More random stuff

Yes, it is time for yet another post of stuff that is too-small-for-a-post-of-its-own.

As you can see by the right column, my blackjack earnings from the last two months of sporadic play are approaching my poker winnings from the last 7 months of steady play. Craziness. I'm running at about $500 more than my "expected" profit to this point, but I'm not going to complain. Even more craziness - I've put over $35,000 in action to get that profit. It sure doesn't feel like it, but I suppose betting $1-$3 every 8 seconds or so adds up quickly. :-) On the positive side, I'd estimate I've only spent 40-50 hours overall at this, so am earning somewhere in excess of $40-50/hr doing it. Certainly an hourly rate I can't approach playing $0.50/$1.00 limit hold'em, even with bonuses......

I have decided to take a challenge (inspired by a 2+2 post) to see if I am ready to move up a level to $1/$2 (or higher). It lays out like this:

1) Pick the level you will start out at, and carve 80 BB out of your bankroll to dedicate to it.

$160, and start at $1/$2

2) Double this bankroll to 160 BB

$320

3) Take half of this bankroll to the new level

take $160 profit and go to $2/$4

4) Double this bankroll to 80 BB

$320

5) Take half of this bankroll to the new level

take $160 profit and go to $3/$6

6) Double this bankroll

$320

7) Take 15 BB for the next level and play for 3 hours or until it is gone, going up whenever you have 15 BB for the next level.

take $170 profit, and take the remaining $150 and take a shot at $5/$10.

Even if you lose the last $170, you've made a profit of $490 taking the challenge. And if you bust out of any level greater than the first, you've assured yourself some profit. I will also probably attempt this while under a 5x bonus, to further limit the risk.

I'm going to play a single table of $1/$2 full ring to see if I can start this challenge out on the right foot.

As it turns out, I started it just today, and have already had KK UTG run into 44 from a 52%/0% fish who cold called me UTG+1 on (of course) a J94 flop that took a whack out of my intial stack. Also had AA cracked by the all powerful 75o. Hopefully things look up - I'm down over $30 in 60 hands! :-)

3) I played $3/$6 live at Casino Windsor again. The table was unbelievably fishy (in fact, poker1eh stayed LONG after I left to extract some of the value there) but couldn't hit a flop all night and finished down about 7 BB. No big deal. Most of it wound up in poker1eh's pocket as he won two big pots with his AK vs my KK on an Axx flop, and his KQs vs my AKs on a Q-high board. That last hand actually had 5 people in for 3 bets apiece preflop ($45 preflop!!!!), and so was a painful one to lose.

4) Will Hill closed up shop to U.S. players earlier this week. That was painful - that was one of the few monthlies left. I never did get to do their monthly, but I did hit up their initial bonus pretty well - deposited 50 GBP and cashed out for 243 GBP, about a $366 profit. Schweet. I really hope that this casino closure does not foretell the "beginning of the end" for us Stateside players.

Well, that's it. Back to the tables......