Shysti's Poker Blog

2011-01-31T02:51:00.001-08:00

This blog has been discontinued, I have a new blog for anyone still reading this one:

http://shystitalkspoker.wordpress.com/

-The Shysti One

2007-08-06T09:39:00.000-07:00

Confessions of a mad donk-

Ok, it's time to be truthful to myself. Things I need to do to improve, that I haven't thus far:

1. review my hand histories - I own PT and still don't know how to use it fully - bad
2. read online poker forums more, post my own hh for their view - haven't done this - bad
3. practice bankroll management - tisk tisk tisk...
4. read more poker books
5. subscribe to poker x factor and cardrunners (I want to be proficient in both ring and tourneys) - while this isn't a requirement, it doesn't hurt right?

Time to make this happen!

-shysti

2007-08-06T09:23:00.000-07:00

Wow,
I thought by taking this long break I would be immune to the emotional side of me when it comes to poker. Man was I wrong lol. Before my break I used to make it deep in tourneys and even though I didn't final table, I had a grasp on what I was doing.
Now it seems like I am starting from scratch! And it's frustrating let me tell ya. I think I really need to go get diagnosed for ADHD, I've been reading up on the symptoms and I have them. Esp the impulses, as I have already messed up my bankroll management by tilting and then impulsively tilting away even more money afterwards in a ring or another high sng.

I think it may be other issues I am going through in my relationship also. Regardless, I need to take a step back and get myself back in check. I managed to recover some losses playing ring, which I think I will stay until I get my head right.

Geez,

-Shysti

2007-07-23T19:44:00.000-07:00

Decided to start up again for good now... and it's already going horrible.

I've gotten aquainted over at FTR again to gain some new insight on the game, and am also handing out stakes over at neverbeg.com. It feels good to be back, starting with only 33 buy in's at the 5.50 level though is rough.

I hate the donks at this level, although I should be praising them for their horrible plays. Talk about lucky:

PokerStars Game #11101437116: Tournament #56303557, $5.00+$0.50 Hold'em No Limit - Level III (25/50) - 2007/07/23 - 22:36:34 (ET)Table '56303557 1' 9-max

Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: markme333 (1535 in chips)
Seat 2: bjtylerx (2320 in chips)
Seat 3: amberbock05 (1425 in chips)
Seat 4: shysti (1515 in chips)
Seat 5: Bender47 (575 in chips)
Seat 6: ROGMARLEY (1675 in chips)
Seat 7: rmu00 (1360 in chips)
Seat 8: cmolli (1165 in chips)
Seat 9: dream119 (1930 in chips)
shysti: posts small blind 25
Bender47: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [Jh Jc]
ROGMARLEY: calls 50
rmu00: folds
cmolli: calls 50
dream119: folds
markme333: calls 50
bjtylerx: folds
amberbock05: folds
shysti: raises 200 to 250
Bender47: folds
ROGMARLEY: calls 200
cmolli: folds
markme333: folds
*** FLOP ***
[Js 5c 2d]
shysti: checks
ROGMARLEY: checks
*** TURN ***
[Js 5c 2d] [3d]
shysti: bets 300
ROGMARLEY: raises 550 to 850
shysti: raises 415 to 1265 and is all-in
ROGMARLEY: calls 415
*** RIVER ***
[Js 5c 2d 3d] [Qs]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
shysti: shows [Jh Jc] (three of a kind, Jacks)
ROGMARLEY: shows [Ah 4h] (a straight, Ace to Five)
ROGMARLEY collected 3180 from pot

gg...

-Shysti

2007-06-07T08:25:00.000-07:00

It's very disconcerting...

The amount of profits my peers in Poker have made since I've taken my hiatus. Still, the break from the tables was much needed. I feel now though, I am in the right frame of mind to take on the game again and see where it leads me.

I don't know how much time I will be able to devote to studying aspect of poker but I will be playing some tournaments in the near future so stay tuned. A lot has changed on several poker sites I am a part of, but for the better!

Anyhow, I won't bore my non-existant readers any longer.

Good luck at the tables and I'll see you there!

Shysti

2007-04-13T04:40:00.000-07:00

Quick update -

Poker is on the back burner for an indefinite status. Reason? I am learning about building wealth at the moment which I deem more important. Sure I could do it through poker and have fun at the same time but I don't want to shift my attention at the moment.

When it's time to come back to the tables they'll be there. Instead I have a few ideas of generating a positive cash flow, once it gets going, I'll use this blog as my blog for that.

Shawn

2007-03-01T15:32:00.001-08:00

2nd night of the 15k-

Nothing too big but I came in 35th last night in the 15k out of 1900 or so entrants. This tournament is incredibly soft and am currently playing it in tonight, hopefully we can make this one a final table.

Shysti

2007-03-01T15:32:00.000-08:00

Not a bad return from my hiatus-

Played in Poker Star's 15k guaranteed last night and out of 1822 entrants I took 19th place :).
Not bad for nothing playing a several months eh? I'll start to update more as I play, I may find a few hands from last night' s tourny and post them here later.

Ciao for now

shysti

2007-01-26T07:14:00.000-08:00

Game on!

I've decided to start playing again no later than Feb 9, 07. I have had time to clear my head, and truly understand what I want out of playing poker. What I plan to do now during my freetime is read up on the game, and start studying again to advance in my knowledge of playing poker.

Hopefully through perserverence, good bankroll management and calm nerves, I'll be able to build a notable record that I can be proud of. With that said, I hope everyone has fun at the tables and good luck!

Shysti

2007-01-08T13:44:00.000-08:00

Still taking a break-

I know it's been a very long time since I've played, posted any poker related, however, I just wanted to state I am still about the game. I am just taking a very long break to take care of more important life issues.

Once I am done completing them, I shall resume the game!

Shysti

2006-10-31T14:29:00.000-08:00

Shysti's adventure in 5/10 NL Ring -

Today I decided to take a vacation from being serious at the tables and try out some 5/10 NL ring, full table not shorthanded.

Well this is in no way great for your bankroll, I do advocate treating yourself however you see fit after having a few great victories and milestones at the tables.

I sat down at the table and 2nd hand into it doubled up when my 910 (on the button) turned a straight and the guy betting into me only had top pair (queens) with a 2 kicker. I stacked him for his 200, and left the table.

I decided at that point to switch to full ring b/c that was short handed...

And well you can find out all that action here:

http://www.neverbeg.com/index.php?option=com_forum&Itemid=41&page=viewtopic&t=27763

Turned that 200 into 1,115.00 in an hour. I don't expect that to always happen, but I found a great table which had a few fish I exploited.

Shysti

2006-10-25T03:17:00.000-07:00

Wow, 2nd night another final table!

Tonight was awesome! I almost didn't join this 22 mtt I staked 2 people for on neverbeg.com but something told me to give it a try. Well long story short, after 5 or so hours I ended up chopping and going heads up!

I won 2k for my efforts and cashed a bit from one of my horses cashing in this also!

PokerStars Tournament #34146513,
No Limit Hold'emBuy-In: $20.00/$2.00
577 players
Total Prize Pool: $11540.00
Tournament started - 2006/10/25 - 01:00:00

(ET)Dear shysti,You finished the tournament in 2nd place. A $1,731.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account. You earned 391.75 tournament leader points in this tournament.For information about our tournament leader board, see our web site athttp://www.pokerstars.com/tlb_tournament_rankings.html

Congratulations!Thank you for participating.

The thread can be found here of the action: http://www.neverbeg.com/index.php?option=com_forum&Itemid=41&page=viewtopic&t=25938

Good night Im tired weeee!

Shysti

2006-10-24T21:00:00.000-07:00

Quick Entry-

Got pretty deep in the stars 3 rebuy 10k guaranteed today. Took 40th out of 1975 entrants. And only started with a 5k chip stack after the rebuy hour.

Ok that's it!

shysti

2006-10-23T21:40:00.000-07:00

Ok ok, so I know I said I wasn't going to do tournaments for a while...

But right when you think it's going to be a while before lee stop's fugging you with 2 outers you make a final table!

I could of been a contender for 1st as many times I was winning my races and all ins, coming back from the dead! But I went out in a very gross and inhuman fashion.

Guess Lee had a plan for me after all ...Sadly, if I would of just pushed the hand before, this might not of happened! See below;

PokerStars Game #6748007909: Tournament #34146380, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level XVIII (6000/12000) - 2006/10/24 - 00:25:38 (ET)Table '34146380 68' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: MartinVII (169624 in chips)
Seat 2: gusdad (310782 in chips)
Seat 3: roscosized (528564 in chips)
Seat 4: shysti (67000 in chips)
Seat 5: richiebro (103274 in chips)
Seat 6: MOSELBOYSCLB (550343 in chips)
Seat 8: vbstud21 (125434 in chips)
Seat 9: Flyer623 (220979 in chips)
MartinVII: posts the ante 600
gusdad: posts the ante 600
roscosized: posts the ante 600
shysti: posts the ante 600
richiebro: posts the ante 600
MOSELBOYSCLB: posts the ante 600
vbstud21: posts the ante 600
Flyer623: posts the ante 600
shysti: posts small blind 6000
richiebro: posts big blind 12000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [5s 5c]
gusdad said, "ty"
MOSELBOYSCLB: folds
vbstud21: calls 12000
Flyer623: folds
MartinVII: raises 36000 to 48000
gusdad: folds
roscosized: folds
shysti: folds
richiebro: folds
vbstud21: calls 36000
*** FLOP ***
[Qs 5d 9c]
vbstud21: checks
shysti said, "HGAHGEAHGHEAGHE"
MartinVII: bets 76835
vbstud21: folds
shysti said, "argh folded pocket 5s here OMG i was going to push too"
shysti said, "OMG"
MartinVII collected 118800 from pot
vbstud21 said, "just ******ed"
shysti said, "i folded the set"
MartinVII: shows [Kh Ks] (a pair of Kings)
shysti said, "noooo"

And here's my sealed doom, the very next hand:

PokerStars Game #6748018335: Tournament #34146380, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level XVIII (6000/12000) - 2006/10/24 - 00:26:36 (ET)Table '34146380 68' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: MartinVII (239824 in chips)
Seat 2: gusdad (310182 in chips)
Seat 3: roscosized (527964 in chips)
Seat 4: shysti (60400 in chips)
Seat 5: richiebro (90674 in chips)
Seat 6: MOSELBOYSCLB (549743 in chips)
Seat 8: vbstud21 (76834 in chips)
Seat 9: Flyer623 (220379 in chips)
MartinVII: posts the ante 600
gusdad: posts the ante 600
roscosized: posts the ante 600
shysti: posts the ante 600
richiebro: posts the ante 600
MOSELBOYSCLB: posts the ante 600
vbstud21: posts the ante 600
Flyer623: posts the ante 600
richiebro: posts small blind 6000
MOSELBOYSCLB: posts big blind 12000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [8d 8c]
shysti said, "i folded 55"
vbstud21: folds
shysti said, "there"
Flyer623: folds
shysti said, "haha"
MartinVII: raises 24000 to 36000
gusdad: folds
roscosized: folds
shysti: raises 23800 to 59800 and is all-in
richiebro: folds
MOSELBOYSCLB: folds
MartinVII: calls 23800
*** FLOP ***
[8s Td Jh]
shysti said, "bah"
vbstud21 said, "HOLD"
vbstud21 said, "om"
*** TURN ***
[8s Td Jh] [Jc]
shysti said, "hold"
shysti said, "HOLD"
*** RIVER ***
[8s Td Jh Jc] [Jd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MartinVII: shows [9c 9h] (a full house, Jacks full of Nines)
shysti: shows [8d 8c] (a full house, Jacks full of Eights)
vbstud21 said, "YES"
shysti said, "weee"
MartinVII collected 142400 from pot
vbstud21 said, "yah"

As you can see I said "wee' not even realizing how anally bad Lee had just rapped me! : ( sigh, this will never be forgotten. I do want to say though how much I really appreciate the guys over at www.neverbeg.com for railing me and showing fantastic support! I wouldn't of made the final table without them.

Shysti

2006-10-21T21:25:00.000-07:00

Doing what you love vs doing what must be done:

I love MTT's! I do as everyone who knows me know. However, the problem with this is; it doesn't make for a good bankroll. A little demon called variance rears it's ugly head and taketh which I've worked so hard for.

I used to shun limit holdem, I think it was because of my earlier experiences in the B&M casinos, where everyone would call all the way to the river with any two. Back then I was frustrated, new to the game and realized I didn't like this concept of donkery.

However, 2 1/2 years later, I've just begun to revisit limit holdem, perhaps as my new means to build a healthy bankroll. My earlier attempts failed miserably due to my lack of bankroll management. I wanted to be at the higher level MTT's without putting in the worker's bee work.

This was no good, as it only equal bust, plain and simple. I want to work on some type of consistency with my game, slow, consistent profit and learning is what I want to acheive.

Since starting my limit venture, I've read that 300 bb is proper bankroll management for the level of limit you want to play. My current bankroll for limit (one that seperate from my MTT, but more on that later) is $400.00.

So I am currently playing .50/1 limit full ring. After the bashing I took today on Stars in my 33 deep stack, the 9.90 300 max , and the 11 180 man sng, I've decided to take a hiatus from tournaments all together. I took a few hours off before I reached tilt , because I felt it coming on, and now I am back. I am tracking all of my progress in my limit adventures using poker tracker and PA hud of course., so I will keep it posted.

I am only going to start out with 1 table, maybe multi-tabling with 2 max. I sit down with 50 bb always so I don't have to worry about rebuying - which I thank to the good people at FTR for this advice ! :D

Anyhow, I've rambled on long enough. Next entry I may get into the things I've noticed about playing limit, about how learning to read people's hands, and post flop play is definitely improved by playing limit (again, obvious stuff to those with more experience).

Peace,

Shysti

2006-10-08T22:32:00.000-07:00

Party Poker Mini - Steps:

I know this isn't new to any of you who play on party, but since my branching out I've discovered these and absolutely think they are a fantastic idea!

I haven't gotten into as much as I plan on because I have been working on a few stakes from neverbeg, but in my free time I plan on doing these. I will report here how I do. I already have a freeroll back into round 1 couldn't seal the deal when I tried my 1st time.

Which is fine. I ended buying World of Warcraft ... haha I had to after I watched the south park episode which was classic! I play a lot of warcraft 3 so it was inevitable anyhow, but as it is installing right now I am on Party trying to make it to step 2.

Wish me luck....

Edit: For those of you who aren't familar with the mini steps, here's the link:
http://www.partypoker.com/news/events/items/mini_steps.html

Update: Just finished 1st step as the victor! I will do step 2 tomorrow. I need sleep now.

2006-09-23T23:12:00.000-07:00

Branching out finally-

I've been pretty loyal to just Poker Stars until now. I have accounts now at partypoker, titan poker, full tilt poker and pokerroom.com (which was truly my 1st online poker account). Right now Full Tilt is offering a great bonus! 100% deposit up to 600, so I deposited 300.00 into my new account, so that I could clear a 300 bonus.

I am still very new to their software and layout, but I really dig it so far. I bought in at 10NL with 5 bucks just to test the waters and left the table with $55.00. Then I tried out a 5.50 sng (not sure if I like their tournament structure, guess I am so used to Stars) and took 1st for another $22.50.

So not a bad start, the games seem a lot softer than at stars. Hopefully I can clear this bonus asap. Also, I want everyone who comes across this to go to this link: http://www.Partystakers.com/?bonus=1864 . They are giving away 50 bucks for free to those people who have yet to open a party poker account. At first I didn't believe it either until I said what's the worst that could happen if I apply?

So I did and bam I have 50 bucks in my party poker account, plus after I play 500 raked hands I get another 25.00 so there really is a thing as a free lunch lol. I hope you guys check em out they are legit.

Anyhow, I must get back to the tables and start grinding away.

Shysti

2006-09-21T10:43:00.000-07:00

My ROI on sharkscope-

I think it's time I address this issue to those who are curious as to why I do so well in MTT's and if you look at my sng record it stinks. I won't lie early on in sngs when I used to play I donk a lot! This was before I got "serious" about my game. And not making excuses but I play most sngs while I am at work.

I work for the Government at the US Patent and Trademark office, so the pace I can handle which allows me to get some time in at the tables, but I am not a 100% focused. I know this while I am playing but still want to get the experience in which doesn't always yield the best results.

So what I am going to do is starting playing my sngs at home where I can focus 100% and eventually have my ROI reflect my true skill, not only for myself, but for those who think my sng strat is weak.

Shysti

2006-09-21T10:21:00.000-07:00

1st place out of 655-

PokerStars Tournament #31934423, No Limit Hold'em Buy-In: $1.00/$0.10 655 players Total Prize Pool: $655.00 Tournament started - 2006/09/20 - 22:17:00

(ET) Dear shysti,

You finished the tournament in 1st place. A $137.56 award has been credited to your Real Money account. You earned 280.73 tournament leader points in this tournament. For information about our tournament leader board, see our web site at http://www.pokerstars.com/tlb_tournament_rankings.html
Congratulations! Thank you for participating.

I was determined to take this down and I did, and I placed 4th in a small stakes mtt 4 days ago also. Lately, after reevaluating my game and incorpating more tactics, I think these final table finishes are a result of that. In the later stages of the tournament I am no longer too tight where I don't make the necessary moves I need to in order to make the final table.

I've done what I needed to do and if I bust out playing to win so be it, that's what I've accepted finally, and no longer play just to be safe and cash. I've always had the mentality that I wanted to final table but in reality I was playing it too safe in the final stages of the tournaments instead of going for the victory.

So with this new approach and attitude hopefully we'll see more final tables in the near future!

Shysti

2006-09-19T15:58:00.000-07:00

Staking-

It's been a while since I've posted anything, but I've been playing poker non-stop lately. I've never really gotten into staking and the whole ordeal until recently. I stumbled upon a great website called www.neverbeg.com.

Basically, it's a community where people who want to be staked can come and find others who are willing to stake. Before I go on staking in poker means the person who is giving the stake- offers you their money for the buyin and between the two of you you work out a deal if you cash in the tournament.

Of course, you can't just hop on the site and beg for stakes, it's much more professional than that. Which I am very pleased with. It's imperative that if by some chance you find the site through reading my blog , google or whatever you read their rules. Not reading the rules and breaking the rules even unwittingly will get you banned.

Simply put, as much as we would like to think everyone is honest there are those out there who aren't. So the rules put in motion at the site help protect stakers from those people. I have enjoyed the site for the last 3 days and plan on using it from now on.

I would go into more detail but you pretty much get the picture, go visit the site, read the rules if you have questions plenty of people will help you. I've made 50 bucks already over the last 3 days from either being staked, and winning from the money I won while doing a stake for someone.

Shysti

2006-09-05T22:35:00.000-07:00

Selling myself short-

Poker is a game that requires so many attributes in order to stay afloat. Discipline, focus, knowledge, wisdom, experience, are just a few. I've realized that I've been selling myself short by not putting in the appropiate hours to study, apply, play and go over what I've learned.

So each night I will dedicate at least an hour if not two to reading poker forums, books, watching the better players on stars play during tournaments and cash games. A great exercise is pulling up a table where the buy in is high and the tourny is in the late stages (where I am having troubles in my own game) and watch the players play.

I like to do read exercises, and put myself in their shoes to see why they made the plays they choose to do. I think it improves your game if you can watch a hand to the showdown, or if you have questions to post them on a forum.

I haven't really given the two plus two forums the proper respect they deserve and I plan on reading as much as possible over the next several months to hopefully gain a new perspective on my game.

With that said, good luck at the tables and I'll see you soon!

Shysti

2006-08-21T11:58:00.000-07:00

8/21/06 -

I took 12th out of 878 last night in a small MTT on Stars. It was yet another great experience as I learned a few things about my game last night. During the late stages of the tournament, after the bubble had burst and there are only about 100 or less to go to the final table I need to really get aggressive, instead of being scared of taking chances.

I think that is one of the reasons I didn't make the final table last night, it's like my mind freezes up when I am playing post flop, I believe because part of me is playing scared. You cannot play scared, especially being that close to the final table.

I only have a 3 day work week this week (I am taking off thurs /friday) so I am going to really do a review of where my life is headed, clean up some areas that really need my attention, and do an overhaul of all the things that are going astray.

I spent the weekend alone, didn't go out, didn't do much of anything but think. During my lunch break today at work I really want to write down my goals for the remainder of the year and strive to accomplish them, not just in poker but in life.

2006-08-10T13:56:00.000-07:00

IT'S ON! WSOP 2006 PAY-PER-VIEW!

Thanks to the great technology that is the internet, I can enjoy the final table LIVE, whilst I sit here at work where I would of been bored otherwise.

7 mins and counting! It just too bad Rizen couldn't be at the final table :(

Shysti

2006-08-04T15:30:00.000-07:00

Today's update...

Not much to update really. Bubbled one 11.00 sngs last night, a 22 MTT today, lost 11 bucks in 25 NL, and bubbled one 11.00 sng today.

BR: $648.53

2006-08-03T19:19:00.000-07:00

Not bad for 6.30 bucks:

Poker Stars 3.30 rebuy "10,000 guranteed".

Today I played in the 3 rebuy on stars and I decided to do a little experiment. Since it's only 3 bucks to rebuy, I wanted to see how far I could get with minimal investment. Now I know some, well most, will scream this isn't how you play rebuys!!!

I know, I know, but for someone like me, who plays while he's at work and just want to have some fun, it's not always serious business. So that was the mind set going into this, just to have some real fun experimenting. Well I didn't rebuy at all and only added on at the break, after the rebuy hour I was at 7, 800 I believe in chips.

Long story short, I played awesome solid poker, glad i got a full nights rest, because that's what I attribute my final table finish to. I am an insomniac by nature but last night I was so exhausted i made myself go to bed early, and boy did it pay off!

Out of 1482 entrants I finished 6th for about 700.00, not bad for a 6.30 investment??? That's what poker is all about correct decisions and having it pay off.

Shysti

ps Im going to start posting my bankroll and my results from my games. Im going to start with sngs and only use 5% a day, no more.

Starting bankroll $704.00

2006-07-28T15:10:00.000-07:00

EPT BARCELONA OPEN TOURNY ON STARS-

Today I played some of the best poker I've ever played in my life. I was hoping to advance to round 2 for the barcelona open, and it seemed that it was in the bag, but like life, poker isn't without a sense of injustice...

I had lost my stack during the late rounds by making a boneheaded move of reraise some guy's aces with ace queen after I kinda felt he had them, but it was too late, I had already pushed my stack in. After that I was left with around 8800, and made a great come back!

We were down to the last 2 tables after starting with over 400 entrants, and then this crap happens:

PokerStars Game #5713904994: Tournament #28431377, 40FPP Hold'em No Limit - Level XII (1000/2000) - 2006/07/28 - 17:58:31 (ET)
Table '28431377 54' 9-max Seat #5 is the button

Seat 1: Boonie81 (25700 in chips)
Seat 3: shysti (36707 in chips)
Seat 4: bigtoenail (12675 in chips)
Seat 5: Axellinha (21560 in chips)
Seat 6: L New (22320 in chips)
Seat 7: moas (42743 in chips)
Seat 9: LeBraisier (25905 in chips)
Boonie81: posts the ante 100
shysti: posts the ante 100
bigtoenail: posts the ante 100
Axellinha: posts the ante 100
L New: posts the ante 100
moas: posts the ante 100
LeBraisier: posts the ante 100
L New: posts small blind 1000
moas: posts big blind 2000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [Ac Js]
LeBraisier: folds
Boonie81: raises 2000 to 4000
shysti: calls 4000
bigtoenail: folds
Axellinha: folds
L New: folds
moas: calls 2000
*** FLOP ***
[3h Jh 3c]
moas: bets 6000
Boonie81: folds
shysti: raises 12000 to 18000
moas: calls 12000
*** TURN ***
[3h Jh 3c] [9s]
moas: bets 20643 and is all-in
shysti: calls 14607 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [3h Jh 3c 9s] [2h]
shysti said, "omg"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
moas: shows [Qh 9h] (a flush, Queen high)
shysti: shows [Ac Js] (two pair, Jacks and Threes)
moas collected 78914 from pot

Hours of hard work, focus, patience, and great play shot down due to some idiot chasing a flush. But that's poker gotta love it!

GG...

*This guy has 52 bucks in tournament winnings..

2006-07-26T13:44:00.000-07:00

THE SHOWDOWN!!! DUN DUN DUN!!!

HARTLIS1 VS SHYSTI NO LIMIT HEADS UP MATCH -

Today my friend Hartlis and I decided to go at it heads up on Poker Stars, needless to say it was a great match which lasted 21 grueling minutes! Here are some of the highlight hands below:

PokerStars Game #5689731426: Tournament #28791818, $5.00+$0.25 Hold'em No Limit - Match Round I, Level I (10/20) - 2006/07/26 - 15:41:56 (ET)
Seat 1: hartlis1 (1500 in chips)
Seat 2: shysti (1500 in chips)
hartlis1: posts small blind 10
shysti: posts big blind 20

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [7c 8c]
hartlis1: raises 40 to 60
shysti said, "dP?"
shysti said, "oh"
hartlis1 said, "display picture"
shysti said, "she\'s cute"
shysti: calls 40

*** FLOP ***
[9c Ac Ts]

hartlis1 said, "??"
shysti: checks
hartlis1 said, "lol?"
hartlis1: bets 60
shysti: raises 120 to 180
shysti said, "save the hh"
hartlis1: calls 120

*** TURN ***
[9c Ac Ts] [Jc]
shysti said, "for this"
hartlis1 said, "ok"
shysti said, "and we'll compare"
shysti said, "later"
shysti said, ":D"
shysti: bets 220
hartlis1 said, "wow"
hartlis1 said, "A3.."
hartlis1: folds
shysti said, "this hand is beautiful"
hartlis1 said, "show?"
shysti said, "look at this"
hartlis1 said, "lol.."
shysti collected 480 from pot
shysti: shows [7c 8c] (a flush, Ace high)
shysti said, "str draw, flush draw, and the str flush draw"
hartlis1 said, "rofl.."

*********** # 11 **************
PokerStars Game #5689759679: Tournament #28791818, $5.00+$0.25 Hold'em No Limit - Match Round I, Level I (10/20) - 2006/07/26 - 15:44:55 (ET)Table '28791818 1' 2-max Seat #1 is the button

Seat 1: hartlis1 (1450 in chips)
Seat 2: shysti (1550 in chips) is sitting out
hartlis1: posts small blind 10
shysti: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [Ah Jd]
shysti has returned
hartlis1: raises 40 to 60
shysti: calls 40

*** FLOP ***
[7s 7h 7c]
shysti: checks
hartlis1 said, "hmm"
hartlis1: bets 60
hartlis1 said, "raise?"
shysti: calls 60

*** TURN ***
[7s 7h 7c] [Qd]
shysti: checks
hartlis1: bets 150
shysti: calls 150

*** RIVER ***
[7s 7h 7c Qd] [5h]
shysti: bets 250
hartlis1 said, ":("
hartlis1 said, "T hi rofl"
hartlis1 said, "hit yuor straight?"
hartlis1 said, "ok"
shysti collected 540 from pot
shysti: shows [Ah Jd] (three of a kind, Sevens)

*********** # 15 **************
PokerStars Game #5689774676: Tournament #28791818, $5.00+$0.25 Hold'em No Limit - Match Round I, Level I (10/20) - 2006/07/26 - 15:46:30 (ET)Table '28791818 1' 2-max Seat #1 is the button

Seat 1: hartlis1 (1190 in chips)
Seat 2: shysti (1810 in chips)
hartlis1: posts small blind 10
shysti: posts big blind 20

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [Ah 5h]
hartlis1: calls 10
shysti: raises 60 to 80
hartlis1: raises 220 to 300
shysti: calls 220
*** FLOP ***
[5d 9s 4d]
shysti: bets 720
hartlis1 said, "jesus"hartlis1 said, "overpair>??"
hartlis1 said, "damn.."
hartlis1: foldshartlis1 said, "a4"
shysti collected 600 from pot
shysti: doesn't show hand
hartlis1 said, ":("

*********** # 34 **************
PokerStars Game #5689825126: Tournament #28791818, $5.00+$0.25 Hold'em No Limit - Match Round I, Level II (15/30) - 2006/07/26 - 15:51:50 (ET)

Seat 1: hartlis1 (1445 in chips)
Seat 2: shysti (1555 in chips)
shysti: posts small blind 15
hartlis1: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [Kd Qh]
shysti: raises 60 to 90
hartlis1: calls 60
*** FLOP ***
[Qs 6c 9s]
hartlis1: bets 60
shysti: raises 180 to 240
hartlis1: calls 180

*** TURN ***
[Qs 6c 9s] [2s]
hartlis1: checks
shysti: bets 1225 and is all-in
hartlis1: folds
hartlis1 said, "hmm?"
shysti collected 660 from pot
shysti: doesn't show hand

And the hand that won it was great! :

*********** # 40 **************
PokerStars Game #5689843898: Tournament #28791818, $5.00+$0.25 Hold'em No Limit - Match Round I, Level II (15/30) - 2006/07/26 - 15:53:48 (ET)Table '28791818 1' 2-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: hartlis1 (1305 in chips)
Seat 2: shysti (1695 in chips)
shysti: posts small blind 15
hartlis1: posts big blind 30

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [7h Qd]
shysti said, "np"
shysti: raises 90 to 120
hartlis1: calls 90
*** FLOP ***
[8c Qs 9d]
hartlis1: bets 60
shysti: raises 120 to 180
hartlis1: calls 120
*** TURN ***
[8c Qs 9d] [8s]
hartlis1: checks
shysti: bets 230
hartlis1: raises 370 to 600
shysti: calls 370
*** RIVER ***
[8c Qs 9d 8s] [Qh]
hartlis1: bets 405 and is all-in
shysti: calls 405
hartlis1 said, "sick"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
hartlis1: shows [6d 8d] (a full house, Eights full of Queens)
shysti: shows [7h Qd] (a full house, Queens full of Eights)
hartlis1 said, "wow"
shysti collected 2610 from pot

Ha! Great game, I plan on doing a lot more of these with friends so we can compare styles, hand histories and have braggin rights lol. Hartlis called me a donkey for this hand, however, I raised him pre flop he calls. He only puts in a small bet on the flop so I didn't think he was that strong so I reraise because I did pair my queens and he calls.

The huge raise on the turn really didn't sound off any alarms because I've known him to play at me and not his cards particularly, and thats what I thought he was doing here, I figured he was trying to take me off my hand and in my mind I was still good here.

The river was golden, I knew then I had a made hand vs his, and I got all my money in and won.

GG Hartlis

Rematch?

Shysti

2006-07-26T09:39:00.000-07:00

Harrington's 3rd book!

Well I finally purchased it and I can say I do no regret my purchase! This man has a very simplistic way of explaining such a complex game of No limit Hold Em, I love it.

One of the hands he talks about with Jennifer Harmann can actually be found on my myspace page so take a look www.myspace.com/shystiden

2006-07-19T19:10:00.000-07:00

Time to begin the real grind, grind, and more grindageee...

I am going to start my Nl ring games now, and keep records of each session. It's truly been a long time coming that I start playing ring now, instead of just tournaments. I'll stay posted with this endevour.

shysti

2006-07-19T11:28:00.000-07:00

I posed a question on the FTR boards about Harrington's 3rd book, in relation to the thread that I posted in regarding post flop play...

The thread is irrelvant, but I mentioned harrington's book because in it he tries to help the common poker player learn the thought processes invloved in post flop play. I posed the question that can this truly be taught? And that I thought it has to come from experience...anyhow this is the reply I recieved, very well thought out and extensive.

shysti wrote:
I mean truly post flop play has to be learned from experience but he's written a book about it, so how do you guys feel about that?

" I believe that the reason most people feel that great post flop has to be learned from experience is due to the nature of the problem. The correct (best long term EV) course of action (fold, call, raise (and by how much)) are the output of a function driven off a large number of dependent variables.

These types of problems are often solved through a set of techniques called regression analysis. Regression analysis involves looking at a large sample of the values for these variable and the correct corresponding outputs. When done properly, a model is developed that can be used to predict the appropriate outputs for other input values.

Fortunately for humans, our brains are built around neural networks. Neural networks, both biological and artificial, are particularly adept at solving problems that require regression analysis. This is one of the reasons that artifical neural networks and human brains 'learn' through experience. Each 'experience' provides another sample allowing us to refine our model.

This has an upside, through regression analysis humans effortless solve enormously complex equations. For instance, how much force should I be applying to the accelerator and break pedals as I drive. Take a moment and consider the ludicrous complexity of that equation and then compare that with the fact that most of you drive thousands of miles a year without incident.

This has a downside, from a conscious standpoint we are often completely unaware of how we solve the problem; from the standpoint of what variables we take into account, what weight we apply to these variables and how we believe these variables interact.

Because of the upside, some people are very good at solving the poker postflop play problem. Because of the downside, those same people are often in no position to explain why their play was correct (even though it was.) As we are often unaware of the nature of the model we have created, we sometimes begin to believe that there is no model; we 'magically' feel the right answer due to our 'experience'.

But it is a model and can be expressed in a readable notation. Authors like Harrington try to relate the primary driving variables, their general weights and their general inter-relationships. They then wisely put in a caveat that any given situation may not follow their simplified model.

Because the All-In re-raise pre-flop from the super tight guy DOES have a different meaning if we see an ambulance outside the building, an EMT has just walked up and whispered something into the player's ear, upon which his face went white as a sheet, and he threw a panic stricken glance at the ambulance right before he pushed.

Your neural net knows this, and has a variable for 'opponent is experiencing horrific personal tragedy' and has applied an enormous weight to that variable. But in practice, that variable rarely comes into play so it would be pointless for a poker book to mention it. But for a lot of people whose internal model is not yet sufficiently complex, these guides can allow them to deductively arrive at a reasonable answer. All the while, most would agree that later in their career after they have sufficient experience, the player will likely intuitively arrive at a better answer.

2006-07-18T10:11:00.000-07:00

Ha! I just got my 1st Royal Flush online today:

And it was a runner runner royal flush what are the odds of that? I wonder.

http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=353573#353573

shysti

2006-07-17T09:49:00.000-07:00

You see some amazing things in poker sometimes...

With that said last night I was in a micro MTT, we're down to the final 10 people, after starting with 1288. This guy is severely short stacked, in that he barely had enough to complete the blinds so he's in 10th place, and I am sitting ok in 5th at that point.

Well he starts to win races, BACK TO BACK TO BACK, he didn't lose! He went from 495 in chips to 98k, and I was in 9th at that point, thanks to another player who kept raising and losing races to this guy. Everyone at the table was frustrated with him because we wanted the guy out so we could advance to the final table. Anyhow, the guy makes it to the final table, as do I.

And this is what happens:

PokerStars Game #5586296222: Tournament #27707651, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level XIX (8000/16000) - 2006/07/17 - 02:06:45 (ET)
Table '27707651 59' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: kuzcontrol (156330 in chips) out of hand (moved from another table into small blind)
Seat 2: steelbigben (131106 in chips) out of hand (moved from another table into small blind)Seat 3: Jerbo69 (132480 in chips)
Seat 4: shysti (80782 in chips)
Seat 5: Stryderman (244314 in chips)
Seat 6: GreeK100 (265422 in chips)
Seat 7: fatfook (708525 in chips)
Seat 8: bart1956 (98351 in chips)
Seat 9: dlgambit (114690 in chips)
Jerbo69: posts the ante 800
shysti: posts the ante 800
Stryderman: posts the ante 800
GreeK100: posts the ante 800
fatfook: posts the ante 800
bart1956: posts the ante 800
dlgambit: posts the ante 800
Jerbo69: posts small blind 8000
shysti: posts big blind 16000

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [Jd Ah]
dlgambit said, "finally"
Stryderman: folds
shysti said, "YES"
GreeK100: folds
fatfook: folds
Jerbo69 is disconnected
shysti said, "jerbo u luck box"
bart1956 is disconnected
Jerbo69 is connected
Pinbalhog [observer] said, "enjoyed it, gla greek and fook."
bart1956 is connected
bart1956: foldsdlgambit: folds
Jerbo69: calls 8000
shysti: raises 63982 to 79982 and is all-in
Jerbo69: calls 63982
"bart1956 said, "sorry"
shysti said, "WOW"
*** FLOP ***
[3c 5h Kd]
shysti said, "come on"
GreeK100 said, "HA"
shysti said, "see"
GreeK100 said, "HAHA"
*** TURN ***
[3c 5h Kd] [5d]
*** RIVER ***
[3c 5h Kd 5d] [8s]
dlgambit said, "gg shysti"
GreeK100 said, "gg shysti"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Jerbo69: shows [Kc 8h] (two pair, Kings and Eights)
shysti: shows [Jd Ah] (a pair of Fives)
Stryderman said, "gg"
Jerbo69 collected 165564 from pot

And thats how the cookie crumbles sometime in poker, had this guy gone out in 10th I would of still be in to go for 1st place...

Shysti

2006-06-16T10:23:00.000-07:00

Birthday boy!

Today is my 28th birthday, and I've decided to start up with poker again. Money management is a big issue with my poker 'career', I am a gambler by blood, and so it's very hard to adhere to the strict discipline it takes to practice proper BR management, but I will perservere!

Shysti

2006-06-05T14:06:00.000-07:00

Taking a break-

After memorial day, I've decided to cash out and take a break from poker. Having it available to you 24 hours day, is a bad thing. It wasn't that I was playing too much, it's just that I need a break from the emotional rollercoaster it can take you on.

I cashed out so that I could avoid the temptation all together. This by no means the end of my poker career, just a small hiatus. I'll be back shortly, after my sleeping patterns get back to normal, and I reevaluate my game.

Shysti

2006-05-27T00:45:00.000-07:00

Stars 500 + 30 Satelite, 12 + 1 double shoot out!

Well it's 3:43am and I just won my seat in the PokerStars million dollar tournament by playing a 13 double shoot out. It was very difficult at the first table as when we were down to 3 people I was short stacked, but I kept focused, and just listening to Rizen and the other great players in vent helped me stay disciplined and my mind on poker.

Needless to say I dominated shortly there after, and it wasn't even a good run of cards, just very solid poker. Then the next table, the players were super aggressive, I selectively picked my spots and took advantage of the good reads I had on almost all of them.

When it finally got down to heads up, my opponent was very straight forward passive tight aggressive player. When he had something he bet, when he didn't he would fold, when he had something big he would get even more aggressive. There was a lot of back and forth, mainly due to my fatigued at this point but Muxy and Apes helped me out and kept me focused!

And then it finally happened, here's the hand that won it for me. A little background first this guy earlier had pushed all in on me when i had top pair, and he showed the flush draw, so its a bit ironic that our last hand ended like this:

PokerStars Game #5065872531: Tournament #25418749, $12+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Match Round II, Level V (75/150) - 2006/05/27 - 03:33:24 (ET)Table '25418749 1' 8-max Seat #8 is the button

Seat 5: warrenb55 (5245 in chips)
Seat 8: shysti (6755 in chips)
shysti: posts small blind 75
warrenb55: posts big blind 150

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [Js Kd]
shysti: raises 300 to 450
warrenb55: calls 300
*** FLOP ***
[Kh 4h 3c]
warrenb55: checks
shysti: bets 550
warrenb55: raises 800 to 1350
shysti: raises 4955 to 6305 and is all-in
warrenb55: calls 3445 and is all-in
*** TURN ***
[Kh 4h 3c] [9d]
*** RIVER ***
[Kh 4h 3c 9d] [Td]
warrenb55 said, "gg
"*** SHOW DOWN ***
warrenb55: shows [6s 5c] (high card King)
shysti: shows [Js Kd] (a pair of Kings)
shysti collected 10490 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 10490 Rake 0 Board [Kh 4h 3c 9d Td]Seat 5: warrenb55 (big blind) showed [6s 5c] and lost with high card KingSeat 8: shysti (button) (small blind) showed [Js Kd] and won (10490) with a pair of Kings

The heads up I kept the pressure on him when I had position and through Muxy's advice I made sure to keep the pots small when I was out of position, I think around the time of this hand he was just fed up with me putting pressure on him and figured he could hit one of his many outs to take me down.

All and all a great game!

Shysti

2006-05-24T09:36:00.000-07:00

BR Management and grinding it out:

I spoke with hartlin from FTR (very good friend) about my problems with my game. Br management is something that I know what it is, how to do it, but just never follow it. I've come to the conclusion however, that it is a must, obviously.

Some people like me have to learn it the hard way, and I have. I was always hoping for that big score to set my bankroll up nicely so I can play at the level I want to play. However, this approach is a failing approach, and those of you who have this same mindset should definitely take heed, from one hard head to another.

So with those regards, there is something to be said about the good poker player who adheres to br management, and grinds his way to the level he wants to be at. Not only does it prevent you from going broke, but it gives you the experience you need to succeed once you do move up in levels.

I know logically, that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is maddening so I will stop my failing approach, and work toward a more balanced strategy and learn that grinding isn't all that bad.

Shysti

2006-05-22T16:02:00.000-07:00

40 FPP Satelite for the WSOP!

I took 1st today out of 1058 people in the WSOP satelite! It was awesome to say the least. I have Rizen to thank partially, for some reason after I railed him last night, it put me in the right frame of mind to play some very solid poker, perhaps some of the best I've played to date!

Here are some of the key hands that gave me my commanding victory! The top 10 got seats into the next satelite, and by the end my stack was almost 700k vs everyone else having around 200k.

PokerStars Game #5019087538: Tournament #25003578, 40FPP Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (100/200) - 2006/05/22 - 16:14:24 (ET)Table '25003578 73' 9-max Seat #9 is the button

Seat 1: getluckykid (3165 in chips) out of hand (moved from another table into small blind)
Seat 2: shysti (9395 in chips)
Seat 3: brandon759 (46280 in chips)
Seat 4: 7SeguinC (3412 in chips)
Seat 5: newportking (440 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 6: meanvee (12197 in chips)
Seat 7: VI-Stud (25605 in chips)
Seat 8: Brycedad (3455 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 9: BwAiNεο (3995 in chips)
shysti: posts the ante 25
brandon759: posts the ante 25
7SeguinC: posts the ante 25
newportking: posts the ante 25
meanvee: posts the ante 25
VI-Stud: posts the ante 25
Brycedad: posts the ante 25
BwAiNεο: posts the ante 25
shysti: posts small blind 100
brandon759: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [Tc Th]
7SeguinC: folds
newportking: folds
meanvee: folds
VI-Stud: folds
Brycedad: folds
BwAiNεο: folds
shysti: raises 500 to 700
brandon759: calls 500
*** FLOP *** [3s 6d 8c]
shysti: bets 1300
brandon759: raises 10100 to 11400
shysti: calls 7370 and is all-in
shysti said,"hold"
*** TURN *** [3s 6d 8c] [Ah]
*** RIVER *** [3s 6d 8c Ah] [3d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***shysti: shows [Tc Th] (two pair, Tens and Threes)
brandon759: shows [Kh 8h] (two pair, Eights and Threes)
shysti collected 18940 from pot

This was my one true suck out that probably won me the tournament:

PokerStars Game #5019748426: Tournament #25003578, 40FPP Hold'em No Limit - Level XI (600/1200) - 2006/05/22 - 17:21:21 (ET)
Table '25003578 73' 9-max Seat #3 is the button

Seat 2: shysti (26690 in chips)

Seat 3: oakeydoakey (84755 in chips)

Seat 4: yagger101 (50578 in chips)

Seat 5: ioniakid (39320 in chips)

Seat 6: meanvee (11110 in chips)

Seat 7: VI-Stud (16610 in chips)

Seat 8: Beast1968 (38645 in chips)

Seat 9: xxJimmyMacxx (80558 in chips)

shysti: posts the ante 75

oakeydoakey: posts the ante 75

yagger101: posts the ante 75

ioniakid: posts the ante 75
meanvee: posts the ante 75
VI-Stud: posts the ante 75

Beast1968: posts the ante 75

xxJimmyMacxx: posts the ante 75

yagger101: posts small blind 600

ioniakid: posts big blind 1200

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [Tc Ad]
meanvee: calls 1200
shysti: raises 1700 to 2900
oakeydoakey: folds
yagger101: folds
ioniakid: folds
meanvee: raises 8135 to 11035 and is all-in
kunjai is connected
shysti: calls 8135
yagger101 said, "im multi tasking : )
"yagger101 said, "haha"
yagger101 said, "ha"
yagger101 said, "h"
yagger101 said, "ah"
shysti said, "nh"
yagger101 said, "ah"
*** FLOP ***
[6h 4s As]
yagger101 said, "game"
yagger101 said, "set"
yagger101 said, "match"
*** TURN *** [6h 4s As] [Td]
shysti said, "nope"
yagger101 said, "rofl"
shysti said, "now it is"
*** RIVER *** [6h 4s As Td] [Ts]
yagger101 said, "nice"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
meanvee: shows [Qc Ah] (two pair, Aces and Tens)
shysti: shows [Tc Ad] (a full house, Tens full of Aces)
meanvee said, "nice"
shysti collected 24470 from pot

A stop n go:

PokerStars Game #5019889826: Tournament #25003578, 40FPP Hold'em No Limit - Level XII (1000/2000) - 2006/05/22 - 17:35:29 (ET)Table '25003578 66' 9-max Seat #5 is the button

Seat 1: brandon759 (69353 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 4: maximus4 (8902 in chips)
Seat 5: arsenal3 (106736 in chips)
Seat 6: roundrock (46702 in chips)
Seat 7: shysti (39575 in chips)
Seat 8: Valli69 (138297 in chips)
Seat 9: Johnycashed (155998 in chips)
brandon759: posts the ante 100
maximus4: posts the ante 100
arsenal3: posts the ante 100
roundrock: posts the ante 100
shysti: posts the ante 100
Valli69: posts the ante 100
Johnycashed: posts the ante 100
roundrock: posts small blind 1000
shysti: posts big blind 2000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [Ah Ks]
Valli69: calls 2000
Johnycashed: folds
brandon759: folds
maximus4: folds
arsenal3: calls 2000
roundrock: calls 1000
shysti: raises 10000 to 12000
Valli69: folds
arsenal3: folds
roundrock: calls 10000
*** FLOP *** [Td 9h 5c]
roundrock: checks
shysti: bets 27475 and is all-in
roundrock: folds <----He sat and thought about this for a while which made me nervous
shysti collected 28700 from pot

PokerStars Game #5020111385: Tournament #25003578, 40FPP Hold'em No Limit - Level XIII (1500/3000) - 2006/05/22 - 17:57:10 (ET)Table '25003578 66' 9-max Seat #6 is the button

Seat 1: brandon759 (19953 in chips)
Seat 3: pokerrvu (182187 in chips)
Seat 5: arsenal3 (56586 in chips)
Seat 6: roundrock (13325 in chips)
Seat 7: shysti (57825 in chips)
Seat 8: Valli69 (147197 in chips)
Seat 9: Johnycashed (196348 in chips)
brandon759: posts the ante 150
pokerrvu: posts the ante 150
arsenal3: posts the ante 150
roundrock: posts the ante 150
shysti: posts the ante 150
Valli69: posts the ante 150
Johnycashed: posts the ante 150
shysti: posts small blind 1500
Valli69: posts big blind 3000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [3s 5s]
Johnycashed: folds
brandon759: folds
pokerrvu: folds
arsenal3: folds
roundrock: folds
shysti: raises 6000 to 9000
Valli69: calls 6000
*** FLOP *** [4h 6d 7s]
shysti: bets 12000
Valli69: raises 126047 to 138047 and is all-in
shysti: calls 36675 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [4h 6d 7s] [Ah]
*** RIVER *** [4h 6d 7s Ah] [4d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
shysti: shows [3s 5s] (a straight, Three to Seven)
Valli69: shows [6c Ac] (two pair, Aces and Sixes)
shysti collected 116400 from pot
shysti said, "thanks"
Valli69 said, "nh"

Then the very next hand lol:

*********** # 2 **************PokerStars Game #5020120298: Tournament #25003578, 40FPP Hold'em No Limit - Level XIII (1500/3000) - 2006/05/22 - 17:58:02 (ET)Table '25003578 66' 9-max Seat #7 is the button

Seat 1: brandon759 (19803 in chips)
Seat 3: pokerrvu (182037 in chips)
Seat 5: arsenal3 (56436 in chips)
Seat 6: roundrock (13175 in chips)
Seat 7: shysti (116400 in chips)
Seat 8: Valli69 (89372 in chips)
Seat 9: Johnycashed (196198 in chips)
brandon759: posts the ante 150
pokerrvu: posts the ante 150
arsenal3: posts the ante 150
roundrock: posts the ante 150
shysti: posts the ante 150
Valli69: posts the ante 150
Johnycashed: posts the ante 150
Valli69: posts small blind 1500
Johnycashed: posts big blind 3000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [Ah Ad]
brandon759: calls 3000
pokerrvu: folds
yagger101 [observer] said, "johnnnnny"
arsenal3: folds
roundrock: calls 3000
shysti: raises 6000 to 9000
Valli69: raises 80222 to 89222 and is all-in
Johnycashed: folds
brandon759: folds
roundrock: folds
shysti: calls 80222
yagger101 [observer] said, "would seem"
Johnycashed said, "what's up man"
*** FLOP *** [4d Jd 5c]
shysti said, "lol"
arsenal3 said, "wow gg"
yagger101 [observer] said, "ull make it"
*** TURN *** [4d Jd 5c] [Th]
*** RIVER *** [4d Jd 5c Th] [9c]
yagger101 [observer] said, "my two favorite players"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Valli69: shows [Kh Ks] (a pair of Kings)
shysti: shows [Ah Ad] (a pair of Aces)
yagger101 [observer] said, "at the same table"
yagger101 [observer] said, ":)"
shysti collected 188494 from pot
yagger101 [observer] said, "lol"
yagger101 [observer] said, "shysta"

PokerStars Game #5020254018: Tournament #25003578, 40FPP Hold'em No Limit - Level XIV (2000/4000) - 2006/05/22 - 18:10:17 (ET)
Table '25003578 66' 9-max Seat #7 is the button

Seat 1: brandon759 (31606 in chips)
Seat 2: rick6furlong (25647 in chips)
Seat 3: pokerrvu (269137 in chips)
Seat 4: Beast1968 (56946 in chips)
Seat 6: xxJimmyMacxx (97169 in chips)
Seat 7: shysti (134519 in chips)
Seat 8: oakeydoakey (82389 in chips)
Seat 9: Johnycashed (267698 in chips)
brandon759: posts the ante 200
rick6furlong: posts the ante 200
pokerrvu: posts the ante 200
Beast1968: posts the ante 200
xxJimmyMacxx: posts the ante 200
shysti: posts the ante 200
oakeydoakey: posts the ante 200
Johnycashed: posts the ante 200
oakeydoakey: posts small blind 2000J
ohnycashed: posts big blind 4000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [4h 4d]
brandon759: folds
rick6furlong: folds
pokerrvu: raises 4000 to 8000
Beast1968: folds
xxJimmyMacxx: folds
shysti: calls 8000
oakeydoakey: folds
Johnycashed: calls 4000
*** FLOP *** [Qc 9h 4s]
Johnycashed: checks
pokerrvu: checks
shysti: bets 13000
Johnycashed: calls 13000
pokerrvu: calls 13000
*** TURN ***
[Qc 9h 4s] [8c]
Johnycashed: checks
pokerrvu: checks
shysti: bets 70000
Johnycashed: calls 70000
pokerrvu: folds
*** RIVER *** [Qc 9h 4s 8c] [Ac]
Johnycashed: bets 176498 and is all-in
shysti: calls 43319 and is all-in*
** SHOW DOWN ***Johnycashed: shows [Ks Qs] (a pair of Queens)
shysti: shows [4h 4d] (three of a kind, Fours)
shysti collected 293238 from pot

Here's the hand that stacked the chip leader giving me the huge chip lead and won after we had 10 left that got their seats into the bigger WSOP tournament:

PokerStars Game #5020425277: Tournament #25003578, 40FPP Hold'em No Limit - Level XV (3000/6000) - 2006/05/22 - 18:25:59 (ET)
Table '25003578 66' 9-max Seat #5 is the button

Seat 2: rick6furlong (31647 in chips)
Seat 3: pokerrvu (466322 in chips)
Seat 5: ficelle (36093 in chips)
Seat 6: xxJimmyMacxx (96669 in chips)
Seat 7: shysti (341484 in chips)
Seat 8: oakeydoakey (50189 in chips)
rick6furlong: posts the ante 300
pokerrvu: posts the ante 300
ficelle: posts the ante 300
xxJimmyMacxx: posts the ante 300
shysti: posts the ante 300
oakeydoakey: posts the ante 300
xxJimmyMacxx: posts small blind 3000
shysti: posts big blind 6000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [3c 3s]
oakeydoakey: folds
rick6furlong: folds
pokerrvu: calls 6000
ficelle: folds
xxJimmyMacxx: folds
shysti: checks
*** FLOP *** [Kd 3h 7s]
shysti: bets 10000
pokerrvu: calls 10000
*** TURN *** [Kd 3h 7s] [5s]
shysti: bets 30000
pokerrvu: calls 30000
*** RIVER *** [Kd 3h 7s 5s] [4c]
shysti: bets 295184 and is all-in
pokerrvu: calls 295184
*** SHOW DOWN ***
shysti: shows [3c 3s] (three of a kind, Threes)
pokerrvu: shows [Kc 8c] (a pair of Kings)
shysti collected 687168 from pot
hartlis1 [observer] said, "LOL"

And that was all she wrote folks! Great tournament, now I am debating if I want to parlay this win into a seat at the WSOP, or just take the 4,000 FPP...decisions, decisions.

Shysti

2006-05-22T10:26:00.000-07:00

Rizen!
If there is one word to sum of this heck of a poker player it would be "Machine"!
Not only is he my new role model, but the fact whenever I see him in a tournament online, he is usually in a good standing to make it to the end!

And that's exactly what happened last night on Poker Star's one million dollar tournament. I started railing this machine when there were only 32 people left out of a field of over 5,000 people! I saw him and his chip stack, even though it wasn't large in comparison to other's left, and I knew he was going to take first.

I hopped onto Ventrillo to chat with him and found the whole channel full of everyone supporting and watching him. I was falling asleep at my desk during the final table but I persevered and watched him wear down this guy, gardener52 and won!!!!
He made last night more than some of us make in over 3 years! He also took 6th on UB during the same time he was final tabling Stars for over 8k!

You can see the full article here: www.pocketfives.com

What a great poker player. I wish you luck rizen in the WSOP, since you've already won your seat on stars, you will be the next guy on the poker stars commercial I bet !

2006-05-07T21:09:00.000-07:00

This game...

Is such an emotional game! In that someone like me who is normally rational and logical, becomes very emotional to the point where it affects my play. I'd like to think I am a decent player but when I look deep down I realize that I have such a long way to go to reach my goals.

Being disciplined, determined, and not letting emotion take hold are proving to be more difficulte than I first percieved. But I am a very patient man, when it does come a time where I am winning more consistently than not, I'll look back at this see just how far I've come. Until then, I wait, learn, adjust and move on.

Shysti

2006-05-02T23:03:00.000-07:00

Shysti's Adventures into NL Ring Games!

I had some fairly decent success tonight trying ring games. I figured I could still play and not have to stay up to 4am like i do in the tournies at night...

Well here are some of the hands from tonight:
http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/forum/poker-34288.htm

2006-05-02T10:39:00.000-07:00

Final Table finish...

Played in a 3.30 MTT on stars last night, 1629 entrants, I made it to the final table. I wanted to take down 1st but I am not sure about the play that went down in the hand I busted out, I'll have to discuss it on www.flopturnriver.com to get some opinions.

I finished in 9th...not bad!

Shysti

p.s HOH2 really does help you brush up your game on certain points you may have forgotten. I think b/c I reread this for the 1st time in a long time, it helped me make the final table. I look forward to HOH3 this month!

2006-04-26T13:02:00.000-07:00

Frustrated!!!

Played in a 3.30 rebuy 20,000 guaranteed last night...

I only bought in 4 times and by the 1st break I was at 22,000 in chips before the add on. I figured with this kind of stack I could go deep! 1st place was offering 5,980.00 or around that amt!

I wanted this win so bad I could taste it. We started with around 1826 people and it got down to the last 110 of us, my stack was around 108,000k, I was sitting pretty but looking to double up badly.

People in the running for the final table were at 300k in chips or more. I was getting cold cards after cold cards, and it was really testing my patience as others at the table were aggressively putting on the pressure to build their stacks, while I was sitting there helpless getting bad cards.

Finally in the sb I pick up JJ, and figure this is the hand I will have to try to double up with so I raise 24k, the bb goes all in, it cost me my whole stack but I call. He turns over AK, and the flop comes 787 2 clubs, and then the devasting turn that dashed my dreams of this big win (for me) K hits and Im out !

I was furious, not about the hand but the bad luck, I was a tiny fav not much and my luckbox didn't hold out, he went on to enjoy a 222k stack while I went to bed frustrated.

After all that work this is what I got:

PokerStars Tournament #23515239, No Limit Hold'emBuy-In: $3.00/$0.30
1826 players Total Prize Pool: $26949.00
Tournament started - 2006/04/25 - 20:15:00 (ET)

Dear shysti,You finished the tournament in 108th place. A $26.95 award has been credited to your Real Money account...

I just checked the poker db to see who won:

I guess it was this kid's day-

Viewing Player: --x11--
Total Winnings: $6,712 Total Final Tables: 2
Date
Tournament/Event
Place
Winnings
04/25/2006
Hold'em NL $3+Rebuys
1
$5,929
04/25/2006
Hold'em NL $3+Rebuys
168
$24
04/23/2006
Hold'em NL $10
111
$18
04/15/2006
Hold'em NL $10
4
$707
04/01/2006
Hold'em NL $5
171
$8
03/30/2006
Hold'em NL $10
54
$27

only 2 final tables...

Anyhow, I will still preservere and continue on my quest, I really am not upset about how I went out, but still it would of been nice to take down that tourny. There's always next time. I am rereading HOH2 right now and noting any mistakes I make in my late game to close the gap between the field and final table.

2006-04-23T03:48:00.000-07:00

Woot for baby steps! -

Woot for baby steps! PokerStars Tournament #23544843, No Limit Hold'em Buy-In: $20.00/$2.00 180 players Total Prize Pool: $3600.00 Tournament started - 2006/04/22 - 21:54:39

(ET) Dear shysti, You finished the tournament in 4th place.
A $288.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

Thank you for participating. PokerStars Tournament #23559749, No Limit Hold'em Buy-In: $4.00/$0.40 180 players Total Prize Pool: $720.00 Tournament started - 2006/04/23 - 02:43:16

(ET) Dear shysti, You finished the tournament in 8th place.
A $18.72 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

Thank you for participating. PokerStars Tournament #23559067, No Limit Hold'em Buy-In: $4.00/$0.40 180 players Total Prize Pool: $720.00 Tournament started - 2006/04/23 - 02:28:09 (ET)

Dear shysti, You finished the tournament in 1st place.

A $216.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account. You earned 218.47 tournament leader points in this tournament.

04/23 /06 Current Bankroll: $653.10
Finally pass $500 mark this is a milestone, considering last night I donked away a good chunk of this on tilt yet again, this morning was down to $133.00 around there :( But I got rid of the tilt freshened up and played my A game and it paid off!

shysti

2006-04-21T12:49:00.000-07:00

Tried 4 tabling again for the 2nd time-

I enjoyed it, I was actually able to handle them! I came in 1, 2, 3 and busted out in 5th. Still, it was great I might try this more often.

Tonight if I don't head out to Cubik, then I am thinking of doing 2 MTT's at once, normally I like to do these one at a time because they require so much concentration but they also take so long and there are only so many hours within the night.

Anyhow, I hope the cards are nice tonight.

Ciao,

Shysti

2006-04-19T08:54:00.000-07:00

Donking about -200 or so and the recovery!

Ok trying to follow BR management is kicking my ass! On one hand I know I can play at the higher levels than the 5.50, 11 games, so I've been experimenting with the 20 + 2 games be it sng or mtt's. I am doing fairly well but things like last night happen where I played my normal solid game but the cards just weren't falling right so before you know it, my BR went from 486, to 286 or somethin like that I think. I don't think it was that bad but anyhow, before bed I was like I know I shouldn't play anymore and call it quits, but screw that I want to get my money back!

I had no distractions, I wasn't cooking dinner, the baby and girlfriend were asleep, it was time to play some poker. As I was shifting through Stars many selections, I knew I couldn't stay up long enough for a true MTT, and I grow bored of Sng's so I played a 2 table Sng', which struck the right cord for me. I joined a 30 + 3 one just to see how I would do at that level again, last time I did excellent and actually like the feel of the game so I figured why not.

It was 18 players and well I had an excellent time taking 1st for $216.00 :D I gambled a few hands in this tourny, only because I felt the desire to, with that said here are some of the highlights:

PokerStars Game #4673854235: Tournament #23334832, $30+$3 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2006/04/19 - 02:50:10 (ET)Table '23334832 1' 9-max Seat #1 is the button

Seat 1: Abou George (1790 in chips)
Seat 3: krlangers (2290 in chips)
Seat 4: swordpoker (1450 in chips)
Seat 5: shysti (1640 in chips)
Seat 6: In the Zone1 (1450 in chips)
Seat 7: Melk Money (1440 in chips)
Seat 8: wpr101 (1630 in chips)
Seat 9: perm1000 (1810 in chips
)krlangers: posts small blind 15
swordpoker: posts big blind 30

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [Qh Qc]
shysti: raises 30 to 60
In the Zone1: calls 60
Melk Money: folds
wpr101: foldsperm1000: folds
Abou George: foldskrlangers: folds
swordpoker: raises 180 to 240
shysti: raises 435 to 675
In the Zone1: folds
swordpoker: calls 435
*** FLOP *** [Ts 3h 6d]
swordpoker: checks
shysti: bets 965 and is all-in
swordpoker: folds
shysti collected 1425 from pot
shysti: doesn't show hand

*********** # 17 **************
PokerStars Game #4673890040: Tournament #23334832, $30+$3 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2006/04/19 - 02:57:28 (ET)Table '23334832 1' 9-max Seat #1 is the button

Seat 1: Abou George (1910 in chips)
Seat 5: shysti (2300 in chips)
Seat 6: In the Zone1 (1075 in chips)
seat 7: Melk Money (2575 in chips)
Seat 8: wpr101 (1510 in chips)
Seat 9: perm1000 (1810 in chips)
shysti: posts small blind 15
In the Zone1: posts big blind 30

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [Qh Qc]
Melk Money: calls 30
wpr101: folds
perm1000: calls 30
Abou George: folds
shysti: raises 80 to 110
In the Zone1: folds
Melk Money: calls 80
perm1000: calls 80

*** FLOP ***
[9s Qd Kd]
shysti: bets 260
Melk Money: folds
perm1000: calls 260
*** TURN *** [9s Qd Kd] [9c]
shysti: checks
perm1000: checks
*** RIVER *** [9s Qd Kd 9c] [Jh]
shysti: bets 300
perm1000: calls 300
*** SHOW DOWN ***
shysti: shows [Qh Qc] (a full house, Queens full of Nines)
perm1000: mucks hand
shysti collected 1480 from pot

*********** # 18 **************
PokerStars Game #4673896987: Tournament #23334832, $30+$3 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2006/04/19 - 02:58:56 (ET)Table '23334832 1' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: Abou George (1910 in chips)
Seat 5: shysti (3110 in chips)
Seat 6: In the Zone1 (1045 in chips)
Seat 7: Melk Money (2465 in chips)
Seat 8: wpr101 (1510 in chips)
Seat 9: perm1000 (1140 in chips)
In the Zone1: posts small blind 15
Melk Money: posts big blind 30

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [Ah Kc]
wpr101: folds
perm1000: folds
Abou George: raises 60 to 90
shysti: calls 90
In the Zone1: calls 75
shysti said, "dude sit out"
shysti said, "if you arent going to play"
Melk Money has timed out
Melk Money: folds
*** FLOP ***
[7c 9d 8s]
Melk Money is sitting out
Melk Money has returned
In the Zone1: bets 180
Abou George: calls 180
shysti: raises 320 to 500
In the Zone1: calls 320
Abou George: folds

*** TURN *** [7c 9d 8s] [3h]
In the Zone1: bets 455 and is all-in
shysti: calls 455
*** RIVER *** [7c 9d 8s 3h] [5h]
shysti said, "gg"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
In the Zone1: shows [Js Ac] (high card Ace)
shysti: shows [Ah Kc] (high card Ace - King kicker)
shysti collected 2390 from pot

*********** # 40 **************
PokerStars Game #4674019143: Tournament #23334832, $30+$3 Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2006/04/19 - 03:24:28 (ET)Table '23334832 1' 9-max Seat #8 is the button

Seat 1: Abou George (830 in chips)
Seat 2: badazzbob (3820 in chips)
Seat 3: zeree (7065 in chips)
Seat 4: krlangers (7330 in chips)
Seat 5: shysti (3755 in chips)
Seat 8: wpr101 (2445 in chips)
Seat 9: perm1000 (1755 in chips)

perm1000: posts small blind 75
Abou George: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to shysti [5c 5d]
badazzbob said, "vnh"
shysti said, "**** u flopped that"
shysti said, "call lee jones"
badazzbob said, "congrats!!"
badazzbob: folds
shysti said, "WOW"
zeree: folds
shysti said, " he flopped it"
shysti said, "not caught it"
shysti said, "flopped it"
zeree said, "ive never seen /done that"
krlangers said, "that was fun 2 watch"
krlangers: folds
shysti said, "well he has the ballons to celebrate"
shysti said, "lol"
shysti: raises 300 to 450
wpr101: folds
shysti said, "and you got paid off it"
shysti said, "wow"
zeree said, "f--k i was hopin someone could get quads"
zeree said, "lol"
perm1000: folds
Abou George: raises 380 to 830 and is all-in
shysti: calls 380
*** FLOP ***
[Ah 5h 9d]
zeree said, "that looked sweet"
shysti said, "yep"
*** TURN *** [Ah 5h 9d] [4d]
shysti said, "knew my set was coming"
*** RIVER *** [Ah 5h 9d 4d] [8s]
shysti said, "gg"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Abou George: shows [Jd Jc] (a pair of Jacks)
shysti: shows [5c 5d] (three of a kind, Fives)
krlangers said, "ive been beat with quads by str8 flush"
shysti collected 1735 from pot

*********** # 44 **************
PokerStars Game #4674035219: Tournament #23334832, $30+$3 Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2006/04/19 - 03:28:11 (ET)Table '23334832 1' 9-max Seat #4 is the button

Seat 2: badazzbob (3895 in chips)
Seat 3: zeree (7140 in chips)
Seat 4: krlangers (7105 in chips)
Seat 5: shysti (4510 in chips)
Seat 8: wpr101 (2445 in chips)
Seat 9: perm1000 (1905 in chips)
shysti: posts small blind 75
wpr101: posts big blind 150

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [Jh Kc]
badazzbob said, "good"krlangers said, "cant pick up my cards"
shysti said, "lol"
badazzbob said, "lol"
krlangers said, "they just wont cum up off the table"
perm1000: folds
badazzbob: raises 300 to 450
zeree: folds
krlangers: folds
shysti: raises 500 to 950
wpr101: folds
badazzbob: calls 500

*** FLOP *** [5d 9c Qd]
shysti: bets 950
badazzbob: folds
shysti collected 2050 from pot
shysti: doesn't show hand

PokerStars Game #4674060184: Tournament #23334832, $30+$3 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2006/04/19 - 03:34:11 (ET)Table '23334832 1' 9-max Seat #5 is the button

Seat 2: badazzbob (2345 in chips)
Seat 3: zeree (7040 in chips)
Seat 4: krlangers (7105 in chips)
Seat 5: shysti (5310 in chips)
Seat 8: wpr101 (2845 in chips)
Seat 9: perm1000 (2355 in chips)
wpr101: posts small blind 100
perm1000: posts big blind 200

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [5s 5d]
shysti said, "and i must punish him for that crime"
badazzbob: folds
zeree said, "so...the bad guys always take the lead"
badazzbob said, "lol"
zeree: raises 600 to 800
krlangers: folds
krlangers said, "wots ur theme song"
shysti: raises 1000 to 1800
wpr101: folds
shysti said, "green acres"
shysti said, "is my theme song"
perm1000: foldszeree: calls 1000
*** FLOP *** [Tc 4d 7h]
zeree: checks
shysti: bets 1900
krlangers said, "look a rabbit.. (quick, take his chips!)"
zeree: folds
shysti collected 3900 from pot
shysti said, "WHEW"
shysti: doesn't show hand

*********** # 61 **************
PokerStars Game #4674102116: Tournament #23334832, $30+$3 Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (100/200) - 2006/04/19 - 03:44:51 (ET)Table '23334832 1' 9-max Seat #3 is the button

Seat 2: badazzbob (1970 in chips
)Seat 3: zeree (2780 in chips)
Seat 4: krlangers (12280 in chips)
Seat 5: shysti (6320 in chips)
Seat 8: wpr101 (1970 in chips)
Seat 9: perm1000 (1680 in chips)
badazzbob: posts the ante 25
zeree: posts the ante 25
krlangers: posts the ante 25
shysti: posts the ante 25
wpr101: posts the ante 25
perm1000: posts the ante 25
krlangers: posts small blind 100
shysti: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [2d 6h]
zeree said, "bully"
zeree said, " lol"
wpr101: folds
perm1000: fold
szeree said, "5-6 over cards"
badazzbob: folds
zeree: folds
zeree said, "lol"
krlangers said, "o :) who me?"
krlangers: calls 100
shysti: checks
*** FLOP *** [As Td 3s]
krlangers: checks
zeree said, "yep"
shysti: bets 400
krlangers: calls 400
*** TURN *** [As Td 3s] [Ah]
krlangers: checks
shysti: bets 780
krlangers: folds
shysti collected 1350 from pot
shysti: shows [2d 6h] (a pair of Aces)

This is by far my fav hand here even though I took a gamble because I told the table I was going to take this dude out when other's tried to take him out and only doubled him up. I said it was meant for me to do it and well here ya go:

*********** # 63 **************
PokerStars Game #4674108954: Tournament #23334832, $30+$3 Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (100/200) - 2006/04/19 - 03:46:40 (ET)Table '23334832 1' 9-max Seat #5 is the button

Seat 2: badazzbob (1920 in chips)
Seat 3: zeree (2730 in chips)
Seat 4: krlangers (9710 in chips)
Seat 5: shysti (6820 in chips)
Seat 8: wpr101 (4190 in chips)
Seat 9: perm1000 (1630 in chips)
badazzbob: posts the ante 25
zeree: posts the ante 25
krlangers: posts the ante 25
shysti: posts the ante 25
wpr101: posts the ante 25
perm1000: posts the ante 25
wpr101: posts small blind 100
perm1000: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [7d 8s]
badazzbob: folds
wpr101 said, "ty"
shysti said, "knew i should of saw th eturn"
zeree: folds
krlangers: folds
shysti said, "turn"
shysti: raises 400 to 600
wpr101: folds
krlangers said, "hay... i tried"
perm1000 said, "heres your shot shysti"
krlangers said, "i neva claimed 2 be a superhero though"
perm1000: raises 1005 to 1605 and is all-in
shysti: calls 1005
shysti said, "lets gamble"
*** FLOP *** [Qh 7s 7h]
krlangers said, "78"
krlangers said, "78"
krlangers said, "78"
krlangers said, "78"
shysti said, "bam"
*** TURN *** [Qh 7s 7h] [Kh]
badazzbob said, "yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"
krlangers said, "yeah baby"
shysti said, "told u"
*** RIVER *** [Qh 7s 7h Kh] [3s]
badazzbob said, "gg"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
perm1000: shows [Jd Jh] (two pair, Jacks and Sevens)
shysti: shows [7d 8s] (three of a kind, Sevens)
shysti said, "i was meant to take u out"
shysti said, "gg"
wpr101 said, "nh"badazzbob
said, "vn"
shysti collected 3460 from pot
badazzbob said, "yes"
badazzbob said, "finally"
zeree said, "lol u did it"

*********** # 64 **************
PokerStars Game #4674113019: Tournament #23334832, $30+$3 Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (100/200) - 2006/04/19 - 03:47:43 (ET)Table '23334832 1' 9-max Seat #8 is the button

Seat 2: badazzbob (1895 in chips)
Seat 3: zeree (2705 in chips)
Seat 4: krlangers (9685 in chips)
Seat 5: shysti (8650 in chips)
Seat 8: wpr101 (4065 in chips)
badazzbob: posts the ante 25
zeree: posts the ante 25
krlangers: posts the ante 25
shysti: posts the ante 25
wpr101: posts the ante 25
badazzbob: posts small blind 100
zeree: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [7s 6s]
krlangers said, "vnh"
shysti said, "i told u"
shysti said, "haha"
shysti said, "i know my poker"
krlangers: calls 200
badazzbob said, "lol"
shysti: raises 400 to 600
wpr101: folds
badazzbob: folds
zeree said, "he tried to sucker you and u did it"
krlangers said, "really... wots his name"
shysti said, "i was going to"
shysti said, "regardless"
zeree: calls 400
krlangers: calls 400
*** FLOP *** [9h 6c 8s]
zeree: checks
zeree said, "lol"
krlangers: checks
zeree said, "lol"
zeree said, ";p;"
shysti: bets 1000
zeree: folds
krlangers: folds
shysti collected 2025 from pot
shysti: shows [7s 6s] (a pair of Sixes)

This is the hand that did it for me though:
*********** # 65 **************
PokerStars Game #4674115826: Tournament #23334832, $30+$3 Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (100/200) - 2006/04/19 - 03:48:27 (ET)Table '23334832 1' 9-max Seat #2 is the button

Seat 2: badazzbob (1770 in chips)
Seat 3: zeree (2080 in chips)
Seat 4: krlangers (9060 in chips)
Seat 5: shysti (10050 in chips)
Seat 8: wpr101 (4040 in chips)
badazzbob: posts the ante 25
zeree: posts the ante 25
krlangers: posts the ante 25
shysti: posts the ante 25
wpr101: posts the ante 25
zeree: posts small blind 100
krlangers: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [Kh Kc]
shysti: raises 400 to 600
wpr101: folds
badazzbob: folds
zeree: raises 1455 to 2055 and is all-in
krlangers: raises 1455 to 3510
shysti: raises 6515 to 10025 and is all-in
krlangers: calls 5525 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [3s 7h 5d]
shysti said, "no ace"
badazzbob said, "wow"
badazzbob said, "hold"
shysti said, "stay low"
badazzbob said, "hold"
*** TURN *** [3s 7h 5d] [2s]
shysti said, "stay low"
wpr101 said, "hold"
*** RIVER *** [3s 7h 5d 2s] [8h]
badazzbob said, "no 4"
shysti said, "woot"
shysti said, "haha"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
krlangers: shows [As Kd] (high card Ace)
shysti: shows [Kh Kc] (a pair of Kings)
badazzbob said, "wooooooooooot"
krlangers said, "gg"
shysti collected 13960 from side pot
zeree: shows [Ad Ts] (high card Ace)
shysti collected 6290 from main pot
badazzbob said, "vnh"
shysti said, "u guys are welcome"

*********** # 72 **************
PokerStars Game #4674123995: Tournament #23334832, $30+$3 Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (100/200) - 2006/04/19 - 03:50:37 (ET)Table '23334832 1' 9-max Seat #5 is the button

Seat 2: badazzbob (1370 in chips)
Seat 5: shysti (21840 in chips)
Seat 8: wpr101 (3790 in chips)
badazzbob: posts the ante 25
shysti: posts the ante 25
wpr101: posts the ante 25
wpr101: posts small blind 100
badazzbob: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [Ac Qh]
shysti: calls 200
wpr101: folds
badazzbob: raises 1145 to 1345 and is all-in
shysti: calls 1145
shysti said, "gl"
*** FLOP *** [2d Kc 7s]
*** TURN *** [2d Kc 7s] [Jc]
*** RIVER *** [2d Kc 7s Jc] [As]
shysti said, "lol"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
badazzbob: shows [Td Jh] (a pair of Jacks)
shysti: shows [Ac Qh] (a pair of Aces)
shysti said, "gg"
badazzbob said, "gg"
wpr101 said, "gg"
shysti collected 2865 from pot

Now the guy I ended up heads up with barely played any hands at all, all tourny, he just sat back and let everone take each other out and picked up a few pots here and there to keep him in the game, during the heads up he was a very solid player. I almost thought I couldn't beat him, but alas I won!

Anyhow, I don't have the last hand in my email but I had K5 with the 5 being a spade and the board came with 3 spades, he kept betting I just called, for some reason I felt my spade was good and he went all in on the river, and by then I had the flush so I called. He turned over K10 for pair kings and I won it with the flush!

PokerStars Tournament #23334832,
No Limit Hold'emBuy-In: $30.00/$3.00
18 players
Total Prize Pool: $540.00
Tournament started - 2006/04/19 - 02:39:26

(ET)Dear shysti,You finished the tournament in 1st place.
A $216.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account.Congratulations!Thank you for participating.

After this I went to sleep, ending my night on a good note :D

Shysti

2006-04-16T16:27:00.000-07:00

Highlights and disappointments-

Played 20 + 2 180 and final tabled / but came in 9th ..
Played a 27+2 9 man satelite for a buyin of $t215 to the 1,000,000 guaranteed and won it! / but busted directly after the break sigh...
Won a 18 man 11 sng for $72
Came in 3rd in a 5.50 45 man sng...
Edit: Played a 20 + 2 with 836 people came in 10th! / but missed the final table due to one hand, Im looking for it to post it

Shysti

2006-04-13T13:27:00.000-07:00

Final Table!

Well nothing big but I was in PS $4.40 yesterday and the day before. The day before was devasting!

I was 2nd in chip command out of the entire tourny, we had 19 people left, the bubble was at 19! 18 people get paid. The guy in last place was at our table he only had 600 in chips, I had 35k, so you have an idea of the ratio and the kind of hurt he was in! I gave him some words of encouragement like hang in there man, if one more person goes out youre in the money!

Well...life not being without a sense of irony, I would be dealt 1010 on the very next hand UTG, so I put in a standard raise of 4x bb to chase all but a few hands away or even just take down the blinds which would the optimal result.

Well the chip leader who barely had me covered, miniraises me so I call to see a flop. Flop comes Q 10 2, EUREKA! I think wow I hit a set, here's my chance to seriously hurt the chip leader. So I act first by checking, he puts in a small bet, I reraise, he reraises me all in so I have to call in this situation!

HE TURNS OVER QQ !!! hAHAHHAHA is all i could do sigh, I was so hurt, and just like that I went out from 2nd to the bubble, and well that guy with 600 chips? He went on to finish 17th, in the money gg!

Now even more ironic, last night I was sitting at 30k yet again, just 19 of us left, I was 2nd in chip command AGAIN! This time I played tight, folded em hold em with a little aggression and made the final table. I went out in 5th place due to my JJ running into 1010, which flopped a set, and then quads by the river!

lol it was a great time, even though the tourny ended at 4:3oish am in the morn and I had to wake up 5hours later for work! I really should sleep at some point...

PokerStars Tournament #22988635, No Limit Hold'emBuy-In: $4.00/$0.40180 players
Total Prize Pool: $720.00
Tournament started - 2006/04/13 - 01:07:10 (ET)

Dear shysti,You finished the tournament in 5th place. A $46.80 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

1st these, next the PS $20 + 2 180 man tournies, 1st place 1080.00, will be mine!!

Shysti

2006-04-06T19:04:00.000-07:00

The big initial deposit!

So here I am about to do something very serious regarding my poker life. I am going to deposit $500.00 to start my roll again! This time no ring games, just sng and mtt's! So wish me luck!

Shysti

2006-04-06T09:18:00.000-07:00

No more Bad Beat stories!

I've made a promise to myself, that I will not post anymore bad beat stories. Simply put, they do nothing but reeniforce the negative things I want to get rid of in my game. I am trying to approach my game from a completely different "thinking out of the box" way.

My discipline in BR management is where I need to focus though, and that's where I will be focusing in the near future.

Shysti

2006-04-04T18:30:00.000-07:00

The long run...

I just played in a turbo tournament and... I never played one hand *I was cooking dinner again*. So I get KK and decided to go all the way with it since the blinds were already at 50/100.

PokerStars Game #4523297171: Tournament #22379909, Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2006/04/04 - 21:24:10 (ET)Table '22379909 174' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: markuspokus (6550 in chips)
Seat 2: TATE511 (1520 in chips)
Seat 3: dave2255 (1445 in chips)
Seat 4: daddylovesya (1470 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 5: MR. PEYTON (3645 in chips)
Seat 6: Reese718 (1390 in chips)
Seat 7: heg240sx (3765 in chips)
Seat 8: shysti (1305 in chips)
Seat 9: Squoidster (3295 in chips)
Squoidster: posts small blind 50
markuspokus: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [Ks Kd]
TATE511: calls 100
dave2255: calls 100
daddylovesya: folds
MR. PEYTON: folds
Reese718: foldsheg240sx: folds
shysti: raises 300 to 400
Squoidster: folds
markuspokus: folds
TATE511: folds
dave2255: calls 300

*** FLOP *** [6s 9h 4s]
dave2255: bets 1045 and is all-in
shysti: calls 905 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [6s 9h 4s] [Qc] <----Even though I am ahead it's gotten to the point where I just assume he is going to suck out on me, b/c it seems to happen more so than not online...

*** RIVER *** [6s 9h 4s Qc] [Ah] <-----Oh look what he conviently catches to bust me out yet again...
*** SHOW DOWN ***
dave2255: shows [9d Ac] (two pair, Aces and Nines)
shysti: shows [Ks Kd] (a pair of Kings)
dave2255 collected 2860 from pot

Now I try to shrug this off all the time but seriously where is this "long run"where I'll get paid off more often than not? I suppose I'll see that 3 years from now, because this seems to be the norm for my tournaments online...

Blah

Shysti

2006-04-04T11:11:00.000-07:00

Inspiration!

So I was on FTR yesterday and to my amazement Lampchopdc (of FTR) won 90k on PS sunday 200 + 15 tournament!!!

I cannot tell you how I feel about this! It excites me and it's not even me who won! It only provides light for me at the end of the tunnel! That for as many times I just knew my good hand was going to be busted by the river and elminating me from any given tournament, I know now that if I just preservere and continue on my path that maybe one day I'll experience what he did!

You can find the excitement and links here:

http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/forum/poker-32370.htm

This is the thread that shows him making it to the FT

http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/forum/poker-32444.htm

Here's him thanking everyone for their support and what he plans to do!

Just freakin awesome!

Shysti

2006-04-03T16:29:00.000-07:00

Bust!

There's no shame for me (must humble myself) in saying that I've busted my $110.00 roll, again the lack of BR discipline and trying to find my NICHE in online poker is becoming quite the journey!

I think if I am to be serious about this, that discipline MUST be enforced (you wouldn't think this would be a problem from an ex army soldier sigh). I've been studying my HH but I think I'll finally get Poker Tracker so I can keep accurate records.

What I plan to do this week is deposit $440.00 (100 buy ins) for PS $4.40 180 MTT's, and give it a go at these. 1st place is $216 (approx 47 - 48 buyins), so I think it's worth the play if I can just remember that some of the fish there WILL suck out on me, I WILL catch bad beats, and I will make bad plays myself.

Proper rest (because I never really get it) is king here, and getting in the zone (like me takin 15th place out of 1337 people 2 days ago in a mtt).

Anyhow, that's on the horizon for me next. I love MTT's more so than any other form of poker so I think this may go well, if I can remember to enforce SELF DISCIPLINE.

Shystis

2006-03-29T08:37:00.000-08:00

Adaptation, The Bully, and learning to Tango...

I learned a few valuable lessons last night in one out of the four SnG's I played. I mean these lessons were things I knew, but were actually put to the test last night during the tourny. I was in a Sng, but during it I was busy cooking dinner, cleaning my area around my desk, generally not paying attention - which I hate to do while I play!

Soon I was finally able to hunker down and get to busy, what I had failed to realize was how tough the table actually was, I mean there were questionable plays by more than a few of the players but the overall condition at the table was tight, solid play. Even more so, was a player who stood out as the designated table aggressor.

To my dismay, he was position directly to my right, meaning he acted after me on every hand! At first I thought, meh just another aggro player who thinks he can come over the top of everyone and end up winning this thing, I'll show him! And that attitude almost cost me the tournament (well I didn't take 1st, so I'll tell you that) meaning it almost caused me to bust out, not in the money.

I had to stop, catch myself, and adapt! I watched him like a hawk! I also noticed something very interesting, while he was dominating other players there was one player at the table he feared, the guy directly to my left! So here I was in between to very solid players, one tight solid, one super aggressive, and both in the wrong seats! I needed to desperately to switch seats so I could play my normal Sng game! But this was impossible, so I needed to adjust, adapt and find a strategy that would work for me!

By no means do I consider myself a "great" player, so I question some of the plays I made during this Sng, so when I post the HH, don't be surprised if you see a few mistakes, as I know there were many!

But to give an idea of this guy I'll post a few HH to show his aggression, and to show how I decided patience would be my greatest weapon against him.

PokerStars Game #4449307528: Tournament #22129127, Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2006/03/28 - 23:27:16 (ET)Table '22129127 1' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: shysti (1940 in chips) <----he views me as a weak passive player...
Seat 2: Le Marocain (4095 in chips) <----look at his stack compared to everyone else's
Seat 4: gdennen (1455 in chips)
Seat 6: philaboy78 (1740 in chips)
Seat 7: Tater16 (1870 in chips)
Seat 8: Kelly0715 (1715 in chips)
Seat 9: papa47 (685 in chips) <------Here's is the other solid player that Le Marcoain fears later

shysti: posts small blind 50
Le Marocain: posts big blind 100

*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to shysti [8c 9d]
gdennen: folds
philaboy78: folds
Tater16: calls 100
Kelly0715: folds
papa47: folds
shysti: calls 50
Le Marocain: checks

*** FLOP *** [Ad Qs 6c]
shysti: checks
Le Marocain: checks
Tater16: checks

*** TURN *** [Ad Qs 6c [Qh]
shysti: bets 175 <-------------I know I don't have jack in this hand and should of checked it down, but I figured I could toss in a bet just to see what he was about and him being him he came over the top of me. That being his greatest strength would also be his greatest weakness, because he became predictable. I was paying for info here more than anything, such as how he views me, what he will do in future hands with me etc etc.

LeMarocain: raises 325 to 500
Tater16: folds
shysti said, "lol i know u dont have it"
shysti: folds
Le Marocain collected 650 from pot
shysti said, "but we'll tango later"
Le Marocain: doesn't show hand

The very next hand is what made Papa a contender later on and a force to be reckoned with:

PokerStars Game #4449318845: Tournament #22129127, Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2006/03/28 - 23:28:08 (ET)Table '22129127 1' 9-max Seat #1 is the button

Seat 1: shysti (1665 in chips)
Seat 2: Le Marocain (4470 in chips)
Seat 4: gdennen (1455 in chips)
Seat 6: philaboy78 (1740 in chips)
Seat 7: Tater16 (1770 in chips)
Seat 8: Kelly0715 (1715 in chips)
Seat 9: papa47 (685 in chips)

Le Marocain: posts small blind 50
gdennen: posts big blind 100

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [5s 2h]
philaboy78: raises 100 to 200
Tater16: calls 200
Kelly0715: folds
papa47: calls 200
shysti: folds
Le Marocain: calls 150
gdennen: calls 100

*** FLOP *** [6d 5h Qh]
Le Marocain: checks
gdennen: checks
philaboy78: bets 200
Tater16: folds
papa47: calls 200
Le Marocain: raises 200 to 400
gdennen: folds
philaboy78: calls 200
papa47: raises 85 to 485 and is all-in
Le Marocain: calls 85
philaboy78: calls 85

* TURN *** [6d 5h Qh] [Qc]
Le Marocain: checks
philaboy78: bets 200
Le Marocain: calls 200

*** RIVER *** [6d 5h Qh Qc] [9h]
Le Marocain: checks
philaboy78: bets 200
Le Marocain: calls 200

*** SHOW DOWN ***
philaboy78: shows [Ac Qd] (three of a kind, Queens)
Le Marocain: mucks hand
philaboy78 collected 800 from side pot
papa47: shows [Kh Ah] (a flush, Ace high)
shysti said, "lol"
papa47 collected 2455 from main pot

Later on I noticed, that while he's really aggressive, his timing needs work.

Here's the hand that put me back in the mix and a shot to go for 1st:

PokerStars Game #4449409528: Tournament #22129127, Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2006/03/28 - 23:35:02 (ET)Table '22129127 1' 9-max Seat #6 is the button

Seat 1: shysti (1327 in chips) <----need to double up badly at this point
Seat 2: Le Marocain (4060 in chips)
Seat 4: gdennen (2005 in chips)
Seat 6: philaboy78 (255 in chips)
Seat 7: Tater16 (858 in chips)
Seat 8: Kelly0715 (2165 in chips)
Seat 9: papa47 (2830 in chips)
Tater16: posts small blind 75
Kelly0715: posts big blind 150

*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to shysti [8s 8d]
papa47: folds
shysti: calls 150
Le Marocain: raises 300 to 450
gdennen: folds
philaboy78: folds
Tater16: folds
Kelly0715: folds
shysti: raises 877 to 1327 and is all-in
Le Marocain: calls 877

*** FLOP *** [7s 4s 8h]
*** TURN *** [7s 4s 8h] [Qs]
*** RIVER *** [7s 4s 8h Qs] [4h]

shysti said, "told u we would tango"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
shysti: shows [8s 8d] (a full house, Eights full of Fours)
Le Marocain: shows [Ac Js] (a pair of Fours)

I knew it was time for a race and at this point I wanted one, I figured this was my spot to go broke or go for the gold and luckily I got the gold.

PokerStars Game #4449450869: Tournament #22129127, Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2006/03/28 - 23:38:15 (ET)Table '22129127 1' 9-max Seat #1 is the button

Seat 1: shysti (3104 in chips) <---more secure now I can start to be aggressive myself
Seat 2: Le Marocain (2358 in chips) <---we've taken the steam out of his ship
Seat 4: gdennen (2005 in chips)
Seat 7: Tater16 (783 in chips)
Seat 8: Kelly0715 (1790 in chips)
Seat 9: papa47 (3460 in chips) <-----keeping his stack solid

Le Marocain: posts small blind 75
gdennen: posts big blind 150

*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to shysti [Th 9s]
Tater16: folds
Kelly0715: folds
papa47: calls 150
shysti: folds
Le Marocain: calls 75
gdennen: checks

*** FLOP *** [4h 5c Kd]
Le Marocain: checks
gdennen: checks
papa47: bets 300
Le Marocain: calls 300
gdennen: folds

*** TURN *** [4h 5c Kd] [Jd]
Le Marocain: checks
papa47: checks

*** RIVER *** [4h 5c Kd Jd] [Kc]
Le Marocain: bets 600
papa47: raises 600 to 1200
Le Marocain: folds
papa47 collected 2250 from pot
papa47: doesn't show hand

My reason for posting this hand isn't about what Le Marocain could of held, but more so about how the images at the table have shifted and how while in the beginning he could get away with coming over the top of players and getting them to fold, now it's a different story and I don't think he has yet to change gears to notice this.

After this things start to look grim as I start losing chips, then I finally get a hand I would hope to double me up and bring me back from the dead...literally. Ironically, the guy I suck out on in this hand, well he sucks out on me first, sucked out on me earlier taking a good chunk of my stack:

PokerStars Game #4449567647: Tournament #22129127, Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2006/03/28 - 23:47:26 (ET)Table '22129127 1' 9-max Seat #7 is the button

Seat 1: shysti (831 in chips)
Seat 2: Le Marocain (2198 in chips)
Seat 4: gdennen (1255 in chips)
Seat 7: Tater16 (1566 in chips)
Seat 8: Kelly0715 (1590 in chips)
Seat 9: papa47 (6060 in chips)

Kelly0715: posts small blind 100
papa47: posts big blind 200

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [Ad Ac]
shysti: raises 631 to 831 and is all-in
Le Marocain: folds
gdennen: folds
Tater16: raises 631 to 1462
Kelly0715: folds
papa47: folds

*** FLOP *** [2d Qc 9d]
*** TURN *** [2d Qc 9d] [Js]
*** RIVER *** [2d Qc 9d Js] [Ah]
shysti said, "haha

"*** SHOW DOWN ***
shysti: shows [Ad Ac] (three of a kind, Aces)
Tater16: shows [Jc Jh] (three of a kind, Jacks)
Kelly0715 said, "wow"
shysti said, "unreal"
shysti collected 1962 from pot
shysti said, "set over set

Anyhow, I go on to finish 2nd in this great tournament against Mr. Le Marocain and Papa finished 3rd respectively....

Shysti

2006-03-28T14:11:00.000-08:00

Ugh, not staying on track!

Ok I must admit fault when I have strayed from discipline, with a few 10nl cash games here and there, and a few 180 4.40 sng on stars, plus I played wel over the 5 to 10% of your bankroll daily recommedations!

Shysti! Pull it together, you were going so well, and now look at you. I'll have to update what my bankroll actuallly is on FTR, now that I've splurged some of it yet again...sigh baby steps!

:(

Shysti

2006-03-27T16:24:00.000-08:00

A New Poker Club!

Through my friend's over at FTR, I've stumbled upon what looks to be a great poker club! I won't give off the name on here as they host live cash games and tournaments, but the place is nice! Look's like a sports bar, with poker tables, couches etc.

I look forward to adding live play back into my game like it was down in Orlando. This place looks like a very worthy contender to what my friend in Orlando had.

Shysti

2006-03-26T12:11:00.000-08:00

I am not one for telling bad beats but come on stars....

PokerStars Game #4421376747: Tournament #21982537, Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (100/200) - 2006/03/26 - 15:07:24 (ET)Table '21982537 1' 9-max Seat #6 is the buttonSeat 1: ferbs2 (2710 in chips)
Seat 2: chroniclivin (13260 in chips)
Seat 3: Mrs. Insert (2500 in chips)
Seat 4: shysti (8473 in chips)
Seat 5: badboy524 (21170 in chips)
Seat 6: SpongeBong (7710 in chips)
Seat 7: Challenge32 (8600 in chips)
Seat 8: dave_bonham (3938 in chips)
ferbs2: posts the ante 25
chroniclivin: posts the ante 25
Mrs. Insert: posts the ante 25
shysti: posts the ante 25
badboy524: posts the ante 25
SpongeBong: posts the ante 25
Challenge32: posts the ante 25
dave_bonham: posts the ante 25
Challenge32: posts small blind 100
dave_bonham: posts big blind 200

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [Qh Ah]
shysti said, "figured"
ferbs2: folds
chroniclivin: folds
Mrs. Insert: folds shysti said, "didnt want to raise"
shysti said, "race"shysti said, "er"
shysti: raises 450 to 650
badboy524: raises 550 to 1200
SpongeBong: folds Challenge32: folds
dave_bonham: folds
shysti: calls 550

*** FLOP *** [Ac Jc 9h]

shysti: bets 2200
badboy524: raises 17745 to 19945 and is all-in
shysti: calls 5048 and is all-in
shysti said, "nice one"
dave_bonham is sitting out

*** TURN *** [Ac Jc 9h] [9c]

*** RIVER *** [Ac Jc 9h 9c] [Kh]

shysti said, "figures"

*** SHOW DOWN ***

shysti: shows [Qh Ah] (two pair, Aces and Nines)
badboy524: shows [Kc Kd] (a full house, Kings full of Nines)
chroniclivin said, "wow"
Challenge32 said, "nh"
badboy524 collected 17396 from pot

"le sigh"

2006-03-24T11:04:00.000-08:00

1st $5.50 SnGs after the deposit-

I am not going to post every single Sng's but I felt it was right to post the very first on my venture. I spent most of the night with my girlfriend so I was only able to get one game in. I took detailed notes on each player, played very tight in the beginning.

There was one player that stood out to me as the table's dominate aggressive player, everytime he would come over the top of other players they would fold to his reraises. The table itself was pretty passive. The aggro player name was Makumbay, I knew I would see him in the final 3, so I made sure to take very detailed notes on him, as I assumed him and I would be going heads up later :D.

Below are a few key hands that helped me make it in the money:

I had played only one other hand before this, other than that I was folding all marginal hands and taking notes.

***********Hand # 18 **************
PokerStars Game #4393626396: Tournament #21845502, Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2006/03/24 - 01:00:12 (ET)Table '21845502 1' 9-max Seat #9 is the button

Seat 1: Makumbay (1415 in chips)
Seat 2: Banvard316 (1060 in chips)
Seat 3: nikcolas (1490 in chips)
Seat 4: TXFireBaller (1400 in chips)
Seat 5: Kirk-GSX (1575 in chips)
Seat 6: 7.MR.Lucky.7 (920 in chips)
Seat 7: #1A'sfan (1475 in chips)
Seat 8: shysti (875 in chips) <--- in the CO (cutoff seat)
Seat 9: ETHAN-HP (3290 in chips) <-----Button

Makumbay: posts small blind 15
Banvard316: posts big blind 30

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [Jh Js]
nikcolas: folds
TXFireBaller: folds
Kirk-GSX: folds
7.MR.Lucky.7: calls 30
#1A'sfan: raises 60 to 90 (like I said I had reads on just about everyone at the table so I felt a reraise was fine here plus I have position after the flop)
shysti: raises 100 to 190
ETHAN-HP: folds
Makumbay: folds
Banvard316: folds
7.MR.Lucky.7: folds
#1A'sfan: calls 100

*** FLOP *** [8c 2c 9h]
#1A'sfan: checks
shysti: bets 300
#1A'sfan: calls 300

*** TURN *** [8c 2c 9h] [5d]
#1A'sfan: checks
shysti: bets 385 and is all-in (after his second check, I felt he def missed the flop or he was on some kind of flush draw, so I pushed all in to prevent him from calling, well I felt he would fold)
#1A'sfan: folds
shysti collected 1055 from pot
shysti: doesn't show hand

***********Hand # 33 **************
PokerStars Game #4393725575: Tournament #21845502, Hold'em No Limit - Level III (25/50) - 2006/03/24 - 01:11:57 (ET)Table '21845502 1' 9-max Seat #9 is the button

Seat 1: Makumbay (2525 in chips)
Seat 2: Banvard316 (4945 in chips)
Seat 3: nikcolas (1555 in chips)
Seat 4: TXFireBaller (225 in chips)
Seat 8: shysti (1565 in chips)
Seat 9: ETHAN-HP (2685 in chips)
Makumbay: posts small blind 25
Banvard316: posts big blind 50

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [Ah Td]
nikcolas: raises 150 to 200
TXFireBaller: folds
shysti: raises 150 to 350 <---I know some will think this isn't a good play, but this is me being more aggressive because I know these players are playing with more marginal hands than a solid player would.
ETHAN-HP: folds
Makumbay: folds
Banvard316: folds
nikcolas: calls 150

*** FLOP *** [7s 6s 5d]
nikcolas: checks
shysti: bets 350 <---standard continuation bet
nikcolas: calls 350

*** TURN *** [7s 6s 5d] [2d]
nikcolas: checks
shysti: checks <---reason I checked here was in case he was hoping I would bet so he could come over the top of me. So I checked in case he was slow playing, I didn't want to fall into that trap, plus all I had was ace high at this point.

*** RIVER *** [7s 6s 5d 2d] [Th]
nikcolas: bets 855 and is all-in < ---- This is a funny bet to me because what hand is he trying to represent? If he has a 10 I have him out kicked, or we tie for the pot. I know he doesn't have two pair or at least it wouldn't make sense to me based on prior streets. My conclusion was this was a last ditch effort to push me out the pot.
shysti: calls 855
Makumbay said, "hah"

*** SHOW DOWN ***
nikcolas: shows [As Qs] (high card Ace)
shysti: shows [Ah Td] (a pair of Tens)
shysti said, "nice one"shysti collected 3185 from pot

P.s He went on later to call me the N word lol, everyone at the table was like wtf...I shrugged it off, I have his chips so I don't care.

*********** # 39 **************
PokerStars Game #4393766455: Tournament #21845502, Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2006/03/24 - 01:16:53 (ET)Table '21845502 1' 9-max Seat #1 is the button

Seat 1: Makumbay (2450 in chips)
Seat 2: Banvard316 (4770 in chips)
Seat 8: shysti (3800 in chips)
Seat 9: ETHAN-HP (2480 in chips)
Banvard316: posts small blind 50
shysti: post big blind 100

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [6s 5s]
ETHAN-HP: raises 100 to 200
Makumbay: folds
Banvard316: folds
shysti: calls 100

*** FLOP *** [2s 5c 5h]
shysti: checks <----slow playin obviously
ETHAN-HP: bets 300
shysti: calls 300

*** TURN *** [2s 5c 5h] [Kh]
shysti: checks
ETHAN-HP: bets 400
shysti: raises 400 to 800 <----I just doubled his bet just so I could get him to call
ETHAN-HP: calls 400

*** RIVER *** [2s 5c 5h Kh] [Jc]
shysti: bets 1180
ETHAN-HP: calls 1180 and is all-in

*** SHOW DOWN ***
shysti: shows [6s 5s] (three of a kind, Fives)
ETHAN-HP: shows [Ks Ad] (two pair, Kings and Fives)
ETHAN-HP is sitting out
Makumbay said, "nh"
shysti collected 5010 from pot
shysti said, "gg"

That was a typical trap play.

*********** # 49 **************
PokerStars Game #4393827100: Tournament #21845502, Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2006/03/24 - 01:24:20 (ET)Table '21845502 1' 9-max Seat #2 is the button

Seat 1: Makumbay (5550 in chips)
Seat 2: Banvard316 (3470 in chips)
Seat 8: shysti (4480 in chips)
shysti: posts small blind 50
Makumbay: posts big blind 100

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [Kc 9d]
Makumbay said, "n"
Banvard316: calls 100
shysti said, "i wanted to play that hand"shysti said, "3 way"
shysti said, ";D"
shysti: calls 50
Makumbay: checks

*** FLOP ***
[Qd Ad Th]
shysti: checks
Makumbay: bets 4381
Banvard316: calls 3370 and is all-in
shysti: folds
shysti said, "woot"

*** TURN *** [Qd Ad Th] [8c]

*** RIVER *** [Qd Ad Th 8c] [As]

shysti said, "very nice"

*** SHOW DOWN ***
Makumbay: shows [2d 5d] (a pair of Aces)
Banvard316: shows [Kd Ah] (three of a kind, Aces)
Makumbay said, "nh"
Banvard316 collected 7040 from pot
Banvard316 said, "ty"
shysti said, "over played that flush draw"

Here's the hand that crippled the aggro player, and I was very happy that it did, because the other guy was really passive and I had him flagged all day, I would rather have him heads up and this worked out perfectly.

By hand 54 I was heads up against the passive weak player. Basically, he would fold/call any other hand than what he felt was a great hand or the nuts. So I just played accordingly, until I fowled up one hand for some boneheaded reason that probably costed me 1st place!

PokerStars Game #4393963163: Tournament #21845502, Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2006/03/24 - 01:41:54 (ET)Table '21845502 1' 9-max Seat #2 is the button

Seat 2: Banvard316 (7435 in chips)
Seat 8: shysti (6065 in chips)
Banvard316: posts small blind 100
shysti: posts big blind 200

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [5h Tc]Banvard316: calls 100
shysti: checks

*** FLOP *** [5d Ad 9s]
shysti: bets 400
Banvard316: raises 400 to 800
shysti: calls 400

*** TURN *** [5d Ad 9s] [Js]
shysti: checks
Banvard316: bets 2200
shysti: calls 2200

*** RIVER *** [5d Ad 9s Js] [8c]
shysti: checks
Banvard316: checks

*** SHOW DOWN ***
shysti: shows [5h Tc] (a pair of Fives)
Banvard316: shows [Ac Qs] (a pair of Aces)
Banvard316 collected 6400 from pot

Asleep at the switch! This hand is a prime example of why you must be on your A game throughout the entire tournament at all times. I knew how he played, but for some reason I told myself he didn't have the ace, when in the back of my mind it was screamin he did, and to trust my reads from the entire game! I dunno, blame it on fatigue, this was a long heads up, it was like 1 am in the morning, or no excuse at all I dunno. I am not rackin my head over it though. I made a big comeback after this but he kicked in his game and gave me a formidable struggle to win 1st place.

GG

Shysti

2006-03-23T21:37:00.000-08:00

$110.00 Deposited and ready to go!

In two weeks I'll deposit the remaining $190.00 for a total of $300.00 for my bankroll. But I went ahead and deposited the funds just now, for a roll to sustain 20 buyins for 5 + .50 SnG.

Wish me luck! Should be easy, I feel I am playing below my level anyhow. I plan on keeping records of my progress and losses until I can buy poker tracker in 2 weeks.

Shsyti

2006-03-22T21:28:00.000-08:00

PS .10 Cont'd...

Haha, what a crazy tournament with those turbo blinds! I finished 127th out of 2167 people!

I'll post hands later...it's bedtime.

Shysti

2006-03-22T21:11:00.000-08:00

PS .10 MTT # 2...

Well today I was supposed to deposit the $110.00 and start my SnG journey, but that got put hold because my girlfriend decided it was best to ruin my evening after a long day at work by arguing over the must redundant and retarded stuff. I won't go into detail, but I had told her to drop it like hours ago, and she proceeded to continue.

That put me on instant tilt before I even logged onto PS!!! Which made me even more mad, so knowing I was on tilt but also wanting to still play, I decided it was best to just play PS's .10 MTT. That way I still get my nightly fix of poker and can play on tilt knowing I only risked .10 lol.

We started with 2167 players, we are currently down to 232 and on break. The blinds increase every 5 mins, I've been employing very aggressive strategy late in the tournament, when I normally tend to be a bit more conservative. I figured the conservative/aggro approach wasn't work for me that's why I always seem to bust out in the top 10% but never at the final table.

Doing this has provided me with much insight in that being aggressive when everyone else is tightening up around the bubble is awesome stuff. I even said at the table "welp bubble time" just to psychologically throw my opponents into "preserve chips" mode while I scoup up the blinds and antes!

Well the break is over I'll post more later!

Shysti

2006-03-22T16:26:00.000-08:00

Bankroll Management...

I found an excellent article on BR management through FTR, here's the link:
http://www.pocketfives.com/5C57520F-8A89-43F3-97E6-54D240CB3E59.aspx

I think I'll follow this guide for a while since I can't currently put the $300 into my account due to other things I forgot I needed to get. What I will do is follow the 20 buyin unprotected guide for now for Sng's and grind it out until I can move up to $11 SnGs, since I fit that category (I can fund my bankroll if I go bust)

So as it stands, tonight I'll deposit $110.00 into my PS account and start grinding away at the $5.50 SnGs tables, I can either wait until I have 45 entries for the $11 SnGs (protected BR according to the article) or just move up once I have 20 entries for the $11 SnGs (unprotected). I still haven't decided yet.

I get a lot of down time at work and thankfully I am actually able to pull up poker related websites to read all day to help me improve my game and tactics to sustain my bankroll. I think over the last few months when I came to my realization that I actually want to start getting serious I can no longer do the boom then bust with my BR, and that if I succeed in properly managing my BR then maybe I can succeed in actually learning to save money lol !

Shysti

2006-03-22T12:43:00.000-08:00

No Limit Texas Hold' Em-

I was on google chat today and I was talking to a friend about poker and gave my link to my blog. To my dismay she said she didn't understand how poker "works". She said she watches it on ESPN, but doesn't know how to play. I informed her that Texas Hold'em literally only takes 2 mins to learn but a lifetime to master, those who love the game can attest to that.

So what I've decided to do is post the rules and how to's of No limit Texas Hold'em (The Cadillac of Poker).

How to Play. - This is limit hold em, but the only difference is in no limit is there is "no limit" on the betting you can do per round, which plays a huge role in how the game or tournament flows.

Texas Hold’em is a deceptively simple game to learn but a harder game to master. Each player is dealt two personal cards and then five community cards are turned up on the board. You make the best five card hand using any combination of the seven cards. For this example we will use a low limit structure of $2/4. There are four betting rounds and the first two have a limit of $2 and the last two rounds have a limit of $4. You must bet or raise only the amount of the limit for that round.

The Start

To start a new hand, two "Blind" bets are put up or "Posted." The player immediately to the left of the dealer puts up or "posts" the small blind which half the minimum bet one dollar. The player to the left of the small blind posts the big blind which is equal to the minimum bet which is two dollars for this game. The rest of the players do not put up any money to start the hand. Because the deal rotates around the table, each player will eventually act as the big blind, small blind and dealer.

The Opening

Each player is dealt two cards face down with the player on the small blind receiving the first card and the player with the dealer button getting the last card. The first betting round begins with the player to the left of the big blind either putting in two dollars to "Call" the blind bet, or putting in four dollars to "raise" the big blind or folding his hand. The betting goes around the table in order until it reaches the player who posted the small blind. That player can call the bet by putting in one dollar since a dollar blind was already posted. The last person to act is the big blind. If no one has raised, the dealer will ask if they would like the option. This means the big blind has the option to raise or just "check." By checking the player does not put in any more money. A rookie mistake sometimes occurs here. Because the blind is a live bet live, the player with the big blind has already put his bet in. I have seen some players throw their cards in not realizing that they are already in the hand. Another rookie mistake is betting or folding your cards when it is not your turn. You must wait before you act.

The Flop

After the first betting round is completed, three cards are dealt and turned face up in the middle of the table. This is known as the "Flop." These are community cards used by all the players. Another betting round begins with the first active player to the left of the dealer button. The bet for this round is again two dollars.
The Turn When the betting round after the flop is completed, the dealer turns a fourth card face up in the middle of the table. This is called the "Turn." The bet after the turn is now four dollars and begins again with the first active player to the left of the dealer.
The River Following the betting round for the turn, the dealer will turn a fifth and final card face up. This is called the "river," and the final betting round begins with four dollars being the minimum bet.

The Showdown

To determine the winner, the players may use any combination of their two hole cards and the five cards on the "Board" (Table) to form the highest five-card hand. In some rare cases the best hand will be the five cards on board. Don’t count on this happening too often. In that case the active players will split the pot. A sixth card is never used to break a tie.

Also some terms you may need to know:

Blind
A forced bet (or partial bet) put in by one or more players before any cards are dealt. Typically, blinds are put in by players immediately to the left of the button. See also "live blind."

Big Blind
The larger of the two blinds typically used in a hold'em game. The big blind is a full first round bet

Small Blind
The smaller of two blind bets typically used in a hold'em game. Normally, the small blind is one-third to two-thirds of a first round bet. See also "big blind" and "blind."

Flop
The first three community cards, put out face up, all together

Turn
The fourth community card. Put out face up, by itself. Also known as "fourth street."

River
The fifth and final community card, put out face up, by itself. Also known as "fifth street." Metaphors involving the river are some of poker's most treasured cliches, e.g., "He drowned in the river."

-Instructions and terms were found at http://casinogambling.about.com/cs/poker/a/TexasHoldem101.htm
and http://conjelco.com/pokglossary.html

P.s I forgot to post what beats what!

Hand Description Example

Royal Straight Flush
This is the daddy of all hands and even if you play often, you will rarely see one. It's similar to a hole in one in golf. It is made of up all of the same suite, ten through Ace. It is a straight and a flush and the royal part comes from it being made up of the highest cards too.

As Ks Qs Js Ts

Straight Flush

While not as magical as the royal straight flush, the straight flush still is a rariety. It is made up of 5 cards of the same suite ranked in succession. For example 6-10, or A-5 (Ace can play both high and low in straights).

Jc, Tc, 9c, 8c, 7c

Four Of A Kind

This is self-explanatory. A four of a kind ocurrs when you have all the cards of one type.
Ks, Kd, Kc, Kh

Full House
A full house happens when you have both three of a kind and also a pair. To determine if one full house higher ranked then another, first look at the three cards of the same kind. The one that is larger wins. If they both are the same then you'll have to compare the two cards.

For example: Jacks full of fours (JJJ, 44)beats 9s full of Aces (999, AA)

Jacks full of tens (JJJ, TT)beatsJacks full of nines (JJJ, 99)
Full houses in texas hold'em are nice hands and you will most likely see someone show one down everytime you play.

Jc, Jd, Jh, 9c, 9h

Flush
A flush occurs when you have five of the same suite. If the cards were also in succession (like a straight), then it would be a straight flush. To determine which flush wins if there are more then one in a hand, then the person with the highest card in their hand wins. In the example to the right, the person has a ten high flush. This would beat someone with a nine high flush and below. Flushes are pretty common in hold'em.
Th, 8h, 4h, 3h, 2h

Straight
A straight occurs when a player has five cards in ranked succession. Note that an Ace can play both as a high card or a low card. Note the two examples to the right. Straights are also very common in hold'em.

Ah, Kc, Qd, Jd, ThAh, 2c, 3h, 4h, 5c

Three Of A Kind

Three of a kind is a nice hand. There are two different names for three of a kind hands and it depends on whether you have two of them on the board, or a pair in your hand. They both rank the same but to be a savy player you should know the difference. If you have a pocket pair and hit one on the flop then it is called a "set". If you have two cards on the flop and only one in your hand then it is called three of a kind.
8h, 8d, 8c, 9d, Ad

Two Pair
Two pair is when your best five cards create a pair twice. That seems easy enough right? When comparing two hands both with two pair then the larger one always wins.

For example:AA 22 would beat KK JJ88 33 would beat 77 66
Kh, Kd, Qh, Qd, 3c

One Pair

One pair is the hand you'll be getting the most and trying to win with the most. Top pair is usually the hand you'll be betting and trying to win some pots with. When more then one person has the same pair, then the "kickers" come in to play. Remember texas hold'em uses the best five cards so the following is true:

Ah, Ac, Jc, 6d, 4d would lose to Ad, As, Jd, 6c, 5d Notice how the 5 beats the 4 (best five cards makes a hand).
Kh, Kd, 8j, 6d, 5c

High Card

The high card hand is the lowest non pair hand. Sometimes Ace high can win, but in the low limit games it is very rare. In the example to the right, the high card is K. So you would have "king high". You would beat someone if they had "queen high" or below but even a pair of deuces would beat you!

Kh, Tc, 4c, 3d, 2h

2006-03-21T20:36:00.000-08:00

Freeroll Contd...

And just like that I am busted, I made a boneheaded move, not that I was truly playing serious against an even more wreckless player at the table. I lost the majority of my stack to him, and he ended up taking me out later on.

I came in 1644th out of 10,000 people (top 16%). Meh, PS won't let you have the hand histories for freerolls, or else Iwould post the hands.

Well I am debating about depositing the 300 right now, I think I need to buy clothes right now. We'll see though. I may have to wait until 4/10 when I get paid again, I'll definitely be able to then.

2006-03-21T20:17:00.000-08:00

PS .10 MTT and Freeroll,

I decided to try out PS new little .10 MTT's and their freerolls, while I cooked dinner. It was neat to say the least lol. I must say I am still not used to multi tabling, let alone while I am preparing dinner.

Nonetheless, I finished in the top 10% (where I always seem to finish in MTT's, I dunno if that' s good or bad) I finished 249th place out of 2362 people ITM. Granted it was only .20 lol but still...

As for the freeroll, we started with a whopping 10,000 people! And I am currently sitting on 33,853 in tournament chips, with only 2198 players left! I'll post later how this turns out. I really need some sleep.

Shysti

2006-03-21T09:04:00.001-08:00

10NL Hand...

Last night I decided to take 10 bucks and dabble in short handed ring game. Ring to me is, in the sense, a lot more "boring" for lack of a better word than tournament play. But I can see the potiential of grinding out a bankroll in this area of Poker (of course people do it every day, duh).

Anyhow, here's the hand that stood out and busted me for my last 10 bucks that was in my BR until I make my next deposit to start my mission.

PokerStars Game #4359407294: Hold'em No Limit ($0.05/$0.10) - 2006/03/20 - 22:48:29 (ET) Table 'Kilia' Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: shysti ($8.95 in chips) <----- On the Button :D
Seat 2: Stef 83 ($13.45 in chips)
Seat 3: Walterego7 ($8.15 in chips)
Seat 4: kjtoocool ($4.95 in chips)
Seat 5: freeridedeb ($7.35 in chips)
Seat 6: savoy25 ($7.35 in chips)
Stef 83: posts small blind $0.05
Walterego7: posts big blind $0.10

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to shysti [Jh Jc]
kjtoocool: folds
freeridedeb: folds
savoy25: calls $0.10
shysti: raises $0.30 to $0.40 <---I put in a standard raise to chase out mediocre hands
Stef 83: calls $0.35
Walterego7: folds
savoy25: calls $0.30

*** FLOP *** [Kh 9s Th]
Stef 83: bets $0.10
savoy25: calls $0.10
shysti: calls $0.10 <-----I was worried about the King so I just call, hindsight I should of reraise to define my hand more and see exactly where I was at.

*** TURN *** [Kh 9s Th] [Qs]
Stef 83: bets $2.30
savoy25: calls $2.30
shysti: raises $6.15 to $8.45 and is all-in < ----Here I've made the straight, so I decide it's time to push all in to get them to fold and I win the pot right here or they call and I get extra money in the pot. But that's not how it goes!
Stef 83: calls $6.15
savoy25: calls $4.55 and is all-in

*** RIVER *** [Kh 9s Th Qs] [9h]

*** SHOW DOWN ***
Stef 83: shows [9c Kc] (a full house, Nines full of Kings)
shysti: shows [Jh Jc] (a straight, Nine to King)
shysti said, "omg" < --- my disbelief in that he thought his two pair were good and decided to call my all in on the turn, when there was an obvious straight on the board!
Stef 83 collected $3.05 from side pot
savoy25: mucks hand Stef 83 collected $21.05 from main pot

I wasn't mad, well I was kind of, but it didn't tilt me. Instead what bothered me more was the why, why and how did he decide his 2 pair were still good with the blantant straight out there on the board by the turn?

I can only conclude that at this level 10NL that his is how the fish play, and it makes me happy even though I loss because I know if I start at this level (or even a bit higher 25NL) I'll be making profit in the long run with great consistant plays!

I hope this guy enjoys my $8.95 and the play he made to get it (result oriented) because it will only reinforce in his mind that his play was right. Meanwhile, I being the true victor here learning a small lesson of how I could of improved my play on this hand and realizing there was nothing I could do in my situation due to the players involved. What I received was priceless (experience) and what he recieved is probably already lost...

Shysti

2006-03-20T16:38:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Shysti's Poker Blog!

Today, I've finally decided to start my Poker Blog for my games on Poker Stars.com. 2006 marks the year I've decided to "get serious about my poker game", not only that but to actually achieve goals!

I guess I can say the true motivation stemmed from actually wanting to make a profit from the game since I am improving, instead of it just being a recreational hobby of mine. With that said, I plan on making an initial deposit of around $300.00 on March 23,06 to start my "serious" bankroll!

My strategy consist of me playing strictly $11 Sng's with a splash of small buy'in MTT's. I will move up in levels as my bankroll increase until I finally reach my goal of $2200 to play in star's 180 man SnG's with 100 buy ins. I think that gives me enough cushion to weather out any variance I may experience, all the while gaining more experience in my tournament career.

I've also been thinking about ring games, they are a mystery to me because I am mostly good at tournaments and rarely have played them. But as it stands now, I will stick to what I know and try to "master" that before I venture across the field and into the ring, sort to speak.

Anyhow, I hope you enjoy the ride! I know I will!

Shysti