Mini Streak Over

Couldnt make it 3 winning days in a row.   Put more volume in today but the cards were definitely against me.   Still i think i played well and didnt get too angry or tilted at all for a change.  Dropped £446 which sounds a lot but (easily could have been more and) had such good run the day before im still on a solid +£731 for the last few days.  At end of the day if i put the sort of volume ive done today in 5 days a week and break even i think rakeback for the month would be in the region of $6,000 anyway. 

Full Tilt a gonna, seems ive lost $8 in there although i guess i had over $100 in points sitting in the account as well :(    Not really a hit at all compared to others and compared to my UB loss of $1,250 which doesnt look like it will ever materialise.

More Jetlag

Been so tired and giving in to the jetlag big time.  About to head to bed in a mo and hope i can get up mid afternoon at latest.  Managed more hours today but still all in the early hours of the morning, still traffic seems ok.   Think im playin well but im def running well so far, but its only been a few sessions so nout to get excited about yet although it was a little higher in stakes today.  Made £795 to take me to +£1,177.

July Starts Early

Bit jetlagged and/or drained from the travelling but did login to play for a couple of hours earlier.   Managed a decent profit and add that to £51 rakeback and good start to what i hope to be a big comeback month which also should include clearing some big bonuses to boost funds.

+£382 and off to bed to hopefully get back on a sleep clock of 4am-noon asap.

Vegas Stats / June Loss

-$9,320  mtts   (0/11 cashes,deep in only 3)
-$175  satellite  (test water early but structure redic. fast)
-$2,389 cash (breakdown below)

PL Big O 5/10:  +$2,055  (11 sessions)
PL Big O  1/2:   +$1,415  (12 sessions, often drunk)
PL O8      5/5:    +$1,861  (9 sessions, game not available every day)
PL O8      1/2:    -$    135  (1 session, game replaced by big O)

O8 75/150:        -$5,985  (3 sessions, see prev. post)
O8 20/40:          -$    650  (2 poor sessions near start of trip)

PLO:  1/2           -     850  (1 win, 1 loss, game played a lot higher)

NLH:  1/2          -      100  (1 drunk tired session 1st night to get onto a vegas body clock)


OVERALL TOTAL :-  - $11,884   =  -£7,428 for June (based on 1.6 rate used every month this year)

Any online stuff before July 1st will be included in July profit/loss to keep vegas separate.

Disappointing fail to vegas in terms of making money but lots of lessons learned and confirmed a lot of stuff i already knew.   3rd worst month ever on record (and worst for over 2 years) but im craving online poker so im confident i will bounce back stronger. 

Worrying stuff ive heard from what seemed a reliable source is that lots of others are following the Italy and France model and this could soon include Germany/Spain/Poland and Australia.  Not sure what to believe any more and its just a matter of rolling with the punches as they come and adjusting as best as one can, oh , and keep on smiling :)

Brutal Brutal End

Friday started well going as much as $1,000 up on usual games before hitting a wall on 5/5 plo8.  It was fun though and i just got outdrawn a bit towards the end which sealed a -$195 day in the end.

Today however was a completely different story.
After checking out 11am i left my luggage at front of the rio and settled down for about 7 hours of poker.
Again it started well turning my 5/10 big O $700 buyin into $1,700 when i changed games 3 hours later.
I was craving one last session of 75/150 limit O8 before i left and got into a game at 3pm ish.   Well what a mistake that turned out to be.  I could not win 100% of a pot and i realised when i finally scooped 100% of a pot it had taken 3.25hours to do this despite being 7 and 8 handed often as well as 9 handed as standard.  I left 15 minutes later posting an astonishing loss in that game of -$5770.

Im now at the airport waiting on a 90minute delay to my flight which will probably result in me missing my connection in Toronto but its out of my hands now anyway.

I think ive learnt a lot this trip and its obviously disappointing to post near to a -$12,000 loss even if 50% of it was in the last 3.5hours of a 26 nights stay !  Guess ill do some sort of proper summary later or as soon as i can be bothered.  Got plenty of time to kill right now.

2 More Cash Sessions Left

No good in final mtt.  Chipped up early but table was just too tight, needed to hit to get paid and its tricky to run many bluffs in big O.   Key hand below:

peaked at 60k (started 25k), about 45k start of this hand.  tight guy raises button at bb1600.  i reraise pot to 11600 with AA249dbl std.   he flats although originally thought i had only raised to 6600 as he didnt realise the diff between 5k and 10k chip.  flop is 853rainbow. we get it in and he shows A23310 to 3/4 after the standard blanks hit.  3 allins after that at 1/2k chop/chop/lose to bust about 70/160.

Seem to have picked up a mild cold/chest infection so hopin it wont get worse.  Gonna head rio in mo for cash games all day if my headache doesnt get stronger.   Originally thought i would play higher last day or 2 but if my heads not clear its prob not worth trying.   Tommorrow i check out 11am but dont leave vegas until 11:50pm so will dump luggage at rio and play cash again until 7pm.

Expect to blog again at airport while waiting as free wi-fi there.   Part of me very happy to go home and other part happy to stay as enjoyed the last week more than i thought i would.

Softest PLO8 MTT Ive Ever Played

Played a lot of cash the last 3 days including 9pm-12:30am after busting a $210 plo8 mtt at binions 7 hours in.   Not been winning though but still think im playin well, just been having to make more laydowns and conquer the bad swing.  Only lost 300/100/100 the 3 days though which is good really i think considering some of the situations ive been in.

Anyway on to the mtt.   This was just a complete limpfest and so many players just didnt have a clue what sort of trouble they were getting into and would never fold to a raise preflop and often not give up to huge bets postflop so bluffing was few and far between.   I didnt win a pot for 30minutes despite being in 80-90% of flops and my 15k dropped down to 12kish at only the 25/50 level but i knew if i hit sommat i would get paid.  I was 100% the only player raising preflop without aces !!!   Once i won my first pot i went on a mini rush and quickly got back to 15k before busting one of the dead money guys and a short stack in the same hand to go up to 30k.  

After this though i just went plain card dead and couldnt seem to flop or hit anything.  My stack stayed the same from first break right through to 2nd break and by now blinds were getting a lot chunkier.  I dropped as low as 22k but finally hit a couple of hands just before the dinner break and went to peak of 41k at that point.

When we returned i won the first pot i played and went to 45kish with the average bang on 45k.   There were now 37 players left of the 111 starters and it paid 12 with winner getting $5,800ish.  The very next hand i raised AsQx7s4s to 4000 (1600bb) and both blinds called.   sb was a brash guy looking ridiculous wearing sunglasses (in a $200game) who i had already tangled with just before the break when he chk called 2 streets before making me make a correct tough river call by leading allin into me.  He announced , rather loudly i check in the dark.  Anyways flop comes down K83sss, other guy checks to me and i bet 6k.   sb instantly shouting allin allin allin almost falling off his chair in excitement.  Obviously i call even faster and table my hand without saying a word.  Instead of dejection this guy now says its great as hes gonna win and hit quad kings tabling KK103.  When one of the 3s he's blocking does hit he gets even cockier and still expects another king on river but a blank jack does the job and he celebrates like he has just played his best hand of poker and won his biggest pot and cash ever. 

To be honest it hurt for about 15seconds but i was just trying not to laugh at how little class this guy shown and how excited he was despite being no where near the money (1/3 field left)  and gettin 40k into a 12k pot in such a bad spot.  I knew i would rather lost a perfect pot 7hours in there than go another 2 hours and do the same to bubble etc and ive seen this type before at the table so just find it funny.   Left with 3200 i get it allin nxt hand to x5 but got protection so only AQJ2 vs AA77 vs some guy that called his last 20k off with J853dbl std or sommat ridic.  AA held and i was out , another nail in the mtt coffin.  Im 0/10 now and will probably only play 1 more tommorrow.  Bit gutted about not having prob top 4 stack , mayb even chiplead with 36 left but out 37/111 on a huge pot was obviously the best way to go but it would have been fun to play even deeper with a large stack at that table , not even for the money :(

Odds calc says he scoops 14% time and we chop the pot 9% time.  Arrrgh.

On the plus side im enjoying playin more now as i know ive only got a few days left out here    Gonna attack cash games all day today i think then caesars 4pm mtt big O tommorrow at 4pm.  Friday same as today i expect then Saturday i leave in the evening so unsure what i will do during the day, maybe just chill.

More Cash

Its a shame i cant seem to get myself playing a lot more cash games out here.   Occasionly i get a tough table and leave but generally theres normally 2-4 awful players at the lowish stakes games ive been playing.   Yesterday was no exception (after taking 2 days off from poker!) as i only played about 4 hours in 2x2hours sessions but spun 250 up to 1080 in the first one and returning just +90 the 2nd one.

Ive only had 13days where ive played any cash and 7 winning days out of that so its doesnt sound that amazing but when i play the right game with the right players it is truly easy stuff.  Here are my current plo8 and big O stats:

5/10 big O :   +$565 from 6 days  (rarely play this now as i find 1/2 plays more like 2/5 and standard is so much different)

1/2 big O :  +$1795 from 4 days  (ive got stacked once in this game for $500 when i missed with 3rd set,nut low draw and nut flush draw vs top set from flop, main problem i get is boredom and often play this drunk to conquer this)

5/5 PLO8 : +$2560 from 4 days  ($1,000 of this was a ridic runner runner pot i should never have been in.   This is clearly the best game for me though but it doesnt always run every day and when it does it can be tough to get into it from the waiting list length)

Anyway -$6,200 overall now with only 1 tournament left unless i head back downtown for a smaller game.  Guess i will try and chip off more of that loss although i still might play the 75/150 game im keeping an eye on which could prove volatile either way again.   Gonna try and stay sober for 4 or 5 days too, my bodys all over the shop at the mo with all the crap ive put through it.   Prob pool or gym it for now and head over rio about 4pm when they seem to get a new batch of dealers and open more tables.  Waiting lists have been a nightmare the last 2 days so be nice to avoid some of that today.

No 10 Game

Not in mood for it.
Had the softest 8game table in golden nugget $240 yesterday and managed to lose 1/3 of my stack by first break.  Then when i returned to raise nearly every hand in the 20minute level of NLH with little resistance  until i managed to flop Ad9x3d with my A3ss only to see opponent had limp called with 99.

Headed to the Venetian $550plo 3pm.  10 hours later i guess i got my wish as i went deep finishing around 65th/450 but this time i was annoyed about bubbling.  i was up to over 80k while average was only 45k but nothing seemed to go right from there on what was a ridiculously tough table out of the ones probably left.  Also i had a couple of tougher guys to my left so i couldnt really try and make anything happen. $47k for first although i would have happy to just say i had cashed in sommat !

As Dry As The Nevada Desert

If i had come back to my room and done this post immediately last night after busting it would have been one hell of a rant.    Instead i got drunk on 1/2 big O and got a portion of my $2,500 investment back.

Lets be real here ive only played 7 tournaments so its hardly a sample to moan about but aside from making day 2 of the first one before hitting a wall ive pretty much got absolutely nothing going in anything.  The 8 game was exactly the same and i didnt lose huge chunks on the NLH or plo, this was just pure run bad at all the horse and 2-7 triple draw games.   If i played these games 100 times i honestly only think i would bust quicker once or twice.   Im not even making the 2nd break in all my tournaments, let along the dinner break and its really starting to get to me now.  

Yes im in profit on cash games but im not here for them, im here for the chance to play live mixed games multis that only comes once or twice a year.   Im really not sure now if i can face the $2,500 10game on Thursday and maybe will stick to $500 or lower ones, i'll see.   $2,500 is my biggest direct buyin in 2 years and to do so bad in yesterdays really demotivates me when i think about doing it again.

$wise im -$7.960 for tourneys,+$1,825 for cash,-$175 for one satellite =   -$6,310 overall.
It isnt the money thats bothering me though, it just frustrating that i cant get any kind of run going in the last 2 weeks.  Im even craving online poker for the change of scene and the multi tabling.  I guess i shouldnt be that surprised, its been pretty bad since beginning of May but im sure it will turn around soon.  May drop and play some $200mtts in the hope of finding an easier path.

Back to 2009 Favourite

Finally hit the 75/150$ O8 game and ran so bad to begin with.   Managed to go $3,000 down before making a comeback and only finishing $440 down (obviously happy with that).  Game was ok to good but dried up and i left immediately it went that way.  Also witnessed a russian chap get ejected (and probably banned) for threatening a guy 2 seats to his left and pushing his glasses off the guys face.

Sat in a 1/2 big O game after that and managed to win $320 so only -$120 on the day.

Ive bought into the $2,500 8 game 5pm tournament tommorrow and hoping ill do better than my shocking runs so far.   Its a tad annoying that they have scheduled the $1,500 plo at noon on the same day but i prefer 8 game so im 95%+ gonna stick with that one only. 

Unappealing Cash Games

Since Friday im not sure why but ive just not been enjoying the cash games and craving them as much.   This new "big O" game (5card pl hi lo) is just weird with a lot of variance while trying to guess at someones range and when to make a big fold or commit to a hand.  Up until yesterday i saw this as a challenge to take seriously playing 5/10 or get drunk while having fun and enjoying 1/2.  Lost a chunk yesterday but it wasnt just the money as im in profit across both stakes for this game.

Im thinking about trying the 75/150 limit O8.  I vowed not to play this again after pretty much spending all of wsop 2009 on it (when i wasnt in tourneys) and going about $10,000 up before finishing break even and feeling like i had wasted a lot of time. I know im a different and better player than 2 years ago though so i guess it could be different this time round.  Im also risking a lot of my $roll ive got here if i go on a downswing playing this.

  Im really craving more mixed games tournaments and its a bit annoying wsop spreads $1,500 PLO noon on same day as the $2,500 8 game tommorrow.   Im almost tempted to play the noon and enter the 5pm if im bust but the 5pm is the more fun game i want to play which is my main reason against this.   My other options are to play some lower $200ish tournaments at binions/nugget/caesars just to get some more plo8, plo and limit o8 tournaments in.  

Been pool for 3 hours just now and actually thinkin of my first gym session shortly before heading off to rio later.

Hoarse Horse

I am hoarse after a night on the tiles with Karlos and his mate Mark.   Managed to mix lots of different drinks and seem to have escaped without much of a hangover although i dont think i will do the same tonight.  Info for any fast pint drinkers reading and coming out.  Todd English P.U.B.  at Aria (well just inside crystals) has a 7 seconds pint challenge.  Finish within the time and get it free.  Mark and myself both passed the challenge.  Its a 2 a day maximum but i only did it once as i couldnt face another after Karlos made me drink a shot of 75% proof bacardi which tasted more like tequila, weird.

As for horse games i can sum them up pretty well.
$550 venetian (Wed)
Ridiculous tough table and ran awful
$1,500 WSOP  (Fri)
Very good table and ran as bad as can after the first 2 levels.

I was actually up to 6200 from 4500 after 2 hours yesterday.  I thought i went card dry levels 3 and 4 but it was nothing compared to the card dead stuff level 5 and 6 (in which i bust).  

Final bust hand 1000ish chips 150/300 button limit holdem AKstd raise, sb reraises to isolate with A5off and he sees my hand and says ahhh u got me.  I oblige with dont worry the 5 will come as ive just gone ultra negative after folding a ridiculous number of hands across all disciplines.  5 is 2nd card out and its goodnight, not even making the dinner break.

Favourite hand was capping in Razz on 6th street 3 way with a 7 high low which couldnt be beaten at that point and still getting the other guy to stay in.  This was early though and gave me a lot of hope before it just all went backwards.   Saw people callin with a jack and even a king in razz but it was another "it just wasnt my day" stories.  Seem to be gettin a lot of these but what the hell , i only think im due to be luckier in the next one.   This will probably be the $2,500 8 game on monday at 5pm.  

Unless i go out on the drink again today i guess i'll head over and attack the cash games for today/tommorrow.  Maybe pool or gym which i havent really done since the first 6 days, pool looks amazing here. 

Vdara

Just moved into Vdara and hotel and room is the nicest ive ever stayed in.  Could blog about soooooo much stuff from the last 10 days but i dont wnna spend too much time on here so ill try and mention some of it in bits spread across the coming days.   Im now online daily thanks to a compulsory resort fee so i expect ill blog almost daily if theres much to report about tourneys or the cash games.

Right onto some figures.   A few days back i was at my lowest with -$3,400 in mtt and -$1,700 in cash games.

After 2 great cash days yesterday and tuesday but still no cash in a multi im now -$4,000 in mtt but +$2,500 in the cash games.

Ive played a variety of cash games so far but i seem to be on the big O now all the time.  stakes are 1/2 or 5/10.   big O is 5 card pl omaha hi lo btw.

Attempting a day off today from poker, what with moving and hangover but may play this evening depending on mood.   Already bought into the $1,500 HORSE at rio which starts noon tommorrow so im hoping to do better than the venetian $550 of that yesterday where nothing went right.

Rapid Demise

Quick and painful exit.   split a couple of pots and lot every other pot i entered and bust 45 minutes in.

Done a good spin up on 5/5 plo8 thanks to winning a pot i never should have been in,  but then some good solid stuff after that.   My patience seems to come and go in the cash games so far.   1 hour i will be focused and well for it but another i will get bored and just not seem to care much.

Good record in the 5/5 plo8 so far but shocking in the 20/40 limit o8.  

Only about -$1,000 so far overall which is fine considering i lost my first 4 sessions of cash day1 and ive obv bust a $1,500 tournament.

Prob playing limit o8 $550 Venetian noon tommorrow.   Early night tonight, slept so bad last night im hoping ill do a lot better tonight so i can put in a long slog tommorrow with a deep mtt run again or more cash games otherwise.

Dont expect too many, if any more updates for a week as it seems pointless payin $12.99 when i cant play online poker out here so its just blogging/email really.  pretty sure vdara internet is included in compulsory resort fee so may be daily updates from the 9th when i move.

O8 $1,500 Day 2

Made it to day 2, im short on time so i wont go into any detail.  74/201 pays 90 (925 entrants).  im pretty much bang on average chips but blinds are uncomfortablely high so im short on lives and require a nice slice of luck.   i peaked at over 30k with 100mins to go yesterday but proceeded to go on a shocker losing about 6 hands i entered in a row to drop to 10k but finished on 21,400.