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Till now, I mostly played freeroll tournaments to get my bankroll up. By almost reaching the $100 it’s time to stop playing freeroll’s and start making some cash.

In the time I started playing poker, I did experiment with cash games before, but overall it didn’t go well. I still was too much focused on playing tournaments.
A big mistake I made was that I didn’t make a bet or a raise when it was needed. For example, I’m holding pocket 8’s and the flop was Q J 8. Instead of making a bet here I just checked hoping somebody would make a bet so I could re-raise. But nobody did just that, so they all got a free run to the next card, a King. Not a good flop for me, with 4 other players in the game. Someone certainly has an Ace and will make a straight if the 10 flops. Or one has a 10 or 9 and also will make a straight if their needed card hits. So in a desperate attempt scaring them of I made a bet, 4 times the big blind. 2 players called and I could only hope the board will pair or no Ace or 10 will show up. And as expected a 10 was drawn on the river And I got forced to fold my set when the first player made a bet and was re-raised by the other player. They both had the straight to the Ace.
Ok, I made a very good laydown here, but it wasn’t hard at all to fold it as it was pretty obvious I was beaten. If I only made a good bet after the flop, maybe they folded already then?

I can name a few other hands like this that I played wrong in a cash game that would not harm me that much in a tournament. When playing in a tournament, you can make up for this loss, but in a cash game it’s actually real money that I was losing and we don’t like that do we?

So after a few misplayed games I decided to focus myself back on tournaments to get my bankroll up.
And although it took some time, I can say I did pretty good so far.
When I started out in February with $0 it took me a couple of games to win my first money. $2 to be exactly. A freeroll on Full Tilt set me on my way to success
5 days later I again ended up in the money and with a few cash games in between I Managed to end the month with $4,73 on my bankroll.
March was awesome, I made it to my first Final Table, but got a bit too excited and tried to win the pot with deuce seven This immediately ended my final table experience.
Not too worried about that, the day after I made it to the Final table a 2nd time. This time I ended on the 4th place.
10 days later I did exactly the same, finished 4th again.

In April I started out playing on PokerStars also where I won my biggest tournament cash so far, $24 in a $500 freeroll. But this money was needed to deal with the losses I made in cash games. With a few other good tournament results, I almost made it to the $50 that month.
May was the best month so far with 13 money finishes in freeroll tournaments. I got my first real top 3 finish when I ended 2nd and on the last day of the month I won my first tournament with AK.
In June I took a well deserved holiday near Venice, Italy so I didn’t play that much. In July and August I enjoyed the nice weather here in Belgium so I didn’t play much. And in September I started out playing freeroll tournaments on PokerStars where the Pokerchamp of Flanders will be decided. Closest I got in the weekly final was a 7th place, just 2 places away from advancing to the live regional finals. But I did manage to qualify myself 4 weeks in a row for the weekly final.

So with the bit more experience I gained in the last couple of months, I tried to play some cash games again and so far with good results. Biggest win I had was in a $0,02/$0,05 cash game where I bought myself in for $2 and cashed out with $3,9. Best win was when my KK won over QQ and 66.
In the few cash games I played now, I certainly can see that my game evolved compared to how I was playing before in cash games.
So the plan for the next month is to play more cash games and less freeroll tournaments.
Now let’s play some poker!!! 

2 weeks back I qualified myself for the weekly final ‘Pokerchamp of Flanders tournament’ here in Belgium by finishing in the top 20 in the daily satellites.
That Sunday we started with 117 people and the best 5 will win a spot in to the regional live finals.
I played some very good poker from the beginning and quickly placed myself within the top 15. There I stayed most of the time during the whole tournament. My highest ranking I got was a 4th place.
As time went by and more players were forced to leave the tournament, I saw the final table getting closer and closer. Once I reached that final table I was holding the nr 5 spot. Then I made a few bad calls and dropped to the 8th spot. But I managed to get my rank up again to nr 6.
And with only 7 players left and blinds of 2000/4000, I got pocket Kings. Pre-flop I raised to 8000 and got re-raised by one player to 16000. I then took the chance and went all in. About 30000 chips at stake. He called me and showed pocket eights.
I was in the lead with my KK. After the flop (10 6 2) I was in the lead even more. The turn was a 9 and suddenly he got a few outs more, because he could make a straight. So any 7 or an 8 would steal my win. And that’s what just happened, I got rivered when he hit his needed 7. Damn, got some bad luck there.
I finished on the 7th place, a bit disappointed about the last hand, but very happy about the way I played the tournament. I honestly feel that I learned a lot that day.

A few days later I took the chance once again to qualify myself into next week’s weekly final and with a bit of luck I managed to do just that.
With 21 players left (20 to go through) I was holding the 20th spot with a few hundred chips more than the last player in the list. He sat at my table also, but in a later position then me.
So the situation is that if I didn’t win a pot at the time the big and small blind passed me, I was out before him. On the big blind I got very bad cards, 3 7 offsuit and I folded them as soon anyone raised.
So with only a few hundred chips left I was pushed all in on the small blind with 2 9 suited clubs.
3 players called the big blind, so I was 99% sure that I was going to be the bubble boy. Then the flop (9 4 3) paired my 9 and suddenly everything looked a bit brighter. Everyone else checked and the turn showed a 7.
At this time I was hoping they all got some high cards like QJ or AQ and wouldn’t make a pair. Again everyone checked. I figured out I had about 30% for winning the pot now.
When the river showed an 8 I felt I suddenly had pretty good chances to win the pot. Then One of the 3 other remaining players made a big raise and the other 2 folded their hands. Could he be slow playing a set?
Showdown time: I showed my pair of nines and he showed a pair of eights. I won!!!!
So I had a big chance to reach the last 20 now. Three hands later the other player was pushed all in on the big blind. 2 other players called and the flop showed 5 K 7.
The others checked and the turn showed a 6. Then one of them raised to all in which made the other fold his hand. KJ suited for the last one in the list against 9Q. Not good for me! But on the river the other player made a straight with an 8 and we’ve found the bubble boy and it wasn’t me

Then at the weekly final I had a bad day, not getting good cards and when I did, the flop was against me. Even some bluff with AK got called easily as I was low stacked all of the time.
After an hour of playing I only had 150 chips left and went all in with JJ, after the river another player made 3 others fold and I’d won the main pot. With about 800 chips again, I got AA immediately the hand after and again went all in. Now only one player called. Again I did win and I could play a bit more hands. But with the increasing blinds, it was an up- and down play for me. About 1500 chips was the highest I could reach. And before I knew it I was out on place 41.

Convinced I will reach the regional final I tried my luck again yesterday in a daily satellite. I finished on the 6th spot and for the 3rd week in a row I can play in the weekly final. Maybe this time is the charm?
Anyhow I’m going for it!

Since a couple of weeks PokerStars you can play some satellites for a regional championship here in Belgium, called ‘Pokerkampioen van Vlaanderen’ or ‘Pokerchamp of Flanders’ translated to English.

The first 20 in each day’s sattelite tournament will qualify to Sunday’s final, another satellite to the grand final held in October.
Yesterday was the 5th time I played in these daily satellites, but the first time I took the tournament serious like a real cash game. No more joking around and calling with crazy cards.

The first 5 or 6 hands I got were complete rubbish. I was folding them all. Then a few decent hands came by, like 10 J, 88, QK, 10 A. I only managed to win one pot with them, the pocket eight’s gave me trips on the turn.

With some minor hands after that, I actually won a few more pots, because the flop was always into my advantage. Within 4 hands time I won 2 pretty high pots. Once with 7 8 clubs, that made me a flush on the flop (J 2 K). I went all-in for about 1900 chips and got called by one guy, who hit two pair with his K J. So if no other King or Jack finds its way to the table, I was safe. It didn’t so I won the pot.
The second time with A8 off-suit I got a Full House on the flop (8 8 A) and slow played it. Another advantage I had in this hand was that I was on the small blind, so I could easily check and see what other players would do. In a 6-handed game and an Ace on the table, at least one player should make a bet. The 4th player in the game made a small bet, probably to see what others would do or letting us know he could have an ace. Then the button player made a re-raise. On my turn, I hesitated a bit and made the call. The players next to me all folded quickly and the initial raiser made the call also.
So what hands would they have? I was pretty sure one of them had the Ace (I’m guessing the first raiser) and one of them could have made trips with an 8, maybe the button-player? If that was the case, I was still way ahead. Only if a higher pocket pair than the 8’s on the table made trips, I would lose. Else the least I could have was a split pot with the last ace on the turn or the river.
The turn was a 4, nothing for me to get worried about, so checked again. Next player checked also and the button player didn’t wait to see the river and went all-in. So I was pretty sure he had the last 8 and was playing trips. But to do better than my Full House with the aces, I doubt it
Again I hesitated to call him, not giving away I have the possible best hand. For a second I thought about going all-in, but to get as much as possible out of the pot I just made the call, hoping the next player would call also.
Instead of calling, he went all-in. Could he have AA? That would beat my Full House. Or does he have the last 8? In my head, I played over his play again to be sure I wasn’t missing anything. In my eyes he couldn’t have pocket aces, so I made the call. It certainly would be very difficult to fold this one otherwise.
So my Full House AA 888, against A88 85 for the player next to me and A88 AK for the player on the button. Chances that I would lose are nil, only a split pot was still possible if the last ace hit’s the table. It didn’t and I tripled my chips, pushing me to the 18th place.

Then for the next hour, I kept on playing around the first 40the places with a minor setback after a bad call I made with AJ in my hands. I thought my pair of aces would be enough, but it could stand up against 2 pair. I lost 1/3 of my chips.
But with some good play and some bluffing every now and then, I always came back to the top 20.
Then player countdown started. 40 players left, 39, 38, … At the time only 8 players had to get busted I was playing on the 25th spot.

With big blinds, 35% of my pot and being the 2nd smallest stack at the table I had to be very careful what hands to play. No good hands came by and I folded everything. Then on the big blind I got K5 off-suit. 4 players called, 1 player went all-in. Of course I made the call as it would only cost me an extra 148 chips. Luckily I did. Flop made me trips with 55 J.
I went all-in instantly and got called by one guy who played for the flush, but also could spare some chips.
I showed my trips. With a Queen on the turn, a 2 on the river and none of them spades, I won the pot. Pushing me away from the last places.
The next hands I folded all, not wanting to take the risk and becoming the last player to drop out.
5 minutes later the sattelite tournament was over, I did manage to win one hand with my pocket Queens, but most importantly I qualified for Sunday’s weekly sattelite tournament final.

Now let’s see if I can get in the top 5 spot there and October’s final is very close then.

Yesterday I played a $1000 freeroll tournament on PokerStars. In the beginning I managed to play lots of hands as my cards where pretty good. This made me climb up to a spot around the first 300 players in a 3000+ tournament.
A play I liked very much was the one where I received pocket kings. Being seated just after the big blind, I didn’t want to make a big raise to let everyone know I had a high hand. So I slow played my kings with just a call and waited to see what everyone else was doing. The next 5 players all folded their hand. Another player called together with the SB and the BB made a small raise. This made me think, should I re-raise him know, or just call him? If he had an Ace and the flop paired him, I had to fold. But I took the risk and just called. The other 2 players in the pot also made the call and the flop showed 5 8 10. SB checked and the BB raised. I decided it was time to stop slow playing my KK and re-raised him. This made everyone fold except the BB, he re-raised me instead. Now the my head was saying me, be careful, maybe he has 2 pairs or a open ended straight draw with 67 or 9J. I called him to see what his next move will be. On the Turn we got a 3 and he checked after taking some time. I on the other hand made a big raise, pushing him almost all-in, what I actually expected him to do, but he just made the call. The river gave us a 7 and sealed my win. I knew after his call on the turn he had nothing that would beat my pair of kings. So I went all-in hoping him to call me, but as predictable, he folded.

But then my luck started to change, I was losing hand by hand, pushing me back in the rankings deeper and deeper. With a flush after the turn, I made a big raise to let everyone know I had a big hand. 2 players called instead. But I knew another spade will make my hand lose as my highest spade was a 7. And of course the river was against me with another spade, so I had to fold my hand after a big raise from the player next to me. I could have called him and take the risk, but another player in front of me called also, so it was pretty clear I lost the hand. At this time I had only 480 chips left from a stack well over 10000. I was pretty frustrated about how the table worked against me and almost went all-in the next hand with 3 7 off-suit, knowing I can’t win with that hand.

But just in time I calmed down to not play that hand and wait for a big one. The one thing I was lucky about is that I was on the dealer button. So I had some time to think about which hand to play.
4 Hands later in middle position I got KQ off-suit and went all-in the first time pre-flop. 2 players called, but on the flop I already made 2 pair. Luck started to change again.
Back with around 1300 chips, I still had to be careful about what hand to play, so playing very tight was the only option. With AK suited (spades) I went all-in a second time. Now everyone at the table seemed to know that I was playing very tight so everyone folded.
Hey I could use this into my advantage. But first I had to play a big hand against another player to really let them know I was playing very tight. And 2 hands after everyone folded on me, I got AA, went all-in again the 3rd time and was up against 2 other players. AA against KQ and QQ. I had a big advantage. After the flop I got trips and nothing seems to be in my way to seal another big win. The river proved me right.

Now I could take advantage of my status on the table. On the button, I made a big raise against 3 players in the pot, making them fold.
After the turn, with the lowest pair possible, I bluffed my way to victory once again. In no time I was back into the top 100.
With only 400 players left, I also was pretty sure, nothing could stop me from finishing into the money. 70 cents, was the lowest tournament price you could win. Only 32 players had to be knocked out of the tournament.
Just after the first break, it was a won deal. I made it to the money. Who would ever thought off that after my losing streak? It made me very happy, that I didn’t went all-in with that 3 7 earlier on.

I managed to play for another 20 minutes or so, finishing me on a 122nd place, earning me $1,30.
As I recall, one of my highest finishes in PokerStars weekly $1000 freerol.

And with this I also broke the $90 barrier in my quest. I’m just $9,01 away from my next $100 goal.

So a few tips from me for not playing on tilt:
• Keep your calm
• Clean out your head
• Don’t look back at lost plays
• Don’t focus on the players you lost against! If they’re any good, they’ll know you’re on tilt and will knock you out for sure!
• And keep the fun in the game.

I’m pretty sure one of you experienced a similar case once or twice. You have any tips on beating going on tilt?