Super Sunday

Hi World,

Last Sunday was a great day. Not only there was a carnival parade in town but also I played some great poker. For the first time I was chip leader after an hour in a 1$ re-buy no limit tournament.
Unfortunately I had to stop to go to the carnival parade with my nephew. A promise is a promise; no way that poker comes between me and my social life. It was hard to give it away, but hey there are more important things in life!
I ended up in 68th place out of 143 contestants.

On Sunday evening I played in a 1$ fixed limit tournament. There were 705 players. I managed to survive the first two hours and ended up in 26th place. My first bucks won, I can tell you it felt great.

I have the feeling that I'm learning how to steal blinds (with good cars in my hand), how to play to all-in option when the odds are in my favour and also I start to get the feeling what it means when other callers raise. My folds are paying me off :).

Today I participated again in a no limit free roll tournament. 12580 players and again I ended up in a reasonable place. 243rd again 1.5$ added up to my bank roll.

I started out with a bank roll of 50$ and at the moment it is 53.70. Although it are peanuts I'm very proud of my winnings.

Not only I had a good start of the week with poker, I also collected a price with a fantasy game 50 euros. Not bad for an ante of 6,5Euro.

Cheers,
Dremeber

The weekend

Hi,

Did not have much time po play poker this weekend. Family and sports go first.

On friday I played 3 sit and go 2,50% tournaments.
In the first one, lady luck decided that she would not give me good cards. It the beginning it is no problem, but when the tournament reaches the fourth of fifth round, the small and big blind are stealing you' re bankroll. So, I decided to play all-in with unsuited A J. Unfortunate, my only caller turned 88. I ended up in fifth place.
The second one, I ended up in fourth place. Restricted myself to only play when very good starting hands arrived. Strict playing is OK to learn to play poker but it also kills your bankroll when no good cards show up. And lett's be honnest, it is no fun playing to strict.
The third tournament, I ended up in second place. Tried to mix feelings (observation of the other players) and strict playing.
Conclusion of the set-and-go tournaments:
Financial balance: -2.70$ but I learned a lot. Strict playing is :
- no fun
- It will hurt you' re bankroll if no good cards show up

Last nat not least, I entered my biggest tournament ever a 3,5$ . There were 548 participants. My goal was to reach the last 200. But I did fail. I know were it went wrong. I was dealt JJ. So I raised before the flop with one caller. The flop was an AK and something else. So, there was a great possibility that the caller had at least an AK in his hands. But no I kept following and re-raising. Ended up at place 407, did not deserve to go any further.

Saterday evening I played one 2,5 sit-and-go tournament and I won it. Bringing my balance back to -0.70$. Played a good game, took the right gambles and folded when I had to.

Cu,
Dremeber

Mixed feeling

Hi all,

I feel that my game is improving but still I keep making stupid errors!
Played 3 sit-and-go 2$ tournaments:
First run - 5th: lost against a flush. I hope I may catogorise this as unlucky.
Second run - second place. Proud on myself. The last hand, I should have played all-in! I had unsuited 89, while my opponent showed 10Q (also unsuited).
Third run - only 7th: Sloppy play again. Was too hasted at a moment. I know where it went wrong, which is OK, I'm only playing for a week. The moment where it went wrong that I kept calling with a pair of 10's on the table. While the flop brougth a Q. Stupi, stupid, stupid. What was I thinking.

The free roll tournament was over before it began. After 15 minutes playing. I played with 88, one player call. After the turn there were no cards which could hurt me. All low cards, so I raised the bet. The player re-raised and I followed. A 3 is dealt. So still no problems. I check to see how the player re-acts! He raises! So, I was forced (at least in my mind) to play all-in. He follows. The last card is an Ace. He played all-in with 44? Not wise according to me. But he had the straight and I ended not even within the first 10.000! Bugger. Can I call this a bad beat? Don't know.

Tomorrow, will be a poker less night, have to go to a road show.

Cheers,
Dremeber

Day 2: a step back

After reading a lot of articles on websites. I participated in my first paid multi table tournament. It was a 1$ subscription fee with unlimited re-buys during the first hour.

After the first hour I had a bank roll of around 7000$, a little bit above the average. But soon in the second hour I lost my discipline and became too confident of my cards. 2 bad plays and bye bye tournament. I still have the urge to play with minor hands without having the power to fold in time.

Tonight I will play a 1000$ free roll tournament again. My goal is to reach the first 1000. Let's see how this works out.

I will keep you posted.

Greetings,
Dremebere

Intro

Hi World,

I'm a starting Texas Holdem Poker Player. I wanted to share my experiences with the rest of the world.

First something about myself. I'm a 29 year old functional analyst. Always loved the atmospere within casinos. Visited already a lot of them, luckily I always can control my budget. I can go to the casino and set a maximum amount of money I want to play with. Luckily I have to power within in me, to stop when I lost all my money, which luckily rarely happens. I can also go to casino's without playing, just browsing around, checking out the players and be amazed how people throw away their money.

When I play it is always with a pretty small budget. Definitely the casino won't go bankrupt if I win and I wouldn't have lost more money than spending a night at a pub.

Started playing on the roulette, like probably most people do. Then started shifting to low limit black-jack tables to end at the Caribbean stud poker tables. I love the game, unfortunate the most casinos in my surrounding have a pretty high ante compared to my budget.

I also like to participate in sport fantasy games. It makes watching sports even more fun!!

A week ago, I started playing holdem poker on a website for real. This was my first mistake. I know the rules of the game, but it is better to start browsing on the web for tips and good starting hands. This is the first thing you have to learn. If you know the good starting hands, you can latter on learn what to do with them if you are in early or late position on the table.

For the moment I have played 3 free roll tournaments of around 12000 players. The first time I ended up around position 6000, which I is considered not bad for a first try, without checking several websites. Reading some articles paid off immediately, I ended 1214th. The third one was a night mare, whit sloppy play, calling and raising with the wrong cards. ended up around the 10000th place. :)

Yesterday, I have played 3 single tables tournament. The first one was bull's eye. Finished first!! I was very disciplined and could control my rush to call even but bad starting hands, luck did all the rest. The 2 other tournament were a disaster! Again I lost my discipline and wanted to play to fast. Never less, in total I won half a buck :) (It were 2$ tournament with a 0.5 subscription fee. the first play was worth 8$.

This brings me to maybe the most important rule of all Casino games. Don't let your play be controlled by emotions, but discipline yourself to only play with good staring hands.

Gr,
Dremeber