2010 Last Sit & Go [Knockout]

Played my last sit & go [knockout] yesterday. not that i want to brag my winning, juz that im very happy. I won first this time, although i did lost my buy-in on cash game before this short tourney. I can say they were not the most aggressive opponents (last 2) I have encountered, I played with a lot of focus. Below are the last 7 hands of the tournament which changed the tide for me.

Enjoy and happy new year 2011!!

Black.

2010 Review

I saw FX's review for this year then I remembered it's time that I should do one my own too. It's good to reflect. Come to think of it, it's been about 1 year 4 months since Bottle and I started trading live. Like any other newbies, we started off energetic, with only the perfect dream of financial freedom in our mind, like as if within reach simply by working hard.

But time showered us with love and lessons. With our first account almost wiping out, after experiencing how vicious the market could do

to us. I don't think anyone will understand what tides traders went through without experiencing themselves. I was pretty focused and consistent at the first and second quarter, slowly crawling my profits to new heights, until one single NFP that sent my losses to new low, which crushed my confidence to fire up the MetaTrader until today (+10).

Along the way, the comforting Oanda account

(opened in June) with fresh records still doing okay. Until another NFP sent it spiraling downwards in a single night. I managed to recoup it halfway, until one trading day then send it back to square one. NFP is a lesson. You see the label at the side there "Non-Farm Payroll", it's history. I'm not blaming NFP, but simply the way I handle it. I'm not there yet.

During June, I caught the "poker bug". No doubt it really diversify my attention for trading. Texas Hold'em is a new interest. I used to think that poker is simply pure gambling. Until I found out it is partly a skill game, I mean it is still gambling. But you can work on your skill unlike going to casino and play the roulette or big small, where the odds are largely against you.

I bought a lot of poker books, I want to learn and improve. But working hard and showing results are two different things. At least I come home knowing and loving what I do now. We need more time and experiences.

My results for this year anyway:

FXDD: -7.14%

Oanda: -11%

Pokerstars: -25%

Omfg. So sick. I did grab my courage and traded a short one. It's time to slowly pick myself up, learn from my mistake and embrace the new year ahead.

I wish all of you a Happy New Year! Money Money Come Come!

Black.

Drawing Outs on the River

Played about short 100 hands tonight and that was it. First table, I cleared my stack. So I moved on to another table fresh, where every one was playing tight. Until my opponent below came. He was pretty loose and aggressive. He called on every flop. Basically whoever one of us is playing the hand, it will be against him. He had cleared a few stack before this.

One of my encounter with him below. I didnt expect him two have two pairs on flop (due to his past aggressiveness), but probably wan to chase me away with a huge bluff, or made two pairs on river.

With his All-in on the Turn, give me a hard but straightforward decision. I was on both open-ended straight and flush draw. In total, I had about 9 (spades) + 6 (8s and kings excluding spades) + 3 (aces) = 18 outs? Right? 15 of them for the nuts. Although I seem passively calling, but I think I made a pretty good call here when the fifth spade came. And so that was it for me.



Black.

Just A Short One Today

Played only a few hands today and I left after I meet my target. Thanks to L&W who shared with me a site so that I can post visual of the hands I played instead of tons of words like the matrix movie. I will be exploring SharkScope.com. Really appreciate the things you guys shared.

I won this pot below and left. I wanted to get him out of the pot at turn but he had a flush draw (I didnt read, I thought he had two pairs). river queen made us a pair and I scoop the pot with an ace kicker.



Maybe I left quickly because I dont want my winnings taken away as usual so that I can finally say "hey I won tonight"!

Some Updates

Experiencing some really bad lags in pokerstars. I havent been trading since my last post. Been busy, taking chance to catch up with old friends after work during this school holiday. Just some updates..

Been seeing Bottle lately, he's been actively focusing on trading. During our common friend birthday celebration in a chalet, we taught him to play texas hold'em. Now he too, caught the "poker bug" like what DT said. We bought a set of chips and play leisurely together. Its good experience. Playing in real life is much fun than online. But there is still agony in losing a big pot, but at the end of the day it is best not to take any of these too personally and everyone having a great time. This game is a challenge, there are much to learn in strategies, tactics, under different circumstances and playing with different people.

Its also time I carry on clearing my poker books. I decided that I should aim to at least spend 30 minutes after work to look at charts, or a few hours in poker (reading or playing) daily so that I get more exposure and practices before school starts, especially trading, I think I have been lagging quite much. My exams results will be out next Thursday wish me luck.

Hope everyone have a great Christmas and New Year ahead!

Black.

Happenings

Many miracle happened tonight, but thats poker. AA lost to TT when the board shows four clubs in the TT's favour. TT won QQ when the board shows 789 A 6. I won a sick hand myself too.

Table 'Cottrell II' 6-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: KILHOFFER ($5.45 in chips)
Seat 2: QProQuo ($2 in chips)
Seat 3: Nmbee10 ($10.87 in chips)
Seat 4: e3fkaa ($5 in chips)
Seat 5: issaru07 ($13.59 in chips)
Seat 6: hxh147 ($4.05 in chips) <-- me
e3fkaa: posts small blind $0.05
issaru07: posts big blind $0.10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to hxh147 [Qs Ah]
hxh147: raises $0.10 to $0.20
KILHOFFER: raises $0.40 to $0.60
QProQuo: raises $1.40 to $2 and is all-in
Nmbee10: folds
e3fkaa: folds
issaru07: folds
hxh147: raises $1.40 to $3.40
KILHOFFER: raises $1.40 to $4.80
hxh147: calls $0.65 and is all-in
Uncalled bet ($0.75) returned to KILHOFFER
*** FLOP *** [7s 5s 6s]
*** TURN *** [7s 5s 6s] [3c]
*** RIVER *** [7s 5s 6s 3c] [Ts]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
hxh147: shows [Qs Ah] (a flush, Queen high)
KILHOFFER: shows [8c 8s] (a flush, Ten high)
hxh147 collected $3.89 from side pot
QProQuo: shows [Qh Qc] (a pair of Queens)
hxh147 collected $5.85 from main pot

Four spade on the board, and I held the most beautiful queen of the hand.