PokerStars SilverStar VIP status

----- Original Message -----

From: "PokerStars Support" support@pokerstars.com>

To: roger@bballworkshop.com>

Sent: Monday, February 01, 2010 3:57 AM

Subject: You have achieved SilverStar VIP status

Dear CapitalDodge,

Congratulations! You have achieved SilverStar VIP status.

Your VIP level lasts for the rest of this month and all of next month.

This entitles you to the following rewards:

- 50% FPP Multiplier - you now earn 1.5 FPP credits instead of 1 FPP credit
- SilverStar VIP Store access - choose from new and exclusive merchandise in the SilverStar store
- USD 500 Daily VIP tourneys - 3 x a day - 10 FPP entry
- USD 30,000 Weekly VIP tourneys - Saturdays at 14:30 ET - 100 FPP buy-in
- USD 100,000 Monthly VIP tourney - last Saturday of each month - 130 FPP satellites available

These exclusive VIP tournaments can be found in your PokerStars game lobby under the 'Tourney > VIP > All' tab.

To remain a SilverStar, you need to earn at least 750 VPPs next month to maintain your level.

There are even more rewards for you if you hit GoldStar VIP status. Earn 3,000 VPPs in a month and you will earn GoldStar status. To learn more about the VIP Club and the rewards offered, visit our web page at http://www.pokerstars.com/vip


Regards,

The PokerStars Team


Yes, you read that right ... at 3:56am this morning, I finally got the e-mail to signify that I had chalked up 750VPPs and achieved SilverStar VIP Status on PokerStars.

I started playing around 9:30 on Sunday morning and stopped for lunch and around an hour or so for dinner. From about 11pm onwards I was so tired and really struggling but I managed to make it through. I got down to the top 5 in my last two games so I finished just before 4:30am which is a crazy 19 hour session with just two breaks.

I began the day just playing my normal $3.25 45 man games with a few of the Sunday Quarter Million satellites and a few large field MTT's. I was playing well and got really deep in a $2.20 MTT until I raised with ace 9 suited in the cutoff, flopped two pair on an ace queen 9 flop but unfortunately the big stack in the big blind woke up with ace queen and knocked me out around the 100 mark (over 4000 players).

I soon realised just playing my normal games would take forever and I had to try something else. So I thought the $1.75 18 man turbos was the way to go as I thought the rake on them was .75 which meant the VPP's would add up quicker. It wasn't until I was well in to them I double checked and the rake was infact just .25 ... like my normal games. The good thing about these tho is that you can get through the game much quicker so it was better than playing the 45's. By about midnight I decided I had to start playing the $3.40 18 mans as they would speed up the process.

It was funny, around 1:30am one of the players that had seen me earlier in the day questioned how long I had been playing for as he couldn't believe I was still there!

Despite these not being my normal style of games, I did reasonably well in them even tho I was less than my best mentally. I was probably just ahead or break-even which was all I could really hope for considering how many tables as I was playing and the time of night. A bonus which I've found today is that just from the games I did play I'm sitting in the top 100 in the weekly Sit 'n Go points for the Mercury division. I was 46th when I looked this morning but I'm now down to 74th ... if I stay in the top 100 for the next 3 hours I think I get $5 or something. Not much but it all adds up and its something I wasn't expecting.

Speaking of bonuses, by getting 750 VPP's this month I unlocked the first bonus level of the new VIP Stellar Rewards so that's another $10. So the bankroll is at a very healthy $640 which I think is a new high.

I'm so shattered I really don't want to play again for a couple of days. I can't wait for work to finish today so I can have a nap on the couch and maybe get to the gym after that. Mmmmmm, sleeeeeep ...

Running out of time

Another day another grind. I've just finished a 5.5 hour session of playing and I've still got a way to go to get to 750VPP's for the month. I'm now at 580 but I'm running out of time. I have the APL State Finals tomorrow and then an engagement party after that so it looks like it will all come down to a long session on Sunday and Monday morning if I'm going to make it.

Yesterday wasn't a great session because I couldn't get any higher than two 3rd place finishes. I also had a number of final table and money bubbles which means the bankroll was going backwards. It was a similar situation tonight as I had a number of min-cashes despite feeling like I was playing well. Bubbles were taking ages to burst and I was playing for the win so I have to just accept that it didn't go my way.

I finished the night with a win tho so that was nice. I won a flip 4 handed which gave me a good stack when my limp-call with 7's managed to hold against a shove with ace queen off. I knew the player I was heads-up against as she (I think) 20 tables so I have played against her a number of times. The battle was back and forth to begin with but her aggressive play soon saw her take the lead. I soon figured she was raising my big blind with any two cards and started calling light and just waited to hit cards. The turning point came when I re-raised with ace queen and she called me with 5 7 off and we got it on the turn of a king high flop because she was drawing to a straight. Ace on the river, I take it down and then turn the tables on her, raising a little lighter and eventually calling a small blind shove with ace 3 off and holding.

Its satisfying beating a regular/grinder heads-up. It shows I'm growing as a player and I definitely have improved my end-game. It really does make a difference when you can get a win in the 45's because if you aren't winning or getting top 3 every couple of tournaments, your bankroll really heads backwards. The win gets me back to $550 ... the amount of tables I'm trying to play probably weakens my play so its not a surprise to see it heads backwards a little.

Anyway, APL State Finals tomorrow ... I'd love to have another deep run and this time make the final table. I'll update you tomorrow or Sunday.

Nick Rainey, WBCOOP and VIP update

It was a quiet morning at work so I decided to play in event #3 of the WBCOOP on PokerStars.

In event #1 there was around 1600 players with 153 receiving tickets to the SCOOP. As I do, I finished about 180th, just short of winning a ticket. I played well despite taking a rotten beat early. I raised with queens, flop came 8 high and despite me showing strength someone couldn't fold ace 8 and rivered an 8. That crippled me early but I fought back strong, got back in the game but fell just short. The final hand was folded to the button who raised, I had ace king suited in the small blind and re-raised all-in. After a bit of thought he called turning over 6's and held knocking me out.

Today was a similar story. My first table had someone just shoving every single hand for the first 5 minutes or so. He sucked out on a few people but of course lost it not long after. From there, it was just stupid aggression from a number of players because we had a number of stacks that were sitting out. I was patient and picked my spots, re-raising when I normally wouldn't but my reads/ranges were right and I got paid off. I was shortish approaching the bubble and called from the small blind with 9 10 off vs 1 limper and the big blind who checked. Flop came 9 high so I pushed all-in, small blind folded but the donk who limped called turning over bottom pair ace kicker and of course the river was the ace and I was gone about 10 short of the money/ticket. SOOO frustrating.

There's a really good article about insane MTT grinder Nick Rainey (aka MI_turtle). I think it appeared in a British poker magazine and its well worth a read.

Also, my quest for Silver VIP status on PokerStars is going to be a battle. After playing the last few nights I'm just short of 550, still 200 short of the target. I'll play as much as I can tomorrow but I'm playing in the APL State Finals on Saturday and have an engagement party after that ... so that day is out. Sunday will have to be a mad day-long grind.

Quick bankroll update. I couldn't get any wins tonight and with a number of bubbles and min-cashes thrown in I'm currently around $550. I really want to get back over $600 which I was briefly earlier in the week.

Aussie Millions visit

I didn't end up getting to Crown for the start of the Aussie Millions Main Event as planned. We had a big night out the night before and spent Sunday drinking at the Riverland Cafe. After a game of buzz at my friend's place we had dinner and figured a quiet night in was the way to go.

So Monday I dropped in to check out the action. As I was heading down to the poker room I passed by Lee Nelson and Jeff Lisandro. I then ran in to some friends in the poker room and they gave me the lay of the land and told me stories about the players they had met and the games they had been in. Cat had her shirt by virtually every big name player at the event, I was just happy to see a few of them.

After wandering around in the main room for a little while I headed up to Studio 3 which was where the final table of the high rollers event was taking place as well as some feature tables from the Main Event. On the final table was of course the great Phil Ivey as well as Tony G and a few other name pros. On the outer tables were Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Annette Obrestad and the rather hot Leo Margets. Apparently I didn't notice Shane Warne, Dani Stern and Lucky Chewy on the outer tables.

Downstairs I eventually found Tony "Bond18" Dunst, Jay Rosenkrantz (2M2MM) as well as Jeff Fenech and Amanda De Cesare, winner of The Poker Star.

Here are some of the photos I took (excuse the quality, they are off my iphone and I didn't want to make it too obvious I was taking players pics):

Jay Rosenkrantz in the middle, Jeff Fenech front right corner

Tony "Bond18" Dunst in the jacket of course, surprisingly no tie

Lee Nelson

Jeff Lisandro and his trademark hat

VIP update

With 5 days to go until the end of the month, I have some work to do in quest to make it to PokerStars silver VIP level. Needing to get to 750, I'm only at 475.

I've spent Saturday, Sunday & Monday in Melbourne so I haven't been able to play as much as I needed to but I did get some games in last night, this morning and tonight.

I'll blog more about my trip tomorrow when I have time.

Goal for the month

With the new year upon us, PokerStars announced they were lowering the requirements for the Silver Star level of their VIP Club. I can't remember what it used to be (possibly 1250) but they have lowered the VPP's required to 750 to make it more attainable to more players (like myself).

Here is some information on the Silver Star level:

Benefit:	Details:
50% FPP Multiplier	You earn 1.5 FPPs for every 1 VPP earned
SilverStar VIP Store Access	Ability to purchase exclusive SilverStar merchandise from the VIP Store using your FPPs
VIP Stellar Rewards	Cash rewards available in the VIP Store as you reach designated levels of yearly VPPs
VIP Reward Bonus	$50 reward bonus available for purchase from the VIP Store
Daily VIP Tourneys	$500 tourney (Three times daily - 10 FPP entry) $1,000 tourney (Three times daily – 20 FPP entry)
Weekly VIP Tourneys	$30,000 tourney (Saturdays at 14:30 for 100 FPP buy-in)
Monthly VIP Tourney	$100,000 tourney (Last Saturday of each month - 130 FPP satellites available)

The FPP multiplier and the access to additional tournaments would be a great bonus for me.

Since I've been regularly playing the $3 45 mans, the occasional $2 180 and a few $6 45 mans, 750 points is a possibility for me if I grind hard. After a big weekend of poker online (for me), I'm up to 380 points for the month so far so am just over half way. The problem is that I'm down in Melbourne this weekend and not back until Monday evening so that's 2 days of possible grinding time gone. Fingers crossed I can put in the work and the hours to make it happen this month.

On the rise

I've put in a lot of hours on PokerStars over the last few days. I essentially played most of the weekend, just stopping on Saturday night to hang out with friends and have a few drinks. The plan was to get to the gym both days but that didn't end up happening.

The frustration for me was that despite all the hours I put in it was essentially a break-even session. I felt I was playing well but failed to get the wins that I should've or even top 3 finishes. I won a number of the Sunday Quarter Million satellites but the highlight was probably the deep run I had in $2 rebuy tournament.

There were 2250 runners and I finished 70th when I got it all-in with ace king against another players queens. I didn't mind the play because this player could have made the same move with a lot smaller hands. I would've loved to have gone even deeper because the final table money was substantial (compared to my bankroll).

It was annoying that I was cashing regularly but not finishing the job. As well as the usual $3 45 man games, I was also playing a few $2 180's and cashed a few of them but couldn't get on the final table. I finally got a win with the very final 45 tournament of the weekend which was nice considering the number of games I had played.

Last night tho things went a lot better for me winning another tournament within my first 4 games. I was then heads-up again just 3 games later but I didn't get the win against a superior opponent. I finished the night strongly cashing 4 of my last 5 games. I had a good stack in 2 of them and was unlucky to finish 4th in both of those. One of those was a $6 buy-in 45 man which I've been playing a couple of lately. I've had a 5th and a 4th as my best finishes in those so far. I think they are actually a little tougher than the $3 games but I don't think it'll be long before I get a win at that level. I'm getting deep often, bubbling a little too often but still cashing numerous times.

I think my game is improving and my aggression later in the tournament is paying dividends. I'm picking a few spots to pick up chips when I don't have a hand but realise that the other player can't call or won't have hit the board either. Its these situations that really make a difference and finding more opportunities like this to chip up will further improve my game.

Bankroll is now at US$530 and I'm working to quickly get it back over my high-point of $630 (back in August ... ugghh).

Aussie Millions

Forgot to mention, the Aussie Millions kicked off a few days ago and I'll be down in Melbourne next weekend for the start of the main event. No, I'm not playing, my bankroll definitely doesn't allow me to do that ... but I will be cheering on some friends and checking out the action.

Hopefully I'll get to say hi to a few of the big names that are there. If not, it'll just be great to check out the atmosphere and the festivities.

World Blogger Championship of Poker

I played in this event last year but didn't do any good so with a few more events, hopefully I can put in a better showing.

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! Bloggers can register to play for free in the WBCOOP, if you don’t have a PokerStars account you can get your Free Poker Download at PokerStars

Registration code: 689714

Server restart

There's nothing worse than planning a night of poker on Stars only to see multi-table sit 'n go's slowly start to disappear off the registrations and it becomes clear there's a server restart happening.

I had a friend stay over last night and she had a paper to submit and stayed up with her till 2am or so when she finished. The plan had been go to the gym in the morning but after the late night and with her staying over, that was soon scrapped. Then I figured I'd get a run in after work but I was so tired after just a couple of hours sleep that it didn't really seem worth it. So I figured I'd play on PokerStars tonight and work out twice tomorrow. Server restart ... so much for that idea.

I've been playing here and there this week but just a handful of games at a time. Each session has been profitable tho so I definitely can't complain. I've been a fair bit more aggressive and pushing a wider range, especially later in the tournament.

I've also touched base with a few of the regulars at my level that have strong results and asked them for some tips. I've also watched them play a few games and watched how they work. Ever since, my bankroll has steadily been climbing so hopefully it continues.

Earlier in the week I also listened to a couple of the 2+2 Pokercasts and found them really interesting. I listened to their end of year wrap up as well as one that featured Tony "Bond 18" Dunst as a special guest. I'll try and listen to a few more of them from now on.

I'm planning to catch up with friends tomorrow night but other than hitting the gym I don't have any plans during the day so hopefully I'll get some time on the tables.

A win for the ages

The last day or two has been back to the see-saw up and down that I went through a few weeks back.

Monday I played just 6 games and failed to cash in any of them. Tuesday I came back, played 9 games, got two 3rd places and a 6th. Last night I played for a while longer, 18 games but cashed just 3 of them, 2 min-cashes and a 5th.

I've been sticking mainly to the $3.25 45 man games with a few $2.20 180 mans thrown in. I'm not sure why I bother playing those because I haven't done any good lately. I got close last night in one of the 4 but bubbled going out in 23rd spot.

After work I played 5 of the 45 mans. The plans were to get to the gym and do some cardio before it got too busy but I was waiting for some clothes to dry so figured I would get in some time on the tables.

I grabbed a 3rd in the second game I played, called an over-shove with ace king, he turned over 4 9 and hit a 4 to take down the hand and knock me out. I bubbled the next game when I went to the final table short-stacked and couldn't get a shove-worthy hand and had to defend my big blind and couldn't hit.

My final game of the night is where the title of this post comes from. I found myself in trouble with the blinds at 100/200, I was the big blind with just 540 behind. I had pocket 5's in the big blind and had 2 limpers in front of me. I figured I had to try and get rid of one of them and hope for the best so I pushed all-in but called by both of them. Thankfully there was a 5 on the flop so I survived and tripled up. Next hand I got pocket queens, the chip-leader next to me min-raised so I shoved over the top but he called with king jack suited. I had him labelled as loose before this but this call confirmed it by him. Thankfully my queens survived and I now had a good stack of over 5000 (blinds still at 200) and was the chip leader on my table.

By the time the blinds were at 600 I was down to 3600 in chips but picked up a few shovable hands and took down a few blinds to get a healthy stack again. When the final table formed I had an ok stack of over 6000 but so did most other people. There was some crazy play on the table and by the time a few players had survived all-ins I was soon short-stack with 1 more player to go before the money. With the loose player still on my right, and blinds now at 2000, it was folded around to him in the small blind and of course he raised. I only had 1200 behind and had queen 2 but against him I didn't mind called and he turned over 9 4 off. I hit a queen on the flop, took down the hand and moved ahead of 2 other stacks.

The bubble burst but with the blinds so high compared to my stack I had to get it in soon and double-up. I had 2 limpers to my big blind and I had queen 3 off and checked. The flop came down 8 5 3 and the loose player checked to me. I thought the one limper from early/mid position shouldn't have hit that flop so if I shove I should take it down and chip-up. I push but am called by the limper who played ace 8 off. I'm in trouble but hit runner runner flush to escape and almost triple up.

By the time the hourly break comes around we were down to just 5 players left and I realised I was now in second place. The chip leader had 3 times the chips I did and knocked out 2 players in one hand when he raised and flopped a straight. He then took out the 3rd placed finisher and had a HUGE chip lead 58,000 - 9,500 when the heads-up battle began.

I was more than happy with second and didn't have high expectations facing that sort of deficit and with the blinds at 1500/3000. I got dealt 4 8 off and 6 10 off first 2 hands and folded them both. Considering the state of the game, I probably should've taken my chances with the 6 10 but didn't. So in the big blind with just 1560 behind (chip lead was 62,790 to 4710) I called his push with queen 9 suited. He turned over 5 6 off and I was looking good until he flopped a 6 ... I said "gg" but spiked a queen on the river to survive. Next hand I get queen 9 again and push all-in, he calls with ace 8 off but I spike a queen on the flop and now have a playable stack of over 18,000 (he still has over 45K).

Next hand he raises from the small blind and I have ace queen off in the big blind and shove over the top. He calls turning over king 4 off, neither of us hit so I win and now have the chip lead! I don't complete the small blind on the next hand but a few hands later I'm now in a dominant chip position with 44,000 to 23,000. I complete the small blind with 9 2 suited (spades) and he checks the big blind. Flop comes down 9, 4, 5 but they're all hearts. He shoves for 19K and I call hoping to hold on, he turns over 5 6 off without a heart and I'm now on my feet fist-pumping for the win and do!!

I couldn't believe I had fought back from short-stack with about 25 players left, survived the final table bubble and fought back from the unbelievable chip position during heads-up to take down the win. To top it off I even got a run in at the gym so a winning and productive day.

2010 off to a positive start

Happy new year!!

The last week or so has been a solid one for me at the tables. Nothing spectacular to report, just good positive days, regular final table action. Not sure of exactly the number of tournaments played and conversion rate etc as OPR is a bit behind from today but the bankroll is steadily climbing in the right direction again (over US$420).

I smashed up the Sunday Quarter Million satellites today, cashing I believe in all but one of the games I played. I like playing them on the weekend because they run every 30 minutes or so during the day (Aus time) rather than hourly which they do midweek.

Other than those, I've been sticking to the $3.25 45 man games with the occasional $2.20 90 man non-turbo thrown in. Annoyingly today the one tournament of the latter I played today I bubbled, coming 13th with 12 places being paid. I was short-stacked, shoved on the button with king queen and the small blind looked me up with pocket 3's and I failed to improve.

I caught up on Daniel Negreanu's blog the other day and he had a video blog where he recapped 2009 and talked about his goals and plans for 2010.

Watch Daniel Negreanu's 2009 Recap on RawVegas.tv

I'm a fan of Daniel's ... but all I could think of while watching this video is that he's playing online while lying on the couch, doing a video blog, texting and worrying about his dog running around. Not the best way to concentrate. It reminds me of a scene from the show 2M2MM, I think it was maybe the lockdown episode where Brian gives Dani a hard time for slouching while he's playing. Brian's an advocate of all-out focus and concentration and believes your posture reflects that. I know Daniel one-tables online but not surprisingly by the time he finishes with the blog he questions why his position is so bad and where his chips went. Something to think about ...