Busy but not really...

Well I'd like to say I've been busy doing something constructive, but to be honest I've been very idle and just didn't feel like writing. Sorry :(

Like I mentioned, I bought CoD 4, and it's freaking amazing. I was playing it for like three days straight and eventually overdosed to the point where I felt I had to stop. It's still a great game, but I did't want to play it so much that I lost interest. So I bought a Wii. Yep, bought a Wii. $400+ with a couple games (Super Mario Galaxy and Zelda: Twilight Princess - both contenders for best game ever in my book). My brother has been wanting one for a while, so I've decided to sell it to him instead of keeping it. Poker is consuming enough - I don't need more video games. I've also got a busted xbox 360 that I need to get rid of...anyone interested? :)

Anyways, after my crazy downswing at 25nl, I went on a brief upswing which quickly went back down again.



I don't know exactly what it is, but nl rings are not my game. I simply have too many leaks. And big ones at that. I overvalue TP type hands, don't practice proper pot control with marginal hands, bluff too much, pay people off too much...the list goes on. On top of it all I've been running terribly, but a good chunk of my losses are from my own bad play.

I did play a few fixed limit sessions, and have been doing fairly well. Overall I'm running at 5BBs/100 hands over about 4000 hands, and I think that winrate is pretty consistent with my quality of play. I've made a few bad (but repairable) mistakes, but overall I'm pretty much on the ball. I'm not sure winning 5BBs/100 is really enough to warrant moving up, even if I sustain that winrate at the 10k hands mark, but it's certainly good enough to bring in a nice profit and to keep me happy. I think once I reach 10k hands, I'll start taking shots at 1/2 every four sessions or so, and eventually make it so half my sessions are 1/2, and eventually play exclusively 1/2.

As it stands right now, I've still got a long ways to go and might have to play up to 20k hands at .5/1 before I actually move up. I'm not sure I'll maintain interest in FL for that long but It's really growing on me. NLHE is something I think I'll play mainly in tournaments as opposed to side games. At least until I learn a few lessons. Hell, maybe I'll try grinding up like Tenbob did; starting at 10nl and working my way up. It could be a humbling experience seeing just how bad I really am at rings :D

On a side note, I've been reading Ace on the River by Barry Greenstein, and it's fucking great. A++ for that book - if you haven't bought it, please do. It's not your typical poker book. I've also skimmed through Stoxtrader's Winning in Tough Hold'em Games, but tbh it's over my head. For one, I don't play in games that this book's concepts really apply to. The fact that the book is oriented around short-handed play does help somewhat since I play 6-max, but the majority of players at my level aren't aggressive enough to be making steals with ranges anything close to what stox suggests, so his advice really isn't applicable. SSH is much better for the conditions I play in, but nevertheless, WiTHG is still great. Information is power.