Worthy of note

I haven't been blogging as much as I have been posting on PCH, but here is a post that I think I need to post here to remember:

btw I think it's a good idea to share what finally fixed my want to step up. I held a belief that caused most of the want to step up. I believed that poker wasn't really poker until you hit $1 because anything lower the craziest shit happens because it's only $20 bucks or $50 bucks.But what fixed me to see this is WRONG was:

1) Slurpee Dude - saying it 4000 times to me and consistently showing me that he had that humble ability to play at any level and for a cocky mf he kept his ego out of his stakes.... it eventually started to sink in....
2) Being here showed me that the same insane manic crazy ass play happen at higher stakes too. Take some of Travis's or Clayton's posted hands. It is all relative and I see that now,
3) This facebook mess age from a friend who was regularly winning at live poker. This guy I respect a lot. He is basically a mad genius in life and he was this straight with me after a "why me, I am so good" rant like you have all seen here. He replied with this:

Quote
"I hear you're pain. I've good news and bad news for you although maybe it's kind of arrogant for me to presume I can give you advice. First, though, you can't really be serious about a million hands can you? Um, I figure that's about 15 years at 40 hours a week. So the answer's no. Anyhow, the bad news is that although the donkeys at micro limits can definitely get lucky and stack you once in a while, they are still easier to beat than simply bad, good and very good players. In other words, if you can't beat bad players, you can't beat good ones. Sorry dude. The good news is that it sounds like you're doing the things you need to do to become a good player, mostly meaning it sounds like you've got discipline. And you're reading books. It sounds like you're playing freerolls when you can but spend the rest of your time playing NL cash games. That sounds like a pretty good idea. Although it may not be intuitive, NL cash games have a lower variance than limit cash games at what seem to be comparable stakes and certainly less variance than tourneys. So, NL cash games are definitely where you want to spend you time. All I can say is keep reading books. Let me know if I got the wrong impression about what you're doing. Like, let me know if you're playing more limit than NL, because there's some good computer programs you could get that will help you build mad skills fast."

I tried hard to reply back and save my dignity after that reply.... an couldn't. The light went on, I get it now.

--Felter

btw that buddy of mine isn't playing right now because he feels he "just doesn't need more money right now" bless him. Mad genius I tell you. I have a agreat story about getting arrested with this Dude that I will share later lol oh and as a live only player he had a hard time believing the 800k+ hands I have played

Session

I originally posted this on PCH then though it would be better here on my Blog. I was posting this as I was playing and man it was six pounds of ugly in a five pound bag.

Felt like playing a little hard core for fun say what you want but I am finishing this session up huge just you wait!

So I sit down at a SH table of at least two maniacs and two known fish...

I am buying in with $25 (short stacking it)Saw this guy raise with anything and anything 4 out of the last 8 hands 5-10x blinds, so figured I had the best hand, and I did
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1441649

Trying a little push on the flush draw... we turn over... YES.... river... lol
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1441624

Sweet Ship it (but look at the river and tell me you didnt think it just happened again):
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1441657

Now is there anyone here besides me who would make this call against this guy. figure he had a K likely a weak one.... I had a gut shot and the flush draw...
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1441668
I know, a better push than a call but on a coin flip sure.

This is starting to get serious!! Updates again in a few minutes.... right now down what is that $100 bucksEDIT: no that's only $75

Wow
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1441703
and the best part he says sorry I put you on AK!! ROFLROFLROFL (I just wet myself)

hmmmm
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1441743


http://www.pokerhand.org/?1441784
sigh....

well now the way up for this session is getting a little tough lol Can't rebuy, stop loss in effect ...

hopefully things will turn around

Edit:I fold here but this is the hand where that guy donks all my chips away to another player:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1441918
What percentage of times do you need your oponent to fold to make this the right push? What an idiot!

and this will do it for me, wow again today
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1441949

Bit of a Big Feltering in this session I must say...Wanted to play a little more, but figured I was on tilt so I went down to 10 cent:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1441994

yeah that's enough of that for today lol$244 down to ..... $125, and stopping there!! Really wanted to post some good stuff.... guess there is always next time

Then I moved over to Full Tilt and things went a little better

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1442025
(.... and I had him on AK LOL )

OH heres a new one that went my way.
I let him bluff the river and he did, I did struggle with the call a bit though
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1442180

SHIP IT!!! (dirty Felter I know)
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1442233

Didn't continue posting after this one but things went well. I ended up up $150 at Full Tilt and down $125 or so at Absolute. Roller coaster ride, but I enjoyed the agression. I can't afford the swings right now, so I will chill out in future sessions once again.

Anyone wants to comment or trash my playing of any of these, post away....


--Felter

Week 1

Well in week one how did I do to stick to my promises?

I give it a B-

I have successfully changed my mind set. I no longer have a poker goal in mind and I no longer have aspirations of working hard and improving until being semi pro (and it has helped). Actually it has helped me play better as well. Could it be easier to not look at the money already in the pot as lost money when you aren't frustrated to high heaven that your PT graph is flat for two weeks... I think it is. It is amazingly easier to operate as Caro would say with the philosophy of "you are even right now" in a hand, out of a hand, before a session, after a session, you are not up or down you are even right now.

This has allowed me to make some folds that I have not been making and my game that I always believed in, added with some solid folds has given me a confidence at the table that I have not felt since my last heater. As a mater of fact I have never felt this strong at the tables and not gone on a huge heater.

Anyway as I have said I recently got the gift of $44 to have a little life and I have been short stacking it at 50 cent 200BB short handed on Absolute with it. It almost seems too easy this week, so I am likely hitting when I need to, and folding when I need to, a good combination.

The $44 with some slow careful play has turned into $244. Only one sit and go, and I won that, and only one MTT for 1$ and was in first just before the bubble and ...... bubbled somehow (two bad beats in a row to the only chip stacks that could hurt me... I got some good advice off line from Bronx and see how I could have avoided them now however. Huge favorite yes, needed to be involved ... not so much.

So how have I been balancing things, as this was my promise that I couldn't play at all (cold turkey) if I Couldn't get the rest of my life in balance. This is where the A goes to a B-

I have played about four sessions of an hour or two. They were after I had exercised, finished work, taken time with the kids, and they were not taking away from family time. So all of that is good. There is a lot of sharp making session elements there now that I look at it. I have lost my first few pounds, reversing a two+ year trend. So about as good as could be expected.

I do still feel the pull to play too much however. Four sessions of an hour or two was absolutely more than I had intended to play, but then again I had some holidays in the past week so maybe it's OK.

I am not playing when I should be working (this was never a big problem but more of a little leak that happened once in a while) so work is as productive as possible.

So all in all, it is nice to have a few bucks to play with, I wish I could be at higher stakes, but I have learned the same lessons enough times now to know that I might as well flush the cash down the toilet if I am going to step up.

So you should see me at 50 cent short stacking it to $500 then 100BB stacks until 1K then full buy in to 2K before I consider anything else. Some sit & go's and MTT mixed in. I will keep posting honest references to the amount I am playing and the balance in my life I am keeping.

In that way the BLOG is likely to be a great way to be honest with myself and anyone who reads it. Without it maybe I could slippery slope it.

Playing in fun with no time frame or goals in mind. Health and family first.
--Felter