Poker Update

Haven't had much to write about on the poker front, but felt it was time to recap the last two months. I'm happy to say that I am running positive again Since Aug 1...here is a quick breakdown.

Aug 2006: +164 over 885 hands with a 1.85 BB/hr rate.
---Aug would have been much better if not for a single terrible session of -$390 where I tilted against a table full of donkey players that all had horseshoes shoved up their backsides. But I'll take a positive month wherever I can.

Sept 2006 (to date): +$515 over 457 hands with a 11.28 BB/hr rate.
---I love these numbers....I've run 7 positive sessions in a row for a much needed boost to the bankroll. Was finally able to make a withdraw from the online account for a car payment and some much needed RAM for the computer. I'm not playing much, but the sessions have been good to me.

I decided to play a bit this morning over a fresh cup of coffee before work. Sat down at a full $5/10 table (10 players) and end up with two very loose players with huge bankrolls to my left (one had over a grand, the other with $800). The most you can buy into the $5/10 game on Ub is $500, and most buy in for less than that....so either these guys had been running well or they padded their stack after sitting down at the table. I think you can add chips over the $500 mark after sitting at the table, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

Anyway, I have no PT notes on either of these guys, so I decide to see what happens...I wait for the BB and catch garbage on my first hand....bleh. UTG (with $1K - known as $$ now) fires in a raise and 3 people call him....I have decent pot odds to call, so I do to see a flop miss me completly. I check, he fires another bet in, both otehr players call and I fold. End result was that he was playing the aggressor from UTG with 9-10 suited and tried to buy the pot that he completly missed on against a slow played KK in late position that took down an easy pot. So now I know that he's a little loose and will try and bully pots.

A couple of hands later I catch big slick in late position with $$ on the button. One limper ahead of me and I raise. $$ reraises and the blinds fold, Limper calls, I cap and everyone else calls. Flop comes down rainbow K-9-3...looking good for me so far. Check to me, I bet, $$ raises, EP calls, I reraise, $$ caps, EP folds and I call....I can't put him on a great hand at this point, as he's played every hand much the same way since I sat down...he could have anything at this point. A J hits the turn, giving a straight possibility now if he has Q-10, and gives me a gutshot for a 10 along with my TPTK. I bet, he raises and I call at this point, as I'm now cautious that he may have a real hand here. A 8 hits the river, which gives a few more straight possibilities to the board, but my TPTK still looks strong. I bet, he raises a final time and I call to see him flip over 8-3os and rake a very nice pot away from me.....so that is how he's been making his money.....

So now I'm down about $70 and I've played 2 hands out of the first round of play....great way to start the day......sigh.

Things turn around a bit when $$ hits a down turn and looses about $200 over three straight hands. I take the last bit from him on the following huge hand....

I'm in LP again with A3 suited in hearts....$$ is on the button again and I fully expect the raise form him, so I limp in with 3 others ahead of me, willing to pay an extra $5 to see the flop, but not wanting to initiate the raise/re-raise war that will ensue with $$. He does raise and the BB, along with the rest of the table (5 in all) see a flop. A solid flop for me comes with A-6-8, with the 6-8 in hearts....so I get top pair, terrible kicker, but more importantly the nut flush draw. Check to me and I bet with the Aces and draw...$$ reraises (as his MO) and one other calls his raise, as do I. A lovely J of hearts hits the turn and I do a slow happy dance....EP checks to me, I bet and watch $$ reraise and EP call....now I have a decision....do I re-re-raise with the nut flush or wait until the river to try the same play, fully expecting the same betting sequence regardless of what falls on the river? I decide to hit the pot here and pop it another $10...$$ now caps (as I kinda expected), EP CALLS and I call very happily. A fourth heart hits the river (the 3 I think) and we go through the motions again....check to me, I bet, $$ calls this time, EP re-raises me...I pop it again, $$ calls and EP caps....I call and watch my nut flush take down a huge pot against the second nut flush (K-J os) in EP and A-5os from $$. This puts me positive for the session by about $60 bucks or so.

So the coffee is gone and I'm still sitting positive around $50 bucks and playing out the last round when $$ and I tangle again. I get dealt A-8 suited on the button and raise a folded pot around the table....$$ in SB calls and we watch a flop of A-J-7 rainbow hit. Against him, I like my A-8 now and bet into him and watch him raise as usual...I just call at this point, as A-8 is good, but not terrific in this situation. I check-call him on the turn and watch an 8 hit the river for my two pair....which I believe is golden against this guy. I check-raise on his river bet and he calls to turn over A-3os and I scoop a $80 pot with a nice $40 profit. He then chats that he can't believe he didn't win the hand with A3os when he was behind the entire hand...was funny to watch him rant a bit as I sit out my blind, wait for PT to collect the hand history and log off for the day with a nice $90 in profit. The table was down to 5 players at this point anyway and I didn't want to butt heads with $$ every hand, as everyone else was running scared from him....not to mention I needed to get to work and all. Nice start to the day though.

Not much to speak of otherwise. Huge Buckeye win over the weekend. I think I lost my first round in the fantasy football league here at work by about a point thanks to a late TD reception by Gates last night....guy has 2 catches and makes one of them a TD to beat me....sigh.

Back to work now...ttfn.