -2.20
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.

2010-02-07T03:56:00.000-08:00

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...

2010-02-07T03:42:00.000-08:00

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.

...

2010-02-03T04:33:00.000-08:00

Monday's run:

17th -1.10
79th -1.10
23rd -1.10
68th -1.10
6th 4.72
11th 2.20
14th -1.10
27th -1.10
9th 2.70
21st -1.10
33rd -1.10
45th -1.10
3rd 12.60
71st -1.10
62nd -1.10
10th 2.20
13th -1.10
24th -1.10
8th 3.24
19th -1.10

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

Tuesday's run:

2nd 16.65
13th -1.10
18th -1.10
47th -1.10
43rd -1.10
26th -1.10
12th 2.20
83rd -1.10
38th -1.10
17th -1.10
27th -1.10
6th 4.72
22nd -1.10
39th -1.10
13th -1.10
72nd -1.10
1st 24.82
19th -1.10
12th 2.20
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......

2010-02-01T06:32:00.000-08:00

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:

73rd -.25
34th -.25
3rd 3.15
27th -.25
9th .67
48th -.25
63rd -.25
18th -.25
1st 6.23
25th -.25
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:

17th -1.10
29th -1.10
8th 3.24
80th -1.10
32nd -1.10
14th -1.10
19th -1.10
4th 8.55
11th 2.20
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.

Late night art...

2010-01-30T04:18:00.000-08:00

After my dinner date with the family, I couldn't sleep. I wasn't in the mood for poker either (I know strange things). So, instead I went into creative mode. I took apart one of my computer cases and began to paint. I also carved a fan shroud for the power supply. Here is a peak at it. So far I have 7 hours into this.

Hand carved fan cover. First time doing this with metal. Used a dremel tool for it (very messy).

Clear coated ghost flames on top and front of the pc.

The side cover still has some work to go on it.

Todays run...

2010-01-29T14:26:00.000-08:00

I had to do my run a little earlier then normal. Going out with the wife and kids tonight. Tomorrow I will be pressed on time, we are house shopping.
Here's today's run:

11th .55
13th -.25
76th -.25
1st 6.23
37th -.25
29th -.25
21st -.25
81st -.25
6th 1.18
10th .55
15th -.25
22nd -.25
46th -.25
61st -.25
14th -.25
35th -.25
11th .55
19th -.25
8th .81
12th .55

The roll for the challenge is at $42.83. Still headed in the right direction, and will be another day or two before moving up levels (provided there is no loss in the roll).

Today has been a very fruitful day in the poker department. Last night I made a nice sized cashout to cover the deposit on the new house. During the play this morning, I got lucky in a few mtts. I managed to increase my online roll by 32%. So for those "doomswitch" guys out there, "Stick that in your pipe and smoke it!" :)

Today, I also managed to pick up a contract with a company to handle all their logo design and graphics for their website. Pretty cool stuff.....

Here's today's art:

It was done with acrylics. There is something so mind numbing relaxing about doing stippling. The subject came from a cow skull with the head dress I have hanging here in my office.

Feeling better ....

2010-01-29T03:32:00.000-08:00

Well yesterday I had my running shoes on all day. I did well in most everything I played. Made for a nice bounce back from being sick.
Here are the results from yesterdays challenge games.

4th 2.13
11th .55
14th -.25
29th -.25
9th .67
41st -.25
73rd -.25
18th -.25
21st -.25
11th .55
82nd -.25
56th -.25
2nd 4.16
12th .55
48th -.25
31st -.25
17th -.25
26th -.25
65th -.25
7th .95

This run brings the roll for the challenge up to $37.41. I am hoping today I can top off my 40x the buy-in to move up to the next level.

Today's art was done over coffee this a.m. I threw it together in photoshop.

2010-01-28T05:05:00.000-08:00

Well, I was sick as could be yesterday. No games got played. I decided to take my one day off. I feel a little better. We shall have to see how it goes.

This is a doodle I started on between sleeping.

Starting of week 2

2010-01-27T04:00:00.000-08:00

To recap week 1. I have not been running the best lately. Been making the right decisions, I would say at a min of 9 of 10 times (trying to improve this though). I have gotten in good many times to go sailing down the river with many other folks. Sometimes that is a tough pill to swallow, but I can hold my head up high knowing I did the right thing.

In a weeks time I have multiplied the roll for the challenge by just over 3. I should be able to move up to the dollar level in a couple days at this rate (may the force be with me).

Last nights games:

13th -.25 (don't like starting out the session with a bubble)
26th -.25
9th .67
37th -.25
12th .55
71st -.25
60th -.25
5th 1.57
16th -.25
10th .55
39th -.25
58th -.25
63rd -.25
82 -.25 (got KK and obviously no one respects a button raise. Had 2 callers and a shover. Ended up in a 3 way pot losing to J6off )
2nd 4.16

Ending roll for the challenge is at 32.85. I ended up not playing the full 20. Got wrapped up deep in an mtt at AP that required full attention.

Todays art was done over coffee this a.m. It is a visual about how I felt when I just missed the final table in last nights mtt. The walk of shame down a "long road".

Another day...

2010-01-25T21:28:00.000-08:00

At the grind. These $.25 90 man sngs are really such a grind. They beat you with the calls you see these folks making. It really is nuts. There is actually a % of the players that refuse to fold any 2 cards. It's funny when they lose and sickening when they hit. Then if you look at their stats it's even funnier.
Today was a rough day. I did manage to only pull off a loss of $.20, so no progress to speak of.

87th -.25 (rough start)
48th -.25
39th -.25 (getting closer :))
12th .55
19th -.25
27th -.25
71st -.25
65th -.25
33rd -.25 (started off strong, won first 4 hands and tripled up. Then went card dead.)
10th .55
26th -.25
21st -.25
5th 1.57
29th -.25
62nd -.25
4th 2.13
13th -.25 (I hate getting AA on the bubble while sitting in 13th short stacked).
15th -.25
36th -.25
47th -.25

After today's run the roll for the $29.10. Was some horrible beat downs, and some nice suck outs. I am just glad to only be down less then one buy in. Looking forward to advancing the roll to the next level though.

Today's art project:
The "ole lady" is wanting a new tattoo. I think this is what we are going to do this weekend.

Yesterday was nuts...

2010-01-25T05:50:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was something else. I was knocked out early on in my live tourney. Made up for it in the cash games. My backer will be pleased.
Got home, and decided to play a couple nice sized tourneys. In one, about 2 hours in ran into a really bad beat. It crippled me down to 8x the bb. Some how, I managed to fight my way back into the hunt. I ended up running it down to 49th. Talk about a rush. I was pumped after that game.

To work off the tension of that tourney I decided to paint a skate board deck for my son (matching his hat).

Today is the day off....

2010-01-24T06:25:00.000-08:00

The games for Saturday were as follows.

64th -.25
47th -.25
16th -.25
29th -.25
12th .55
19th -.25
58th -.25
31st -.25
10th .55
27th -.25
21st -.25
35th -.25
71st -.25
7th .95
52nd -.25
19th -.25
13th -.25
34th -.25
5th 1.57
46th -.25

I wasn't running that well. A lot of missed double draws. Seemed like the more outs I had the less likely I was to hit them. Was having issues getting big hands to hold. I did make a few huge lay downs that were good folds (proud of myself there).
After this run the roll for the challenge is at $29.30. I didn't make any head-way.

Here is the doodle I did between games.
Not super impressive, but I do enjoy working with inks though.

Today is casino day. There is a $200 buy-in hope I do well. It's been a couple weeks since I cashed. After, I think I will hit the Omaha tables. I did get a backer for today's play, so I want to do well to encourage future investments.

Art of poker.

2010-01-22T23:10:00.000-08:00

I know poker is an art form in it's self. So, how about art during poker :)
I know, I know!!! Just another distraction. So for all you kids out there "Don't try this at home!"

Tonight I played in one tournament that seemed to go on forever. Did okay and made a decent take down (two thumbs up). During the game I decided to work on a test playing with the dimensions of a ball and the perspectives of faces. If you look close some of the lines of the cheeks and stuff in the faces are actually straight (but look curved for a fuller effect). It was a fun little project and now I have to go buy my son a new basketball :)

As a side note:
Yes, I forgot what year it was when I painted this.

Yesssssss

2010-01-22T18:10:00.000-08:00

Today a major improvement.

3rd 3.15
1st 6.23
7th .95
17th -.25
10th .55
29th -.25
47th -.25
72nd -.25
9th .67
90th -.25 (yes i was the first one knocked out)
13th -.25
43rd -.25
58th -.25
41st -.25
14th -.25
11th .55
17th -.25
27th -.25
3rd 3.15
66th -.25

Today was a good day for the challenge games. Goff to a good start this morning and finished it off pretty decent. The roll for the challenge is now out $30.68.

A new day...A new light....

2010-01-22T05:37:00.000-08:00

It's a new day and already things are off and running just fine. sitting on 3 final tables at once. I will post final results later on today.

I did a paint job for a friend last night. Just wanted to share it:

It's an xbox 360 controller I airbrushed for a friend. He should dig it!

What a day....

2010-01-21T21:39:00.000-08:00

Today was something else. Just crazy! The bad beats came on in full effect. AA beat down by KK, I do believe a total of 4 times. 3 of the times kk hit turn and river for running straight. Just sickening.
Ok, with that said. I was running probably the worst that I had been running since I started playing. So I decide to go ahead and only run 10 of my challenge games. I didn't want this little losing streak to infect the brain too much. After I finished my games, I watched "Cloudy with a chance of meatballs with the kids". Pretty funny movie for a kids movie.

Heres the results from todays challenge games:

72nd -.25
32nd -.25
29th -.25
88th -.25
16th -.25
12th +.55
43rd -.25
61st -.25
10th +.55
23rd -.25

Took a little hit. The roll for the challenge is now at $20.98.
Tomorrow will have better results!(I hope :)

Here is a hat I painted up for my son today. Said he wanted a poker hat so this is what I came up with.

Day 3 of the challenge......

2010-01-20T17:56:00.000-08:00

Today I maxed my game play on the challenge. I played my allowed 20 games. Here are the results.

87th -.25
53rd -.25
16th -.25
41st -.25
13th -.25
38th -.25
19th -.25
26th -.25
11th +.55
16th -.25
71st -.25
65th -.25
18th -.25
14th -.25
77th -.25
19th -.25
1st +6.23
14th -.25
28th -.25
67th -.25

I did not do as well today. Although, I did advance the roll for this challenge. Which is now at $24.88.

I am still amazed at the quality of play in these $.25 90man sngs. Just sickening the things they call down with. Today was bad beat day for me at this level. A lot of 4 card flushes and 4 card straights beat me down. With out looking at the stats, I would say I was good atleast 90% of the time when shoving. Just not a good day for luck. :)

With all that said, I did play well. I did advance the roll (a little). So, I am happy so far.

For those of you that wonder what I do in my spare time. Here is a sample:

I have named it "Metal in Creation". It took a total of 8 hours to paint in photoshop and painter.

Night 2

2010-01-19T17:04:00.000-08:00

12 games run.

82nd -.25
23rd -.25
9th +.67
14th -.25
15th -.25
14th -.25
2nd +4.16
36th -.25
49th -.25
66th -.25
11th -.25
88th -.25 (dmn aces first hand cracked)

Tonight's run wasn't as good, obviously. Still cleared a profit though. The bankroll for the challenge is at $23.10. Starting tomorrow, I am going to start hitting my maximum allowed games per day (20).

Outside of that, I did really well in a few other mtts. Took 4th out of 5722 runners in a $5 buy-in. And was content with a 28th finish in another with over 5k in runners.

2010-01-19T05:34:00.000-08:00

Yestardays run:
17 games towards the challenge.

18th -.25
14th -.25
43rd -.25
11th +.55
62nd -.25
3rd +3.15
12th +.55
15th -.25
21st -.25
1st +6.23
17th -.25
9th +.67
10th +.55
18th -.25
27th -.25
82nd -.25
5th +1.57

The first day out hand nice results. Doubled my bankroll for the challenge, which is now at $20.77. Not going to expect that kind of result everyday, but a good way to kick it off.

I don't care how many of these $.25 games I play. I think every game I am still amazed at how absolutely horrid the play is. This should be a really interesting challenge.

Pokerology

2010-01-18T09:51:00.000-08:00

By the way.....
If you are not a member as of yet, and enjoy the banter of a forum environment. Then come join in the discussions at Pokerology. For the poker players out there, they have a great knowledge base both in their members and in the articles.

In the beginning....

2010-01-18T09:20:00.001-08:00

Well to follow the tradition of others that are active in a forum that I participate in, I am starting one of my own for poker related things.

Last night the glove was dropped on another challenge. The wager that was made is as follows.

Take $10 and turn it into $200.
30 days to complete the challenge.
No less then 10 games per day (for no less then 6 days a week), but no more then 20.
Start at the $.25 90man games.
Can not move up in levels till I have a min of 40x the buy-in.
Winner of the challenge gets the amount wagered plus any profits from the games.

Wish me luck and here we go.....................