Ratholer - A player who removes chips from the table, usually to avoid having to go all-in more than they intend to. Ratholing is typically performed by shortstackers who play really tight, double up, then move to another table.

High Roller - A player who usually plays in high stakes poker games that require betting large amounts of money. As a result large amounts of money can be won and lost within minutes.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

General Update and Thoughts

So, things have been going well, poker wise.

I have been posting some updates to twitter and so far this has been a good month at the tables.

A few things have happened that have got me thinking, so I wanted to do a general update to see where I still need to get to by the May mark (6 months).

Goals:
Every Session:
Use proper game selection - Done (as much as possible)
Practice good BRM - Done
Always buy in for the maximum and top up if needed - Done
Learn to identify when you go on tilt and activate the killswitch - Done
Apply the maths - Done
Try some multi-level thinking - Done
Be patient, remain calm and focused - Done

Short Term (3-6 Months):
Know the maths - Done
Practice multi-level thinking - Done
Realise a decent profit - Busy 1/2 way
Increase number of simultaneous tables to 6 online - Busy
Up the stakes from $2NL to $10NL on FT - Canned
Up the stakes from R20NL to R100NL on Piggs - Up to 200NL now
Buy tracking software - Still need
Check and record stats once a month - Done
Read 2 poker books - Done
Play more live games - Done

So thats where I'm at, 3 goals to go before May. Need some new goals I think...

Monday, February 28, 2011

Bankroll Update: February

Ahoy,

Work has been crazy busy, hence no posts in the last few weeks. I have still been hitting the tables, although not daily.

Start: 2011/01/26 R3200
End: 2011/02/28 R3300
Rakeback: R300
Winnings: R400

Conclusion
Marginal Month, but still a winner. Thank the lawd for Rakeback...

Short Term Goals Attained:
Read 1 poker book

Well that's it for Feb's update, drop me a comment if there is anything you'd like to see here.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Poker 2011 Second Home Game of the Year

Now that home and live games are going to be happening more regularly, I'll be posting results as they happen.

Saturday 05/02/2011 - Cash Game at Pyro's

The structure was as follows:
Blinds: 25c/50c until 10pm then 50c/R1
Max BI: R50 until 10pm then R100
Total Pool after rebuys: R1030

Players and results were:
1st Ruse
2nd Vixen
3rd Pyro
4th Wombles
5th boB
6th Phar
7th Croglet

See Full Results Here.

All in all, not too bad, although I lost my temper a few times...
R80 being my total profit for the session. Next one is set up for 19 Feb.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Bankroll Management: The spreadsheet

So a few people have asked me for a copy of the spreadsheet that I use to track wins/losses.

I have uploaded a copy for you all to use if you like: HERE

Let me know what you think.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

6 Month Graph and Technical Glitches.

Well, I have started watching vids on Dragthebar and there is a hell of a lot to go through. So at the moment I am just picking a few at random and going from there...

HEM problem is a little more complicated, I installed it a few weeks ago and had issues, tried to set it up last night after fixing my .Net issue and now the trial has expired. So much for that idea, guess I'll have to fork out some cash.

In the meantime, I thought I'd give you a sneak peak on my progress to date.


I think 6 months is starting to get to the sample size I want to be looking at, apart from my withdrawal last year, looks like I'm doing something right... Even if I still have a lot to learn.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Decisions decisions...

I have made a few hard decisions these past few days, based on some of my poker friends’ advice ;) and the info in the book (Treat your poker like a business).

1.Take a harder look at my playstyle. Just winning money from the donks and still playing badly is not going to cut it anymore if I really want to get serious. If I lose money, but made good decisions at the table that’s an investment.

2.Use Dusty’s 100 BI BRM rule instead of the Ferguson 25 BI rule. So that means sticking with 20NL, smaller tourneys and R20 DoNs until I hit the 5k mark.

3.Play more tourneys. I love the style and changing tables that you get with tournies, so I want to dedicate more time to them.

4.Take notes while playing. This means not only making notes on players, but also on hands that I feel I made mistakes on or did not play as well as I could have. Ask people about them or look them up.

5.Use my 14 days free that I have for Drag the Bar. This will help extend the knowledge that I’m picking up from the books and forums. Cut play time by another 10% to increase study time so that the ratio is now 80/20.

6.Sort HEM out! I have a 14 day trial that I can use on the desktop until I have the cash to buy it. The rule with the wife is that I don’t spend cash on poker, so I’ll have to draw from my BR to buy the software, but again, it’s an investment. I will only buy it once I have made sure that I know exactly how the software works including the HUD and all stats.

Ok, that turned into a 10 page essay, but ja… that’s what’s happening.

Cool Poker Vids 2

Episode 2 of The Micros was released today!

The Micros - Episode 2

Bankroll Update: January

Ahoy,

Apart from the insane amount of work that needed to be done this month, I have still been hitting the virtual felt as often as possible, even if I have dropped back down to the 20NL tables for a bit due to brain drain. Still managed a tidy profit for this month.

Start: 2010/12/23 R2300
End: 2011/01/25 R3200
Winnings: R900

Conclusion
Short Term Goals on Hold:
Up the stakes from R20NL to R100NL (Currently playing 20NL/50NL)

Short Term Goals Attained:
Know the maths (Applying this to every session)
Practice multi-level thinking (Applying this to every session)
Read 1/2 poker books
Stopped playing on FT, focusing on Piggs

Short Term Goals in progress:
Read 1 poker book (Busy reading - Treat your poker like a business "Dusty Schmidt")
Play more live games (Playing more home games)
Check and record stats once a month (you're looking at it)
Play 4 simultaneous tables consistently (currently only at 20NL/DoNs and Tourneys)

I have been having some technical issues with HEM and .Net3.5 but should have this sorted in the next little while.

Well that's it for January's update, drop me a comment if there is anything you'd like to see here.

Poker Book Review - Poker Wizards

Poker Wizards: Poker strategy from the World's Top No-Limit Hold'em Players - Warwick Dunnett - UK ISBN 978-1580422277

During my holiday time, I decided to mow through another poker book. This time, boB loaned me this book and so far it has helped me quite a bit in the tourney side of things.

What Warwick does, is he sits down with a bunch of our favourite pros like Daniel Negreanu, Dan Harrington, T.J. Cloutier and Chris “Jesus” Ferguson to name but a few.

He interviews them, asking them questions about being a winning poker player, as well various other bits of useful info about the lifestyle of a poker pro.

He then goes through a bunch of starting hands and positions and the pros explain how they play these hands based on specific scenarios.

I would really recommend this one for all tourney players.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Why so quiet Pyro?

Hey hey,

You may or may not have been wondering where the hell I have been lately.
Well, as uninteresting as it may be, I have been working my butt off.

I promise to have lots for you in the next few days so watch this space!

What's still coming up in Jan *hopefully*:
More book reviews
Software reviews
January Update
My first vid

And More!

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Poker 2011 First Final Table of the Year


So, made my first final table at a non freeroll tourney tonight.
I was playing in 2 tourneys at once. A FR and a R7.50. I was recording the FR and not the R7.50 like a twat, just trying to get some poker vids together which I will be posting soon.

So it looks like 2011 is going to be a good year, all in all!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Poker 2011 First Game of the Year

For new years, a few mates came around for a cash game. I set it up as a cash game so that people could leave and come back to the table without worrying about being blinded out.

The structure was as follows:
Blinds: 25c/50c
Max BI: R50
Total Pool after rebuys: R1000

Players were:
Pyro
Von
Rhubarb
Lolly
boB
Xenn
Phar
Vixen

The results were:
Pyro: R390
Rhubarb and Lolly: R330
Jade: R280

My hand Highlights/Lowlights:
I was in the blinds and got to limp in with K8o. Rhubarb bluffed me off the hand with K3o. The board paired our Kings, but I wasnt happy with my kicker.

I was on the cutoff with AdQc. Preflop raise. boB goes all in, I call. He turns over 7s8s. Flop hits his 8 with 10d8dKc, turn brings 4d and river hits my flush with a 3d.

All in all, it was a great game, with R340 being my total profit for the session. Next one is set up for 15 Jan.