bankroll up to $230 - by all indications, I'm halfway to moving up in the limit - (I honestly can't remember if I started at $150 or $160 but at this point I'm going to assume better results are forthcoming anyways at this limit)

some interesting stats - PFR is 5.72 and a VPIP is about 17.42 - I think both could stand to go up 3 percentage points....

aggression factor way down (.83) - want that around 1.0 or above at least

of the hands I've played $22 has been won solely on AA with some nice dings too that dropped $10 pots so I'm still way ahead there - AKs not so hot with only 5 hands but AKo is doing fine so I won't worry

played 2322 hands (since I bought PT) - guessing there's another 700 there I missed when I didn't have the new hand history options enabled

made a third of the way to Bronze star status on Pokerstars - no way that goes over until I move up a limit though ;)

I've played 20 hrs total since buying PT - this is important cause I anticipate this going down when summer comes - just sayin'

think I'm going to hit 2+2 and see if I can find some equal mentoring/sweating

RB

there's a quote in "Shadow of the Vampire" that's one of my favorites and really gets to the heart in my mind of what that vampire mythos was... - (the premise of this quote is Schreck talking about the book Dracula, and he's clearly self-reflecting here)

"Dracula hasn't had servants in 400 years and then a man comes to his ancestral home, and he must convince him that he... that he is like the man. He has to feed him, when he himself hasn't eaten food in centuries. Can he even remember how to buy bread? How to select cheese and wine? And then he remembers the rest of it. How to prepare a meal, how to make a bed. He remembers his first glory, his armies, his retainers, and what he is reduced to. The loneliest part of the book comes... when the man accidentally sees Dracula setting his table. "

Basically, this quote came to mind today when playing my first NL tourney in I don't know how long - 6 months? = a simple $1+1R+1A tourney that requires a bare minimum of poker skill to survive but basically involves being tight the first hr.

I was thinking of that - can he remember how to steal blinds, raise bets - what a proper raise is - 3 to 5 times BB? - can he bluff and not make it look like a bluff by overbetting? These things came to mind today as I tried to remember how to play NL holdem tournaments - (basically something else to do instead of multitabling those friggen .50 cent tables) -

took 53rd after hitting with AK vs a pair and he rivered his two outer - lots of old familiar things coming back to me - some now amusing, some not so - (like my cussing at the screen when I nail someone trying to suck out on me) -

but one rule in particular I've never forgotten - I may break it but I don't forget it

Once you make the money for the day, you're done with tourneys - :D

RB

Operation 50-cent grinder is stalled at the 33% mark - I tried pushing my Pokertracker statistics more to an acceptable limit of Aggression factor and feel I got punished more then rewarded for it, so screw what the database says....

hands like this make me wonder how much online collusion goes on sometimes

having said that, if online collusion is this dumb, I'll take it ;)

PokerStars Game #39791339096: Hold'em Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2010/02/15 10:26:06 CT [2010/02/15 11:26:06 ET]
Table 'Iris IV' 10-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: bb130550 ($2.90 in chips)
Seat 2: diogene38 ($5 in chips)
Seat 3: Suzanne2663 ($4.50 in chips)
Seat 4: Jlopo31 ($9.80 in chips)
Seat 5: AKlRA ($11.40 in chips)
Seat 6: whiskeytown ($9.15 in chips)
Seat 7: Leajacob ($8.40 in chips)
Seat 8: Heitom ($8.30 in chips)
Seat 9: MTM012 ($6 in chips)
Seat 10: werd444 ($15.35 in chips)
diogene38: posts small blind $0.10
Suzanne2663: posts big blind $0.25
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to whiskeytown [Ah As]
Jlopo31: calls $0.25
AKlRA: folds
whiskeytown: raises $0.25 to $0.50
Leajacob: calls $0.50
Heitom: folds
MTM012: folds
werd444: raises $0.25 to $0.75
bb130550: folds
diogene38: folds
Suzanne2663: folds
Jlopo31: calls $0.50
whiskeytown: raises $0.25 to $1
Betting is capped
Leajacob: calls $0.50
werd444: calls $0.25
Jlopo31: calls $0.25
*** FLOP *** [9h Ad Qc]
Jlopo31: checks
whiskeytown: checks
Leajacob: checks
werd444: bets $0.25
Jlopo31: raises $0.25 to $0.50
whiskeytown: calls $0.50
Leajacob: folds
werd444: raises $0.25 to $0.75
Jlopo31: raises $0.25 to $1
Betting is capped
whiskeytown: calls $0.50
werd444: calls $0.25
*** TURN *** [9h Ad Qc] [6s]
Jlopo31: bets $0.50
whiskeytown: raises $0.50 to $1
werd444: raises $0.50 to $1.50
Jlopo31: raises $0.50 to $2
Betting is capped
whiskeytown: calls $1
werd444: calls $0.50
*** RIVER *** [9h Ad Qc 6s] [2d]
Jlopo31: bets $0.50
whiskeytown: raises $0.50 to $1
werd444: raises $0.50 to $1.50
Jlopo31: raises $0.50 to $2
Betting is capped
whiskeytown: calls $1
werd444: calls $0.50
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Jlopo31: shows [Td 3h] (high card Ace)
whiskeytown: shows [Ah As] (three of a kind, Aces)
werd444: mucks hand
whiskeytown collected $18.95 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $19.35 | Rake $0.40
Board [9h Ad Qc 6s 2d]
Seat 1: bb130550 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: diogene38 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: Suzanne2663 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: Jlopo31 showed [Td 3h] and lost with high card Ace
Seat 5: AKlRA folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: whiskeytown showed [Ah As] and won ($18.95) with three of a kind, Aces
Seat 7: Leajacob folded on the Flop
Seat 8: Heitom folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: MTM012 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 10: werd444 mucked [Qd Qs]

you know it's getting serious when you pay for the new pokertracker - my old install of PT2 was long hosed anyways, so off to PT3 - I've made about $55 towards bankroll level of $300 - ($95 more to go) - tonight I started 4-tabling again to moderate success

Tried the new HUD - HATED THAT S#$% - I 4 table a tiled game and alter my seating so that all 4 are in the tight cluster and HUD doesn't follow. Too much clutter and at my level, virtually no one is going to be dangerous enough to be a problem...I DID like it telling what folks had at the end when it puts up the hands both players had - I can do that on the replay, but it's quick and easy

my total aggression factor is still above 1 but dropping (was 1.22 after one tabling and now down to 1.1 or so 500 hands on) - MUST raise more then call - must bet more then call - must muck the raisers except KQs and AQ/AJ suited - typical stuff.

No idea how I'd do in a real fight but at the .25/.50 limits I'd say as long as I have enough tables to keep me from getting bored and websurfing I'm able to bring 5-10BB's per 100 hands - a little better at one table I might add - I might move from one to two to four as I feel more comfortable with a limit

I got this poker song I am working on (virtually done) where I say "I've spent all my pennies, the nickels and dimes, but the quarters I save for the telephone line" - I kept telling myself after the bad beats - it's just nickels and dimes, man - nickels and dimes -

I killed the chat and extra Pokerstars graphics to keep it pure and undistracting - looked for average tables, not the ones with the biggest pots, and played tight till it got two-three handed and then I made some moves

Good times, great oldies - well...off to the gig tonight - rock and roll

rb

been a while - been slumming that .25/.50 now for about three weeks - playing a couple hrs a day when watching TV on a netbook - (one table) - if a bankroll is 300 BB's, I'm 20% of the way to getting there - not sure there will be much else to report till I get a bit closer - but I should get there someday soon...

RB