Back To True Form

I know that last post sounded pretty extreme and probably very cocky to say the least but it was written only minutes after busting that game and unless you were at the table it is impossible to explain how well i had played in the game format that we had. Anyway i probably try to respond to the comments below but first lets fill in the rest of the night.

I was lost after that post but also absolutely knackered so slept from 6pm, only fortunately to be woken my Martin (other contestant from Pokerdome heat) at 9pm to say everyone going for drinks. I immeditaly jumped out of bed and 5 minutes later was dressed and downstairs with most of the other 10. Now a few ciders later i realised i hadnt eaten anything since 8am in the morning and the drink was goin straight to my head. Couldnt be bothered to leave the crowd though so just ate this huge bag of crisps to keep me going. Anyway it turned out to be a great night discussing hands with nearly everyone. As i said before i think the other players were all a great bunch of people and the previous post obviously meant no disrespect to any of them personally. Several drinks later and some great banter and discussions and i began to struggle drinking but gradually people left the group and just 4 of us were left as the bar was shutting. We moved to another bar in the casino and had more drinks and eventually about 5am i went for food with just Ilja (pronounced illia) who i think potentially could be a great player as he was a very thoughtful player at the table. 6am after macdonalds (lol all that was open) i finally crashed and got about 4 hours sleep until now when im reading this post.

Right back to previous post and comments. Please remember this blog is never about boasting, being cocky or anything like that. Its not a blog that only gets updated when i win (like hundreds others). I always talk honestly about poker and the rollercoaster emotions that i feel very truthfully. I often mention that it isnt all about glory and who wonderful the game is etc. Its 99% written about my exact feelings at the time often immediately after a high or low and can often sound extreme in terms of me being mad or , as the last post, cocky. The blog has been and always will remain solely an outlet for myself to extinguish emotions that are often necessary in such a game that messes with your head when you play it full time. I have often considered taking it off the web in fact, but if i did that i would still 100% continue writing it for myself anyway and i have nothing to hide so here it stays.

Soap i dont want to explain in any more detail about the game as im trying to move on now but as i put there were proably a few dozen hands i could put on here if i could be bothered including big laydowns, reads, aggression, the confidence factor, the not getting involved with wrong hands at wrong times, the image i had created all game, and the fact that i had 2 pots in the game with still lots of players left to hav gone to over 30% chips in play. The guy that won it played very well and deserved to win but had his fair share of hands too. I know i had average cards and made the most of what i could. The guy that came 2nd was a classic blind out merchant and survived countless allins to stay alive. Remember this game isnt always about winning as in the short term its luck, but its about minimising your luck required to give yourself the biggest chance of winning. I 100% believe if those 10s held i would have raised almost 50% preflop and got little resistance and could have almost "freerolled" on stolen chips in the higher payout structure. Remember how tight everyone is and how nervous most were and allow for the huge payout and how top heavy it was, yet 2nd was still huge being the $12,000 package as well.

Animal - take this as you like, but the only thing I can say is - why call an all in reraise to these rocks with 1010? You had bullied your way up to a great chip position without any resistance. You should have folded to that reraise, which could have easily been a hand had you dominated anyway, and gone back to bullying without any resistance. GL for the millions - arniejokin

Well, no disrespect but due to the payout and my image and the history vs this chap i knew he was getting annoyed and his range was weaker than many others would have been to go over the top. The pot itself call was a total no brainer as i had committed enough chips to get far to good pot odds to fold. I didnt call instantly but got a chip count and watched him carefully just to check 100% i was correct. In the shape of things, if i win that call there it has such implied odds as to where i finish in the stt its massive. I honestly expected a race but i believe he could have had ace rag too as well as the obvious KQ or possible overpair. I actually ruled out AA or KK as i didnt believe he was good enough to move allin so quicky and may even have done a different reraise with them too. That pot would have took me to 30,000 (30%) with 400 as the big blind. When i lose the pot i was still circa 18k was it i put previously, still about joint 2nd or so and still able to play as i had before really. If you have been aggressive all game i agree its tough to know how to laydown hands like 9s,10s,Js but it also often is exactly the spot you have been building up to by creating the image you have. You have to realise their range and factor in history and such before making these calls but at the time there was little doubt in my mind i was behind to anythng other than JJ or QQ. I had busted 1 player at the table prior to that hand, remember someone has to bust the players. You cant steal forever as the stand by the other player will eventually come, and the luck element plays, but with chips behind you are free to gamble and still recover minimising the luck you need to win the stt (or mtt) by doing this.

Right hope that makes sense, im pretty hungova at mo, think im gonna check out the steam room again and see if i can sweat some alcohol out :)) May play the super satellite tonight at 6:15pm but have to see how the afternoon and hangova pan out. Apparantly the cash games are worse or as bad as the worst vegas ones but the rake is max $6 per hand and theres also a $5 per player per table rake per hour !!

Happy Hunting !!!


Edit 5 hours later:
Unreal 24 hours after that moody post and i feel as relaxed and happy as ive been for ages re: poker and lookin fwd to the rest of this trip. Long may that last, just shows blog works to get rage of my system and maybe im becoming more experienced and the madness just doesnt last quite so long as it used to !