Matt

Today I won an entry to WSOP 2008 on Stars, which is valued at $12,500. Apparently they put the money directly in your account now. I'm glad to learn that, because it's an easy decision for me to just take the cash.

I won my way in through the WSOP Steps ladder, which is a series of progressively higher buy-in sit-n-goes. I began at the $7.50 Step 1s, played 76 of those, and eventually won my way up. When I reached Step 6, I got lucky and won the first one I played. Overall, my investment was about $425.

I would love to say it was my brilliant play, but I simply ran extremely good in both Step 5 and 6. In the Step 5, I won a 20% shot for all my chips, then a 35% shot. In the Step 6, I won 2 coinflips for all my chips, then a 75% shot, then a 55% shot, then another 75% shot, and suddenly I had all the chips and the win.

My intention is to cash almost all the money out of Stars, start over with the $7.50 Step 1s, and try to win my way up again.

Regular readers will note the lack of posts in this blog... oh wait, there aren't any regular readers anymore, lol. I completely stopped posting because there was nothing but bad news on the poker front. It's not especially interesting to read 100 posts about losing. So I resolved to only post when I had some good news. Which I do - I finished 6th in the Stars $10 rebuy last night for about $2000.

Overall, though, I barely play poker anymore. A few months ago, I went back to work full time. Amazingly, a job opportunity fell into my lap out of nowhere. I actually like it - it's the sort of job I wanted 7 years ago. All I had to do was quit my old job, move to California, gamble for a living for one year, lose $40,000, and voila! Funny how that worked out. Overall, my life is much more balanced now, and I only play for fun. It's been said a hundred times, but it's true: poker is a fun hobby but a shitty job.

They won't ban me from the ring games! I received a nonsensical response.


Hello Stars Support,

Can you ban me from playing ring games on your site? I only want to
play tournaments. I lose all my money in ring games because your
jerkoff site is rigged against me. So can you block me from ring games
only?

Roswell
Matt



PokerStars Support
to me

Hello Matthew,

Thank you for your email.

I'm afraid we can not ban you from ring games on our site at this moment. I
find it strange that you believe the site is rigged, surely if you win money
in Tournaments but loose it in cash games, this would indicate that you are
a better Tournament player than a cash game player.

If you have any further integrity concerns, please let me know and I will
happy to discuss them with you.

Please let us know if you have any further questions.

Best Regards,

AlexM
PokerStars Support Team

Nothing exciting happening to me at the tables lately. Just playing low-buyin satellites for the WSOP on Stars. I've occasionally been playing ring games, but I'm going to try and quit forever after this hand.

Basically I decided to let him keep betting into me all the way, because I was pretty sure I had the best hand. (warning: bad beat alert.)

*********** # 46 **************
PokerStars Game #9258404095: Hold'em No Limit ($1/$2) - 2007/04/05 - 00:27:02 (ET)
Table 'Jugta' 6-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: scandal21 ($28 in chips)
Seat 2: carrotsnake ($714.55 in chips)
Seat 4: Ldonnie ($606.30 in chips)
Seat 6: Roswell ($258.10 in chips)
scandal21: posts small blind $1
carrotsnake: posts big blind $2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Roswell [Qs Qh]
Ldonnie: folds
Roswell: raises $5 to $7
scandal21: folds
carrotsnake: calls $5
*** FLOP *** [Qc 5d 4h]
carrotsnake: bets $12
Roswell: calls $12
*** TURN *** [Qc 5d 4h] [6c]
carrotsnake: bets $33
Roswell: calls $33
*** RIVER *** [Qc 5d 4h 6c] [Ks]
carrotsnake: bets $75
Roswell: raises $131.10 to $206.10 and is all-in
carrotsnake: calls $131.10
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Roswell: shows [Qs Qh] (three of a kind, Queens)
carrotsnake: shows [8s 7s] (a straight, Four to Eight)
carrotsnake collected $515.20 from pot
Roswell leaves the table
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $517.20 | Rake $2
Board [Qc 5d 4h 6c Ks]
Seat 1: scandal21 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: carrotsnake (big blind) showed [8s 7s] and won ($515.20) with a straight, Four to Eight
Seat 4: Ldonnie folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Roswell (button) showed [Qs Qh] and lost with three of a kind, Queens


Unfortunately on rigged Riverstars, people bet into top set with gutshots and hit. Fuck this site. I emailed support and asked if they could ban me from ring games and let me play tournaments only.

As I posted earlier, January was a good month for this losing, ex-professional player. Unfortunately, February was not quite as good. I played a bunch of live 2/3 NL in Oceanside and lost a couple buyins. Overall my YTD results there are 43 hours, plus $370, $8 per hour. I’ve pretty much stopped live poker, as this doesn’t seem worthwhile.

On Pokerstars, I didn't win a thing, but at least I didn't deposit. I have a balance of $180 in my account. I’m using that money to play $5 satellites-into-satellites and collect W$. Eventually I’ll start playing the $160 double shootouts. The goal is to never deposit, and thus risk nothing.

Last year, I played a total of eighteen $160 double shootouts into the main event and won two. However, I must have run incredibly hot for that to happen. There’s no way anyone could continue to win 1 out every 9 double shootouts. More realistic would be 1 out of 30. So there will probably be an incredible amount of frustration before I lock up a seat.

I got a three-pack of Harrington on Hold 'Em using my FullTilt points. I'm try unload it on ebay. I had it listed before with a minimum price of $40 and nobody bid on it. WTF? I must be very bad at ebay.


Someone told me to list it again with an initial price of $0.99. So I'm doing that. Of course it will probably sell for cheap now. Bid away!

http://cm.ebay.com/cm/ck/1065-29296-2357-0?uid=409041992&site=0&ver=LCA080805&item=160087162851&lk=URL

EDIT: Haha my spam worked! I sold the books for $50. YEAH SEND IT

So during January I won about $1900 overall. That's a decent result for a failed, ex-professional, losing poker player. It broke down like this:

Pokerstars: Had $0 in my account plus some FPPs. Used FPPs to win a $215 satellite to the Sunday tourney. Unregistered. Used T$ to play satellites into the Sunday $530 tourney. Won an entry, unregistered. Converted 530 T$ to cash via www.thestarsexchange.com. Used cash to played $0.50/$1.00 NL omaha8. Won $700. Net result +$1200. Had Stars send me a check for $1000 and left $200 in the account to play with. I'm pretty happy with this result, since I risked $0 to win $1000.

Oceanside: Played 30 hours of $2/$3 NL at Ocean's 11. Won $900 for a rate of $30/hr. The buyin is $300 in this game, and I could easily lose 3 buyins in a day, so these results are statistically meaningless. But since my long-run expectation is undoubtedly negative, this is a good result.

I managed to get my mobney out of Neteller by sending it to a guy in Canada, then having him send to me on Pokerstars. Now I can have Stars send me a check, if I don't lose it first.

For anyone trying to get Neteller to EFT the funds to their bank account, they say it could take 6 weeks.

My venture into the world of professional poker has lasted almost a year now, and it's time to reassess. Overall things went very very badly for me. When I first moved to California, I was pretty excited about poker. I had a job for six months and played a ton at the Bike and the Commerce. During this time I went on a decent run, doing well in the live games and cashing for $10K in a couple tournaments.

However, since my job ended and I became a full-time pro, things have gone really badly. In fact, I had a losing year. Initially I blamed bad luck, but I have to admit by now that I'm just not as good as I thought I was. Even when I was doing well up in LA, my good run totaled about $30,000 or so; I never had a really big tourney cash or extended hot streak in live games. There are a lot of young guys making lots of money at this game; unfortunately, I am just not one of them. There are many people who have been playing for far less time than I, and have gone so much further with poker (and had $100K+ years, which I never approached.)

Furthermore, I have lost my passion for the game. I used to say "Man, poker sucks" after a losing day or a tournament beat, but I'd still wake up the next day and fire up 4 tables for six hours. Now I have lost the interest, desire, and patience that is necessary to succeed. Also, I question whether I am even a winning player in the online ring games! Over the past year, my pokertracker results say: I am a breakeven player after rakeback.

I even had a rather telling conversation with Shane Shaniac Schleger recently:

Matt: Shane, I think I am a losing poker player.
Shane: That's sort of a problem, if you are a professional poker player.

So, it's time for a shift in priorities for me. I intend to cut way back on playing, and concentrate on two things: 1)occasional live tournaments and 2)online satellites into main events. Hopefully, this will have a couple good results: I'll waste far less time playing cards, and I might get lucky and make a score. Or, I will continue to slowly lose my money over time, as marginal players do. It pains me to admit it, but that might be what I am: a long-term loser than wins occasionally, just enough to stay in action and contribute to the rake. I'm what the casinos count on to keep the games going!

Send $10 to "Roswell" on Pokerstars or I won't let this cat go.

So in Chinese poker (straight high) there's no skill, right? Well how about this interesting rule change: the last guy to set his hand owes one point to the other three players!

With this rule, there is skill in chinese poker - not only from the time pressure, but you may also misplay your hand. You might be so rushed that you play 22 up front and ace high in the middle!

I better patent this quick!

Full Tilt Poker Game #1366814434: Table Bennett (6 max) - $200/$400 - No Limit Hold'em - 1:56:36 ET - 2006/12/07
Seat 1: serb2127 ($28,997)
Seat 2: Urindanger ($8,000), is sitting out
Seat 3: Phil Ivey ($106,515)
Seat 4: sbrugby ($46,044)
Seat 5: Luigi66369 ($185,682)
Seat 6: MyRenovatio ($39,940)
MyRenovatio posts the small blind of $200
serb2127 posts the big blind of $400
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Urindanger has returned
Phil Ivey has 15 seconds left to act
Phil Ivey raises to $1,200
sbrugby folds
Luigi66369 raises to $4,000
MyRenovatio folds
serb2127 folds
Phil Ivey calls $2,800
*** FLOP *** [2d 8h 8d]
Phil Ivey checks
Luigi66369 bets $7,200
Phil Ivey raises to $20,800
Luigi66369 has 15 seconds left to act
Luigi66369 raises to $60,800
Phil Ivey raises to $100,800
Luigi66369 raises to $140,800
Phil Ivey calls $1,715, and is all in
Luigi66369 shows [9d Jd]
Phil Ivey shows [8c 8s]
Uncalled bet of $38,285 returned to Luigi66369
*** TURN *** [2d 8h 8d] [Kd]
*** RIVER *** [2d 8h 8d Kd] [4c]
Luigi66369 shows a flush, King high
Phil Ivey shows four of a kind, Eights
Phil Ivey wins the pot ($213,627) with four of a kind, Eights
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $213,630 | Rake $3
Board: [2d 8h 8d Kd 4c]
Seat 1: serb2127 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Urindanger is sitting out
Seat 3: Phil Ivey showed [8c 8s] and won ($213,627) with four of a kind, Eights
Seat 4: sbrugby didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: Luigi66369 (button) showed [9d Jd] and lost with a flush, King high
Seat 6: MyRenovatio (small blind) folded before the Flop

A few days ago, I was reading Stoxtrader's blog (www.stoxpoker.com) and he asked if anyone wanted to make a video for his site. Stox's site has some excellent videos of himself playing limit and NL holdem at a range of limits (some as high as $300/$600 limit HE, omg!) In his blog he asked if anyone wanted to make a mixed games video.

Since I've been playing 1/2 Pot Limit Omaha8 on FullTilt lately, I figured I might as well record myself playing. So after several attempts, I finally made a decent video! It's up there now.

The caveat is: the videos cost $20 a month to access. Or you have to be a member of Stox's rakeback site (www.thisisthenuts.com) and rake $500 a month. This probably applies to zero people that read this blog.

I actually spiked a river card in a big pot today. That's highly unusual! The way this hand played out, I don't think I can fold on the turn. In most cases I have a zillion outs against a set or two pair. The only hand that I don't have the proper odds to draw for is... the hand that he actuallly had.

ps I love ultimatebet and i hate pokerstars.

Hand #xxxxxxxxx-xxx at Leominster (No Limit Hold'em)
Started at 22/Nov/06 12:32:01

castaldi is at seat 0 with $781.50.
Icemann15 is at seat 1 with $629.50.
Superior Poker Playing Opponent is at seat 2 with $1071.
Matt The Suckout Artist is at seat 3 with $812.
hm_general is at seat 4 with $6052.75.
beachaboy is at seat 5 with $278.
The button is at seat 3.

hm_general posts the small blind of $5.
beachaboy posts the big blind of $10.

Superior Poker Playing Opponent: -- --
Matt The Suckout Artist: Ah Qc

Pre-flop:

castaldi folds. Icemann15 folds. Superior Poker Playing Opponent raises
to $35. Matt The Suckout Artist re-raises to $135. hm_general
folds. beachaboy folds. Superior Poker Playing Opponent calls.

Flop (board: 5h Th 8c):

Superior Poker Playing Opponent checks. Matt The Suckout Artist bets $245.
Superior Poker Playing Opponent calls.

Turn (board: 5h Th 8c Jh):

Superior Poker Playing Opponent goes all-in for $691. Matt The Suckout Artist goes
all-in for $432. Superior Poker Playing Opponent is returned $259
(uncalled).

River (board: 5h Th 8c Jh Kh):

(no action in this round)

Showdown:

Superior Poker Playing Opponent shows 8h 9h.
Superior Poker Playing Opponent has 8h 9h Th Jh Kh: flush, king high.
Matt The Suckout Artist shows Ah Qc.
Matt The Suckout Artist has Ah 5h Th Jh Kh: flush, ace high.

Hand #37040490-301 Summary:

$3 is raked from a pot of $1639.
Matt The Suckout Artist wins $1636 with flush, ace high.

Matt to PokerStars
show details 4:54 pm (3½ hours ago)

Hi riverstars support,

When will u open higher triple draw tables? Plz tell me, thx.

k bye


*********

PokerStars Support to me
show details 8:29 pm (0 minutes ago)

Hello Matthew,

We will be happy to address your concerns if you write to us in a courteous manner, without the use of insults.

Regards,

Kate

PokerStars Support Team

Check it out! Usually it's just some stupid birds but sometimes there's other cool animals. I just saw a zebra.

Webcam from Africa

Stars just opened up NO LIMIT 2-7 TRIPLE DRAW tables. So far they have just 0.25/0.50 games but I'm sure bigger games are in the near future.

PROS: I am a WORLD-CLASS TRIPLE DRAW player that plays a GAME THEORY OPTIMAL strategy

CONS: I am stuck about $10,000 lifetime at triple draw playing my GAME THEORY OPTIMAL STRATEGY

So maybe it's a bad development for me. Nonetheless, I am encouraged by this chat with Fossilman (he was playing 0.25/0.50 for some reason, must be busto):

Dealer: FossilMan has Lo: a pair of Deuces
Dealer: Roswell has Lo: 8,7,6,3,2
Dealer: Game #6994916267: Roswell wins pot ($74.70) with Lo: 8,7,6,3,2
Roswell: i love how you guys checkraise on the come
Roswell: thats a great poker strategy
FossilMan: why not, it was better than your hand
FossilMan: roswell, you and I can play forever