tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131237382024-03-07T03:57:39.150-05:00Adam LaBare's Poker BlogI've won entries to the WSOP, WPT, and other large buy in poker tournaments across the country, and I'm using this poker blog to document the steps and strategy necessary to make it to this year’s World Series of Poker and beyond. While I make no claim to be an expert, I remain a faithful student to the game and offer up whatever nuggets of wisdom I can when inspiration strikes.alabarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03817417097219146786noreply@blogger.comBlogger188125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13123738.post-84264323479057611092010-11-19T11:02:00.000-05:002010-11-19T11:02:02.315-05:00Diary of a Professional Patient: Warning…Labels<div>Not poker related, but certainly a good read:</div><div><br /></div><a href="http://professionalpatientdiary.blogspot.com/2010/11/warninglabels.html?spref=fb">Diary of a Professional Patient: Warning…Labels</a>alabarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03817417097219146786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13123738.post-26791320481862493012008-06-24T12:30:00.001-04:002008-06-24T12:30:53.711-04:00Blog Roll Round-Up<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><b>Recent Results</b><br/>Not much to report in my world bankroll wise. I've been holding steady for about a week now. I've bought in to several SnG's along with at least one MTT every night and still find myself even for the week. Even ain't losing, so I ain't complaining. Had a deep finish two nights ago in the $32k guarantee on <a href='http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/?key=MDAwMDRDREEwMDAwQzgyMDIwMzI0MDI0MDAwMDAwMDA-'>Full Tilt</a>. 23rd out of 1527. Hope to keep up the pace. Hit the same tournament last night and was feeling good. Found myself short on chips going into the second break. Was looking to make a move and got caught when I did. <br/><br/><b>In Other News</b><br/>I've been working on Part 2 to <a href='http://adamlabare.blogspot.com/2008/06/tools-of-trade-online-poker-part-1.html' target='_blank'>Tools of the Trade - Online Poker</a>. I think the second installment will be a great read for anyone looking to gain the upper hand against their opponent. Should have that out later this week. Stay tuned.<br/><br/><b>Blog Roll Round-Up</b><br/>I've been wanting to do this for a long time. Starting today, I will be highlighting content from various poker blogs across the web. Many will already be listed on my blogroll to the right, some will be new finds. Point is, if a fellow poker blog amuses me, educates me, or get's me thinking, I want to share while encoureging you to check them out. Here we go...<br/><br/><a href='http://pokerbully.blogspot.com/' target='_blank'><b>Poker Bullly</b></a><br/>A huge congrats to the Poker Bully for qualifying on June 15th. Check out his <a href='http://pokerbully.blogspot.com/2008/06/main-event-satellite-sunday.html' target='_blank'>step by step account</a> of his huge win. Nice.<br/><br/><b><a href='http://www.92offsuit.com/' target='_blank'>9-2 Offsuit</a></b><br/>Check out RADII's <a href='http://www.92offsuit.com/?p=776' target='_blank'>recent post</a> on how things can go horribly wrong with a cat while playing poker. This was a great post. Brings back A LOT of memories...some, not so long ago.<br/><br/>Okay, so it is painfully obvious I need to do some work on my blogroll. A lot of great writers I once followed regularly have closed up shop. I'll be working on updating the roll and adding new content. The mission begins...<br/><br/>Technorati Tags: <a rel='tag' href='http://technorati.com/tag/poker' class='performancingtags'>poker</a>, <a rel='tag' href='http://technorati.com/tag/adam%20labare' class='performancingtags'>adam labare</a>, <a rel='tag' href='http://technorati.com/tag/poker%20tournaments' class='performancingtags'>poker tournaments</a>, <a rel='tag' href='http://technorati.com/tag/poker%20blogs' class='performancingtags'>poker blogs</a>, <a rel='tag' href='http://technorati.com/tag/poker%20bully' class='performancingtags'>poker bully</a>, <a rel='tag' href='http://technorati.com/tag/9-2%20offsuit' class='performancingtags'>9-2 offsuit</a></div>alabarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03817417097219146786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13123738.post-4415440175121390642008-06-19T11:36:00.001-04:002008-06-19T11:36:18.372-04:00Tools of the Trade - Online Poker - Part 1<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Most live tournament players along with cash players have a routine. That may involve pregame mind warm ups, meditation, whatever. When the action starts, these players try to be as prepared as possible. When play begins, their various routines continue as they make calculations on their opponents, making reads, making mental notes on every possible thing. Problem here though, the average live player can only retain so much information and apply it properly in various poker situations. The better players are often able to retain far more information and use it to their advantage. <br/><br/>The point I'm making here is that online players have a huge advantage when it comes to the various tools available to them while playing. Sure, you can make text notes on players on every site you play at, but what do you put in that note field? "this guy's a douche and uber donkey"? Sure, in some cases, this would be the perfect note. But there is so much more information and tools out there you can use to add to that note field. I'll be talking about notes and how to get the inside scoop on your opponent in Part 2.<br/><br/>Today, I want to share the following tool I use every day, during every poker session:<br/><a href='http://www.netvibes.com' target='_blank'>Netvibes.com</a><br/><br/>Problem I was having is one I'm sure a lot of online players have. I'm a multi-tasking fool when I'm playing online. I might be playing 3 tables, while reading <a href='http://www.digg.com' target='_blank'>digg.com</a>, getting my latest Apple info at <a href='http://www.tuaw.com/' target='_blank'>tuaw.com</a>, and watching TV. Plus, I might be having a "discussion" with my wife, my dogs may need to go out, etc. Yes, I'm borderline, ADD and strangely enough, this is my "downtime". I find this to be relaxing. A long time ago I wrote an article about <a href='http://adamlabare.blogspot.com/2006/06/winning-online-multi-table_115081280045345176.html' target='_blank'>limiting your distractions</a>. I've sung this tune before. But even though I preach, "limit your distractions", I'm still horrible at following my own advice. This is where <a href='http://www.netvibes.com' target='_blank'>netvibes</a> has helped me out.<br/><br/><b>What is Netvibes?</b><br/>Simply put, it's a custom home page. It lets you add widgets, tools, content, blog feeds, etc. You can then organize it in any way you like. You can put your blogs on one tab, while your daily gossip sits on another. <br/><br/><b>How do I specifically use Netvibes relative to poker?<br/></b>Admitedly, I have a lot of content that has nothing to do with poker. But what I did here is create a tab and tittled it "Poker Survival Guide". Under this tab, I added a widget called Webnote. Webnote lets me add little boxes wherein I can add whatever content I like. For instance, let's say I have a very specific strategy I want to recall when I find myself deep in a tournmant. I simply cut and paste this material into this little box and it's there for my viewing pleasure any time I open this tab. <br/><br/>Currently, I have 12 content boxes under my survival guide tab which covers everything from an "M Zone Guide" to "Deep Tournament Strategy" to "Useful Poker Links" to "Inspirational Poker Quotes". So, how exactly does this limit my distractions while playing? It keeps me focused. I have everything I need in one place. I don't have to randomly search the internet to keep me engaged. This allows me to remain focused on poker, the tools I have in my arsenal, etc. I can also add new things to it on the fly. I often have great friends on the rail that I speak to during a session. When they drop little nuggets of wisdom, I capture that gem and add it to this page. It's great. How often do you coverse with friends about various hands? You can't remember every good point made during these talks. Use Netvibes and have all of these points in your tool box next time you play.<br/><br/>In a way, this is almost turning into my poker diary. While I still concentrate on making notes on my opponents and studying my table, the information I have on Netvibes just extends my capabilities. I even find myself pulling up my page on my <a href='https://apple.com' target='_blank'>iPhone</a> while playing live. I highly recommend you check it out. Let me know if you find it useful and if you do, how you set it up.<br/><br/><br/>Technorati Tags: <a rel='tag' href='http://technorati.com/tag/poker' class='performancingtags'>poker</a>, <a rel='tag' href='http://technorati.com/tag/adam%20labare' class='performancingtags'>adam labare</a>, <a rel='tag' href='http://technorati.com/tag/poker%20tools' class='performancingtags'>poker tools</a>, <a rel='tag' href='http://technorati.com/tag/netvibes' class='performancingtags'>netvibes</a>, <a rel='tag' href='http://technorati.com/tag/digg.com' class='performancingtags'>digg.com</a>, <a rel='tag' href='http://technorati.com/tag/iphone' class='performancingtags'>iphone</a>, <a rel='tag' href='http://technorati.com/tag/poker%20tournaments' class='performancingtags'>poker tournaments</a>, <a rel='tag' href='http://technorati.com/tag/online%20poker%20tools' class='performancingtags'>online poker tools</a></div>alabarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03817417097219146786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13123738.post-78188545048262651702008-06-18T11:36:00.003-04:002008-06-18T11:56:10.787-04:00Back in the swing?So, been forever and a day since my last post. I can chalk that up to dismal play mostly. Hard to write when you're not inspired. Hard to write when you're not winning. Be that as it may, it's time I get back into the swing of things. <br /><br />The plan is to write when I'm up, write when I'm down. As long as I'm writing. Looking back, I'm a better player when I'm documenting my peaks and valleys. I still play each and every day and I still have a lot to say...so, back in the saddle I go.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What have I been doing?</span><br />Well, not winning. Which sucks. But, it is what it is. While my results have been dismal, I still feel I learn so much each and every day. At some point, it's going to pay off, right? Most recently, the pressure to win a seat to this years <a href="http://worldseriesofpoker.com">WSOP </a>has consumed me. I did not win my seat. And in some ways I think this is a good thing. Struggling to get that seat these past few months has really changed my game for whatever reason. Stupid to let that goal sidetrack the main goal...<span style="font-weight: bold;">be a winning player</span>!<br /><br />So, no crying over spilled milk. Time to get my game back on track.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Random Thoughts</span><br />In an effort to stay engaged with my blog, updates, and what not, I have created a Twitter account. Not sure how I feel about it yet, but I'm going to give it a whirl. You can follow me directly by going here: <a href="http://twitter.com/alabare">http://twitter.com/alabare</a> or just pay attention to the widget I stuck on the right side of this blog ---><br /><br />I know last year I had a good following on the blog. If you're still out there, let me know how you're doing. I really want to incorporate a lot of what I read on other blogs into my own ramblings. Would love to send some love back and highlight great posts.<br /><br />Probably time for a blog look and feel overhaul. Any suggestions, let me know.alabarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03817417097219146786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13123738.post-6827643499614026452007-07-03T10:28:00.000-04:002007-07-03T11:45:58.033-04:00The Poker Room - Jacksonville, Fl - ReviewI've talked about <a href="http://www.jaxpokerroom.com/">The Poker Room</a> here in Jacksonville, Fl quite a few times now. Admittedly, I have not played there much in the last 2 years for a variety of reasons. Small limits, lack of amenities, location, whatever. The truth of the matter is, I've been so engrossed with online play, I've not had a reason to extend from my comfort zone. You're only going to be so successful at an establishment who's betting limit is $2.<br /><br />As of July 1st, all bets are off...or <span style="font-style: italic;">on</span>, in this case.<br /><br />I walked in there yesterday evening just before 6pm. It was a madhouse. With increased tournament buy-ins and No-Limit games spread all over the place, everyone had to check it out. <br /><br />I'll get into more detail here in a minute, but let me just sum things up like this:<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">JUICY!</span><br /><br />I sat down at a table where the stacks were glorious and the play was idiotic. These people still think they're playing $2 limit, and it's simply AMAZING! I could spend a lot of time elaborating on this point, but it's simple. This is Jacksonville's first introduction to No Limit, live action gaming. The southeast has been watching it on TV for years now and is just chomping at the bit to get in on the action. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">In Detail...<br /><br />Gameplay<br /></span>It is ripe and just waiting to be plucked. People have wads of cash in their pocket and have no clue how to play no-limit hold-em. Men are bringing their wives and giving them hundreds of dollars just to sit and play with them. This is not a knock against women at all, but the reality is, this Poker Room is predominately male. <br /><br />People are not afraid to get in a pot. A quick comparison. Just came back from Vegas and played several $2 no limit games. Raise a pot to $12, you either force people to fold, or get mixed up with a true hand. Here in Jacksonville, you raise to $15 and get 7 way action. This is almost every hand. Pure insanity.<br /><br />If you ride out the donkeys, you're going to make money here if you have some level of skill. Practice patience and trust me, you can do well.<br /><br />I'm going to predict that the newness factor will be strong over the next 90 days. I'm thinking it will die down some after that new car smell wears off. But as the dust settles, I think the potential for steady, quality games will rise to the top.<br /><br />I'm also going to predict that once they establish their Jackpot structure later this month, the potential for a constant stream of cash will be knocking at their door from open till close.<br /><br />And speaking of the Jackpot, I spoke with a few different sources yesterday at <a href="http://www.jaxpokerroom.com/">The Poker Room.</a> They are stating they will be contributing to the pot from every cash game they offer, NL, Limit, Pineapple, Omaha, etc. They are forecasting jackpots in excess of $150,000. That could be a HUGE marketing factor for this room. Actually, if they spend the advertising dollars, it's going to be HUGE any way you look at it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Facilities<br /></span>The room itself is large. With 40+ tables, they are spread out rather well. The tables have all been re-felted just within the past few weeks. The chairs are somewhat comfortable, but really do not compare to the seating in most Vegas card rooms. <br /><br />The air conditioning is not working properly. One end of the room is rather cool, while the other side is virtually a sauna and quite uncomfortable. You know it's bad when the dealers brow drips sweat on to the table. Rather disgusting. Fix the air!<br /><br />The big screen televisions are nice. However, they are only aligned on one wall making it extremely difficult to view when you are not specifically in optimal position. In the future, it would be nice to invest some money in LCD's which are placed strategically throughout the room to benefit all patrons. Set them up for 360 degree viewing.<br /><br />Also, I realize this room is part of a simulcast dog track. As a result, virtually every TV is set to horses or dogs running in circles. Believe it or not, not all poker players bet the races. If anything, I would say the majority of clientèle to this establishment are there purely for the poker and care far more about sports. Put the damn ball games on! Let the bettors concentrate on 2 or 3 televisions only or send them up the the 4th floor and let them do their thing there. It is EXTREMELY frustrating when your in a pot with a guy that's screaming for his dog to come in ignoring his action. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Staff<br /></span>This is my biggest issue with The Poker Room. Let me just first say that for the most part, the dealers are great. Most are friendly, courteous, and funny. Granted, there are others that literally seem to have a stick up their ass. My gripe here though is management, runners and concessions. Everyone in these roles just has such a piss poor attitude every time I'm in there, it really makes me wonder what's going on.<br /><br />Let's start with the wait staff. These people must be grossly underpaid and or tipped. They are incredibly rude and make you feel like a huge burden every time you make a request. I also believe it is a staffing issue at a higher level. They are never adequately staffed which puts too much stress on any one wait person. This has been the case now for 3 years. I'm really perplexed how this continues to be an issue here. You're wait staff is your ambassador. If they're not kind and personable, they should not be in that role. <br /><br />Chip runners are responsible obviously for running chips, but they also act as the brush and run the board for seating. This does not work. When you have a line 20 people deep waiting to put their name on a list and you're sitting there on the phone, we may have an issue. Get the right people at the right stations, and make this smooth. Having that many people waiting in a line just to put a name on a list is a little ridiculous. <br /><br />As for management, I've never really had any personal issues with anyone. When I worked there, I actually was quite friendly with several members of management. However, as time has worn on at this establishment, it seems the more jaded the management team has become. This does not apply to all, but there are several individuals I'm thinking of that are just unkind, bitter people. Everyone is busy. I get that, but c'mon. You really should have people that are eager to engage their patrons and offer assistance. If you stop to ask a floor person a question, they literally treat you with little respect and poor manners. When you compare to most better class poker rooms in Vegas, California, and even Foxwoods in Ct.; they are severely lacking. Improve your customer service.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Amenities</span><br />To be honest, there really are none. Drinks and food are table side, but not cheap. Alcohol is severely overpriced. Food tastes good, but again, mostly overpriced. I hate to keep comparing to other card rooms, but The Poker Room in Jacksonville has a lot of room for growth on this front. Treat your players right. Comps, player points, freerolls, whatever. Do SOMETHING. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">In Summary</span><br />At the end of the day, The Poker Room in Jacksonville, Fl is the only game in town. With the increase in limits and better tournament buy-ins, the popularity will gain a lot of momentum in the coming weeks. Without competition, I fear the above issues of concern will never be truly addressed. However, I have heard through various grapevines that a new poker room may be in the works for next year more central to main-stay Jacksonville (current room is on the very outskirts of town and can be a bitch of a ride to get to).<br /><br />Fix your staff and your amenities and I think you have every chance of being hugely successful for years to come. <br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>alabarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03817417097219146786noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13123738.post-51801626470165926152007-06-25T10:47:00.000-04:002007-06-25T11:52:22.721-04:00Quite the weekend...Didn't have any grand expectations this weekend, but did have a determination to make something happen. And happen they did... (how dramatic)<br /><br />Here's how it went down.<br /><br />Didn't play at all Friday night. Used Friday to unwind with my wife, relax, eat a nice dinner, see a movie. No poker on Friday's really seems to help my focus come Saturday. Got a good night sleep and tried to hit the ground running Saturday. Didn't quite work out that way. My total bankroll was all in play by 2pm Saturday afternoon and I came up with nothing. I was playing shitty and had nothing to show for it. Had to clear my head. Stepped away for a few hours. <br /><br />It can be pretty eye opening to go through an entire budgeted bankroll and see that you have nothing to show for your many, many hours of effort. You can't necessarily pin point bad play. But you know that as you play with the last remaining funds in your roll, you are in essence playing differently. I hate that. I know better. Play the same, no matter what. I chose to reload my account. I put in $500 with the mindset that I just HAD to turn this into something.<br /><br />With some money back in my account, I decided to hit a few 20 table SnG's. Things were going well as I played these so I decided to get a 3rd table running. Took a chance on the $100 Saturday deep stack at 7pm. My logic was, invest the $100 and know I'll have a chance to play a long tournament which provides me the opportunity to make my own success. Broke out a bottle of wine, got relaxed and played my A game. While I don't encourage anyone to get drunk while playing, a glass or two of wine can really relax the nerves. For what it's worth, I think it helped.<br /><br />As I was playing the $100, I cashed in a few of my other smaller games which put me in a good place mentally. Took that momentum and applied it to the big one. 9 hours later, made a 3 way deal and walked away with over 4k.<br /><br />I knew I was getting into a long tournament. But man, 4am was pretty rough. But obviously well worth it. <br /><br />In hindsight, played a good game. Chipped up and didn't risk my stack unnecessarily. When the right situations presented themselves, I struck with authority. So, in some regards, I did play tight/aggressive. But later on, I did change that around and became far more aggressive as my stack grew. Once I picked up the momentum, I didn't look back.<br /><br />Went to bed quite satisfied with my turn around.<br /><br />Sunday comes awfully early. But I got up with a smile on my face. Spent some time in the kitchen baking of all things with my wife. Ran some errands. Was home by 2pm. At this point, knowing that Sunday's big tournament on Stars was a $1000 event, I didn't have any grand aspirations for playing it. However, I did decide to take a shot at a 1 table satellite for it. This table went so quick, I had to really ask myself if it happened. I took it down in less than 30 minutes. Was crazy. Everyone just kept pushing and I woke up with a few good hands that held up. I was now bought in for the $1000 at 4:30.<br /><br />Things were working out well. Decided to relax and stay away from my computer until game time. Got my head straight and just enjoyed the day.<br /><br />4:30 comes around and I'm feeling good. Confident. Focused. Things started out slowly but about 1 1/2 hours in, I started picking up decent hands. With these hands, I chipped up on a steady basis. Several hours in, I found myself with a healthy stack. Before I knew it, the money bubble approached. Knowing I was only in for $100, I did not stress. Bubble came and went and I was very happily in the money.<br /><br />At this point, just became a feeding frenzy. Obviously many were content with the bottom payout. People pushing their stacks left and right. I took advantage of this and continued to build my stack. Quickly found myself 3 tiers into the money.<br /><br />Things were looking great. Sitting there with the button and look down to see AA. With 100k in chips, this could really be a key hand. All fold to the cutoff who has about 60k in chips. He pushes all in. I re-raise to isolate. Just him and I in the hand. He shows 66. I'm feeling okay when I see this but you know that little feeling in the back of your head you get every damn time you enter this situation. Sure enough, flop comes KK6. No help on the flop or river. Crippling. Brought me down to around 39k in chips. Talk about deflating. Before I had any real time to evaluate the situation, next hand brings AK suited. I'm in the CO. Middle position table chip leader raises for 15k. All fold to me, I push. Just him and I. He shows QJ. I hit an A on the flop and double right back up to 80k. Next hand after that, AQ. I come in for a 15k raise and pick up the blinds. I'm sitting comfortable again at 105k. <br /><br />Talk about a stressful little point of the game.<br /><br />Things continued to go well. I soon found myself in the next money tier but was losing chips. Before long, i was short stacked again and needed to create a situation. I was down to 50k and decided in late position to be aggressive with an AQ. A fellow short stack in middle position pushed before I had the chance. He was in for 60k which obviously covered me. I went into my think tank. This guy was being overly aggressive. He had been racking up chips but got called down twice showing him in with mediocre hands. This push at this point looked like a tiltish play. I put him on a range from AJ to A9 with smaller pairs. I specifically remember telling myself here, that "I do not have to call". I should have listened to my inner gut. I called anyway thinking this was a good chance to chip up. He shows AK. And I'm out in 69th with $3200 more in my pocket.<br /><br />The cashing part was great. But I would be lying if it wasn't bitter sweet. Seeing a 1st place payout of $350k and knowing I had a real shot...well, it can be eye opening. I made a mistake with the AQ but did believe I had the better hand at that point. Not going to beat myself up too much though. Overall, I played a good tournament and had a great weekend.<br /><br />With that being said, the plan from here will be to do nothing stupid. Going to pick and chose a few decent tournaments this week and try to keep this momentum going. <br /><br />Anyhoo...back to the real world.alabarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03817417097219146786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13123738.post-12559277905301856912007-06-15T11:19:00.000-04:002007-06-15T11:30:39.534-04:00New Florida Poker LawsBeing geographically stuck in Jacksonville, Fl; the exposure to "real" poker is extremely limited. Sure, you have home games, boats that take hours going out to sea and returning, and dog tracks that have a $2 limit on betting. Luckily, everything changes July 1st. (insert angelic choir singing here)<br /><br />As of July 1st the following changes go into effect:<br /><b><br />1. It allows <span style="color:#cc0000;">no-limit poker</span> with a max. buy-in of $100.00.<br />2. It allows Jack Pots and other give aways.<br />3. It raises the buy in amount for tournaments.<br />4. Here is a link to the law. Read it so you will know fact from rumor.<br /><a href="http://www.flsenate.gov/cgi-bin/view_page.pl?Tab=session&Submenu=1&FT=D&File=sb0752er.html&Directory=session/2007/Senate/bills/billtext/html/" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://www.flsenate.gov/cgi<wbr>-bin/view_page.pl?Tab=session<wbr>&Submenu=1&FT=D&File=sb0752er<wbr>.html&Directory=session/2007<wbr>/Senate/bills/billtext/html/</a><br /><br /></b><b>This law only addresses the pari-mutuels such as the Dog Tracks and Horse Tracks.<br /><br /></b>We're still a long ways off from true poker, but this is such a huge step in the right direction. I was speaking with some of the dealers at my local poker room/dog track, and as they understand it, they'll be running tournaments with buy-in's up to $800.<br /><br />Long story short...I'm ecstatic about this. I heard about this a few weeks back but really didn't believe it. Special thanks to Bill-The Poker Guy for helping confirm. Real poker in Jacksonville, Fl? I think i'm still in shock.alabarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03817417097219146786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13123738.post-77300590554448230272007-06-12T08:43:00.000-04:002007-06-12T09:38:01.178-04:00Back Amongst The Living...While I was only in <a href="http://www.lasvegas.com">Vegas</a> <span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>for 4 days, the realization that I must return to the real world is always a hard pill to swallow. The contrast between both worlds is just so extreme. Whaaaa...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Part II<br /></span>With my last post I went into some level of detail with the action and results of my trip. I'll attempt to wrap that up with today's post.<br /><br />Beyond all the glitz, glam, and poker, I was a little bummed. I was suppose to be picking up my press credentials for the <a href="http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com">WSOP</a>. The plan was to write some stuff for <a href="http://www.LifesABluff.com">LifesABluff.com</a>. Bastards sent me a note the day I got there saying that the passes for that website had exceeded their allotment. Bullshit I say. I had hoped to get some time for an interview or two or at least get behind the ropes to give an inside report before things really got cooking out there. Not meant to be. <br /><br />I certainly didn't let that get to me. Too many things to do. What <span style="font-style: italic;">did</span> bother me though was my stay at <a href="http://www.tropicana.net">The Tropicana</a>. My god man. I sortof knew what I was getting myself into, but what a dump. Here's why I'm bitter. I get there knowing I'm already booked for a cheap room. I figure I'll not see much of it. Whatever. But the expectation was that it would be clean and slightly comfortable. I go to check in and the front desk manager allures me with this tremendous upgrade for a measly $30 more a night. At this point I'm thinking hmmmm, I'm really tired, I sure would like to be comfortable. I say screw it and do it with the understanding I would be getting a tower semi-suite. Whatever that means. For what it's worth, semi-suite is just another term for mostly-shitty. <br /><br /><ul><li>The room had an odd smell. I would describe it further, but what's the point. I'll leave it at stale smoke mixed with a vintage mold.</li><li>The television when turned on, defaulted to a Telemundo channel with the volume at max level. Every frickin' time I turned it on. WTF?!</li><li>The shower had no curtain. Interesting.</li><li>There were no wall hangings which I guess I don't care about. But at this point, I'm feeling like the room was last on the list for decoration and maintenance.</li><li>The two lamps on each side of the bed were without bulbs. I'm not even going to fathom a guess as to why.</li><li>The carpet appeared to be part of several small forest fires.</li><li>The bed, albeit a king size bed, was just as shitty as a hospital bed. You know those plastic beds that hospitals cover with a sheet in hopes of disguising as a bed? Same fucking thing.</li><li>And don't even get me started on the buffet down stairs. UGH.</li></ul>Alright. Enough bitching. In the end, my own fault. Once you've stayed at <a href="http://www.venetian.com">The Venetian</a>, pretty much downhill from there.<br /><br />On the positive side... After all was said and done I found myself at the airport with cash in my pocket. I was up a good bit on the trip. I wanted to fly home in comfort. After some discussion with the <a href="http://www.delta.com">Delta</a> agent, I was able to fly first class all the way home for $25. The perfect ending to a decent trip. Being the geek that I am, I was extremely happy having an LCD screen on the back of the seat in front of me. I was able to watch the <a href="http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=bos">Red Sox</a> play the <a href="http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=nyy">Yankees</a>, play trivia against other passengers and still have time for a quick game of <a href="http://www.popcap.com/gamepopup.php?theGame=zuma">Zuma</a>. Amazing how fast 5 hours of flight can pass when you're occupied.<br /><br />Thats enough for now. Next time maybe I'll actually talk poker. I've been running decent on the home front. I've hit two $22 180 person SnG's this week at <a href="http://www.pokerstars.com">PokerStars.com</a>. Keeping the dream alive.<br /><br />Would also like to welcome Kerry and Cortney to Team Medallion. Looking forward to some great insight and discussion. Best of luck at the tables!<br /><br />In the meantime, a quick moment to prostitute my advertisers. Go play poker:<br /><a href="http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/?key=MDAwMDRDREEwMDAwQzgyMDIwMzI0MDI0MDAwMDAwMDA-">Here</a><br />or<br /><a href="http://www.partypoker.com/index.htm?wm=2852836">Here</a><br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>alabarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03817417097219146786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13123738.post-78364610467636166622007-06-04T10:28:00.000-04:002007-06-04T12:21:16.866-04:00Vegas Trip ReportWhew...where do I begin? <br /><br />Before I get into all the details, let me start with an outline of the trip and I'll take it from there.<br /><br /><ul><li>I didn't do well in the Venetian Big Stack or WSOP event #3.</li><li>I did play in 3 additional tournaments and walked away winning 2 out of the 3</li><li>WSOP has a huge black eye in my opinion</li><li>Must Rest</li><li>Credentials</li><li>Don't stay at the Tropicana</li><li>First Class baby!</li></ul><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Part I</span><br />So, the while the intent when going to Vegas is generally to have fun, lose a little money, win a little money, etc. I do believe I have grander aspirations of greatness which I don't see as a bad thing. When I go out there, it's not with the mindset that "i can afford to lose this money". It's with the intent that this is the money I have to make the most possible amount of money during my time. With that being said, I was very selective over my game choice this weekend.<br /><br />I started out on a good roll at the Venetian. When I hit that satellite and won the entry into the big tournament later that day, i was pumped. I had confidence and positivity going in. 8 hours later, I left the tournament pleased with my performance. I was close to the money and beat out the majority of the field. I played smart and picked my spots. Chip up here and there. Make it count the most.<br /><br />As for the WSOP event #3. Let me summarize like this. Start with 3k in chips. This is by no means an excuse, but having just played the deep stack at the Venetian with 10k in chips, I think my mindset was a little skewed. I was still in deep stack mode. That being said, I'll conclude this even summary with this hand:<br /><br />First level. (sigh)<br />Me: A8 spades middle position<br />One limp in front of me<br />I limp.<br />Cutoff limps.<br />SB calls.<br />BB checks.<br />Flop: 8d 8h 2s<br />Everyone checks to me. I check with the intent of trapping.<br />Cutoff bets out half of pot.<br />All fold back to me.<br />I raise double his bet.<br />He calls.<br />Turn: 9s<br />I check the turn.<br />He checks the turn.<br />River: Kd<br />I overbet committing me to the pot. He raises, i call all in. <br />I show my set.<br />He shows pocket deuces for the boat.<br /><br />Before everyone beats me up, I do see several holes in this hand on my part. I should have bumped the initial bet. May have ridden the deuces to start with. On the flop, my raise back at him seems odd, but I wanted to see where I was at. His call should have set off alarms. However, to be perfectly honest, I put him on a range of hands and I did not include 22 in that mix. With his limp in late position, he obviously wanted to see a flop, cheap. I put him on a very weak A, or middle pair and KJ, K10, K9. I believed I had the best hand all the way through. My check on the turn was a mistake. I believe I should have put a little in the pot here to attempt further extraction of information.<br /><br />Yeah, I'm kicking myself now. But hey, it was an exciting hand and I lost. Moving on...<br /><br />I was still in a good place mentally and wanted to maximize my earning potential. I decided to hit a few tournaments elsewhere. Played a $100 rebuy at Caesar's Palace at 7pm and took that down for 1st. Nice cash.<br /><br />Played in a smaller tourney down the street with more entrants and finished 4th.<br /><br />So, all in all, I walked away from the trip considerably up. Granted, not "quit your job" up...but it was a nice boost.<br /><br />As for the WSOP in general, let me just say that event organizers have GOT to get their shit together. I'm not sure this is being reported much, but you have a lot of unhappy players as a result of the cluster fuck at the RIO. People are waiting in lines 6+ hours long just to register. People have pre-paid their tickets and are still being forced to wait in these lines. Being turned away after 8 hours of standing? C'mon. <br /><br />And apparently the complaints concerning the playing cards were so extreme, they had to fly in new cards putting them out $150,000. The cards were increadibly hard to read and people were misplaying their hands as a result. People were PISSED.<br /><br />Anyway, i'm not really trying to harp on the subject, but how many years should it take to get it right? You know the interest you will have, you know what not to do from previous years. Should it be this hard? Anyway, I'll quit my bitching.<br /><br />One things for sure when you're out in Vegas on a limited amount of time. You have to rest. I understand the party mentality when your sitting at a blackjack table with all your friends...but if you're there because you're serious about poker, you can't go 72 hours without some rest. As soon as I got some sleep, I had a great run in both tournaments and cash games. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Part II to follow</span>alabarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03817417097219146786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13123738.post-48504491976614486872007-06-01T23:00:00.000-04:002007-06-01T23:11:07.099-04:00Day 1 So FarWell, the day started out pretty well. Took a crack at a one table sat for the deep stack at the Venetian. Hit it. 24 hours into Vegas, and aside from having to tip everyone, I'm in for $100. Grand scheme of things, happy with that. <br /><br />Tournament itself ended anti climatically? I actually played a very good tournament today. Lasted 11 levels busting 70th. 27 places paid. 320 entrants. <br /><br />I was pleased with my ability to stay out of trouble and not create situations where I found myself behind. Built my stack up to 30k at one point. Found myself situational dead as a good friend of mine likes to say and was short stacked late in the game. Finally made a move with KQ. Had a good read on the cut off. I was in the BB. He raises, I push all in. He calls my remaining 14k with KJ and hits his J. <br /><br />...<br /><br />With that, I'm back in my hotel room feeling a bit beat up. Still dead tired. Haven't slept at all. Going to get some rest hopefully and head over to the Rio a little later tonight. Scope out the action in preparation for tomorrow. May hit a sat for the hell of it. We shall see.alabarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03817417097219146786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13123738.post-55370549640376647232007-06-01T02:19:00.000-04:002007-06-01T02:23:55.681-04:00I'M HERE!!!The caps in my title are about as much excitement I can muster at the moment. I'm exhausted. LONG day. But I'm finally in my room at the luxurious Tropicanna...cough. It'll do. At this point, just happy to have a bed. Going to take a Vegas nap and get into the swing of things in the A.M. Plan is to get over to the Venetian and sign up for the Deep Stack Extravaganza. At some point, think I'll eat too. In my haste today, haven't had nothing more than airline peanuts. Too tired to go scavenging. <br /><br />Anyway...sleepy time.alabarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03817417097219146786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13123738.post-15086438905484158532007-05-30T13:51:00.000-04:002007-05-30T14:07:10.997-04:00Vegas Bound!So, while I've been slumming it in the <a href="http://www.pokerstars.com">low limts</a>...I've actually found myself on a good run of, shall we say luck? Whatever the reason, I've taken a leap of faith and am heading to <a href="http://www.lasvegas.com/">Vegas</a> tomorrow night. I am officially announcing my return from retirement. (never retired, but it's an excuse for being a shitty blogger)<br /><br />Plan is simple. Going to hit <a href="http://www.venetian.com/POKERROOM.aspx">The Venetian's Deep Stack</a> on Friday then <a href="http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/">WSOP event #3</a> on Saturday. Will take it from there. <br /><br />While I'm in town, going to do a little writing for <a href="http://lifesabluff.com/">Lifesabluff.com</a> as well as my blog. Perhaps get an interview or two. Going to fit in a lot in a short span of time. No sleep will be necessary. Anxious to see my old friend <a href="http://www.pocketfives.com/profiles/crazyman22">CrazyMan22</a>, whom some of you may recognize from online poker fame. If anyone else is in town, let me know. I hear they have bars in Vegas. <br /><br />-Adamalabarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03817417097219146786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13123738.post-58191416704767460072007-04-16T10:55:00.000-04:002007-04-16T10:58:02.941-04:00Breaking NewsPress Release<br />4/16/2007 10:04 am<br />Jacksonville, Fl<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Adam from the now famous <span style="font-style: italic;">Team Medallion</span> has crashed and burned!</span><br /><br />"Had a horrible run on sits and have depleted my funds." States Adam LaBare at a shocking new conference in sunny Jacksonville, Florida. "Wasn't even a matter of tilt." He continues. "I won't kill you with the details...but man alive, what a brutal 3 sits. I made an idiot move in increasing each follow up SnG buy-in in hopes of extracting back my loss".<br /><br />One joker in the crowd had this to say, "Just wasn't in the cards".<br /><br />Mr. LaBare was later found beating said joker to a bloody pulp.<br /><br />When this reporter asked Mr. LaBare what was next in his poker career, Adam responded with a full on roundhouse kick to an unsuspecting cat.<br /><br />This is a sad day in the poker community. We will all mourn the loss of Adam LaBare.alabarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03817417097219146786noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13123738.post-89596607888285188402007-04-03T10:49:00.000-04:002007-04-03T11:02:24.179-04:00Thought for the Day: Stop Being Stupid!This post will serve as a friendly reminder for those deep in a tournament who may be thinking they need to open up and take unnecessary risks... to stop being stupid!!!<br /><br />I'm sitting there last night deep in two different tournaments with a good chunk above chip average nearing the bubble. While I'm all for an aggressive approach toward the bubble...there's obviously a difference between aggressiveness and stupidity. For example:<br /><br />Your under the gun with suited AQ and you come out with a 5x raise. Stupid move #1. Button re-raises you. You push all in. Stupid move #2. Sigh. I can try to spin it any way I want...but at the end of the day, it was an idiot move. Turns out the button had KK and was going no where. Why did I feel the need to risk my tournament with that hand? There is not sane reason. Do I enjoy giving my money away? When did I become dead money? WTF?<br /><br />Anyway. This carried over into my other tournament and I found myself making stupid plays before I even clicked the mouse. I chalked it up to a masterful line of strategy that mere mortals would never understand. There can be only one after all. Okay, horrible movie quote. Whatever. But I actually sat there and reasoned to myself that I must take these risks to build my stack for a first place finish. What I failed to realize though, is the likelihood of my opponents having better hands in certain situations. I wanted to create a situation that was not ready. What the hell am I doing being so aggressive under the gun? Pick on the right stacks. Don't risk it all against an opponent clearly representing a premium hand who has you out chipped 3-1.<br /><br />Okay...back to my cave. Good luck everyone!alabarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03817417097219146786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13123738.post-92197129721657276142007-03-27T11:34:00.000-04:002007-03-27T11:47:27.329-04:00Quote of the Day..."To know the man is to know his poker"<br />-Me<br /><br />I spat this out yesterday in the middle of a conversation involving some self analysis. I probably morphed the term from the many books I've read, but it was relevant to the conversation.<br /><br />While it's easy to evaluate ones technical play, it's an entirely different matter to take into account everything else that makes that individual who he is. To understand these inner questions and self observations involving so much more than just poker eventually leads to very interesting answers specific to poker.<br /><br />Without getting too damn deep here...point I'm making is that there is so much more to a persons poker game than statistics, odds, this session or that. If you truly want to understand your game or your opponents, learning about the man (or woman) away from the table is extremely important. Self awareness of your surroundings and circumstance can absolutely be the difference between a winning poker player and a losing poker player.alabarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03817417097219146786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13123738.post-70890479664649357362007-03-26T10:35:00.000-04:002007-03-26T11:10:25.081-04:00Sunday's WSOP $650 on StarsSo I spent a good solid week anticipating last nights $650 <a href="http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com">WSOP</a> satellite at <a href="http://pokerstars.com/">pokerstars</a>. The build up was considerable. I had a decent week in the poker trenches. I was having tremendously beneficial dialog with a great poker friend. I had peace and calm on the home front. I was ready for a great showing. However, 3 hours into the tournament, I found myself low on chips, blinds were building, it was time to make a move. I pushed with 99 and lost to 1010. Next!<br /><br />Before I go into the think tank and analyze, I want to give a special thanks to Crazyman22 for the rail last night. Crazyman22 has been a great friend since we first met in Aruba for the UltimateBet WPT event back in 2002. Crazyman22 is one helluva poker player and I value and respect his feedback a great deal. Again, my thanks!<br /><br />I would also like to thank everyone else who checked in last night on my progress. Having that support means the world.<br /><br />Okay...now for the analysis. <br />I played a good tournament. I really believe I did. After I busted, Crazyman22 provided many words of wisdom, but one thought hit home. While I was still coming down off the adrenaline rush, he asks me, "what could you have done differently to still be in the tournament?". He posed this question not to take a shot, but to promote healthy review of my play. I've been working this question ever since.<br /><br />Here's the deal. Blinds just went up to 75-150 with an ante. Average stack was hovering around 5000. I was sitting just under 2000 with blinds coming my way. I wasn't necessarily in a hurry at this point, but I did want to make a move during this level to get my stack near 6000. That was my goal. Out of nearly 700 entrants, we were down to around 250ish I believe. I had just moved tables several times in the last 30 minutes and was adjusting as well as I could. At this point though, I had several smaller stacks on this table and I felt really good about the 99 with position. One limper. I pushed, he calls. Turns over the 10 10. No help. So, the simple answer to the original question...had I not played this hand, I would have still been in the tournament. I do not regret this play though. So...deeper I shall go.<br /><br />While it is not an excuse, I firmly believe I would have been in better position had I not moved from my first table. I had executed a great table image and was chipping away making great progress. My bets were very well respected. Only regret I had on this table was my KK out of position. I made it 600 with blinds at 50-100. One smooth caller who hits a flush on the turn with his A7. While I'm not sure his motivation at playing the A7 against my 5x bet...such as life. That hurt but I quickly rebounded. After moving tables though, I ended up on a very loose table. While my chips were dwindling and I felt the pressure to make a move, the end analysis I have laid out for myself was to wait another satellite or two before making any moves. The short stacks on this table were moving a lot of chips. While I wanted to take advantage of that, I feel I could have picked a better spot. I think there was a level of desperation among the short stacks and the potential for pushing and calling was high.<br /><br />So, the lesson here? Still need a little luck. But in the end, be patient. Next hand after that 99 could have doubled me up. Next hand after that could have tripled me up. <br /><br />I begin the battle again tonight. We'll get there!alabarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03817417097219146786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13123738.post-77324211871887623702007-03-23T09:40:00.000-04:002007-03-23T15:41:38.923-04:00PokerStars on a Mac. Crossover vs. ParallelsSeveral months ago I purchased a <a href="http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=925997E8&nclm=MacBookPro">MacBook Pro</a> as I was fed up with the world of windows. Spyware this, adware that. It was just getting old. I've followed along with the fanboys on <a href="http://digg.com/">digg.com</a>, ejoyed the marketing on television. It was time to switch. The only thing causing apprehension though as an online poker player, was my concern over the limitations involving software compatibility (PC vs. Mac). After a little research my mind was put at ease when I determined <a href="http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/">Bootcamp</a> would allow me to run Windows on a separate partition. While I really wanted nothing more to do with windows, I was not willing to forgo my presence on <a href="http://pokerstars.com/">PokerStars.com</a>.<br /><br />I made the purchase.<br /><br />First and foremost. I am completely and thoroughly happy with my Mac purchase. After a slight learning curve, it was like the expansion of a whole new world. Everything just worked. And it worked well. No buyers remorse. No guilt. Probably the best purchase I've made in the last 5 years. My only regret is not having the balls to make the transition sooner.<br /><br />So, now the true test. With poker being a serious source of income and enjoyment, it was now time to put Bootcamp to work. After a little fumbling around, I had it up and running and was quite pleased at the result. In essence, I could either boot into OS X or Windows. <a href="http://pokerstars.com/">Pokerstars</a> worked flawlessly in Bootcamp. However, a problem quickly emerged. I think an hour passed by as I sat there in a tournament and realized...with the amount of time I spend playing poker...what's the point of having a mac if I'm not able to utilize the Mac OS? I'm a multi-tasking fool and while I could tinker around in Windows, it just wasn't right. I was feeling like I was just given a great new gift on Christmas morning but I was grounded for a week and wasn't allowed to use it. There had to be another way.<br /><br />Did some more research and was pleasently surprised to find <a href="http://www.parallels.com/">Parallels</a>; a program allowing Windows to run inside of OS X. The concept was great. Did a little reading and heard nothing but good things. Didn't bother testing it. Went straight to the Apple store up the street and purchased it.<br /><br />$70 later, it worked exactly as it was touted. Boots right up in it's own little world directly inside of the Mac OS. Great. I now have the best of both worlds. At the time, Parallels was still in Beta and could only be run in it's own window. This was fine though. It was stable, I could multi table and still use all of my mac programs. Life was good.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.parallels.com/">Parallels</a> continued to evolve. Mostly for the better. I was extremely excited when they released the coherence mode which allowed the programs running in Parallels to be their own windows which would appear seamless in the Mac OS. Long story short, made everything appear as one operating system. mmmmmm<br /><br />Unfortunetly, the joy that was parallels soon turned into a very frustrating user experience.<br /><br />It seemed that after the inception of coherence, Paralles would crash when playing <a href="http://pokerstars.com/">PokerStars</a>. Sometimes this would happen every few hours, sometimes several times an hour. Sometimes not at all during a session. But it was like it's own little side game of Russian Roulette. Irritation would quickly turn into outright anger when you're sitting there in a $500 buy in tournament, you look down and see AA, action comes to you and the whole damn Parallels system crashes. You are left helpless as your money sits there. While the poker software gives you a little bit of a buffer in the event of unforeseen disconnects, it often times took me in excess of 4 minutes to log back into Parallels and get into the poker client. By this time, my hand would be folded. Granted, the crashing was random and didn't just happen when I had premium hands...but it only took my AA crashing one time to know that this issue HAD to be addressed. I put up with this for several months hoping a fix would be implemented with new release of the software. No luck. Changed various settings, increased memory allocations, etc.<br /><br />Back to my research.<br /><br />I found several similar instances with people running PokerStars in Parallels and experiencing the same <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=pokerstars+parallels+crash&ie=utf-8&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a">random crash bullshit</a>. Questions were posed directly to Parallels in their <a href="http://forum.parallels.com/archive/index.php/t-9823.html">forums</a> with no response. People were mad.<br /><br />With absolutely no fix in sight, I changed my search criteria in google. Instead of searching for a fix, I looked for an alternative. I instantly found reference to a program called <a href="http://www.codeweavers.com/">Crossover produced by CodeWeavers</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.codeweavers.com/">Crossover</a> works and it works well. I installed the trial version yesterday and did not look back. Crossover allows you to install Windows programs directly into your OS X. Granted, there's a lot of hocus pocus working in the background...but it works like a charm. Plus, you do NOT need a Windows license or OS install to utilize Crossover. Ahhhhhh.<br /><br />After everything was said and done, I ran 6 windows last night in PokerStars and let them run for nearly 8 hours. I did not experience the slightest slowdown in performance. My Mac OS did not suffer any type of memory hit. <a href="http://pokerstars.com/">Pokerstars</a> windows acted as their own Mac windows. It was truly glorious. The only issue I had was the sound produced by PokerStars. I believe it has something to do with the way Crossover allows the compatibility to function being based off of earlier versions of Windows. I still have more research to do on this front. But at the end of the day, I did not have one issue relating to the loss of potential profit due to software. Crossover may very well be my long term solution.<br /><br />While I'm a little bitter having spent $70 on Parallels and will need to plop down another $60 for Crossover, it will be well worth it. I thank Crossover for allowing a thorough, true trial version. Job well done.<br /><br />So, Crossover Vs. Parallels? If I'm basing this questions solely on the use of poker software, then Crossover is the clear winner thus far. I will continue to monitor the situation but all signs are pointing to a long term relationship with <a href="http://www.codeweavers.com/">Crossover</a>. I hope this article proves useful to those exploring a similar path.<br /><script type="text/javascript"><br />digg_url = 'http://adamlabare.blogspot.com/2007/03/pokerstars-on-mac-crossover-vs.html';<br /></script>alabarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03817417097219146786noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13123738.post-56394566239392957862007-03-20T11:32:00.000-04:002007-03-20T11:57:51.858-04:00Am I a Donk?I pose the following question:<br />Why is it every damn time you outplay your opponent, he calls you a Donk?<br /><br />Granted, this doesn't happen every time. And I generally ignore chat while playing. But usually, after a decent match...I'll quickly converse and say, "GG" (good game). Hell, even after a bad match, I try to be polite and type "GG". Just seems to be the right thing to do. Lately, more and more people just go off the deep end and start yapping about how they can't believe my donk play, or what a donk move. They resort to the Donk reference before they evaluate the situation and ask themselves, "why did he make that play to begin with?".<br /><br />So, I guess the message here...before you go abusing the Donk reference...ask your subconscious, was it really a Donk move? Were you out played? Were you out chipped 3-1? etc. etc. Ask yourself the tough questions and I promise to ask myself if I really did make a donk move. heh.<br /><br />I suppose this post serves as a semi rant. Out of all this, I did manage to win a double shootout last night which affords me an entry into this coming Sunday's $650 Satellite to the WSOP. I'll try not to donk my way through the field come Sunday.alabarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03817417097219146786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13123738.post-3063995321760659452007-03-19T11:21:00.000-04:002007-03-19T14:13:16.671-04:00Getting Caught Up!I feel like I say this every time I run bad, but I've been a horrible blogger these past few months. And yes, I've been running bad. To the point where I decided to take a few weeks off altogether. The break was two fold. One, to clear my head. And two, my bankroll took a considerable hit therefore the choice to break was easy. Whatever the reason though, I think the break was necessary.<br /><br />And now for some bloggidy goodness...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Current Status...</span><br />Decided to get back in the mix this past Saturday. Enjoyed a relatively peaceful day and got some funds into Stars. What a pain in the ass this has turned into. While I won't go into great detail on the legalities and hindrances with funding your poker account these days, I will offer a gleam of hope...<br /><br /><a href="http://paytrucard.com/">Paytrucard.com</a> is a godsend to the poker player. <a href="http://www.pokerstars.com/">PokerStars.com</a> actually suggested I give this company a try. Long story short, you sign up, you instantly receive a Visa debit account. You can associate it with your own credit card and be on your way. Full card number and expiration were provided immediately. I was able to get money onto stars in a matter of 5 minutes. I was very impressed.<br /><br />I went to use them again this Saturday and was a bit paranoid when their site was down. However, this was a temporary issue and was resolved very quickly.<br /><br />I also signed up for <a href="https://www.epassporte.com/">ePassporte.com</a> and <a href="https://www.netspend.com/">netspend.com</a> but have decided not to utilize. The fee's and hoops with epassporte are just ridiculous. And netspend, while the option to fund via paypal was intriguing, it was not an instantaneous transaction. In the end, <a href="http://paytrucard.com/">Paytrucard.com</a> worked like a charm and they have me as a long term customer if they stay in the game!<br /><br />With a little ammunition in my account, i was finally able to play some poker. Getting the money in to the account was like a warm, soothing effect. A calm came over me. It was actually kinda weird.<br /><br />I took it easy Saturday night and played in 3 MTT's. Placed 29th in a $10 event. Put me plus $8 for the day. Cough. Hey, a profit is a profit, shut up!<br /><br />Didn't have any great game plan for Sunday other than taking a stab at the Sunday Million on <a href="http://pokerstars.com/">PokerStars.com</a>. This tournament has been a thorn in my side for a long time. When my bankroll was healthy a while back, I opted to buy straight in to this tourney rather than hitting satellites. Just plain stupid. This ate through a good chunk of my roll without any significant wins.<br /><br />I deiced to hit a 1 table satellite. Didn't really have any great run of cards but managed to survive. When the bubble came around, I was fortunate to hit a few key hands which put me in a great position to win outright. After a short battle, I took it down. At this point, it was early in the morning and decided to just relax and not play before the big tournament.<br /><br />Finally came time to play and I pretty much went in my think tank (headphones and iTunes). Things started out slow but toward the end of the first hour, I made a few moves which backfired completely. I found myself with just over 4k in chips (players start with 10k). I was kicking myself in the ass but remained focused.<br /><br />Over the next two hours I managed to battle back and found myself on a great run bringing me up to 28k in chips. I managed to sustain in this ballpark for quite a while. I took a little hit down to 19k but managed to double up with a bit extra which brought me up to 48k.<br /><br />Long story short, I made it into the money. I was running cold at this point though and had to make a move shortly after the bubble burst. When I finally decided to stand my ground, this prompted a good 3 hand run which put me at 98k. I was in a great spot at this stage. I was entirely content with opening my play at this point and directing traffic as I found myself second in chips at my table.<br /><br />Here comes my regrettable hand of the tournament. Sigh.<br />2000/4000 blinds w/ an ante.<br />Under the gun comes out with a raise, double the blind which makes it 8k. At this point, people were shoving good chunks and doing a lot of stealing. The raise in hindsight was fishy. Everyone folded to me in late position. I just call with KQd hoping to hit the flop obviously. Everyone else folds. Flop comes something like 742 rainbow.<br /><br />At this stage I was actually pleased with the flop thinking it was relatively non threatening. He comes out betting the minimum 4k.<br /><br />So, I'm going through my normal routine as to what he's holding. Early position, raises minimum, wants to get some value in there but probably doesn't have a high pocket pair. First to act, he probably would have just called. AK maybe? AQ? Maybe middle pair.<br /><br />I ended up convincing myself I could get him off this hand. Going into the hand, he was at 48k, I was at 98k. After he put his 4k in, I pushed enough in to put him all in. I wanted the pressure back on him and take the pot right here.<br /><br />He immediately calls and turns over AA. Yeah, I fell for it. Turn, no help. River, K. Naturally.<br /><br />So, that severely crippled me. I should not have gotten into this situation to begin with. I should have been far more suspect of the raise before hand. I made a bad read at the end of the day. I really did not figure him for AA. However, shame on me for getting this much of my stack involved. If I could replay this hand, I probably should have raised my KQ pre-flop to determine where I really was. <br /><br />Even though short stacked, I managed to survive two more levels into the payout. I finished 527th out of 6964. Overall, I played a good tournament and it was very nice getting into the money. That AA was really bugging me last night, but it was what it was.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">To Sum It All Up...</span><br />Was a pretty good weekend of poker. Didn't over due it. Didn't stress myself out. Made a nice little addition to the newly revised bankroll. Certainly plan on continuing that trend.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Job Well Done...</span><br />I wanted to say Great Job to my buddy Matt Waldron who had a great run at the <a href="http://www.worldpokertour.com/tournament/">WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star</a>. Matt is a regular at <a href="http://lifesabluff.com/">Lifesabluff.com</a> and represented the site with style. Matt did extremely well in day 1 and went in to day 2 with a decent stack. Unfortunately, the stars were not properly aligned and Matt finished a mere 30 or so spots from the money. What a horrible beat. You can read how it all went down by checking out the <a href="http://lifesabluff.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=1404">following thread</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sick Bay...</span><br />I also wanted to shoot Frank Frisina well wishes. Frank is the creator/writer at <a href="http://lifesabluff.com/">Lifesabluff.com</a>. Frank has been severely under the weather and I just wanted him to know my thoughts and prayers are with him and his family. Damn collapsing lungs. Might think those things would stay inflated. If you're a fan of lifesabluff.com, you can read more about Frank's situation <a href="http://lifesabluff.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=1444">here</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What's Next?</span><br />As for next steps. The original intent this weekend was to actually start giving a hard look at the WSOP satellites. They are officially on my radar.<br /><br />That's it for now. I'll be returning with a few new articles that can be viewed at <a href="http://www2.blogger.com/www.lifesabluff.com">www.lifesabluff.com</a> and <a href="http://www.pokerxtreme.com/">www.pokerxtreme.com</a>.<br /><br />Stay tuned!alabarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03817417097219146786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13123738.post-59434882625395843872007-02-09T12:06:00.001-05:002007-01-17T12:57:41.834-05:00Rosie Odonnel Responsible for Anna Nicole Smith's Death?Heh...certainly not poker related, but I've caused a stir with this post:<br /><br /><a href="http://jaxreview.blogspot.com/2007/02/rosie-odonnel-responsible-for-anna.html">click here </a>alabarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03817417097219146786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13123738.post-27229621636392450752007-01-17T12:54:00.000-05:002007-01-17T12:56:06.946-05:00Viewer eMail Time<span style="font-weight: bold;">Back to reality...</span><br />Been out of town these past few day's taking a mini vacation. Took another trip to the mountains of Tennessee. Unfortunately, I found myself doing so much driving that I had little time to unwind. However, it was time well spent for the most part and it was great to get away. Over the course of the trip I had some time to answer some viewer email which sparked a good bit of informative conversation. I thought I would share some of that insight today.<br /><br />Aaron writes the following:<br /><br /><blockquote>Thanks very much for taking the time to write your article on your blog concerning <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">multi</span>-table tournament play. I was wondering if you might be able to offer a bit of advice. I regularly do the single table sit n go’s and find myself doing well. However, when I attempt a <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">multi</span> tournament table, I can’t get anywhere. I try to keep the same mindset of tight aggressive play, but I just am not getting anywhere with that. The blinds will go up and I will continue to get no cards or possibly lose to some fish playing junk. Do you have any advice or recommendations of other literature that may help my online <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">mulit</span>-table tournament play. Thanks in advance.</blockquote><br /><br />And my response:<br /><br /><blockquote>Aaron,<br />Thank you for your email. Always willing to lend some insight.<br /><br />First and foremost, you have to understand single table <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">SnG's</span> are a far different beast compared to <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">MTT's</span>. You may be a genius with single table's, but it's not an easy transition to <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">MTT's</span>. Here are some various bits of insight:<br /><br />Put some thought into the <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">MTT's</span> you opt to participate in. While every tournament will bring it's share of fish, sharks, etc. You do have a different caliber player at various levels of buy ins. If you want to stay away from the idiots, I would suggest you not participate in re buy events initially. Especially turbo re buy events. This just caters to those with a healthy bankroll looking to amass a huge stack at all costs before the first break. This is not poker. This is a testosterone contest more or less.<br /><br />If your doing well at the <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">SnG's</span>, let that fund your <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">MTT</span> buy <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">in's</span>. Rather than play the smaller cost <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">MTT's</span>, hit 2 or 3 <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">SnG's</span> and buy into a little bit higher buy in <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">MTT</span>. The payoff will be worth it.<br /><br />There are two specific things I would suggest in relation to your dilemma.<br />1) Practice patience. It's all about the waiting game. Don't worry about the blinds initially. Let the button go around a few times. Get your bearings. Study those at your table. Make some mental notes. Make some physical notes. Study betting patterns. Is this guy check raising a lot? Is this guy dead money? etc. Patience is the key to any <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">MTT</span> in my opinion. I also realize this is easier said than done. If your anything like me, I have to be doing more than one thing at any given time. If I'm playing poker, I usually have other things going on. I might be reading other websites, I might be talking to my wife, I might be <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">IM'ing</span>. However, limit your distractions if you can. If you need something to occupy yourself though, start up another table. What I like to do, if I'm playing in a good <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">MTT</span>, I'll fire up one of those 180 person <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">MTT's</span> to just have something to do in between hands. Granted, not everyone can play <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">multi</span> tables. But if practicing patience means keeping yourself occupied, go for it.<br />2) Take advantage of your position. If you're not concentrating on your position relative to the button, then you will not win. You don't need to have cards to make others believe you do. When your in late position, and the action ahead of you is nil, take a chance by raising. Once the blinds increase, this is a must. You'll find you will pick up blinds more often with an aggressive approach to your position. Personally, I only get frisky with moderate to good hands in late position. For me, that includes small too middle pocket pairs, to unsuited connectors or two face cards. I like to placate myself by saying even if I am bluffing here, it's only a semi bluff as there are cards in the deck that will ensure my win.<br /><br />I hope this helps in some small way. One final piece of advice? Talk with fellow players. It's important to have individuals to bounce things off of. </blockquote><br /><br />This was but only a small piece of insight but I was very pleased to receive the following email after the above exchange:<br /><br /><blockquote>Thanks so much for the great advice. I just played a <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">MTT</span> $50, 90 people on <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">bodog</span> and won it. I stuck to your advice and tried to stay as patient as possible and paid close attention to my position and even picked up on a few betting patterns. I can’t believe I just won that, thanks so much for taking the time to talk with me. Take care.<br />Aaron<br /><br /><br /></blockquote>alabarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03817417097219146786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13123738.post-55190686048574252142007-01-08T10:22:00.000-05:002007-01-08T10:53:00.775-05:00Stars Sunday MillionYesterday was my shot at greatness. However, it was not meant to be.<br /><br />With a healthy bankroll, I played a few satellites and got myself into the big tourney at 4:30. I was feeling good. This was my tournament to shine. <br /><br />First hour was a bit daunting. I made a few small hands. It became pretty apparent I had an individual at the table that was taking advantage of "scared money" that first hour. What I mean by this...this tournament can be intimidating to the first time participant. Many individuals find themselves thrown into this tournament through much smaller satellites and quite literally are out of their league. Certainly no disrespect intended. They just don't have the large MTT experience and it shows. Anyway, this guy just kept raising and check raising each smaller raise and everyone continued to fold to him. I finally had a good hand and went up against him. Didn't put a lot on the line but he sucked out on the river. Figures. Few hands later, similar situation presents itself. I raise small in late position, he re-raises in late position. I just call. I hit a set on the flop. He bets strong. I call. He bets strong again, I raise. He calls. He checks, I bet his remaining stack. He folds. This was the start of a good run for me.<br /><br />Had a few bumps. Had to battle back at one point. But 3.5 hours in, I find myself at 60k in chips with only a few hundred left to the money. That might sound like a lot of people, but we started with some 6000 entrants and people were dwindling extremely fast.<br /><br />It's at this stage I usually tighten up and ensure my placement in the money. From there I go on the hunt and play my aggressive game. However, for this tournament, I didn't just want to squeeze into the money. Perhaps I was over eager, perhaps it was just stupidity. But here's where things went south.<br /><br />I'm feeling great with 60k in chips. Average at this point was 48k. I was second leader at my table...however, the chip leader at my table was also the overall chip leader. He was flirting just over 200k in chips. The one thing I said to msyelf, do NOT tango with this guy. Just stay out of his way and prey on the other stacks. Did I listen to my advice? Obviously not.<br /><br />So I'm on the button and I'm dealt AQ diamonds. Fairly nice hand I'm thinking. One call in front of me, I raise about 4x the BB. I don't remember the exact raise amount. Chip leader is in the BB. I should have paid better attention. I raised unaware that he was in the BB and would probably play almost any hand at this point. He calls my raise. The other caller folds. Flop comes 9 8 3 with two diamonds. He comes out betting. Okay, my mindset went like this. He's obviously playing his stack, as he should be. However, I really think he's full of shit at this point. Call it intuition, call it a gut feeling, whatever. Point is, I really believed I had a better hand at this spot. And in the case that I did not, with the nut flush possibility on my hands, I saw this spot as an opportunity. Like I said, I did not want to just squeeze into the money. I wanted this to be my swan song. I took a chance. I pushed back and went all in. He insta calls with 55.<br /><br />...<br /><br />Turn and river bring no help and I'm out of the tournament. Just like that, in the blink of an eye...gone.<br /><br />It took me a while to cool down. And obviously, I'm still bent out of shape over this. I'm sure other pro's would analyze this play and beat me up over it...but I felt good about my move. Had I walked away the winner in that hand, I would have been sitting with about $140k in chips and a commanding presence moving into the money. My goal was not to play too cautiously. I wanted to be aggressive in certain situations. I deemed these one of those situations and it didn't work out.<br /><br />In hindsight, would I have played it any differently? I became too attached to this hand, that much I realize. However, thinking back, I should have paid better attention to whom was in the BB. I got carried away with my great position with a good starting hand. Had I just smooth called here, I believe he would have raised and I probably would have come off the hand. <br /><br />Ugh.<br /><br />Okay, I'm not going to torture myself. As my wife said last night, there's always next week.<br /><br />Good luck everyone!alabarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03817417097219146786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13123738.post-71680101468407048032007-01-03T11:11:00.000-05:002007-01-03T12:13:21.375-05:00I'm Back, no...I mean it this time!So, In my last post I happily praised the poker gods and announced "I'm back". <br /><br />I lied...<br /><br />I could put a nice fancy slant on my current situation, or I can just speak the truth.<br /><br />Boils down to this...<br />I've been playing a shitty game resulting in zero profit. I've been flirting with a dangerously low bankroll and have been limited with my game choices. When in a tailspin I tend to shut down my exposure to the world until I figure out what the hell is wrong and make the necessary adjustments. And to be perfectly frank, when I'm losing, the last thing I feel is inspiration to write about all things poker. This may be an error though as I find writing about it does help a lot. With recent holidays, job responsibilities, and everything else, I just lost my focus.<br /><br />Psychologically speaking, I'm sure I could give a shrink plenty of material to analyze. God knows how mental this game is. Long story short, I've been letting negative results affect me personally. However, I can honestly say I will never give up. It's really a matter of understanding that bad runs will end. It takes confidence in your ability. Granted, confidence won't pay the bills unless there is a payoff...but you have to remain confident in your abilities. I've won in the past, I will win in the future. If you hit a brick wall...repeat this mantra over and over again. <br /><br />For what it's worth, as I mentioned in my last post...separating from poker entirely for a certain amount of time can be refreshing. I didn't play much poker over the holidays but I was able to spend quality time with my new <a href="http://www.nintendo.com/home">Nintendo Wii</a> along with a certain warlock in <a href="http://worldofwarcraft.com">World of Warcraft</a>. For all those considering purchasing a Wii...it's worth every penny. Fun as hell. Only set back...you have to get off your ass and move. It's really great. Many, many thanks to my loving wife. She's the best gift giver ever! Not to get sentimental...but you know when people say they enjoy giving gifts more than receiving? These people in my experience are full of shit. Just a ruse in an attempt to appear better than others. My wife is truly the only person I know that I can honestly say enjoys giving more than receiving. She really is an amazing person with the biggest heart one could imagine. Okay...enough sap! As an added diversion I have also started a new blog which has absolutely nothing to do with poker. However, if you're ever in Jacksonville, Fl...might be worth checking out: <a href="http://jaxreview.blogspot.com/2006/12/lets-get-started.html">jaxreview.blogspot.com</a><br /><br />Anyhoo...I suppose the real reason I feel inspired to write today is due to the success I had last night on <a href="http://www.pokerstars.com">PokerStars</a>. I've been having consistent money appearances in the $10 MTT w/ 1 rebuy and 1 add on at 7:15 each night. I generally stay away from rebuy events, but I like this format as I'm able to quickly accumulate chips and thrive on the poor play of others for the first hour. Just a matter of patience. After everything was said and done, finished 4th. A deep finish with the tournament has eluded me but I really felt like it was just a matter of time. With over 1000 entrants, it can be viewed as a lottery...but I choose to believe my skill has <span style="font-style: italic;">something</span> to do with it. Anyway, this gives me much needed breathing room which will allow me to focus on the overall goal.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What is the overall goal?</span><br />Two fold at this point. One, get to this years WSOP to participate in several events. and two, transition from semi-pro to professional. <br /><br />Tall orders to fill...but one way or the other, it's going to happen. As always, I will continue to document as I progress while sharing whatever nuggets of wisdom I can.<br /><br />I appreciate all my readers hanging in there!<br /><br />-Adamalabarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03817417097219146786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13123738.post-1163089200537879642006-11-09T11:20:00.000-05:002006-11-09T11:20:00.653-05:00I'm back...Past few weeks have been tough. I've made absolutely no money through my normal means on both Bodog and Stars. Usually when I hit a dry spell, I have sporadic moments of hope which keep me actively engaged. Last week, 2 weeks into my poor showing, I made the decision to step back, take a break and just relax. Spent a good amount of time wasting my life in WoW. Brings back fond memories of Norrath. Call me a geek, I don't care.<br /><br />Anyway...Tuesday I spent some time answering a question in regards to <a href="http://adamlabare.blogspot.com/2006/11/bankroll-building.html">bankroll building and management</a>. While the intent was to help others, the article ended up helping me tremendously. While I only went into so much detail, it allowed me to step back, re-asses and determine next steps. While it was absolutely necessary for me to step away from the tables last week which probably saved me a lot of money...writing my thoughts Tuesday really allowed me to get back to basics. With that in mind, decided to take my own advice and make a run on Stars last night. I made a whopping $25 deposit. Haven't really had any money on Stars in a few months so I didn't really want to put a large lump over there. Started with a $13 6 person SnG. Took 1st place. Applied those winnings to a $20 180 person MTT. Finished 4th. Went to bed. This now gets me back in the game. <br /><br />Cashing last night deep was a big boost for the confidence factor. While it's one thing to stay technical during a downswing while maintaining a positive attitude, it only goes so far. In the real world of an aspiring poker professional, long down swings can really impact your self esteem and morale. It hinders your judgment, it affects those around you, it affects your home life, etc. You can remind yourself not to take it so personal, but seriously, it just doesn't work like that. Self discipline away from the poker table during a drought can be extremely hard as I'm sure my wife can attest to. However, I do think that having something else to focus on aside from poker during a bad run is important, whether that be home, work, xbox, warcraft, whatever. While many call poker a job and or hobby...having something else to fill the void when running bad does wonders.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/bankroll%20management" rel="tag">bankroll management</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/bankroll%20building" rel="tag">bankroll building</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/poker" rel="tag">poker</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/wsop" rel="tag">wsop</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/world%20series%20of%20poker" rel="tag">world series of poker</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/bodog" rel="tag">bodog</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/pokerstars" rel="tag">pokerstars</a>alabarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03817417097219146786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13123738.post-1162917919096472112006-11-07T11:44:00.000-05:002006-11-07T11:45:19.123-05:00Bankroll Building?<span class="postbody"><span style="font-weight: bold;">How Do I Build My Bankroll?</span><br />I get this question a lot and usually address it half assed as my approach usually changes from one month to the next. However, over the past year, I've had a lot of success with the below approach.<br /><br />I think everyone that has had a taste of success has created their own path, or method for bankroll building and management. For myself, I stick with what I know works. My formula goes a little something like this:<br /><br />Have a master plan for the week. If I'm starting out with $100 on a Monday, by Sunday, I would want to have that built to $1000. That's my goal, certainly not always a reality.<br /><br />Each session, start small and build as you experience success. For example. I know my short handed SnG's work very well for me. So I'll sit down at a $13 6 handed SnG.<br /><br />If I finish 1st, I move up to the next level which is a $38 6 person Sng.<br />If I finish 2nd, I'll do the same tournament again.<br />In that second tourney, if I finish 1st or 2nd, I'll move on to the next level. If I do not finish in the money, I'll rinse and repeat at the bottom level.<br />If I finish out of the money on any higher level, I'll drop back one level and continue the process.<br /><br />I find PokerStars and Bodog both have decent scenarios for this method. Stars has also added a $70 6 handed SnG to alleviate the pressure of jumping from $38 to $110. Nice addition.<br /><br />If Short handed action is not your style, play a full table scenario.<br /><br />As I'm making money on these SnG's, I'll pick and choose my MTT's wisely. I believe MTT's to be my strongest skill and try to cater the tournament to my style. I prefer a realistic tournament as opposed to a lottery and very much like the 180 person MTT sng's on Stars...or the $30k guarantee's on Bodog.<br /><br />If my bankroll allows with the above efforts, I will often opt to hit a SnG satellite for the big tournaments on Sunday's.<br /><br />Often times, I find it healthy and necessary to do something different. If I find any of the above methods not panning out, I'll migrate over to a limit game. Something like 2/4 or 3/6. I'll jump on these tables and play fairly ABC type poker. Beyond that, I'll also change things up a bit by hitting a stud 8 or Omaha hi/low game just to keep my brain in shape.<br /><br />With the above $1000 goal in mind, I'm also making sound decisions on withdrawals. Personally, I find it important to associate online success with real money in my bank accounts. Therefore, I've adopted a process for withdrawal as follows:<br /><br />Start with $100<br />If I double and reach the $200 mark, I'll withdrawal 10% which leaves me with $180.<br />If I double and reach $360, I'll withdrawal 15% which leaves me with $306.<br />If I double and reach $612, I'll withdrawal 20% which leaves me with $489.60.<br />If I double I will then have $979.20 which I will often extract altogether and start again, or make a very conscience decision as to my next week.<br /><br />With this method, I'm able to put a little change in the bank which is only $196.40 but psychologically, this helps me understand that I am accomplishing something other than just accumulating cyber chips. I now have money in my personal account that I can use for live action around town, a nice evening out, etc. Once I obtain my weekly goal, I then am faced with upping my goal for the following week. I'll adjust my formula accordingly.<br /><br />The trick for me is to run it like a business and keep accurate records. When I do this, I find I am more successful. The past few weeks I have been winging it and have not made a penny. Perhaps there's something to my method...who knows.<br /><br />The intent here for me though is to associate my successes with something tangible.<br /><br />This is my formula, albeit non technical in comparison to other poker pro's and semi pro's...but if it ain't broke, don't fix it.</span><br /><br />Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/bankroll%20building" rel="tag">bankroll building</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/bankroll%20management" rel="tag">bankroll management</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/poker" rel="tag">poker</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/wsop" rel="tag">wsop</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/adam%20labare" rel="tag">adam labare</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/poker%20pro" rel="tag">poker pro</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/poker%20semi%20pro" rel="tag">poker semi pro</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/bodog" rel="tag">bodog</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/pokerstars" rel="tag">pokerstars</a>alabarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03817417097219146786noreply@blogger.com0