fantasy football

So you know summer is coming to an end when fantasy football drafts start up. I'm in two leagues this year, and had one draft to warm up for the league i've been in since college.

My lineup in this 10 team league consists of, in the order in which they were kept/drafted:

Adrian Peterson (keeper)
Tony Romo
Ryan Mathews
Jamaal Charles
Chad Ochocinco
Mike Sims-Walker
Percy Harvin
Jets D
Mike Wallace
LaDanian Tomlinson

and a few other bench players I can't remember

Overall I think I hit a home run and have a stellar team. This league does not give points per reception, so quarterbacks are of extreme importance, hence the first round pick of romo, which i would not otherwise usually do. He was the last decent qb available, so I felt compelled to use a first rounder on him.

Pokerwise, I've been on a terrible downswing and will have a losing month for sure. I've really over extended my play and 24 tabling is not just for me. It's not fun, and I can't go through my thought process quickly enough to keep up. So I will stick to 12 tabling for now until I get my bankroll to where it needs to be, and will probably only play a max of 14-16. I've also limited my play to just the 40-100 100Nl big blind tables, as having different limits and different buy in amounts was just too confusing for me.

first hand history post

here's a link to the discussion on my first two plus two hand post...

forumserver.twoplustwo.com/96/small-stakes-full-ring/100nl-middle-set-160bb-deep-850592/

I think doing things like this make me think more critically about my actions, and will help me to learn from good players...

largest pot so far

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com



MP1 ($100)

MP2 ($130.40)

CO ($419.70)

Button ($372)

SB ($204.35)

Hero (BB) ($167.50)

UTG ($305.30)

UTG+1 ($282.20)



Preflop: Hero is BB with J, J

UTG bets $3, 2 folds, MP2 raises to $8, 3 folds, Hero calls $7, UTG raises to $17, MP2 calls $9, Hero calls $9



Flop: ($53.10) 8, Q, J (3 players)

Hero checks, UTG bets $25, MP2 calls $25, Hero calls $25



Turn: ($128.10) 6 (3 players)

Hero checks, UTG bets $30, MP2 calls $30, Hero raises to $125.30 (All-In), UTG calls $95.30, MP2 calls $58.20 (All-In)



River: ($466.90) 5 (3 players, 2 all-in)



Total pot: $466.90 | Rake: $3



Results:

Hero had J, J (three of a kind, Jacks).

UTG had A, A (one pair, Aces).

MP2 had Q, 10 (one pair, Queens).

Outcome: Hero won $463.90

july review

July was another sucky month. However, I realized I can't be so robotic at the tables, and have tried adding a few elements to my game which will both make playing a little more interesting, and will make me tougher to play against. Things such as flatting premium hands a little more often, playing passively with strong showdown hands when I'm against an aggro opponent, and adding in more bluffs and playing them the exact same way I would play my monsters.

So how did I do?

-153.77 table losses
125.96(5248.21*2.0 FPP/VPP*.012c/FPP)
50 for 45k VPP
--------------
22.19 USD total profit- UGH!

Year to date stuff: 1273.99 total rakeback thus far, not including jan, which I need to look up.


So total profit:

2195.48 table winnings
1273.99 rakeback
400 stellar reward bonuses
------------------
3869.47 total USD profit


269.45 hrs for an hourly rate of 14.36/hour. I guess I won't be giving up my day job anytime soon!

time to get back on track

So I've been so bombarded the past two months that I lost platinum status. However, career wise I think I've found what it is I want to do, and what direction I hope to go. That means that poker may need to take somewhat of a back seat the rest of the year. Not putting forth as much effort is a little disappointing though. I feel like i've put in a lot of sweat to get to this point, and to decrease my playing time is rough. At this point, achieving supernova will certainly be a daunting task. But I've come to realize I'm not a superstar. I'm not Sidney Crosby. Rather, at best I'm probably a third line winger like Tyler Kennedy. I know though that I am good enough, and that if I had the stamina and time, that I could at least make 70-80k in a year. But what a grind that would be, and I don't think I like poker that much!

So with my bankroll the way it is, I have a few options on what direction I'd like to go. I can easily keep gold star status with no problem the rest of the year, and probably make like 5-10k. But I've been in an ambitious mood lately, and I would really like to achieve supernova. Right now I need 53,380 VPP the rest of the year. That's 10,676 VPP on average each month. A tall task. I've also decided to start my own practice. Another tall task. But I think both are quite nice accomplishments, and are worth pursuing.

To get supernova, I'd need to play more 200NL, and for longer stretches each month. But whatever. If it happens, it happens.

I've drafted a business plan and hope to open up my own office in the next few months. We'll see how that goes. If I become an entrepreneur, I think I'll need to start another blog and a webpage!

june review

June was again a very eventful and stress filled month. When there's so much life change it's hard to get good volume in. I finally ran well above expected value, but my winrate was still very lackluster for how lucky I was.

The end result:

+577.00 table winnings
+83.25 rakeback(2561.53VPP*2.5 multiplier for platinum star*.013c/FPP)
+50 stellar reward bonus for 40kVPP
-----------------
710.25 USD total profit

I only played around 20 hours, for an hourly rate of about $35/hr. I feel like I need to incorporate a few changes into my game. I'm going to play less tables, and will try to make some non-standard plays against certain opponents to try to get this winrate up. Likewise, I will stop overplaying some trap hands. For instance, I'll try 3betting AQ less often, as it does have good showdown value on its own, and is not something I'm too excited to be playing 3bet pots in.

Hopefully i'll be able to post some goals and a reflection on the past few months shortly.

goodbye vancouver

So we did everything we needed to do this trip- i hope. Business wise, I hope everything is done and I won't have to come back for this purpose again (will elaborate later...). Otherwise, I've really enjoyed my time here. It's a very cool, diverse city, with lots of outdoor stuff going on. A few things i've noticed:

-the people here are slim. i guess i come from a typical, overweight american city, and the people here are fit and skinny. I fit the skinny part, the fit part not so much.

-i've missed living in a city. it was really nice to just walk everywhere you needed to go, or to use public transportation. Today we had to rent a car, and i hit my threshold at the end of the day, and just wanted to park the car, get out, and not drive anymore.

-People here are more health and environmentally conscious. I suppose this also comes with a city. It seems like recycling and eating well are taken more seriously.

Although we've enjoyed our time here, I don't think I could live here full time.

Poker has been going ok, some good, some bad. Today I had sort of an eureka moment, realizing how much the opponent matters. I shouldn't have stacked off against this tight nit. Calling the turn was good, and I kept on hearing my gut saying this guy has the nuts, and wouldn't stack off without it, but I shoved anyway...


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com



CO ($91.90)

Button ($100)

SB ($121)

BB ($100)

UTG ($210.60)

UTG+1 ($104)

Hero (MP1) ($106.90)

MP2 ($112.95)

MP3 ($132.05)



Preflop: Hero is MP1 with Q, Q

2 folds, Hero bets $4, 1 fold, MP3 calls $4, 1 fold, Button calls $4, 1 fold, BB calls $3



Flop: ($16.50) K, 8, 9 (4 players)

BB checks, Hero checks, MP3 checks, Button checks



Turn: ($16.50) Q (4 players)

BB bets $11, Hero calls $11, 2 folds



River: ($38.50) 4 (2 players)

BB bets $21, Hero raises to $60.50, BB raises to $85 (All-In), Hero calls $24.50



Total pot: $208.50 | Rake: $3



Results:

BB had 10, J (straight, King high).

Hero had Q, Q (three of a kind, Queens).

Outcome: BB won $205.50