Long overdue update

Ok been a long time since I updated this. Seems like when things are going against me it's much tougher to update. I guess my last post I was thinking about quiting poker in some respect, however that didn't really happen(imagine that).

After the black Friday(closure of stars/ftp/ap), I laid low for awhile and thought about what to do with all my new found freetime. After a few weeks I really though I'd just play my poker league and some tournaments run around town, and maybe occasionally some 1/2 at Diamond Jo's.

I ended up middle of the pack in our league and blanked the 2 end of the year tournaments. In our annual spring 4 day tournament series I ended up chopping the limit hold em event and came in 5th overall. Basically breaking even or so for the weekend. Around this time my 1200 balance from pokerstars was paid to me.

I decided to take the money and give 1/2 at diamond jo's a run. It didn't go very well at all, and I quickly lost my pokerstars money. I did run into some big hands at the wrong time, but really I feel I was over my head in the games. Maybe not so much skill wise, but for sure bankroll wise. I was way to tight and refused to get my money in. I learned quickly that when I play with only 5 or 6 buyins for a game, I put myself at a disadvantage.

Wanting to learn cash play more after/during my diamond jo session, I decided to put some money on the merge network through the carbon poker skin. I put 100 in and started playing .02/.04 full ring to learn some cash game concepts. The players were much better at this stake then they were at similar stakes on other sites. Basically after black Friday everyone was scared to put money online(for good reason). So good players would put the 100 minimum in and then grind the lowest game to try and build up a roll.

I switched to 6 max .02/.04 at some point, but the games were still pretty tough. I started mixing in some tournaments on merge, which seemed softer. Problem was they often were 10 dollars or so a tournament for any that had decent structure/payoff. Soon deposited another 100 after burning through the first 100.

Did manage to win a tournament at some point on merge, however was only a 2 dollar tournament. If I recall 1 dollar went to prize pool and the other dollar to a bounty. Whatever it was, it only paid like 85 dollars for the win. I continued to mix in tournaments and soon went busto.

I felt pretty down at this point poker wise. Nothing seemed to work out for me, and I really didn't know what to do about it. I took some more time off and thought about what I wanted to do. I decided I wasn't ready to give up, however I needed to work on my game and bankroll decisions.

I decided I wasn't good at playing on a small bankroll(< 10 buyins), so diamonds jos wasn't really an option for me. Also, really felt I needed to work on my game. I started reading poker books again. Started by again reading harrington's two cash game books along with his online cash game book. Also read for the second time professional no limit hold'em and small stakes no limit hold'em. Also read the poker blueprint for the first time.

I decided my only option to play and learn with the appropriate bankroll, was to play online. Since the merge cash games seemed tough, I decided to give bodog a try. Put 100 in, and started playing .02/.05(5 NL) 6 max. The game were definitely softer then merge, but I started out running a few buyins below in all-in ev. I got to a point were I was almost busto again and put 100 more on.

Things started turning it around in 5 NL and soon had made about 80 dollars playing. Doesn't sound like much but I was happy being up 16 buyins. Also, started playing some small tournaments on there. I made 3 final tables in about 10-12 tournaments at one point(not that it's super impressive as most tournaments there have 150-200 players per tournament). With my bankroll around $425, I looked at playing NL 10.

Problem was that NL 10 is sort of a gap game that most recreational players don't play. Most of the games were full of regulars I knew from NL 5. So I decided to give NL 25 a shot, although slightly underolled. I figured I could drop back to NL 5 if my bankroll went to around 100.

I started out very well in NL 25 and ran very good. I was happy that things finally seemed to turn around. I've cooled of some in this game, but overall have a decent profit playing.

One thing that really helped me was exercising game and seat selection. Basically if I don't feel the conditions are profitable for me I find a different game or switch seats. I'm planing and writing some blogs about this and other concepts.

I've also been playing some tournaments on bodog in the 10 dollars range for freezeouts and 3 dollar range for rebuys. My tracking software doesn't update for tournaments, but I'm probably down a little playing them.

Current bankroll is 750 on bodog. I plan on playing NL 25 for awhile longer and mix in some tournaments here and there.

Like I mentioned earlier I'm going to try and write some strategy blogs. In writing these I'm going to present material that I feel will help others. I'm not claiming to be an expert, and I'm sure some concepts presented will be open for debate. Perhaps they will serve as a starting point that will benefit myself and the reader.

As always if interested in following me day to day it's MNPuck on twitter.

Thanks for reading,

MNPuck