6 Monthly / End Of Year Review

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

GL readers for 2008 !

December Review

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

New Years Eve Poker Banned

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

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

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

Final MTT Win Of 2007 ???

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

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

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

Biggies

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

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

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

Same Again

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

Steady Results

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

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

Sunday Madness

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

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

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

Merry Xmas to all !!!

Sixpac Challenge - Final Results

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


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

OK I Played

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

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

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

Struggling To Play

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

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

Aussie Millions $12,500 Package Won

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

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

Happy Xmas all !!!

Multis Return

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

Day 3

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

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


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

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


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

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

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

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

Day 2

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



Update after another hour session:


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



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





After 1st afternoon session:


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



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


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

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

Day 1

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

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

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

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


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

Challenge Animal - 1000 Sixpacs in 10 Days

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

Sunday (Likely Crap) Summary

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

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

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

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

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

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

December Poker Day 1

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

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

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

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

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

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

St Kitts Review

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

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

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

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

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

Next Stop: Australia !

November Review

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

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

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

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

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