Marching Forward?

March saw some improved poker results for me, particularly on Pokerstars. I made around $400, but somehow I am dissatisfied. I have not maximised by earnings this month and have lost my way a little in the higher stakes Jackpot games. In a sense my dissatisfaction is a good thing because the focus should always be on playing well rather than making a profit. I am not playing my A game nearly enough which is somewhat frustrating. I am not enjoying the game as much too which is a bit of a worry. I am ready for something new I think.   Hello Pot Limit Omaha. In the last few days I have been reading a bit about this popular poker variant. In April I plan to play some low stakes games and see how I get on. I am genuinely looking forward to trying it.   I definitely benefit from structure in my game choices and particularly the discipline of a challenge. In May I will play a set number of  the Jackpot sit n go game selected by my blog readers. If you have not voted in my survey please do. If you have any questions or suggestions please post a comment or email me. Towards the end of April I will start to focus some game time on the likely winner to prepare myself properly.   Good luck.

Satellite Streak Continues

Unbelievably yesterday I won another $8 double shootout to win $215. The only difference is that this was a Sunday Warm Up Satellite. Following a very frustrating run I have been on fire. The graph shows this well though I am not yet back to my peak. This format remains one of my most successful on Pokerstars. My overall stats for this game now read:     Kartajana          241 $3.86   $8   46% $931   - N/A PokerStars E36-36 S8-8 SNG Only       I will keep playing them while I am enjoying a good run in conjunction with my Battle Of The Planets activity.       PokerStars Tournament #536876540, No Limit Hold'em Super Satellite Buy-In: $8.00/$0.16 USD 36 players Total Prize Pool: $288.00 USD Target Tournament #565020016 Buy-In: $200.00/15.00 USD 1 tickets to the target tournament Tournament started 2012/03/23 18:28:46 ET Tournament finished 2012/03/23 18:43:36 ET   1: Kartajana (United Kingdom),  (qualified for the target tournament)   2: manolinsky (Germany), $16.00   3: davemoss79 (United Kingdom), $16.00   4: Schinken777 (Germany), $16.00   5: theioush (Greece), $16.00   6: pokapidge (United Kingdom), $9.00

 

Thanks to the guys at Pokerstars for switching my luck button back on. Much appreciated.

Torres 2 Kartajana 2

To end his goalscoring drought Fernando Torres bagged two goals at the weekend in the FA Cup. In my previous post I had related his football experience (frustrating lack of success) to my recent poker one on Pokerstars, until I finally had a good result. Not to be outdone by his brace I took down another Sunday Million Satellite today for $215. Who says success is all in the mind. Me for one.

 

 

PokerStars Tournament #535393902, No Limit Hold'em
Super Satellite
Buy-In: $8.00/$0.16 USD
36 players
Total Prize Pool: $288.00 USD
Target Tournament #565020010 Buy-In: $200.00/15.00 USD
1 tickets to the target tournament

Tournament started 2012/03/20 18:02:55 ET
Tournament finished 2012/03/20 18:16:26 ET
  1: Kartajana (United Kingdom),  (qualified for the target tournament)
  2: serugun (Russia), $16.00
  3: lhbcney (Russia), $16.00
  4: woolydev (United Kingdom), $16.00
  5: MIKE___JJR (Canada), $16.00
  6: chipfreezer (Germany), $9.00

 

Will spend the rest of the week trying to hit the hatrick.

Super Satellite Success - At Last

Finally a good result on Pokerstars. Last night I won $215, playing one of the thirty-six man $8 Sunday Million satellites. I cannot claim that I played particularly well. It was a hyper turbo game so luck was a big factor anyway. I don't play these very often but a bit like Fernando Torrres following his unbelievable goal drought I just needed a break so I took a chance and in a couple of key spots I got lucky. In Torres terms a poor shot deflected over the goalkeeper. But I will happily take it and so would he right now. As usual I will not play the Sunday Million but use my tournament dollars to play sit n gos targeting some Battle Of The Planets prizes as per my last post.     PokerStars Tournament #533531723, No Limit Hold'em Super Satellite Buy-In: $8.00/$0.16 USD 36 players Total Prize Pool: $288.00 USD Target Tournament #564020010 Buy-In: $200.00/15.00 USD 1 ticket to the target tournament Tournament started 2012/03/16 20:49:00 ET Tournament finished 2012/03/16 21:03:16 ET   1: Kartajana (United Kingdom),  (qualified for the target tournament)   2: xTAXATx (Uruguay), $16.00   3: thewienberg (Ireland), $16.00   4: N.Sinister (Brazil), $16.00   5: MrKamorka (Germany), $16.00   6: Ace_Pasty (United Kingdom), $9.00   Good luck Fernando.............

Battle Of The Planets

My Pokerstars year to date has turned pretty disastrous in February and March. My most successful games historically have hit a serious dry spell. I haven't cashed in my forty five man sit n go game for weeks and have almost given up on them for now. My thirty six man Sunday Million satellites games have gone pretty well but I can't cross the finish line. Four second places in my last twenty efforts ($20 for second, $215 ticket for first!). Lost a 7 to 1 chip lead heads up in one and then my AK  lost to A2 in the latest annoying second place. You really do start to feel like your luck button has been switched off as your bankroll goes in free fall. I am in good company in such illogical thinking. Prior to winning the Sunday Million twice in a few months Kev Steele had resolved to no longer play on Pokerstars through frustration over a bad run of luck. See Kevs comment on my post "Inspiration from Kev Steele" from last November.

I need to get back to focusing on my play and not just results. My solution for now is to concentrate on Pokerstars Battle Of The Planets promotion. You play in blocks of twenty sit n gos over a weekly period and gain points to earn cash bonuses and if you do really well can play against other top performers for big a big prize fund. As always I think a change along with a bit of discipline and focus will help me. I am going to start with the 18 man turbos at the $3.50 level and see how I get on. These games will from part of my warm up session before I play the $20 and $50 Jackpot sit n gos on Betfred which tend to conclude my nightly poker sessions.

Coincidentally, Battle Of The Planets was a favourite childhood cartoon of mine and had a main character called Jason like me. So how does that help me playing poker I hear you say. Well who cares, if it changes my luck on Pokerstars I will happily wear a costume too!

G-Force............

February Mini Challenge Complete

February saw an improvement in my performance, particularly in the six man game. My challenge to play one hundred $10 six man non jackpot games was both helpful and profitable. See below.

 

Kartajana

100

$1.12

$10

10%

$112

-

N/A

iPoker

2/1/2012 2/29/2012 S10-10 Spd=T SNG Only

 

As I gained confidence I started playing more of the $20 and $50 Jackpot games with better results. The sample below is only small but gives me encouragement.

 

Kartajana

36

$3.65

$29

6%

$132

-

N/A

iPoker

2/1/2012 2/29/2012 E6-6 S20-50 SNG Only

 

So February saw be back on track, back to profitability, but it was not all wonderful. My ten man game suffered, I struggled playing the Mauis and my activity on Pokerstars saw me endure a poor month. In March I am planning to focus even more on the six man games, both jackpot and non jackpot. On Pokerstars I am dropping down a level and trying to rebuild.

 

Don't forget to vote in my survey for which game I will play as a mini challenge in May.

 

Cheers and good luck