Just a quick update for my staking situation. I have about 13% sold so far - and 5% swapped so as a whole I'm pretty happy. Thanks for everyone's support - hopefully I'll actually have a few decent showing while I'm there. Been re-doing my playing schedule, and there is a chance by total buy-in will be between $2000-$2500 rather than the earlier estimate of $2500-$3000 (as I will probably try to satellite into the $500/$1000 tournaments at Venetian instead of buying in directly - and if I fail to satellite in I'll just play a smaller buy-in tourney elsewhere like Ceasar's Palace). I just felt I am obligated to update my "investors" and if there is a problem with the new schedule and what not, send me an e-mail and we can sort it out. But if there are still people interested in investing, I'm still going to keep it at $30 per % just to be fair to everyone, and also it will give me a bit of wiggle room if I decide to play an evening tournament if I bust out of the noon tournament early.
3 more sleeps!
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
4 more sleeps
4 more sleeps before Vegas - saying I'm pretty excited is probably an understatement. I decided to just take this week off from poker, as I know I will probably be putting 12-16 hours a day at the tables when I get to Vegas, so I just wanted to give myself a bit of break so I don't burn out before my trip is over. I know, who am I to say that I will burn out compare to other guys who grind MTTs/SnGs all day and have been in Vegas since end of May playing donkaments daily when my volume isn't even that high? Well, nothing to say to that really. I just wanted to make sure I go to Vegas fresh and have the desire to play and sit at the table. My live experience is very limited, so almost all of it is from cash games as there are barely any tournaments in Ontario that is within my "bankroll" that is playable. The only real live tournament experience either come from home games in the KW region, or the one $500 and one $1000 tournament I played at Brantford a year or so ago. I think for the most part I just want to go and enjoy the experience - obviously trying to win, but also get some experience under the belt.
As far as other things, I've been looking around, and found some really good deals on a site called US Airways Vacation - they offer flight and hotel for as long as $400~ per person flying out of Pearson (YYZ) to Vegas with 4 nights stay. Considering normal direct flight from YYZ costs $500~, I think I'm already planning my second trip and I haven't even taken my first one yet. I think my second trip might be more of a sight-seeing then a poker trip, as this upcoming one is primarily poker with a few parties here and there. Definitely would like to see the Cirque shows next time I go down, along with the whole Grand Canyon and what not.
My plan is to try to qualify for APPT Macau after this trip - good excuse to visit HK while I'm at it, but EPT in London as well as the WSOP-Europe doesn't sound too bad. High hopes for someone who is currently 0/5 in big live tournaments satellites (0/1 in APPT Seoul, 0/3 in WSOP ME, 0/1 in APPT Macau) but I'm bound to run good sometime right? I still have 1 year left before I finish my undergrad, but I only have a few courses left to do so my schedule for the fall and winter is probably pretty flexible which will allow me to travel - now comes the hard part of actually qualifying.
I think this might be my last update until I leave for Vegas with softball taking up most of this weekend. In reference to my previous entry, I have sold/swapped about 10% of myself for this trip. I am pretty satisfied with that but I would still welcome more "investors" if there are others interested. Please let me know by Monday night (June 30th) at the latest if you are though.
Wes
As far as other things, I've been looking around, and found some really good deals on a site called US Airways Vacation - they offer flight and hotel for as long as $400~ per person flying out of Pearson (YYZ) to Vegas with 4 nights stay. Considering normal direct flight from YYZ costs $500~, I think I'm already planning my second trip and I haven't even taken my first one yet. I think my second trip might be more of a sight-seeing then a poker trip, as this upcoming one is primarily poker with a few parties here and there. Definitely would like to see the Cirque shows next time I go down, along with the whole Grand Canyon and what not.
My plan is to try to qualify for APPT Macau after this trip - good excuse to visit HK while I'm at it, but EPT in London as well as the WSOP-Europe doesn't sound too bad. High hopes for someone who is currently 0/5 in big live tournaments satellites (0/1 in APPT Seoul, 0/3 in WSOP ME, 0/1 in APPT Macau) but I'm bound to run good sometime right? I still have 1 year left before I finish my undergrad, but I only have a few courses left to do so my schedule for the fall and winter is probably pretty flexible which will allow me to travel - now comes the hard part of actually qualifying.
I think this might be my last update until I leave for Vegas with softball taking up most of this weekend. In reference to my previous entry, I have sold/swapped about 10% of myself for this trip. I am pretty satisfied with that but I would still welcome more "investors" if there are others interested. Please let me know by Monday night (June 30th) at the latest if you are though.
Wes
Monday, June 23, 2008
Selling a few % of myself
I'll be making a trip down to Las Vegas from July 1 to July 9 - I am currently not planning to play in the WSOP Main Event, but I will should I manage to satellite into the tournament while I'm there. With that said, since I'm not planning to play the Main Event, I will be playing tournaments daily, mainly between the Venetian Deepstack Extravaganza and the Caesar's Palace Mega Stack Series. Right now, my schedule is still very much up in the air, since these tournaments end play at night and usually have final table the following day - and I plan to make at least one of these obviously. My plan will have me play about 6-7 tournaments, a daily noon tournament either at the Venetian or Caesar's Palace, and if I somehow lose by 7pm, I'll probably plat the Rio nightly tournament or the Caesar's Palace nightly tournament. With that said, the cost of all my buy-in will probably be around $2500-$3000. I am looking to sell up to 25% of myself for this trip - each % will be $30 either transferred via Poker Stars/Full Tilt Poker, or paid to me in person before I leave next week.
If you have questions about this, feel free to send me an e-mail at westside8@gmail.com
If you have questions about this, feel free to send me an e-mail at westside8@gmail.com
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
How I started playing online poker - part 1
I've had a couple (well, just 1) that asked me how I got into playing poker, more along the lines of how I got to where I am today (which isn't very far), so here is a short summary.
I was mainly playing for nickels and dimes until I turned 18 and made my first deposit on PokerStars for $100. I wasn't the brightest back then in terms of bankroll management, table selection, or anything really. I looked at some of the hands I played back then, and they were simply awful. In any case, with $100, I started playing $0.25/$0.50 6max NL. For those bankroll nits, you know that means I only had 2 buyins. I also played some 1/2 Limit 6max - I only had 50BB in this level. Saying that I played above my bankroll was probably an understatement. Somehow I got lucky, went on a heater and quicky ran that $100 up to about $1K within 2 weeks, and I thought I was just THAT good. Being a stupid 18 y/o with no sense of bankroll management, I withdrew $500 of it, and redeposited into Party Poker. Again, with no idea of what bankroll management is, I sat down at a 1/2 NL 6 max table with $500 in my account. I went on another heater, and my PartyPoker account had just over $2K by the end of the week. I felt like I was top of the world - less than a month ago I put $100 into poker, and now I'm sitting with $2500 or so. I withdrew a bunch of money from PartyPoker, and treated myself to a few new things. I continued playing the $1/$2 NL 6max, but reality (aka variance) finally struck. I lost most of what was left on PartyPoker after my withdrawal - and I was looking for answers. I came across Canada's Poker Forum (CPF www.pokerforum.ca), and I became a member. Some of the members on that site were instrumental in the early stages of my development as a poker player - learning how to properly manage my bankroll, and learning the game.
Part 2 coming up soon
I was mainly playing for nickels and dimes until I turned 18 and made my first deposit on PokerStars for $100. I wasn't the brightest back then in terms of bankroll management, table selection, or anything really. I looked at some of the hands I played back then, and they were simply awful. In any case, with $100, I started playing $0.25/$0.50 6max NL. For those bankroll nits, you know that means I only had 2 buyins. I also played some 1/2 Limit 6max - I only had 50BB in this level. Saying that I played above my bankroll was probably an understatement. Somehow I got lucky, went on a heater and quicky ran that $100 up to about $1K within 2 weeks, and I thought I was just THAT good. Being a stupid 18 y/o with no sense of bankroll management, I withdrew $500 of it, and redeposited into Party Poker. Again, with no idea of what bankroll management is, I sat down at a 1/2 NL 6 max table with $500 in my account. I went on another heater, and my PartyPoker account had just over $2K by the end of the week. I felt like I was top of the world - less than a month ago I put $100 into poker, and now I'm sitting with $2500 or so. I withdrew a bunch of money from PartyPoker, and treated myself to a few new things. I continued playing the $1/$2 NL 6max, but reality (aka variance) finally struck. I lost most of what was left on PartyPoker after my withdrawal - and I was looking for answers. I came across Canada's Poker Forum (CPF www.pokerforum.ca), and I became a member. Some of the members on that site were instrumental in the early stages of my development as a poker player - learning how to properly manage my bankroll, and learning the game.
Part 2 coming up soon
Monday, June 16, 2008
Epic Failure x2
Played both the Poker Stars 200 Main Event Seat Guaranteed satellite as well as the Full Tilt Poker 150 Main Event Seat Guaranteed satellite and donked out of them both. Probably misplayed a hand on Stars when I had AJss and played it super passively on a KsQs6x board, and then just lost a flip with AK > JJ. On Full Tilt, couldn't get anything going as I was just card dead, and anytime I tried raising light, I was forced to fold after continuation betting the flop and getting played back at when I miss, or simply can't make a play at a coordinated flop with several players in. I will probably do a short review of hands again soon as I gear up for Vegas in 2 weeks.
I didn't plan to play yesterday originally (not due to Father's Day as our family tends to celebrate these days a day or two in advance to avoid the crowd), but Sunday freed up last minute due to the weather in Toronto, so I was able to lose a few hundred dollars playing donkaments. I will probably look into playing the satellites on PokerRoom as well not week as per actyper's advice regarding the softness of their satellites. At this rate, I'll go broke trying to satellite into the Main Event before I even get a chance to go to Vegas.
Speaking of actyper - congrats on winning your Main Event package this past weekend.
I didn't plan to play yesterday originally (not due to Father's Day as our family tends to celebrate these days a day or two in advance to avoid the crowd), but Sunday freed up last minute due to the weather in Toronto, so I was able to lose a few hundred dollars playing donkaments. I will probably look into playing the satellites on PokerRoom as well not week as per actyper's advice regarding the softness of their satellites. At this rate, I'll go broke trying to satellite into the Main Event before I even get a chance to go to Vegas.
Speaking of actyper - congrats on winning your Main Event package this past weekend.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Nothing Much
Haven't played too many hands the past few days. With work 9-5, and softball on a couple of evenings as well as being in attendance for the NHL Awards last night, I played enough to keep the Iron Man streak going, and thats pretty much it. Going to put in some hours on Saturday and Sunday, finishing up with the Poker Stars $370 200 WSOP Main Event seat guaranteed satellite on Sunday.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
First WSOP Main Event Attempt
With my trip to Vegas looming, I'm going to be trying to win a Main Event seat via Poker Stars or Full Tilt Poker. The past few Sundays have been booked, so I finally had a chance to play the Poker Stars $650 Main Event satellite this past Sunday. This tournament was an epic failure, outside of maybe winning 5 hands, I played tighter than Watts - and thats quite an accomplishment. Here are just a few hands I wanted to highlight for the time being.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2740417
This was about 30-40 hands into the tournament. I have been basically folding every hand so far, except for a couple of hands where I limped behind a limper or two in late position with a pocket pair and whiffed the flop.
UTG+1 has been relatively active preflop - calling raises on a regularly basis. Hero here decides to take a flop in position to see if I can flop anything.
Flop is relatively dry, UTG's bet into 2 players is either weak, or super strong. Since I got a piece of it, I did get a piece of it, so I decided to make a raise to see where I am at. If re-raised/called, I'm behind, otherwise I'm hoping to make the players with two overcards fold. On another hand, they both can't have air, so I MOST LIKELY should've folded the flop as I'm probably never ahead. As played, I guess I should've probably made the raise on a flop a bit bigger. In any case, the call by UTG+1 obviously means hero is behind on the flop, but the turn brought a miracle 5 and there is no way UTG+1 sees hero playing a 5 in this spot. The river check might be a bit weak - but posted the hand to get comments on 2p2.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2740450
Second hand of interest comes about 20 hands later. This hand's raiser has been raising quite a few hands preflop after losing with QQ, and after showing down 56hh, hero's table image obviously took a different turn. Preflop call a bit on the loose side again, but I figured with the original raiser's tendency, and the fact that I beat him with 56 against his QQ earlier, I will probably get paid off if I make a decent hand.
Not sure what the check on the flop means, but I can't give a free card with this board. Made trips again on the turn, but this completed the flush and villain makes a check-raise. This probably could've been a fold, but I am not good enough yet to make a fold with trips + second best kicker yet. I guess with villain's stack, I could've moved him in as well and if he had a flush, I still had outs. Reviewing my play, calling seemed the worse out of raise/call/fold - with raise/fold being equal and calling being the worse. The river doesn't exactly bring the best card in the deck, as a hand like QJ just got there, but the horrible turn play put me in this situation, and I was glad to see villain turning over 86 and win a decent sized pot.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2740467
About 30 hands later this hand comes up. Table has been pretty limp happy, and I decided to come along in late position with a relatively high implied odds hand. The flop brings hero a pair + flush draw, so a raise behind the bet was in order - his push gave hero 6 to 1 odds, and there was no way I was folding. Ran into a set but turned the flush immediately for another decent size pot.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2740474
Nothing happens for a good 150 hands, and I was just stealing the occasional blinds, and 3-betting once in awhile to an active LP player to stay relatively with the same stack.
UTG has raised 5 of the last 8 times UTG (did not know the exact # until I reviewed the hand histories - but I knew he has been very active UTG while I was "in the moment"). In retrospect, hero should've did a stop-and-go if I was planning to play for his stack with my hand. Nothing more than that to comment on with this hand.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2740485
I push-botted a bit, and then won a race here to get back to a decent stack. I was still 1/2 of average stack at this point though.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2740487
Pushed-bot for awhile again, and this happened. GG me.
This weekend Poker Stars is running a $370, 200-seat guaranteed satellite. Hopefully I come away with one this weekend or something...time is running out.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2740417
This was about 30-40 hands into the tournament. I have been basically folding every hand so far, except for a couple of hands where I limped behind a limper or two in late position with a pocket pair and whiffed the flop.
UTG+1 has been relatively active preflop - calling raises on a regularly basis. Hero here decides to take a flop in position to see if I can flop anything.
Flop is relatively dry, UTG's bet into 2 players is either weak, or super strong. Since I got a piece of it, I did get a piece of it, so I decided to make a raise to see where I am at. If re-raised/called, I'm behind, otherwise I'm hoping to make the players with two overcards fold. On another hand, they both can't have air, so I MOST LIKELY should've folded the flop as I'm probably never ahead. As played, I guess I should've probably made the raise on a flop a bit bigger. In any case, the call by UTG+1 obviously means hero is behind on the flop, but the turn brought a miracle 5 and there is no way UTG+1 sees hero playing a 5 in this spot. The river check might be a bit weak - but posted the hand to get comments on 2p2.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2740450
Second hand of interest comes about 20 hands later. This hand's raiser has been raising quite a few hands preflop after losing with QQ, and after showing down 56hh, hero's table image obviously took a different turn. Preflop call a bit on the loose side again, but I figured with the original raiser's tendency, and the fact that I beat him with 56 against his QQ earlier, I will probably get paid off if I make a decent hand.
Not sure what the check on the flop means, but I can't give a free card with this board. Made trips again on the turn, but this completed the flush and villain makes a check-raise. This probably could've been a fold, but I am not good enough yet to make a fold with trips + second best kicker yet. I guess with villain's stack, I could've moved him in as well and if he had a flush, I still had outs. Reviewing my play, calling seemed the worse out of raise/call/fold - with raise/fold being equal and calling being the worse. The river doesn't exactly bring the best card in the deck, as a hand like QJ just got there, but the horrible turn play put me in this situation, and I was glad to see villain turning over 86 and win a decent sized pot.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2740467
About 30 hands later this hand comes up. Table has been pretty limp happy, and I decided to come along in late position with a relatively high implied odds hand. The flop brings hero a pair + flush draw, so a raise behind the bet was in order - his push gave hero 6 to 1 odds, and there was no way I was folding. Ran into a set but turned the flush immediately for another decent size pot.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2740474
Nothing happens for a good 150 hands, and I was just stealing the occasional blinds, and 3-betting once in awhile to an active LP player to stay relatively with the same stack.
UTG has raised 5 of the last 8 times UTG (did not know the exact # until I reviewed the hand histories - but I knew he has been very active UTG while I was "in the moment"). In retrospect, hero should've did a stop-and-go if I was planning to play for his stack with my hand. Nothing more than that to comment on with this hand.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2740485
I push-botted a bit, and then won a race here to get back to a decent stack. I was still 1/2 of average stack at this point though.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2740487
Pushed-bot for awhile again, and this happened. GG me.
This weekend Poker Stars is running a $370, 200-seat guaranteed satellite. Hopefully I come away with one this weekend or something...time is running out.
First Post
Nothing really special here - just decided to start this blog so I can move poker contents away from my regular blog and have it set up here.
Something short as an intro for the time being I guess. I'm a 20 year old poker player from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and is entering my final year (as of right now - that might change later on) at University of Waterloo. Been playing poker for the better of the past 5 years, and started really because a couple of friends have been playing and got me into it. The Moneymaker effect in 2004 got me more involved and playing more often - and I got my taste of online poker after turning 18. Don't really have much big poker accomplishment as of yet - have had a couple of 4 figure scores on Poker Stars, but have yet to play in any real big tournaments which will change in July as I will be in Vegas for 10 days and will be playing a few events at the Venetian Deepstack Extravagenza as well as the Caesar's Mega Stack - and the WSOP Main Event if I somehow luckbox into a seat either via Poker Stars/Full Tilt Poker/live-bingoments at the Rio.
I've been a low-limit grinder for the past 2-3 years, playing mainly $0.50/$1.00 NL 6max and $16/$27 turbo Sit-n-Go - making enough to cover my tuition and various toys here and there. I very rarely play live at a B&M casino, but on occasions I do play 2/5NL at Fallsview Casino, and 5-10/10-20 LHE at Brantford Charity Casino. These stakes are obviously slightly above my bankroll, but the games are so juicy that it is very irresistable to sit down and play - and being able to take some variance from time to time doesn't hurt either.
In terms of poker goals - I would like to continue to play poker purely for the enjoyment of it, and hopefully see parts of the world while I'm at it, which obviously mean my main goal is not to be a millionaire from it - but more along the lines of winning seats to EPT/APPT/Aussie Millions etc. and travelling (if the money comes - even better). The extra money on the side is great, but I will stop if it ever stops becoming fun. I enjoy the challenging aspect of the game, as well as the competition that comes along with it. I have also made some great friends playing this game, and thats something that can't be taken away from me.
I guess thats it for now, I will post more later as I have been playing quite a fair bit since school finished in mid-April. Still working a full time, 9-5, M-F job, but still logging in some hours at the virtual felt. Hopefully will get a few hand history in, some strategy posts and what not in the near future.
-wes
Something short as an intro for the time being I guess. I'm a 20 year old poker player from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and is entering my final year (as of right now - that might change later on) at University of Waterloo. Been playing poker for the better of the past 5 years, and started really because a couple of friends have been playing and got me into it. The Moneymaker effect in 2004 got me more involved and playing more often - and I got my taste of online poker after turning 18. Don't really have much big poker accomplishment as of yet - have had a couple of 4 figure scores on Poker Stars, but have yet to play in any real big tournaments which will change in July as I will be in Vegas for 10 days and will be playing a few events at the Venetian Deepstack Extravagenza as well as the Caesar's Mega Stack - and the WSOP Main Event if I somehow luckbox into a seat either via Poker Stars/Full Tilt Poker/live-bingoments at the Rio.
I've been a low-limit grinder for the past 2-3 years, playing mainly $0.50/$1.00 NL 6max and $16/$27 turbo Sit-n-Go - making enough to cover my tuition and various toys here and there. I very rarely play live at a B&M casino, but on occasions I do play 2/5NL at Fallsview Casino, and 5-10/10-20 LHE at Brantford Charity Casino. These stakes are obviously slightly above my bankroll, but the games are so juicy that it is very irresistable to sit down and play - and being able to take some variance from time to time doesn't hurt either.
In terms of poker goals - I would like to continue to play poker purely for the enjoyment of it, and hopefully see parts of the world while I'm at it, which obviously mean my main goal is not to be a millionaire from it - but more along the lines of winning seats to EPT/APPT/Aussie Millions etc. and travelling (if the money comes - even better). The extra money on the side is great, but I will stop if it ever stops becoming fun. I enjoy the challenging aspect of the game, as well as the competition that comes along with it. I have also made some great friends playing this game, and thats something that can't be taken away from me.
I guess thats it for now, I will post more later as I have been playing quite a fair bit since school finished in mid-April. Still working a full time, 9-5, M-F job, but still logging in some hours at the virtual felt. Hopefully will get a few hand history in, some strategy posts and what not in the near future.
-wes
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