Has the train finally left the "Calling Station"??

I certainly hope so. I have continued to work to ensure that I am no longer calling almost any action. If I want to be in the hand, I need to be so certain that I feel confident re raising and taking the initiative. If my hand is not that good, I have been letting it go. I have no doubt I have left some money on the table this way, but I am even more certain that i have kept even more. A lot of slightly flat of up sessions. Just buy staying away from the marginal hands all together.

I added the chart at the bottom of the page where you can track the progress. Has been a nice run since December 15th and I hope it continues.

Took down a nice money finish this afternoon in the $20 Hollywood Celebrity Poker Classic. Maybe could have done a little better, but not much with the cards (or lack there off) that I had. In any case that was a $65 profit and a tournament where I never felt pressured to do something stupid.

The Transition from Good Poker To Great Poker.....It still escapes me.

OK, I will admit I have had a bit of a nice run. Well it all stopped tonight (Or at least I think it will, I am still playing right now). And I wish I had some juicy "Oh god why me, I don't deserve this" bad beat to tell....but it would be a lie.

I am just not that good. Don't get me wrong, I am not bad. But I am no where near THAT good. Case in point.

I just can not get away from the "pretty good" hands. I mean the ones that are not just pretty. But Pretty good. Example

Being dealt A 2 in the big blind. Now a crap hand. I actually thought "Wow, a hand that can get you into trouble"

So when I come back to the table, I see that everyone has folded except the small blind, who just called. I have no interest in crazy B vs B play, so I just check.

Flop comes down 3- 4 - 5

So I flop the straight...against 1 player.

So to cut to the chase he had 2-6. OF COURSE HE DID, he was the small blind. Now why did I not believe him?? Especially when we got all in on that flop?? Granted I thought he flopped a low pair set...but why not the crap hand of 2-6?? Easy. Because I am not that good. So that was 100 dollars. I am now 70 down but whatever. I am an idiot for letting that happen. 1 hand and the night is screwed.

And that is the difference between both good and bad, as well as the different between cash and sitngo's. ONE HAND IS NOT THAT IMPORTANT. I sound so righteous telling Felter that over and over again...maybe I should listen to myself once in a while.

You gotta love it when a plan comes together.

So I sat down tonight and had an up session. I seem to have essentially flat or up sessions. And I would like to credit it all to great play, but it had to be the cards as well as I am sure. But I will say this. The majority of my winnings tonight did come from great reads (and great notes) on players. That feels good.

Felter gave me the insight. I called him during the run and he made the comment that he does not hear a lot of odds calculations and hand rankings when I am playing, and I embarrasingly admit his is right. I mean I do the basics and the obvious, but when it gets close I really just think about the player I am up against and how did he get to the point we are at, with the flop that came down. Do his bets make sense with that flop to have me beat. And as of late I have been pretty good at making that yes or no call. Maybe the pot odds and outs calculations would help mitigate or lower the chances of me getting rivered, but as of late when I have been re-raising or sticking my chips in there, I have been leading. None of my winning tonight (about 4oo dollars) came on hitting draws. It was all there when the cards were turned over.

What scares me is that I am not exactly sure what I am basing my decisions on. It seems to be a little of everything (timing, betting patterns, notes, etc). But whatever it is, it is working. So tonight for the first time I closed up over 2100 dollars. Now if anyone outside of Felter and Ethan ever read this, I am sure that is chump change, but I am hoping this trend will only take me to 3 4 5 and 10k eventually. I would like to be at 3k by my Birthday, which is April 2nd. That will be ambitious for me, but I do hope to do so. That is a 900 increase in bank roll, and I will have 10 weeks to do it. (There are 12 weeks left but I am in Cuba for 2 of them. Will be playing poker, but not online).
So I need to profit 90 a week for 10 weeks consecutive. It does not sound like a lot, but I have in no way done that the last 10 weeks, so we will see.

Anyhow. Merry Christmas and all the best in the new year!!

Small Steps and Shorter Sessions

Well I have to say that taking smaller steps and leaving the tables soons seems to be workings. Without trying to Manufactor a win I have been able to have 4 nicely positive sessions in a row. None greater than 80 or less that 20 dollas, but some solid poker all the same.

The bank roll is growing slowly and I do hope to keep it up. Have hit a couple of nice sets, and my notes have also allowed me to play hard against a couple of players that I know had the tendency to positional bluff hard.

Dont look at the cards Felter...look at the Chat and the bank roll (You might have to click on the pic). I know why you are never hitting your sets....cuz I am!! lol

2s that turned into Set that turned into a Boat vs KKs.

Ching baby!!