Short-Term Goal

I don't normally have short-term goals for poker and instead just treat each game as part of one long session that lasts my entire poker life. I do keep track of yearly accounting and I also implement new strategies to see how they work in a couple of sessions. However, I have never tried to win a specific amount in a certain amount of time to make a purchase or pay off some debt.

Well, that now changes as I am trying to win enough to buy a new refrigerator for my wife by April 7. The fridge we want is on sale for something like half price at the moment. So instead of having to pay more than $3,400, if I can pull together about $1,800 I will be able to make my wife a little happier and also make my life easier since the ice maker on the current machine is starting to act up.

I have $900 in my bankroll at the moment, so worst case scenario I would only have to win $900 or pull it from our savings account, but I want to challenge myself to try and play four or five times in the next six days and see if I can average $400-500 of profit per session. If I can do that then my bankroll doesn't take a hit, our savings account stays intact, and we get a new fridge.

I'm going to treat the next week like a scene from Rounders where I have to make enough to save Worm from getting the crap beat out of him and possibly killed. While I've had good sessions and come up with multiple profits in a row throughout my playing history, I don't really play so frequently in a small amount of time and force the issue with having to win. Hopefully this doesn't backfire on me and I post two or three horrible sessions in a row to where I lose my bankroll, dip into savings, and don't get a new fridge.

I'll keep you posted in about a week as to how this goes.

Weatherford (2/12/26)

While I am currently in the black by about $500, it is not because of my cash play in Weatherford. I have struggled to make a profit at my regular game. Last night was a frustrating session. After being knocked out early in the tournament, we started the cash game four-handed and in the first hand I was dealt pocket queens. After the first two players limped in, the small blind raised it to $13. I re-raised in the big blind and made it $40. That was a little on the large side, but I wanted to get it heads up with just me and the small blind. The pot had $86.

The other two folded and the small blind called. The flop was 5-7-8 with two hearts. The small blind checked and I did a down bet of $30. The flop was certainly more in the caller's range, as he could have hit a set or had a pair with a straight draw. I decided to maintain control, but keep the pot manageable. He called my $30. The pot now had $146.

The turn was a black king. I had $130 remaining in my stack. The small blind again checked. This is probably where I screwed up, but I didn't want to give a free card. I bet $50. The small blind didn't take long to check-raise it all in. We both started with the same $200, so his all in was my all in as well.

I no longer had top pair, but I was more concerned about two pair or a set than him holding a king. I rushed my decision and made the crying call with my queens. He showed ace-king for top pair. I didn't hit my miracle card and was down $200 in one hand. I haven't done that in a while, but it is always frustrating.

After rebuying for another $200, I built that up to $550 and was back in the black after flopping a small flush draw with bottom pair and then turning three of a kind. All the money went in on the river when the flush didn't complete. It was against the same player who had busted my queens, and he was holding aces and had played them a little slow, electing not to three bet after a player ahead of him had raised. Had he re-raised the original bet, I would have let go of my 7-5 of spades and never seen the flop. As it turns out, all of us hit a piece of the flop and the pot became inflated, which is how I turned my $200 into $550.

Unfortunately I didn't maintain that chip stack and things got progressively worse from there. It was one of those nights that you have good hands, but they always end up being second place. At one point I flopped an open-ended straight draw with pocket sevens, but lost to pocket kings after running two turns and rivers. I also lost a hand of Texaha when I flopped a straight with my Omaha hand and the nut flush draw with my Texas Hold'em hand. The river paired the board and I lost to a full house and didn't hit the flush.

At one point I pulled a classic tilted Matt and pushed for $90 pre-flop with ace-rag and called called by ace-queen. It was just a frustrating time and I have to realize that the Weatherford game is no longer going to be a game that plays until two or three in the morning. I am only going to get about three hours of the cash game and once I am up I need to just maintain that lead and not take unnecessary risks.

Poker House (1/30/26)

The boys had some friends spend the night Saturday evening and we have discovered that when that happens, the house becomes extremely loud. For some reason, the kids of today have to scream when they play video games. Otherwise, the games simply aren't fun or don't work. Something along those lines.

So, in lieu of hearing a bunch of adolescent boys turning my living room into the equivalent of a rollercoaster or professional sports stadium, I decided to go see a movie and then play some cards. I've been wanting to go back to the Poker House in Burleson for some time since it is only 15-20 minutes from our house. By the time I drive there and back, I am only about halfway to WinStar.

I hadn't been to the Poker House in many months and in addition to the entry fee of $10, I had to add some hours for the play. Before even sitting at the table I was down $65. That is the one downside to playing at a local cardroom rather than WinStar, is that you have to pay by the hour to play, but there isn't much of a rake. Apparently, they have started taking $2 for the player promotions like high hand and other things, so in addition to a door fee and an hourly rate, now we are losing $2 out of every pot each time we play a hand. If it weren't so close to home, I would rather just deal with the full rake at WinStar.

Once I was settled and at my $1-2 table with $300 in front of me, I looked around at what I was facing and realized I was immediately the low stack. Three players were sitting on $1,000 or more, and another two or three had $500. The very first hand I was dealt was a dealer's choice game and they elected to play Congress. I had a hand worth the $10 straddle, but then it was raised to $50. After a couple of callers I didn't really want to put in a sixth of my chips on the very first hand, but I decided to be a team player and see if I could get a lucky flop. 30 seconds later I missed everything and folded to a continuation bet. I was now down to $250 and had been there for less than five minutes.

I hung around $300 for the first three hours of the night not really making any progress. I was playing pretty tight and would win a hand, but then lose another to get back to where I started. Or lose a couple of hands that I would try to see a flop, but miss, and then win one hand to get me back to even. Half the players would straddle for $5 on the button, which I did a few times just to look like I was willing to gamble. The pre-flop raises were out of control and if you didn't get to limp in for $2, it was going to cost anywhere from $20-45 before you got to see the first three community cards.

One memorable hand that I screwed up winning an extra $75 for the high-hand promotion was when I held Q-J suited. I expected it to get raised, so in middle position I just called the $5 straddle. It then went around to the blinds and straddler on the button, all of who didn't raise. So we saw a flop of Q-J-J. I now held the second nuts with a full house. Only pocket queens beat me. The blinds checked. I decided to give everyone a free card so they might catch a little piece. I checked and the button also checked.

The turn was a five. The small blind made a pot-sized bet and I was the only caller. The pot now had $60 in it. The river paired the five, so the board was now Q-J-J-5-5. I held the third best hand, as pocket fives and pocket queens beat me. I felt very confident nobody had pocket queens as there was not a raise pre-flop. And if the small blind lucked into quads by going runner-runner, then it was just not my night.

He checked it over to me. I should mention, the high-hand promotion that was going on paid $75 to the player with the best hand every 30 minutes. At this point we were 15 minutes into it and nobody had qualified with a realistic hand. My full house would certainly be the front runner. Not knowing the rules of the house and not wanting to ask about it as that would clearly tip how strong my hand was, I should have made a miniscule bet just to get him to call. I did end up betting on the low side, but it could have been even less. I bet $25. I should have bet $5-10.

I was hoping he held a single jack and was trying to trap me into betting so he could raise, thinking we were either chopping and he would get me off of my lone jack or I had the five and would pay him off. Or maybe he had a five and would pay me off. Either way, I figured he might put in the $25 with a jack, five, or even a possible ace. Unfortunately he folded and I took the pot, not having to reveal my high hand at a showdown.

Where things really got upsetting for me is that later I realized you didn't have to get called for the high hand to qualify. As long as there was a flop, if everyone folded you could flip your cards over and make a high hand. So had I just showed the full house, I would have been on the board and 15 minutes later collected a free $75. Since I haven't played at this location very much, I wasn't aware of their special rules.

In addition to the hourly rate and uber-aggressive play, another downside to the Poker House is that it seems like the players care more about the promotions and dealer choice hands than they do actually playing Texas Hold'em.

After a couple hours of tight play and conservative decision making, I was dealt pocket nines in early position and elected to make it $15 pre-flop, which was certainly on the small side of the raising range at this game, but I didn't want to inflate the pot too much in case I missed my nine on the flop and some higher cards were revealed. I was called by two opponents and we went to a flop with the pot having $45 in it.

The flop was 7-7-4. This was about as safe as it could be for pocket nines and I elected to make a continuation bet of $20. A newer player in middle position who was a regular at the place raised to $80. The other guy folded and it came back around to me. I decided to show that I was intimidated by the regulars and stand my ground. Surely a quick call would slow him down if a safe card came out on the turn.

The turn was a 3. I checked and he didn't take too long to bet $275. I only had $325 remaining, so it was essentially an all in for me. I was beat by a seven or 5-6. I could beat a four. The guy played it pretty aggressively, so I was surprised when he showed a seven after I folded. He had 7-6 and showed so he could qualify for the high hand promotion.

The only option to win that hand would have been to raise so much pre-flop that he didn't come along with his 7-6, and I could have saved an additional $60 by not calling the raise on the flop, but I guess I can't fold to every raise as that would allow my opponents to constantly bluff me on the flop or turn and I'd never make it to the river unless I held the absolute nuts.

The hand that finally put me way ahead for the night was when we played Congress Hi-Lo. I held A-6-4-3-2 with the nut spade flush draw should that come. There was a $10 straddle and I called. A player raised it up to $30 and after a few calls I was closing the action. I decided to call and see what happened. The pot had $120 in it.

The flop was A-A-6. I flopped the nuts and was drawing to the nut low, no matter what card came as long as it was an 8 or lower that didn't match the board. It checked to me and I decided to put in a small bet. I bet $40 and was called by the button and the big blind. The pot now held $240.

The turn was an 8. So my nut hand was now beat by either pocket eights or A-8, but I held the nut low with 2-3. It checked to me again, so I decided to make some money. I bet $120. Both players called pretty quickly. The pot now held $600.

The river was a five, for a board of A-A-6-8-5. I still held the nut low and third best high hand. The big blind checked. I made a bet of $200, which left me with about $90. I didn't go all in, even though it was for such a small amount more, because an all in bet normally signifies absolute strength. If either player didn't have really good hands they would perceive me as holding the nuts and might fold the second nut low. I figured with $800 in the pot, after my $200 bet, they would be more inclined to both call with so much money to win and I had a potential scoop hand that would win both the high and low.

The button thought for about 30 seconds and finally made the call. The big blind was extremely frustrated, but eventually folded. It turned out the button held 2-3 also for the nut low, so we chopped the low part. I won the high hand and received three-quarters of the total pot.

The big blind said he held the other ace and just needed a card 10 or higher for the better full house, so I dodged that bullet. With this win, I was at approximately $850 and about an hour later I left with a profit of $530, after the $300 buy-in and $65 entrance/hourly fee.

Weatherford Tournament (1/29/26)

Losing is never a fun outcome in poker. You can certainly learn something from a losing session, but you rarely walk away with a smile on your face after cashing out for less than you came with. However, it is debatable on what kind of losing is the worst. Some believe being card dead all night is the worst way to lose. Others think it is always having second best at showdown. Another line of thinking is playing well and feeling like you made good decisions, but ultimately not winning at the end that is the worst way to lose.

Being card dead is certainly the most boring way to lose as you never get to even be involved in pots. Yet, for me, the worst way to lose is always coming in second, even when having big hands. That is what happened to me last night. I certainly could have played a little better on one particular hand, which I will discuss in a moment, but for the most part I think the night played out exactly as it was going to no matter what I had done.

My regularly weekly tournament in Weatherford started off pretty well. In the first 20 minutes I had turned my starting stack of $5,500 into $11,500 thanks to one specific hand. I had K-2 of hearts in middle position and with the two blinds and one call in front of me, I just called and another player behind also limped. We ended up going to a flop and getting two hearts. It checked to me and I decided to take a check and see what happens approach. It ended up checking behind as well and we saw a black card on the turn. It checked again to me, so I elected to bet half the pot and see who was interested in winning. Three players, one of them being the guy behind me, called, and the river was a third heart, giving me the second nuts. It checked to me again and I made a bet that was nearly the size of the pot. The guy behind me thought about it for a little bit and made it look like he was going to raise. Ultimately he just called and another player in early position also called. I flipped over the second nuts and won the pot, putting me in a very comfortable position early in the tournament.

And that is where the wheels came off. About 20 minutes later I was in the small blind and had 3-4 off-suit. After a few callers it came back to me and I decided I would complete the blind bet and see a flop. It would have to be something like two pair, three of a kind, or an open-ended straight draw for me to be committed to it though. Lo and behold, the flop came J-4-3 with two hearts. I flopped bottom two pair. Being first to act, I had two legitimate options open to me. I could take a check-call mentality and see what develops, or I could be the aggressor and make bets that were small enough to not inflate the pot. I decided to take the aggressive approach and see if I could maintain control of the hand.

I bet about a third of the pot and was called by the big blind and a player in middle position, who is Danny and known to be a loose cannon. Whenever Danny has any parts of a board he will make pot-sized bets, whether it is bottom pair with a backdoor draw or an open-ended straight draw. You are never quite sure how strong he is, but normally when he receives a little pushback he will let it go.

The turn was the king of spades, giving us a board of J-4-3-K with two hearts and two spades. Again I bet, and this time it was about half the size of the pot. With so many draws out there I didn't want to give a free card, but maybe since I had received two calls on the flop I should have slowed down. The big blind again called my bet and Danny, who was now last to act, made a raise. He bumped my bet up about four times what it was.

I thought for quite awhile about what to do. Normally if you are holding bottom two pair and after making two bets, somebody who shows that much aggression should be your cue to step out of the way. However, as I mentioned before, Danny likes to make big bets when he is holding weaker hands. I truly felt I was ahead of him at the moment. He may have a pair with a flush draw or some other drawing hand, but I didn't put him on a set or a better two pair. Maybe he lucked into two pair with K-J and he was trying to get the flush draws out, but I honestly felt I was still in the lead.

The biggest problem was I wasn't taking the big blind into account. He had only called both of my bets and I didn't think he was as strong as me. So after a lot of thought about whether to just call or push it all in against the aggressive player, I elected the all in approach. This is when it got interesting. The big blind then called the all in, which he had the least amount of chips of everyone. Danny decided the pot was big enough for him to also call, so he came along. I had both players covered.

It turns out the big blind had J-3 for a higher two pair and Danny was holding Q-10 for an open-ended straight draw. At least my one read about Danny was correct. The river was an ace, giving him his straight and he won the entire pot. While it wasn't the outcome I wanted, I still was sitting on about $5,000 in chips and was back at basically a starting stack.

About 10 minutes later I was dealt A-Q suited when the blinds were $100-200. With one player ahead of me calling, I made it $700 and was called by three players total. The flop came ace high and I made a continuation bet of $1,100. It folded around and I won the pot. The very next hand I was dealt A-J off-suit. I took the same line, only this time making my raise $600 since nobody had called yet. The button initially only called $200, not realizing I had raised. After correcting him, he decided to add the extra $400. The blinds also called the raise. The flop came J-4-4 rainbow. The blinds checked to me and I bet $1,100 again. This time I got one caller, the button.

The turn was a six, putting two diamonds on the board. The pot now had $4,600. I was cautiously optimistic I was beating his jack, since the more likely suspects to have a four were one of the blind players, but since they both had folded I figured I was still leading. My opponent held approximately $3,200 and I didn't want to run him off. So I figured a bet of $1,600 would be fine and that would give him about $1,600 on the river. He did call and the river was a five. The final board was J-4-4-6-5 with no flush.

I still figured to be in the lead as I thought my opponent would be holding K-J, Q-J, or J-10. I figured I would show a little weakness at the end and let him make a bet. I checked and he went all in. After I quickly called he showed 4-5 suited, for a full house, not that he needed the five to hit since he was way ahead with his three fours on the flop.

So that was two poorly played hands where I didn't correctly value my opponents hand. With only $1,600 remaining I waited it out and went all in near the end of the rebuy period after hitting an ace on the flop while holding A-7. I was called by two players and figured to be out-kicked, but it turned out I was ahead. One opponent held second pair and the other had A-6. However, the turn was a six and I had to rebuy.

The first hand after rebuys were over I was dealt pocket sevens. After one player limped from early position, I decided to just see if I could hit a set on the flop and not get overly aggressive with my sevens. The dealer also called and the blinds completed and checked. With blinds at $150-300, we had $1,500 in the pot. The flop was K-7-4 rainbow and I was ready to be back in this tournament. The blinds checked, as did the early position limper. I bet $600 because I knew nobody had kings since they would have raised pre-flop. I didn't want to run anybody off. The button called, the blinds both folded, and the early position limper called. The turn was a jack, making the board K-7-4-J.

To my surprise, the early limper bet $1,200. Shane is a tight, passive player and I should have probably been a little more wary of this bet, but with third set and the only draw to be afraid of being 5-6, I still felt pretty confident I was sitting pretty with the best hand. I had started the hand with $5,000. After the $300 pre-flop call and the $600 flop bet, I was sitting on $4,100. If I just called I would have $2,900 remaining. After the turn bet of $1,200 from the early limper, the pot now had $4,500. My call would put it at $5,700.

I could either call to induce the button to also call, or I could push all in and I figured the opponent in early position would likely call since it would have been $2,900 in a pot of $8,600. He would be getting nearly 3 to 1 on his money and probably calls with either a king or jack. I decided to push it at that moment.

The button folded and Shane instantly called, flipping over pocket jacks for a higher set. That was the end of my night and I decided I didn't want to wait around for the cash game to start. Maybe I am losing these hands no matter what line I take, but I really felt like I could have done much better, especially after having such a great starting stack early in the tournament.

2025 Year-End Weatherford Tournament Results

Despite walking away from the game last night in Weatherford up $1,100, I was still disappointed that my name isn't going on the plaque this year. I ended up finishing in third place, good for a $500 payday, and profited another $600 in the cash game afterward. Yet, based on the amount of good luck I had going in the tournament finishing third is a huge let down.

There were ten players in the game last night who qualified and I started off sixth in chips. The first four knocked out would win lotto tickets and starting at sixth place we started paying cash. The top winner got $1,400. We broke the players up into two tables of five and I had the median stack in my group. Darrell was our chip leader and had approximately $2,000 in chips more than me. The low man was Scott F., and he started about $3,000 less than me.

It was a great start for me as about ten minutes into the night I flopped a set of nines and was able to nearly double up when Danny rivered two pair. I bet nearly everything I had by the river and it essentially took me from $8,000 in chips to $15,000. About 30 minutes later I finished Danny off when I called his check-raise all in with pocket queens. The board was 9-3-2 rainbow, so it was a pretty safe board for my queens. I did think about it for a bit as he called my pre-flop raise and could have flopped a set like I had done to him earlier that evening. However, even if I called and was wrong, it would have put me back to my original starting stack and I figured Danny was just being too aggressive, which he can certainly be. It turned out he had pocket fives and didn't get any help on the turn or river.

With Danny knocked out first, we combined to one table of nine and I was the chip leader with about $21,000 in my stack. This was nearly a quarter of the total chips on the table and I was way ahead of the average starting stack.

The worst part about combining to one table was I ended up pulling the seat to the right of Troy, which is not where I want to be. I need as much advantage as possible against him and table position is key to helping with that.

I did have a fortunate hand that took Troy down to a minimal stack. He raised in early position while I was in the big blind with J-8 off-suit. I hadn't planned to call, but I had a large stack, as did Troy, and two other players called his raise. I decided I would call and only proceed if I hit two pair or better or an open-ended straight draw. Well, as luck would have it, I ended up flopping bottom two pair when the board came K-J-8 with two spades. I elected to check and have Troy make a continuation bet. I would then proceed from there based on what the other two players did. Troy did exactly as I had hoped and made a continuation bet that was slightly smaller than his pre-flop raise. One player behind called the bet and the other one folded. I decided to strike while the iron was hot and not play it passively. I committed to a check-raise and made the bet four times as large as Troy's flop bet. Troy decided quickly to call and the other player folded.

The turn was a red 4 that was no help to anyone. I felt pretty confident I still had the best hand and made a strong bet. I don't remember the exact amount, but it was approximately a third of the pot. I figured I could slow down if a bad card came on the river completing the flush, a big straight, or potentially two higher pair than my jacks and eights. Troy didn't hesitate too long and called.

The river was a beautiful red 3 and I now knew I had the best hand. I made a bet slightly larger than my turn bet, hoping Troy would come along with a good king or get sticky with just the jack. It turns out he had a dream draw with 10-9 of spades. He had flopped a flush draw and an open-ended straight draw. Luckily it didn't complete and I built my stack up to over $30,000.

I felt really confident at this point that I would be a strong contender for winning the tournament, especially with Troy on the ropes and nearly out of the tournament. Unfortunately, he got extremely lucky with pocket aces when two other players tripled him up. This put him back in the running and I no longer felt like my lead was going to hold.

Although I didn't take part in the side bet of high hand for the night that some of the guys did, I would have ended up winning that. I was holding J-9 suited on the button and after Darrell limped from middle position, I decided to just see what came and called. The two blinds also came along. The flop came 9-9-9, so I elected to slow play my four of a kind. We all checked through and the turn was an ace. It again checked to me and I should have made a bet here. The idea behind betting is that anyone with an ace is obviously going to call and think we have the same hand. A small bet of half the pot or less would build it up a little for a nice river bet. If nobody has an ace, even if somebody hits their random card on the river for a smaller full house, it is doubtful they put much money in thinking any person betting the river has either the fourth nine or an ace for the best full house (minus pocket aces, which is unlikely since nobody raised pre-flop).

By not betting the turn, I feel like I missed a bet that could have potentially set up a bigger payday on the river. It also could have resulted in somebody check-raising me thinking they are trying to push me off if I am bluffing the ace since I am on the button and it was checked to me. Simply put, I should have made a smallish bet on the turn and see if anyone came along with the full house.

Instead I just checked and we saw a jack hit the river. The two blinds checked and Darrell bet $500. I almost instantly took a stack of $500s and put it out there for a raise, trying to make him think I'm pushing somebody off with another ace and I don't want to split the pot. It turned out my raise was another $3,500. Darrell didn't like it and was ready to flip the table over if I showed the fourth nine, but he reluctantly called with his ace.

I was coasting along just fine until we got down to the final four. I had about $27,000 in chips and was second behind Michael. However, Troy was right around that amount as well. The shortest stack at that moment was Wes B., who had about $8,500. I was the dealer and gave myself pocket kings. I made a standard three-bet re-raise after Wes bumped it up ahead of me. It didn't quite put Wes all in, but he elected to push it and I instantly called. He showed A-9 off-suit and all I had to do was avoid an ace or some weird run out that gave him a straight or flush. I was looking really good until the river when an ace spiked.

With Wes B. doubled up, the very next hand I was dealt pocket jacks. First to act I made it seem like I was making a tilted raise out of frustration and it folded around to Wes in the big blind. He re-raised me and I decided to keep the illusion of frustration, anger, and tilt going by pushing all in. Wes thought for a long time and wasn't sure if I was lucky enough to wake up with strong hands back to back. He finally made the call with pocket nines. It turned out he had only $300 less than me, so this was his tournament life on the line, but a loss for me essentially ended my night as well.

In the window, a nine was shown for the first card on the flop. I was drawing very thin after he hit a set on the flop. However, I hit my miracle two-outer on the turn and we went to the river with Wes needing the final nine in the deck. It didn't come and I got all my chips back from the previous hand, with interest.

Once we were three-handed I never really made any headway. Troy simply kept building his stack and Michael was trying to fold his way to second. After a long time of going up and down, I had approximately $20,500 when I was dealt A-K off-suit. I raised it to $2,500 when the blinds were $400-800. Troy called me while he was the chip leader. The flop was medium to low cards with two diamonds. I knew I had a diamond, but wasn't sure which card it was and I really wasn't banking on going runner-runner for a flush. I simply wanted to hit an ace or king on one of the next two cards. I bet $4,000 and Troy came along for the ride.

The turn was another low card that was a diamond. So now I do have the potential flush in play. I didn't take long and pushed my remaining $14,000 into the pot. It was essentially a pot-sized semi-bluff. I was very happy to take the pot then and there, but even if he called with something worse than two pair I had a lot of outs. What I didn't expect was to be called by a pair of twos. Troy held pocket twos, with one of them being a diamond. With any ace, any king, and any diamond, I would end up doubling up and becoming the chip leader.

Unfortunately, my night ended when a black nine showed up. I took away the $500 third place winnings and moped my way over to the cash game. Things went really well there and I made another $600. Overall, the night put me back in the black for the year, so I shouldn't be upset. Yet, I felt so confident with how I was playing along with the luck that seemed to be on my side. Troy seems to be my nemesis when it comes to our weekly Thursday night game and I am committing myself to really studying ways to become good enough that he no longer has the inherent edge against me.

I have to wait another year for the chance to get my name on the plaque and it really seemed like this was my year with the way things were falling my way last night. I'll just have to keep at it and continue learning.

2025 Year-End Weatherford Tournament Pre-Game Broadcast

I mentioned in my previous post that the year-end freeroll tournament in Weatherford is coming up this weekend. However, local weather looks to be pretty bad starting Friday and icy conditions are predicted for Saturday. So, the group elected to move the tournament up to Thursday instead of pushing it back a week since we have some guys who qualified but cannot make it at the end of January.

I was hoping to get a little more practice in before the big tournament, but that's not going to happen. Another variable with moving the date so close to when we play is that one of the players who qualified in 2025 has now moved to Abilene and he is a maybe for Thursday night. However, he did give his blessing to move it. He said he would do his best to make it.

Going into this year's tournament, I am sixth in chips out of ten players. Even if Wes B. doesn't show up for the tournament, I am still sixth in chips. Having to only compete against eight opponents would be fantastic, but I feel confident I can succeed even if all ten of us show up.

The top prize for first place this year is $1,400. Sixth place will receive $55 and everyone below that just gets a lotto ticket. I'm really hoping I can take home the championship this year, but it will be the hardest year yet as I don't think I've ever been this low on chips compared to the other players.

I am going to have to make some moves to gather chips and the good news is I am at a soft table to start. Hopefully I can accumulate a few extra chips before we combine at nine players. I'll post next week with results and some hands that I play throughout the tournament.

2025 In Review

Thus far my play in 2026 has started out in the pits, so my mood to talk about what happened in 2025 is a little tainted. While the end results were another positive year and I ended up making more than $20 per hour, I feel I could have done better.

I started out pretty hot with a trip to Las Vegas last January with Joanna and the Veceras. After playing five different sessions at the Horseshoe Casino, I ended up leaving town up $845. Only five days into the year and I was on one of the fastest starts to a winning year I've ever had.

I then went into what is probably the worst losing streak I've ever had. At my lowest low, I turned that $850 profit into a a loss of $400 by the end of February. Luckily, I had a great night in Weatherford that turned that around and I never looked back.

In just one month I went from down $390 to up $1,220. And there really wasn't a win larger than $500 in that timespan. During the month of April I then bounced up and down and ended up at nearly the same spot, up $1,095.

At the very end of May I broke the $2,000 profit mark and finished up $2,440. And by June I had broken the $3,000 mark.

In July, August, and September I had some wins and losses that kept me right around the $3,000 profit point. It wasn't until October that I was able to finally hit $4,000 in profit. However, that didn't last and I dopped back down to $3,000+ in November.

I finished the year in December with some good wins and ended up with a total of $4,600 in profit. I played a total of 219.75 hours and my hourly total was $20.93. My largest win in a single session was $765, played in Weatherford, and my largest loss was $600, which was at WinStar.

Since 2022, I have started profiting at a higher rate than I had for the decade before that. From 2009-2021 I averaged an hourly rate of $10. However, in the last four years, I have averaged $20 per hour or higher. This is mostly due to making more calls and bluffing at a more frequent rate. I was a very tight, aggressive player and since becoming a little looser, but less aggressive, I have pretty much doubled my hourly rate. My best year was 2022, where I profited $6,150 and averaged $33.65 per hour.

I'm still working to find the right balance of aggression, tight play, and mathematically correct decisions that will optimize my hourly rate. I've challenged myself to implement some new strategies and after only a couple of games it has not worked out well. I will post next week about some hands that haven't gone the way I'd hoped, but poker isn't a grouping of multiple sessions, but one long game. Even if I am losing now, I have to keep plugging away and believe it is going to turn around for the better.

I've got my year-end tournament coming up in a week and that could result in a very big win if I can pull off the victory. I won it all in 2019 and hope this year is when I get my name on the plaque for a second time. As I prepare for the tournament I will make a post of where everyone stands in chip counts and what my odds are. With only 10 players making the freeroll tournament, I feel confident I will at least make the money.

More Frequent Posting

I made a "resolution" on my other blog that I would post more in 2026, and I think that needs to carry over to this site as well. In recent years I've simply posted my totals for the amount won, played, and hourly rate. I will likely do that again for 2025, but I need to also make some regular notes and post about recent sessions to figure out how I can become a better player.

Certainly in the past couple of years I have started maximizing wins and minimizing losses, but there is absolutely some progress to be made. One area of my game I need to get better is when I go on tilt. I'm an emotional player and I let the hands that don't go my way impact future decisions. It especially kicks in when I either have gone card dead or a suck-out happens when I was a big favorite. While I've gotten better with handling the rage, I still let it influence me.

A specific goal I am setting for myself this year is to handle my tilt better. Whether that is taking a walk when things aren't going my way or just calling it a day and cutting any losses I may have, I need to find an outlet for my frustration at the card table. Again, I am light years ahead of where I used to be. It used to be so bad my nickname was Arcade Hall, because there was an arcade room with games and pinball machines in our area called Tilt. Although I no longer worry about it being that bad, I can definitely keep it in check even more than I already do.

A second goal this year is to try and implement specialized tactics, and to even use those tactics on specific players. I attend a game pretty regularly in Weatherford and play against the same people every week. I have two guys who challenge me the most and I want to find strategies that will work against them to tilt the odds in my favor.

Now that Emery is about to go off to college and the boys are old enough to be at the house by themselves, I think I will start trying to play at our local poker house in Burleson a little more frequently. Normally if I'm not playing in Weatherford, I drive across the Red River border to WinStar, but that is a 90-minute trek and there is a card room just 20 minutes from my house. It is one of those clubs that you have to pay an entree fee and hourly rate, but I have frequently struggled with the WinStar crowd. So if I can save myself an hour's drive one-way and find a game where I have a better edge then it surely will be a win-win situation.

Hopefully I will be posting more this year and see an improvement in my game as I work on strategy throughout 2026.

2024 Year-End Weatherford Tournament

Starting off tied for second in chips didn't have the ultimate result I was hoping for. I finished the tournament in eighth place and made no money (my lotto ticket was a bust).

Things started off okay with me winning a few small pots here and there and I built my starting stack up from $10,075 to about $12,000. However, three hands in about 10 minutes brought a lot of that progress crashing down. I was rivered by a set after flopping two pair. I was out-kicked with top pair. And the worst one of all was when I held pocket aces and one of my three opponents flopped three of a kind. I made a continuation bet and after he smooth-called me I knew he had me beat. I didn't improve and when he made a bet on the river I had to fold face up. At the time he said he only had a pocket pair that was worse than the aces, however, later that night he said that was a lie and he did have K-9 and out-flopped me.

I ended up clawing my way back to about $9,000 in chips and when we combined tables I wasn't in a terrible spot. However, I had let the 10-minute run of bad luck dictate how I continued to play and I wasn't making the best decisions. I did run into some more bad luck when my pocket tens doubled up Meyser, who was holding pocket queens. That hand left me with few chips and I decided to take a stand with some middle-suited cards that were certainly live against Baird, who was on a heater that night. He held K-J and I never hit any of the cards needed to double up.

Baird ended up wining the tournament and pocketed $1,300 to start the year off. My good run in Vegas didn't flow over to the tournament, so I will have to wait another year and work toward getting my name on the plaque again next year.

2023 Year-End Weatherford Tournament

Despite finishing in fifth place this year, you could consider how I did a success. I began the tournament right in the middle of the pack with $4,500 in chips. We had 13 players qualify, but Troy wasn't able to attend. Therefore, there were $54,000 in chips at play and I was sixth out of 12 players. Even though I didn't really move up the ranks that much, I would consider it a success because I never got above $5,000 in chips throughout the tournament.

Any time I would win a small pot, it would dwindle down back to where I started or even a little below. At one point I was even down to about $3,000 in chips while we were still at two tables.

The play was very different from the normal Thursday night tournament as there were no rebuys and everybody was playing extremely conservative. The only hand that got out of control between two large stacks was Randall and Danny, who were the two big stacks at the time. Randall had pocket aces and Danny flopped top pair and a flush draw. The money went into the middle and Danny wasn't able to hit a better hand on the turn or river. At that point it was Randall's tournament and we were all just playing for second place.

I was hoping to outlast Scott F., who was very close to me in chips as we were on life support at this point in the tournament. While in the big blind at the $400-800 level, I was left with $2,000 in chips. Scott, on my left, had called the blind and only had $2,200 remaining. Randall raised it up to an amount above both of our starting stacks and I looked down at 8-6 offsuit. Although I knew I was beat at the time by higher cards, I figured this was a good enough hand to try and double up (or even triple up if Scott came along as well). We did end up going to the flop three ways and I hit the six. However, that didn't hold up and Randall hit one of his high cards on the turn or river. Because I started with less chips than Scott, I ended up in 5th and he got 4th.

Had I known how things were going to work out, I could have folded pre-flop and I would have moved up a spot in the standings and made an extra $150. However, if Scott had won the hand and I was left with only $2,000 in the small blind, I most assuredly would have still finished in fifth and not have had a chance to get myself back in the game. Pretending that my 8-6 had won, my stack would then have been at $8,800 and Scott would have been out of the game. With four players left, my stack would still have been below the average ($13,500) and I would have still needed to be in the fold or go all in style of play, but I could have worked with what I had and possibly gotten back into it.

It is disappointing that I wasn't able to get my name on the plaque again and I have to wait another year for the next opportunity. I've made great strides in the last few years with increasing my win totals and hourly rate. So hopefully I can build on that success and become even better over the course of 2024.

2023 In Review

Although not as financially successful as 2022, this past year was a great one for me in the world of poker. I ended up profiting $4,530 for the year and finished at $21.42 per hour.

The largest single session win in 2023 was late in year when on December 7 I won $1,205 at my local Weatherford cash game. It was a great night and everything seemed to be going my way with draws and coolers. My biggest loss in the year was my first one when I dropped $800 at WinStar on New Year's Day.

I don't think I established any goals last year for myself, but finishing with the second most winnings and second highest hourly rate (not counting a small sample size in 2009) would have most certainly exceeded any goals I could have set. I also finished with more than 211 hours of playing time. This was by far the most I've ever played in a single year, with the previous high being nearly 183. As my children get older and they can watch themselves a little more, I've found additional days and times to play in Weatherford or at local poker clubs, like the ones in Aledo or a new one in Burleson that I've yet to give a chance.

Looking ahead to 2024, I'm hoping to meet the similar success I've had in the last two years with highs in profitability and hourly rate, but that is certainly going to be difficult as I already put myself in the hole almost $1,000 after only four sessions at WinStar and in Weatherford. It will be an uphill climb going forward, but I've got the End of Year Freeroll Tournament in Weatherford coming up on Saturday that hopefully will get me back on the profitable path.

I'll write something up on the End of Year Freeroll Tournament soon. Hopefully I can get something in writing before the tournament happens on Saturday, but I will definitely provide results and possibly have a few examples of hands that took place during the tournament or cash game.

WinStar Grind Part II

And the high of doubling up after some grueling hours of play were quickly dashed by a second trip two days later that resulted in catastrophe.

It was an evening of K-2, K-4, and K-8 offsuit. I got those three hands more times combined than other hands total. However, the only three hands of consequence were the following ones.

While holding A-7 suited under the gun, I limped for $3, along with a handful of other players. The flop came out A-6-5 with one of my suit. The small blind led out for $15, which was about the size of the pot. I called expecting to see a turn and if I improved I would hang around. If I didn't I would get out of the way. If folded around to the button, who raised to $45. The small blind then re-raised to $115. With it now $100 to call and me obviously being in second place at best and third place at worst, I elected to fold and become a spectator. The button contemplated for a bit and finally made the call. The pot now had $260 in it.

The turn was a seven and made my stomach twist. The small blind moved all in and the button made a quick call, but made it sound like he knew he was beat. The small blind had A-5 and the button had 6-5. Had I stuck around to the turn I would have tripled up with my better two pair. I made the correct decision at the time, but it still hurts to know what I would have won had I been a terrible player.

That leads me to one of the most infuriating hands I've ever been a part of. A young woman sat on my right and bought in for $300. She made it clear she was not a regular casino card player as she didn't know many of the house rules about the betting line. Within 20 minutes of her arriving I was dealt A-Q offsuit and raised it up to $15 after a few players limped (the young woman included). Nearly the entire table called and we went to the flop with seven players and a pot of $100.

The flop was A-9-2 rainbow. It checked to the young woman and she led out for $15. With top pair and a very good kicker I elected to make it know that I was sitting on something pretty good and I raised it to $65. It folded back around to her and she didn't take long to make the call. The pot was now at $230.

The turn was a 6 that did not give any flush draws. The young woman to my right checked and I thought about it for a few seconds. I was still very confident I had the winning hand and I wanted to make a decent-sized bet that would be called by worse aces. If she was doing a great acting job with A-9 or A-2 then I would give her props and let the river dictate what happened next. She didn't take long again and started counting out the $90 in $10 increments. She finally stacked up enough and moved it forward (again I emphasize she wasn't aware that she could speak her actions and speed things along). The pot was now at $410.

The river was a jack, making a board of A-9-2-6-J. She took now time and pushed forward the rest of her chips, even having to leave behind about $30 because she didn't say all in and hadn't included it in her initial push of the chips. It didn't matter though as what she pushed out there originally had me covered by about $10.

My first impression was I obviously was beat by either a flopped set or two pair (and had played me for a fool) or rivered two pair with A-J. I couldn't see what she could be holding that I beat other than A-10 offsuit or A-X suited. However, there was now $535 in the pot and I had $125 left. I only have to be winning 1 out of 4 times to make the crying call, which I eventually did. I didn't like it though.

She showed J-2, which means she called me down for a raise on the flop and nearly $100 on the turn with bottom pair. I was livid and gut punched from how lucky she had gotten to hit her two pair with such a terrible hand. I would have definitely handled A-J a lot better.

With my final $100 I should have hit the road as my mental state was not in a place that was going to do anything productive, but instead I put it in play and tried to make something good happen. After a few limps that went nowhere I got 10-9 offsuit in the big blind and after a guy two seats to my left raised it up to $16 and got five callers, I elected to try a squeeze play and went all in for $85. It worked so well, I got two people to fold and was now against four opponents. With $450 in the pot I was praying for a miracle flop. It came out jack high and I never improved from there. The original raiser eventually went all in and got called by one player. He showed A-J for the best hand and I went home very, very, very upset.

WinStar Grind

I took a drive up to WinStar last night having been inspired by some friends recently posting their gigantic winnings in a text thread. I figured if they could have such success then why not me. While the evening ended in a profit, although not as large as my buddies, it was a struggle in the beginning to get there.

I arrived and sat right down at a $1-3 table at 8 p.m. and didn't have to wait long to get something worth playing. I was dealt pocket aces and raised it up $15 after one or two limpers came into the pot. I was called by at least two players. The flop came out with two spades and I made a continuation bet of $25. Two opponents called and the turn was another spade. I made one more bet of $40 and was called by both players again. At this point I was going into check-call mode. The river was a fourth spade and I didn't hold the ace of spades. The second player bet and I had to fold. The other player folded also, so we didn't get to see his spade, but I'm sure he had one. That meant I was now down $80 after only the fourth hand at the table.

Within 30 minutes of sitting down I then turned a straight that gave someone else a flush. And after another 30 minutes I lost with pocket queens and pocket jacks on back-to-back hands.

It took 75 minutes to win my first hand, which was a double-up with pocket kings against a crazy gambler that would move all in blind. He happened to look at his hand this time when he shoved my pre-flop raise. I didn't hesitate to call. The flop came with two aces and I thought I was surely dead, but he said he was likely way behind without knowing I didn't have an ace. That made me feel really good about my hand. But it ultimately didn't matter because a king came on the river giving me a full house. I showed and he showed the case king. He didn't show his other card, but I suspect it was a suited face card.

Another 15 minutes went by and I won my second hand of the night, which got me back to even, which was now $400 as I had added an additional $100 to my initial buy-in since things were going so poorly.

I hovered between $400-500 for most of the night once I got back to even. I would win a pot that put me up and get a little confidence to play more aggressive, but then get knocked down a peg and go back into conservative mode as I really couldn't afford to lose anything on this trip. Playing scared is not the recipe for success, but it was a priority last night.

Willing to hang around for a few more hours, the table dynamic changed pretty drastically when most of the big money winners left and we were six-handed for about 20-30 minutes. I was planning to leave since most of the money had left the table, however, then they broke up another $1-3 game and we got three new players, two of which were holding $900 and $800 each. That enticed me to stay a little longer and see what I could do.

As it was coming up on midnight I was dealt pocket jacks on the button when it had been straddled under the gun. Once the new players from the other table arrived, the straddling became pretty frequent and at least half the hands were $6 to come in. Something in me said to just call with the jacks and see what the final three blinds did before committing more chips. Whatever spider-sense I was feeling, it paid off as the big blind, who was only sitting on about $100, raised it up to $52 total. That bet was called by two larger stacks (one of which was a little less than my $500 starting stack and the other was the chip leader). The other players folded around to me and I decided now was a good time for a large raise and make them think I was doing a squeeze play.

I re-raised another $200, leaving myself approximately $250. No matter what the flop was, I was likely moving all in with the next bet if called. The original raiser called for his final $50. The other two players struggled mightily with the play I had made, but both ultimately folded. They didn't end up showing their hands, but they claimed to be holding pocket fives and pocket eights. Neither hit the board and my jacks would have beat both of them.

I tabled my jacks and the short-stacked opponent flipped his wrist to show a single ten. I didn't know if that meant he had pocket tens, ace-ten, 10-9 suited, etc. The first card in the window was a ten and I immediately was on high alert. I quickly looked back at my opponent to see if he was going to show a pair of tens in his hand, but he wasn't showing the second card yet. The turn was a random card below the ten. The river was a king. So now I was waiting to be slow rolled by a king-10 or pocket tens. Yet, it never came. He mumbled something in a foreign language possibly (English was his second language and he was wearing a mask), but never showed the other card. I scooped a $300+ pot and was now up $305 for the evening.

I played one more round and folded everything as I was determined to leave up and healthy. The only real mistake I made for the night was when holding A-K suited I flopped top pair on a K-6-2 rainbow board and made a continuation bet of $50 after raising pre-flop to $25 (again it had been straddled) and got two callers. One opponent thought for almost a minute but finally folded. The other player immediately folded. The first guy said, "Good bluff. I folded a six with an ace." If I had made a smaller continuation bet that would have likely enticed him a little more to play one more street and he was drawing to two outs. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I bet so big on the flop when there was about $80 in the pot and I came out firing $50. Normally when I hit and make a continuation bet I keep it a little under half the pot. Making it $40 probably gets at least one call and maybe even has him try something goofy on the turn.

The takeaway from last night is that no matter how bad things are going, they can turn around at any point. You just have to be patient and keep making good decisions. Don't let bad luck or a bad beat dictate poor decision making. Also, I need to take more time thinking out my bet sizing. That is one area I haven't improved as I make decisions and take action very quickly and need to slow things down.

Such A Disappointing River Card

With the kids at camp this week and Joanna going out for a girls night, I elected to try and win a little money at WinStar. It was ultimately a profitable night of $110, but I spent most of the evening on the defense and trying to break even.

Playing $1-3, the first hand I got involved in was with A-6 where I flopped middle pair with the six. I was against one opponent who I had just seen get called in a bluff and decided to play it out to the end. It turns out he had a straight on the turn and I started $75 in the hole. From that point on I was trying to get back to my starting chip stack. The lowest I ever reached from the initial buy-in of $300 was about $120.

For the first four hours of the night I only got one pocket pair (nines), which ended up winning a small pot. I eventually got aces in the small blind, but nobody called and the big blind and I ended up chopping. I never saw A-K once.

After struggling for four to four-and-a-half hours I finally started making some headway and got to about $340 when I held K-Q suited and put it all in pre-flop against a smaller stack holding tens and got called by another guy with the other pair of tens. I ended up flopping three of a kind and with all the tens accounted for by my opponents I went from $130 to $340.

However, I immediately lost about $100 of that when I held a beautiful hand that didn't hold up at the river. With some newly acquired chips and a little confidence, I elected to make a raise in middle position with 9-8 offsuit to $13. I was called by four players and we went to a flop with $65 in the pot. The flop was 4-6-7 with two hearts. The big blind who was playing with about $90 in front of her bet $20. If I hit my hand I wanted players along for the ride and didn't want to inflate the pot for those on a flush draw, so I elected to not raise. I called, as did two other players. There were four of us going to the turn and $145 in the pot.

The turn was a beautiful black 5, giving me the nut straight and letting people holding a lone eight in second place. The big blind female who bet the flop decided to slow down and checked the turn. I decided to check the turn and see if the river was a non-heart. If so I would bet the river and fight it out with anyone holding a lesser straight. If it was a heart I could likely let the hand go since it would be obvious someone had hit their flush. The two players behind me also checked. Pot was still $145.

The river was the worst heart in the deck. It was the three. This now put a straight on the board with three hearts. The big blind went all in for $69. I was so dejected about my ultra-straight now being second (or third, or even fourth) best I wasn't thinking clearly. In a fit of small rage I said call just to see if she was trying to bluff us off a made hand on the board. I thought maybe she had flopped two pair and was now representing the flush. The player to my immediate left called the all-in, which at that point I knew I wasn't going to be good. The last player folded.

The female big blind did have the king-high flush. The player to my left had the eight for a better straight than what was on the board. Had the river been a brick (or even better a non-heart three), I would have certainly busted the guy to my left since he'd have thought an eight-high straight would be good enough.

That was certainly the most disappointing hand of the night. It was a struggle for most of the evening to get anything going as I continued getting hands like 9-5 offsuit and 7-2.

Royal Flush And Got Paid

It is truly rare to see a royal flush get paid off in Texas Hold'em simply because it is likely nobody has anything good enough to look you up when you bet it on the river. Yet, last Thursday night at my local tournament game I was able to knock a guy out while holding the best possible hand in the game. Lucky for me, my opponent held the second nuts.

It was during the tournament and after winning the hand I had a great lead going into the no-rebuy period, but the river had the 10, jack, queen, and king of clubs on the board. I held the ace of clubs for the royal. Troy was stuck with the losing end of the straight flush with the nine of clubs. I put him all in for his final $3,000 in tournament chips, but he almost folded. Had the rebuy period been over, he probably would have.

Troy talked about folding a straight flush, but said he would never be able to bring himself to do it in this situation, so he called and I got to show my amazing hand. Of course, seeing how I get no respect among my "friends" out in Weatherford, they all said, "Nice river Matt," and we moved along.

This was my second royal flush in a live game. It was nice to make some tournament money on the hand. I ended up finishing first and added a top place finish to my stats for the year.

2022 Year-End Weatherford Tournament

I started the year-end tournament with high expectations since I was second in chips and had cashed a whopping 63.3% of tournaments throughout the year. Unfortunately I was second out of the tournament and came in ninth place. I had increased my starting stack in the first hour and after dropping one player and going to the final table I was feeling good about my chances. There were a few players, including John F. Sr. and Randall W., on a short stack. John is notoriously tight and Randall is a tough opponent as he has no fear when making bets, so if they were to go broke I would have been very optimistic about getting back on the championship plaque.

Unfortunately I made two bad plays that cost me nearly everything. The first was when I had pocket 8s in early position and raised it up to $800 when blinds were $100-200. I was hoping to just take the pot right then and there, but at worst I would see what the flop brought if I got called by one or two players and be aggressive. However, Danny S. in the big blind re-raised to $2,400 after everybody folded and I elected to defend and see if I could hit a set on the flop.

The flop came 10-9-3 rainbow. Danny made a continuation bet of $2,400. Narrowing down his range he could have two high cards or any pocket pair. I thought there was a solid chance I still had the best hand or could draw to a backdoor straight if I got the right turn card and elected to call. The turn was an inconsequential card that was lower than my eights, but not close enough to help my potential straight. Danny made a down bet of $2,000, with $10,000 in the pot, and I decided it was still too good to not call.

The river was a king and the betting went check-check. Danny showed queens and I lost about half my stack with the lower pocket pair.

The real blow came a few hands later when I got pocket aces and raised it to $600. I got called by three players and the flop came 9-8-2 rainbow. I was second to act and made a continuation bet of $1,000 after it was checked to me feeling like that was a very safe board to bet small on as I wanted some action to get my chip stack back to an above-average amount. I was called by only one player (Wes M.).

The turn was the king of spades, putting two spades on the board. There was some kind of spider sense going off at this point and I didn't like the spot I was in any longer. I honestly don't know what changed between the flop and the turn that got me on high alert, but I no longer felt comfortable with where I was in the hand. We went check-check on the turn and saw a low third spade on the river.

I checked to Wes and he bet $2,400. I nearly made a begrudging insta-call but stopped short of saying call. The noise that came out was more of a, "I gughhhh." Wes thought I had called and nearly flipped his cards over instantly. I stopped him from showing and said I hadn't called yet. His immediacy made me feel even worse about my hand and I wanted to let it go. I even said what I had and told everyone I didn't like how things had turned out for my hand. I didn't hold the ace of spades, so having the blocker to the nut flush made it even worse to call.

I finally decided to call, but immediately regretted my decision. If I had waited a few more minutes and thought things through I might have talked myself into folding, but in the back of my mind I kept thinking Wes was trying to bluff a pot his way since I had shown such weakness on the turn and river bets. He showed pocket 2s for a flopped set.

That left me with only $1,800 in chips and I went all in a few hands later with A-6 offsuit hoping to just pick up a few limps, double up and get back in the fight, or move over to the cash game. Unfortunately I didn't hit and lost to two pair.

The cash game was much more forgiving and I ended up winning $870 from that. I cashed $100 in the tournament, so I nearly made four digits for the night.

It was extremely disappointing to not win the year-end tournament as I thought I had a really great chance of getting on the plaque for the second time. Let's hope this year is as successful as last and the year-end tournament has better results.

Started 2023 Off With A Self-Inflicted Bang

It had been more than a decade since going to a casino on New Year's Day with James and I was going to be alone if I did so this year, but I had such a fiscally good year in poker last year I wanted to keep the good times going. So I elected to head north on the first evening of 2023, but the results were not what I was hoping for. I ended up losing three buy-ins that totaled $800.

The first hand of significance was a loss. I had J-6 offsuit with no diamonds. The flop was J-10-6 with two diamonds. I was first to act and bet $10 into a $15 pot. I got called by three players. The pot was now at $50. The turn was the ace of diamonds. It checked around to the button who bet $25. I was the only caller and we went to a river with a pot of $100. The river is the king of diamonds putting four diamonds a four to a straight on the board. My opponent didn't look happy about another diamond coming and he had about $80 remaining. I bet $25 expecting to fold to a raise and if he didn't have a straight or flush he wouldn't call. He did end up calling and had turned a higher two pair.

The next hand was a winner for me. I had A-K offsuit and raised $12 pre-flop. I got two callers for a pot of $35. The flop came out ace high and I made a continuation bet of $15 after the first player checked. The button was the only caller and the pot now had $65 in it. The turn was a king and I continued betting with top two pair. I bet $25 and the button called. The river was an eight, which paired an eight from the flop. I still felt confident I had the best hand, but wasn't sure if he would call any kind of bet. So I elected to check-call any bet he made. My opponent ended up betting $75 on the river and I called. He had jacks for a worse two pair.

I made a questionable raise from middle position with Q-6 offsuit. I made it $15 and was called by only the button. The flop was J-J-K and I continued with a $15 bet. The button called and we both checked the turn, which was a nine. The river was another nine and he checked. The pot was $60 and I bet $30 hoping to get a bluff through. He called with K-6.

My favorite hand of the night was bluffing a Q-9 off a nine-high flop when I held pocket eights. It was the same player who had earlier called with the two pair when there were four to a flush and four to a straight on the board. He made a continuation bet after raising pre-flop and I took his bet of $25 to $75. He folded and showed. I told him I had flopped bottom set.

I played K-J offsuit on the button timidly after flopping top pair and simply calling a minimum check-raise from a new female player who didn't know much about casino poker. She check-raised the flop, checked the turn, and then bet the river after hitting the last card to give her two pair while holding K-4. A normal player I would have gotten to fold earlier in the hand, but she wouldn't fold much after hitting something on the flop.

I put $185 in pre-flop with tens after limping under the gun. A middle aggressive player raised to $30 with sevens. The new girl went all in for $52 with jacks. A late position player called with A-Q offsuit. It folded back to me and I shoved all in to isolate with the original all-in player. Both players ended up calling. The flop was A-K-3 all diamonds. I was the only person who had a diamond in their hand. The turn was a seven. The river was a blank. A diamond or a 10 would have won me a $600 pot.

In for $800 and with $280 in front of me, I was dealt red aces. I raised on the button to $15 and got five callers. The flop came ace high with two clubs. The small blind bet $12 into a $90 pot. Four players called and I raised to $80 straight. The niece of the new girl was now playing and she called, leaving herself $12. A second player went all in for less than the $80. The turn was a six, giving me a full house. I bet the last $12 she had and won the pot.

I bluffed a river bet of $75 with two jacks and a king on the board. I got called by pocket nines after calling his flop bet and checking through the turn.

The last hand of the night was losing with jacks on a ten-high board to 10-6 after raising to $15 pre-flop. The worst part of it was losing the side pot to 8-5 after an eight came on the turn and she had called with the five as the bottom pair. I knew I was losing after the flop, but was hoping to get lucky when I pushed on the turn to win a $1,000 pot.

The lesson to be learned in this is I need to not make bluffs at WinStar like I can in Weatherford. If I hit the big hands then try to get paid, but if I don't have the nuts then I need to keep the pot small.

I did end up winning $800 a few nights later in Weatherford, so for the year I am basically back to even and can start over.

2022 In Review

I haven't posted to this blog in nearly four years. My poker playing has been maintained, but I usually just play twice or three times a month in Weatherford. However, over the past 15-18 months I have made some tweaks to my game that have had some interesting and profitable results. What I've found out in that time period was in the past, while I was still profiting over the long term, I was folding too much. Hero folds are certainly a necessary tool for a winning poker player, but it turns out I was not making enough crying calls and sniffing out bluffs.

I went to WinStar last night and posted a very profitable night at the $1-3 game, cashing out a $770 profit. This was bolstered by raking the biggest pot I've ever won in my life. I had K-3 of clubs and was chip leader at the table after doubling up with pocket kings a few hands earlier. I wanted to splash around a little bit and the table was very reasonable for WinStar except one guy to my immediate left who was making pot-sized bets and not getting called to showdown.

I raised to $13 with my suited king in early position and got three callers (one being the big bettor to my left and another being a short stack to my immediate right). The flop came out A-7-3 with two clubs. The short stack to my right checked and I made a continuation bet of $25. The guy on my left called, the other opponent folded, and the short stack raised all in for another $35. I thought about my options and decided that if I ended up hitting my flush or another good card for trips or two pair I wanted the guy to my left to stick around. So after some delayed thinking to sell the idea that I had a decent enough hand to move forward with but not strong enough to make raise with I called. The guy to my left called as well. We went to the turn with a pot of $225 and one player all in.

The turn was the beautiful 8 of clubs, giving me the nut flush. I think I made a bet of about $75 just to keep the pace going because I wanted to make sure that our stacks got in by the river. After my $75 bet I was left with about $500 and my opponent had about $525 prior to my bet. The aggressive guy didn't disappoint and immediately went all in. I checked my cards one more time to very I had the nuts and called. The river was a blank and I scooped a $1,400 pot and was basking in how wonderful it was to be me at the moment. The aggressive guy to my left had 10-9 of clubs and needed the six or jack of clubs for a straight flush. The guy to my right didn't show, but said he had flopped a set. I faded a few cards on the river that could have hurt, but luck was on my side and I was up $1,100 for the session after only an hour of play.

I lost about $150 on a hand when I had jacks and turned a set, but it gave him a straight. I lost the minimum though as the river turned out to put a four-card straight on the board, so it went check-check.

For the year, I ended up playing the most hours and winning the most money I ever have since I started keeping formal records in 2009. My hourly rate is also the second highest it has ever been, with the highest having come on a very small sample size in 2009 that is an outlier.

I profited $6,150 this year and played 182.75 hours, resulting in an hourly rate of $33.65. I had two winning sessions of $1,145 and $1,015, but other than those the rest were a lot of winning nights. I also had the best year in the Weatherford tournament with 9 first place finishes, 9 second place finishes, and 1 third place finish. I didn't cash 11 times, so the probability of cashing in the tournament this year was 63%. The amount of players in the tournament was down this year and we mostly only had a single table going, but it was still really great to know that nearly a two out of three chance I would cash in the tournament.

My strategies this year seem to be paying off and I intend to keep the run going into 2023. I hope to play a little more and possibly get to 200 hours of play. I also am going to set a goal for myself to win $5,000. I know that is less than I won this year, but considering the next highest profit for a single year prior to this one was $2,355 I want to be sure 2022 wasn't an outlier.

Success!

Last Saturday was my third attempt at winning the WTSOP End-Of-The-Year Tournament and third time was truly a charm as I took the top prize of $1,500 and my name on the winner's plaque. I will forever be immortalized as the best of 2018.

My night started out with me being third in chips and I had a table draw that was the tougher of the two. My table consisted of Darrell, Randall, Mark T., Dennis, Andy, and Wes. I consider Andy to be the best in the entire group and I constantly have trouble playing against him. Luckily he hadn't played much at our tournament throughout the year and his starting chip stack was third lowest. Randall and Mark can be tough for different reasons, but I normally get the best of both of them. Darrell is a tough opponent because of his playing style. He is a tight player who doesn't relinquish many of his chips, so you have to play a very long game to get the better of him. Wes has no fear to make tough bluffs, but they are not at the most optimal moments. Of all my table opponents, Dennis was the only easy draw. The other table was made up of Troy, Danny, Michael, Matt D., Brandon C., and Scott, which would have been the preferred table. Troy is the only one I fear of that group.

Not too long into the tournament I had aces against Mark's kings. All the money went in the middle on the flop after I bet, he raised, and I re-raised pre-flop. My better hand held up. That had him on the ropes and I was in the chip lead at our table. After that hand I was never in fear of being short stacked. Later in the night, I rivered a full house, which also gave Andy the dummy straight (a straight where your cards make up the low end and there is a better straight available). What made this hand stand out from others wasn't my lucky final card to give me the better hand, but it was that I bet every street and made the most money possible from my opponent.

When we were down to our final five or six players I knocked nearly all of them out in a very quick fashion. It was mostly because I had the chip stack available to make the calls needed to eliminate my opponents and move up the pay chart. Most people call it being a chip bully.

With my $1,500 win Saturday night and another $340 of profit last night, I have started 2019 off very well and generated a nice little bankroll. I shouldn't get a big head though, since my bankroll started off this way early last year and one night completely wrecked it. Poker is not made up of many games with profits and losses, but instead it is one long continuous session. I cannot let a few good hours where I profited nearly $2,000 let me think I'm invincible. And neither should I let a single loss devastate me. That is part of my 2019 poker goals to be more stable in both my wins and losses. Take the lumps the same way I would the lucky streaks.

2018 In Review & Upcoming WTSOP Tournament

With only a few hours left in the year and no plans to play cards tonight, I think it is safe to calculate my totals for the year and see how I did in poker.

My goal for the year was to play at least 150 hours of poker and earn an hourly rate of $17, which would have resulted in approximately $2,500 in profit. Of that I was hoping to have built up a poker bankroll of about $1,500. The good news is I met one of my yearly goals and the bad news is it wasn't the monetary one. I was able to log 164.5 hours of play, but my hourly rate was only $5.59. Excluding the one year I lost money, this is my lowest hourly rate ever since starting to keep details statistics.

Despite not meeting my financial goals, I did finish with a profitable year. I won a total of $920, which is not a very good considering my peak was $2,165 in profit after five months of play. I also lost a lot in the final stretch of the last five months of play, so my bankroll is non-existent.

As for the upcoming 2019, I would like to again have the same goals as I did for 2018: 150 hours of play, $17 hourly rate, $2,500 in profits, and a bankroll of $1,500. However, I probably need to add an additional goal that isn't something calculated in an Excel spreadsheet. The final goal I have for 2019 is in regard to my mental game. I need to keep my emotions in check, whether I win or lose. Poker isn't a single game. It is a marathon of games that culminates in getting better, not just from a strategic point of view, but also a mental one and emotional one. In addition to the financial goals, I want to take the wins and losses in stride.

Coming up on Saturday I have my year-end tournament with the Weatherford group. In years past I have had a starting chip stack of $4,150 and $6,800. This year's starting stack is in the middle at $6,025, which makes me third in chips and above the average chip count of $5,100. There are a total of 13 players and the possible draw I will have for tables includes Darrell (chip leader), Randall, Mark T., Dennis W., Andy, and Wes.

I don't plan to change up my tournament strategy too much for this tournament. I will probably be patient while the blinds are small and once we combine to a single table of nine and the blinds have increased to a significant amount that it is worth trying to steal some pots I will open it up a bit.

The past two years I've finished ninth and eighth. I'm hoping Saturday ends with a much better finish than those.