What up?

Finally a good moment to write my blog, I’ll explain along the way why I didn’t write it any sooner. Tonight I’ll play the $100.000 VIP freeroll, then I’ll go to Utrecht and will dance till dawn! Ben Sims is in the house and he is one of my favorite DJ’s. Last year, Ben Sims in the Puma was my best night out in 2009, so the expectations are very high! It better be good 🙂

After my last blogged session on Tuesday I played a session on Thursday. It started out as a pretty normal session, but in the end I got my ass burned again. 6.883 hands and losing $2.698,50, how the hell did that happen? After 2.400 hands I was about to quit as it was Thursday and I had to work the next day. I wanted to quit as soon as I was even for the day and suddenly I get a real bad streak going and I’m stuck $1.600. Next thing I know I don’t want to go to bed, especially since I’m winning a bit back again. Then the real shit happens and I’m down $3.000 without even knowing why. Well, I remember I was really running awful at 10/20, I saw a player doing the most stupid bluffs and he was winning again and again. It’s 02:30 I’m not happy, especially since I have to work the next day, but when I wake up I remember it’s just a normal day at the poker tables.

After a good Friday night out in Amsterdam I consider playing poker on Saturday. I decide not to and call a friend to just hang out at his place. We decide to try a custom game of Warcraft III. I never really played Warcraft III and I haven’t played a lot of video games at all since 2007. I had a Diablo II revival back in September after reading some Diablo III previews, but that’s about it. We play Warcraft III Risk Next Gen and I’m insta hooked. I always liked Warcraft, Warcraft II was the first game which I played over a LAN for ever and ever with 7 friends. I really like Risk as well and this combination is really good. I’m happy I don’t have a Warcraft III copy myself and at 05:00 I go home to get a good night sleep before my next poker session on Sunday.

I was eager to do good after my loss on Thursday. I start at 18:30 play about 4.500 hands and PokerStars gets bugged. I’m still up a small bit and have to take a forced break. I can start my session again about an hour later and for the next 5 hours I go up and down but never really get a good streak of cards but I was happy with my play. I don’t want to quit yet and after a 30min break I log another 2.o00 hands but since I really wasn’t able to get anything going I decided to quit at 06:00. 12.178 hands, +$328 and take a look at the graph 🙂 It looks really swingy but if you check the numbers on the left, then you see that the actual money swings where not that bad.

I skip the gym on Monday and I’m happy to start another session. I’m down about $1.500 for a long time, manage to get almost back to break-even and then I get a streak of good hands but awful beats. It feels like this has happened to me a lot of times this year, after winning with an average distribution of cards I lose big time when I get a streak of premiums. It feels really fucked since those streaks normally get you a big boost in your graph, I take a break at 01:41 and I’m down $822. I hit the couch and watch another episode of The Wire S1, I’m still not sure if I like it that much, I need a bit more action, especially in the middle of the night.

The 2nd session of the day is a lot better. A good start but just like Sunday I don’t get to win a lot of money in the end. It’s 06:00, I’ve played 10.522 and lost $1. I’m okay with my results since I did win after all, but I would have loved to win some money back which I lost on Thursday.

Tuesday I hit the gym and cycle for 2 hours. I feel really fit already, not drinking and working out helps a ton. I want to hit 125.000 VPP and I only need about 1.700 VPP. The plan is to get those and write my weekly blog. That was the plan…. I hit my target and I’m only down a bit and I’m on the way up, I tell myself to stop as soon as I’m even (didn’t I want to same thing on Thursday?). I was playing really good, but saw a lot of 2/4 outers where people just played awful. Also every straight/flush draw completed when somebody was chasing it, people didn’t play bad in most spots and that’s just variance. I was better then my opponents and had a good feeling about my play, so there was no reason to stop other then that I couldn’t write this blog.

I refresh my Pokertracker every now and then, but I miss the 5 hands I’m up. What happens next is best compared with getting a dart thrown in your eye. 4.998 hands, -$2.030. 38% W$SD (Won $ at Showdown) at the $15/$30 with a WTSD off 43%. Translated: Lot’s of good hands/flops, but none of them won at the river. During my normal workdays (Sun/Mon) I do fine, but on my “extra” days I seem to always lose. This feels really bad, since when I play on those days I feel like I’m doing that bit extra which should get me to SNE. I know I shouldn’t think like that, but when you are not winning, loads of strange things creep into your mind.

I’ve played 150.000 hands and I’m down about $6.000. I was up almost $3.000 in the first week so I lost $9.000 in about 3 weeks. That’s serious money! Do I feel going for SNE has anything to do with it? Not at all! I would have played exactly the same stakes and exactly the same amount of tables if I would not go for SNE. I would have played less hours but I’m far from burned out. I’m super motivated and in general well rested. I’m above SNE pace, but even more important I’m ahead of my own goals for January, VPP wise.

I decide what’s always best when things don’t go your way: I take a break until Sunday. On Wednesday I play Risk on Facebook for 3 hours after hitting the gym, on Thursday I attend a farewell drink at work and on Friday evening I chill with some friends and play some more risk (I’m a little addicted after playing Warcraft III Risk Next Gen) and as already said, tonight I’ll dance till dawn on some heavy techno.

I’ll hit the tables again tomorrow to finish this month. January was a bad month in 2009, it’s even worse in 2010, but a year has 12 months so there is plenty of time to catch up!

— Current Status —
2010 VPPs: 127.602
Ahead of Pace: 48.150
Total # hands: 148.418
Total # Hours: 117,38
Hands/Hour: 1.264
VPPs/Hour: 1.087