Jan Review

Glad its over, been posting enough on here to not bother with any sort of summary.

-£2,967

Early night now, fresh start tommorrow (still on lower stakes i guess).

Januarys Final Stand

Decided to go with the mtt option, not sure how many yet but have drawn up a list of several to choose from. Start in 20mins anyway, may update in running but may have too many tables goin to b bothered. Whatever happens i can look forward to saying goodbye to a horrendous Jan both personally and professionally.

5:35pm hmmmmm feel like deregistering all at mo but will stick with it i think. Bust 150euros mtt in 30mins flopping 2 pair vs a set which i would have had to been on top form to get away from.

6:55pm 2 more busts , just 1 game left at mo although am well stacked in it. 2 more starting in 5mins. 1 bust was one them nout went right. other was bad beat kk vs jj although only had 60% starting stack at that time.

7:55pm 1 cancelled , 1 more bust (99 vs 10s but had sucked out b4 although did lose AQ vs AK to have prob gone top 10 in it) and weak in only 1 left. Dunno why i entered anything now, thought i was in a more patient mood but once i bust that first one its been a fast downhill slope.

Am running ok on cash so hopefully wont be too big a dent at end of night.

9:15pm bust all mtts about half an hour ago. Lost a huge pot to complete fool before running my 10xbb shove into QQ. Huge pot went like this at 100/200. Limper mid i nxt and raise 725 with KK just us flop he chk calls 1200 leaving 2400 behind on a Q94 flop. Turn ace he chk calls allin (almost timing out) and rivers a 10. Pot would put me top 50ish with 600ish left form 880odd.

Just done damage assessment although may play later and only -£300 assuming i get refund for game that didnt start (sent a mad email off to vent). Not bad considering i paid errr 160euros+$215+$109+$215+$320 in mtts = well over £600.

Jan Last Chance Saloon

Might have one more attempt to break into profit later and even attack a few mtts for a while. Havent played at all Saturday (hangover) and only played for like 20mins yesterday. I did manage a few hrs Thursday though and repaired some of the damage again. Currently -£2,700 for Jan and 2010 and obviously keen to draw a line under that and start a fresh month.

Back To Car Crash Poker

Started solid yesterday and went £500 up. I knew once i got under £2000 loss i would likely move up stakes a bit and made a decision to that effect last night (3/6 and 5/10 plo$). Obviously wish i hadnt bothered as it was back to the norm with every piece of luck going against me. Lost over £2,000 and ended up £1,600 down on the day. Jan tally back to -£3,600 and im left in limbo. I probably should just take a few days off and start a fresh for Feb but i feel at this time of year i should be putting in as much volume as i can while im not busy. I dunno i will see what i feel like later and review the situation then. Maybe i should just play 2 or 3 hours low stakes a day and go back to playing 4-6 multis from 8pm -1 or 2am for 5 nights a week. Urrgh i dnno prob just stick to cash once my head clears.

Back On Track ?

Just 2 90mins ish sessions, first on nearly all plo then 2nd nearly all hi lo. I ran good for a change and made £700 back. Also got about £400 in bonuses. Still dreaming of finishing January in profit.

Month Tally -£2,000

Just When Its Getting Better......

Its back to the old ridiculous bull**** crap again. I cant believe how many pots ive lost today against the most dumbest plays ever that manage to find the miracle cards every bloody time. This is biggest loss by a mile at these stakes (mostly 1/2 1 2/4 game) since i started and i dont think i even tilted any of it off. Would luv to post histories and stuff but all long winded crap and so mad i just wnna smash my new laptop at this minute in time. Favourite one that set the trend for the day was probably being reraised by 2479 no suits on hi lo 1/2 and he calls pot reraise so we hav put in like 90$ preflop . Flop k74 is still good for my AA85 hand but turn 7 river jack. Nice one later on called raise on 1/2 euro and 3 to flop. Flop is QQ2 2 hearts, raiser checks and 2nd guy bets pot. I pot raise and want the pot there and then if he has a queen but obv i do have a massive hand if fish comes on hook with runner runner low as well AQ105. Fish calls with KQ107 no hearts , turn 7 river brick and i lose another 200. That one riled my beyond belief as there is just no other hand i raise flop with other then AQ minimum and mayb with no runner runner low i only flat it. So many others i could list just rewarded the worst play ive seen and just had enough of it. So sick as i felt fresh and relaxed after the live break and thought i might attack the game and destroy it to wipe the months profit out this week. If this carries on i might have to go back to online mtts which i know i just would hate so much.

On Day -£1.100
Yesterday short session +£250

Month Loss -£3,100

Day 2 Reverse Variance

Wont go into major detail (may do another day if assed) but i lasted just over 2 hours. 3 allin pre pots key and 3 allins lost. 33 vs AJstd to go 125k (55k pot) average bout 55k. KK vs AJoff to go to 117k (100k pot) average bout 60-65k. Bust hand crippled K2 vs A10 errr 28k pot. So disappointed ive drove home as i thought it might be -ev using the £60 hotel non refundable to play online poker after that. Back to the grind tommorrow or Monday i guess.

Very Quick Update

Go into day 2 at 2pm 2nd/51 pays 15. 147 entered basically i floated between 12 and 18 k first 6 levels (15k starting stack) then shit all over the deck and finished at the end of level 9 on 91,400. 600,1200 when i return, have extended hotel stay but at least 1 night. Sleep now ******

Patience

Was incredibly patient in omaha (in other words played like a nit) but it didnt pay off busting after 4.5hrs for a very small pot. Was unable to rebuy though as stack never got below half so only cost me £210 in the end. Good warm up for main event anyway although im not sure exactly what tactics im using tommorrow. Will decide on a course of action at the table but will probably change gears a lot if i last long.

Online sessions kind of followed ones of late losing a chunk then winning it back and more in the first one. Late night one just now was worse but again recovered a bit to post a -£100 loss on the day overall including the live stuff so not too bad.

-£2,250 for Jan

I Can Almost Sense The Change

Got to Bolton fine through bitty traffic and weather. Only lasted till level 3 of £330, was fun though but shame as had easyish table. Unfortunately 2 sets lost to flushes (happy with how cheap) before my QQ vs AK for 12,500 pot, cue ace on the river. (Not a huge pot though as 10k starting stack in this one). Gonna play the plo tommorrow anyway, hope i dont do too many rebuys.

Just got back to room bout an hour ago and loaded internet up. My mobile dongle thing is a bit dodgy but i gave poker a go anyway and didnt time out for the hour played. Thought it was a big mistake to begin with when i lost an awful bad 120euro pot (bad call on river ish) but the guy had chased 6outs with QQ98 on a 8933 board (2 spades). I had bet flop and turn with A236 (2 spades) and couldnt hit the fold when ridiculous 8s comes on river (full ring that one). 2 minutes later on other site and i get it allin $200 on a J23 flop (well 120 flop 80 turn) with AQJ4 vs A257. Turn king river 2 good one.

Not happy but 10 minutes later ship the big un. Back to full ring game and get bout 280euros allin on board of K63 with AA25 3 way vs KKxx and AQ24. Turn 4 river jack WTF i won a 860euro pot on 1/2. Was in shock and even won a bit back on other site and a little on 3rd site after that. EDIT AS WRONG, AA35 vs A2Q4 vs KKxx on a K26 flop.

On the day (GUKPT already paid for) +£550
Month Tally -£2,150

What A Diff A Couple Of Hours Can Make

Blimey didnt hit the tables till late but again i was in for a shock with just about every bad play against me for big pots all winnin, amongst cold decks and just generally missing nearly everything. Defintely was over £600 down and it was only a short session but i wasnt happy and took the autoposts off to finish the session. Last few hands on one site though and i actually hit some scooping 2 allins both of which i could have lost or been quartered or 3/4 won easily. Finished about £200 down but happy.

Returned tonight and immediately lost $200 on a cold deck and couldnt seem to get going again. Dribbled away cash and again probably went down £600+ for the day. Im pleased to say it finally turned around though. $600 50/50 from flop on 1/2 helped then i finally got the table fish on a 2/4 who had outflopped me all session and the earlier session. Few other bits here and there and finished £200 up and very happy.

Also got £80 rakeback today and credit of GUKPT package expenses of £380. Taking £330 out of that for side event (will take more for plo rebuy after when i knw how many rebuys i bought).

After all that current month balance is now -£2,700 and im off to pack and get an early night.

Gonna Run Good In Bolton

Decided i need a mini break and all booked for Bolton. Gonna play the £300NLH Wed , £100PLO rebuy Thur and £1,000 main event Fri. I have to run well as i cant run much worse than ive done the last couple of days.

Been gettin outdrawn left right and centre, and usually by complete and utter donk plays which sets that rage bell off in my head way too often. If it wasnt for one of the worlds worst players late on tonight i could have lost £1,000 today but as it is im still riled at finishing -£350. Couple of sick pots just before i left allin on a 10,9,3(2 spades) board with 9,10,J,K vs AA48 (no spades) who cant fold when he raises pre and leads into a $20 pot out of position. turn 8 river ace and ship the $450 pot the other way (1/2$ hi lo that). Then to rub it 2 minutes later in 4 of us see a flop ($52 in pot as ive raised) with me in position on the button with AA2x which is checkraised by AQJ6 on a Q64 flop and of course i dont improve or get there in any shape or form, another $400 gone. Both these pots were right near the end so i guess i could have saved a level day if i had any luck but no, not tonight, not any night of late.

Sunday was even more of a joke and i lost £350 but fortunately a bonus i cleared covered that. Still was exactly same stuff as today. Ok enough of the moaning and waffle i will destroy u fools tommorrow.

Month Tally -£3,000

No Boozy Sessions

Friday 1 hour +£50
Saturday about 3 hours +£550

I did slip up briefly and played 10/20hi lo vs a french guy only playing $400 (couldnt resist) which i won fortunately. Was disciplined though and sat out immediately another guy joined with the same $2000 stack as me.

Almost cleared a bonus for another £300 too. Bolton looking more likely.

Month Tally -£2,650

Late Night Addict

Sleep pattern getting later and later. Ah well piss up tommorrow (well in 12hrs). Havent really timed session today but a lot put in especially after midnight when games good. Bit disappointed not to be more up but can report another +£250 day. Might even have a day off tommorrow, but dont count on it just yet :)

Month Tally -£3,250

Good Calmer Day

Money flowed in a lot steadier today and i think that was the main reason i remained pretty calm with just the odd hint of rage at times. It could be im getting used to the games too, it has been a while since ive played at these levels and now im almost a week in. Just that one hop to slightly higher game and no temptations since and hope to keep it that way while im still reasonably happy grinding away. Think i can only benefit from this grind too in the long run ( provided i win obviously :) )

Hand of day: A234 flop A2x matey has AA57 and i miss all low cards to lose a $600 pot at 1/2, bleh.

Profit on day +£500
Loss in 2010 - £3,500
Since i started this grind its been 6 days and im +£1,900

Good Annoying Day

Started really well today making £700 in first couple of hours. When i returned shortly after i cleared a £300 bonus so was hoping i could finish at least £1,000 up the day. Wasnt to be though and i was tested and failed again to hold my temper dropping chunks back. When i played my last session i finally managed to calm down a bit and made a little back and even won an AAxx vs AAxx pot (shock). On the day +£700 (inc £300 bonus). Month Tally -£4,000

Key pot middle of day (omaha hi lo) playing 300$ on 1/2 get it nearly allin on a J54 flop holding A2J4 vs guy covering me holding A25K. Turn 5, river 8 ---> rage but i guess i should be happy to get a quarter ?

May do Bolton GUKPT next week probably about 50/50 at mo. Will depend how i cope in next few days and, more importantly, how the weather is.

Monday

Played fair number of hours in end. First 3 sessions only bout an hour long then prob 3 x 2 hours sessions since. First session didnt look good losing AAxx vs AAxx twice on hi lo but next couple went much better peaking about £500 up. Tried 9 tables at one point but reduced to 7 when i kept timing out (3 of the tables were turbo though and all hi lo) and was goin well before losing 3 big pots right at end of session to finsih level. Last session just now was a joke and i guess -£200 isnt as bad as could have been, deck just totally against me in all respects.

Tally on day +£300
Month tally -£4,700

Stray Dog

Strayed to 3/6euro plo when i saw 2 french and a greek playing on a 5handed table. Got up a bit then this hand:



limped 1010xx flop 1045 2hearts. managed to get 600 in on flop both 200 and 600 stack come along for the 18euro pot on flop and of course the 600 hits his french flush draw for the 1400euro pot.

only lost £300 on that 2 hour session which is a miracle really considering i lost a £1200ish pot :(( that will teach me for straying into higher stakes than planned for all of 10 minutes.

Current tally - £5,000 :((

Sunday Update

Was in for a change on a Sunday evening but only played 1 multi. £162 gukpt sat, last 5 1st package, 2nd £800 and i get 900 in on flop and 2500 allin on turn on a board of 10,9,5,3 with 9,10off to be shown a10, river ace gg. Only allin covered, called once before that jj vs kk on a j93flop. Did make a bad call to a fool that chased a gutshot but would have called allin so was lucky to still be in i guess.

Almost covered that buyin with days cash play but currently -£50 for day overall. Put 3 hours in this afternoon and made £200 but obviously lost some back tonight in another 3 hours session alongside that mtt :( May play later need hour or 2 off though , edit below if i do.

Grinding Begins

Yet to glance at higher stakes.

Fri: Played couple of hours omaha and hi lo and was nicely in profit. Took down $650 pot on 1/2 thanks to some luck getting it in on a J73ddd board with JJxx , matey had AAxxdd but i managed to fill up. Instead of a good session that pot turned it to a great one and i finished £675 up.

Sat: Was unsure whether to play as mild hangover all day but hit the tables late after 10pm for 5 hours. Didnt play well to begin with, especially on the plo tables bluffing way too much but i reduced those and played most of the session on hi lo. Managed to recover what was maybe 4 or 500£ downswing to being with. Finished £125 up.

Current Month Loss: - £4,650

One Of Pokers Tougher Skills

Well the last month or so has seen me go on a downswing of approximately -£25,000 so ive decided i need to take some action to reverse this trend and, more importantly, get me back on track for 2010. One of the toughest things in poker is to go down in stakes and stay there until you are fully comfortable with your game, mindset and bankroll. I know this wont be easy but i have played some lower games this month already. I have mixed them with some of the usual ones as well which certainly undermines it somewhat but it has given me a taste of what i now feel i need to face head on.

Things could be a lot worse but i like to feel comfortable when im playing and if you have read my blog lately you will see too much relying on winning and not just playing well and riding the variance. Im really looking forward to moving into my new house (when it finally happens) and im writing this on my new laptop which seems great so far. I have loaded some tables but not played anything today and will start from tommorrow on my new quest. I havent quite decided how many tables i will play (option of lots more on this laptop) but the levels i will play are as follows, only allowing myself to increase these levels once im in the +ive for the month or year.

Cash: Omaha & Omaha Hi Lo PL Max - 2/4 euros or $
Cash: No Limit Holdem or NL Holdem (unless live)

MTT: Cash - Max $215 but less if multi-tabling mtts. Satellite (To Live events) £75 rebuy max (cos i won package lately)

Dont expect many if any mtts in the near future until ive clawed some chunks back or unless i fail even more on the lower cash tables and need a change.

I know i will find this tough but i hope to avoid even looking at higher tables so there is no temptation. I may change my deposit limits (lower) also to help avoid temptation. I also hope the option of multi-tabling more tables can keep me from being tempted higher.

Watch this space to see how "disciplined" i can be and hopefully follow the road to recovery.

Currently about -£5,400 :((

Good One

Someone up there is taking the piss out of me. You would think i would happy having just won a £1,450 gukpt package a mo ago in a £75 rebuy. Oh no lets just see the facts. It lasted 4.5 hours and i paid £232 so is it really worth it, i think not, gg those in future.

Oh and yeh lets just mention how i won a bit earlier for a change on 5/10 hi lo and was steady on the 1/2 low stakes too. Then i started up the 10/20 hi lo game again about an hour ago and again i get coolered, miss everything and basically might as well just be printing money and throwing it at the rest of the table. Result bust that account and wasnt allowed to deposit more which may/may not be a good thing.

Take exps off losses and result for day equals lovely -£4,500 + £1,070 live buyin , ******* great.

Oh and just to tilt me more my laptop hasnt arrived, yeh snow etc but wtf cant anyone ring a phone these days to tell me wtf is going on with it. I should mention i ordered this from Dell almost 2 months ago (15 Nov) and they only now are supposed to be delivering it after ignoring emails before giving me a gay standard response the other day. GG them in future unless this laptop turns out to be the bees knees.

My house purchase is going through, oh hold on ive been saying that for 3 months (8 Oct offer accepted). Be lucky if i get in there this month thanks to slow solicitors.

That laptop better arrive tommorrow as im likely to smash this one up in a mo and **** can i shake off this chesty cough from the cold ive had 10 days, can i ****.

GG


Edit:

All above still applies but realised after i logged off figures wrong for day. -£2,900 +£1,070 live buyin.

Fresh Start

Tommorrow i get a new laptop (nothing too fancy) so a fresh start to the month which im currently sitting -£900 for the month.

I hope i dont have too many days like yesterday this year as it did my ******* head in. Played 4 mtts only busting 1 early and going deep in 3. 2 of these i went top ten and even 2nd in one with more than 60% of the fields gone. Class moments were a guy calling allin for his 50xbb stack deep in a $50 rebuy with 9,10off then going on bout how he was probably live and how his ranking was better than mine. I wont repeat what went in the chat from me but it went on a along time and i finally felt content when i got back in the game to watch that muppet bust way before me. 50/50 exit for me a bit before the cash, 3 huge pots in that game going against me sealing my downfall. Dumb bust in other tilted but not rediculous when committed post flop after limping KK. Last one i was looking good hitting cash in top 5 position. Twas another $50 rebuy but then came the lovely AK vs KK and 33 vs AK lose for huge pots and i was out. Latter one was to go 2/42 , 400+ entrants :( and cashed a crappy $220 or sommat.

About halfway through the stuff above i brought up a 10/20 hi lo game and ran as bad as i can losing an absolute shit load. I briefly had 10/20 omaha going too and quickly got cold decked there for a stack too. Total -£6,400 on the day, nice. I really should avoid the 25/50 table, a bad run like this on that stake is -£20k and i cant quite imagine coping with that at the moment.

Back to grind tommorrow, only played 10mins today and really not in mood so shut.

Late Edit....

Yeh **** that just saw weak hi lo table and lost £1,500 to a nit and a complete idiot play in the space of about 10minutes. **** off.

F*k Everything

That is all.

Where's Ya Ball Balls ?

Its official , i had no balls yesterday and had to leave a decent 25/50 game twice when i got up to $8,000 and $10,000 respectively. Or maybe i was just being sensible, i just couldnt face the prospect of flipping for a $16,000-$20,000 pot and i was playing too tight cos of this. Did win the 2 allin chunky pots with double gutshot nut flush draw vs top 2 pair (59%) and Q1097hh on a J86hh flop vs AAxxhh (43%) though so pleased to report a decent day in terms of profit. Won on the lower stakes a bit as well. Made about £4,850 in the end. Wanna keep the grinding going really but will still play high if table fish lingers around so could easily donate this back quickly.

Lower Stakes

Couple of small dabbles at 3/6euro and 5/10 shorthanded but 95%+ hands at 1/2 2/4 euro/$/£. Unsure exactly how many hours i put in, would guess more than yesterday but took longer breaks. Made about £350 in the end but still lost my cool too often and didnt really enjoy it too much. Couldnt face any mtts so nout has changed on that front. Proper grinding at mo lets see how long that lasts (prob till i see really bad higher stakes game).

Mixed Start

Played 30-45mins in afternoon and ran bad losing around £1,000 on 10/20. Returned in evening and played for about 4.5 hours. Was steady at first then took some good chunky pots and probably was +£3,000 for the month at peak but lost couple of set ups near the end and finished only £200. More worrying was how little i enjoyed it and how often i lost my cool throughout the day, whats new eh.

2009 Review

Goal at start was simply to make over £100k in profits. Pleased to report final profit of £298,937.

Jan - 40,064
Feb - 123,122
Mar - (12,156)
Apr - (11,874)
May - 74,490
Jun - 22,590
Jul - 19,538
Aug - 5,924
Sep - 15,590
Oct - 13,040
Nov - 14,783
Dec - (6,174)

Already reviewed my best bits so cant be bothered to waffle on. Need to learn how to cope better with complacency and downswings but this is something i struggle with. Probably should have gone abroad in the last few months too. Im daft but housebuying got in the way and i didnt bother which was dumb in the end given how my mindset has been the last 2 months.

Am still gonna play good omaha games in 2010 but im currently looking at the option of playing more tables at lower stakes for x hours per day x days per week. May go back to playing some nl holdem mtts too and i hope to play a similar number of live events throughout the year. I may never make as much in one year again and as such im not bothered about setting unrealistic targets. As long as i make £50,000 im fine although it would be nice to top 100k again if possible.

Dec Review

Pants. Lazy, complacent, undermotivated, very few sessions enjoyed. Did win to begin with but went on a downswing of over £18,000 to finish -£6,174. Was taking a shot at higher stakes at times and obviously not a good idea really as i havent coped with the downswings mentally at all. Cant think of much else other than mayb i should go back to updating blog more, that rant i put on here earlier immediately after the event really cleared my head unstead of steaming for hours. Kind of forgot why i set up this thing, always good for a moan to get it out of the system.