Typical Newinnov Blow-up

Once again I blew it. Seems to be a reoccuring theme. What is the definition of crazy? Doing the same thing and expecting different results? Well I took my $100 buy-in and built it to $1,300 but this time not with the help of tournaments and then blew it all playing even more outside my bankroll. I guess a positive spin would be to say that I an adventureous, a true gambler, always pushing the envelope. The other thought is that I have absolutely no bankroll management control. I definitely could never make it on poker alone like Smokkee as I believe he really has the bankroll management monkey under control. Only solice is that I'm not playing with rent money. Yes I could whine about my bad luck AA < QQ, etc, etc but if you exhibit proper bankroll management, that variance is accounted for and properly managed.

Steve Zolotow wrote an interesting article about bankroll management that states that you can take more risk if you have a small bankroll than a larger one. He provides a table that provides a range of risk you can take from 3% to 30% of your bankroll. This is based on three sizes of bankroll (small, medium, large) and the type of player you are (plodder, normal, plunger). So this gives me some perspective as I have been following the plunger small bankroll principle where I routinely have about 30% or more of my bankroll at risk at any given time.

Looks like the bloggers are getting ready for the 2009 Winter Poker Blogger Tournament in Las Vegas. Sounds like it will be a fun time. I have a friend going to Las Vegas about that time but it is for a marathon. That is a crazy distance to run. The furthest I ever ran was about 21 miles during a marathon training run with a friend of mine and that was when I used to run regularly. Now I'm more of a gym inside guy. I decided not to play soccer this Saturday morning as it was raining and next thing I now it is snowing in Northern Virginia.

I received a $500 bonus offer from Full Tilt so I decided to work through that. My deposit of $100 didn't go well when I flopped a boat and promptly lost $80 on Omaha8. So I reloaded for another $100 and am back up to $200 and already cleared my first $20 of the bonus. In my mind I'm thinking about trying to lock down my play to only $1.00/0.50 until I build to $1K but don't know if I can keep that promise. Maybe I'll try a little harder this time around. I held to that principle last night. One day at a time, right?

End of November Update

Playing some Omaha currently. Four tables. $0.25/0.50, $0.50/$1.00, $1/2, And $2/$4. I pretty much break even on the first three tables but I start with $200 and in two hands early on I get up to about $720 and then nothing for the next hour and a half. Crazy game Omaha. There was an article in the recent issue of Bluff magazine that wrote about bankroll requirements for Omaha. Whoops, I certainly don't follow those. I keep cruising between $100 and $600, playing the $12 turbo 180 person tournaments like they are crack. At least I haven't have to reload lately.

There was another article in Bluff about someone who built his online account to about $5.5 million only to lose it all. That would hurt. As someone said before, the hurt you feel from a loss is much greater than the joy you receive from a win.

Earlier in the week I built up a $100 buy-in to $300 and then I flopp top set on a board of Q23. The pot is $50 or so and I push it all in first to act and lose it all. That was not fun and clearly demonstrates the variance of Omaha, especially split games.

I do see all the regulars every day playing the same limits in Omaha and most of the regulars win day in day out making about $1-2K per day from what I see. I see them in tables with a max buy-in of $100 and stacking chips around $600. Incredible. Consistency seems to be the key. I do not demonstrate consistency. This is just a hobby but I do need to make a decision whether to scale down my daily play to concentrate on some other matters or to make a more serious effort. The serious effort would entail tracking results and reviewing hand histories for a start. Training software or videos wouldn't hurt either. Of course being a family man with a decent job puts a premium on my time. Also exercise which is something I need to keep doing. Funny, I recently started taking some aerobics classes like circuit training, step and yoga. Another article in Bluff written by Huck Seed was about using yoga to clear his mind. He also mentioned not eating during a tournament to help keep his focus rather than consuming calorie heavy foods or sugery foods that spike your energy and then cause a crash.

Well, ending early tonight. Good luck at the tables.

Back in the USA well Home

I returned back from Deerborn, Michagan or Detroit. The conference I attended was informative but I did manage to visit the Greektown casino before I departed. Being the cheap person I am, I walked across the hotel to the mall area where the #200 Michagan bus was. I waited with a bunch of interesting people in the bus stop area (wheelchair guy with a license plate reading "blessed" among others). I got on the bus and figured out that I was going south instead of north so I asked for a transfer and got out at a random stop which was on a major street and waited around for about 20 minutes before another bus came by heading toward downtown. Again an interesting assortment of individuals riding the bus. One guy got on scratching himself and couldn't keep still. Finally I made it to downtown and looked around at all the skyscrapers and walked a bit when I saw the Greektown casino in the distance. I found the poker room and it was a small room with five tables running. I sat down at a $1/$2 NL table and had three hands I remember. I was playing for about an hour or so and was just keeping my stack around $100, my initial buy-in when I limped with 88. A newer player raised to $10 and got four other callers so I called as well. The flop was 567. I bet and the initial raiser reraised me. I decided to push as I wanted to gamble and was surprised when I was called by TT. But I caught my straight and it was off to the races. The second hand everyone limped and I had AA in the big blind so I raised it to $10. I got callers all around and the flop came 722 with two clubs. I bet out and was reraised by a middle aged lady who was a decent player and didn't mind chasing a good draw. I didn't put her on a two so I pushed and she snap called with the nut flush draw which didn't come. My last big hand was when I called a raise with AQ and flopped two pair. I stacked someone who held AJ. I wanted to play all night long but had to return back to the hotel at a decent hour. Some of the players at the table were trully aweful. I ended up after about four hours $442 so not a bad time in Greektown. I took the People Mover to the end of town and walked to the MGM Grand bus stop and meet some people who just emptied their change jars and spent an evening at the casino. They told me the MGM did have a poker room so perhaps my internet info was incorrect.

On the online front I'm running and playing bad so I've dropped below $100 once again. After my two withdraws I reloaded for $100 a pop four times but then rebuilt to $1000 so I withdrew another $400 but then ran the $600 to my current balance of around $80. The trend is not my friend.

Deerborn, Michigan

So I am told to attend a conference in Deerborn, Michigan. I've never been to Michigan and I find out Deerborn is close to Detroit. Not to much positive news coming out of Detroit. So the wife says, why don't you see if there are any casinos in Detroit. And there are. The MGM is the biggest casino but apparently doesn't have any poker and another casino that has daily tournaments and cash games. After a $38 taxi ride from the airport to the Hyatt, I walk over to the mall nearby and find out there is a #200 Michagan bus that will take me downtown for $1.50.

This break is brought to you by a $22 PLO tournament. I raise it to pot with AAxx and flop an ace but lose to a flush on the turn. Yech.

So after the conference day ends tomorrow I might just take a little bus ride. Of course it is so much easier playing on my laptop in the comforts of my Hyatt plush bed.

Quick update brought to you by a $12 turbo 180 person tournament, TT < 55 aipf.

Just checked my work email from the hotel. Nobody seems to know I'm gone and I'm scheduled for meetings and tasks with deadlines before I return. Great fun.