End of year summary

After the fairly amazing November result, December was a bit of a downer with a net loss of nearly $900. This set back my bankroll back below the $10,000 target I had set at the start of the year. However with my overall profit sitting at around $11k, I am not too concerned.

2009 goals:

• $10k bankroll: hit, then dropped below. I'm very happy with the result, considering my roll started the year on just over $2k.
• Play more tournaments: not really - I'm finding it hard to set aside enough time to play online tourneys
• Play more big live events: the APPT teams was the biggest event I've played and provided a lot of great experience. It was good to mix it with (and outlast) some of Australia's top pros.
• Get back to 3/6 and 5/10 limit: definitely achieved. These are my staple levels in FL, including Euros on Purple Lounge.
• Get into cash NLH: Not really achieved. I've had a few shots at NLH and PLO, but not enough to be confident of beating these games.

Overall year result: net profit of around $8600. Not bad pocket money for a hobby.

WBCOOP

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: 764889

Shot taking WIN!

Ok, blog slackaments no post in donkeys. I am overdue in posting my year summary so that will come in the next day or so.

But I did have to report yesterday's awesomeness. One table of PLO100. 45 minutes. Five and a half buyins profit. Between that and some 5/10 limit, I had a $1000 day.

Here is the PLO session. The whole session was 79 hands, and I have removed the hands where I folded pre or on the flop - leaving 42 hands (giving an inkling of how good I ran).



I don't think I ever played PLO100 before, and I certainly haven't thought deeply about the game. Advice appreciated.

Rule #1: remember to run good once in a while

APPT teams: Mincashaments!

Cliff notes from event #9 teams:

• Outlasted Joe Hachem, Tony Hachem (playing w Sean Keeton), Lee Nelson, Amanda, Donna, John Juanda's wife (apparently)
• Played on a table with Tony. He got steamed after some fish called a big preflop raise w QT and caught two pair to crack his kings
• Joe bubbled
• Had to rebuild my stack twice from super short after my partner's round - he escaped from some very awkward situations including laying down aces on a paired board when some fish ended up taking it down with trip 8s (82s FTW)
  
• Mostly got respect for my 6-10BB shoves
• Sucked out only once, when my K6s shove caught a king against AQ. Busted same guy with my AQ a couple of hands later
• Despite the large number of live and online pros, there were still quite a lot of really awful players
• One guy minraised my BB from the SB, leaving <4bb>
• Quite a few players were really weak after the flop, check-folding after PFR, or open limping buttons and then checking two streets
• Finished 9th out of 77 for about $1925 (minus buyin divided by two = not much)
• Lol mincashaments

Many thanks to TFAL for the suggestion, and for playing really well. I had a great time. Full trip report later if I have the energy.

Poker is so easy

I stopped by Star City last night to get my bearings before tonight's tournament, and witnessed the biggest hand I have ever seen live.

The game was 10/20 No Limit Holdem with a buyin of 2-5k. There is a young guy (YG) sitting in front of me in seat two with a big stack that I estimate to be at least 10k, and former APPT winner Grant Levy (GL) shortstacked in seat 4. I picked up the action preflop, where the young guy (YG) had raised to about 120 UTG, and was reraised by GL to about 420 (leaving 1k behind). A middle eastern guy (MEG) on the button flat calls the 420. Now YG announces raise and throws a 1k chip on the table. GL goes all-in with his last 1k chip and MEG flat calls again. YG calls the 300 more. Pot is now nearly 4500. Flop comes QT3. YG bets 2500 into the sidepot. MEG goes all-in for about 6k total. I catch a peek of YGs AA, and the turn comes the miraculous A. Miraculous, because MEG turns over his monster QT as the blank falls on the river. YG drags the $16000 pot with barely a murmur. Poker is so easy.

November summary

The month began with a bankroll of $7565. Closing balance is $10664, for a massive monthly profit of $3109. This just eclipses my previous best monthly result of $3090 achieved in May this year. The most remarkable thing about this result, is that it was achieved in a month which included my worst ever one day downswing of -$1500.

I put in a lot of volume at Purple Lounge and Red Star, and I would estimate that at least $1300 of the net result comes from rakeback, bonuses, and a little rake chase on Red Star. Those 3/6 and 5/10 tables certainly generate a hell of a lot of rake.

December's goals? I'm not quite sure. Obviously I'd like to to well on Friday at the APPT, but I'd also like to take a couple of shots at qualifying for the Aussie Millions. I'd also like to stay profitable, and keep that bankroll well above the $10k mark.

BR target achieved

At the risk of offending the poker Gods and triggering another 100BB downer, I am going to post about hitting targets again!!

At the beginning of 2009, with my bankroll sitting on $2k, I set a target to build the bankroll to $10k by the end of the year. I have now officially achieved that goal (as distinct from getting my total profit above $10k).

Today, my bankroll is sitting on $10200, with perhaps another $300 or so due in rakeback payments. It is interesting to note that the bankroll build has come almost entirely in three 'heater' month - April, May and November.

My reason for wanting a $10k bankroll, apart from the obvious, was to be able to play tournaments more freely (especially live). To this end, I will be celebrating hitting my target by joining a fellow Blogger in the Teams Holdem event this Friday at the APPT in Sydney. With a $1100 buyin and hopefully a field of around 100, this should be a good opportunity to test our mettle against some good players. It comes at the end of the penultimate day of the Main Event, so there should be a good atmosphere and some top class players around aiming to avenge their elimination.

After this, chances are the bankroll will dip back below the $10k mark, but this is an investment in good experience as much as anything. And once you hit the felt, anything can happen!