Two Ugly Days

I've taken a significant hit to my bankroll in the past two days. None of my hands were holding up. Didn't matter if I had AA or KK or AK, flop a set, flop a flush...every hand was getting beat. It was driving me crazy and costing me money. I'm back down to level 2 with about $350. But I still have four weeks to meet my original goal date to complete level 2 of Aug 25. So, I'm still on track, but having to climb back from such a setback is frustrating.

Higher Limits = Bigger Swings

It's scary entering a new limit level, where the daily swings to my bankroll are more dramatic (bigger gains, bigger losses). It will take some getting used to, for sure.

King Me Baby!

I found a site where you can look up other players to see where they rank for quality of play and profit. The rankings start at a Deuce with 1 star, up to an Ace with 5 stars. I looked myself up (JQCannon), and I'm ranked as a King with 3 stars! I've been looking up all the players I've been playing with lately, and the highest I've seen is a 10 with three stars. I must be doing something right. Here's the link:

http://www.pokerprolabs.com/JQCannon/fulltiltpoker.aspx

Level 2 Complete - On to Level 3!

I hit the $400 mark in my bankroll, with a daily profit of $19.09. I can now play $20 one-table tournaments and $10 MTTs.

Protect Your Right to Play Poker!

Today, I'm playing in a freeroll sponsored by the Poker Player's Alliance, a non-profit group focused on protecting our legal rights to play poker. Please support the PPA. You can find out more here: http://www.theppa.org/.

(I finished in 895th place, out of over 23k players.)

The Most Brutal Suckout

Ok, poker players love to tell you bad beat stories (stories about hands where they were way ahead but then got very unlucky and lost). But this story is about a bad beat I put on someone else today.

I was getting short-stacked in a tournament and it was time to move all-in, try to double up, with four people left. I look down at J-J. No brainer. I push all-in. The guy behind me calls and shows A-A. Great. I'm a 4-1 dog in this hand. And to make it worse, an Ace comes right off on the flop. I'm less than 1% chance to win now.

On the turn comes another Jack, giving me three Jacks, but still way behind his three Aces.

Then the miracle Jack on the river gives me quad Jacks. Unreal. I chuckled and said 'sorry buddy' to my screen. Believe me, I've been on the other end of a hand like that many times, and it is absolutely no fun.

Progess Charts, as of July 17, 2009

The following charts show my bankroll balance chart since I began, and my daily profit/loss amounts to date.

Bankroll Balance Chart:



Daily Profit/Loss Chart:

Welcome to my Poker Blog

Details on my plan of attack. My bankroll management strategy is borrowed from Poker Pro Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. I am allowed to spend only 5% of my bankroll to buy into a one-table sit-n-go tournament, or 2% to buy into an MTT (multi-table tournament). Every level I reach allows me to buy into bigger tournaments.

Level 1: Start with $45
Started On: May 16th, 2009
Goal: $200
Goal Date: July 16th, 2009
Achieved on June 24th, 2009

Level 2: Start with $200
Started On: June 25th, 2009
Goal: $400
Goal Date: August 25th, 2009
Achieved on July 18th, 2009

Level 3: Start with $400
Goal: $800
Started On: July 18th, 2009
Goal Date: September 18th, 2009

Level 4: Start with $800
Goal: $1,600

Etc...doubling every level within two months.

Please watch my blog for status updates, progress charts, and wish me luck!

Chad