Having a CRACKing time...

The title is so because in a 3 hour session tonight I managed to crack aces not once, not twice, not thrice, but four times! I've got the hand histories somewhere but can't be bothered to search for them at the moment. The four hands I managed to crack the bullets with were:

33 - a simple set versus overcard scenario, all-in on a 3 9 T board.

KT off - Blind on blind battle, I raised from the small blind, he reraised in the big blind, i smooth called to see a KT4 flop. I lead out, he minreraises, I actually thought to myself "it would be brilliant if he had aces here" at this point before shoving all-in...

56 of clubs - I defended my BB from a cutoff raise. Flop of Q56. I check, cutoff bets 3/4pot, I call. Turn's a 10, I check once more, he bets 3/4pot again and I push and win.

and

89 of spades - I raise to $1 UTG, get reraised by the BB to $3, I call. Flop comes down 888...jackpot...he checks...I check....9 on the turn which I think is a bit of overkill. He bets $2, with $21 back. I flat call thinking he's got nothing and a reraise will scare him away. River comes a 2 and he pushes all in for $21 into the $10.10 pot. I insta-call...the rest is history.

Overall in the session I managed to win about $125 meaning my Party bankroll now stands at just over $500. I said in an earlier post that once I reached this figure I would move up to $0.25/0.50 but am feeling comfortable at the level I am at so may not do this. I've always considered there to be two main ways to increase your profit, moving up levels or playing more tables. However, there is a fine line that exists with both of these strategies. Technically by moving up a level because you're playing for higher stakes, the amount you win should go up in a similar fashion. But there are several other factors to consider, such as the standard of players invariably gets better. Also need to consider that my style of play may not be suited to the higher level and I will need to adapt it to maximise profits. Plus technically I will be playing well outside my Party bankroll and so this could affect my game and make me minimise the risks that I may usually take. Looking at the second option of playing more tables, again the theory is that the more tables you play the greater profit per hour you make as you are playing more hands. However this is not always the case as the more tables you play the less attention you are able to pay to each one and each player you are against. This means that it is harder to play the players and you end up just playing the cards, which can work against you. Generally when I have been playing at my current level of $0.10/0.25 I find I make about $15-$25 an hour 4 tabling. It will be interesting to see if this rate increases when I do finally decide to move up a level.

In other news I found out today that I'm going to be offered a job working for Atkins on their graduate scheme which is obviously great news. I'm unsure whether I will be at their Epsom office or their London office but either will be fine with me (although the London office will take about 20-30 minutes off my journey). As for my plans for the near future I'm meeting Marc for lunch on Thursday, playing golf Friday with my Dad, got a Jo's uncle's wedding on Saturday (where she is one of the bridesmaids) and got my Grandad's 80th birthday celebrations on Sunday so its going to be a pretty packed weekend for me. Then, if I carry on with the summer placement with Transport for London, I will be working from either the 2nd or 9th of July near Victoria.