6 Monthly / End Of Year Review

Another successful calendar year under my belt as a full time poker player. A final profit of £47,218 (Target was £36k-£48k and will be same for 2008). Also got about £10,000 worth of flight,hotel and buyins in Australia won and paid for to look forward to. (2006 £41k, 2005 £67k)

As with 2006 at times this game certainly messes with my head. I like to think the "2 year full time poker player honeymoon" is now definitely over. Im getting used to the grind cos in the end its just another way to earn a living. Saying that i want to appreciate the flexibility and the potential the game can offer in the long term more. I will try to enjoy the good bits more so the bad bits dont seem so bad. Never doubt the use of the blog for a rant or to highlight the good bits, its as valuable as ever for me.

No big live cashes this year but my WSOP performance was top notch by my own standards and certainly took my game to another level. Anyway here is a list of the big live games i played in 2007:

Las Vegas Pokerdome ($7,000)
Cardiff GUKPT (£1,050)
WSOP Main Event ($10,000)
London GUKPT (£1,050)


Best Month
April - Winning $24,000 for 1st in the Mansion $100k. Also won a 200 player freeroll on Ultimatebet for $2,500. Total profit for month £15,499.

Worst Month
Felt like August cos of first cash loss of £2,805 but poker pro package for Jan 2008 won worth £5000 on paper.
Actual worst month £1,942 profit in October, i still argue August felt much worse.

Im definitely more experienced now and a better all round player. Hopefully if i keep the solid part of my game up i can continue much the same in 2008. Its easy to think my year could rest on a good January which has a lot of potential, but i dont expect to win anything as i know that would just put pressure on me.

Extract from 2006 review which again applies although obviously for 2008 ----- "Who knows what 2007 will bring and thats the excitement of playing this game full time for a living"

GL readers for 2008 !

December Review

A very good month in the end. Final profit = £2,819 cash + Aussie Millions Package worth about £5,500 on paper. Experimented a fair bit with stts and some other stuff. Probably enjoyed the month at the tables more than expected. Key thing was only playing when in the mood if possible and also varying the games played. Enjoyment = Better Play = Better Results , sounds simple, wish it was lol. Lots to look forward to in January anyways ;) Happy New Years people !

New Years Eve Poker Banned

Ive had enough. Playing too many days in a row and it took its toll today. Didnt enjoy it much at all and struggled to focus big time. Money and tournament chips went up and down like a yoyo but on the day i ended up losing a wad. I cant be bothered to post any hand details in here tonight as there would be far too many.

Worst bit of day was proably busting the $550 game 1st hand. Best bit was finishing 11th in the crypto xmas added. Awful payout obviously but up until 25 players left i had played it incredibly agressive and it was building up to be one of my best wins if i could finish it off. I had led it for huge periods of time but in the end 11/573 completes my miserable night. Subbed to 40k earlier but bust that early too. Did do ok on omaha earlier but lost a chunk on gin rummy ive discovered on hills which is a tad addictive. Also lost a wad on limit cash and a bit elsewhere on stts and nl too.

Not to worry, only probably a small dent after last nights result and i can now say im done for 2007 with poker. Yearly Review to follow.....

Final MTT Win Of 2007 ???

I hope not but as i wasnt really expecting anything from this lazy 2nd half of December its nice to finish with a decent win.

Took down the Betfair $16k in the end for $4,800 (149 players). Most things seemed to go right near the end, basically with the best hand holding up most of the time. With 10 players left i had 132k/373k in play and knew i would be gutted if i didnt get at least 2nd or better. As it was i only increased that stack when we hit the last 5 players or so and then went heads up with a slight disadvantage against the only other guy i half respected at the table. Cards seemed to go my way and took down the HU a lot easier than i expected thx to a priced in river chunky pot and what turned out to be the perfect call preflop last hand.

Got to play tommorrow as subbed for that $525+$25 on Betfair, have to see what my lazy fat mood is like as to playin many others.

Biggies

Pots that is, although i did win one 16 player satellite game to get to the $150k on betfair tommorrow. Got some good shorthanded practise too with deep stacks which i needed hopefully for aussie. Still in betfair $16k too but being chipped away after a very chunky start, although to be fair i should have bust on a cold deck flop but got away thx to the guy not betting fast.

Other highlights include entering a 10k starting stack $100 only to bust for a 20k pot at blinds of 20/40 when all the chips went in on a Ac8x3c board with 33 only to lose to Q8cc. KK vs AA in another $109 early level. AK vs AA close to bubble of satellite for 300k mpp crypto game. QQ vs AK when stacked in another satellite (5 seats 20 left, almost guaranteed seat if hold). QQ about 6th hand of $55 50% stack going in on 10 high flop but mateys A6 flush draw too good for me and he catches ace on turn when im committed.

Will update later if i do anything in remaining game or play anything else interesting.

Same Again

Same chunk of multis and same sort of night as last night. A couple of 10ths which i had been lucky in but my best result was betfair even though it was only 15th or so i played much better in it and wasnt as reliant on luck. Patience is there sometimes and it does pay off to use it often these days to freeroll into the money where possible then hope to get lucky. Saying that i might have cashed in a few tonight but it probably was a bit more boring than normal for the same reason.

Steady Results

Was so close to not playing tonight after tiny tiny bits over the last few days. In the end decided on about 6 multis, most small except 2 x $100 ones. Cashed in couple headhunters for money back + tiny bit but main cashes were $13k crypto 19th (but never stacked) and er about 17th $16k betfair (was stacked most of game but stitch up on bubble and 3 or 4 preflops lost in row got to me a bit as i was 5th/19 well stacked). Played a mixture of styles in most of them and managed to incorporate the boring rock for a chunk too.

May play some more before year end but gonna take each day as it comes as im pretty lazy and undermotivated for most poker at the moment. Looking forward to a fresh start and fresh challenges in 2008 though big time.

Sunday Madness

Been a quiet few days pokerwise. Tiny bits played until today. Managed to win $500 earlier on cash tables and also cleared a $200 bonus. Good job i did as the multis i entered tonight were pretty much as bad as they could be and quickly wiped out that profit. Dont think i played particularly bad although 1 bust was a cringer, things just didnt seem to go my way. Also couple of as bad as they get fish types bust me in ridiculous fashion which promptly led to me losing it in the chat box. Anyway glad Sunday is over now and i guess its another piss up tommorrow for sure.

In other news ladbrokes have finally entered laddiespoker2 (racehorse i have share in) into a maiden on Sat 29th December. I expect nothing after the troubles its had but a good show would be nice for its debut.

I have just this minute had more details through regarding my Aussie Millions package but will wait until ive clarified everything before posting a sort of pre trip summary.

Merry Xmas to all !!!

Sixpac Challenge - Final Results

The 10 days race is over, i have played more sixpacs to sustain the bonus i would receive and have ended up with a $500 bonus which is not included in the figures below. I have paid over $1000 in jackpot sit and go extra rake but was close on 3 or 4 occasions to the $750 bonus without achieving it. Anyway final stats are listed below for future reference for myself mainly:


Played: 293
Profit (inc rakeback): $964
ROI% : 5.58%
Total Rake Paid : $2637
Adjusted ROI% (As though same game but $5 fee and not jckpot sit and go) : 11.07%

OK I Played

Figured i might as well play as i wasnt dead against it so did a wad of multis. Placed in a couple to cover buyins+ a bit but the key one thats left is mansion $110k.

954 entrants, as some of you may know mansion has opened its guaranteed games this week up to the whole network so the overlays have been none or minimal. Currently 17/29 but its a lot of allin poker so have to see how my luck is. Played pretty solid with exception of top 2 pair rivering a full house level 2 when all the chips went in on the turn ! Better to be lucky than good ;) I have no idea of the payouts as the website seems to be down, hopefully get a surprise when or IF i bust :) I will update below immediately after bust anyway, lets hope its not too angry.

Ah darn, bit sick but tis what happens. 5/10k 30k stack moves in , fool just flat calls the 30k. I have AK and 70k and i put committing reraise in to look stronger cos i know the caller aint foldin if i move in. its AK vs big stack AJ vs A2 so sidepot would alone take me higher in chips but jack flops and instead of the hand holding for a massive stack 4/23 , im out 23rd/954.

Struggling To Play

Motivation has dropped after that win and the lazy me has kicked in. Back to the old "ive had a good enough month so why play when i cant be bothered" attitude. Doesnt really matter if im doing other stuff i guess which i have been. Tonight though for example, im probably in all night so maybe should be doing a normal 4-6 multis at least. I may do, but i also may play nothing just like yesterday !

NOIQ rake race finishes tommorrow and im still on for a ok bonus of $250-$1000 due to the first couple days play. I may play some more sit and gos tommorrow just to make sure a sustain a decent bonus and to give me something to focus on.

Aussie Millions $12,500 Package Won

Just won a 42 player freeroll to seal my entry to the Aussie Millions in January. Survived a few coinflips before getting a massive chiplead 3 handed. Started to slip away then losing K10 vs KJ and K10 vs K3 both to have gone heads up with a monster lead at low blinds. Blinds caught up and only went HU 120k vs 80k, offered the guy a deal for a % in me but he wasnt interested. It got back to 100k vs 100k but after a break i won the first few hands with wild aggression then finally bust the chap Q8 vs 44 with a heart on a river for a 4 card flush.

A great win on so many levels for me. I now travel to Australia knowing im in a big live multi as well as the huge 10 seater play off a few days before it. I also got $2000 in cash which was probably to pay for my flights which were already arranged as part of the other package. There is bound to be hotel accomodation (probably at the crown casino) included too so im probably going to save £1000 which i was paying to stay on anyway. I will summarise the trip and what im doing on it before i go anyway on here.

Happy Xmas all !!!

Multis Return

Back to the sort of norm i guess. Had an OK day of sorts playing a few multis and a few sats, once of which i got through. Still in mansion 40/50 (pays 30) but highlight or lowlight so far was losing 88 vs AQ to have gone 5th/27 in the $109 $20k (paid 30 though so got my money back). Also won bout $170 on limit but prob lost bout that on a few sit and go games to stop me getting impatient in the multis alongside. Will update later if anything interesting.

Day 3

21 games in a 2:40hours first session of the day:

Crazy , ran well , played well , rewarded with nout nasty and lots holding up along with better than fair share of coinflips won. Daft thing is as i write this im a bit gutted as i had won 3 on the trot and then lost 88 vs 44 for over 50% chips in play with 3 left in the last one. I know i havent mentioned it before on here but if you win six in a row the jackpot at the moment is $180,000 so it would have been nice to have got close. I actually won 9 out of the 21 games which i know is ridiculously lucky however im playing. ROI after 1 session = 54.7% but that will drop a lot, be interesting to see what is is at midnight.


Yuk, just woke up to a leaderboard and im only 19th on it. Cant possibly justify carrying this on to only get $1000 bonus at the end of it. Leaderboard doesnt show how far i am behind others as they obviously think it makes players keep playing more, not in my lazy case though. There are a couple of sit and go players ahead of me just but ive noticed the guy in 2nd multitabling 10+ tables of limit 6 handed 3/6 - 10/20 . Guess i just cant compete with this even though im still convinced sit and go rakes higher i cant manage more than 6 at once as the timer on ipoker is limited.

Day 3 stats are only for the 21 games so i will just add them into the total figures to get a final ROI stats etc below:


Total to Date:
Played: 230
Profit (inc rakeback): $701
ROI% : 5.17%
Total Rake Paid : $2070
Time Played : 27:30 hours

ROI (adjusted as though same game but $5 fee and not jckpot sit and go) % : 10.63%

OK without going into detail im now considering whether to carry on again. I can get a new vip level and get into an extra promotion if i do at least 1.5 days more, im soooooooo indecisive i dunno what im doing.

Decision made is to maybe just get to new vip level in next few days sometime but not to carry on with the promotion itself other than maybe to sustain a cash bonus payout towards the end if im still up there.

Day 2

Update after first 2 hour session:
Total and utter nightmare again, got some cshes near end to recover bit but seriously ive seen so much donk plays winning its beginnning to do my head in big time. Another session like that and i will be forced to deposit more funds too, not good. Rake leaderboard should appear for the first time some time today, that will really make or break my motivation to carry on. Now im in -ROI i have to estimate the bonus im likely to get and gage if this is worth putting myself through after all.



Update after another hour session:


OK im done, seem to bubble every ******* time to absolute **** of a play, ******* ridiculous. At this time chances of me carrying this bullshit on tommorrow are probably 50/50.



One last moan unreal ive bubbled 8 times in last 29 games inc the last game of the night just then which i was leading 4 handed till some **** called my allin with A3 to suck out against my A8. Of course the small chippie had survived blinding out and doubled through 569 times before that too. I think i need help for my mental state at present.





After 1st afternoon session:


Looked like i was going to stop and give up, after depositing more money in the dodgy way i nearly lost it all but then results started coming towards the end of the session. Cheekily the rake leaderboard now says it wont appear until tommorrow, cunning very cunning to keep me playing. I still think if i bust my current balance then thats it unless im v high on rake leaderboard. This whole challenge reamins on a knife edge and i will just see what the next session is like and take it session by session. There are clearly up to 5 other players that are playing near flat out too on just sit and go and assuming some cash players this could be very difficult to top or come top 3.



OK back on track, just had a decent 5th session and im now just into +ROI% (level really i guess). Break for 20 mins then back into it, crucially not many of the regular players that were flat out are on at this time and the sit and gos are remarkably easier as a result for sure. Close to a $750 bonus again and surely i will get at least 1 if i carry this on for 10 days if not more than 1 ?


Good steady final session, stats for day 2 and total so far are below:
Played: 99
Profit (inc rakeback): $6
ROI% : 0.11%
Total Rake Paid : $891
Time Played : 12:30 hours

Total to Date:
Played: 209
Profit (inc rakeback): $23
ROI% : 0.19%
Total Rake Paid : $1881
Time Played : 24:45 hours

Day 1

6 sessions of between 1:45 and 2:30 hours. Running well to begin with but session 5 saw my ROI drop to a much more realistic level. Got me 2nd ever royal flush holding AdQd, lost AA vs 99 when the flop came A99, also remember hitting quad 2s. Got very close to a $750 bonus for 6 top 2 finishes in a row but a 3rd just crept in to cost me that. Very tired later in the evening and need to work on how to play through this without doing too much damage maybe.

Darn , i wrote the above before my 6th session, if i thought the 5th session was bad it was a good one compared to the absolute nightmare ive just had. Suck outs, ridiculously bad play rewarded nearly every time, etc etc. This will test me now as im on a break then i need to start day 2 and do at least one more session before bed.

Stats read: (after double checked and found it is worse than first thought)

Played: 110
Profit (inc rakeback): $17
ROI% : 0.25%
Total Rake Paid : $990
Time Played : 12:15 hours


Fingers crossed i can start day 2 as well as day 1 started. This is already turning into the nasty slog i was hopin it might not be for a few days. No wise cracks bout that ROI% being low please, these are jackpot sit and go games which are $50+$9 rake.

Challenge Animal - 1000 Sixpacs in 10 Days

Time for something different, ive spent 1 day so far experimenting on a possible 10 days rake promotion. I need to put in 12+ hours a day playing 6 x $59 sixpacs at the same time to achieve a decent rake and and hopefully one of the top rake bonuses. Along with rakeback and hopefully some winnings im hoping it will be well worth the slog. I will post the ups and downs and tiredness ratings here to try and keep my focus and motivation.

Sunday (Likely Crap) Summary

2 games in so far, KK vs AA in small sat , fair enough.
Other game £39 lost a 50/50 to go monster chipleader with half the 237 players gone. still left in 15th at the time but gradually decrease down and tighten up until exit pot. JJ vs 10s , 10 hits instead of 18/59 im out 59th.

Was feeling rather negative before i started and prob not the best frame of mind for the 1/6 $5000 freeroll later. Much needed break for 70 minutes now and will update more + or - stuff later. Doubt i will enter too many others as that sixpac is too important and i cant focus on much else. Attitude stinks at moment, need to work on patience but easier said than done. Saying that prob playin as best as can but just stuggling with my yoyo stack and corresponding yoyo mood a bit.

...
Yeh rubbish 4 handed JJ vs KK for 6800/15000 in play. Worst thing is left in 3 other games that i just dont want to play cos im moody. Fish agressive mode now.

Oh forgot to mention also had a $3500 40 player freeroll (pays 10) which i was donked off to someone playin AA as bad as its possible then getting a well deserved river when all the chips went in on the turn. Out 36th instead of 2.5x starting stack 2/36. Just bust mansion moment ago top pair and fluish draw vs flopped straight, fair enough im sure the other 2 games will follow shortly.

******* ********

Livid is an understatement, just played 6 hours straight only to bust out of 2 or 3 games on massive pots then final table in the betfair $16k only to get ****** over by some ******* muppet calls and outdraws and finish 8th. Feel as sick as can be, pot on mansion was for chiplead stitch up. Gay cash betfair and gay cash in $77 headhunter, ******* sucks im absolutely drained and got **** all to show for it. Had up to 7 multis on the go at one point and maybe its too many when i feel this tired after. Was considering a rake promotion nxt week but at least i know i definitely aint up to any of that ******. Also went v deep in prima $100 game only to crash out 10-15 places from the bubble, should never hav not cshed in that, was stacked all the way. Right better go before i smash this laptop which is what i would luv to do right now, great cant wait for 2moz with loads more games to get donked over in at the business end.

December Poker Day 1

No poker up to today and its the 6th already !
What i have played today has been a nightmare although i am 1/34 in the 101 player $55 on crypto at moment, last chance of anything !

$50 bf game 2k starting stack and at 25/50 limper and i allin 1800 AK, he calls AJ and many jacks come.

$109 $20k er cant remember full dtls stack yoyo quite bit but nvr reaelly got going and bust ace rag vs ace rag 5 levels in

Played $70 sat and got nowhere but a $55 aussie sat i lost 10s vs AK to bust 3rd for win only one for 80-90chips in play pot.

$50 rebuy on mansion was a complete joke, after ridiculous free chips holding A5 on a AA564 overbet river called by JJ i was huge but then lost a massive and v key pot JJ vs backwards dummy Q9std and never recovered busting A10 vs Aqstd on a standard board with flushdraw on turn all chips going in and missing.

Update below if anything interesting in last game or else but if not then not best start to the month.

St Kitts Review

Ok 2 very different weeks and its safe to separate them really. The first week was more like a proper holiday with a lot more relaxing and time out by pool/beach. The 2nd week was the poker/party/hangover week which was still good but cos of poker results didnt quite live up to expectation i guess.

Travel: Was ok on way out but hated the plane with old tight seats, guess ive been spoiled with virgin and ba economy ! I liked to call xcel cattle class. With a cancelled flight making the trip a nightmare return (aint gnna go into detail as home and happy now) it just confirmed that it would take a lot to get me on an xcel flight again for the rest of my life.

Hotel: As expected, already knew the service would be awful and it certainly reached new levels this year but i managed to laugh off 95%+ of that. Postives of location, beach, pool, weather, restaurants all spoke for themselves as i knew already from previous years.

Poker: I think i played my best live poker but things just didnt go my way which is always going to happen sometimes. If i donked off money or got caught restealing etc i would feel different but i was very content with all busts and key pots within the games.

General: Met lots of new people and put some faces to several online aliases ive played before, some im sure i will meet again on future poker travels for sure. The atmosphere in general was more relaxed probably because of so many people on lite packages than the previous year.

Next Stop: Australia !

November Review

Have to say first last night i was off my head once again courtesy of interpoker platinum club, was a great night but ive suffered today for it. As a result i was unable to play the $550 game even though it started at 8pm ! Its unlikely i will play the 2pm $1,100 game tommorrow but if i do i will edit my monthly profit figure below and include any gambling expenses or unlikely winnings into it.

Final monthly profit = £3,682 (I also have a freeroll 1 in 6 for $5000, 2nd = $500 on 9th December)
Can divide the month into 3 sections really:

1) 5 days of awful bad luck -£1000
2) 10 days of incredibly good luck and several results +£7000
3) Travel & time in St Kitts resulting in further losses online/live -£2,500

More importantly i have enjoyed playing the game more this month, im regularly taking 2 days per week off to keep my hunger level for the game well. Look for separate St Kitts review in a few days but without cashing in anything im probably as happy as i can be with how i have been playing out here and have come close in several games.

December would need to be a better month to top the £50,000 mark for the year but it is within reach and would be a nice round figure to reach.

Poker Fun Continues

Well the $440 (4000 chips) went pretty much as scripted i guess. Played my best poker of the week, enjoyed it loads and stack went up and down to a massive extent as normal. So so so many pots i could put on here and i will try to remember them all.

First hand i call a utg min raise (25/25) on button with 45off and bb calls. Flop 45K i dont get outdrawn and raise flop and bet every street (jack turn, river 2) big against bb who cant fold the king, immediately 1500 chips up.

Get the desired image similar to the $330, in a lot of pots and spoke to jimmy "eyesight" on break who was at my table and he said he really didnt have a clue what holding i had all the time which was good to know. I bluffed some pots and got called and mucked but then got paid on 1 or 2 i did hit. Without any premium preflop hands (except 10s level 3 that easy muck preflop for 100) my stack yoyo from 4500-7000 first 3 levels and break i think i had 6 or 6500. Was sitting tighter then the first major key hand came against awful player on return at 100/200:

Limp AK 200 utg, utg+1 calls utg+2 lady makes it 1000, back to me make it 3000 total (playing about 6000) and she calls. Flops J65 allin she calls instantly AQ and i hold to go to 12k+ .

Next key hand next level with antes im bb, utg limps scandie button 1000, i make it 4000 to go total (scandis has 6500 and i know this and dont really want action). He takes a while then says ok lets gamble and moves in. He has JJ and holds against my AK, gutted at that point as definitely would been prob top 5 chipleader (141 entries) with over 3 x average stack 20k. Still 6500 (average) left and a couple of big slicks and resteal vs scandie pushed me back up to 10k within the next few levels (just above average).

I then lost 4000 playing JJ utg cute limping and losing to scandie who obv had a full house, wont go into detail but i was 100% happy with how i bet and played the hand to get information i needed to not lose more chips.

So another round and im shove poker desperate and finally get JJ utg when i was looking for any medium push to be honest. I shove 4000 or just over and bb takes ages, im thinking he doesnt have 2 overcards and i want call so when i clock it hoping call he does instantly but turns over KQ !!! , board comes QQ3xJ and im alive with a river.

I then go into card lucky mode and knock a couple of players out in next 20 mins with big slick and 10s and cos of the shove poker play i increase to a healthy 25,000 chips (double average and chippie at my table) .

It doesnt last though as 44 gets overraised just enough to let go, then i get 44 in my 800 bb when a 3400 is allin utg and i prob callin any 2 cards, he has 55. So many hands play themselves at this point and some would argue i could fold the next one but the next pot was huge key:

400/800 my sb and shortie 3500ish allin mid and russian cocky sort allin 7000 button. I have AQ and ive 12000 left if i lose this pot, obviously massive if i win it. Make the call shortie has J8 or sommat but russian has KK, im still drawing very live but no help comes and im knocked back as quickly as my stack had got big :(

Return after dinner with 11200 at 600/1200, 28 left pays to 18. Payout is so top heavy i couldnt care less about cashing but obviously would creep in if the opportunity arrived. But not to be as i folded 87off first bb hand then 6 handed i look at K4 in the sb folded to me and i shove as bb only has 6500 total. He has 77, again im live to hit but no such chance and im crippled on 3000 ish. Shove few hands later K8std to the good scandie players bb who is priced in to call. He shows 10,5off and the board comes 4,6,7,10,Q and im a goner.

After much disappointment and 10mins of fuming outside, i know i couldnt have played much diff. In the end the hands that almost played themselves lost me 4 preflop allins in a row which in any multi is just too much no matter how good you are.

BTW see Azimuts poker blog for some poker stories including the 7.4 earthquake that lasted 15 seconds or so in that $440 multi. MP3 player in and half asleep i didnt even notice but wondered why there were worried looking faces and a few people ran for the doors.

As Azimut told me proudly he made it outside through the doors as quick as possible. The expression on his face when i told him thats the worst thing you can do in an earthquake (cos of possible falling debris) was a picture though. He may still have been safer than me sat under a swaying chandelier though wondering wtf everyone was doing !!!

LOL Set No Good Joke Game

Well i decided to play the $330 game, 3000 starting chips 30mins clock 25/25 first level. After losing a few hundred bluffing the first hand i got up to maybe 3400 before this hand 15-20mins into the level:

33 utg+1 call 25 , french (normal type) min raises to "cinqante" or 50 to those non french people. Began licking my lips already as figured him for a hand but just awful player. Call button then sb makes it 275 total to play. Def the right odds here so i call and so does the french guy and the button. Flop is 10,5,3 with 2 diamonds, sb makes the clever check with the overpair looking to check raise (advanced stuff here, unreal how easy this table was to read after only a few minutes). I lead for 325 and my french friend moves allin 3000ish immediately. button folds and sb takes 1 minute or so figuring ahead of frenchie and prob not too worried about me as i bet the flop so couldnt have a set. He then moves in too and its on their backs. 33 vs french JJ vs sunglasses (lookin cool and obviously help) QQ. Both have a diamond so i ask the dealer for no third diamond on the turn to scare me. He obliges by chucking the jack clubs down much to the delight of the frenchie no style shouting twat. A blank river and im left on 800 chips winning the tiny side pot while frenchie picks up another 9000ish for his top play, inspired. I bust shortly after on a 1700 pot AK vs QQ which i knew had bout 1% chance of winning. Table was so so easy to read and knew exactly where i was in most hands i played , sick as would luved to have had a 10,000 stack at 25/25 again more fun than the money which was miles off but hey as i said before i had 8 day lucky streak before st kitts so i guess i had it coming. Best bit bout the bust, 1 hour of beach bonus.

So my form continues, playing some great poker and getting nout from it. Definitely not playing the supersatellite tonight now as would have less starting chips than the $330 game which i know i cant handle. So cash or stts , probably some beers and rum punches. Funds $ are worryingly low but azimut informs me i can get some from my crypto account if i need it. Dunno if thats a good thing or not !!!

Sick Again

$220 supersatellite. 8 x $6300 seats with $1500 and $1000 to 9th and 10th. I survived JJ vs AQ and 99 vs AK allin preflops for my tourney but held my own the rest of the time on what was a lot of shove poker towards the end. Then comes the bust hand which pissed me off so much.

19 left 6 handed blinds 800/1600 ante 200. Playing about 11,500 and average is 18,000. Our table is fairly short stacked compared to the others but obviously the key is to sustain a stack near average uncalled if possible. No one had called allins for ages and nearly all shoves were getting through. Folds to me in cutoff and i shove in with A4off. Dumb scandie in sb calls fairly quickly for almost all his chips with KJstd. My eyes almost pop out when i see im ahead preflop but obviously hate the call and know just how bad it is given the situation. Well the jack flops and the deserved king comes on the river. I congratulate the twit, i think my words were " thats a ******* awful call what exactly did u think u were ahead off ? " before i storm off and curse a lot more for 5-10mins. Felt so sick and still do now ive woke up, if i bust a few players before i wouldnt have been so bad. Knowing it was almost last 18 and knowing i bust for a pot to go above 26,000 (or i had 16,000 if dummy folded KJ) on what was a tight table is not easy to take. I really was beginning to think it was my night. I know i would love to play the main event out here now im here but it remains to be seen if i will enter another satellite after that heartache. For the record i spent $220 and just had the addon this time for another $200.

Prob go for more punishment in 90mins for the $330 freezeout :(

Classic Animal Hangover

As expected i had way way too many drinks last night. I would estimate about 5 rum punches mixed with 10-15 bottles of beers but really ive got no idea. Suffered today and havent played the $200 2pm game as a result.

I lost another wad on cash yesterday online before going down, fish are getting the better of me of late, just hope it turns back soon. Anyway i played the supersatellite and spent $420 with a rebuy only to be fished out of a huge pot on level 2 with under an hour gone. I was more annoyed not to have the fun element of playing for longer in it than the possible seat itself but i soon moved to a cash table and ended up about $50 up 7 hours later going to bed about 6:30am. Sat bust pot below:

25/50 i call after utg limper with QxJh and button calls with blinds in too. Flop is AxKh10h and i bet 175 which button fish girl makes it 500. I go allin about 2400 and she instant calls with her unmissable Qh5h holding the same stack. I swear when heart hits the turn then immediately tell the dealer if im not covered gimme a penalty for doing so but it was all over anway. Only 1000+1000 starting stack so pot was a very very good size to have had some fun with if it held up. Never mind, its looking like i will try again at 8pm tonight but my confidence levels aint too great live unless im drunk which im definitely not gonna be tonight.

Temporary Downswing Or End Of Lucky Streak

After that aussie millions package slipping away i played some live 2/5 yesterday. Ended up losing $1125 but i missed every draw and every set, just one of those sessions. 3 big pots which could have brought me almost level if i won any of them but the gods were not smiling. I was probably being impatient too and possibly didnt play as well as i could. Anyway after an hour or so break i moved to 1/2 and managed to lose another $150, but still managed to fold my AQ on my last hand of the night and save $53. Despite the pot being $253 on the river, i made an instant fold when dc pushed $100 into the pot on a AxAd8d10xJd board and he showed A10. Maybe i didnt play as bad as i thought but ran awful and really didnt get into any stride as such.
Lost a few hundred more online today too.

Anyways a few hundred people arrive later for the poker and the first supersatellite starts at 10pm. Im going to try and put some effort into my poker and its likely i will take my mp3 player to use tonight which maybe i could have done with last night. Still cant quite shake this mild niggling sore throat off which is annoying but surely i will get drunk tonight with all the free welcome party drinks and the busier atmosphere. Also ive eaten way way too much the last few days and done little exercise = piling the weight on for sure.

In The Right Place To Get Over Sommat Else

40 runners freeroll, win only for $12,000 aussie millions package, i just this minute finished 2nd

:( :(( :( :((

Was a very good structure but despite that working to my advantage i never got the chiplead at the final table and went HU 19k vs 61k. I peaked in chips at 31k but never got ahead and bust allin on the flop with 2 pair but only 2 outs for about a 48k pot. Played out of my skin and was only allin covered and called once before HU and was in excellent shape for that pot too.

Cash earlier covered buyins to other games alongside but the sick sick feeling is all im left with right now. I know i was playing the best player in the freeroll HU which didnt help obviously but still i guess i gave it a good shot anyway and im still way up up on November knocking on many many doors of which some have opened.

Finally A Poker Update

Tuesday i played my first online stuff for a few days, just limit low level for 90mins but ran good for $260 profit. Didnt play yesterday but did drink sufficiently enough to try and get over that england result, lets face it im in the best place for that.

Today i played some tournaments as i had the interpoker platinum added value game again ( which i had won the prev 2 weeks :) ) and wanted others alongside it. The interpoker one went well again and i finally finished 2/16 for $1080 ($100 buyin) but i was a bit disappointed to lose this final pot below for 28000 of the 32000 in play:

Game #6386173404: Plat $2K added PLO (ID5796005) $100+$0 - Omaha PL (150/300) - 2007/11/22 - 21:10:45 (UK)
Table "5796005 - 1" Seat 3 is the button.
Seat 1: animalgod (14078 in chips)
Seat 3: Zoomby (17922 in chips)
Zoomby: posts the ante 25
animalgod: posts the ante 25
Zoomby: posts small blind 150
animalgod: posts big blind 300
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to animalgod [3s 6d 8d 9h]
Zoomby: raises to 950
animalgod: calls 650
----- FLOP ----- [9c 5s 6c]
animalgod: checks
Zoomby: bets 1950
animalgod: raises to 7800
Zoomby: raises to 16947 and is all-in
animalgod: is all-in 5303
Returned uncalled bets 3,844 to Zoomby
----- TURN ----- [9c 5s 6c][8s]
----- RIVER ----- [9c 5s 6c 8s][7d]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Zoomby: shows [7s 6s 5c Tc] (A Straight, Ten high)
animalgod: shows [3s 6d 8d 9h] (A Straight, Nine high)
Zoomby collected 28156 from Main pot



Other games i played were a $27 rebuy, bust set vs up down straightdraw allin on flop for huge pot relative to blinds (only $54 paid)

Also betfair $55 where at level 2 i had KK and bumped it right up fish called, he flops flushdraw, i bet 80% pot he calls, turn he hits pair and puts me in after i again bet a commiting 80% of pot and rivers me nicely.

$109 $20k was sick, after good start i dropped to an ok stack then pulled off a great bluff and showed it for image. That worked and guy gave me about 2000 chips or more in a unraised blind battle , bb = 50. I Q2off and flop AQ2 fish goes nowhere with A7, laughable. I then chk a A,10,2 board with 22 in position after utg raiser had checked the 1000 pot. Turn a 6 and now the guy goes allin 4000 with would u believe it A10, great betting and it deserved a river ace to stop me going joint chipleader with half the field a goner. Then lost another pot to the same missing a KQ raise and being chkraised. Crippled i doubled 50/50 and then the fun came. Exit pot i had KK 10 handed and there was AA,QQ and 10s out there !

Still in boring mansion $50 rebuy , bust that and its off to the bar for the evening !!! Profit for night = $600, bit frustrated with some of them pots but playing well and in profit so not to worry.


.............
Morning update: mansion was a nutty rollercoaster as ever, AK ran into aces then my K4 beat 99 crippled. I then flopped a flush and got paid in full by a bluff, next AK vs 97std for a huge pot to go high up the standings. Key pot then lost was AK vs AJ to have gone 4th/75 , had AK vs AQ after for false hope as cards went dry and i lost 10,8 vs KQstd towards the bubble , still for a decent enough pot though if i hit.

Got a bit of a sore throat today so crossing fingers it dont develop into sommat, off to the pool shortly for a couple of hours then its golf this afternoon which im really looking forward to. Im pretty sure this will be the best golf course ive ever played on and it looks so nice from my balcony.

St Kitts

Arrived safely, flight was ok fortunately with 2 seats to spread out a bit. Just got drunk last night and played 1/2$ cash with the others and a few locals/holiday people for a few hours. Rake a bit obsessive but we were only playing to pass the time so the $100 loss felt like nothing. Spent the whole day on the beach today and i think we are goin off resort for a meal in a couple of hours. Also its lookin like an afternoon of golf tommorrow. Already im well chuffed to be here for a week of chilling out before the hectic poker scene arrives in the 2nd week. Weather = perfect, sun, no cloud, light wind and about 28 degrees ! Also spotted in resort is "Mad Turk" whom some of you may know who has the same idea i did. Right better play some online poker, i dont see me playing much out here at all except a few promotional games.

Crazy Lazy Days

Well what a strange last 10 days (only 5 of which i played any poker on) its been. Gone from almost £1,000 down (thx to cash) to somewhere in the region of £6,000 up (thx to mtt results). England now given a lifeline could still top their Euro2008 table with a 2-0 victory vs Croatia Wednesday (thx to nutty results). I sense that could a very drunk session given kick off will probably be 4pm in St Kitts !

Well im just about packed and ready to head to a gatwick hotel tommorrow. Cant wait to get out there and chill out good and proper. Going into what seems a long awaited lucky streak is great for any poker player, but the timing is excellent for me. I have absolutely no pressure on me in any of the games out there i buy into and if i dont want to play much i dont have to either.

All is good, long may it last !

Time To Pack The Luckbox

I seem to have developed into one of late, had more than my share again tonight to win the interpoker platinum club game again for $2050. Take out the entrance fees of the 5 games i have played tonight and thats another $1600 profit (still in mansion but weak so wont mention unless cash later). A good night but for some reason i was struggling to cope with the 5 games at once tonight. 4 Different softwares didnt help i guess, but i dont think ive struggled like that for months really, just tired from busy couple days i suppose. Anyway long may this lucky streak continue please, even if im lazy and dont really intend to play much the rest of the month !

Note to self, get packing dont leave it till the last minute you lazy **** !

----------------------------------
Update 4 hours later 2:16am:

Finished 3rd in Mansion for $5000. Again rode my luck but most of it in coinflips or with the best hand. The sites such a crapshoot these days it aint much proper poker, but fortunately im running hot. I could blog loads here about how unlucky i was 3 handed as at one point i had a big lead and looking good but after 3 lives or so the shorter stacks got me. I guess it just wasnt meant to be but i took a decent chunk home anyway. The only thing i would say is that would have been up in top 5 best days of poker results ive had if i had won it.

So in the space of 4 hours ive gone from "luckbox" to "superfeature luckbox" and $6600 up on the night. Full results for the 5 games i played tonight:

1/21 $100 for $2050
3/307 $54 rebuy for $5000
128/294 $55
147/555 $27 rebuy
151/194 $109

Aint Happy With 6th !

Bust 2 seconds ago and know its a decent result but 6th/184 for $1000 in a $109 game when was chip leader for bit near end again and im honestly quite moody at the moment. Hopefully it will only last a few minutes but i figured i blog on here immediately and get it out of system. Was another rollercoaster game leading it for the first hour before dropping down. Got my luck 10s vs QQ to stay in too b4 the bubble (first time for a while ive outdrawn a higher pp for my tournament life) but got so well stacked near the end im disappointed to finish where i did. I tried to make some stuff happen at the final table and it failed but then i lost a race to go big stack 2nd/5 ....AK vs QQ before shoving going card dead and finally losing K7std vs 88. I made a big fold at that table too with 8 left 10s after a call and a reraise allin. Regret it now a bit mayb should have just gambled but i knew it was a race at best and the allin after a caller looked a lot stronger so was very marginal. Stand by instincts though and i still had 2 or 3 lifes after that, they just didnt help me stay alive. Speaking of folds i had a similar one with the 99 last night in the 40k. It turned out to be a solid correct fold so thinking about that just confirms im happy with my decision more now.

OK Time To Get A Grip

Things appear more positive now ive wound down and i thought i would stick sommat in here after all the negative posts lately. Anything that makes me look more positively at the game should definitely be discussed on here as ive been miserable **** on here lately. Maybe i can learn and gain some more experience for future ups and downs.

That win was my biggest win for just under 3 months, although it was my biggest single cash win for 5 months. It puts me nicely on the road to a good month or a great month and with only 7 days until St Kitts the timing seems excellent for me both personally and professionally.

Sunday Preview/Review

Nothing much to report on the poker front for 2 days. Donked some cash off friday afternoon bluffing every street vs a calling station and yesterday i was too hungover to justify playing anything significant. I did enter a freeroll and 2 low stakes subs to test how my head was and cashed in the freeroll but bubbled the other 2 and got the information i was looking for, ie i couldnt play any more after those games.

Minimum 7 games lined up today, although most are promotional freerolls, so without winning them they become worthless really. May well enter a few others alongside those as well, just have to see how hectic it becomes and what i can squeeze in really. Anyway i'll review anything close or interesting below later on.

...................................
OK 11:20pm 1 game left and im gettin bored and impatient so might as well blog the rest. Left in the £40k 26/66 pays to 40.

Generally another night of frustratingly good results. Cashed in £40 230 runner earlier for double my buyin. Got close in 2 freerolls for $4000 cpc packges (both had about 60 runners) and i finished 7th in one for $0 (never was stacked though) but 3rd in the other losing KQ vs Q9 to have gone 35k vs 65k vs 20k with a huge chance at fairly crapshoot blinds but got $150 for troubles. Cashed minimum in 1200ish player $60 rebuy on prima again for money back and finished about 125th/850 in mansion (paid 90). Thats about it i think, keep that damn head on and a big win is just round the corner for sure, but keepin head on is easier said than done of late.

20/60 in £40k will post result or update later i guess.

2:27am: Busted 5th, mixed emotions as was big stacked at some points (1/14) but also crippled to 1 big blind at others (29/29) ! Really wanted top 2 to call it a success but spots and cards seemed to dry up at the final table going out QJ vs 10s for a decent enough size of pot. £2,560 puts me back into profit for the month but i will go to sleep wondering what may have been once again, a familiar feeling.

A Welcome Victory

Dunno really what change it will or has to my attitude yet im totally and utterly drained after 48 minutes HU omaha.

Game was $100 32 players interpoker platinum club exclusive game so some top players in it, payout was $1880 (im probably about even for the month now). I had some awful luck early in 2 pots and was left on 25% starting stack. Fortunately i got the reverse luck to get back in and seemed to pick the right spots at the final table to make it HU.

23k vs 40k to start so i was prepared to gamble even though blinds were only 150/300. 4 hands in and opportunity came, see below:


Game #6210664684: Plat $1.5K added PLO (ID5795971) $100+$0 - Omaha PL (150/300) - 2007/11/08 - 21:08:26 (UK)
Table "5795971 - 1" Seat 2 is the button.
Seat 2: wingster (37534 in chips)
Seat 6: animalgod (26466 in chips)
wingster: posts the ante 25
animalgod: posts the ante 25
wingster: posts small blind 150
animalgod: posts big blind 300
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to animalgod [7c Ah Ad Tc]
wingster: raises to 600
animalgod: calls 300
----- FLOP ----- [Kh Jh 8h]
animalgod: checks
wingster: bets 900
animalgod: raises to 2400
wingster: calls 1500
----- TURN ----- [Kh Jh 8h][2c]
animalgod: bets 4800
wingster: calls 4800
----- RIVER ----- [Kh Jh 8h 2c][Qc]
animalgod: bets 10800
wingster: folds
Returned uncalled bets 10,800 to animalgod
----- SHOW DOWN -----
animalgod: shows [7c Ah Ad Tc] (A Straight, Ace high)
animalgod collected 15650 from Main pot

Would luv to know what he held, obviously the lower flush or a good set but knowing he didnt have the nut flush i decided to play it strong and gamble. That pot really won me the HU as i chipped away after that and was in 35-40k region for ages before the blinds went up and i won a few pots in a row to hold 53k vs 10k before i won the first preflopper we had.

Like i say not gonna go over the top about this win its only 18xbuyin but it could be the change of course i needed in my head and at the tables........watch this space !!!

Early November Syndrome

Extracts from blog one year ago:

Tuesday, November 07, 2006:
Lazy & Lack Of Motivation To Play Times
I suppose i should have expected it, ive gone into one of my "i cant be assed to play" moods. It will be interesting to see how long it lasts but at the moment i just have little desire so my play will be limited to any value games that i do actually fancy.

Friday, November 10, 2006:
Anything But Poker ?
Following on from the last post ive still hardly played this week. I reckon maybe about 5 hours in total in the last 5 days. I will be playing more next week as i have some value games targeted. Only 2 weeks from St Kitts so its more important i play a few more multis i guess, and i will do this as long as im in a patient mood.


I often look back at profits or blog posts weeks or months ago for motivation or to see how my mood changes but the 2 above extracts only begin to describe how i feel about poker one year later.

I can remember writing those posts and i know i was lazy and arrogant at the time with the "ive won enough for the month so dont need to play" attitude. I never really saw that as a huge problem as ive never been a flat out poker player as a lot of people are and ive always been fairly lazy too.

Currently, however im really not sure whats going on in relation to poker. My lack of enjoyment for the game is probably at an all time low and as a result ive played maybe 60-70mins in the last 3 days in total. This is very unusual for me at the start of a month (without a win) when im not busy away from poker. I just really cant motivate myself to do something that feels too much of a chore at the moment. Luckily for me i have a great holiday planned in 12 days and coupled with some live poker im hoping this will be just the medicine i need. Fortunately im happy with my yearly profit to date but then again this could be part of the lack of motivation to play with no real targets to look at for a couple of months. Whilst this could be true it still doesnt explain why i really cant relax and enjoy most of the games i do play and give them the respect they deserve. Example below sums it up at the moment:

I played some sit & gos earlier for the first time in weeks, figured mtts and cash aint working so worth a shot. 4 x $59 sixpacs at the same time and after 2 ridiculous beats in 2 of them i win 1 and come 2nd in the other.

Results: +$4+$10 rakeback = £7 profit for under an hours play. Nothing to go nuts about but it aint a loss. Thing is i only look at the bigger picture, im livid about the 2 bad beat busts as both were against plays that were as bad as it gets and im pretty unhappy to lose a HU against a simple tight abc player that simply hit more flops at the end of the day.

My attitude stinks at the moment and i really focus on the negative side way way too much. I want to win every game i play which i know is as unrealistic as it gets but still im angry almost every time i lose. It good to be confident and have high expectations but this win only attitude seems to now be the root cause of me losing respect and enjoyment for the rest of the game.

Solution, who knows ? thankfully that holiday is closer. If im to survive and enjoy this game for years to come i need to work on my attitude and get to grips with what i really want to play and what i really want to achieve.

Another Crap Night Of Poker

Nowhere in anything apart from prima $60 rebuy. 1374 entrants after gettin luck a big pot well away from the money i cruised into the money always top 20 position. Then i lost 3 pots in a row and within 10 minutes i was out in 101st for less than i bought in for. A10 vs 55 to go 5th, K4 vs AQstd to go 8th and exit hand K5 vs AK to go 3rd (resteal and for fun the board came x51010K just to tease me into thinking i couldnt lose 3 pots in a row preflop). Luving this game so much its so great NOT.

combined odds of all 3 above to not win at least 1 of them: 54%x67%x76% = approx 27.5%, great maybe i should just play like a big fat rock and not try to win these things so much from miles out but that would just bore me stupid even more.

Nout ******* Less

Good to know november is the same as october = ******* ********

Playing good drunk poker and couple hundred up then 3handed loose donk makes it 4xbb $40 and i move allin from bb with AK for 1000$. He callin immediately with 88 and ace high flop before the 8 hits the turn and $2000 pot lost. Ytf im playin shorthanded stuff when i know i cant take a lost pot like this mentally i hav no idea but what the heck that me down for the month and in a mood for days to come and probably hatrid for the game for days to come and well at the end of the day fuk it i hate this bullshit game anyway , lets face it its as ******* boring as pretty much anything else you are forced to do to earn a living, maybe i will just go back to being a lazy **** and only playin poker when i really feel i need too. Yeh longest sentence possible but **** punctuation and **** poker its all ********.

******

One of them days

gambled like **** earlier and lost £300+ before reverse variance or whateva and breaking even or so.

then went out and got pissed up and hense state now, no poker as of yet thanks the best scouser eva created called pirus, extract below:


Pirus says:
i bought 2 pizzas and 2 chciken and chips

Pirus says:
i ate the 2 pizzas, woke up the next day went to the sink to get water, i seen my pizzas thrown up in the sink, i didnt even knew i had been sick


he is a savage Savage of the best type and i cant wait till i see him again in a foreign climate and entice his white body out to see some sunlight for the first time in years

£150,000

As expected i passed the £150,000 net profits from poker mark in October. Records began in Nov 2004 so thats exactly 3 years its taken to reach that. Its important i mention these landmarks as im often such a moody **** its good to remind myself its all +ev in the long run unless i lose my head in a serious way.

Only 18 more days until i hit that Caribbean. Currently i cant wait but what about the 18 days to go. Well im hoping to play as much poker as i can. I was thinking in an ideal world it would be good if i could get a decent profit before i hit St Kitts so that im very comfortable staking myself into some nice chunky live games out there. But then take out the 3 days i know im gonna be out drinking and not forgetting hangovers affecting my playtime there is plenty to distract me away from poker b4 then. Nov could be a lean month potentially and im kind of prepared for it if it ends up being that way. At the end of the day all my focus is on having a good crack in the caribbean and anything else is a bonus really.

No Goals for November except to have good times !!!

Oct Review

Another awful day at the tables, cursing my luck of late, im still convinced im playing as good as i can. Anyway not gonna go into detail, its time to summarise the month and gladly move on.

£1,942 in a month that for a long time looked like i would get £1500-£2000. Im annoyed with that profit as been between £2500-£3000 up until a few days ago though so finish on a low for the month in all honesty.

At the end of the day with a bit of luck Oct could have been big and with a lot of luck Oct could have been huge. In poker i still need to learn with so many disappointments. I know its a good sign as im getting close to the wins so often , but its the winning nature inside me which makes me the player i am and im not about to change that !

Goals post b4 for Oct below:

POKER
1) Go past all time poker profit of £150,000 (should reach unless loss for month) - Yep and likely to post about it in a separate post to try and increase my confidence/enjoyment factor

2) Go past £40,000 for this calendar year (should reach unless poor month) - Yep

3) Go past last years total profit of £41,173 (could reach with similar profit to Sept) - Nope

4) Perform well at London GUKPT (luck or not i will judge how i did regardless of result) - Yep, very happy, if i hit hands i got paid, i just didnt hit hands !

5) Try to obtain another steady months profit and enjoy playing where possible - Enjoyed at times, lots of moans and downs though on here, all part of the game and experience which i can use to make me a stronger player mentally in the long run. A profit of almost £2000 tax free is ample, i just myself a hard time cos i know it should or could be a lot more.

NON POKER
1) Order new mobile phone (never get round to doing) - yeh right, as if

2) Buy new car (never get round to doing) - yeh right, as if

3) Keep exercise up (I had lost 3/4 stone since vegas and im actually the lightest ive been as a full time poker player, but want to lose more or at least get fitter) - managed this, just a matter of maintaining it now or stepping up more. Fact : I am now the lightest ive been as a full time poker player. (lower than when made the goal post)

Day Off ? I ******* Wish

ffs yet again im done over but this time on cash tables. Playing for a few hours last thing at night after almost a day off and go $300up,$300down,$300up,$300down,level then what its been building up all night happens.

i was on 2/4 and 5/10 tables and even mixed a little 10/20 in there as i found the worst players imaginable at these tables. could i get a chunk no, do i feel i made a single mistake in any pot tonight NO. For a 3 hour session i would be well happy with that normally but the big pots basically were all lost and all nothing i could do about. Loose fish busts my aces, Q8 player checkraises me on a 9,J,Q flop committing me with A10 and i miss, QQ loose guy raises 6--->24 then gets 2 callers and i pop it up to 104 and get 2 callers inc him. allin on a 10 high flop and he calls at the last second, obviously my holding is AKJJQQor KK but yeh its JJ and i lose another huge pot. ffs such an awful way to play QQ, it really pisses me off when people play their hands backwards, have no idea where they are so just call anyway and happen to be ahead and think they made good play. told the **** that too going absolutely nuts in the chat, as usual im glad i did as needed the release. just generally though i had the worst tables all night and lost all the real crucial pots and missed so so so many flops in the process. it did give me a craving for higher stakes seeing some of the ridiculously bad stuff and i may still venture higher but hate it when i always seem to lose to the worst players getting damn lucky every time i venture into higher stakes. obviously i take it badly and maybe should stick to lower limits, i dunno sometimes i know im playing too low but its after a session like that im confused knowing i enjoyed it and was up or should have been up for most of the session if i wasnt so damn unlucky. Damage done = £700ish on the day or 25% of my monthly profit, tempted to have a bash tommorrow with the remainder of monthly profit but as i said im confused as to what suits me best but i know i will sit if i see as many bad players at one table again for sure.

Come On Gimme A ******* Break

Flaming joke lose HU for $4000 cpc package, always behind in chips 25-33% but exit on pot A4 vs KQ getting chips in pot first for 50% chips in play. Was gonna offer £1000 to other guy to blind out then and im 90% sure he would have took it so basically that pot cost me £1000 cash (as ive paid up for cpc so would reduce my costs by £1000).

Yeh great exit on a huge pot earlier in other multi outkicked slightly on 44xxx pot holding 94.

Oh and just to be a complete **** i tilted 7-8000chips off in the $20k after the HU loss at 300 bb with JJ vs AA when the guy might as well have typed in he had AA but i being a tilting ******** didnt believe the *****.

GG

The Last Sick Night In October

Oh dear what a night again, think the game tonight sums up the whole month for me relative to multis results.

Only played 6 games, the ones i dont mention below i went out on coinflips for ok sized pots.

60-70 player freeroll , 1st cpc package another 9th for $100. Pushed shortstack well then made flush JJ vs JJ when 10 left but reverse variance kicks right in losing QQ vs A6 and JJ vs AQ to go out 9th.

£120 40k bubble, very happy with how this went until the final pot. KJdd and bb and an early limper. I want to shove my whole 8k stack in preflop with 800bb but choose the flop option (yeh ran out of balls). flop Ac6d3d, check raise allin his 1600 bet and donkey takes half clock to call, whats he holding ? Only Ad9d !!! Livid after that as my other games covered my buyins so i was hoping to at least cash for a mild profit and freeroll for chance of higher stuff.

$55 13k this is sick, AA vs 88 vs shorties 99 , 8 on turn and instead of being 1st/120 (double that entered) on 18k im out, bb was only 150 rising to 200 the next hand !

And by far the most gutting one for the real big stuff. $60 rebuy on prima with huge prizes at final table $175k guaranteed it is. Was huge stack soon after the rebuy finished 2/800 at one point (1100-1200 entered). Lots of hands i could mention including more than fair share against me before busting KQstd vs A10off to have gone 24/49. One massive key pot was few hands earlier A9 vs KJstd for a pot to have gone about 10th at the time :((


So to sum up the month deep deep in games and/or bust on huge pots, no luck at the final business end and move on to another day, fast forward to 1st Nov would be good right now :((

Lets be honest here though avoiding some bad cash games for a few days and im still nicely up on the month, im very happy with my cash games this month and the steady profit which i wont put here yet in case of a jinx.

Right im off to cast a spell to reverse the curse some **** put on my multis, was it you Oranges cos u only got 1 week in St Kitts not 2 ?

More Late Night Drunk Cash

Again not me, i had 2 cans earlier after the last post. I wasnt sure if i was gonna play more tonight but after MOTD i felt it was worth a shot for an hour or 2. I was on between 2-4 tables all 2/4$NL for just over 2 hours.

The last 30mins was on just 2 tables as i was winding down for the night. Nothing too spectacular happens and i had grinded about 300$ profit then i decided to finish. I took autopost off and finished on one table and had just 1 hand left on the other table and 100% was finishing (i know sometimes i might say that and stay but i know this was definitely not the case here).

Playing $820ish as it was the last hand i thought what the heck and limped Q10off utg 6 handed which often i would fold preflop in that position. 2 to the left guy made it 16$ and all folded, as he was playing a 900$ stack i decided i would peel one off, again sometimes i would fold here and almost definitely would have if he had a 300$ stack say.

Flop Q10x and i chk raise his 24$ bet to 61$, he immediately is allin and i cant call quick enough expecting AA or KK. He shows JJ !!! and i hold for the approx. $1650 pot. At least i can sleep tonight now :))

One Sick Night In October

Yuk where to start, 33 player freeroll for $12,000 aussie millions package. Lose AQ vs JJ and K6 vs JJ earlyish to have gone 1/26 and 1/24. Get to 8/24 and have to pass the game to 3jacks as i have to go out for an hour. Get back and its 3 handed and the other 2 r way too tight. Anyway to cut story short he loses A7std vs QQ to go 26k vs 22k HU and then loses 24 vs J10 on a 3,5,10 to get to a similar HU point..........Gutted,

Next one up a 63 player freeroll for a WPT/EPT 9000 euros package. Gamble in this and win couple of flips then steal wads . Chip leader from 24 players down to 7 then i lose J10 vs 99 to have gone 1/6 with 35k/95k in play. Still stacked and steal next 4 pots to go back in lead but now its a stupid crapshoot next level 1200bb and im only 20k ! Few hands later KK vs AA, well annoying but not worst way to bust as unavoidable. Still a 20% dog and its against other joint chipleader, no king arrives and instead of having a 40k/95k stack with 6 left im out in 7th. Like position matters its win only , but im sure it does to most of the basic players at that table.

Did make a few hundred $ on cash games alongside but sick sick night, if i was lucky i could have won 2 full packages and made it a massive night but in poker these things just aint meant to be often.

Crazy Drunk Poker

Didnt play till midnight and it wasnt me drunk, i choose some cash tables carefully and ended up with 2 of the worst for a long long time. Unfortunately i couldnt get a decent chunk though and ended up about 100$ up (stakes 2/4$ - 5/10$NL). Pots included:

Winners:
AJ vs AQ preflop for $330 and i flop straight (5/10)

10,8 vs AJhh on a 8x5h2h flop all money in and hold up for $820 pot (2/4)

Losers:
Turned straight vs a shortish stack got him to pay 80% of stack to river his flush $330 (2/4)
$36 pot flop turns into a $630 on flop KQ vs K9 on a K23 flop, turn a 9 (3/6)

KQ vs KJ preflop for $180 (2/4)

QQ vs AA for $900 (3/6) preflop. Queen flop but 4 card flush river, no gettin away if flopped but was against a guy that went allin pre for $150 b4 with J7 and won against someone else so just stuck it in preflop.


Anyway if im not too lazy i must play again friday or saturday night around midnight, as said tables were absolutely crazy with so much action and awful awful players (or drunks), could so easily have been $500-$1000 up playing very abc stuff.

Result Of Sorts

Dont ****** feel like it though $1,120 for 2/112 in a $55 but incredibly made to not get first against a lucky **** that luvs to argue when outdrawn and b all nicey nicey when he wins, god i hate ***** like that, **** off. Had 22 vs KQ to win it outright ($500 more) before finally exiting king or acerag vs J10 , i shove 10xbb he calls with J10off and spikes a 10 on the river, what the **** is the poker world coming to.

Think i lost a chunk of cash tonight playing one of worst tables ive seen all month too and the way i bust all other tournaments were just stitch up jokes , huge pots a couple of them too. Yeh i lucked out a bit in the one above but a monster stack with 20 or so left i think i played perfect shove poker. Anything less than 3rd at that point and i knew i would be mad. Started the HU 70k vs 90k so was happy to get 2nd, thats until getting to 100k vs 60k without anyway preflop allins then him lucking out. Grrrrrrr.

Tues - Wed

Only a couple of multis played Tues/Wed without success. Played quite a lot of cash Tues and made a nice chunk of $ to add to the steady cash games profit ive made this month. Avoided playing more than 60 minutes today though, trying to make sure i have at least 2 days a week where i play little or no poker so that i enjoy the other days and look forward to playing more. Definitely working as im already thinking about a few Thursday games ive got listed in my diary.

Abuse Abuse Abuse

On the bubble that is, only played one game tonight 340 runners $30 with value and ended up 11th for a break even night along with losing a bit clearing cash promos alongside.

The bubble was nuts as i had a fairly shortstacked table and after a couple of shoves i realised i could go with the allin almost every hand tactics freerolling on stole chips if called. The bubble burst soon after when i had won 9/10 hands and gone from 24/45 to 7/40 ! All to no avail in the end though as after only 1 preflop allin for only 25% of my stack i eventually busted 62off vs KJoff for a decent sized pot. The blinds had finally caught up as no one was calling allin and i picked the wrong time 5 handed to go totally card dead. 100% happy with my play though and from 45 players down i know that was the best ive played in any multi this month if not for 2 or 3 months or even more. Happy to see live cards on that bust and believe it or not i was only a 33% dog to win that and go to the final table in about 5th place stack. £2200/£1400 1st/2nd another chance gone , starting to believe no chunky wins for me this month :((

Uneventful Sunday

Only spent $250 on buyins, other games were all free. Still in mansion but starting stack. Busted all others, managed 9/87 in one free one for $100 (1st $4000 cpc package). Also got through to the 20,000mpps cpc freeroll after god knows how many attempts over the last few months but for sure had my luck used up in this with monsterous stack early seeing me through. Surprised not to enter some more biggies but i just felt knackered all day, i guess travelling and mayb yesterdays session took it out of me more than i realised.

Back Online

Didnt play at all yesterday as didnt feel up for it after travelling but put in a full 7 hours today, 6 of which were this evening. Played quite a few multis, maybe 10ish and managed to cash in 2 of them 3/47 in a $33 and 12/117 in a $22 rebuy both for moderate payouts. Definitely enough to cover buyins anyway and the cash games alongside today were steady so im definitely up on the day. I definitely shouldnt have entered the last 3 as i got very bored and chucked one of them away, luckily for me the last one was the 12th for $400 so i kind of got away with it, all be it quite bored for the last couple of hours. Cant seem to break the duck and get a chunky multi win this month though, hopefully that will change soon !

GUKPT Review

Had a surprisingly good trip and enjoyed the poker/non poker bits more than i think i expected to. The main event was one of them bad days where not much goes right but i was very happy with my play and i will list as many interesting pots as remember below. Met some old faces and some new ones. Got very very drunk after a mid evening bust and ended up making £180 on a £0.5/£1 cash table self dealt for 4-5hours, the first time ive played live cash in the UK ! This included dealing myself AA the first ever time i dealt at a live poker table, lol how dodgy that must have looked ! The set up was much better than Cardiff with good dealers and excellent support from blue square staff which helped make it run smooth from all of what i experienced anyway.

Right on to the main event:

level 1, 25/50

limped button after 3 or 4 others and saw a flop of Q64 with 75off, all checked and on a 10 turn i called a 175 bet after a bet and a caller. The river 3 gave me the nuts and was paid off 575 by a guy holding the queen

raised to 175 with KJoff in mid and both blinds called. Flop was J84 and sb led for 250 i quickly made it 750 and he called. turn was a 6 and he bet 1000, i didnt like it as knew he could hold AJ here but put the decision back on him by raising to 2600 to look ultra strong, he reluctantly passed.

shortly after these pots i reached my peak stack for the whole tournament of around 13,000

blinds me in sb flat call a7hh , flop QhJhxx and i bet 100, ABC calling station made it 300 and i called, turn 9x chk chk, river 8x i bet 550 and he calls with Q5. Maybe a bit dumb bluffing but i didnt realise at this point he was quite so much of a calling station but found out there and later he hardly ever folds top pair.

level 2 50/100

Nothing too eventful and dribbled down to 9600 by the 1st break

level 3 75/150

10s utg and fair player called 525 with position on me, i almost immediately decided i was going to check raise any flop as this guy was bluffing regularly. flop QJ9 i chk he bets about 600 i pop it up to 2500 , he moves in and i fold, all actions within a few seconds lol.

down to about 6400 and button makes it 525 and i see 77 and pop it up to about 1700. He asks how much it is as obviously trying to gage if im committed and then moves allin. It was very clear i was beaten and he told me afterwards he figured i was committed and had AA and wanted me to call so moved allin to look weaker. down to about 4000 after this pot

level 4 100/200

cutoff i make it 700 with 55 and bb calls, flop 10,3,2 he bets 650 and i move allin for about 3200 total. he eventually calls with KJ ! and i double up to circa over 8000.

utg+1 same guy as above and the 10s QJ9 flop makes it 600 and i call from the sb with KJcc. we both check to the river on a 10s,10c,9s,9c,xx board before he bets 1200. I go into the tank for a minute or more and call to be shown an 8 kicker, back to over 10,000 after this and go to the dinner break a lot happier but just hoping i can pick some hands up, my image on this table was always pretty good and i know i could easily get paid off.

level 5

150/300

my biggest hand again utg , too many of my playable hands were utg in this tournament JJ and i make it 900 which same guy as above calls again. flop K83 chk chk, turn 10 chk he bets 2000 and i call confident im ahead if im honest. river x and i check, he only bet 1800, i didnt like it as it seemed a pay me bet but knew i had to call and was shown 88. That took approx half of my stack and there was to be no comeback this time.

i tried to play patiently with the short stacks and it worked a bit but i then lost 1000 with AK limping and betting a 335 flop only to be raised and shown 34 when i instant folded. One of those days, if i raise i get reraised or they hit, if i call they hit or dont raise preflop ! down to 2800-3500 and the antes kicked in now.

level 6, as 5 but ante 25

1 or 2 shoves or raises the level before got through to sustain but then the door closed on this level, couldnt get a spot or any cards. finally with 2875 i was considering moving allin utg with anything linked but i picked up 10s anyway. button dwelled and i knew he didnt have a monster pair or even AK and was hoping to see 77-99 when he called but it was AQ, bb showed Q9 as he passed but the queen still came and i was a goner.


Strangest thing about the bust was i wasnt mad, pissed off or gutted too much. I was happy with my play and know on another day i would be stacked and flying but it was just one of those tournament games that you get sometimes. I certainly didnt wait for cards and i certainly didnt rely on too much luck again and enjoyed playing my usual unpredictable style that worked well in vegas in the summer. I struggled a bit to see matey one side of me with AA 5 times and showing all and never getting broke with them, matey to left getting QQ twice and KK and matey opposite getting KK JJ and AA a few times, again never running into anything.

Overall i very enjoyable trip which at the end of the day is all that really matters and a little more experience gained. Bring on St Kitts in just over 4 weeks !

GUKPT London Victoria Awaits

Been a fairly busy couple days on/off poker clearing bonuses and promos as i know im not online for a few days. Done ok in cash games and probably made a slight increase on any monthly profit so far, satisfied with my game and hoping it will transfer into the live scene along with a bit of luck which never harms.

Ive come to realise that any 5hrs+ day of poker for me now includes being incredibly pissed of and/or mad at least twice coupled with the opposite relaxed and enjoyment feelings at a similar ratio. With this in mind i should be able to accept when im not in the right mood and know it will change after a break or change of fortune which is shortly away. A new mind tactic to try anyway, nout to lose :)

Im not taking my laptop with me so there will be no update on here until at least Friday, but the longer the better as it means im still in the game going deeper. Looking forward to getting away from the computer screen for sure along with the live game which hopefully i can settle back into quickly.

Positives And Negatives

Lets start with the positives although not many:

finished seventysommat/1342 in $60 rebuy
think ive played well tonight anyway especially in that one above, steady enough
made tiny $90 cash from cash table for 20mins earlier

And the negatives:

Joke Joke Joke deep again in huge multi and stupid game been good structure then jumps from 1000/2000 to 1500/3000 and into a classic crapshoot, do i get lucky hell no, do i get cards hell no even more. After pushin J3 22 and J9 to stay in the 7xbb region i then get AK and lose 20k of the 28k stack against 64std who has pushed under the gun, i never expected to hold up its been one of those nights in all ******* games. Next hand i bust J10std vs 10s vs 7s for huge value pot to go back to 28k i had b4 the AK.

All other games earlier were an absolute joke, not going into any details.

Also connection played up earlier that sent me mad

Also laptop played up later on that sent me mad

Also some **** abused me so i exploded back on the table they were as dumb as they come and better out than in i say.

Rant over still left in CPC but was weak as heck earlier, now 15/21 2 seats, 3-11th = $600

Almost forgot also flaming split a $250 pot on that cash table K6 vs 56 on a 10,6,6 flop , gimme strength i was lookin forward to these Sunday games **** that.


*************************************3hrs later

and **** *** u piece of lucky **** ******.

£1,2 10 handed with table dummy

limper dummy makes it 12 i make it £43.43 with AA they call. Flop 975 rainbow all money in they show 67 turn Ad river another d to give them a ******* flush for £442 pot. Goodnight and go **** yourself and poker can **** off.

Great what a ******* ******* warm up to a £1050 game in a few days, hardly worth ******* going if im in this ******* mood, dnt matter how i ****** play some dumb **** will **** me over guaranteed.

YUK Hangover Day Yet So Damn Close

13/246 in a $215 game which had guarantee for $65k. As well as that there was a $7000 package to Bahamas added to the winner. Got $780 return but gutted to go so deep and not get a significant amount. Highly good structure meant i was in for 5:45hours, only entered as it tied in with a few other 7pm starts and the $7000 package and value sucked me in.

Anyway beats both ways but the only time i was allin for my whole stack preflop were KJstd vs A7off earlyish, 95std vs KQstd in the cash and my bust hand AJ vs AK which came a board A,Q,10,K just to tease me before the river K. Wasnt a massive pot but would have almost guaranteed final table status with a huge chance of something big. The only other massive key hand was AQ vs K6 which would have put me nicely stacked if held against a short stack but instead made me weak and right in the danger zone again.

Overall couldnt be happier with my play though especially with a hangover and hopefully i can build on that in the many games lined up for tommorrow.

Good Cash Losses

If there is such a thing then it was last night. A few good folds saved me some $ but i had to pay off 1 or 2 stitchups and ended up several hundred down but could have been double that amount. Highlights included:

paying off a guy with AK on a K,10,6 rainbow flop vs 10s
folding AK on a AxxQx board on the river , the other guy had AQ fortunately no idea how to bet it.
folding AA on a KQJ flop with 3 callers pre and a checked flop bringing a 6. Turned out QQ and 66 out there.
losing KJstd vs 74off for $160 against a guy that just sat down and went allin every hand for a couple of hands then left.

and basically just missing many more flops and draws than normal, against players that you know you get paid in full if you hit, one of them sessions which always comes around. A bad loser like me finds these difficult sometimes and that why i just cant play much higher on cash games.

Anyway i think its probably a full day off today unless i play a bit of cash later, drinking all evening which no doubt will result in a hangover putting me off playing tommorrow as well but we'll see. Plenty of games Sunday anyway to make up for it, got 8 listed in my diary already !

Anyone Thinking Poker Standard Online Improving ?

Not me, the play gets worse and worse and its beyond belief how really really thick some people are. Dont think i will see a worse play all month, but it wont let me copy history so:

25 left $55 game pays to 20, im 4500 bb and sb has 7500 , 8 handed 150/300 with 25 ante.
folds to sb he flat calls i make an obvious committing raise of 2100 and he goes allin, i have AK and he shows 86off !!! king flops but the four card flush comes , unreal how bad some players are , anyone who thinks online games are getting tougher , you are wrong ! My stack doesnt sound huge but actually that pot would have put me 3rd or 4th as well !

Bust another game deep $20 rebuy, guy limps utg 800 , i allin sb with AK 8000 chips and he calls with A5 LOOOOOOOOOOOL.

And finally pretty deep in another $55 i dont berate the play as a guy shoved 6.5xbb in mid position to steal with Q7std, my KQoff was a possible fold playing only 8xbb but i called and of course he flopped the flush.

Those were only 3 tournaments i played, thankfully they werent big buyins ! A lot more in diary tommorrow night so look forward to a full evening rather than the struggle to find any really interesting to play that was tonight.

Cash was equally as bad but luckily the people how kept flopping huge hands against me were clueless and i managed only a tiny loss overall clearing many mpps in the process anyway.

Road To Recovery

After the play like a dick, act like a dick , post like a dick i didnt play much at all monday , 20 minutes maximum to bust a low stakes game and a free one on flips. I had also managed to put my back out slightly so have been moody **** for 48 hours.

Anyways i finally managed to relax more tonight playing from 8:30pm for 3.5 hours. Some steady results including qualifying for the sunday 1/20 $530 cpc final which for some reason (likely lack of motivation or laziness as im going cpc anyway) ive hardly played any subs to for the last month or 2.

Lessons i already thought i knew again, dont play when you aint in the mood or to pass time it just aint worth it ya big donkey, not for money losses but more for general enjoyment, motivation and fun which are far more important in the long run for me.

Big Big Tilt

Moody ****** today and i really dont know y, been like it since i woke up, ate jogged cycled etc. Anyway poker prob not good idea at all and experienced biggest madness for a few months. Exploded on a couple of tables and now left in 2 decent buyin games which im trying best to tilt off as quick as poss so i can shut this **** down. Hate poker when its like this and worrying thing is im gone from 1 extreme to another having had most enjoyable ngiht for ages last night playing, oh well gl fish and if i go nuts at the tables at ya its only to get it out of my system so im less moody when ive gone.

Sat Night Multis

Decided to stay in for once and play 4-6 multis at once from 7pm onwards. Got a decent run in several cashing for more than buyins but nothing huge. Biggest busts were as follows:

$20k $109 crypto , 10s vs JJ to have gone 3rd/13 (bit gutted as already pushed another guy off 88 by reraising with 66)

betfair $11k QQ vs AQoff ridiculous allin by dummy to have gone 3rd/35
betfair $16k QQ vs 44 for ok sized pot fairly deep

also bubbled for sub to £40k sunday, short stack surviving 3 allins b4 i bubbled :(

still in $13k on crypto 24/45 pays to 30 so hopefully get a run or at least a cash in that too


Tactics definitely worked tonight which were to play so many multis that i had to play pretty damn tight until shorthanded without getting bored in the process. Definitely employ that more often as ive enjoyed the multis tonight for a change even without a huge cash.

.....................later update

final table 4th/10 but did lose KK vs AQ b4 final table to go joint leader on 100k with 3rd place under 50k :(

ooooh as i type dummy double as bad as gets 1st/9 now


darn out in 4th not too happy with it but played as well as could just card dead final 10 then picked wrong spots with 4 left and bad cards. $975 neway :(

October Goals

Some more achievable than others:

POKER
1) Go past all time poker profit of £150,000 (should reach unless loss for month)
2) Go past £40,000 for this calendar year (should reach unless poor month)
3) Go past last years total profit of £41,173 (could reach with similar profit to Sept)
4) Perform well at London GUKPT (luck or not i will judge how i did regardless of result)
5) Try to obtain another steady months profit and enjoy playing where possible

NON POKER
1) Order new mobile phone (never get round to doing)
2) Buy new car (never get round to doing)
3) Keep exercise up (I had lost 3/4 stone since vegas and im actually the lightest ive been as a full time poker player, but want to lose more or at least get fitter)

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 5819396

September Review

Absolutely knackered as i write this, been on the road 13hrs+ and hammered 3hours of poker out immediately on return !

Anyway now im back home and can access my desktop ive been able to tally up last months figures and it reads:

+£4,523 + £1,050 GUKPT buyin + £200 expenses

Bounced right back from the August hard times and very determined to keep the profit and the attitude in the same area, ie both steadily improving !

Drawn by luck on the day i wanted of Thur 18th Oct in London so prob go up on the Wednesday and see how long i can last.

All for now, GL...

GUKPT London Confirmed

Managed to win a $2,500 package (cant be bothered to go into details) so i will be playing in the £1,050 live event which runs from Oct 16th - Oct 21st in London Victoria Grosvenor casino. Its got 3 x day 1 due to demand (tues-thurs). Hopefully i will get one of the latter ones in case i make day 2, but i wont know this for a few days yet. Itching to play some live poker again and hopefully i can have a good enjoyable run in it , result or not. I know i could have and maybe should have played more of these GUKPT events (after Cardiff) but i havent fancied the rebuy subs, often the only subs available but what the heck 2 of them aint bad anyway.

In response to the amatay question re: aussie and CPC, i have qualified for the aussie trip. The cpc at the moment is just me paying for it as a holiday/business trip cos its a damn good trip to go on ( and ive booked a week extra before the poker starts to make sure i fully chill out ! ) .

Moving On Up In The World

Up north that is. Northern Scotland will be my poker base for the next 2 weeks. I will still probably be playing as much as normal as my diary is listed with games most days anyway, thats assuming my laptop and connection up there are ok ;) Im thinking of it more as a change of scene than a holiday in the hope that i dont put on the usual 1/2 stone in weight that i do most years when i go there. Not been playing much the last few days and no play tommorrow as 12+hours on the road. Usual silly hangover today = waste most of the day , 1 day i will learn to just slow up a bit at the end of my night rather than drink faster as i know the nights ending ! Sleep soon, must rise around 6am which is currently the middle of the night for me.

Can You Stop ******* Up Please

Thats either this piece of **** laptop or piece of **** internet connection. I aint in the ******* mood and i know its gonna cost me fair soon if it hasnt already. Away in couple days for change of scene but still be playing poker anyway so at least on a diff connection i might know if its connection or computer. Temper came from nowhere at end of the night, note to self dont play limit tired u will explode if u run like a **** which i did and it probably aint good for ya in long run. GG WP VUL

Since Sunday

Several steady results but nothing huge, went out of mansion Sunday 88 vs QQ to have gone 5th/300ish on a monster stack. tonight lost AQstd vs JJ to go 10th/40odd but cashed and also have cashed yesterday in an ok multi but AK vs 99 failing to improve to go 5/19. Strange how after just 2-3 ok results my mindset has changed and i dont mind failing at the last hurdle. Just dont wanna get a long run of these again. Its not fun one bit but playing through it seemed to work in the end. Hopefully i will grow with that but i still have a silly short fuse after some pots and cant hold back.

Another Result

2nd/153 in a game for £2500, wont mention details as i dont wanna advertise it. Anyway looking at it the positive way i was 39/43 at one point and 10th/10 at the final table so its great. I did have 22 vs AJ to win it for £1300 more and A5 vs 99 for 70-75% chips in play HU but i aint gonna dwell on the only negative part. Appears my luck has turned and its good to get back in the winnings again after such a tough period.

Although i obviously am happy i was very annoyed with this pot earlier below which would have took me to 5th/170 (bb 300 at time) on 55k stack in the $1050 GC game (20k starting stack). I was left on 4k and managed to get up to 14k again b4 going so card dry and eventually busting A5 vs QJ for an 18k pot.

early raiser to 800 and caller 800, im in sb and make it 3123 (both others have circa 20k, im 24k) with AA. both call and the flop is 654 (2 hearts) i bet 6k which is called then other guy moves in for 17k total, i know he could have trips but the allin was instant and i knew he didnt and called almost as fast, other guy folded. he shows A4hh , gr8 call preflop and to think i would fold on the flop is beyond belief imo. Well his 45% draw hit a 4 on the river and it wasnt to be.

Another OK Cash But Just Short

$109 Headhunter finishing 3rd/178 for $1578 , really not sure what to make of that one. Nasty place to finish especially when i had over 50% chips 3 handed at one point before AK ran into KK preflop , sick i had the loosest image ever and it was as unfoldable as would ever be despite the obvious reraise preflop from the tight guy !

Had luck both ways in this to extremes. Started out with worst hands possible for over an hour i think i saw 1 or maybe 2 flops and thats ridiculous for someone like me ! Blinded right out then hit AA vs A10,,,, KQstd vs AJ,,,, JJ vs AK for my first head and then never looked back. Next sick luck turn camewhen 11 left though , having just continue bet and bet the turn in an sb vs bb battle with 10,7 off on an A,9,2,x board and won it i raised the button with 10s next hand and the bb guy (now in the sb) moves in (likely tilt as i aint foldin in a headhuneter ne2 here) with A3off and spikes an ace. That would have put me 1st/10 on monster stack and it probably affected my final table decisions when i doubled up a guy with 99 on a J10x flop thinking he had AQ or AK but he had KK. I then got some reverse luck and doubled through again. Once we got 5 or 6 handed it upped a gear as it was fairly deepstacked but i couldnt seem to get the perfect spots and relied on some well timed bluffs until i finally caught a hand or 2. That was it really until the AK hand above which i will say sickened me again, its not so bad if u have been playing tight and waiting for a hand but to see that after the agression i had shown was very disheartening. Unfortunately also 3 handed the rock guy gave chips for free to the short stack and that prevented me from guaranteeing 2nd place. Got $1000 for 3rd but $2k and $3k + heads obviously for other positions is very gutting to say the least.

Anyway its more cash its another result of sorts and my luck was probably level overall in the end in it given the wild extremes either way so i will b ok bout it i think. Better get bed gotta be up in 4hrs for golf......hard life aint it.

:)

What Just Happened !!!

Another 11th last night in a decent game and a few crucial flips not going my way last night and tonight right at the business end.

Anyway it has finally come good of sorts, it may not be a big big WIN but hopefully the 205 player $22 Headhunter i just WON will finally signal the end of this run ive been one. $950 is not massive but its definitely a big chunk of bankroll to work with and i can relax and enter more regular games that i should be in anyway without worrying about grinding quite so much.

POSITIVE thinking from here ? Well be interesting to see if this has a significant effect on future results and future moods swings and you can be sure either way it will appear on here whichever way it goes from here !

Sept So Far

Nothing too exciting to report im afraid. Generally have dropped stakes in a lot of games with a few good value decent buyins mixed in. Cashed in 3 decent mtts (300-600entrants) but all just money or double money back. My luck deserts me at the end of mtts still and i now lose confidence waiting to get done over rather than enjoying it whichever way the result goes. Cash games also lower stake have gone ok and covered mtt buyins nicely, yesterday i actually ran well and im prob now a few hundred £ up for the month. Nothing major but better than a loss or level and obviously a little spare to enter 1 or 2 bigger games. Still moody at the tables without biting my tongue often which aint helping my game or my mood away from the tables.

Anyway i will continue the grind and see what happens. Also quite possibly a holiday at the end of Sept which i know would be very good for me for sure.


.............................................................later update

ah man its just so sick the pokergods could not be taking the piss anymore. decent stack in mansion and folds 10s pre (AA and KK out there),10 hits of course. If i was on tilt or shit i would have been leader of the 1000+ player game 33% stack more than 2nd placec with 200 players left but instead i drip chips off and end up bubbling 14 places from the 138 places paid.

that aint the true pisstake neway here it is, 72 players GUKPT sat and i finish 3rd with 2 seats available. With 6 or 7 left i got a double off idiot and went from rock to dominating the table, that is until only player 5 handed that can do me damage has AA when i overraise with QQ !!! . Was about joint 2nd/5 then and hung in playin good push poker targeting the right players and picking right spots all time. To cut an already too long story short with 3 left i was targeting the other short stack so i would be in a seat position if i got a lucky double. from me it was push push push, from him it was fold fold fold fold fold. Then finally at blinds of 1200/2400 i stick 32k allin with 10s from the button and he calls me with 88 and spikes an 8. I cant help but go nuts and i get the usual "im a good player, ive won these b4 and finished high in one of the live events bullshit" . Well yeh buddy that dont make u a good player, in fact you played like a wet fish the whole game and were the tightest player at the table and so easy to get free chips from. I laugh at the lucky rocks that think they are so much better than they are, note to you rocks u will win but it dont make u a great player especially when it comes to true short handed poker in a pressure situation. Fortunately luck is a big factor in poker and its why many many players will always rate themselves high (myself inc. i guess sometimes) and why there will always be money in this poker lark. Pokergods please smile on me soon and stop taking the piss out of me u hav now reached an all time high for sure.

August Review

Enough said already.

Loss: £2,824

But won approx £5,000 worth of package to Australia in January 2008 and also a $1050 seat in an online game a week or so into September


Bring On September !!!

Could Be The End

I had enough of everything poker related at the moment and wanna try to start a fresh next month, this blog is meant to be an outlet to get bad stuff out of my head. Im sure the blog is having a negative impact on my game at the moment after this joke of a run ive had. Think i will do some hard thinking about whether i can justify carrying this blog on, i use it for links to other blogs and websites and find it very useful for that but this month it just hasnt worked in terms of separating day to day poker emotions and stuff as it has in the past. There is no point carrying it on if im not comfortable writing negative stuff as well as positive stuff, so many blogs out there only report how wonderful things are after a win and i dont want mine to be one of those really as it gives a wrong impression of the game in my opinion.

I will blog end of month losses etc and prob look at the year to date to try and put a postive slant on things but after that i will leave the blog online and do 1 of several options:

1) Carry on blogging as normal as and when and immediately after highs or lows
2) Blog weekly on a set day
3) Try no blogging for a month to see whether i miss it or whether that has a negative impact itself by not writing it.

Which ever way i go i know it could change but it does annoy a bit when people dont blog for weeks when they have regularly blogged in the past so im stating my intentions up front.

Who knows what im doing next month in way of poker, its tempting to take a lot of time off but at the same time i doubt i would fill my time and know i would feel almost forced to play some good value unavoidable games. One thing i must do is drop stakes and learn to tighten up again and play more ABC stuff. Back to the basics and i guess if i can get some winnings going i will then return to a more "normal" schedule whatever that is !

As many poker players will say (some more often than others) i cant help but say it "i think my luck in the last 2 months has been sick", although im not dumb enough to imply that 100%, i have bound to have run level at luck its just been in nearly all the wrong spots to win anything truly big or inspiring. Unfortunately whilst an approx. $10,000 package to Aussie is big, its so far away it still really hasnt hit me. Caribbean booked, again would like to look forward to that but its months away and im in no hurry for the end of November to arrive !

Maybe i should look at a short break or trip or something for a change of surroundings, who knows, anything to start a kind of blank canvass for the last 1/3 of the year. I do need to buy a car having sold my old one so that could be a good distraction if i get round to looking properly.