The Poker Bonus Chaser's Journal

I have decided that NL cash is where I will put the thrust of my effort for a while, but I will also spend some time playing SNGs.  Last night began the great experiment in that regard.

I need to finish off a Crypto chase this month, so I went there.  I saw a $100NL table with a 51% view flop and a $32 average pot size.  That seemed very juicy, so sat down with $30.  I read on ITH once where someone recommended playing short-stacked while learning the game, and it made sense to me in my generally conservative approach to the game.  Things were wild and woolly at the table for the first half-hour.  There were a couple of LAGs, and nearly every pot was clearing me a full point.  I was not getting many cards - several small pairs in the pocket that got folded as underpairs on the flop was about it.

The LAGs left, but I felt ike I was getting a decent read on most of the players, so I stayed even though the table was tightening.  (I was playing some PLO Hi, also, so that was detracting from my ability to read.  I should probably not do that, but the PLO tables were very juicy.)  I got a free look from the BB, with only one other limper, and flopped bottom two pair with holding 75o.  The limper bet the pot into me - $3, and I raised to $7.  He called.  Turn was 6s, putting 7s6s5s on the board. He bet the pot into me, and I should have let it go, but I didn't.  It was only another $4 raise and I was all-in, so that's what I did.  He showed a set of sixes.  Of all the hands that beat me, that wasn't the one I was expecting, but it was still a stupid call (although I think his lead bet was stupid, too.)

I re-bought for another $30, and lost another $20 of that here and there.  Nothing too bad for play as far as I was concerned.  I re-bought back up to $30, drifted a bit more, and then tripled up when my 15-outter hit on the river.  I left the table down about $8, but my bonus was cleared.  Except for that bottom two-pairs hand, I was not too disappointed in my play. 

I got stuck for about $4 at the PLO tables.  I flopped top set twice, where it was the nut hand, got all my chips in on the flop and got outdraw both times.  Same when I flopped the nut straight once, but I had two other flopped straights hold up, so I got most of it back.  Crap happens, I guess.

I am making an effort to find some new poker bonuses for us to chase.  I haven't researched for a while, so when I did some research last night, I found a few decent bonuses right away.  I am posting these in the forum under the Bonus Q&A section.  I will eventually get them all a permanent home once the website conversion is complete, and I can begin the additive process once again.  Thanks for your patience.

Posted by Bullajami at 09:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Where are the fish?  It seems that everywhere I play, the shark-fish ratio at $2/4 and $3/6 is higher than ever.  Finding a >30% view flop table at full ring any more is getting harder and harder.  I don't like it.   I get the feeling that my edge at the tables is getting very low.  I think I may need to make a change to my regular game.  Possibilities include:

Playing more obscure sites.  The problem with this solution is that finding any games at $2/4 and $3/6 is tough.  The bonus chasing tends to be limited, CS usually stinks, and there's always some uncertainty that you're dealing with an honest operator.

Dropping down limits.  There's just something inherently disappointing in that.  Its also a profit reducer - I can likely make more breaking even with Absolute bonuses at $3/6 than I can earn at a .25/.50 table.

Changing games.  NL?  O/8? Short hand?  I think NL is the likely candidate of that group if I am to remain dedicated to full time poker bonus chasing.  There's a lot of traffic at NL, so I should be able to work on table selection and fish finding.  I like O/8, too, but I read more and more about people switching to it, and I think that the tables there will become increasingly tight also.  There's probably still a good window for now, but I think NLHE will be fishier longer, just based on TV coverage and new player volume.

SNGs and MTTs?  I have often felt that it was more gratifying to win money in a tournament than in a cash game - and more irritating to be outdrawn and busted.  It's pretty hard to clear bonus money like this, though, and the $10+1 SNGs are getting harder everywhere I look.  This is a viable option, though, as being profitable at this would be very fulfilling to me personally.

Others I haven't though of yet?

I should have posted this in the forum, as I would really like to get soem feedback and thoughts from others on this.  I started a thread on it here:  http://bullsbetting.com/Forums/viewtopic.php?p=2881#2881, so please give me some feedback.  I know there's no one right answer, but I am curious about people's thoughts on the matter.

Posted by Bullajami at 07:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I don't want the Poker Gods to hear about this.  They were clearly off partying this weekend and forgot to come to my tables to curse my cards to give me the second best hand at least once an orbit like they've been doing for the past three months.  If they hear me bragging about turning a profit, they may become angry and give me second set twice an orbit for a while.

Friday night I played at Ultimate Bet on the PLO tables.  That was a pretty good idea, as there were some "exhuberant" bettors at the table.  Not only were they paying off my good hands, but they were making sure I was getting maximum UB points for bonus clearing as well.  Thanks guys.  I also had a PLO table at SunPoker open.  I made the nut straight on the turn and bet the pot, I got re-raised all-in, and got stacked when he hit his flush on the river.  Bummer, but I'll win that hand most of the time, so I was glad to get the chance to take that bet.  Later I played in a $2 MTT at Absolute.  2+ hours later, I busted out 61st, in the money for $2.20.  That was a strange MTT experience.  I don't think my stack ever got above 5,000.  I was in the bottom 10 or 15 players from the first break on, but they just couldn't kill me.  Just when things looked terminal, I would make a hand and stay alive.  It was slightly amusing as the big stacks were getting annoyed by my nine lives, but that's still a long time to play for 20 cents.

Saturday I played a bit more at Sunpoker and Absolute.  Treading water at both.  Then I moved on to the Will Hill, Littlewoods and UKBetting casino monthlies.  Finished up almost $300 after all 3 of those, even though I got creamed at Littlewoods.  That was the extent of my play for the day.  I watched JARHEAD with my sons, and called it a night.

Sunday I hit the $2/4 O/8 tables at Absolute.  There was one guy at the table who seemed to think his aggression was going to get him pots.  That's what I like at my O/8 limit tables.  Especially when I get a lot of playable hands.  Pulled down about 12 BB there, and then had to go grill dinner.

In the evening I played a little circus style NL at SunPoker.  I actually cheated on the circus style quite a bit, limping with JTs and pockets on a few occassions.  I busted someone's KK with my JTs one hand when I pushed all-in with top pair and a str8 draw on the flop, and turned another jack.  The very next hand I had AA UTG and pushed first in.  Same guy calls me with A4o (tilt much?) and I stacked him in two hands.  I doubled up on another table, too, so I quit at that point.  I had some Site Admin stuff to do (it NEVER stops) and then The Sopranos. 

All-in-all a pretty good weekend.

Posted by Bullajami at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, knock wood, but the cards were finally falling FOR me last night.  I was playing at UB, on one $2/4 and one $1/2 table.  They were decent tables with a few fish at each, but really the cards at the $2/4 table were uncommonly kind to me.  I lost a big pot on the $1/2 table when my flopped straight ran into a rivered flush - but I thought the guy who won played it reasonably well. It was a good hand.  I was up 17 BB at the $2/4 table and down 4 BB at the $1/2 table when my internet connection dropped out.  It cam e back soon, but I had lost my seats, so I decided to call it quits for the night, and bag a positive session for a change.  I need the emotional boost.

I ended up in the pot with the same guy multiple times at my $2/4 table, and I kept coming out on top.  He lit me up some in chat, telling me how much he hated me three or four time.  I didn't respond.  I considered throwing some gasoline on his tilt fire, but I decided not to.  I just wanted to enjoy the moment - a rare winning moment - for a change and not get derailed by some moron. 

I think tonight I'll finally have to figure out how to load my UB hands into Poker Tracker.  I have not done this before, hopefully it isn't too difficult.

Posted by Bullajami at 01:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I didn't get a chance to play much last night.  Mrs. Bull's laptop hard drive died last weekend and the replacement was delivered yesterday.  I spent most of the evening installing Windows XP, drivers, and other software, and get her back on the wireless LAN in our house.  I find that type of work to be tedious and annoying, but she has paid in full for it, so I try to provide the best service possible. 

 Before we realized that  the new hard drive had been delivered (it was on the front porch vice the mailbox) I did get some hands in at Crypto and made the plunge at Ultimate Bet again.  I found the tables at UB $1/2  to be tighter than I'd hoped, but there were a few fish there.  I was up for a while, but finished dead even after a couple of blind defenses with Ace high hands drained me of about 10 BB.  I had dominating hands going into both flops, but never hit.  These were the kind of players you'd want to call down on, but they both got lucky on me.  Of course.  But I earned 29 UB Points, and at least I didn't lose.

I did lose at Crypto .5/1.  That table was pretty tight and I stole a few blinds, but when my KK got runner-runnered, and my flopped top trips got beat by the rivered flush, I finished down 3 BB.  That table was irritatingly tight.  We rarely made it to a $5 pot to get 0.25 MPPs.  Unbelievable.  I may try 7 stud there tonight.  Something to break the monotony.

Posted by Bullajami at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Contemplating where to go next.  I want to move way down in limits until this slump blows over.  Down someplace where I can be comfortable that I am playing with chips and not with money.  The losses are looking more and more like money every day, and that can't possibly help my game.

My first instinct was to grind out the Cryptos at $0.50/1, but I could only find one table of that going last night.  I decided to try some .35/.70 6-max.  True to form, I dropped 24 BB there in about 15 minutes.  Every few months I try 6-max and every few months I swear never to try it again.  I should let someone examine my hand histories to verify that I just have awful luck whenever I sit at a 6-max table.  I am inexperienced, but I lost to so many BS dominated hands and a few runner runners last night - as usual when I sit at a 6-max.  Sigh.  I will play at .5/1 FR, but I need some other tables open then as well - looking to other sites for this.

I went looking at Ultimate Bet for the first time in a long while last night.  I played there well over a year ago, and got brutally hammered.  I was fairly new to poker, having just a few months' experience at the time, and had never experienced such bloodshed....or chipshed, as it were.  I withdrew from UB after a week and vowed never to go back.  I have even posted many times in forums about my "voodoo curse" there.  Looking at it again (a sure sign of my current desperation) the bonus clearing terms look pretty ordinary.  Seems $1/2 might be the "sweet spot" where you are likely to be getting the most returned as far as % of rake refunded is concerned.  The tables looked reasonable, too, so I may give them another shot.  Still thinking.

I could always do another Action Poker Network skin.  I am not sure how well bonus clears at $1/2 and below, but those tables sure are soft.  Could be just what the doctor ordered.  There's also a few Primas that will clear at .5/1 and below I haven't played yet.  Boss and Tribecca, too!  I have many options, I am just not fully satisfied with any of them.  Eventually I'll figure out what I a going to do.  No hurries.  Its not like I have a deadline or anything.

Posted by Bullajami at 09:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Played some Absolute $3/6 and took a beating, but later made most of it back.  Highglight at that point was when my AA pocket saw a AA4 flop, and the BB was holding 44. 

Decided to slink back over to InterCasino and see if I could do my favorite thing: double up the monthly bonus at blackjack before clearing it at poker.  I should probably elaborate:

InterPoker and InterCasino are part of the Cryptologic Network.  They have a unique arrangement in that you can get $100 every month as a bonus in the casino or in the poker room, but not both.  Several of the Crypto poker rooms offer £25 bonuses in the poker room and another £25 in the casino - but not Inter.  It's one $100 monthly.  However, you can clear it with a combination of casino and poker play - which is what I like to do.  Here is my methodology:  start at blackjack and attempt to double the bonus amount.  When I am $100 ahead at black jack, it shows as a pending $200 bonus.  At that point I like to go finish clearing the now engorged bonus at poker, where the variance is lower and the reward for playing the tight Crypto tables is much higher.

That's what I did last night.  I had played blackjack a few nights ago, and finished almost dead even after half my wagering requirement was completed.  Last night I started out on fire, and had doubled to $203 in pending bonus with 65% of my wagering requirement complete.  Bing!

I switched over to poker.  There were several $1/2 tables looking juicier than the $2/4 tables, so I sat in at $1/2.  As usual these days, I ate it hard.  The coup de grace was when I limped in with T8s on the button.  Flop came QT8.  BB bet and I raised, folding everyone else.  Turn was a blank and BB check-raised me.  I called.  River was my 8, and when he re-re-re-raised me to make it 5 bets on the river, I just called.  He showed QQ.  That put me into a tizzy and I closed all my tables. 

In a lather I checked my bonus status.  I had $108 in cash and $203 in pending bonus, 75% complete.  I took all $311 back to the blackjack tables, determined to clear this bonus off and show a little profit for the night.  First hand, dealer shows 5 and draws to 21.  Second hand, dealer shows 4 and draws to 20. Third hand, dealer show 6 and draws to 21.  Fourth hand I double all my bets, dealer has a blackjack.  Fifth hand I lay $25 on 5 hands, dealer has a 19, and I am down to $27.  Back to $5 bets, I finally hit a string of wins, driving my stack back up to $119.

But what has happened?  As soon as I dropped below $203, my pending bonus money started evaporating.  When I had hit $108 going down, it was all gone - and it doesn't come back.  I didn't even realize it was gone until I stopped for air at $119.  I traded $11 in cash balance ($108 to $119) for $203 in bonus money that would have cleared in another 125 MPPs.  I totally screwed the pooch on that one.

Pick Bull out of the jackass line-up below.

As my CyberBuddy Fumseck says, "Crash and Learn!"  Hopefully I will learn from this one and just go have some ice cream or something next time.

Posted by Bullajami at 10:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

...before it kills me. 

Two sessions since my last post, and I got slaughtered on both.  I absolutely can't play my best poker when the beats are this relentless.  I don't know that an official announcement is necessary for me to stop pursuing a sideshow quest like this, but I made a big enough deal about starting it, so it seemed that some type of formal statement announcing its discontinuation is in order.

I think for the rest of the month I will concentrate on finishing up a few Cryptos and maybe grind away at Absolute Poker for a while.  I am still enamored with their new VIP program.  I would really like to earn that laptop in a few months.  I think it is possible, I just need to have the cards land in a more normal distribution for me before I can spend any serious time at the tables.  I refuse to play poker when I know I am not playing my best.

I have decided I would like to stake some new players at Absolute Poker.  I think the sign up and continuous reload bonuses there are a great deal for new players, and this VIP program is another added benefit for anyone who is planning to play there consistently for several months.  If you are a new player, or new to Absolute Poker, contact me at BullsBetting, and we can discuss the options available based on your particular situation.

Posted by Bullajami at 09:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The whole VIP program at Absolute Poker intrigues me so I thought I'd play a while there last night.  I wanted tables that were over 30% view flop, so I ended up at 1X $3/6, 1X $2/4 (a rarity at Absolute anymore) and 2X $1/2.  All full ring.  I just have no success at short hand.

About 30 minutes into it I was down about $10 at one $1/2.  Just about even at the other $1/2 and the $2/4, and up about $45 at the $3/6.  Going pretty well.  It was about 10 minutes until I had to take my dog to the vet, so I clicked off the auto-post, preparing to punch out before my next blinds.

At my $2/4 table I am the second limper from MP2 with QhJh.  Both blinds complete.  Flop comes

Js Jc 8d.

EP bets and I raise, both blinds fold, and EP calls.  I put him on a draw with T9.  I think pocket 88, or AJ, KJ would have been slow-played by this guy.  turn comes 4c

EP bets.  Hmmmmmmmm....  did he really bet out with trips or a flopped boat?  I can't believe it.  I raise again.  EP calls.  River is 7h.  EP bets.  Now every hand I had him on has me beat, but it's worth the crying call, so I make it.  He shows Tc 9c.

Meanwhile on my $3/6 table, I get Kh Td in the C/O.  There is only 1 limper.  I limp, as does the button, the SB completes, and the BB checks.  Flop is Kc 9c 6d

EP bets and I raise, BTN folds, SB folds and BB calls.  EP calls.  Turn is Ks.  EP bets and I raise.  I am at least hoping to get the flush-drawing BB to fold.  He calls anyways.  So does EP.  River is 7c

BB bets.  EP folds.  I make the crying call with top trips (again).  He shows me Jc 8c.  And I take my dog to the vet having lost another $40 at poker. 

I think the guy with the Tc 9c hand played it well.  He bet into his draw with a semi-bluff, and called the flop raise. Then bet into it again when he drew to a 15 outter on the turn (although a few get discounted as he must assume I have trips).

I think the flop and turn cold calls by the Jc 8c were not very good play, given he has a non-nut draw to a non-nut flush.  Poor play gets rewarded sometimes, though, and quite often against me lately.  Sigh.

I noted that my VIP Status Points (VSPs) at Absolute Poker are accumulating half as fast as my ARPs.  The T&Cs state it should be at the same rate (or faster once you are promoted to "Platinum" or "Elite" level).  I have written to Absolute to ask about this.  It takes a lot of luster off the program if the VSPs are only growing at half the rate as the ARPs.

Posted by Bullajami at 09:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The hemorrhage continues in my poker results.  Down another $70 last night after playing about an hour of (mostly) $2/4 and also some $1/2.  "Bone-of-the-day hand" award goes to.

Bull is the BB, with Ah 2c.

There are 2 limpers and the SB completes.  Th flop is Ac 2d 4d

which looks pretty good to me.  I bet out, and the EP player raises.  The other two fold.  I decide to call it and donk-bet the turn if its not a diamond - no free cards.  Turn is Jh

I bet, EP raises - hmmmmmm...... did he flop a set?  AJ? Slow-played aces? A 53o officianado? Time to see, I guess.  I call.  River is Ts.

I check-call.  EP shows Ks Qc    

The same guy later called my PFR (me holding slick) with A7o, and hit his 7 on the river, calling me all the way down, and raising the river with bottom pair.  I know I should relish play that bad, but I have been paying it off for several months now and it just makes me nuts to the point where I have to terminate my session and calm down.  It's too maddening.

If I don't put together a couple of winning sessions soon, it is doubtful I will make my $1,000 in April goal.  I can't play pissed off, and I can't force it just to complete some bonus chasing quest.  I have long preached that the poker comes before the chasing, and I have always meant it.  When I know I won't be playing well, I have to sit out.  The accumulation of beats on this miserable run is making me play poorly when I get down at the start of a session.  I have to deal with that as rationally and constructively as possible until this slump passes.  Forcing it will do nothing but prolong the slump until my cards run hot.  I need to be winning as soon as the cards start running 'normal'.

Posted by Bullajami at 08:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am just not grinding out enough hands.  The website is taking up a significant amount of my time - time I used to spend playing.  It's also not helping that I am still not winning at the tables.  This makes the game less fun for me, and therefore my sessions tend to get wrapped up earlier.  About the time I drop 20 BB I am normally fairly annoyed, and ready to quit for the night.  I have plenty of good forum posts to read, sports betting, new programming skills to learn (php, html, MySQL - oh my!), my kids have stuf going on, and, of course, Mrs Bull needs to have opportunities to pay attention to me. 

Basically, I have plenty of "funner" distractions than having another losing session of cards.  That said, I still think I can make it to $1K by the end of the month, but I'll have my work cut out for me now to make it happen.

Here's a hand example from yesterday.  I decided to play .50/$1 NL at Prima.  I was playing short-stacked because I was sitting in with the remainder of my deposit after I was already at a couple of limit tables.

I was in MP3 with KcTc.  I had $18 in my stack.  Two limpers ahead of me, so I limped in.  SB, an aggressive pre-flop player raised it to $6.  EP calls, and I call to close the betting.  Flop comes:

Ks Ts 9c

SB checks.  I don't think he would have checked a really strong hand - he loved to be first in the pot.  EP checks.  I pushed the rest of my $12 into the middle.  SB calls and EP folds.  SB shows JcJd.

Turn:  Qd, River:  blank

Will this stuff happen on occassion?  Absolutely.  Is it happenning to me all too freaking often lately?  Its maddening.

Posted by Bullajami at 02:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'll start with the box scores for those of you keeping track:  So far this month I've finished Totalbet Poker, UKBetting Poker and $50 at Absolute - for $138 in bonus money.  Another Crytpto is next, and I think it might be Will Hill.  I'd like to do SunPoker and Poker Plex, too.  I also have to finish off this pesky Stan James chase for $100.  Hopefully this weekend will be productive in that regard.

I am down a bit from poker play.  I am ahead a few BB, but I got mercilessly slaughtered on a £2/4 table.  It was a juicy loose passive event, but I just continue to bring eveyone at the table good luck.  If you're on a draw, and I'm in the pot with a made hand on the flop, you are going to catch your card by the river.  Its a lock.  Anyways, £2/4 being the highest limit I've played, and the worst results I've had in the past week, I am losing money at Poker.

Still hoping for a phat Party bonus to celebrate their re-aligning of the skins back into one big happy Party!  Maybe a PokerRoom 7X will come along, too.  Hey, dare to dream!

Posted by Bullajami at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I finished the Totalbet Poker (a Crypto skin) chase last night for £25 (call it $44).  Then I went over to Absolute and ground out another $20 of bonus there.  I also played a bit at Stan James, but still haven't cleared that one.  The poker was OK.  I took a few draw outs at Stan James (Prima).  It was just $1/2, so little impact to the bankroll.  I was up a bit at the others.

 That makes $84 cleared so far in April for anyone keeping track.

I spent some time futzing with my websiite, as well.  Moving buttons and links around and "experimenting" a little.  I am not a computer guy, but I like to try to solve riddles and codes, and that's how I view messing with html, php, etc.  "Hmmm... let's see what happens when I add this."  It keeps me off the streets, but it also eats into my grinding time, so I should try to keep experimenting low and focus more on just getting everything working.  I suspect a year from now I'll be pretty good at getting the site to look just how I want it to with minimal effort (or formal training!)

Posted by Bullajami at 01:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I finally got some time at the tables last night, but not how I was expecting.  The wait times at Crypto were long and the tables looking very tight, so I opted for some Prima (Stan James) play to start.  I need to finish that one anyways, and I must be getting close.  Played about 150 hands at break-even.

Moved to Absolute $3/6 and got spanked.  That was really quite fugly.  Dumped about 30 BB.  So, of course, I moved to $5/10 for a short while.  I picked up about 2 BB, but when the two huge table fish busted and left, it was time to look for greener pastures. 

Got onto some Crypto tables, but that didn't last long.  They were super-tight, so I didn't stay long, even though I was rolling well and was up a bit.  By that point in the evening I was getting bored and annoyed with the grinding.  Flipped back to Stan James for some 6-max NL circus-style.  I hit two hands quickly and doubled up on both, so I dropped that project as well.

Moved over to Hollywood and played 2 SNGs.  A first and a not-in-the-money finish wrapped up my very strange evening of poker.  I only cleared $20 of bonus officially, but I have made some progress on a couple of others, so they are just about ripe for getting into my account.

Posted by Bullajami at 09:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

D'Oh!  I've already had 2 days to clear bonus money toward this quest in April, but I haven't played a single hand online yet this month!  Saturday, April 1, I went up to an "ITH of Virginia" convention - which looks strangely like a party, somehow.    It was Au Panner, Nsidestrate, Suited Pair and myself gathering at Torch's house for some libations and poker.  It was lots of fun.  We played $1/2 limit, and the entire buy-in for Nsidestarte was less than 1 BB at his normal limits.  The play was loose and fun.  Suited and Au Panner were the big winners for the night, I think.  My protracted inability to ever put Suited on a hand was costly.  I was even getting good cards, but losing money.  D'Oh!

Sunday was all about yardwork and family obligations.  It was beautiful weather here, and I got quite a lot done, but poker wasn't one of them.  So, I haven't cleared any bonus money yet, but I did engage in quite a few +EV situations.  I'll start on the Cryptos tonight.  Still hoping for a big fat reload from Party or Stars sometime during the month to make this go easily!

Posted by Bullajami at 09:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)