Moving my blog to CR

I'm going to move my blog to CardRunners. You can find it here. If you are not a member of CardRunners and want to find out what it's all about, send me an e-mail and I'll tell you more about it.

Let me know if you have any problems getting to it. I'm still not sure which format I like better.

Poker is all luck ...

I'm on a heater at 25NL - up ~ 8.5 buy-ins in 763 hands. I'm 4-tabling. I've more than doubled my initial $200 - I'm very happy.

One thing that I'm doing is taking a much more passive line. Instead of 3-betting, I'm calling hands that are very playable yet can't take a 4-bet and playing them in position:

JTh, plays well post flop IP:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1524771

KQs, I get lucky on the river and it's value town. I was going to fold to a big river bet:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1524775

I'm also making folds when I don't want to see later streets:

AK, I open UTG, am 3-bet by a player whose PFR is 4% and AF is 0.29 (over 45 hands). We're deep. I can call, but I just fold. It's going to be a bitch to play post-flop and get paid. If it's suited I call.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1524782

I might be good, but why invest another $5 + be faced with a river bet?
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1524790

The delayed continuation bet ...

Here is a hand which is a perfect example of when to delay c-bet. The villain was starting to get really aggressive with me and I just folded TPGK to him the hand before SB/BB to a big river bet:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1524608

25NL

I decided to play some 25NL - I was starting to get really frustrated with 10NL. People are uber-passive and play with very short stacks. I just wasn't getting paid off. If I ever have to rebuild my bankroll, I don't think I'll start at those lower limits.

It seems like 25NL is just a world of difference. I decided to tighten up and played well. Bankroll is at $379.95. I don't see myself playing any more 10NL - even if I drop. I'll play 25NL for a while and then take a shot at 50NL. So long bankroll rules :)

Aces hold up. I really like a 4-bet there vs. super-aggro player.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1517143

Stats:

And positional ones:

300BB pot

I have middle set, 90% to win on the flop:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1514129

Big fold by me to the overbet. Villain was 7/3/0.67:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1514130

I'm up $77.20 so far over 3,351 hands running at 11.52 bb/100

Long session, up 1/2 buy-in

I was playing really well - up 2 buy-ins pretty early. I stacked this huge donk with a set:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1511904

He decides to play back at me and hits a 5-outer to stack me. I like 4-betting him pre-flop as well as checking the flop - it lets him bluff my "AK". Too bad he hit on the river:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1511918

Not sure what to think of this one on the river. I have trips and get check/min-raised on the turn. He shoves the river. It's just hard for me to fold trips to some of these guys though:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1511924

Nuts vs. 2nd nuts + redraw for me:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1511934

Not sure how I feel about this one either. I guess I'm committed on the turn:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1511938

Standard vs. short-stack donk:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1511944

So basically I got coolered a lot vs. a bunch of people. I still had enough winners to make it a winning session though.

Running Challenge ...

In addition to Poker, I would like to keep track of my running here as well - to keep myself accountable. My goals are as follows:

1. Qualify for the Boston Marathon. To qualify for it I will have to run a 26.2 mile course in 3:10 which is 7:15 per mile. I've run a half-marathon at that pace and have run a marathon at 7:45 pace. This one was a huge goal of mine before I had two serious foot injuries.

2. Break 18:00 in a 5K. I've done it before (PR - 17:59) and would like to do it again. I ran a test run yesterday and lost to a 57 year old man. Weak. To run this I'll have to run 5:47 mile splits.

Today I ran 6 miles in 48 minutes which is right a 8:00/mile. I'm just getting the distance under my legs so I felt good. Tomorrow I'm taking off.

Brian - you've gotta get back to running buddy :)