April Review

£15,500 profit which is exactly the same as my 2nd best month for profit (Aug 2006).

Obviously the Mansion win (my 2nd largest single win) tops the highlights in a month which i would estimate to have raked less than half of the month before.

Money doesnt seem too important to me at the moment but hopefully a new month and fresh start will help me refocus again. If not then i will just keep my play reduced for the time being as ive done for the last week or 2.

Sunday

Figured i should play a few biggies for a change, found it a bit tough taking some nasty beats in the end but here are summaries of games played as best as remember:

$215 $300k on party poker, 1450 entrants. Went out on a pot to have gone to 16k, over double the average with 1000 players left.

$320 on betfair, never got going in this and lost a chunk early with KK against a set when i couldnt fold a tough river bet. Ended up going out in an interesting 3way allin on a flop of 235 with 2 hearts holding Ah9h knowing i was behind to a probable straight. The other 2 actually had A4 and 46, neither had hearts so it was definitely worth a roll of the dice.

$215 $100k on ipoker, started well in this before being rivered for a decent pot and then going out on a bad beat.

£120 40k on crypto, went weak early before recovering to my starting stack. Went out to a backwards dummy 10s vs 8s to have got back to average chips with half the field gone.

$100 mansion, never got going and struggling to remember exit hand.

$50 rebuy on prima (in for $150) $200k guaranteed with about 1700-1800 entrants. Lost a 20k pot QQ vs AQoff to have gone about 60th/300 on 27k at 400,800 blinds. Busted the 7k shortly after when A7std on button ran into AJ in the bb for a 16k exit pot.

That leaves just 1 game (the smallest of the lot) , a 200 player $10k freeroll (488 entered but only 200 not sitting out that is) which ive just abused the bubble on. Also made a huge turn bluff with king high with only 24 players left and just went for an outrageous pot odds call and won a huge pot J9std vs AQoff. A right rollercoaster so far but chipleader for the moment. Ok money for top 6 or so hopefully can manage to get a chunk of the buyins back from all the above. Will update below later i guess. 20 players left now 50k stack (2nd has 35k and blinds 400,800 with a 100 ante)

Later Update:

Ok aggressed and quite a few 60/40s held up to climb to the final table as chipleader still. Ran AK into a guys AA to knock me down to 3rd or 4th with 8 players left. Structure actually allowed proper poker though and after 1 or 2 resteals (including a K9off) and aggression we were down to the last 4 all between 70-85k at 2400bb. I then got a helping hand when a guy limped and my K10 hit nuts straight on turn for free which he paid off 2 pot bets on as he obviously had ace rag. I then sucked out A7std vs AQoff for marginal pot odds which resulted in me having 50% chips in play of the last 3. Managed to dispose of the other 2 with some help from the pokergods on the flops taken. Eventually heads up 200k vs 100k i limped with 86off and called a pot raise to see a flop of 996. He pot bet about 17k and i put him allin for his last 60k or so. He called with AQoff and failed to improve :)

$2500 for 1st results in about $1500 up on the day, big result considering i spent $1000 in tourney buyins and was down to the last tournament with the smallest prize pool.

Thurs - Sat

Thurs: $109 small multi, unplaced

Friday: no play

Saturday: $100 mansion unplaced

Summary Times

For personal reasons poker has taken a back seat at the moment for now and the near future. Im playing a few select games i feel i should and a few i probably shouldnt to fill time but i need to sort some other stuff out before my head is right for hitting the tables full time again. I will still blog but its likely to just be a short summary of results for the time being:

Tuesday:
$109 small multi, unplaced

Wednesday:
$100 mansion, unplaced. KK vs AA for 11k stack at blinds 75,150
£22 sub, bubbled
$77 sub, bubbled
$109 small multi, 2nd for $480
tiny bit 2,4$ cash level

Time Off

I havent played since Friday (45 minutes ) and if i play tonight it will only be for a very small period of time. Im away for Mon/Tues but may play a bit when i get back Tues if not too late. Time planned away from the tables is very good for me but seems to be something most poker players dont do. I usually look forward to playing more when i return and enjoy it more as well.

Anyway on another note i've linked the Caribbean Poker Classic 2007 web page up and once satellites start i will target these in a big way. I really really want to go again and make it 3 years running , its just such a good crack and the timing at the end of November is perfect to split up autumn/xmas. Although no cash satellites have been announced that im aware of, on classic poker there are details of what im sure will be network wide promotions related to the CPC which begin next month. Hopefully CPC cash satellites will start very soon also given the WSOP no satellite buyin rule it would seem to make sense really.

http://www.caribbeanpokerclassic.com/
http://www.classicpoker.com/Promos/$400K_cpc_freeroll.php
http://www.classicpoker.com/Promos/monthly_leaderboards.php


In terms of WSOP at the moment im waiting until my Sunday pool league finishes before playing a lot of cryptologic subs. Even if i win a seat though i would definitely just take the cash but hopefully the free hotel would still be available and that would just be enough incentive for a trip over at that time of year for me personally. I know there are other sites i could play some subs on but just havent felt enough motivation as of yet to try many at all. I think ive only played 1 WSOP sub in the last month actually. My satellite record on cryptologic remains excellent but at the moment the Sunday finals are a joke with a ridiculous payout structure if it doesnt reach 2 packages, which wont help my cause. Bully bubbles / gambles are huge factors in satellites with my tactics and this is limited when a $530 satellite pays, for example, 1 package then $550 for 2nd-17th which is the most extremely stupid payout ive seen so far.

I Can Only Blame Myself

Im such a lightweight at the moment when it comes to drinking. You would think this is a good thing but i still try and drink at levels i was a month or 2 ago which results in partial memory loss and the worst bit, a shocking hangover the next day, which is exactly where i am now. I did play drunk cash but made sure i was tight with 4x10 player tables on the go at 2,4$, no idea how long for really. All i remember is losing about 200-300$ in total and probably throwing the best hand in a couple of tricky situations, eg 10s on a 8 high board with huge preflop and big bets on flop with another guy allin. I wanna sleep this off now but i cant, it seems ive returned to the old habit of waking up far too early drunk/hungover. Another excellent day weather wise, heres hoping i dont waste it lying in bed all day groaning which is about 50/50 at mo.

Thursday Thoughts

Another good day at the tables. Played 3,6$ and a bit 5,10$ 10 handed and i knew awful player there. Made about $350 from less than an hours play.
Tourneys:
$55 turbo wsop sub got nowhere
$100 mansion, got deep again but finished about 100th/640 (pays to 81) when i gambled calling an allin on my bb from a big stack sb with A3std. His A9 kicker played and i busted which was fair enough.
$100 small multi , came 2nd for $540. Doubled up 67 vs Q8std heads up to stay in. Then split AQ vs A10 and lost A8 vs QJ both to win so i guess fair enough although the Q8 was a very dodgy call imo.

To sum up, about $550 up on the day which is very good. Seem to be very steady at the moment and still with chances of big wins at same time. Definitely finding it useful to only start playing 8, 9 or even 10pm as i look forward to it a bit more. 2am now, probably finish although may glance at the cash tables again to see if tempted.

Pokergods Say Yes

Not really in mood to play much today, but what i did play came good.

30 minutes cash on 2,4$ , only 1 table also. Came off about $200 up.

One $109 small multi win only which i won for $1400.
I should also mention i had 4 preflop allins in that multi and won all 4 :) , reverse variance is good: 10s vs A6off (out if lost) , 44 vs AQ (crippled if lost) , AK vs A5 and KQ vs J8std to take out 3rd and 2nd when monster stack.

I knew the mini run wouldnt last ;)

Pokergods Say No

It seems as ive only played 2 tournaments today and i failed to win all 3 preflop allins i had.
AK vs AQstd split, AQ vs 55 lost and AQstd vs A9off lost.

The first was in a small $100 multi and i also lost a big pot to put me top few allin 33 vs K10 on a 10,10,3,5 board when a king rivered.

The other 2 were at the later stage of mansion. 1st pot was to have gone about 50th/160 then the 2nd a couple of hands later was only for 10xbb after i was left crippled.

On the plus side at least this mini ( i hope mini ) preflop allin run im on is not on the cash tables. Obviously its often smaller amounts if u r preflop allin on them anyway.

Anyway tournament preflop allins now reads lost 7 out of last 8 and split other, thank god for deepstacked poker :)

A Tiring Mansion Game

Woke up before midday so decided to give the $100k a whirl. Progressed well with nearly all my hands holding up. Didnt make too many plays as it was so loose there werent many spots. Ended up finishing 26th for $600 on this pot.

I have 24k and the blinds are 1600,3200:

early position big chip raises to 7200 and im next to act and make it 18k to look stronger than an allin. i have 10s but he flat calls (real sign of a donk, chance he fold after flop maybe lol)
flop is Ax xs xs and the 6k left goes in and he has Ks9s !!!. Of course he hits the flush and his ridiculous call preflop is rewarded.
sick way to bust. Looking at it the proper way i couldnt really have got a better spot than that but its annoying to lose to a muppet call after 4hrs all the same.
pot would have put me 8th/26 on 54k :( .

Lost about 700$ last night on 3,6$. Included losing a 1000$ pot top trips vs flopped straight which i didnt improve on. Mayb made about 200$ or so on 2,4$ cash alongside mansion this afternoon.

Evening Update:

Played some cash and ended up losing that $200 profit from earlier but finished 2nd/11 in a small $100 multi for $480 despite losing all 5 preflop allins in the game !
A5 vs QJ , AQ vs 710 , KQstd vs AK , A8 vs AK and AQ vs AK .

Saturday Summary

Played mansion 100$ and lost a 3400 preflop pot at 25,50 99 vs J9off ! which left me crippled on 1k and i never recovered. Standard stuff really from whats seen most days. Had intended to put in a long cash session to see really how different it is on a Saturday night at the cash tables. Went on 3,6 and 2,4$ but after just under 2 hours i stopped for personal reasons but had made 900$ in that time running well and getting paid well. A couple of examples below.

2,4$ 10 handed im in bb and a late mid postion min raises. i take a flop with 10,6std and the flop comes 10,6,2. He chk raise his $12 bet to $32 which he calls. Turn is a 7 and i bet about $60 which is flat called. River is a 3 and i bet $180 into the $200 pot which is again called. I check the hand history and he had A10off.

3,6$ 4 or maybe 5 handed im in the sb with 10s and the bb is an aggressive calling station. I raise to $12 which he calls. Flop is J,10,8 and i bet $20 which is called. The turn is a second diamond but a fairly harmless 5 and i chk raise him. He had bet 48$ and i overbet and made it $140 hoping he would figure weakness. River is a juicy 5 , i consider the check but i dont put him on a draw so hoping he has a part of it i move allin for my last $300. He calls and mucks 10,7off.

On another note it appears my horse may be running in a month or so as ive copied this from the linked page above. "As long as everything continues to go smoothly, we can hopefully start her racing career off in mid-May.”

Another Dose Of The Cursed Drunken Poker

2,4....3,6..... and 5,10$ most of it all at same time on 2 or 3 tables.
went bout 200 down then got back to level then 1 of 2 nasty stitch ups put me 500 down.
fortunately i persisted and wasnt being unpatient and someone went allin 500 on 3,6 preflop with 87std which i beat with AA !!
finished about 200 up but nuts really the drunk stuff ive seen , if u get hands u get paid, nout more to it.

Doing The Right Thing

Lost about $400 on cash games early evening running bad. Returned later for a 100$ tournament and lost a huge pot against a muppet. Just not been in the mood for poker tonight. Combination of things but i seem to have learnt recently not to waste my time playing when im in this sort of mood. Hopefully this is temporary but im not gonna play much if it aint. Just craving so much to do physical and social stuff which im unable to do at the moment cos of my back. Every night it gets better at this sort of time but then i wake up the next day all tight again, sleeping on it seems to be the worst thing for it ! I would luv to take many days off from poker after recent wins but i just wouldnt be able to fill the time as i would like.

Thanks Again For Not Betting

In a similar fashion to yesterday in the small multi i was playing this hand arose:

utg limps 300, im sb and top up with A7off. (3 way flop) A6x chk chk chk
turn is an A chk chk chk
river is a blank and i bet 300 which utg min raises to 600
i call ( i only have 720 left ) and he shows 66 !!!
another freeroll chance to get back in where i should have bust, anyway despite getting to almost chipleader of 6 it became a crapshoot and after 1 overraise i then lost on an unlucky stop and go to have gone 1st/5 with almost double 2nd places chips (pays to 3)

Never got going in mansion and busted against trips holding an overpair. That outcome was unavoidable whether i had limped or raised preflop.

Played cash for 2-3hrs alongside and made back 100$ ish so not much down on the night. Probably finish now but i'll see after a break as been playing 4hrs fairly constant.

The Great Escape(s)

Not a great night for hitting flops but as a certain Mr Hellmuth would say its not about the winning its about also about minimising the losses when the cards are against you. Well the first hand below is exactly that and i still scratching my head why i didnt bet the river.

$100 small multi last 3 (already in money).
Im bb in 2nd middle stack, have 10k at 300,600 blinds and sb tops up and has me covered.
I have 76std (suit doesnt matter on the board) and check.
Flop is 642 with 2 spades and he chks and i bet 800 into 1200 which is flat called.
Turn is a 4 which also makes it 2 hearts out there now but im putting him on the 1st flush draw most likely and more so when he chks and i bet 1400 which is flat called.
River is a 4 , pot is 5600 and he chks. I look at situation and figure only hand going to pay me off is A2 and no way hes got that as ive played short handed a while and know he prob lead the flop with that. I have 4800 left but i check my full house !!!!
He shows 64std for 4 of a kind and im still in the tournament !!!!

Anyway to cut a long story short i outdraw to double A5 vs A10 , river 5. Then i bust the other guy AK vs 9,10. Im freerolling i should have been out so dont care what happens luckwise as its fun now. Anyway heads up almost level in chips i lost 3k on a pot so was then 2-1 down. I blind a little then double raising with 10,8 off and on a 842 the chips go in. He has J8off and i river the 10 !!! Im still only about 16k vs 14k and call a min raise next hand with 98off. Flop is a J75 and he only bets 800 into the 3200 pot. I could chase but its more likely he missed so i stick them in. He calls with KJ and the turn is a 10 for me to win the game for $850 instead of the $340 i should have got for 3rd. A $510 bonus in my opinion. The luck bit just makes it funnier after a river i and most would normally autobet.

Anyway alongside this ive been on a 10 player 2,4$ cash table until heads up. 2 pots to tell of:

1) raise to 12$ in the cutoff with KK and get an sb caller. flop is AAQ and chk chk. turn is K and chk i bet 14 into the 28 pot which is flat called. river is blank and he chks , i bet 36 into the 56 pot and its flat called. The guy had my $450 covered and shows AQ to take the pot. LOL huge bonus i didnt bet more myself or get raised anywhere, should have lost around 200$ here i feel and could even have bust !!!!

2) next i get Q5 in the bb and 3 limpers. flop is Q59 and i bet 12 which is called by 2 players. turn is a queen and i bet about 36 which is flat called by 1 player. river is a x and i put him in for his last 30 which he calls. he shows 55 and i win a 170$ pot. No skill here just a lucky variance escape !!!!

Overall ive had quite a fun night in the end. I was struggling to enjoy it for the first couple of hours and busted $100 in tourneys and lost 200-300 on cash. In the end im about 500$ up although i may play some more cash shortly , not sure yet.

The Double Was On :)

Mansion finished 46th out of about 660 entrants AK vs 88 to have gone 14th...... did get into about 15th before but had to fold an A10off to a reraise and again it had turned into a crapshoot so i cant moan about my luck :)). Only got $250 back, i wanted to retain the title :(

Played a good selection of big multis tonight and thoroughly enjoyed nearly all of them. Had about 6 on the go at peak and took some nasty beats in many spots but just laughed them off. I really cant believe how bad some of the games were for the big buy ins they were. Bodes so well for the future but does make me think maybe i should be playing poker Sundays not pool for 8 months of the year. I'll see how Sunday poker goes from May - Sept when im free.

Played a little cash earlier and made $50, so on the night im a fair chunk down but im happy to buy into a few higher games on a free Sunday for a change. There seems to be a lot of games to choose from for me at the moment, cash or tournaments ,which is excellent.

Had a nice 48 hrs off from poker and to lose on my return but just really enjoy it anyway is great. Ive played for 6 hours solid so im a bit knackered now so will finish early for the night i think.

Double Up Deluxe

Just took 6 hours 7 minutes to win the mansion $100k (494 entrants) for $24,000, or £12,138. That almost exactly doubles my yearly earnings to date. Im so knackered it aint set in yet. Got very very lucky in some spots and definitely wasnt playing my A game at times but as we all know poker is a lot of luck in the short term anyway. Cant be bothered with key hands etc as far too many but i will mention a couple of stacks i had which i was very fortunate to recover from :)

39 players left im 39th/39 with only 3k and in the bb for 2400 !!!
12 players left im 12th/12 with only 30k utg push with a 24k bb approaching !!!

Obviously i hadnt blinded down to the above, they were shortly or immediately after losing big pots.

Anyway after all the rants on here about no luck at the business end of mtts lately i can put that to rest as i know i got whats been a while coming and will savour the moment.

CASHHHHHHHHHHH :))


Late night update:

Its now 8 hrs since the win and after a snooze for a couple of hrs it started to set in just how big a win this was. 10% added to total profits from poker, 2nd biggest poker win. The funny bit is i cant even have a drink to celebrate cos of the painkillers im on. That can wait although ive already started worrying about complacency, laziness and lack of motivation to play for the rest of April. Keep telling myself focus on getting money for that house asap, not what you have already taken this month. Anyway ive obviously taken the rest of the day off and will see what i feel like tommorrow with regards to playing. Sunday i have 1 or 2 ok games lined up so will definitely be back in the game then if not before :)

GL

MTT Reminder

mansion lost final 3 preflop allins, all huge pots the 2nd one to go 13th/132. (about 560 entrants). finished about 100th livid to have lost to lucky overbetting idiots once again.

QQ vs 77..... 7600 pot when blinds 150,300
QQ vs K7off 15k pot when blinds 300,600
KK vs AJoff 10k exit pot , blinds still 300,600

great stuff, so close to not entering and wish i hadnt. just aint got the patience after any defeat when ive played well. i know this will change when im 100% but i think cash is a much better option. ive covered my mtt/stt buyins so far from only 2hrs or so play.

Since i wrote above just won win only stt for $1100 so bit happier. Nothing wrong with lots of cash and lower wins to achieve a decent monthly profit and plenty more time to get lucky in a big multi when my patience feels up to it again :)

Daily Summary

$100 mtt didnt enjoy played ok and lost 50/50 to have gone 40/200 500 entrants b4 losing short stacked.
$150 in stts unplaced.
$400 up on cash, includes heads up 5,10 against a $300 stack. after taking $60 $240 went in on a Qd9d7d flop holding Qc7c and held up (57%) against Ad7x.

Key thing at the moment is im really trying to only play when i want to and not just cos im bored or feel forced to enter something because of value. Stick to that thought process and i'll be just fine on meeting targets on cash and enjoyment factor.

3 Nights Summary

Mtts/stts hardly any but -$300
Daft casino gamble -$300
Very well disciplined 2,4$ (bit of 3,6 or 1,2 winding down) cash mainly in middle of night +$1900

Hardly any desire to play multis at the moment so i havent touched one since Sunday when i only played 2. Staying up very late (6am last night, 5am tonight) as i seem to relax more. In the daytime i just get frustrated about not being able to go out. Cant wait to get back out on the golf course and make the most of this weather !

March Review

Pants i dont want to dwell on a rubbish month which again could have been many times better on poker and other fronts. Combination of illness, bad luck (in the wrong places) and not giving my game the effort it deserves (sometimes). More experience in a fairly high stake live game is about the only thing i can take away from this month along with £1,696 profit in the end. Bring on April with no goals and lets just see what happens poker or otherwise. I would have took £10,000 profit (which im £30 under) after 3 months if offered 3 months ago. I will try and go forward thinking of that and not what might have been.

GL at the tables !

PS not included in profit is also the 0.5% share in laddies poker two racehorse (see link) supposed to be worth about £500 which will add to an autumn months profit when its sold.