I'm going to try an experiment tonight. I'm about to play in a no-limit freeroll tournament on Poker Stars and keep a running diary.

Before I get started, here are my latest stats in $0.25/$0.50 limit, the new game I'm trying to beat.

Hands: 1,122
VP$IP: 14.62
Amount Won: $18.90
BB/100 Hands: 3.37

Things have gotten a lot better since my first 400 hands! I'm starting to see how these tables work. Another benefit to moving up to this level (other than hopefully the ability to make money faster), is that I occasionally earn Frequent Player Points. I've got 19, and I only need 16,981 more to get a set of clay poker chips for free. Sweet.

Suited Ax is the biggest difference so far between limit and no-limit. As in, small suited Ax is actually worth playing. In no-limit, you can flop the nut 4-flush and still get pushed out of the pot by a big bet. I mean, you could call, but it's usually a losing play. In limit, you know exactly where you're at with the pot odds, so you end up drawing (profitably, I might add) to a lot more nut flushes. Even better, people with worse flushes often raise you!

Okay, let's get this diary started.

11:52: Still 8 minutes until the tournament. Think I'll get a beer.

11:57: I'm taking my seat! Excitement...

11:58: I'm sitting with Snoop Dogg, an old man, a skull, a starbucks logo, a dog, some random guitar player and two blanks. Should be interesting.

11:59: 300 players have managed to bust out of the tournament already, even though it hasn't started. I kid, I kid.

12:00: I start in the big blind with J3o. I fold.

12:04: 300 players have busted. I'm not kidding this time. By the way, there were 4,230 entrants, in case anyone cares.

12:06: I'm dealt my first pocket pair, 66. I limp from middle position but the flop comes KTQ and I want no part of that. Funny, though, there were 6 or 7 players in the pot, but it was checked to the last person on the turn. These are some extremely passive freerollers I'm sitting with!

12:10: The random guitarist is our table's chip leader, with 3,900 or so. I'm holding strong at 1,420 (players start with 1,500).

12:11: Second pocket pair, 55. I fold it to a 230 chip raise from the button.

12:13: Ouch! Just limped from the small blind with Q6o for some reason (hey, it's a freeroll), and hit a 6 on the flop. Bet 20 chips for the hell of it, got one caller. Another 6 came out, so I bet 150. Called by a short stack. River is a 5. I put the guy all-in (he only had 310 chips), and he called. He rivered a straight with the 5! I'm down to 900 chips. Perhaps this will be a short diary after all....

12:20: The guitar player still has 3,900 chips or so, but the old man is gaining on him with over 3,000. I'm at 810 and in need of a double-up. Oh, Q6o, what have you done to me!

12:23: Well, this stinks. I was dealt AJo in late position and raised 150 chips. I am getting desperate. Flop was Q, blank, blank, and it was checked to me. I bet 130 and was called by the guitarist and old man. Had to shut down at that point. On the river, the guitarist hit a 5 to go with the 65o he had called my raise with. Sigh. I'm down to a sad stack of just 545 chips. At least 1,600 players have already busted.

12:26: The guitarist is playing unreasonably slowly. He causes the "It's your turn, you have 15 seconds to act" dialogue to pop up on every round. And he's playing every god damned hand to the river. Argh!

12:29: AK just got pwn3d by J9. Bad luck. Thankfully, not mine.

12:29: Priceless table talk from the aforementioned bad beat:

pdrice33 [observer]: how the hell do you call with that ****?
N4SA: dunno .. but took you out
pdrice33 [observer]: i have a top 3 hand and you call almost all your money with J-9?
N4SA: yup

12:31: This guy's still talking. He's taking the freeroll WAAAAY too seriously.

pdrice33 [observer]: just answer me one question....do you realize how horrible of a call that is? how high the odds are against you?
pdrice33 [observer]: oh wait....no you dont, your a ****en moron

12:32: I raise all-in (only 400 chips or so) with K4d. Called by the noob who just won a pot with J9, and the old man. They had A7o and QTo, respectively. One of them hit a T, and I'm done. I was getting tired anyway. I finished 2,207th out of 4,230 entrants without coming close to winning a single hand! Hilarious.

I've actually done pretty well in these freerolls before, but I guess tonight just wasn't my night. The best I did was 33rd out of 5,000 in a limit freeroll. Another time, I made 85th out of 5,000. Also limit. Of course, they're not very hard tournaments.

Anyway, in conclusion, I'm tired. Catch you later.