Author: Nick Momrik

I'm searching for my first hole-in-one. I enjoy being active and making things. I work for Automattic.

River Bets

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Riding the F-Train has an interesting post about betting the river. Great information, but like some of the commentors, I don’t agree that this is true for the low limits. If I didn’t value be the river most of the time, I’d be missing out on a lot of bets. Checking and hoping they bet […]

WPBT Tournament Reminder

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Just a reminder that the next installment of the WPBT is being held on Wednesday, February 2nd at 9 pm (Easter) at Poker Stars. See the official blog for all of the details. As the defending champ I’m trying to come up with an appropriate bounty for the person that knocks me out. Any ideas?

Poker Blogroll

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I’m looking for some poker blogs to add to my blogroll. I browse around from time to time reading some here and there, but I only seem to keep up with the ones on my list (which is the same list I used on Bloglines). I’m open to any and all suggestions. If the two […]

Tilt Steering

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Tilt is probably the part of poker that is capable of eating away at our bankrolls faster than anything else. Especially for us amateurs. I know I still struggle with it at times and it costs me dearly. Last night was one of those nights.

I found a couple of great 6-max $2/4 games at UB and saddled up for the ride. Talk about a roller coaster! There were a few times where I lost control and it proved deadly. I ended up down about 25 BB for the night and the loss was all due to a few periods of tilt. If I could have controlled my emotions, I would have easily walked away from the tables a winner on the night.

Since my switch to UB on Friday I’ve found great games each time I play. Last night was no exception. In fact, I’ve never come across games like this online. Maybe everyone likes to blow off some steam after a stressful Monday at work, but these people are nuts! I was playing two tables the entire session and at one point, both tables had a pre-flop raise percentage of over 25%. Yes, that 2-5, 25%. On one of the tables I had a player raising pre-flop 50% of the time, another at 20% and another at 16%. Remember, this is all at the same table. I’ve never seen anything close to this bad at Party. NEVER EVER!

So what do I do? I have the winning hand all the way and get beat on the river. Ok, fine, shit happens right? No…I go on tilt for a couple of hands and give away a few BB. I don’t just do this once. I do it several times over the course of the session. Each time I realize it and quickly adjust, but it’s already too late. I’ve given away precious bets. If I had just been able to eliminate the tilt factor, I would have won for the night. Sometimes you have to pay for your lessons though.

I was actually down about 75 BB at one point, was then back to a few big bets ahead, and then back down to where I finally called it quits. It’s frustrating to know that I played like shit in the best position I’ve ever been in at the poker tables. If I had not tilted and the cards went a little more my way, I would have easily pulled a few hundred from these games. I’ll get them next time.

One thing is for sure…I’ll be staying at UB and don’t see myself leaving anytime soon. Well, except to do some bonus whoring on the Party sites.

Trackback Spammers Are Back

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The trackback spammers are back in full force. When I checked my email this morning I had over 180 and it’s continuing through the morning at a rate of several per minute. Talk about a pain in the ass! Don’t they realize that their info isn’t every getting onto the site. It’s getting flagged and […]

ATMs at Every Corner

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One of the greatest things about playing online poker is that there are plenty of ATMs to go around. Every once in awhile they’ll take your money, but if you keep swiping your cards they’ll give you money.

I played a few hours on UB again today and added another 50 BB to the bankroll. I’m loving the $2/4 6-max tables! The aggresive strategy that I’ve been reading about and studying is paying off big time. If I get any type of hand pre-flop, I’m raising and continuing that aggression through the hand. I’ve never took down so many pots on the flop and turn. Once I showdown some big hands, I’m getting respect (for the most part) at the tables. If I’m heads up in a hand and flop middle pair, I come out firing. The same if I pick up a good draw. With only one other person in the pot, every hand has a lot more value. Shorthanded play is exciting if you know how to play it.

I’m still making mistakes more than I’d like to, but it’s amazing how far my game has come in the last few days. At the beginning of the week I was making horrible calls and bluffs at record speed, but now I’m picking my spots and scoring big wins to go along with the steals. One of the things I still need to work on is my re-raise bluffing. I’m doing it more than I should be. I’m not doing it often, but when I do, it’s not working.

Note to self: Stop re-raise bluffing. If you’ve shown aggression pre-flop/flop and a decent player comes over the top, there is a very good chance I’m beat.

What irks me about these past couple of days is I now realize how many bets I had been giving away for two months. Why didn’t I do something sooner? There’s a lesson for you. If you’re losing for a long period of time, take a step back. Variance can be a bitch for long streaks, but there might be a good chance that your play has taken a dive off the deep end. If only I had plugged the holes in my game a month or so ago, I’d be well on the way to my original goal. At least I’m well on my way to reaching the new goal I had set two weeks ago. Who knows though…if I can keep it going like the past 3 days, I might even reach the original. Unlikely, but not impossible.

I Never Forget

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This morning I woke up and jumped out of bed. I ran over to check the calendar on the wall. Sure enough, today is January 30th. I forgot to call my sister on her 23rd birthday! FUCK! It was still before 10 a.m. and I knew she wouldn’t be awake yet because she had told me about plans to go to the bar. I finally called her at around 12:30 and of course she gave me the shit. Good thing she was just giving me a hard time and said it was no big deal. Phew! I guess I’m not the only one who doesn’t care about birthdays anymore. We get older every day of the year, not just one.

So in Heather’s honor, I’m baking brownies right now. When we used to live together, she used to bake and cook for me, so I figured I’d celebrate her birthday on my own. Or maybe that’s just an excuse so that I don’t feel all weird about baking. Either way…they are going to be good!