I should just shut my mouth. Seriously.
Last night was horrific. Over 100BB in the space of about two hours. Most of it was at 2/4EUR, where one particular megafish (who was seeing 100% of flops and about 60% of showdowns) was running all over me. He started out on my left, which was horrendous because he was also pretty aggressive. I managed to get him on my right, but by then much of the damage was done.
The $10k mark is suddenly quite a long way off, and it will probably get a bit further, as I am planning to play a qualifier at the casino tonight.
One small comfort is that I'll get a couple of hundred in rakeback at the end of the month, but I am still left with a bad taste.
Monday, September 28, 2009
The swings and the roundabouts
I was all set to write a "woe is me" post on how badly I have run since hitting the $10k milestone last week, but actually I have made a pretty rapid recovery. The low point was at least $800 down on the peak (probably more, because I think I sank lower mid-session). In the last couple of sessions, I have managed to recover to be only $300 under the peak, and set to bust through that $10k mark permanently.
As usual, the swings are down to playing at the limit of my online stakes - 5/10Euro on Purple Lounge. There have been one or two tables running at this stake every night for the last couple of weeks, and it is pretty good fishing territory. I have seen at least two or three different megafish in this game with stats like 70/10/0.8, and a whole host of bad regs (too loose mostly) that are losing a lot of money according to my DB. Sadly the downs have exceeded the ups on 5/10 in the last few days, with the wins coming mainly from 2/4 - but I'm sure I'm going to hit some cards soon and have a big win.
If anyone wants a great VIP deal on Purple Lounge, check out the notice on the right of the blog and drop me a line.
As usual, the swings are down to playing at the limit of my online stakes - 5/10Euro on Purple Lounge. There have been one or two tables running at this stake every night for the last couple of weeks, and it is pretty good fishing territory. I have seen at least two or three different megafish in this game with stats like 70/10/0.8, and a whole host of bad regs (too loose mostly) that are losing a lot of money according to my DB. Sadly the downs have exceeded the ups on 5/10 in the last few days, with the wins coming mainly from 2/4 - but I'm sure I'm going to hit some cards soon and have a big win.
If anyone wants a great VIP deal on Purple Lounge, check out the notice on the right of the blog and drop me a line.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
The thing about milestones:
.. is that hitting them doesn't mean you stay in front of them.
In fact, my experience so far has been that hitting milestones is often followed by a massive cooler (as BCG will attest), or a heater that causes you to hit the *next* milestone before you know it.
In my case, it was the former. I had a crazy swinging session yesterday, where I ranged from being $200 up to being nearly $800 down (5/10 and 3/6 Euro will do that to you). Luckily I managed to finish ok and am now just $150 down from my $10k milestone, and with a chunky bit of rakeback to come.
In fact, my experience so far has been that hitting milestones is often followed by a massive cooler (as BCG will attest), or a heater that causes you to hit the *next* milestone before you know it.
In my case, it was the former. I had a crazy swinging session yesterday, where I ranged from being $200 up to being nearly $800 down (5/10 and 3/6 Euro will do that to you). Luckily I managed to finish ok and am now just $150 down from my $10k milestone, and with a chunky bit of rakeback to come.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Five figures: just call me Jesus
A little over 20 months ago, I started playing online poker with $10 of free money from VCpoker. Today, I moved my "net profit" over the $10,000 mark for the first time. I don't think I expected to be able to do that when I started, and it feels pretty good.
My actual bankroll is actually still down around the $8800 mark, due to taking some dividends and also the small loss on Eurolinx. My aim for the year was to achieve a $10k bankroll by the end of the year, and that is well on track even though I thought it ambitious at the time.
In my mind, I have achieved my own version of Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson's $10,000 challenge (Ferguson started from zero and ground up to $10k on FTP over the course of about 16 months). Of course the two challenges are not really comparable, since I made liberal use of bonuses and rakeback to achieve my target, while Ferguson had to do it over the table only. On the other hand, Ferguson started his challenge as a professional player while I was Joe Nobody.
To steal a good line: "I don't think this is quite what they meant when they taught me to be more like Jesus"
My actual bankroll is actually still down around the $8800 mark, due to taking some dividends and also the small loss on Eurolinx. My aim for the year was to achieve a $10k bankroll by the end of the year, and that is well on track even though I thought it ambitious at the time.
In my mind, I have achieved my own version of Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson's $10,000 challenge (Ferguson started from zero and ground up to $10k on FTP over the course of about 16 months). Of course the two challenges are not really comparable, since I made liberal use of bonuses and rakeback to achieve my target, while Ferguson had to do it over the table only. On the other hand, Ferguson started his challenge as a professional player while I was Joe Nobody.
To steal a good line: "I don't think this is quite what they meant when they taught me to be more like Jesus"
Monday, September 21, 2009
The Blindman is now an affiliate!
I have an excellent VIP offer on Purple Lounge. If anyone is interested, email me at blindmanaffiliate@gmail.com, and I can give you the full details of the offer along with signup instructions.
Purple Lounge is on the Microgaming network, which I have found to be infested with fish at fixed limit up to 5/10 Euro. There are obviously some concerns about Microgaming after the Eurolinx debacle, but it still seems to be pretty viable with big rooms like Ladbrokes and Unibet providing a lot of players.
Purple Lounge is on the Microgaming network, which I have found to be infested with fish at fixed limit up to 5/10 Euro. There are obviously some concerns about Microgaming after the Eurolinx debacle, but it still seems to be pretty viable with big rooms like Ladbrokes and Unibet providing a lot of players.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Running good
Had a nice reminder yesterday of what it's like to run good. 25BB in five minutes of 2/4EUR (and 350 overall for the session) is pretty nice. The bigger part of that was after getting sucked into a huge pot with JTs capped preflop. Usual story - couple of limpers, I limp along, one of the blinds raises, I call, one of the limpers decides to jack it up and suddenly we are five way in a humungous pot. Flop comes AJx (at which point I think this is going to be one expensive hand), and I check call one or possibly two bets. Turn is another jack, and I check call again. Checkraise the blank river heads up against the preflop raiser and drag a humungous pot.
I'm back to playing mostly on Microgaming, even after the Eurolinx debacle. I've got a ludicrously good rakeback deal on Purple Lounge and I can't resist the megafishes that play up to 5/10EUR. I'll be careful about my bankroll on the site, and on balance I think the risk is worth it.
I'm back to playing mostly on Microgaming, even after the Eurolinx debacle. I've got a ludicrously good rakeback deal on Purple Lounge and I can't resist the megafishes that play up to 5/10EUR. I'll be careful about my bankroll on the site, and on balance I think the risk is worth it.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Belated August summary
Usual story, really. Started the month with a horrific cooler, recovered late to be well ahead and finished a little bit on the cool side.
Bankroll started at $8286, and finished on $8333. That takes into account the fact that I had to transfer $253 from my bankroll to a new "losses" column owing to the collapse of Eurolinx. It's possible I will one day see some of that money, but I somehow doubt it.
The gain in "total profit" was a pretty measly $301. Most of that probably came from bonuses and rakeback.
My biggest problem at the moment is that my lucrative sites have dried up. The NoiQ rake races which once were fantastic have turned into wimpy weekly bonuses worth 10% at best (for me). The RedStar rake race turned into a "rake chase" which is a complete waste of time. Eurolinx, of course, has died completely, taking with it a rake race which has paid amazing dividends for most of the last year.
My main objective for this month, then is to find a new decent long term room with decent rakeback and something extra like a race or regular bonus. In the meantime, I might also look for a quick kickback or two.
Mid-September update:
I now have a pretty good rakeback deal on Purple Lounge, which allows me to continue cashing in on the Microgaming fish. Continuing to play on Microgaming sites is a bit risky, since they obviously do not have adequate protection for punters. I will protect myself as much as I can by minimizing my roll on the site as much as I can. On the whole I think it's worth the risk. Just.
I also decided to do the Regalos PokerTime kickback bonus. This bonus looks very attractive, at around $200 and 200%RB equivalent. The problem is that PokerTime (previously on the Microgaming network) is now a stand-alone room - a fact I was unaware of when I signed up. They now have barely twenty tables running at any one time, all no-limit holdem, and only 3-4 at NL50 or above. I am still going to finish the kickback, as it is very easy and the players on the site are laughably bad. The biggest downside is that almost everyone on the site is short stacking - probably because they're all doing kickbacks at >100% rakeback. This site is going nowhere fast, and I am going to finish the deal and cash out as soon as humanly possible.
In other news, I have burned a whole stack of cash on Full Tilt attempting to do their "take 2" promotion. Yuk.
Bankroll started at $8286, and finished on $8333. That takes into account the fact that I had to transfer $253 from my bankroll to a new "losses" column owing to the collapse of Eurolinx. It's possible I will one day see some of that money, but I somehow doubt it.
The gain in "total profit" was a pretty measly $301. Most of that probably came from bonuses and rakeback.
My biggest problem at the moment is that my lucrative sites have dried up. The NoiQ rake races which once were fantastic have turned into wimpy weekly bonuses worth 10% at best (for me). The RedStar rake race turned into a "rake chase" which is a complete waste of time. Eurolinx, of course, has died completely, taking with it a rake race which has paid amazing dividends for most of the last year.
My main objective for this month, then is to find a new decent long term room with decent rakeback and something extra like a race or regular bonus. In the meantime, I might also look for a quick kickback or two.
Mid-September update:
I now have a pretty good rakeback deal on Purple Lounge, which allows me to continue cashing in on the Microgaming fish. Continuing to play on Microgaming sites is a bit risky, since they obviously do not have adequate protection for punters. I will protect myself as much as I can by minimizing my roll on the site as much as I can. On the whole I think it's worth the risk. Just.
I also decided to do the Regalos PokerTime kickback bonus. This bonus looks very attractive, at around $200 and 200%RB equivalent. The problem is that PokerTime (previously on the Microgaming network) is now a stand-alone room - a fact I was unaware of when I signed up. They now have barely twenty tables running at any one time, all no-limit holdem, and only 3-4 at NL50 or above. I am still going to finish the kickback, as it is very easy and the players on the site are laughably bad. The biggest downside is that almost everyone on the site is short stacking - probably because they're all doing kickbacks at >100% rakeback. This site is going nowhere fast, and I am going to finish the deal and cash out as soon as humanly possible.
In other news, I have burned a whole stack of cash on Full Tilt attempting to do their "take 2" promotion. Yuk.
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