September Review - Well, At Least There Is The Milestone

September was a rough poker month (I'm writing this on the 29th as I intend to take tomorrow off). I broke my record for most buyins below AIEV in a month, and despite running awful I didn't put in much in the way of volume. On the upside, I hit the final milestone bonus of the year which was a very sexy $7200.

I did have some life positives during the month. My new couch is large and in charge, some art framing I had done turned out very nicely, and football season started! My fantasy squad in Chicago Joey's league of Stars regulars is 3-0 thus far. I also managed to score tickets to the Flames home opener on Thursday, October 1st which I am stoked for.

Anyway, here's the lame graph.


The Bottom Line:
$4576.50 winnings
$3920.95 FPP value (70013 VPPs * 3.5 FPPs/VPP * 1.6c/FPP)
$7200.00 milestone bonus ($8000 - $800 FPP value to purchase)
---------------------------------------------------------------
$15,697.45 USD total profit

At current (uncool) exchange rate, this is ~$17,000 CDN. It is worth noting I have been withdrawing primarily US currency until the Canadian Dollar weakens relative to its US counterpart.

Here's hoping for a better October. At the very least, I should put in more volume as the month has both 31 days and more importantly, ten of my "high volume" days (Fridays and Saturdays).

Can You Beat Ace King High?

-- Status Update --
2009 VPPs:	853,109
SNE Pace:	116,049 AHEAD
Currently Playing:	Black Sigil: Blade of the Exalted (DS)

Weekend poker was pretty lame, but not entirely so. I had what has to be the biggest pot I've ever won without making a pair which I'll post below. I also started playing Black Sigil for the DS, which got some pretty lackluster reviews and considering I have multiple games backlogged to play, is a surprising choice for my time. I guess I'm just feeling like something old school, and it definitely brings the SNES feel despite being a brand new game.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2.00 BB (8 handed)
CO ($200)
Button ($100)
SB ($141.70)
BB ($203)
UTG ($361.15)
UTG+1 ($200)
MP1 ($200)
Hero (MP2) ($203)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with K, A
UTG bets $6, 2 folds, Hero raises to $26, 2 folds, SB calls $25, 1 fold, UTG raises to $361.15 (All-In), Hero calls $177 (All-In), SB calls $115.70 (All-In)

Flop: ($549.70) 4, J, 4 (3 players, 3 all-in)

Turn: ($549.70) 9 (3 players, 3 all-in)

River: ($549.70) 5 (3 players, 3 all-in)

Total pot: $549.70 | Rake: $3

Results:
SB had A, 6 (one pair, fours).
UTG had A, Q (one pair, fours).
Hero had K, A (one pair, fours).
Outcome: Hero won $546.70

Stop the Presses...

-- Status Update --
2009 VPPs:	840,689
SNE Pace:	114,589 AHEAD
Currently Playing:	Aion (PC)

... I actually ran good for a day. Been a long time coming. Coincidentally, this is the third time my boomswitch has mysteriously been activated the day after I've complained to Stars support about something. Ended the day +$1.1k in winnings, lots of which was from 200nl. Definitely not too shabby for three hours on a weekday. By the end of my session the 200nl games were so good relative to 100nl that I think half my tables were of the 200 variety. This is more a reflection of how suck the 100nl games were than an influx of 200nl fish however.

My girlfriend and I have been playing Aion together, and it is enjoyable. That said, the only real reason I'm playing is because our guild is so excited about the game. To me, it seems like a very average MMO with a surprisingly small amount of content. Hopefully the endgame PvP is compelling.

My new leather couch kicks all sorts of ass. It is also extremely large, much bigger than I remember it in the store.

Below are a few hands from today's session that may or may not be particularly interesting. The first hand is awesome because so much additional dead money gets trapped in the pot when the fool slowplays his KK. The second hand I think is quite interesting. Villain is a really nitty reg. He's definitely decent, but I'm pretty sure he's not capable of bluffing the river. That said, basically the only hand he can have here is KQcc unless he slow played a set on the flop. He's nitty enough that I'm honestly not sure he'd raise 33 on the river if he had it (but almost surely would have raised flop). I was so tempted to call just because he's repping such a super thin range, or maybe he went insane and thought he was value raising his AT. I really like my b/f river line once I c/c turn, but I think my turn play sorta sucks. Against more aggro/spewy regs I think turn c/r is sexy, but since he's so nitty I think I would have been better off betting. The more I think about this hand the more it really bugs me, but with his river sizing I really think he has KQcc a huge portion of the time.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2.00 BB (9 handed)
Button ($261.30)
SB ($255.45)
BB ($200)
UTG ($74.40)
UTG+1 ($246)
MP1 ($107.05)
MP2 ($200)
MP3 ($200)
Hero (CO) ($208.95)

Preflop: Hero is CO with A, A
UTG calls $2, 2 folds, MP2 bets $6, MP3 calls $6, Hero raises to $30, 3 folds, UTG calls $28, MP2 calls $24, MP3 raises to $200 (All-In), Hero raises to $208.95 (All-In), UTG calls $44.40 (All-In), 1 fold

Flop: ($507.40) 2, 10, 4 (3 players, 3 all-in)

Turn: ($507.40) 10 (3 players, 3 all-in)

River: ($507.40) 2 (3 players, 3 all-in)

Total pot: $507.40 | Rake: $3

Results:
UTG had 8, K (two pair, tens and twos).
MP3 had K, K (two pair, Kings and tens).
Hero had A, A (two pair, Aces and tens).
Outcome: Hero won $504.40

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2.00 BB (8 handed)
UTG+1 ($349)
MP1 ($143.55)
MP2 ($203.80)
CO ($200)
Button ($268)
Hero (SB) ($201)
BB ($200)
UTG ($42)

Preflop: Hero is SB with J, A
6 folds, Hero bets $6, BB calls $4

Flop: ($12) A, 3, 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $8, BB calls $8

Turn: ($28) J (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $20, Hero calls $20

River: ($68) 10 (2 players)
Hero bets $40, BB raises to $162, Hero folds

Total pot: $148 | Rake: $3

Results:
BB didn't show
Outcome: BB won $145

A Good Bad Day

-- Status Update --
2009 VPPs:	831,615
SNE Pace:	116,475 AHEAD
Currently Playing:	Aion (PC)

On Friday I put in my typical volume and ended up running only a little poorly from an AIEV perspective. It's funny that being out a buyin and a half in AIEV feels like running sick hot to me. Fortunately there were a lot of fish willing to stack off drawing dead today, so I actually won some pots.


Some hands below. Villains in all hands are some degree of retarded.

PokerStars Pot-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed)
BB ($100)
UTG ($129.10)
UTG+1 ($85.05)
MP1 ($100)
MP2 ($83.30)
MP3 ($104.75)
CO ($188.90)
Button ($100)
Hero (SB) ($105.25)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, K
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $1, MP1 calls $1, 1 fold, MP3 calls $1, 2 folds, Hero bets $6, 1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $11, 2 folds, Hero raises to $24, UTG+1 calls $13

Flop: ($51) 4, 3, 2 (2 players)
Hero bets $30, UTG+1 calls $30

Turn: ($111) 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $51.25 (All-In), UTG+1 calls $31.05 (All-In)

River: ($173.10) 8 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $173.10 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had A, K (high card, Ace).
UTG+1 had A, 8 (one pair, eights).
Outcome: UTG+1 won $170.10


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2.00 BB (9 handed)
SB ($200)
BB ($228.10)
UTG ($259)
UTG+1 ($158.95)
MP1 ($200)
MP2 ($219.05)
MP3 ($307.55)
CO ($240)
Hero (Button) ($220)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Q, A
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $2, 4 folds, Hero bets $10, 2 folds, UTG+1 calls $8

Flop: ($23) 6, 4, Q (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $18, UTG+1 calls $18

Turn: ($59) 9 (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $37, UTG+1 calls $37

River: ($133) 9 (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $100, UTG+1 calls $93.95 (All-In)

Total pot: $320.90 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had Q, A (two pair, Queens and nines).
UTG+1 had 9, K (three of a kind, nines).
Outcome: UTG+1 won $317.90


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed)
Hero (Button) ($121.05)
SB ($61.80)
BB ($15.50)
UTG ($16.05)
UTG+1 ($100)
MP1 ($51.75)
MP2 ($105.05)
MP3 ($109.10)
CO ($18.50)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Q, Q
UTG calls $1, 1 fold, MP1 calls $1, MP2 bets $5, 2 folds, Hero calls $5, 2 folds, UTG calls $4, MP1 calls $4

Flop: ($21.50) J, 8, 3 (4 players)
UTG checks, MP1 checks, MP2 checks, Hero bets $15, 1 fold, MP1 raises to $46.75 (All-In), 1 fold, Hero calls $31.75

Turn: ($115) 10 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($115) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $115 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had Q, Q (one pair, Queens).
MP1 had Q, 4 (one pair, fours).
Outcome: Hero won $112


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed)
MP1 ($111.90)
MP2 ($100)
CO ($298.75)
Button ($95.85)
SB ($114.30)
BB ($96.95)
Hero (UTG) ($230.95)
UTG+1 ($116.40)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A, A
Hero bets $4, 6 folds, BB raises to $16, Hero raises to $32.50, BB calls $16.50

Flop: ($65.50) J, 5, 5 (2 players)
BB bets $64.45 (All-In), Hero calls $64.45

Turn: ($194.40) J (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($194.40) 8 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $194.40 | Rake: $3

Results:
BB had K, 10 (two pair, Jacks and fives).
Hero had A, A (two pair, Aces and Jacks).
Outcome: Hero won $191.40

Outside of poker, Dion Phaneuf's monstrous hit on Kyle Okposo in a preseason tilt between the Flames and the Islanders has got me really excited for hockey. Such a sick hit. I finished FFIV: The After Years tonight, and enjoyed the final chapter a lot. The game had some downside in how it was presented along with some severe annoyances, but it had two major points of upside:
(1) lots of great nostalgia bearing characters
(2) didn't shit all over the plot/characters of the original (see Chrono Cross, etc.)

My girlfriend and I will be playing Aion, which launches on Sunday for those that preordered. We are looking forward to it. My new leather couch is also scheduled to be delivered on Sunday (for real this time, hopefully). If I'm lucky I'll be able to put in another successful poker session tomorrow, then follow that with a Sunday filled of football, a new couch, and a new MMO.