End Of Month Games / January Review

Only played one $27 multi yesterday, was trying to win a share in ladbrokes new horse for entertainment value really. Got deep before getting outdrawn by ridiculous calls 3 times in a row and crashing out in 15th/62, paid to 3.

I played an hour or so earlier on cash and lost a few hundred $ before whats ended up being a 10 way play off for a $2500 to the GUPT at Walsall. In fact 3 were sitting out so it was a 7 way play off, win only. Now the fact i seem to have picked up the flu that seems to be hitting loads of people in the area definitely didnt help in this one.

I actually play near perfect poker for the first 90 minutes but i think i missed every flop 3 handed and was maybe a bit impatient cos of my head spinning from the intensity. Blinds were tiny and i had no preflop allins at all so i cant moan about the structure. I also was very unlucky as the only half decent player was directly to my left and if i had position on him im convinced it would have been a much different story. I basically was leading from 6 players down but could not get any significant advantage 3 handed for some reason.

Anyway this pot cost me the chip lead. Raise to 600 in the sb with J9off , flop AQ6 i bet 800 he calls (i hav 7k b4 this hand, he has same). Turn is a 6d and i bet 2000 which is flat called, now i assume he is on a monster or chasing but i dont hav the bottle to push allin on the river. This was a big turning point as he checked and showed QdJd which basically ruined my chances winning from there on. Left on a gay stack of 3500 i know im in trouble and try to refocus. stacks are 12k vs 3500 vs 4500. Anyway with some steady discipline i only ever make it up to 4500 again b4 losing a wad with bottom pair against middle pair on flop. Down to 3k and my final hand pretty much summed up my game 3 handed. top up to 200 in sb with J9, flop is A,9,6 and i chk raise a 200 bet to 600. Turn comes a low 2nd heart and i push all in 2000 for the 2000 pot ish (it was 6100 in total). Called instantly by 9h3h and river is a heart, as i expected really, given that this pot would have put me right back in with a decent chance. As ive said i think a combination of missing everything 3 handed, having a spinning head and being a bit impatient got me in trouble in the end but thats poker. Im very annoyed cos of the effort i put in when my heads spinning to high heaven but in this game you dont always get what you deserve for sure. Ill definitely take the positives out of this at it was good practise for the dome but in the end i made mistakes for the reasons mentioned i guess. Apologies for waffle but im spinning big time.

Now im not too sure if this is a good time to be writing a January review but what the heck, maybe it will make me feel better.

I think when im in the mood and being serious my game is at its highest standard ever, be it cash , or multis. Unfortunately this last week or so ive lost a bit of motivation and enjoyment in playing. I would hope this will change with a break and some live poker mixed in, it definitely wont do any harm anyway. In the end i was £5290 up for the month which is more than this time last year, in fact its over 40% of the first 7 months profit last year ! About 1/3 of that was from cash and 2/3 from tournaments.

February will be similar to last year in the sense that im away for live games, but the main difference being i have a laptop. If i choose to play online in vegas i have the option. No targets, just to enjoy the game where possible and try and be lucky in the dome crapshoot.

Pretty Much The Same Story

1 hour played yesterday followed by about 2 today, all at usual stakes. Made about 300$ yesterday but donated back about $100 today. Nothing too exciting to report at all. Roll on Vegas, roll on February, January is still officially boring the crap out of me. A change of scene, games, buy ins and month can only do me good as i see it.

Easing Back In

A couple of short sessions today, maybe an hour each with just 2 tables of 2,4$NL. $300 up but desire to play more than that is not there yet. Looking forward to change of scene in Las Vegas and booked a hotel at Gatwick for next Saturday before i fly Sunday. Also got a 1 in 9 play off for a $2500 package to GUPT at Walsall on Wednesday which, if i win, would be immediately after i get back.

I suppose at some point this week i should play a few sixpac single table tournaments to get back in swing of them but i will leave that till midweek maybe.

OK Time To Come Clean

Ive totally felt like my old gambler self this week rather than a poker player. I did a chunk on the casino a few days ago, mainly through boredom and arrogance. I had been building up to that for a bit. This seems to happen every few months and then i dont touch it again for a few months, which i think is the stage im at again thankfully. Im not gonna quote figures, it was significant, but it could have been significantly more. Of course its included in monthly profit which will dent it somewhat but i have to remember its the gambler inside me that enables me to live this lifestyle. Losing the value of money and getting complacent is something i obviously need to work on a bit in the future.

Anyway on the poker front ive only played a couple of league games i felt forced to and havent felt like playing at all. My head is definitely clearer today but i still dont think ill play properly until i really get an urge .

Mansion have finally sorted out my travel arrangements and ive booked hotels either side of the dome event to ensure im in Vegas for 10 nights. I fly out on Sunday 4 Feb and stay in Monte Carlo for 5 nights. I move to a deluxe room at Caesars on Friday 9 Feb and play in the poker dome on the Saturday night. After 2 nights there i move into Harrahs and have 3 more nights before flying home to arrive back on Thursday 15 Feb. This could backfire as a tactic moving around so much but im happy to give it a go and actually see it as fun staying in 3 different places for variety etc. All thats left to do really is book parking and probably a gatwick hotel for the night before i fly and of course pack :( .

I Cant Play

I knew this was a coming. All this playing out of sheer boredom and not enjoying a minute of it was bound to lead to a bad session and i just done a wad just now. It doesnt help when people are constantly sucking out on me or hitting nuts when i have 2nd nuts which is becoming common place but this aint about the cards. Im sick of the game and playing it through boredom is not going to help one bit and i know that. I need to take days off from it but i have a rubbish league im a bit committed to and i dunno what else im gonna do to fill my time anyway. Mansion are supposed to be ringing me back later, have to see if that happens i doubt it somehow. Lowest point in poker for 6 weeks since busting out of main event in st kitts but this low is lasting days rather than the 24 hours that did. God knows how i turn this round, my patience and enjoyment has totally deserted me and i never feel motivated to play despite having had a decent run of late up until a week or so ago.

The Downward Trend Continues

Not much has changed, im still playing bored as can be whether cash or multi. If i dont play im probably just as bored and poker sites messing me about doesnt help one bit. Lost a ridiculous river pot earlier for 580$ (3,6NL yep no luck at higher stakes as always). Also had a pot on 2,4 where i raised to 12 and get 2 callers then a reraise to 66. I have AK and jam as dont put them on AA or KK and know they could have crap. sb calls my allin for $150 and bb calls off his remaining stack for 200$ or so. board 5797J sums up my day/week when im AK vs AJ vs QJ what a absolute joke this games becoming.

No further contact from mansion, great have to ring them tommorrow and speak to some muppets who probably wont be able to help me in the slightest. Actually maybe ill go on live chat now and give someone some stick just for the hell of it. Also expecting a chq in nxt day or 2 from "doyles room" for $6000 and i notice today they have put the cash back in my account. Great, apparantly they tried to refund it to my debit card which i know was cancelled so i made sure i had spoken to someone before making the withdrawal and they told me it was coming via cheque. Some of these poker sites are a complete joke and i just hope i can get rakeback on blue square which im enquiring about so that i can stop playing doyles. As with mansion, well just have to see what happens, im also making my first cash withdrawal this week so it will be interesting to see if that goes through smoothly. I doubt it somehow.

Time For Another Moan

I dunno what it is but im not happy at all at present. I think it must be the mansion trip and the fact they still have not contacted me with further detail. Ive sent so many emails im losing count and ive told them they will get angry phone call(s) wednesday if i havent had a proper response. If i didnt have this trip i would either be looking for a place to rent or more likely just have gone on holiday to a sunnier place to get away from this dull weather. On the poker front ive only been playing through boredom and it shows, but i havent really made or lost any money over the last few sessions overall. Hopefully ill get out of the right side of bed tommorrow and begin to turn round this destructive mood.

End of rant.

Nice Money And Poker Problems To Have

This will sound daft but what the heck. Im finding myself more bored at the tables this week for sure and im positive its because i have nothing really to aim for having already had such a massive start to the month. I could move to higher stakes for sure with some spare profit but i often find myself not enjoying them that much either because its so much more difficult to get paid when you hit a hand. Another solution would be to reduce my play significantly until next month but this is easier said than done when its forecast a cold spell in the next few days. I dont wanna go on holiday because im supposed to be off to vegas in 2 weeks (if mansion ever bother to contact me again to sort, another annoyance). Increase activity away from poker, well i already have but there is still plenty of spare time in any single day. This is a temporary problem for sure as in a few months time i will increase golf and other activities outside big time once spring arrives.

Anyway ive donated part of last nights winnings back, not sure of exact figure maybe 3 or 400$ so nothing huge. Definitely not played as solid, a few mistimed bluffs cost me a bit and my poker radar was definitely not 100%. I could blame this on a hangover but it was very mild so its not really an issue today.

Drunk Poker Ban Lifted

Couldnt resist and was in mood for action so had 5 tables going at one point but that gradually reduced to just 2 in the end. Usual stakes and after just over 3 hours i made over $1000. To be fair, although i played it very strong and the AA should have folded imo, if i lost the pot below for $914 i would only have been marginally up.

Jd9d calling $4 then a further 8$ raise. Flop 9x6d5d , i lead out AA min raises me, i add an extra 100 to it and he pushes me allin for another 200. I call and spike a diamond on the river. Obviously i often play trips this fast or even a flopped straight or 2 pair but people wont listen to big bets when they hold AA and i was lucky enough to win this 50/50 situation.

Animal Finally Reports Some Losses

Nothing major but didnt place in $109 or $55 tournaments and lost about 300$ on cash as well. Not a bad cash session really considering i missed nearly every set possible. 1 or big pots cost me in the end when i had tough marginal decisions and i took the easier options which were the wrong ones.

Too tired to chase any further, i suppose i should be glad i was on really bad tables as i might have lost more otherwise. Given my record of late i can accept 1 off day but i will hit back tommorrow or saturday and get straight back to winning ways. Right bed !

Falling At The Last Hurdle

22 player $109 game all ive played since the 50 minutes of cash earlier and i did get lucky 3 and 4 handed but had them covered each time. Heads up and the following happens:

Basically i have him covered the first 2 pots:

1) unraised pot of 1600 flop QdJd9d and he bets 800, i reraise to 2800 with Qx10d.
turn is 5h and i bet pot of 4800, no way im folding and he moves in for a further chunk and i call. He has Q5off and but i have monster outs and hit 9 for a split. Cant see him folding if no 5 hit the deck so should have won there really.

2) hand or 2 later i have 33 (bear in mind he v agressive with big cards), all chips go in he has 10s and holds.

3) nxt hand i have 44 and chips go in although im only playing for a 17k pot now (44k in play), he has 66. Oops bit of an unlucky or daft heads up, i cant decide which but i find it very difficult to lay any pocket pair down preflop heads up.

$600 for 2nd but was $1200 for 1st, never mind its more money in the kitty anyway.
Its only 12:50am but i may stop for the night there, dunno a break for a bit anyway.

Strong Steady Progress

Just cant seem to do much wrong on the 2,4$NL cash tables. I had some help yesterday when i hit a higher set vs a lower one on the flop but those sort of pots are just the good side of variance which are important to remember when the reverse happens to you (see earlier post re: $914 pot). Ended up about $350 up for the day yesterday (which included losses of $109 and £55 for tournaments) which is good. When i play a lot of cash in a day its always to be 300-400$ up as over a month that would equate to £4-£6000.

Anyway just hit the tables for 50 minutes today at 2,4$ and came off $280 up. Only real pot of interest was 9 handed in the bb.

UTG raiser to 14 called by 2 so i take flop with 8c9c.
Flop is 8s6c5c and i decide im going to play this hand strong by a probable chk raise rather than leading out (which i would do often too).
UTG bets 25 which is called by one other. I make it 80 in total and just the caller stays in.
Turn is a Jd and i know im committed so stick my remaining 270$ into the $250 pot.
He folds after a good time thinking, hard to put him on a hand. Mayb higher flush draw, mayb 99 or 1010 or given the standard sometimes at these tables even 77.

Breaktime Over

After just 1 hrs play in 4 days (which gave me a nice $500 profit on 2x 2,4$NL) i took back to the tables properly today.

After getting a bit bored at first i was soon back in the swing of it and enjoying playing making a steady profit. That was before i lost a $914 pot on 3,6$NL after a unraised 15$ pot on flop of 773. Holding 33 all my money went in on the turn with a huge overbet and 97 called, only to river the golden 9 for a higher full house.

I stayed playing and after a bit had calmed down, actually i steadily progressed back up (without any suckouts myself !) and in the end i finished about $500 up for the day on cash. Excellent result given could have so easily been $1400 up, think my play was at its highest standard and i definitely was making good clear decisions.

Only other game i played was a 109$ multi but lost a 50/50 on a flush draw with overcards for a decent pot which was just one of those hands the chips were all going in on the way it played.

Probably finish now for the night although there is still possibility of 3am game and further cash, i have 10 minutes to decide.

Time Off !!!

And no its not because im lazy, i just havent played since the 6k win as ive found other stuff to occupy my time. I look forward to playing my next session but that might not even be today because as usual i drank too much last night and have one of my lovely hangovers. Ill see, if it clears i might play later in the night but im busy tommorrow also so there wont be much play between now and monday which is good as ill be craving to get back on the tables and this only seems to help my game.

Still not got any further details regarding the pokerdome, they are a bit slow replying to my emails and ill have to phone them today or monday to push things on, i like to know where i stand with dates, flights, and accomodation so i can forget about it for a couple of weeks.

$6000 And Gutted

Just crashed out of the 3am $100 over 5hrs 20mins into it. I lost a pot to go joint chip leader of 5, 10s vs A2off. The blinds were a crapshoot and i had plenty of luck to get where i did although i did play well for periods inbetween. 571 entrants and again it was a very close last minute decision whether to play tonight so i know ill be happy in a day or 2 about this result. At this time im just gutted and a bit livid. I also suffered a powercut with 5 players left that lost me 10% of my stack before that final pot. Payouts were:

1st $24,000, 2nd $15,000, 3rd $10,800, 4th $7,900 and me $6000 for 5th.

I tightened up significantly at the final table and let others battle out and climbed up the rankings until the stacks became much more level and the time to gamble came. I couldnt be happier with my final few tables play to be honest. Once i got to $6000 payout i viewed 3rd -5th as the same payout so was targeting 2nd or 1st so its obviously a bit disappointing.

Anyway i guess i better switch off and wind down, im totally knackered and drained but im sure i wont get to sleep for an hour or so after that poker rush.

Golden

I played for 7 hrs on cash earlier at 2,4$NL and went down 300$ before going up 300$ and finally finishing level. This was only 9pm, very unusual for me to play so much earlier in the day. I think i ran bad but i made a few bad calls or plays so it really was a frustrating mixed bag. Anyway unsure of whether to enter a 10pm $109 (23 players) after a break i did so at the last few seconds and after the first hand below i just hit almost everything. Luckiest tournament game ive had for ages. Key hands were:


1) blinds of 20,40 it folds round to me in the sb and i have KK and raise it to 120. he calls and flop is 999 and chk chk. turn is a 10 and i lead for 120 which is flat called, river is a 6 and i bet 240 which is raised a further 600. I stubbornly dont listen to my note on this guy which says he doesnt bluff and pay him off at the last second to see the 89std. Im left on about 1000 crippled but still in with a chance if im lucky, obviously i made an awful call by my standards on the river and i was mad at myself for doing so. By all means i should have bust if i or he had played it faster.

2) after a fair bit of pushing to sustain around to 800-1100 mark i move allin with JJ at 100,200 and double against a chap flat calling 200 with A8off LOL.

3) i then push all in early with 88 and get called by 99 and river a straight, my push was a big overbet of 2400 at 100,200 but they were lucky imo i didnt hold better than 99.

4) i then bust someone A10 vs 99 for another 2500 pot.

5) im now almost chip leader pick up AA in the sb and reraise an utg raiser. he pushes allin same stack as me with KQstd !!!, im now chip leader by a mile double 2nd place.

6) a 2500 stack moves all in and i call with AQ and beat his 1010.

6) i think the only pot i lost was then a 99 vs 1010 for 5000 chips before we hit the final table of 9.

7) i sat tight at first as i had lost a bit of my advantage then we hit the money with 5 players left and i went golden again, first raising with KK (only 400bb which it was until the end) to 1200 only to get reraised allin by 10s for a 20k pot.

8) i took a chunk of the weak stack in a blind battle freeflop with mid pair before he busted to someone next hand. Then 3 handed 46k in play and only 400bb after maybe 10 hands this one comes about: sb tops up i have 8c4c and flop is AxQcJc and he bets 700 which i call. turn is Kc and he bets 1200 which i push allin on. he calls (playing an 8k stack) and is drawing dead with 10s3s, lovely golden turn !!!

9) heads up (35k vs 11k) after about 5 hands it comes flop on my bb of A53 and holding 52off i bet 500 which is called. turn is a sweet 4 (very golden) and i check. he bets 1600 and i push him all in as there is possiblity of a higher straight river, a flush draw or a paired hand also. he calls with 43 (2 pair) and misses the river.

1st was $1288, LOL for a game that seemed against me most of the day and that stupid KK call ill take that. its nice to be lucky in a tournament for a change but i did play my big hands well to get paid off fully even if i was golden on soooooooo many hands.

Definitely Not Running Well

Ive got away well from a set against my top pair big kicker earlier and people are definitely hitting more hands against me than average in the last 24-36 hours. Worst example being below:

8s9s flat call 4$ and 1 other caller off blinds so 4 in the pot.

flop 10sJxQs and i bet 16$ which is raised to 48 by the other caller. i flat call looking for a good turn and a probable check raise. The turn is As and i check raise all in with the flush only to run into KsJs , a royal flush. Just sums up the short term luck ive had in the last 24 hours , simple variance and no getting away from but put me off playing the rest of the night as ive drunk a bit tonight and i dont want to lose my head.

Still well up so far for 1 week into the new year, break and regain focus later or tomorrow.

Hangovers And Poker Dont Mix ?

I actually played well and was nicely up earlier on cash tables, defintely in excess of $500. Then i came back for more this evening but my head was definitely not in the right place, it felt like i was playing out of boredom more than anything else. I came close to the bubble in the 12k £55 and lost a 50/50 for a huge pot in the 8k in the last quarter of the field.

Whilst this was going on i was probably playing far too many cash tables at once, again out of boredom. Anyway i lost a $500 pot 77 vs 69 on a A7810 board when i had pumped the flop and was not folding to any turn possible. Then towards the end of my session i lost another $400 pot when my AK raise got reraised and i reraised. The dummy had no idea where he was so flat called (as they do when they cant fold) and on a Axx board he bet 20$ and i raised him allin for 120 but he still called and of course spiked a J on the river.

Normally these pots arent so bad but i know i wasnt enjoying the game tonight as i could not cope with simple variance that im very used to at the moment and proceeded to have some lovely arguments with many persons at a table or 2 (which is obviously pointless and stupid).

Anyway im probably level or mayb 100-200$ down at the end of day but i must remember not to play when im really not in the mood, it will only put me off the game when the hangover has gone. I did play very disciplined drunk poker for 3 hours last night and made about $300 profit so all is still well in animalpoker even though i think i will switch off for the night early now.


Late Night Edit: (After a 3 hour break)

Played another $100, 450odd players and lost AA vs JJ to have gone 2/300ish early. Played agressive gambling and rebuilt my stack up but as i knew this was a crapshoot game i failed when i tryed to steal limpers chips and ran into 2 big hands but still had live cards. I also lost a couple of nasty beats after the AA that would have put me back to the top 20 or so but i think that tournament is cursed for me whether i get good hole cards or not its just too much luck involved in the end.

Recovered a bit on cash although i definitely made 1 or 2 really bad calls so at the end of the day im about the same as above 100-200$ down but cursing my luck a bit but also my attitude and 1 or 2 bad decisions.

Promising Progress

2.5hrs cash earlier for about $200 profit on 2,4$NL and a dabble at 5,10$NL where a bad player was.

After a dinner break i played for 130 minutes in a 109$ 12 player tournament and 2 x 10 player £1,£2NL cash tables. I won the tournament for $700 profit and made about $450 from the cash tables alongside.

A good steady start to the month with some good play and maybe a bit of luck in the right places, heres hoping it continues.


Late Night Edit:
Played another 100$ tournament and got nowhere, also played 2,4$NL cash alongside and made just over $500 in 90 minutes running very well indeed.

And 2007 Begins...

A full 4 days off from poker over new year and only about 5 hours play so far this year over 2 days. The 2 $100 tournaments got nowhere basically losing 4/4 preflop all ins where i was 45-65% favourite. The remainder of play was on the 2,4$NL and 3,6$NL cash tables where i lost $300 the first hour only to recover and finish $500 up later the first day. Today i probably called too many pots off but still was about $100 up from cash so not too bad.

Pokerdome details are through and i am playing on Saturday 10 Feb and that is screened in the USA on Fox Sports the following day. Apparantly it is shown on FX over here a few weeks later , possibly on a sunday night at 11:30pm but im sure i will find that out over there. Still got to arrange travel etc and decide how long to stay either side of the game, probably 7-10 days in total anyway.