When It All Went Wrong

I swore, i hit my fist on the table and i gave myself a very very hard time. Aint felt like this since Vegas, fuming but at myself mainly. Just busted everything except mansion which i guess im deep in 1/4 field left on average chips but im on aggressive tilt now. Just raised 3 in row a moment ago and got away with it then reraised a gay min raise from massive chipleader with J8std but he folded. I doubt i last long unless i get lucky or calm down but at least i will go out on a decent pot.

Cant b bothered with full details but basically i was leading or 2nd in the 40k for at least the first 2 hours before donking chips off then losing a massive pot to a dick who thinks he has implied odds with 55 to flop set vs my top pair top kicker. Joke hate being knocked out by a joke but i played shite with the big stack anyway, too tight as too many tables on the go and just stupid dumb decisions.

Also just busted the CPC final which i subbed to at the last minute. AA vs KQ might as well call it preflop as the fool put half of it in pre and deserved to flop 2 pair then turn the fll house. FFS im livid

Oh just busted mansion as i write, 77 vs AA gets quads then go for value with K8 on bb 3 way but dont improve. 220/1050 odd some people think thats good but personally i think its a pile of ******* ****.

As u might tell i wasnt in the mood for poker today, i know i cant play with any sense of a hangover but tried to anyway as it was "mild". Put all my shit play down to that and i aint playing again on a ******* hangova. Did cash in £35 w hill one but ******* **** 21/220 odd , busting AA vs 22 2 on flop but not preflop, would never got away from that in my life. Pokergods are not smiling and neither am i what a ******* joke.

Betfair some **** took most my chips betting like a **** , blimey i hate it hate it so much. Oh almost forgot the french calling station that ****** me over in the $100k on ipoker basically backwards dummying me with K10std when i have 7s and hes only too happy to limp then call half his stack to catch a 10 high flop. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. Oh and finished 13th A9 vs QJ to have gone 6/13 in the CPC lite promo i played, cheers for that pokergods.

I know i can take the ups and the downs of poker but thank **** i have a ******* blog to get the ******* downs out of ******* system. Think you can say im lucky its almost a fresh month = fresh start, this month might be a £4k profit which normally i could be happy with but thats ******* crap and im ****** off with how unlucky ive been at the real big payouts bits this month, that figure could easily have been £4k x ?

Yeh i luv poker and thank **** i write this blog cos im already feeling calmer now, at least i dont think i will smash anything, well i hope anyway. Just to clarify im not unlucky tonight i just played like a ****.

Drunk Update

All too easy especially against backwards dummies.

Played 10 mins cash and fluked the A63 flop with 66 vs AK for a nice double. Monthly profit looks around the £4k mark less any big wins or losses in the next few days.

2 years mark as a full time poker player on 31 July also so maybe refer to that again soon.

GL all and keep drinking like the 3-4 chin animal.

Sober Update

Look out for the possible "Drunk Update" later !

Didnt play too much yesterday or today so far, mainly just cash clearing bonuses etc. Short handed omaha seems to be going well so may give that more of a try next month as its clears rake targets quickly as well.

Did manage to sub cheaply for the betfair $50k 2moz which is handy and got the usual 100ish player multi for a cheap cpc package also, just hope i aint too hungover as it ruins any poker motivation i might have.

Carnage Time

LOL wasnt gonna blog this early but 4 hands in a row like this has to be blogged for fun if nothing else. $109 $20k level 2

1)
Calmantis: posts small blind 15
Bororock: posts big blind 30
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to animalgod [Ac Qd]
Fra130312: calls 30
Dests: folds
Reece95: folds
animalgod: raises to 110
Lordst: calls 110
wingwong: folds
_Ky_: folds
Hoggorm: folds
Calmantis: folds
Bororock: calls 80
Fra130312: calls 80
----- FLOP ----- [5d Qc 4c]
Bororock: checks
Fra130312: checks
animalgod: bets 300
Lordst: folds
Bororock: calls 300
Fra130312: calls 300
----- TURN ----- [5d Qc 4c][Td]
Bororock: checks
Fra130312: checks
animalgod: bets 800
Bororock: raises to 3210 and is all-in
Fra130312: folds
animalgod: folds
Returned uncalled bets 2,410 to Bororock
Bororock: doesn't show hand
Bororock collected 2955 from Main pot

2)
Bororock: posts small blind 15
Fra130312: posts big blind 30
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to animalgod [Ac As]
Reece95: folds
animalgod: calls 30
Lordst: folds
wingwong: folds
_Ky_: folds
Hoggorm: raises to 120
Calmantis: folds
Bororock: calls 105
Fra130312: folds
animalgod: raises to 500
Hoggorm: calls 380
Bororock: folds
----- FLOP ----- [Ts Qd Ad]
animalgod: bets 690
Hoggorm: raises to 1710 and is all-in
animalgod: is all-in 650
Returned uncalled bets 370 to Hoggorm
----- TURN ----- [Ts Qd Ad][8h]
----- RIVER ----- [Ts Qd Ad 8h][5h]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Hoggorm: shows [Qs Qh] (Three of a kind, Queens, Ace high)
animalgod: shows [Ac As] (Three of a kind, Aces, Queen high)
animalgod collected 3830 from Main pot

3)
Fra130312: posts small blind 15
Reece95: posts big blind 30
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to animalgod [Kd Ac]
animalgod: calls 30
Lordst: folds
wingwong: folds
_Ky_: folds
Hoggorm: raises to 370 and is all-in
Calmantis: folds
Bororock: folds
Fra130312: folds
Reece95: raises to 710
animalgod: raises to 1710
Reece95: raises to 2120 and is all-in
animalgod: calls 410
----- FLOP ----- [8s 2s 3c]
----- TURN ----- [8s 2s 3c][8d]
----- RIVER ----- [8s 2s 3c 8d][3s]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Reece95: shows [Jd Jh] (Two Pairs, Jacks and Eights, Three high)
animalgod: shows [Kd Ac] (Two Pairs, Eights and Threes, Ace high)
Hoggorm: shows [9d 9s] (Two Pairs, Nines and Eights, Three high)
Reece95 collected 3500 from Side pot #1
Reece95 collected 1125 from Main pot

4)
Reece95: posts small blind 15
animalgod: posts big blind 30
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to animalgod [Qs Qc]
Lordst: calls 30
wingwong: folds
_Ky_: calls 30
Rhosferic: calls 30
Calmantis: folds
Bororock: folds
Fra130312: calls 30
Reece95: calls 15
animalgod: raises to 200
Lordst: calls 170
_Ky_: folds
Rhosferic: folds
Fra130312: calls 170
Reece95: folds
----- FLOP ----- [7s Js 6h]
animalgod: bets 570
Lordst: raises to 2190 and is all-in
Fra130312: calls 2190
animalgod: is all-in 940
----- TURN ----- [7s Js 6h][Kd]
----- RIVER ----- [7s Js 6h Kd][Kc]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Lordst: shows [As Ad] (Two Pairs, Aces and Kings, Jack high)
Fra130312: shows [5s 4c] (A Pair of Kings, Jack high)
animalgod: shows [Qs Qc] (Two Pairs, Kings and Queens, Jack high)
Lordst collected 1360 from Side pot #1
Lordst collected 5220 from Main pot

1) was the only tough decision and i was convinced he had a set, tried to get them to confirm after but they wouldnt even though i bust and they splitting table. Oh and 4) im good but i didnt expect to see AA LOL .

Had only just done a fridge run for a beer so lets wipe the slate clean and start again now with the CPC satellite in 5 mins. Expect an update below later i guess.

.................................................

Got nowhere in cpc or other sat i had going. Mansion got a good stack going in the $50 rebuy then lost 3 pots running where i was a dog but still ul to lose all 3 imo. Opened up the shorthanded omaha table same as last night to clear mpps and for fun really but bought in for $100 and cashed out for $430 so cant complain in the end i guess.

Rough Stuff

Grrrrrrrrrrrr, annoying night. Cash alongside tourneys was a joke but about level. Tourneys, well people playing hands so bad and doing me over. Absolute joke i know it bodes well for future and these people pay my wages but remember i dont like preflop poker cos it aint poker its just luck whether u 80% fav or 20% dog . So

Tourney 1 ($109) inc these 2 hands:

guy flat calls 50 i make it 225 from button after another limper with QQ and limper goes allin total 1200. its QQ vs 77 and he hits quads.

exit hand limper mid for 200, i push 2700 allin with 99 and bb calls half his stack with KJstd WTF lol.

Tourney 2 ($315 , YEP $315 take note)

blinds 75/150 8 or 9 handed utg pushes allin 2700 i call with KK in sb and bb decided AK is good here for 3100. board comes ace high and i lose a massive pot which would have put me on 10k (vry deep stacked) in 3rd/39 left (80 runners)

Other stuff ive seen is beyond believe, so many bad plays is it me getting better or the standard getting worse. I think the 2nd somehow, its just laughable how games at $109 standard remind me of old $10-$20 games i grew up on so much.

Now ive written that i aint mad at all just a bit gutted, u gotta just laugh at how bad players are and how easy it really is to make money at this game these days at the end of the day.

Winding Down For The Month

After playing what i deem flat out (8-12hrs a day) for six days i was worried i might get bored. Actually i was starting to get bored considering i didnt enjoy Sunday that much even though its higher buyins and i went deep in a few inc a win. Action = Not play a single game of poker Monday or Tuesday until 8:45pm tonight.

Played the cpc $77 satellite and effectively bubbled but got $150 cash back instead, bit crap but played as well as could and didnt get enough cards or luck in the end i guess. Mansion was a non starter and i went out to a backwards dummy in the end. Alongside those i just played a cash table and made back $110 so in the end i felt like i had lost a wad but really i was in profit for the 3 hours play. The standard in the cpc sub was awful and i doubt the $550 final will be any different, it bodes well if im happy putting the time and effort in for sure.

Tommorrow its the $315 wsopE sub on betfair which seems to no longer have value in. Last week there was 77 players (win only for $23k package) and the other 2 weekly finals are just as bad. I know ive got value from the satellite but i wont play many of these as 1/77 is a lot more effort/time/luck req'd than say the 1/20 finals on crypto for EPT/WPT/CPC which suit me and my laptop (which doesnt like betfair) better.

Mixed Fortunes But Profit

Played 9 games so far tonight with 3 of them still going but not interesting yet. Managed to win a 88 player £22 for £528 late afternoon on interpoker. Cant remember much apart from getting the crucial pots to win for a change including beats in favour and against though.

Worst one so far has to be the betfair $50k which as anyone knows that plays it is good structure at first then becomes a crapshoot at regular stages later on. Despite being top 15 the whole way after 30mins i felt i had few cards but made the most of what i was given anyway. The blinds eventually caught up and i lost a massive pot K3 vs 22, i pushed sb he called bb for 11xbb. I aint dissing the call but he goes cocky in chat box like he deserved to win with his monsterous call, flaming **** and i told him so. Busted few hands later A6 vs AK but big pot would have put me joint 5th/35 (150 entrants) so a tad annoying lets say.

Never got going in a couple of others and just busted mansion on a ridiculous pot where i caught a lower full house on a free river when i knew the other guy had the jack on a JJ4A8 four spades board. He led on the river and i moved in but he had AJ LOL, played the hand as bad as he can and still gets paid off ****.

Some more rage now, interpoker disconnecting all time tonight for spell of a few seconds to a few minutes. Definitely sending an email in about this, is a complete joke just when ive started playing the site loads again on my return from vegas. Happening to large % of people in too, maybe i wont be on crypto as much as i planned if this continues for any period what so ever. Still in 2 games on it and ironically wanted to enter the 10pm game too but now have a dilemna i guess.

Earlier at same time as the game i won i bubbled after losing a huge pot then a 55% one to guarantee cash i space of 2 mins. This was in a 200+ player £35 one worth a lot more on paper but not to be.

May update later if anything interesting or need to let some animal rage off.

....................
YUK its a sickie, may have rode my luck but had some against me as well but i just finished 11th/362 in the £120 £40k on crypto AA vs Q6 on a 652 board to have gone 4th/11 but the queen came on the turn after the brainless big chippie didnt give it a second thought to call. Get a crappy £400 for my troubles instead of any big stuff. Not mad just gutted, again shows im at the top of my game and just to keep playing the same way and style as its working a treat since the return.

Oh also got $100 compensation for the hassle tonight above, very quick and good response from interpoker as i expected but i hope the software doesnt do this again for a while all the same.

Frustratingly Good Results

Only played a bit last night after going out and made a nice few $ on cash. Tonight i played from early evening in a lot of tournaments. Managed to sub cheaply for betfair $320 $50k 2moz and wsop europe one wednesday but the results on crypto remain the same as always. So so so so so many close to big cashes where get buy in back or bubble, more often that not going out on huge pots. Its the most frustrating bit about playing well but not getting the luck in the right places as you feel like the pokergods are against ya but its just natural variance. Helps to have a moan on here anyway and the chatbox sometimes too :(

Earlier i spent a while tallying the month up and im happy with it and there is still 10 days to go, which unless the weather gets better or my temper gets worse, will be full of poker as i seem to be getting back into it after that long period offline.

Ideal Its Friday

Played loads of cash and multis again mixed in with the usual afternoon jetlag snooze. Lost a wad on cash before recovering and just about covering my buyins to my multis. Again didnt cash until my last multi of the night that being mansion $100k. Made some good bluffs and pretty much played as well as i could hope for with the cards i got. Key hand was when i called a 10xbb sb push in the bb with A10, He had 77 and held up, if i won that i would have been top 3 with a huge stack (30-40 left maybe) but i was still in and in the end scraped an 18th for $850 going out 33 vs A10std only to have gone 10th.

Again lost pots at the crucial business end but still playing well and losing some huge pots which is most important. Out of my other games i went out AKstd vs QQ to have gone 3/40 in the 120 runner $55 crypto game and busted btm 2pair vs flush and gutshot draw in the £22 6k to have gone 15/48. Obviously played a couple of others and got nowhere but all the signs are good and at least i finished in profit on the day as well which is always a good bonus.

AQstd vs 10s

Played a lot today, mixture of cash and mayb 6-8 tourneys. Cash ran both ways and i probably lost a chunk on the day but didnt keep track and was happy with my play anyway. Tourneys ran bad until the last 2 of the night.

Too hot and tired for much details but these were the exit pots in each one:

£22 295 runners 6k , AQstd vs 10s to have gone 4th/28.

$55 109 runners, 10s vs AQstd to have gone 5th/19.

Both times got my chips in first and both times called instantly, just not to be, still knocking on the door and playing well though so cant complain.

Its Been A Very Long Time

Since i got a 2nd in a multi, in fact i would have to look back at records on the desktop to find when it was. Happy enough with it though $3906, it was actually an aggressive final table so i decided to play passive and it paid off until i ran a bluff heads up into top pair after being 2-1 down in chips for ages. Had called a bluff off him to get up to level in chips just before this hand as well which was pretty obvious but still a good call. Still had gutshot outs on the bluff but failed to improve and went out 77 vs QQ next hand so assuming cards are the same im glad i pushed the gutshot hand now with hindsight.

With 5 or 6 left i ran a resteal against table nutter with 9,10off but he called with A7 and went nuts when i outdrew him. blimey A7 its only like 55% fav over me but dummies wont have it when they lose and dont understand the move and he proceeded to go nuts in the chat, well at me anyway he had already abused the rest of the table.

I also had a QJ vs AK for a huge pot (i would still been in) to take out 8th place and he also took it well abusing me after. :))

Im still chatbanned on the site though so i cant talk although that ran out ages ago i just aint bothered to get in reinstated.

A good return to the game with the help of winning 3 or 4 coinflips in the tournament so i cant complain too much.

Vegas Over = CPC Quest ?

I think the time has come to hit the carribean poker classic subs. My first one tonight failed, never really got going. Also never got going in mansion but still managed to lose a 3700 pot preflop AK vs AQ at 15/30 blinds !!! Been playing a fair bit today targeting a few small promos across a few sites making a small amount of cash in the process. Quite enjoying the variety and the return to online after over 2 weeks without online poker.

Only other multi i entered was the 109$ crypto $20k which i am deep in, 217 entrants. Won a flip just before the bubble for a decent stack then won a huge pot AQ vs QJ to go top 3. Lost a big pot odds K10std vs A4off to drop down a few places shortly after though. Update later 8th/19 currently so 50/50 big or small cash i guess.

LOL quick update hit the final table 7/10 but won 88 vs AK and then had a bb AKstd which i moved in over chipleaders raise, he called with AQ but i held to go chipleader/10. Lots of preflop allins about though so need chunk of luck still but hoping to at least get top 3 from here.

Las Vegas Review

A profitable trip, about $2900 (about 50/50 cash/tourneys) less a bit for small gambles here and there, so say $2500 or £1,250 to go into Julys profit. That makes the last 3 trips to Las Vegas profitable, ie the perfect excuse to return at my pleasure :)

Live poker for me has taken another step up in standard, i now seem to translate a lot more of my online variable style across whilst combining it with instinctive reads and more confidence at the table. Obviously sometimes i was wrong but generally i was right often enough that i felt so good about my game.

As for the wsop main event i can only take the postives out of it before the downfall on the preflop favourites i lost. Detail on previous post so i wont waffle on again.

Hilton Grand Vacations Club was a great base for me and i will definitely stay there again. It suited the holiday/poker trip separating the chilling by the pool from the casinos. Out of season without a pool i wouldnt stay there but its ideal for what it cost and the location wasnt too bad either.

http://www1.hilton.com/en_US/hi/hotel/LASVSGV-Hilton-Grand-Vacations-Club-on-the-Las-Vegas-Strip-Nevada/index.do;jsessionid=9B6C6967A88F2C0313E5FC31B8324DC9.etc22?ctyhocn=LASVSGV&brand_id=HI&brand_directory=/en/hi/&xch=26208068,QO1CNLQ21OLGECSGBJBMVCQKIYFCXUUC

Note to self for future trips is that the gatwick 15 nights parking and the ramada plaza hotel booked through APH was very very good value compared to the previous dump hotel i stayed in.

As usual ive overindulged in food/drinks and probably lost most of any fitness i gained b4 the trip having only used the gym once :( Length of stay was good this time, once again im not too bothered about staying longer but at the same time i was bit gutted earlier to be leaving. 14 nights may be optimal for future but i must bear in mind there were people i met up with out here so it was different to Feb trip in that sense.

Laptop is always a must for contact, email etc, but i actually havent played a single game of online poker out here so Julys online stuff will begin when i get back.

I will return for sure, unlikely this year although theres always the option if i need to get away or even coming here first for a week then flying to St Kitts. Its probably more likely i will return in March-May time next year when its just hot enough to use the pools in the day, but thats a long way off anyway.

Final Days 13/14/15

Friday was uneventful in terms of poker but involved a fair amount of drinks in the evening after a chilled afternoon by the pool.

Yesterday i played my final tournament of the trip, the 12pm $550 multi at the Venetian. Great structure but generally i kept running into bigger hands once the antes kicked in when being more agressive. There was one pot early though that i had a laugh about:

50/100 utg aggressive but poor betting player makes it 300, i call with 10,8off on the button and the blinds come in also. Flop is 852 (2 hearts) and utg bets his usually weak continue bet of only 400 so i make it 1200 to go, he calls. Turn is 5x and at this point i put him on a flush draw (rather than an overpair) so fire again 1700 this time which is called quick. River is Qh but he checks so i check also thinking shit he must had overpair then, but he shows A9hh for the flush LOOOOOL.

Ended up busting mid field on a squeeze play J9 vs AKstd, but once again i was happy with my play and this one was just not to be. Once again the standard was poor as with most games out here.

Afterwards i played 2/5$ and sat down for 1-2hrs making $250. Later i met the others in Caesars to catch up then when they left at midnight i had 2 hours on 2/5$ and made $650 thanks to a double gutshot and flushdraw hitting for a $1600 pot, all the money going in on the flop.

Its now day 15 (Sunday) and im in the airport waiting for a few hrs b4 the flight back, apparantly there are around 150 spare seats on the flight !!! I was considering an upgrade but went against it when i found this out , fingers crosses i will get 2-3 seats to myself as im at the back where most spare seats usually are anyway. As always not looking fwd to the flight or the drive back from London but thats part of the package.

Day 12 (Thursday, Animal Is Back)

After only waking up at 11:30am the option of the $330 midday Venetian is gone so im thinking today could b very similar to yesterday. Pool fairly soon followed by a probable 7pm Caesars. If dont fancy that later then a cash table would be viable for a change anyway.

................................

Did the above in the end and despite being pretty card dead the whole way through i managed a 3rd in the 127 runner Caesars $330 game for $4051. Was short stacked from 25 players down but just played push poker and got away with it basically. It turns into a total crapshoot at a lot of stages and as always it laughable how low a few stacks let themselves get, especially around the bubble time. I lost an A9std vs A10 before winning a K9 vs AJ then finally busting KQstd vs the total fish J10std for a pot which would have given me 150k of the 570k in play. Blinds were 5/10 but about to go to 10/20 so the equity value of 150k would have been excellent as it would have been luck/aggression poker but it was not to be. 1st/2nd (or likely chop) was 13.25k/7.25k but i cant complain as i played near perfect poker and picked the right spots throughout without getting the cards as mentioned before. Oh 1 interesting hand i might as well blog:

200/400 just b4 a break (so going to 400/800), scandie guy just moved to table to make it 10 handed and raises utg+1 to 1400. im in the bb and call 1000 more with 97hh leaving myself about 5-5500 behind. flop is Qc10c7x chk chk. turn is a 4x and i chk, he now bets 4000 but it looks so weak i put him on AK or maybe AJ so shove knowing he is committed on instinct. He shows AK and i hold up for a 14k pot which obviously made a massive difference to my tournament. I keep going on instinct out there and it has rewarded me so many more times than me being wrong, it actually makes the game more fun too when you spot something which helps make the right decision easier.

Thanks for postive comments re: wsop , as said before i was totally over it after 24hours and have taken some huge positives from it.

Day 11 (Wednesday)

Well i managed to delude myself a bit thinking i had got over the bust within a couple of hours. Surrounding myself with Azi then the others and having several drinks before and during playing cash and a few trampy crapshoot tournaments it seemed to work but as soon as i left at 5:30am and was back by myself i felt down again. Ive woke up today (thanks to housekeeping ringing to see if want room cleaned, DO NOT DISTURB DUMMIES) not feeling like doing much at all. Come on here to see if i fancied online poker but have no such motivation so i guess i will probably go down and chill by the pool with Azi again. I hope i can motivate myself to play at least a couple more $330-$550 games at Venetian or Caesars but im not going to play them if im not 100% up for them as its just a waste of time. Vegas is not a good place to be when you feel low so i need to be mentally strong and push through this to make the most of the 4 days (inc today) ive got left before Sundays flight home. Few more pots from day1b below:

1st hand of the day im bb with 10,8hh and call a standard raise from a 60k stack. Flop comes Q96 with 2 diamonds and i just check call the priced in 4k flop bet. I dont want to go over the top here as put him on something and his stack would do far too much damage compared to the pot size on the flop. Also if he hasnt hit he may check the turn and enable me a bluff on the river. Turn is Ax and he bets 12k, i fold and a couple of hands later he is trying to catch my eye to tell me he had 2 pair. I believe this was true for sure but irrelevant after i miss anyway.

I raise to 3500 (500,1000) button 85off and guy thats showing middle hands and aces when folding in the bb once again shows an ace and folds. Nxt hand i make the same raise with AQoff but this time the same guy in sb makes it 10k more. As its too early i cant get any sort of read and reluctantly pass preflop, although i was close to flopping it. He showed 34std, good move, but this guy was obviously dumb as he flat called the button before with A9 before folding to a standard raise from the sb, showing the A9 as well and others similar to that. Nxt hand i make it 3500 again with A10std but this time the bb kid who looks terrified to be at the table makes it 12000 more, LOL at this point i reminded myself who easy my day1b table was to play flops etc and started thinking i would have to change strategy and gamble more (probably what induced the 10,8dd hand allin pre shown previous post).

Again i remember just flopping a few low pocket pairs and missing. You see so many people get paid off with sets to overpairs and i didnt manage one all tournament which was a shame. Oh one more hand that could have been potentially exposive:

Only 10 hands in on my bb it folds round and sb makes it 3000, i make it 9500 with A7off and he calls. Flop is K54 and im ready to fire 12k in when sb leads out for 16k, very good bet cos i have to move in or fold really and dont fancy it and let it go unfortunately. Maybe regret that now but its difficult to think how i would have felt if i stuck almost 70k in at that point on a stone cold bluff and he had say QK or AK and made the call and i bust that way. With hindsight it would be more my style to bust that way than the savage 3 hands in 15 minutes way and at least it would have been proper poker not the allin luckfest rubbish i had.

..............................

After an hour or 2 by the pool i almost felt myself again and by 6:30pm i was well up for the 7pm Caesars $330 which Azimut was playing as well. Told myself to play rock ABC until the blinds caught up, i did such a game until the tells ive been spotting all week came into force. I think this is actually one of my best hands in Vegas and shows how much my live game is progressing if i was to put more effort into it. The key thing most of the time is spotting tells when you arent actually looking for them, ie they are obvious to you:

Im on about 5-5500 (starting stack 4500) and utg+1 makes the 200bb 600 to go. I have AK on the button and just flop it, the sb and bb come in also. Flop is 922 rainbow and i first think ok i prob give this up but then i spot the following double tell:

bb pauses and considers leading out, its weak though and i immediately put him on a low pocket pair or mayb the 9, he checks after a few seconds (he is a decent enough player so know he can respect bets b4 him)

at the same time utg+1 raiser is staring at the flop the whole time which he hasnt done in other pots so i put him on AK, AQ or similar.

Anyway utg+1 quickly bets a 1k chip and announces 800 which sounds weak and i quickly make it 2000 to go. sb folds, bb looks at me cringing and says well i have to respect that then and folds. utg+1 takes a while but eventually folds and claims he had AQ. I know im playing like a rock and not gonna be stealing so i show the bluff so there is more potential to be paid. bb claimed he had the 9 which i 100% know was true.

Anyway later in the tourney the blinds turn crapshoot mode and caught me up, after 1 or 2 pushes i eventually made a cringe call with A2 in the bb with 7xbb left but the button had AJ so i picked the wrong spot for once and got no help. With 131 entrants i finished 20th and once again didnt get the luck at the business end, similar to the wsop or the Venetian $550.

So no cashes in multis out here as of yet but i know im playing well and want to fit in at least 2 more $330 - $550 ones, i dont think bellagio daily $1000 are on at the moment so looks like Venetian 12pm or Caesars 7pm are the only ones left for the trip. I will also consider sitting on a higher cash table with a day or so to go as a option to try and put into practise some of what ive learnt this trip as well.

After Caesars 3 of the others went to the Flamingo to play $1/$2 for a laugh and all went on one table. I railed them which was fun with Punterz playing like a nut for a bit. Once again though i picked up on some really really obvious tells just from the rail, its surprising how easy some games seem if you have your head on out here. Ive read its better to play cash in the smaller casinos for profit and i can see why watching some of last nights stuff for sure.

Day 10 (How Long Will The Low Last ?)

Sick so so sick. At this time im back at my room having busted 40 mins ago, i hate this game so much more when the luck factor kicks in when ive been avoiding prefloppers and playing my best live poker ever. Oh well interested to see how long this last but it hurt big time and it will take some getting over for sure, details below.

1st table for 2 hours it all went wrong as i kept getting reraised out of pots. I dropped from 79k start to as low as 43k but then snatched a 10k pot on my bb when i called a raise with K8off and fired out on a 9 high board vs sb and raiser. I had intended to rock the first levels but the agressive side of me got the better and i dont regret that one bit. My new table looked fairly basic but i knew again we would split within an hour or so. I hit the first break with 56k so wasnt happy but then again felt this new table could be easier for a bit after the break. On my return from the break i had been quite active, i actually raised 3 pots running at one point and took them all down with A9, KQstd and AK so i knew i had some good image if i could just get the right situations. I also had made a big move shown below when playing a 50k stack:

600/1200 utg makes it 3500 but looks so weak doing it and after the raise, ABC rock calls in late position and i look at 10,8std on the button. Earlier levels i call here but i have picked up on weakness and just when im thinking im shoving the sb and bb pass out of turn which completes my decision. utg and rock guy fold as fast as possible.

I got back to 67k and was feeling very good and ready to move unless some big hands came then the pokergods turned on me and decided my fate in the tournament in a sick way in no more than a 15 minute period: 3 hands is all it took at 600/1200 blinds:

1) I raise my standard raise to 4000 yet again from utg+2 with QQ, button moves allin for approx 30k. Its a total no brainer with my image and with it being 26k for a 66k pot and i make a quick call. He has AQoff and the board comes Axxxx before im kindly imformed by utg and bb that they both folded an ace, great stuff. I think i was more pissed off about the guy shouting when the ace came like he deserved it, i hate people that go nuts when they suck out but i kept my cool and just switched my mp3 on max volume. I have 35k remaining so would have broke the 100k mark with a less than 70k average had it held up :(

2) Steaming but knowing still a chance using luck and maybe some aggression a 20k guy utg makes it 4000 to go. It folds to me in the sb and i look down at my highest hand of the tournament, AA. (QQ 5 times prior before that, no other big pockets above 10s) I just move allin knowing the guy is probably committing but at the same time knowing its only 16k for him to call for a 43k pot so im not getting cute and letting him hit for free by slow playing. He eventually makes the call and only shows 8d9d (although this of course is the 2nd worst hand he can show against my AA (no diamond) ). TV cameras make it over and i tell the table i will explode if this doesnt hold up. Flop is a juicy 10dJdQx, cheers for that. I get up and walk away but come back for the turn of Jx to tease me with more outs for me but a blank comes on the river and im left on 12k and bending under the table next to us where ive threw my earphones in disgust.

3) We only have a few more hands before we break, i spot my new table and im utg+1 so i quickly announce "coming in on 46" to the dealer to make sure i get a hand as im in push mode and want the freebies b4 the big blind in the hope of getting something. I get dealt 66 first hand so move allin obviously, but utg+2 calls with AhQx. I think i knew what cards were coming although obviously i was pleased to see no overpair. Flop comes queen high with 3 hearts, goodnight i aint gonna improve and i dont improve. Pot size would have been 27.5k.

So thats the end of the line for me, i guess i will do a review of vegas or the main event as a whole but generally i know i took my game to an even higher level, bluffing my arse off more and i generally made all round good decisions against some awful players and more often a bunch of rocks. Once again as soon as it hits the allin stage of a big event i suffer badly with the luck factor but i know its part of the game that keep the liquidity and popularity there, its just gutting as obviously i only play a limited number of high buyins so it hasnt had a chance to swing the other way so much yet.

Day 9 (Monday)

Another chill out day to recharge before the big game tomorrow, really looking forward to getting back into the action and if i can i will try to play in a similar fashion to Day 1. Roughly that means taking lots of flops where possible and trying to avoid preflop action unless the blinds catch me up and i have to gamble or obviously am committed to a raise against a shorter stack. I know from day 1 a lot rests on the cards but maybe more rests on the players you get drawn against at your table for sure.

So far ive spent 2-3hrs by the pool today, am considering a gym session, and i guess im likely to head out a bit later for a nice meal somewhere. Oh just heard some of the guys heading to Rio in couple hrs so may go over there and rail Azimut for a bit who is playing today.

Day 8 (Sunday)

Its 12:15pm, after limited sleep i will probably try and get 1-2hours more this afternoon. Azimut arrives v soon so likely to spend the evening with him. He now is considering playing the main event tommorrow but im not sure what he decided in the end. We have option of going to an Interpoker Platinum Club party at the Palms later which would be good but i think i will only go if Azi goes as its mainly high raking scandies and i just havent raked much on Interpoker (or any cryptologic site) for a while now so could feel awkward otherwise.

Probably very unlikely i will play any live poker now until day 2 on Tuesday 12 midday.

Oranges cashed for the 2nd time (out of 3 games) last night and Dave, Azimuts mate or Azimate as i like to call him cashed in Caesars a few days back so most are doing well out here generally.

.....................

Ended up going to the Wynn early evening for a couple of drinks, followed by the Playboy Club at the Palms for the Interpoker party and finally the Rio so Azi could buy in for the main event to play day 1D.

Day 7 (The Biggie)

2 hours to go ive eaten and im ready for hopefully a long slog. Yesterday finished with just over 1/3 of the starting players so my target chipstack if i survive will be 60,000+. As expected it went on till the early hours, finishing just under 16 hours after the midday start. The good thing about big fields is you are miles away from any money so that will help me focus on the cards, not the buy in similar to last year. OK gotta go shower before heading off in 40-60mins. I know i will be experiencing one of 2 things within 18hours, knackered or gutted.

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END OF DAY 1 : CHIPS: 79,100 (average about 60)

Where to start ? So many hands i could blog and probably a few a may add later that i forget to.
Very happy with the day as a whole, only made 2-3 noticable mistakes but apart from that played good solid poker and actually bluffed my ass off more than i ever have done before in a live game. Just over 15.5hours long at the table inc. breaks and i didnt get back to my hotel until 4:30am. May only put a few hands down for now and come back and edit later, ive only had 4.5hrs sleep and know i will probably snooze again sometime soon to catch up. Should mention Punterz gave me room key so i can shower at dinner break, was big bonus and i actually was less knackered the 2nd half of the day !

OK lets start with some juicy ones (all have antes from 200,400up) towards the end of play or when blinds were higher:

1 table all day until 30 mins of day to go i moved and this happened about 6 hands in or so:
400/800 i call a 3200 raise on the button with AQss and the flop is K92 (all clubs) , check check.
turn is Ax and matey bets 4000, i call. river is a 6c and matey checks pretty quickly, i put him on a club but a middle one so make it 12,000 to go. he goes in the tank for 2-3mins even counting out his 12,000 chips before i call the clock and he gets his hand made dead after what seemed a very tough decision for him.

200/400 i make it 1200 to go from mid with QQ and just bb calls.
flop is Ah4h2x check check, turn is a Qh and he bets 2500. i make it 10,000 and he moves in for 6400 more which i obviously call. he has AJoff (no hearts) and i take my 2nd scalp (first was a weak stack)

100/200 i call on the button QJoff a 600 raise from ABC cutoff guy. nutty scandi makes it 2300 from the bb. ABC calls and i decide to take a flop obviously looking for a monster or nothing for massive (debatable) implied odds. Flop is Axx rainbow and it quickly checks to me (weak or very strong), i make it 4000 to go and they both fold fairly quickly.

100/200 i raise to 600 with J9cc from early/mid and get guy nxt to me and blinds in.
flop is KQ4 rainbow and i check to guy behind who makes it 1200 which i call, followed by a check in the dark. turn is 10s and he checks quick too after he sees i have (lowers his range big time) river is a Qs (3rd spade). i put a pay me 2500 out but he quickly makes it 10,000. i go into the tank and review all the hand details b4 getting a clock called on me and making the call. he shows 66 and i take a big key pot at the time.

100/200 i have QQ mid and make it 600 to go which sb calls. flop is 456 rainbow and he leads for 800ish. i put him on air or poss 77-JJ and decide to just slow play and call. turn is an Ax and he bets 1200, i make it 3200 to go and he makes the call somewhat reluctant. cant say whether i would have fired again if the river didnt come the Q but when it hit i made it 6000 to go and he called with A10std.

My mistakes inc paying off an allin guy with top pair to his trips when i put him on a flush/straight/both draw. Calling down a new guy who looked like he would play tight with top pair, again he had trips. Betting a J42 flop unraised after a limper from the sb with A9, i couldnt help firing again on the turn J only to be raised and showed the jack, very daft bet for me, u gotta know when to give it up.

100/200 3 limpers and i make it 1200 on the button with 34hh, just utg calls. flop is AhQhAx and i bet 1600 which is smooth called by the tight (played 3-5hands so far guy). turn is a blank, check check. river is a blank when i knew it was worth so so much implied odds. he checks and i resist any fire out, he shows AK !!! . boy he had 15k at that time and i know if the H came i would have got 7-15k off it , gutted !!!

OK this one is funny but i probably should have doubled up. 50/100 THE 3rd HAND OF THE TOURNAMENT. so far ive raised cutoff 9,10off and folded to a reraise and it folded round first hand. AJhh and i call a 300 raise with postion.
flop is 10h,8h,5x and i call mateys 400 continue bet.
turn is a unlinked heart and he checks quickly so (unusually for me) i check as well
river is a blank 6 and he now bets about 1200. i make it 2700. he makes it about 2500 more and i move allin. he goes into the tank for ages before i call a clock and eventually he folds what was a definite flush (this guy was on table all day and rarely bluffed other than continuation bets. Without a doubt this was the quickest allin within the room, but no scalp :((

200/400 and im only about 26k after losing vs trips hand b4.
make it 1400 from mid with A6std which bb huge rock calls.
flop is 955 and i bet 2200 which is called. turn is a blank 7 and he checks, my read on him is he weak so i fire another 5500 out. he reluctantly folds.

Generally i didnt get many J10std sort of hands all day, but feel i got an average set of cards and flops hit so i have to be happy with the day since i never had all my chips in jeopardy or close.

Right here is the most nutty thing of the day. Just over half the way through after i had the QQ vs AJ hand and had bout 50-60k Montel Williams (The chat show host) was moved to my table on 80-90k+ . He was an absolute nutter with his betting, but played like a total beginner post flop. All i needed was to hit a hand hard and he would rarely lay down in a raised pot. No exaggeration i was so excited inside as i knew there was a massive chance with the right cards of making day 2 with 120k+ but i could just not hit against him big. He busted one guy KK vs AQ on a Q high board and another AK vs JJ becoming chipleader before throwing the chips at half of the table. It was gutting to watch and not get a piece of it. The most extreme example (plenty of these) was him raising to 5400 at 300/600 before a 40k stack moved allin. He called with 76hh and missed against the AA but there were several of these type hands to hand the other rocks wads of chips :( When we broke he had about 20k left and was playing about 10% of hands compared to the 50% earlier. Most were preflop but another was a limped 4 way pot (utg had AA!!) at 300/600 and flop was 356. Montel bets 8-9k and utg moves in. Montel calls another 20-30k and has 44. turn is a 4 but river is a 2 for a split. This quote below is taken from blonde forum when i introduced myself to snoopy and told him to put something non offensive on about how unreal this is.

Just a couple of seats along is Robert 'animal' Price. Robert is licking his lips like a dog spotting the rabbit, that rabbit being Montel who he says isn't the greatest poker talent in the world and perhaps the best chance of obtaining a monster stack. If anyone can get his hands on the Montel stack, then it would be Robert, who, himself, is sitting pretty on 60k


OK think im done for now but if i can think of any more interesting ones i will put them below at a later time:

Day 6 (Chill Out Recharge)

With my main event kicking off at 12 midday tommorrow (cant wait) ive just been by the pool all day so far. Its 5pm now and im considering going up strip for a nice meal somewhere. No alcohol or poker tonight and back to the room by midnight at the latest.

Only 1200 odd in the main event day1A so maybe the field will be lower than expected after all but it wont make any difference to the number of levels which i'll look at tommorrow morning if i get a chance to see what time it finished and what a reasonable chip average target is for me.

Day 5 (Thursday)

Well its 4:30pm vegas time. Ive been by the pool all day after eating the smallest burger on the menu ( a half pounder ) with onion rings,bacon,cheese and jalapeno peppers. Oranges has finally arrived and staying in same hotel. As for plans for later, at this time ive no idea how its gonna play out, 2-4 of the below mixed together with a fair amount of alcohol.

Betfair Party (Wynn)
Mansion Party (Venetian)
Crypto Party (Palms)
Cash Games

Im done on tournaments now until the main event and tommorrow im not drinking any alcohol or playing any live poker at all. Prob just be a chill out day by pool after a possible gym session with nice meal in evening. Im starting to get excited now about the main event and am really looking forward to giving it my full best effort possible once again.

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Ended up going to the betfair and mansion parties before railing a few others in Caesars. Lots of fun had and met few people ive seen before. Many many drinks including a white russian which had baileys subbed for the milk/cream bit, sooooo smooth must get that mixture again :) .
No poker played although almost sat in Caesars before i realised all the others were in the tourney. Prob saved a few bucks as was pretty drunk at that point.

Day 4 (Wednedsay)

Couldnt face any tournaments today after the full effort long slog the day before so this ended up being more of a recharge day really. After a couple of hours by the pool including lunch i had to head off to the Rio to get my mansion gear and my seat card. After looking around a bit to locate if much has changed and get my bearings i head to the accommodation tower on the 9th floor and get my mansion stuff. When im there the lights go out and emergency stuff kicks in but when i walk back to the elevator its pitch dark in 2/3 of the corridors and when i locate the fire escape stairs its completely pitch black !!! After 5 mins or so an american comes by with a penlight torch so i head off down the stairs following him. When we reach the bottom its still pitch dark with a green exit sign at the end of a 100 metre or so flat tunnel, eventually coming out round the back of the Rio. When i go back in its clear a proportion of the building is out but of course the casino is fully functioning, yeh get your priorities right LOL.

Anyway i go get my seat card and im in seat 9 of table 11 on day 1B (Saturday as requested). Excellent hopefully if i do last its such a low number it probably wont split all day which is a good start.

Taxi over to Caesars then and spent 3-4 hours on a cash table before going for a meal then another 2 hours after as well. Broke even for the second session but made $170 the first one so got back some of the day before tourney buy in. Im surprising myself how much easier im finding the cash tables than i did in Feb out here, i seem to get better reads and feel a lot more comfortable playing than ive done before which is great. I'll almost definitely play 2/5 a bit towards the end of the trip and stake all my money left as its a unlimited buy in. Apparantly in the Wynn you can sit on a 1/3 cash table with unlimited buy ins and people are known to have up to $10,000 at a time there !!!

Day 3 (Tuesday)

Woke up just b4 midday so just went to the pool for 3hours ish until 3:30pm. Decided to hav quick shower shave and head off to venetian for the $550 5pm game. Made it just in time and there were 350 runners with a 40min clock and 10k starting stack. Many many key hands but i only list real key ones as im knackered:

100,200 serial limper calling station limps latish and i make it 700 from cutoff with 9,10ss. Im playing an ok stack already (over 15k anyway). bb reraises to 2000, i feel priced in to try hit a monster as he has another 6500ish behind so call. flop KsQc8s, all money goes in and he shows KK but i hit my outs and go to nice decent stack in the 25k region.

300,600 (ante 50) , ive just stole a couple of pots lately so have image. limper utg and utg+1 and i make it 3600 total. Guy next to me moves allin 30k (i have about 27k at this time) and make the call with KK and hold against AK for massive pot at that time. Funny thing about that pot was the scandie limper utg said he def thought i stealing and was gonna go allin with A10std which would have flushed, utg+1 had 88 and looked bemused and sb took ages to fold 66 also. board was eventually QQ6Jx.

I peak at 70k before it just goes wrong basically, lose some chunks with 88,10s etc etc and basically go card dead from there on. I tried to make to odd thing happen but i had been moved from the good table soon after the KK so it took me a while to settle and get info on the new table by which point the blinds had caught up a bit as well.

In the end i was in push mode and already got away with a couple to sustain a pushable stack but this hand kills me in the end:

1500,3000 500ante so approx 9000 a round folds round to the sb who pushes allin same stack as me (just under 30k). I made the cringe call with A9 confident im ahead but hating fact he prob live cards. He shows K2off and before the dealer spreads the flop i see the first card is an ace and immediately realise im huge favourite. Milliseconds later the other 2 cards are spread and its Ks (Mick Hodges) and Kc (Werewolf), talk about rollercoaster poker emotions all within the space of a second or 2. I bust 48th/350 pays to 27 , pot to go just under average but with a playable stack to an extent so big time gutted and a bit fuming for 15 mins or so but hey thats poker. 8.5 hours play inc breaks so tiring but good warm up for main event for sure and im playing some good strong confident poker generally so cant complain.

In contrast to yesterday all ive eaten today is a banana, a snickers bar and a bowl of frosties. Expect a feast tommorrow, doubt i will be up to facing another tourney but i'll see how i feel.

Vegas Day 2 (Monday)

Heres the plan, maybe get some more sleep in a mo if im lucky then some of the following:

Pool/Gym/Online basically chill out all day till late afternoon.

7pm Caesars game $330, although backup options are 5pm Venetian $500 or i spose midday or 2pms at 1 of above if i really cant wait to gamble. Already im liking the fact im nowhere near the cardrooms so im either gambling by going out or chilling in the hotel, the split seems good and i think i will last the 14 nights enjoying that.

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Heres what happened !

Got back to sleep until 11am or so then hit the gym for an hour. Had a snacky lunch then hit the pool area for 90 mins or so. Got to about 3:30pm and i couldnt decide whether to stay there or go for the $500 Venetian game, in the end i decided hell i was ready for a gamble.

Got to the Venetian at 4:55pm but as i didnt have a players club card already i missed out on getting in as it filled up while i was in the queue. I didnt wanna be an alternate so i got a cab to caesars instead for the 7pm $330. Played cash for an hour before the multi and made about $290 including $163 for a straight flush high hand jackpot !!!

The tournament was uneventful to say the least, after increasing my stack by a few hundred i missed a flush draw nicely priced in and sure to be paid off then this pot occurred:

limper utg 50 i make it 225 utg+1 with KK and get button and limper callers. flop is Ah8d6h and i bet 600 which is called by the limper only, at this point i put him on a flush draw but i know it will be hard to bet the turn anyway. Turn is a 7d and reluctantly i check behind, river is bingo Ks. Now the guy bets 1200, he is tight so his range could include a straight and it is unlikely he would call an allin of 2200 more so eventually i elect to just call. He turns over 9h10h for the nuts and im left annoyed but happy with my reads and very happy to still be in all be it with 50% starting stack.

I tighten up then at 50,100 sb i have AK and there is a limper late mid position. I make it 700 so i cant fold post flop and he calls. I bet 1200 before cards are dealt and on the 9 high flop im called by ...QQ loooool. Not what i had him but no matter and i miss and crash out after only 50 minutes. Funniest hand i saw at that table was level 1 when that QQ guy min raised to 100 after a limper utg+1 with aces, got reraised to 300 by utg+2, made it 1200, reraiser allin 4500 with AQoff LOOOOL.

I go for a meal and manage calamari, 14oz fillet steak and creamed corn with the usual bread and some wine and beer to wash it down. Ok heres the strange bit, i didnt manage it, in fact i left a bit of all of the above cos it was just too much. Those who know me know i never leave food on a plate if i like it, must be first time this has happened for months !!!

Return to caesars stuffed and go for the 1,3$NL again sitting with the max $500. Gradually most of the gang come in and all are in the 11pm $120 tourney so i decide to enter that despite it being a crapshoot just for fun more than anything. However by 11pm my stack had increased to almost $800. Key hand just before i left:

limp Q10dd on button after limpers and flop is Ad9x3d, scandie that respects my bets makes it 10 and i make it 30. Turn is a 5x and he check calls my $60 bet. River is a 7x and he checks, i know i only win by betting and make it $120. He looks at me and asks me A9 ? Eventually folds and tells me he had a busted (lower) flush draw also but had paired the river 7 !!!

The 11pm started well with my 2500 rising to almost 8000 early (and punterz on my table) it was fun but i prob got involved with junk too much and soon was back to the 5000 mark before the crapshoot bit came in. Ended up losing half my stack to a backwards dummy with QJoff for a 5500 pot, 77 me. Crippled then on just over 2k i pushed a couple of times before busting A2 vs AJ.

Played no more games, just chatted to the guys and hung around until 3am. So on the day finished about $130 up from poker despite losing $450 in tourney fees so not bad. Also played 1 slot and made $65 from $20 stake but i know that wont last the trip :)) .

Vegas Day 1 (Sunday)

Well its only 4:45pm but ive made it to the room and first impressions are that the hotel is damn good. Got a pool view and check in couldnt have been smoother along with connecting to this internet. The flight was 1.5-2hrs late but was expecting it given events of last few days so not too bad really. Hotel at airport was also very good for what i paid, will definitely use again, Ramada Plaza to note for future combined with parking package.

As for the rest of today i will try to stay awake to midnight or beyond and adjust this body clock to how i want it. I could nap now then go out in a couple of hours to play light poker or get a meal but im seriously thinking of having a shower and going straight to Caesars in time for the 7pm tournament. Hmm mayb $600 (sunday bigger) is a bit steep when im likely to be totally knackered, Venetian has a $175 at 8pm i think although there might be some small festival type thing on there still so i have to check and decide.

Plenty more updates to come and i will split them into each day i think and edit a post if i want to add after posting earlier during a day. Laters......

.......

OK so heres what happened, got a taxi to Venetian to possibly play their 8pm tournament although i was aware it might not be on. Got there about 7:15pm but the tourney was cancelled cos of their deepstack stuff earlier so i just sat on a $1,2NL table with the max $300 buy in instead. Several white russians later (yeh i lost count and they were strong), a couple of bud light and some fish n chips and its 1:30am and i head back. It was pointed out to me out about 1am that i had been up for over 24 hours straight, as it turned out this ended up being 28 (Im becoming hardcore like Dean Troop) hours. I figured this would be my body clock corrected but ive woke up after just 4 hours at 6am and im hungover and not sure if i can get back to sleep for now. Cash table was usual nut fest anyway and i got involved more and more as i got drunker, some hands below.

About an hour in mayb 7 in limped pot Kc10c4x flop and bb nutcase bets $20 (into the 14$ pot), im utg with 44 and make it $70 which he calls. I put him on a top pair or mayb a QJ but i havent seen evidence that he bets draws yet, although he does bet almost everything else. When he calls and a 7c comes im stuck with a tough decision as i need to decide whether to free card it or bet to protect against a 4 card flush. He messes about and i dont put him on a flush and bet $200 (only leaving $30 or so behind) but he moves in and a 4th club did come on the river. Turned out he didnt need it though as he did have Qc3c, oh well $300 down nice.

Stayed around $300 down for hours until maybe 3-4hours later i started hitting some decent hands. I didnt have to show a lot as people would fold the turn or river after calling some big bets prior often so i actually picked up a loose image which helped get me some healthy action or 1 or two biggies. Didnt win it all back in one hand though but gradually made it right back up to level and finally finished about $45 up on the night. Not bad considering i wrote off $300 earlier, but more importantly i went from uncomfortable at the table into very very comfortable and really enjoyed it more than i would expect to, hense the 2am bedtime not midnight as expected :)