JrMontana08 is back online!

3 months ago my blog was marked as spam by a GoogleBot. I asked for help in the forums and now I'm back online. It was a mistake of the GoogleBot in question and hopefully it'll never happen again.

Many things happened in this summer that I couldn't share. In the last 3 months I focused on Heads Up SnGs. Honestly, I don't feel that I done well in those things. I got a few aha moments but I'm still confused in a few situations. Hopefully I'll be able to fix those leaks until 7th September 2011. I'm going to play in the WCOOP Event 7 -- $215 buy-in -- NLH HU tournament.

Let's talk about something else.. I got a new laptop! More creativity coming your way (if you're reading this blog and/or you're on PokerSpace) because now I'm a MacBook Pro owner. The Mac OS X was weird at first but I got used to it. It's a powerful machine, I'm quite satisfied with it.

I'm surprised that many sites don't have Mac friendly software. Example: Party Poker, iPoker Network... Yes, they have web based version of their client but PokerStars is way ahead of them with their software and their thinking is a lot more advanced as well.

iPhone owners! The official PokerStars Poker Clock is here. Click on the link and it will take you to Apple's website -> iTunes section -> PokerStars Clock (Global Edition)

The summer holiday was fun, I had a lot of time to relax. Good to be back online and see you reading this blog post.

It's 2 a.m. here, these thoughts came to my mind. Follow me on Twitter: @JrMontana08

Best of luck at the tables!

Royal Flush NL5 MSS @ PokerStars

I'm over 10,000 hands playing NL5 MSS on PokerStars. I hit a Royal Flush yesterday, first time at this level. I got the Royal Flush badge on my PokerTableRatings profile.

Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:
Replay Hand


$0.02/$0.05 No-Limit Hold'em (8 handed)

Known players:

BU = ($3.80)
SB = ($5.00)
BB = ($1.43)
UTG2 = ($4.02)
MP1 = ($5.22)
MP2 (Hero) = ($3.09)
MP3 = ($2.32)
CO = ($2.10)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with Q, K.
UTG2 calls $0.05, MP1 folds, Hero raises to $0.20, 3 folds, SB calls $0.18, BB folds, UTG2 calls $0.15.

Flop: ($0.65) T, 3, A (3 players)
SB bets $0.45, UTG2 folds, Hero calls $0.45.

Turn: ($1.55) J (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks.

River: ($1.55) 2 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.70, SB calls $0.70.

Final Pot: $2.95.

Results follow:

Hero shows a royal flush(Q K).
SB shows a pair of aces(A Q).

Hero wins with a royal flush(Q K).

Rake changes at PokerStars

Click on the picture for better resolution

Read more about the Sit and Go changes here.The new buy-in structure reminds me to Party Poker..

Wassup?

What's up everyone?

I met Zwemnaar at an Omaha tournament on PokerStars (for 2+2 PokerCast Listeners).
Nice tournament by the way..

April was cool because I learned the basics of MSS. I here is my first month's graph:

Click on the picture for better resolution

The sample size is small because I read many articles and watched tons of videos. + I didn't want to play when I was in bad mood.

I try to grind NL5 MSS to reach SilverStar VIP level on PokerStars. The games are still soft..

Advanced Bankroll Management article coming in the next blog post.. (how should a pro handle his/her bankroll, etc.)

BEAUTIFUL

First of all, congrats to zwemnnar on winning his biggest online pot. Check out that hand here: https://www.pokertableratings.com/hand-history/stars/59822186475/13843194658

+ read The Chronicles of Zwemnaar here


BEAUTIFUL - Tag Heuer Aquaracer PokerStars Watch

Tag Heuer Aquaracer Watch

115,000 FPPs - available for Platinum Star VIP level only

I'm crazy for watches.. I don't know why but I recently started looking for watches. Longines was my favourite brand (for about 1 week lol).

I started learning Middle Stack Strategy (MSS).
What is MSS?

The Mid Stack Strategy is a strategy developed to play profitably in No Limit Hold'em cashgames. It is very well suited for a beginner in poker, as it enables you to play with less risk to your poker bankroll, and it is also simple to learn and start playing right away.

With the MSS you bring less than the maximum amount of chips to the table, which means that you risk less, and also use your chips more efficiently when betting.

I'm playing everyday (2-4 tabling at PokerStars), I'm practicing, posting hands..

I'd love to have a PokerSpace Hand History Converter but I'll write about it later :)

I'm going to post some stuff about MSS, this strategy is suitable for:

• Beginners, who would like to start playing and earning money with a strategy that is not very complicated.
• Former Short Stack Strategy players. Same as in SSS, the post-flop decisions in MSS are rather simple and kept to a minimum.
• Those Big Stack Strategy players who would like to try themselves on higher limits with less risk.
• BSS players with a low win-rate, as this strategy will help you keep a similar win-rate, however also provide you with additional income from rakeback, comparable in amount to that from your direct winnings.

 I'm not going for the 100K PokerStars watch. If I hit Supernova VIP level, I'll choose the money (this status worth about $5000 - read more about it here).

What's going to happen in the near future?

• master MSS
• learn BSS (Big Stack Strategy)
• watch videos, read articles
• write about my experiences at the tables

Best of luck to everyone - See you at the tables!

PokerStars SCOOP 2011 Schedule

2011 Spring Championship of Online Poker schedule

Sunday, 8 May 2011
13:00 ET, Ev 01-L*: $22 NL Hold'em [6-Max], $300,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET, Ev 01-M*: $215 NL Hold'em [6-Max], $750,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET, Ev 01-H*: $2,100 NL Hold'em [6-Max], $1,000,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 02-L*: $22 NL Hold'em, $300,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 02-M*: $215 NL Hold'em, $1,500,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 02-H*: $2,100 NL Hold'em, $1,500,000 Guaranteed

Monday, 9 May 2011
14:00 ET, Ev 03-L*: $5.50+R NL Hold'em (6-Max), $250,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 03-M*: $55+R NL Hold'em (6-Max), $500,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 03-H*: $530+R NL Hold'em (6-Max), $750,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 04-L: $16.50 FL Badugi, $25,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 04-M: $162 FL Badugi, $25,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 04-H: $1,575 FL Badugi, $50,000 Guaranteed

20:00 ET, Ev 05-L: $11+R NL Hold'em (Turbo), $250,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 05-M: $109+R NL Hold'em (Turbo), $500,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 05-H: $1,050+R NL Hold'em (Turbo), $1,000,000 Guaranteed

Tuesday, 10 May 2011
14:00 ET, Ev 06-L: $11 PL 5-Card Draw, $25,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 06-M: $109 PL 5-Card Draw, $50,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 06-H: $1,050 PL 5-Card Draw, $75,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 07-L: $16.50 NL Hold'em (Heads-Up Match Play), $100,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 07-M: $162 NL Hold'em (Heads-Up Match Play), $200,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 07-H: $1,575 NL Hold'em (Heads-Up Match Play), $400,000 Guaranteed

20:00 ET, Ev 08-L*: $11 NL Hold'em, $100,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 08-M*: $109 NL Hold'em, $300,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 08-H*: $1,050 NL Hold'em, $600,000 Guaranteed

Wednesday, 11 May 2011
14:00 ET, Ev 09-L: $22 Mixed Hold'em (6-Max), $75,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 09-M: $215 Mixed Hold'em (6-Max), $150,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 09-H: $2,100 Mixed Hold'em (6-Max), $250,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 10-L: $33 7-Card Stud High, $25,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 10-M: $320 7-Card Stud High, $50,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 10-H: $3,150 7-Card Stud High, $100,000 Guaranteed

Thursday, 12 May 2011
14:00 ET, Ev 11-L: $22 PL Omaha (Heads-Up Match Play), $50,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 11-M: $215 PL Omaha (Heads-Up Match Play), $100,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 11-H: $2,100 PL Omaha (Heads-Up Match Play), $200,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 12-L*: $27 NL Hold'em (Knockout), $200,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 12-M*: $265 NL Hold'em (Knockout), $400,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 12-H*: $2,600 NL Hold'em (Knockout), $600,000 Guaranteed

Friday, 13 May 2011
14:00 ET, Ev 13-L*: $16.50 NL Hold'em (Ante Up), $100,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 13-M*: $162 NL Hold'em (Ante Up), $200,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 13-H*: $1,575 NL Hold'em (Ante Up), $300,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 14-L: $55 FL Omaha Hi/Lo, $75,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 14-M: $530 FL Omaha Hi/Lo, $125,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 14-H: $5,200 FL Omaha Hi/Lo, $225,000 Guaranteed

20:00 ET, Ev 15-L: $16.50 NL Hold'em (2X Chance, Turbo), $150,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 15-M: $162 NL Hold'em (2X Chance, Turbo), $400,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 15-H: $1,575 NL Hold'em (2X Chance, Turbo), $750,000 Guaranteed

Saturday, 14 May 2011
14:00 ET, Ev 16-L: $22 NL Hold'em - Quadruple Shootout (10-Max), $125,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 16-M: $215 NL Hold'em - Triple Shootout (10-Max), $150,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 16-H: $2,100 NL Hold'em - Double Shootout (10-Max), $150,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 17-L: $16.50+R PL Omaha (6-Max), $100,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 17-M: $162+R PL Omaha (6-Max), $250,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 17-H: $1,575+R PL Omaha (6-Max), $400,000 Guaranteed

20:00 ET, Ev 18-L: $22 Triple Stud (Turbo), $25,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 18-M: $215 Triple Stud (Turbo), $50,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 18-H: $2,100 Triple Stud (Turbo), $75,000 Guaranteed

Sunday, 15 May 2011
13:00 ET, Ev 19-L*: $22 NL Hold'em, $300,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET, Ev 19-M*: $215 NL Hold'em, $1,000,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET, Ev 19-H*: $2,100 NL Hold'em, $1,000,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 20-L*: $22 NL Hold'em, $350,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 20-M*: $215 NL Hold'em, $2,000,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 20-H*: $2,100 NL Hold'em, $2,000,000 Guaranteed

Monday, 16 May 2011
14:00 ET, Ev 21-L: $16.50 NL Hold'em / PL Omaha, $75,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 21-M: $162 NL Hold'em / PL Omaha, $150,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 21-H: $1,575 NL Hold'em / PL Omaha, $300,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 22-L: $33 NL Hold'em (4-Max), $100,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 22-M: $320 NL Hold'em (4-Max), $300,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 22-H: $3,150 NL Hold'em (4-Max), $500,000 Guaranteed

20:00 ET, Ev 23-L: $11 PL Omaha (Turbo, 1R1A), $75,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 23-M: $109 PL Omaha (Turbo, 1R1A), $200,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 23-H: $1,050 PL Omaha (Turbo, 1R1A), $350,000 Guaranteed

Tuesday, 17 May 2011
14:00 ET, Ev 24-L: $11 Triple Draw 2-7, $25,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 24-M: $109 Triple Draw 2-7, $50,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 24-H: $1,050 Triple Draw 2-7, $75,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 25-L: $22 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo, $25,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 25-M: $215 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo, $75,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 25-H: $2,100 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo, $150,000 Guaranteed

20:00 ET, Ev 26-L*: $11 NL Hold'em, $100,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 26-M*: $109 NL Hold'em, $300,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 26-H*: $1,050 NL Hold'em, $600,000 Guaranteed

Wednesday, 18 May 2011
14:00 ET, Ev 27-L: $22 Razz, $25,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 27-M: $215 Razz, $75,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 27-H: $2,100 Razz, $150,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 28-L*: $11+R NL Hold'em (Big Antes), $200,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 28-M*: $109+R NL Hold'em (Big Antes), $400,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 28-H*: $1,050+R NL Hold'em (Big Antes), $600,000 Guaranteed

Thursday, 19 May 2011
14:00 ET, Ev 29-L: $33 8-Game, $50,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 29-M: $320 8-Game, $100,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 29-H: $3,150 8-Game, $250,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 30-L: $11 PL Omaha Hi/Lo, $50,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 30-M: $109 PL Omaha Hi/Lo, $125,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 30-H*: $1,050 PL Omaha Hi/Lo, $250,000 Guaranteed

Friday, 20 May 2011
14:00 ET, Ev 31-L: $22 NL Hold'em (1R1A), $300,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 31-M: $215 NL Hold'em (1R1A), $500,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 31-H: $2,100 NL Hold'em (1R1A), $800,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 32-L: $55 FL Hold'em (6-Max), $75,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 32-M: $530 FL Hold'em (6-Max), $150,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 32-H: $5,200 FL Hold'em (6-Max), $250,000 Guaranteed

20:00 ET, Ev 33-L: $22 NL Omaha Hi/Lo (10m Levels), $50,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 33-M: $215 NL Omaha Hi/Lo (10m Levels), $100,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 33-H: $2,100 NL Omaha Hi/Lo (10m Levels), $150,000 Guaranteed

Saturday, 21 May 2011
14:00 ET, Ev 34-L: $55 PL Omaha [6-Max], $100,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 34-M: $530 PL Omaha [6-Max], $300,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 34-H: $5,200 PL Omaha [6-Max], $500,000 Guaranteed

15:30 ET, Ev 35-L*: $270 NL Hold'em [Heads-Up Match Play], $300,000 Guaranteed
15:30 ET, Ev 35-M*: $2,600 NL Hold'em [Heads-Up Match Play], $450,000 Guaranteed
15:30 ET, Ev 35-H*: $25,500 NL Hold'em [Heads-Up Match Play], $600,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 36-L: $22 HORSE, $50,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 36-M: $215 HORSE, $100,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 36-H: $2,100 HORSE, $150,000 Guaranteed

Sunday, 22 May 2011
13:00 ET, Ev 37-L*: $22 NL Hold'em (6-Max), $300,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET, Ev 37-M*: $215 NL Hold'em (6-Max), $1,000,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET, Ev 37-H*: $2,100 NL Hold'em (6-Max), $1,000,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 38-L*: $109 NLHE Main Event - L, $1,000,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 38-M*: $1,050 NLHE Main Event - M, $3,000,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 38-H*: $10,300 NLHE Main Event - H, $5,000,000 Guaranteed
* - 2-Day Event
Satellites are planned to begin on March 14, 2011.
Scheduled events are subject to change at any time before play begins.

17th best poker player blogger in the World (of PokerStars)

WBCOOP Main Event was very good. I finished 17th out of 872 players and won a $215 SCOOP ticket. Here is my last hand:

PokerStars - | 4000/8000 NL (9 max) - Holdem - 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

UTG: 125,020.00
Hero (UTG+1): 114,280.00
MP: 464,435.00
MP+1: 122,200.00
CO: 87,936.00
BTN: 133,547.00
SB: 185,914.00
BB: 65,762.00

UTG posts ante 800.00, Hero posts ante 800.00, MP posts ante 800.00, MP+1 posts ante 800.00, CO posts ante 800.00, BTN posts ante 800.00, SB posts ante 800.00, BB posts ante 800.00, SB posts SB 4,000.00, BB posts BB 8,000.00

Pre Flop: (18400.00) Hero has Q♣ Q♦

fold, Hero calls 8,000.00, fold, fold, CO raises to 87,136.00 and is all-in, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls 79,136.00

Flop: (192672.00, 2 players) 6♥ 8♠ K♣

Turn: (192672.00, 2 players) T♦

River: (192672.00, 2 players) A♠

Hero shows Q♣ Q♦ (One Pair, Queens) (PreFlop 70%, Flop 86%, Turn 84%)
CO shows A♣ Q♥ (One Pair, Aces) (PreFlop 30%, Flop 14%, Turn 16%)
CO wins 192,672.00

The table was very aggressive. The big stack (MP) raised every hand and if he didn't raise, the CO moved all in.
If I raise, CO moves in, so the money gets in the middle in every scenario.

Click on the picture for better resolution

Sick jump from 10th to 9th place..

I'm going to write more in the near future. Yeah, I was a bit lazy. But look what we have here:

High Stakes Poker Season 7 premieres on 28th February:

PokerStars League Main Events' results

It was fun to play in these tournament, especially because they're were free and the players' skill level was under average. I had a nice rush in the beginning of both tourney. I was among the top 10 players until I bluffed away 50% of my stack. I play great anyway.

Facebook Poker League: 797/947
Twitter Poker League: 49/1486 - Step 2 coupon win

I didn't play the first tournament of the new season but I plan to play most of the this year.

Carbon Poker Announcement:

$75,000 Guaranteed tournament on 30th January 2010
buy-in $109, satellites are running now as low as $2.20
More info here >>>

Poker League Main Events

PokerStars Twitter Poker League Main Event:

Hello JrMontana08,

Congratulations on qualifying to the Twitter Poker League– Main event final. This is exclusively for players who cashed in any of the Twitter $1.10 Poker league tourneys in 2010.

Here are the tournament details:

Name: Twitter Poker League - Main Event Final
Date: January 23, 2011
Time: 15:00 ET
Game: NL Hold'em

In order to locate the tournament, click the "Tourney" tab, then "Private".  The tournament id is #350103398.

Good luck at the tables,
PokerStars Support

Main Event prizes:

Place	Prize
1	$2,100 Step Ticket
2-9	$700 Step Ticket
10-36	$82 Step Ticket
37-63	$7.50 Step Ticket

Player of the Year:

1st Place - $2,100 Step Ticket
2nd & 3rd Place - $1,050 Step Ticket

Best Live Tweeter of the Year:

1st Place - $1,500 Step Ticket
2nd,  3rd & 4th  Place - $215 Step Ticket

PokerStars Facebook Poker League Main Event:

Hello JrMontana08,

Congratulations on qualifying to the Facebook Poker League– Main event final. This is exclusively for players who cashed in any of the Facebook $1.10 Poker league tourneys in 2010.

Here are the tournament details:

Name: Facebook Poker League - Main Event Final
Date: January 23, 2011
Time: 15:00 ET
Game: NL Hold'em

In order to locate the tournament, click the "Tourney" tab, then "Private".  The tournament id is #350100589.

Good luck at the tables,
PokerStars Support

Place	Prize
1	$2,100 Step Ticket
2 – 9	$700 Step Ticket
10 - 36	$82 Step Ticket
37-63	$27 Step Ticket
64 -100	$7.5 Step Ticket

New tournament type on PokerStars: Fifty50

FIFTY50

‘Fifty50’ is a type of one-table Sit & Go tournament. In a Fifty50 Sit & Go, the event ends when half of the entrants have been eliminated. For example, in a 10-player Fifty50 tournament, 5 will be paid. Half of the prize pool will be distributed equally among the 5 winners, and the other half of the prize pool will be distributed among those same 5 players based on the chip count percentages at the end of the event. The 6th-10th place finishers win nothing. So in a 10-player $10+$1 Fifty50, the prize pool is $100. Each of the final 5 finishers would receive $10 each, plus a percentage of the remaining $50 in the prize pool. You can find Fifty50 tournaments under ‘Sit & Go’ > ‘1-Table’ in the PokerStars lobby.
As a more detailed example, in a $300+$17 tournament with ten entrants, the total prize pool is $3,000. Each player starts with 1,500 chips.

Example	Chips	Chip %	Chip Prize	+Buy-in	Total Prize
Player 1	4,300	28.67%	$430	+$300	$730
Player 2	3,600	24.00%	$330	+$300	$660
Player 3	3,100	20.67%	$310	+$300	$610
Player 4	2,300	15.33%	$230	+$300	$530
Player 5	1,700	11.33%	$170	+$300	$470
Total	15,000	100.00%	$1,500	+$1,500	$3,000

To calculate the value of Player 1’s chips, multiply half the prize pool ($1500) by Player 1’s portion of the total chips in play (4300/15000), a total of $430. Adding the returned buy-in awarded to each player who cashes results in Player 1’s total prize amount of $730 ($430+$300). As a formula, an individual’s payout would be expresses as:

payout = buy-in +	(ending chip count)	x (0.5 x total prize pool)
	(total chips in play)

The Fifty50 tournament lobby displays the approximate amount per 100 chips to be paid out when the tournament ends. The value displayed in the Fifty50 tournament lobby is rounded down to the nearest cent, but payouts are calculated so that the entire prize pool is paid out. Note that the final payouts may experience small rounding differences in order to ensure that the total payouts equal the prize pool.
Due to their unique payout structure, Fifty50 tournaments are not eligible for any Tournament Leader Board points. You can find Fifty50 tournaments under ‘Sit & Go’ > ‘1-Table’ in the PokerStars lobby.

Team PokerStars Pro ranking 2010

The Top 40 Team PokerStars Pro members:





1. Vanessa Selbst $2,865,830
2009 (rank) $103,879 (40)
2008 (rank) $540,577 (12)
3 year total (rank) $3,510,286 (6)

2. Liv Boeree $1,825,425
2009 (rank) $173,642 (29)
2008 (rank) $55,542 (41)
3 year total (rank) $2,054,612 (13)

3. David Williams $1,583,274
2009 (rank) $221,909 (24)
2008 (rank) $327,739 (18)
3 year total (rank) $2,132,922 (12)

4. Jose Ignacio Barbero $1,543,463
2009 (rank) $115,058 (37)
2008 (rank) $100,617 (33)
3 year total (rank) $1,759,138 (15)

5. Theo Jorgensen $1,375,854
2009 (rank) $50,385 (57)
2008 (rank) $406,702 (15)
3 year total (rank) $1,832,941 (14)

6. Jason Mercier $1,059,908
2009 (rank) $1,354,026 (5)
2008 (rank) $2,752,423 (4)
3 year total (rank) $5,166,357 (4)

7. Martin Hruby $747,452
2009 (rank) $72,106 (48)
2008 (rank) $48,565 (46)
3 year total (rank) $868,123 (26)

8. Daniel Negreanu $683,825
2009 (rank) $1,224,895 (7)
2008 (rank) $1,301,853 (6)
3 year total (rank) $3,210,573 (8)

9. Vanessa Rousso $616,514
2009 (rank) $1,342,590 (6)
2008 (rank) $267,419 (20)
3 year total (rank) $2,265,523 (11)

10. Bertrand "Elky" Grospellier $459,701
2009 (rank) $1,642,560 (4)
2008 (rank) $3,686,476 (3)
3 year total (rank) $5,788,737 (3)

11. Arnaud Mattern $445,016
2009 (rank) $140,162 (32)
2008 (rank) $153,729 (28)
3 year total (rank) $738,907 (31)

12. John Duthie $371,607
2009 (rank) $393,609 (16)
2008 (rank) $50,471 (45)
3 year total (rank) $815,687 (28)

13. Marcin Horecki $366,430
2009 (rank) $68768 (50)
2008 (rank) $584,287 (10)
3 year total (rank) $1,019,485 (21)

14. Alexander Kravchenko $357,146
2009 (rank) $262,187 (21)
2008 (rank) $345,600 (17)
3 year total (rank) $964,933 (24)

15. Johnny Lodden $356,161
2009 (rank) $32,508 (63)
2008 (rank) $278,713 (19)
3 year total (rank) $667,382 (33)

16. Luca Pagano $$327,088
2009 (rank) $540,840 (14)
2008 (rank) $553,203 (11)
3 year total (rank) $1,421,131 (17)

17. Maxim Lykov $279,500
2009 (rank) $697,564 (12)
2008 (rank) $0 (65)
3 year total (rank) $977,064 (23)

18. JP Kelly $274,578
2009 (rank) $468,194 (15)
2008 (rank) $41,796 (48)
3 year total (rank) $784,568 (29)

19. Ruben Visser $241,330
2009 (rank) $62,346 (52)
2008 (rank) $2,495 (63)
3 year total (rank) $306,171 (46)

20. Van Nguyen $238,090
2009 (rank) $59,347 (53)
2008 (rank) $40,469 (49)
3 year total (rank) $337,906 (44)

21. Richard Toth $213,313
2009 (rank) $261,735 (22)
2008 (rank) $25,700 (54)
3 year total (rank) $500,748 (37)

22. Dario Minieri $191,983
2009 (rank) $180,253 (28)
2008 (rank) $1,147,934 (7)
3 year total (rank) $1,520,170 (16)

23. Tony Hachem $180,237
2009 (rank) $18,278 (65)
2008 (rank) $83,862 (36)
3 year total (rank) $282,377 (48)

24. Marcel Luske $166,532
2009 (rank) $6,449 (72)
2008 (rank) $381,194 (16)
3 year total (rank) $554,175 (35)

25. Thomas Bichon $166,100
2009 (rank) $860,225 (10)
2008 (rank) $32,320 (52)
3 year total (rank) $1,058,645 (20)

26. Barry Greenstein $161,829
2009 (rank) $318,590 (19)
2008 (rank) $939,921 (8)
3 year total (rank) $1,420,340 (18)

27. Lex Veldhuis $153,696
2009 (rank) $335,317 (18)
2008 (rank) $23,836 (55)
3 year total (rank) $512,849 (36)

28. Pat Pezzin $146,682
2009 (rank) $316,827 (20)
2008 (rank) $149,667 (29)
3 year total (rank) $613,176 (34)

29. Dennis Phillips $143,971
2009 (rank) $339,598 (17)
2008 (rank) $4,524,608 (2)
3 year total (rank) $5,008,177 (5)

30. Bryan Huang $139,485
2009 (rank) $55,607 (54)
2008 (rank) $181,123 (25)
3 year total (rank) $376,215 (42)

31. Pieter de Korver $136,888
2009 (rank) $3,065,565 (2)
2008 (rank) $15,659 (59)
3 year total (rank) $3,218,112 (7)

32. Alexandre Gomez $126,194
2009 (rank) $1,947,937 (3)
2008 (rank) $847,895 (9)
3 year total (rank) $2,922,026 (9)

33. Greg Raymer $120,487
2009 (rank) $780,927 (11)
2008 (rank) $34,579 (50)
3 year total (rank) $935,993 (25)

34. Victor Ramdin $118,242
2009 (rank) $55,146 (56)
2008 (rank) $182,439 (24)
3 year total (rank) $355,827 (43)

35. Chad Brown $116,007
2009 (rank) $603,995 (13)
2008 (rank) $141,511 (30)
3 year total (rank) $861,513 (27)

36. Raymond Wu $114,770
2009 (rank) $163,579 (30)
2008 (rank) $0 (65)
3 year total (rank) $278,349 (49)

37. Joe Hachem $105,829
2009 (rank) $111,600 (38)
2008 (rank) $214,719 (22)
3 year total (rank) $432,148 (38)

38. Leo Fernandez $94,036
2009 (rank) $244,083 (23)
2008 (rank) $54,469 (43)
3 year total (rank) $392,588 (40)

39. Victoria Coren $87,259
2009 (rank) $42,000 (59)
2008 (rank) $98,909 (34)
3 year total (rank) $228,168 (53)

40. Chris Moneymaker $70,712
2009 (rank) $97,801 (42)
2008 (rank) $72,442 (38)
3 year total (rank) $240,955 (52)


Source: Daniel Negreanu's blog
Read Daniel's blog posts here

Boomswitch is still ON and Merry Christmas

WOW - what an amazing December! I'm doing fine on 888 Poker as you can see below:

Check out my stats here: Sharkscope stats

Yes, I'm fine and I'm playing the $5 buy-in $250 Guaranteed Heads Up MTTs on 888 Poker almost every day.

I am not yet ready to sum up this year's happenings but there were many things going on.

Even tough I'm going to write about 2010 later, I already have plans for 2011:

• to work out & to be healthy (going to track it on this site: http://runtastic.com/)
• to play poker & to be wealthy (lol joke) - want to make enough money to move up a few stakes/levels
• to be a good affiliate - referring people to some poker sites and to PokerSpace 
• to teach poker - Thoughts of a donk

I might have missed a few things but I'll add them if they come to my mind.

I'm trying to qualify for the Heads Up cash battle vs Isildur1 on PokerStars. The Heads Up MTT qualifiers are running every day on PokerStars - $11 buy-in, 1st place gets a ticket to the weekly qualifier. It's like a normal Heads Up tournament with an added 1st place prize.

Christmas was great! Now I understand what's Christmas is all about and I'm very happy I could spend it with my family. I hope you enjoyed your time with your beloved family members and friends too.

Happy Holidays!

 

PokerStars Twitter Poker League

22nd/1305 pretty good finish - 5 PokerStars Twitter Poker League points for JrMontana08 ;-)

Click on the picture for better resolution

By the way I won $175 in a Sunday Challenge tournament on 888 Poker.. The satellites are awesome and they have so many tournaments which has +EV ! 

It's been a while...

It's been a while... What's happened since my last blog post?

• won a $215 WCOOP ticket on PokerStars
• changed my lifestyle

Here are a few Facebook groups which worth to mention:

• I ♥ Poker - mainly poker news, videos, etc.
  
• Free Roll for all  - free poker bankroll offers, freerolls, promotions

I'm going to play the $215 Heads Up Event in the 2011 WCOOP :) 1 more year lol - at least I have some time to practice ;)

I used to play a lot more but I'm trying to focus on the university. Poker has already helped me in many things and I hope that our relationship will be prosperous in the future as well.

Pot Limit Omaha win 2.

The final table was very hard... many players lost their chips early and weren't patient enough. The remaining players were playing good but I managed to win a decent amount. I tried to maintain my stack by stealing a few pots with nothing and it was effective until the heads up.

The heads up was like a rollercoaster. I lost my chipleads and became a 2:1 underdog but I took back the lead... After that I lost a big pot and became short stacked. I won like 3 hands in a row that allowed me to play loose and agressive. That strategy helped me to win the tournament and take down the first prize.

Click on the picture to zoom!

Pot Limit Omaha win

It seems writing tweets during a session is +EV lol

Click on the picture to zoom!