Place: Doyle's Room
Date: January 5th, 2008

After a long run of more video gaming and working than poker (playing the donkhard games of course though ), I found some time tonight for a little action on Doyle's Room. Nothing major to report by the time the smoke cleared, but I moved up a few cents. Mainly some donations and then getting paid after flopping a set.

It looks like I may have some time to play tomorrow. If not, I probably won't make it back to the challenge until sometime next week.

10Zav01: What works for me is to call it quits and leave the table the next time the blinds come around at any point where my chipstack reaches 10% of my total bankroll. I've found that by sticking to some strict numbers, I come to the table in a totally different mindstate. Right now with the current bankroll at $89.08, I've got to do a little (very simple) math before I sit down so I know exactly how much to bring and exactly when I must leave .

If I do well, I have to leave at (move the decimal over a smidge) $8.90.

Divide that in half for my "5%," I can bring $4.45 into the ring (or an SNG). Now all I've got to do is find a table that'll support my buy-in. It's strange though. When I go into a game blind, playing just to play, I play to win. But what is winning? How much is ever enough? But when I know I've got to leave at $8.90, I don't really want to get there, because I love playing poker. When I hit 10%, I have to call it quits. Of course I don't want to lose either, because the only thing I love more than playing poker is winning, at anything. Often I'll find myself reaching 10% sooner than I'd like, but I can leave satisfied knowing I had a profitable run... if any of that made any sense.

Place: Doyle's Room
Date: January 5th, 2009
Current Bankroll: $89.08

that made perfect sense tbd ... and something i'd do well to remember too, lol.

i do the same thing.. how do ya stay focused on the management of such bankroll?

how about you tbd, any news regarding your challenge?

Place: Doyle's Room
Date: February 23rd, 2009

This morning my wife slept in late, so I amused myself on Doyle's Room. I've been over there a few times since the last update, and managed to grind up the bankroll $93.62, mainly through some PLO8 ring games. I haven't played much in the way of tournaments other than the Gold Chip games. I am excited about the big $75.00 Donkhard game this weekend.

Anyhow, I had another good run in the PLO8 ring this morning. Handed out a few tough lessons and only charged $5.01 for my services .

Just wanted to give a quick update. Gotta run. Good luck at the tables, everyone!

Place: Doyle's Room
Date: February 23rd, 2009
Current Bankroll: $98.63

well my bankroll at the highest on one site "ub" is very close to yours...but i use a different system to calculate how much i can but in for...i did have a horror of bad luck in the last few months,but using our close proximity in balances..what i do is this..i,m only playing 5-10c ring games...however since i consider the amount a short stack..i use a short stack stragedy and try playing only the top 7 or so hands depending on table play and position...but i do play multiple tables....using this stragedy yes i pay a few more blinds but i,m also hitting a hand at a higher frequency,as i,m seeing more hands enabling me to increase my stack at a faster ratio...have you tried this?

Place: Doyle's Room
Date: February 24th, 2009

Just wanted to let you all know that I'm at a $.0.10 Omaha H/L table right now on Doyle's Room. If you'd like to come play or watch, I'm at table Boston 12497, screen name's The Big Donk!

I'll edit this post before I leave to wrap it up.

...

Had a great run over there. Won a $23+ dollar pot when I turned the nut flush and rivered the nut low to scoop it all. Busted 4 players off the table with that hand. It was a thing of beauty. So with the $4+ change I bought in for, I ended up leaving with another $19.12 to add to the bankroll.

I have not yet tried that strategy you mentioned, chefjimmy. I don't do too much multi-tabling. I prefer to play one game at a time, but on many occasions will play 2 to 4 tables. I'm curious, when you play that strategy, at what point do you decide to leave. If you double up at one table, do you leave all tables? What if you bust out at a table? Do you rebuy, leave the table, or leave all tables?

Place: Doyle's Room
Date: February 24th, 2009
Current Bankroll: $117.75

Place: Doyle's Room
Date: February 25th, 2009

Found me a cozy little $0.02/$0.04 NL Omaha H/L game to get into this morning. I sat down with the max buy in of $4 (although my bankroll would allow me to buy in for $5.88, there were no dime games running and the other stakes that were running were too high).

Eventually all 10 seats at the table filled, but by then I had managed to knock my $4 chipstack down to just a shade over a dollar. A couple of players at the table started going apes***, and soon others were joining in the melee, going all in pre with AFC. I caught Aces and limped in UTG. The guy who had initiated the donkey behavior at the table went all in. I called, and the Aces held.

A couple of hands later I had Kings. Again, we were all in, this time in a four-way. The Kings set and held, and I scooped a good pot. In the end, I manged to grind my $4 stack down to a dollar and then all the way back up to finish off leaving the table with $11.57.

I did hang out in the DH chatroom while I played, but no one came to visit. Maybe next time.

Place: Doyle's Room
Date: February 25th, 2009
Current Bankroll: $125.32
Current Goal: $10,000
% of the way to the goal: 1.25%
$9,874.68 to go!

wow kool journey so far.
A good friend of mine is tearing it up at the new Dayle's (cake net)

he says he has been getting more that usual GOLD cards ...may b since its new room ,who knows prob coincidence

But this will give you more weapons to play some bigger mtts (gold card games)

Will good luck...THIS can be done.....true free roller here ..NEVER got in my pocket to play online(boy do i miss net teller)

Place: Doyle's Room
Date: March 1st, 2009

Last night I brought $4 to a PLO8 game and basically just played like a goof. Not real sure why I was playing like that. Guess we all just need a change of pace every so often. Anyhow, kissed that whole $4 goodbye. Oops!

Tonight I played much better. Folded everything until I caught AKJT from the button. I called a raise, along with a few other players.

The flop came Ks Qh 7s.

Everyone checked to the raiser, who bet the pot. My outs are A J T or 9. I had no spades in the hole, so I'm not looking for another spade. That leaves 2 Aces, 2 Jacks, and 2 Tens, and 3 9's for a total of 9 outs. I figure if everyone else folds, I probably don't need to worry about the Spades, so that could give me 4 additional outs for a total of 13. I make the call and everyone else folds. Nice.

The turn comes a red 9. BINGO! My opponent bets the pot again, and I shove all in.

He makes a relatively easy call, not too much thought, and turns over a set of Kings.

The river drops another 9 to give him a full house and I leave the table with 24 cents the next time the blinds come around to me.

Grr.

So now I'm going to watch the Lord of the Rings, one of my all time favorites, right up there with Star Wars, Saving Private Ryan, Transformers, etc. I've still gotta finish the end of "Fellowship" and get started on "Towers" until my wife is done with her homework.

So may you all have better luck than I. Tell next time.

Place: Doyle's Room
Date: March 1, 2009
Current Bankroll: $117.56

The Big Donk wrote:
The river drops another 9 to give him a
full house and I leave the table with 24 cents the next time the blinds
come around to me.

Oh.. the pain! I feel for you BD. I just came off 2 freerolls on
different sites where I lost, between the two of 'em, 7 hands in less
than 10 minutes where I had a big advantage in each hand and got pushed
hard in each case and I pushed all in each time and lost all of 'em to
go busted in both tourneys and it was the river every time!
I had over 20,000 chips in both of 'em and was in the top 22 in both
when it started. I couldn't get any hand to hold up! Talk about a crash
and burn lol!

In your case.. I don't see how you could play it any different. Poker..... I guess. I'll bet that makes you feel better huh? .............................NOT!............................

It must be a long Winter this year, because I've been on quite a cold run for a bit now. I actually seemed to be having a better run on the old network, but I don't want to get into the site-blaming game. I've had some incredible runs on the same network on a different site.

No it's not just Doyle's Room where I'm running cold. It's happening all over the place, online and live. As datsme53 pointed out, there's really not much else one can do other than play their best. If you can get all of yours and their chips in when you're the best and a heavy favorite, you're playing solid, winning poker, whether you win that particular hand or not.

However, as of late, I've been getting pounded by the underdog in the hand. For the most part I've been getting them in best, but I just can't hold up. And if you think maybe I've been doing some sucking out when I'm the dog, you'd be wrong. No such luck.

Again, this cold run I'm on is not exclusive to any one poker site. I've been losing money in live ring games and online at various networks and independent sites. I've been coming close to cashing in tourney play all over the place, but close counts with hand grenades, not poker tournament play. And it's really inaccurate to say I've been coming close to cashing all over the place. Lately, I've often been busted out early by scenarios such as: shoving all-in for 2,500 into an 800 pot and getting called by a guy on a flush draw (who of course hits). I've even been taking some nasty beatings involving backdoor runner straights, flushes, or counterfeits. When I can manage to survive the early stages, that's when I've been "coming close."

Cold runs happen. That's why I stick to bankroll management, for times like these. I can take some small losses until it turns back around in my favor.

There have also been alot of changes in my life away from the tables. I've become far busier than ever before over the last couple of weeks. Often, personal changes can have the tiniest, almost invisible effects on how we play, but these little differences can make major changes to the win/loss ratio.

So I've decided to take a brief hiatus of sorts. The Big Donk's gonna stop playing poker!!!

No. I'm not going to stop playing poker. Instead, I'm going to avoid Hold' em and the ring. Until I get back to the top of my game, I'm going to stick only to the Donkhard Games (of course! I always enjoy hangin out with you all!), and non-hold 'em MTTs and SNGs. These games are a bit tougher to find than hold'em, but I think maybe the change of pace may help me to regain my focus on my overall poker game. Plus I'll be playing slightly less poker through my cold run.

Since I'm in the mood to play, I'm off now to see if I can find a some sort of an Omaha, Stud, or Mixed-game tourney.

Good luck to all the donkhards out there playing poker today, and if you've got any luck to spare, swing some my way!

I just read this whole post from start to finish, and all I got to say is hang in there TBD. Take a break, play a different game, or just go relax a spend some quality time with the family. When you are ready and got your game and mind back into take off again. We will all be here waiting for your next update and I am going to try to make it and watch you play. Have to be on a weekend thou since I work Mon. thru Fri. I'm still amazed at all the info in this forum. Keep up the good work and we appreciate all that you do.See ya on the felt.

It's good advice, hogster. I do intend to take the rest of the evening off. Tonight we'll watch some Pirates of the Caribbean, Desperate Housewives (yeah, I watch that), and some Celebrity Apprentice w/ Annie Duke!

Before I call it a night, just wanted to let everyone know how my latest adjustment has worked out. I found a $3 turbo 6-player PLO8 SNG on Doyle's Room. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it didn't take long to fill.

First hand in I hit won with a 23456 straight. It was nut for high, and turned out to be low enough for the low. Bang. Best part about it was that 2 other players ended up giving me all of their chips. 2 down 3 to go.

A couple of escalations I took out my 3rd victim. Not long thereafter I claimed my 4th victim, and the next hand I took out the last player, who sadly (for him) was heavily dominated in the chipstack game.

It was a thing of beauty. I can't remeber the last time I single handedly knocked out every single player in an SNG.

Winner (that's me) took home $12 in 1st place prize money.

Now I'm off for some family time. See you all soon. Best of luck to all the Donkhards at the tables!

The Big Donk wrote:
It was a thing of beauty. I can't remeber the last time I single handedly knocked out every single player in an SNG.

Winner (that's me) took home $12 in 1st place prize money.

Okay TBD! Sounds like a good one to build on for sure! Take this one and use the momentum to run up that bankroll! Good luck on your next try at Doyles! May the flops be with you!