Spring Backwards

Been a rough few days, i did post a £5,800 profit Wednesday to almost peak for the month but then went seriously backwards. Another huge loss of £23,100 Thursday followed by a £2,600 loss Friday. Didnt play Saturday.

Not gonna moan about luck, variance, good or bad play. March has been a turbulent month for me and im glad to see the back of it really. It was always going to be a task following up such a crazy Feb and my attitude was probably my worst asset this month in some bad spells. I guess it was always going to be difficult to escape that complacency feeling which crept back in at times. Saying that there is 3 days left to destroy what remains of my profit or swing it back up again. Not sure how much i will play though for the reasons above really.

April looks like trip to Scotland but i dont think i will do the planned Vegas trip and leave it for a longer stay in June. Possible GUKPT Manchester towards end but see what i feel like closer to time.

Ups And Downs

Return flight was ok except the rocky landing in the wind. Drove back from Manchester without feeling too tired as well. BMI wasnt great to fly on but ive had worse and would use them again over virgin if more suitable. Small advantages were smaller airport = easier check in and smaller plane = quicker to get out at other end.

However since back ive slept a rediculous amount and just given in wheneva tired. Result = ive been awake since 3am this morning. Monday night i played a little and made £3,400 but Tuesday was pretty bad. Dropped to a low of -£12,000 before finally putting in a decent session with some luck and was happy to finish only £6,700 down on the day. Still nicely up on the month but not sure if im putting in that maximum effort in all the time i should be.

Vegas Profit Summary

Poker Tournaments: +$4,700
Poker Cash: + $2,150
Other: - $310

TOTAL + $6,540


Obviously this is all live gambling, online is separate as per blog daily. Basically online out here i dropped £23,000 before recovering and finishing about £1,000 up :)

I'll Be Back

Last day was pretty uneventful. Played online for an hour or so and made just under £2,000. Hit the casino 7pm ish and ended up on a 30/60 omaha hi lo limit table again. Dropped $1,400 really quickly before steadily recovering through the 6 hours i played. Finished $1,350 up. Looking forward to playing that game a bit higher wsop time as apparantly the Rio has a 75/150 juicy game regularly according to some of the Bellagio regulars ive chatted to.

Flight leaves in about 12 hours, my shortest stay in Vegas has left me wanting more time but i will return in June if not before for my 8th visit.

Bellagio $1,080

46 runners i got off to a nice start with set over set. I then bust the table fish with JJ to peak at 37k (15k starting stack). Lost a chunk in the 3rd level though when i couldnt get a guy off JJ when i had an AK miss. Dribbled down and stayed between 15-25k for ages then. Patience was rewarded though when i raised with A5off in cutoff and big blind flatted me. Flop 542 and he check raised me allin with AK and i held to double up. I was playing pretty aggressive now and had a fairly loose image. I then raised with AK and held against an A8std short stack resteal and now had a average or better stack again 50k+. We were now down to 2 tables and were becoming shorthanded.

A huge hand now when i raised to 2400 preflop with QQ (800 bb) and got a caller on the button. Flop was K73ccx and i check called 3600. Turn was an 8 and i check called 6500 again confident i was good. River came Jc and again i checked, he moves allin for 29,500. I tanked for a minute but i wasnt about to go against my instinct as i didnt put him on the flush draw, i called and he immediately mucked. This took me to 85-90k, 690k in play by the way. 12 players left.

I had been floating between 85k and 110k for a while before my next key hand (8-9 players left pays 5) . Playing the 85k stack i raised 4800 (1600 blinds) with KQdd in the hijack and button chipleader bully fish flatted me. Flop came Ac8d7c and i led for 8000. He made it 18000 and i stuck all my high denomination chips out committing myself. I put him on a weak ace at best or more likely air and he tanked for ages before folding. I didnt show though as i knew i didnt want a mad image just yet :)

I stayed around the same stack until we were 4 handed and blinds were up more. Picked up a couple of hands and now went between 120-160k. Eventually the table bad loser bust in 4th after being rediculously lucky (although he thought he was unlucky!) and we were 3handed. Stacks were 150k 150k 390k roughly with blinds at 3/6. Payouts were approx $7,000,$11,000
and $20,000 but i wasnt even thinking of the money, i wanted the experience and the win.

Stacks moved up & down small amounts then my exit hand came for 3rd. Chipleader button 20,000 i moved allin for 135,000 as i know he was itching to make pot odds calls as he almost did against the other guy a few hands before. It was irrelevant though as he had an unfoldable AQoff but the ace hit the river and i got $6,650 for 3rd.

Pot would have took me to 290,000 vs about 2 x 150k stacks so gutted but it was preflop so i cant complain. 10 hours exactly it took so i dont fancy any $550 games today, may do some live omaha later for fun, leave 24 hours from now in whats been my shortest ever vegas trip :( but fun.

Multi Casino

Yesterday was an explore day through about 6 or 7 casinos with many drinks throughout. Did play 45 mins of 30/60 hi lo omaha limit and ran good for $1,700 which covered my bad run of -$800 on there the day before. Online i dropped about £6,000 before recovering to just -£200. Also played several casino side games without any success but twas fun.

Now 1pm, need some food and gonna play the Bellagio which is a $1000 today. Gonna take this one seriously and put more effort in than anything else so far this week. Just made £1,750 in a short online session anyway.

Vegas Update

Played the $330 Bellagio Tuesday. This is now the low end of my buyin and i found it difficult at times to put the proper effort in. Saying that i did focus in spells folding junk for the first hour before getting a nice card rush soon after. Had been playing quite tight but when i moved tables i had just started the white russians and i went for an aggressive stance immediately. It worked and i got my stack up nicely but then i picked up a genuine hand and lost. QQ vs 99 preflop at 200/400 25 ante, pot would have took me to 40k which would have been chipleader with 1/6 of the chips in play and 13 players left, matey rivered a straight though. I still had 15k left and ended up bubbling in 6th after being short stack for ages which didnt bother me as 5th was only my $500 anyway.

Got very very drunk the rest of the day, reckon 12-15 white russians in the end. Played 30/60 omaha hi lo limit which was fun (lost $100) but the omaha PL game is just not running this week :( Meanwhile my mate Dean "manicme" managed a 16 hour session on 1/2 in the same seat, what an addict now after never playing live cash before.

Wednesday was a recovery day, pool and went chili's for food which i can highly recommend. I did play a few hours live hi lo omaha again and ran awful for $1000 loss but it was fun still.

Both Tuesday and Wednesday i managed a couple of hours online and profits were steady for a change at £3,250 and £5,150 respectively so ive almost recovered my initial big loss at the start of the week. Prob due another downswing :(

Today we plan little or no live poker and lots of booze when we walk through lots of casinos.

Relaxed Losses

Had a shocker 1st session today for 2 hours. Didnt tilt though, it was just all really bad variance. Dropped £23,600 in the end. Wasnt pissed off though, think its cos im out here in vegas and relaxed.

Anyways got a great room, first time ive stayed at bellagio and it wont be the last. Room is equivalent of a deluxe room in caesars. Pool area is lush as i discovered earlier spending a couple of hours after that heavy loss chilling out. Been out for food but only 1 drink as went heavy on it last night and prob will again tommorrow.

Played $540 Bellagio tourney first day but got nowhere, may play it tommorrow although its $330 then. They did have PLO running 5/5 earlier but a list so i didnt hang about, maybe get some action tommorrow. Also $30/60 limit hi lo omaha runs i think so could give that a bash rather than holdem cash.

Had a 2nd poker session after the pool and played only CAP tables. I think something clicked and i made £4,200 that session.

Got back 11pm to room and went back on the CAP tables, ran much better this time and peaked at $16,000 before eventually finishing $10,000 or £7,000 up.

So on the day £12,400 down but very happy and relaxed , bizarre but good.

More Of This Please

Played 2 sessions today just 20mins and about 30 minutes. Both HU against same opponent 25/50 and managed £1,500 and £12,100 respective profits to boost me into peak profit for the month.

Drive to airport tommorrow, then week in vegas. See how it goes but i may ditch the idea i had of going there the last 2 weeks of April. I may then make my stay wsop time towards 4 weeks in length. Ive heard the main event now has 30,000 starting chips which does make it a lot more appealing to me than it has been before. Nice decisions to make either way and i'll just see how it goes out there and online before i make late choices.

A Not So Typical Day Or Is It ?

6pm wake up, thank god im going vegas this body clock is currently rediculous.

first session felt i played well but was outdrawn, expected to be in loss but tally showed me £1,000 up.

2nd session was playing well and golden in the right spots, a 25/50 hi lo game took my nicest chunk and i was sitting at +£13,000 for the day.

knew i maybe shouldnt play any more but it was still early (on my clock) and felt like i could still make some more. prob a tad of complacency but mainly variance and i lost several pots on trot. went on major tilt when fish on 10/20 kept 3 betting me pre with rubbish only to outdraw me when we get the lot in preflop or on the flop when i obv 4betting preflop. basically lost 7/7 allins against same guy = lost my head, i was only behind on 2 of them when the money went in. i then started on the verbals which only made me tilt more and that led to some donk stuff on other site i had 25/50 going on.

eventually reality kicked in and i realised i had lost the £13,000 profit and was now £10,000 down on the day. i quickly shut the sites and figured i would hammer here and switch off quickly. No sod the stop loss (great that it didnt work at first attempt) i honestly was gonna stop but i opened a new site to see if french guy i play HU 25/50 often was there and he was. Could only lose max £5,000 more as site dont let me deposit more per day and i have been losing £5000 a day for last 2 or 3 days against this guy so had nout else in reserve. Luckily for me it was my turn to take this guy and my $5,000 peaked and left the table with $29,000.

So to summarise (if i stop now, unsure) £13,000+ at peak then £10,000 down then finish £7,000 up. My attitude today probably shocking at worst but top of game at other times, what a mixed bag and pretty much sums up this month so far i guess. Need to calm down a bit b4 vegas or could do sommat silly out there on side games etc.

Midweek Swing Report

Tuesday wasnt a huge volume of play and added to the £900 bonus i totalled £3,400 up on the day.

Today was more of what i seem to be getting used to. Havent played a rediculous amount, say 3 hours session then under 2 hours.

1st session i quickly won £5,000 then lost it as quick as i won it (done a lot of HU 25/50 today). I then went down about £8,000 before recovering to be £10,000 up thanks to 3 x 25/50 6 handed tables good run. Should have left then but when i did it was only £1,000 up for the day.

2nd session was just HU 25/50 and didnt swing down much at all, was a tighter game and chipped away before getting a nice cold deck which gave me most of my profit. Shame though on one my other sites i would have stacked them but this tight guy traps all time so was never gonna ship it allin with his lower house :( Finished £3,450 up today and put month back into respectable 5 figures, doubt that will last long given my fluctuations of late though :)

On The Up I Hope

Right following on from my worst ever loss i got incredibly drunk sat night. i then woke up about 6pm on Sunday with my laptop switched on in my bed and 2 sites loaded, one with a 25/50 table open. I dont remember playing at all and i had a nervy couple of minutes checking my balances were intact. Thankfully they were but i definitely played 2 sites each for a small profit, think i got away with that one.

Didnt play at all Sunday, hangova too intense and prob good to have day off after that Saturday anyway.

Today i had a great afternoon session and made £10,000 but it wasnt so easy in the evening. That £10,000 quickly dropped to zero and i even went £3,200 into negative before recovering and finally finishing £2,900 up. I also cleared a £1,000 bonus but i dnt get credit for that for 24 hours.

I dont think ive mentioned on here but im off to Vegas on Sunday for a week. Dont intend to take live poker too seriously out there though unless i find some omaha action. I expect i will play a couple of bellagio tournaments where im staying though.

Stop Loss Required

I think its the first time ever ive serious said that to myself but for me to progress at these stakes its a must. Just had my worst ever session/day (wont play any more 100%) and lost £30,000. most of it was sick luck and bad beats, i think a $17k pot rivered was the turning point with top pair gutshot nut flush draw against top pair no kickers and rubbish f draw. couldnt believe the guy stuck $8500 in on flop when pot was only $200 but i had set him up and once again he got lucky. he had also won a $10k before that allin on a 10xxdd flop with his kkxx vs my AQJ10dd. I totally lost my head and definitely tilted off more after that which is the dumb annoying bit.

Had won £12,000 yesterday but that session has basically wiped out all my March profit so far.

I will now try to stick to this stop loss:

£10,000 a day loss = stop unless up over £25,000 for the month.
If £25k-£30k for month £15,000 loss = stop
If £30k+ for month £20,000 = stop


See how long i can stick to that !!!

Wild Swings But Profit

The last 2 days have pretty much followed the same pattern. Lose between £6k-£8k before recovering into a nice profit. This happens more than once both days as well and has given me a tough mental test coping with the swings and nasty lost pots.

Wednesday i would have been £10,000 down if it wasnt for a $20k+ pot where $16k of that went in on the turn with me a 76% favourite which held.

And today i was playing a regular french fish and had lost 4/4 allins all 50% or well ahead before i managed to double then win a $20k+ pot against him with top set vs a big wrap on turn missing on 25/50. Again he hits wrap im down £5k-£10k for the month but he had hit more than his fair share, trust me. So i saw that once more as variance finally leveling out, phew :)

I tried putting cash into 4 other accounts also today to test the omaha waters. Bust 3 of them though and lost on the other as well ! Saying that though i probably will play at least one of those sites again regularly once i can get past the £500 daily deposit limit somewhat restricting me. The site i liked (i wont mention) seemed v bad and i did get my $800 up to $2400 on 5/10 before busting with KQ10xdd on a AJxdd flop to AxQd9dxx for a $5000 pot which would have rolled me nicely :(

Pretty busy tommorrow for a change and wnna get drunk saturday (no poker drunk please) so my play should be limited although i'll probably be in addict mode and fit a load in somewhere.

Wednesday profit was £12,000 and tonights was £12,100 thanks to a golden run at the end. Hopefully thats me in positives now for the rest of the month fingers crossed.

Now i just wanna get to sleep before 9am (been getting later every night lately).

Trying To March On

Unsuccessful so far in March. Seem to have lost my head a bit but also my enjoyment of the game. Have only played 2 days as a result and thought i had turned it around last night before losing a nasty chunk on 25/50. Only £6000 down so far so not too worried but need to quickly get back that enjoyment, that relaxed, and that confident play i was full of last month.

Feb Review

Following on from January and my best month since Oct 2005 at £40k i am very pleased to report a final February profit of £123,000.

Seem to have kept my head on most of the month with only 2 or 3 bad sessions. No complacency and no tilt are a must in high stakes omaha and im getting better but still not 100% perfect for sure.

Im still a bit disappointed not to have won that FTOPS but getting my best ever multi cash and finishing 3/9000 is not something i should moan and dwell about for much longer.

March target is to keep plugging away. Almost def going vegas about the 15th for a week and havent ruled out London GUKPT last weekend of month, just see my mood when i get back.

GUKPT/Saturday

Started the day off badly dropping £3000 online before i even got there. When i hit the table i managed to get reraised the first steal i was on. I then ran 44 into KK short stack to drop to 30,000 quickly. Clawed my way back to 48000 with steals and reraises before this hand occurred. Earlyish raiser and i think he looks uncomfortable weak, picked most of this up when sb was dwelling for ages. But instead of reraising i elected to take a flop with 86off and try pick it up there. Flop came 843 and i check raise him allin to be shown A8off, good read but ul flop and gave myself grief for not shoving preflop. Moved that hand with just over 20,000 to new table.

Now pretty much shove poker but shoves got through for ages until i finally ran 22 into KK. Left on 2000 utg+2 1000/2000 100 ante i thought i was done. Anyway folded next hand then tripled AK vs KQ vs KQ before moving tbale again with only 9500.

Move utg+1 and couldnt shove so had to take the 2k bb. Q4cc and there is limp utg and button and sb tops up. Flop of KQJddd all check. Turn 6d and i cant help firing 4000 into the pot (3500 behind). Result utg folds a better hand and button folds a straight he had slow played on the flop, sb folds and im pretty chuffed. Shove poker again and finally i push sb 22000 A7cc and try to look weak. bb tanks and goes with read im weak and i double vs QJoff. Pretty much still short stack stuff and i make the cash when 28 remain. Still shove poker and finally just before blinds going up to 4k i stick my dwindling stack in with 97cc only to be looked up by AJ. Board 6828K and im gone in 22nd for £2,250. Happy to cash after being down to 1 xbb but money makes little diff to the month ive had so ultimately disappointed. 100% happy with my play though although with hindsight allin 86off only semi-mistake but not major.

I then played 4-6card omaha and got very drunk only dropping £200ish in the end. Then the big mistake of the day came when i managed to donk off over £20k drunk online, def made some some silly moves after tilting a bit when 3 or 4 flips went against me. Another lesson learnt and a daft way to try to spoil what had been a fantastic month.

One more note on the GUKPT, i must have had 10-15 allins preflop or on the flop and every time the best hand won. Shame i didnt get better cards then :(