Rebuilding My Bankroll: Journal 5

[MEbenhoe]

Alright to start this journal off an interesting theory I came up with the other day. The subject of cheating on tests came up in a conversation I was in. Over this conversation I came to the conclusion that anyone who gets away with cheating on a test should not feel guilty about this at all, and should feel as though it was just any normal test taking experience.

Now my theory as to why this is true may be way off, but here goes nothing. First of all, we establish what the purpose of a test is. Now a common way to explain it is that it’s a test of your knowledge or how smart you are. Given this, if the correct answer to a problem is laid out in front of you and you choose not to use this information, how smart are you? Everyone knows that when solving a problem, a smart person will use all resources available to them to solve this problem. Also, the set up of college classes in my experience are such that they are conducive to cheating on a test. Now take into account the fact that most tests are graded on a curve, such that if the class average is below the expected average the professor will curve the tests so that the class average is equal to the expected average. Given the idea that the setup of these classes makes cheating easy and the simple fact that anyone who has been in a class knows, that there will always be people who given the opportunity to cheat will cheat, you are actually put at a disadvantage if you choose not to cheat. Putting yourself at a disadvantage when it comes to the class curve purely isn’t smart. So to maintain yourself on the same level as the rest of the class it seems to be your duty to cheat.

Now I’m willing to accept that there may be some flaws in this theory, and that I may be completely whacked. However, I’m gonna borrow a page from one of gonores journals and require that any response must start with one of these lines:

“Matt, you are a genius. This theory will revolutionize the educational system.”

Or

“Matt, you are insane. I think those cold meds have gone to your head, because that is the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard.”

Nov 7th

I love Sundays because usually there isn’t much of anything to do and they can just be relaxing easy days. I slept in until about noon. When I woke up I got a pizza and did the shower thing, then it was off to go play some badminton with a girl from my dorm. Now back in my high school days I was pretty dominant in this game(3 time gym class champion), so I was quite surprised with the thrashing this girl put on me. Turns out she was more than just a casual player. Exhausted from an hour and a half of badminton I came back and rested on my futon. Suddenly I woke up to realize it was 6. Well alright off to the dining hall for food. This was followed by a nice night of laundry and studying for my anatomy test from hell tomorrow.

Finally about 11:30 I managed to squeeze in a quick 200 hand session of $0.50/$1.00. Wow were these games great tonight, and wow did I run well. My win % at showdown was around 80 if that gives you an idea. +$52.50 on the night and it was time for bed, with a long day in front of me tomorrow.

Bankroll Update: +$52.50 for a total of $832.09

Nov 8th

As much as I complained about the Crypto sites, the poster who posted a program that counts your raked hands along with the fact that I cant get my money out for at least a week anyways made me decide to give this bonus a crack. After the longest 550 online hands of my life, I’d finished off the remaining required raked hands to earn my $90 bonus. Also I was +$32.25 for this period at the $1/$2 tables. I realized something during this time and that is that I play terrible poker when working off a bonus. I become too concerned with the number of hands and it definitely effects my overall play, any suggestions?

Besides these hands I put in another 400 hands at the $0.50/$1.00 level today. I’m now only 1000 hands away from completing the 10k hands I swore I would complete at this level. On the day I ended up -$11.50. I think the poker gods were pissing on me for running so well last night.

On the personal side I had the Anatomy test from hell today. I’m really not sure how I did on this one, but I definitely need to have pulled off at least a B on it, so hopefully all went well. Next on the slate was working my two hours for the week in the theatre scene shop, which gets me out of the final exam for theatre appreciation, and a score of 110% on that exam. Then it was off to track practice. Mondays are always our hardest days and today was no different. After our warmup (which would be a workout for most in itself) it was time to do plyos. We did a long series of hopping and bounding drills that really took a toll on the legs. Then after that it was outside for 3 sets of stadiums, with 2x8 sets of knee up jumps in between each set. So by the time we’re done with this most of us can barely walk, but then its back inside for medicine ball throws. Two hours later, finally done with practice it was food time, and then on with the night.

Bankroll Update: +110.75 for a total of 942.84

Nov 9th

Alright I’ve been sick all day, and it has sucked. I slept pretty much half the day. However I still managed to get a lot of hands in today. I played an $11 NL tourney on Intertops which I busted out of when my QQ which hit a set on the flop got beat by AA spiking a 3rd A on the river. I put in 1000 hands at $0.50/$1 which I was up $49.75 for. These hands finally got me to the 10k hand mark I’d been shooting for. After this I played a quick 50 hand session at $1/$2 and made $28.50 from it. Why such a short session? Because I am a results oriented fish and this short little session was enough for me to crack the $1000 mark, and this was a milestone I was not ending this day without.

The 10k Poker Tracker Numbers:

VP$IP – 22.24
VP$IP from SB – 34.04
Folded SB to Steal - 81.97
Folded BB to Steal – 71.23
Att to Steal Blinds – 24.27
Won $ WSF – 37.01
BB/100 – 4.88
Went to SD – 36.64
Won $ at SD – 50.08
PFR – 14.64
Aggro Numbers – Preflop=1.55 Flop=3.28 Turn=2.43 River=1.68 Total=2.12 w/o pf=2.34
Standard Dev – 15.89 BB/100

Bankroll Update: +$67.25 for a total of $1010.09

[J.R.]

Academic tests aren't meant to be general intelligence tests, they are aimed to test you on your knowledge and understanding of a specific subject matter. Stick to poker.

[MEbenhoe]

Yeah, reading that over again this morning, I do have to say thats possibly my most ridiculous idea ever. Ahh well.

[theghost]

[ QUOTE ]
Now a common way to explain it is that it’s a test of your knowledge or how smart you are. Given this, if the correct answer to a problem is laid out in front of you and you choose not to use this information, how smart are you?

[/ QUOTE ]
Exams test a particulat area of knowledge. If they wanted to test you on cheating they would make it harder to cheat.

[ QUOTE ]
I play terrible poker when working off a bonus. I become too concerned with the number of hands and it definitely effects my overall play, any suggestions?


[/ QUOTE ]
Honestly, just play. Are you playing multiple tables? I play 2 and it goes pretty fast.

[MEbenhoe]

[ QUOTE ]
Honestly, just play. Are you playing multiple tables? I play 2 and it goes pretty fast.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I think I just became overconcerned with it while I was doing the Interpoker bonus. I was 3tabling and it was still ridiculously slow so I started to become more concerned with just getting it done with than my play.

[IndieMatty]

Reading your posts make me.

a) Miss College (Class of 00)
b) Really wish there was Internet Poker in college.
Would have been so much more useful then watching Mcloud and Law and Order re-runs while getting stoned.

Keep em coming.

-M

[nolanfan34]

[ QUOTE ]
I realized something during this time and that is that I play terrible poker when working off a bonus. I become too concerned with the number of hands and it definitely effects my overall play, any suggestions?

[/ QUOTE ]

This is interesting to me. For me it's the exact opposite. When I'm not working on a bonus, I have a hard time grinding away at limit, and find myself playing SNG's and tournaments instead. I can churn through hands when I know it's part of releasing a bonus though, and I even think that bonus chasing helps me through tough sessions, as even though I may lose money during a short downswing, in my mind I'm still making "progress" toward releasing the bonus.

Not sure what you can do to combat your problem though. I wouldn't think about the bonus maybe, I mean, you're going to play hands anyway, right? I don't know how the thought of a bonus lurking out there would make you play worse.