Leaking like a cracked tap

Sorry, that's leaking like a donkey.

Come on, for the whole of today I have made a small profit, but I feel, hell I KNOW, that if I could just fix the most obvious and costly of my leaks I could be up so much more. The dreaded love of the instant reaction, and the love of the intricate but foolhardy bluff, these are KILLING me. The bluff isn't too bad, because occasionally they work, but the instant, STUPID reactions are killing me!

Grind it up baby!

Slowly grinding back a roll on PokerStars. My aim is to play a ridiculous TAG game.
These type of hands dont hurt!!!
PokerStars Game #18522102113: Hold'em No Limit ($0.05/$0.10) - 2008/07/01 - 23:27:18 (ET)
Table 'Medusa II' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: DC548 ($5.85 in chips)
Seat 2: The_Pope86 ($11.35 in chips)
Seat 3: tahoeboyd ($6.90 in chips)
Seat 4: vipaces ($9.05 in chips)
Seat 5: HERO($7 in chips)
Seat 6: Vivid-AV ($2.10 in chips)
Seat 7: MetaTate ($11.85 in chips)
Seat 8: arfurdoz ($33.70 in chips)
Seat 9: JavPin ($7.90 in chips)
HERO: posts small blind $0.05
Vivid-AV: posts big blind $0.10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to HERO [9h 9s]
MetaTate: folds
arfurdoz: folds
JavPin: folds
DC548: folds
The_Pope86: folds
tahoeboyd: raises $0.30 to $0.40
vipaces: calls $0.40
HERO: calls $0.35
Vivid-AV: folds
*** FLOP *** [As Jd 9d]
HERO: checks
tahoeboyd: bets $0.60
vipaces: calls $0.60
HERO: calls $0.60
*** TURN *** [As Jd 9d] [4c]
HERO: checks
tahoeboyd: bets $5.90 and is all-in
vipaces: calls $5.90
HERO: raises $0.10 to $6 and is all-in
vipaces: calls $0.10
*** RIVER *** [As Jd 9d 4c] [7h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
HERO: shows [9h 9s] (three of a kind, Nines)
vipaces: mucks hand
HERO collected $0.20 from side pot
tahoeboyd: mucks hand
HERO collected $19.80 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $21 Main pot $19.80. Side pot $0.20. | Rake $1
Board [As Jd 9d 4c 7h]
Seat 1: DC548 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: The_Pope86 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: tahoeboyd mucked [Jh Ac]
Seat 4: vipaces (button) mucked [Ah Th]
Seat 5: HERO(small blind) showed [9h 9s] and won ($20) with three of a kind, Nines
Seat 6: Vivid-AV (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: MetaTate folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: arfurdoz folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: JavPin folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Goneski!

Stupidly, I have already pissed away the bankroll!
Too many stupid $50 buyins to .25/.50, and some horrible plays, and IGHN.

Going to check my balance and redeposit on stars I'd say. This time I'll actually put some restrictions on my play.

Till next time...

Tiger v Rocco

Wow. A 19-hole playoff between Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate... who would've thought!?
That has to be the best few hours of golf I have ever seen in my life. For once, the underdog stood up to Tiger, oh and how he stood up. Very unlucky that going into the 18th hole with a one shot lead, he missed the championship putt through nerves. Overall though, an absolutely gutsy effort by Rocco Mediate, I just wish he had won it.

Most of the money you'll win at poker comes not from the brilliance of your own play, but from the ineptitude of your opponents. ~Lou Krieger

Thinking over last night’s mistakes at uni has made me come to the conclusion:

As long as I can severely limit, or more preferably remove, all of my shockingly bad tendencies, then I will be a winning player quite easily at the limits at which I am playing, period.

Of my major flaws, there are two which I wish to work on straight away, as they are ones that can be immediately addressed rather than those solved through experience.

1. Not taking time to reach key decisions within a hand. From the outside, it probably looks like I rush to make my decisions, and it often leads me to instacall with overpairs against sets, and to misread the board, not noticing it was flushing and that the opponent was obviously on a draw. These types of bad decisions can be prevented by simply taking my time to come to decisions and replaying the hand mentally up until that point.

2. Overplaying. Simply put, I need to stop overplaying big pairs especially. I read today that sure, aces are the best hand, but they tend to win small pots and lose large ones.

Goals and Expectations

I had been holding off making a start to this blog, but a few nasty pots have led to me finally biting the bullet and making a start.

Firstly, let me introduce myself briefly. My name is Adam, and you could call me the typical 20 year old - the poor university student type, who should be studying and instead is spending late nights grinding it online.

It has come to the point in my life where I wish to become a better poker player, as I have noticed a number of major flaws within my play, that are costing me a significant amount of money at my current level of play (.15/.25).

My bankroll, as a result, is back down to about $300, and I am considering dropping back to four-tabling .05/.10 for a while to recover at least back up to $325-$350.

We all know that part of the quest to becoming a better poker player is patience, and the ability to read situations, yet the past few hands which I have lost I have blatantly ignored both these principles to disastrous effect. As a result, I have decided to outline my goals and expectations, both from a bankroll perspective, and that of a poker player, with skill improvements in mind.

My Goals & Expectations
1. Firstly, I want to maintain a patient game - staying away from situations where I am dominated or in a bad spot after the flop.
2. Laying down an overpair, when my opponent(s) actions scream out a set or two-pair at worst. This will save me a LOT of money, as the majority of my mistakes come from these mistakes.
3. Avoiding, and managing tilt. Self-explanatory. If I'm on tilt, I need to log off and come back later.
4. Increase my bankroll to ~$450 by month's end. That means I need to make about $150 on a mixture of .05/.10 or .15/.25.
5. Analyse my play with some regularity.
6. Read Harrington on Cash Games.
7. Blog often, and post comments on other blogs.

I will look to update my progress on these goals weekly.

All-in?
I fold... I'll get you next time.