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BRILLIANT FINISH TO THE DAY SITTING DOUBLE STACKED AND I LOST NUT FULL HOUSE TO QUADS TO BIGGEST FISH AT THE TABLE WHEN WE ARE BOTH PLAYING DOUBLE STACKS.  WAS ABOVE EV EARLIER AND OVER £500 UP YET I FINISH £300 DOWN HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHhahahahahhahsfhdfhgfwshggefqwegribnsge4k3o2rnmgsrtkrbmweq3ckoegmrtfgcfdhsrgaetmkgrdhfxgmdzsfAKHMvgzxfdskomnfzsgdafkDMGV kxgdzosfaMDGXxzsgadfkMDZXCFZSDKAMgndfzksxgbcndzsmfdgzsdgfADGFBNZSDEWMgdrhnko xdxczxfsawesxdzwefkcdxxadfmsexsdaxnopéáawqODV XCAEWFSDXCNXDFSEAWRETDGMXHCFCGXFZAWrasxcéáxfasegxcfm áéwsedxbnm nbbnbnszxvb wafzxbcv

B4 RAKEBACK (MAYBE £1200ISH)  +£250ISH...BELOW EV £1,300ISH THIS MONTH.

FUCK 2013 THAT IS ALL

Nearing The End....

...of the most frustrating year online in all my time as a poker player.   each time I think im on a good run and doing well , bang shot back down.   I really wish I could devolve myself of emotion when I play but I know I would find the game even more boring than I already do so this wouldn't work anyway.  thankfully I did well in vegas to keep my profit for 2013 very respectable but this isn't about the money its about losing pot after pot after pot after pot online, it just does my head in.

today ev doesn't even show it as stuff like this was happening.   flop top set and nut flush draw vs 2 pair gutshot and baby straight flush draw.   the guy doenst even chkraise the flop he flats , catches the straight flush then milks me so that pot doesn't even show up on my ev line.   another guy limps QQ681 suit playing 20xbb at 2/4  . I raise kk out pos and flop top set vs his underpair and flush draw and I miss.  same guy then doubles off me a few hands later flatting me with top pair on a 963flop with 2 hearts when he has no flush draw just Q910J.  I hav a pair and a complete wrap and of course miss when the money goes in on the 9 turn.  again ev doesn't show how lucky he is.  and finally I call a 3bet in position 3handed with AQJ8dbl std.  flop Q87.....the guy that 3bet has QQ82 with no suits.  I mean WTF is this shit.  I would go back to mtts but I think I would mind them boring and even more annoying when u sit there for hours only to bust in a similar way.  Sitting on a pathetic £1,500 ish total for the month, nearly all rakeback.

right lets see how many stacks im down below ev this year.  lets forget money for the moment as I will summarize that at the end of the year.  

main site:  
120 stacks (100xbb) behind ev over 550k hands

2nd site:
17 stacks behind ev over 69k hands

3rd site:
20 stacks behind ev over 75k hands

so combined im over 150 stacks behind ev this year.
as an example put this into money context and if all my games were at .5/1$ you would b talking $15,000 behind just through bad luck.  in reality my average game is somewhere around 1.5x higher than this so the -ev is in the 20k$ range somewhere.

summary, please let me run better in 2014 even if its only level to ev, end moan. (for now)

Recovery Under Way

Seems that moan on here helped turn the corner.  Still way behind on ev but only -£800ish not inc rakeback for December now.    heres my 2 main sites graphs..   $200 behind ev on 3rd site but only 670hands so no graph.

December Off ?

Feels like I should just take the rest of the month off.  I cant do a thing right and im just plain getting destroyed on the cash games.   Its soul destroying stuff and it has to be bad for me to come on here for a huge moan these days and this early in the month.  I even took 48hours off midweek as I couldn't take any more and I return to another massive loss day which is nearly all just bad luck. 

The only glimmer today was cashing in the 2nd FTOPS ive played this week but I was leading it halfway through the field so obviously not satisfied with a min cash but whatever.  Anyways heres the stats in $ for ev and £ for loss so far not including rakeback.

main site:
hilo and plo:           -$2,700  ($2,100 below ev)

2nd site:  hilo only.   -$1,150 ($1,400 below ev)

overall  combined  -£2,360    (£2,188 below ev)

so if I ran even im basically level on the month but im sick of saying that sort of shit.   2 big ev losses on 2/4plo and 2/4pl hilo on separate days on my main site were the main culprits before today.   today it was pure hilo on 2nd site and outright carnage some of the stuff you just couldn't make up.

im supposed to be a "professional" but even after 10 years and a decent enough profit this year I just cant seem to get over this stuff to the point of where im not in right frame of mind to play any poker let alone my best poker.   so annoying , this should/could be a heavy grind month when its cold outside and less other stuff to occupy me so I feel im wasting time when im not at the tables ....arrghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh rant over.  focussssssssss please.

Nov Review

Probably the littlest poker ive played for years.   Mainly due to long 22 nights in Caribbean, seems to get longer each year !  Already looking at staying a month next time :)

Online went well when I played which was nearly all the first half of the month.   Lost a chunk live though on NL holdem and plo cash as well as a couple of mtts.   Final profit for November came to £1,849.    Sounds bad but I lost £1,300 live as well as a flip in a $1,650 mtt to have gone 4th with 1/3 of the field left on day 2  (was my first significant allin of the mtt) .  Rakeback just under £500 in that too which is tiny.   Overall though im ok with the above figures.

Had a good holiday though but still been slack only playing 2 hours since I got back 4 days ago.  Im hoping to absolutely tank December as much as I can handle it to try and finish the month with a bang and a template for months going forward in 2014.   £44k so far for 2013 so £50k would be genuine target I guess.

October Figures

A much better month but still ran miles behind ev, just cant seem to get rid of the bad luck online this year :(

Final rake adjusted profit figure of +£3,461.   If I had run level ev though this would be nearly double at about £6,600 total.   

Playing better which is the main thing.   Still fall into old habits though just not as often.  PLO seems to have taken a step forward this month and I hope to continue with that as the hilo games are dying a slow death really.

Did play NL holdem mtt live near start of the month but bust a big pot AA vs QQ with 15 of the 67 runners left in a £275 overly well structured event.  Still it tested my patience and I seemed to pass.  Will be on holiday a bit this month coming and will play some more offline for sure.

GL at the tables !

More Figures

Deffo been a better month but constantly fighting bad ev since the last post.   If I stick to $ then across 3 sites im +$4,100 .   If I had run level ev though I would be +$8,500.   Rakeback to add to that in region of $1,500 without bothering to work it out properly.   Most importantly though im still playing better than the previous few months and my confidence in my game has improved , esp in straight plo.  Another week or so to go and hopefully push on a bit more this month.

Now as we are about 5/6 way through the year I thought I would post some stats here for the year.   I'll keep it in $ and do the 3 sites (obviously this doesn't include live games or certain games that I cant track online) similar to above but from the start of the year.  Cant be bothered to post graphs this time but should note hands played  in ( ).  Rakeback is not included either.

+$11,000 actual, ev + $29,000 (495k)
-  $1,600 actual , ev   +  +400   (52k)
+ $2,000 actual ,  ev  +$4,500   (69k)

so about $22,500 behind ev this year.   That's a lot of buyins when most of my games are at .5/1 or 1/2 buying in for $100 or $200 !    

Note this isn't a moan I wanted to see where I stood and will do similar again at the end of the year.  Could also note I ran way above ev in the 4 months prior to the start of the year so it shows in the long run it kind of does even out.

Flying - Long Overdue

I will risk hitting a wall by posting this but what the hell.   The last 3 months have been barren and including rakeback I only made about £1,100 over that period.

Hit a totally unsustainable first 2 days of October and im actually still a little under ev for it too.  
Did a few bits of analysis work on Monday and changes to HUD and after 4 days off from poker it seems to have clicked, esp in plo which I know ive been struggling with of late.

Note the other things that are working:

Im trying not to play when too tired, feeling tilt/rage coming on or lasting and taking breaks. 
Think the latter one has been the most important but whether ill stick to it, I dunno.  Takes some discipline to shut it down when tables are still good unless ive got something arranged to force me off.  

EG yesterday I did 3 sessions of 3.75/2.75/1.5hrs.   Today ive done 4.5/1.5/2.25hrs sessions.   Long breaks of 60mins+ inbetween all.   Tables good now but knackered again so shutting for the night.

Anyway results so far +£1,903.   Note to self, don't get complacent and follow above where possible.

Sept 2013 Review

Good solid first couple of weeks, poor boring bad 2nd half of the month including 4 or 5 events in WCOOP without a cash and only 1 semi deep finish with a 1/3 of field left.

Final profit £2,294.  Don't sound great but a shocking last session on Thursday dropping £1,000 (haven't played since as been away on a long weekend and wont play tonight as hungover !) and ~£800 in mtts with no cashes brought me down somewhat. 

Not sure what October may hold, hopefully wont get as bored as I did again in the 2nd half of Sept.  Haven't ruled out playing live next weekend/week a bit but wont decide on that for a couple of days yet.  Similar plan to September I expect although I am looking at graphs etc now to try and come up with some form of sticking to whats been working the last 1-3months and not wasting time on the wrong games.

WCOOP And Month Update

Been a fairly steady month so far I guess.  Have got bored at times playing only pl hilo but I needed a bit more rake on my 1st site to clear a bonus by 27th so have played some plo too the last few days.

Sat at about £3,000 inc rakeback this morning but have entered the WCOOP for $615 so far with a $200 addon to come assuming I make it 2 hours in !  Could be an expensive day but wanted to play the 5card 6max pl hilo event although would have preferred 4 cards ! 

Already failed on 2 events but had enough points to play those for free, also missed the 9 handed 4 card pl hilo one due to being too hungover, oops :)  Might update later if gets interesting although not expecting anything right now.   Chopped a ridiculous pot now vs shortie as I write this :(


edit...lasted 6hours , never got a big stack but held my half average stack well for a long time.   exit hand to solid guy tilting/gambling after he had lost 2/3 of his stack and only marginally covered me.

reraise pre with AAj47 1 suit and flop 966xdd.  he leads pot ive only got 2k more than that and call what looks like an obvious flush draw and is vs A8839 with 1 suit of diamonds.  turn 3d and I miss low/fh outs.  was biggest pot of the mtt and got it in good so happy enough with exit.  still only 29k when average 40k but would have given me a shot, finished about 2/3 into field 132/436 pays 60 :( 

deffo not playing 8 game mtt in 20mins , wish it was on a different day, feel like I need time off but deffo switching off for at least a couple of hours or maybe the rest of the night.

August Figures

Short post, rake adjusted figure of +£2,030.  Seems to have turned the corner after dropping nearly £2,000 quickly at the start of the month.  Peaked at about +£4,000 before that horrendous day a week ago mentioned in the previous post.   Level ev on 1 site, $3,200 behind ev on the other 2 combined so overall im happy with how ive done as £4k month on level ev is good month for me. 

Now had 6 full days off from playing poker, will probably resume tomorrow unless I sit for a short session in a mo.  Sept plan is similar to August although there could be up to $2k in buyins to WCOOP in the middle of the month

Some Graphs

The need for more analysis seems appropriate after having my worst day of 2013 a few days ago.  I haven't played since, lost about £2,000 that day although if I had run level ev I would only have lost £100-£200 so I shouldn't really be too concerned.   Just a bit depressing after turning around a 5-6week bad spell so well I had peaked at around +£4k for August before hitting what was only a 150 minute soul destroying session/day.

Anyways I haven't played since and am fairly busy this weekend so not sure if ill squeeze any small sessions in before the end of the month.  Its almost exactly 1 year since my computer crashed and I had to reset my pokertracker data so I reckon it will do my good to post some graphs up for the last year for peace of mind and clarity.  Its amazing how often and easily I forget its all about the long term profit not one particular session/day/week or even month.  My pokertableratings graph is laughable since the turn of the year but this is nearly all due to most of the bad run coming in plo and not hilo which isn't tracked by it.

This one below is all plo and plo hilo on my main site combined.  616k hands in the last year !



U can see clearly how well I was running at the end of last year when I was $10k-$15k ahead of ev.  I was also raking more back then so add rakeback to this and life seemed easy.  If u look about 1/3 into the graph though u can see the ev line gradually catching up which is basically since the turn of the year.  Then in the 80k hands (or basically since returning from Vegas a week into July) u can see the wall I hit and just how quickly ive lost a lot of $ and to actually go behind ev for the first time on the graph.  The main point is that ev will level out over time and its all about the long term for the bottom line $ at the end of the day.


The next graph is just for pl hilo games.  268k hands.



This is why I play hilo as often as I can and not straight plo unless hilo games are dead or im in a rake race so need more volume.


No prizes for guessing the next graph, the diff between the 2 above , ie plo.



Definitely some tilt and awful play by me back on return from vegas around the 175k mark.  Steadied the boat since but as u can see its a loss overall before rakeback but rakeback would be in the region of $20-$25k for this period.


Now to break down into individual games and stakes.  My most volume games in the last year have been .5/1$ plo ,plohilo and 1/2 plo, pl hilo.   So 4 more graphs to come:

1)  .5/1$ plo



On the face of it not too much to say.  Rakeback of around $7,500 would cover the loss but over the 100k hands u can see its no where near as profitable as hilo for me.


2)  1/2$plo




This is maybe a bit more interesting as on ev I would be in profit of $2,500 for 110k hands.  I know I always put more effort into the 1/2games when ive got a mixture up so this kind of makes sense for me and is important when on heavy rake grind promotions etc.   Add rakeback into this of around $10k and it becomes a good earner for me What this doesn't clear up is the loss overall before rakeback for plo which I guess is mainly from 2/4plo.   May do that as an extra graph now although it wont be over as many hands it will explain the loss on ptr a bit more.


extra)  2/4$plo




Yeah this does clear it all up for me.  Again can see where I ran bad/tilted on return from vegas.  Its a remarkably similar graph to the 1/2 above apart from that bit.  Only over 17k hands though but rakeback wont cover this as it would only be $2k-$3k.


3)  .5/1pl hilo



Nothing too surprising here.  Would expect this to be my highest volume game and cash cow.  ev as steady a line as can be and before rakeback earnings on ev of $5,300 over 122k hands.


4) 1/2pl hilo

As above, less hands as game doesn't run as often, 70k in total.  $/hand a lot higher as $8,500 before rakeback. 

.................

So whats all this told me.  Its confirms to me what I kind of already knew.  Stick to hilo as much as possible if not bored, chasing rake promotions or clearing bonuses.  Don't play plo if im not in the right frame of mind.   Whilst I try to embrace the variance I fail miserably on that front and its another reason to stick to hilo where possible as there isn't as much variance in the game as straight plo.

If I could only enjoy tournaments again I think mixing them with cash games to fill in the gaps could be big but I know I wont put the required effort in if im not enjoying it.  I love the freedom of being able to leave a cash game whenever I want as my mood often changes throughout a session and never really plan or know how many hours im going to play 1 day to the next unless im chasing a promotion.

 

Any constructive comments appreciated, meanwhile its time to hit the town for a few pints :)

Next month follows same as still need to clear some rake bonus so plo still be in the mix.  Maybe from Oct onwards ill try and phase it out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Danger, Profit Alert

Well its been another tough month so far dropping quickly to -£1,600 before floating between -£1000 and -£1400 for ages.  The last few days have gone better though and I actually feel like im playing well too.  Just finally got back out of the hole and sit before rakeback at +£16 for August !  Who knows it might be another 6 weeks before I get in profit again so I thought I would jump on here to celebrate.   Have adjusted both my hilo and my plo strategy a bit and I hope that's why things have changed, im definitely more comfortable playing these styles anyway.  Just have to see...

July Figures

Brought back to earth before I even had a chance to celebrate June being my best month for 4 years.  July was my worst month since June 2012 although it was actually my worst month online for over 3.5 years if we take into account that June 2012 was predominantly offline.  

Rake adjusted figure of -£3,214.   Looked like it could be 1.5-2 times that at one point but did get a bit back towards the end.  Most of it was just plain bad luck (ran around $6,000 under allin ev even though 98% of my games were 1/2 or below) . I didn't play well either for the most part, especially the first week or so after getting back, when I think my plo game was the worst for a long long time with no kind of feel for where I was and probably making bad folds as well as some awful calls. 

Would have took more time off but am still clearing bonuses so need to keep playing so a reasonable extent.  The same applies to next month.  Hoping to be in the mood to play a few of FTOPs but will see as ive not been in the mood to play a single mtt since I got back so far.  Anyways plan for August is to just run better and play a bit better too , hopefully :)

My Top 8 Las Vegas WSOP 2013 Experiences - 1: $600 Stud Hi-Lo Venetian Win

This takes top spot for the trip although only just because it was my first proper live win and I even got a trophy !

Cant say too much about this except I was incredibly lucky, especially around the bubble when I was short and allin a couple of times and then on the 2nd day when 12 of us returned (I was average stack) and I basically hit everything. At one point I think I had 50% of the chips with 6 of us left !

Ive been playing Stud Hi-Lo a lot more in the last year and it had already climbed to my 2nd favourite type of poker behind plo8.   I often play short handed though so this helped in the late stages but I have to adjust when we play 7 or 8 handed as I rarely do this online.

As for the tournament itself it was my 2nd entry of the trip and I only able to enter as I hadn't made day 2 of the $1,500 WSOP on the first full day of the trip.  There were only 95 runners so the cash I won wasn't huge relative to the trip but it did allow me to "freeroll" the rest of the trip at just under $15k and obviously relaxed me, increased my confidence, etc etc for the rest of the trip.

Heres link to my up to date Hendon Mob list and below is a photo of me and the heavy marble trophy which at about 4kg nearly put me over the luggage allowance on the flight back !


http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=73098

See you next year WSOP, left the money behind the cage for an even bigger shot !

My Top 8 Las Vegas WSOP 2013 Experiences - 2: $3k PLO8

My biggest buy in for the trip and was looking forward to this one a lot.  Having had decent runs in nearly everything before this I was in perfect frame of mind.  When I played this the previous year it went awful as I was just in the wrong frame of mind and even tilted some of it off.

Anyways when I got to my table it didn't look particularly great but I was determined to play a lot more aggressively than I did in the $1,500 (when card dead/jetlag stopped me).  It worked as I knew where I was in the majority of pots and had players categorised pretty quickly.  I was in gamble mode but didn't need to take any massive gambles as most people started with just 3k of there 9k available with the 2 rebuy chips.  First break I was over 10k and by the 2nd break I had over 20k and felt great.  I struggled to push on for a while but was patient and after peaking towards 50k I lost a bit back to finish on 31k, 42nd/141 at end of day 1.  435 had entered and 45 would be paid.

Day 2 began on a table I knew would break within an hour or so.  I knew this so wasn't gonna play too wild to begin with.  As it turned out I got involved in my first allin crucial pot when I would have been crippled if I had lost.  I had raised AK23 and been reraised and chose to flop it although it was for towards 20% of my stack.  Flop came K102 and I held vs AAxx to nearly double and reach peak stack of near 60k. 

I couldn't move on from this stack for love or money and floated between 40k and 80k for hours.   Obviously I had moved tables and I knew I was on this one until the cash came but wasn't sitting and waiting for that.  Another key hand with AA83 came when I raised and got a caller before a shortie moved in and bb decided to try and isolate with A1025.  I had him covered but only by 13k ish and the board ran out something like 10,j,Q,10,x .  Gutted and short I set about trying to double up and I finally got allin, called and covered for the first time in the tournament , now about 20 from the money.  I 3/4up off the A1025 guy and amazingly didn't go allin called again until after I cashed.  Play had tightened up just enough that I could steal enough to stay afloat although there was one huge hand in bb where I had been given a free flop and took down a chunky pot by repping a wheel when I only had a good low and no high.  I had bet the turn strong and matey had flat me but with a river blank I felt forced to move allin for roughly a 80% pot bet and winning this pot fully allowed me room to feel more comfortable about cashing.

Just after the cash and table break I doubled off a mad Russian (whom I had doubled up earlier when he raised QQ26 (3diamonds) from the bb after 3 limpers 9only playing 15xbb).  I gambled with him as I knew his range was wide as can be but missed completely with AJ45.  He went mad when he lost this allin, obviously had a short memory from our earlier clash, but still went on to final table.  This new table probably had 50% of the chips in play despite there being 4 tables in play but this worked out well for me as my 8-15xbb stack meant I had just enough to freely pick spots to gamble/resteal etc whilst playing fewer pots.  

When we hit 27 left it was a table redraw and late in day 2 now.  9 handed and blinds big compared to a lot of stacks luck was required.  I knocked out a short stack but only after doubling up another 1.  Was the way of day 2 really, just couldn't win or 3/4 quite enough of the big allins to progress to the big stack.   We finished the day with 17 left but I was  14th , well really joint 12th/17.  Still had enough to win it but needed a double or 3/4pot increase asap to put me in the hunt. 

I didn't ladder day 3 at all but again the allins just wouldn't go my way on the key ones.  I lasted 2.5hrs but never got above 150k (115k start) and floated between 40k and 100k for the most part.  My final hand to finish 11th was A223 vs AK29.  A cash game buddy of mine from previous year had reraised me pre and whilst I hated allin pre with this hand I knew I had no choice given the blinds and situation and was hoping to see that exact type of hand when I cringe called allin.  Amazingly the tight woman left in the mtt folded aces the same hand even though she would have had a decent side pot.  Funny enough she had also folded AKK3 preflop vs the most aggressive player on the table sb vs bb too and only got 8th .  Anyways back to my hand and the board ran out something like K1046 but bricked the river 10 I think it was.  He went on to finish 6th for $50k. 

I cashed for just over $17k so was gutted but so happy to have got as deep as I did and very happy with my overall play throughout the tournament.  Would go as far to say its the best ive ever played in any tournament in my poker career.   Top 4 places paid 279k,172k,125k and 91k so I couldn't help but think of those but only now am I thinking about the money as I write this.  At the time it was all about making my 2nd wsop final table and taking a shot at the bracelet :(

Great experience and a lot learned.  Only concern I have is treat live and online so differently I still don't crave mtts now ive been back a few weeks.  Its daft but that's just me I guess.

My Top 8 Las Vegas WSOP 2013 Experiences - 3: Back To Back WSOP Cashes

Not much detail about the first one as that's within the next post.  Lets just say I busted it on Day 3 and was gutted to miss out on the huge money.   I wasn't angry or disappointed though and having bust that at 4:40pm I knew I would still play the 5pm $2,500 10game I had planned all be it on red bull when required after 3 flat out solid days of poker already.

I played the 10game once before in 2009 when I was pretty much awful at half or more of the games.  This time it was quite different though.  Whilst I wouldn't put myself on 9/10 or higher for any game I would put myself between 5-8/10 for all the games and it amazed me how much bad play there was within this tournament.

Once again a lot was on my table draw which varied through the first day, we were 6 handed so this was a huge factor.  Day 2 though I was moved within 15 minutes to a table I knew wouldn't break until I bust or reached the cash.  This had 3 or 4 soft spots and the other 1 or 2 were playing straight up abc for most part of the games.  I chipped up but eventually blinds and luck got me a bit.  I survived my first allin of the tournament on 2-7NL triple draw when I shoved allin with a marginal but definitely correct squeeze from the bb.  Guy that covered me called from sb to draw 1 card but missed.  That was my only allin before I cashed although I was very very short approaching the bubble as blinds were huge compared to half the stacks.  

Once I cashed I needed a lot of luck and got a little but lost 2 hands in a row in Badugi to bust in 33rd/372 for $4,900.

That ended a mtt slog that had started Tuesday:
Tuesday 5pm-2am
Wednesday 2pm-2am
Thursday 2pm-4:40pm  ....got paid out for 25minutes then 5:10pm-2am
Friday 2pm-9pm 

After busting I headed back to Venetian as was staying at Pallazzo.   1/2pl hilo game running so jumped into that and played till 2 or 3am making a couple of hundred $ too.  LOL addict.

My Top 8 Las Vegas WSOP 2013 Experiences - 4: Fitness & Healthy Eating

Now this wasn't planned or expected but it kind of fell into place due to several factors. 

Before I left for Vegas I had been to Malta and lost a few lbs out there eating a bit better than normal and not drinking as much alcohol.  Whilst I was only there for a week and didn't hammer any "proper" exercise I did go for a lot of long walks daily.

The starbucks $18 credit daily I mentioned in an earlier thread meant I pretty much had a largish baguette of ham or turkey along with juice/boost drink and fruit/nuts/coffee/bananas for the first 11 nights.  That meant I only needed to eat once more during the day which usually ended up being between 10pm-2am depending on my body clock which got later as the trip progressed and more later mtts (5pm starts) were there.  That could be anything from chicken burger from BK or often if I was in Venetian it was a fish dish in Grand Lux.  I only ate one beef burger the whole trip and didn't eat any other beef , again not planned and highly unusual for me.

The deep runs I seemed to get in nearly all the mtts I played meant I wasn't drinking as much alcohol as I would even at home.   I wasn't off it completely but it made a massive difference and the huge part of not really ever getting bored in any mtts (mainly due to ipod but other factors as well)  this trip was a big factor.  I remember getting drunk the previous year deep in a $600 plo mtt even though it was near the cash I was just bored and not in the mood.  Somehow this didn't happen this trip.

I also used the gym 5 times in 18 nights as well as steam room/spa a few times.  Obviously chilled by the pool enough too although that could have been a bit more especially in the last week.  I often found I only had time for gym or pool though so opted to gym it instead.

All of the above obviously helped my whole mindset on the trip and in cash games as well as mtts and it would be nice to think I would do similar on another trip, test that in Caribbean when im all inclusive for a few weeks hmmmm tougher methinks.  The big bonus was losing half a stone in that 3 week period too, unexpected, just gotta try keep it off now or even lose more !

My Top 8 Las Vegas WSOP 2013 Experiences - 5: Attention/Effort In Smaller Mtts

Whilst there were originally a whole host of $200-$600 tournaments I had the option to play I only ended up playing 4 in the end.  Deep runs elsewhere and having to change my flight to a week later being the main reasons.

For some reason though I seemed to enjoy these a lot and put nearly as much effort in as the 4 WSOP mtts too.  I wont mention the only cash in any detail as im saving that for another post.  The other 3 were 240 plo/plo8 at the Nugget, 600 Stud8/O8 at Venetian and 240 plo 6 handed at Caesars.

At the Nugget I went into a huge early big stack and likely chiplead but blinds were up quick enough and after losing 2 flips and a bad beat I crashed out in about 19th from memory with the final table or less getting paid I think.  Was very happy with my play though and was pleased to venture downtown the one time that trip for the diff vibe.  Even had my only couple of ciders that day down there !

The Venetian 600 was uneventful except maybe my bust hand where one guy announced straight on river and everyone mucked before he turned over a misread 2 pair with a live 4 for low in O8.  Ironically I couldn't beat this and had waited to see the hand before I mucked unlike seat 8 who was distraught that he would have scooped and demanded but failed to get matey boy a penalty or warning , LOL.

Caesars was a lot of fun and I played loose as hell the first few levels.  My 20k went to over 60k by first break and I had only hit 1 or 2 hands and just bluffed countless scary rivers without getting looked up once !  I couldn't get much higher though and lost a 100k pot with aces at 500/1k when the guy had called off half his 48k stack preflop with QJ102 dbl suited and flopped a flush vs my aces.  Crippled I doubled up then managed to steal to survive until near the bubble with 18left and 15 paid.  I only had 71k at 4k/8k but average was only 160k.   I potted AQ108dbl std and got 2 callers which was ideal as long as it came down a flop I couldn't fold on.   Q97rainbow obliged and got it in vs guy that had just limped Q388 and doubled up tight old guy on a A98flop who obv had 999.  This time he had 10,8,6,2 so I was in great shape but a 5 hit the river and instead of going average stack with a chance to cash high or even win I was out.  Was gutted as it was the night before I flew home and had taken 7 or 8 hours to bubble.

My Top 8 Las Vegas WSOP 2013 Experiences - 6: Cash Games Patience

Whilst I didn't play as much cash games as previous years due to the many tournaments suiting me and deep runs I still clocked in plenty of hours.  Out of 19 days I played on 15 different days. 7 losing days and 8 winning days. 

U could actually split it into 2 parts as there was a 3 day period in the middle (due to deep tournament runs) where I didn't play at all.   Interestingly the the first 9 days 6 of my 7 losing days.  The last 6 obviously only included 1 losing day.  

There are obviously many factors to this and the main one was definitely just running a lot better.   I did feel confident and more settled later in the trip but I think the same applied to the first week as well but it was just more a matter of limiting the losses.  I also got drunk a lot less than other trips, the fact I now have an ipod was just brilliant as it kept me entertained when ever I felt bored or just needed to take a mental break from watching the action.

My worst day 7 days in I lost $775.  I had won $200 at the Rio on 1/2 big O but moved over to the Venetian to play 1/2 plo8 instead.  I lost $975 there in my worst session but I still think it could have been more if I had played bad or tilted. 

I got quartered  on a strange pot where on the turn I had bet pot with 2nd nut low draw, 2 pair and nut flush draw.  All 3 players called and the river came a 2 to show QJ562.  Holding A3J6 it was an obvious pot bet to get value out of worse/same lows.  Unfortunately sb repotted for a few hundred more to show A34x.  The same guy was a fish maniac and also stacked me when a $75 pot on a 2,3,10 4 way flop when we got $600 in each.  My AK45 no match for his JJ56.

My best day came late in the trip for $1,230 profit on 1/2plo8.   Was funny as I was trying to get drunk but it was the one time the waitresses were few and far between so I remained sober until 1 or 2am !  There was a mad drunk Asian at the table that was always going to get stacked and I was lucky enough to finally catch him on a K66 flop with KK vs his 6xxx.  That was my only significant pot for $600ish profit.  The rest was just general play over many hours.

My final cash game profit was $2,050 for the trip.  Maybe next year I will note down how many hours ive played to get an hourly rate, almost wish I had this trip.   Somewhere in the 80-150 hours region is all I can guess at, so similar but probably a bit less than my online rate.  Previous trip I made $3,220 from cash games but played more hours and definitely was luckier, whilst getting no luck in tournaments that trip.

Split:
1/2 big O:    -$30
1/2 plo8:   +$895
1/2 plo:     +$995
15/30 O8: +$325
1/2 nlh:      -$135

My Top 8 Las Vegas WSOP 2013 Experiences - 7: Playing "Famous" Players

I'm not one to get star struck and certainly not in the world of poker where I believe everyone is overhyped but I seems to play so many "big" names , world champions and old school players that I had never sat with before on this trip.  Bear in mind I only played 4 WSOP events and in my first event I sat with no famous names on 1 table before busting 7 or 8 levels in.  List below:

Phil Hellmuth - Without doubt my favourite player, for entertainment value mainly. 
He turned up 55 minutes late and sat opposite me in the bb at 25/50 next to Padraig Parkinson in the $3k PLO8 event.
First hand there was a limp and I popped it up to 200 with A256 and got limper and PH calls.  Flop comes QQ6 and Phil leads out for pot of 625 (He only has 3k at start of hand as u get 2 x 3k addon chips u can use any time or if u bust the chips in front of you) and I flat call.  Turn is a 2 and he pots again and I raise allin obviously.  He calls and turns over 3356 and misses his outs for half the pot. 

So my claim to fame was busting him the first hand I played him, not many people on the planet can say that !!!    On another note I had so much fun on that first table, the banter flying between Padraig, Phil and another young high staker I didn't know was just hilarious at times and most of it obviously aimed at Phil but you could see he was enjoying it and in a good mood. 

Joe Hachem - Haha complete opposite of above and hilarious.  Last 27 players and only an hour left of day 2.  We've just been redrawn and im on his table, he has less than 2 big blinds.  He doubles up luckily the hand before this so has about 4 big blinds and raises pot/close to allin on my big blind.  I pick up naked AA107 so instant call and he shows AA104.   The board runs out 7xxx7 with no low and now the best bit.   He already stood up before the hand and now turns to me and says "REALLY, REALLY KID" in a loud angry voice.  I just wanted to burst out laughing but held my poker face and even began to stand up to offer a shake of hands but he didn't notice and was out of there at the speed of light.   Hilarious stuff, I know I can be a nasty keyboard warrior online but I never let that translate to live play and found it so funny that a guy that's took down the main event can react like this for a tiny cooler pot.

Other past world champions played for the first time were Jonathon Duhamel, Greg Raymer, Huck Seed and Tom McEvoy.

Noted other players played were Barry Greenstein, Luke Schwartz, Elky, Mike Matusow, Steve Zolotow, Tony "tikay" Kendall.  Maybe others will edit if I remember more.

My Top 8 Las Vegas WSOP 2013 Experiences - 8: Hotel Rate

Always good to start a trip well and locking up a decent hotel rate back at the start of the year felt good.  I actually booked about 6 different blocks of dates as they were 100% refundable all at the Rio and all with a $9/day breakfast credit included as well.  Unfortunately as I had to delay my trip by a week I only ended up using one of these bookings before I moved to the Pallazzo as part of a package I had raked earlier in the year.

The rate in the end was a total of £559 for 11 nights or average £50.80 per night.   I booked before they introduced the compulsory resort fee (which will deffo make next year more expensive) and when I turned up they told me I had booked for 2 people so the breakfast credit, which was chargable to the room at any time of the day at starbucks, was actually 2x$9 = $18/day ! effectively knocking over £10 per night off the room rate !!!

June Figures

This was mainly offline in Las Vegas at the WSOP from 16 June until 4 July.   My most successful  trip to date and I had won 1 or 2k before I left as well without playing that much.   WSOP to be summed up in more posts to come.

June:  +£19,773

July has got off to an awful start and brought me back to earth.   In my first week since back im struggling to play cos of the heatwave and dropped £2,500 at worst point.  Back to -£1,600 at mo and playing a bit better although most of the loss was just run bad anyway.

May Figures

Sorry for delay in post.  Urgent family stuff got in the way the last couple of weeks so I haven't played a single hand.  

Month was very good before that with a couple of cashes (circa $1000 each in $215 buy ins) in SCOOP but without the luck needed at the business end. 13th was best finish in Stud 8 but you need that slice of luck at the end.  EG the 2nd last pot I was in the guy hit his 7th street for a pot that would have put me joint top with 4 others with 14 left, instead im crippled.  That guy went on to chop 3 ways.

Cash games were good and steady especially in the 2nd part of the month when the confidence was higher.   Anyway profit was £11,383 but again need to adjust for rakeback down as im still cashing in a lot from last year.   Adjusted figure was £5,477, solid especially when I consider the week off at end and I think I had a few days near the start I didn't play either.  Cant even be bothered to look at ev graphs but well under it again I think.  Dnt care just wnna get back playing and may resume this evening if im in the mood.

May So Far / SCOOP Time

Very very slow start to the month, I think I played a little first couple days then had 4 straight days off drinking/hangovers/not in mood to play.   Resumed a week or so ago and its been pretty steady 2-8 hours days with nothing of interest to report.  Currently sit just under £1,400 before rakeback which is fine and im under ev again which would probably put it towards £2k.   Halfway through month so with rakeback (not sure how much) its a decent enough month without huge volume or being forced to play.

Gonna play some SCOOP now, didn't touch badugi other day and im not gonna play the $700 pl hilo six max today after some deliberation as im not in that serious a mood and don't enjoy 5 card online as much.  Will play the $82 version though so I can not worry about doing something silly.   Gonna ditch the limit O8 too as im out Friday but I still hope to play between 2-6 others in the coming week or so.

April Figures

Already posted about the volume side of this month so not too much to report since that.  I had 6 days off completely which was needed/nice then ive just eased back in with 1-4 hours a day the last few days.

Right onto the confusing part.  Actual profit was £10,120 but this was because ive cashed in a lot of rakeback from last year.  Profit without that was £2,107 but with rakeback generated was about £5,800.   Then I should adjust as some of that is paid out as part of a WSOP package which I dnt include in profits unless I cash in the event, also don't include 7 nights free luxury hotel accommodation in that.  

So final "adjusted" figure is approx. £3,407, but I also have entry to a $2,500 event and 7 nights accommodation worth $1,400ish.

As for May, theres no promotion listed yet I can see so might be just playing across a few sites but I would expect some sort of promotion to come up.  Also SCOOP on pokerstars this month and im hoping im in the mood to play several of these.  Last year I finshed 6th/321 in the $700 pl 6max hilo but unfortunately they have changed this event to 5 card this time.  I still enjoy 5 card but prefer it live I think.  Ive listed 9 events to play but will play between 3-6 more likely.  Also this year I will probably avoid the lower buyins in most events , eg not enter a $27 if im in a $215 of it.  Exception maybe the 5 card where its $82.

ISPT

http://www.dusktilldawnpoker.com/ispt/



A big effort by Dusk Till Dawn to make this an event to remember !!!

Slog Over

Too much of a grind but its done  45 days out of 48 playing 7-10 hours.  Hindsight is a great thing but this hasnt been worth it at all overall.  Yeh ive made a solid profit but tilt and hatrid have flowed through my veins the last 2 days as well as earlier in the month once and 3 or 4 times last month.   Basically this was just too long and too much per day without enough time off.   I write this to note for future grinds as its too late to save my mental state in this one. 

I hope/think now im not forced to play i might just begin to enjoy the game again but there will be plenty of time off up to the end of April for sure 100% only playing if im in the mood.

This month adjusted for rakeback is around the £5,000 mark but i will post a final figure for April on the 30th.  Sounds great but it was close to £8k at peak and tilt/run bad/play bad has just destroyed that.  Also ive played 19/20days so am just completely drained.   Gonna try and do more months like February the rest of the year across more sites with less volume and more hilo giving plo much less attention.

I now sit around £14,000 for 2013 but im approximately £6,000 below ev so i had run around level i acutally would be on a solid £5k per month = £60k year which is is over my £50k target so i should be happy !!!!!   Deffo need to work on enjoying this game more in the future, thats my biggest problem for sure in the short/long term.   Unsure which graph to put below, was gonna do just april but i think ill post the whole year one (for my main site) to try and keep me sane.   Spot where the huge grind started as it affected my ev line in a big way which was so nice and straight before it !!!  In fact if it wasnt for my best day in about a year last Saturday things would look a lot different.

March Slog Review

Volatile month as graph will show if i bother to upload it below.   Profit of £5,821 but adjust for rakeback and its actually less as ive cashed in more than ive raked.   Roughly £3,308 is what i make it.  Sounds good but ive been flat out nearly all month and i got off to a flyer so its all been a struggle the last couple of weeks really. Run well below allin ev again , just not happening yet this year but at least im not losing money ....yet !

Had some monster swings this month both ways, worst was losing over £3,300 in 2 days which involved some extreme tilt but i think its refocused me now ive had a day off and played since.  120k hands too on my main site could be the most hands ive played in a month and is more than double what i normally play, circa 50k.

Im on a promotion while i cashout my rakeback over the next month or 2 which involves me playing a total of 45 days out of 49 of between 7-10hours per day.  So far im 26/28 so im almost certainly committed to this now and have 2 more days off between now and April 21st.   At the end i will have raked $22,500 and will get around 2/3 of that back in cash/package and will also be clearing old rake im cashing in which should give me a bit more freedom to spread across multiple sites in the 2nd half of the year.

Ive been trying out different stuff on both plo and hilo and im not sure just yet how its going but its nice to mix my game up for a change and hopefully it can only lead to becoming a better player , but at the least it will give me a different style i can choose to switch between depending on my mood and the tables etc.

Could return to moaning here more next month but ive been doing it on facebook to a few buddies lately, ill see what i decide as ive got bit bored of boring them now too.  This slog can drive u mental at times but the much needed day off yesterday seems to have recharged me a bit for now !  Anyways gl to all readers and i hope you and me both enjoy April more than March.  

Feb Figures

Not in mood to play or write much here as had a bit of a chest infection all week which along with an annoying headache has given me a lot of time off to do nothing and get very bored.

That said ive squeezed bits in when i could but volume severely effected and only raked $5,700 on my main site.   Did play maybe $1,000 of rake elsewhere though as played couple of other sites.  Not gonna add a graph as it looks v similar to the mid Feb one.

A good average solid month where i ran maybe £300 over ev so level on that really.

Final profit £2,885
Roughly £1,300 uncashed rakeback could add to that.


Expect a pretty heavy grind next month with ok promos on and a lot of bonuses to clear.

Mid Feb Update

Well i would like to say the grinds back on but its kind of where it was before where i cant seem to enjoy it enough to just bang out the hours like i normally do in winter.   Im still doing ok volume and have managed an "averagey" sort of profit but would like it to be more on both fronts.

Another swingy month and will try and attach to graph so far below for it.   Was running well last few days and steady too but just hit a ev wall in last 200hands and shut early for night.

January Review

Well if u have read the previous posts u will know i didnt get off to the flying start to 2013 i had wished for.  I cant be bothered to copy a graph but it basically shows me near level for the month but about $5,500 under what was a decent straightish line allin ev.

Actual final loss was -£478.  I raked about $8,000 though so if i included rakeback i earned a paltry but profitable £1,522.

Struggling a bit with the game and not enjoying it like the end of 2012.  Obviously luck has sommat to do with that but its not just that.  I cant really put my finger on it but even after winning sessions it still just aint as much fun.   Outside of poker didnt help, so unfit and tried to conquer that but was stopped in my tracks in the middle of the month for 1.5-2 weeks when i caught just enough of a chest infection to not warrant exercise.

Hope to rake similar or more in Feb.  Hope to start enjoying it again soon and not just playing for the sake of it. 

Scrap That

Had worst day all month yesterday.   Didn't even play higher than $1/$2 and managed to drop about $1,800 running massively below ev yet again.    Massive mental test this month and im failing on all fronts.  Took decision to take Sat/Sun off although today hasn't been great as im nursing a self inflicted big hangover.

Will hit the tables again on Monday but may take Tues/Weds off for similar reasons and so I can do 9-10hours on the other days.

Somewhere around -£900 .  Roughly double that to come in rakeback so at the moment im technically still making money despite being about $5,000 below allin ev this month.

Pointless moan over :(

Upwards

I hope so anyway.  Since the last post ive won/lost/won/lost.   Cant get any consistency going and was still slipping further behind in ev until last couple of days where ive had a mini recovery.  Finally back in profit for the month at +£299 after the 2 winning days both of which were above ev.  Raked almost $7,000 now as well.    5 hours a day kind of suiting me although i think i might need a day off soon.   Maybe next week i will do 5 days out of 7 at  9-10hours again to enable this without losing too much value on promotions.

:((

Main site data for Jan so far above.   Not happy as just had a -£1,250 day so trying to restore some faith in myself before i play again prob tommorrow.  My 2nd site is bad too at -$1,200 ish running 700$ behind ev.

Not to worry just yet as at least im supposed to be in profit based on above + rakeback but its not enjoyable :((

Quick Post

Been a turbulent few days.  Not really getting into this 9hours a day lark so cant see me lasting 4 weeks !   More likely to ease off doing half as much daily and actually have spare time to do other stuff.   Done 4 full days at over $500 rake a day and the volatility isnt helping but generally im just not getting into the slog like i know i can.   Also bad news on rakeback as site im playing is changing their top level soon so the points ive got racked up have lost about 20% of their value (-$10k) since i found this out yesterday.

Graph shows decent enough given how tired ive been on and off but currently well under ev so for the year i clock in at -£61.   Raked $2,800 though so am in profit but just not feeling this routine.  Think ill either play 9hours 2moz or have a day off and do 9hours Saturday.   Sunday off then just $250 rake a day every day will only be 4-5hours and will probably suit me better.  Hopefully what i lose in rake i can make back by not being so tired and playing a few less tables at once.   That said if i do play tommorrow i might change my mind and just carry on with the outright slog !!! 

Overdue Bad Day

Didnt play much the first 6 days but all was fairly steady for what i did.  Been building up to a grind that started today.  Am still not sure but might try doing $500 rake per day for 28days straight but ill just see how im feeling after days/a week or so.

Rough day anyway, done over 5000 hands and was ok the first 2/3 of that.  Was showing a slight profit and slightly below ev then basically the shit hit the fan.  Some of the stuff i saw was just beyond belief , i will give one example below of when ev doesnt come into play on the graph.

This fish didnt hav a clue what he was doing, he should have stacked me 5minutes earlier when i had wrap flush draw vs his top 2 on flop.  turn gave me the nuts with a redraw but river paired to give him the full house.   i check to him and he checks the 2nd nuts behind when there was no way in the world i was folding the way the hand had played.  Basically this guy hardly ever bet and just called the most ridiculous spots.

Anyway on to the hand that completely sums up the last 3rd of my day... 1/2plo
Dam i got history of wrong hand emailed, have to it from memory.

utg raise to 6 fish call and i call in position with JJxx, 1 suit mayb but suits dnt play this hand neway. 1 of blinds call so 4 of us to flop.  utg bets $4 into a J83rainbwo flop , fish calls and i dnt pot raise but make it 22ish which just fish calls.   turn is a 6 and fish chk calls close to pot which was now about 70+ , i remember betting 62 or 64 i think.   board is still rainbow and river is a 2.  fish checks and ive got 105 left behind which  i obviously bet allin.  he tanks for mayb 20seconds before callin with J4510.   i was already gettin beaten up b4 this hand so i just laughed, and before anyone thinks he was checking to induce a bluff, i call tell u 99% certain he wasnt, just didnt have a clue what he was doing. 

another joker just called off over half his stack preflop with 5533 and happily chucked the rest in on a 874flop to catch a 6 vs my committed aces. 

Anyways ill try and get a good nights sleep and regroup to bash out a good day tommorrow but ive run so good for so long im due a bad run but i also know im gonna struggle if this lasts any period of time.  Lost over $1800 on the day, 1000 below ev.  Should mention i didnt play higher than 1/2 today, so its hurting more cos of that i guess.

-£651 for the month on a possible day 1 of 28 :(