New Start

For myself and my love and passion for poker I am going to resume the challenge again. I ran in to a bump but am determined to get back up again and work hard at this. I will be starting from scratch and working my way up by starting at the .01/.02 cent levels. Will try to put in good sessions every day that I can. Today I will start out with 5 tables at .01/.02 cent and play for about 1 hour. Just focus primarily on slowly increasing and staying away from large pots. Will update after this session.

Break

Not going to lie. Did not listen to myself and ended up spending my money. I will take a break and play when I can guarantee myself that I will only play by the rules I set. I ended up playing tournament after tournament and went on a very cold streak and am now out. Not good at all and something I obviously must work on. I will start over after some time off.

Tournament Day

Because of the ok success in my tournament play lately, today I am going to play in a few games today and update on how I do. I will try the 3.30 rebuy event again and hopefully have more success.I will also join the daily 30K event. Once these are over, I may join a few more but I will update on my progress as I go. Wish me luck.

The 30K event went well up to the break and I was playing really well. Not long after the break, I was sitting with 5500 or so and raised the action to 190 with AQ off from middle position. Got two callers, button and small blind. A93 on board with 2 clubs. Check to me, raise to 450, call by the button and a fold by the small blind. The turn is a 2 of diamonds. I wanted to push but only put half my stack in so I made it 1850. Got a call. The river was not a club so I seemed to be in good shape. It was a 3 putting a 4 card straight on board. I decided since I had so much invested I would push. He had the best hand the hand I knew he could have if he called and it was 2 clubs with the 5 of clubs hitting the straight on the river. Pretty unfortunate by my luck these last few days.

In the rebuy game, I am still in but have invested a lot with nothing going my way again. Around 18 minutes till break I will update you with my chip stack at the break.
I got a much needed triple up before the break and am now sitting with 12K. I have however invested a lot of money in to this game so anything short of making the money will be a big disappointment.

And who would have guessed. Went out in great fasion not to long after break with QQ. It is unbelievable. I raise to 700 with blinds at 100/200 and the big blind calls me. The board is JQK. He leads out with an 1800 bet and I am sitting with 11K. I decide to raise to 5.5K and he quickly pushes. This is just so sick but I make the call and he shows 9 10. Unfortunately I do not hit the full house and I am out. Not a good day, and very frustrating because I am now losing in ways that just make my stomach feel sick. Will play some more later, but need to get some wins going. After all of these events, I am down to 45 dollars. A big set back in my challenge and something I am not happy about.

One at a time

This morning I put in a lot of hands and played really well. Although the graph is still up and down, my last two sessions have been good and this morning I profited 6.30 after 500 hands of play. Playing consistent poker over many hands is a sign of good poker. Overall I have seen over 10,000 hands which is a lot but like I said before you are not going to be able to accomplish a task such as this over night. It requires a lot of patience and time and that is why I am keeping track so that I can follow my progress and keep myself in line. So far I feel it is a good way to go about it and need to keep the graph increasing linearly. (Is that a word?)

Instead of putting in some hands tonight, I am going to take a few bucks and play in the 3.30 rebuy game. So far I have doubled up without rebuying and would like to make it to the add on with zero rebuys. There I will add on and do the best I can. I will update you on how I do when I finish. Just taking a break from the cash game and entertaining myself with a tournament. Like the challenge tournaments require lots of mental stamina and I would love to do well in one of these big games. Wish me luck.

First update - Not so good.

Little more then half hour to go before the break and I am in for 18 dollars so far. And not because I am playing bad poker in fact I am playing great poker and getting f'ed by pokerstars and donkey players. In fact I am going to post both hands I lost my money on. And maybe I shouldn't play the flop the way I do but I don't see how else to play the hand. (Unless I push all in pre-flop with any good hand to prevent these situations.)







Just take a look at a few of hands and see if you feel my pain. I raised a lot in all the hands and had the best hand pre flop and even on the flop. Some of the outcomes you could just predict and others were so unbelievable. So after 18 dollars invested so far, I have finally reached the break thank god and hopefully I can get some luck back on my side. I am sitting with 5320 and will buy on another 3000 for 3 dollars. Nothing went my way during that hour and a half but I know I can get it back.

Not a successful tournament, but I did play the best I could. Ended up staying right around 8300, was up and down being as high as 9500 in chips before losing AK vs 99 vs 88 in 1500th place. Just could not find an A or K out there and lost but it was a needed push and would have got me going. Unfortunately I invested 21 dollars in to this game and not what I wanted but the cards did not fall my way. I have learned you will have those days. I will now play a freeroll tournament with 2K guaranteed becuase a cash in this game will give me a ticket to play in a tourney with a 300K prize pool at the end of the month. I have many oppurtunities to get this ticket and will try as often as I can. When I finish I will update how I did.

Did not make it far in the freeroll. Just did not get hand to play. So out of frustration, joined an 11 dollar game with 900 players. And did quite well. Finished in 66th place after 3 hours of play and doubled my money. For most of the game I was low in chips and just fighting. Got a key double up before the money and just waited and waited while the blinds caught up to me. I need to work on gathering chips during this time but I just couldn't gain control of the table and had to fold to others reraises. Ended up calling a raise with AJ and losing to AQ. It was a good run and I was satisfied with how I played for the most part. On the day, after my ring game of 6 profit, minus 24 in the rebuy game plus 10 in the final tournament I finished only 8 dollars down on the day. Tomorrow I will be back to cash action and looking to gain back my losses today.

Back at it

Took some time off. Busy with work and did quite a bit of golfing recently. Not the best golfer but I really enjoy the slow paced game. Very difficult to master which makes it quite fun to play for me. Since my last update, I have played some streaky poker but the good news is that I am still up a bunch and close to the 100 mark. I am currently playing right now, but let me update you on how I did in live poker over the weekend.

Decided to play some live poker on Sunday so my Dad and I drove to Keene, NH to join the freeroll tourney. Usually 50 or so people join the tourney, sometimes more sometimes less. There was around 5 tables so we had somewhere near 60 people in the game. It is always fun playing live poker especially with a bunch of people you don't know. Outsmarting these people is what makes poker so fun. So let me give you the rundown of the game I joined. It was a freeroll game meaning that to enter I did not need to invest anything. I sit down with 1000 in chips and blinds start at 25/50 increasing every 15 minutes and you can add on to your stack whenever you feel like it. I enjoy knowing I dont have to invest anything, but let me tell you I have never had the skill and luck enough to get my chips up so I am not forced to add on. Did well for awhile with my starting stack doubling up once but then once blinds got up I was forced all in and lost. Decided to rebuy for the maximum before break of 8000 in chips for $40. Played maybe one round and got up to about 9500 in chips before we went to break. During break you get an addon and I invested another 40 for 10,000 in chips with the blinds being 300/600 when we return to action with my chip stack at 19500. After break is where the real action starts and now it is time for real poker playing to start. And for me it started early. First to act I look at QQ. Thought about it for a minute and then threw in 2200 in chips. Pretty hefty raise but being at an aggressive table I wanted to make them pay to hit there cards. Instead the button pushes all in for a little more then 10, and then after a long time thinking the small blind calls the all in bet. She hesitated to call, and only called the 10000 which was a little less then half of her stack. She was sitting with maybe 3K more then I had. This was a very tough decision for me, but seeing that she was prettying much invested in this pot, and almost 100% sure she was not holding KK or AA I decided to go all in over the top and hopefully win the whole pot but go for the side pot atleast. It was a weird thought process but I just didn't feel like I should fold my QQ in such a prime spot so early on in the tournament. Once again she thought about it, counted out her chips with maybe 3000 left over and shoved them in. She turned over AK, and the button turned over KK. It played out well for me and no A fell so I took down the side pot giving me slightly more then I started the hand with. Haha. Not much for that much stress but I profited a few thousand. The KK player got quite the triple up. So played continued and not long after I played a stellar hand and got many compliments including a "genius play" but the dealer of our table. With KQ off suit, and blinds at 400/800 I make it 2300 to go. Next guy calls and all others fold. Board is K87 and I lead out acting first for 2500. He just smooth calls and we see the turn. The 9 comes down and I am a little scared so I decide to see what he does and I check this time. He checks right away. The river is a K. This is where I was confused and thought if he had something he would have bet the turn, but still confused with what was going on I decide to check again on the river and see if he bets. Well you can guess it, not only does he bet but he pushes all in for 20K in to a pot of maybe 15K. I was so confused but after running all the hands through my head I made the call and he said " I was just making a move" and showed A6. A huge pot my way and I could breathe easily. From then on I played conservative poker till the final table and even there I did the same thing. Had a few hands here and there got a few chips but after an hour of play the players dwindled to 3 and I was left just pushing and praying. Got my money in with the best hand A5 diamonds but couldn't beat Q7 after the 7 hit the flop. It was a successful day for I got 215 dollars for 3rd place meaning I profited 135 dollars. I got a little greedy and joined a 40 dollar game right after and busting early but still profited 100. It was a lot of fun and I look forward to going again sometime soon.

Back to online poker action. After an hours worth of play today, I finished up 2.55. Saw around 250 hands and didn't have any big hands just kept grinding away and winning small pots. I want to avoid the big swing I had last time I played and today was a good sign. I feel like after playing live poker I was able to concentrate more in online poker and play solid consistent poker. Need to keep increasing one day at a time. Below is the latest graph.

New Level

After last nights negative session, which was a first since 5/22, I bounced right back. Today, I am up 21 dollars and back over the 100 mark. It is all about avoiding big swings, and not losing focus. Because I am at the .05/.10 cent level now, the chances for me losing more is much easier then it was before. I am only allowed to buy in for 10 dollars at each table, which is the same as when I was sitting at the .02/.05 cent tables. The one difference though is the amount others buy in for. At the lower tables, many people will buy in for the minimum and try to double up. At the 10 cent level, there are a lot more players with the full max buy in and like me waiting for big hands. Therefore, just as easily as I can double up I can also lose my whole buy in. By looking at the graph, I notice that (from my high school math knowledge) the slope from hands 7000 and on is much greater then it was previously. If I can just keep the great poker play going I will be able to move to the next level in no time. As I increase in the level of play, I will need to have more in my bankroll to fund it so here is the laydown of how I will play.

.05/.10 = >100 --- This allows me for 10 buy ins, so I would have to lose 10 times in a row to lose my roll. At this level I don't think that will happen so I am comfortable with this amount.

.10/.25 = >200 ---Once I get to 200 I will move up to this level. This gives me only 8 buy ins but once again I am fine with it.

.25/.5 = >500 ---I will not move to this level till I have reached more then 500 dollars in my bankroll.

.50/1.00 = 1000 ---You get the idea.

Played another session. Lost around 12 dollars. I was up for most of it but then ran in to some big hands and lost my cool. You always feel like you need to win back what you lost but thats where I need to say ok it may not be my day and walk away. Instead I stayed and just kept losing hand after hand. I am just below 100 dollars and will need to play better poker next time.

Reached $100!

It took 8,000 hands to reach 100 dollars. I have switched to .05/.10 cent level and although there is more discrepencies in my graph, I am still increasing at a consistent rate. It is crazy how some people just give you free money. Below are two hands that sky rocketed me up to 100 dollars.

Another good day for poker!

Just look how pretty that graph looks when it just keeps going up. First day playing .02/.05 level and so far so good. After 450 hands I am up over 10 bucks and at 55 in my challenge. Today is another one of those days where I will put in a good number of hands and hopefully play some solid poker. My goal for the next session is to get to 66.

So far so good

Last night I accomplished my goal, and set a new one of 4 more dollars. Today, after a very rough start I made a commitment to myself that I would not lose focus. I lost an early hand to a very aggressive player, AJ to K5. He pushed with K5 and hit 2 pair on the flop. Whether or not I should have called pre-flop I felt it worth the risk. But, I did not let that get to me, and I played really well. After 400 hands today, I profited 1 dollar after being down almost 6 on the day. I will play some more later but overall this session was pretty good and I know I can achieve my goal today. I want to share a hand that I made a call based on the player and his bet and took down a nice pot.



I didn't show my river action. As you can guess, I did call this hand. When I led out on the flop, I was betting because I assumed I had the best hand. He called me, and I had to now put him on something. He quickly checked again with a 4 turn and I decided to bet .22 which was well over half the pot. This bet is rather large, but I needed to find out where he was at in this hand because of all the outs he could have. He only called. The river was a 7 of spades. There was 4 cards to a straight and no flush possible. After me betting the whole time, he decides to bet the river and he bets 1 in to an .80 pot. I just thought this was an extreme overbet, and he completely missed a flush draw. If he was a skilled player, then this bet would make sense. I often overbet when I hit the nuts hand. But after playing 50 or so hands with him, I just didn't think he was that strong of a player to overbet this that much if he had the 6. I made the call and took down the pot. He showed J4 of diamonds so completely missed his flush. Very interesting hand and I guess a very good call for me.

After an hours worth of play, around 260 hands, I have accomplished my 2nd goal. I finished with 4 dollars profit and that makes for 5 sessions in a row now of profit poker. It was a really good hour of play and lately I have been feeling very good. I know I can keep this going. I am going to join a tournament that cost 2.75 and when I am finished I will give an update on how I faired. Tourney play and cash play are a lot different, but there are some skills that you can use in both and hopefully I can make it far. This is my first tourney in awhile, but I just thought it would be cool to take a break for a little bit and join a small tournament.

The tournament didn't go to well. Made it past the first break, but did not see any hands at all. For 30 hands or so I saw one flop, and this is very rare because I like to play hands early with a big chip stack. But litterally I did not get any playable hands. Just before the break, I lost 1000 on A10 to AA. I made the call, after he pushed and obviously is was the wrong play but he was low stack and I thought he could be making a move. I was down to 1500 and with AQ suited I decided to push. I got called by a very large stack and a small stack which I did not like. And the flop gave me nothing so I knew I was done. The large stack showed 55 which hit its set and I was out. It was fun but didn't go the way I wanted. I will play some more .01/.02 cent. Overall on the day I have played a little under 700 hands.

Just finished 500+ hands of play and pardon my language but kicked some fucking ass. Played for about 2 and a half hours and profited 15 dollars. There was a certain period where every big hand I played I either hit the flop or didn't even need to. When I had JJ, I hit the J on the flop. When I had AA, all little cards came out. One of the players were very aggressive and it was easy to slow play him and earn maximum profit. So today after 1300+ hands I finished up 20 dollars and by far one of my best days yet. My new goal will be to get to $45 the next time I play.

Overall, I am up 41.89 after 5300 hands of play. I feel very confident and know that I am now on my way. In previous days I struggled staying above after I had won, but I feel like I have learned how to and will not be looking back. Below is the latest graph of my progress.

Just to let you know, I have decided to move up to the .02/.05 level. I am playing really good poker and think that I have proven myself and can trust myself to do well at this level. I will not move up to the next level till I am at 100.

Very inconsistent

I don't really know what it is but when I go on a massive winning streak, before I can even catch myself I go right back down. However, this time as you can see by the graph, I got back up to around 17 profit, and I slowly was decreasing so I decided to stop. It seems as though I play stellar poker for so long, and then something happens and I lose it. Hopefully, I will be able to regain myself and get above 20 profit. My strategy will be to accomplish that goal, and stop and then aim for another goal and see if that doesn't help. The good news is I am up and I just need to stay up. I have noticed that I have been a lot more consistent at the .01/.02 cent level and the graph is showing signs of improvement. It feels as though I am not getting anywhere, but I need to tell myself that I am making progress and it will take one day at a time.



I can see signs of improvement everytime I play now. At around hand 3500, I started to drop. So what I decided to do, which I had trouble doing before, was to stop playing. This is what I need to do when I am struggling. I played exactly 500 hands after that and profited around 4 dollars. Before I said my goal was 20 profit and I have accomplished that goal. My next goal for the next session will be 24 bucks. I know it may not seem like much, but when I set goals to strive for it seems easier to achieve so I will keep setting limits. I really think that this is where I will start my run. No more inconsistent play from here on out. Good session and tomorrow I might put in over 1000 hands seeings how it is Sunday and I have nothing to do.

A great session

I have been avoiding those big swings, and I am on the way back up. Another great session for me today, and by far my best I have played since starting the challenge. Playing for 1/2 of an hour, I caught this hand which just about doubled me up.

I am currently up 10.49 in my challenge in a little under a total of one days worth of play. The thing about poker is it takes a lot of consistency and focus, because it is easy to lose. I have had some quick sessions where I lost what I invested in a matter of minutes. In poker you need to be able to play slow, and risk very little. That is what I have been working on. Winning a little at a time and not trying to just win it all in one hand.

In case you were wondering, I switched to .01/.02 so that I can avoid the big swings and the chance of losing my whole bankroll. I have been reading, "Power Holdem Strategy" by Daniel Negraneu and trying to follow the 20-35 big blind rule. So technically, at the .02 level, I should have a bankroll of .02*100 = 2 * 20 = atleast 40. I am currently at 27 but because this level is so small it is ok. I will not move up to the .02/.05 until I have reached $100 which will leave me with 20BB. This is getting very interesting, and I just hope to keep climbing the ladder everytime I sit down to play.

Just got done playing just over 600 hands of poker. Through 2 hours of play, I finished up 10.58 putting me at a total of 21.07 profit at this time. Ever since I switched to .01/.02 at around hand 1500 I have done nothing but slowly increase. Today I played 4 tables at once, waited for big hands and capitalized. The one thing I learned in reading "Power Holdem Strategy" was to overbet when you have the nuts because beginners will often call. At this level, I was getting called with almost any pair. So when I had a good hand, I would bet the pot and sometimes much more then that. And it paid off. For example the hand above, I pushed the river and the short stack called with a pair of 6s and my full house took it down. I look forward to playing tonight after I get out of work and doing the same thing. Climb the ladder.

Consistency is key

Been awhile since I played, but I am back and doing well. Today, I played 88 hands of really good poker and went from $1.15 down to $1.38 up. Overall, I worked hard at just playing small ball poker and increasing slowly which is what I need to keep doing. I worked with $5 at the .01/.02 table and although the stakes are small, if you wait for hands you can increase your stack very easily. I had one big hand with AA that held up against a pair of 8s and my other big hand I hit a straight on the turn. I look forward to playing some more later.

I am trying to stay very busy this summer, and play poker on occasion. Watched both the Celtics and Bruins lose game 7 and was very disappointed but not much you can do. Celtics struggled early and had their oppurtunities to bounce back but Orlando would not miss. I think the Lakers will win the west and the Cavs will easily win the east, and as much as I hate to say it, they will also easily win the championship. It may go 6 games but the Cavs are too good.

Playing .01/.02 now and things are going well. Nearing on 2,000 hands I am just below the even line and slowly increasing. It will take lots of hands and time but risking less to win is never a bad idea. Look forward to playing tomorrow.

AK!

Found this new site that converts hands so you can watch them! Thought this would be very useful in explaining situations and showing how they worked out. Above is an AK hand that played out so well I should have got all my money in but didn't want to scare him off with quads. After 81 hands of play I am up 5 dollars and playing really good poker. I need to avoid big swings and take it one hand at a time. This was a really good session for me. I put in 5 and I ran it up to 10 and I stopped. That is what I need to keep doing. I am stopping for now to work on my final final exam due at 3pm today! Wish me luck!

Final exam went well! Came back to play poker and doubled up in maybe less then 20 hands and left the table. I am back on track and working at just slowly increasing everytime I play. This is the first time I can see the even mark in a long time and I will not be going below it again. I knew this challenge would be a struggle but I want to prove to myself I can accomplish it.

Besides poker, Bruins won game 6 to force game 7 in Boston tomorrow night! These last two games were both one sided and Bruins need to keep rolling. The Celtics are not making it easy but getting the job done. Very excited to watch both play tomorrow night. Go Bruins!

Learn to stop when ahead

I played great poker for the first 60 hands, doubling my money from 4.50 to 9. Stopped playing, and joined another table with only 4.50 invested which was profit from the first session. And it was awful awful poker to say the least. My problem here was I tried to be consistent but I was at a table with someone who wouldn't stop talking and although I thought they were are bad player, they were very unpredictable. 3 times I made a fold on the river, only to see someone show a bluff. Now here is where I need to get up and leave the table with no damage done. However, I continued play and am now back to where I was before. After 839 hands of my challenge I am down 21.55. This is very frustrating but like I said it will take a lot of determinism and something I need to work on. The final handed ended with me losing to the very same person who was talking throughout the game with me calling down on the river. I had middle pair and hit 2 pair with 10s and 9s on the river. However, his KQ rivered a straight and I was felted. I would say this is a prime example of me being stubborn and just calling because of my opponent, not using my head and playing the game of poker.

Here is one hand where I folded the river, when maybe I should have called. Any thoughts or ideas on this hand for me?














Button ($13.24)
SB ($10)
BB ($5.31)
Hero (UTG) ($5.67)
MP ($6.72)
CO ($14.26)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with , Jc 4c
Hero bets $0.20, 1 fold, CO calls $0.20, 2 folds, BB calls $0.15

Flop: ($0.62) , 10h 10c 4h, (3 players)
BB bets $0.15, Hero raises to $0.50, 1 fold, BB calls $0.35

Turn: ($1.62) , 2h, (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.45, BB raises to $0.95, Hero calls $0.50

River: ($3.52) ,Kc ,(2 players)
BB bets $0.65, Hero folds

The amount he put in was so small and I have been folding to him the whole game. Leading out on the flop with only .15 with 2 10s seemed so weird so I put him on flush draw. Then the heart comes and he check raises. Then on the river he puts .65 in to 3 dollar pot which is very small. And I fold. Should I call this?

1000 hands and not looking back. As you can see by the graph, I dropped below 40 but since then I have climbed to a little more then 10 down. I am making a commitment from here on out that I will not look back. In my last 50 hands or so I have played consistent poker and am steadily improving the bankroll which is exactly what I need to do. I am having tremendous success by raising pre flop a little more then I was with stronger hands. At this level, I was getting called with hands that really should not have been played and now that I increased it I am taking down many more pots and risking less after the flop. I hope this strategy keeps working. I look forward to seeing how my next 100 or so hands go and will have an update as soon as possible.

Back up and Back down

One thing I really want to work on is making sure I can bounce back from losses. For the most part today, at the beginning I was very inconsistent but I was patient and got two big hands to get me back to where I want to be. Sitting on the button with KK I raised in to an aggressive player at the BB. Not to my suprise he raised me, and I decided to push and risk the chance here. He showed QQ and I avoided any Q and took down $10. I need to play more consistent poker if I want to accomplish my goal. So far after 514 hands I am up $9.92.

Didn't take long to lose my 10 dollar bank roll. But this just did not make any sense. From the BB with AJ, facing a raise and a call I decide to reraise from .50 to 2.00. Both surprisingly call. Flop came down J94. I bet 1 and the next guy calls, and the other pushes for all his money which is 4.50. I decide to push as well. The other guy also calls. Turn is a 2 and the river is a Q. There was a rather large side pot that I could have won however, he turns over K10 to take both pots. The small stack showed JQ for 2 pair on the river. I dont see what I could have done differently here. The K10 and JQ are both very bad calls on a reraise preflop and to even stay in after the flop with K10 is somewhat confusing. But that is poker. I was down to 11.50 and decided to invest 10 more to play. Things did not get any better and I slowly crept down to 5 dollars or so abefore losing an all in AJ vs someones 55. I am going to invest in another 10 dollars and drop down to 1/2 cent tables until I have reached 20 to move up to the next level of 2/5.

Poker Challenge

Poker Challenge
$10 to $10,000

Sunday May 10, 2009

I am starting day 1 of my challenge, and I will keep an update on how I do every session I play. This will help me keep track of how I am doing and also help me with bankroll management. I am starting with $10 at .5/.10 and will move up to the .10/.25 when I have my bankroll at $500. At each table I will invest the minimum amount.

Today, I started with $2 and after 15 hands I could not get anything going and lost what I started with. I invested another $2 and since then, I have doubled up on AJ vs. AQ and then outplayed one hand bluffing on the river to take down a pot of over $2. Not trying to get tricky, just trying to wait for hands and slowly increase the bankroll.

The hand I was waiting for came no less then 10 hands after I was finally back up profit. On the button with KQ the player before me raises to .30. I smooth call and so does the BB. Flop Kd6h2c. BB checks and original raiser continues to fire with another 30 cents. I called and the BB folded. Turn came a 10d and he fired again this time 1 dollar. I had to be wary of AK, but I called anyway and the river tripped my Ks. He quickly pushed and I quickly called. He showed A10 and I took down the pot. The way it played out, I played it really well and he assumed his 10s with Ks A kicker was the best hand. After 75 hands I am staying consistent and up over 5 dollars profit.

I have played a little over 100 hands since my last update, and I am up $8.85. Since then I have hovered right around $5 with my biggest hand coming at the end of the session. Limping with 7Jhh early position, the button raised it to .40 cents. I decided to call and see the flop. This player is very aggressive so I decided to take a chance. The flop came down Ks7s2d and I checked. He quickly raised the same amount he put in pre-flop. I just was not convinced he was that strong, so I called. The turn was a Js which paired me giving me 2 pair but also a flush opportunity on board. So I decided to check in to him again. This time he put in $1 and I thought about the decision for sometime. I decided that if he hit the flush would he bet this strong? Would he want me out of the hand? I called again and checked the river as well. He fired again, down to $2.50 he puts in only $1.60. I decided to call because the bet seemed scared. Not weak enough to think he had flush and not strong enough to also have 2 pair. I made the right call and he showed 76 for a pair of 7s. Like I said before a very aggressive player and I think I played that hand correctly.

Just finished 200 hands and did very well. Will resume play later on, but finished up $15 profit. Towards the end of play, hands were landing right in my lap and I was playing them very well. Overall, I thought I was consistent and didn’t get out of control. Often times I would lose my cool and go on a really bad swing and lose what I originally worked on getting. This time, my biggest swing was a little over 3 dollars, but I was able to finish up 15 over 300 hands.

Played just less then 50 hands and things could not have gone worse. After about 1o hands in, I doubled up with KK. But no less then 3 hands after, I decide to call from the button with K9. The flop is KK3. It looks as though I hit the jackpot. The BB player leads out and to me this seems liek a good sign. So I decide to slow play and just call. The turn is a 5 and he leads out again. I call. The river is a 10. He pushes. I think about it, but in the end I call and he shows K10. This really surprised me because at this level I did not think that someone with a set on the flop would lead out. So, after 300 hands of good poker I play a little less then 50 and lose what I had originally won. This will be a tough task indeed but I am up for the challenge. I am currently down $1.58. Tomorrow will be a different day.