The problem with my new job is that I really, really enjoy it. I have fun all day at work, and so when I start to feel like maybe it’s time to go home, I look at the clock and it’s late. I come home, and there’s very little time to be playing lots of hands online. Still, I try to get the required number of hands in and I’m somewhat ahead of schedule in terms of clearing the $1,500 Stars bonus. I feel pretty confident in getting there on time. Hopefully, once that’s done, I can go back to playing without feeling like I “need” to put in hands. For instance, I can actually take the time to play NL half the time, like I planned to do this year. For now, though, $25 NL (which is what I feel comfortable playing, given what an extreme rookie I am at this game) just doesn’t clear enough VPPs for me to be able to finish the bonus on time.

Limit 6-max hold ‘em is a swingy game, can you tell? This is about half-and-half of 1/2 and 2/4. Overall this month, I’m at ~1BB/100 which is OK given how things have been going; I’ve had some really awful sessions in there (can you tell?) but then again, I can also definitely tell that there are spots where I’ve played poorly. Yesterday, for instance, was not one of my better days. I fell back in the trap of playing too passively in some spots, too loosely in some and then at one complete brain collapse moment, I 3-bet the turn with top pair vs. a passive opponent who checkraised me. He capped, I wanted to punch myself in the face and I made a crying call on the river despite being virtually certain that he had it.

I’m playing as much poker as I can possibly fit in to my life, which means an average of 20 minutes per day. Although I did get a solid three hours at the tables on Wednesday, so I’m feeling pretty good about making the bonus clearing requirement before March 31st. I’ve been running really bad, but I’m playing so much better now that not even running bad stops me from winning money. (I probably shouldn’t have said that.) But table selection + big edge on my opponents = break-even stretch despite brutal beats. I like it.

Anyway. I leave you with a lolcat.

Enter the ICHC online Poker Cats Contest!

I’m a bit upset with myself.

Experience is a wonderful thing. It allows me to recognize a mistake when I make it again.

And I’ve made it again. I’ve put myself in the dumbass situation of having to grind VPPs at Stars with a deadline that makes it not-trivial, which means that the year that started out so well for me in studying poker and learning NL has now become a big steaming pile of VPP grind at 1/2 and 2/4 limit hold ‘em. It’s going to be a lot easier to clear the bonus on time (I have until March 31) than it was getting Supernova, but I’d have rather not been in the situation to begin with. Was there a way to avoid it?

Following a link from Gary Carson’s blog took me to this article which states - probably correctly - that ordinary people are very prone to taking even-money bets, but hesitate to accept 5:1 odds on something. The example they use is someone who is very certain that a democrat will win the presidential election this coming fall, but still won’t accept 100:1 odds on it. Or even 5:1. It briefly explores some different ideas as to why people feel that way.

I just figured I’d add this: If you want to bet against other people, and they only want to bet even money, bet them over/under.

Only four days into the new job, the company I work for decide to have “a poker night,” which really would be more appropriately labelled “a drinking night where there are playing cards in the vicinity.” But I must not get ahead of myself.

We left the office at 5pm and drove out to the CEO’s house, where he had prepared pea soup and beer. To go with the traditional Swedish pea soup is a very sweet kind of liquor called “punch” (not to be confused with the mixed American drink “punch”). This is more like a schnaps, really, and you drink it much the same way: In small glasses and in shots.

How’s poker been going for me? In a word: “eh.”

I’ve been getting my ass handed to me in NL. Given that I’m so new to this I can’t gauge how much of this is me sucking and how much of it is expected variance. I know that serious parts of it is me sucking, though. However, the sucking has gone down a bit lately when I’ve picked up some ideas for how to handle certain situations (hi, pot control).

I started my new job today, so I’ve enjoyed the first half of this tuesday being dragged around to meet everyone (about 30 people work here, so the tour was relatively short after all) and having had the organization and everything explained to me. First impression: Everyone seems really nice, and it feels like a cool place to work. I don’t expect I will be disappointed.

I’m very, very, very tired though. I was out last night (actually, I was here - at the new office - because they had a mini-party which served as sort of a warm-up for me) and while I was arguably home at a decent hour - a little after 11pm - I didn’t sleep well at all last night. Hardly a surprise that I was anxious about today, it’s a big change after eight years with my former employer, after all.

I put that name in all caps, because apparently any mention of her attracts readers. I don’t get it, myself, what’s so awe inspiring or interesting about her. Lots of bloggers with real writing talent seem to be wasting time on various gossip about some girl in Vegas who’s messed up. Then again, maybe this post is an epic failure of sorts as well, given that I’m mentioning her. I dunno.

In other, actual, news…

Iggy seems intent on getting everyone to renounce Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet because of their shenanigans. (And, honestly, that’s a much better way for him to spend his time than to stoop to the Entertainment Weekly level with all the Brandi-posts he’s been making.)

Frank Zappa takes on dickhead John Lofton on Crossfire. It’s funny how Bob Novak hasn’t changed a bit in over 20 years. His looks, at least, are the same, aren’t they?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ISil7IHzxc

(I tried to embed it but it didn’t work very well)