It's been a while since my last post and update. I've been busy with a few other projects and haven't had as much time. I have been playing my challenges but haven't had time to update my blog.

I really wanted to splurge and play one of the $200 WCOOP events but I just couldn't find the time. :(

Since my last update my Double or Nothing Sit N' Go challenge bankroll is up over $1,000 to $2,584. I'm currently playing the $10 DoNs. My winrate since the last update was only 55.6% giving me a little better than a 3% ROI.

Not a spectacular winrate but it's mainly due to one big downswing.

I started out this update playing the $5.40 DoNs even though my bankroll rules allowed me to play the $10.80 DoNs. There were a couple of reasons why I decided to stick with the $5 DoNs.

First, I just got used to playing a large number of tables and was having fun and showing good results doing so and I didn't want to stop.

The other reason (and this is longer than I wanted but I can't stop talking about new toys)  was I needed to replace the TV in my office and decided to use my FPPs to get a new TV from the PokerStars' VIP store. Sticking with the $5 DoNs I was able to generate FPPs faster since moving to the $10 DoNs would mean I would have to play fewer tables.

I had planned to restrict my FPPs to only cash bonuses but just couldn't resist. I'm the type of person that usually goes nuts looking at specs and comparing models before I make any purchasing decision. I hate wasting money and more importantly I hate getting something and then realizing for only a little bit more I could have gotten something better.

The downside is that I start out looking for something that costs let's say $300 and then realize for $50 bucks more I can get something better, and then for only another $25 I can get something even better. Eventually I say screw it if I'm going to spend $200 above my initial $300 budget why not just get the top of the line model!

Unfortunately (or fortunately) I didn't have time to do that and just blindly bought the 26" 720p Samsung HDTV that PokerStars lists on their store. It was the right size and I could do without 1080p in my office. I'm happy with it. The picture quality is good and it has some nice features. My favorite is that it comes with a USB port and I can connect an external drive to play videos from my computer.

OneCall.com seems to be the company that fulfills electronics orders for PokerStars's VIP Store. The TV was listed for $480 when I ordered it for 32,000 FPPs. If I chose to purchase bonuses with those FPPs I would have only been able to get less than $400 worth so it seemed like a good deal. Amazon put it on sale shortly after I ordered it and it would have been a toss-up. Check out Amazon's current price for the Samsung LN26C450 26-Inch 720p 60 Hz LCD HDTV
Overall I was very happy with the process and service and would buy from OneCall.com again but instead of purchasing something directly from the VIP Store I'll go about it a different way. I noticed that in the VIP Store you can purchase $200 gift certifcates for OneCall and that would allow me to be more selective about what item I purchase.

OK, back to DoNs...

After I earned the FPPs I needed for the TV I finally moved up to the $10 DoNs. I started playing one and then two tables at a time and things were going well. Very well actually.

Since I continued with the $5 DoNs longer than I should have my bankroll could actually support playing more than 2 tables at a time and I quickly moved to about as many as I was playing at the $5 level. That's when the downswing hit and it was a pretty big one. I never hit the point where my bankroll rules told me to move down so I kept at it trying to find my bearings.

Moving up quickly probably wouldn't have been such a big problem but a few weeks went by where I didn't have time to play any poker and I guess I forgot how? I should have eased myself back into it.

At the $10 level players generally make fewer mistakes than they did at the $5 level and I found I needed to focus more to keep myself from making mistakes myself. I dropped back down to 2 tables at a time to pay closer attention and make some adjustments to my game.

I slowly worked my way up to 5 tables at a time and I'm playing them pretty much tiled (with a slight overlap) so I can pay attention to the action easier.

I created a custom layout with 5 tables arranged as shown in the image to the right. There's a little bit of overlap but I can still see what's going on.

More important than seeing what's going on, this layout helps me remember the players. This is helpful when there's a player I'm picking up a read on but I don't have enough hands against them for the HUD stats to be reliable.

I'm not good with remembering names or avatars but I'm good at remembering something like the player in the upper right table in seat 1 raises loose and calls shoves light. Playing with my tables stacked doesn't allow me to remember players in that way.

My next step is to play 6 tables. I have a layout where I moved the center table up and added a 6th one just under it. After that 8 tables with a bigger overlap and then I'll see if I can go back to stacking tables.

The challenge is going much slower than I initially thought it would but as long as that chart keeps moving up I guess I can't complain. :)

I decided I was going to try and keep my FPPs reserved for bonuses, satellites and tournament tickets but I really wanted the new Spade Design Hooded sweatshirt. Especially since it was going to be on sale.

There was a lot of talk about this particular item on different forums so I made sure I got up early and ordered it shortly after it went on sale.

It turns out that a lot of people did indeed order it during the sale and some orders may be delayed.

Orders from the VIP store usually take a few weeks so I'm not sure what a delay may mean.

This is the email I received this morning.

Due to the huge number of orders for the Spade Design Hooded Sweatshirt during the January Sale, there may be a delay in sending out all the items.

We anticipated that this would be a popular item, but we were taken by surprise at just how popular. Due to the unprecedented demand we cannot meet all requests from our existing stock.

Rest assured all orders will be fulfilled, and many of them within the usual timeframe. For those that experience a delay, we are extremely sorry.

Thank you for your understanding and patience in this matter.

Sucks, but hopefully because I got my order in so early mine will ship on time.

Unfortunately the new sale page doesn't list the day the items will be on sale any more, just what the current sale item for the day is. I have some of the VIP Reward Bonus sale dates listed in a previous entry.

Update 1/30/10:  Just received an email that my spade design hoodie has shipped :)

Pokerstars is having a sale in their VIP Store between January 12-31. Some of the items include some of the VIP Rewards Bonuses. I previously discussed how to use the VIP Reward Bonuses as a way to get Pokerstars Rakeback.

Each day, a different item will be on sale. The sale price will be updated in the VIP Store between 5:00-7:00 AM ET and will be available at that price for 24 hours.

Below is a summary of the discounts on rewards including the date they will be on sale. The best deal for us small stake players is the $50 VIP Rewards Bonus.

Bonus	Original FPPs	Discounted FPPs	PCT Discount	$/FPP	Sale Date
$50	5,000	3,000	40%	$0.017	1/25/2010
$285	25,000	20,000	20%	$0.014	1/26/2010
$650	50,000	40,000	20%	$0.016	1/31/2010
$1,500	100,000	85,000	15%	$0.018	1/15/2010