Goldy's Poker Journal

[jjgoldy5 0]

November 5th, 2007: Close Again Final tabled the $44 Shorthanded NLHE on Stars on Saturday. For the third straight time, I was the first one out of the final table. I got in with 99 when someone shoved from EP, I felt his range had a lot of 55-TT in it so I called. He had AK and obv flopped the A in the door.Time before that AQ<AK, and before that AA<QQ. So I've gotten in with a coinflip, dominated, and dominating and lost all 3 lol.Cashed in the Sunday Mil in 405th for $640. I was short going into the money at20k but went on a heater and doubled up with AT>AJ, and again with KK > KQo (thanks) and won another big one with AK>AJ to get up near 200k. Really dried up after that and didnt have any spots to resteal, and ended up getting my money in with 55 against JJ. WhatARunAA from FCP won it for 100k... Very happy for him. I have a big (not relative to the 100k but whatev) cash coming my way soon.... if only I could outlast one person at a final table lol. November 1st, 2007: Time to turn up the heat So I was sitting in my finance class today spacing out during a lecture on capital structure and popped open my laptop and played a $39 turbo shorthanded SNG and a $60 turbo 9-handed SNG. I took first and second respectively and netted about $190 in less than 40 minutes. My friend matt was sitting next to me and always watches me play during class - he looks at me and says, "How many days of work does it take you to make $200?" Right now, thats like 3 days after taxes, although my pay will be doubling after graduation... He always encourages me to go pro - and its something that I havent excluded from being a possibility down the line. Right now I've got a great job and a sweet gig lined up on the "fast track program" in my company after I graduate in March - so thats an opportunity I'm not willing to give up on to take the plunge at the moment.Matt then says, you could play poker from 9-5 and average 48$ an hour for 52 weeks and make $100k a year. I just told him, I could work a real job from 9-5, come home and play poker for a few hours and have the best of both worlds - so thats the master plan for now.I'm playing my best poker ever right now. Out of 67 PXF subscribers with 50 or more SNGs played between 20 and $100 stakes, I had the second highest ROI in October. I also made a bunch of final tables in NLHE and PLO8 tournaments.The big scores are coming. Soon. Stay tuned. This poker player is about to get hot.June 29th, 2007: Limit Played the 18k guaranteed, 3$, and 10$ rebuy on Stars last night. I wiffed all of them. Got all in just before the money in the 3$ rebuy with AA on a Q33 flop - aggro big stack shoved his QJ into me. I guess he knew the 2 outter was coming haw haw.I'm way too used to getting sucked out on, but thats probably good from a tilt-related standpoint.I played like 6-800 limit hands at 3/6. Its seemingly the fastest way / least risky way to get the last few hundred VPPs I need on Stars to achieve Gold Star. It was a really odd session. I got hit in the face with the deck preflop, but my big pairs never held up. I ended up about $100 but got 5 outted or worse on the river in 3 or 4 $50+ pots. KK, AA, QQ kept getting busted....but I hit a few sets and played well enough, even as a limit novice to book a win.I have about 300 more VPPs to get before tomorrow night, but that shouldn't be a problem.Heading down to the Reds game here in a few minutes - front row right behind home plate free food + drink (Thanks Boss) Contemplating taking a shot at a $100 MTT tonight after the game.June 28th, 2007: Computer Issues and Running GoodI had a lot of problems with my network last night, so i didn't get to play too much. At about 11:30 pm, I got everything going. I played 4 $39-buy-in 6 man Turbo SNGs on Stars and won 3 of them (+260ish) I also played a $11.70 double shootout to the Sunday Mil and took that down. (+200ish). So it was a good night even tho I didn't play much.One thing is for sure, I do very well in satellites, as I have won multiple seats in 2-600 tournaments for very minimal investment, and I should probably play them more. My game is geared towards winning rather than cashing, and I understand tournament play better than most players in the lower level satellites. I'm going to vegas in July and might try a few higher level SNG satellites / shootout type tournaments. Undecided as to whether I will play the Sunday Mil this week or not. If I don't play this weekend, I'll probably play next weekend.My quest in the next few days is to accumulate about 800 more VIP points so I can reach Gold Star Status on Stars.I'll probably take another shot at the 3$ rebuy tonight as well, and maybe the 18k guaranteed as well as a few other MTTs and SNGs. I gotta final table something soon!June 26th, 2007: Close again - but no cigarBounced out of another 3k field in the 3$ rebuy in 86th. Chipleader had been raising 1/3 hands or more. Fortunately he was to my right - so finally with blinds at 6k and 12k, he raises to 36k in MP and I shove for 150k with AQ, he happens to have AA haha.....gg me.Honestly nothing I can do there, I'm good, or in a coinflip there at least 90% of the time, so its a shove 100% of the time given how he was playing.Even if I smooth called (which would be an awful play), with the case ace on the flop, its going in.I also played a couple 22$ 180 man SNGs. In the first one, I had some computer issues and ended up blinding down and got all in with AcTc preflop against Jc9x when I reraised a steal attempt.The flop came 544 with 2 clubs, so he's drawing to 5 outs but spikes the non-club 9 on the turn.The other one, I bounced in 45th when I lost a necessary race when my AKs < 99.In other news, I have cashed in 6 straight shorthanded SNGs. 3 firsts, 3 seconds. Sure I've run fairly well, but nothing spectacular. The odds of cashing in 6 straight are 1-729, so I feel pretty good about that. Going to try to make it 7 in a row before I crash for the night.Good luck at the tables!June 25th, 2007: On the Cusp IIBounced out in 27th out of a field of almost 3k in the 3$ rebuy. In for 9$, and had a very real chance of finishing with at least 1k near the end. I went card dead near the end, and since there were a lot of short stacks shoving, I didnt have a chance to make a move until this hand.I posted this hand in the tourney strat forum -Hero (t317548)UTG (t1065002)UTG+1 (t451064)MP1 (t67680)MP2 (t181931)CO (t501591)Button (t270044)SB (t343742)Preflop: Hero is BB with 6, 6. 1 fold, UTG+1 raises to t80000, MP1 calls t65680 (All-In), 4 folds, Hero calls t40000.Flop: (t199680) J, 4, 8(3 players, 1 all-in)Hero bets t235548 (All-In), UTG+1 calls t235548.Turn: (t670776) 3(3 players, 2 all-in)River: (t670776) 3(3 players, 2 all-in)Final Pot: t670776One player had AJ, the other had KQ, unfortunately, the player who had me covered was the one with AJ and I bounced out. I think its the right play, as I take the odds away from overcards to see all 5 cards, and he misses that flop 2/3 of the time. That was about as unthreatening of a flop as I can hope for there.I could have chosen to fold, but I was playing to go deep, not bubble the final table.I keep getting soooooooo close.June 25th, 2007: On the CuspI'm so close to hitting the big one. In the past month I have been at the last 3-4 tables of a big tournament (3 to 6.5k for first) and bounced out by losing the oft-necessary big races. I was deep in a deepstack slow blind tournament on Stars, and lost 3 hands in one level which would have propelled me to a top 5 stack with 3 tables left. I am playing as well as ever, and have set a goal to win a big (500+ entrants or 2.5k +) before the end of the summer. Having a big bankroll infusion would allow me to play some of the bigger tournies on a more regular basis and hopefully put me on the track to hitting it big.I have a little time the next week or so, and hopefully I'll hit that big cash sooner rather than later.For now, bankroll still is hanging around 2k.May 13th, 2007: Quick Update... Running Bad and Getting Lucky haha (you gotta see this)So the past few days have just been fairly brutal... bubbling in tournies, running into AA or KK enough times to make my head spin... 3 outters on the river have been the norm .. just typical running bad. When I finally managed to get a 55$ SNG heads up, the guy came back from 1k chips with blinds at 200/400 to win after getting AA or KK 3 times within 6 or 7 hands (including back to back hands).I also tried some multi-tabling (Just 10+1 SNGs) 6 at a time... I can play 2 tables comfortably on my laptop, but I think if I try to play 6 or 7 tables long enough then I can train myself to be better at 3 -4 tables. I managed to turn a profit in one session of 6 tables even running badly. It's just a whole different mindset.... Right now I'll play 2 tables and watch tv and talk to people on AIM, but with 6 tables, its poker and nothing else.. and even then it requires extreme concentration... I'm not sure I could be profitable at the higher levels since most of my profitability comes from seeing situations and getting reads near the bubble.I had an interesting and funny stroke of luck today. After being totally frustrated by hold'em's variance, I opened up an Omaha Hi/Lo table. Just $100 Pot Limit... I ran my 60$ stack into $100 after reraising the villain in the next hand a few times and taking pots away from him on the flop. I felt like he was ready to play back at me, so when I flopped the nut low with AA, I played it fast, and got there by hitting a back door flush for the scoop! BUT! If you look at the hand history lol, you will see that I didn't win half the pot with the low and the other half with the hi... I won it all with the hi... which meannnnns I wasn't playing Hi/Lo, I was playing Omaha hi, and hit a back door flush on this poor guy who was a 4 to 1 favorite on the flop when we got it in.I still didnt even realized what had happened until PokerStars neglected to ship me my half a pot for a nut low... but still ended up $80 on the session lol!Dealt to jjgoldy5 [Ad Ac Td 4h]jjgoldy5: calls $1Mac's_Poker: calls $1Brian1985: raises $4.50 to $5.50Hallelujah: folds nerone1: folds jjgoldy5: calls $4.50Mac's_Poker: folds *** FLOP *** [2h 8h 3d]jjgoldy5: checks Brian1985: bets $7jjgoldy5: raises $26.85 to $33.85Brian1985: raises $80.55 to $114.40jjgoldy5: calls $60.70 and is all-in*** TURN *** [2h 8h 3d] [Jd]*** RIVER *** [2h 8h 3d Jd] [Kd]*** SHOW DOWN ***jjgoldy5: shows [Ad Ac Td 4h] (a flush, Ace high)Brian1985: mucks hand jjgoldy5 collected $200.60 from pot*** SUMMARY ***Total pot $202.60 | Rake $2 Board [2h 8h 3d Jd Kd]Seat 1: jjgoldy5 showed [Ad Ac Td 4h] and won ($200.60) with a flush, Ace highSeat 2: Mac's_Poker folded before FlopSeat 4: Brian1985 (button) mucked [2d Qh 2s As]Seat 5: Hallelujah (small blind) folded before FlopSeat 6: nerone1 (big blind) folded before FlopBankroll is still hanging right around $2000, time for poker may be limited in the next few weeks due to school speeding up before exams.May 10th, 2007: I'm Bringing Blogging Back (Yeah)Thought I should update this... it's only been 141 days between updates.. but hey - I've been busy!Winter quarter was a huge b*tch due to retarded / old / difficult professors, but somehow managed to yank a 4.0 out of my @ss due to clutching up on the finals. Needless to say, my time for poker was limited.I picked up accounting as a double major, which will lengthen my stay in college by 6 months, but I'm not in a hurry - I have enough money from poker/investments/work, and hey - college is pretty effin fun.Due to the way the accounting major is set up (and the fact that I'm almost done with my finance major) I should have a pretty light schedule through next march.Anyways, back to poker - a few months ago I yanked a bunch of my money offline and out of neteller just in time, and left myself a few hundred spread between PokerStars and FullTilt, I'm still almost busto on FT, but I prefer Stars anyways, and have built back up to 2k there (even after withdrawing 500 and staking some friends) just playing MTTs and SNGs. I won a 180 Man 22$ SNG, and also satellites for $650, and 3 or 4 sunday million seats (one of the $530 variety). The $650 was a WSOP qualifier seat which I decided to play, but was totally card dead. I somehow managed to take 130ish (top 20ish got seats) out of 400 by winning one significant hand with A-hi by calling a bluff on the river haha. It was actually a real wake up call and valuable (yet expensive experience) - I had a significant edge on the field in a $650 tournament - I'm excited to hit a big cash so I can consistently play some larger events like the Big Sundays. I came close to a huge cash the other night in the 18k guaranteed on Stars, but got two-outted on the river in typical RiverStars fashion when villain made 2 pair by hitting his *non-spade ace* on the river. That crippled me and I eventually ran into AA on a preflop shove and finished 24th out of 1200ish - first paid 6k, and top 6 all paid over 1k.I have been playing SNGs between 33$ and 109$ recently, but concentrating on the 33$ and 55$ mostly. My www.officialpokerrankings.com ROI for MTTs is 71% over the past 120 days, and my sharkscope ROI for SNGs is 45% (Though both sites count 180-man SNGs, OPR tracks satellite cashes as well as MTTs, while sharkscope does not count MTTs or Satellites)I haven't seen officialpokerrankings mentioned much, and if you haven't seen it - its a great site.My game has developed a lot over the past few months. I'm definitely learning a lot, and am starting to fall into a consistent style of play which has been a lot of fun.Key developments in my tournament / hold'em game:- Picking up pots uncontested more often in position when the situation and texture dictates- Sniffing out bluffs and trusting my reads more often - I will post some pretty sick hands when I have a chance to sort through my HH. I've won a lot of big hands with middle pair or A-hi. When stories don't make sense, theres usually a reason.- Manipulating pot size - small pots for small hands - the biggest thing is that I'm losing the minimum on coolers. - Getting a better handle on overall tournament strategy and especially for playing out of the blinds.I'll try and throw up some hands later and start a bankroll tally again... I'm thinking I will just count the money I have online as my bankroll and not the other stuff, since I am bankroll-managing the money I have online as if it was my last.So for now, altered bankroll after withdraw and rebuilding is ~2,000Oh yeah, I mentioned earlier that I staked a couple friends - I tossed one of my friends a 50 spot after he railed my 1.08k cash on Stars, he has run that up to over $500 within a couple of weeks. He is also a very good tourney player, and it has been a lot of fun having someone to talk about hands with as they are happeningGood luck at the tables!December 20, 2006: Bloggage HiatusAs you can tell from the month gap between updates, I have been beyond busy. Between turning 21, exams, increased work load at work, I haven't had much time to play cards, much less write about them. I'm actually neglecting work piling up on my desk to get this entry in - oh well.I did live through my 21st birthday, but it wasn't pretty. Me and 10-15 other guys polished off a keg on the night of the 24th (I turned 21 at midnight), woke up and went to a bar to catch a football game - drank more there! Went to play a tournament for my poker league - drank more there! Then went to an Irish Pub where tons of people showed up (and bought drinks) for my friend, Mike, and mines party. I remember small bits and pieces of the night lol.I remember drinking an Irish Car Bomb yummmI remember taking shots, then drinking beer, then taking shots, and repeating many timesI remember drinking 4 shots of Jager and a flaming Dr Pepper 151 shot in under 10 minutesI remember sitting down with a bunch of random people and starting conversationI don't remember laying down on the couch in the pubI don't remember the bartender giving my girlfriend a trash bag for my drive homeI remember the cars next to my gfs car moving REALLY fastI remember puking most of the way back to my house (seemed like 30 seconds, more like 20 minutes)I remember hugging my toilet for what seemed like 5 minutes (closer to 3 hours)I don't remember telling my gf that I hate that she shops (Not true - I could give a fk if she shops lol)I don't remember asking her to drive me to arby's for a beef and cheddarI remember waking up at 6am in my bathroom on a pile of coats because my gf had to drive home and my dad who just had surgery couldn't move me to my bedI remember waking up 3 hours later and going to the casino for the day and holding a trash bag next to me most of the way there haha.I was so card dead on my first trip to the casino. I played 1/3 NL for about 6 hours, and saw no pair higher than 7s, AK once, AQ once. I scratched and clawed and stayed close to even for the session however.I had exams the following week and managed to pull a 4.0 for the quarter. My college hasn't been easy, but I wouldn't say it is overly challenging either. I am learning a lot through my job, and next quarter I actually start taking classes towards my finance major...and I'm actually thinking about double majoring in accounting (any thoughts?).The next weekend I went to a really soft tourney that I've won 2x in a row now. Its a $30 or $40 buy-in with about 30 players. Its some of Mike's friends from work... and man they aren't so great at cards. The chipleader had about 80% of the chips just from aggrodonking his way into them (doubled up with the krablar preflop all in against AK...respectable). He was raising at the final table without even looking at his cards...to like 15x the BB. I built a respectable stack by winning a coinflip against the second placed player... and then anytime I had a decent hand, I just limp-reraised him all-in. He still had me about 80/20 when we got heads up. I asked if he was interested in chopping, he said no...acting all arrogant the whole time like he was gods gift to poker or something. Long story short, I raised 3/5 hands heads up and limp / pushed the other 2/5. We got it all in 2x, and both times I had the best hand and held both times. Took down the tourney for $385 at about 1am.Since the night was young, my friend Ryan and I, who went to the tourney with me, rode down to Argosy (closest casino, just over the border in Indiana). At about 6am, I lost a stack at 1/3 NL by pushing 2 pair into a flopped straight. I was left with about $20 (after tourney buy-in, food, red bull) just enough to fill up my tank to get home just in time for my alarm to go off!So I'm 0-2 at the casino, I feel like I'm playing pretty well. A little passive - but its hard to be aggressive in my mind before you double up because the standard raise PF is to $15/$20 which is a big chunk of a $300 stack. I can't wait to get out there when the cards start falling my way.I've been up and down in online play. I've had a nice run in NLHE $50+5 SNGs where I've taken first in 3 out of 4. I haven't played much omaha h/l at all. A little bit here and there, but no big changes in the bankroll or overly interesting hands to report.I'm taking next week off of work to get caught up on a few things, hang out with friends that are home from college, see family that is in from out of town, do a little studying, and get out to the casino a few more times.Until next time, good luck at the tables.Bankroll ~$5100November 21, 2006: T-Minus 77 HoursWow - It's been a while since I updated. I haven't had a lot of time to dedicate to poker, much less this blog over the past week. School has been keeping me busy, along with a great weekend topped off by attending UC's massacre of Rutgers... What a great game! I've put in a few hours at the tables in between classes (and during classes), with great success. My PLO8 game is unstoppable right now. I am making great reads, and have added some complex plays to my arsenal lately. One of the most interesting things in Omaha is that although you are holding more cards than in Hold'em, it is much easier to put your opponent on a specific range of hands. To illustrate - Say preflop I make a raise with AA36 unsuited with the Ac from the button. The flop comes 2 8 Q with 2 clubs. It checks around to me, and I bet the size of the pot. The fact that I hold the Ac is the key to the hand. If I get check-raised, I can put my opponent on a set of Queens or two pair fairly easily since a naked low draw wouldn't play the hand in the same manner without the Ac. If my opponent smooth calls, he is likely on the same low draw as me, and is drawing to a low card for 1/4 of the pot on many occasions.I have added the check-raise with air to my arsenal on players that are habitually making continuation bets after the flop, but have shown they can get away from their 1 pair / no draw. The biggest thing I will look at when making this type of play is the texture of the board. If the texture is likely to have missed my opponent, I won't hesitate to re-pot the flop with nothing. Occasionally, I will show these types of bluffs, since I try to keep my image as a bit reckless so that I get paid in this nut-peddling nit-filled game.I turn 21 on Saturday. It is going to be a massacre. I have some friends coming in from out of town, and my best friend (who turns 21 on Sunday) and I are having a joint party at an area bar. Once we have awoken from our alcoholic hazes, we are heading straight for the casinos over the border in Indiana. I might play a little LO8, but will stick mostly to some 1/3 NLHE until I get a good feel for the casino atmosphere.Right now, I am about to head to the UC vs Wofford Massacre...eh Basketball game.Good luck at the tables.Oh! Almost forgot:Bankroll +~340 $5100November 15, 2006: Variance...that SL-TI went home yesterday to take my dad to the hospital for some surgery, and then stayed at home to take care of him for the rest of the evening. I played around 4 or 500 hands and lost almost $400. One hand, I bet out at a flop with top pair + uncounterfeitable low draw, bet a blank on the turn, and bet a paired board on the river. I really thought the guy was on the same low draw as me, without top pair, and figured I was actually good. Unfortunately, he had paired the flop, turn, and river for runner runner boat on me lol... That was at the $2/$4 table and cost me half a buy-in there.Other than that, I just ran bad with top sets getting flushed.. and boats getting overboated. I feel like I really practiced good damage control however. My philosophy is that if I practice good discipline, and don't pay people off in the same situations that they are paying me off, I will come out ahead. It sucks to run bad, but I thought I controlled it very well.An interesting hand that was typical of the day:From late position, I raised with with A24J double suited.The flop comes 44Q, a pretty great flop for my hand. It checks around to me and I bet the size of the pot (about 12 BBs). A shortstack in the BB check-raises me all in for about 12 more BBs... and a player in middle position smooth calls.Here, I know both of them do not have 4's, and it is likely the smooth caller has QQ, so I fold.BB tables 4Q, MP tables QQ.Otherwise, I donked around in 5-card draw on Stars... man that game is fun, but I'm not sure what I'm doing there at all lol. I lost half a buy -in at the $50 level when I drew an ace high spade flush and check raised a 25$ stack all in and he tabled JJ888 ewww.I played a couple MTTs, had a chance to go deep in a 22$ 180 Man SNG on Stars but when I flopped the nuts straight with Qd Jc , on an all diamond flop, someone open pushed with 4d 6d and I can't catch a flush...ggme. Oh well, I should have some time to play in my next couple of classes, and tonight, and am very much looking forward to getting back in the green.By the way, what do you guys think of this monitor? I need to get something besides this laptop to multi-table on.http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=...amp;dcaid=17070Good luck at the tables.Bankroll -$392 4760November 13, 2006: Running H-O-TI've logged 250 hands since my last update between last night and this morning durning class and am up almost $470.A good chunk of it came from this absolutely beautiful Omaha - 8 hand. AA23 is the best starting hand, and it just happened to make nut lo + straight flush in a 3 way all-in.PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha/8, $2 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FCP)UTG ($200.70)UTG+1 ($322.70)MP1 ($123.10)MP2 ($117)MP3 ($43.05)CO ($141.50)Button ($66)SB ($254.95)Hero ($221.05)Preflop: Hero is BB with A , A , 2 , 3 . UTG calls $2, UTG+1 calls $2, MP1 calls $2, 1 fold, MP3 calls $2, 3 folds, Hero raises to $13, UTG calls $11, UTG+1 calls $11, MP1 folds, MP3 calls $11.Flop: ($55) 6 , 5 , Q (4 players)Hero bets $52.25, UTG folds, UTG+1 calls $52.25, MP3 calls $30.05 (All-In).Turn: ($189.55) 4 (3 players, 1 all-in)Hero bets $40, UTG+1 calls $40.River: ($269.55) A (3 players, 1 all-in)Hero bets $115.8 (All-In), UTG+1 calls $115.80.Final Pot: $501.15Main Pot: $145.15, between UTG+1, MP3 and HeroHigh won by Hero ($72.57). Split Low: UTG+1 ($36.28), Hero ($36.28).Pot 2: $356, between UTG+1 and Hero : High won by Hero ($178). Split Low: UTG+1 ($89), Hero ($89).Results below: Hero has Ah Ad 2c 3c (Low: 5, 4, 3, 2, A | High: straight flush, six high). UTG+1 has 2d 3d 4d 6h (Low: 5, 4, 3, 2, A | High: straight, six high). MP3 has 6d Jd 3s 6s (Low: 6, 5, 4, 3, A | High: three of a kind, sixes). Outcome: Hero wins $375.86. UTG+1 wins $125.28. I feel comfortable playing at the $200 buy-in tables due to my recent success (up about 2k in the last 8 days!), and am a strong winner there so far. From what I hear, they are nittier than some of the higher buy-in tables that attract players such as Hachem and Raymer (and the fish that want to sit with them even though they play Omaha like Hold'em).I look forward to building my roll over the next few months and hopefully taking a couple shots up there.My dad is having surgery tomorrow, so I will be taking him to the hospital and taking care of him / playing cards most of the day tomorrow.Good luck at the tables.Bankroll +468 $5153November 12, 2006: This Weekend and a MTT todayOne of my good friends turned 21 on Saturday, but as I was leaving for West Virginia for the football game at 2:30 AM, myself and a friend of mine had between 12am - 2am to get him tanked at a local bar. To make a long story short, I ended up DDing for the night and the guy that turned 21 tasted his dinner about 8 times Got to the bus and took a few shots, woke up in West Virginia at about 9am and started tailgating for the UC v WVU game. We took it on the chin 42 - 24... could have been closer if we would have recovered any one of about 5 WVU fumbles... Pat White and Steve Slaton were both very impressive, and we still managed to meet the spread of 18 points.We went back to the hotel soaked from a torrential downpour, had a party, played some drunk euchre in which me and my gf dominated and then woke up at about 7 this morning to head back home. All in all it was a fun trip.I got back in time to hustle to a league poker game. I'm a member of a poker.meetup.com meetup group in Cincinnati that has numerous MTTs through out the year in which you can pay a 5$ fee and accumulate league points (PokerStars TLB system). The top 16 players at the end of the year will make it to a freeroll and then 17-32 will play for 2 more seats in the freeroll for all the cash.I have final tabled about half of my events, but for the second month in a row, I got in with AKs at the FT and lost to a hand I had dominated (This week it was KQo when the caller made broadway on the river). I felt like I played good solid poker. I layed down 99 on a 467 flop against a preflop raiser who later told me he had flopped a set. I also folded AQo preflop just after the league points bubble burst to a tight player's re-raise... he showed KK. An interesting preflop decision:I am just below average with 4500 chips and have posted an 800 chip BB. The button moves in for 2200 and I am getting nearly 2.5:1 to call and pick up 95o. I folded, button showed AJ... but I didnt want to double him up or cripple myself with such a weak call.Oh and I almost forgot - I played a little NLO8 before I went out on Friday. I made some loose preflop calls trying to bust a donk who literally called 4 of 5 all in overbets of his whole stack with very questionable holdings. Unfortunately, the cards werent coming for me so I headed out for the night down $25.Bankroll -$25 4685November 9, 2006: Uneventful Night's SummaryPlayed a 22$ 90 Man DS SNG on FullTilt. I chipped up fairly uneventfully. I made a good lay down on a Kxx flop with KQ against another KQ and an AK. With about 5000 chips and the blinds at 250/500 and 30 players left (18 pay), I picked up AQ on the button. Player in the CO raised to 1750, I shoved and blanked out against 10 10.Played some $100 PLO8 on PokerStars and $50 PLO8 on FullTilt.I am trying to practice good game selection, with an upper limit at 200$ PLO8. Unfortunately, I didnt see many juicy tables, so I stuck to just 2 tables. As a guide I look for high % of players to the flop and large pot size. Anything over about 30-35% of the buy-in as an average pot size I consider juicy (pot sizes generally grow in O8 because 2 players can get it all in knowing they have the nuts for one side of the pot)I ran at 23.71 BB/100 at the $100 table and 14.88 BB/100 at the $50 table booking a $72.05 win between the 2 tables.I was up a lot more, but ran into a couple of tough hands. I laid down top set on this hand. I have a lot of respect for the villain in the hand. I have a hard time putting him on anything but the nut flush here (I had to raise with the double Krablar lol):PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha/8, $1.00 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FCP)Hero ($199.20)MP1 ($94.80)MP2 ($60)MP3 ($95.35)CO ($59.05)Button ($102.90)SB ($149.80)BB ($99.50)UTG ($73.30)Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with K , 3 , K , 3 . MP2 posts a blind of $1. 1 fold, Hero raises to $4, 5 folds, SB calls $3.50, 1 fold.Flop: ($10) K , Q , 6 (2 players)SB checks, Hero bets $9.5, SB calls $9.50.Turn: ($29) 2 (2 players)SB bets $27.6, Hero folds.Final Pot: $56.60Bankroll +50.05 $4710November 9, 2006: Weekend Without PokerI don't have classes on Tuesdays or Thursdays so I slept until about 11:30 today and made it to work by 12:30... so I didn't play any cards this morning. I usually take my laptop to class and run up a couple buy-ins on the wireless connection they have at my college. I think I actually play better during class...not sure why. This chick that I sit next to in finance got pissed at me the other day because I never pay attention during class, came late to the exam...finished before anyone else, and still got a 100 (the average was a whopping 83). She pays attention, takes furious notes, and got a 93.Anyways, in a few hours I will be heading to play a 40$ SNG with some friends from school, and depending how I fare, some cash game after. I really want to take down this tournament, because I keep getting coolered by idiots. They play every week, and there are a few verrry good players, and a few verrry bad players. I ran up 8 buy-ins in the 20$ buy in cash game after busting early from the tournament lol... of which at least 4 buy ins were from the same guy.I probably won't be playing online until sunday. This weekend I'm going with a student group to West Virginia for the UC - WVU game. UC is an 18 point dog, but if you can bet it, bet it. They have one of the best run stopping defenses in the country... and overall a great defense (check out how Louisville / Va Tech did against them at home).We leave on a bus at 230am Saturday Morning, and get there in time to tailgate before kickoff. Should be interesting since I am going out with a friend who turns 21 tomorrow night...So I'm probably going to be tanked before I even get to the bus.Going to go hit up the gym and grab some dinner with the girl before the tournament. Good luck at the tables.Edit: Game fell apart so back to FullTilt / PokerStars for the night. Playing some PLO8 on FullTilt/Stars and a NLHE MTT on FT.Starting roll for the the night: 4660PS. GO RUTGERSNovember 8, 2006: Night's SummaryAfter I got back from work, I played a little $100 PLO8 on Stars and FullTilt and a 22$ 180 person SNG on Stars. I booked a small win of about 55$ in PLO8 over about 225 hands. That equates to 11 Ptbbs / 100, but it could have been a lot better... The players are so bad in PLO8 that its rediculous. I chopped a 200$ pot when a guy with no pair / back door low draw, hit running cards between 3 and 8 to take half of the pot. (for those of you who dont know Omaha8, there is a low hand and a high hand, 5 cards (2 in your hand) 8 or under must be present to make a low). On the hand, I check raised him on a bare flop which I had flopped 2 pair and a nut flush draw.. I hit the flush but the river brought the third low card and we chopped the pot.I looked at my Poker Tracker numbers for Omaha tonight...although it is a relatively small sample (3k hands), it was definitely useful to take a serious look at my numbers.Over 3k hands: VPIP = 30.47%W$WSF=36.95%WTSD = 29.04%W$SD = 53.74%PFRaise = 8.09%Tot Aggr Factor = 0.95Passive preflop at 0.32Aggressive postflop at 2.35 on flop, 2.59 on turn, 2.16 on river.BB/100 = 13.75Total Net = 613.30Most interestingly, I am profitable from every spot on the table except the small blind. Which is telling me that I am seeing too many flops from the SB and need to tighten up my range a bit more. Playing out of position in a drawing game sucks.I have been picking my spots to bluff better. If I'm interpreting these numbers correctly, if my W$ when seeing flop is 37%, and I go to showdown 29% of which, I win $ at 54%, then I am picking up almost 1/4 of the hands I see the flop on without showdown... obviously more than my fair share. PLO8 at the lower levels is very interesting. There are some players that just have absolutely no idea what they are doing, and there are players who have some clue, and a few very solid players... the good players stay away from eachother and just wait to pounce on the over-aggressive-low-drawing idiots.In the 22$, I was short stacked early on but was able to stay patient, hit a few hands and make it to average stack with 55ish remaining. On almost consecutive hands, I lost half my stack, then the rest of it to the same player. Hand 1: Limped Qh Jh from UTG (questionable, I know... but the table was pretty passive) folded around to BB who checked. Flop came 664 no hearts, BB checked, I checked behind. Turn came an offsuit Queen. BB bet 500, the size of the pot PF. I called. River brought a blank and BB bet 800, Getting almost 3:1, I called and the villain tabled the 6.Hand 2: I was in the SB with 22! and a stack of 2k with blinds at 100/200, I didnt have much to work with. The villain in the previous hand was OTB and raised to 600, I didnt give much respect to his raise and pushed in hoping for some fold equity, being ok with a coinflip, and was terrified when the BB overpushed, button calls. Both have overpairs and I blank out.Not too upset with either play. Thoughts?I'm going to start a bankroll tally, but my roll is so spread out over different accounts that it will have to wait for now.Anyways for the day, I was up about $200November 8, 2006: The First EntryI thought I'd be a little different and start a blog here.About me:I will be turning 21 on November 25 and am currently a student at the University of Cincinnati, majoring in finance. I work 30 hours a week at an internship for a major area corporation basically as a gofer for the CEO. My girlfriend and I have been together for just over a year now... So in between class, work, friends, booze, and a girlfriend ... I play a little poker I have high expectations for my future. I want to be successful in the business world, and have found a niche in a great company which hopefully will lead to a fast-tracked career after graduation. I also want to continue to play poker, and while I do not expect to make it a full-time career, I'm not ruling anything out whatsoever. I think I have the skills to make it, but am not sure that is the life I have envisioned for myself. For now, I will be content with wherever poker takes me. I was the captain of my high school baseball team, and had aspirations of pitching in college before my shoulder gave out. Poker is an outlet for that competitive drive that I felt at the end of a playoff game or against an archrival when everything rested on my shoulder(s), and I absolutely love the psychological and intellectual aspects of the game.Poker Background:I got hooked after being sick during my junior year of high school and catching Moneymaker's run on ESPN. I played in a game later that year during a recruiting visit to an area college and ended up breaking the game for a whopping $25 (hey that's a lot in high school).I played a few tournies with friends, nothing major at all. I still really had no idea what I was doing.The summer after my freshman year of college (2005), I deposited $30 onto Pacific Poker and grinded my way through some 5$ SNGs learning the game bit by bit. I did some reading, and learned a lot about tournament strategy... After a decent hit in a MTT I had a $200+ Bankroll accumulated...still no idea what I was doing. I was playing so tight preflop and was clueless post flop. Thankfully, the copetition at those levels on Pacific was atrocious and I was able to survive.I started dabbling in NLHE ring games on Pacific and made it up to .5/1 NL where I continued to enjoy success. However, as a sophomore in college one buy in is a lot of beer, so I raided my bankroll for cash on a consistent basis.I got my current job in September of 2005, and have been able to support myself on the hourly wage, enabling me to keep my poker bankroll seperate. 2005 was a tough year for me in school and while I stayed with the game, poker was squeezed out a bit.By June 2006, I had accumulated enough cash that I decided to make my first real deposit / shot at building a significant roll. I stuck $600 onto FullTilt and promptly ran it up to 3k by August, practicing strict bankroll management. I hit a solid downswing in September, but rebounded in October posting a modest gain, and in the past week I have hit a great rush... building my roll from 3600 to over 5000... much of it coming from chopping a 22$ 180Man on Stars for 900.I play NLHE tournaments (SNGs and MTTs) and occasionally a NLHE cash game.I love Omaha-8 though. I took it up about 6 months ago, and really feel confident in my game (Especially Pot Limit). It is a game that allows you to be aggressive, and act with a little more information than you do in hold'em. It also has a far more analytical basis and that plays into my abilities (especially online when it is hard to read someone based on anything other than betting patterns).I will be posting results as I play, as well as interesting hands from my tournaments and ring games. I hope you will enjoy this.Good luck at the tables.

[MadKennedy420 0]

keep it going, you sound like you have a good head on your blown out shoulder.

[boyitalia 0]

See Video of that guy who sent in a video resume to like 100 companies after he graduated Harvard

[pokerinc 0]

put it in blog form. blogspot, link to your blog in your signature.It's what people do.

[boyitalia 0]

put it in blog form. blogspot, link to your blog in your signature.It's what people do.

Yeah what he said

[EurekaKid 0]

You sound a lot like me, I'm 21 in December, about to finish my business degree majoring in Finance, discovered poker in my first year of University, have a long term girlfriend and love Omaha 8. Somewhat scary actually...

[essay 0]

My biggest win in high school was 2200. Just sayin.

[_Great_Dane_ 0]

put it in blog form. blogspot, link to your blog in your signature.It's what people do.

But, then again, why would you want to do what everyone else does?Similar to what Larry Flynt said about Hustler magazine, "If you don't want to read Goldy's Poker Journal, don't open the thread!"The subject of the thread told you exactly what it is.

[jjgoldy5 0]

You sound a lot like me, I'm 21 in December, about to finish my business degree majoring in Finance, discovered poker in my first year of University, have a long term girlfriend and love Omaha 8. Somewhat scary actually...

Wow that is creepy haha.

But, then again, why would you want to do what everyone else does?Similar to what Larry Flynt said about Hustler magazine, "If you don't want to read Goldy's Poker Journal, don't open the thread!"The subject of the thread told you exactly what it is.

Thanks for backing me up. I really don't care if people want to read it or not. The idea was to be different, and hopefully some people will be able to kill some time / learn a thing or two reading.

[jjgoldy5 0]

Updated

[wrathuc 0]

WHy couldn't you have posted this a year ago? I just graduated from that hell hole, but was never able to find a descent game.

[showstopper24 0]

put it in blog form. blogspot, link to your blog in your signature.It's what people do.

people do it too much

[jjgoldy5 0]

Supdated.

[EmFactor 0]

Did anyone else think they were stumbling onto Jamie Gold's blog after reading the thread title?Goldy's Poker Journal, A glimpse at poker's not-so high-stakes lifestyle

[jjgoldy5 0]

Did anyone else think they were stumbling onto Jamie Gold's blog after reading the thread title?Goldy's Poker Journal, A glimpse at poker's not-so high-stakes lifestyle

I can't tell you how much I hate that guy.So many people talk **** to me by calling me Jamie Gold haha (my sn on PokerStars is the same as my name here)

[jjgoldy5 0]

Running good!

[jjgoldy5 0]

Great Quote:There is nothing worse than aggressive stupidity. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

[jjgoldy5 0]

Up.

[jjgoldy5 0]

Uppage

[wsox8 10]

coolage.

[CaneBrain 95]

What college do you go to? Just curious seeing as you are getting a 4.0 with minimal effort.I want to know how impressed I should be.

[jjgoldy5 0]

What college do you go to? Just curious seeing as you are getting a 4.0 with minimal effort.I want to know how impressed I should be.

University of Cincinnati College of Business.Not all that impressed - I don't skip classes (though I may sometimes tune out the professor during big hands), and I put a decent amount of time into studying for examsThrough 2+ years I've managed to hold up a 3.9 plus change. Next few quarters before graduation should be challenging as I get into more difficult material.Contemplating picking up accounting as a second major, but I will make that decision after next quarter.

[jjgoldy5 0]

Ok so its been a while

[jjgoldy5 0]

mother's day update

[jjgoldy5 0]

a few recent updates if anyone is interested