monthly report

Overall im happy with my august results i only managed 10k hands but i wasnt here for the first week so aim for 20k next month. Trying to balance putting in more volume and only playing when i feel like it is going to be the hardest bit. Im floundering below $7k still so yet to take a shot at 200nl being close to a target seems to make me become complacent and phrases like "i only need another $100" appear, being so close then losing a buyin seems to tilt me aswell.

My book that i ordered from ful tilt came "tournament poker for advanced players" im only 50 pages in, havent been impressed so far seems like the same point is being said over and over again hopefully there will be more substance further in.

Im getting more and more passive post flop recently with my c bet% comming down to 57% this past week ive picked out a couple of hands to demonstrate my new passiveness where i got the maximum against their hand but think im losing a lot of value against their ranges.

$100.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Saturday, August 30, 03:14:59 ET 2008
Table Quilpie (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Seat 3: ROcketRO31 ( $108.85 USD )
Seat 5: marak ( $101.60 USD )
Seat 6: MrRahl ( $95.50 USD )
Seat 10: TheGreatest04 ( $243.25 USD )
TheGreatest04 posts small blind [$0.50 USD].
ROcketRO31 posts big blind [$1.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to MrRahl [ Ks Kh ]
marak folds
MrRahl raises [$3.00 USD]
TheGreatest04 raises [$11.50 USD]
ROcketRO31 folds
MrRahl calls [$9.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Ts, Jd, Jc ]
TheGreatest04 bets [$19.00 USD]
MrRahl calls [$19.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 9s ]
TheGreatest04 checks
MrRahl checks
** Dealing River ** [ 8d ]
TheGreatest04 bets [$44.00 USD]
MrRahl calls [$44.00 USD]
MrRahl wins $149.00 USD from main pot
TheGreatest04 shows [4s, 5s ]

$100.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Saturday, August 30, 03:36:31 ET 2008
Table Arzamas (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 8 is the button
Seat 1: RetardedMonkey ( $121.02 USD )
Seat 3: IDreamOfJenna ( $81.90 USD )
Seat 5: MrRahl ( $99.68 USD )
Seat 6: DonnaKaran ( $98.50 USD )
Seat 8: tt3737 ( $198.33 USD )
Seat 10: AnnaLies ( $107.55 USD )
AnnaLies posts small blind [$0.50 USD].
RetardedMonkey posts big blind [$1.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to MrRahl [ Qc Qd ]
IDreamOfJenna raises [$4.00 USD]
MrRahl calls [$4.00 USD]
DonnaKaran folds
tt3737 folds
AnnaLies folds
RetardedMonkey folds
** Dealing Flop ** [ 2d, 4h, Jh ]
IDreamOfJenna bets [$6.00 USD]
MrRahl calls [$6.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 5s ]
IDreamOfJenna bets [$15.00 USD]
MrRahl calls [$15.00 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 8d ]
IDreamOfJenna bets [$45.00 USD]
MrRahl calls [$45.00 USD]
MrRahl wins $138.50 USD from main pot
IDreamOfJenna shows [Kd, Ac ]

new set up

My monitor came yesterday and its in great condition for a 2nd hand monitor it definately helps me with playing multiple tables and it should have paid for itself before the start of term.

Im well on my to reaching all my august targets and my br stands at $6817 and i will use 7k as the cut off point between playing 100nl and 200nl.

Im staying at titan poker for the time being as a secondary site even though it doesnt have RB and its bonus only equates to around 15% rake back, compared to willhill which is like 60% altogether.

Above is the normal graph but with allin EV which i have caught up with recently.

monitor in the post

Thought i might mention my last post it is now thought that the bone growth is a condition called osteochondroma which shouldnt cause me any problems but does need occasional checkups to make sure its not getting too big for its/my boots.
I turned 20 on sunday and had a night out with friends which was good and were planning on going karting later on in the week.

I havent played much recently and the bankroll unfortunately isnt jumping to $7k as quickly as i was hoping im $500 away atm. I thought id make a change from the usual graph it looks the same as the last one anyway, instead im gona post up my august results where ive ran hot over a small sample. The plan for the rest of august is to now secure the $100 monthly on willhill and to get enough points on titan to climb the vip ladder to silver. I would love to be taking shots at 200nl going into september but $500 is a big ask so might have to luckbox out on some people.
I bought myself a monitor (should be here in a couple of days) after a lot of research unfortunately my laptop isnt top of the range so its not going to be as flashy as i would have liked but it will let me four table full size without overlap so fulfils its purpose.

Ive noticed a change in my play recently ive become less agressive and am checking the flop with a piece a lot more. This probably isnt a good thing but ive picked out a hand where it worked out so what the hell.

Normally here i would prob be looking to get a couple of streets of marginal value from the two opponents who were calling stations but i seem to have lost that line recently.

Seat 3 is the button
Seat 1: MrRahl ( $97.55 USD )
Seat 3: ludovikos ( $90.10 USD )
Seat 5: SAMIR1210 ( $121.45 USD )
Seat 6: rattusnorway ( $100.00 USD )
Seat 8: poker9999A ( $51.95 USD )
SAMIR1210 posts small blind [$0.50 USD].
rattusnorway posts big blind [$1.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to MrRahl [ Ah 6c ]
poker9999A folds
MrRahl raises [$3.00 USD]
ludovikos calls [$3.00 USD]
SAMIR1210 folds
rattusnorway calls [$2.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 7d, As, 3h ]
rattusnorway checks
MrRahl checks
ludovikos checks
** Dealing Turn ** [ 8d ]
rattusnorway bets [$8.00 USD]
MrRahl calls [$8.00 USD]
ludovikos calls [$8.00 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 7c ]
rattusnorway checks
MrRahl checks
ludovikos bets [$31.00 USD]
rattusnorway folds
MrRahl calls [$31.00 USD]
MrRahl wins $92.50 USD from main pot
ludovikos shows [5s, 2s ]

be careful what you wish for

Of late i have been thinking i need more perspective in life unfortunately i got more than expected yesterday.
About 3 weeks ago when in ireland i did my ankle in jumping off a 8 foot wall while on the golf course. I decided that it didnt need medical attention and just rested it for a few days. Yesterday as my ancle still had an odd hard swelling i went to casualty to be sure. The 1st doctor didnt think it was anything but sent me for an xray. The xray showd up something unexpected i have a mushrooming bone growth comming from the side of my tibia. The doctor described it as "suspicious". As there was a possibility of bone cancer the bone specialists opinions were sought. It appears ive grown up with this and the lump is caused by my fibia having to grow around it therefore its unlikely to be anything nasty but i am going to have to see a specialist in a few months to keep an eye on it. After 4 hours in the hospital i drove home with more perspective than i wanted.

a bit more substance

My posts seem to have lacked substance of late so im gona review some hands and my stats.
Firstly the normal stuff out of the way im still running well and my br is now $6677 and im running at about 10bb/100 hands which im obv very happy with but its still a small sample.

Right this hand is to show how crazy i am (try and build myself an image)
This is a £ table btw just HM doesnt understand that.

$50.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Monday, August 18, 07:45:11 ET 2008
Table Valonci (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Seat 1: Mr_rahl ( $46.75 USD )
Seat 2: Andro10 ( $10.00 USD )
Seat 3: Ben100410 ( $99.41 USD )
Seat 4: Dzou12011 ( $19.00 USD )
Seat 5: Pokertug ( $82.16 USD )
Seat 6: Ste181118 ( $30.41 USD )
Dzou12011 posts small blind [$0.25 USD].
Pokertug posts big blind [$0.50 USD].
Andro10 posts big blind [$0.50 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Mr_rahl [ Tc Jc ]
Ste181118 folds
Mr_rahl raises [$2.00 USD]
Andro10 folds
Ben100410 folds
Dzou12011 folds
Pokertug raises [$4.50 USD]
Mr_rahl raises [$13.00 USD]
Pokertug folds
Mr_rahl wins $10.00 USD from main pot
Mr_rahl wins $10.75 USD from main pot

Despite the above my stats tell of a more reserved player over my whole sample im a 22 14 who 3 bets a relatively small 2.7% of the time, this will probably have to change if i get to 200nl 6 max as im expecting them to be more agressive.

Ive just made this fold so i might as well put it up again this is a ££ table. Hated folding here my hand looked the nuts on the turn and i was getting a good price.

$50.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Monday, August 18, 08:11:37 ET 2008
Table Gundoo (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Seat 1: Mr_rahl ( $110.49 USD )
Seat 2: Roseyboy ( $37.10 USD )
Seat 3: Stephe061 ( $29.07 USD )
Seat 4: Shau29086 ( $18.36 USD )
Seat 5: Ste181118 ( $45.84 USD )
Seat 6: Huyen1010 ( $50.00 USD )
Mr_rahl posts small blind [$0.25 USD].
Roseyboy posts big blind [$0.50 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Mr_rahl [ Kd Qh ]
Stephe061 folds
Shau29086 raises [$1.00 USD]
Ste181118 folds
Mr_rahl calls [$0.75 USD]
Roseyboy calls [$0.50 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qd, 6d, Jd ]
Mr_rahl checks
Roseyboy checks
Shau29086 checks
** Dealing Turn ** [ Td ]
Mr_rahl bets [$2.00 USD]
Roseyboy calls [$2.00 USD]
Shau29086 calls [$2.00 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 6h ]
Mr_rahl bets [$6.00 USD]
Roseyboy folds
Shau29086 raises [$15.36 USD]
Mr_rahl folds
Shau29086 wins $9.36 USD from main pot
Shau29086 wins $19.95 USD from main pot

Finally this is me making a stand against a 40 30 bully

$100.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Monday, August 18, 07:32:58 ET 2008
Table Blackhawk (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Seat 1: witchdoctor 007 ( $118.05 USD )
Seat 2: GARCON59 ( $101.50 USD )
Seat 3: Mr_Rahl ( $97.00 USD )
Seat 4: CandyShop88 ( $107.00 USD )
Seat 5: Atiyah ( $101.50 USD )
Seat 6: garyhouse ( $242.15 USD )
Mr_Rahl posts small blind [$0.50 USD].
CandyShop88 posts big blind [$1.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Mr_Rahl [ Ah Ks ]
Atiyah folds
garyhouse folds
witchdoctor 007 raises [$3.50 USD]
GARCON59 folds
Mr_Rahl raises [$11.50 USD]
CandyShop88 folds
witchdoctor 007 calls [$8.50 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Th, Js, 2h ]
Mr_Rahl checks
witchdoctor 007 bets [$25.00 USD]
Mr_Rahl raises [$85.00 USD]
witchdoctor 007 calls [$60.00 USD]
Mr_Rahl shows [Ah, Ks ]
witchdoctor 007 shows [Jd, As ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 4h ]
** Dealing River ** [ Kd ]
Mr_Rahl wins $192.00 USD from main pot

Im thinking of getting a secondary screen to get rid of overlap but probably cant justify it against profits still it would be nice to see every table at once and each being big enough for stats. Its my 20th sunday comming so ill do some research feel free to chip in :-).

good side of variance

I have now decided to include cold turkey days in my normal poker routine i had one a couple of days ago and it helped to refocus me and stop me from being a spewy fish. Since then i have been running realy well and finished up about $350 today. Im looking to hit the 200nl tables soon as i think im ready so im reducing my target bankroll to $7k it currently stands at $6470.
Im craving a live game atm havent played live since leaving durham unfortunately living in the middle of wales doesnt bode well for action.

bankroll benchmark

After a relatively long breakeven stretch my online br has finally passed the $6k mark, this now brings up the question should i be leaving 60buyins for a level on poker sites as hopefully i wont need 40 of them until i move up or take some off and incur the charges associated.

Ive joined a new site titan poker it provides me with action when willhill is quiet but the bonus is harder to work off than i had hoped and with no RB im not getting a great deal. Ill prob stick with it and work a few $$ off the bonus while i concentrate on making progress into willhills august bonus.

As mentioned in my last post i tried a quick spin up of my final $10 on stars (the rest of the money i had on there bout $30 was donated to known fish on a 5 10c table) i went for 50nl HU and had it up to $80 within an hour from one opponent hasten to say he was not happy after i bust his 2nd buyin.

back to business

Right im back from ireland and ready to try and make some progress at this poker thing. I have been break even for too long now with my BR at 5600. I got enough fpps during a happy hour yesterday on ft so will order the book i wanted and take my money off there and find a new site perhaps mansion if they still have a decent bonus. Ill probably play the 100k on stars tonoght with my last $10 on there either that or heads up cash and try and get a quick spin up.