Just in Time

A week and a half ago I cleared my account after going into tilt mode. The idea was to wait until Stars offered a new reload bonus and it was coming faster than I expected/hoped. Until the first of May you can profit from this reload bonus and like always it is also a bonus which can be cleared by small stakes player. (Bonus code: 09series) It is their second reload bonus period of the year, normally they will offer reload bonus 4 times per year!

For every bonus dollar one has to clear 20 FPPs. The downside is that you have to cover your complete bonus before it gets deposited, the positive side is that stars gives you a gigantic time frame of half a year!

I have deposited $130, good for 20 buy-in at the 18 or 45 seater ($6.50), hoping that I'm now on the other side of variance, that I will play more concentrated or more of that shit!

Good luck with it,
Dremeber

Runner, runner, runner, runner flush ...

... It does happen. And it is always against me. This time after so many 3, 2 and even some 1 outers against me (in about 15 SNGs) it was the drop that flood the bucket. So with one SNG ongoing I decided to cash-out my complete bankroll!

Luckily I came second in the other one, leaving me behind with a bankroll of $32.something. Just enough for 5 buy-ins. Have to spend them wisely.

On the other hand I may not complain, cause I made a profit of over $200 in the last 60 days, which is an excellent figure for me! Strange with this in mind that some stupid donks with unreasonable calls can make you go into tilt mode! Or am I the donk? Possible and in some hand absolutely true, but in general just above donk level!

I update my stats of the 18 and 45 seaters. Not excellent results but I can cope with them, specially with a loosing streak of 10 SNGs at the 18 seaters.
We will see how it will progress from here.

I will keep you posted!
Dremeber

status update

Overal
The most important of all is that I'm enjoying playing online poker again. So the break did me well.
I also have the strange feeling that my level of play is increased (like that was hard :)). Can't explain why. It could be that I'm more relaxed when I'm playing, have more patience or that the break gave me some other insights.

BR
It currently stands on $101. Not bad concidering that I cashed 2 days ago 25% of my BR back then, dropping my BR to $80. I was having a bad day, played horrible and probably was chasing to much. So I decided to bank some money. Which always brings me back to my original problem. I just can't build up a bankroll on Stars. I keep on banking, withdrawing everything in a tilt session (which isn't actually so bad) and loading up again when I'm ready for it. I'm still underestimating the power of a well filled/equiped BR. It should drop the pressure inmensily. It is a vicuous circle where I am in! I should not bank the profit so easily. First I should create a nice bankroll, which allows me to play what I want, when I want. Curious if I ever can escape the circle of cashing/funding.

Stud MTT
I did play some more Stud tournaments. I did end-up ITM in around 60% of them, which I consider darn good. The problem is that for the bigger bucks you need to end within the final 3, and 5th place is at the moment my best result! So, still a lot of progress which can be made.
I now also fully understand that it is important to do an inmediate re-buy, even before the first hand is played. This gives you an advantage on the players, who don't. I'm still doubting about the add-on. At the moment I still have the rule, that I only buy the add-on if I still have a clear chance on getting ITM. So let's say that before the add-on I should be within the top 50%, otherwise it smells like chip dumping.
I have never collected so money points for the MTT leaderboard as this month and we are only half way.

Holdem MTT
Also started to play the $5.50 Texas Holdem MTT. Full of fishes. The best proof of that is that I ended 3 times out of 4 attempt ITM. Okay, the winnings aren't big, but every nickle helps.

Holdem SNG
Yep you are reading it right. I'm also back where I started. SNGs.
The difference is the buy-in and the number of participants. I'm giving it a shot at the $6.50 18 and 45 seaters. If I played focussed and concentrated enough I should be capable of boosting my BR by playing these. But that's the theory, we will have to wait how it turns out in real!

Goals!
doing something without having a goal is most of the time useless, so I will force myself to set some goals for the reminder of the month:
- Don't cash any money from my Stars account! Only when I did Tilt of the BR reaches at least $175. In the latter case I'm allowed to withdraw a maximum of $30. This way I did recover my uploaded funds from a week ago. Already did withdraw $59.
- Win at least one $6.50 45 seater or at least podium finishes.
- Win at least 3 18 seaters.
- Cash in at least 5 other MTTs (Stud and Holdem)
- Have fun, have fun, have fun!!!

Cheers,
Dremeber

And another cash!

Well to be honest I don't understand it. I'm not the best card player in the world. There is no question about that. So there are the following possibilities:
- I'm on a roll,
- 7 card stud is easy,
- The other players are even stupider than me.

You are free to pick the one which suits me best. Another possibility is that I finally did find the game I'm good at. Which is possible but it doesn't explain the back-2-back cashed.

Yesterday there were 48 participant and 7 paid places. So making it to the final table was crucial. Once the FT was started I was 6th in Chip lead. Rather safe ITM. But the shortstack doubled twice and was suddenly way ahead of me. Suddenly I was playing to secure my place in stead of going for the pots, which is never a good situation to be in. To be honest I played like a chicken! the reason behind this is easy! Bankroll, bankroll, bankroll! With a bigger bankroll I probably would have played more aggresive, risking to end just OTM but with more chances on better result!

Next step is to try to get it to the break without needing a rebuy. It should be possible. The last 2 times, I needed a re-buy and also used the Add-on. I guess that the add-on is crucial when you are in the middle of the field.

cheers,
Dremeber

Yeah! First time ITM @ 7card limit stud R/A

My first final table and ITM came faster as expected. Yesterday I ended at the 4th spot out of 32 contender. Have to admit that I had to use 1 re-buy after a stupid "I cannot lay-down" action and used the add-on to give myself some more time after the add-on period. During the rebuy time I also had the nightmare that my laptop crashed. No idea why!
To bad that I went out with 2 pairs. The river completed them but his/her river completed his/her straight.
Particularry proud on the fact that I was capable of laying down pocket Ks after a raise and a re-raise. Glad that I had the power cause the AA probably would have crushed my hand.

Not so bad for a complete noob and fish at the 7 card stud tournament. Before a week ago I didn't even know the game. Today was the first day that I read some articles about tournament play. It is strange what a wild west the first 2 rounds can be at 7card stud.

This is my track record so far:
April 3rd -> 12th out of 48
April 4th -> 40th out of 56
April 7th -> 21th out of 41
April 8th -> 4th out of 32 (Good for $61.60)

What I like about this tournament is that it normally doesn't run more than 2 hours and it starts after Lars his sleeping time.
What do I like about 7 card stud, well the fact that there is much more information available but still not enough to put the players on their hands.

Curious if I can end up ITM again next week.

May not forget to mention that I also won a watch with a cycling fantasy game. My second prize this season. But the other prize was a cyling outfit, like I could use it!

Cheers,
Dremeber

Challenge?

Well why not! I'm giving myself 10 buy-ins at the 8.80 stud re-buy tournament at 16.45 Stars time, hoping that I can reach the final table.
Yesterday I did start and spent 2 buy-ins, I used one rebuy, no add-on but ended in a miserable 20th place out of 45. I have to admit that it was my own stupid fault.

Check back tomorrow!

7 card Stud

Yesterday I had to brilliant idea to play some tournaments. Cause I didn't pay attention, I registered for a 7 card stud tournament. Buy-in 8,80 + rebuys. So, I had to learn the rules along the way. And after half an hour, I really like the game. Ended up 12th out of 48 with 7 paid places, when my pocket 4s lost against pocket 2s. For sure, i will play this again!

Also play a regular Texas holdem tournament. And again an excellent result. 166th out of 2250, with 324 paid places.

My BR did take a dive due to some bad luck and probably also some bad play. But I'm still having fun and thats what it is all about for me. I have to enjoy as long as I can before the Belgian government will ban Pokerstars! Probably around Septermber this will happen :(

Cheers,
Dremeber