November 28, 2007: A Good Night

After attending the first (of six) puppy obedience classes this evening, I decided to sit down at the Full Tilt tables for an abbreviated session of no-limit poker. All told, I played for 45 minutes. After the dust had settled, it was a good night.

For a good 20 minutes, I played against a guy named Skatesncopters and made very little progress. I thought I was on my way to a rather uneventful night until my fortunes suddenly turned for the good.

It all started with this hand (see the image below). After matching some modest bets after the flop and turn, I went "all in" when the river appeared. My opponent thought for a long while and eventually called my bet. I won about $80 on this hand.

Note: I think you'll be able to get a better look at these pictures if you double-click on them.

A few minutes later, this hand arrived. After the flop, my opponent slow played his 2-pair and eventually let me catch up. As a result, I won about $60 that I wouldn't have otherwise earned if my opponent had bet a bit more aggressively.

Shortly thereafter, the following hand was played. I made a modest raise preflop and thought for a long while when my opponent went "all in" (for $100) after the flop. Usually, I'd call this bet without thinking, but I was hesitant to give away most of my profits too quickly. In the end, however, I simply couldn't lay down the aces. Thankfully, another diamond (or a 10 or a 4) didn't arrive.

As it turns out, I was a 50.2% favorite to win this hand. In other words, it was a coin flip. Thank goodness I won the race!

After watching my Pocket Rockets hold up, my opponent was officially "on tilt."

One minute later, this hand arrived. My desperate opponent made a significant bet after the turn, and I took a chance and went "all in." Surprisingly, my opponent made the call - and I thought I was screwed. However, this - my friends - is what happens when you're on tilt! My opponent was praying for a lonely '6' - and it didn't arrive. As a result, I won another $100.

Finally, Skatesncopters decided that he'd had enough, and he left the table - but only after giving me over $300. Woo hoo!

I didn't play another hand and quickly logged out of the network. Two days from now, Theresa and I are flying to San Francisco for a long weekend, and I feel this is a good place to rest. As a result, I'll continue my chase for $1,500 next week.

I'm almost there. I can taste it!

November 26, 2007: If I won every time

"If there weren't luck involved, I would win every time."
-Phil Helmuth

If every entry in this Sketchbook recorded a winning session, I suppose it might get boring. More than that, it might get a bit hard-to-believe. After all, it's impossible to win at poker every time you sit down at the table. Sometimes the cards just won't cooperate.

This an entry that tells the tale of some losses over the past few days. Four specific times since my last Sketchbook entry, I've suffered thru some particularly painful river cards. One river card, in fact, cost me $140. Ouch! In that hand, I was sitting on two pair and ahead of my opponent's single pair. Unfortunately, the river card wasn't kind - and I kissed the $140 away in the blink of an eye. Oops!

In all four instances, my opponent thought that he was ahead when we went "all in". My opponents weren't drawing for straights or flushes - they simply assumed that they had the best hand when they went "all in". That's probably why the four bad beats hurt so bad.

In one case, my opponent had two pair after the turn. I had already flopped a better two pair, but the river card gave my opponent a full house. In another instance, I had flopped a set. My opponent also flopped a set, but the turn and river cards gave him an improbable runner-runner flush. That hand, in particular, left a sick feeling in my stomach.

Despite some brutal bad beats, I kept my losses relatively modest. Unfortunately, those four bad hands more than offset any winnings I accumulated the past few days. As a result, here's where I stand at this very moment - which is nearly $200 lighter than what I reported on Thanksgiving Day.

Still, knowing that this originated from $10, I'm still quite happy with where I'm at:

November 22, 2007: Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope that all the loyal readers of this Sketchbook enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving. Personally, I'm thankful that I found some donkeys on Full Tilt Poker that gave me some money today. How good is that!

To be honest, I didn't really find any donkeys in the online world today. I did, however, find some very lucky cards. In particular, I won $100 on one particular hand (see below). After hitting the nut straight on the turn, I was delighted when my opponent went "all in" ahead of me. Thankfully, the river didn't hurt me. That would have been rather distressing.

This wasn't the only significant hand that I won today. In fact, after all the turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberries, and pumpkin pie had been eaten, I found myself up nearly $250 today. Woo hoo!

Coupled with the Green Bay Packer victory this afternoon, I experienced a very happy Thanksgiving. I'm especially thankful to be knocking on the door of $1,500.

November 20, 2007: Full Tilt Update

For the first time since I started my latest stretch of online poker, I'm forced to report that I've lost money since my last report. Gasp!

In the hours immediately preceding Saturday's Spotted Cow Poker Tournament, I decided to spend a few minutes on Full Tilt Poker. I played for (maybe) 20 minutes, and I won a quick $50. Content with my profits, I quickly logged out of the network and prepared for an evening of live poker in my basement.

Since that moment, however, poker hasn't been very kind to me . . .

First, I lost $120 at the Spotted Cow Tourney. I didn't even come close to finishing in the money, which was a little annoying.

Oh well. You can't really go wrong when 21 of your closest friends gather for cards, booze, and countless tales of bad beats, right?

The next day, I started losing at Full Tilt. That was REALLY annoying!

Shortly after logging into the network Sunday evening, I was dealt pocket 9's. A new opponent had just sat down opposite me, and he went "all in" on his very first hand. Convinced that he was simply looking for a quick hit 'n' run with mediocre cards, I made the $60 call with my 9's.

Unfortunately, my opponent flipped over pocket kings, and my Saturday profits evaporated in the blink of an eye. Ooops!

Five minutes later, I was dealt my own pair of pocket kings. My opponent bet aggressively, and we were both "all in" before the flop. I was ready to win back my $60 - and then some! Unfortunately, my opponent flipped over pocket Aces, and I was dominated. I lost $100 on that hand alone. Ugh!

Since witnessing those two ugly hands, I've won a little back, but I'm still down since my last post. It's not much (about $40), but I'd rather be reporting a profit with this Sketchbook entry.

Oh, well. I've still got a healthy balance in my Full Tilt Poker account.

November 15, 2007: Full Tilt Update

When last we left you, my Full Tilt Poker account balance was up to $960.80 after playing last Saturday night. At the time, I was starting to feel like poker was going too well. After all, I was winning every time I sat down at a no-limit table. That's unusual!

Thankfully, my lucky streak continued on Sunday and Monday. In fact, I won $165 during those two days (I probably played for 90 minutes those two days), and my account balance was over $1,100 before I knew it. Things were going swimmingly well!

I got a bit of a wake-up call on Tuesday, however. After logging into the Full Tilt network, I was down $195 after 45 minutes of play. In particular, I lost a big hand while holding 5♣ 8♣. A river club had given me a flush, but my opponent was holding A♣ Q♣. Ouch! That hand cost me over $100.

For the next 75 minutes, I battled back. Accustomed to always winning at the no-limit tables, I buckled down and started my climb back to respectability. I won a few nice pots, and I eventually logged out of the network Tuesday night - right back where I began. Whew!

So, I definitely received a bit of a scare earlier this week. However, in the end, I didn't lose any money on Tuesday - so that was a good thing.

After getting that small scare, I'm taking a small break from Full Tilt Poker. I'm hosting my next Spotted Cow Tournament on Saturday, so I'm probably going to avoid Full Tilt until the weekend is over.

Until then, I'm simply going to enjoy looking at the balance in my Full Tilt Poker and fondly recall when my balance was only $10 about two months ago.

November 13, 2007: Fantasy Football Update

When I last provided a Fantasy Football update, my four teams had a collective record of 21-3. To put it mildly, my teams were dominating. I've invested $350 in my four teams, and I had no reason to believe that I wasn’t going to recoup A LOT more than $350 at the end of the NFL season.

Today, my teams have a collective record of 30-10, which means I’ve “slumped” to a record of 9-7 over the past month. Unfortunately, the prospects of collecting A LOT of money have diminished a bit.

Here’s a look at my four teams - from worst to best:

4. The Numnuts League ($100 entry fee): As owner of “Toss Me Your Balls”, I have the 2nd highest scoring team in the league, but I’m not very comfortable right now. I’ve finished 2nd in each of the past four years, but I may need some luck to repeat that effort. In particular, I need Steve Smith to wake up (unlikely!) and I need Maurice Jones-Drew to pick up the pace. The top four teams make the playoffs, so I’d barely squeak into the postseason if the season ended today. I’m faced with a brutal schedule over the final four weeks of the season, so it isn’t going to be easy to make the playoffs.

3. EHSI’s Fantasy Football League ($85 entry fee): As owner of the “Physically Unable to Perform”, I have a 2-game lead in my division with 3 games to play. I’m probably going to win my division, but I can’t say that I’m confident about my chances in the postseason. My team isn’t scoring many points, and my Wide Receivers aren’t particularly impressive (Steve Smith, Bobby Engram, & Donte Stallworth). Honestly speaking, I’ll be happy to simply win my division. Maybe I’ll get lucky in the playoffs, but I’m not counting on it. If I win my division, I’ll probably earn a 1st round bye, so that helps my chances.

2. The Wisconsinite Fantasy Football League ($115 entry fee): As owner of the “Marquette Warriors”, I may have the ugliest 8-2 team anyone has ever assembled. To illustrate, my starting running backs are Travis Henry and Adrian Peterson – and I don’t have much on the bench after that. Unfortunately, neither of those players may play this weekend – and their prospects for the rest of the season are cloudy – at best. Similar to EHSI’s league, I’m hoping to simply hold on, claim a division title, and take my chances after that. After an 8-0 start, I am probably going to limp to the finish line. I’d be extremely happy to finish 10-4.

1. The Milwaukee Keeper League ($50 entry fee): Interestingly, I rated this as my worst team when the NFL season started. After all, my four keepers seemed weak (Randy Moss, Antonio Gates, Roy Williams, & Tatum Bell) and I didn’t like my actual draft. However, TJ Houshmandzadeh, Tony Romo, and Marion Barber have all worked out well, and I certainly can’t complain about Randy Moss’ contribution this year. If any of my teams are going to win a championship this year, it’s probably this team – but I suppose that’s obvious when you look at my 9-1 record. Interestingly, my only loss in this league was given to me by Al’s 2-8 squad.

So, we’ll see what happens. I suppose I shouldn’t complain too much. My teams have accumulated a record of 30-10, which isn’t half bad. Hopefully, I’ll get lucky in the playoffs.

In the interim, I’ll provide another Fantasy Football update in a month. Wish me luck!

November 10, 2007: It can't be this easy

Over the past few days, I've limited my poker action exclusively to Heads-up No-limit tables on Full Tilt Poker. If the last few days are an indication, I'll be up to $1,500 way sooner than expected!

The buy-in for these no-limit tables is anywhere between $20 and $100. The blinds are 50 cents/one dollar - so it's relatively cheap to see a lot of flops. When someone sits down with $20, I generally assume that they have a small bankroll. As a result, I play very aggressively. After all, it's pretty easy to steal pots from a player who only has $20 at the table. If their bankroll is small, they're not going to risk their money unless they have really good hands.

In contrast, when someone sits down with the maximum allowable ($100), that type of player is usally very aggressive and I slow down accordingly. They've obviously got enough money to gamble, and that's usually what they intend to do. As a result, I simply bide my time and wait for a monster.

As for myself, I usually sit down with $50. For whatever reason, that's my lucky number. To date, I usually leave the table with more than $50.

I know that poker isn't really this simple - but it's a formula that's working right now. First and foremost, it shouldn't be this easy to read players by simply looking at the bankroll they bring to the table. However, over the past three days, I've probably played 90 minutes of poker, and I've made over $300. That, my friends, is a pretty decent rate-of-return!

Admittedly, I've been hitting some nice cards lately. Last night, for example, I got quad 6's. I seem to be flopping top pair a lot, and that's a darn good hand when you're playing heads-up. I guess that's why I'm having fun right now!

So, here's my current balance in my Full Tilt Poker account. I've turned my $10 into a sizeable chunk of money, haven't I? This past week - in particular - I made over $450. Woo hoo!

Poker can't be this easy!

November 7, 2007: Full Tilt Poker Update

Around 9:30 last night, the balance in my Full Tilt Poker account had dipped down to $490. For the first time since I started this journey, I lost four consecutive Heads-up Tournaments, and things weren't going well. Since starting my recent play at Full Tilt, I started to believe that I'd be reporting my first weekly loss in this Sketchbook. That wasn't a pleasant prospect!

Disgusted with 4 consecutive tournament losses, I ventured to the Heads-Up No-Limit cash games. The other day, Chris mentioned that he had won some quick money playing low stakes no-limit poker, so I thought I'd give it a shot. If nothing else, I needed a change.

So, I sat at a $.50/$1 table for exactly 7 minutes. After sitting down with $50, my stack had grown to over $120 in those 7 minutes. In particular, I got very lucky when a 2♥ 4♥ eventually turned into a magical flush. That was nice!

After getting my overall account balance back up to $560 (whew!), I called it a night - happy that my 7 minutes of action had more than offset my 4 consecutive tournament losses earlier in the night.

Interested to see if last night was a fluke, I immediately went right back to the $.50/$1 heads-up no-limit tables this evening. I think I played for 20 minutes, and I won nearly $100. Yikes!

In particular, this hand was worth about $70. We both went "all in" before the flop. That's great when you're holding pocket kings! Thankfully, nothing too "weird" happened.

So, when I logged out of the network, this is where I stood in my quest to reach the $1,500 that I'll need to play in next year's World Series of Poker. Considering that this all started a little over a month ago with just $10 in my account, I'm pretty happy with my progess thus far:

November 4, 2007: Full Tilt Donkeys

Here's a good example of the type of competition I face in Heads-up Tournaments on Full Tilt Poker. Playing in a $10 event this morning, I go "all in" after the flop. My opponent makes the call - with a gut shot straight. Here's how the hand played out.

Even a donkey sucks out once in a while. Sigh!

November 3, 2007: Full Tilt Update

This week's poker action was a grind. After starting the week with $444 in my Full Tilt Poker account, I quickly saw it increase to $520 by the end of the day on Monday. Things were going quite well, and I was looking forward to reporting a healthy profit this week.

Unfortunately, things really cooled off after that.

I couldn't make any ground in the $10 Heads-Up Tournaments. In fact, I actually started to lose more than I won - which is the first time that's happened since I originally started with $10 in my account. Time after time, I got all my chips into the middle while holding the best hand, but I kept losing to bad draw outs.

Eventually, I dipped back down to $450 before making a late run at the end of the week. I was hovering around $475 when I decided to change things up a bit. I sat down at a $2/$4 Heads-Up table and quickly won $40 from a guy sitting there. He quickly reloaded his account at the table, but I scampered away - happy to claim a quick profit in about 5 minutes. That guy probably wasn't happy to see me leave so quickly with his money.

So, after all was said and done, I currently have $516 in my account - which means I made $72 this week. That doesn't sound bad, except for the fact that I played a lot of poker this week. My hourly earnings stunk, but I suppose I shouldn't complain too much. I did, after all, make some money this week while playing poker.

November 1, 2007: Draftmix Freeroll #3

I played in my last free fantasy football freeroll of the week at Draftmix this evening. Once again, this is another $50 competition. This time around, I had the #7 pick - which allowed me to draft a team that looks a lot different than my first two teams of the week.

Here's my team - in the order I drafted them:

1. Randy Moss NE (WR)
2. Terrell Owens DAL (WR)
3. Kevin Jones DET (RB)
4. Steve Smith CAR (WR)
5. Philip Rivers SD (QB)
6. Earnest Graham TB (RB)
7. Vernon Davis SF (TE)
8. Tennessee Defense
9. Rob Bironas TEN (K)

I have plans Friday night, so I won't be playing in that freeroll. We'll see how much money I can make in my three drafts this weekend.

October 31, 2007: Draftmix Freeroll #2

I played in another free weekly fantasy football freeroll at Draftmix this evening. I believe this is another $50 competition - with $35 going to the victor and $15 to 2nd place. Ten people signed up to play, and I drew the #2 pick.

Here's my team - in the order I drafted them:

1. LaDainian Tomlinson SD (WR)

2. Terrell Owens DAL (WR)

3. Carson Palmer CIN (QB)

4. Dallas Clark IND (TE)

5. Chris Chambers SD (WR)

6. Marvin Harrison IND (WR)

7. Rudi Johnson CIN (RB)

8. Washington Defense

9. Jeff Reed PIT (K)

It appears that I'll be a big fan of Chris Chambers, Dallas Clark, the Washington Defense, and Jeff Reed this weekend. I've selected all four of those players in both drafts so far this week. I'm also hoping that Rudi Johnson proves to be a "steal" in the 7th round. It looks like he's going to start this weekend, although Kenny Watson (Johnson's backup) was selected ahead of Johnson in this draft.