The Poker Bonus Chaser's Journal

Grinding away at that Littlewoods reload I was offered for August.  I was playing 2 tables of $2/4 until I got 200 MPPs cleared last night.  The tables were the loosest $2/4 FRLH tables I've played at a Crypto in quite some time.  Not that it did me much good as I got slapped around by the deck for about 25 BB or so.  Very frustrating, but that's poker some days.  I feel that I played reasonably, but I probably laid down a few hands where I was ahead in there, too.  Some second pairs and ace-highs that were probably good.  I just always felt out of position to make a play with them, so I let them all go.  I am pretty sure my table image was weak-tight.

No spectacular beats, just the same old tragic tale of QQ losing to 66, KK losing to AA, fish rivering their two-pair, etc.  The only uncommon thing was that I flopped 2-pair on JT9 flop, and the board runnered 8 and 7 for the straight and I split the pot.  I've seen that before, but its still a pisser.

I didn't realize just how far my poker bonus chasing had fallen off until I went to record my £25 bonus on my Excel spreadsheet and I saw it was my first bonus in August.    Holy moly, I am way behind where I used to be!  Part of that is the fact that I was on travel for my day job, but mostly its because I spend more time doing other things than playing poker than I used to.

I have a Party $40 bonus to work off before 4 Sep.  I also have about 33% of my Nine Poker bonus to finish for $15 by mid-Sept.  I also haven't done Will Hill yet this month, and that's just too much of a free ride to pass over, IMO.  It must be my upbringing or something, because that amount of money is insignificant to my BR, but I am just vehemently opposed to not collecting such easy bonuses - no matter how small.  Looks like I'm going to have to knuckle down and play some more poker for the next few weeks than the last few weeks - which could be problematic as I am going on travel for my day job again on Sunday!

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

As most of you probably know I was in Vegas and then a long road trip for the past two weeks.  There was some poker involved, so I should probably tell all the stries I have.

I took just enough off the cash tables in Vegas to pay my ITH tournament buy-ins and cocktail waitress tips.  That was pretty much a wash.  Unfortunately I also dropped $80 at video poker and $200 at blackjack.  No big deal - I can afford it.

I only played poker online one night after I left Vegas for California and Arizona, and no live poker at all.  My traveling companion, a retired Navy SEAL, seemed to prefer cantinas for dinner and that usually led to me sliming back into my hotel room at bedtime every night.  One night I played some PLO Hi on Littlewoods while I was fairly tanked.  I got stacked for $120 on one hand where I flopped the nut straight (J8 on a T97 flop) with a redraw to a K-high flush and got all my chips in against someone with a higher straight draw (QJ).  He hit it when a K turned, and I was done for.  I made about half of that back before calling it quits.  I never seem to win the really big pots I am in in PLO.  I win plenty of medium ones, but when there's a really big pot I either can't catch my card or the villain always does.  Maddening.

Last night I played some $2/4 FRLH at Nine Poker.  My, what juicy and beatable tables I found.  If I told you I had QQ cracked twice, had two flopped sets lose at showdown, and failed to catch any of my draws, you'd probably think I had a horrible night.  In reality I was only down about 8 BB by the end.  It was a wild ride with lots of big pots, and I did manage to get a few of them.  My cards were running significantly above average, even though I was making lots of second-best hands.  The up side to this at Nine Poker is that the bonus is based on contributed rake, and with good hands I was making lots of contributions.  I made some good progress on that chase.

Not sure I'll get any games in tonight - I have a bunch of Dad biz to take care of, and that's gotta come first.

Posted by Bullajami at 01:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am actively working two poker bonuses at the moment.  Littlewoods offered me £75 for 600 MPPs in August.  I haven't played there for several months and I got a special offer, which I am ever so happy to take.  I have earned only 72 MPPs so far, but I am up about £14.  So far I have played PLO HI and I even found a NL O/8 table going.  I only played a short while on the O/8 table as I had a great nut low hand and tied for the hi hand, and failed to extract max value from my opponent - whom I had quartered.  After that mistake I decided I needed to find another game until I can study O/8 a bit more.  I have a book, but it's not yet been read.  

I am also working a Nine Poker reload that is about 60% complete.  I have until mid-September to complete the Nine poker bonus, so the priority is the Littlewoods bonus, which expires at the end of August.  However, I have put a lot of effort into table selection recently, so I will play wherever the fish are biting.  I have long preached "poker before chasing" and now I am living it to its fullest.

Casinos:

I TROUNCED the dealer at Will Hill Saturday.  It was a bit of a wild ride, but I got lucky on a round where I decided to jack my bets up to £5 per hand, and that seemed to turn the tide.  I got on a hot streak after that and cleaned up for nearly $100.  I also did a $100 Bodog deposit, playing $10 bets I went down to $20 then back up to $155.  At that point I quit and busted it out with a sports bet.  (I love doing that, btw!)

Posted by Bullajami at 08:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Back to Nine Poker and playing a little $5/10 last night.  When I first sat at the table the view flop percentage in the lobby for that table was 71%.  that caught my eye!  In reality, I don't think it was that high, but it was a nice, loose table, nevertheless.

Two uneventful orbits and then I get A4s on the BTN.  3 limpers, then me, SB and BB.  6 of us seeing what I hope will be an all diamond flop, but it was even better:  A44.  It checks to a truly awful MP player who bets.  I call and so does BB.  Turn is a 3.  Same betting pattern.  River is a 2.  MP bets, I raise, BB drops, MP three-bets .  What the hell?  Did he slow play his AA pre-flop?  If he did, he is about to get paid.  I cap it and he calls.  He shows 65o.  Poor fishy catches his runner runner nut straight and it's not good!  BWAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAA!

That was my only remarkable hand last night.  It was another short session, which is one of the problems with playing the Action Poker Network - the traffic is light, but also the players there seem to jump on and off tables much faster than I normally see elsewhere.  You can go from a full fishy table to 3-handed in two hands.  Especially week nights.  Weekend traffic usually supports tables for longer sessions.

Here is something else I have noticed lately:  I tilt much less when I am single-tabling.  Say I'd flopped trips in that hand above and that runner runner straight took me down on the river.  When I was multi-tabling that would spool me up and get me aggravated.  When that type of thing happens now I am able to appreciate the bad play for what it is - opportunity...GREAT opportunity.  I have concluded that this attitude shift is because an inherent part of multi-tabling is that the focus is on short-term results.  I was multi-tabling for the same reason most players who multi-table do - to increase my earn rate.  It's a short term focus.  When I single table I am better able to focus on just making sound poker decsions - comfortable in knowing they will pay me off in the long run.  Single tabling is helping me appreciate my Sklansky Bucks.

Casinos!

I knocked out the UKBetting Casino monthly last night.  I was a little nervous about it as the website is now calling it a "Slots bonus," but then it lists the prohibited games, and BJ isn't on that list.  I did it with 5-handed £1 bets. I was down £2 with £3 left to wager.  I decided to finish with a single hand at £5, and the dealer turned a blackjack.  Grrrr.  Oh well, still positive with the bonus, which is what I expect in the long run.  Tried to open Will Hill, but I am getting an error signal, so I will have to call support and get that fixed.  That should be annoying as hell!

Posted by Bullajami at 09:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Back at Nine Poker last night for a little $3/6.  The table already had 2 fish I had tagged from previous sessions, and by the end of my short session I had tagged 3 or 4 more.  I started out on wonderland.  From the BB I limped (5 prior limpers) wit AJ.  Six of us saw the flop AJJ.  I check-called the flop (as did an EP) and 3 of us saw the turn.  To my surprise and delight, EP leads the turn into the flop bettor.  Flop bettor just calls, and I get my check-raise in.  They both call.  I lead the river and get two calls.  They both muck and Nine Poker doesn't let you see them.  EP laid a few words on me in chat.

A few hands later I had AKs and an MP raised first in.  I three-bet and the EP player from the above paragraph cold-called the three from the SB.  I smelled somebody with a grudge out for revenge on Bull.  The flop totally missed me, and it checked around.  Normally I would bet there, but I was sure I would be called by SB with even a pair of twos, so I saw no point in it.  The turn also missed me and also checked around.  The river brought 3 spades (I held clubs) and SB bet.  I let it go, but the other guy called and SB showed that he had cold-called with Q2s, and rivered his flush.  I was very happy not to give him any satisfaction on that hand.

Within 20 minutes I had AK 3 times and JJ once, and did not take the pot one time.  Not a statistical anomaly, by any means, but somewhat unlikely and annoying.  I was back to even.  A while later I flopped a set of nines from the BB.  I should have check-raised the flop, as the board was a bit coordinated, but I slow-played middle set.  I wanted to check raise the turn, but it checked around.  I rivered a boat, and bet it out, getting one or two callers (I forget).  I really don't like the way I played that hand.  I flopped strong, but vulnerable.  I didn't protect my hand or build a big pot.  I won the hand, but should have played it better.

The table broke a few minutes later, exactly at 50 hands and up 2 BB for me.  If I could maintain that earn rate at $3/6 I'd consider quitting my day job.  I thought about finding another table, but I had promised to watch some baseball with my family, so I just wrapped it up right there.

I'm a little less than half done with my Nine Poker chase.  Not sure where I'll go after that.

Posted by Bullajami at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)