Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Tagged Tart

In my post-Mexico blog catch-up I discovered that I’ve been ‘tagged’ by Katitude in the “7 Things No One Knows About Me” chain-blog thing that’s been circulating the poker blogosphere. I will openly admit to being excited. As a relatively new blogger, it still feels cool/weird that someone other than Banky is reading this.

So without further ado…..

7 Thing No One Knows About Me

1. I’m a horrific procrastinator.

2. I’ve never broken a bone or required stitches. Growing up, I was the quintessential bookworm (the exact opposite of my sister the tomboy, who broke her arm – twice) and therefore was never really in the position to get injured.

3. deleted to protect the innocent

4. I’ve been a Weight Watchers member for 6 years. I lost 100lbs within the first 2 years, then I started my MBA program while working full-time and stopped losing. I can’t really continue to use that excuse though, since I graduated 2 years ago. I still have over 70lbs to go to reach my goal weight.

5. I hate swimming in lakes (or anywhere where I can’t see the bottom). I get totally grossed out by the thought of strange objects/creatures underneath my feet.

6. The summer when I was 9 my sister and I watched The Breakfast Club every single day.My Dad had a second job as a night-watchman at a Sears warehouse, and using his employee discount our family was one of the first I knew of to own a VCR (remember when you rented them from the video store?). My sister somehow got a pirated copy of The Breakfast Club, and watching it became a daily tradition. I think I can still recite it word-for-word.

7. I sing all the time (but I’m not a good singer). I frequently make up lyrics to existing songs and dance around the house. Just last week I made up a song about vegetables while putting groceries away. Banky has told me that the biggest surprise for him when we moved in together was just how goofy I am in this regard.

And now I’ll tag….

Bankwell.
Grubby.
Haley
Drizz
StB

Monday, May 28, 2007

This Tart is no Ship It Holla Balla

When we first got back from Mexico last weekend I was hesitant but positive when asked about the trip – but now that time has passed I can honestly say that the trip was a bust. It was nice to get away with Bankwell – but Mexico sucked.

I got sick (and almost 2 weeks later I’m still not 100%), we got stuck in a tropical storm, and got hassled by the cops. Not to mention feeling like a walking dollar sign every time we went into town. I won’t ever go back.

Since returning I’ve had an insanely busy week at work and am just now catching up on my blog reading. I’m insanely jealous of the bloggers heading out to Vegas during the WSOP whether it’s to play, or write, or both. I wish I could be there…well, to be honest, I probably could be there…but Banky has no more vacation time left, and he’s proving to be a hard-sell on the “I’m going to Vegas by myself” proposition.

One thing I have had time to do, however, is review my poker stats. And yet again I am startled by how much of an online poker donk I am. I don’t know why this news continues to startle me, but it does. My results in 2007 look something like this:

Live Tournaments + Ring games = +1,000
Online Tournaments + Ring games = - 850
With the amount of money spent on each relatively similar. So what does this say?

Everything I win live, I lose online.

I’ve come to this conclusion before – and I swear off online play. Yet a few weeks go by, and I’m itching to fire up the laptop.

Banky’s live results are very similar to mine, with one very large exception. He plays online for micro limits a few lunch hours a week. His online results? He’s -$0.05 for the year so far. Obviously his overall bankroll is a lot healthier than mine.

So what to do? Cash out the paltry $350 I still have in FullTilt? Switch to microlimits (which frankly bore me to tears), or suck it up and try to get better?

Pauly’s entry from May 24th (The Birth of Cool) had me thinking a lot about why I keep feeling the call to online poker. For me a lot of it has to do with the dream of the big score. If 18 & 19 year old frat daddies can make hundreds of thousands online…why can’t I? Obviously I’m missing something in my online game. And maybe I’m just not self-aware enough to figure out what it is. I feel stuck (not just financially) when it comes to online poker, and I’m not sure what it’ll take to get unstuck.

Friday, May 11, 2007

Mexico bound

Bankwell and I are about the depart for a trip to Mexico.

No poker for 7 days, not sure how we'll manage ;)

Friday, May 04, 2007

Scooooop!

I took the day off yesterday to run errands, and of course, had to squeeze in a little online poker. Limit Omaha Hi/Lo has been my game of choice online lately….and I had a great run yesterday. I had 3 successful limit sessions and won a SNG. However, I decided to try Pot Limit, and holy hell is it completely different. I dropped 2 buy-ins in about 30 minutes. Gross.

Luckily my success at the limit tables put me up almost $250 for the day. Not too shabby.

Bankwell has had similar success at lower-limits ($0.50/$1)…and based on the play at the $3/$6 tables, I think these games are ripe for the picking.

What’s not so ripe, however, is the Thursday night league games. I crapped out at the final table when I was shortstacked, went all in with A9s, got called by KQh, two low spades with a J on the flop, 10 on the turn, and A on the river. Runner runner straight takes me out. Gross, again.

Banky and I were talking last night about how something seems off at the league this season. I think there’s been another blind level added early on which changes the dynamic of the game. After the first break, it seems like almost everyone is shortstacked and it’s a push-fest. I can’t put my finger on it exactly, but there just seems to be a lot less play in the game these days. Maybe I just feel that way because I’ve been losing ;)

Next week is the big season-ending game. Despite having been pretty successful in the league, I’ve never moneyed in the BIG GAME. Next week will be different!