Wow. It's been a grip. I have played a lot of poker since I last posted. 4,656 hands, to be exact. Here's where I stand.

Last time I posted, I was "owning the shit" out of .5/1, which I guess is still true. Here are my stats (from Party only)

Hands: 6,020
VP$IP: 16.64
PFR: 7.31
BB/100: 4.5

POWN!

At some point, I got a big enough bankroll to start playing 1/2. It was rough at first, but I think I've adjusted.

Hands: 935
VP$IP: 12.41 (that's too tight, but there is more raising on this level, so I play fewer hands)
PFR: 7.27 (I'm keeping my aggression up, at least)
BB/100: 8.08 (POWN!)

Heh. That won't last. But for now, it feels good.

One thing that doesn't feel good is losing at 2/4. I've taken a few shots at this level when I see known bad players there, but I haven't done well. The tables are looser than 1/2, though, so I'm anxious to move up.

Hands: 158
VP$IP: 15.82
PFR: 6.33 (should be higher... maybe I'm running bad)
BB/100: -8.75 (yuck!!!!!!)

Basically, I'm down 13 BB at 2/4, which is really nothing. Less than half of one buy-in. But still, it's $55!!!!!

Nevertheless, my roll is healthy, and I should be getting a fat rake kickback from my affiliate soon. Should be close to $100. Woo-ha.

I've really cut back on the sit and goes and multi table tourneys, but I did play one big $2 tourney on Stars the other day with a friend. He had played live tourneys before, but never one online. He finished in the top 200 (out of 1,700). I did pretty well, made it to 56th place before I stupidly pushed in with KJs in a blind steal. I got called by TT and didn't improve.

I had 24,000 chips at that point, but the blinds were something like 3,000 with a pretty decent ante on top of that. Not a terrible move, but I had a little more time. At least I moneyed.

I've been reading a ton of 2+2 and it continues to help my game immensely.

All right, that's it for now. One last thing: If you are thinking about signing up for Party, DON'T use my code! That's because it expired. If you interested, I can get a new code. Email me.

Later.

Ugh, sorry about the last post. I just read through it and it sucked. I never did end up crossposting on 2+2, because I thought I might get banned for such a boring post.

Well, to freshen things up a bit, I sort of liked the Diary post I did during a freeroll a while back, so I think I'll do one for this 2-table Sit 'N' Go that I'm about to play.

4:38pm: Just signed up and took my seat.

4:39pm: First hand: 52c. Mucked.

4:39pm: I've got a Runnin Rebel logo at my table, and a middle-aged guy. Nobody else has pictures... you don't see that very often at Stars anymore.

4:40pm: The middle-aged guy just lost 540 chips on the first hand. Lookin' good.

4:41pm: Just freerolled ATo in the big blind. Checkd around on the flop. The turn gave me a gutshot to the nut straight, but someone bet out 80 chips and I folded.

4:43: I just mucked AQo from the button to a 100 chip raise from early position. It's too early.

4:44: Limping with A2d. I checked the flop after pairing the 2, called a 60 chip bet on the turn when I picked up the 4-flush, and mucked the river when I didn't hit and the middle-aged guy bet 200. He's made a comeback already--up to 2,360 chips.

4:47: Just mucked AKo to a 440 chip raise. Too timid? The raiser had AKs, got called by 99 and a random K and everyone went all in preflop. 99 held up, and busted the other two! 4 players have already busted in the first 10 minutes.

4:50: Got AKo again in the BB. Man, it would be nice to get these cards a little later in the tourney. 4 players limped, so I just made a min-raise. Flop was rags, and I checked rather then bluff when bet to. Guy after me pushed in. Everyone folded... he had flopped a set of 5s.

4:52: 66 vs AQ...Rebel vs. Middle age. AQ backdoors a straight! Bye bye, rebel.

4:54: I'm already in second-to-last place, just because I haven't doubled up off some n00b yet. I still have something like 40 times the big blind. Sheesh.

4:58: Okay, I'm playing like an idiot. I just raised with KJo from late position and got two callers. Flop was all hearts, I have the J of hearts, so I bet 70. Both guys call. Turn is a blank. I check, old-man bets a grip, I fold. What the fuck am I doing? I shouldn't be playing any of these hands. Argh.

5:01: The old man is the biggest god damn calling station I've ever seen. Okay, that's a lie, I've seen some amazing calling stations, but he's pretty bad.

5:04: Just doubled up! I raised 200 with KQ on the button. SB called with K6. I paired the K on the flop and bet 500. He smooth-called. Turn was a J, putting 3 hearts on board. He bet enough to put me in, so I thought he might have the flush, but I had to call my last 335 chips. He didn't have it, and I doubled through. Sweet. Now I'm 6th of 11 and I've got even more breathing room

5:06: I just got moved to the other table. One guy has around 5,800 chips, and he's to my direct right. The other three are in the 2,000s, and I'm the short stack at around 2,100.

5:08: Whoa, I played one hand, checking 66 from the BB and hitting trips on the turn, before I got a message reading, "Congratulations! You have reached the final table. We're now 9-handed, sitting at the same table. I'm in 6th place. By the way, I mini bet the turn with trip 6, then pushed 500 on the river but nobody took the bait. I'm at around 2,300.

5:10: Old man just pushed in on a raggedy flop with ATs, and got called by a flopped set of 2s. He's gone.

5:17: Another bust, this time a pair of 8s versus the nut flush. Wow.

5:17: I just noticed that the chip leader has 12,000 chips. That is going to be tough to beat.

5:19: It just got folded to the SB, who minraised. The BB folded. SB flipped over AA. Ouch.

5:20: Chip leader just got a piece of his stack pwned by the 2nd chip leader.

5:21: Just stole the blinds with ATo. Sweet.

5:23: And then there were 6. Another guy just busted, having to go all-in with 42s from the SB. Got dominated by A2, who hit a two pair.

5:24: A lucky bastard just pushed in with QJ against A9o. Hit the backdoor flush!

5:27: I haven't had AK, AQ or AJ since the first round. See! I knew I used them all up.

5:30: Blinds are 100/200; I have 1,620. Time to get aggressive.

5:31: I push in on the button with AQo and get called by.... AQo. We chop.

5:38: There are still 6. I just stole the blinds again with K9o, but I have less than 10x the BB still. Continuing to grind it out....

5:39: I guess we're on break... weird. The two biggest stacks just faced off, but one of them folded on the river to a push. The big stack now has 13,200. 2nd has 4,000, 3rd has 3,630, 4th has 2,600, I have 1,770 and last is 1,695.

5:43: I just got verrry lucky freerolling 43o from the BB. I paired the 3 on the flop and minbet. 2nd high stack called. Turn was a 5 and I pushed. He folded. Whew. I'm back to 2,100.

5:45: Bubble time! We've got 5 players--the top 4 spots pay. By the way, big stack just busted the 6th... he's up to 16,000. Yikes.

5:48: I just got frigging busted on the bubble on a 1-outer!!!! I pushed with KJs. Got called by JJ (on the last hand, a guy had JJ as well.. wtf?). I flop a K, meaning that JJ has one stinking out, the last J, to beat me. Well, he hits it on the turn. That left me with two outs on the river, the remaining Ks. Well, needless to say, I didn't hit and I was done. That fucking sucks. These days it seems I'm always out on the bubble. I hate poker. Screw you!

Okay, I'm just on tilt. I've been having a downswing in .5/1 limit on Empire, after completely owning the shit out of it for the first 3,000 hands. My win rate is still over 3.0 BB/100, but I've lost 73 BB from my peak of +220 BB a few days ago.

Calm... time to take a few days off.