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The big decision, school, and poker...
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So, I decided to get out of the Air Force. It wasn't an easy decision, but I think it's the best thing right now. With the retraining program I'd be forced into a job I may not like, but I know I like programming. I talked to some friends who have gotten out and none of them regret it. One of my friends who was a programmer in the AF got out about 18 months ago or so and just turned down a job making $65 an hour to take a job in Africa for $12,000 a month. I know the streets aren't lined with gold in the civilian world, but I think I can do well enough to make up for the lost retirement.
To go along with that, I'm back in school. If I'm going to get out, I want to get out with a degree in my hand. Class started today, and I'm taking Concepts of Statistics. I'm starting out just taking one class to ease into it, but next semester I'm going to add another one, then the semester after that I'll add an online course too. I need 25 classes to finish my degree, but I can CLEP 5 or 6 of those. I'm going to Park University, and they have 8-week semesters, 2 spring, 1 summer, and 2 fall. I should finish my degree next spring if I keep up my plan. The first day of class was pretty boring, and I'm afraid I'm not going to learn a whole lot. There are lots of majors at Park that require this class, so there are some not smart people in the class and he's going to teach to the lowest denominator. He told us he goes over the homework before we turn it in, so we can do it then. The midterm and final are both open-book... Should be an easy A, but I was really hoping to actually learn something.
I've been playing a lot of poker too. Back in November I started playing a lot of sit and go's. I started at $2.25 buyins and I'm trying to work my way up when I have 50 buyins for the next level. I've played 813 $2.25 tournaments so far, and I'm up $315 on them for a 17% return on investment. I've taken a few shots at the $6.50s, but ran bad. I've lost $95 over 121 games for a -12% ROI :( The skill level of the players doesn't improve that much between these 2 stakes, I've just had bad luck. On the poker forums they say you need a 1000 game sample to really get an idea of your performance, so I'm not too worried about losing after 121 games, I'll keep at it. Here's a small sample of hands just from tonight so you can see how my luck has been. The hands were converted to look pretty and my name is changed to Hero:
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HAND #1
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Full Tilt Poker, $2 + $0.25 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 100/200 Blinds, 4 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
Hero (BB): 2,170
UTG: 1,880
BTN: 8,060
SB: 1,390
Pre-Flop: (300) K A dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG raises to 700, 2 folds, Hero raises to 2,170 and is All-In, UTG calls 1,180 and is All-In
Flop: (3,860) Q T 2 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (3,860) 8 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (3,860) 9 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 3,860 Pot
Hero showed K A (Ace King high) and LOST (-1,880 NET)
UTG showed Q A (a pair of Queens) and WON 3,860 (+1,980 NET)
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HAND #2
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Full Tilt Poker, $6 + $0.50 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 100/200 Blinds, 7 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
BB: 2,040
UTG: 5,340
UTG+1: 1,410
MP: 1,510
CO: 1,240
Hero (BTN): 1,055
SB: 905
Pre-Flop: (300) A K dealt to Hero (BTN)
3 folds, CO raises to 1,240 and is All-In, Hero calls 1,055 and is All-In, 2 folds
Flop: (2,410) 6 J T (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (2,410) 5 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (2,410) 9 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 2,410 Pot
CO showed J A (a pair of Jacks) and WON 2,410 (+1,355 NET)
Hero showed A K (Ace King high) and LOST (-1,055 NET)
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HAND #3
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Full Tilt Poker, $2 + $0.25 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 120/240 Blinds, 3 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
Hero (SB): 3,380
BB: 1,630
BTN: 8,490
Pre-Flop: (360) K A dealt to Hero (SB)
BTN folds, Hero raises to 3,380 and is All-In, BB calls 1,390 and is All-In
Flop: (3,260) 5 4 2 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (3,260) 4 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (3,260) 2 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 3,260 Pot
Hero showed K A (two pair, Fours and Twos) and WON 1,630 (+0 NET)
BB showed T A (two pair, Fours and Twos) and WON 1,630 (+0 NET)
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HAND #4
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Full Tilt Poker, $2 + $0.25 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 30/60 Blinds, 8 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
SB: 1,670
Hero (BB): 1,380
UTG: 2,555
UTG+1: 1,550
MP1: 1,440
MP2: 1,585
CO: 1,620
BTN: 1,700
Pre-Flop: (90) K Q dealt to Hero (BB)
4 folds, CO calls 60, 2 folds, Hero checks
Flop: (150) K Q 6 (2 Players)
Hero bets 150, CO calls 150
Turn: (450) 3 (2 Players)
Hero bets 250, CO calls 250
River: (950) A (2 Players)
Hero bets 920 and is All-In, CO calls 920
Results: 2,790 Pot
Hero showed K Q (two pair, Kings and Queens) and LOST (-1,380 NET)
CO showed 6 A (two pair, Aces and Sixes) and WON 2,790 (+1,410 NET)
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HAND #5
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Full Tilt Poker, $2 + $0.25 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 300/600 Blinds, 4 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
Hero (UTG): 3,030
BTN: 4,390
SB: 4,850
BB: 1,230
Pre-Flop: (900) K K dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero raises to 3,030 and is All-In, BTN folds, SB raises to 4,850 and is All-In, BB folds
Flop: (6,660) 2 A 4 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (6,660) T (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (6,660) Q (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 6,660 Pot
Hero showed K K (a pair of Kings) and LOST (-3,030 NET)
SB showed K A (a pair of Aces) and WON 6,660 (+3,630 NET)
To give you an idea of how unlucky that is, the first 2 hands I was a 75/25 favorite, the 3rd hand I was a 70/30 favorite with only a 2% chance of a tie. On the 4th hand I was an 80/20 favorite on the flop and a 90/10 favorite on the turn. In the last hand I was a 70/30 favorite again.
I know the same people getting lucky against me are the same ones I'm winning money from long-term, but man is it frustrating.
If you want to track my progress, I made a page that shows some graphs of my winnings per day and winnings per tournament. It gets updated automatically when I play. It takes a few seconds to load because it generates the graph every time, so be patient. Here it is!
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