Girls Play Poker Too

Getting Serious Paid Off!

2011-03-03T23:05:00.003-05:00

I finished 4th in the Pokerstars $75k gtd $11r last month for almost $6k. I also fnal tabled the $30k 2R1A a couple of days ago.

Now I just need to try to make sure I don’t wait 5 months for my next decent cash!

Time To Get Serious

2011-01-24T01:06:00.000-05:00

2010 was a pretty good year for me as far as MTT’s go. It wasn’t huge – but my first year with a fair profit so I am not complaining. I only had 2 big cashes – one live and one online.

I am easy to please and will be happy with 2 of each this year. Though with the volume I will be putting in online I should have several good cashes. I got a late start last year and just started my coaching mid-year so I think there is a good chance this year could be much better for me.

As far as live tournaments go – I just returned from one trip which was relatively uneventful. (well – I did hit a jackpot on a slot machine for $1100 lol). I will probably only make 4-5 Vegas trips this year and might hit Biloxi once or twice again. I will go one more time before the end of April – hopefully with the Moshman group but if they don’t go I will go on my own again. Then the 2 weeks in the summer and 1 or 2 more trips after that.

I plan on taking poker a lot more seriously this year – live and online. I am going to be very cautious of my other expenses especially when I travel.

Choosing between the Aria and the Venetian is getting tougher. I love the nightly 7pm tournament at the Venetian and I love staying there. Food choices are fantastic and I don’t get stuck having big expensive meals every time I eat. On the other hand I love the Aria 1pm daily tournament and the staff there is great. But every meal I eat there costs at least $25-30 – they have no fast food at all. The food gets old fast. They give me better rates – but I think my food expenses negate that or worse lol.

Then – I get all these even better and sometimes free offers from loads of other places. Maybe I should give them a try but I am so spoiled with my favorites. Some people just need a place to sleep – I want comfort and luxury lol. I also like staying where I am going to be playing the most. I guess I will take it one trip at a time.

But yea – time to get serious!

Post Vegas Blues

2010-12-02T00:31:00.001-05:00

Vegas trips are alway so much fun – it is hard to adjust when I get back home. I have come to love playing live tournaments and living in Georgia means I have to travel to play. Vegas is really the best deal with the best tournaments so I try to go every 2-3 months. I guess I should consider myself fortunate for being able to do that – but I really do hate that I can’t play live all the time.

I did okay on this most recent trip. I finished 5th in one of the Venetian 2nd chance tournaments and finished 4th in one of the daily Aria tournaments. I stayed at the Aria the last 6 nights I was there and they may have stolen me from the Venetian – I really like it there.

I had a blast with Team Moshman as usual. I wasn’t able to play my best when we played pool – but I did manage to stay reasonably sober unlike most of the others lol. See if you can pick out the guilty parties in the picture above.

Time to Hit Vegas Again!

2010-11-07T20:02:00.002-05:00

From my blog at:

http://collinmoshman.com/

Some of us are heading back to Vegas this week. I am looking forward to seeing some of my Team Moshman friends again. The last trip was fantastic – there are some great memories of that one!

I am also excited to play some live tournaments again and see if I can get some more final tables. This time if I chop I will be much better prepared lol.

I will be playing some of the 2nd chance nightly tournaments at the Venetian which I did so well in. I will also be playing some of the Aria tournaments this time since I will be staying there for part of the trip.

I plan on taking some pictures this time too!

Off to New York for the First Time

2010-10-14T00:40:00.001-04:00

from my blog at:

http://collinmoshman.com/

Every October Joe and I pick a new place to go that we want to see. This year it is Manhattan. I have never been and Joe has only gone there once long ago. I am very excited – it seems people either love it or hate it. But Joe knows me well and thinks I will love it. I think he might be right.

At any rate it will be a nice break from my routine – and from poker for 5 days.

Last year was San Francisco which ended up being one of my favorite places in the world – maybe only second to Amsterdam.

Next year we are talking about Hawaii.

Took Down the Pokerstars 25k!

2010-09-02T23:53:00.004-04:00

From my blog at:

http://collinmoshman.com/

I finally got a 1st place in a big online MTT! It was a miracle comeback too. With the blinds at 500/1000 and a $100 ante I was down to 993 chips and had to slowplay to make the money lol.

I then proceeded to blind out – got down to 418 chips. By this time the blinds were 600/1200 and the ante was $125 which left me with 293 chips. I was UTG and had J3os. I called with my micro 1/4 bb stack and caught a J on the river to win. I perked up at this point cause I had 2bb’s to work with lol. Here is the result:

If you can't see it - I won the tournament! Cash was $5064.

Another Venetian cash

2010-08-20T22:04:00.001-04:00

From my blog at:

http://collinmoshman.com/

I snuck away for a last minute quick trip back to Vegas this week. I played in the same nightly Venetian tournament again and finished 7th for a small cash. There were only 71 in the tournament - they said that was the lowest turnout they had ever had. It only paid the final table - and it is a shame that my JJ did not hold up against 66 in my last hand. It would have put me about 3rd in chips and I could have had a nice cash.

Oh well.....

Back From Vegas and addicted to live tournaments!

2010-07-11T00:15:00.003-04:00

From my blog at:

http://collinmoshman.com/

Wow – what a great trip this was!! It was so cool meeting all of you for the first time. I feel like I have some new friends for life.

We kicked off the first meeting after I arrived with the fantastic dinner at CraftSteak. It was the best steak I have ever eaten in my life. And the company was fantastic – had some great chats with everyone.

Darts was a blast – and I even won a game. Which is a miracle I know. Rob can attest to my terrible aim. I met him and Grind in a bar in the Palazzo. They were over doing the old people jokes with me and I finally had my last straw with Rob and threw an ink pen at his chest. Only it hit him right between the eyes instead. It was bloody. He is still a marked man. But no more old jokes hehe.

Collin and Katie took me to dinner on my birthday to a Brazilian Steakhouse and it was another fun night. Simon, Andy and his wife joined us.

Cody (Bwammo), Jonny (Silentstorm) and I had a couple of fun nights hanging out. I hated that Jonny lost his phone though. We all had a last night dinner at an Italian place – then all of my Mosh buddies except for Rob left me. I was very sad.

The next week was spent with Cardschat friends – and Rob who got along great with all of my other friends. We all hung out together every day and night. We had a blast both days of the 2+2 parties playing foosball, shuffleboard and darts. Rob and I make a good team – well only because he is on it lol. The Bodog party was good for drinks and food but we didn’t stay long. The CardRunners party was good for drinks and we made our own fun.

Dusty Schmidt (Leatherass) invited me to dinner with the DTB guys. Hunter, QTip, Owen and Phil joined us. I love all of them – we had a great time talking and they had me in stitches more than once.

I was thrilled with how I played in my first real shot at live tournaments. I cashed in 5 of the 10 I played in – making a profit of over $3400. I totally screwed up my 1st place chop and probably cheated myself out of about $600-800 more. But Cody kind of set me straight on what to do going forward and it was a lesson learned. I have to give him some credit for my success – I have really opened up my game a lot since he started coaching me and watching him play so much has me making decisions and moves that were never part of my game in the past. He focuses a lot on how the table and players are playing and has helped me to start doing the same. I know the times I went deep some of the things I learned from him were invaluable. He never cares about how short his stack gets – he is always convinced he can still take it down. I found myself with that same confidence after a few games. So for those caoches jealous of his student buying him dinners – he earned them lol!

Last night Rob and I played in the nightly Venetian game – which is what 9 of my games were in. We both made the money and of course they sit me right next to him twice. So when it was down to 12 he shoves into me from LP and I know his range is any 2 cards. It was an easy call with my AT. He turns over 83os lol. Ofc he gets a 3 to take me down to 6k in chips with the blinds at 3k/6k and 1k ante. Next hand I get KK and more than quadruple up with 4 callers. Then I get 99 and more than double up. I worked my way back to 116k lololol. Unfortunately Rob got knocked out in 10th with AK vs AK and the other guy hit 4 cards to a flush. I finished 8th for a $668 cash.

I plan on playing a lot more live tournaments!!

Helps to have fun playing poker sometimes

2010-05-20T09:16:00.001-04:00

from my blog at:

http://collinmoshman.com/

I played my sng’s earlier than usual yesterday because I didn’t want any pressure to play in the evening. Joe’s mum is leaving today after a month with us and we took her out to dinner last night which was nice – and my last good meal til Vegas since I need to go back to eating lettuce for a month now. (We have been very bad while she has been here).

I also had a couple of fun games I needed to play last night. We have a guys vs girls event going on at Cardschat and the girls absolutely crushed the guys last weekend in the kick-off event. Then we had a HU qualifier which was a shootout and I finished 3rd. Being the top finishing girl I had to play the top finishing guy hu last night. It was a fun match and I beat him – I have to give you guys here some credit for that. I have learned a bit more about playing hu from watching the hu matches taking place here.

And then there was a private tournament for members of TournamentPokerEdge. Their pros played in it – bigdogpckt5s, IveGotToeJam, HitThePanda. There were 36 people in it and I managed to finish 3rd – ahead of all the pros hehe. Their founder took top place – he is a very nice guy. The tournament was loads of fun – they are a fun group to hang with. (Not as much fun as you guys of course!!)

Anyway – my point is it is nice to take a night off sometimes and just play for fun. Some of us from here did that on a Friday night a few weeks ago and we should do it again sometime soon

My Round 1 HU Match Today

2010-05-06T08:16:00.002-04:00

From my blog at:
http://collinmoshman.com/

I was fortunate enough to draw mdot in round 1 of the Team Moshman HUNL Invitational. It could have been worse – I could have drawn Collin himself.

To prepare for my match I signed up for Vandweller’s 2 minute Skype crash course in “How To Defeat mdot HU.” WIth his proven track record I have total confidence that he has given me the tools I need to take this down.

I did my homework and played a hu nl $2.20 match last night practicing what I had been taught. So far my success rate is 100%. I took down the match and my opponent declined a re-match so he must have been scared.

Get ready for the hunl upset of the century! (Today at 1pm at Pokerstars, tournament id#269094068) – see you there!

Might have to switch to Full Tilt

2010-04-24T15:46:00.001-04:00

From my blog at:
http://collinmoshman.com/

I stopped playing sng’s last Saturday. After a bad month in March I found myself even worse off halfway through April. I just couldn’t have a winning session.

So I have spent the week playing some MTT’s and trying to decide what to do. I have played some rush sng’s and MTT’s at Full Tilt. On a whim Thursday I decided to play 6 $11 sng’s there. It went very well. I have played a few more sets since then and every one has been a good set. It is early days – but the play seems to be so much softer there. I hardly ever see more than 1 person loading up multiple tables. (Unlike PS where there are usually 3-4 doing it at an given time).

I really hate to play there with no rake. But I guess I might try it for a few months and see if I can get some Iron Man bonuses. I will miss Pokerstars – I like it soooooo much better. But I guess I will have to play where I can profit.

Full Tilt's Rush MTT's

2010-04-17T10:52:00.001-04:00

From my blog at:

http://collinmoshman.com/

I played in the $5.50 one last night – it was fun! There were 2288 entries and I managed to finish 30th. It was only a small cash of about $30.

I found it relatively easy to build chips in the early to mid-game stages. The game was fast – and took a lot longer than I thought it would. By the time I went out in 30th it was already 3.5 hours. It was a double-stack with 6 minute blind levels.

I could have gone deeper if I hadn’t mistakenly thought a huge stack was bullying me with his re-raise. I had 88 so shoved and he called with his AA lol.

I will try some more of these – but you can’t really multi-table too much when in one of these games so it will hurt my volume. Also the HUD didn’t work – but that wasn’t really relevant until it got done to less than about 100. I know the HEM hud works for cash rush tables so I guess they will get it going for tournaments too.

Achieved My Gold Star Status at Pokerstars Yesterday!

2010-03-28T09:49:00.001-04:00

From my blog at:

http://collinmoshman.com/

The world is changing – dakota now has 3 gold stars at Pokerstars. It was only a few months ago it seemed I was destined to be eternal bronze star forever. Then I discovered Collin’s sng videos after joining Stox, saw a thread where zerosum79 was offering coaching and that was all she wrote. I am officially addicted now.

If I could only get back the “run good” I had in January poker life would be grand lol. Here’s to platinum by the end of the year!

Vegas Trip Report

2010-03-24T17:44:00.002-04:00

From my blog at:

http://collinmoshman.com/

We just got back home from Vegas – it was a great trip. We arrived on Saturday morning – it was our first stay at the Aria. I thought it was very nice – but lacked atmosphere for me. The rooms are very nice and slightly larger than a normal hotel room – but far from the suites you get at the Palazzo/Venetian. We only paid $139 – and got a $50 food credit and a $50 casino credit so it was a good deal. The poker room was very crowded so I skipped that.

The next morning we went to Fatburger’s – yummy! Then we headed off to the Palazzo for the next few nights. Those nights were free so even a better deal. They also comped several of our meals. I love that place – even the smell of it lol. Since it was just me and Joe this time we got to spend a lot of time just doing things together which is unusual for a Vegas trip. We did some degenerate gambling – especially me hehe.

I played in the Venetian noon poker tournament on Monday. I didn’t last long. I got TT and re-raised with 2 in the pot pre-flop. I knew one would call – he was playing a lot of pots. I didn’t expect the other to call so I put him on a strong hand. The flop came T95. I thought and then decided to check raise. But they checked behind me. So when an 8 came on the turn I shoved. I put the first guy on a 5 or 9 and was right – he was weak. I thought the other guy had a high pocket pair or AK. He had 6-7 and had hit a straight with the 8. Oh well. It was good practice for the Spring Break Poker Classic in Biloxi which is soon.

I played at $1/2 table yesterday and enjoyed it – ending up breaking even.

I will be heading back out either late June or early July – can’t wait!!

Off to Vegas Again!

2010-03-16T19:50:00.001-04:00

From my blog at:

http://collinmoshman.com/

Joe and I will be heading off to Vegas on Saturday. We are staying at the Aria Saturday night and I am anxious to check it out. The room was only $139 with a $50 food and beverage credit and a $50 match play – so not too bad. And it is close to Fatburger’s – so that will be lunch on Sunday!

After that we will head to the Palazzo for 3 nights – and those are all free so that is cool. I will play in the noon tournament at the Venetian one day. We are meeting up with Nick (owner of Cardschat) to go to Cold Stone Creamery since he and I are both ice cream addicts.

Joe and I just plan on checking things out on this “quiet” trip. He is a gem and will let me play poker as much as I want – but I will try to spend a lot of time with him.

Oh – and our flights were only $35 each roundtrip from Atlanta. I managed to squeeze some Delta credits out of the 5th rep I talked to after my San Francisco disaster last fall. (When I booked the flights for the wrong day and didn’t know it til the day before we were supposed to go).

This will just be a fun practice run – the big trip will be during the WSOP – can’t wait for that one!

On Target For Gold

2010-03-09T14:19:00.002-05:00

From my blog at:

http://collinmoshman.com/

Since I have 27 days to earn vpp’s this month I am well on target to get the 3000 I need for gold. After the first 8 days I have 1126 vpp’s for the month so I should be able to pull it off fairly easily.

Also – my next sng will get me my first $50 stellar reward bonus – so that makes $100 for the year now. I should fly through for the next $50. I really like that Pokerstars added that to their VIP program – it is a nice little plus on top of the other benefits.

Mining for Gold This Month

2010-03-02T22:51:00.004-05:00

From my blog at:

http://collinmoshman.com/

A few months ago I thought I was destined to be a recreational bronze player at Pokerstars forever. I played MTT’s – but never earned more than about 450-550 vpp’s a month. Then I started playing $5.50 sng’s and adding tables. In December I realized it would be easy for me to move up to silver so in January I did. I moved up to the $11’s and got up to 6 tables by mid-month. I had a lot to do at home in February and it was a short month with a trip in it so I didn’t bother pressuring myself to get gold and still earned over 2150 vpp’s.

But now March is here and even with my Vegas trip I should be able to earn 3000 VPP’s and move up to gold. I know that is not exciting for most players but earning twice the fpp’s that I was earning 2 months ago means a lot to me. Especially with the improved VIP program at Pokerstars. I am earning and buying decent bonuses and that really helps.

And – Platinum is no longer out of the question. When I am able to move up to the $22’s and possibly 8 tables it will be a real possibility I never imagined before. I doubt I will ever see Supernova but I could be happy with Platinum!

Putting myself on a schedule...

2010-02-19T08:14:00.002-05:00

From my blog at:
http://collinmoshman.com/

This month has been a bit difficult. Every good set of sng’s is followed by several bad ones. I had a very good month in January and I think I may have become a bit over confident in my game. As a result I have spent less time studying than I think I should have. I still have a lot to learn before I can become a consistent winner playing sng’s.

The first thing I need to do is put myself on some kind of a schedule. My days get away from me and what suffers is my study time. It is hard to be disciplined when you work from home. I also have a lot of issues with my attention span – seriously. I am usually awake by 7-7:30 am but it is around noon most days before I am ready for the day. It is not from being lazy. I check in at Cardschat first thing every morning to take care of immediate issues there. Then I get sidetracked with other online stuff – email, Stox, etc. I try to do 35-45 minutes on the treadmill most mornings. Then because I am female it takes the rest of the time to shower, dress, etc lol. (and walk the dogs of course).

So – starting now I have to be on the treadmill no later than 8am and in the shower by 9am. By 10:30 or 11am I need to be ready to face the day or I will ….fire myself lol.

I also have to watch a video before I play any sng’s going forward – at least Mon-Fri. Today I watched Collin’s latest video ” Low Stakes Sng’s.” It reminded me that I still have a lot to work on late in the game when blinds are high. So I will try to find some more videos that will help me with that.

I am also toying with the idea of giving turbos an official shot – I have only tried short sessions in the past and didn’t like them. Maybe I should wait until I feel I have made some improvement in my late game strategy though. I am also afraid to make any big changes in what I am playing while I am on a downswing – maybe I should not feel that way.

Poker Hurts My Feelings Sometimes

2010-02-04T21:38:00.003-05:00

From my blog at:

http://collinmoshman.com/

I used to think I didn’t tilt much because I rarely get mad when I get a bad beat or lose a lot of games. I don’t post bad beats at the forum or rant and rave about how bad players get rewarded, accuse the sites of being rigged, slam things around, break things or throw tantrums.

But I finally figured out that I just tilt quietly inside in my own way. I let it hurt my feelings lol. I was doing great in the Pokerstars 30k one day – had a huge stack and was in deep. Then I lost it all on the river to a really bad beat. My feelings were so hurt. It took me weeks to forget that crushing blow. It reminded me of having a broken heart – hurt right in my heart center. Really lol. It was a physical and emotional blow. I got over it and I don’t think it will ever affect me like that again.

But it still hurts my feelings sometimes.

Now that I think of it – I am the same way in relationships – my husband will vouch for that lol. I don’t get angry – I just get hurt and withdraw.

But not for long hehe. Poker hurt my feelings on Monday and I was back playing with love in my heart by Tuesday afternoon. Gonna go give it some more love right now!

Hotlanta Tonight!

2010-01-28T17:26:00.003-05:00

From my blog at:

From my blog at http://collinmoshman.com/:

This will be my first poker free day in a very long time. The last couple of days have been a bit slow and today is the perfect day for a break. We are at the Hilton in Atlanta – Joe’s company is having a big elaborate buffet dinner for customers in town for a conference. Last year the food was awesome – so no worrying with calories tonight. Afterwards we will all go somewhere here in Atlanta – not sure where but it will involve drinking and no driving lol. I am such a wimp – I won’t last as long or drink as much as everyone else. My husband is English – I rarely drank at all til I met him. You can not marry into an English family and never drink – so once in a while I cave in and have a few.
Meanwhile everyone else is working and I am in the hotel room and have time to watch a sng video – so off I go!

Maintaining Confidence and Control While Learning

2010-01-26T16:38:00.001-05:00

From my blog at http://collinmoshman.com/:

I had an interesting day today that has me thinking. (Yea – I know that is dangerous lol).
For about 9 days I have been playing really well – and running hot hasn’t hurt at all. It has seemed like I have had a lot of things start to come together at the same time for me and it has really paid off. I have done some little tweaking with my game and started taking a lot more 1st’s and 2nd’s vs the many 3rd’s and 4th’s I was previously finishing with. A lot of the changes have to do with stepping up my aggression as the blinds go up. My confidence has been very high and mentally I have stayed focused and positive. I have done so well that I have not devoted much time to studying – I just felt like I needed to stay on the tables as much as I could while I was doing so well.
Today I decided I had better start watching some videos and doing some reading again. My SitnGoGrinders membership expires in a few weeks and I haven’t watched many videos there so I watched a couple of fultip777’s videos. He plays higher stakes than I do but they are regular speed and the other coaches there all play turbos I think. One was a $55 and the other a $109. He played pretty tight in both of them.
Then I played a set of 6 sng’s and I knew from the start I was in trouble. I was second guessing myself a lot and my confidence took a quick dive. Nothing seemed to be working for me and I was confused about how to play lol. This happens to me too often. When I watch a video and the coach is playing differently than I have been taught – or if I am reading a book and the strategy is different than what I have learned – it really messes up my game. I read Collin’s book first and have had Greg as a coach – so if anyone plays differently than what they teach it just confuses me.
Maybe I was trying to apply strategy in $11’s sng’s that is better suited for the levels that fultip plays at. Maybe I should not stir the pot right now.
Or…..maybe I should have watched some of Collin’s videos instead lol.
One thing is for certain – I have got to learn to maintain confidence and control in my game as I am studying. I know I still have a lot to learn.
I used to play a lot of pool before I started playing poker. (I am pretty damned good for a girl if I must say so myself). But I know in pool when you learn something new and start trying to apply it – that you usually end up playing worse while you work it into your game. Then once you have mastered it you are much better than you were before. Maybe poker is like that is some ways.

Collin Moshman's website

2010-01-23T10:42:00.003-05:00

Collin invited me to become a member at his website and I am very excited about that. You can visit his website here:

http://collinmoshman.com/

I will be cross posting my blogs entries from there to here - so here is the first one:

Hi to everyone – really glad to be a part of this group! I am the student rather than the coach and hopefully we will see a great progression in my game this year.I started playing sng’s in August last year – I played 10 sng’s which were a combination of 9, 27 and 45 person. Largely due to taking first in a 45 I did pretty good. I played about 25 in Sept and then in October decided to start playing sng’s as my primary game – specifically 9 person. I had contacted Greg (zerosum79) about getting coaching and we started that in early October. I played 45 mostly $5.50’s and was down a little for the month and then played 162 games in November and broke about even. I had read Collin’s book and between that and the coaching sessions felt that I was finally getting a good grasp of the game. By December I was playing 4 tables and got in 217 games and ended up slightly down but felt very good about my game.Greg doesn’t know it yet but I have made a couple of changes in the past few weeks. After the 1st week of January I moved to 6 tables. It took some adjusting but I am handling it well now. And last weekend I moved up to the $11’s. As of yesterday I have played 285 sng’s and I am having my best month since I started playing sng’s.I love to play MTT’s and I need to work those back into my schedule – I am just concerned that I will now play them like sng’s out of habit.Anyway – that might have been tmi – but just giving everyone an idea of where I am with my game.

Moving up!

2010-01-17T07:23:00.002-05:00

Last week I made the move to 6 tables on my desktop. I am handling it pretty well so I think I will stick with it. I know I make a few more mistakes so will keep an eye on that. I still only do 4 tables on my laptop because I just wouldn't be able to see well enough with 6 tables on a 17" screen. I wish I had better eyes - but at least I can see well enough to get by.

Then yesterday I decided to test the waters on $11 sng's. I played 18 in 3 sessions. By the time got to the last session I was feeling great about it. In the last 7 games I placed in the money in 5 - with 3 of them 1st place finishes. It was a great session and I will try them again today and hope they don't bite me on the ass!

Pokerstars 2010 WBCOOP

2010-01-12T13:45:00.003-05:00

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! The WBCOOP is a free online Poker tournament open to all Bloggers, so register on WBCOOP to play.

Registration code: 309824

New Year's update

2010-01-12T13:32:00.002-05:00

This year is off to a good start. I am not winning loads at poker - but I am up for the month and feel good about my game.

Pokerstars has made some nice improvements to their VPP program and I can finally reach silver star status this month. Hopefully I will be able to shoot for gold within a few months. At least now I can get some benefit for my fpp's/vpp's.

I am continuing with my coaching - have another session tonight.

Found out both Carbon Leaf and Gaelic Storm are in Atlanta together Sunday night so very excited about going to that show.

Life is good.

Xmas shopping

2009-12-26T18:36:00.002-05:00

I managed to get through the holidays with no major disasters...and only 1 embarassing event. That happened in Belk's where I may never shop again. It was very crowded and I was looking at some things and saw something I wanted to check out on the other side of the standing rack. I turned to walk around it and ran smack into a woman. I was so embarassed and started apologizing profusely - then looked up at her and to my horror I was apologizing to myself in a mirror lololololol. And yea -there were loads of people around, some of whom were watching me. That is one of those times you want the floor to open up and swallow you.

This Woman Needs a Man...

2009-12-23T10:07:00.003-05:00

So - I am going to move this here now:

http://www.cardschat.com/f4/woman-needs-man-137279/index20.html

It might take you a while to catch up lol. If you have read it then you are familiar with Dakota's (the dog) xmas escapades last year when Joe's mum was here visiting. I got my new bigger tree - and I bought foil ornaments for the bottom of the tree. He has been so good this year with the tree that I even got brave enough to put presents under it. So far I have only had to re-wrap one - but it has only been a day lol.

However - my other decorations have suffered. This year I put 3 rows of garland across the fireplace and put the xmas cards on it. (don't worry - we have not used the fireplace lol.)

I came in and found 1 chewed up xmas card on the floor and one row of garland down. When I complained to Joe that Dakota had done it - he came to his defense as usual. He said I always blame everything on Dakota. He said the xmas card was from last year and must have fell out of something. (huh?). Of course Dakota did not pull my garland down - it just fell.

So later we were laying in bed - Dakota between us, barely allowing me enough room on my side of the bed as usual. (He actually growls at me when I try to claim an extra inch). He rolled over for his belly rub so I obliged. Then I felt something on his belly. I thought it was a leaf at first - but I couldn't pull it off. A closer look revealed what it was. Scotch tape -the exact size of what was missing from my hanging garland! I had evidence which I smugly shared with Joe. And what did he say???? That was not proof that Dakota pulled the garland down! The tape probably fell to the floor and when Dakota decided to lie innocently in front of the fireplace he layed on the tape.

Sigh lol.

"Treat Your Poker Like a Business"

2009-12-19T22:50:00.005-05:00

Hopefully my book shipped today! It is written by Dusty Schmidt (Leatherass) from Stox Poker and it should be very good. And to make it more exciting he is doing a well thread at Cardschat. It is going great so far!

Here is the link for the well thread:

http://www.cardschat.com/f13/ask-me-anything-dusty-schmidt-aka-166743/

and here is the link to buy his book:

http://www.dustyschmidt.net

Variance sucks

2009-12-12T08:35:00.002-05:00

Well December decided to show me what variance is all about - ouch. I am not doing well at anything -playing mostly sng's. But reviewing my games on my own and with my coach is not turning up a lot if mistakes so I guess I will be patient and ride it out. I will try to devote a day each week for studying and see if that helps to keep me focused.

November was a good month

2009-12-02T12:30:00.002-05:00

November was my best month for poker since June - not a huge profit but a decent one nonetheless. I have continued with my sng coaching and that is helping a lot.

I also did well with some low-medium cashes in MTT's including some of the Cardschat private games.

Here's to December!

Sng and Tournament Update

2009-11-15T09:47:00.002-05:00

November has been a good month overall for me. I have had 2 more sng coaching sessions and have another one scheduled for next week. I have learned a lot and it is reflected in my games. I am particularly more confident with my high blind and heads up game.

I think the sng coaching is also helping with my MTT game. I am having my best month since June.

There is still half the month to go - but I am happy so far.

I need to work some time in my schedule for watching videos - I paid for a year's membership at Stoxpoker and need to make sure I get my money's worth there.

I did an interview with Collin Moshman for Cardschat. It was fun to do and turned out well. He is very nice and the forum members have enjoyed it.

http://www.cardschat.com/f13/collin-moshman-interview-164121/

Poker in November

2009-11-01T21:53:00.002-05:00

I have high hopes for November - I hope I don't let myself down lol. I should have a lot more time to play now. I finished Collin's book and it was very good. I need to get his HU book now. I am going to interview him for Cardschat within the next couple of days and that should be good.

I have another sng coaching session scheduled this week.

We just got back from San Francisco and it was fantastic!

Las Vegas again!

2009-10-13T15:53:00.003-04:00

I arrived in Las Vegas last night. Flight was nice and I was able to read quite a bit of Collin Moshman's "Sit "n Go Strategy." (More on that next week!)

I was very tired last night so decided it was not a good time for poker. I played slot machines and Caribbean Stud a bit before heading to bed.

I played a little bit of poker this morning. I was totally card dead - only played 3 hands the whole time lol. I limped in with 22 in one hand and there was a large re-raise so I folded. Next hand I played was ages later when I got ATos and limped in with several others. Flop came AT2 and I bet and was called by a couple. Turn was an 8 and I bet - got 1 caller. River was something I don't even remember bet again and the guy re-raised all in. It was only $22 more dollars to call into a pot somewhere over $200 so I called. He had 22. Then right before I left I got QQ and won a small pot.

Will try again later!

SNG Coaching

2009-10-02T07:52:00.003-04:00

I had my first sng coaching last night. It went very well and I am very optimistic about improving my game. I plan on doing more sessions. My coach was very thorough and I feel certain it will be money very well spent.

We had a sweat session and I played 4 $6.50 turbos. He gave me some great feedback. We installed SngWizard after that and he showed me some basics - I love it.

Hopefully I will have another session next week. For now I need to go workout and then shower so I can play some poker today!!

Video training

2009-09-17T20:15:00.002-04:00

I finally joined Stoxpoker and I think it was a very good decision. I paid for a month and will probably go ahead and buy a year when the month runs out.

I watched a Matt Matros video on early MTT play and it was very good. Yesterday I watched one he made on 45 person sng's. I then played one of those and a 27 man sng - and finished 2nd in the 27 person one. I was pleased with some of the plays I picked up from him. I was short-stacked with about 600 chips and came back to take 2nd place. He ia an aggressive player. Tomorrow I am going to watch the 45 person sng video by Coling Moshman who is a tighter player. It should be interesting.

Poker Confusion

2009-09-01T20:50:00.002-04:00

Poker has not been nice to me lately. I am not sure what to do. Next week when I get back from Kansas City I will get serious about the video training. I am at a loss for what to play. I hate ring games and feel I could never compete with the guys who play those regularly at 25NL and above. Lower than that I do not enjoy. Tournaments are where my heart is - but not having a good win since early June is painful. I like sng's but everyone says they suck. Limit supposedly involves more math so rule that out. I don't know what I should play. I just know that I love to play and want to play.

Tournament Training

2009-07-27T21:31:00.002-04:00

So I have been debating whether or not to attend a WSOP Academy, a WPT boot camp or seek some other type of training. After some discussion with some friends at Cardschat I have decided to try some online training first. I signed up at Stoxpoker and watched my first video. I will tell you more tomorrow!

I think I am going to like this..

Vegas Baby!!

2009-07-17T23:19:00.002-04:00

Vegas was incredible! I met some new Cardschat friends and made some more lasting friendships. I finally met Nick and he threw one hell of a party for us. I got to watch the WSOP up close and personal. I played a lot of poker and shared some great meals and good times with my Cardschat friends. I even left ahead on the money. I love playing live poker and seem to be much better at it than online. I have some big plans for the next year. More later!

Las Vegas 2009!

2009-06-16T21:18:00.001-04:00

Getting excited about Vegas. I will be there during the entire WSOP from July 3rd-16th. It will be loads of fun. Too bad I can't play in the main event lol.

My First Final Table

2009-06-04T23:03:00.002-04:00

At last!! I finally made a final table in an MTT at Pokerstars! I finished 5th of 3906 in the $11 - 30k guaranteed at Pokerstars - won almost $1600. I am so excited. That's all lol.

lol

2009-06-02T22:24:00.001-04:00

I suck at poker lolololol.

Back Home Again

2009-05-29T21:46:00.002-04:00

We had a fantastic time in England - met up with some of my Cardschat friends again and it was a blast as always.

It was good to get home again. I am finally starting to catch up on Cardschat work and stuff at home. Busy - but in good ways.

Hopefully I can play some serious poker in June!

Away in Ireland and England

2009-05-08T11:52:00.002-04:00

We arrived in Belfast yesterday - here to visit some friends for a few days. Tonight should be good - going into Belfast to "The Empire' - where a band play glam rock on Friday nights. Will be here until Sunday, then we will go to Cheltenham, England for 5 days and then a final weekend in London.

No poker til I get back home!

My tournament update

2009-05-01T21:38:00.002-04:00

I was finally able to move a large chunk of money from Full Tilt to Pokerstars. It will enable me to play some higher buy-ins and play around a bit more with re-buys. I am still waiting on my first final table - if I don't get it this month Irexes will lose his bet with me.

Brief update...

2009-04-12T20:29:00.001-04:00

Wow - I have been bad - no updates since March 18th! Been busy digging into tournaments. No big cash yet but getting in the money some. Hope to update with some big news soon!

Poker Tournaments

2009-03-18T13:42:00.002-04:00

I am really becoming addicted to tournaments now - in good way. I have a few favorites I have been playing fairly regularly and have been cashing in enough of them that I feel very good about playing. I am playing at Pokerstars and usually play in the $11 - 30k gtd every day. I have added the $22 - $32k gtd to that and once in a while play others. I have played in the $55 - 80k gtd twice - cashed in the first one but not in the 2nd. Those will be treats for when I have done well.

I am doing good early in the tournaments and making it to the cash - now I am working on the middle part of the game. I seem to be going deeper and deeper - but not deep enough yet.

I have not made that elusive final table but I feel it coming soon!

Poker Coaching

2009-03-04T23:03:00.002-05:00

Wow - I haven't been able to spend a lot of time on poker lately. I have taken on additional responsibilities at Cardschat and have been very busy.

I has my first coaching session with Zachvac from Cardschat a couple of weeks ago. I am now using HEM - he helped me set it up. The coaching session was great. I need to get some hands in so I can get to my next lesson. ( he is coaching me at $25NL)

Tournaments Going Well

2009-02-17T19:34:00.002-05:00

The last 3 days have been good to me. I won $30 in a FT tournament Sunday. Then I won over $123 by finishing first in the Cardschat Pokerstars re-buy. I finished 70th in the 80k guaranteed at Pokerstars yesterday and won $177. Last night I finished 3rd in the Cardschat UB buy-in and won $34. Today I won $35 in the 30k guaranteed at Pokerstars.

I feel a final table in a big MTT coming on soon!

Back From The Cruise

2009-02-07T19:08:00.002-05:00

We got home yesterday. The cruise was fantastic - we saw some great shows and had lots of fun.

I can't wait to get back into playing poker. I have played a few Cardschat games today and will play a few again tomorrow. I am anxious to play in some Pokerstars tournaments next week.

I got a ticket to the Pokerlistings $5k freeroll tomorrow so will play in that too. I only need to earn 100 VPP's to get in their next big one so will play some cash games too.

Cruise Time

2009-02-01T07:21:00.002-05:00

I will be gone for almost a week on a great cruise with The Barenaked Ladies. It should be loads of fun and I will give a report when I return.

Hopefully there will be a poker table in the casino and I can win a little bit. But we will mostly be busy going from concert to concert. BNL invites some of their favorite bands to perform on the ship and it is a huge floating music festival.

See you in a week!

A Good Day for Poker

2009-01-26T22:42:00.003-05:00

Had a good day today. Played in the $11/10k gtd at Pokerstars - only won about $25 but felt it was a good tournament and learned some more from it. I am loving playing tournaments - they feel like the right thing for me now.

I also did well in the Cardschat UltimateBet buy-in. I got heads-up with April and we eventually decided to split it. I was down to about $40 there since I withdrew $340 - and now I am over $100 again.

And prices on flights to London went down so we are booking our May trip tomorrow! Details on that to follow.

Had a Decent Win This Week

2009-01-22T22:32:00.003-05:00

I won the Cardschat money added tournament on Sunday night - for $172 which is the most I have won in a while. Why do I have to keep building my bankroll at Fulltilt instead of Pokerstars where I would rather play?? lol

Irexes let me watch him play another tournament - it really helps me a lot. I like his style and he is successful with it. I feel like it is something I can do. I have a lot more confidence when I play tournaments now.

I feel a big win coming soon!!

Tournaments Rock!

2009-01-13T22:21:00.002-05:00

Well I am starting to love playing tournaments! I finished 123rd in the tournament mentioned in my last post and won over $52. I played in a $5 tournament today and finished 59 out of over 5000 players. It was only a little over $38 - but going deep twice since my sweat session feels good.

I am getting a lot more confident in my ability - I could have easily gotten to the final table today and won some big bucks. It will happen this year.

I think I have found what I want to do. I am going to try to play $5, $10 and $20 tournaments for a while and see how it goes.

Sweat session

2009-01-11T21:21:00.002-05:00

I had my first tournament sweat session on Friday. It was with Irexes - whom many of us at Cardschat consider the best tournament player we have. I feel very fortunate to have been given this opportunity - it was very much like a coaching session. He played the $22 re-buy at Pokerstars and I was very fortunate that he was in for over 4 hours and went through several stages of the tournament. I learned so much from watching him. Mostly about getting reads and information on opponents, sizing bets and playing position. He really focuses on what he thinks the other players have rather than what he has. He takes a lot of notes on players and uses OPR to check rankings. He showed me what to look for. He also keeps the previous hand history pulled up to check cards played, etc. I feel like I have so much more information now to work with .

I took 2nd in the Cardschat USA vs World event yesterday. I am currently in the $11/30k gtd at stars and I am 280 of 626 and it pays 450. There were 4005 entrants.

YSY!

Tommy Angelo's Book

2009-01-05T19:12:00.002-05:00

I am soooo excited - I got Tommy Angelo's "Elements of Poker". I got it from him - courtesy of Nick at Cardschat and it is autographed. I have read the introduction and a few pages and it seems like it will be easy to read.

Hopefully it will improve my game and all that good stuff lol. I will probably be a scary poker player by the time I turn the last page.

He will probably read about me and offer me free coaching for a year.

A girl can dream...

New Year for Poker

2009-01-01T21:49:00.002-05:00

2009 is going to be a good year for me! I am going to do some studying and practicing to improve my game. I am going to just continue to dabble in cash games and will play some more tournaments.

I won a step 3 ticket at Pokerstars in the blog championship and turned it into a step 4 ticket. I used it to play in the Sunday warm-up last Sunday. I did not cash but felt like it was a good experience.

I played in the $11 re-buy today at Pokerstars and did quite well I thought. I finished 422 of 3258 which was in the money. I went out with KK all in pre-flop and ran into AA. If I had won that hand no telling how far I could have gone.....

Pokertracker Blues

2008-12-08T20:21:00.002-05:00

I finally got my desktop back - yeaaa!!! That is the good news. The bad news is that my hard drive had to be replaced so I lost everything - boooo. My emails, my music, my pics, my spreadsheets. Oh well - now I don't have my poker earnings anymore lol. And I don't think I will track that anymore since I have lost it. It seems I play better when I am not keeping up with every win and loss. When I do that I hate to lose so much - without it I feel a lot less pressure to win.

But oh no - have to start all over with Pokertracker again....

December Poker Goals and Plans

2008-12-03T10:43:00.004-05:00

Well as you can see above I have registered to play in the WBCOOP at Pokerstars this month. The tournaments look good and I should be able to make most of them. Maybe I will end up with a nice prize.

Since this is Christmas month and my mother-in-law will be arriving on Dec 14th to stay for over a month - I will be very busy at home. So I think I will focus on playing mostly Cardschat tournaments, the WBCOOP tournaments at Pokerstars and some occasional other tournaments and a few cash tables here and there.

I tried 4 tabling cash tables Monday night to see how much I might need to play to try to get silver status at Pokerstars - and it would be more than I could try to do, at least in December. It looks like March before I can attempt that so I will work on improving my game until then. I might even drop to $10NL for a bit until then.

So my goal for December is just to try to have a small profit overall. Sounds simple lol.

December - what will it bring?

2008-12-02T21:24:00.002-05:00

Well November was not great. Hopefully December will be better. I will post more in the next few days when I decide what I want to focus on.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T06:42:00.003-05:00

Happy thanksgiving to everyone! We will have 17 people here today to feed and I am doing all of the cooking. I made cookies, a sweet potato casserole, tea, pumpkin pie and the turkey yesterday. Well - Joe cooked the turkey. I just put on the beans. Now all that is left is banana pudding, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, cornbread, dressing, gravy and a pineapple casserole. I think that is all lol. Lunch is at noon this year. The good news is all the family will be gone by around 4 so I was hoping to play poker after that. But now we have invited the neighbors and they might still be here so I will have to wait and see.

Tomorrow - big shopping day for me! This is the first year in ages that I have not had to work after Thanksgiving. The sales start at 4am - not sure I will get out quite that early - but probably will by 5:30 or 6.

Discouraging Month

2008-11-21T22:11:00.002-05:00

November has not been pretty. I seem to lose no matter what I do.

I tried to get Pokertracker working again today and it was a nightmare. I ended up with a twisted ankle - and pokertracker killed my computer. Luckily I have 6 days left on the warranty.

But now I am stuck playing on the laptop for at least a week. I hate playing poker on a laptop. I can never get my bets made fast enough and end up timing out or being forced to make a quick minimum raise just to get a raise in. I like using a mouse. I have tried using one with the laptop but laptops don't like mice much lol.

And as much as I love this laptop - the delete button is the same as the period. So when I try to delete it just types periods most of the time. So I have to backspace instead of delete. Don't know why HP did that - you would think they would be smarter. Or maybe there is some secret to the delete button. I can't figure it out.

Travels All Done!

2008-11-12T18:26:00.002-05:00

I made it through the jetlag study in France. It was tough!!!! I was sleep deprived and starved -but today when I received my check for $2710 it was all worth it.

I have no more trips planned for this year so hopefully I can play more poker now. I am back to waffling between ring and tournaments. I am not doing great at either.

Making progress and making money

2008-10-16T12:00:00.003-04:00

I finished September down -$60.64. Tournaments were not good - that was -$87.86. I did a bit better at the cash tables, playing mostly $25NL I ended up ahead $27.22.

For October I have cutback on tournament play - limiting it mostly to Cardschat games. I have slightly increased my cash play, but not to where I want to be. I am down -$4.30 in tournaments and up $34.90 in cash. So it is looking better. I have had 2 first place finishes in a 2 week period in the Cardschat Fulltilt freerolls. (one was the last day of Sept though)

It is amazing to me now that I am not working how little time I seem to be able to find to dedicate to serious poker. I go to the gym, walk the dogs, do some shopping and a little work around the house and the next thing I know the day is gone. Tough life, I know lol.

I am finding every way possible to earn money without having a job. There is really no pressure on me and that helps. I am still paid a full income until February and after that I can get unemployment wages for up to 39 weeks.

I have found some ways to make small amounts of money online - doing some surveys and things like that. Then I ran across a nice one - I am particpating in a jetlag study and will get paid $2500 for that if I make it through the entire study. I have earned $75 of it already - getting a physical and psychological evaluation. I will earn $350 next week for an overnight study of my sleep patterns. Then if that goes well I will go to Paris on Nov 2nd for the rest of it - and will earn a total of $2075 for those 4 days. Will keep you posted!

Finding my poker game

2008-09-26T18:27:00.002-04:00

I have played a lot of different games in the past few weeks trying to decide what I should concentrate on. I think I need a little bit more time.

I am still just playing a little on the cash tables - I have stuck to $25NL, one table at a time. I won't be reading my book until after I have finished HOH vol 1 - so I will take it slow for now. The good news is I am up almost $40 - so at least I am not losing lol.

I can't say the same for my tournament games - I am down about $80. It really isn't bad considering how much I have played. I have played everything from $1 games to a $30 game. I do okay in the smaller Cardschat games. The big tournaments I struggle getting to the money. I am asking for tips from friends at Cardschat. It is way too soon to give up lol. I will be starting on part 2 of HOH next week - I still have a lot to learn.

Back from Aspen trip

2008-09-25T11:26:00.002-04:00

I took a break and went to visit a friend in Aspen, Co. It is beautiful out there! The houses are incredible - and cost a small fortune to say the least. I took a picture of Jack Nicholson's house. It was one of the smaller ones by Aspen standards lol. I would love to know who lives in the $30 million mansions on the mountainsides.

I will do a poker update later today or tomorrow. Things are going okay so far - no huge wins but no huge losses either.

Deciding What to Play

2008-09-14T06:34:00.002-04:00

My "career" has officially begun. I won some money since I was tracking it last month and got my bankroll up over $1400. Now I have to do some experimenting to determine which games I will be the most successful at and enjoy playing as well.

I use the term career very loosely lol. I will not be working for at least a year - and if by then I am earning part-time money of a sufficient amount playing poker I will not have to return to a regular job. So I am fortunate that I can view this as a potential career without a lot of risk or pressure to make a killing at it. I am willing to back that $1400 with a near equal amount but if I were to lose all of that I would have to return to playing poker recreationally.

My immediate plans are to dabble in some different types of tournaments and play some $25NL as well. I started on last Monday. So far I am down $3.70 in tournaments and up $28.92 in cash games. So I ended the first week up $25.22. I am liking the cash games - not just because I am winning at that but I feel I have more control over what happens. I am also fortunate enough to have some great players at Cardschat willing to review my hands and give me advice.

I say dabble because there are some things I need to do before I get serious and play a lot. I have a lot of reading to do. For tournament play I am starting with HOH vol 1. We will even be doing a book discussion on that at Cardschat which will be fun. For cash I have ordered Slanskey/Miller's NLHE Theory and Practice.

I also need to get my Pokertracker and Hud back up and running. I hope to do that within a few days.

So wish me luck!

Almost Ready for some Poker

2008-09-03T22:12:00.003-04:00

I am almost back! I need a little more time to get things organized at home then I can start my poker career....

I am going to be digging into HOH volume 1 within the next 2 weeks as well. And pulling out some strategy guides at Cardschat. I need to get my Pokertracker and Hud working again. I have a lot to do to get ready.

Stay tuned - it is about to get exciting in here lol.

I will update soon!

2008-08-16T20:40:00.001-04:00

I know it appears that I have abandoned my blog - but I will be updating it frequently soon. Wednesday is my last day of work - after that I plan on concentrating more on my poker.

So stay tuned!

Poker at a Profit??

2008-07-16T10:48:00.002-04:00

Wow - I am really getting stoked lol. It is so cool to be a winning player for a change. It helps a lot to be tracking it here. I find my desire to win - even a few cents sometimes - is much stronger. I am forcing myself to play a different game - I find myself being much more aggressive.

What is really interesting to me is the impact that playing freerolls and FPP's is having on my game. I have always hated those kinds of games because they seem such a waste of time for such little reward. But they are teaching me patience. I always knew I struggled with patience in MTT's - but never realized what an issue it was in smaller games like the Cardschat buy-ins.

Anyway the Cardschat buy-ins at UltimateBet have been my big cash cow recently. I have placed 1st in the last 2 games and have had a couple of other cashes in them recently. It only pays out 3 places so the payouts are great.

I realize I am on an upswing - but I don't mind basking in it for a few days. Reality will come knocking soon enough lol.

I need to find a better way to track my winnings. Jotting it down on a piece of paper isn't working. I will sort through it and update it on Friday - but I estimate that my bankroll is close to $1400 and I am now up approximately $224!

Another win for Dakota!

2008-07-08T19:15:00.002-04:00

I am a bit behind on updating here. I have played a few games in the past few days. I hope I have it all correct.

$1221.45
+ .30 (pokerstars $10NL)
- 5.50 (buy-in for CC Fulltilt game, did not finish itm)
- 5.50 (same as above)
- 5.50 (again but at Pokerstars)
+ .30 (10fpp entry at Pokerstars)
+ 82.00 (profit after taking 1st in CC UltimateBet buy-in!!)
$1287.55 new bankroll

Now I am up $113.84!! This is starting to be fun. I always thought I was a loser lol. (well, at poker anyway)

Bankroll update

2008-07-03T18:21:00.002-04:00

$1218.25
- 11.00 Cardschat Carbon buy-in (did not place itm)
+ 14.20 10NL at Pokerstars
$1221.45 new bankroll

I am now up $47.74 - working my way to $50!

Back from Reno - time to build bankroll some more

2008-07-01T20:40:00.005-04:00

The trip to Reno was fantastic! We met up with some of our Cardschat friends and all had a great time. We drank, played poker, talked and hung out for a few days. It was very nice. And I managed to break even on my gambling.

Here is my bankroll update for the past 2 days:

$1211.55 (don't ask me where the other $9.45 went???)
- 11.00 (Bodog buy-in)
+ .79 (won at $10NL at Absolute)
+ 16.71 (won at $5NL and $10NL at Pokerstars)
+ .20 (won in a 10FPP tournie at Pokerstars - he he)
$1218.25 new bankroll

So I am up $44.54 now.

And fancy that - me winning almost $17 playing cash tables. Not bad! I know I am rolled to play higher than $10NL, but I need to learn how to beat it first.

Trip to Reno

2008-06-26T10:04:00.002-04:00

Finally - we leave for Reno today. I am very excited to meet more of my friends from Cardschat and to see some of the ones I met last year again. This year Joe is going with me and I know he will have a blast.

We will arrive late tonight and might hit the casino for a short while. Tomorrow morning we have rented a car and will drive up to Lake Tahoe for the day. I have heard it is beautiful and it is a place we both want to see.

We will get back to Reno in time to have dinner with MrSticker and his wife and JackDaniels and his wife. Both are friends from Cardschat. Maybe some gambling afterwards - or drinking.

Saturday is my birthday - not a good one. I will be very old. I still feel young lol. It is also the day of the beer festival. The main street in Reno will be shutdown and breweries from all over the world will set up tents up and down the street. There are blues bands playing, food and of course every beer you can think of. We (all from Friday night) will be joined by AmadorEd, Juiceeq, Freakakanus and his wife and SteveG and his wife. This will be a fun group - guaranteed!

Sunday we are getting a poker game together.

I will have my laptop so may update during the trip - if not I will when I return. And my bankroll is now +47.29 from when I started!

$1201.50
- 16.50 (2 buy-ins for tournaments)
+ 36.00 (money won)
$1221.00 new bankroll

REM concert

2008-06-22T20:43:00.002-04:00

Joe took me to see my favorite band in concert last night - REM. Unbelievably it was my first time to see them. They were fantastic!!!

I played in a Cardschat game today - did not place in the money. Made a couple of bad plays and deserved it when I lost - grrr.

$1207.00
- 5.50 entry
$1201.50 new bankroll

I am still up $23.79

Bankroll Update

2008-06-20T20:27:00.003-04:00

I didn't win anything in the Fulltilt freeroll. I took Wednesday off from poker. Last night I joined some Cardschat members on a .02/.05 cash table at Pokerstars. I was down at first then made some of it back. I forgot to see exactly what I left with - but I think I lost a little over $1. Tonight I played in the Cardschat Carbon Poker freeroll. I placed 4th and won $7! I think that is my biggest ever freeroll cash. (Not that I have played many freerolls).

$1201.71
- 1.71 cash game
+ 7.00 freeroll
$1207.00 new bankroll

So I am up $29.29 so far!

My Bankroll Building

2008-06-17T19:57:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I went to all of the Poker sites I could remember that I have money at. My total bankroll was $1173.71. I couldn't even remember my login or password at Poker.com. They got back to me and I finally got in. I am glad I thought of them - I knew I had a little bit of money there but didn't know it was over $100.

I played 2 games last night. One of the Cardschat members put a last minute $5+.50 game up in Pokerstars. I played that but did not cash. I also played the Cardschat $5+.50 game at UltimateBet. This has money added and I placed 3rd and won $39. So I am up so far lol.

$1173.71
- 11.00 buy-ins
+ 39.00 won
$1201.71 new bankroll

Tonight I am playing the Cardschat freeroll at Fulltilt. I hate freerolls. But I am going to give them another chance since I am about to be unemployed.

WSOOF Main Event

2008-06-16T07:22:00.000-04:00

I finished 36th out of 152, which is a bust financially. However I really enjoyed the team spirit so it was worth it. Almost half of my bankroll is at Fulltilt so that was the best place to lose it I guess lol.

The good news is some members of Cardschat did very well. Our own Irexes took 3rd place. We won enough points as a forum to win a $225 freeroll. This freeroll will be limited to members who participated in the event so it won't be a large field. Maybe I can win back some of that buy-in!

Then there was another interesting phenomenon. It seems that almost everyone who read my blog yesterday won money playing poker. Hmm....

Okay it is off to work for me. My first real day back at work since learning my job is ending by Sept 1st. It feels great to go to work with absolutely no stress! Though I feel a sick day coming on this week. I have 8 sick days that I will lose when I leave - and I intend to try to use a few of them before then.

Welcome to my blog!

2008-06-15T13:45:00.000-04:00

I am very proud that I created this blog with minimal assistance from my husband. It is still in the construction phase so bear with me. I need to figure out how to add some links. I am sure there are some guys out there who will help me!

I have been thinking about starting a poker blog for quite some time but have been too busy to play much poker. I found out last week that I will be losing my job in about 2 months - so that means more time on my hands. I may not update this much at first but once I am no longer working I will be in here most days.

As soon as I have time I will visit all of the poker sites where I have money and figure out what my bankroll is. For now I will estimate it at approximately $1100. I am going to try to become a winning player for a change and will attempt to use good bankroll management for the most part. However you will need to forgive any transgressions because I have some rules of my own regarding that.

Rule #1 - I am allowed to play in any and all Cardschat associated games regardless of the buy-in. This includes joining Cardschat friends at cash tables that may be at higher stakes than I should play at. However this won't happen often. (I decide what too often means)

Rule#2 - If I get too low on cash at my favorite sites rather than drop to levels that are no fun at all I will allow myself to trade sex with my husband for online poker transfers. (don't worry Joe if you read this - it would be above and beyond the norm!)

Rule#3 - I can add more rules if I need or want to.

So today I have registered for the WSOOF Main Event. The entry was $50+5. If I remember correctly I can buy-in for up to 5% of my bankroll so that should be okay. There are only 135 people registered so far and the prize packages are nice. And - maybe I can get some points for Cardschat to win a freeroll.

Wish me luck!