[Closed] The tao of the river

The manic world of freerolls is not for the easily scared. In addition to the usual broke players trying to get some money going again,and sadly there are alot of these, there is also a breed I like to call the SAG's. TAG (tight aggressive) philosophy is the standard style of play recommended for beginning players . It involves a very limited range of hands to be played in what positions and how to bet them and what to do if resistance is met (usually fold). I like coming across these types because I know that if I show aggression they are taught to crumple unless they have the nuts. Basically I get to shove these players around and steal blinds off of them with such a high rate of success that I never have to take a big pot or even get to showdown (thank god cause I usually have trash and just push them off the hand). The other common style that one runs into is the LAG style. These loose and aggressive players will often have you guessing how the hell they can get so many good hands . They don't.They just play more hands and have a wider range so they catch a lot of oddball cards and close the net. Again I don't mind when I spot one of these types since I just have to make sure I get the drop on them or once again push them off the pot with extreme aggression. Lags tend to not like confrontation so a couple battles with one usually is enough to make them stay out of your way. Now we get to this other breed I'm going to talk about. The SAG player, silly (or any other suitable 's' word) aggressive players. Most are characterised by a basic understanding of the game but are overly aggressive in all the wrong spots. Yes your pocket pair is a good start but it isn't worth shoving all in if there are two overcards on board , silly, silly. They also tend to play too many hands and limp into the pot with weaker speculative hands and overbet the strong ones. Personally I try to keep a standard betting pattern irregardless of my hand strength. I will of course let the situation dictate but pre flop betting I stick to 3x or 4x as a general rule. They also have the obvious online tells. The timing of their bets,the aforementioned giving away of the hand strength through betting and when an ace does hit the board and they have one they never slow play. They also can't stand checking a board down and you can almost see the veins in their head popping if no one bets the flop. I can't even begin to say enough good things about these types. I find one and drain their stack or just flat out bust them if given the chance and usually since they cork off and catch some dumb luck they have a decent stack just waiting to have a better home, me.

Ok so on to the progress. Only played two tournaments that payed out got coolered out of one by a set over set. The second one I made it in the money but just barely so the current bankroll is ........................ 13 cents. I know crazy huh. To add to that however since I was bored (I'm really used to playing 8 tables , 6 ring games and two tourneys so this is gonna be hard on me) I also played another four tournaments that would get me entry into a weekly one. Four for four on this count so thats a solid months worth of entry into tournaments with a prize pool of 1k. One hundred for first and pays out ninety players, easy peasy. As well I completed this quiz that the poker room has set up that got me into a monthly tourney that has an even juicier prize pool of 5k. Four hundred for first pays out a whopping five hundred and forty players. Now these ones should generally have a higher caliber of player but that just means more solid play. Again placing shouldn't be an issue. Hell if I'm used to making it in bigger money games than this should be like stealing candy from a baby. Right never assume it will be easy. And lastly I am signed up to two bonus programs that will pay out a total of a hundred and sixty five , one for fifty in a month and the other for the remainder within three months. If all goes well and I avoid getting bad beats and continue laying them I may reach those ring tables a little sooner than I first thought.

And that's it for today time to hit the books and check out my hand history. Thanks again for the Roeper heads up BJ, I'm almost done that one,....I had time to read with only two games on the go.

"There are two types of people in the world: gamblers and the sane." -Roeper

Day two started off very uneventfully. I had two tournaments in the morning that ended out of the money. Both cases had me ahead when the money went in the middle but ended with a donkey catching their astronomical chance to out me. The first I had KQs in late position and of course raised. The small blind called and the flop came Kc 7c Qh. Cha ching I thought. I caught top two pair. The blinds were getting up there and I wanted to shut this hand down and avoid anymore clubs so I raised the pot, it would cost this player 2360 to call. Now let's stop here before explaining how dumb luck ruined my first tournament of the morning and play the numbers game. First off these numbers are based on 100,000 hands of NL holdem. For some that would be well over a lifetimes worth of hands but in the internet age with 30 plus hands an hour for four hours (and this is conservative some online pros put in a minimum eight hour workday not to mention marathon sessions) on 8, 16, 32 tables you can see how this is more feasible than ever. I'm pretty sure Tom Dwan has seen a mind boggling number of hands so far. Ok so with that as our basis we can expect my hand to flop (two pair) about 5000 times. Now to in order to call my ridiculous overbet, and it was but hey in tournament situations you have to be ultra aggressive at times or you will just get bled dry, this player would have to have one of a small number of hands. The first and most obvious would be three of a kind. The number of times that this would be expected would be 2000. Reasonable but I'm still ahead by more than double the odds. The other possibility would be that of having my hand since that would be even odds it's not worth talking about. Of course the other possible hand to call that bet with would be pocket rockets (aces). The odds of winning any given hand with these monsters is very high 110:1. That's all fine and dandy but i had two pair so we already knew I would have been quite happy to have seen them turn up pocket aces. There are draws of course that could be expected to call a bet in this position. A flush draw, seeing as there were two clubs on board. This is quite a feasible hand to make at this point since if they did have two clubs (and two were on board) they would have exactly 10 outs. So , and like I mentioned at first in order, to make this call harder for them I gave them insanely terrible pot odds to call.Further the call would have left them with about eight big blinds and at any point in a tournament being that short stacked means it's shove time very soon, which to my surprise is what they did. For me calling this was a no brainer. If they had aces I was ahead. If they had the same two pair as me fine chop it up, but if they had a lower two pair all the chips would be heading to their new home. If they had trips fine I was beat but I would still have a slim chance to improve(1.6:1). If they had a flush draw again I was ahead and would have taken the beat in stride, as you need to be able to do, if they caught it. The odds on catching a backdoor straight would also be favourable to them at 31.5% , but i ruled that out since it would be prudent to call and save any small number off chips for the turn. So what did this villian have you ask? A seven with an ace kicker, both hearts by the way. So I was quite happy when I saw this and even moreso when the turn bricked a deuce of spades completely killing any flush possibility for them. But of course there is that last card and since I already gave away the fact that i busted on this I'll dispense with any Hollywood drama. Yep the rotten digital dealer gave them the seven of hearts. I won't bore you anymore with numbers on the odds of catching a set on the river or even a second pair needless to say they are not so hot.

What did I gain from this? I will go over this hand a few more times and learn from it what I can. I at first asked myself if given the same situation would I have made the call and my answer is absolutely. This player caught a really lucky break and beat the odds plain and simple. They also made a very bad call by rational standards. Should I modify my style of play or ratchet down my aggression since in most cases like I said I will be encountering players by and large that are either new or broke because they are just not good poker players in these freerolls? I don't think so. If I start being afraid to play my hands strongly I won't get anywhere with this experiment and then I won't be playing with the odds in my favour, which is key. Straying from the facts and being too emotional or making bad assumptions is a huge mistake. So all in all it was just one of those situations that you have to take in stride and if you can't take up something safer to accomplish than gambling. I won't go into the other hand that busted me but to say that again I would have done the same thing a hundred times,nay a thousand and come out on top 80% of the time so chalk it up to someones beginners luck or the stars not shining on me this morning.

Last little note for the day is that I really don't expect a lot financially from these little freerolls they are more to keep my chops up while I am studying more. The bigger payouts will be the weekly and monthly ones that I get into and the real game begins once that bankroll is hefty enough for ring games. That's when the real fun begins ;).

" M%$#a f@!@&*g donk a&% b*&%$h"

No that was not me last night or anytime for that matter. That is something that will commonly come up in the little chat box in online poker rooms when someone gets a strong starting hand beaten by a weaker one. I was going to explain the why's of calling this blogola "the tao of..." but instead a little incident last night has changed my mind and instead I am going to talk about etiquette. Yes the murky subject of online (poker or other) behaviour.

Now first off I am hardly a saint (shocking I know) but I do strive to not be hurtful , mean or generally nasty to anyone even when I feel they have earned it. Firstly it does me no good and certainly does them no good. In this day and age cyber life can be so far removed from reality that common decency and human kindness can get lost. I'm sure you have all seen your share of chat forums filled with harsh flaming comments . There is just no consequence and people will say things, that would earn them a swift right hook in person, in cyberspace without any thought or regard.

Here is the scenario from last night. I'm in the big blind and about five people limp into the pot. As a side note , never ever ...(ok I will give you an instance or two some other time when you could), ever limp into the pot. If you feel your cards are decent enough to play then bet them. One reason for betting is that if you don't you might let someone into the pot for cheap that has a weaker hand and they just might catch a monster. Then you will face tough decisions , something you do not want to do (it hurts yer head). Which brings me back to this hand. Ok so everyone has limped around me and I don't even really like my hand but I'm big blind and I already payed for it so I check. The flop comes out Ah 9s 6s . The player immediately to my left bets just under half the pot immediately and the rest of the limpers save one fold. I look at my hand again and there is no chance I'm not calling that weak bet I have a 7 and an 8 ,of spades even, so I call. The turn card comes out and BINGO it's the 10 of hearts (really wishing it was the spade 10 but whatever works) so i made my straight further I still have a flush draw and hell that ten might show yet. The original raiser now decides to almost stack off and puts a good chunk of his chips in. The other player folds out and I pretend to take my time and call at the last second. The river comes and it's a brick, the 2 of clubs. So I've got the nuts the player to my left seems confused about what I could have and takes a few seconds before just checking over to me. Naturally I bet what I think they will reasonably pay and they call. We turn over our cards and it seems I busted his two pair of aces and tens. So it goes right and if the roles were reversed I would have said nice hand and on we go, actually I do that even if wasn't a nice hand. Not this guy. His response is to hurl massive amounts of insults in my direction (boo hoo) and start commenting to his buddy in Bosnian about how he had an ace and blah ,blah, blah. I keep babel fish running so that I can translate what people in other langauges are saying in case they are colluding, comes in real handy;). Anyway I'm rather enjoying this and trust me it is not the first time so I'm quite used to it. I used to say something snarky back but that got old real quick and felt dumb anyway and at one point I would be super sarcastic and say things like "oh thank you too" or "i'd love to f&*k myself but just can't reach" but that got old quick as well so now I just say nothing. For the remainder of their game they were all over me and of course continued beaking off. Fine by me I was playing solid and ended up busting him out later mostly due to him having lost so much to me previously by letting his emotions rule him at which point they could have finally been a gracious loser and just bowed out quietly and possibly said good game. Do you think they did?

All in all the point I'm making is not only will you look stupid and ignorant acting like a jerk in the game but if you are an a%$ and f^%k with me I will felt your sorry mu%$# f#$@@$g a$# with a smile and a "good game" to you one your way out.

As for today I took most of it off (lol) to study and refine my goals and milestones in this endeavour a bit more and since I ended up taking fifth in that tournament I am slightly ahead of schedule. Who says nice guys finish last?

Well kids I spent my day off (get a kick out of saying that) not really taking the day off but hitting the books and drilling home some numbers as well as refining the mission statement. I did get into one tournament but bombed out because I wasn't paying attention. Never play and read ...or read and play since I had to go back and reread what I missed. What an utter waste of half an hour. Ah well still better than a <insert lame-o pop band's name here> concert.

The books that I either started or continued with today are, 'Super System'-Doyle Brunson ,'Harrington on Hold Em'- Dan Harrington and ' Introduction to Probability' -Grinstead and Laurie. All classics in the field and man did I ever need the coffee. One things is for sure books on poker are about as lively as books on growing fungus, ...actually I could really get into that. All kidding aside really good reads one and all so far. Though I am looking forward to the books written specifically with the online player in mind. We really are a different breed. I was talking to a buddy about monster hands we have hit and he told me he has had 34 royal flushes (zomg!!!). Now he is a poker player so that could be a bluff but this guy is not known for fish stories. The average player can expect to see this hit for them once in their lifetime if ever. But then we online loons aren't average. I so far would have hit two, but I folded pre flop to a big bet because I had junk, J 3 and Q 5 both offsuit. Oh how many beautiful hands would have been if I just made a dumb call. But of course most by a large margin were duds.

As far as refining the mission I have decided that I will use some of the bonus points that I have earned previously for entry into bigger tournaments. However I will limit the amount that I can put towards this project to exactly fifty percent of my current bankroll. So if I have ten beans and wrack up a seven hundred dollar win with points I will only give myself five bucks towards the bankroll. What will I do with the remainder you wonder. Well obviously I will chant and dance around a fire naked and burn it. No on second thought I will take half and give half to charity.

I have also decided that I will allow myself one session of exemption from the bankroll rule for no more than sixty hands. By this I mean that I will take one shot at a higher level than I should be playing at with my current BR and play for higher stakes. The reason for this is that even though solid bankroll management is key taking a look at what you are moving up towards should be encouraged otherwise you will spend all of two seconds up and have to drop back down again. I will allow myself this clause once per level I move up. Sound fair? I don't care if it doesn't I'm making the rules.

The final addition to the overall structure includes a weekly tournament that I set up. It is a HEROES style tournament. A what you say? It is a mixed game with repeating rounds of hold em limit, razz, omaha , omaha h/l , and 7 card stud. It is a cheap buy-in (2bucks) , really just a fun game on Sundays, that I will not be using this bankroll for but I decided since it will also be a small payout I can use it towards this experiment.

Finally since I took the day off yesterday I'm putting in overtime today. I have a minimum of twenty tournaments on the books with a total possible payout of $234.75. Pretty interesting when you think I won't be paying any entry fee for any of them. Kinda puts the financial possibilities of online poker into perspective doesn't it? I will have at least two tourneys going at the same time so will be almost back up to pace with normal.

On a personal note, when I first decided to do this I thought that I would be bored or just not care about trying to win a $10 first place but I'm finding I actually am trying just as hard if not harder to pull those chips my way. I'm not sure what that says but it says something.

" razz was invented by satan around the turn of the 14th century to torment mankind "-nejad

Very interesting blog: Your friends are lucky to have someone as articulate and committed as yourself to teach them Poker! I wish I did!

29/04/11

Patience is a virtue that will definately be tested , if you have any, in poker. You quickly learn that if you play more than twenty percent of your hands you will soon be down about one hundred percent of your chips. I'm not saying you should be folding everything except a small number of hands but you have to pick and choose when to play.
At the beginning of a tournament you run into two types of players. The maniacs and the cautious. Well three actually the smart as well but they fold anything besides pocket overcards until all the nutbars bust out. Thankfully that doesn't take very long and I'm actually amazed sometimes at how the field is cut in half within half an hour. So a tournament that started with say two thousand players is down to under a thousand within an hour . After that it is only another six hundred or so to go to make the money and usually the blinds are still not even that high. So with patience one can often times make it in the money by literally only playing about ten or so hands. This is one of the aspects of poker that I liken to zen buddhism, action through inaction. truly one of the greatest weapons you have in your arsenal in poker is folding and not giving your opponent anything.

Not much to write today I'm actually pretty wiped out I ended up playing twenty plus tournaments and thanks to patience among other virtues my bankroll reflects it. I have to say I will be really glad once this first phase is done with and I can start playing for real money again because today would have been a lovely payday in bigger tournaments. Tomorrow (or today I guess by now) is even more packed with a minimum of thirty games to play. I am happy to say that I am slightly ahead of my forecast and will break down the numbers in a few days ..after the weekend.

in grace,c

The tao of the river-01/05/11

So why call this "the tao of the river" you ask? Short answer is that "Zen and the Art of Poker" was taken. In fact zen and the art of.... everything seems to be taken ..except maybe "cannibalism" but hey that one might be written by some zombie soon. The long answer is that there are tons of aspects of poker that either overlap with zen concepts or could benefit from them. Like what you ask?

Well for starters the idea that the universe and thusly ourselves are in a state of constant change. Recognizing the fluidity of the game (board texture) swings in sessions, and overall results (variance) would certainly apply. A poker player with a good sense of how fortunes and hands can move through many different phases will be better prepared for the long haul.

Both emphasize practice as a key element. One can hardly expect to reach a contemplative state simply by accident or become better without playing.

The meat of the matter is in the process and should not be judged on short term success or failure. Though we hate to fail if we can learn from it and accept that we will have to fail in order to improve then we never actually fail. Any devotee of a discipline will eventually come to this realization that they are always working towards the same goal. Salvador Dali once remarked that he was always painting the same canvas. Likewise for poker , you are always playing the same game.

Stillness and patience are the last aspects I will talk about. One must be patient and wait for the moments to act in a pure and direct fashion. A stillness of thought helps keep the mind from getting agitated waiting for the right moments. Giving in to impatience or letting anger rule your decisions can be costly.

I will go a little more in depth on other overlapping ideas from these two seemingly divergent worlds in later entries.

The progress thus far is quite good actually took first in two tournaments and made either in the money or final table a handful of other times. So I'm about halfway to my first milestone and quite ahead of my own forecast (gotta love it when being wrong benefits you) and will have to start refining the mission for cash games.

"Can you remain unmoving till the right action arises by itself?" -Lao-tzu

Wow. That is an excellent quote. Instead of trying to force action, wait for the right cards, and then the right action applies. I really like the idea of applying this kind of thing to Poker. I especially like the idea of accepting the fluidity of the game and your results. I never really thought of it that way.

Very thought-provoking post!

thank you very much sal, I intend this blog to be about me reconciling those two aspects of my life. and thusly why I started at zero completely. it is definately a long journey that will have its rewards in the steps not in the end goal.

Well I'm happy to say I have blown past milestone one much quicker than I expected and more profitably. My first major milestone was to get over fifty dollars with just freeroll earnings. Just by entering tournaments that cost me nothing to enter and had very low payouts (I think the most I made was 15) .I happily surpassed that first goal by thirty five dollars (which is funny because thats how much I gained on my other BR in half an hour) and sixty three cents. Taken as an hourly earning it is quite ridiculously low, but that was hardly the point. However on a skills and personal level it is pretty immeasurable. Finally if you look at it as ROI (return on investment) it is technically off the charts. How many tournaments did I end up playing to get this far? Surprisingly not as much as I thought at first. I played in slightly over a hundred tournaments. I of course did not always get payed out and sometimes I earned as little as a nickel after an hours worth of effort. Once again the process matters more than the reward so even losing was a gain.

So what did I learn from these freerolls? Well I learned that people are really impatient and overly aggressive. So many times I would watch half of a nine person table go out before I even bothered playing a hand. So many times I watched someone unwilling to think that their AK offsuit was beat and keep betting even when the board held a straight draw or flush draw or even a set draw. So many times I watched people insulting each other for bad plays while making bad plays themselves. I also learned that bluffing at these low levels is mostly a waste of time. Your opponent may have A6 and the flop comes out with two Q's but they will never believe that you have a queen no matter how much you put into the pot. In a ring game situation this could make you broke very quickly. Fortunately this is probably the same reason that I was able to move past phase one of this mission as fast as I did. Yeah people would let me limp in with pocket 3's and on an A,3,10 board shove all in with a weak ace. Fine by me.

I met some pretty solid players as well however and am not saying that it was completely a walk in the park. I also met some nice people and chatted it up a bit here and there.All in all I am both happy to have pulled through that phase and grateful for the time spent refining my game somewhat.

I would like to share a story from one of the final tables that I ended up in during this time. The final table starts and I notice that besides two other players that I have seen before there is this kid I played against at the start of the tournament. During the early part of this tournament he and I had rarely butted heads , I had my A-game going and he was as tight as a nuns arse ( yeah I said it). Anyways I have him marked as a solid player with more sense than to get silly. We get to chatting (this btw is not the first time I had run into him) and I learn that he is an engineering student in India. We kept our distance from each other mostly and give each other respect in regards to raising and such for the rest of the while. He tells me how happy he is that he made the final table because now he can afford another tournament buy in that would cost him a buck twenty. The top payout for this one would be eight bucks I think. Some time throughout our conversation I decide to ship him ( you can easily transfer money from one player to another) enough to get into that other tournament. In perspective I was only gauranteed what I sent him and so would have spent an hour and a half for nothing of monetary gain. He was taken aback and kept thanking me to the point where I had to tell him to stop. After awhile I ended up busting out and minus what I sent him (which at the time was over ten percent of my BR) I ended up with two fifty. He said that he would get that money back to me but I told him I didn't want to see it. What I do want is to see him across the table from me someday when we are throwing in fifty or a hundred down for the small blinds and to know that a solid smart player rose up through the micro levels.

So and where to go from here? Well in case I didn't make it clear I was expecting to be at this point sometime later than I am so I am going to take some time to decide in which direction to head. I also decided that as a reward I will allow myself to have fun with about twenty bucks and let me tell you I really am. I've been playing mixed games and also a ring table and damn it's good to be back and it is a blast. I have some skills refined to perfection that these nickel players have not seen before.:)

"How long does it take to learn poker Dad? All your life Son." -Pertwee

I saw you on my blog and decided to return the favor...

Very nice writing. I like the challenge that you set for yourself, and as you can tell by my blog...I might as well start on the same path as you.

GLATT, I will be following you from now on.

thank you very much for the compliment. i have to admit that at first it seemed like it was going to take forever to break 50 but I caught some lucky wins with some hard work and now I just want to make sure I don't drop down below otherwise I will have to start again with the freerolls. btw this br is going to an animal shelter here after a year so it might be the good intention goddess giving me the help lol. i'll take that edge any day.

Well it had been awhile but I decided to take a break and get the details sorted out before the rolling. As well I took the time to set this up on live journal and list it with a few blog search engine listy things.

So how does the focus change now? Well to break it down I am slightly over the fifty dollar mark that was the first goal. This means that I can now grind it out at the penny stakes. Yes they have games with $ 0.01/0.02 blinds. Mostly I will be working two tables of these stakes until I break a hundred.

I decided I will still enter the odd freeroll tourney simply because, well it's free. There is a nightly Canadian only one that I want to take down simply for the rights to say I felted my fellow canucks. I also have a few other ones that usually turn a profit and/or I enjoy playing in (love the one 10 game that is at lunch time everyday) as well as the weekly and monthly that have a juicy prize pool. It is not so hard to have one of these going while I play two other tables anyway so why look a gift horse in the mouth unless you are his dentist (that's either a good saying or dumb let me know).

As for SnG's (sit and go tournaments) or MTT's (multi- table tournaments) I don't feel that this bankroll has the cushion yet to allow that so I'm discounting both of those for now. In order to keep it fresh I will however be playing some mixed games or one table of omaha or stud along with the hold em table. That should keep me from getting antsy since hold em at this level is predominately just ace chasin and silly suckouts. At least with a game that has more hole cards or takes more skill I can keep myself from getting po'ed about getting one outered on the river, hopefully.

My stop gap measures will be pretty strict. I will not allow myself to lose more than a hundred bb's at one table or more than eight hundred bb's per session. If I do I will have to quit for the day. I know that losing eight bucks would be something that should be fairly easy to come back from but I really want to stay disciplined in order to not have to move back down to this level and I figure if I enforce those parameters now it will be easier as I move up to do the same. Of course I have no profit ceiling so if I'm up and keep going up well ... ride the white horse.

Well that's it for today. I know it was pretty dry so I'll leave you with a kid friendly joke to roll your eyes at. "Why wouldn't the shark play poker in the jungle?....Too many cheetahs." I know ...sorry my writers are on strike.

“It is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward.” - chinese proverb

Wow, just wow. The dumb luck of some people is beyond my capacity to understand. I have decided after seeing the most ridiculous plays on the 1/2 cent tables I am not playing these anymore. I turned a small profit but I was witness to some of the most asinine playing of my life. Literally, the freeroll tournaments had less crappy suckouts than this. I should not be moving up to the 5/10 cent tables with the bankroll I'm using but I can't for my own sanity sit and grind it out with people that call 3 or 4 bets with any two suited cards and take three barrels with an ace six off suit. Hopefully when a triple barrel is up past a buck or two these players will think twice. That being said I may just put the needed funds in to technically allow me to be playing at those stakes. I am a patient and humble man but that does not mean that I have to suffer fools.

I however am not letting myself off the hook on this one. Since I will not be physically meeting the milestones that I have decided to skip I will both be more strict on my boundaries and also not be rewarding myself at all until I reach 1k. What does this mean? Well it may mean something for you dear reader. I have decided all of my rewards will go to you. So what can you get? Let's take a look behind door number one Bob.

Once I reach four hundred (only two away!!) I will get one of you a small gift for about fifty bucks. I think I will run this lottery style so if you want a gift just comment "gift me" after this post. I will keep the receipt in case you don't happen to want a flogger or (really all you could think of?) some scented candles. I also suggest maybe giving me a clue as to what you may like but knowing me I will disregard that outright and get something you can't even regift if you don't just ask for the money :). Yeah I'm gifty but not the best gifter.

Ok that sucks right? Fine, after that is my next milestone of six hundred. At that point I will definately be putting a lot of energy into sit and go tournaments so in that spirit I will have a little sit and go dinner with one of you. Actually I will have two since some sugah momma already claimed one. The second one again will be random so if you like to eat comment "eat this" after this post. Unfortunately (though probably fortunately) I will be a control freak and choose which resto gets our patronage. This may be the best one to get since I am a foody and , well I can't remember getting a complaint when I chose the dining arrangements. You may wish to give me any dietary restraints or cuisine preferences as well but I can't guarantee I will listen (do I ever?). And as an added bonus this one will include another guest for half price. So bring a friend and they pay half of their meal.

The next milestone after that is already taken so you can skip this paragraph if you are greedy ;). Ok so after reaching a Gee I am to take M on a mini shopping spree. Good for them you say right but weren't you also going to reward yourself you ask? Well yes and M will not get off so easy my reward will include the use of their doggymobile to get me a puppy. I'll post some pics to name the furry little girl so stay tuned.

And finally the last milestone I will speak of today is when I reach 2k. To be honest I can't think of anything really so I may as well pass the torch to you. What do you think I should do as a reward for reaching that goal?

"Do all the good you can,

By all the means you can,

In all the ways you can,

In all the places you can,

At all the times you can,

To all the people you can,

As long as ever you can.”-Wesley

What a great idea! Paying it forward...love it!

Good luck with everything...I'll take you up on the first milestone...and if I am lucky enough to rewarded, I promise to pass it on...

At my next session after receiving the reward, if I receive the monetary sort at Full Tilt...I will reward a player at the table that has shown some poker savvy and or is just a decent/nice player at the table. Would be interesting to see how this goes, if I am the lucky recepient...

gift me, brother!

Very nice thread, one and two cent tables get me insane all the time as well. People their whole stacks constantly but whenever I call with a set they manage to hit a runner runner flush or straight.

I don't know if i am eligible for the lottery as a random noob, but if I am please gift me.

sure thing ...i think i'm going to split the gift though so 25 instead of fifty...since you are poker players i might as well just transfer that into an acct. for ya...if ya win and when i get there. thanks for reading and taking time to compliment.

So it has been awhile (bet some of you are happy) since I have updated this project. What's new or changed ? Well not a hell of a lot actually. I have decided instead of skipping the first milestones right now I will stick to it, for now. Two reasons for this really. The first is that I'm not spending as much time on this lately for a myriad of reasons. The second is that the money would have come from my other bankroll and I'm in a slight downswing with that so I don't want to remove the ammo ,so to speak, from my M16 to load my six shooter. I will however still be giving my rewards to others since it just feels better anyway. Never been one for spoiling myself.

As for the study aspect that has actually increased about ten fold (ok maybe seven, no... six..no well it has increased) and is needing time to seep in. My brain isn't what it used to be and besides reading a ton I haven't really studied anything in ...let's just say awhile. I really need to get a study group together and would love to have someone coaching me but I can't afford coaching right now.

Like I stated earlier I haven't been playing much so I guess the practice aspect has been suffering. That has actually worked in my favour somewhat since my sessions are shorter and more focused. So far variance has been on my side and I have only had to stop once.

So I guess thats the update. I know pretty boring finding out I'm just in a holding pattern for now huh? Well sorry if it entertains you at all I will go and run into something at top speed for excitement. Please don't take me up on this because I will do it.

“There are no mundane things outside of Buddhism, and there is no Buddhism outside of mundane things"

Originally posted by svendeucer
So it has been awhile (bet some of you are happy) since I have updated this project. What's new or changed ? Well not a hell of a lot actually. I have decided instead of skipping the first milestones right now I will stick to it, for now. Two reasons for this really. The first is that I'm not spending as much time on this lately for a myriad of reasons. The second is that the money would have come from my other bankroll and I'm in a slight downswing with that so I don't want to remove the ammo ,so to speak, from my M16 to load my six shooter. I will however still be giving my rewards to others since it just feels better anyway. Never been one for spoiling myself.

As for the study aspect that has actually increased about ten fold (ok maybe seven, no... six..no well it has increased) and is needing time to seep in. My brain isn't what it used to be and besides reading a ton I haven't really studied anything in ...let's just say awhile. I really need to get a study group together and would love to have someone coaching me but I can't afford coaching right now.

Like I stated earlier I haven't been playing much so I guess the practice aspect has been suffering. That has actually worked in my favour somewhat since my sessions are shorter and more focused. So far variance has been on my side and I have only had to stop once.

So I guess thats the update. I know pretty boring finding out I'm just in a holding pattern for now huh? Well sorry if it entertains you at all I will go and run into something at top speed for excitement. Please don't take me up on this because I will do it.

“There are no mundane things outside of Buddhism, and there is no Buddhism outside of mundane things"

I am not too sure what you are playing currently, if it is SnG's I believe there already is a study group. Also you could teach me a bit of SnG poker if you wish