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Feb Results

Well February came to an end a few weeks ago and I tallied up my poker results for the month. Let's say that things worked out much better than expected. Actually, things worked out better than any other past month (excluding the month of my big tourney cash). I played mostly 3/6 and 5/10 limit in Feb and things started to come together in my game. So much to my chagrin we now have to spend my winnings on furniture.

February winnings totalled ~$4600... YIKES! I'm witholding $1500 for taxes but the rest will go to furniture... does a $1000 WSOP buy-in count as furniture?

When do you know?

If you're truly honest with yourself about your poker game when can you blame an entire downswing on variance? The answer to that question varies quite drastically with the individual player, but for me I am a long ways away from that point. The cards have run ugly the last couple days and I have seemingly started misplaying a number of hands. I can look at my hand histories and see some bad beats, but I can also see where I probably should have saved a bet here and another bet there. Those bets add up! True, I would still be losing money over the last two days had I made all of the correct plays, but the downswing would not be quite as pronounced.

So far though, it has been a good month.

Poker Stars: +$446
Party: +$1230
Noble: +$518

For a grand total of +$2194

Now if I could just have that grand back that I've given away on Stars the last couple days...

The stars have alligned...

Two days into the "Poker for Furniture" event and things are off to a flying start.
Here are the tallies from the different sites.

Party +$527
Poker Stars +$493
Noble +$20

Total +$1040

Despite talks with the missus she is now budgeting $15K for furniture... ??? Since the cards are falling nearly perfect I can't imagine that the next five days will bring similar results, but only time will tell.

February is National Play Poker for Furniture Month

Work on the all-consuming thesis is starting to wind down and poker playing is winding back up. Well that's not quite true, as I have been playing quite a bit of poker over the last couple months I just couldn't blog about it because when I felt guilty writing for pleasure when I knew I needed to plow through 100+ pages of thesis.

So how's the game you ask? Nah, you didn't ask, but I have steadily been improving (at least I think I have) and have been concentrating on limit poker over the past 3-4 mos. I've been playing substantially (for me) higher than in the past and it has really helped my focus and learning curve. I've even been making a fairly steady amount of money. So the obvious next question is what to do with a little bit extra money?

Answer: February has been declared National Play Poker for Furniture Month.

That's right every cent I win or lose in February will go to buying new furniture for the Hayduke family. Let's hope I win so that we don't have to sell anything :) Currently there is some old and uncomfortable furniture that occupies space in our house, but hopefully after this month we'll be able to afford a whole new set of folding chairs, and if I can keep the suckouts low maybe even a folding table to boot... Wish me Luck!

I'll keep the blog updated with the $$ amount.

Over one month

Aww yes, it's been over a month since I posted anything on this blog. Poker playing has slowed down and thesis writing has heated up. A rather nasty turn of events if I do say so myself. Now I feel like I'm slacking off if I'm writing on this blog or my family blog instead of writing or working on my thesis.

So what has been going happening on the tables? I've started playing less time but slightly higher limits. I probably should have moved up a while ago, but always pushed it off until another day while I grinded away at low limits. Now with less time to play I like to play for slightly more meaningful stakes. I'll sometimes play a single 3/6 table while trying to compile my works cited page or add figures to a chapter.

Where is my poker playing heading? That's a good question. I need to set some short/medium/ and long term goals about what I'd like to do while playing poker in the future. Perhaps I should concentrate on winning an entry to a large tourney, or moving up in stakes in my limit game. Maybe I should take some runs at large tourneys again or work on my cash NL game. I could even learn how to play a whole new game (7-stud or Omaha) to a semi-capable level.

Lots of options, but no real agenda...

Getting Stuck

Lots of work to do on my thesis, but I somehow find reason after reason to put it off. AHHH, just a few minutes of poker won't hurt, I'll head to the computer lab right after that. Well maybe I should eat some lunch before I go. Wal-Mart's on the way I'll just run in and pick up a few things I need.

Look at the time, not much use heading to the lab now. I wouldn't have time to get anything done!

Unfortunately my poker game is in the same boat as my thesis work. I'll read more about that tomorrow, play smarter tomorrow, one loose call is no big deal, etc... Part of my particular problem is that I am playing at a level where the money doesn't make me think. I've got accounts all over the internet and like the idea of bonuses and free money. I haven't moved up levels because the money has been easy to come buy at the lower levels. Stagnation! I've cut down my poker playing time, and have hit a pretty big rut over the last month. Perhaps a slow couple of months will be just the remedy that I need.

I plan to hit the boat a few times in the next month and perhaps learn a new poker game when SS 2 arrives on my doorstep shortly.

In good news that relates to poker, I've opened a College Savings plan for my 2 mos old little boy by taking 25% of my bankroll out of poker circulation and investing it in his future... See poker is good!