Geez... I feel so nervous doing this...

huuuh... My poker story started 2-3 years ago when my friends visited me in Vienna where I was/am studying. I went with them to a B&M casino and played in a 60 people tournament. I was 3rd. I also played 3/6 Limit Holdem and was up 200€ in just 2 hours. Played in some more tournaments and always finished in the money. .. Then I stopped playing.

I started playing again after the summer of 2006 when I came back from my vacation. I manged to lost around $250 playing tournaments, LH, NL and whatever there was at PartyPoker probably because I really didn't know anything about the game (not what I was really thinking at the time). In that process of losing money I had some rush period where I was actually making money and once even I came back from $.50 in the lowest limit game up to $150... Of course, that money didn't last long and I donked it all. I had absolutely no idea of what the bankroll requirements are, and even what does it really mean, and my game was ridiculously foolish when I think about it now. A lot of misplaced fancy playing at low limit and no limit tables.. awful... Then I got myself a book to read. Sklansky's Theory of poker. I read it and didn't stop there.. I found out about BTP when searching for autorate rules for my PT and from that point I was reading through the site for almost everything I found. Anyway, I deposited another 50$ in January and lost it because I couldn't beat the game that I didn't have the bankroll for (namely NL25) so I got myself to wait some more and deposit $100 and do some bonus hunting.
Heh.. I deposited $100 to Golden Riviera and played NL50 with $20 just enough to clear the bonus. Then I withdrew those $140 and deposited $100 to party where I decided to play NL10 shortstacked because I was SURE that I had nothing to do at NL5 because I believe that NL5 is way too hard for me to play and I will never be able to beat it. So, with those $100 at NL10 I started making some progress.
In about 2 weeks and around 14k hands I made $230 at those tables and finally have the bankroll for that game. My plan is to abide by the bankroll rules and go up to NL50 in time and then start some more bonus hunting since that will give me additional options and hopefully additional income. I am posting my first ever graph and from now on I will be updating this journal with either daily results and thinking or future ideas and wishes...
If I remember something important that I didn't write about yet, I will write about it later. If you have ANY questions that concern me in any way, I will be more than happy to answer them to the best of my knowledge...
graph..
edited: removed the graph and added the smilies so that they are easily accessible..
yeah baby, yeah.... baby's got some brand new emoticons...






hope you will find some goot use for them... if you ever peek in here...

cheers..

edit: intitle:"index of" (mp3) rihanna.umbrella

thanks.. It will take some time though...
I plan on going to NL25 when I will have around $600 free on the site. For me to accomplish that, it will take around a month (from today) of steady play with similar to above results. I could also hit around 50,000 hands at NL10 by doing that and I feel that it might be a good time to move up to NL25.
Of course, if I lose more than 4 buy-ins at that point I think I will be moving down to NL10 for more work...
***
I played around 800 hands at 4 tables today.. When I finished I was down $12 for the day and felt that it's not too bad since I really couldn't do things much better than I did in some hands. For example, I had nut flush on turn vs. a set and I went all in just for the river to pair the board and give my opponent full house. This happened 3 times to me today. But also, today was a day of flushes for me cause I got most of the money back with high flushes... After losing those $12 I took a break and when I returned I played around 100 more hands and in that time, I not only covered the loss, but I also managed to earn another $10.
It all began when I posted BB and was dealt [2d]. It was folded to the button who miniraised to .30 . He had $14 and I had $10. I decided I will pay that because I don't normally like when people do these stupid miniraises for double or x3, especially with the strong hands like AA or KK. I guess this guy did it because it was folded to him and he wanted to suck at least one blind to try and extract something from us... Had he raised to $.40 or $.50 it would been an insta-fold for me, with $.30 I had to see the flop and hope for a crack. So, the flop came [8d][2s] and I bet $.60. He calls. Turn is . I bet $1.70, he calls. River is and I go all in for around $6-$7 and he calls that too, just to show me [Ac].
I took that pot thinking what a stupid play that was from both of us, but I decided that his was much worse than mine starting with the miniraise...
Another hand where I doubled up was HU when there was no one else at the table but me and the villain. I got [Th] on BB. Villain just calls. Flop is [8h][Ad]. Villain bets .20, I raise to .60, he calls. Turn is . Villain checks, I bet $1.20, he calls. River is and now Villain bets $2.60 and I raise all in. He calls and shows me [Kc].
I don't really know how to comment this play other than it must really be hard for some people to part with high pocket pairs. I myself don't have that problem.. It's not hard to fold KK when you know that you are beat, at least I think so... Anyway, I will be playing some more tonight so hopefully my result for the day will improve even more...

I didn't do the switch thingie yet..
Why? Because I am still waiting for $250 to appear in my moneybookers acount.
I cashed out from Party yesterday evening (GMT+1) and I got mail from Party that it is processed. I looked up my mail and my MB account, and there is no money or "you've got money" mails anywhere.
I guess it just takes more time than I am used to. I am a pay-pro preferred customer so they do their part very quickly (like in 10 minutes or so) but I don't really understand why does it take a whole day or more for the MB team to let the money through to my account. I mean, I did some cashouts from Golden Riviera and from Party already, and as I recall, that went much faster then.
Mah, it must be the Easter time.
Anyway, to be honest, the only real reason why this bugs me is because I want to play and right now I don't have money in Party account (cause I withdrew) and I can't deposit into my Empire account (because I don't have enough on MB account) so this waiting is just going on my nerves right now.
I guess I will get back to watching Battlestar Galactica (2nd season, ep16 right now) and occasionally take a look at the mail to see if I got the money finally so I can go play some poker..

I cleared the Empire bonus and got the $70 to boost my bankroll a bit. While playing, I lost like $7 so its basically a $63 bonus for me which is still pretty nice.
***
I played a hand today that worries me a little. I mean, I know that I am not supposed to call a PFR OOP with [8s] but the raise was one of those MP (has me covered) miniraises to .20 . I was in SB and had full stack. I decided to call and UTG+1 called. Flop was [8c][Qh]. I bet pot (.70) with my 2 pair. UTG+1 folds and MP again mini raises to $1.40. To be honest, I knew from the start that 90% I am dealing with AA or KK here because that's how a lot of players play these cards on Party. Now, I re-raise to $3.50 and MP calls. Turn comes and since I was sure it was an overpair and not a flush semi-bluff I went all on for $6.55 into $7.70 pot and after some thinking MP calls. River was a killer card for me here because it was , and I didn't hold any hearts. Of course, MP had [Ah]. What I am interested in is, should I have played this hand differently than I did starting with the flop? I know that it's not recommended to P$IP like I did here, but believe me when I say that I hate mini raises PF with AA or similar because that just invites trouble...
***
As for yesterday... huh.. I was late to the bar and everybody was drunk already cause they have been drinking from 5pm so I had to act fast and catch up.. So I did.. It was great drunken/stoned night out with friends.. I loved it...

yeah.. that's what I am thinking about... I mean, in these 3 days I went and called all-in 90% of the time when I was at least 60-40 favorite, sometimes even 80-20, and I managed to lose some of those... I know things will even out, I just hope they start evening out on deep stacks, and not the short ones...
**
I have relaxed a bit and played today.. I improved a little.. I think that I lacked proper discipline yesterday and part of today and I think that is restored now... We'll see tomorrow.. What comforts me really is that I know when I am in front and that's when I make my moves...also , CB is a must when I play...
***
mah.. I'll write more tomorrow..

yup.. I lost 6 and a half stacks today..... in 958 hands....
1 stack was due to my mistake together with the bad run of luck.... I had [2d] in BB. It was miniraised and I called. Flopped [2h][9d]. I checked, and guy bets half pot. I call. Turn is and now he bets half a pot again, I raise, he reraises all in. I call. He has [7s]... that's -$10.
2nd stack was also my mistake. I was in BB with [9h]. Folded to SB and he raises to .30. I call. Flop is [9c][3h]. He bets, I raise, he reraises, I go allin. He of course helds [Jd].
3rd stack was one more mistake against a guy in a rush. I was MP with [Jd] and limp. Everyone folds and BB makes it .40 . I call and SB calls. Flop is [Qc][9h]. SB checks, BB bets .60, I make a mistake and call while SB folds. Turn is and now I go beserk and BB bets $1 and I go all in for almost $9. He calls and has [Th] for the nut straight.
4th stack was a suckout. I raise with [As]. Shortie is all in with [Qh] and idiot makes it all in for me with [Qs]. He gets 2nd pair on the river.
5th stack was also a suckout. I am UTG with [Kc]. I limp hoping for a raise. Guy who just sat at the table raises from the CO to .50 . I go all in for $11.40 and he calls. Flop is [Qs][6s]. Turn . River . He of course has [Qc].
...
That's about it.. I need a break....