I was glad when May started because a new month always seems like a fresh start. I played just over 1,200 SnGs in April and ended up losing the most money I’ve ever lost in a single month of playing poker.

This seems strange considering I used to play MTTs and you would think that I would have had my biggest losses back then. It also seems strange because I moved to SnGs to avoid big downswings, and now I’ve lost more money than ever before!

On the other hand, my average buy-in is four times higher now. From my limited experience, it seems pretty common to see SnG swings of 80 to 100 buy-ins, so I can probably look forward to regular $10k ups and downs. I’ll still take it over the potential downswings of MTTs.

I have a couple things to work on in May. My goal is to play 1,300 games, which sounds easy in theory but actually difficult because I’m a terrible procrastinator. I really have to motivate myself to get going earlier in the day so that I can start playing poker while games are still plentiful. Otherwise I start too late and then games die around 4 hours into my session.

Volume Still a Concern

I had that prop bet in April which did the trick for motivation temporarily. The problem is that halfway into the prop bet my friend conceded and bought out, which left me with nothing to motivate me again. I estimate that I played around 200 fewer games due to the prop bet ending early, which is pretty terrible if you think about it.

(The good thing about the prop bet ending early is that I get chocolate cake for a year as part of the buy out agreement. This can’t be overlooked.)

I definitely have to do something about my motivation issues. My problem isn’t that I don’t want to play poker but the fact that I take forever to get going in the morning. I suppose it comes down to being lazy after I wake up, which seems pretty shameful now that I am writing it down here.

Rise and Grind by Noon PST

It would do me a lot of good to start playing by noon PST on a daily basis, so I’m gonna make it another goal to do that for 80% of my sessions this month. I’ll definitely be telling a couple of friends about this because it always helps to have people hold you accountable when it comes to goals.

Another reason to start sessions earlier is so that I can play some SCOOP events on PokerStars. I wasn’t planning on playing a ton of events this year, but last night I had a dream that I won $100k in an online MTT. My subconscious must be telling me something, so I should probably add a few in.

I haven’t been playing any live poker recently, but I’ll probably play some this month since Edgewater (in Vancouver) is hosting a series starting next week. They have a $1k 6-max event that I am looking forward to, and they also have a shootout event.

The Main Event of the series is a $1,650 buy-in, and I haven’t decided whether I’m playing it yet. I’ll almost certainly sell action if I do, however, which means that I’ll be using twitter for tournament updates (to update my backers).

Feel free to follow me @courtiebee if you are interested in knowing how I do.

Well I didn’t win $100k playing SCOOP! I’m definitely surprised since it seemed like a sure thing after that dream.

I didn’t get to play as much SCOOP as I would have liked, mainly because most of the tournament start times were too early for me. To start playing poker by 8 am seems like such an unlikely accomplishment that I am almost considering relocating for WCOOP later this year.

A couple things will have to come together to make it happen, but it doesn’t seem like a terrible idea.

SnG game selection has been more terrible than usual the last couple weeks, so in a way I am glad that SCOOP is over. I hope that regs will now be encouraged to take some time off and feel less obligated to play every day.

I also hope that the upcoming WSOP will help make games better. Many MTT players register for mid and high stakes SnGs, and I’m personally hoping that many of them will be in Vegas this summer.

For personal reasons I haven’t been able to travel to any live poker events so far this year, but I should be able to change this soon. I haven’t decided whether or not I’m going to play any WSOP in 2012.

Maybe Las Vegas, Definitely Peru

If I do go to Vegas, it will be near the end of June for the Ladies Event, the last $1k and $1.5k of the series, and maybe the Main Event.

Should Courtney return to the WSOP?

The live event that I am planning on attending for sure is LAPT Peru. I’ve never been to South America, and I’ve been told that Peru is a beautiful place. It also comes at a great time of year: by November 28th I should be done grinding SnGs for 2012, and the weather where I live will be cold and miserable. 

Aside from Peru, we’ll see what happens. I might decide to play some satellites and see what I can win, especially if PokerStars offers a couple PokerStars Women Live promotions. If you are a female poker player, you should know that these promos are the nuts.

Where online poker is concerned, I’m quite behind on my monthly volume goal so far. The main problem is that many days I start a session and games are terrible (ie. full of regs), so I don’t get any volume in (due to game selection). After three hours of wasting time, I finally quit for the day and end up playing just 20 games or something.

I don’t really have a solution for this problem other than hoping that games improve next month. This has been an ongoing problem for SnGs for most of the year so far, and if the situation doesn’t get better soon, I might have to face the fact that maybe it never will. Then I need to either decide to stop game selecting or to change games.

The month isn’t over yet, though, so there’s still time to salvage some volume. I’ll be grinding a lot this next week, and then I’ll be back in early June to give a trip report of May. Good luck at the tables!

I haven’t updated this blog in forever mainly because I haven’t been playing poker. A couple weeks into June, I had a standard downswing and found myself tilting a lot worse than usual. I decided that I needed to take a short break, and then a short break turned into two weeks and counting.

I’ve spent the last two weeks relaxing, enjoying life, and doing things that I actually want to do. I think a lot of people view poker as a glamorous dream job, and people are often really impressed when they find out I play it for a living.

The truth is, though, that it’s not glamorous for most of us. For most poker players it’s a grind.

Don’t get me wrong. I feel very lucky to have the choice to stay home every day and play a card game at my computer. I love games. I love poker. It’s just that while there are plenty of upsides, there are also plenty of downsides.

I sometimes feel like I live in another world. I almost separate my life into two halves: one that involves poker and one that doesn’t. I don’t really talk about poker to my non-poker friends. Many times they are curious about what I do and ask questions like, “What is the most you have lost in one day? What is the biggest pot you have ever won?”

Courtney started blogging at PL.com when she was on the PokerStars Big Game.

I can answer these questions, but I can’t really talk about the things that are actually on my mind. When I’m on a (super standard) $8k downswing and feeling blue, it’s tough to explain what I’m feeling to someone that doesn’t gamble.

I think that if I called up my mom and told her how much I lost the last week I played poker, she would have a heart attack.

On the other hand, I am still learning to desensitize myself from losing this money. To many poker players $8k is a drop in the bucket, and I’m supposed to be fine with losing it. I usually am. I’ve trained myself to register for SnGs that cost hundreds of dollars and not care about how much I’m in for. Oh I’m down $2k today? No problem. Definitely standard.

Poker-Think Dangerous in Everday Life

I try to never think of my losses using the “non-poker” side of my brain because if I do, I think I’ll be sick. In a given week I will lose twice more money than my graduated-from-university-and-working-full-time friends will earn in a month. If I sit here and put my losses into real-world terms, I might scare myself and never play poker again.

On the other hand, occasionally I’ll find myself trapped in the poker-world mindset and wanting to spend money because it seems like nothing. Like if I want to have dinner somewhere and it costs $100 for a meal, the real-world side of me will think that’s ridiculously expensive.

"I’m hoping that these last two weeks off will help me regain the balance I need in my life to be happy playing poker again."

But the poker-world side of me will go, “WTF that’s only one SnG buy-in, who cares?!” and snap order it. I know that when I start thinking about real-life things in terms of SnG buy-ins, it’s time for a reality check.

I’m hoping that these last two weeks off will help me regain the balance I need in my life to be happy playing poker again. I’ve been reflecting and thinking about poker again the last couple of days, so I think I’m almost ready to get back to the tables.

When I do start up again, I intend on keeping a “mental game” blog. In the Mental Game of Poker, Jared Tendler recommends writing a lot, especially after sessions. I think that writing about things like what tilted me, what I did well, and what I did terribly in a given session is a great idea. I think it will help with my tilt issues, and it will also allow me to forget about poker once I’m done playing for the day.

If you are interested in reading these blog entries, I’ll be posting them on my new poker blog. This is a blog I used to keep before I started blogging on PokerListings, so you can also read some of my old poker entries if you’re interested.

Thanks for reading this long, rambling post. Hopefully I actually have some poker to talk about the next time I write! In the meantime, good luck at the tables.

One thing I’ve learned about playing online poker for a living is that you have to be flexible because things are always changing. Always have a backup plan in case things don’t go as they should. Never put all your eggs in one basket.

Black Friday showed that the state of online poker can change dramatically overnight. I saw many lives get turned upside down as a result, and I feel lucky that I didn’t have to experience the problems many American players faced.

I also feel lucky that I learned a valuable lesson: My “job” can disappear at any time. While online poker will always be available, it might not always be a viable way to make a living. Perhaps something like Black Friday will occur where I live. Maybe the games will become too tough.

Or maybe volume will decrease so much that I won’t be able to get enough games in. For example, the recent segregation of players from Spain has caused a slight reduction in player traffic on PokerStars.

The quality and volume of SnGs has been a growing problem this year, particularly with 6-max. I didn’t play 6-max SnGs until around February, so I have no idea what they were like last year. I do know that they were much better at the start of 2012 than they are now, though.

Courtney Gee

I remember hoping that games would improve in June because of the WSOP, but the opposite happened. The quality of games wasn’t always bad, but the volume was really terrible.

I remember looking at the 6-max lobbies one afternoon and seeing only one SnG over $60 running.

My friends and I suspect that the introduction of $200 hyper-turbo SnGs killed our action. Recreational players tend to enjoy games that go faster, so they are more likely to play a $200 hyper-turbo than a $200 regular turbo.

Adapting Strategy to Changing Online Games

As I’ve said many times before, I am terrible at multi-tabling. Because of this, I was playing fewer games per day but at a higher average buy-in (usually between $100 and $120). So it was a really big problem for me when the mid- and-high stakes didn’t run anymore.

I wasn’t the only one to run into problems. All turbo 6-max games suffered, including lower stakes. Because the high-stakes games weren’t running, the high-stake regs were forced to play lower stakes if they wanted to play. This made the lower-stake games much tougher to beat.

I love SnGs and everything, but this is a huge problem for me. A lot of players can just accept the lower average buy-in and play more tables to compensate for the loss in hourly, but this isn’t an option for me. So what should I do? Settle for making less money? Move to hypers?

I haven’t exactly come up with a solution yet. I actually decided to temporarily run away from the problem and, in the meantime, play a completely different game instead. I briefly explained how I arrived at my decision to try PLO cash games in my Wordpress blog, so feel free to take a look if you are interested.

I apologize for the doom-and-gloom tone of this entry – it wasn’t intentional. While I am frustrated with the state of the games right now, I am optimistic that they will improve in the future. I think that the possibility of real money games on Zynga is really exciting, as is the possibility of legal online poker in the U.S.

It seems like online poker has a bright future ahead, so I think that poker players hoping or trying to make a living playing online should stay patient for now. I plan to keep playing and improving my game so that if and when the next poker boom happens, I am well and ready.

- Courtney

If you've ever been in the market for a poker table, you're well aware the cost for even a basic set-up can run you $1,500+.

For something customized to your home/space or something truly show-stopping, you're looking at twice that or more.

It doesn't have to be that way though.

Guest blogger Jeff Kuronen has put together exclusively for PokerListings.com a full step-by-step guide to building your own poker table including images for every step and detailed CAD plans.

We think it's the perfect Do-It-Yourself solution to building a great poker table for under $300 - and in a reasonable amount of time.

Once you're done, you're all set to host the weekly card game you've always wanted to.

For tips on running the perfect home game, check our complete 14-part guide here.

By Jeff Kuronen

After constantly burning through cheap playing cards while playing poker with my friends I decided to finally invest in some plastic cards.

While scouring the internet for new cards I came across a great local site selling poker supplies.

They sell everything from cards to poker tables and building supplies, and it didn’t take long for my search to turn from cards to tables.

I quickly found out that a higher quality table would cost $1,500 or more.

These tables, at 3.5’ x 8’, were never going to fit in my small basement and I couldn’t justify spending that much.

So I decided to build one myself. The final dimensions of this poker table are 4’ x 6’ and it seats eight people comfortably.

About 25 hours and $300 were spent building it.

What You’ll Need:

Tools:

Home Depot:

Straight Poker Supplies (www.StraightPokerSupplies.com)

Your Auto Trim (www.YourAutoTrim.com)

Foam By Mail (www.FoamByMail.com)

Build It

First, I traced out all the cut lines on both sheets of plywood.

After all my cut lines were laid out, I created a jig out of some scrap wood to guide my jigsaw in a perfect circle through the round cuts.

This process went horribly. Do NOT attempt the same thing.

After messing around with it for about an hour I was forced to admit defeat.

I ended up going really slowly with the jigsaw by hand and then sanding the edges smooth with a belt sander. A lot of imperfections will be hidden by the thick foam layer so it doesn’t have to be perfect.

Here’s a picture of the first few finished plywood pieces. These three pieces were all cut from a single plywood sheet.

The next step is gluing and screwing all the rail pieces together, making sure to avoid putting screws in spots where the future cup holders will go.

Screw from the bottom surface of the rail - the top surface should be as consistent and smooth as possible. Use wood filler if there are any holes from knots.

There are three layers of plywood in this design to give the rail extra height.

The first two assembled layers are shown here upside down – the top surface should be the single plywood piece.

Here’s the bottom view with the third, thinner layer attached.

The bottom layer is used to position the rail on the playing surface.

Next, the two oval plywood sheets are glued and screwed together and the fold-out legs are added.

If you want to stain the underside of the table, you should do it before attaching the legs. I didn’t stain mine because most people won’t see the bottom.

If you want to be a bit fancier install wooden legs instead. I personally needed the portability and this finished table weighs roughly 80lbs.

Here’s a quick look at the rough assembly:

Clamp the rough assembly together to drill the holes for the T-nuts. This is done so that the rail can be removed for cleaning or in case something needs to be replaced (potentially the poker speed cloth).

Use a hammer to drive the T-nuts into the rail surface. This needs to be flush; otherwise you may have bumps under your rail.

Once the T-nuts are installed, fasten the assembled rail to the playing surface using the eight machine bolts coupled with the washers.

Drill the 3-5/8” holes for the cup holders while the table is fastened in this assembly.

Here’s a view from the bottom with the holes cut out:

Now the easy part is finished and it’s time to add foam and upholster the rail.

Remove the rail assembly from the table.

Lay the 1” foam on the ground, spray the top of the rail with spray adhesive and set the rail on the foam making sure to leave enough room so that you can wrap the foam around the rail.

Leave it like this for an hour with a few heavy objects on top. Make some rough cuts in the foam to make it workable.

Use the spray adhesive again on the sides of the rail and wrap it like shown. You may want to clamp the straight sides using a scrap piece of wood to hold it while it dries.

Do the same for the outside and then trim the excess foam.

You may have to re-apply spray adhesive more than once because it may peel off the rail in a few places.

Cut out the foam where the cup holders are going to be placed. Use a sharp knife.

Next up is the vinyl. Start by stapling one straight edge.

You’re going to need a lot of staples for this step; probably around 400-500.

Your hands may hurt for a few days afterwards from all the stapling but it is well worth the effort.

You can see that the vinyl is not long enough to go to the other side in the picture above.

This may seem to be a problem at first but you will need to stretch the vinyl with all your strength to get it all the way around the other side.

You may want a friend to help you with that to make it easier.

After you staple the straight edges you need to staple the round edges. Start stapling at the middle of the curve.

Make sure you stretch the vinyl to make it as tight as you can. Each new staple should be placed in the middle of the largest unstapled section until you feel as if you have it all secured.

This will most likely require staples to be very close to each other. This is very time consuming and you will want some pliers and a screwdriver to remove staples when sections don’t look right.

Don’t be discouraged here. Take your time with this because this is the most important step to make your table look great.

The vinyl will inevitably bunch up a little here but most should be hidden underneath the table.

The next step is to cut the centre of the vinyl like is shown in the picture below.

Don’t cut too close to the edges at first.

You can always cut more if needed as you test out this process.

Start stapling the straight section first and then work on the curved parts next.

Remember to always pull very hard when stapling.

Like before, on the curved section, each staple should be placed in the middle of the largest unstapled section until you feel as if you have it all secured.

Now it’s time for the most terrifying part of the job - cutting the holes for the cup holders.

Be careful. Cut an “X” shape in the middle of the holes.

Start small as you can always make the cuts larger later. Test out the holes using the cup holders.

If it goes in snugly then you’ve done it right.

Although it’s not shown here and is an optional step, there are thin wood rings that were cut using the 3-5/8” and 4” hole saws assembled together on the hole saw drill bit.

This wood ring helps support the cup holder and keep it level when a heavy drink is placed in it.

Put the wood rings into the rail under the vinyl before putting the cup holders in place. They should slip into the “X” cuts easily.

The hardest part is finished! It’s all easy from here on out.

On to the playing surface. Spray the table top with the adhesive and centre the ¼” foam.

You definitely want this foam – don’t skimp here as it adds some give in your table surface that will make playing more comfortable.

Once the foam is attached, cut the excess material off.

Next you need to staple the speed cloth over the table. Center the cloth over the table.

Staple the edges and the cup holder cutouts to secure the cloth.

Trim the excess material around the edges and within the cup holder cutouts.

Attach the rail to the playing surface using the eight machine bolts coupled with the washers from the bottom of the rail and you are done.

It’s time to have a game and a few drinks.

Complete CAD Blueprints for the DIY Poker Table

Click here for the full-size PDF of the CAD plans.

So I changed games again. Last time I mentioned that PLO was a temporary solution while I tried to figure out my next move. I never really expected to play it long term (although a girl can dream).

You might have already guessed that the main problem with PLO cash games as a long term solution is the variance involved. While I didn’t research the variance possibilities myself, my friend did a bit of scouting. We estimated that with my volume, I could easily run bad for an entire year. Losing money for a year? I’m gonna go ahead and say no thank you.

I seem to talk about my multitabling woes and inability to amass volume ALL the time, but can you blame me? It really does cause tons of problems. If I could multitable properly, PLO cash games might be a viable option. Instead, there is pretty much no way to consider it unless I want variance to run my life.

I think PLO is a super fun game, though. I really enjoyed the hours I spent learning it, and I definitely improved a lot in a short period of time. Once I become competent at heads-up hyper turbo SnGs, I intend on playing PLO around once per week so that I can slowly improve at it.

Oh yes, heads-up hyper turbos. That’s the game I switched to. Who knows how long I will play it, although I’m hoping it’s for a while.

Heads-Up: A New Challenge

I’ve always kind of avoided playing heads-up in the past. I think the main reason is that I tend to tilt pretty easily, and heads-up is easily one of the most tilting forms of poker. I just assumed that there was no way I could ever handle the tilt that came from playing it.

Courtney Gee

Unfortunately for me, though, the time to test this theory has come. At this point, I’m running out of options. I don’t want to play MTTs, I can’t play enough volume to make regular or turbo SnGs profitable, and I don’t want to play hyper 6-max. Where NLHE is concerned, this means that I have to play cash games or heads-up SnGs. Given my background, I figured I should probably try heads-up first. I am also lucky enough to have a good friend that does very well at them, so it seems like a wise choice.

I started at $30s and $60s so that I could learn the game without losing too much money. After some review I felt comfortable that I kind of knew what I was doing, so I moved to $100s. I have played 20-25 hours of heads-up over the past week, with plenty of review in between.

So far I find the games pretty enjoyable, although maybe I just like running hot because I am definitely doing that. It’s nice of the poker gods to give me some run good while switching to a new game, though – it always makes the transition easier.

Since I have been running hot, I haven’t had the chance to see if the games tilt me as much as I thought they might. I am definitely going to run bad sometime, though, and I hope I’ll come back to report that hey, I didn’t get tilted at all! Am I being totally unrealistic? Yup. This might be a good time to find my copy of The Mental Game of Poker…

Speaking of The Mental Game of Poker, I need to get back on track with my “mental game blog”. I’m supposed to be updating my other blog after every session to keep track of my mental game progress, but instead I have usually been updating before each session (which is much less useful). I’m gonna really make an effort to do it properly this coming month because I think it’s very important.

This is getting kind of long, so I’m gonna stop here. Hopefully I am still playing hyper heads-up next time I write ;) Good luck at the tables!

So last time I talked about how to properly set up your HUD and the importance of good table selection. And before that I discussed the overall mental approach necessary for success in poker.

In this third instalment of this series I want to finally get into the nuts and bolts of profitable play. That is, how you should play your cards. In my opinion a tight and aggressive (TAG) approach is the most effective strategy at the micros.

Some people will advocate a loose and aggressive (LAG) approach but I think the chances that a beginner or even novice level poker player will be able to successfully pull it off are very low and so I advise against it.

The biggest reason is that a LAG approach will put you in many more marginal situations, which when running bad will make it rain twice as hard, and most newer players will not have sufficient tilt control to deal with this.

Nathan Williams has played millions of hands at the microstakes online.

So what is a TAG strategy? Well in a full ring NL cash game this would mean playing approximately the top 15% of all hands you’re dealt and raising preflop (3 times the big blind is usually fine) with about 12% (I will explain the gap in a moment).

 In a 6max cash game I would advocate something like a 21/18 strategy. If you don’t know what cards these would actually refer to a good free little program to use is called Pokerstove.

You can simply plug in the numbers and it will give you a decent idea of what this range will look like. If you play within these parameters you will be entering the pot with a pretty strong hand the majority of the time. This will help keep your decisions at the table a lot more simple.

The reason for the gap is that sometimes you will be calling a raise preflop or even occasionally limping behind a bunch of other limpers with a speculative hand. But these should be small exceptions to the rule.

You should be raising or re-raising preflop the vast majority of the time that you decide to enter the pot. While there are very few set-in-stone rules in poker here is one: If you are the first person to enter the pot you should never limp. You should raise 100% of the time.

Raising and Re-Raising > Limping

Why do we want to do this many people will ask. Why not limp more and see a flop and get out cheaply if we have nothing? The reason that we don’t want to do this is that winning poker isn’t all about waiting for the nuts and hoping that somebody will pay you off.

Playing microstakes online is the perfect way to perfect your game before taking it live.

Most of the time in NL Hold’em nobody has anything very good. The person who has taken an aggressive stance is usually the one who takes down those pots. When you limp preflop you give yourself only one way to win the pot, make a hand. When you raise you give yourself two ways, make a hand or take it down with a continuation bet.

And you have the added bonus of taking down more money since you built a pot preflop. The numbers simply do not lie. Limping or calling is losing poker.

The other important point to note concerning preflop play is that position matters, a lot. You should be playing very few hands in the first few seats (early position) and playing a lot of hands around the button (late position). You should play a few more hands from the blinds than you do in early position but overall you should still keep it pretty tight.

Why? Well the reason is pretty simple once again. There is an old saying that “money flows towards the button” in poker. It couldn’t be more true.

Over enormous samples I have seen that my winrate in late position is far greater than all other positions at the table. In fact you will straight up lose from the blinds due to being forced to put money in the pot with a random hand once every orbit. But you still need to try and defend them a little bit as I mentioned before. But the principle is simple. Play more hands where it is profitable. Play less where it is unprofitable.

So to sum up, the best strategy at microstakes cash games is TAG. You should only be playing fairly strong hands most of the time and being the preflop aggressor as often as possible. Also, you should be playing much more hands the closer you get to the button.

Next time I will talk about postflop strategy.

Click through here to read more on Nathan "Blackrain79" Williams' blog, and to buy a copy of his book: Crushing the Microstakes.

Read More Guest Posts from Nathan "Blackrain79" Williams:

This blog entry is going to be a pretty positive one since I’m happy to report that I'm still playing heads-up hypers. I haven't played a ton of games or won a ton of money, but I’ve learned a lot since the last time I wrote.

I had several big leaks when I first started playing HU. Probably my biggest problem was calling the turn and then folding the river when I should have just folded the turn in the first place. It was so bad that my friend and I named it the "Courtney Leak".

The Courtney Leak wasn't a new thing. It dates back further than I can remember, and I certainly had it while I was playing 6-max SnGs. The thing about 6-max, though, is that you see post flop spots a lot less often than HU. So when I started playing HU, I noticed the leak a lot more.

Despite having the leak in my game for long, it was never solved even though I knew it was there for a while. This is simply because not enough work was put into getting rid of it, as is the case with any leak that doesn't get plugged.

Plug your leaks and hold on to more of these.

I finally decided that I needed to eliminate the Courtney Leak for good. My method of solving it was to ensure that I never forgot about it during any of my sessions. I used a notepad file on my desktop beside my tables and wrote in it, "PAY ATTENTION TO MY LEAK".

The notepad file helped me to always remember to look out for the leak. This caused me to think extra-long before I called any bets on the turn. I thought to myself, "What is my plan if I call? If I'm gonna fold when the river bricks, I should just fold now."

Plugging a Leak Takes Time and Hard Work

A bad leak like this isn't plugged overnight, but working on it daily helps get rid of it pretty quickly. I reviewed before every session and found examples of the Courtney Leak in my hand histories. I worked hard to focus on it during every session and the leak started showing up less and less.

After a two week period, I had eliminated the Courtney Leak completely. It also didn't take long to recognize the spots where it actually is correct to call the turn and fold the river. By plugging a simple leak, I became a much stronger player.

Now when I spot problems in my game during review, I put a note in my notepad file and look at it during my session. Just being reminded of what I'm working on while I'm playing helps speed up the improvement exponentially.

Looking up at what I've written so far, I'm kind of surprised that I've written over 400 words just about plugging a leak. I have a lot more to write about, which probably isn't surprising since I haven't updated this blog for around a month. I've been playing a lot more poker these days than in the summer, though, so I expect to update on a much more regular basis now.

In case you haven't read my previous posts here, I also keep a Mental Game blog . I try to post after every session, so feel free to have a look if you want to read my thoughts on a more daily basis.

I haven’t talked much about my experience with heads-up hyper turbos yet, so I figured I’d do that today.

If you follow my Mental Game Blog, you’ll know that I’ m currently playing buy-ins between $100 and $300. I played mostly $60s and $100s for all of September, and then I added $200s at the start of October. I started registering for $300s just a few days ago and have only played a handful.

Because bankroll wasn’t much of an issue for me, I was able to go from playing $30s to $300s between August and now. I often read people asking about the differences between buy-ins while moving up, so I thought I’d briefly share my thoughts about it.

$30s are low stakes and obviously extremely soft. Since I didn’t play many $30s, I’m not too sure about the number of regs at this level. There are so many fish that play $30s, though, that it doesn’t really matter at all.

I spent a bit longer with $60s. There are definitely some regs at this level, but there are also plenty of games. This buy-in is quite popular, so I didn’t play regs that often and I never had to wait around to play.

Be prepared for protective regs

The change is a little more significant going from $60s to $100s. A much smaller number of these run, and there are WAY more regs. Not only are there more regs, some of them are actually competent at this level.

I’m sure that several poker players make a decent clip at $100s when rakeback is considered (which explains why there are so many regs).

The jump from $100s to $200s is even tougher. It comes as no surprise that even fewer $200s run, and unsurprisingly, some of the regs are quite good. If you don’t want to play regs, the games can be very difficult to get. If you are a new player in the lobbies and none of the regs recognize your screen name, you are probably going to play regs all day.

I played tons of regs when I moved up, and I still do. Some regs are protective of their lobbies and go out of their way to sit new players, which I have experienced quite a bit in the past month.

Higher Stakes, Tougher Regulars

The regs are also much more aggressive than the $100 regs, which I had trouble with at first. I have learned quite a lot about adjusting proper amounts rather than over adjusting like a lot of people tend to naturally do. Moving from $100s to $200s has definitely required more work than anything I have ever experienced when it comes to online poker.

I don’t currently have a lot to say about moving from $200s to $300s since I have only played a handful of $300s. Since almost all the $300 regs also play $200s, though, the jump almost certainly won’t be as difficult as it was when moving from $100s to $200s.

Moving from $200 to $300 should be easier.

Despite being in a tough stage of my learning process when it comes to hyper heads-up, I am really enjoying playing a lot. I am more motivated than ever when it comes to actually getting hours in, and working on improving every day has become a source of pride for me.

I try to post at the end of every session I play, so feel free to read my Mental Game Blog if you want to follow my progress.

If you are from the Vancouver area, you will probably know that the WSOP Circuit has come to town. The main event starts at the end of this week and has a $1.6k buy-in, so I’ll be taking a couple days off online poker to play that.

I’ll likely have a couple swaps in the event, which means I’ll probably be tweeting a few updates here and there. Feel free to follow me on Twitter @courtiebee if you want to know how I do.

Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables. If you are playing in the Circuit event, see you at River Rock!

I somehow went all of November without blogging here. I meant to write before I headed off to Peru for the LAPT Grand Final mid-month, but the writing never materialized. But, better late than never, here I am with a tournament trip report!

For those that don’t know, the LAPT Grand Final was a $2.5k buy-in held in Lima. I played a few satellites trying to win a package to the event, but the closest I got was 2nd place in one of the $22r 3x turbos (which are insanely frustrating, by the way).

In the end I made a small profit playing the satellites, but I had to enter the tournament using FPPs.

My friends and I got into Lima the day before Day 1 of the Main Event and stayed at Hotel Estelar (which was across the street from where the tournament was being held). I ended up sleeping pretty badly that night because our room was facing a street that was very loud with traffic both late at night and early in the morning.

Courtney Gee at the LAPT Grand Final.

Despite sleeping badly, I felt fine the morning of Day 1. After some breakfast, we went across the street to Atlantic City Casino and went upstairs to find our tables.

Dealing with the Language Barrier

I discovered right away that only a small number of dealers spoke English and that everything at the table was in Spanish. I know this shouldn’t have been a surprise to me, but I assumed that the dealers would at least be able to speak English if necessary. This was not the case.

The only time the language was a big problem for me was when someone threw out a single large chip and I didn’t know what the amount of the bet or raise was because I didn’t understand what the dealer said.

As time went on at my table, I figured out which players spoke English and they were able to help me when necessary.  

As far as actual poker went, my stack stayed the same for almost the entire day. The structure of the tournament was quite good, so the 20k starting stack didn’t start to become shallow until multiple hours into the event. I went up to 30k and back down to 20k multiple times. At one point I think I got as low as 11k chips at 300/600 ante 100.

My table wasn’t extremely tough, but the worst players got busted during the first half of the day. I could tell by raise and bet sizing that most of the people at my table were at least competent, and I remember thinking that I would love a table change.

I also knew that my table was never breaking, though, and that I was almost certainly going to be stuck there until the end of the day.

First Double of the Day

I finally doubled my starting stack around 7 hours into the tournament. I raised K9 in middle position, got called by two players and was treated to a flop of KKT rainbow.

I made a small bet on the flop, and then check/called both the turn and river until I was all-in. I’m fairly sure my opponent mucked a T.

My stack was 41k at the last break which wasn’t overly impressive but still above average in chips. At this point my night of bad sleep was beginning to catch up with me, and I was starting to feel pretty tired. I remember level 9 going by extremely slowly.

More hiking in Peru.

I still managed to increase my stack, though. I got up to 52k chips by raise/calling preflop with KJ, calling a QJx flop, checking behind a flush draw turn, and making a small value bet on the river.

Then during the last level of play, I raised as many hands as possible because the pots were huge thanks to 200 antes at 600/1200 blinds. Add in the fact that many people were mentally checking out since it was so close to the end of the Day 1, and it was wildly profitable to raise a wide range at my table.

Reviewing for Mistakes

I played one hand particularly poorly during the last level on Day 1. One of the stronger players at my table min-raised in late position with around 28k in his stack, and I flatted in the big blind with T9.

The flop came K77. I checked, and my opponent checked behind. The turn was a K, I checked again, and my opponent also checked again. The river was some small card and I made a bet that was slightly over pot sized. My opponent tanked for several minutes and finally made the correct call with QJ.

The way I played the hand was unfortunate because my opponent’s stack would have allowed me to bet the turn and then overbet bluff shove the river. He would have had to fold almost everything if I’d played it like that, and I instantly knew I made a mistake when I checked the turn.

Nevertheless, I finished the day with 64k, which was just above an average stack. Overall I was pretty happy with the way I played for most of the day, and I was glad to have an average stack considering I sat on starting stack for 7 levels. 122 of us made Day 2, and 56 players were scheduled to make the money.

Stay tuned for my Day 2 trip report!

Catch up with Part 1 of Courtney's trip to Peru here.

I’m a really light sleeper and my hotel room was (once again) extremely noisy, so I slept even more badly the night before Day 2 than I did the night before Day 1.

Having slept around 10 hours in the past three nights, I went to the casino feeling like a zombie on Day 2 of the LAPT Grand Final.

Thanks to my lack of sleep (and how bad I am at dealing with it), Day 2 was a haze for me. I remember thinking that my table was quite aggressive. I also had a couple players from my Day 1 table to my left, which was unfortunate because they knew how I played and had position.

Halfway through level 1, I got dealt QQ and got my 30bb stack all-in preflop with KK. Luckily for me I hit a Q on the turn and doubled up to 120k. Someone said they even folded a Q, so it was a one outer!

No Sleep = Questionable Play

Unfortunately, my sleepy self decided to punt this amazing poker gift shortly after.

I was sitting to the left of two active players, and I decided to make a terrible squeeze in the sb with A7 after one of them raised in mp and the other called on the button.

Playing in the LAPT Grand Final.

Unsurprisingly, I ended up having to play a pot out of position with a terrible hand after the button called.

The flop came KQxr and the button called my continuation bet. The turn brought a T and also a club draw, and I checked intending to just fold to a jam since he had less than a pot sized bet behind.

My opponent suckered me in with an 8k bet into an almost 60k pot, though. I definitely should have folded, but I didn’t.

When the river came the J♣, I shoved all-in out of position, and my opponent snap called me with A♣ T♣. Talk about putting my chips in dead on every street …

After that hand I was pretty much back to where I started with around 60k or 30bb. On my last hand I was dealt QQ again and called preflop against a very aggressive player. I fist-pump-called three streets all-in post flop with my over pair and lost to KK.

It was pretty surreal when I busted because I wasn’t really clear-minded at all. I went back to my room and went to bed, and the only reason I remember anything that happened that day was because I wrote notes about each hand right after I played them.

I felt really horrible once I woke up from my nap and realized I was busto, though. Busting from a tournament because you played badly is probably the worst thing ever – MUCH worse than busting from a bad beat.

If I hadn’t played the A7 hand so poorly, I still would have had chips after the QQ vs KK cooler hand and who knows what might have happened. I felt pretty glum about it for the rest of the day.

Plenty of time to hike after busting the tournament.

Free Time in Peru Isn't So Bad

Luckily I was still on vacation and had mucho access to endless papaya juice and smoothies, so I got over the tournament fairly quickly. I spent the rest of my time in Peru eating amazing food, bartering for alpaca scarves, and hiking to Machu Picchu.

I had a wonderful time in Peru and I would definitely go back. The people are extremely friendly, the food is amazing, and the weather is great.

If you ever go to Cusco, I highly recommend the restaurant Greens Organic. Be sure to get the mango (with pineapple, passion fruit, and lemongrass) smoothie because it’s definitely one of the best things I’ve ever tasted.

Where poker is concerned, I thought PokerStars did a great job running the event. I would definitely go to another LAPT, although this time I would probably try to learn a small amount of Spanish first :)

Now I’m sadly back at home, where it’s cold and I’m trying to win at online poker. Poker has gone quite poorly since I got back; take a peek at my other blog if you want further details. The next time I write here, I’ll give a summary of how $200 and $300 hyper HU has been going since November.

The theme of 2012 was definitely “did not play enough”. I did a rough calculation of the hours I played last year and it probably averages to 15 hours per week at the most, which is pretty sad.

The main problem I had in 2012 was not knowing which game to play. I spent the first part of the year trying to play mainly 6-max turbo SnGs, but those games got really tough.

I wanted to play an average buy-in of ~$220, but I ended up dropping down to an ABI of around $120 before I stopped playing. I just wasn’t +EV enough (if at all) with the number of regs that were in each game, so I had to stop playing.

I barely played any hours at all in the summer, pretty much taking two to three months off. I’d go to my computer, see the games were bad as usual, wait a few hours to see if they got better, then take the rest of the day off.

Some days I played 18-man SnGs, but I didn’t really enjoy playing those. I even played some PLO cash, but that didn’t last long.

I started playing HU hypers at the end of August, and I really think it revitalized my poker career. I had dreaded playing poker every day in the spring and the summer; it was a lot of waiting around, it was boring, and my expectation wasn’t that good.

Courtney plans to play roughly 40 weeks of poker in 2013.

But now that I’m playing HU, I feel motivated to play almost every day. I also feel more motivated to get in hours.

My lack of income last year caused my savings and bankroll to suffer slightly, unfortunately. In 2012 I ended up spending around $20k more than I made playing poker.

I had a lot of things to pay for, so it certainly wasn’t a good year to take so much time off. The one positive is that I made the same amount of money last year as I did in 2011 except I played fewer hours, so at least my hourly went up.

New Resolutions for a New Year

Most people are optimistic when starting a new year, and I am no exception. I made only a small profit playing HU hypers last year, but I improved quite a bit as a player. As long as I keep working on my game and putting in hours, I think this year will be a lot better.

Once again, my main goal for 2013 is to put in a suitable number of hours (which I clearly failed at doing in 2012). I’ll be aiming for 30 hours of playing a week and then a few extra hours per week for review.

Realistically, I’ll probably end up taking around three full months off poker, so I’m planning to play around 40 weeks.

Other than my goal for hours, my only other goal for this year is to move up to $500 hypers at some point. I’m not sure how long this will take me, but I suspect it might be a while. The reg battles can get pretty fierce at the $500 buy-in level, so I will need to increase my bankroll quite a bit if I want to move up and stay up. I definitely don’t expect to accomplish this during the first half of the year.

So that summarizes my 2012 and outlines my two goals for 2013. What are your poker goals for the New Year? Leave a comment and let me know.

I’ll be back in a couple weeks with an update on how hypers are going for the start of 2013. If you are interested in reading post session updates, please follow my other blog as I try to update every day I play. Until next time, good luck at the tables!

January was a mixed bag for me. If you’ve been reading my other blog, you’ll know that I’ve had a lot to deal with outside of poker.

Someone very close to me is battling alcoholism and things took a turn for the worse late last year. For the last couple of months, I have basically been trying to make sure that she doesn’t die.

Helping her out has been very time consuming, but the biggest impact on me has been the emotional stress. Even when I’ve had some spare hours to play poker, it’s sometimes been very difficult to focus.

Emotional stability is extremely important when it comes to playing well and I certainly haven't had it these past two months. I took a lot of days off in December and January as a result.

I tried to make the most of the quality hours I did get in January, however, and fortunately ran really well. I played primarily $100s to $200s with a few $300s here and there and was able to achieve a 3.5% EV ROI. I’m not sure if this ROI is sustainable, but I’ll take it while I can get it!

Decreasing Average Buy-In to Pad Life-Roll

I cut back on the number of $300s I was playing because I wanted to temporarily decrease my average buy-in and build my bankroll a bit.

I had decided to pad my backup living expenses with a portion of my bankroll, and I didn’t feel comfortable playing a $200+ average buy-in with the bankroll that I had leftover.

My average buy-in is around $150 at the moment, and I’m planning on keeping it this way until I profit another $10k. This will give me some cash for expenses and also add a healthy amount to my bankroll.

If I play the volume I’m planning on playing in February, I might be able to get this done in a month (assuming I run at expectation). At the latest, I better have this done by sometime in March.

That said, I almost certainly have a big enough bankroll to play full blown $300s by a “normal” player’s standards.

Basically, though, there are two types of players: those that move up as soon as possible and just move down if they lose some, and those that don’t want to move down once they move up. I’m in the second category.

Win More and Get Better before Moving Up

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with taking shots, but I suspect they are a lot worse when it comes to hyper HU.

Once you get up to stakes $100+, you actually start to get tested by better players. Sure you can run good versus them at first and shoot up to high stakes, but you’ll lose it back really fast if you’re not actually skilled enough to be at that level.

And unlike some forms of poker (like multi-table tournaments), you’re pretty much guaranteed to lose the money if you’re a mediocre player because regs have the ability to sit you relentlessly.

In my opinion, the better way to do it is to build a bankroll that has some breathing room at the stakes you want to move up to. Work at becoming a better player so that when you do move up, you can stay up.

I think this is much better than taking shots at higher stakes HU and just moving down when you lose 20 buy-ins (or however many it is for you).

Obviously the method of moving up and then moving down when you lose some works great if you’re an established regular that won’t get tested as much at the higher buy-ins, but this isn’t the case for most players.

Most players aren’t respected and have to battle to get left alone. If you’re going to battle, you may as well have enough money to battle for a while, win, and then stick around to enjoy your lobbies.

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Since making it a goal to play 30+ hours per week, I’ve found out how bad I have become at organizing my time. I’ve also realized that poker has never been my number one priority, even after I quit my job to go pro.

I’m always talking about how I don’t play enough hours of poker, and a big reason for this is that I don’t make it a priority.

I’ve always believed that one of the best things about playing poker for a living is the freedom it provides. Gone are the days of waking up earlier than you want to and turning down invitations because you have to work a certain night.

You simply get to do what you want when you want.

Courtney is coming to terms with what it really means to be a poker pro.

I took this concept a little too far the last couple of years, though. Being able to play whenever I wanted meant getting up too late every day and missing peak playing hours.

Being able to make my own schedule meant missing the best poker days of the week because people wanted to hang out on the weekends.

Living this way would have been fine if I had worked hard the times I wasn’t sleeping in and hanging out with friends, but I didn’t. I wanted it to be easy.

Working 40 hours per week was for suckers with full time jobs. I wanted to play 15 hours per week, win some MTTs, and have a relaxing life.

Looking back at this, I feel disgusted. I wasted almost two entire years doing nothing. I barely made any money, and I barely improved as a player.

Games are getting more difficult to win every year, and instead of winning as much money as I could while the opportunity was there, I pressed snooze eight times every morning and spent more time on my couch than in my computer chair.

Making Up for Lost Time

I don’t want to waste another year, so I’m finally making poker a priority. It was tough to play lots of hours at the start of the year thanks to issues in my personal life, but the last two weeks have been very good and this week is shaping up to be a good one as well.

I’m reviewing every day and playing more games than ever before. I just need to keep it up.

Another reason to play as much poker as possible is that I am trying to save for a trip.

Courtney in Peru.

Besides going to LAPT Peru last year, I haven’t done much traveling the past few years. Since the opportunity for travel is arguably one of the best things about playing poker for a living, I figured I better do it while I still can.

The plan is to put everything in storage and go to Malta for 3 months. If I like it, I will probably come back to Canada, stay home for 3 months, and then go back to Europe again.

The idea is to have a home base in another country so that I can travel to as many places nearby as possible. I have only been overseas once and it was to the UK, so there are plenty of places I haven’t seen.

I would like to leave in May so that I can be back home by August, so I need to make money as soon as possible. In order to leave for Europe in May I have to give notice to my landlords at the start of April, so the pressure is actually on to make as much money as possible this month.

Wish me luck! Hopefully my next entry here is filled with plans for Malta. If you want to follow my day-to-day poker progress in the meantime, please follow my other blog.

Last time I talked about earning money for a three-month trip to Malta. Because I wanted to give notice to my landlords at the end of the month, I had to make all the money necessary for the trip in March.

The pressure was on.

I’m not saying it’s Murphy’s Law or anything, but let’s just say that March did not go well.

By the time the 25th rolled around and there was one week to go, I was running ~$8k below expectation (based on my lifetime EV ROI for the stakes I was playing). Coincidentally, I needed an additional $8k by the end of the month to give my landlords notice.

At this point I started considering what I would do based on how the last week of the month went. I didn’t NEED $8k, it was just something I wanted.

I could still go to Malta and have more than enough bankroll to play comfortably, but my liferoll would be stretched just a bit thinner than I preferred. Plus I could still play a couple weeks in April before I had to pack up and leave.

And that meant I’d probably make money, right? Or I could lose money instead…

Bankroll Nit AND Liferoll Nit

In the end I learned that not only am I a bankroll nit, I am also a huge liferoll nit. My expectation for the remaining week of the month was only around $3k, and I just couldn’t convince myself that I could go to Malta $5k short of what I wanted.

Malta: So close, but so far.

Sadly, I decided to scrap the entire idea and stay home for the summer.

The other thing I learned is that poker is a horrible form of income for planning anything that requires money you don’t already have. I am pretty sure I’m never going to plan for earning a certain amount from poker ever again!

I’d been trying to accumulate the required money since the start of February and felt very sure that I’d make it because I didn’t even have to run at expectation to do it.

But then, lo and behold, I didn’t run even close to expectation for either month and all of a sudden, my plans were out of the window.

The Funny Thing Is ...

The funny thing is that I ran hot the last week of the month. I didn’t end up with the $8k that I originally planned for, but I was a lot closer than I thought I would be and I probably could have gone to Malta after all.

The problem was that by the 25th I had been so convinced that it just couldn’t happen that I had already started planning for being home in the summer. I told my friends and family that I was staying home, so go ahead and include me in that barbeque/wedding dinner/road trip.

I made plans to go to Montreal in May. I rearranged my entire office and decided to buy a new bed. It seems so stupid that I did these things, but I was honestly just doing everything I could to make myself feel better about not being able to go.

So when I looked at my balances on Sunday March 30th and saw that it wasn’t as financially risky to go as I thought it would be, I just couldn’t pull the trigger. I didn’t give notice to my landlords and that was it.

Aussie Millions instead?

Home for the summer.

Plan B: Australia

Because I want to travel for three months but also need to be home for August, I’m going to have to wait until after the summer to relocate.

This isn’t the worst thing in the world since the weather in Vancouver is quite amazing July to September. I’m thinking of leaving in October or November, which gives me plenty of time to prepare.

I also had the idea that I might want to go to Australia instead of Malta. I like the Australian time zone, and it would be during their summer months. It would also mean that I get to go to Aussie Millions in January, something I’ve always wanted to do.

Since I want to purchase my flight as early as possible, I’m probably going to make my decision for where to go within the next month. If you have travelled to Europe or Australia (or both!) and have some input, please leave a comment!

I’d love to hear opinions on where to go and where to live. You can also contact me by email if you’d prefer to stay anonymous; my contact info can be found in my other blog.

When I made the decision to postpone Malta, I started looking into alternate smaller trips I could take in the spring or summer.

I found out about WPT Montreal, a $3.3k tournament at Playground Poker, and it seemed like a slam dunk. People always say that May is a great time to go out East, and I’d never been to Montreal before.

It was also just a 5 hour flight to get there, which seemed perfect for a short vacation without too much hassle.

I got to Montreal on May 2nd, but I opted to play on Day 1c because I figured it might be the softest day. By the time it was my turn to play on May 5th, I had hung out downtown for a few days and was adjusted to the time zone (3 hours earlier than what I’m used to).

I didn’t recognize anyone at my table, nor did I expect to since most of the big name pros were overseas to play the EPT Grand Final.

Photo credit: CanadaPoker.com.

I thought one of the players at my table might be a known pro since I saw people come by to snap photos of him, but he played pretty poorly so maybe I was wrong.

Adjusting for the Maniac at the Table

My table was quite soft and I got off to a pretty quick start, adding over 50% to my stack by the first break. I had a very aggro player three to my left, though, and he started playing back at me a lot once he got some chips. He was 3-betting me quite often, and he once showed a bluff after re-raising my 4-bet with 63s.

Since he showed the willingness to 4-bet with air, I had to adjust how I played a bit. The good thing was that he tended to bet too small, so it was fairly easy to adjust to. I had to tighten my opening range, but then I was able to just raise/call a lot and see flops for cheap.

I doubled my 30k starting stack by second break, which meant 200 big blinds and lots to work with. I was involved in far fewer pots at this point, however, for a variety of reasons.

One was that another aggro player got moved to my left, and he actually sized 3-bets properly. This meant I had to tighten my opening range even more (since I couldn’t raise/call as liberally anymore).

Secondly, I lacked the credibility I had at the start of the day, which meant that when I wasn’t getting 3-bet, I was getting flatted a lot.

“FIRST bluff?! She hasn’t had anything the entire tournament!”

The one hand that made me especially realize that I should immediately tighten up was when I bet turn and jammed river in a 3-bet pot versus a player that didn’t continuation bet. He called the turn but then agonized over the river for several minutes.

When he finally made the fold, a player at the table said, “Courtney just made her first bluff of the tournament.” The aggro player that had 5-bet with 63s versus me said, “FIRST bluff?! She hasn’t had anything the entire tournament!”

Playground Poker Club in Montreal.

Unfortunately for me, I couldn’t take advantage of the image I created because I couldn’t make any hands the second half of the day.

There was actually one hand where I misread my hole cards and thought I had a flush on a 4-flush river. I bet in position after the two aggro players to my left checked with what I thought was a ten-high flush.

They both called with weak flushes because they didn’t believe me. When I saw my hole cards and realized I had nothing, I mucked and one of them cried triumphantly, “I knew she had nothing!” Sick brag that I got value from such weak hands; when I learn to read hole cards, I’m gonna get rich ;)

I spent the latter levels of the tournament mostly staying afloat by winning small pots. The original aggro player to my left 1-outed someone for a massive tournament chip lead, so I wasn’t really able to take advantage of increasing blinds and antes.

I was basically stuck between 60k and 80k from level 4 of the tournament all the way until the end of the day, which finished at level 10 (500/1k 100 ante).

At the end of the day I had 76k chips, around an average stack. In part two of my WPT trip report, I’ll write about the successes and failures of my Day 2 in WPT Montreal. Stay tuned!

Keep reading with Part 2 here.

Editor's note: Get up to speed with Part 1 of this trip report here.

Day 2 of WPT Montreal started with 302 players remaining. 73 players were scheduled to cash and I thought there was a chance the bubble would happen before the day was over, so I was hoping for another long session of poker.

My table was tougher than the table I left at the end of Day 1. I had a couple large stacks to my left, and there was someone I knew to be an online pro to my right.

It wasn’t an extremely tough table, but there weren’t any blatant donators like there had been at my first table.

The thing I noticed immediately after a few orbits was that the tournament had sped up significantly for short and middling stacks. The biggest reason for this was the gigantic antes; the first level of the day was 600/1200 with a 200 ante! Being unable to win pots during this level meant bad things for your stack.

Unfortunately I was among those having trouble winning pots. It was really easy to lose a quick 20 to 30bb just from raising preflop and failing to win post flop, and I only had 60bb to start the day in the first place.

After losing a portion of my stack, I managed to get up to around 75bb after a 3-bet pot where I was fortunate enough to flop a set with 77. It was a heads-up pot and on the flop I check/called when it came AT7.

Courtney at WPT Montreal.

When my opponent double-barreled 15k into a 30k pot with just 25k behind, I was pretty sure he had top pair, so I jammed. He thought for a very long time and then folded.

Thinking back to the hand, I probably shouldn’t have jammed on the turn. It was a small jam in relation to the pot, but people value their tournament lives a lot, especially live.

After the first break, I was up to almost 100k. The blinds, however, were at 1k/2k, so I had just 50bb.

From Medium to Short Stack

I quickly lost a lot of chips at this point. First I doubled up a short stack with KQ versus his AJ, and then I whiffed a flop against the chip leader with AQ and couldn’t take down the pot after raising his continuation bet. I was down to 28bb, which was the lowest I’d been all tournament.

The next big hand I played involved me raising QJ in early position and getting three calls at 1k/2k. The flop came Q9x with a flush draw, and the small blind donk-bet 6k into the 22k pot. He only had 17k behind, I had 50k, and both stacks behind had me covered.

To ensure that the short stack couldn’t prevent me from going all-in versus the larger stacks, I elected to raise to 23k. The stack directly to my left flatted, and the table chip-leader folded. When the action got back to the donk-bettor, he literally shrugged and tossed the rest of his chips in.

The turn came an off-suit A, and I went all-in, jamming 30k into almost 90k. This caused my opponent to go deep into the tank, which usually would mean that I wanted a call.

In this case, however, I was sure I didn’t because he started saying stuff like, “I am giving you SO much credit if I fold… If I fold and I’m wrong, I’m going to be so mad…” So I sat there and waited and waited, knowing that I was dead if he called.

After what felt like forever, he finally folded. The donk bettor flipped over Q3 and I faded the three-outer on the river, so I won the pot.

The player to my left said that he folded KQ and told me that my jam was good because he otherwise was never folding. I call that hand the “near-death experience” of my poker tournament :P

Courtney has played on television but her live experience is still limited.

Sadly, that was the last interesting hand I played for the rest of the event. I just couldn’t get anything going moving forward, mostly because I couldn’t hit pairs and my opponents weren’t folding to post flop bets.

I also lost 30 per cent of my stack in one hand where I three-bet bluffed preflop and continuation bet a flop that I whiffed. My opponent flopped 2nd pair and won the pot after I gave up on the turn.

I had a push/fold stack when we came back for level 5 after the second break. I got a few jams through but ultimately busted after 3-bet jamming pocket deuces over the table chip leader’s CO raise with 13bb and losing a flip to KQ.

Post-Tournament Analysis

Overall I’m mostly happy with how I played both days of the tournament. I didn’t have a lot to work with and lost a few flips, so I don’t think there was much else I could do. I won a lot of my chips without showdown, which I’m pretty pleased with.

I definitely made a lot of mistakes, though. Most of my mistakes had to do with my inexperience as a live player, but my lack of stamina in multi-table tournaments also caused me problems.

I haven’t played full-time MTTs for a couple years now, so I’m no longer used to the long days. I can play nine hours of online poker at home on a given day, but usually it’s with a two hour break in between sessions. I had to work extremely hard to stay alert during the last four hours of Day 1.

Before I wrap up the trip report, I quickly want to say that Playground Poker was absolutely awesome.

The tournament was very well run, the dealers were overall excellent, and the staff was extremely helpful. It makes me wish we had a dedicated venue for poker here in Vancouver. I’m pretty sure I’d play live more often if that were the case!

Now that I’m home, it’s time for me to get back on the online grind. I’ll be back soon to update my progress when it comes to HU SnGs, but feel free to follow my other blog if you want daily post-session reports. Good luck at the tables!

One of the best things about PokerStars is their creativity when it comes to rewarding people for playing on the site.

Last year they started VIP Club Live, a series of parties for PokerStars players taking place in major cities around the world. This summer they brought the party to my neck of the woods: Vancouver.

The party was hosted by the Imperial, which is at the corner of Main and Cordova. I’ll admit that I was a little surprised at this location choice, since it is affectionately known as “Crack Town” amongst locals.

PokerStars has yet to steer me wrong, however, and I was soon on my way to my first party as a Very Important Person.

I got to the party a little late, so unfortunately I can’t tell you whether or not the food was any good. The drink service was excellent, though, especially if you were smart enough to tip the bartenders.

I think some people were worried that PokerStars would skimp on the service and there would be huge lines if you wanted to take advantage of the open bar. This wasn’t the case and drinks flowed aplenty all night.

The live music of the night was by a jazz band called Rosie and the Jugheads. I’m not much of a jazz band connoisseur, but they seemed decent and I liked the tuba player.

In between the band’s sets, there was a DJ mixing it up for us. The main entertainment for the night was a pair of female acrobats that bent in all sorts of crazy shapes for our viewing pleasure.

No poker was played at the party, but other casino games were available: Blackjack, Roulette, Craps, and Baccarat. Everyone was given chips to wager, and chips could be traded in for tickets for prize drawings at the end of the night.

I blew my entire chip allotment in one hand of Blackjack, but the smarter people ran their chips up and won prizes from the PokerStars VIP Store.

Overall the party was a lot of fun. I saw some people that I haven’t seen for a long time, spent time with people that I really like, and got to chat with a few people I’d never met before. I would definitely go to another VIP Party in the future, so hopefully PokerStars runs another one in or near Vancouver next year.

Check out more in the photos:

Note: Renowned "Pick-Up Artist" Sasha Daygame will be at the 2013 Battle of Malta and put together these suggestions for meeting girls at poker tournaments.

We apologize in advance to female poker players everywhere. But having seen thousands of ham-fisted, awkward pick-up moments at the poker table believe us when we say this is a marked improvement. Girls of Malta, you've been warned.

By Sasha Daygame

Hey guys!

Soon I’ll be on my way to play in the Battle of Malta poker tournament.

As you can imagine, poker tournaments aren’t exactly chock full of babes. If you’re a poker player who’s interested in meeting and connecting with women WHILE battling it out for final table domination… the odds are definitely not stacked in your favor.

This article is intended to even out those odds. Hey – poker players need love too, right?

So, the most likely (and probably easiest) situation in which to meet a girl at a poker tournament would be to approach her while she’s not at the table. This means before or after the event.

At the table is possible, but not recommended. First impressions count for a lot – it’s much trickier flirting with a girl at the table, so it’s best to catch her off the tables whenever possible.

OK: Let’s get into it! 

Before the Event

You look determined to win this thing.

Before the event is likely your best option to approach a female player during an event. First off – she hasn’t been eliminated yet so she’s still in the building! If you wait too long she may lose her chips (and you your chance!)

Also, there’s an excitement before the tournament begins. Everyone is optimistic and bright eyed - the mood is good. 

If you’re going the more social route, keep in mind you don’t have to seal the deal before the break. You can meet her, get friendly, and then try and get her number or set up a date in one of the early breaks. Just hope she doesn’t go bust!

Here are some thoughts for ice-breakers you can use.

In general, I try not to teach “pickup-lines” because I like my students to think creatively and build up their innate charm.

I like to teach how to think in a situation so you can come up with something original instead of just memorizing a line that will come off as try hard.

Here’s a couple of ideas:

We all know most poker players go in there believing they’re going to win – so playing off this assumption can be a fun conversation starter. Something charming along the lines of:

“Hey, you look absolutely determined to win this thing. Remind me to stay out of your way!”

Or if you’re feeling more confident or are naturally a bit cocky:

“Hey, you look absolutely determined to win this thing. Remind me to stay out of your way – a clash this early in our relationship could mess up our whole romance!”

Obviously you need to have a bit of game if you go down that path. So you’d better have something to follow up with as she’ll likely ask “We’re having a romance, are we?”

Easy field, right?

I’d say something like “That’s the plan but... let’s just get through to the next break and talk about it then... Over a drink!”

Why not try:

“Easy field right, should be a cinch!” (wink)

Another fun and obvious topic would be the fact that every player thinks he/she is going to win. So, if you want to be a bit more fun/cocky... something like:

“Hey there. You look like you think you’re going to win this thing... but I’ve got some bad news... You’re coming second” (smile or wink)

Sometimes I make comments about making a deal... Such as:

“Hey, I know one of us is going to win this, we may as well just do a deal right now – 60/40 for me because I’m favorite”

The key to these is to smile or give her a cheesy little wink at the end so she knows you’re playing around. If you’re a German player she might take you seriously and start negotiating percentages!

During the Tournament

Okay, now let’s talk about DURING the tournament. If there’s a woman at your table, a good way to start out would be to have a fun/playful demeanor during the game.

Being friendly and talking to the dealer and other players is a great way to show her you’re a social, fun guy – not a boring poker pro! Most players are serious and just stick to their cards.

NEVER try and get her number or set up a date at the table.

That’s a definite no-no if you’re trying to get the attention of a poker babe at the table.

Once you’re warmed up, have a bit of fun with her in between hands. Tease her a bit, bust her on trying to use her female-skills to win the game! A couple of the fun themes from above can work too.

The most attractive thing you can do DURING the game, is to ENJOY YOURSELF and not take things too seriously. If you’ve made her giggle or have at least noticed a couple of looks in your direction from her - wait till the break and then start up a conversation with her and take things from there.

NEVER try and get her number or set up a date at the table. It’s way too much pressure on her and you’ll be putting her in a position where she’s forced to reject you in front of everybody. That’s a lose/lose situation!

On Breaks

Breaks aren’t a bad time to pick-up a woman at a poker tournament. Everyone’s got the same thing on their mind – survival. So, simple stuff like “Hey, how’s it going?” can do the trick.

However, a theme I’ve used before that’s very fun and flirty is referring to the fact that you may go up against her in a hand. Something like

“Excuse me… Hey I just wanted to let you know – just because you’re cute doesn’t mean I’m going to fold to you when I’m in the big blind. Just so you know.”

Or maybe a fun reference to making it to the final table, such as:

“Hey… If we make it heads up, don’t think I’m going to make it easy on you just because I have a crush on you. Alright?” (wink)

Here’s one I just thought up:

“Excuse me, I have a question. If we both make it to the final table, that counts as a date right?”

If we make the final table, that's a date right?

You want to keep things fun, light, and flirty.

After the Tournament

Okay, so after the tournament is done is probably my least favorite time to meet a woman during a tournament. Here’s why:

The tournament’s over. Statistically speaking, it’s likely that your love interest hasn’t won. If she went out on a bad beat, she may not be in the best mood.

But, standard conversational threads may include commenting on her good performance, or asking if she’s going to participate in another upcoming event can work. If all else fails, you can blame both of your misfortune on the cheating dealer!

The one advantage to approaching a woman after the tournament is that, should things go your way, you could go on a date with her RIGHT THEN. I mean, the tournament’s over, right?

Unless she’s a cash-game fanatic, why not drag her out of there and go for some green tea, a smoothie, or a bite to eat? Phone numbers are flakey but if you spend some time with her – there’s a much better chance you’ll be seeing her again.

Final Thoughts

Remember, the goal here is to get a date with the girl, right? So all this stuff is wasted if you don’t PULL THE TRIGGER and ask her out! 

Your primary goal should be to arrange to meet up with her at some point in the day. This can mean grabbing food with her during the lunch break, or meeting her at the end of the day’s play.

I'll trade you a bad beat story.

It’s always best to hang out with the girl immediately and solidify the connection, but if that’s not in the cards (ha!) then grab her digits so you can fight another day. Simple is always best:

“Hey, you’re fun. We should hang out sometime. Let me get your number” and hand her your phone.

If you want to meet up during the event, you can say:

“Hey, let’s get some food at the break. I’ll trade you ONE BAD BEAT STORY for one of yours… and then we can have some human talk. What do you say?”

See? Easy as that. If it’s DURING the tournament and you can’t get her to eat with you during the break:

“Hey, you’re fun. We should hang out sometime. Let me get your number now – just in case one of us gets knocked out!”

WHEW! OK, that’s enough ideas to get you going. Meeting a woman at a poker tournament is the same as anywhere. Be creative, be fun – SMILE – and let nature take its course!

Just remember:

The game of seduction is no different than the game of poker (in fact, they’re super similar) and many of the same concepts apply, including this:

For more tips on how to skyrocket your success with women, check out SashaDaygame.com.

-Sasha Daygame

You demanded it, and we delivered.

OK demand might be a bit strong. Jokingly suggested, perhaps. But it's here anyway.

When word got out international Adult film star Puma Swede would attend the 2013 Battle of Malta a clamor went up for her thoughts on how certain professional poker players would fare in the, err, Adult film department.

We forwarded the request and, lo and behold, we now know what type of sausage Puma Swede thinks Gus Hansen has.

Don't shoot the messenger; it's all a lark. And don't say we didn't warn you. You can't unread it. Rankings below.

By Puma Swede

The name "Jungleman12" makes me assume he has a 12" vine between his legs that he swings better than Tarzan in the jungle.

Judging by the picture he looks like he's about to fall asleep. I think he'd be more of a romantic-type lover than a gonzo performer. That is if he didn't fall asleep before the cameras start rolling;)

His age 23 gives him potential though. I rate him 6/10 unless he rips his shirt off, shows off some tattoos and does the helicopter in which case I'd give him 8/10.

_Theah_, sorry, the name has to go. Sounds as boring as a cup of tea :) I suggest Mr. Viking if he can live up to that name...

His look in this pic is innocent but I think he can release some Norwegian Viking moves between the sheets :) I'd keep his wholesome look and let him surprise the ladies.

He's 40 so he'll have to work overtime to catch up. I rate him 7/10. If his ambition is to 'win all there is to win' - he better win the ladies over. If he doesn't deliver what I expect he'll be sent back to Vegas to the poker tables :)

Why the sad face Daniel? Instead of Kid Poker I'd name him Kid Pok'em. Since he appeared in a Kate Perry music video I think he will hit fame by doing a celebrity sex tape or tapes.

He's Canadian so they'll name a Canadian bacon after him too when the tapes are out. I think his skills in bed and in front of the camera are 6/10, he does'nt look so enthusiastic.

But he still banks from banging famous chicks so the Kid Pok'em can look how ever the f*ck he wants to :)

The Great Dane is an awesome name. Bet there is a huge Danish 'pölsa' hiding in his pants. He has a cheeky smirk and I think the ladies would like this former '50-sexiest-guy' so I have faith in him and think he'd be 8/10 in performing.

He can keep his style with the suit cause he looks like he could be a gentleman.

Perfect, he makes a career switch from poker to porn and he becomes The Tiger Woods of Porn.

He has confidence from his poker success and looks like he could be a little bit of a bad boy so he later gets arrested for shooting a POV scene at Steve Wynn's private poker table.

Performs with confidence so he gets 8/10.

OK, I might be a little patriotic here, but this Finn is a hot piece of ass. His name doesn't matter. Women & men will love him.

They will just be talking about THAT FINN. He'll win the 'Male Newcomer of the year' straight away and 'Hottest scene in a sauna' too :) GQ magazine will name him 'Stud of The year' 5 years in a row.

This Finn will do good as long as he doesn't consume too much Koskenkorva and cancel shoots because of a hangover. I rate his potential 9/10. You guys have his number by the way? lol

Boys like him I eat for breakfast ;) He might need to leave the computer for a bit though, go outside, catch a tan and style his hairdo :)

I'd skip his poker name and go with his real name Viktor Blom, suits him. Assuming he spent a lot of time playing online poker and not banging chicks, he'll be a little slow at start.

Soon he'll realize getting paid to bang is more fun than playing poker though. Since Victor is one of those that will stay young looking for a long time he'll be humping if front of the camera when he is 60 and still looks like 40.

I rate him 7/10.

Ken will have to find his Barbie. He'll be famous cause he starts making Ken + Barbie porn. Gets sued by various companies. Appears on Oprah with Barbie and they'll get their own reality show.

Ken needs a more plastic look and perfect teeth and he can totally be The Ken. His moves in bed are as exciting as the the real Ken doll is flexible. A 5/10 but who cares.

Barbie doesn't want to ruin her perfect curls and make up from some wild sex anyways so everyone is happy :)