Here Comes The BOOM...

So I guess this has turned into a monthly update, which I wish it wouldn't be, but between being busy with work and being busy playing poker, there haven't been too many times to update. Also, I think the summer has to do a lot with it, as when I am not at work or playing poker, I am out doing something, I mean, I have a life. So once the cold air starts hitting, there might be some more updates.

Now, on to the big update today! EVERY SITE HAS HAD A DECENT INCREASE!!! I will start off with the biggest first. Bodog....wow. This is something that I should have posted about the night that it happened, but I was too lazy and it got pushed off until now, almost 3 weeks later, so I don't have any specific hands, but I won $160 by winning a $8 Bounty tournament, which has been my biggest increase during the entire challenge! I have also played a couple smaller SnGs and cashed in them, but not for very much.

UltimateBet hadn't changed very much at all until Thursday night, where I got 4th place in the CardsChat.com Freeroll, adding $12 to the roll. I have started employing a more tight aggresive approach in my tourney game that has really been helping a lot. In this tournament I ended up busting out with K8s to someone holding pocket QQ that ended up improving to a set on the flop. Other than that, I really haven't been playing on UltimateBet too much lately. I played a couple Step Tourneys two weeks ago, but those are really just to kill time, because the amount of luck and time that goes into making it all the way up to Step 10 is immense.

Now on to PokerStars, which really got it's boost over a couple of different ways. First, I just started playing cash games, just 2NL, one night just to kill some time and see if I could raise it up a little. Just playing one table, I brought that $2 up to $9 in just over an hour before I quit. A couple days later I was playing two tables at 2NL and made another $12 in a couple hours, bringing my total up to $21. Then the next day I decided to just play a $1+.10 tourney and I ended up cashing in that for $5, bringing it up to $25.

Carbon finally got a boost! The last time it had any change on my graph was the first week of the challenge when I won $.07 in a new player freeroll. This was just yesterday that this happened, playing the CardsChat.com $100 Freeroll. I ended up getting 2nd place, and the tournament pays out 5 spots. I am not sure what hand I went out on because I didn't see it. What happened was right when it got to heads up, a 5 minute break came, so I went to the bathroom and took my break, whatever...came back to my computer about 4 minutes later, and the tournament was over and I got 2nd place. I think what happened was I pushed the "I'm Ready" button before I went to the bathroom and that ends the break early....I didn't know that, so it's my fault. We were at just about even stacks, so I could have taken it down for sure, but I learned a lesson, never hit that button.

Well, I need to run, but I am going to come back later to finish up about FullTilt. Cya!

Won a 45-Man SNG

So after a couple nights with my new strategy and cashing in about 4 SNGs for a small amount(not much more than the buy-in, or twice it), tonight I won a 45-person SNG for $13.50. I will contribute much of it to the amazing hands that I got for my last 10 or so hands. In the last 10 hands I was dealt AK twice, AQ twice, A9s, A8s, KK, JJ, 98s, and 44. I took the last 4 people at the table out in just those last 10 hands as well. It was working to my advantage as I was constantly betting 4xBB with every hand and they would push thinking I was just doing my regular raise and my hands would hold up(held up against trip Jacks, QQ, and a straight which I beat with the boat). I have lost a couple SNGs as well that my little strategy wasn't obviously working with, but I have won more than lost, so that is good. Well, keeping it short tonight, busy day tomorrow. Peace out.

Finally!

So tonight I finally cashed in one of the bigger SNGs, it was a 45-person, and I won $4.05 so the new strategy that I was saying I was going to try worked(at least for today). I know you probably want to know what that strategy is, but I am going to hold it to myself for a while, both because it needs to be improved upon, and because if you know my strategy and you are playing against me, well....obvious. I ended up busting out having an M of ~2.5 and went all-in with pocket 66, to get called by the other short stack at the table(had me covered barely) with K10off(I thought that was dumb, but whatever). He caught a 10 on the flop and I never progressed, getting out in 5th.

I also cashed in the PokerSpace FullTilt $100 freeroll, for .24c, which was kind of a surprise, because I was playing in it until there were about 120 people left in it, then I had other things to do. 102 places were paid out and I ended up blinding out at #65, so people must have been dropping left and right once the bubble bursted, because my stack was just average. Oh well though, That's an extra quarter(almost) that I have on FullTilt now. Hopefully I will be able to win one of the FT freerolls that CardsChat sets up, because those pay out so much better. Well, that is all I have for tonight. Have a good one.

Too Late For April Fools....

So I had a plan for a decent April Fools trick for the blog, but I was busy as hell yesterday and by the time I got home and had time to write something up, it was already after midnight....so blame my busy day for that.

I have been playing a little bit of poker the past couple days, but not a whole lot since I have some projects due and have had a lot of appointments, but they are thinning out a little bit more, so no worries.

I cashed in a couple U/B SNGs for minimal payouts and they are starting to annoy me, so I think I am going to set aside some more time and go for the bigger MTTs. If I do some SNGs, then no more of this 6-10 person crap, I am going to try to get some bigger payouts with the 18-45 person SNGs, make my time a little bit more worth it.

Layout Change

So I decided that the last layout was really boring and made me want to change it, so I found a cool wallpaper for it and I have spent the morning importing my widgets on the side into the new HTML, which was kind of a pain in the ass with all of the borders and margins and stuff, but that's all done.

Other than that, I was playing on FullTilt last night for about 15 minutes while I was waiting for friends to get ready to go out and won .58c on the .01/.02 tables, so now I am up to over $2. I am going to start the OFC(OnlineForumChallenge) tourney today on there, but I won't be able to play longer than about 45 minutes because I am going to see a concert, Black Label Society, so that will be fun.

Probably no more poker today, but tomorrow afternoon I plan on playing, so I will update.

Small Profit

So I made $3 playing on a .01/.02c cash table last night for about 15 minutes. I was in the mood for playing a MTT, but I couldn't find one that I liked. I was also playing on UltimateBet's Step to the WSOP Tourney, I was playing Step 4 last night and won, so I won the ticket to Step 5. I played Step 5 today and I got 5th, which gave me a ticket down to Step 2 again, which sucks, but hey, it isn't very often that you play a 9 person SNG that pays out something to the top 6, so I will take it and build my way back up.

I also signed up for Bodog today just to see how it is. I played on it about 5 or 6 years ago and I wasn't that impressed, but we'll see what they can do for me now. Anyways, I am playing a tournament later on tonight that I already registered for, so wish me luck to that, I will try to keep you posted. Also, I am registered to play the OFC tourney tomorrow on FullTilt, but not sure if I will have enough time before a concert that I'm going to. Take it easy peeps.

Problems...

So, I realize I have not posted since like September or something, but my job had been killing me. I was waking up early and by the time I got home, I was drained and the absolute last thing that I wanted to do was sit back down to the computer again. But there is good news, I was promoted and now I have my own office and my hours are not as long(not to mention I get paid tons more), so I will be playing poker a lot more, but some things are changing.

Walker is OUT!!! They have been really sketchy with my winnings lately...my funds have been disappearing and reappearing, and no one can seem to give me a real answer, so I completely withdrew everything from there(that is another story, worst withdrawal experience of my life!) So now I am going to be playing on UltimateBet, Carbon(not much though, same network as Walker), FullTilt and PokerStars. I understand that it is kind of crazy trying to do the 0-10,000 on 4 difference sites, but there are certain things that I like about each site, so all of them have started with $0 bankrolls. From now on I will try to keep everyone a little more updated.

Peace out everyone,
AbsolutHamm

Bounty Champion

Hey all,
So I haven't been playing as often as I would like. As was said before I had my test last week and then this is my first full week of work, and I am starting a new workout plan that is BRUTAL, so I feel like I have been completely overwhelmed with all kinds of stuff, and I want to play poker the most of all, but there just isn't enough time in the day for a lot of it. I have to drive an hour to work everyday and that isn't so easy on my wallet right now thanks to the damn hurricanes, hopefully it goes down though...

So on to the bankroll. I was smoking tonight in the two tourneys that I played, getting first place in both of them, but the first one I think I only got 3 bounties, so it wasn't anything special. The second one I was on fire. Out of the 10 people in the tourney, I got 8 of them out, and I won, so I got the $8 in Bounty money and I got $5 for winning it, so I was only one player away from running the entire table...(would have tried for him to, but I ended up having 73o when he went all in with two to act behind me).

If you have been reading this blog you will realize that my winnings from tonight don't quite add on correctly to my previous winning balance. That is because I played a little bit drunk and wasn't thinking straight the other day. Kind of pissed about that as I should have just used my UB account for that if I was going to, although I would probably be pissed if I lost money regardless because I was playing like that, but oh well, I made it back tonight. Until next time, peace.

Oh yea, I forgot to mention why I have the title Bounty Champion. They have a Bounty Ranking System on Walker(and Carbon for that matter) and you work your way up through it to Grand Master(Rank 1-10), Master(11-50), Champion(51-100), and Elite(101-200). And I have been teeter-tottering in and out of Elite for the past month and now I shot up to Champion. What that means is if I can keep that position until the 21st, then I will get a coupon to play the $11 buy-in tournament on that Saturday and also, $5 automatic cash. And if I can move up in the ranks some more then those go up to a $60 coupon and $250 cash, but that is for first place, and I am not sure I play enough to get up there. Although if I have a couple more games like tonight....who knows. Take care all!

On A Roll

Hey all,
I know I haven't been on very much, but like I said last time, I have been really busy lately. Tomorrow I have to go all the way down to Springfield, IL to take a state test to become licensed in my field, and that is going to be a pain, so I have been stidying for that. On top of that, I started work today, so that takes up a ton of my time, but it went well, so that is ok.

Even though I have been busy, I have really been on my game, I have won $15 today in just 3 games, winning 2 times and getting 2nd once, so now I am up to $55, a new high and also the first time over $50, so that is pretty exciting. I kind of realized this week that I might need to start entering a couple MTTs so that I can get some real cash, because even though I am going upward, it isn't very fast, and with my original guidelines to follow, it will be a while before I can go up in limits for SNGs, and it sure isn't going very fast with $2 ones.

Maybe later this week or even next week I will start being more aggressive with the challenge because my test will be over so I might have a little more time. I will not be playing at all tomorrow or Wednesday during the day I know, so you won't hear from me until at least then. Til then good luck at the tables while my head's in the books. Later

Weekend Update

Hey everyone, sorry I haven't really been updating as much as I was before. I have been studying quite a bit for a test that I have to take next Wednesday that is going to be hard as hell. I have still been playing, but my swings have been going up and down and pretty much evened me out at $42. Really I have just been playing the Bounty SNGs, but I have played a couple of forum freerolls.

One of the freerolls that I played in earlier today I got out in 24th place, right on the bubble, so that kind of sucked. Then I played another freeroll, which I was the chipleader for the first 3 levels, then I had to go work on my car, changing the oil line, hoping it wouldn't take very long, but it did. So by the time I got back, I was down to 1.2 BB left, so I was forced to go all-in on Ace high. But I might play some more on Sunday. Til then good luck!

Meltdown Evaded

So adding on to last night, I started the morning out losing a couple more Bounty SNGs....I couldn't even manage to pick off one damn bounty for some reason, I was just playing terrible. Then I decided to play one last one before I go to my buddy's bachelor party tonight and I won it. I knocked out 5 of the 9 other players, so it netted me $10, bringing me back to what I was the other day.

That is all I am going to play today as I am busy, but I have a freeroll tomorrow that might add a little on to my Carbon account, $500 PokerSpace Freeroll, wish me luck. Til then, take it easy.

A Good Night

So I had a good night of poker tonight. It started off having nothing to do with this whole thing, but just playing a couple forum freerolls on my UltimateBet Account, the first of which I failed miserably at(the PokerSpace $300 freeroll). Then I played my freeroll for the forum CardsChat that I frequently visit, which I got 4th place for $5...but I am kind of pissed about it because 4-20 all get $5, then it goes 10, 20, 35. And I was chip leader going into the final 5, so I should have just stayed still, but I got cold cards and the stack dwindled. Oh well. Anyway, that boosted my UB account a little, not that it matters here.

On the other note, I also played another $2 Bounty SNG which I won for an almost $7 increase onto my Walker account, so in just under a week I have already almost made it to $50, I don't think that is too bad, starting out ONLY in freerolls and then progressing.

I also added a new graph on the sidebar that shows my progress, as you can see Carbon is pretty damn low, haha. There are a couple events coming up in the next couple days for there, so maybe I can add a little to that. Until next time, good luck!

Got myself back

So after my stupid mistake last night that I posted about, I lost another two $2 Bounty SNGs, which brought me down to $35.07, then this morning, I lost another $2 Bounty SNG, so then I was down to 32.87. Then I took a break, I went to work and I calmed down and realized something. In the bounty SNGs, people will, a lot of the time, play very conservative, because if they make anything on the flop, say two pair with 7-2off then they can put someone all-in and get their bounty, who cares if they won't last very long because eventually they might chip out, they are still making money.

So I kind of applied this loose strategy to my next Bounty SNG, which I just got done playing, and I won it. $10 all together, I guess $8 after my buy-in, but now I am back to my even from the other day. Tonight I have a couple freerolls on UltimateBet that I am going to play, but those don't have anything to do with this contest, so I might not be playing too many games for the bankroll tonight, but I will update you if there is anything exciting. Till then, good luck at the tables.

Huge Boost

Hey again, so I had another huge boost tonight. Played in another freeroll and won $25!!! That put me over $40, then I started playing some SNGs, which may or may not have been a good idea. I guess they were good since I came ahead in the end, and I tried something new.

The Sit-N-Gos that I was playing were Bounty SNGs, which I have played before, but only in MTTs. I have played them with bounties on everyone and I have also played with bounties on only Pros, but I have never done it with a SNG. So anyway, the first SNG I got out in 3rd, but it wouldn't have really mattered if I had even got 2nd because I didn't get the bounty from anyone and 2nd place's prize was less than the buy-in! The second one I just plain blew it, I got a bad run of cards and I tried making a move where it wasn't going to happen. I think I got 5th out of 6...

But on my last one tonight, I got 1st place, netting me $4.20 for the win and $3 in bounties, so that put me $1.60 ahead of where I was before losing the first two. I kind of like the bounty SNGs because you could technically get 3rd place and still make $3 without even making the pay scale(if you got 4, 5, and 6 out). So maybe I will be playing those a little more often as well. Anyway, that is all for tonight, not sure if I will play anymore, but I might a little later. Take it easy!

Recent Addition

So I have a bit of news. I am adding a poker client to my conquest. The reason I am assuming that this is ok is because it is on the same network, Merge. The client that I am going to add in Walker Poker. Because it is on the same network, I am not allowed to be on both of them at the same time, I just wanted to be able to have a little range of events and tourneys.

Anyway, I just decided to do that earlier today and I never blogged about it because....well I completely forgot. But anyway, I played my New Player Freeroll on Walker today instead of Carbon and I got 62nd place, earning me another .07 cents, Woo-Hoo! About half way through that one, I played the PokerSpace freeroll after that, and I got 5th for $15! During the game I got Quads two times, Quad 2s and Quad 9s, so that is pretty awesome. It is a pretty good start to the bankroll. These PokerSpace freerolls are the answer for sure when it comes to building the bankroll. The New Player Freerolls are good, but you have to make it through all of the donks to get a possible $12.51 if you get first, otherwise you don't even break a dollar unless you get 7th.

Well tomorrow I will try some more of the freerolls and might even play some low limit SNGs and see what I can do. Til then take it easy fellas.

Ha, so today I have finally cashed in one of the New Player Freerolls on Carbon....for a total of .07 cents! Big money, I know. But I think that I have figured out how to play against the All-In monkeys that are playing there all the time, I will have to use this week to see if I can use it to my advantage. Well here is a picture of my Carbon bank account with only the .07 cents in it. I think there are two more freerolls tonight, so maybe I can add a little more to that later. Short post right now, I will update you all if I end up cashing later on. Take it easy!