What's next?

The action of the US Department on Justice has had a profound affect on the lives of many poker players, as I and many have discussed many times since April 15th. At this point all that can be said, thought, speculated and surmised has already been repeated in many a blog. Myself and others have written about using this time to take our game to the next level by study and review. Many have written about having to move out of the country to continue playing online.

Online pros have lost their lucrative contracts with the three poker sites involved in the indictment and they are either having to leave the country or figure out how to continue to make a living doing what they love. Others still have large sums of money tied up on the two sites that haven't paid out yet. All this said, yet again, it's time to figure out what we do now.

I recently purchased The Poker Mindset by Ian Taylor and Matthew Hilger. I'm now three chapters in and I really wish I had purchased this book two years ago. Since April 15th my mindset has been anything but productive for my game. I'm so pissed off and feel so cheated that I tilt over the least little thing. Why, because I don't want to be playing on Carbon Poker or Bodog or any other site except PokerStars. PokerStars was my constant companion for the last two years. When I was down or upset PokerStars was there with thousands of players and hundreds of games to play to keep my mind off of all the things that were bothering me. I totally enjoyed playing there, well except maybe during the worst of my downswings but even then I still didn't want to play anywhere else. Poker seems to have lost so much of it's allure for me right now.

So to the title of this blog, nope I don't have an answer but I wish I did. I have no idea what's next. At this point I trudge on and study and work on my game. I try out the others sites in hopes of finding one I enjoy half as much as I enjoyed PokerStars. I study and read and review (if I could just find a site with a decent method of saving hand histories so I can review my games). I hope the DOJ doesn't decide to shut down the remaining sites but that is a possibility that we all have to be aware of. Most of all I stop and I realize this is yet one more bump in the road of life. I realize how many other things I have to be thankful for and most importantly I work on my mindset. I do my best to stop being pissed off and accept what has happened and do what I can to improve the situation while accepting that what I can do is minimal.

I've been asked quite a bit about other sites and depositing and rakeback and all the general questions. While I'm no expert in online poker sites I do know quite a bit about how to find a new site and deposit and get rakeback and all those things so my next blog will be a review of each site still available in the U.S. (based solely on my experience and opinion) along with how you sign up, get rakeback and deposit. Until that update if you are interested in Cake or any of the sites on the Merge network please go through Rake the Rate using my referral code (a girl's gotta make money where a girl can) here. Click on the tab that says Rakeback Offers and choose the site you're interested in and follow the instructions. Merge pays 35% rakeback and Cake 33% (I will tell you now I'm a bit leery of Cake) by using my link you get 35% (on Merge) of your rake and I get 4%. You can refer people using your referral link after you sign up and you will get 4% referral rakeback on any of your referrals and I will get 1% from everyone you refer, certainly a win/win situation for us all.

Let us trudge on and hopefully prosper.

Lives turned upside down!

I'm trying to put my best effort forward and move on since the dreaded April 15th but it's getting harder and harder. I've been playing on Carbon Poker and basically getting nowhere fast. The games are not plentiful so it's very difficult to get in enough volume to beat the variance and it's just not much fun. Nothing imports correctly to PokerTracker. The only way I can review my games in through PokerTracker and that's pretty painful. All in all nothing is the same.

I've read many blogs about the effects this poker crackdown has had on people and it's heartbreaking. People are having to leave their families and friends to move out of the country so that they can keep playing and making their living. Others don't have that option and we're stuck trying to figure out if there is anyway we can make money on the sites left. Many have just stopped playing online and are playing live but not all of them have the option of playing live. I can't tell you how many people I've heard of who are in someway disabled who played poker to make a living rather than living off the government and tax payers. Many have physical disabilities and some have mild mental disabilities that prevent them from holding down a regular job. Through online poker they were able to make a good living in the privacy of their own homes at a pace that was comfortable for them. Now they have no income and no choice.

It angers me when I hear back from my congressmen and senators and they refer to poker as gambling and inform me that it's illegal. I don't consider myself a gambler at all. I don't even play the lottery. When I go to casinos I rarely play slots or table games and if I do it's only for a very small amount of money. I play poker because I can win money at it and I enjoy it. Court after court has ruled that poker is a game of skill not chance yet it's being lumped in with all online gambling and being held prisoner by our justice department. When will this insanity stop?

I urge everyone to email your congressmen and senators and the white house. First send the canned email from the PPA but then follow it up with an email telling your own story. Explain how the crackdown has effected you personally. Let them know that you are poker player not a gambler! Then send them the same email once a week. If you're in a position where you can try to get your story in the local media in someway please try to do so. The best way we can get legislation and regulation of online poker is by continuing to be a very loud and squeaky wheel. Start squeaking loudly please! Below is the link to the PPA take action page please start sending emails now!

http://theppa.org/takeaction/

The Rug...

I've waited over a week now to write about the happenings of Black Friday (the day the online poker world stood still) because I didn't want to write yet another blog expressing anger or whining. So until I had time to take everything in and process it and get over being so angry I decided not to write anything. Am I still angry, yes of course. The rug has been pulled out from under me and I'm still trying the figure out how to proceed. Did I shed tears over this, yes I did and I may continue to. Neither of these emotional response will actually accomplish anything though so I'm doing my best to put them to rest.

What now? One of my earliest responses was one of my best responses and that was oh well now I'll have plenty of time to catch up on all those PokerVT videos I haven't had time to watch because I've been spending so much time playing. I've seen several people quickly react and cancel their training site memberships and decide to quit playing online for now. For me I plan on doing the opposite. I'm taking this time to work on my game as much as I can. There are still online poker rooms where I can play and as long as they're available I will continue to play online. I won't be playing too much, nor will I ever keep much money online but I will keep playing enough to get the practice and continue to improve my game.

I think improving my live game at this point is important as well. I've always wanted to start playing in a nearby bar league but with trying to keep my star status and increase my online game volume I never seemed to have time, now I have plenty of time. Bar league play is very much like freeroll play from what I've heard but I've always enjoyed freerolls :-). The league near me has some decent prizes and live packages to play for so hopefully the play won't just be terrible. I also figure I might meet some people who play home game tournaments and maybe I'll get invited.

I think, or at least hope, that poker legislation and regulation will happen and hopefully it will happen soon and when it does I hope to have taken my game to the next level because it will create some more fishfest for those of us who've taken this opportunity to improve to really make some money.

Today I read Dusty Schmidt's blog "Keep Going" and this is basically what he is saying as well. We can do as Dusty says and ride the escalator going down or we can ride the one going up. I choose the one going up!

"Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world."
Harriet Tubman

Best Month Ever and the appendix...

Well March turned out to my best poker month ever. My profit for March was more than all of last year. I made Gold Star status on PokerStars and had a great month overall.

I still haven't binked a "big one" yet but at least I'm getting closer. I've had a 4th place finish, a 7th place finish and 14th and 17th place finishes in MTTs with over 1000 runners in the last 45 days. So hopefully a first will happen very soon.

I even managed to finally take down a $6.50 90 knockout on Full Tilt in March. Sounds weird that this is a big deal but I don't play on Full Tilt very much and even though I've played quite a few 90 KOs I've never actually won one until last month. I did win the non turbo non KO $5.50 90 man once but just never managed to win a 90 KO. So one more accomplishment in a great month.

Had a little set back on Monday. I had to go to the emergency room with bad abdominal pain and it turned out as the E.R. Doctor said "my appendix had gone south". I had it removed on Monday afternoon and had to spend the night in the hospital. I must say hospitals are the noisiest places on earth. I was so happy to come home yesterday and get some rest. Luckily my appendix hadn't ruptured so the surgery was laproscopic and I only have 4 small incisions. Most normal people get 3 incisions but as anyone who knows me is well aware of I'm not normal so I got 4 instead of 3.

Well here's to hoping for an even better April....

As anyone who plays poker will attest to poker can be a brutal game with some brutal beats. Some days are so stressful and despite your best efforts nothing seems to go right. Other days every flip goes your way. I'd like to say I'm getting more and more used to it but I doubt that's the truth. I don't know if I'll ever totally get used to the stress and the tilt and the bad beats that seems so unfair. I'll continue to play and to try to improve and detach emotions from my game as much as I can but it's not easy.

I've had a really good month so far actually. I finished 7th in the $11r $50K for a nice 4 figure sum. I also had a deep run in two MTTs on Full Tilt and I accomplished something I've tried for ages to accomplish and oddly enough never have and that is I won a $6.50 90 man KO. So odd, I've had every final table finish several different times but I never managed to win one. I've won several 180 man MTSNGs on PokerStars and even a 1000 runner MTT on Stars but for some reason the 90 KOs alluded me until Monday night. I reached the final table in 9th place with less than 10 bbs and just sat patiently and waited for the right spots and finally got to the final three. I went into heads up with a 4 to 1 chip disadvantage but managed to take it down. My 7th place finish in the $11r was exciting and so was my 4th place finish in the $1r 6 max $2K but honestly I was more excited about finally winning a 90 KO. I think because I tried unsuccessfully for so long.

Well the month is almost over and this Sunday PokerStars is bringing back the Sunday Women's $55 with a new $5K guarantee and it will be nice to play with the ladies again. This is also Turbo Takedown Sunday and since the ladies game starts at 1:00 pm est I might take a shot at the Sunday Warm Up.

Well on to more pokering.

The Six Ps....

Someone once told me the 6 Ps of management, Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. Well I've been thinking and there 6 Ps of poker success as well. All this has been said many times but by putting it in Ps maybe it's easier to remember.

Proper bankroll management, the most important aspect of your poker career. Without it you will always be broke. There a several good web sources for this P so I won't go into it here but here are some links: http://www.pokerlistings.com/poker-strategy-articles/bankroll-management and my favorite: http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/jennifear/ and the ultimate Jesus rules: http://pokerbankrollblog.com/chris-ferguson-challenge.htm

Patience, next to bankroll management patience is the next important thing you have to master to succeed in poker. You may sit through who knows how many hands before you get anything playable. Your stack may start diminishing right before your eyes while you wait but if you are patient and wait for the right spot you will win more than you lose. Playing online helps because you can play several tables at once so you will usually have something going on on one or more tables. One thing I see so many people do is get really impatient when they lose a big hand and big chunk of their stack and just shove on the next hand. This is usually a mistake, wait for a few hands or a good spot and then get it in. If you push trash the next hand after a big loss you're going to get called a lot lighter because everyone will assume it's a tilt shove.

Perseverance, the old adage "if at first you don't succeed, try, try and try again" is never anymore true than in poker. "Poker's a day to learn and a lifetime to master." ~Robert Williamson III, this is so true. Don't expect to read a few books and/or watch a few strategy videos and go online or to the casino and win a fortune. You might get really lucky and win a big tournament but it's luck not skill in most cases and you can't win consistently on luck alone. Keep trying and keep studying, reviewing and learning and most importantly playing and playing some more. If you're following the first P you won't go broke while you're learning.

Planning, when you get dealt a hand plan out what you will do with it. If you raise with it think about the "what ifs". Don't just look at your hand and think oh great I have pocket jacks and I'm going to win a big pot. Pay attention to the action before you and then decide what to do with your hand. If you're in early position and the first to act make a raise but don't be set on playing them a certain way. There are only two hands I never fold pre-flop and that's AA and KK assuming I'm not on some exact satellite bubble with a few short stacks. Don't get married to your hand before you see what others are going to do. Think about how you will proceed on different flops, turns and rivers. Plan, don't be impulsive.

Pause, before every action pause and think your moves through. Never make rash actions. Think about what will happen next if you make this call on the flop etc. If you've ever watched Chris "Jesus" Ferguson you will notice that before every action he pauses for the exact same amount of time. This always gives him a minute to think before making a play and by pausing the same amount of time he doesn't give away tells.

Premonition, no I don't mean E.S.P. what I do mean is our sub-conscience mind sees and stores things that our conscience mind doesn't even notice. When we're involved in a hand our sub-conscience may be screaming fold you fool or call he's bluffing. Listen to this and you will see more times than not your hunch is correct because it's not a hunch. Your mind recognizes something in your opponents actions that don't make sense based on things you've observed in the past. Never be stubborn enough not to listen.

Well for those who've been playing awhile none of this is anything new but for any newer player may you find it helpful.

Moving on up....

Just finished a bit over 10K hands of cash since starting back to playing cash. After several fairly successful days of full ring cash games I stupidly decided to try 6 max, bad idea! I lost some money but still managed to stay in the black and maintain a positive BB/100.

Today I switched back to full ring and my first session of 562 hands went really well with a $108 profit. Full ring is so much less aggressive and softer than 6 max. The variance is very obviously lower. I seem to stress out and tilt much less at full ring. So full ring it is for now.

I like the faster pace of 6 max but I just don't do as well and tend to run into more decent opponents than I do in full ring. Another thing is I can play 6 tables of full ring pretty easily but I can only comfortably handle 4 tables of 6 max. So while 6 max moves faster with the 2 extra tables of full ring I think my hands per hour are about the same.

I've still played some MTTs and SNGs with mixed results. After playing cash where I can take a break whenever I please and stop and start my sessions when I want it's tough to be tied down to a tournament. I also get more stressed out in tournaments. I'll still continue to play some but I'm really going to concentrate on my cash game for now. I would love to get in another 10K hands by next Sunday but that will take some work and commitment. If I try hard I should be able to do it.

Well enough for now, next update at 20K hands.