Playing online for a living week 21

[davidross]

Despite a very decent result last week I can’t get over the feeling that I took more than my share of bad beats, and that I’m struggling somewhat. That continued on Sunday as I started out in a hole again right off the bat. Way down on Paradise , and just breaking even at Party. It’s a disturbing trend but when I review the hands I don’t see any flaws in my play, just good hands getting beat. Once again I made a nice comeback at Paradise after midnight , and ended up down $41, and with a small win at Party of $104 I started the week much better than last week anyway.

Do you ever get the feeling the cards are about to change for you? As I’ve mentioned I feel like I’m getting cold decked a lot lately and I told my wife I was due to break out big time. Sure enough on Monday afternoon I had a nice session and posted a $300 win. Ooops. Monday night was possible the worst session I’ve ever played. If I thought the cards were running bad before, I was in for a rude awakening. I had 4 tables going and I was down over $200 on every one of them. And I think I played pretty well. I made a lot of top pair top kicker laydowns on the turn. I saw set after set against me, and got rivered by flushes and straights again and again. Of course the higher stakes at Paradise skew my results towards my play there, I was still getting clobbered at Party. The good thing about Party though is that you know the bad players will pay you off when you finally hit, at Paradise that’s not always the case. Fortunately, once again around 1:30 AM the cards turned and I went on a mini-rush. Not enough to get out of the hole mind you but I ended up the day down $350 at Paradise and up $200 at Party (Down 100 for the evening). This does leave me down $90 for the week though, and it will be a real tough task to keep my string of 2,000 weeks going.

Tuesday afternoon and the misery continues. When I won the first 3 hands I played I thought it was going to be a breakout session, but that was it for a long time. I’m winning pots only when everyone folds on the flop. It seems every hand that makes it to the turn I lose. I dropped another $177 putting me down $260 for the week. I have to remind myself to be patient, but it’s starting to get to me. I won two huge hands this afternoon, $176, and $144 on dubious runner runner suckouts. Without them my results would have been even worse.

At Party I take one off a lot on draws because you get paid off well and these were both examples of that. 1st hand I have Tc 8c in the BB and after an EP raise there are 3 cold callers and I call too. Flop is Qc Td 9h. EP raiser bets and 2 call him. I called two with my middle pair, backdoor flush, gutshot combination. Too loose? Turn brings an 8s giving me a probably useless 2 pair. EP bets again and 1 caller and I call again. River 8h. I check, EP bets, caller, I raise and EP 3 bets. Cold call and I cap after thinking for a bit. KJ and Q9 were the other hands.

2nd hand I limp behind 2 others in MP with 5s 4s, and after 2 more limpers the BB raises. 6 of us see the flop for 2 bets. Flop is Ks 6d 2h. BB bets out, I call as do 2 others. Again I think I have odds on the gutshot alone, and the backdoor flush is still there. Turn brings the Js giving me 8 more outs. BB bets, I call and so does 1 other. River is the perfect 3d. Talk about a well disguised hand. He bets, I raise and the LP player calls 2 cold. BB 3 bets, I cap and LP folds. BB had KK but to his credit never muttered a complaint.

Thank god for those 2 hands, both on the same table by the way. I ended up ahead only $70 on that table and down on the other 2. Although dollar wise it doesn’t compare with the losing streak I had back in weeks 8 and 9, it is the most frustrating stretch I’ve had since then. Now I have to keep my cool and play good poker until it turns around. To my credit I think I could have lost a lot more if I had gone completely on tilt.

This week just keeps getting worse and worse. Tuesday night my losing streak at Paradise continued with a small loss of $34, and I actually won $100 at Party leaving me down $100 for the day there and down $200 overall for the week.

Wednesday I took the afternoon off and played golf at one of my favorite courses, National Pines in Barrie. It’s a 90 minute drive from home but worth it. And in keeping with the trend of my week I was dreadful. Once upon a time I was a decent golfer playing to an 8 handicap, and even 2 years ago I think I was around a 12. I shot 98 yesterday which is the highest score I can remember posting since I was a junior. It’s funny how when I’m winning the rest of my life seems to go well too, and the opposite when I’m running bad. I don’t know if this qualifies as running bad, since I’m not actually down very much, but compared to my averages it sure seems like it. Wednesday night was another awful Paradise session, combined with a decent Party session. Same old song and dance at Paradise, winning until the river, or drawing dead with good cards. I lost $280 for my 4th straight losing session at Paradise. Last time that happened was the 2 losing weeks I had in June/July. I’m down $700 at Paradise for the week and up $430 at Party. It makes me wonder about continuing to play both 5/10 and 3/6 games, because of the higher variance involved with the 5/10 games.

I know no one wants to hear bad beat stories…but….these 4 hands occurred on my 2 5/10 tables within 10 minutes of each other. It’s a good example of how I’ve been running for around a week now. I don’t think there is much I can do about it, just remember how well I’ve been running long term, and weather the storm.

1) 2 limpers to me 2 off the button and I limp with 99. 5 of us see the flop of QQ9. Checked to me and I check too hoping someone will catch up. There are 2 spades on board. Button bets behind me, MP and I both call. Turn brings an offsuit 3 and MP bets out. I probably should raise here, but I smooth call. River is a 5 making a flush possible. MP bets, I raise, he 3 bets and I cap. He has Q9 and had me the whole way.
2) 2 limpers to me in the small blind and I call with JTo. BB plays too. Flop is AT8 rainbow. I check and it gets checked to the button who bets. He will bet any hand here and I raise to isolate him. I make this play against certain players. Sure enough the 2 people between us fold and he calls. Turn is a 3. I bet he calls. River is another 8, I check he bets and I call. He had Q8s and picked up a flush draw on the turn so he stayed. Good read, good play, bad river.
3) AN LP raise from a habitual bluffer, and I have QJs in the SB. I call. BB calls. Flop is KJ5 2 diamonds and none of my suit. Checked to the raiser who bets, I just call this time and so does the BB. Turn is a Q making 2 flush draws. This time I check raise the LP, BB calls 2 cold and LP calls. River is an 8, no flush. I bet, BB folds and LP raises. I call (he’s the bluffer remember) and he shows K8. Another river. Blech.
4) Free play in the BB with 43o heads up. Flop is 432, 2 clubs. I check raise the flop. Turn is an 8. I bet and he calls. River is another 8. I bet, he raises I call, he has A8.

None of these hands is remarkable by itself, but all together in that short period of time. And it keeps on happening. I have to follow my own advice and hang in there. I have the big $100,000 guaranteed tournament on Friday night, so the hours I have left to pull off a win this week are limited, but I guess I shouldn’t be so focused on weekly results, just keep playing solid poker.

I’ve had so many nice comments from people who like these posts that I was quite taken aback on Tuesday night when for the first time I had someone act quite hostile towards me. Kept telling me How F***ing lucky I was, if what I was writing was true, which he doubted, and how I was due for a major fall. Now maybe there are a lot of people who feel that way, and he may even be right, but why would you come out and say that to someone? The new 3/6 sensation Akshawnd was at the table stirring things up in his inimitable style. I think we’ve determined it’s JA Sucker and he plays very well, and he puts entire tables on tilt so maybe this guy was already in a bad mood from that. And maybe he was just trying to put me on tilt. Combine that with my lousy results and it made for a crappy evening. Except I love watching Akshawnd in action.

I am so glad this week is over. I think I can just take what I wrote earlier in the week and put it in again. This has been a frustrating grind this week. I guess I was overdue for a week like this and I should be pleased that I didn’t lose anything. Thursday I actually broke the losing streak at Paradise with a $134 win and added another $100 from Party. Friday, I combined a $240 Paradise win with a $107 loss at Party, and a 484th place finish in the big tournament. The tournament was disappointing but not unexpected. I think I played well, and was quite healthy through 5 rounds, but as the stakes went up I stopped getting cards and got my last 1200 in with JJ on a board filled with undercards, but a turned flush put me out. Saturday was brutal at Paradise. I lost $465 playing premium cards. 3 times I held a set on $200 + pots and had someone spike their 2 out set on the river. I kept getting hands like AJ and AQ on the button in unraised pots, only to have the BB 3 bet me with QQ, KK or AA. Twice I held AA against KK and the K flopped. Etcetera etcetera. Fortunately my night at Party was terrific. I won $578 to caver the paradise loss. For the week I’m down $805 at Paradise and up $1010 at Party for a $205 win.

This now presents me with a decision point. Introducing the 5/10 games back into my schedule has added the variance back. It allowed me some terrific weeks, but has now introduced the possibility of a losing week too. I like playing the 4 tables in the evening, but I’m contemplating opening an Empire account to play 4 3/6’s. I’ll give Paradise another week, but it’s a lot of work playing the good players at 5/10.

Both Friday and Saturday night I stayed up much later than normal trying to turn around a bad run. I usually quit between 2:30 and 3:00 AM, but played until 4 on Friday and 4:30 on Saturday, with disastrous results both times. I think I lost $500 at paradise in those 2.5 extra hours. I know I’ve written before about quitting on a bad night and pushing when your hot, but I can’t seem to take my own advice. What’s worse is that it throws off my body clock for the next day too. Discipline, it’s all about discipline.

Got another call about employment this week. Just a possible in Ottawa which is around 4 hours away. The money would have to be real good to take that one.

My wife has commented that my mood has been affected by the bad results this week. I guess she’s right. Another hazard of an uncertain revenue stream, but I’ll need to be careful of that. No fair taking it out on the wife and kids. The dog however is fair game.

Don’t you love when this happens?

I have T9o in the BB. One limper to Tricky Guy in the cut off who raises. I call the raise and so does the limper. Flop is J 7 3 rainbow. I check, limper checks and so does TG. Turn is the gutshot 8. I bet, Limper calls and TG raises. Sweet. I 3 bet, limper calls all-in and TG begins to fear he’s made a mistake and just calls. River is a K, I bet, he calls and my nuts are of course good. TG had AA, and in fact was destined to lose anyway because the limper had J 8 and wasn’t going to fold to the flop bet.

I find my luck runs in waves. Usually there is a turning point that changes it. Last night after running bad all night, I finally had an AA hold up although a 2nd Q on the river made my heart skip. I could almost feel the black cloud lift from over my head and 2 hands later I got JJ and open raised. I got 2 callers and I said out loud “I’m going to hit this flop, give me JKK”. It went even better than that. The flop came JJK. I bet and got called until the river when they both folded. I then proceeded to make a straight flush against a set and it looked like my night had turned around. That was at 3:00 AM when I decided to stay up later, and one of my rivered sets set me to losing again.

Cya at the tables.

[frizzfreeling]

I have been slowly building my way up through the ranks at Party, but I am still only playing the $1/$2 game. I have found that even when playing only two games at once, it is very hard to keep track of my opponents. So far, it is no big deal...just play tight and aggressive and watch the board. How can you be doing anything more than that when playing 3 or even 4 tables at once? Or is simple tight aggressive play still good for grinding it out at that level? I find it hard to believe that you can know anything more than just the very basics about your competition (ie, very loose or tight, etc) when you are up against 36 players in 4 ring gamesat the $3/$6 level.
I am kind of in a quandary here because I tend to be very conservative and protective about my bankroll. I currently have amassed about 600 big bets at the $1/$2 games at the rate of about 3.5BB per 100 hands. But I worry that maybe I am still missing something crucial for the higher games and am kind of afraid to move up. Then I read your posts and hear about how you are making good money playing 4 games at once! Is it really just T.A. play and some decent reading skills that gets you there?

[bugstud]

opening an empire account would be very, very useful I think, the 3/6 games on party are too good not too...not to mention an extra deposit bonus.

[crockpot]

actually an extra two deposit bonuses (or three), counting IGMPAY codes too.

plus you can have the bonus whore's delight: play exclusively on party or empire for a week or two, and the other will offer you a $50 comeback bonus. who can say no to that?

[bugstud]

sadly, igmpay doesn't work in canada...bastards

[davidross]

Frizz,

90% of my earnings comes from bad play by my opposition, not from anything tricky I'm doing. You raise when you are the best and if they call they are losing money. You get out when you're behind without much damage and the rest takes care of itself. Of course knowing when you're ahead and behind is th ewhole trick.

Even with 4 tables you figure out pretty quickly who the maniacs and bad players are. And it's not very often you are playing 2 hands at once if you are playing properly tight.

[JTrout]

Nice post, David. Always an enjoyable read. If I may offer any advice, it's, "Take your own advice." Discipline about hours. And separate poker results(attitude) from the rest of your life. My profession has a similar pitfall in that mood (and self-worth) is often determined by performance. That's a miserable, detrimental weekness (speaking of me, not you). Anyway, keep up the great posts, and I look forward to seeing you at the tables.
p.s. The Empire thing seems like a no-brainer. Here's an idea: don't tell anyone your new identity, and you can SEE if your posts here have had any detrimental effect on performance (I suspect not). And we can get a pool going to see who can be the first to identify you! /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[jasonHoldEm]

David,

bummer about your lackluster week, I think moving to empire for your fourth game is a very good idea. Why not add an extra game where you're a big favorite rather than one that's causing you high variance? Seems like an easy choice to me.

I'm slowly creeping into 3/6, I'm sure we'll run into each other in the next few weeks.

peace,
jHE

[frizzfreeling]

David,
Thanks for the quick reply. Thats kind of the way I see it too. By the way, I thought I read one of your posts a while back saying that you are playing just about any pair in early posistion??? Is that right, and if so, how is it going with it. To me it seems like a big time net loser. I would even go so far as to say so in all but the very loosest and passive games. I do not put a lot of faith in simulations, but I have found that on TTHV5, no matter how you set up the competition (loose passive/aggressive, tight passive, etc), from early and even middle posistion, you are loosing a wad on twos and threes and even fours/fives (early). Now I know simulations are not even close to immitating real games, but when you are looking at an average flop of 6+ players, with almost no pre-flop raising and you are still losing a bundle in EP sims, you gotta give it some serious consideration. Whats your thoughts here?

[1800GAMBLER]

Hey, sorry to hear about the minor fall hope you get straight back on set, wow, lots of unintentional, unfunny poker puns there.

Anyhow just a hand that i'm curious about.

[ QUOTE ]


4) Free play in the BB with 43o heads up. Flop is 432, 2 clubs. I check raise the flop. Turn is an 8. I bet and he calls. River is another 8. I bet, he raises I call, he has A8.


[/ QUOTE ]

Anyone else go in checkcall mode on the river? Not that i'm fearing an 8, but if he has a 4 any kicker you are losing. It's also just more than 50% a pair was dealt.

Only the pair of 3s that he could hold and be willing to call with that makes that river bet +EV as compared to a lot of others. Thoughs?

[1800GAMBLER]

I remember that post pretty clear because i was really impressed by the change in david's play because of those games. Not to answer for him but i'll just put it brief. It wasn't just 4-5 players seeing the flop it was 4-5 seeing the turn then some seeing the river. They were doing this with any pair hoping to improving and when they did improve they'd raise and david would 3 bet. So they are drawing dead.

Similar to him meantioning his drawing hands in this post.

You'd have to run some _very_ loose sims to model that.

[NoChance]

David,

Another good reason for opening an Empire account is the chance for you to create a new ID and escape once in a while. Many here like using the same ID followed by '2' or something like that. In your unique situation where many know you, I would suggest a new one and keeping it a secret as long as possible. Everyone needs to get away sometimes.

[muck_nutz]

I havn't read any of your past posts although I've noticed them. I noticed a few things and thought I'd comment.

"It’s a disturbing trend but when I review the hands I don’t see any flaws in my play, just good hands getting beat."

I'm always looking for flaws in my play. If for some reason in a hand set I can't find flaws then I look for possible alternate plays that might net me the same but enhance my image. Its pretty rare for me to look through a hand set and not find some place I think I might be able to make an extra bet or save a bet. Often after some analysis I decide the way I played it was fine, but it still _very_ useful to try to find places to improve.

"Do you ever get the feeling the cards are about to change for you? As I’ve mentioned I feel like I’m getting cold decked a lot lately and I told my wife I was due to break out big time."

"feelings" are bad. They are not the side of the brain you want working at the poker table.

"The good thing about Party though is that you know the bad players will pay you off when you finally hit, at Paradise that’s not always the case."

Somehow you have a definition of "bad player" that is different based on site. Instead of thinking "bad player" think of what errors each of your opponents make. When you sit down at a table start to formulate counterstrategies to each of them based on their errors. Don't just think "bad player", these guys owe me their money. Think, "seat 1" calls too much, value bet into him. "seat 2" is a rock and never bets without the nuts, don't call him without a big hand. "seat 3" folds too much on the river bet weaker hands into him. etc. Those are examples as you will end up with far more complex models of your opponents.

"I know no one wants to hear bad beat stories…but….these 4 hands occurred on my 2 5/10 tables within 10 minutes of each other. It’s a good example of how I’ve been running for around a week now. I don’t think there is much I can do about it, just remember how well I’ve been running long term, and weather the storm."

Honestly, I don't believe in bad beats. Either I played well or I didn't. In any case of the hands you mentioned in the first case you flopped a second with no outs, second one is a garden variety 5 outer, third one is a suck and resuck (5 outers), fourth one is a gut short turned into a 9 outer. None of these even come close to being abnormal (what I think most people think of as a "bad beat"). If you work our your FTOP EVs on each of them I think your win wasn't all that large.

"My wife has commented that my mood has been affected by the bad results this week. I guess she’s right. Another hazard of an uncertain revenue stream, but I’ll need to be careful of that. No fair taking it out on the wife and kids. The dog however is fair game."

Its not fair and its not healthy to take it out on any living being including the dog.

"I find my luck runs in waves."

Forget this kind of stuff. Play a good game when you feel good and everything else will take care of itself.

[lefty rosen]

hey david have you thought of playing just 2 tables of shorttable at party as you will get still get potodds to call suited connectors on the button and your high cards will generally holdup too. The play at 5/10 short is atrocious in general? I think the money maybe easier?

[davidross]

Frizz,

When I was working my way up through the ranks at 2/4 and 3/6 I played any pair any position. And although I have no statistics to backit up they were big money makers for me. I don't know how the sims work, but it's the post-flop play that makes tehm profitable, combined with a lack of pre-flop raising. No matter how much you put in pre-flop, if you can get 8 or 9 times your investment back if you hit, it's worth it, and those low limit games $30 pots were routine.

At 5/10 however it was a money loser. Too many isolation raises and noone chasing to the river. At the PArty 3/6 games I think they are money makers usually, but you have to be careful of the table. I won't play 22-55 first in in late position, but I will in EP because it seems to set off a limping frenzy.

[Ulysses]

[ QUOTE ]
Kept telling me How F***ing lucky I was, if what I was writing was true, which he doubted, and how I was due for a major fall.


[/ QUOTE ]

Whatever. Maybe you're no good and FOS. Or maybe you're a solid winning player. Here's what I do know, though. There are a few people I play 15/30 with once or twice a week who can't stand the fact that I've been so lucky each of the last 100 sessions I've played against them. I just cross my fingers and hope my lucky streak continues. Don't worry about it. Just keep winning.

[ QUOTE ]

Free play in the BB with 43o heads up. Flop is 432, 2 clubs. I check raise the flop. Turn is an 8. I bet and he calls. River is another 8. I bet, he raises I call, he has A8.


[/ QUOTE ]

This seems like a frustration river bet. I'd check and call, hoping to snap off a bluff. Unless it's a habitual bluff-raiser, I'd never bet if I were going to call the raise. He doesn't need to have an 8, right? 45 is more than enough.

[CrackerZack]

Anyone out there have more info? I've been taking a break from online poker as i'm starting to feel a bit burnt out. Due to this, i find myself struggling to stay patient an play my A game so I decided to play a lot less instead of burn money playing too loose. So who is our new character, Akshawnd? I've seen his name on lists but never at my table.

Little help?

[doggin]

I'm sure you're kidding about your dog......are'nt you?

I watched you play at Party 3/6 for a good 30 minutes
last night (Sunday 21st at 9:30 PM) and you doubled up
pretty darn quick on one table while the other you held
steady. I hope you done well overall.

I noticed real quick you will not hesitate to raise and
re-raise if you think you have the best of it. That is
one of my many leaks, not raising because I am into a
kind of slowplay thing where I think I do better if I
slowplay my good hands and try to trap, trick, deceive,
whatever. No more, after watching you, it helped me see
that slowplay should be used much more less than
aggresive play.
Thanks David and keep the posts coming.

[davidross]

The river bet was stupid. It's one of those things that happens when you play too many tables and don't clearly see what has happened.

I know I shouldn't let that guy bother me, but I guess it does. I must not have been loved enough by my mother or something. I want everyone to like me. I think I'm going to be disappointed.

THanks for the kind words.

[davidross]

Every time I cold call he leaves the room now....

Especially at Party there is no need to slowplay. In fact, they always seem to think you're bluffing if you play it fast.

[DrSavage]

Absolutely.
I think river bet is very very bad.

[chesspain]

David,

It does seem that some of us 2+2 posters have been feeling cold-decked in the recent past (see my recent post in "small stakes"). Periods like this remind me that we can't go on winning indefinately, no matter how kind the cards were just prior to the cold snap.

In addition, even though it is easy (and possibly correct statistically) to just blame the losing on bad luck, my twenty-four hour cold snap forced me to reevaluate some aspects of my play. Don't be afraid to do the same for yourself.

[MaxPower]

There was a whole thread about this guy on the Internet Forum. He played in the 2+2 game on Thursday. I thought he was kind of funny, but his shtick could get a little annoying after a while.

[Yeknom58]

I suprised you didn't write about your flopped full house with JJ beaten by quad 6's. That was a tough one.

[Nottom]

I was thinking the exact same thing. That 8 was about the worst card in the deck for you. Unless this guy has A2 or A3 you aren't getting paid on that bet, when you get raised I think I will lay it down against all but the most maniacal players.

[webiggy]

I've read some responses to your claim that the cards get cold. It appears that there are those who do not believe in the laws of averages. My feeling is that there will be times where you'll get dealt great cards, cap the betting pre-flop and then have the flop miss you, or worse, have pocket Aces and get beat by three of a kind 7s. The problem with playing low-limit is that the fish will play any K or A - three gapped non-suits, whatever that end up beating you on the board. The problem is that with that kind of player, it is inherently difficult to read them when you think you have a decent hand, particularly if you're in EP and your opponents are CS's.

I too have found myself up by $200 just to give it right back. I know that I typically play more flawlessly when I have less to lose. I tighten up and play by the book. I try harder to read hands, I'll fold more readily and look for ways to hold onto my money.

I noticed that in some of your hands, you're not playing fast enough. I know that when I try to get cute with strong hands on the flop, thinking I have an unbeatable hand, I ended up leaving my self open to the BB that maybe flopped top pair and beats me on a backdoor flush.

Try playing good hands faster and play tight when you think your hand can be beaten and don't be afraid to bet on the flop if you can get some info from your opponents.

[slavic]

Ok I'm curious, did you turn a flush on me?

[webiggy]

I should read more carefully. It looks like you are pretty aggressive. But hand reading and odds management does seem to be the biggest challenges. good luck. We're all trying to make money out here..,

[lostinthought]

Thanks for the post David - it's been enjoyable to follow your results, despite the less optimistic news of the last weeks results.
I've been playing part time since January and have experienced a number of swings both ways since then, and it's hard to avoid that natural tendency to feel on top of the world when you're on a good run, and to feel like $h*t when your running bad. Hang in there, your results and hand posts seem to indicate that you're a great player whose running bad. However, I would still look for leeks in your play.

My question for you is this - I remember you posting a question about poker tracker. Have you been tracking your hands? If so, for how long? I would be curious to hear if you have been, and found anything notable/interesting in your records.. Or anything more general that you have concluded from this software?

For instance, I found that I was losing a lot of money on the small blind - often calling with too much. Or another example is that it looks like I may overplay AJ.

[davidross]

I don't remember the hand?

[slavic]

lol not a problem. Good run on that table, shame it was me giving back so much of it. The implide collusion of the calling stations just ran me to ground.

[NLfool]

love reading your weekly updates. You should write for cardplayer or pokerpages. If you don't mind what is your weekly or month expection? and what is you hourly rate playing 4 tabes vs. 3 or 2. And does playing 4 offering 4x the bad beats get too mentally draining? thx

[cero_z]

Hi david,
Sorry to hear about your tough run, but it doesn't sound terrible at this point. I have 2 quick comments:
Hand 3: Re-raise the habitual bluffer's open-raise with QJs, and raise on the flop regardless. I think you played this hand much too passively.
Hand 4: Either check-call the river with your counterfeited 2 pair, or fold to the raise. Check-calling is better. Not too many players bluff-raise the river, and you can only beat a bluff.
Good post as always, and better luck next week.

[davidross]

Fish,

Over the entire 20 weeks I've averaged 1,300 a week. THis includes some short weeks (vacation etc) though, so I think the weekly expectation is slightly higher. I don't have exact hourly numbers because I don't track hours, but i think playing 2 5/10 tables I was earning just under $30/hr and when I went to 3 3/6 tables it went to $35/hr. 4 tables (2 5/10 and 2 3/6) has been closer to $40/hr. I've only been playing 4 tables for 3 weeks now and only in the evenings though so it is too soon to tell about those numbers.

[gonores]

David,

If you don't mind me asking, do you have a contingency plan for when something disasterous happens to the online poker industry? I often have considered allowing online poker to play a more prominent, permanent role in my life (counting on it for income), but I am just too worried that either Congress will drive away the fish or that some sort of scandal will hit the industry, generating bad press for some or all of our beloved sites. However, I may just be suffering from a "this is too good to be true" syndrome.

How prepared/worried are you over something like this?

PS: sorry if this was covered elsewhere in one of your other entries.

Doug

[citanul]

Hi David,
Long time listener, etc, etc, etc.

I know in an earlier post you talked about keeping on the order of 1000BB on your party account and some other amount in your paradise account. What I was wondering is if you have started to expand that base, with the intention of moving up in limits? Or do current, and understandable, real world financial concerns keep you from leaving any more money than is "necessary" in your poker accounts?

I'm a recreational player seeking to make a few bucks on the side and hopefully move up limits as well. I put 500 on party, and got the 100 bonus. What I've been doing is whenever I make 150, I take off 50, leaving the other 100 in my BR. This proportion is clearly all wrong for someone who's actually living off the money, but I'm wondering what you think of and/or what you are doing along similar lines.

Hope the tables are treating you better this week, but I guess I'll have to wait til next Monday or so to find out.

citanul

[Petomane]

I love your poker saga, David, but what's wrong with making $25 per hour at 3x3/6 tables? That's fantastic. But no, you want more - 4 tables now, 5/10 at Party and you're going to lose.
Obviously multiple tables work at a certain level. You got burned at 5/10 before, but now you're playing MORE tables. Are you drunk with your success or are you greedy?
Why not stick to 3x3/6 or 2x5/10? I mean you were doing great. $200 a day is a great wage. But no, you wanted more..

[lefty rosen]

The biblical tale of the tower of Babel is wise advice for the greddy gambler, I know form past experience at Paradise Poker, where I got my head handed to me because I was to greedy to quit and relax..........

[squiffy]

I think it's natural to want to test your limits. And if you can win at one limit, and make money, perhaps you can make more money at the next limit. If you really are profitable, at some point you will find a comfortable limit.

But I read so many stories written by so many people who are making good money playing poker, that I am starting to wonder if any of it is really accurate.

I mean, there is no way for me to verify any of the profits claimed by people here.

But I have read repeatedly that 5/10 is an entirely different level of play. Who knows???

Anyway. It is possible David has the talent to some day play 20-40 or 30-60 for a living. Some claim to be good enough and to have a large enough bankroll to do it. But you would need to have incredible table selection abilities. You clearly want to find fish and avoid too many other talented pros.

[davidross]

I withdraw a fixed amount every 2 weeks and anything I make over that amount stays in the "roll". That covered my vacation and I'm now building it up again. I do have some household expenses (renovated bathroom) to pay for though so I think I may have to use it again.

My plan is to play the game I can earn the most at, so I need to try higher limits at some point. I cannot risk going bust though as I could when I had a full time job, so we'll just have to see.

[davidross]

Petomane,

I just want to find the combination that earns me the highest return. If I don't try different things I'll never know. I've had setbacks every time I've tried to move up in limits, I think most people do. It took me 3 or 4 tries to hold my own in 3/6 last year too, so we'll see. THe paradise experiment is over though, and until I have a few more good weeks I won't be playing 5/10 at Party either. The 4 tables is here to stay though. I don't find it hampers my play.

[Yeknom58]

What do you not like about the party 5-10.

[CrackerZack]

it plays much tighter (even in a weak tight mode) than the crazy-ness at 3-6.

[1800GAMBLER]

The 5/10 at pacific poker is really soft but very slow. Would be nice if you want to add it as a 4th table though.

[Petomane]

Point taken but actually I just want you to keep on winning.
How long have you been playing online?
What is the biggest leap between limits? I found the difference between 0.50/1 & 1/2 tremendous. It took several weeks & big adjustments to win consistently at 1/2. I suspect the 2/4 won't be such a big leap, but the 3/6 will be a whole new ball game. 5/10 would require talent I'm not sure I have.
Also, I wasted too many weeks at Paradise - when I finally moved to Party I was in hog heaven.
I would recommend Party Tracker. I use it sparingly during play & obviously you do well without it, but it's been invaluable in analyzing my game & the game of other players. It helped me improve.
Good luck.

[davidross]

I haven't tried it yet to be honest. When I started at Party I bought in with only $500 and didn't want to risk it. I've played maybe 3 hours of Party 5/10 but found in that short time it was almost identical to Paradise. I will try it again, but I'd like to give teh 4 3/6 tables a little longer to get accurate estimates of my expectations.

[Ulysses]

FWIW, I think the Party 5/10 tables are great. I play the 6-max tables, with a preference towards the ones that are 3 or 4-handed.