Observations for a Monday

So I’ve noticed something interesting about my game over the course of the weekend, as I dropped $100 across multiple sites. Thank whatever you believe in that I was up on Stars and Sun, because $200 of my FTP roll went down the tubes. But whatever. I know that in the long run I want people chasing 2-outers, it just sucks when they hit them.

So my epiphany? It’s not much of one, just that the texture of some sites fits different parts of my game much better than on other sites. I cannot log a winning session at $.50/$1 or $1/2 limit on Stars to save my life, but the NL$100 game there has been a gold mine for me. Okay, more like pyrite, remember we’re talking a triple-digit bankroll that really has no business playing a NL$100 table, but the play at that level suits my game better than the limits that I can actually afford.

Full Tilt, however, creams me at NL, but pays me off slowly but consistently at $.50/$1 Limit Hold Em. Full table, not short-handed. My limit game is much more about multi-tabling and nut peddling, so short-handed tables don’t work so good.

Sun Poker is home to my $1/2 limit play, mostly because I’m working off a bonus and I need to play that level or higher to accumulate My Poker Points in a timely enough fashion to clear the bonus before it expires. It’s a decent bonus, through the good folks at PokerSavvy - $50 after 200 points, another $40 after 250 points, then the PokerSavvy bonus at 600 points. I figure 20 points per hour at ½, I play there a little more than an hour a night, I’ll clear all the bonuses by mid-June. And if I understand it right, the $40 is an ongoing bonus for any month that you earn 250+ points, so I’ll try to time it right so that I finish up my PS bonus straddling 2 months, to net me $130 cash bonus plus my SavvyPoints. And I’m actually very slightly profitable on the site so far, up about $18, so that’s good as well. I figure I’ll try out a few new sites, try to stay even while I clear a bonus, and see if I can make a nickel.

I haven’t done much in the way of bonus whoring in the past, since my ring game play has been so terribly unprofitable, but when my SNG game went broke last month, I started playing a ton of cash games. And making money. So I’ve played a grand total of one tourney so far this month, a satellite to the FTP HORSE tourney. I sucked, but I really just wanted to play a little HORSE, so I didn’t mind the –EV. I also cleared my Nevada Jacks bonus with Poker Source Online this weekend, so a nice new set of chips are on their way to the casa. I’m not really sure why I even wanted another chip set, but I really like the way the skulls look, so they’re shipping soon.

The PSO promotion was on PokerShare, a site I’d read about on doubleAs blog but never tried. It’s mostly European players, so it’s sometimes tough to find a decent game in the evening US time, but I managed to be pretty profitable there, cashing out $200 above my deposit, and clearing my PSO bonus as well. I’m still plugging away at the tables there, because I have a $150 cash bonus to clear, but that’s going to take a good long while to clear, because it takes 1500 points to clear, and you get one point for every hand raked $1 or more. That takes a while at low stakes, but they do give partial points and the tables a somewhat soft, so I’ll plug away at it for a bit.

Not really sure where I’m going with this, kind of just a state of the state thing I guess. I’m not broke anymore, thanks to some writing I’m doing for Pokerworks, and thanks to some bonuses, advertisers and (gasp!) actually winning a few hands. If I don’t screw this up too completely, this could be my most profitable month since last March, when I actually won a tournament. So far I’ve had the best month of 2006, even with the slight correction I experienced this weekend. Just need to take tonight off, get my head straight, and get my game back on tomorrow night.

Coming soon – The Grand Experiment: where I solicit your help in turning my wife into a profitable multi-table small stakes limit hold ‘em player. Yes. Wifey has decided to consider poker a part-time job, logging a minimum of one hour each evening online with me. And I have decided that to make it profitable, we’re going to embrace the nuances of the small-stakes limit game. Let’s see how far we can take her $50.