Let the bankroll suck begin!!!!

Round 2... Fight!

Sitting pretty at just over $100 going into the challenge. I feel rested and ready to take down any and all. Bring it on, Kimbo Slice.

On a side note, are you the admin for this group blog, Blaargh? Can you get CK access to post?

Also, remember that revealing information prior to the end of the challenge is totally voluntary... and highly recommended.

The Challenge II, Role Call and Bets

Combatants:
MHG
Dr. Chako
Blaargh!
BWoP
Kat
Aposec72
High on Poker
Shawn
Heffmike

(drop a comment if you are interested and I'll update this list)

The holidays and two week break have done a number on my poker challenge organizational skills, and I apologize for dropping the ball on this here challenge. That said, we can rush to start on Jan. 1, 2010 still, or we can push the start date back a week to drum up anticipation and business. Cast your vote in the comments--I originally was leaning towards waiting, but a shotgun wedding-style start to the second bankroll challenge sounds kind of sexy.

My rough plans for the challenge are to end on March 1, 2010. Two months seems like enough time to get plenty of poker in, but not too long that people get bored with the challenge.

Bets:

1) Most gained as a % of bankroll from beginning to end of challenge
MHG: $2
Blaargh!: $10
Dr. Chako: $10
Kat: $5
Aposec72: $5
High on Poker: $10
Shawn: $5
Heffmike: $10

2) Largest score
MHG: $2
Blaargh!: $5
BWoP: $5
Dr. Chako: $5
Kat: $5
Aposec72: $2
High on Poker: $5
Shawn: $5
Heffmike: $10

3) Slayer of Donkeys (smallest fraction: finish place / # of entrants)
MHG: $3
Blaargh!: $5
BWoP: $5
Dr. Chako: $5
Kat: $5
Aposec72: $5
High on Poker: $10
Heffmike: $10

4) Funniest post (non-monetary)
MHG: A poem ode to the victor
Blaargh!: dirty limerick
Dr. Chako: poetry
Kat: haiku/poem

5) Betting the horses (picking the victor of bets 1-3, non-monetary)
MHG: A painting of the victor
Blaargh!: painting
Dr. Chako: Some form of original art. I may write and record a song.
Kat: crafty/pokery goodness

6) Bad Beat of the Challenge (worst bad beat of the challenge, non-monetary)
MHG: A box of Kleenex
Blaargh!: The world's smallest violin
Dr. Chako: The world's 2nd smallest violin. Apparently the smallest was already taken.

7) Most hands played during the challenge
Blaargh!: $5
MHG: $2
Aposec72: $3

8) Best overall winrate over 10k hands
Blaargh!: $5
MHG: $2

(leave other betting ideas in the comments and I'll add them)

Betting is going to be a little different this year for two reasons. First, I'd like to give more people the opportunity to bet at levels they are comfortable with (mostly myself). Second, I'd like to give some importance to places other than first. I propose that as you leave a comment stating which bets you want in for, you also write down a dollar amount next to each bet that you are comfortable with to make the bet interesting for you. I've done so for myself on the first three bets, and then for the non-monetary bets I wrote down what I'm offering to the victor if I lose.

Here's an example of how I intend the betting to work:

3) Slayer of Donkeys
MHG: $3
Aposec72: $10
Blaargh!: $17.50
Dr. Chako: $20
Kat: $5
BWOPCK: $20

If we were to finish in order from top to bottom, I would get $3 from everyone. Aposec would get $7 from everyone except Kat, and he would take her last $2 (what a douche), Blaargh! would get $7.50 from Dr. Chako and BWOPCK, and Dr. Chako would take CK's last $2.50 and go buy an anti-energy drink. A simpler outcome would be if CK or Dr. Chako takes first, they just take everyone's money--pretty much like an all-in with six different people, if the person who had the biggest stack going in wins, she knocks everyone else out.

It sounds complicated, but I'll do the math and show who owes who what, after all the bets are settled once the challenge has completed.

Game on!

Summer Bankroll Challenge 2: Southern Hemisphere Time

New decade, new bankroll challenge. Beginning January 1, 2010. Stay tuned.

Warmup live blog - BLAARGH

7:10 ... and my mighty ducks don't hold up. Out in 2010. Great playing with yall, it's time to cash out and rub it on my t1ties.

7:07 wondering if my run good is gone.... down to 9700 and getting crap for cards while every hand at the table is a shove. I'm going to have to get in sometime soon, but my last cards have been 72o, 72o, 84o, all with raises that effectively put me all in if I wanna play...

6:55 break - 17k

6:55 - folded 33 raise to all in rr and lost a few chips. around 10bb again... crap

6:54 still hanging in at 22k, was up to 30k, but got into button vs blind idiocy and had to call off a bunch of chips with K3cc. Flopped a 3, but he rivered a st8

6:28 won a ridiculous hand... my wife just brought in dinner - I have ATcc in MP - UTG raises, I shove my last 9k on a wtf I'm crushed but I'm hungry move - I get called by TT and QQ... and river a friggin A. Jeebus. Lucky bastard indeed.

6:19 - WOOT! UR FIVE DOLLARZ IZ MINE!

(can't believe I finally won a friggin challenge!)

Make all checks out to blaargh86 on FT :)

Aposec went out on a horrible cooler, while I've been getting by stealing blinds. T 14,511

6:17 - I think Aposec is gone?

6:04 - pretty sure the bubble is burst - hand for hand lasted one hand

Ship that $7.50 in free mobneys. Even if Aposec wins, I'm still $2.50 ahead since I used FTP points :)

5:55 break time

Blaargh - T12,036

Aposec72 - T5,248

Sir Al - gonzo

Cindy - gonzo

Dr C. - gonzo

Kat - gonzo

7581 left, for all intents and purposes, Aposec + I made the $$ - wheeeeeee!

Average stack 11,574

blinds move to 300/600 a75

5:53 Holy crap, almost to the $$ - about 7800 left, 7500 pay

5:52 shorty shoved over my raise w/ AJo for 700 more easy call to knock out his KQo. Stole blinds and up to 12k

5:48 avoided devastation again when I folded my AK on 4QT flop. He REALLY seemed like he wanted a call. he showed 44 for trips.

5:45 had to make my move - shoved 3400 over 3 limpers, then shoved my sb over the bb who called with A9o. My QJo was gold on the turned Q

T10k

5:39 moved again, luckily not in the bb. Cindy is def out. Just avoided catastrophe when I folded my button rather than shoving over the big stack - he had AA

Aposec is sitting pretty right now with 6k chips

5:35 - just looked for cindy - she may be out too?

Still hanging with T3850 - getting tough as it's push and pray time...

5:28 - looks like Al is out

Just shoved bb on button raise for a few chips T3,825

5:16 - got some chips back, then lost em again w/ AJo T2,755

5:05 lost some chips w/ A7o <>

blinds at 160/80 btw

Blogger Update at break:

Blaargh - T3,315

Aposec72 - T2,433

Sir Al - T1,575

Cindy - ??? (what's your screen name?)

Dr C. - gonzo

Kat - gonzo

4:55 made first break with T3,315.

4:52 - just won a pot with AKo. T$3,315. waiting around for a shot at the table spaz, so folding a lot.

4:23 - just got moved to 2 new talbes without having played a hand, guess folks are busting at a rapid clip

4:20 - save myself a buttload of $$ by folding this one on the flop (raise + rr before it got to me - price was too high for my 8 outs)

4:07 - double to 2775 off a psycho KK > A9o - got moved to new table

4:02 - finally back up and running...

I hope whatever they do to the software doesn't interfere with my hole card reading ability. 

Sorry, nothing interesting to say. I hope people are busting out while my table sits here locked up :P

While we're waiting....

Ummm... yeah.

System: Due to network connectivity issues, a number of players have lost their connection to the game. Extra time has been added to the disconnect time bank.

System: The network connectivity issues have been resolved, normal game play will now continue.

3:46 - not playing very well... folding too easily to pressure, not choosing spots very well... this will be pretty quick if I don't get my shit together. 1,575 now.

Is it jut me, or is FT running REALLY badly?

3:30 - already down to 1,740 after cbet/folding pocket 2's to aggressive dude. sigh.

3:25 - dude shoves for all his chips on J high board with J3o and snapped by KK. 

I call bb w/ 78ss, hit an 8 and call down tiny bets to riv where other dude shows QQ. Not a very strong table, I think....

3:20 - finally got HEM back up and running and the tourney is off. Folded 38o from mp

3:04 - have to reboot pc, of course. Good start to the day....

Getting close to kickoff, where the first pitch will be thrown by one of the greatest all time and most beloved poker players, Russ Hamilton. We salute you Russ!

And the playahs are:

Blaargh86

Aposec72

Cindilicious

Sir Al

(and Al's live blog via full tilt click here)

drchako1

Kat?

Warm up heating up

Fiver is good, Cindy. Kat, you in for a fin?

I'm signed up. They were getting close to 25k last night, so might be a good idea to sign up now.

You can use Full tilt points to get in (about 1k). Seems like a pretty good deal.

Any of the big boys here wanna join in, now that we're getting closer?

Warm Up!

LAST LONGER

So far we have Kat as a definite, MHG thinks frisbee is more important, Cindy is a maybe, Aposec is a maybe and Captain is a maybe. Doc is too busy looking at fancy cars and hair plugs to respond.

My suggestion, since it's a couple weeks away, is for all that are maybe interested sign up, and if you know you will not make it just post any time before kick off and your bet is off.

Anyone want to chime in with terms?

--------------------------------

The FTOPS XIV Warm Up

Turn a small buy-in into serious cash and win your seat to the FTOPS XIV Main Event with The FTOPS XIV Warm Up.

There is $250,000 in guaranteed prize money up for grabs starting at 15:05 ET on Sunday, November 1st. As an added bonus, the winner will receive a free $535 entry to the FTOPS XIV Main Event.

Buy in directly for $5 + $0.50 or satellite your way in for as little as $0.50 or 50 Full Tilt Points. This tournament is limited to 50,000 players, so grab your seat as fast as you can.

To register for The FTOPS XIV Warm Up

1. Log in to Full Tilt Poker.
2. Set the filters in the browse area to Tournaments, then select FTOPS, Hold ‘em, No-Limit and click Low.
3. Look for the FTOPS XIV Warm Up tournament on November 1st at 15:05 ET.
4. Click Register Now.

A Modest Proposal

I enjoy the taste of a fattened Irish child as much as the next alien, but I had something a bit different in mind. 

SBC II

Would anyone be interested in doing another challenge, but this time start completely fresh on a site none of us belong to? Everyone starts with the same initial deposit with rebuys if you hit zero? Or top offs if you go below the initial amount? Up for discussion - also initial amount up for discussion. 

I'm guessing no one here belongs to Lock. (I know I don't!). There is a pro here in Brooklyn that just got signed, and in order to drum up signups is willing to deposit for you. If it makes things easier for everyone, I'd be willing to make the initial deposit through him + collect blogger mobneys afterward. If anyone not from the initial group wants in, I'd have to know you, or at least have good references, or you could deposit yourself. I'm sure he gets some sort of kickback, so to be fair, lets use his code if we can. Right now Lock does not have rakeback, but they promise that when they do get it up and running, they will offer it to everyone, not just new signups.

I'm up for any other site if this one doesn't appeal (cake, maybe?). 

Does this idea float anyone's boat?

CINDY IS BACK!!!

*BLAARGH note: It looks like cindy was here all along, but couldn't figure out blogspot. I'll help her along in the future, but for now here's her latest email + screenshot. MHG, I'll leave it to you to decide wither the 'licious mobneys shalt flow.

I didn't think to post during the two months prior to August 20 -
there wasn't much to post other than the slow shrinking of my
bankroll.  I ended up down 55%, from $67.75 to $31.50.  I did manage
to keep myself from playing king-nine unless I really, really, really,
REALLY had a feeling, but I found other ways to lose.
Did anyone else play in PokerStars Guinness challenge?  I went out
about 2000th and won myself a whopping $2.40. (Which was practically
the only win I booked!)

DOOM SWITCH OFF, GOD MODE ON!

I don't want to jinx myself (I probably just did), but I just might be getting the hang of 25NL. Wish this could of happened a couple weeks ago, but better late than never.

A couple really bad plays on my part with me sucking out early on (you can see I'm waaaaay above expectation), but I snapped out of it and played the rest of the hands to perfection, or at least reasonably well, which I can most assuredly tell you I was not doing before.

The ev line goes straight up at about hand 173.... that had to be one of the worst suckouts ever. I'm watching a donk at my table agro shove and basically run over anyone that gets in a hand with him. He was up to 90 bucks at one point, but I took a bunch off of him and we were about even with 40 bucks each. I have his patterns memorized and I'm waiting for my spot. I get AA, limp (he had been tilt raising weird amounts), he raises big as I expect, I rr, he 3bets, I get it in and he calls... with Ace.... Jack.... offsuit. I'm 92% to win this hand and take his last 40 bucks, which it seems he was dying to give away. Flop comes 234.... you see where this is going? Yep, 5 turn and we chop. I lose a buck 50 on the fucking deal. I know this crap happens, but to be so patient for so long and get the perfect setup... guess it could have been worse and he hits JJ or a four flush, but still... :)

Around hand 340, I jump into 2 new tables, first hand on table 1 I have 33, someone min raises, a bunch of calls and more min raises and all kinds of stupidness where I was priced in to set mine... we get to the flop, I hit my 3, get all in on the turn and river another 3. DQB!!! Didn't even need it - I was up against Q9 and AQ on a Queen high board for a $63 pot. 2 hands into the second table I get AIPF with another dude putting in half his stack then folding and square off with AA vs QQ and hold.... what a good night that was...

Even without those monster hands, I feel like I'm getting a grip on 25 NL. I went through a long stretch where I was overplaying draws, trying to bluff too many pots, and getting myself into stupid situations. I know how to fold now. That's major.

Hopefully I can continue this BR rebuilding. I blame the challenge. Let's do it again :)

The End This is the end. Beautiful friend. This is the end. My only friend, the end.

Since I completely missed the boat on closing the deals on any prop betting as it related to the Summer Bankroll Challenge but played poker any ways cuz well, it's what I do, I figured I might as well get this up late. I could still win a gold star sticker...right?

I finished up, as was my goal and strategy all along. I figured I could grind it out while the others swung for the fence.

I ended up $31.51. The really sad part was I was up a bit more then this with 2 days to go...friggin' Full Tilt and their $100 bonus offer. Gawd I hate bonus chasing...but I did see free money and lost my mind. I should never multi-table limit cash games...never. My peak was $1,189.31, but peaks don't count. Damn it.

If I did my math correctly, this means I finished up 2.77% which, had a I completed any of the prop betting, would have made me the champion and the collector of some mighty fine blogger moolah. I love blogger moolah. It's the best kind of moolah.

The summer was a blast! The Summer Bankroll Challenge was fun even though I missed out on most of it. OK, all but the blogging part of it and the grinding out a profit thing.

Until the next missed opportunity...

Blaargh is Da Man!

My post honoring Blaargh is up.

-DrC

The Results

Alright friends, this is what we've been waiting for. To whom do we ship our money and side bets?!?

Here is a list of the bets and entrants from last month. I've copied and updated the list below, and at the very end is a tally of money owed.

1) Most gained as a % of bankroll from beginning to end of challenge ($10 into pool, winner take all)

MHG (up 0.09%)
Dr. Chako (up 1.74%)
Blaargh! (down 29%)
Aposec72 (down 100%)
Katitude (down 511%???)

Winner: Dr. Chako

2) Largest score ($5 into pool, winner take all)

MHG (15.75 - 7/29/09)
Dr. Chako ($96, damn doctors)
Blaargh! ($21.50 - 2nd twice in $5.50 sngs - that's pretty pathetic that that's my biggest score this month btw...)
Aposec72 ($7.95) ($13) ** Aposec - is this with the buy-in subtracted?
Katitude ($278, !@#$)

Winner: Katitude

3) Slayer of Donkeys ($5 into pool, smallest fraction: finish place / # of entrants)

MHG (4.03%)
Blaargh! (2.76%)
Dr. Chako (1.11%)
Aposec72 (0.052%, wtf!)

Winner: Aposec72

4) Funniest post on this blog (Losers post an entry bowing down to the winner, to be voted on secretly by participants)

MHG
Blaargh!
Dr. Chako

Outcome: The way I see it is that I got outclassed, and it is a two-horse race between Blaargh! and Dr. Chako. They each vote for themselves, leaving me with the only vote that matters. They both made plenty of worthy posts, but I will have to give the victory to Blaargh with his latest Youtube upload. Dr. Chako and I will have to post bow-down entries on our blogs to the one... the only... blaaaaaargh!

5) Katitude / MHG horse bet (Vanity picture on motorcycle)

Katitude has Dr. Chako (shaking in her boots)
MHG has Cindilicious (liking my chances!)

Winner: Katitude. If Dr. Chako had been negative I would have tried to steal this victory from you, assuming Cindi didn't play and broke even--but since Dr. Chako came out positive I am screwed. Vanity picture will be up on the blog within the week, and lucky for you my bike just got out of the shop this afternoon!

All told, here is what people owe each other:

MHG: I owe Dr. Chako $10 for #1, Kat $5 for #2, Aposec $5 for #3, Blaargh a post on my blog for #4 and Kat a moto picture for #5. Good God.

Dr. Chako owes Blaargh a post on his blog about how funny and good looking Blaargh is.

Blaargh! owes Dr. Chako $10, owes Kat $5, owes Aposec72 $5.

Katitude owes Dr. Chako $5 (#1-#2).

Aposec72 owes Dr. Chako $5 (#1-#3).

TO MAKE THINGS (a little) SIMPLER...

Instead of paying $5 to Aposec72 and him paying that to Dr. Chako, MHG can pay that directly to Dr. Chako (agree in the comment section Aposec72 if this works for you)

Instead of paying $5 to Katitude, and her paying that to Dr. Chako, Blaargh can pay that directly to Dr. Chako (agree in the comment section Blaargh/Kat if you agree)

If agreed, here are the payouts:

MHG: $15 to Dr. Chako, $5 to Kat
Blaargh: $15 to Dr. Chako, $5 to Aposec72

CONGRATS YOU GUYS

Blaargh, let's go get crunk, we suck.

If you see any errors in the results, go fuck yourself... I mean, please let me know!

Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Let's end this challenge in style--Pacific Standard Time style.



1119.09 to start

1138.15 to end

1138.15/1119.09 = 101.70%

Winner!!!!!!!!!!

Well, crap, we have to add in the "others"
+2 to Dr. Chako
-20 from bonus release

1120.15/1119.09 = 100.09% for a whopping 0.09% increase!

So, it doesn't look like I'm the winner, but I am positive, and I am going to pour myself a big gin n' tonic for that feat. OK, done and drinking now, time to dive into the challenge.

Things I learned from this challenge:

This is the second bankroll challenge I've done with Dr. Chako. Our first challenge was just the two of us, and we both failed miserably. This time around I was almost certain we'd all be negative again, unless someone hit a big score. Maybe even if someone hit a big score. I am shocked and amazed that Dr. Chako and I came out on top, even if it is a fraction of a percentage on top. And that fraction of a percentage only came chasing a positive total in the 12th hour playing happy hour poker...

Chasing bonuses or challenges leads to bad play and lost money!!

I would hop online and play for a big score to boost my bankroll and lose, then I would say "fuck it" to the challenge and grind my way back up to even playing solid poker and concentrating on making good decisions instead of focusing on results. This happened about five times over the last two months.

The second thing I learned was liking limit poker again! If you had told me at the beginning of this challenge that I would make most of my money on 2/4 and 3/6 limit hold'em, I would have spewed my gin n' tonic all over your face. Limit. Hold'em. Online?!? I don't think I've ever played limit hold'em online. I got sick of losing money playing live at casinos and getting sucked out on years ago--but I found myself back at a local casino playing 4/8 bingo. F-Train definitely has something to his post about limit hold'em not being in the lights and glamor the past few years, and as no limit hold'em tables have gotten tougher over the past five years, limit tables have not.

All in all, I really did not play as much poker over the past two months than I anticipated when we started two months ago. Part of the lack of poker was due to the fact that I thought break-even poker might win me some money on side bets! I look forward to reading up on others' experiences with the challenge and tabulating who wins on the bets!

It was fun (but I owe a ton!)

483.33 cash, 22T, $26 Token and $20 I let a friend borrow = 551.33

With a starting balance of 814.75 (including $11T) means I'm down (32%)

* just won another $5/18 -  which puts me down 29% - still pretty pathetic :)

I came close to the donkey killer early on, and went out 600 out of 9000 (JJ <>

Who had the biggest score? Most I could do was winning a few $5 18's. Does Aposec have that one as well?

Tried a last ditch effort tonight to catch back up by using another token in a $26 90 KO, but to no avail... out in 22 (with only 1 KO ).

Hopefully I at least get honorable mention in the post category...

Nevertheless.... had a blast with you all....

Who's up for "SBC: THE FALL VERSION"?

The End for Dr. Chako

I'll blink first in this game of "Who'll Posts Last."

I'm in the positive territory, which is far better than last time. Even subtracting the $2 prop bet I won from MHG, I'm still up $1.31 which by my calculation is +1.74%

What you got?

Proper Bubble Play

Wrap up - Katitude

Here's my finishing screen shot:



It looks super impressive when compared to my first one that showed a balance of $6.74.

But we all know, as with the supermodel body that sheathes a shrieking harridan of a woman, looks can be deceiving.

Once you take away the injections of ad money, $460 in total, then you can see that yes, I truly suck at poker.

Start balance: 6.74
Ending balance: -27.72

Now, I have a head cold that is making me all woozy and I am math challenged when it comes to percentages (I was sick that day), but by my calculations, I show a loss of $34.46 or 511 percent.

Five hundred and eleven percent. Good grief. So much for the Most Gained as a % of Bankroll bet. Let me know who I have to ship the tenner to.

Well, I suck at poker about 98% of the time. I did have one good cash for $278 from an initial $8.80 investment. I went out 14th of 448, so I think this gives me a win for Largest Score and Slayer of Donkeys (0.0311%).

I could be wrong though.

Unless dry, self-deprecating sarcasm can be classed as humorous, I certainly fail in the Funniest Blog Post wager.

Oh wait. I don't think I was in that bet. Never mind.

Not sure how the horsie bet is going with me and MHG. I know how my pick is doing, but I have no idea how Cindylicious is faring. Maybe I should wash my bike anyway in preparation of having to take a photo. It looks a little grimy after a few days on Northern roads.

Closeout

I already posted my entry regarding the best donkey-slayer finish, but now I'll post my results for part 1 of this little prop bet.

No screen shot included, because it's easy to include.

Starting balance: $31.05.
Ending balance: $0.00.

Down 100%.

I was tempted to re-deposit, but I've had enough junk-kicking on Full Tilt to decide against it. So, I'm pretty sure I take the Gigli for this part of the bet.

At least I hit the other part of the prop.

Meh.

Motorcycle

At one point, someone mentioned vanity pics on a motorcycle. I doubt these count, but it gives me an excuse to post these pics and solicit opinions. I'd like to know:

1. What you think of the bike
2. What you think of the size of the bike in relation to me.

I drove up to Bellingham today just to test drive the thing. That's where the only authorized dealer in the Pac Northwest resides. It's a British bike common in India. I'll post my thoughts after you give me yours.

-DrC

Telling Screencap

This is an interesting screencap, I believe (feel free to click the picture for a larger image of my desktop). Not only does it show a weird hold 'em hand at the final table of tournament #1, but it also shows a little of my strategy for winning this bet. Here I'm playing two tournaments at the same time; an 18 player SNG and a 27 player SNG. In the first I'm 2nd and in the second I'm 3rd. I ended up taking 2nd in both and I'm happy with everything but my heads up play. In one case, the chip leader called me an "f-in donkey" and he was right. I called an all in with K-2 and river the wheel. His 6s were no match.

This is a nice addition to a fairly good run over the last couple weeks, both live and online. Earlier today I made the final table of the local 45 person tournament at Freddie's in Fife (money back only) and doubled my buy-in at the 8/16 game that followed.

That said, I'm not certain any of us have a chance of catching Kat after her big hit.

Winding Down!

This Thursday marks August 20th, the end of the Summer Bankroll Challenge. Please remember to take screenshots before August 21st and post your finished bankroll amount!

I have a lot of work to do in the next four days!

Poker Update from Dr. Chako

Well, I'm living the life of a bachelor. This means:

1. I get to walk around the house nekkid,
2. I will be playing a lot of poker.

Heck, I may even do both at the same time.

I moved the fam down to Palo Alto last weekend (update here) and I'm staying here in Washington while I wait for my California medical license (which just got rejected because my internship, which happened at a hospital that doesn't exist anymore, sent my certificate with a copy of my photo, but they only accept original photos. Hello? The hospital doesn't fucking exist!)

Anyway, I had some free time last night so I headed to my favorite stomping grounds, Diamond Lil's in Renton, WA. I've been on a good run lately with 7 consecutive sessions where I came out ahead (counting live and online).

It was not the 8th.

The table was very loose and I played way too many pots. I started right away at 8/16 and won my first two hands, nearly doubling my buy-in. I should have walked away, but it was early, dammit. Don't judge me.

The next two hours saw me piss away my early win, plus the original rack. And the next rack. Fortunately, I only brought enough for 2 1/2 racks, otherwise I would have pissed away the rest, I think.

Instead, I came home and decided to chase my losses online. Great plan, right?

Actually, it was! I tightened way up and concentrated on position. I was playing 6-handed .05/.10 PLO with a $4 cap. Within one hour I doubled my buy-in and this time I DID cash out. I also played a 9-player PLO8 SNG and took second. I finished with 6-handed .25/.50 LHE and almost doubled my buy-in there.

So, to recap... I killed online for a profit of about $30, but I pissed away nearly $500 playing live.

I'm calling it a win.

Where hath thy challenge gone?

In my case, down the shitter. Been playing a few $5 18s and either throwing them away on stupid moves near the bubble, or when I do actually concentrate, getting 3 outed or running big pp into bigger pp. (My pp is bigger than yours, btw).

Last night I felt pretty good about my play for once, and got rewarded by shoving 99
QQ < KK - I could have folded that one, the other dude was super tight and I had enough chips to not call the tight asses shove, but not sure if that would be a correct move - meant to look it up - hang on....
I give him these cards only: JJ+,AJs+,AKo
And stove says it's 50/50
Fold. There were better spots. I still had chips. At best this dude probably had AK for a flip, at worst I'm completely dominated.

A9 < A5 - psycho to my left throws 2k at my 150 BB. I can read that idiot like a book and have him on weak ace + almost nothing else. I put him all in for 2k more. Fucker hits a 5 on the river to knock me out, again on the bubble. Shoving on him might seem a bad play, but I stand behind it - he may as well have had his cards face up, he was that bad.

Anyway, for the most part I'm getting more confident with my reads, but getting frustrated with all the coolers + beats I've been taking. These hands are nothing special, but it seems like I'm getting an awful lot of them. I know... variance, small sample size, yadda yadda yadda... still sucks.

My BR last night dipped into the $480 range... getting close to -50% in the challenge. So of course I did the prudent thing and jumped into $50NL HU cash. Which I've never played before. And which I'm woefully under bankrolled for. And if I get stacked I will be very sad. And if I'm sad, all electronics within tentacle's reach are sad.

Luckily (collective sigh of relief from all manner of throwable objects) I was somehow able to frigging own the tables I sat at. It helped that I was hitting cards. It helped that I had spent a bunch of time at 25NL full ring. It helped that I had been playing HU sng's lately. It helped a great deal that I didn't think about the $$ and tighten up. I played about 5 different people in about an hour, and every one of them quit me. Some were smart and realized within a few hands that it wasn't going to be profitable for them. A couple weren't so smart and let me have their $$. I was patient. I was aggressive. I played position. I played small pots with small hands + built big pots with big hands. I picked at any weakness I could find.

I wish I were better rolled for this, it was fun. I know that there are huge swings with HU, and I'm not able to withstand a bad session. I may have to dabble in it again though. Hope it wasn't a fluke. Need to look at my HH and make sure I just wasn't getting super lucky. Or maybe it was because it was late sunday night and all the drunkies were out. I have no idea. I am fairly certain that 850BB/hr might not be sustainable over the long term.

BR 8/10/09 $582.25 + $33T = $615.25

Saturdays With Dr. Pauly

Not sure where this ranks, but it sure was a lot of fun!

PokerStars Tournament #181421287, Pot Limit Omaha
Buy-In: $10.00/$1.00
48 players
Total Prize Pool: $480.00
Tournament started 2009/07/25 16:20:00 ET
Tournament finished 2009/07/25 18:58:35 ET
 2: DrChako (Federal Way), $96.00 (20%)

Wrong Site, Right Result

I am doing this challenge on Full Tilt.

Maybe I should have picked BoDog.

I played in their nightly $500 freeroll tonight, which tonight had 3,876 people registered.

Top 63 paid out. Squeaked in as a short stack.

How about a final table? OK. Again, squeaked in as a short stack.

How about taking it all down? Well, I knocked out four people in a row at the final table, but started getting hit by the suckout train myself and ended up in 2nd for $75.00.

Within five minutes at the final table, I made:

A seven-high straight to take out pocket Kings and pocket eights
KQ knocks out player with A9
JJ knocks out player with AK
82 offsuit (in the BB and player all in on ante) takes out player with Q8
AK knocks out player with QQ

This got us to heads up, and me with a 5:1 chip lead which I promptly blew with hands like A5 losing to QJ, folding to a turned flush, K2 losing to A2, KQ losing to A9, and finally AK losing to Q8.

Considering how much lucksacking I did to get to 2nd, I can't complain too much.

Off to bed, and taking the kids to Stone Mountain tomorrow.

Too bad this wouldn't count towards the challenge or prop bet - 2nd of 3876 would be 0.052% and probably take the lead by a whole lot on the donkey-slayer prop bet. Since my balance was at the magic amount of $0.00 on BoDog, it's better than a sharp stick in the eye.

At least, I'm assuming it doesn't. I've made an ass out of you and me before, so if I'm incorrect in my assumption I'd love to find out.

I guess it came out $15 an hour.

It'll do.

Now, sleep.

Tiltlessness

Been playing a few of the $3+.30 90 deep turbo KO sngs lately. I can't even believe how bad the play is on these things. There is absolutely NO poker going on... everyone is so in love with the KOs that they will shove at the slightest provocation. 

Donkey heaven. I'm in my element. I am King Donkey. I'm the donkey the other donkeys look to for advice. Buy high, sell low. That's not herpes, don't bother seeing a doctor. You do look kind of fat in those pants, darling.

I can take these things. Easy strategy. Don't go for the KO just for the sake of the stupid 50¢, play tight, get them to gift you their chips, go for the win.

The problem with bad play is it's infectious. After 2 hours of mouth breathers shoving with the worst possible hands and winning, you start to think that it's a good idea. That's my excuse anyway. Really, I pretty much just suck. Hard. Awful play. What the hell was I thinking play. Who the f hit my all in button, I'm gonna kill him. And I wish I could say it only happened once.

I'm 3rd in chips with 32k (leader has 36k). We're on the bubble. 10 left, 9 pay. I can sit back and wait for the shorties to bust, then take out the rest on the FT. No problem. It folds to me in the SB, I raise to 7500 with Q8o. I would very much like the BB to go away so I can take his 2700. The douche flats. WTF. He has 14k behind. You know where this idiocy is going... I'm out of position with weakass cards against a station that flats 1/3 of his stack in the BB and isn't folding his very obvious Ax.... I flop my 8 on 68Ar. 

Luckily my finely honed poker sense allows me to shove all of my chips in virtually assuring I will bubble this thing.

I'm now down to 10k. Shortie is down to 2k, less than 1BB. I can fold to the $$, but that's not how I roll. I'm a steamroller. I can roll over bullets, baby! I roll off the barstool into my own pool of sick. I roll bums for fun and profit.

I have J9o on the button. Pure gold! You suckers are in for it now!

Let me take a moment to talk about tilt. I read the Tommy Angelo book. I don't tilt. 

So when I put my fist through the dog, that wasn't tilt. When I pummeled the dog through my wife that wasn't tilt. When I put them both in a blender, that wasn't tilt it was breakfast, shame to waste a good energy drink. When steam came pouring out of my ears making a whistling sound, that wasn't tilt (just good comedy). When I tickled the Guinea pig... ummm... what was I talking about?

Oh yeah. Tilt. I don't do it. Got it?

It took every ounce of will to not throw my laptop across the room. I mean, come on. I cost myself at least $2 in profit in that spot. I can keep these things in perspective. It takes at least a $3 loss to smash a $4000 computer. 

I ripped apart my ipod headphones instead. 

*Martha Stewart moment: 

Ipod headphones make a lovely noose or garrote that will fit over just about any Guinea pig neck. Try it at your child's next birthday party and really surprise her!

I immediately logged into a $5 sng. It's always a good idea to get right back on that horse after learning a valuable lesson.

That's when the internet connection went down.

good grief

Just so you all know, I am playing the worst excuse for poker that anyone has ever seen. I swear, I played better when I did not know what I was doing.

So me coming in last is pretty much a dead lock. You can thank me later.

New big score!!!

Highlighted name is the most important.

Betting: One Month Remains

It is technically the halfway point in our summer challenge, although I know we didn't get started right on the 20th of June. I do know that we've only got one month left!

Here are the current bets, and what people have reported. If you see any mistakes, let me know. Also, many of the bets have not been reported, which is fine--this is just a reminder of which bets are on the line.

1) Most gained as a % of bankroll from beginning to end of challenge ($10 into pool, winner take all)

MHG
Dr. Chako
Blaargh!  (-26% as of 7/20/09 cruuuuuuud!)
Aposec72 (-42% as of 7/21/09)
Katitude

Note: unsure if anyone is positive???

2) Largest score ($5 into pool, winner take all)

MHG (15.75 - 7/29/09)
Dr. Chako ($96, damn doctors)
Blaargh! ($1.50)  ($21.50 - 2nd twice in $5.50 sngs - that's pretty pathetic that that's my biggest score this month btw...)

Aposec72 ($7.95) ($13) ** Aposec - is this with the buy-in subtracted?
Katitude

3) Slayer of Donkeys ($5 into pool, smallest fraction: finish place / # of entrants)

MHG (4.03%)
Blaargh! (2.76%)
Dr. Chako (1.11%)
Aposec72 (0.052%, wtf!)

4) Funniest post on this blog (Losers post an entry bowing down to the winner, to be voted on secretly by participants)

MHG (outclassed)
Blaargh! (Mauled by bear picture was good)
Dr. Chako (Winning with only funny-centered post yet, sure to change soon)

5) Katitude / MHG horse bet (Vanity picture on motorcycle)

Katitude has Dr. Chako (shaking in her boots)
MHG has Cindilicious (liking my chances!)

We'll settle all of these bets at after August 20th!

Blaargh edit: Anyone else that wants to update with current results just click the pencil icon below... OK with you MHG?

((making updates 7/29/09--MHG))

My Turn!

DQB!!!

Sick Beat

I'm glad I watched this one from the sidelines. This is the 2nd worst beat I've ever seen.

SHUT OUT!!!

Rearranged my day so I could squeak into the record breaker - just got back from dropping off my kid on a play date, and my wife is gallery hopping. Jump on FT with 10 mins to spare.... and reg is closed with the entire waiting list full. This is day 1D all over again! 

I'm assuming FT can't handle more than 50k, but it's too bad- it looks like they had a lot more interest then they expected.

Guess I'll have to rail MHG, it looks like Kat didn't make it in either.

Good luck!

I will fight on...

I started this challenge with visions of bankroll busting side action. You know, the field was soft and I had the edge. Patience and perseverance.

I forgot to do one thing...line up the bets. D'oh!

Ok, I didn't forget, what I did do was embark on the absolutely busiest summer of my life. It took me 40 years to get to this point but damn. The beginning of summer seems like a lifetime ago.

The highlights of the Summer Bankroll Challenge:

1. The Mrs and one of my best friends had conspired to take me to St. Louis to watch the best baseball team in the world, the Minnesota Twins.

2. Same buddy and I get the families together the next weekend and attempt a tasty pig roast. Pig was tasty and no one was hungry. (Another weekend shot)

3. While all of this was going on, I work on a team of 3 software engineers. One of them, his wife had a baby and he began 2 weeks of paternity leave. The other, went on vacation at the same time. Sigh.

4. The Mrs and I went on the "Weekend of Rock" tour and partied like it was 1999. Man was that a blast! But one of the secrets to good bankroll management is to not take the bankroll out for a stroll while partying like it's 1999. Son of Julius Goat! There goes another damn weekend.

5. This weekend. Turned 40. Plans galore. I miss my bankroll and the virtual felt.

So, anyone still want a piece of me? I may actually play some poker here in the next few weeks. No guarantees, but it could happen. Near as I can tell, I'm up about 3% since the beginning and all I've been doing is grinding out low stakes hold 'em and razz cash games when I have a few minutes to do it.

Sigh...this summer thing is a lot of work!

Going deep but not much upside

I opened Full Tilt for the first time in two days to do two itty-bitty buyin tourneys for deep runs.

Exhibit A: the 5 FPP donkaments that are running through tomorrow.

Full Tilt Poker Tournament #99604464 $5,000 Guarantee NL Hold'em
Buy-In: $0.00
12423 players
Total Prize Pool: $5000.00
Start Date: July 19 12:05 AM ET

You finished the tournament in 1454th place.
There has been $0.50 added to your account.

Not as deep as I'd like.

Exhibit B: a $3.00 + $0.30 MTT KO, I started at the same time. Halfway through, I vaulted near the top with quad kings on the river (DQB!) so this was an OK run through 815 people - my best "donkey-slayer" finish so far but requiring a finish of at least making the final table to take the lead in this prop bet.

Sadly, no: 2.67%.

Full Tilt Poker Tournament #99561091 $3 + $0.30 Knockout NL Hold'em
Buy-In: $3.00 + $0.30
815 players
Total Prize Pool: $2445.00
Start Date: July 18 11:20 PM ET

You finished the tournament in 22nd place.
There has been $7.95 added to your account.

At least I got a few knockouts along the way as well.

Are You Serious (the Razz Edition)?!

I actually won this hand in Razz:


J-10-9-8-6, in a 3-way, baby. Beat that!

Getting close Doc!

Saw that this thing was registering in the chat box, entered on a whim. Not a good idea to enter a 13,000 person tourney at 11:00 at night, when you've been drinking wine. Table I was at was surprisingly tight (not necessarily good, but I'm used to tables full of auto shovers on freeroll donkaments). A couple hours into it I fell asleep. Woke up with a start, was at a completely different table with about 15k chips (average). About 2 hands later I get AA (wake up in the BB with AA, literally) and triple up. Ride my 50k stack for a while, but I couldn't keep my eyes open (it was somehere in the 3-4am range). Folds to my 77 in MP, I shove my whole stack in hoping to get the heck out of this thing so I can get some sleep, and my wish is granted when SB calls with JJ. I probably should have just shut down and let the 50k ride, but I thought that might be a little unfair to the challenge...

So how do I figure out what the percentage is for 364/13,206?

My hand of the night.... unfortunately the dude was short stacked - he aid off with a Q.

As for the Record Breaker... I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it, but if I can, I'm definitely in for the prop. Especially the drink/hr part :)

The Record Breaker

$5 tourney with a $500,000 guaranteed pool on Full Tilt Sunday. I found Kat in a turbo SNG and we're thinking about adding a last-longer side bet, with the rule stipulation that you also have to drink one alcoholic beverage per hour (minimum).

$5, winner take all side-bet pool???

Something I was forcibly reminded of last night

I do not do well in MTT's.

I signed up for a 3k LHE guarantee last night. That's right; limit hold 'em. I was in the top 20 for the first hour. And then...I got bored. I dropped a huge pot when pocket 9's failed against an obvious flush (duh), and then proceeded to raise at every single opportunity until I was out 3 hands later.

Then I played 3 of the $3 super turbo 300 chip crack games and made money in each of them.

Gee....d'ya think I have a short attention span or something?

Now is this impressive, or what?

This screen shot* shows an impressive total, considering that my last screen shot showed a balance of fifty-two cents.

*This screen shot also represents my $50/month from Full Tilt, and a recent sale of ad space on the blog for $360. But sshhh...let me bask in the total a while.

110th out of 9898

Am I the only one competing in this category?! I think this one will be tough to beat:


And just in case there was any doubt, this wasn't play money:


That's 1.11%, for those keeping score at home.

Flopped a set!

Money went in on turn, can't blame him, but grrarrwerff!

UGH.

I'm having a tough time with 25 NL. I'm getting my $$ in good for the most part, getting sucked out on a ton, but I obviously have some glaring leaks I need to find and fix. I'm doing well in the 18 man sngs, so maybe I'll stick with those and a few MTTs for a bit, until I can figure out wtf is going on with my cash game.

I'm def getting hammered in this challenge.

My account is now at 605.84, down 25%. Like I said in the title... UGH!

DQB

I love this screen cap because:

1. It shows my quads
2. It's got a great chat by morons lamenting the days of Party Poker

Bout Time

I've been getting kicked in the junk with great hands so much lately that I've started playing with an ice bag between my legs. So it's nice when something like this comes along to remind me that variance breaks both ways.

Live Blogging the Daily Dollar

Perhaps a submission in the humor category?

5:00pm Well, I finally got home early enough to sign up. Registered and ready. Now it's time to get some snacks, a cool beverage and get comfortable. The kids aren't home yet, so it's nice and peaceful. I begin with my normal ritual of quiet meditation while surfing porn looking at pictures of butterflies.

5:15pm The tournament begins without me, which is fine. I'm sort of a PokerBrat that way. Without the high-rent models and Caesar costume, of course. I still have the ego, though.

5:16pm Check the hand history to see what I missed. AA on the second hand, dammit. Probably would have lost anyway. Shit, it would have been Aces full on the turn. Dammit dammit dammit.

5:18pm Ok, back to my happy place. Think of the butterflies.

5:31pm I've folded every hand for two rounds. Why wasn't I here for those Aces?!

5:45pm I have a hand! As-5s. I raise 3x and get 5 callers. FIVE friggin' callers, dammit! Flop is 6d-7d-8c. I'm good enough to fold the idiot end of the straight when there is a flush draw out there.

5:46pm Wrong. I called a smallish bet only to get raised by the button and re-raised all-in by the BB. Why did I flush away 200 chips on this damn hand?

5:47pm Winner? K-7 off-suit. Butterflies...

6:00pm "We're home, Daddy!" It's the kids.

Dr. Chako: Give me quick hugs. Daddy's... working.

Son #1: No you're not. You're playing poker online again.

Son #2: Yeah, Dad. That's not work.

Dr. Chako: Hush! I have to do this to win a bet.

Son #1: Did you just call a bet with a 7 and a 9? That's not a very good hand, you know...

Dr. Chako: Go watch Sponge Bob!

Son #2: This is for play money, right Daddy?

Dr. Chako: . . . yes.

Son #2: You sure get excited about play money.

Dr. Chako: Did I not tell you to go watch TV?

Son #1: This is better.

6:15pm It's after the 1st break and I'm a little above average. The kids have grown bored of watching Daddy fold a lot and have drifted away. I pick up AK twice and win both times when I bet the pot on the flop. Both times with air. What are these morons calling with?

6:35pm 10-10 in late position. 4 limpers in front and I raise pot. Every damn one of these lemurs calls. Flop? A K Q. Buh-by 10s.

6:45pm I call a LAG raise with AQ. Flop is Q-J-x. I start to drool.

Son #2: Daddy, can I have a juice bag?

Dr. Chako (not looking away from monitor): Sure kid. Whatever.

Son #1: Dad, can my buddy sleep over tonight.

Dr. Chako: Sure, whatev... Wait. What? Sleepover?

At this point, I turn away from the monitor to look at son #1.

Dr. Chako: It's probably okay, but you kids...

BING! It's my turn to act

He checked. I check behind without thinking much about it

Dr. Chako (turning back to son #1): you kids better not be banging around all night and keeping me up. I have to ...

BING!!

Dr. Chako: He pushed? Pushed?! What? Um... I think... Wait, who bet the flop?

Son #1: Thanks Dad!

Dr. Chako: Thanks? Huh? Wait! Son! Um.. I call. He has Q-2. There's a 2 on the turn. FUCK!

Son #2: Daddy?

Dr. Chako: Go away! Don't repeat that!

Son #2: Repeat what, Daddy?

Dr. Chako: Nevermind. Just... go back and watch TV.

Son #2 (walking away): Did you hear what Daddy said? He sure gets excited about play money.

Yeah, next time I'm just gonna wait until they're asleep.

Rolled Up in Razz 2

I don't play much stud, but I've never seen this when it counted.

The very next hand I make a sick call on the river based on a good read and pot odds.
9 8 goot!