Bickmat's Razz Poker journey

I generally don't play the razz MTT just because they run rarely and it seems I'm never around when they start.

This weekend I noticed a $10 was starting so joined up. The beginning was really slow as I just folded folded folded. People go nuts in the beginning of razz tourneys for some reason. The nice thing is when you do get a hand at this stage you get paid off by 3-4 people usually so its a big pot.

Once we got to the midsize stacks I was able to pick off a couple of short stacks and sent like 3-4 people home and was happy to be well above average. Then I stagnated and and didnt go anywhere as everyone else increased their chip stack.

I got a nice pot right before the bubble and thought that at least I would be able to coast into the money. From here it was more folding and my stack slowly started to shrink. I doubled up around the 15 player mark and then had no hands and ended up folding to the final table.

I always seem to go out in 7th to 9th place in these situations and resolved to do better and then immediately lost a pot and became the short stack. I finally ended up with a 9 up and 2 low cards and was heads up with a guy in steal position raising me. If figured this was probably my last shot and jammed the pot all the way to the end and got lucky and doubled up.

I then doubled twice on other short stacks and all of a sudden I was chip leader. From here on I just played a quiet game with some light bullying till there where only 3 left. Both of the remaing players where solid players and we exchanged chips for about 30 minutes. At this point the chip count had evened out and someone suggested a 3 way chop. We all agreed to an even chop which gave each of us $200.

I finally feel like I really got razz now. This may just be an illusion but I just feel way more confident playing my hands now. Getting drawn out isn't putting me on tilt which has been an issue with me in the past.

The trick is to be able to keep this feeling and play consistently.

Took a break from poker for a awhile. For me when things are going poorly I tend to play worse. Been playing casually off and on from the last post and was surprised to post a 400 increase.

I was mostly playing at the 1/2 level because I knew I had to get back to playing a better game. Just started playing the 2/4 tables again this last week and did ok. Certainly not cruishing the tables but usually managing a $20/$40 win over a 2-3 hour session.

I never did the poker bonus thing that most people do so decided to start trying that out.

First site I'm going to try is Pacific Poker. They currently have a 100% bonus up to 400. I figure I can play poker and get a higher rate of return.

I'm thinking I'll just play the sng poker tournament. That will help my sit and go game and I should be able to break even at least.

Well been working on some other projects so havent had time for much poker. Still managed to play a little but it probably would be better if I didn't play at all since I lost $200.

Well haven't made a post in a while. I've been still been playing razz off and on for the last few months. I win a little, I lose a little -- I'm an break even poker player. Well at least it feels that way.

My game right now is fairly conservative right now and that may be the issue. I've been good about not having large swings. Having large swings may be more profitable down the line but I just don't have the stomach for it.

I've been playing the holdem 3.40 sit and gos. For me it usually comes down to one hand. I'm folding everything early game and waiting for a premium hand. Then I go all in with good hand and then either win/lose. If I win I've got a fairly good shot of placing. But overall I'm a loser at these.

Played a bunch of razz over the Christmas holiday. Lost 500 and got so cheesed off that I withdrew 500 from PS. This left me with 1000 which is the bare minimum for the 2/4 game so I hunkered down and started grinding away again.

Got back to even and then ahead $100 just this weeks.

I also had a bad run at the 1v1 Razz sit and gos. I'm not even sure if it's worth doing those any more. It always seems to come down to 1 hand as the blinds get big. Coin flips with the rake just isn't profitable.

Had a lot of downtime over thanskgiving so played a bunch of poker. It seemed lik the holiday brought out all the beginner players as I won a lot and got called a fish a lot.

I tried to play in one of the cheap razz tournaments ($5/10) but the timing was never right. I may have some time to play in december. We'll see about that.

Took a break due to work and other extracurricular activities. But am starting to play a little again.

Been doing ok on the cash tables which have always been hit and miss for me. Also playing the razz heads up sit and gos with a fairly good win percentage.

When I play a good player it is basically a 50/50 shot which is not profitable because of the rake. However there are enough bad players to tilt the odds to my side.

One tip I've learned is that 90% of the players sitting in the heads up que are good players. So they trick is to always be the first to sit down. That way your odds of catching a fish go way up.

Well new job and some other projects have been keeping me busy lately. I made my first game/puzzle using flash last week - Flip Flop (www.cheesygames.com/flipflop) that I'm fairly happy with. I have a bunch of other puzzles to convert and then I have some ideas for some games I'd like to do.

Anyway on the poker front this loss is a hold over from that last mega tilt session. I do well for a bit and then it seems I get a swelled head and think that I can never lose. Of course this hubris always does me in.

I actually played 2/4 last night and won $120. Just played very straight tight poker. I just check called for the most part till I had the nuts then raised and bet out. Pretty much let everyone else bet for me and I did pretty well with that strategy. I don't think this will work with the better players but I didn't see any of the usual regulars around at that point