On the Scottwire

Well only for a couple of days. I'm writing an article for a website about things a beginning poker player should know. Hopefully it will be published and then I can post the link for you all to see :)

I didn't play much Tuesday, but I had fun yesterday at 2/4. It was a very nice day overall.

Wednesday 3/30/2005
Ring Games:
.5/1: +$2.35
2/4: +150.50

Tuesday 3/29/2005
Ring Games:
.5/1: +$6.80
2/4: -$25.50

Had my best finish against a large field today. 44 of 2500. it was a freeroll and I only won $1.50 but still it was great experience. I feel like I'm playing better in the large tournaments. I'll have to start playing more of them. I finished 832 in the $6 tourney but the guy who got me into online poker in the first place finished second and won $1060. I will hopefully be able to get a nice cash like that soon. I realized by watching how he played that I need to play a little looser. I have been playing extremely tight and need to open up a bit once the blinds start getting higher. I think I did that pretty well in the freeroll today. In the other tourney I just screwed myself early and lost half my stack with KQ against someone who limped with AQ.

Monday 3/28/2005
Ring Games:
.5/1: +$54.05
2/4: +$44.25

Multi Table Tournaments:
$6 NL: 832 of 2000: 220 paid
Freeroll: 44 of 2500: 150 paid, won $1.50

Sunday 3/27/2005
Ring Games:
.25/.50 Crazy Pineapple: -$2.50
.25/.50 6max: -$2.70
.5/1: +$4.10
2/4: -$20

Played a wide variety of games today. Just barely treading water with the bonuses I'm trying to get. Been on tight tables lately, hard to win that way.

Saturday 3/26/05
Ring Games:
.5/1: -$34.26
1/2: +$2.75
.25/50 CrazyPineapple: -$3.10
.25/50 CrazyPineapple 8/b: +$2.45
.25/50 2-7 Triple Draw: +$1.35

Single Table Touraments:
$1.10 NL: 3 of 10 won $2

Multi Table Tournaments:
$1 Omaha hi/lo: 36 of 131 18 paid

Joined 2 more sites today for the bonus moneys. A lot of bonus money out there to get so might as well take advantage. The new sites have games like Triple Draw (lowball) and Crazy Pineapple (hold'em variation where you get 3 cards and discard one after flop). So that should be fun to play once in a while. Finished off the Pary $200 bonus as well so I'm now up over $1k for the month total. Not bad at all. Still not great enough to retire on though :( I'll get there!

Friday 3/25/05
Ring Games:
.5/1: +$23.84
.25/.50 A-5 Triple Draw: +$0.80

Multi Table Tournaments:
$1 PLO: 39 of 136: 18 paid

I was doing well at .5/1 and 2/4 when i decided to try a 1/2 6 max table. I get AA in the blinds and 3 callers. Flop comes QT4. I bet, one guy raises others fold. I reraise he caps. turn comes a 7. I bet he calls. River K. I bet he raises. ARGH. I know right there, KQ. So I lost $12 on that one hand then it all went downhill from there. On my 2/4 table a while later, I get TT in early position. I raise and get 4 callers. Flop KT4. Boom I hit my set. now of course one guy caps the flop with me and then caps the turn and I know he has it. i bet the river, he raises, i call, and yep KK. Sigh. I lost $40 on that one hand. Oh well it happens. But I was +$40 at one point today and I lost it all back and then some. I'll get em next time :)

Thursday 3/24/05
Ring Games:
.5/1: +$22.17
1/2: -$36.13
2/4: -$17.00

Multi Table Tournaments:
$1 Razz: 12 of 108: 16 paid, won $2.16

Not a very exciting day. Didn't get to play much because I had to run errands and clean up for company. Tried another HORSE tourney. I lost a big hand early when I had JJ run into QQ and then lost another big hand in 7stud hi/lo when 2 pair and low lost to a flush and wheel (A2345) so I lost both ends with a decent hand. oh well.

Wednesday 3/23/05
Ring Games:
.05/.10: +$3.75
.5/1: +$43.75
1/2: +$13.25

Multi Table Tournaments:
$5.50 HORSE: 35 of 52 : 7 paid

Tuesday was a very good day. Got back on the 2/4 trail and played pretty well. I made a couple of big mistakes but I'm learning. I also realized I'm playing way too timidly against aggressive opponents at 1/2 shorthanded. I need to read up more to learn proper strategy. Overall it was a very nice day though.

Tuesday 3/23/2005
.05/.10 NL: +0.90
.5/1: +$17.37
1/2: +$6.49
2/4: +$139.50

Sunday was my first day playing online again and it really did not go well. After playing on the cruise ship seeing maybe 25 hands an hour I had a hard time adjusting to playing quickly online. So I made a lot of stupid mistakes and lost a good deal for the day.

Monday was more fun and if I didn't understand the term variance I do now. I started out up +$44 at .5/1 over my first 50 hands. I won 80% of the hands which I saw the flop. It was an amazing rush! I then joined another 2 tables and was up $20 on the two when suddenly I fell off a cliff. I had AA cracked 3 times and KK once and lost all 20 back. It was indeed a roller coaster day.

Monday 3/21/05
Ring Games:
.05/.10 NL: +$3.90
.5/1: +$38.62
1/2: +$7.50
2/4: +$4

Sunday 3/20/05
Ring Games:
.05/.10 NL: -$0.40
.5/1: -$48.51
1/2: +$13.25

Multi Table Tournaments:
$1 NL: 73 of 413 - 45 paid

After a nice week long cruise its back to reality. We did a nice cruise out of Miami to Grand Cayman then Roatan, Honduras then Belize then Cozumel, Mexico and back to Miami. it was really nice. Belize was the best. We did an excursion called "Lamanai and the New River Safari". It was an hour bus ride to the river then an hour in a speed boat to see Mayan ruins. It was really a blast.

Luckily the cruise ship had a casino and a poker table :) I felt a little scared at first as the only game they had was 5/10 holdem. Once I sat down and played a few hands I felt comfortable though. The competition was about the same as a .5/1 table online with 5-7 people seeing each flop usually. So Monday I started out well then got sucked out on a lot Tuesday and didn't win a hand all night. Wednesday was more of the same and then Thursday and Friday I finally caught some nice hands.

Monday 3/14/05: +80
Tuesday 3/15/05: -120
Wednesday 3/16/05: -40
Thursday 3/17/05: +150
Friday 3/18/05: +187.50

Total for trip: $257.50

Man I would have been up $100+ overall today but i hit 2 tables that had it out for me. these two morons that played every hand and called every bet hit miracle cards to draw out on everyone like every hand. It was unreal. 20 of it I lost back playing 1/2 short handed when i wasn't feeling my best and I got owned real quick. Tried my first shot at 2/4 in over a month and a half as well. Felt really comfortable. Unfortunately hit trips on flop only to have 4 flush and loss at river. At least I ended the day up. I guess that's something. Still feeling like crap. I wish this sickness would end. Now I have a nice cough too. Argh!!!!!! Oh well.

Wednesday 3/9/2005
.5/1: +$23.08
1/2: +$12.58
2/4: -$8

Slowly getting better...appetite is coming back, throat is getting better and energy is coming back. I'll be healthy eventually.

I am slowly working my way back into 1/2. Played a bit there today and also a 1/2 6 max table to get my short handed game going.

Tuesday:
Ring Games:
.5/1: +$7.69
1/2: +$64.08

Monday:
Ring Games:
.5/1: +$37.62
1/2: +$2.51

Multi Table Tournaments:
$1 NL 94 of 228 27 paid

Sickness: Day 5
The influenza virus continues to defy my internal defenses and continues to make me feel like crap. Heavier firepower may be necessary. Needless to say..."I AM GETTING A FLU SHOT EVERY YEAR FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE". I can't remember the last time I've been this sick for so long. I can deal with most illnesses, but when I have to exclaim "Day 5" I know I'm in trouble.

I tried 4 tabling at one point yesterday and didn't really get anywhere. I should have stuck to 2 or 3 and I would have probably made more money. 4 tables was just too much for good quick decisions.

Sunday 3/6/05
Ring Games:
.5/1: +$58.20
1/2: +$12

Multi Table Tournaments:
$0.50 NL: 199 of 831: 16 paid
$1 NL : 155 of 366 : 36 paid

So its like 7am and I've woken up like every 10 minutes since like 4. So I give up. Next year I'm getting a flu shot. I never thought the flu would suck this bad. I can't even remember the last time I had a fever, and now I've had one for 3 days straight. When you're sick you get to watch a lot of tv and movies though. Romancing the Stone is on right now. Been a while since I've seen it but its a great movie. Was feeling like crap most of the day so didn't play much poker. I was up more than what I finished with but I played at a time I shouldn't have and lost $10 in like 5 minutes playing hands I probably shouldn't have been in in the first place.

Saturday 3/5/2005
Ring Games:
.5/1: +$21.16

So I decided to go to the doctor today since Jess went on Thursday. First they took a strep test which I have taken like 20 times in my life and I've never actually had strep. So then they did a flu test. BINGO. I think I may have had the flu once before but nothing like this. no energy...chills...sore throat...fever...you name it i've got it. It is strange though because Jess is sick too but with different symptoms. She's coughing a lot and no fever. While I had the energy I played a little poker and made a little money. Not bad for not being completely with it.

Friday 3/4/2005
Ring Games:
.5/1: +57.26

Fever of 100.3 degrees :(
Being sick sucks.
We were supposed to have a get together here tonight but that's not going to happen. A nap sounds much better. I'm dying to play some live poker though. Hopefully on the cruise in a couple weeks.
Another solid day at the tables Thursday. Being sick, I only play 1 or 2 tables at a time and only a couple hours. When I feel better I'll go back up to 4+ tables and hopefully move up limits too.

Thursday
Ring Games:
.5/1: +$41.37

Me and the Mrs. are both sick at the moment. Supposed to have a get together tomorrow night maybe play a little poker. Hopefully we'll be better by then. I haven't posted in a week. I need to get back on track. Getting my bearings back at .5/1 and clearing a bunch of bonuses now so once I'm feeling up to it I'll make the move back up to 1/2 and 2/4. Haven't been playing many tournaments lately. My goal right now is specifically building the bankroll. I'll start adding in more tournaments over the next couple of weeks. Lately I've just been playing the $1 tournaments.

Wednesday 3/2
Ring Games:
.5/1: +$27.25
.05/.10 PLO: -$10
.10/.25 NL: -$4.90

Multi Table Tournaments:
$1 7 stud hi/lo: 17 of 81 : paid 16

Tuesday 3/1
Ring Games:
.5/1: +$102.67
.10/.25 NL: +17.95

Multi Table Tournaments:
$1 7 card stud: 16 of 93 : 16 paid won $1.39

Monday 2/28
Ring Games:
.5/1: +$3.27

Multi Table Tournaments:
$1 NL: 48 of 238: 27 paid

Sunday 2/27
Ring Games:
.5/1: +5.50

Saturday 2/26
Ring Games:
.5/1: +77.75

Multi Table Tournaments:
$6 NL: 307 of 1615: 140 paid

Friday 2/25
Ring Games:
.5/1: -82.67
.25/.50 razz: +$1.50

Multi Table Tournaments:
24 of 118 16 paid

Thursday 2/24
Multi Table Tournaments:
$1 razz 17 of 102 16 paid