Good Game, Had Fun

I'm taking this blog down. It didn't make sense to play the micros online and then play P25/50 ($0.50/1) live. It was fun while it lasted. I am currently playing at Poker Stars NL50 ($0.25/0.50) Zoom.

All is well!

-Francis

MicroMillion Stats

It's been a week since the MicroMillions ended and I been waiting for my MM stats in Poker Stars' www.pokerschoolonline.com. I checked today and my stats are still not up to date. Anyway, I played in 18 MM events and cashed in 11 events. And here's what my stats look like:

I like this because we're able to track how we play in the events. One key adjustment I made is I adjusted my 'Trickiness.' After 4 tournaments, my Trickiness stat was close to zero. I read about it and adjusted my game. 

I really hope Poker Stars improves the way they track these in next year's MicroMillions.

Account Updates:

Poker Stars (USD)

Playing well here. Running well, too. I am currently playing NL16-NL10 and will stab at NL25 when my bankroll reaches $250.

Fulpot Poker (not in USD)

 I like playing here. Games are so soft. The only downside to having really soft games is the variance. Sick BR swings here. The goal here is to build a bankroll for the tourneys. That's about 20k.

Full Tilt Poker (USD)

The rodeo is over. Back to regular conservative (4 buy-in rule) game.

Hero Poker (PHP)

The new platform is not getting it done for Hero. Ran bad for a few sessions and can't really build momentum because when I come back after taking a break, there are no more players. I really hope they hurry up and update the bonuses, rakebacks and the VIP statuses of the players.

Hero Poker Deposit Bonuses

A lot of players have been looking to buy some Poker Stars money. But with the conclusion of the MicroMillions, most sellers have already sold out their PS$... With the holy coming and banks closed until next week, I think the second best option for players in the Philippines is Hero Poker.

A good friend of mine deposited to Hero Poker last Sunday and I asked him to give me the details of how it went through so I could share it here in my blog. So last Sunday, with the banks closed and all and my friend asked me if he could buy some PS$ from me. I told him that I have sold out all of my available PS$ and told him about Hero Poker that he could deposit via 7-Eleven. At the time, I expected him to wait until Monday because I thought depositing to Hero Poker via 7-Eleven is kinda like depositing via banks. Anyway, with my friend itching to play poker, he went ahead and made an account in Hero Poker and deposited via 7-Eleven. The process went like this:

Step 1: Create and log-in to your HeroPoker.net account.

Step 2: Create a FastPay.com.ph account and verify your information.

Step 3: Go back to HeroPoker.net Look for and click the 'Buy Chips' button.

 

Step 4: Choose a predetermined amount from P100-5000.

Step 5: You will be redirected to FastPay.com, type in your password and click 'pay now.'

Step 6: Choose 7-Eleven in the payment options.

Step 7: If you've done everything right, this will flash in your screen:

It would be best to print this out and take it to a 7-Eleven branch. The guys at 7-Eleven will know what to do after you show them this.

After doing all that, my friend went back to check his Hero Poker account and was really happy that his deposit was credited in real time. He texted me the details and even I was surprised that he was able to deposit on a Sunday.

I got excited with this and decided to check out the Deposit Bonus Promos of Hero Poker. I emailed support and asked up to how much I can deposit for the 100% First Deposit Bonus. They informed me that I can deposit up to P10,000. I asked my friend if he availed this bonus, unfortunately, he doesn't have the bonus yet because Hero informed him that they will credit the bonuses on players' accounts after they've fully migrated to the new platform.

Anyway, what really got my attention in Hero's deposit bonuses is the Reload Bonus. Here's the details about it:

"The 75% Reload Bonus is available each month and is awarded at the same rate as the First Deposit Bonus up to 75% of the deposit amount." -- Well that's interesting.

I am planning to build up my bankroll in Hero to 10k, withdraw, and use that same money to avail the Deposit Bonus. I hope by then they've ironed out all the things that they have to do with migrating to their new platform.

Update on my #DonkItUp accounts:

Hero Poker (PHP)

Full Tilt Poker (USD)

Poker Stars (USD)

Fulpot (not in USD)

About This Blog

Why am I doing this blog?

This blog is neither a brag blog nor is it a coaching blog. This blog aims to inspire people. I want to inspire not just poker players but other people from other walks of life. When people ask me how I started in poker and I tell them that I started by playing US$0.10 (yes that's 10 CENTS) tournaments in Poker Stars, it's either they don't believe me or they think I am kidding. It's just too bad that there's no proof about that except for the people who were there to see it.

I did this blog because now I got the chance to document that it is possible to grind it up. The only difference is in the case I called it #DonkItUp because a lot of the people who know stuff about poker will look at what I am doing as being a donk.

So why am I exactly doing what I am doing? Well, if you go back to my very first post you will see that I started with Php 79 in Hero Poker and $65 in Fulpot (which I later found out that it was not in USD). So why am I pointing these two out? Php 79 is less than US$2 and US$1 is equal to 1000 Fulpot $. Fast forward to my latest post... I now have over Php 2000 (US$44)  in Hero and 4000 (US$4) in Fulpot. A lot of poker players I encounter have this excuse -- "I can't that game seriously cause it's too low." "People call with shits cause the money there is not worth anything." I want to show those people that IF YOU CAN'T TAKE THOSE MICRO GAMES SERIOUSLY, YOU CAN'T TAKE THE BIG GAMES SERIOUSLY. A classic lesson from my APA Coach Ron Regis. His lesson goes like this -- "How you do one thing is how you do everything."

So now this brings us to why am I able to do the things I do? Yes I called this blog #DonkItUp but I think more than 80% of the readers here have no idea that I went through 3 Poker Coaches. So yes, I am playing with "no BR management" but I know exactly what I am doing on the tables.

So what's the lesson here? Well, basically what I am trying to say is if there's something that you want to do, go for it. No matter how small it may seem, go for it. Remember that some of the biggest fires are started by the tiniest sparks. Another lesson is -- get help. Find a mentor, a coach, a guide, a teacher. Find someone who will show you the way. Find someone who will show you how it is done but will let you figure it out how to do it yourself.

Of course I can't end this blog entry without a screenshot...

I like this because 'Poker' is interchangeable with 'Life.' Life is NOT about making money...

MicroMillions Ending

MicroMillions is coming to end with its main event happening at 0230am, Sunday Manila time. It's a $22 buy-in No Limit Holdem tournament with a guaranteed prize pool of $1 million. The last event is happening on Monday, 0900am.

Playing my last few tournaments, played this one last night that was out of my planned schedule. It's a $2.22 rebuy tournament with a guaranteed prize pool of $150k. I made 1 buy-in ($2.22), 6 rebuys (2.02) and 1 add-on (2.02) for a total of $16.36. I finished 465th for $51.51. I now have ITMed in 11 out of 17 events.

As of writing there are 10 events left in the Micromillions. I will probably be playing less than 5 events and I'm still thinking about playing that main event.

Update on my accounts:

Poker Stars (USD)

I cleared a $10 bonus and converted 2,250 Frequent Player Points (FPP) for $25. So that's a $35 bump in my bankroll.

Full Tilt Poker (USD)

Haven't played any hands here since the last update.

Fulpot Poker (not in USD)

Hero Poker (PHP)

MicroMillions

So here's the other reason why it took me awhile to update my blog -- The MicroMillions. The MicroMillions is a series of events in Poker Stars where they hold very low buy-in tournaments with big guaranteed prize money. I rarely play these types of events because I get bored after the first hour of play. These MicroMillion events can last over 6 hours. When I sit down to play cash game poker online, my sessions usually last between 30min to 1 hour.

I don't know why I decided to play this time, but went ahead and played in it. I listed down some of the events that were available for me. I only played the ones scheduled in the morning and I only played for fun.

I made money on the first four MicroMillion events I played, plus I also cashed in some micro tourneys that I played while playing these four events. I calculated the rest of the events I planned and I was freerolling the rest of them so I decided to get on with the MicroMillions.

First four MicroMillion events++

The schedule I made after I cashed in in the first four events. I calculated the total buy-ins and was basically freerolling the rest of the events so I committed myself to playing these events.
Date - Time - Buy-in - Type - Guarantee

 The ones highlighted are events I cashed in, the ones with 'X' are events I did not cash in. The ones with no marks are events I did not play.

There are four events left on my schedule with a total buy-in of $13 (assuming I don't rebuy in the two $1 rebuy events). I already guaranteed myself profit in this year's MicroMillions. So far, I cashed in in 10 out of 15 events I played.

After 15 events++

I will be officially including my PS account in #DonkItUp. Here's my bankroll now.

Update on my other accounts:

Full Tilt Poker (USD)

Played waaaay too aggressive in FTP. I'm back down to NL10.

Fulpot Poker (not in USD)

Up more than 3k since the last Fulpot update. I learned from my mistakes in FTP and playing a little less aggressive. Also, I was winning in No Limit Holdem and was losing in Open Face Chinese Poker. I decided to stop playing OFC and concentrate on Holdem. I still play OFC though from time to time at the lowest stake.

Hero Poker Update

One of the reasons why I haven't updated my blog is the Hero Poker Updates. Last week, it was Friday or Thursday, I was having trouble logging in to Hero Poker. One Pokermanila member informed me that they were updating Hero Poker that's why people can't log-in into their poker client. I checked the website and saw this message:

Monday came, I was kinda excited what changes they made because it's very unusual for a poker company to stop the games for a very long time. When I opened the poker client I saw this message:

March 25 came and again they needed more time to finish the updates.

Yesterday was the first day that Hero Poker went back online. No wonder they needed that much time, they moved all the games to a new HTML 5 platform. Now you can access hero poker from tablets, smart phones, macs and PCs. Here's what the new client looks like:

I was kinda skeptical at first because I've encountered web-based poker clients before and it was pretty laggy. Tried it out for a hands and it worked better than expected.

Here's what the tables look like now:

I am excited with these changes in Hero Poker because I think these will attract new players into the game. I am looking forward to how they evolve from here.

This is the reason why I haven't updated this blog. I wasn't able to play much because of the Hero Poker updates. There's another reason why I haven't updated this blog -- the Poker Stars' MicroMillions. I will update about it in my next blog entry.