Update 11/10/2005

Doing okay right now, had some ups and downs. For the month, I am up $7!!!! Woo hoo! I'm in the money!!

Breaking it down, I'm up $16.50 in ring games, with $15.65 coming from dime/quarter NLHE, $4.10 in PLO8 (playing nickle/dime and dime/quarter), and I'm down $3.25 in LHE (playing $0.25/$0.50 adn $0.50/$1 tables there).

I'm up $30 in SnGs, where I have 1 first, 2 seconds, and 2 out of the money finishes (one in Razz, I don't know why I even try to play that game)

So far, no money wins in any multi-table action. I have lost $39.50 there, so that brings my total down. However, I have bubbled in a few of the MTTs. I finished 11th (top 8 paid) out of 82 in a private NLHE tourney that was hosted from Fulltiltforum.com, and 44th (top 36 paid) out of 339 in another NLHE tourney.

I've been noticing that my reads are still up and down, depending on how much attention I am paying to the table. I have been doing too much multitasking (like writing here or reading other blogs/forums) and not enough note-taking. However, here's one that I am proud of:

FullTiltPoker Game #286480636: Table Fairfield - $0.10/$0.25 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:15:38 ET - 2005/11/10
Seat 1: kmagic ($9.65)
Seat 2: boxcaral ($24.55)
Seat 3: IlliniFan ($24.50)
Seat 4: QuatelHelix ($28.65)
Seat 5: ShagstaMan ($22.65)
Seat 6: gshack ($10.95)
Seat 7: jdkbld ($29.85)
Seat 9: PeterA64 ($60.95)
PeterA64 posts the small blind of $0.10
kmagic posts the big blind of $0.25
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to IlliniFan [Qc Qh] I've been playing for about 10 mins, and won the blinds once, and haven't been in many pots. I've noticed that boxcaral has been a bit aggressive since he sat a few hands ago.
boxcaral raises to $1.25 Bingo, raised in front of me again. Mid-PP or AK, AQ is my read.
ShagstaMan: wahoo
IlliniFan raises to $3 So I decided to push back a little, with position
QuatelHelix folds
ShagstaMan folds
gshack folds
jdkbld folds
PeterA64 folds
kmagic folds
boxcaral calls $1.75 Okay, let's see what we get.
*** FLOP *** [7s 9d 4h]
boxcaral checks
IlliniFan bets $6.35 Okay, he's either slowplaying or he's missed.
boxcaral has 15 seconds left to act He took a long pause here, which made my call easy. If he had gone with the immediate re-raise, or had not taken almost the full time, I may have layed this down.
boxcaral raises to $21.55, and is all in I think my read is correct. I'm guessing something like 99.
gshack is feeling angry
IlliniFan calls $15.15, and is all in No way I can get away from this now with the read.
boxcaral shows [Js Jd] Bingo!
IlliniFan shows [Qc Qh]
Uncalled bet of $0.05 returned to boxcaral
*** TURN *** [7s 9d 4h] [7c]
*** RIVER *** [7s 9d 4h 7c] [4s]
boxcaral shows two pair, Jacks and Sevens
IlliniFan shows two pair, Queens and Sevens
IlliniFan wins the pot ($46.90) with two pair, Queens and Sevens
boxcaral is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $49.35 | Rake $2.45
Board: [7s 9d 4h 7c 4s]
Seat 1: kmagic (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: boxcaral showed [Js Jd] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Sevens
Seat 3: IlliniFan showed [Qc Qh] and won ($46.90) with two pair, Queens and Sevens
Seat 4: QuatelHelix didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: ShagstaMan didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: gshack didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: jdkbld didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: PeterA64 (small blind) folded before the Flop

So, overall the read worked. Here's where it didn't:

FullTiltPoker Game #286510322: $5 + $0.50 Sit & Go (1849223), Table 1 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:35:11 ET - 2005/11/10
Seat 2: BlueTurtle5 (1,350)
Seat 3: dolemite_man (4,025)
Seat 4: Kipper7 (4,220)
Seat 5: Nuggetplay13 (1,000)
Seat 7: IlliniFan (1,255)
Seat 9: VIPER9 (1,650)
BlueTurtle5 posts the small blind of 40
dolemite_man posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to IlliniFan [Tc Td]
Kipper7 folds
Nuggetplay13 folds
IlliniFan raises to 300 Let's see what happens.
VIPER9 folds
BlueTurtle5 folds
dolemite_man raises to 640 Okay, he's the big stack. He may be trying to push me out. Unfortunately, I don't have a good read on him as I have been multitasking and not paying attention. Bad Idea. I have to stop this. I decide to push back and hope for a race.
IlliniFan raises to 1,255, and is all in
dolemite_man calls 615
IlliniFan shows [Tc Td]
dolemite_man shows [As Ah] Whoops. No race. I'm done.
IlliniFan: damn
*** FLOP *** [9h 8s Qh]
*** TURN *** [9h 8s Qh] [Qs]
*** RIVER *** [9h 8s Qh Qs] [4d]
IlliniFan shows two pair, Queens and Tens
dolemite_man shows two pair, Aces and Queens
dolemite_man wins the pot (2,550) with two pair, Aces and Queens
IlliniFan: was hoping for a race at least
IlliniFan: gg
IlliniFan stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,550 | Rake 0
Board: [9h 8s Qh Qs 4d]
Seat 2: BlueTurtle5 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: dolemite_man (big blind) showed [As Ah] and won (2,550) with two pair, Aces and Queens
Seat 4: Kipper7 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: Nuggetplay13 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: IlliniFan showed [Tc Td] and lost with two pair, Queens and Tens
Seat 9: VIPER9 didn't bet (folded)

Complete Hand History for this SnG: Here

So, moral of the story...study your players and take LOTS of notes so you know what is going on. I thinkt that Harrington Vol 1 gives some great advice that you should always be studying, you should never be zoning out when playing. Such is life.

Looking back, being in 4th, the push and hope for the race with the Big Stack, in my opinion, isn't that bad of a move. If I am in a race and win, I'm ITM. If I'm out, I'm out. Have a different opinion? Let me know!