The popularity of the Internet has opened up a whole new vista of popularity for any number of games, not the least of which is that old favorite -- POKER. Online poker has become very popular over the last few years, and for good reason. It is a good way to play a game you love, from the comfort of your own home, for very little expense...if that's what you want!

Playing poker online is a fairly simple deal.... Provided you know what you are doing. The first and most important thing to remember is that it is still a game of skill, and unless you follow some basic rules and guidelines, you can end up losing a lot of money very fast. So, how do you go about it? First of all, do your homework. If you are new at poker, read up on it. After all, poker is not just one generic game that you need to know. There are many variations, many games, and differences in rules and betting and strategies. Make sure you know what is what before you decide to dabble.

Once your research is done, and you have decided on a game - Texas hold'em, HiLo, Five or Seven-Card Stud, or whatever - the next step is to decide your betting limit. If you are a beginner at poker, or a beginner at online poker, it is better to start with one of the free games that are available. Now, these are not "good" games. They're not even very realistic. But they are the perfect way to observe and learn the basics of playing poker online, so that you can get the hang of the proceedings before you dive in with both feet!

On the net today there are hundreds of online card rooms and poker games that are available for the poker enthusiast, ranging from free to no limit games, and from normal ring games to tourneys. You even have the option of just choosing to watch others play, picking up some pointers as you go along. Starting to play at one of these sites is very simple. You simply have to download their game software and sign up as a player. The sign-up is mostly free, and you only have to pay anything if and when you play for actual money. Once you are signed in, you can simply surf their available games and rooms, at the click of a button, click on an active tables to watch, or click on one of the open seats to start playing. Remember, in the beginning it is always advisable to start playing only at the free games. Make the experience a learning process picking up pointers from the many online games that are open 24/7 to play or watch.

Like everything else, playing poker online, too, has its pros and cons. On the plus side, it is more convenient, you don't have to get dressed, get out, travel or tip, as you would, to play at a brick and mortar casino. You can also play at any time of day and night, at your convenience, since there are games available 24/7, and most of the winnings, especially in European countries, are tax-free. Strategy-wise too there are advantages. An online poker room allows you to keep better track of data, download profiles and histories on all your opponents, giving you the opportunity to really study them, and better your chances of winning. On the other hand, it is more difficult to concentrate when you play from home, and one can be tempted to do other things while the game is on. So, being disciplined and quitting when the time is right has to be o essence.

However, as long as you play with discipline and enjoy the game, playing poker online can be a great experience!

Las Vegas e' il paese dei balocchi. La chiamano sin city, citta' del peccato. Gioco d'azzardo. Prostituzione. Alcool a fiumi. Silicone e belle auto. Lo slogan e': what happens in Vegas, stay in Vegas.

Qui il gioco d'azzardo e' una religione e i casino' i suoi templi. Pochi credenti, tutti praticanti. Alcuni di noi si sono concessi qualche colpo vincente alle slot machines, altri qualche mano sfortunata al tavolo del poker. Texas Hold'em no-limit, il Poker per eccellenza.

GLI ALBERGHI DI LAS VEGAS
A Las Vegas gli alberghi ricreano ambientazioni a tema, e tutti hanno il casino' all'entrata. C'e' il Venetian, con tanto di canale e gondole, il Luxor dentro la piramide, il Paris e la Tour Eiffel, l'esclusivo Bellagio, colosseo e fontane nel Caesar Palace. Noi abbiamo scelto il Luxor, come consigliato da molte fonti amiche. La struttura e' molto affascinante e le camere spaziose e pulite. Per raggiungere la nostra stanza al 21imo piano della piramide si usa l'inclinator, un'ascensore che segue un percorso obliquo. Cose da pazzi. Cose da Las Vegas!

• Seriously Considering Quitting, and
• Still Around

It's nice to know that others are out there doing the same thing and pressing through. Along with the encouragement came some great advice as well, which was even more appreciated. I am going to respond to some comments specifically in later posts, but I just wanted to thank everyone that took the time to say something. If I ever make it to the big time, I won't forget you guys :-)

I've won over $110 during my last two sessions. This is not a lot of money, but considering I was down to my last $20, it's fairly significant for me. What's even better is that I feel like I won because I played well and not because I got lucky like some previous wins.

I'm really trying to come to grips with the variability of poker, but it's still tough. I'm still not sure how long I'll be doing this.

I haven't been to Taj Mahal in awhile, the last time I was at the Taj was maybe over a year ago.  What a difference a year makes though. There's new carpet, new paint, it's brighter and they've added a bad beat jackpot.  The room looks great, better than before when the room was low lit and the carpet and paint were equivalent to a bad 80's haircut. But the best thing about the Taj that didn't change were the players...but more on that later.

We arrive at the Taj at about 2pm in the afternoon. We check in and chill for a bit in our room. We're watching Olympic Handball and we put a friendly wager on the game. I took Spain and he took Poland. Spain was dominating the first half but Poland came back. The game was tied late but Poland got the go ahead goal with 8 seconds left in the game. Spain had a chance to tie the game and send it into overtime but they couldn't get a shot off in the last 8 seconds.  Reminds me of the New York Knicks. I'll admit the game was exciting to watch. Hey any game that goes down to the last second has got to be fun even if we didn't understand the rules of the game completely. We watch a little table tennis action also, he took the US and I took SIngapore. I won that wager so we're even.

After the watching the Olympics for a few hours while we wound down from the drive up we decide to go to the Showboat for some real gambling. I register for the 7pm tourney and he heads straight for the BlackJack tables. 

I've written about the Showboat tourneys before, it's a shove fest after the first hour because the blinds are so high. I've played in a couple of these so I know what my strategy is. Gamble early on and hope to collect enough chips to counter the coin flips I'm going to facing later in the tournament. I build my chip stack to 15k when the 300-600 levels starts (3rd level).

I lose 4k when my A/Q falls to K/10 shortie. The blinds are now 400-800 and I have about 9k now. I'm in the BB and I wake up with JJ. Everybody folds and the SB raises to 2k. I shove and he calls. He has me covered. He shows A/8 offsuit.

An ace on the flop ends my tournament. He said he thought I was bluffing. He admitted it was a loose call but he felt I was pushing with air. I actually wanted to think I was bluffing and the plan worked but if not for the fickle poker gods I would be still in the tournament. Oh, well there's always the cash games.

I buy-in for $250 and get seated in the first position. I personally like sitting next to the dealer. There's more leg room and I don't have to worry about the players next to me peeking at my cards. I'm playing pretty tight early on, folding mostly and trying to pick up any cues I can from the players. The lady in 6th position likes to play suited cards, the players in 4th and 5th position are weak passive, they've limped in with A/K, QQ those types of hands. The older guys are calling and gambling way too much. The player in seat 8 is super aggressive. The player in seat 10 is short stacked ($60) and pushing when he has a hand.

During the second orbit I'm in the BB with 4/6 clubs. There's a weak raise from EP to $6 and I get 5 callers. I come along for the ride and see what the flop brings. I get an OE straight draw but I check. EP person bets out $10, two players call. There's $80 in the pot. I'm getting 8-1 on a OE straight draw plus I can backdoor a flush also, I'm getting good odds so I call. The turn hits my straight. I check. EP bets out another $10, the short stack pushes his last $40 and is all in. I raise all-in to block anyone else from outdrawing me and everyone folds. A 5 hits the river to fill his boat. He shows 77.

Later on, I'm on the button with 9/7 clubs. It's a family pot and limp in. 8 players. I hit top two pair on the flop. Passive weak guy bets out $6. There's one caller and I raise to $25. Weak passive guy calls. The turn is blank and he checks. I bet out $40. He moans out loud about his luck. He asks me if I hit two pair. I know now he has a pocket pair because he's the guy who limps in with any pocket pair lower than QQ. He says he has a good hand and he calls. An Jack hits the river. This time he bets out $25.

Interesting. Seems like a value bet especially coming from him. The bet is screaming please call me. I'm guessing he hit a set and slowplayed me but for what's in the pot, I have to call the $25. He shows JJ. He hit his set on the river. Oh well, the cards are going against me but I pick up valuable information on this guy. He'll only bet when he has the goods and this helps me out in a hand later on against him.

I'm stuck $180 plus the $65 for the tournament. Not a good start but I know I can win back my money if I get a little help from the cold deck that I've been fighting. I reload $100 so I have chips to play with.

I win a decent pot when I hit the nut flush vs. a guy with Q high flush. I win another decent pot when my A/J hits top two pair and get paid off when a shortie misses his flush draw.

The shortie who cracked my straight earlier takes me down when he hits a straight on the river to counter my set. I win the side pot though so I broke even on that hand.

It's about 11pm and I've fought my way back to being down only $50 or so when I get into another hand with the weak passive dude who hit his set of Jacks on the river. I have A/5 suited on the button. An EP raises to $6, three callers so I come along for the ride. The flop is A,9,9. Everyone checks and I bet out $20. Only the weak passive player calls. If this guy is in the hand then I'm probably out kicked so I'm slowing this thing down. The turn is another 9. That's a good card for me. Now I have a full boat so we're tied at least and the only hand that beats me is quad 9s.  There's no reason to bet here as I'm pretty sure we're at least tied but there is a chance that he has the case 9. Based on his play he could very well have A/9 suited, K/9 suited or 10/9 suited, plus he's done this before checking and waiting for the other player to bet for him. He checks and I check.

The river is a blank and instead of checking this time he bets out $50. This is the same thing he did to me when he hit his set of Jacks on the river earlier. I go into the tank, I look at him. Usually he's talking the hand through out loud or complaining about his lousy luck, this time he's quiet as a church mouse. After a minute he calls for time on me. Maybe it was the way he called for time (too confident, too assured), maybe it was the way it looked and acted but I mucked my Ace. I offer him a buck to show his cards, he proudly showed his case 9.  This was a pure read. I'm not usually that good at reading people but this guy was an easy read, he always bet or re-raised when he had the goods on the river and would just call people down when he had a monster. Even a donkey like me has his moments.

11:30pm my buddy comes over and says to me he's hungry. I tell him I'll play one more orbit and then we'll get some grub. I'm still down about $50-$65 but that's managable. It sure beats being down $200 like I was a few hours ago. The shortie who cracked my straight with his full boat is still hanging around with about $90 or so. I'm 2 from the button when the dealer deals me two cowboys. There's the usually dead money limp ins and the shortie raises to $10. I flat call for the trap. Everyone else folds.

The flop is all low cards. He bets out $20. I don't think he has a set because based on his earlier play he'd always check when he held a big hand hoping for the check raise. I re-pop him $50 he moves all-in and I call. He has QQ. The turn and river doesn't help him and I finally stack this guy. Just like that I'm positive on the session. I leave the table with a $49 profit.

It's midnight and all the restaurants inside the Showboat are closed. So we go to back to the Taj and order room service. We both order burgers and a couple of appetizers but the room service person tells us it's going to be a 45 minute wait before our food gets to us. We decide to rent a movie while we wait for our food. The movie we rented was called "Street Kings". Keanu Reeves was in the movie and most of the time any movie with Keanu Reeves in it would suck but I had read that this was a decent movie about crooked and dirty cops in L.A. Sort of like Training Day but with more violence. It wasn't half bad.  Forest Whitaker was in it. The guy from the TV show "House" was in it also. It's not Oscar worthy but the plot, the action (alot of violence and shoot outs) and story made it worthwhile.

It's about 2:30 am or so by the time we finish our food and the movie ends. My buddy is dead tired and falls asleep. I tried to sleep but I couldn't so I decide to go down to the poker room at the Taj.

I buy-in for $200. The late night crowd at the Taj was interesting. I've played late night before and only the hardcore degenerates, the local "pros", poker dealers and drunk guys are still left. This could be good or bad depending on the situation.

I'm seated at a table with two guys I know from playing in AC before. I've written about this guy also in the past. One guy is named Brian. He's the "rounder" in AC. The dealers know him by name and I know from past conversations that he plays poker a lot. I've played with him at the Showboat before. I guess he's making his rounds. He's super aggressive and loose and he's a bit of a jerk also but hey he gives action so who am I to complain about his bad breath and general bad attitude.

This session I was smoking hot. The table is aggressive and a little loose. I'm on the button with J/8 clubs. Super aggressive guy bets out $15. Two callers. I call also hoping to catch a little luck. The flop gives me two pair. Super aggressive guy bets out $40, I decide to trap and flat call. I float in this spot hoping to take him down on the turn for an extra bet. The turn fills my boat. He checks and I check. The river is an Ace. Now I'm cooking. I'm hoping he hit his Ace on the river and will bet out. He does indeed bet out $50. I re-raise him $50 and he calls. He had A/Q. I take down a nice pot.

Later on I'm on the button with 7/8 hearts. 4 players limp in and I raise it up to $12. Two callers. The flop gives me an open ended straight draw but there's also two diamonds on the flop. It gets checked to me and I bet out $25. I get a caller. The turn fills my straight. It gets checked to me and I bet out $25 again. Villain flat calls again. The river is a blank. Villain this time bets out $50. I guess he hit two pair on the river or he's slow played a set but I have the nuts and I'm open for business. The thing is how much do I bet to get paid off without scaring him off the hand, also if he's putting me on a missed flush draw then I can get him to call a bet that looks like I'm bluffing and trying to buy the pot. He seems like a solid player so I opt for the big value bet that can look like a bluff. I settle on $125. I basically re-raised him just a bit more than the minimum. I think this is a good bet. If he's got two pair he might call just for showdown value, if he's got a set then he's going all-in anyway so I don't want to scare him away if he does indeed hold two pair by going all-in. He thinks for a bit and calls. I show him my straight. He mucks.

By this time the AC rounder "pro" Brian and his buddy has changed seats. They are now sitting directly to my left. Both of them. I tell them I liked it better when I had position against them. They chuckle. It's true. Position in poker is crucial, especially against loose aggressive cannons like Brian and his buddy. They said I've been getting good cards so they wanted to sit there. It's true I've been blessed by the poker gods this session. I've gotten a few monster hands that got me paid off. But the real reason I suspect is that they'll have position on me, which isn't a good thing.

5am and I'm on point. I'm up $300 and counting. The table is respecting my bets and raises a little too much while Brian and his buddy are trying to stack me. I go back to playing tight, only raising when I have a really good starting hand. A shortie with about $80 has been shoving a lot lately. He's probably on tilt after he lost a huge hand when his baby flush lost out to a Q high flush (this was a $400 plus hand). He's now pushing when there's a pot of $20 or more preflop. I'm middle position and an EP raises to $12. I peek down and I see two aces. I'm open for business again. I flat call hoping that the shortie guy will do his all-in move. He does. EP folds and I call.

He flips over 66 and I take down the pot. The original raiser laments that he would've hit a set on the turn if he had stayed in but I tell him if he calls I'm pushing all-in anyway and there's no way he'd call with 77 in that spot. He agreed. I'll admit I got lucky that hand, everything had to fall neatly into place for me to take down that hand. First, I needed a raise in EP so I could limp. Then I needed the shortie who was pushing to have a decent enough hand to push with. Thankfully, it worked out for me.

6am. I'm still running hot and I get my stack up to the $700 range after I make a good read and river call against the super aggressive guy. I had 88 he had A/K ($150 pot).

Up until this point Brain, his poker lackey and I haven't been in too many pots against each other. We were involved in a few but not for any decent sized pots. That changed near the end of my session.

I get Q/10 clubs on the button. There's a few limpers and I raise to $8 because I'm feeling good and I've been running hot. Brian on the BB calls and I get another caller from EP. The flop comes out A, 8, 4 with two clubs. Brian bets out $15. EP calls and I call. The turn is another club. Wow, this is what it feels like to run super hot. Brain checks, EP checks and I bet out $40. Brain calls and EP folds. The river is a blank. Brian checks. I bet out $50 and he re-pops me $65.

I pay off his nut flush. I was really thinking of raising him in this spot but here's a guy who's trying to make a living playing cards and I kind of know his style, I might have folded if the bet was bigger because then I would put him on a bluff or the nuts but since it was only double my bet and he'd been playing pretty conservative against me anytime we were involved in hands together so I just figured raising would put me in a bad spot, so I decided to just flat call.

7am. Now I'm getting tired. I also remember some advice from Ksnyde (nice shout out huh? lol). He had recently commented to me on a previous post on why during one session I didn't leave with a profit instead of giving it all back. This was the same situation. The table is aggressive and loose and I'm up a decent amount and I feel that I can win some more but this time I quit with a profit. I count my chips and I have $585. I cash out and before I head up to my room, I blow $35 on a hand of blackjack.

Hey, there's more to Atlantic City than just poker you know...

P.S. I apologize for the long post but there's a lot to write about when you spend two days in AC.

Circa 4 euro per un gioco così bello!! Sono stato davvero furbo a scaricarlo dall'iPhone perchè ormai stava per prendere fuoco! Saranno stati 200 mb ci avrà impiegato 20 minuti per scaricarlo!

Appena aperto c'era la musichetta lounge jazz molto rilassante. Ho notato che c'è anche la possibilità di giocare in multiplayer (sulla stessa rete), quindi ho lasciato perdere a priori. Quindi ho touchato su partita singola.

Qua la parte bellissima: allora se si tiene lo schermo in verticale si vede la giocata di ogni persona una alla volta (con tanto di video realistico: davvero realistico sembra che i giocatori siano intrappolati nello schermo!), mentre se lo si gira a destra o sinistra appare la schermata che fa vedere tutto il tavolo, e quindi tutte le giocate fatte, i soldi attuali degli altri giocatori, ecc.

Ho solo un problemuccio piccolo piccolo: non so giocare a texas hold'em!

Sono riuscito a vincere qualche mano ma davvero non ci capivo niente! Credo che dovrò leggermi il regolamento e le istruzioni (sfortunatamente non incluse dentro il gioco per iPhone). Non c'è qualcuno che mi spiega?

La Apple ha fatto davvero un ottimo lavoro (e quando mai non lo fa?), soprattutto la grafica: bellissima idea quella di inserire persone vere nel gioco utilizzando la tecnica del chroma key (schermo verde).

Giudizio finale? 10/10! Applicazione fenomenale anche per uno che non sa le regole :D .

Most underground poker rooms in New York City charges a hourly rate for each seat. The standard rate is $10 per hour per seat. This is a huge vig for playing poker. If you play 1/2 NL then it costs you $10 per hour to play regardless if you win or lose. I've played at these clubs before and it's extremely hard to make money when you're being charged $10 per hour. Highway robbery if you ask me but if it's the only game in town then that's the way it is. This club was different. They charged a rake. The rake was still pretty high (10%) up to $15 per pot but I still prefer this over the hourly rate because the games usually are really really loose so I'm not entering a pot unless I have a decent hand which is about 15%-20% of time.

The place is located above an insurance company on the 2nd floor. The area is pretty nice and quiet so I felt 100% safe. I press the buzzer for the second floor and I tell the guy who answers that Billy sent me. I get let in.

The place is bigger than I thought. You wouldn't have guessed it based on looking from the outside. There are about 7 -10 tables available and most of them are filled. I get seated at a table and I'm ready to roll. The table I'm at is a mix of younger and older players, a few immigrants and some guys who looked like they walked off the set of "The  Sopranos" complete with the Goombah casual look that wanna be mobsters prefer. For all I know this place is a mob place and if it is then it should be safe to play and I won't have to worry about a bunch of masked men with guns busting into the joint and robbing the place.

My table was crazy...and I mean crazy. A $20 raise preflop meant nothing. A $25 preflop raise meant that you were facing 3 players. This is the type of game that you want to play at, unless you're running bad. Then it's a living hell. I saw sets getting crushed by runner runner flushes and straights. Guys just won't fold their gutshots despite the odds against them.

So what happens? I'm playing tight for the most part, waiting for a decent hand. I get 5/5 in the BB. There's an EP who raised to $20, he gets 3 callers (including the SB). I have 55 which in my estimation is probably ahead of everyone based on the hands I've seen so far. So I raise to $50. I haven't  played too many hands and I'm representing a huge hand. I get one caller, the original raiser.  

The flop is a nice one. 4,5,6 rainbow. I've hit my set so I'm doing handflips in my head at least. I check and the original raiser bets out $50. I raise all in ($150) and he calls. My jubilation is short lived as I see he has 7/8 for a flopped straight but  I still have outs. I need to pair the board and I'm golden again....that's a big IF. Nothing doing and I lose my first big pot of the night. Oh well. Reload time.

This game is juicy but dangerous at the same time. I don't want to invest to much in this game despite the loose play because the short term luck factor can really rear its ugly head and I can be stuck hard if I'm not careful.

I reload for another $250.

Things are quiet for about an hour when I get KK on the button. EP bets out for $20 and I get 2 callers. I don't mess around this time and I bet out $150. They all fold. The cut-off almost calls me though and he says to me he thinks he's ahead and shows A/5 hearts. I don't show him anything. He says to me that he showed me his cards I should show him mine. I say to him if he was willing to pay $150 I'd gladly show him my cards, he's clearly miffed but hey that's the price you pay for playing poker. Deep down I was also glad he didn't call because if he spiked an Ace then my blog posting would've ended on this hand.

By the 3rd hour of play, I go on a little rush and scratch and claw my way back to even for the night. I mostly play my hands super aggressively and over bet pots when I think I'm ahead. I make a timely fold when I hit two pair but I feel that this guy had a better two pair or a set so I fold to his shove in a 3 way pot. He did showdown his set.

I strike up a conversation with one of the mobster wanna-bes dressed in a Nike track suit. I ask him what business he's in. He tells me he's in the garbage business and based on the cards he's played so far, I believe him.

The 4th hour, I settle down. I'm not getting great cards but I do get some decent ones. I win a $150 pot when my JJ holds up against a OE straight draw. 

A guy sits down with $200 and promptly loses his buy-in when his AA gets cracked by 66. He then gets up and leaves. He was at the table for maybe 6 hands.

5th hour.  The tone of the game has changed and I switch gears to counter the other players. I'm being aggressive when I have decent cards as I sense that the some of the players are either stuck hard and now playing super tight. I pick these guys out and I pound them with raises. Others are up big and still gambling. I pick those guys out and play a little more cautiously. The rest of the table are short stacked and are willing to throw in their remaining chips on any type of draw, so I have to make sure I have a decent hand or a superior draw against these guys. At least that's my game plan.

A shortie loses the rest of his chips when he's outdrawn. He complains loudly about how unlucky he is and how everybody plays so poorly and why does he play this stupid game. He reloads.

We're in my 6th hour of the session and I'm at around $800. Not bad. I'm actually in the positive side of things. Then the floor drops beneath me. I lose $125 to a short stack when he pushes with A/10 suited vs. my A/K diamonds and wins the hand when he spikes a 10 on the turn.

I get KK cracked by A/7 suited. I'm negative $200 at this point.

By the 7th hour, things are dying down, It's early AM and a few players have left. We're at a short table now and most of the guys who stayed are up and willing to play more. I'm down about $150 at this point. I get 10/10 in the cut off. I bet $10 and get re-raised to $25 by the button. I raise to $50 and the button flat calls. The flop is a good one for me. 7,4,8 with two hearts. I bet out $100 and get called. The turn is a K and I check. The button checks behind me. The river is a blank and I bet out another $100. The button folds but shows me A/J hearts, I show him my 10s.

It's getting late or early depending on your point of view. One of the players falls asleep at the table.

I'm just about even right now and I'm getting tired. Everyone is getting tired as a matter of fact and the action has dried up because it's late and people just don't have the energy to continue playing. I play a few more hands but I just don't think it's worth it to continue anymore and I cash out.

I break just about even (I'm down about $10 bucks) as I leave the club. The sun is out and it's about 7am in the morning. I walk to a Dunkin Donuts nearby and I see one of the players in there. We chat a little and he tells me that he's going back up to play some more and that I should come. I politely tell him I'm shot and that I might come back later. He says he'll be there and bolts out the door. 

I think to myself that this guy is nuts and that he's clearly addicted to poker and how I thank God that I'm not like him and I know when to quit. I've played 7 hours of live poker and I'm shot. I need a break, I can't wait to hit my bed and get some sleep....

but not before I play a little poker online....but more on that some other time...

I've been double tabling 25NL to see how far I can get. I'm still playing 50NL but I since I've been doing so well in 25NL maybe I'll put the 50NL on the back burner for a bit until I build a substantial bankroll to play those levels comfortably. Perhaps when my BR hits $1,500 I'll start at those levels permanently.

For now I'll be two tabling 25NL. I still feel that I can observe the players closely and still make money while playing 2 tables.

I tried 3 tables for a bit but I lost $9.70 in 563 hands while doing that. I just don't feel like I can get a handle on the players playing 3 tables. Maybe I just need more practice at playing 3 tables at the same time because I clearly was uncomfortable, thus the decision to play 2 tables at once.

The results for August are pretty good:

I'm positive $46.30 in 1,256 hands played.

I'm hoping to log in about 5k-7.5k hands this month two tabling. 

As for my poker league, we've taken some time off. I haven't played a poker league game in two weeks. Mostly I've been busy as I'm trying to take advantage of what's left of the Summer but I suspect that the league will start to pick up soon.

My goals for the month of August is to log in 5k-7.5k hands and hope to clock in $200 in profits playing 25NL and 50NL.

So far it's a good start and I hope that things will continue to look up.

Of course it's always nice to hit quads and have somebody pay me off:

Full Tilt Poker Game #7544271501: Table Savin (6 max) - $0.10/$0.25 - No Limit Hold'em - 2:47:55 ET - 2008/08/07

Seat 1: ThumThum ($54.30)

Seat 2: Hoppy_Hop ($22.50)

Seat 3: YelloMenace ($20.60)

Seat 4: Lost Kid 012 ($5)

Seat 5: rodrigo_buliga ($27.85)

Seat 6: DISAINTDEDKSH ($25)

Hoppy_Hop posts the small blind of $0.10

YelloMenace posts the big blind of $0.25

Lost Kid 012 posts $0.25

The button is in seat #1

*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to YelloMenace [4c 4h]

Lost Kid 012 checks

rodrigo_buliga has 15 seconds left to act

rodrigo_buliga folds

DISAINTDEDKSH raises to $1.10

ThumThum folds

Hoppy_Hop folds

YelloMenace calls $0.85

Lost Kid 012 calls $0.85

*** FLOP *** [Tc 4d 9h]

YelloMenace checks

Lost Kid 012 checks

DISAINTDEDKSH bets $3

YelloMenace raises to $12.40

Lost Kid 012 folds

DISAINTDEDKSH has 15 seconds left to act

DISAINTDEDKSH raises to $23.90, and is all in

YelloMenace calls $7.10, and is all in

DISAINTDEDKSH shows [Td Ah]

YelloMenace shows [4c 4h]

Uncalled bet of $4.40 returned to DISAINTDEDKSH

*** TURN *** [Tc 4d 9h] [4s]

*** RIVER *** [Tc 4d 9h 4s] [5h]

DISAINTDEDKSH shows two pair, Tens and Fours

YelloMenace shows four of a kind, Fours

YelloMenace wins the pot ($40.30) with four of a kind, Fours

DISAINTDEDKSH adds $20.60

ThumThum: nh

*** SUMMARY ***

Total pot $42.40 | Rake $2.10

Board: [Tc 4d 9h 4s 5h]

Seat 1: ThumThum (button) didn't bet (folded)

Seat 2: Hoppy_Hop (small blind) folded before the Flop

Seat 3: YelloMenace (big blind) showed [4c 4h] and won ($40.30) with four of a kind, Fours

Seat 4: Lost Kid 012 folded on the Flop

Seat 5: rodrigo_buliga didn't bet (folded)

Seat 6: DISAINTDEDKSH showed [Td Ah] and lost with two pair, Tens and Fours

The villain was a thorn in my side all session. He was very aggressive on his draws and hit me for a big pot when he rivered his flush vs. my two pair. He shoved and I called but he outdrew me.

He also stole some pots from me that I kind of felt that I was ahead but I figured I'd let him run over me a few times so I can set him up for a big pot when the time came.

I'd try to check raise him earlier in the session but he always came over the top and I always folded to his shove, even though I felt like I was ahead.

This hand I check raise big to make it like I was trying to steal and bluff him out of a pot because he had been running over me all session and I wanted to make it seem like I had enough of his constant raising over me (at least that was my line of thinking) and I wasn't going to take it anymore so I made the raise look like a bluff as check/calling would look fishy IMO. He fell for it hook, line and sinker.

Try Challenging Yourself against the Worlds Best !!!

I did a few "full bankroll buy-ins" with the intention that if I lost, then this poker dream was never meant to be. Lucky (or unlucky) for me, I didn't lose. So here I am.

After losing like seven 18 player $10 SnG's in a row, I placed at a 45 player $10 Sng. Then I placed at a big (1,700 people I think) $2.20 tourney. Then I decided to take Choday's advice and play shortstack strategy at NL25 which worked out pretty well (usually does in fact- I just get bored of it...)

So here is my current dillemma with poker (not that you care, but for recordkeeping purposes):

I feel like there's too much luck involved. Is it gambling-- is it not gambling? I don't know. But I do know that the better players don't always win. And luck is almost ALWAYS a significant factor in large tourneys. Now I know the idea is that skill and strategy win in the long run, but I don't know if I'm 100% sold on that idea.

Also, I need to get better at higher stakes. I'm sick of playing for a few bucks here and there. Sure, I can win $1 and $2 tourneys all day- but that doesn't make enough money to make it worth my time. I don't need to make a killing- just enough so that it's not completely embarrassing. How can I get excited about placing first in a tourney when the prize is $7 and I've been playing for 90 minutes?! If I'm going to continue to take this seriously, I decided I want to make at least $20 an hour.

Maybe I need to play more tables at a time or something in order for this to work, but I'm not particularly good at that either..

Of course, the root of all of this is that I still suck and playing for 6 months isn't long enough to really know what I'm doing, but I'm allowed to rant, right?

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EP.03 & EP.04
World Series of Poker WSOP 2008 No-Limit Hold'em Final table 1,500 dollar buy-in event Episode 03,04 - Rio All Suite Hotel & Casino USA Commentary by Lon McEachern & Norman Chad Players Include: Grant Hinkle, Theo Tran, Mike Ngo, Chris Ferguson, James Akenhead, Aaron Coulthard.

EP.01 & EP.02
World Series of Poker WSOP 2008 Pot-Limit Hold'em Final table Championship 10,000 dollar buy-in Bracelet Main event Episode 01,02 - Rio All Suite Hotel & Casino USA Commentary by Lon McEachern & Norman Chad Players Include: Mike Sexton, Kathy Liebert, Phil Laak, Patrik Antonius, Andy Bloch, Nenad Medic, Mike Sowers,Amit Makhija, Chris Bell.

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