Poker Update

I started with $50 on PokerStars, and after a month of playing single table tournaments, my balance is $202.79. I also have $29 in bonus money at a different site. Not sure what I will play with said bonus funds, maybe no-limit ring games for a change of pace. I can't withdraw the bonus money until I play 500 or 1000 hands (something like that), but the entirety of that $29 is free money, so nothing lost no matter what.

So far I have played about 70 single table SnG No Limit Hold'em tournaments at PokerStars. 36 of the games have been $5.50 buy-ins, and the other 34 were $6.50 buy-in.

I have been slack with my record keeping over the past two weeks, which means at some point I need to sit down for about an hour and download all of my tournament and hand histories, and then save them into my database. I think I am ending in the money (top 3 places pay out of 9 players) about half the time. I would guess 45%. I spent $419 to play in those 70 tournaments, and earned roughly $150, so my ROI is about 35.8% which is stupendously high. I expect to even out after a few hundred tournaments at a 25% ROI, which means that when I invest $6.50 to play, I expect to earn an average of $1.63 (6.5 x .25).

That means I make $3 or $4 per hour playing two tables at a time. Chump change, but after a year or so I should have a large enough bankroll to play the $27 tournaments, and even with an ROI of only 20%, I would be earning $5.4 per game. If I play 4 tables at the same time, and my games average 40 minutes (which they do), I would be making $32.40 an hour. Not bad for a hobby.

Of course, variance may kick me in the teeth, but that's life.

J

Bath Time Pop Music

Last night while Liam was having a bath, this exchange occured:

I asked him to stand up so I could wash him, and as soon as he was on his feet a series of tremendous flatulent exclamations erupted from his bottom.

Me: chuckles "Excuse you! What should you say?"

Liam: "Excuse me."

Me: "What do Nana and Papa call that?"

Liam: "I don't know."

Me: "Poppin."

Liam: "Papa calls it pop music!"

Me: "He does indeed. You know what I usually call that?"

Liam: "What?"

Me: "Pootin."

Liam erupts into loud laughter.

Liam: "That was the funniest thing I never heard! That's the funniest thing in all my body!"

On all of my kindergarten and early grade school evaluations and grade cards, the teachers made note of my sense of humor. I believe the words most often used were "ridiculous" and "strange". I think Liam and I will share some laughs. Now I'm waiting for a chance to use the line: That's the funniest thing in all my body!

J