StanJames - won a couple buyins for PL League

Funny day here yesterday. Was playing a few tourneys, & had StanJames 500euro NewPlayer Freeroll running at same time. Close to 3,500 entrants, top130pd. I had hopes of just winning $5.50 (min.) so I'd have a buyin for the Punter'sLeague game coming up in March (4 game league, Top players on leaderboard play a $650 sng freeroll). 4.5hrs. into it, the power in the entire city here goes out while I'm sitting in 6th of 15 left, lol. After around 15mins. or so, I'm able to log onto the Hotspot/wifi internet to find I'm 9th of 9 left. I'm on BB & get a walk (with like 2bb's lol). Fold SB then wake up w 66 otb, first in I shove.. BB has 77 which holds ftw, lol. I check to see what I get... just a few cents more than '2 buyins' for the Punters League games. I'll take it, lol. No other playing lately - way too busy at work & also wayyy too worn out. Also got a stake this week from PartTimePoker for 'TruePoker', $50 for satties to this weekend's $100K guar. ($162 buyin). Haven't played in any of them yet but will need to get it done tomorrow.

WBCOOP Bloggers Contest - What would I do if I won the $5,000 bloggers contest at PokerStars?

Going to try posting this again. For some unknown reason my last one didn't end up having spaces between the paragraphs??? What would I do if I won the $5,000 Bloggers Contest at PokerStars? My dream would be to try to help fulfill one of my partner's life dreams - take a vacation to a country with a tropical climate,... palm trees, ocean & beaches (she's never swam in the ocean or even been anywhere outside of Canada & the U.S.). If I were to win the $5,000 bloggers contest I would wisk her away to a Tropical paradise, to spend a couple of weeks basking in the sunshine, swimming in the ocean & forgetting about life's problems. My partner (of 8yrs.) & I are both middle-aged & in poor physical health - - both on disability for chronic illness. We will likely never be able to afford to go on a trip like this as we currently have a hard time covering our bills & groceries each month & the bit of part-time work I do only helps to pay for medical costs (medication/prescriptions,etc.). Often times in the evening (while I'm playing online poker) my partner will be watching television shows like "HouseHunters-International" where the couple is looking to move to an exotic location in a country with a tropical climate. She'll ask stuff like, "Is the water really that warm where you're able to swim in it?" (her only experience with oceans being the West Coast of Canada where you'd be lucky to find temps. above 55 degrees). I'll answer, "It is so warm you can stay in it for hours & can snorkel around checking out all kinds of cool stuff." Her eyes light up as I watch her fantasize/daydream for a few moments, temporarily escaping the reality of our life situation. One of the things we do these days for entertainment & recreation is to play online poker on PokerStars. This has been alot of fun for so many reasons... one being that it is a great escape from life's daily grind. It's something we're both still able to do with the physical limitations we have although my partner isn't able to play for long periods of time as she's in too much pain, needing to laydown & rest regularly. She really does enjoy the bit of time she does get to play & has some decent results in some private league games (just recently won a private women's league where 1st prize was a PokerStars women's leather racing jacket). We never really consider the possiblity of ever winning a large prize while playing on PokerStars as we typically play micro buyins & private league stuff (at least not a prize large enough that would cover the cost of a dream vacation). My blog here 'DonkingTheMicroDonkaments' is basically dedicated to following the experience of an online recreational micro-buyin tournament player (& private poker league enthusiast). I track my results, give suggestions & try to show other micro-buyin recreational online tournament players the possiblities they can have by doing a bit of homework & making wise choices (ie. Bankroll Management & Game selection). Basically how a hobby can poetentially grow into something bigger & at very least how to play online poker without ever needing to deposit again aside from some deposit & sign-up bonuses. I set attainable goals in my blog for both short-term & yearly (as far as volume played, monthly & yearly profit targets, amount of time spent studying, suggested reading (poker books), etc.). I outline a realistic approach for a micro tournament player to be a winning player although admittedly never really consider the realm of possiblity for moving up much in limits &/or taking down a big score (ie. like $5,000). It would be amazing to think that this possiblity could be realized via a contest on PokerStars... a contest like the 'WBCOOP Best Blogger prize'. I can't imagine anything better right now than the experience of watching a dream come true for my partner. She has had a pretty tough life, raising three children while holding down two jobs as a single mother & now for the past 6yrs. living with a chronic terminal illness. In fact most of her life has been devoted to helping others (still to this day she regularly puts others ahead of herself). Who knows... maybe we'd take the trip in the Carribean around the time of the PCA & then be able to watch some of the poker stars playing the MainEvent (ie. Daniel Negreanu). Hmm... now I'm daydreaming too. Maybe when I open my eyes I'll discover I've won the WBCOOP Bloggers contest & will be booking a flight for two to a tropical destination.

Sun.Feb.19 - only played priv. stuff today

Stuck to only private stuff today online. Had a couple tourneys playing on same network but different sites (ie. LockPoker & CarbonPoker... also TitanPoker & ChiliPoker) which meant playing a couple of them on my old computer. Also, with Titan software shutting down on me so frequently I didn't want a repeat performance of last weekend (which was pretty dismal/miserable, having put software shutdown constantly & just really f'n up my day). Got a bit unlucky on PokerStars Cardschat $1K freeroll, 3 off the bubble I lose with AK < K5 (aipf), & in Pokercast game (4-max) was doin' good til' AKs < 33 (flopped set, aipf). Patiently stuck around in the Cardschat $1K Freeroll for a 9th. Busto hand was > player limps eMP w A5owith 25bb, I shove with AQs in MP 10x, HJ 'flats'(

WBCOOP - What would I do if I won the $5,000 bloggers contest at PokerStars?

What would I do if I won the $5,000 bloggers contest at PokerStars? My dream would be to try to help fulfill one of my partner's life dreams - - a vaction to a country with tropical climate, palm trees, ocean & beaches as she's never swam in the ocean or been anywhere outside of Canada & the U.S. If I were to win the $5,000 bloggers contest I would wisk her away to a Tropical Paradise, to spend a couple of weeks basking in the sunshine & swimming in the ocean & forgetting about life's problems. My partner (of 8yrs.) & I are both middle-aged & in poor physical health, both on disability for chronic illness. We will likely never be able to afford to go on a trip like this as we currently have a hard time covering our bills & groceries each month & the bit of part-time work I do only helps to pay for medical costs (medication/prescriptions, accupuncture, etc.). Often times in the evening (while I'm playing online poker) my partner will be watching television shows like 'HouseHunters-International' where the couple is looking to move to an exotic location in a country with a tropical climate. She'll ask stuff like, "Is the water really that warm where you're able to swim in it?" (her only experience with oceans being the west coast of Canada where you'd be lucky to find water temps. above 55 degrees). I'll answer, "it is so warm you can stay in it for hours & can snorkel around checking out all kinds of cool stuff." Her eyes light up as I watch her fantasize/daydream for a few moments, temporarily escaping the reality of our life situation. One of the things we do these days for entertainment & recreation is to play online poker on PokerStars. This has been alot of fun for so many reasons... one being that it is a great escape from life's daily grind. It's something we're both still able to do with the physical limitations we have although my partner isn't able to play for long periods of time as she's in too much pain, needing to laydown & rest regularly. She really does enjoy the bit of time she does get to play & has some decent results in some private league games (just recently winning a private women's league where 1st prize was a PokerStars women's leather racing jacket). We never really consider the possibility of ever winning a large prize while playing on PokerStars as we typically play micro buyins & private league stuff (at least not a prize large enough that would cover the cost of a dream vacation). My blog here 'DonkingTheMicroDonkaments' is basically dedicated to following the experience of an online recreational micro-buyin tournament player (& private poker league enthusiast). I track my results, give suggestions & try to show other micro-buyin recreational online tournament players the possibilities & potential they can have by doing a bit of homework & making wise choices (ie. Bankroll Management & game selection). Basically how a hobby can potentially grow into something bigger & at very least how to play online poker without ever needing to deposit again aside from some deposit & sign-up bonuses. I set attainable goals in my blog for both short-term & yearly (as far as volume played, monthly & yearly profit targets, amount of time spent studying, suggested reading (poker books), etc.). I outline a realistic approach for a micro tournament player to be a winning player although admittedly never really consider the realm of possibility for moving up much in limits &/or taking down a big score (ie. like $5k!!). It would be amazing to think that this possibility could be realized via a contest on PokerStars.... a contest like the 'WBCOOP Best Blogger prize'. I can't imagine anything better right now than the experience of watching a dream come true for my partner. She has had a pretty tough life, raising three children while holding down two jobs as a single mother & now for the past 6yrs. living with a chronic terminal illness. In fact most of her life has been devoted to helping others (still to this day she regularly puts others ahead of herself). Who knows... maybe we'd take the trip in the Carribean around the time of the PCA & then be able to watch some of the poker stars playing the main event (ie. Daniel Negreanu). Hmm... now I'm daydreaming too. Maybe when I open my eyes I'll discover I've won the WBCOOP Bloggers contest & will be booking a flight for two to a tropical destination.

3rd in 'Canucks R Us' on Titan

Played the $1 1R/1A ($150added) on Titan this evening. Managed to take 3rd for $33.30 No real interesting hands aside from one on the bubble where I folded JJ to an EP 4x rs & MP 3bet (both seemed committed) & one ss on my left in blinds with only 6bb's. Turned out they held KQo & ATs.. sigh (the KQo actually flats pre, then with a pot-sized bet left in both of their stacks, he check/calls flop shove with overs, vs. TPTK AT). big sigh, lol

A bit behind projected goals

With projected goal for 2012 being $10,000 in cashes from poker league events, sitting here a bit behind schedule so far this year. Ahead of last year's score but not quite where I'd hoped to be at this point. So far, up to Feb.8th, a total of $826.14 Hoping to hit a big score sometime soon but also to keep some consistency with the smaller events/leagues/games.... it all adds up over time. PokerStars annoucement today about the upcoming WBCOOP (bloggers championship).... this could be the one!!! Looks like this year's qualifications are different from before, now requiring a 500-word blog submission so I guess that'll be on the agenda sometime soon. Good Luck on the tables today!!

OFC Ragin'Bet is postponed.. again

With the annoucment yesterday of Everleaf closing it's doors to US players, I get an email from OFC telling me that the events on Ragin'Bet have been postponed yet again. Surprise, surprise.. LOL.. why am I not surprised? I'd put off downloading that site for many weeks, finally broke down & downloaded it just a couple of days ago, not wanting to pass up on the $5K added buyin. Had all my settings adjusted, etc.... was ready to go! Oh... nope.. not yet, lol. I have a feeling these events will never run now. I wonder how many unfortunate US players had opened accounts on Ragin'Bet & had made deposits so they could play in these OFC events on there? How disheartening for those who had. Huge bummer!

D.E.P. shutdown issues with TitanPoker

I'm still experiencing DEP (data execution protection) software shutdown with playtech (TitanPoker) & have been back & forth with support there for over a week now (dozens of emails) & still no results.. sigh. They finally admitted they had a glitch in their recent update (lobby upgrade) which was mildly re-assuring... even though there's ZERO compensation for all of the times the site has shutdown on me while playing on there (although my play on there has been very limited since first experiencing these 'shutdowns'). Can't say I'll be playing much on there anymore as I have zero confidence in the software. It's hard enough to be a winning player nevermind having software issues. Looks like I'll be moving most of my play elsewhere now (Stars, 888Poker, PartyPoker). I tried to sign up on Chilipoker today but when I went to deposit it said they're not accepting credit cards & only options were Moneybookers, Neteller, ukash, & bankwire. With my moneybookers account not yet being activated (address verification pending), I'm unable to play on there for now (not interested in doing a bankwire onto a site). Once I've got Moneybookers up & running things should go sooooo much smoother. I really should've gotten onto this alot sooner.

2x 1st & 2x2nd so far in Feb.

Two 1st & Two 2nd's so far in February in some private tourneys but no good results in reg. MTTs. TitanPoker has been glitchy as hell for me since their recent upgrade(