I'm in the Black!

I'm done w/the poker for the rest of '07. Although to be honest I kind of want to play right now...but I won't. Don't want to ruin my good day. Finished a nice session this morning for +1600. This whole month has been sooooo swingy. I'm glad it's finally over : )



My last few days of playing have been really sick.




See! I told you in my last post that I had it figured out :D I still made some mistakes though but I am feeling very confident in my game again. Just going with the flow, not fighting it anymore...at least most of the time I'm not :p

I'm pretty happy to be in the black. Ever since I made the jump to NL, things have been going pretty smoothly, aside from this month. So basically I had 2 months of happiness :P But it's been so much nicer on the heart than LHE has ever been. I'm really happy about my game and the way it's progressing.

I've come a long way as a player since I went pro in January '07. I am a much more confident player in now two forms of hold'em, limit and no limit : ) My progression as a limit player has been more interesting than my NL game. Whereas before, I would try to get as much value out of a hand while being more on the safe side, I now pride myself in being able to correctly get some thinner value bets on the turn and river. While I may not be as good as some of the top hold'em players out there, I really do feel I can hold my own in any 6max game and do a good amount of damage in heads up limit. Basically, I believe in myself much more than I did back then. There are times where I don't want to play poker because I want to just book a nice win, like today. However, poker as a whole does not feel like gambling anymore. It is a game that I love to compete in and when I am focused, the money doesn't even stand out to me. All I can think about is making the right move...his overbet, is it a real hand or is he making a weird bluff? There's no time to think about $.

It is weird. I can't explain it entirely but my mental approach to the game is pretty solid. I used to have major tilt issues, and I still do tilt, just nowhere near the extreme that the old mikey used to pull. I don't know, I don't fear going broke anymore. Well, it's more like, I don't think I'll ever go busto. I feel broke when I have like 20 buy ins left! I'm not a bankroll nit by any means (I'm perfectly fine w/50buy ins for a pro) but I'm just the type of player who feels uncomfortable if he doesn't have enough room to move around. I like to being able to afford making mistakes. Otherwise if I play, I'll be too scared to make a move or follow my gut. That and having a healthy bankroll always helps w/tilt issues/emotional control. There's just so much less stress you endure when you lose money and have a lot left.

I've also come to realize that I don't like Vegas. I think I can enjoy it for up to 3 days max and then after that I get tired of it. I like suburban areas and I like girls with natural tits. Oh, and girls who like you for who you are, not for how much you've got :P

This coming year, I want to hit 25/50NL by the end. If I don't make at least 300,000 on the year, I'm going to be pretty bummed. The only way it won't happen imo is if I'm too lazy, which is still a problem although I am working on it and am improving : ) I feel like by the end of January, my NL game will be pretty sickly solid. Let's say I'm making mistakes 10% of the time, I should be making mistakes like 1-3% of the time when I'm done w/January '08. I'm very confident in this and will be pretty pissed if my NL game doesn't improve that much.

That's all I have to say for now. Going to enjoy a night of chinese poker and movie/tv watching. Happy New Years!

-Mikey

Some thoughts

I hope to make this a decently sized entry, one not too long but not too short so that it makes for an entertaining read.

So no limit has been going pretty rough for me. I'm enjoying lhe again although it is pretty tilting from time to time.

I played a session this morning on the 28th and in this particular session, I happened to be much more focused. I was doing a better job of pinning villains on hands but the biggest factor was that I was not forcing the action. I wasn't trying to two barrel everyone or win every single pot. For some reason, I was just more relaxed and I just went with the flow. Whatever happened happened. That said, I still made one or two mistakes that I'm pretty annoyed about. I'll have to analyze them more carefully. But for the most part, flow is a really important concept. Lately I have been overthinking a lot of situations which leads to a form of helplessness. The game becomes too hard you don't know what's correct anymore.

Writing my thoughts and explaining my style to myself is one way of doing this. Why I like to bet here and here, what I feel they accomplish, etc. It is really important not to force the action. I think that if you outclass everyone at the table, you can go ahead and force it profitably but you have to be really honest with yourself about it. I was not and overlooked a very important concept.

I did book a small winning session today and while it may seem and may be possible that I'm trying to find something to attribute this downswing to, ignoring flow, for the most part, I truly do believe this was a big mistake I made and could have helped reduce a lot of the money that was lost on the tables this week.

I am not good enough to outplay everyone. However I am good enough to play with everyone.

Thus, I am a winner and will continue to play profitably and most importantly, confidently.

mikey

I want to quit NL for a few days

it's unfortunate that it's Christmas time but right now I really want to stop playing No Limit. This month has been pretty damn swingy for me, especially last week. I'm having just big swings in both directions, including a 9.6 bi upswing in 1 day! At this point, my nl game is deteriorating. I'm not accurately, and possibly not even, thinking about hand ranges. It's more like, uhhhh, he doesn't have this here that often, ok I'll bet it...MOTHERFUCKER.

Stuff like that.

My limit hold'em game is still good though. If it weren't hunting season, I'd seriously just focus on LHE until I felt better, but with all the fish around, I gotta get back out there and take down some pots! I had a nice 2k win at 15/30 lhe yesterday :D It's funny but playing NL did improve my play in some spots in lhe. I'm proud of getting in thinner value 3bets on the turn and usually being correct.

It's definitely fish season but man, I'm getting owned by the dumbest hands : / And don't get me wrong, I love having these people here, I just wish I hit something! literally, something!

Look!


Poker Stars
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $3/$6
6 players

Stack sizes:
UTG: $591
UTG+1: $1856.70
Hero: $660
Button: $1253.05
SB: $594
BB: $825

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is CO with 8c tc
UTG calls, UTG+1 calls, Hero calls, Button raises to $54, 4 folds, Hero calls.

Flop: 5c 2h 4c ($129, 2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $108, Hero raises to $318, Button raises to $528, Hero raises all-in $606, Button calls.

Turn: qd ($1341, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $1341)


River: 5d ($1341, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $1341)


Results:
Final pot: $1341

Oh Hi he had AcKs for a monster draw on the flop...YEAH OK BUDDY, KEEP THINKING THAT

Poker Stars
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $3/$6
6 players

Stack sizes:
UTG: $631
UTG+1: $1821.80
CO: $657
Button: $597
Hero: $632.25
BB: $1099.50

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is SB with 8h 6h
3 folds, Button raises to $18, Hero raises to $60, BB folds, Button calls.

Flop: 9h 3c 7s ($126, 2 players)
Hero bets $84, Button calls.

Turn: 4s ($294, 2 players)
Hero bets $222, Button raises all-in $453, Hero calls.

River: 4d ($1200, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $1200)


Results:
Final pot: $1200
Hero showed 8h 6h
Villain has Kd3d

I don't know, I guess he thought he was making a huge bluff here. like seriously wtf.

It's funny, in both hands, if I had just hit A PAIR, I would've taken down the pot! Come on, how gross is that? That's $2400 I've blown on 10 high and 8 high. I think the only adjustment I'm going to make right now is to bet BIGGER and show that I'm pot committed. I like to bet enough that doesn't pot commit me so I let villains think they have some bluff equity...but that really should only be reserved for thinking players. I honestly think these guys thought they were making great bluffs @_@

Merry Christmas everyone


My graph from last 10k hands : / Oh, and BI = Buy Ins. I play 3/6nl = $600 buy in

Back to blogspot!

My term at stoxpoker has ended. very long read below.

I'm kind of excited to start blogging here again. My original plan to copy paste all my old blog posts failed but oh well. It would've been cool to track my progression from grinding low stakes to the player I am now. Perhaps I will go and copy paste all my entries back over here but for now, let's just say it's most definitely not definite :P

For those of you who don't know, my name is Michael Song and I currently play 3/6 no limit and 10/20 - 15/30 shorthanded limit hold'em as well as heads up. My goal in the next two months is ot make it to 5/10 no limit and to start regularly earning $1,000 a day.

I feel like I've got a lot to say but for now, we'll stop here. Ty for reading!

-Mikey



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Hey everyone,

Now that I am back from Vegas, I think it is time I make my own announcement. It has come to my attention that perhaps this is my last day as part of the stoxpoker family. I have been a part of the site since March/April. My main game was 5/10 short handed limit hold'em and gradually throughout my time here, I moved up to 10/20 and 15/30 lhe and just recently graduated from 2/4 to 3/6 no limit.


I am sad to say that as of now I believe I am no longer part of the site in any way. I understand that when I joined, I joined as mainly a blogger, while making an occasional video as a guest pro in which I showed and explained my winning approach to the game. My status here has never been of great importance but nevertheless, I was welcomed and felt like part of the family. I posted hands as well as gave advice on other players' hands in the limit forums and recently some in the no limit forums.


The stoxpoker community is probably the most productive and positive community geared towards learning the game, even moreso than 2p2. I say this because it is entirely true. You find lots of good advice here from stoxpoker pros as well as other players who play for a living. You will rarely be chastised or humiliated for posting a silly hand. Everyone works together to help each other move up the stakes. There is no environment as positive as this one.


However, within these last few months, I have to say I am pretty disappointed with how I have been dealt with. When stoxpoker admin joined the site, at some point I was contacted by him asking that I post only two entries a month because more pros were about to join and start blogging. He also requested that they be more poker oriented. Heh, I think I definitely did start rambling off in those entries about random stuff like my chaotic neighbor. So alright, I don't mind being flexible. I'll gladly do as told here.
Come November, about a week before Thanksgiving, I make a video for 10/20lhe on stars. I send the link to admin asking that he let me know when it's going to go up as there are some people who do enjoy watching it. In his reply, he states that my videos are no longer needed as there are plenty of videos that have not been posted yet.


To be honest, I was pretty frustrated about that response. I really do enjoy making videos (and I think that comes across pretty clearly) and when I was told that my work was no longer needed, it felt like a shot to the heart.
By the way, it may seem that I am attacking stoxpoker admin but he is the only one I have been in contact with so there is no one else to reference. He has always been cordial in every message sent to me. I'm sure he's not a bad guy : )


In the last two weeks I have not made/been unable to post a blog entry. I asked stoxpoker admin about this problem and he ask that I post under the member blog section seeing as how everytime I create a blog entry, it costs the site a hundred or so dollars in translations. I had to give this one some thought and have decided that if this is how the stoxpoker family is going to treat its guest pro(s)/blogger(s), then I no longer want to be a part of the community. Perhaps I could have asked the other stoxpoker pros about why/what is going on with the situation and why I am being treated so distantly. However, I am sure stoxpoker admin was made an admin to also deal with situations like these and I should/will not beg to be kept as a featured blogger.


I understand that technically I am not in any position to complain as I was never part of the core team. It is not my site nor do I have any say in what goes on. I am just a blogger/guest pro. That said, I cannot help but post my feelings about the situation. I do not have any ill feelings towards anyone in particular, I wouldn't know who to be mad at anyways lol, but I am disappointed that no one ever told me directly what was going on. Instead, every time I tried to be a part of the site, I woke up to find a new limitation on what I was allowed to do. I would have much preferred a direct notice as it is much more respectful than a surprise. This will be my last "blog" post here. I want to say the last 8 months here have been a great experience. I have talked to and learned from some really great players on this site and I hope the community continues to thrive.


Best of luck,


Mikey Song