Busting out

While the details of the last couple months would probably make interesting reading (or perhaps that's simply egocentrism on my part), I am going to choose omission instead.  It should go without saying, however, that four adults with disparate patterns and habits attempting to work together in a career that will expose psychological flaws that were either invisible or submerged before...well, it is not for the faint of heart.  It should also go without saying that the endeavor is worthwhile though still possible to leave with the honor of all parties in tact when it no longer benefits anyone.  This is the juncture we have reached.  Though sooner than any of us expected, it was always acknowledged as a distinct possibility for Poker House.  Certainly I can only speak for my part, but I have to say that I have been enriched and challenged in ways that I wouldn't have been otherwise.  One of the elements I intend to continue actually is the practice of tracking this journey of ours in writing.  In order to honor the entity that was but is no longer, I have decided to start a blog of my own and focus more specifically on my developing identity as a female poker player and all that entails.  While still speaking in this venue for this last time, however, I would like to thank all the folks that have been following our exploits on Hammered Quads.  It has been fun reading the comments and sharing this short though interesting bit of history shared between the four of us in Poker House.  If you would like to follow my blog, you can find it at tankers-area52.blogspot.com.  So, as Jacob would say: "May the force be with you....


...

Always."

And then there were three.

Don't worry - the game hasn't defeated anyone.....yet. But Threads13 has moved on to greener pastures. Well really he's moved on to lots of grey, rainy days, concrete, grunge rock, and Starbucks (ok I admit I kinda like all those things 'cept one). You guessed it- met a girl in Seattle, which of course makes it pretty hard to stay in Prairieton, IN. Incidentally we are looking for new roommate. Inquire within.

Superchimp and Tankers are out of town for a while, so Greta (the dog) and I are currently the lone occupants of Poker House.

So the subject of the day is stress. Poker has become stressful. Sure we all expected the fun to wear off a bit and for poker to start feeling like work. After all it is work. But I for one am starting to feel stressed about playing in much the same way as I would feel stressed about going to the office, or even (shudder) writing a legal memo. Thankfully it is to a lesser degree...and I think it will pass eventually. I've still played only about 200k hands since going pro. That sounds like a ton, but remember we get 300 to 500 hands an hour playing online. Anyway, the point is that there is a lot of variance in this game and I'm still getting used to it. I think after 500K or 1 million hands or something like that it will be easier to back up and look at the big picture and rarely worry about what is won or lost in a particular day, week, or month.

And hell, I've got no boss, make my own hours, and get to tell people I play poker for a living. How cool is all that? Certainly worth a little stress. Especially when the alternatives have stress of their own. It's just a little unexpected is all.

So on to the most important point: Holkan rush still owns on Monarch level! The thing that makes it work so well (better than traditional axe rush, imo) is that you don't need iron, and therefore never need to spend time founding a second city, building road, mine, or researching iron working. Just research bronze working and hunting and voila!...4 strength units immune to 1st strikes and with city raider promotions. Start the game by building two workers, then chop rush barracks and keep chopping until you have a stack of 8 or so. Head straight for enemy capital. Add salt.

So that's it for now. Join us next time when we'll be duct-taping clocks to all kinds a different stuff.

Back in Black and Miscelleny

Eeeeeeee is back on his A-game. Owning souls and taking names. My first big downswing is behind me and I'm tougher for it. The next one will be a little easier and hopefully shorter. I realize it could start tomorrow, but it could also start a year from now. If I stay positive and playing my best the latter is more likely.

Miscelleny:

1. I ran into a common problem of the self-employed this month that I didn't think would apply to me: I didn't work enough hours. At first the excuse was that I was on a downswing and not playing my best - a time when I think playing less hours is +EV both short- and long-term. Then I recorded a couple nice wins and quit early in the day - feeling the psychological need to sit on a win since they had been rare. But around April 10th or 12th or something, I ran out of legitimate excuses (the discovery of Civilization IV doesn't count) and still slacked on my hours. So that's going to stop.

2. No joke - a former shortstacker was sitting on the minimum buy-in at one of the new 40BB minimum tables. He was in the big blind when I stole from the button and he shoved his stack in with ATo. Some people just can't let go of the old ways.

That "strategy", learnable in 5 minutes, used to be both annoying for me and profitable for him - even though I spend hours a day studying poker and improving, and am probably more talented than him to begin with.

Now, in order to simplify the game to one street he has risk twice as much money to win the same amount. In other words, he has to make a massive mistake. That guy, who doesn't really know how to play poker, is now what he ought to be: a fish. And I hope the soulless bastards who nearly ruined poker for everyone lose a lot of money before they realize this strategy is mathematically dead.

3. I've started playing some 100 NL (or $.50/$1.00 if you will, since not all the tables are really $100 max buy-in). I expect to gradually transition to that level over the next month or two, but from what I've seen so far and what my housemates are telling me, I should be a theoretical winner immediately.

Ok that's it. Next time we examine the question: "Can a Holkan rush wipe out the AI on Monarch level?"

Some good...some bad

As related to my vent post about shortstackers, we have just received news that our preferred site has instituted some new rules that have given us a good dose of hope.  Which is a good and welcome thing always, but especially on the heels of so much break even results in this house in the past month and a half.  I mean, I'm raking it in at the 25NL, but those players are practically begging to give away their money.  Literally.  I watched a conversation/transaction occur at one of my tables just yesterday in which a tilting player insisted on giving away the rest of her bankroll to the first requestor.  Now, her remaining bankroll was something like $9.55, but still.  That's ten bucks for free and where else are you going to find that?  But back to the point, which is that the games are about to get closer to poker than slot machines for the first time in a while.  Hopefully.  We will have to see how it actually plays out.  And, while hope is an often dangerous thing, it is also very good and very refreshing.  I guess, spring fever helps the effervescence a bit too.  I say, bring it on.

April is already March

As I've mentioned before, I took a lot of time off in March. My hand totals in March were something silly like.... 3k hand... for the... whole... month. Woo hoo! Well... I'm proud to report that as of yesterday I have equaled that total in April. March = April, ftw.

Look out! 125k hands a month here I come! (that will probably never happen)

I'm pretty happy with where my game is at currently. My tilt has cut WAY down and I'm just playing some really solid poker. I feel like pretty soon I'll be back to logging 4k hands in a day and putting down some good profit months.

Life in general is going pretty awesomely right now. I've been doing a lot of videos for DC recently which is something I've been meaning to do for some time. I've been spending a lot of time in Seattle with the girl I'm seeing. Can't complain.

As for right now... it's time to do the pre-session routine and log a session. Poker!!!

In like a lion....out like a lamb.

March has never been a good month for me. Friends and loved ones pass on in March. I get horrible, life altering diseases in March. Relationships that were intended to be permanent come to a screeching, bloody end in March. This year, I made practically no money playing poker in March. As bad as that sucks, I kind of feel like I got off the hook easy this year.

Losing or break even-months are hopefully going to be uncommon but ultimately inevitable for me. Since this was my first one since making the leap, this is mostly an update on my mental health:

Mostly, its not too bad, considering. A couple days were pretty rough but overall I'm still happier and more hopeful than I've been in several years - and still fairly confident this is going to work out. More importantly, not once last month did I doubt the decision to give this a try. And I'm really far from even considering giving up. I'm very lucky in that my bankroll will support a lot more bad months before I start to get pinched.

So there you have it. I think I've gone through one of the major rites of passage for a new professional poker player. First break-even month. I'm still here and mostly undaunted.

I'm not dead... I promise

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything and I didn't want y'all to be concerned for my health. Don't worry. I still drink too much... eat too much... and don't sleep or play poker enough. :)

I made it back from Seattle safely and after about a week I started gradually playing poker. I hit a little 5BI upswing over about 2k hands. That was a nice change of pace and I'm happy to be feeling good about my game. During this time I had a new article released in the March issue of Bluff Magazine. Sweet, right?

After that it was my birthday so I spent some time with people and what have you. Also, I was leaving for Seattle a few days after the birthday so I made sure to spend some QT with the friends and family.

Now I'm back in Seattle with the goal of getting the poker thing officially going. I have videos to make, coaching to do, and hands to grind. On top of all that there is this crazy little thing called life that I am going to be doing my best with... so all signs point towards me staying busy.