September Review

Nothing of interest on the tourneys today, only a few played and was never really up for it while suffering one of my lovely hangovers (cheers Wayne for the shots i shouldnt have gone onto). Anyway on to the monthly review instead.

Its been a strange month, seems to have gone very quickly for me anyway. Another CPC package is the obvious highlight and achievement. As i went last year and cashed 13th/252 i know what to expect this time. I am really looking forward to returning to St Kitts with another all inclusive package and ill make sure i enjoy it to the max regardless of how the poker goes. As a poker package goes its easily the best one ive won or have wanted to win. The surroundings are very nice and there is the option of playing as little or as much poker as i want to out there. It will be nice to play in the same big event 2 years running as well although i must not put daft high expectations on myself given my result last year. As most of you know i was very unlucky to finish 13th with some nasty beats and i know i cannot play the tournament much better than i did last year.

Final profit for the month finished at £528 which im happy enough with when i have the $9500 of package as well. I played too many cash games and not enough tournaments within the month and i will change this approach next month. My patience wasnt great later in the month and thats why i just didnt enter many tournaments, saying that i could have played better cash games and the patience factor probably cost me a bit there too. Recurring illnesses did not help and i found myself quite bored a lot of the time because of this.

The other success for the month was my horse getting me some prize money in the region of £300 which will also almost certainly increase its sale value in the next month or two. I believe i will receive the money along with the sale money once its sold and to date i dont know exactly when this will be. It will be a nice addition to a future months profit/bankroll anyway.

October expectations ? Well i dont normally set any but i will be making sure i play more tournaments for starters. Apart from that i will just be trying to regain some focus and hopefully get a bit fitter as well. I did lose some weight last month but im only a tiny bit fitter and (provided i dont get ill again) i will attempt to reverse this in October. Yeh stop laughing :))

Mood Swings

The last 2 or 3 days i really just have not been in the mood to play poker, i think the fact ive been playing small bits every day for ages and not having any complete days off has probably led to me losing interest in the game. Ive experienced this before so i know its temporary and i know my interest and excitement comes back after a few days with little or no play. With a CPC seat (including some cash) ive not really got any goals for the rest of the month and am almost looking forward to the start a fresh new month feeling. Im still somewhere around the £500 profit + $9500 CPC package so no change really in that since the first week of September.

Anyway i only played tonight from 9:20pm:

Holdem Blackjack $20 for fun and practise for CPC sub ones at weekend. finished 6th/30ish (pays to 3) , tiny bit of luck more and i win or cash easily in that but not to be.

£27 10k 380ish entrants, finished 11th after nursing a short stack well around the bubble only to get as high as 6/18. Key pot was AJstd vs KK pot odds which failed to hit. This pot would have put me on 50k in 4/12 but instead i was 8/13 on 30k. Blinds were still low but with a couple more flops missed i went down to 18k before pushing with A8 only to run into a loose caller with A10, out in 11th. Annoying, but all this result does is remind me to play this ridiculously bad standard of a tournament and also to rock it a lot as the standard is so poor.

Only other tournament was $100 28 player one which i finished 8th in (pays to 6th). This one had its moments. I called my 3200 stack all in on my bb with K4off from the sbs push when the blinds were only 400. He had done it way too often and i was waiting for any callable hand. It held against 72off as it was !!! Unfortunately the tournament eventually became a crapshoot and my 68std push in the sb ran into JJ and i was crippled. I doubled again K10 vs rags only for 55 to lose against A10std for a pot that would have put me top 3, but still level stacks with most of the table as they were spread evenly.

So level on the night basically but close to a few results. Probably whole day off tommorrow as out on the piss which will suit me fine before the last day of the months play.

Cash Games Blog

It just dont seem as interesting blogging about cash games as you never have the depth of a multi where the first prize is appealing. When you win on a cash table , its like oh i should stay now and use my big stack, where to draw the line and stop and call it very successful, massively successful or just a good session.

Anyway my few tournaments tonight were total non starters, busting out early in all of them, though not through bad play. So i played cash either side of the tournaments and more than covered the buyins, in fact i was probably a good $300 up on the night (after the tourney buy ins) so its a good day but i dunno, it didnt feel as exciting really.

Late Sunday Report

Nothing big won unfortuately. Closest i got was playing the CPC shootout $154 where i played well and got some nice cards to make the final table only to finish 10th. I wasnt too annoyed as i should have lost an extra 1000 chips when outflushed but the guy played it as bad as its possible. The just as i think im freerolling the 1175 left as i should have been on 200 give or take a few my 1010 runs into AA behind when im all in because there were 2 limpers making the all in a must with my stack at 25,50. I will try some more of these as the chance of $11300 cash for a seat is too much value to pass up.

Party never got going and after getting back to my starting stack i just missed flops and finished somewhere in the 4000s/8000.

I finished the night off on 1,2$ NL 2 tables and have to mention this hand as its a classic, probably the biggest stitch up hand ive ever had in cash , luckily i was on the right side of it :)

I flat call $2 in mid with 9h8h, there are 5 of us in at a $10 in pot flop.
Flop is a juicy 7h6h3h and all check.
Turn is a even better 5h giving me the straight flush. Im hoping the 4h is out there or at least the ace. Anyway guy before me bets 5$ which i call and others fold.
River is a meaningless 10 and he fires $20 into the $20 pot. I immediately go all in and he instantly calls with 8d4h.
Pot was $546 in total so that was a huge bonus given you only buy in at this table with maximum $200.

Gotta feel sorry for him but i dont, we all get on the wrong side of these situations at some point, nasty one that though.

I maybe levelled for the day but im not really sure as i lost a wad on interpoker only to win on other software, certainly wouldnt have been down too much anyway.

Mid Sunday Report

In the hope i will want to play some decent games later ill blog the afternoon away and try and start a fresh if i ccan be bothered.

22euro 90ish players AJstd vs 66 (backwards dummy) preflop on pot to go 1st with huge stack out of maybe 15 players roughly.

£22 140 players, got decent stack early in this only to get another backwards dummy flat calling 200 utg+1 behind another caller with KQoff only to call his whole 5k stack off preflop when i went all in with 88 on the button. Pot was to go 5/29. Instead i was left on 70-90 chips at blinds of 100,200. Ironically i got back into it with luck for the small pots, pushed well when weak only to exit on pot to have gone 6/11, 1010 vs K10std. Crazy game but i got a gay £30 return LOL.

No luck on cash so far, everyone seems to be hitting there draws against me but no serious damage yet. Also got nowhere in a 50k sub.

Party poker started very bad missing everything but im now back to 5k starting stack on 100,200 blinds after flopping a straight with 96off in the small blind.

Later

Reverse Those Drunken Fortunes

With another drunken session :)).

2 tables at 1,2$ NL 1 10 handed and 1 6 handed. Anyway a couple of hours later i exit $50 up on the 6 handed and $400 up on the 10 handed one. Think the funniest hand has to be the guy 10 handed that goes straight 97$ allin utg+1 for just the blinds of 3$. Finding aces there was a nice pay off LOL.

Have to see whether im in the mood later to play some of the interesting games, a 8000 player $1,000,000 is the only definite game im committing to at this time.

Y Y Y

do i insist on playing drunk cash ? Well i wasnt even that drunk tonight so maybe its just the impatience of the week ive had. Anyway i dont think ive played bad, just way way too many stitch ups in my opinion resulting in most if not all of the monthly profit gone. Oh well serves me right for playing type of games when im not really in the mood for it and im mainly playing out of boredom or just to pass the time. I know i dont take this game seriously enough when im playing but sometimes i really just cant be botherered. End of

Stans Poker Black Listed

On the basis that i made a tiny mistake of being 4 raked hands short of the number needed to qualify for prizes in a freeroll and them not using their simple basic disgression to allow me any prize. This has cost me $650 sub to an EPT and a bit of cash as well so i have withdrawn all funds from the account and will be advising nobody to play on the software as a matter of principle. Im sure i can find another prima skin (there are loads) with a better than 25% rakeback anyway so it might be a blessing in disguise.

CPC Negotiations

After a very very long email i have managed to reduce my $11,300 package to the CPC for 2 down to a $9,500 package for 1 and $1800 cash. Apologies to Dean "manic me" Troop for not getting a free holiday, £1000 cash is just too much to pass up. Interpoker took a long time to get back to me about this (about 2.5 weeks), so it will be interesting to see if anyone else can get the same as standard or if my email made the difference.

Anyway the important thing is that puts me into profit for the month in cash with just over a week to go. Having the package won this month as well this will be another successful month regardless of the end of it. Not included in my months earnings is the prize money from Laddies Poker which i wont get until he is sold in a month or 2. At over 460 euros this is a nice addition and his good runs will hopefully increase the sale price as well.

Been playing a fair bit the last few days but not many big buy ins because im still not 100% in health. Holdem Blackjack is an interesting fun new game on cryptologic which i like playing a bit and ive cashed in 2/3 tournaments ive played so it must be skill :)) I might have won a $650 sub qualifer to EPT dublin (1 in 15 win package). At this time im not sure as i hadn't quite met the tournament raked hands requirement (my mistake) and they are refusing to give it. I've sent a firm 2nd email and they are looking at it again, i wont give up the fight for this easily, it was an honest mistake which, in my opinion, shouldn't be punished.

Not too much lined up for the weekend yet apart from the party poker monster weekly (saturday and optional) and monthly (sunday and optional but i want to play this one) games so i will play as little or as much as i like i guess.

It Can Be Good To Be Proved Wrong (Non Poker Related Of Course)

Results
Curragh
Tuesday, 19th September 2006 Going: Yielding. Going after the first race was changed to Yielding to Soft.
3:55
Shelbourne Hotel Goffs Million 7f.1st - €985,000, 2nd - €300,000, 3rd - €150,000, 4th - €80,000, 5th - €46,000, 6th - €24,000 - 28 ran

1st
(28) Miss Beatrix
Kevin Prendergast
D P McDonogh6/1 - (William Durkan)
2nd
(22) Regime
M L W Bell
J P Spencer16/1 - (Highclere Thor'bred Racing XL)
3rd
(8) Drumfire
M Johnston
J Fanning7/1 - (Kennet Valley Thoroughbreds IV)
4th
(9) Emerald Hill
M Halford
J P Murtagh14/1 - (B Kerr)
5th
(16) Laddies Poker (USA)
J Noseda
T P Queally100/1 - (Ladbrokes International Ltd)


Looks like 1% of 46,000 euros = 460 euros prize money :))
Good result, that horse has a great future after this result and given it was a late foal racing against other 2 year olds. Also he prefers firm ground, i didnt expect any result when i saw the ground condition (above).

Shame i couldn't be there to see that race, would have been a great day but this consolation isnt too bad. He missed the break a tiny bit but ran really well after, he even was gaining on 2nd and 3rd finishers at the end, but was just not quite fast enough.

I do feel a bit like i've finished 5th in a big multi though, given the jumps in prize money its still a bit gutting LOL.

Anyway im unsure if there will be any more races lined up, i believe he will be sold sometime in the next couple of months, just have to wait and see.

What a load of ******* ********

Me not happy bunny, as the weekend went on i looked forward more and more to leaving for Ireland today.

Unfortunately i've got some sort of sore throat/headache/flu type thing, almost exactly the same as i had at the end of Vegas just over a month ago. There is no point going anywhere with this, i remember the trip back from Vegas and i hate travelling when i feel like shit. It wouldnt be so bad but basically since i returned from Vegas i have been ill way way too often. Roughly 10 days after Vegas i was ok for a week then i came down with a different thing for another 7 days. Again i was ok for a week and even started to get back into a bit of exercise last week only to come down with this which i expect to last a week , the sore throat always turns into a chesty cough cos of my asthma and that lingers on.

This is just plain daft, i put it down to myself being so unfit and i need to turn this around fast as im sick of being sick. Problem at moment is im in bit of a catch 22 situation but this will change. I dont expect sympathy, i just need to get this rant out at this time. As i said, i think ive only got myself to blame at the moment, especially since i was fine friday before gettting plastered and suffering a monster hangover saturday. Im sure this doesnt help your body if its prone to catching something.

The boredom being the worst factor , great another week of fun to look forward to. I cant play poker in any quantity while i have a smacking headache so thats out of the question.

No issue at all with money as ive had a $200 credit into my account already and i dont expect Ladbrokes to take it back when i speak to them. Also im hopeful of a part refund for my parking of £20 so ive only spent about £60 if i get that. I dont expect anything for the flight although i still should ring as might get some of government taxes back, however i doubt this very much.

At the minute i think im being tested after August's poker results but hey there's a lot of people in the world more worse off than me.

End of Rant

:((( -----> :(( -----> :( -----> :)

Multi Table Action

Played 4 multis tonight after my monster hangover cleared enough and had 4 on the go at the same time for a while.

1) $109 69 players with $5k added, Was never all in covered in this until last 17 when i made a play against a calling station and lost to ace high , annoyed me cos the guy played his hand so badly but wont go into detail. Also had lost a medium pot earlier AK vs AJ which didnt help my overall progress.

2) $50 11 players , again never all in covered until last 4 when JJ ran into KK. The hand before i raised with A7 on the button and a muppet flat called for a 1/3 of his stack with 67std. Obviously he then outdrew me when he pushed on the flop with 2nd pair. So instead of a monster stack 3 handed i went out 4th for $100 which was very poor considering the way i lost.

3) £55 15k guaranteed 280 players, got off to ok start in this before losing a hand 33 vs J9std to have gone 25/90. Left me with only 3k at 150,300 instead of 7k :(. Pushed with J8off on the button when there had been 2 callers to take a nice pot of 1200 uncalled.
Still in currently 38/64 (pays to 30)...update later

Lucky to make the money after calling a weaker stacks all in with AJ only to face AK and be left crippled. Then this happened when 19/23:
utg+1 flat calls 1200 i top up 600 in sb with K9off and flop is Qc8c9x, chk chk chk, turn = 9c, i push all in 8k for the 5k pot and utg+1 has J10off and i bust. Nasty stitch up, i considered the all in preflop but didnt like ths pot and i even considered folding because the bb only had another 2k and i thought he could well stick it in preflop for value.

4) 100$k monster on party 4392 entrants, steady progress until i gave some chips to a weak stack, currently just under average with 2815 left.....update later

Short stacked currently but i have won entry to the monthly $1million tournament which is next sunday.......update later

Got up to a big stack after that last post before losing a JJ vs A10 to have gone about 35/500. That knocked my stack a bit but i was still above average and sustained my stack well. The blinds eventually caught up again after i was card dead for ages and the only steal with rags i did had run into a weak stacks aa.

Finally playing a 70k stack i flat called 6k utg with KK and got it all in preflop against an AK. First 2 cards out were AA , not nice and the pot was to have gone to 145k with the average at 117k. As it was i finished 115th/4392 for $90 and got entry to the million$ tournament next sunday (with a max of 8000 players).
The prize structure for the $100k is based on 8000 players and is way too flat, amazingly 10th gets only $250 compared to $12500 for 1st LOL.

Ireland Here i Come !!!

Laddies is in a list of 38 runners of which 30 will run on Tuesday at the Curragh 3.55pm, but the 12 fillies will be dropped in the first instance so it looks almost guaranteed he will run.

I have decided to make the trip on my own and i am looking forward to it a lot. I managed to get a second night in the hotel for only $100 as ladbrokes were happy to make up the difference and drop $100 off the $300 travel allowance i will receive which just about exactly covers my petrol, airport parking, taxis and flights.

The hotel looks posh as hell and is 129 euros a night for a single room so probably in line with the posh hotels poker forces me to use :)) www.setantahousehotel.com

Anyway as usual ive played no poker today (unless u include 3 hands on a cash table my mate was on which i made $15 from LOL) and i must go as its time to get ready to go out and get pissed. Its a hard life :))

Another Online Poker Perk

I logged on this afternoon for a little while before i was due to play golf at 4pm. At 3pm i received an email from ladbrokes giving me just 5 hours notice of a laddies horse shareholder freeroll ! So intead of staying down and probably having a drink or two after golf i came straight back to play the freeroll. Due to the short notice there were less than 80 entrants with 18 VIP packages to the Curragh (In Ireland) racecourse up for grabs. I won one although im not 100% sure ill go yet due to the difficulty of travelling to these things.

Laddies Poker is not a definite to run, we find this out on sunday afternoon 48 hours before the race.

If i go i get $300 for travel. I also get 1 nights hotel (bound to be well posh) accomodation.

It costs money to take someone with me into the VIP bit, ive been told £150 but not officially.

Pricing it up it looks like "easiest" option is Exeter - Dublin return flight for about £100.

Fly possibly on the Monday and pay for an extra night accomodation or i could risk the Tuesday flight which gets to Dublin about midday and then make my way to the course from there but this will make the Tuesday more rushed and maybe not so relaxing. Return Wednesday flight for definite.

I still have the 50 miles to Exeter to get lift for and the 20 miles or so to the racecourse from the airport as well.

I need to way up all the above and see if anyone is viable to go with me or whether i would wanna go by myself anyway and i have to think fast and make decisions as its such short notice.

Hopefully blogging has helped the thought process by the summary above anyway, time to sleep on it for now :))

Lack of Play

Lack of Play = Lack of Posts !!!

Only played couple hours in total Monday - Wednesday, found other stuff to do like golf,snooker,pool,running,cycling and im enjoying the time off.

Im itching a bit to play some tournaments so i should enjoy them when i do but i doubt that will be today as ive more golf planned later. Anyway ive played a bit more cash today , about 2 hours. I have to post one of the pots towards the end for fun as it is the highest hand ive had for months ( i think this year actually !!!) in holdem.


Table "Brandnew" Seat 6 is the button.
Seat 1: qawseder ($40 in chips)
Seat 2: Azrael109 ($111.50 in chips)
Seat 3: gorelo ($59.93 in chips)
Seat 5: jackmoor ($99.48 in chips)
Seat 6: animalgod ($85.75 in chips)
qawseder: posts small blind $0.50
Azrael109: posts big blind $1
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to animalgod [5d 4d]
jackmoor: folds
animalgod: raises to $3
qawseder: folds
Azrael109: calls $2
----- FLOP ----- [2d 3d Ac]
Azrael109: bets $4
animalgod: raises to $8
Azrael109: calls $4
----- TURN ----- [2d 3d Ac][Ad]
Azrael109: checks
animalgod: bets $7
Azrael109: raises to $14
Jin82 joins the table at seat #4
animalgod: raises to $21
Azrael109: calls $7
----- RIVER ----- [2d 3d Ac Ad][2s]
Azrael109: bets $28
animalgod: raises to $53.75 and is all-in
Azrael109: calls $25.75
----- SHOW DOWN -----
animalgod: shows [5d 4d] (Straight Flush, Five high)
Azrael109: shows [As Ts] (A Full House, Aces full of Twos)
animalgod collects $170 from Main pot

Keep them a coming !!! :))

Nutty Rollercoaster Luck/No Luck Crapshoot No Big Money

After some nasty exits in smaller tournaments earlier in the day i entered a 515 player $140 game. I got some big hands early which held up and i was chipleader for a good while before this hand:

200,400 im on button with 7h8h. I flat call an utg raise of 1200 playing a 15k stack at the time.
flop is 3h9h9x and i flat call a 2000 bet hoping the guy is on AQ or AK and i can semi-bluff the turn if i miss. turn is a 10 giving me a straight draw as well. He checks so i fire 5000 into the 7000 pot to which he puts me all in. Now there is no way i can fold here, i have far too many outs so i call leaving myself on 900 if i miss. He shows JJ and i miss for the 30k pot to have gone 1st/150, instead im probably last.

As often seems to happen i then get the luck for the smaller pots. 900 went to 4500 when i pushed nxt hand with K9 and nicely for me a 33 isolated me to x5 on a coinflip. I won another pot with top pair on a free big blind flop uncalled and got back to 10k. I then doubled K4 vs 33 to 16k before i doubled KK vs AK and i was top 10 again.

Basically i went card dead then but just managed to sustain that stack in the crapshoot bubble time before pushing A10std for 32k when the blinds were 2k,4k. I ran into AK and as always didnt get any help for the massive pot. That would have put me 2nd/39, thats how much of a crapshoot it was !!!

I got paid $400 but there were some big payouts at the final table, top 3 being 25$k, 16$k and $10.5k, so to say im very gutted after that rollercoaster is to put it mildly.

Again Cursing Myself For Not Playing Tighter

Tried the cpc $154 shootout again as there was value with only 30 players. Despite being 600 vs 5400 heads up at one point in the first level i turned it around and made it to the final 10 again.

This time it was a little looser but the trouble was i got on the wrong side of the calling stations luck. Here are 2 examples of how bad 2 of the players were:

1) level 1 blinds 10,20, 6 flat call in pot so 120. flop 10,5,2 (i have K5) chked to me (last but 1 to act) and i bet 90 into 120. All fold except guy in front of me. He flat calls, turn comes a queen he chks i bet again as i cant put him on 10 as he was type of player that would have bet it , about 180 into 300. He flat calls, river is a blank chk chk , he shows KQoff !!! Some people are so bad and its nice to see just how stupid they are at these higher levels sometimes.

2) similar to above, level 2 15,30 , 4 callers ie 120 in pot. Flop 244, chk chk i bet 90 into 120 which is called only by the big blind. turn 9 chk chk, river 9 chk chk. Now u would never guess in a million years what this guy held. Q5std (no flush draw on flop btw) , so we split the pot as i had QJoff. LOL , just what goes through their brains when they make these sort of calls, i think they are just randomly pressing buttons :)

Anyway i threw a chunk after with AJ after that trying to represent a big hand before doubling back through and thinking it could be my night again. But then after going card dead i threw my chips all in on the small blind with only 95std and was called by AJstd , i didnt need to do that as i had about 11xbb at the time (saying that it was last hand of the level so really i was only 7xbb after that hand if i folded) but sometimes u feel its worth the risk, this time it wasnt.

I will endeavour to continue playing these if the value remains and i still think my game suits these win only ones where u have to gamble a bit. I did win $100 on cash in the 30 minutes before the start so its not too much of a chunk out of my bankroll anyway on the night.

Cant Calm The Aggression Down

Fuk it, bollox im pissed off. Just busted the 3rd 16$k added tournament with a stupid overraise with QJoff , called by AQ and out 60th/400. Was a valid move as the guy was raising like fuk but im still pissed off at my bad timing. About 20 hands earlier i was top 10 with only 70 left , before i went on my raise and get reraised 3 times running. The third one i had A3std and was pot committed with pot odds and the muppet had AJ. I know i should tighten up more in these games sometimes but i cant help but raise. The first reraise showed aces anyway but i had jackshit anyway 25std i think it was in the cut-off. Guess there is a bit of agressive tilt in there but thats the way sometimes.

Earlier i went out of the 2nd 16$k added with QQ vs AJ vs AK , AJ winning of course !!! Not a monster pot but enough to get me right back in that one. In the party poker $100k i went out JJ vs KJoff for a pot to go 7500 when average only 5500. half of the 4500 field had departed at this point and the top 2000 get entry to their monthly $1,000,000 tournament so lets just say the KJ calling and hitting did not bring a smile to my face. OK i was livid :((

Also earlier played a $50 13 player tournament and finished 3rd ridiculously after raising 4 handed with 99 800 more to 1200 on the button the 4k stack bb flat calls and bets 2000 into a J1010 board, do i think he has the jack , NOOOOOO so i go all in . Donkey has Q9off and hits a queen, pot that would have put me 1/3 with over half chips in play. Reason i call him a donkey is he starts abusing my 99 call on the flop when its a damn good call, god did i give him some abuse and funny enough (as expected) his name was always on it, he went on to win a few hands later QQ vs 33 heads up. That just about covered my entrance fee to the other tournaments anyway, just a frustrating night as close to ok money or even bigger stuff.

Last couple of days ive dropped way down the stakes at cash and its worked with several good sessions. The only positive i can take from those tournaments tonight is the fact ive busted just in time for match of the day and i dont know any results so that should take my mind off this bull.

No No No

No good, im playing way too much out of boredom which isnt surprising since ive been stuck inside for 5 days in a row. Anyway i know its not a good idea and again ive been proved right as i make horrid decisions on cash, but i know im just not hitting my share of flops as well. Combined together equates to some nasty losses, ill wait till im 100% fit before playing anything at a significant level buy-in, be it cash or tournaments.

My horse missed the break in its latest outing, but did run through from 13th to finish 4th so things appear on the up for it which can only be good for any more races or for the sale later in the year.

Poor Cash

I played yesterday and couldnt put a foot right it seems. Also missed far too many flops, but i know there are days like it. Think a 110euro pot on omaha summed the day up at the end when i held AJ103 with 2 diamonds and the flop was KQJ with 2 diamonds. Get another guy all in on the flop and he holds A1099. Turn = K and River = K for a full house when i was big favourite for a split or a freeroll flush for the whole pot.

I didnt feel that great playing with my head still not clear and i was probably playing a lot out of boredom which is never a good thing but it probably only affected my play a little anyway.

Anyway it will be interesting to see if this form turns round quickly or not as i went through several hundred $ during the day in total.

On another note my horse runs today in its 2nd competitive race at the 2:40pm 7f race at Kempton. Apparently it might like firmer ground , well it looks firm in Cornwall so it better be the same in Kempton (Nr London). Currently on Betfair it is 29-1 so it looks promising LOL :(( .

Sunday Woes And CPC Hand Details

Wow Sunday was a big struggle, very tired from a sleepless night after the CPC qualifier and i had a smacking headache which got worse the more i played.

Anyway i got deep into the $50k added (626 entrants) before losing a marginal pot odds call 9,10std vs QJoff which would have put me 18/200 at the time (pays to 70) but instead i went about 90th. I reluctantly nursed the short stack and eventually went out to a good example of why i play poker as a living.

3k stack in sb for 150, 2 off button 6k stack flat calls 300 and i make it 900 with KK to which he goes 6k all in with A10off !!!???!!! . Yes limp trap with A10off when its a short stack thats obviously committed and has a hand, if i have AQ or similar here i go all in preflop because i dont want a race but with KK i want action and get it but he hits 2 pair and im out. Pot was to go 50-60th/144 but not to be, happy with my play but wish i had gone out earlier to make it easier on my headache.

The EPT 140 euro game has a great structure and starting stack so i may try to qualify for some more of these although it does not bother me if i dont make any EPT games really. Anyway after a good start i committed all my chips to a 8810 flop with 86 but the early limper had A8off so i was gone, if i had spiked a 6 (or if hand other way round :) ) i would have been 7th/57 with it paying to 6 so would have been in a great position so it was a good way to go out.

Right on to the CPC as my heads clear, at least for the moment !

I was heads up in the first stage of the shootout and didnt really find an edge until level 2 or so when i think the other guy got a bit impatient. I finally virtually won raising the button with 53off and on a flop of 557 i bet a tiny continue bet which he called and the turn was a Q. I bet a bigger 240 bet into the 360 pot and he raised me with QJoff, i went all in and he called leaving himself with 270 chips which he lost next hand.

After the usual long wait LOL i hit the 10 handed tight final table in freeroll mood as i was very tired.

I floated between 1200 and my 2000 starting stack before surviving a AKstd vs QQ with a king on the river. At the time i was 8 or 9/9 and after that pot i was 2/9 , thats how tight the stacks were.

I overraised with marginal resteal hands a few times eg AJ in small blind to button raiser and 1010 also and was not called and progressed nicely to chipleader. Then came the luck marginal pot odds hand which certainly set the path for the win. With only 6 players left i raised to 600 and the small blind went 2000 all in. I only have Q9off but its 1400 to call for a 4200 pot so i have 33% odds and i playing a 6k stack so i can afford the knock. More importantly i can still win if i lose but im in a massive position if i call and win and its a win only game. I make the call and its Q9off vs AKoff. Board 910J10x and im up to 8k+ 1st/5 with over 40% of chips in play.

A couple more dropped out against each other and it was 3 way , stacks about 9k vs 7k vs 4k. I didnt agress too much as the blinds were costly if overraised but i picked the right spots and just sustained the stack before the other 2 faced off. I then was behind at the start of the heads up about 8500 vs 11500 i think with blinds 150,300. I actually had watched the guy i was heads up against finishing his heads up on the previous level as they were last to finish and he was very passive and had no moves so i set a game plan of agressing the button a fair bit and not trying anything silly against him at first.

First hand i raise to 900 and get reraised to 2700 lol, now i am not going to let this slow me down ive seen enough to know he dont make moves without the goods. So effectively its 7500 vs 12500 from here. Anyway i continue the agression and sure enough he is folding over 50% of hands when i only raise the 300 to 7 or 800 in total. Then comes what is the key pot apart from the winning one. I call his raise of 900 with 97std and the flop is 97x rainbow, i lead out for a weak 666 to confuse and hope he takes as weak and sure enough he makes it another 900 which i flat call so now there is 5k in the pot. Im hoping to get my chips in on the turn but he has position and when it turns a jack i chk and he also checks to my disappointment. The river is a nasty 8 meaning any 10 for the straight, i know i probably cant fold this heads up but i would rather call his bet or get him to induce a bluff if i check, so i check. He bets 2500 into the 5k pot and i flat call, he shows Q8off for a pair and i take down a huge pot. I think i was 13500 vs 6500 after this pot and he never recovered as i chipped away.

Then the final hand came, Jc5c and he tops up the button. Flop is Q4x with 2 clubs and i bet 400 into the 600 pot to take there or build biggie if i can hit. He raised me to 900 i think, it def was 800-1000 total. I flat call as i know hes passive and i dont wanna go allin and chase the draw against this player, although this would be an option, especially if i had overcard(s) to the top pair i put him on. He is passive so i'll give up on the turn and chip away if im not priced in to see the river cheap. Anyway the turn is a 7c :)) i bet weak looking 8 or 900 and sure enough he bites all in 3700 or something, i call and he has Q4 for flopped 2 pair and gets no help, im there :))

As i've said not that many posts back, keep playing and the way im playing i will get a big win. I'm glad my prediction came good :))

Animal Is Off To The Caribbean Poker Classic

Unreal ive been ill the last 2 days so havent played any poker and only decided to enter the $154 CPC shootout tonight with minutes to go due to the value available.

I cant really go into detail cos im spinning but i completed the first stage with ease and my coinflip luck came in on the tight 10 player final to build a stack with 5 or 6 players left and i never looked back really.

$11,300 package and ive just counted the costs as ive written them down for interest and its cost me $570 in CPC subs to win this in total :))

Must crash im knackered, i guess a true response will be blogged next time.