ZERO

Crushing...

2008-03-25T14:25:00.000-07:00

I am totally destroying the 16's at the moment, the main improvement in my game is my in the money play, over the first hundred games or so i was cashing around 50% which is great however my wins were the same as my 3rd place finishes, over 350 games (i wish i had kept records earlier) i have won 25% which is obv huge. Although I dont particularly enjoy 12 tabling the turbo's the money which is coming in is very nice indeed, I have had a good look online at PC's and fancy getting a nice set up with a 24" monitor. As long as I keep my discipline I'm pretty confident that i can make 10% ROI and so enough money to buy it at the end of April. We will see!

I also played a little $50NL yesterday, 4 tables playing very aggro in position and only top 5 hands OOP, I enjoyed it a great deal and picked up a couple of buy ins without much trouble. I wont be doing this on a regular basis however its nice to have a break from the turbos to play some real poker (25c/50c lol). When i'm going for the 1000 sng's in April i dont expect I will have time however I definitely want to return to cash in May.

Thats all for now, i'm foooked!

Grinding...

2008-03-23T08:47:00.000-07:00

At the moment poker is going quite well for me, I'm making ok money, slowly increasing my bankroll. I am certain that I can have a great April if I play 1000 sng's. The only problem is the grind, its really tough to play sng after sng like a robot. My main motivation at this stage is money, I am trying to win enough money to buy a new desktop PC with huge monitor as well as increasing my roll so I can return to cash and $100NL.

A few short weeks ago I had $60 in Pokerstars and poker was going badly, now i have amassed over $1300 and although this is great I dont feel I can be happy until i have invested in something tangible and moved away from the turbo's. I dont enjoy them the same way I enjoy playing cash or tournies and although the steady money is good I dont think i can move up the levels and make major money at them as my heart isnt in it, for me the sngs are a means to an end.

The last couple of days I have watched a few cardrunners videos and feel that cash is definitely the place I want to be, I enjoy the higher level thinking and skill required to play cash which you just dont get when you are 12 tabling turbo tables, anybody can make money playing turbos with the right instruction cash is a different beast and I am highly motivated to beat the game.

For now though, turbo's it is, I'm currently running at 12% ROI over around 300 games which is quite pleasing, I think it is possible to run better than this however it takes alot of work, something which i'm not really looking to do!!! In around a week I am going to take my run at 1000 sng's which I will cover in this blog, as mentioned I hope to win enough money for me to increase my roll and buy a new PC, I will be getting a 24 inch monitor if i run at 10% ROI in april so that will keep me going when the depression sets in! I also hope to get enough FPP points on stars for me to get a nice ipod, so cant complain too much. Just hope the good form continues!!

GL at the tables.

EDIT - Thanks for the comments last time, I will probably be in touch Tam when i start my quest!!!

EDIT x2 - Just finished for the weekend and after this latest 4 batches of 12 I have picked up around 27 buyin's to the good!! God i love turbos...lol

Steady Away

2008-03-18T15:23:00.000-07:00

Have played a total of 84 sng's over the last two days, total profit of $195 most of that was made over the first 24 games the last 60 have been tough but thats the way its going to be playing turbo tournies. At one point i was down 7 buy ins which isnt huge but confirms that at some point unless i keep more online i will go busto and have to re-deposit. For the time being i'm happy with my online/offline roll but might have to re-assess things later on!

Thats all for now short but sweet.

2 excellent sessions!

2008-03-17T12:21:00.000-07:00

Got in from work at half five and thought I would get in a couple of cheeky sessions before the missus gets home, pretty pleasing 24 games, 6 wins, 2 seconds and 3 thirds for a total profit of $183. The sng's are so good when things go for you but are heart breaking when they go badly. I feel that i'm improving with more and more games under my belt however havent kept any records since my return to the turbo tables, until now! What a good time to start taking note of the results, they dont really mean anything until I record over 1000 games but still its nice to see the healthy figures I have started on.

I had a pretty poor sunday all in all, i played around 6 sessions and ended up breaking even, it was quite frustrating at times however it is bound to happen from time to time just nice to have a frustrating day without losing money! My aim for this week is to play at least 2 sessions per day with a huge weekend of poker to try and boost my BR, I am still only keeping 20x buy in's online with the rest of my roll in a savings a/c, not looking forward to the day I have to re-deposit as it is bound to happen at some point however for the time being the savings account is growing nicely ready for the dark day of 20x buy in downswing!!

Anyway time for my tea, gl at the tables!

Long day!

2008-03-15T11:51:00.000-07:00

I have played 108 turbo SnG's today and I feel mentally drained! I played 2 x 12 tables of 6.50's then 7 x 12 tables of the 16's, it has been a profitable day however at times i thought i was going to bust my stars account! I ended up collecting $180 profit for my efforts which is about what i'd expect. I am quite pleased with my game at the moment, and think that in april if i do try to play 1000 sngs i can do it for a nice profit, the more I play the better I get at avoiding tilt after horrible beats, it is just far too expensive to bust off 3 or 4 tables after a bad beat.

One thing i'm getting better at is playing my big pp's early in the game, when blinds are low if you 5x preflop you still end up with 3 players seeing the flop, so its important when you miss/are obv behind to get away from the hand something which in the past was costing me a few dollars. I am also open folding AQ in the first two levels from UTG to UTG +3, its just a horrible hand to play post flop OOP and isnt really worth picking up a few chips with anyway.

A few other adjustments have also helped however they are standard lines and not really worth posting! I think i am going to play the 16's during peak times as weekend play in these is so much softer than during the week. Its funny to think that some crazy yanks/scandies play the low stakes sng's for a living playing 20 tables at a time. During the week they are easy to spot however at weekends because the traffic is so high its easy to avoid the high volume winners. have run into so many players at the 16's with 15% ROI and they are just eating into my profit so no benefit in going up against them.

Finally i am still only leaving a small balance in my stars account and taking the rest out and sticking it in a dedicated 'poker' account so that if i do tilt i dont do my bollocks! 20x buy ins for the 16's if i lose 20x buy ins then i will reload later rather than carrying on trying to turn things round on the same day! GL me.

Lesson Learnt...

2008-03-12T14:07:00.000-07:00

Dont play when tired.

Played 2 sessions last night and dropped $100+, pretty stupid as after a couple of suck outs which are standard when playing turbos i went silly and donked off a good few sngs when still in with a shout of cashing. I was really annoyed with myself last night.

I returned tonight like a man on a mission and picked up $60 over 2 sessions, played v.solid, consistency is key with the turbo's no doubt about it, in future when tired i wont be playing its such a daft thing to do!

Leeds Utd. Jesus i dont know what is going on with my team at the moment, we looked clueless for much of the game and I really doubt we can go up playing the way we are, i just dont know why we are so shit. One of the best squads in the league, ah well maybe things will turn around over the next few games, i hope so.

-$5

2008-03-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

Just lost $5 over 24 games! It might not seem the end of the world however after putting in two 12 table sessions i really need to be picking up a few dollars, I guess this kind of thing will happen to me alot when playing the turbos and I'm not really complaining, this is the only losing session i have had since returning to the turbos other than drawing a complete blank in a session the other day dropping 12xbuy ins. That was mainly due to me being tired and donking off the last 6 tournies after 3 bad beats but again i wont bore you with them!

Today has been a terrible day at work however I am about to head off to the leeds game which should be a good laugh, plus got a day of meetings tomorrow which may seem like hell to most but i enjoy them, good to catch up with all my team mates from around yorkshire!

Although today has been shit, i have spent some time dreaming up new challenges for myself, and the one i think i am going to go with is set for April, I need have $800 in my account and if i do i'm going to play 1000 SNG's at the $16 level in one month! This might seem pretty low for the serious multi tablers out there however i have a full time job and therefore only have limited table hours!

I hope that i can win enough over the next few weeks to be able to take on the challenge, if i dont I may consider playing 6.50's however dont think it is really worth the effort at such a low level. We shall see, anyway off now to see leeds give a hiding to Cheltenham!!

50x buy ins

2008-03-10T15:17:00.000-07:00

Played 4 x 12 sessions today, I had planned on playing cash however soon got sick of that when i ran my set of 7's into a rivered set of 9's after getting most of the money in on the turn, for the time being Turbo sngs are the way to go. As you can probably tell from the title of my post i am going to stick with 50x buy ins in my account and the rest i am going to withdraw, its about time i bought something with my winnings instead of leaving it in the account to one day bust off in a fit of rage! 1st on the list is a nice monitor!

So leaving $325 in the account for my roll is the new plan and when i get over $400 i will cash out again back to $325. I do want to climb the limits however in the past i have had a good run thought i was invincible and bust the lot, never again i tells ya.

One thing i am trying to do is avoid pushing too early, I have noticed one of my biggest leaks is getting too upset when i'm down to 10x bbs, i have reduced this to 5x bbs and feel that my win rate is improving because of it. I feel that when i start pushing all in with 10x people call you light thinking your a donkey, whereas holding on or making normal sized raises when holding 10x bbs seems to be a much better strategy.

I am also getting better and better at 12 tabling, although I could comfortably do it from the outset i am finding myself listening for the beep of waiting tables so that i know how long i have to make a decision, this may seem silly but it can really help when you hold AQ and need to decide if to ship or pass to the EP raise!

Hopefully this wont be another one of my challenges that goes wrong!! We shall soon see.

Back in Business...nearly

2008-03-09T05:24:00.000-07:00

Well i havent posted in a long time the main reason for this is i havent played much and what I have played has been such low limits posting about it would be a waste of time. In the last month I have qualified for the DTD 40k on sunday but after a horrible beat which i wont bore you with i finished outside the money. I put a small amount into stars and played some 45 man sngs, about a week ago my roll was a poxy $60, however after winning a $10 45man sng i was sitting pretty at $200 (BR management out of the window btw). I then decided to play alittle cash $25NL, things were going well and i felt my game was good, slowly building up a roll over a few thousand hands.

I was upto around $300 and enjoying playing cash. Then disaster struck, i lost 4 buy ins in around 30mins seemed to run into set after set and this highlighted the importance of a bankroll for playing cash, losing 1/3 of my roll in 30 mins wasnt fun, at this point i fancied returning to the turbo sngs, $200 is just about enough to play the $6.50's.

I dont have a big problem 12 tabling the sngs and if anything i think it helps me focus, so off i set on my first round knowing that one bad session and im pretty much done, that didnt happen and i picked up over $100 in my first little session. After about 100 games i'm now comfortable at $460 which obv isnt huge but after busting out and hating poker last month i'm pretty happy to be back playing esspecially as i can look to playing cash without the worry of going busto!

Well thats it in a nutshell, I am prob going to stick to the sngs until i have $800 and can have a crack at the 16s. I will update more in the future as i hopefully start to move up through the levels! we will see, prob be bust in a week.

Done my bollox!

2008-02-05T14:12:00.000-08:00

Did my bollox this afternoon, huge tilty session. My day started badly then i moved upto 1/2. obv lost to an awful play but what can you do...

Time to take a break and play some freerolls lol

I love poker...I hate poker.

2008-02-03T11:13:00.001-08:00

Cant make my mind up at the moment, do I love poker or do I hate it? I have played a mixture of Cash/mtts and sng's, I havent had a big score in any of the multi's however i have come close on quite a few occasions. I dont know how the likes of Moorman1 do it, the heartbreak of going deep and busting, then a new tourney starting up and having to go through it all again! On the flip side cash is a major grind, hard work playing for hours for a small win compared to the thrill of the final table!

From that short paragraph you can see the way i'm feeling at the moment! I'm pretty annoyed with myself if i'm totally honest. When i'm not playing poker i want to however once i get going I soon become bored and think of other things to do, currently my main distraction is getting the perfect game on Wii bowling (288 Highest score at the moment). I dont know what do do with myself, I read blogs by the likes of Amatay and think thats what I want to do, soley cash and build up a decent roll so i can reduce my hours at work (quiting work would be a dream come true) then I have a look at LeKnave's blog and think MTT's are the way forward picking up a few decent MTT results and all is well in life!

Maybe I need to spend some time thinking about why I play poker and what I actually want from it, at the moment I seem to be aimlessly logging on and playing for hours without a real goal/target that I'm going to be pleased with at the end of the session.

I think I will come up with a new plan and post it here so I have to stick with it lol, as when i set up a challenge I always stick with it!!!

Thats all for now, sorry for the lack of content!

Bluff the pro!

2008-01-20T04:52:00.002-08:00

Had a few sessions since my last post, I have picked up about 4x buy in's through some solid ABC poker, my highlight has been bluffing dmmikkle, one of the FTP pro's. It wasnt for a huge pot but i think i pushed him of an A in this spot.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1966273

Nothing much to report, i have played for about 5 hours in total so my win rate isnt huge but I havent been playing high varience stuff. Just grinding out small wins.

Will update some hands next time im on.

Terrible session......??

2008-01-18T16:17:00.000-08:00

Started my return to cash with a bump, only had a few days off but felt strange coming back to 'poker' from push fold sngs. Early in the session I find 10 10, flop the set...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1960024

Well after this i was feeling pretty annoyed, lost another few hands and found myself stuck for 4 buy ins. I was playing well so decided to solider on! Glad I did as i soon found KK and played it to perfection (IMO)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1960038

Was pretty sure he had the A and wanted to get paid the max, i was thinking about a value bet but opted for trying to take as much as i could. I didnt think he was passing here.

After a shocking start I managed to come out with about 2 buyins, it would have been more if i hadnt overplayed a draw late on in the session. 3 hours played and although its not a huge return it will do for now!

I am really looking forward to the $50NL, seemed along way off a few days back however with abit of luck and some decent table hours i think i can make it!! Heres hoping!!

Arggg Downswing!

2008-01-17T10:35:00.000-08:00

Had a 3 buy in down swing and was feeling a bit annoyed with cash, so moved to the turbo sngs. I have had a horrible 50 or so games and am now a long way off my $50NL target by the end of Jan! I am trying not to get too upset with it all so am just going to take a couple of days off and return over the weekend to take advantage of the little fishies who surface!

Thats all for now!!

Reflection on a good monday!

2008-01-15T12:28:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a cracking day! Work went well, no hassle from the boss made some decent progress with the pile of paperwork which never seems to go away, when i got in from work i hit the tables for 45mins and picked up 4 buy in's to top all this off Leeds beat Crewe away. Might not seem like much but i went to Uni in crewe so its great to get the bragging rights over afew mates who still live back in the sleepy railway town!

Poker - didnt lose a big pot and hit plenty of good flops seeming to get paid everytime I had a big hand. This kind of thing wont happen everyday but when it does happen it feels good. My fave hand was misplayed. I had 55 on the button. One limper, i raise pot. Flop comes A 5 x. I decided to check behind which was an awful move. Turn come 9. Limper checks again, I make a sheepish bet for about 1/2 the pot. Limper nearly times out then calls. At this point i'm not expecting to get paid on the river. 7 on the river, and limper donk shoves for 4x pot. I insta called and he had TT. Lucky me. A bad play turning good. If i make a bet on flop i'm pretty sure he dumps the tens and I win a v.small pot, however overall i think the c-bet is the right move when holding a set. Just on this occasion i was up against a real fish!

Not going to be playing any poker tonight, went out for a curry with the kids from work and my stomach is feeling 'interesting'

Gl at the tables.

First winning month in a long time!?

2008-01-13T07:09:00.000-08:00

I havent updated in ages mainly due to my high levels of laziness, however I have had a nice start to 2008 so fancied coming on for a chirp! I normally update when i'm losing, in a strange way i enjoy moaning on this blog as for some reason it gives me some relief and allows me to avoid the tilt moster putting bad sessions behind me! I dont think people really enjoy reading about losing so I am going to try and be more positive in 2008 regarding poker!

I have been on the low limit cash trail again, I keep having a go doing well for a short period then busting out/moving on to stts/mtts, however this time i am determind to give cash a proper go as some of the play is truly horrific. My aim for Jan was to move from 25NL to 50NL, and although I havent achieved this I am doing well over the 9k hands I have played thus far!

Poker is going well at the moment for a number of reasons, firstly I am playing 8 tables rather than 4, this takes out 'fancy play syndrome' and also reduces tilt after a tough beat, simply not having the time to get upset is working wonders at the moment! Plus i have been forced to change my game so that I dont have too many difficult decisions to make when the tables are all popping up! I now play Super TAG from early position and Semi Loose Agg from the cut off and button. So far things are going well and I hope to move up to 50NL on Feb the 1st!

The reason for me increasing the number of tables I play was down to a Cardrunner video I watched with a bloke playing 20 tables, cascading the tables rather than tiling them. I tried 12 tabling the sngs for a bit with limited success so thought I might as well have a crack at 8 tabling the 25NL, so far so good.

I have also invested in Idleminner, this helps me with my table selection and improves my bb/100 now I am playing TAG for the most part.

My aims for 2008 are to playing winning poker and move upto $100NL by April, nothing to exciting just hope to move forward with poker from last years terrible results. Loads of bloggers are putting up really drastic aims for 2008, i dont want to get ahead of myself so I am just wanting to play winning poker. I dont need to withdraw money so I can build a Bankroll for when I turn pro (lol)

Gl at the tables!

WTF

2007-12-27T15:25:00.001-08:00

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1860760

APAT/Cash Session

2007-12-09T09:26:00.000-08:00

I didnt have any joy in the APAT, I busted in the second level after losing a big chunk of my stack with making a good pass with KK early on (passing on 8 6 6 board) my bust hand was QQ. I raised a min raiser and then got it all in on the flop vs his second pair. He made trips on the turn and thats the end of that. Not much i could have done and Im not unhappy with how i played. I will have to go to another event as after I was knocked out i met up with a couple of lads from the blonde forum and had a great time!

Today I have played $25NL for a couple of hours taking my total hands for the month to 3k. I had a very good session, i say session but i have played around 4-5 mini sessions about 30-45 mins each. I won 4 buy ins and am pretty pleased as I wasnt really in trouble at any point. I did drop a buy in or two when getting outdrawn etch however it didnt effect my play what so ever and I am very pleased with that.

So I am just under 1/3 of the way through my 'December challenge' and although I havent made any real money as of yet things are going to plan and I am on for a winning month, which is what the whole 10k hand challenge was all about. I am probably going to alter the time i play pushing my mid week session time back as i have found the tables much tougher at between 5-7 UK time than 8-10. I am trying to make less marginal calls on the flop so that I can reduce variance and therefore reduce me tilt problem!

I spoke to a few guys at the APAT and some things that were said made a great deal of sense, mainly that playing your A game and avoiding getting caught up with the emotional side of poker is the most profitable way to play. I am certainly finding the cash games easier on the emotional side of things, i lost a buy in to a guy rivering trips and I didnt even flinch, just reloaded and continued to play good poker. Plenty of money to be made if I can control myself!!

I was going to update a couple of hands but instead i'm going to go have my tea! lol

GL at the tables.

A game of two halves and the APAT

2007-12-07T12:57:00.000-08:00

Just finished my second session of the day, the first one didnt go well however managed to log off without doing too much damage, the second session went much better. I am really happy with my cash game when i am playing to my strenghts however when I play bad I play very very bad! I need to improve my 'B' game as it costs me a fortune at the moment!

One thing that is pissing me off at the moment is Poker Tracker, it keeps missing out hands where i get stacked which makes my figures look great but i know better! Need to get it sorted as at the moment my poker tracker figures are way out! One way round it is to avoid getting stacked but i doubt i can manage that!!

APAT - Im really looking forward to this, I hope to write a long and details report on the day however it could be a short report as i plan on playing aggro early on due to me hearing from a few people that most people play tight early on trying to get to the next day! I want to be the table captain and thats what i'm going for...unless i run into trouble!! LOL

One downside of the APAT is I am going to miss the Leeds vs Huddersfield, I fancy the mighty whites for a big win so missing the game isnt great but I had signed up for manchester before i checked the fixtures doh.

Right i'm off to think about how to win a tourney!

SS

FINALLY!

2007-12-06T11:31:00.000-08:00

Just finished a 2 hour session 6 tabling and booked a v.nice win! I moved down to $25NL as i am defo underolled for $50. It was great, I played solid ABC poker played position well and bet my strong hands hard. I think the difference today had nothing to do with luck or hitting hands it was that I played much much better. I maximised my big hands whilst getting away from some decent hands when i was 2nd best.

I tried to play with a clean slate today, at the very start of the session I played v.tight and as my confidence grew i opened up my range. Previously I was going to play 2-4 tables however I dont have a problem with 6 tabling and really feel that as long as i play solid poker its the most profitable way for me. The past few days I had had a few tough beats however made sure that I didnt tilt, this was very hard as i'm a tilt monster! As long as I can play when i'm mentally prepared I am certain I can have a great month.

Few interesting hands today, feel free to comment,

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1777895

Was certain I was up against QQ - 10 10 and was confident I was getting paid after a few previous hands with my opponent.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1777922

This hand i got v.lucky on the turn however I was done with it when he smooth called my bet on the flop, my bet on the turn is so that i can bet pot on the river and have him covered. In the past if i had missed that turn i would have paid him off however i was ready to pass to any bet after his call on the flop!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1777953

I thought about passing the river, this was the only big pot of the session I think i could have played better. I think I will post the hand on some hand analysis boards as I was unsure of where i was on the turn.

Well thats all for now, hope you have enjoyed my positive post!!

Another Awful Start

2007-12-04T10:10:00.001-08:00

Pretty pissed off is the only way i can describe how im feeling right now. I have had another shocking start and find myself posting with negative comments every single time i update! I dont think i could have done much differently I started the session really well picking up a buy in with v.little fuss. However the switch was flicked and i have had another awful session. For the session i'm 2 buy ins down and after only 600 hands I am stuck for 3 buy ins in total.

I have really tried to play ABC and havent had the rub of the green at this stage. I am trying to analyse each session looking at the HH in poker tracker and I can honestly say i couldnt have done much differently excluding not playing marginal hands then getting it all in with the best of it! The stuff im playing isnt that crazy however it seems I cant win a 70 - 30 after the flop, if im up against a flush draw/up and down straight draw I fully expect to lose which is a joke!

Going to log off for the night and try again tomorrow, will be going down to see mighty leeds take on port vale so at least i can take my mind off it!!

Gl at the tables...(including me)

sick sick sick.

2007-12-04T09:48:00.000-08:00

I am posting whilst playing hopefully will take the edge of the tilt i'm feeling right now.

1) i have 5d6d call a tilting guys raise, flop 5 2d 3d, i raise he shoves for a full stack. I call, he holds Q8o. River 8. $110 pot.

2) Vs same villain, cant be bother with HH but he managed 4 outer on river for $100 pot.

3) KK vs A4 all in on turn with him drawing to flush, he makes $100 pot.

Feel so frustrated with the game at the moment!

2nd Session

2007-12-03T10:54:00.000-08:00

Played for an hour today after work, only played one big pot and it went across the table. I didnt get any big hands that i could play a big pot with however still managed to win a couple of dollars so I cant really complain. I am sure that I can have a decent couple of sessions soon as I am doing most things right its just a case of grinding until I can have a bit of a hot run.

The big pot.

I have just sat at a new table and have AQo in the bb. The SB raises to 1.50 i call. Flop comes Ah 7h 9d, I call the SB's 3/4 pot bet. Turn Qh. SB checks (this is my mistake) i raise to $5 he comes over the top to $15, this screams flush but i called. river is a brick and he bets 2/3 pot. I call and he flips K10h. My biggest mistake in the hand is not checking behind when the Q falls. It doesnt improve my hand that much for what he could be holding and top two pair looks pretty but can get you in too much trouble. I would have been much better checking behind on the turn to control the size of the pot. Pot control is something i need to work on, as although i didnt have many big hands today i still would have made an OK profit if i had reduced my losses with AQ/or got away from it on the turn when he check raised.

Still I'm pretty happy with the control i am playing with at the moment, no tilting just steady ABC winning poker might not be alot of fun but it is better than crazy losing poker!

APAT on Saturday, really looking forward to it should be a really good weekend.

Prob update later if I put another session in!

500 hands played 9,500 to go!!

1st Session!

2007-12-02T17:59:00.000-08:00

I am going to try to post whether i have a good or bad session, my first short session was a losing one however I am pretty happy with the way i played. I ended up 1 buy in down, which obv isnt good however i didnt hit any huge flops/get any big pairs paid off. The reason for the loss was overplaying an up and down draw. I had 10 8 and was in the bb and called the buttons raise as did the SB. Flop came 9 7 5, sb leads he has done this a few times and i put him on A9 at best figuring that any 10, J or 6 to win, I reraise him pretty much commiting myself to the draw, he shoves and with the money in the pot I have to call. He had 8 6 so my read was horrible but to be fair he played the hand very well.

In general the session was pretty standard, i played mainly small pots and grinded trying to connect. I lost about 1/2 a buy in with a missed flush draw, got away with losing the minimum which was good as if i do hit it i am sure to stack the guy (both of us playing a deep stack). I also overplayed JJ twice, once taking the pot down the other time getting stacked. I really need to avoid playing huge pots with JJ as it is such a hard hand to play post flop and getting it in preflop isnt a great play either.

Well thats all for now will be playing when i get in from work hopefully can have a better session then!

Good night!

10k Hands in December!

2007-12-02T16:53:00.000-08:00

Well I have had an up and down time to say the least since my last post, however I am no longer feeling sorry for myself and hating poker. Its time to set a new goal and work towards it in a calm untitled fashion! My aim this month is to simply play 10k hands and cash out 50% of the profit. I would really like to make 10bb/100 as always however I am really looking for a winning month at the cash tables to finish of the year nicely. My aim is to play a couple of hours a night and then some more over the weekend. 10k hands will be a big target with me working full time but non the less an achievable target! I will only be playing 2x tables at a time so that i dont tilt my roll in a 2 hour session!

Im going to put in an hour or so now as i cant sleep!

Hopefully lots of updates this month!

APAT here i come!

2007-11-14T06:27:00.000-08:00

Off to the APAT event in manchester on the 8th of December with my good friend cold cards, should be a right laugh, i expect CC will get knocked out early and have to rail me all the way till the final but he is used to that LOL.

Jokes aside im really looking forward to this event, my first 2 day event granted the buy in is only 75 notes but should be a good laugh esspecially as the ricky hatton fight is on after so expect a few drinks will be in order.

Well off to 6x table the micro stakes on Full Tilt!!

SS

MTT Trail...

2007-11-06T14:03:00.000-08:00

Today I played the $24 17.5k gtd on full tilt, lasted around an hour and a half until i ran my AJ into AQ in the blinds, i played the hand badly however had been re-raised a couple of times passing decent hands and felt the player i was up against certainly had a move or two in his locker. Turns out he didnt and obv couldnt pass AQ for his tourney life.

I planned on playing the $20r at 7.30 everyday however due to my bankroll restrictions feel the $24 FO is better, esspecially as i love the $8.80 18 man sng ticket tournies, i feel that 2/3 times i can get a ticket the standard is so bad.

I also played a 45man $24 sng today, took sixth however was pretty annoyed as a big stack made an unreal call with 44 to my all in with AK. Maybe it was a great call but for me it was shocking, there was an all in from UTG, i re-raised hoping to isolate however late pos big stack got 3/4 of his stack in with the 4s. Magical. Hey ho thats the way it goes some times.

Well off to watch the highstakes poker vid on pokertube! GL all

SS

MTT's

2007-11-04T14:21:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

I am planning on playing some MTTs this week, cash has become rather heartbreaking and i felt that a change is as good as a break. I have selected the $20r on Full Tilt that has 8.5k gtd every night at 7.30 as a nice tourney to play, even if i'm underolled for it. Well today i came 47th out of 209. KK vs AQ and QQ vs 44 my final two hands. Pretty upsetting as i was sitting pretty before the KK and would have had a great stack to attack the bubble (27 paid). The tourney kinda sums up my play at the moment, going well until i hit the 'wall' and i get fked over by some donkey. The worst thing for me was the guy that had the AQ was a real mug and had donked about 3 other players prior to me, really fks me off that idiots seem to crack these tournies and i cant buy a result.

Anyway i didnt mean for this post to be a moan but its turning into one. I arent going to be playing tomorrow but will have another crack on tuesday! Hopefully i can cash this week and take down a big score. More likely i will be back on banging on about being busto!

SS

2 steps forward 3 steps back!

2007-10-31T13:40:00.000-07:00

Rotten luck/play continues and just as i think im turning the corner...smack im another few buy ins down! Pretty annoyed with poker really, prob should take some time off and try to have a decent run at it later on. Problem is i need to start taking a few quid out of poker so that is making me play which in turn is making me play more than i should and lose more than i should.

Will have to take time off or i will go mad!

Ah well hopefully things will improve soon!

Cash Out Curse!?

2007-10-29T11:42:00.001-07:00

Well i dont really think that this kind of thing is possible however i have had a shocking start to pokerstars and want to blame my cash out!!

I have had a look back at the HH in Pokertracker and i played a couple of hands badly but in most cases i got sucked out on in a big way! Thank god for BR management, as previous to it i would be busto again now! Luckily i'm not tilted just slightly annoyed. I'm going to have some food and then return to the tables later in the evening to see if i can turn things around! It seems that at the start of every month (im classing this as the start of the month as ive just moved back to stars!) i struggle then spend the rest of the month recovering!

Well -82bb/100 is defo what you would call a bad start, i think that i can turn things around just going to be a long road to recovery...again!

Thats all for now!

I will post next when im back in the black as everybody loves winning posts!! LOOOL

Moved to stars...bad start

2007-10-28T10:28:00.001-07:00

I have moved my roll to stars for a number of reasons and im feeling slightly tilted after a shocking start. I decided to move away from full tilt as its v.difficult to withdraw and i dont like how they give rakeback to new players but not people that have been loyal to them for years. I know that stars dont give anybody rakeback and i should really shop around for a soft site that has plenty of bonus, however at this stage of my poker career i am looking to play +ev poker and worry about bonus whoring later!

So moved over to stars and loaded up 4 $50NL tables and had a real stinker, i have droped 3x buy ins and am going to drop back to $25NL until i have a comfortable roll again. I could stay at $50NL however i want to withdraw on a regular basis and this would leave me underolled, so thats not an option! Moving down is the only way for me to control my play and improve in my opinion!

The reason for my stinking session as far as i can see is a few tough beats and a few bad situations however I have lacked discipline whenever i have played poker and am no longer too proud to drop a level when things dont go as planned!

I had AA vs 89, him spiking trips on river, 222 vs 999 all in on turn and JJ vs QQ (which i played v.badly), a few other hands but all standard beats that arent worth talking about!

So back to the $25NL tables for the start of the month, hopefully i can have a hot streak and move back up shortly! In other news mighty leeds got a very nice result against Milwall on the pitch the Milwall fans responding by heading to a pub in town that had no 'hooligans' in and smashing the place up. Wp gg.

Right off to have a kip! Gl at the tables!

LOL, $50NL is easy!

2007-10-22T11:27:00.000-07:00

Full Tilt Poker Game #3933165347: Table Marrow (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Hold'em - 14:24:59 ET - 2007/10/22
Seat 1: Ship it sailor ($134.20)
Seat 2: myboners ($49.50)
Seat 3: sovietsong ($50)
Seat 4: ApplePirate ($38.55)
Seat 5: MrBilsen ($58.05)
Seat 6: xX_EzD_xX ($60.30)
MrBilsen posts the small blind of $0.25
xX_EzD_xX posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to sovietsong [9c 9s]
Ship it sailor folds
myboners raises to $3
sovietsong calls $3
ApplePirate folds
MrBilsen raises to $7
xX_EzD_xX folds
myboners calls $4
sovietsong calls $4
*** FLOP *** [6c Kd 9h]
MrBilsen bets $51.05, and is all in
myboners calls $42.50, and is all in
sovietsong calls $43, and is all in
MrBilsen shows [As Ah]
myboners shows [Kh Jd]
sovietsong shows [9c 9s]
Uncalled bet of $8.05 returned to MrBilsen
*** TURN *** [6c Kd 9h] [3c]
*** RIVER *** [6c Kd 9h 3c] [Jc]
MrBilsen shows a pair of Aces
sovietsong shows three of a kind, Nines
sovietsong wins the side pot ($1) with three of a kind, Nines
myboners shows two pair, Kings and Jacks
sovietsong wins the main pot ($146) with three of a kind, Nines
sovietsong: pretty nice
myboners is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $150 Main pot $149. Side pot $1. Rake $3
Board: [6c Kd 9h 3c Jc]
Seat 1: Ship it sailor didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: myboners showed [Kh Jd] and lost with two pair, Kings and Jacks
Seat 3: sovietsong showed [9c 9s] and won ($147) with three of a kind, Nines
Seat 4: ApplePirate (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: MrBilsen (small blind) showed [As Ah] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 6: xX_EzD_xX (big blind) folded before the Flop

Taking Shots.

2007-10-21T08:47:00.001-07:00

A few days ago I read a thread on 2+2 about bankroll management, pretty standard stuff 20x buy in's for the lower stakes getting higher as you move through the levels. However the author made a v.good point about taking shots at the level above your current bankroll.

He said that if you have 30x+ for your current level that taking a shot at a higher level isnt such a bad idea, if you get spanked you can move back to where you are comfortable however if you are successful you can save yourself alot of time grinding until you get the 20x for the higher level.

I have grinded the 10c25c for 10k hands and i am very happy that i did as i have developed my cash game a great deal, however a great man once said (lol) 'if your not careful your whole life can become a fking grind'!

I took my shot today and although i only played 1k hands i'm v.happy that i can play this level profitably (dont speek too soon), i have picked up two buy ins and played quite well. A couple of interesting hands came up which i will talk later, in general i think the games are slighly more aggressive with more 4 bets preflop but thats fine i just need to tighten up my 3bet range (at $25NL i three bet a lot). I ran into one huge fish who i stacked then proceeded in giving him it all back bluffing him far too much but again i'm always learning. One thing that i will be keeping in mind is that if i do hit a tough patch at $50NL i will drop down v.quickly as BR management is my number one priority going forward!

Interesting Hands

Hand 1

Full Tilt Poker, $0.25/$0.50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
SB: $91.50
BB: $47.75
UTG: $25.85
Hero (MP): $50.75
CO: $69.20
BTN: $122.50
Pre-Flop: 8s 8h: dealt to Hero (MP)
UTG calls $0.50,
Hero raises to $2.25,
CO folds,
BTN calls $2.25,
SB calls $2,
BB folds,
UTG calls $1.75

Flop: ($9.50) Ac 7h 8d
SB checks,
UTG checks,
Hero bets $6.50,
BTN folds,
SB calls $6.50,
UTG folds

Turn:($22.50) Ad (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $12,
SB calls $12

River: ($46.50) Ah: (2 Players)
SB bets $70.75 and is All-In,
Hero folds

Results: $46.50 Pot ($2.30 Rake) SB mucked and WON $44.20 (+$23.45 NET)

I really dont think i can do much in this spot, im pretty sure he has an A, and if he doesnt i doubt i'm in front. Just a really sick spot to be in after playing the hand v.well (in my opinion!)

Hand 2

Full Tilt Poker, $0.25/$0.50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players

BTN: $70.30
SB: $76
BB: $50.75
Hero (UTG): $50
MP: $39.60
CO: $50.20

Pre-Flop: Qc: Qd: dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero raises to $1.75,
BB calls $1.25

Flop: ($3.75) 4h Qh Jd (2 Players)
BB bets $3,
Hero calls $3

Turn: ($9.75) Qs (2 Players)
BB bets $6,
Hero raises to $18
BB raises to $46 and is All-In,
Hero calls $27.25 and is All-In
($100.25) 7:heart: (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $100.25 Pot ($3 Rake) BB showed Jh 9h (a flush, Queen high) and LOST (-$50 NET)Hero showed Qc Qd (four of a kind, Queens) and WON $97.25 (+$47.25 NET)

What can you do when you hit quads, my bet on the turn might have been a mistake however i really thought he would get it in with a FD, (he was a bit of a fish). Turned out pretty good in the end!

Hand 3

Full Tilt Poker, $0.25/$0.50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players

SB: $22.90
BB: $49.95
UTG: $74.25
MP: $18.75
Hero (CO): $50
BTN: $50.45

Pre-Flop: Ah Kh dealt to Hero (CO)
UTG folds,
MP calls $0.50,
Hero raises to $2.25,
2 folds,
BB raises to $6.50
MP folds,
Hero raises to $50 and is All-In,
BB calls $43.45 and is All-In

Flop:($100.65) Th 8c 4c (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Turn:($100.65) Jc (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River:($100.65) Jh (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $100.65 Pot ($3 Rake) BB showed Ac Ad (two pair, Aces and Jacks) and WON $97.65 (+$47.70 NET) Hero showed Ah Kh: (a pair of Jacks) and LOST (-$49.95 NET)

I played this v.badly, i had just passed a 3 bet to a reraise so opted for the shove hoping he was at it with AQ-A10 or small PP. My mistake, i dont really mind getting it in with AK preflop at this level however its something i need to do a little more selectively!

Thats all for now, im going to crack on with Football Manager 2008, i invested after my accumulator came in yesterday!

Gl at the tables

SS

Low Limit Cash.

2007-10-20T07:06:00.001-07:00

Well the month so far is going ok, I havent updated for a while as I have been grinding without too many interesting hands. I have played around 9k hands of $25NL, and although I started quite badly i have turned things around recently and am making around 5bb/100 which isnt huge but its enough to ensure that if i carry on in the same fashion i can move up after another 11k hands. I might take a shot at the $50NL at some point however if i have a bad start i will be straight back to the $25NL.

Last night i decided to play in the early hours to try to take advantage of some american fish, i was happy with my play although over the 5-6 hours i played i didnt make too much money. Alex Martin (see blog-------->) observed me for a short time and gave me some advice on MSN which was great as he highlighted the major leaks in my game that i know about but am still struggling to reduce, e.g value betting river when i'm prob behind lol! He is a stand up guy and his comments really helped. If you havent already i would defo recommend reading his blog, some great ideas on strategy in the archives.

Although i stopped posting my football bets i'm around 50pts up, which is nothing major but im pretty happy with it! My acca today is Liverpool (lucky to have already won), Blackburn, Man City and Man Utd. Pays around 8's

Gl at the tables!

SS

Disconnect TILT

2007-10-11T10:26:00.000-07:00

Well today i was doing quite well until a number of things happened. Firstly i played AQ v badly vs a donk who obv called preflop with QJ. He min raised turn on a J Q x x board and it was so obvious i pushed like a complete idiot! That wasnt so bad i was about 1/2 a buy in down then came the serious tilt. I had a set 3 way and had reraised another loose maniac and just as he shoved for a full stack in a huge pot....disconnect...get back just in time to see my 77 head toward the muck! FFS, this sent me on mega tilt which cost me another buy in and a half! Really disappointed in myself as i could have done my full bankroll after things like that. I have managed to log off and thought posting on here would get my senses back!

In fairness im happy that i didnt lose more off the back of the tilt monster, its by far the biggest leak in my game and in the past that would have been me moving to 1-2 and losing everything in the account. Im more disciplined now but i really need to stop getting so pissed off when things out of my control happen be it my stupid connection or a 3 outer!

Right rant over, going to have some tea and leave poker for the night!

Hope you enjoyed reading...LOL

Nothing to report guv.

2007-10-10T09:54:00.000-07:00

Nothing much happening with me and poker at the moment, just trying to work on my cash game and see if i can clear some profit for the month! Not going amazingly but not going badly. I played the 10k 6 man on full tilt around 300 entrants, i came 15th for about 240. Had a sick beat when we got into the money with 99 vs 66. Would have set me up nicely but it wasnt to be so hopefully can get some better luck in the future in those type of spots!

Im finding cash a real challenge if im totally honest. I am improving as time goes on but i really need to work on my reading skills. I find myself getting value out of hands, however when im beat i can often take the hand too far! I will try to think of something interesting to post but its hard to go back and look at hands to post when they are standard plays, or this blog will end up a bad beat report which isnt fun!

Anyway not much of a post!

GL at the tables!

SS

Grinding!

2007-10-06T03:31:00.001-07:00

Not had an update for quite a while, reason being i havent had much to update, i have been grinding the low limit cash and turbo sngs for the last week. I was pretty pissed off with poker last time i updated feeling that the world was against me etc! However i am out of that stage now and am going about my business on a small scale trying to make a little $!

I havent had much joy on the turbo front however have had reasonable success over about 2k hands at 10c 25c! I have a couple of tourney tickets that i will be playing so will have some tourney updates at some point over the weekend!

SS

Also see link to Longy's blog. V.good read.

Pokerstars Blogger Tourney

2007-10-05T10:18:00.001-07:00

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 1197808

Slowly but surely

2007-09-29T07:27:00.001-07:00

Well i have had a few hours of playing 70 FPP 10 man sngs and have won 2 and come 2nd about 10 times! They are very hard to win, but i am glad to have moved on to the real money tables after taking down 2 $3.40 turbos and a couple of cashes in two other low limit STTs.

Although it has been hard work i have enjoyed the games and am really looking forward to having enough of a roll to try some small stakes scheduled multi's! Its crazy but i really do enjoy the challenge of starting from nothing and seeing what i can make of it. So im upto $36 plus a few T$s so going to see what i can make of it!

Might be playing some micro cash but not sure as i have a tendency to tilt far too much!

SS

See New Heading!

2007-09-28T10:06:00.001-07:00

Well i havent posted for a while! Main reason i have withdrawn the last money from my accounts to prevent me donking it off! I went on a huge tilting session playing 2-4 and lost most of the money i had in my bankroll, i decided to withdraw and take some time off. I have decided to play with nothing for a while to see if i can get my drive for the game back, it got to the point i was playing all hours god sent for little or no reward.

It really did feel as though i hated the game and its very hard to come home from work to spend your free time doing something you dont enjoy for just above the minimum wage! I will now be playing a few FPP tournies on stars to try to win some T$'s, then crack on with the low limit MTTs. I'm not sure how long i will last as it may be mind numbing but we will see.

So far so good i won $11 from a 70 FPP sng, so will now be playing a couple of small stake sngs maybe a micro stake multi. I am enjoying playing with no presure but maybe that will wear off!

Well thats all for now!

Hopefully i will crack on with the updates from now!

SS

Update...

2007-09-14T03:46:00.000-07:00

I have carried on with the cash games and have done quite well, although i'm a long way off my 10bb/100 target due to my stupid tilting sessions i feel that i can make back the money lost without much difficulty.

I have been reviewing the hands that i lost where the pot is over $20 and over the past two days im happy to say that i wouldnt play any of the hands differently!

One of the biggest leaks in my game over the past few days has been playing too loose vs short stacks. I think i need to tighten up rather than trying to push them around as at the levels im playing they arent scared to shove with KQ which is nice when you hold AK AQ however not so nice when u hold JJ!

All in all im happy with my play, i have won $200+ over the past couple of day which is pretty good at 10c 25c. I just need to continue in the same form for the rest of the month so i can take make my $800 profit goal!

Im away with work for two weeks so doubt i'll get to play that much however i'm hoping that the hotel that i stay in will have wireless then i can hit the tables for an hour or two in the evenings!

Other than that not much to update really, i have played a few multi table sngs however havent had any joy, i dont mind that too much as its good to start one up while im playing cash so that it can work as a 'timer' when i bust in the sng i log off for a short break!

Finally i have been trying to take table selection abit more seriously as in the past i havent bothered however i think that this is v.important and can make me alot more $$$ if i choose wisely!

GL at the tables

SS

Lesson Learnt...

2007-09-13T07:10:00.000-07:00

Money you dont lose is worth just as much as money won!

I had a few really difficult days, rather than quiting and returning fresh i carried on, playing my C game. This resulted in me losing about $280, for the 10c 25c tables this is huge, i played really badly getting worse and worse the longer i played!

I had a think about poker and what im doing at the moment and decided that the games i'm playing are v.beatable but i need to be playing solid ABC or im going to get chewed up and spit out, the micro stakes are easy to beat but the players there arent absolute idiots. I need to treat the game with more respect.

I returned today and have made back around $140, which has taken a v.long time and this only re-enforces the point that i started with, losing money when i shouldnt makes my 'plight' much harder.

From now on when im playing badly, or im tired i'm going to quit and return when i feel better, otherwise i will never be able to win the money i need to move up/buy my fancy new PC.

Well im going to have an hour of relaxing playing a few mtts, then back to cash! Heres hoping i can end the month with the $800 profit i had as my first target!

SS

Sick of Poker

2007-09-11T14:11:00.001-07:00

Sums it up...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1470844

4 buy ins down...

2007-09-11T10:27:00.000-07:00

Just had a shocking session, nothing seemed to be going right for me, i have logged off for now and will return after some food to attack the tables for a decent sized session. I played quite poorly over the last hour however some sick outdraws havent helped, here are a couple of the hands, wont analyse them as they really do speak for themselves!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1469973

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1469977

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1469981

Just under $150 in those pots which i would have won on another day but hey ho thats the way it goes sometimes! I'm trying not to feel too annoyed and hope to have a break and return later ready for action!

Hopefully i will be posting a nice bit of hand analysis and a decent result later!

SS

Poker Ace Hud and Low Limit Cash

2007-09-10T11:13:00.000-07:00

Well as the title suggests i have invested in Poker Ace Hud, after playing with it for the first time today im very impressed! Today i played 6x tables 10c 25c for about an hour and 40 mins, won 2 buy ins and was pretty happy with my play. A couple of hands that were of interest;

Hand 1

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1466555 - AK vs 44

I think i played this hand ok bar calling the bet on the river, i was pretty sure i was beat but still made the call which is something i need to stop!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1466564 - JJ vs 56

Although i lost the hand i was happy with the play, on further thought i should have reraised preflop however the player was very tight (ty Poker Ace Hud) and thought that he held a hand like AKs. I dont think he is passing the hand after the flop/turn so dont think i can do much else, the last hand i had him on was 56s considering his stats! I will prob post the hand on blonde to see what some of the guys think.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1466567 10 10 vs AJ

This hand played itself really!

I enjoyed my session today and hope to get a couple more hours in later tonight. I ran at 12bb/100 which is pretty good. I played a couple of hands badly which i havent posted, i pushed on a short stack with 55 and ran into JJ in late pos. I also overplayed AK vs a donk. Little leaks which i hope to improve on! My aim is to make around 10bb/100 as that will mean im making more playing cash than i would do playing the sngs!

I would like to play around 10k hands this week, might sound alot however i have Thursday off work and the missus is working till 8 everyday this week so i can get some hands in before she gets home! We will see. In total i have played 2800 hands and am running at just under 11bb/100. Not too shabby!

Gl at the tables!

SS

New Direction...again

2007-09-09T13:15:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

I think i'm going to take a break from the turbos as they are becoming a real grind, not only that its a grind that seems to make me no or very little money! I wont be stopping playing them all together however i am going to abandon the 500 game target. I am going to play a mixture of low limit cash and MTTs.

I played a few multi's today on stars for a net result of -$130. Pretty heartbreaking stuff, i made a huge bluff on the final table of the $10+$1 F/O (509 entrants) and then had KK busted by Ax.

Hand 1 - http://www.pokerhand.org/?1463444 I bluffed off far too many chips, but think he is calling me very light!

Hand 2 - http://www.pokerhand.org/?1463447 Open shove after showing the bluff hoping for the call i got...

V.upset with coming 9th out of 500+ as the final table was full of weak players. Thats the way it goes sometimes!

Other than that i struggled in a couple of sat's, some horrible beats to be honest but thats the way it goes! I have decided that i'm going to give the sats a miss as i seem to get no joy and i'm not very good at them!

Finally i played some cash, 6x tables 10c 25c mostly ABC but LAG from late pos. Nothing out of the ordinary, ended up finishing about even after a few big pots going the wrong way!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1463466 - i made the call thinking that he had the flush draw, reviewing the hand it was a terrible call either way. I am spending alot more time on the analysis after games and think that it will improve my game as i no longer see hands like this as a semi-bad beat. It was shocking play from me and if i hadnt made the call i would have had a winning session rather than a mediocre break even one!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1463473 - i'm still unsure of what the best move in this situation is. I could have been playing a flopped straight/set or be up against a huge draw like i was. Feed back on this hand would be great as i really am perplexed by it!

Finally a hand i won!!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1463481 - i'm not normally a fan of slow playing however i hoped to trap a player with Kx, giving em a card to catch up a little. Turns out matey boy thought is bottom pair was worth a huge overshove. Nice for me!

Well thats all for now, i hope you like the Hand Analysis as this is prob going to become a main feature of the blog over the next few weeks.

GL at the tables!!

SS

Sunday Bloody Sunday

2007-09-09T05:41:00.000-07:00

I have been playing some multis today, desperatly trying to qualify for the sunday mil/warm up. The worst thing about the hand below is that i was certain the guy had AK.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1461945

Well i am still in a few games, hopefully i will be able to turn things around, at this rate i would have been better just buying in direct.

SS

45 Man SnG

2007-09-07T15:55:00.000-07:00

Just won a 45 man sng, i was v.v.lucky, hitting a 2 outer on the river for my tourney life 3 out (i was v.short) and then to win the tourney i was all in with a gut shot & flush draw on the river! Pretty nice to get some luck. I also won a $5 18 man on Full Tilt, i was getting frustrated with the turbos so decided to take some time out and play a few multi tables.

I really enjoyed playing them however i am determined to crack the turbos. I am no longer going to talk about luck/running bad as i feel that over the 750 or so games i have played i have won a very small amount, this is not unlucky if i had played 50 i could blame luck for a poor showing. I have played plenty of sngs and the fact is my bubble play is poor.

I know the mistakes i make and i am working to improve on them. I wont go over it again but tightening up is defo the answer!

I also read a interview with brian townsend on card player magazine, its a great interview. He was asked about luck and said

"I don't believe in luck. It's all mathematics. Everybody runs the same. I believe in taking personal responsibility for my play. I see too many posts in which people say they run bad or are unlucky, and so on. I believe that you make your own results, and that everything comes down to your decisions. No one else is in control but yourself. People think that the cards have a role in the results, and they do in the short run, but in the long run, it'll all even out. If your results aren't good, it's most likely because you're not playing well."

This is something which i have taken on board, as i feel that i use bad luck as an excuse not to learn/improve. No way in the world would some of the sng pros had the same shitty results i have had over 750 games, therefore i have to accept that my game needs work. I have got targets and i will work towards them. I would like to clear 10% ROI over a 3 month period, pay for a holiday and buy a desktop with dual monitors. This is my goal and im going to try my upmost to achieve it.

I have been playing with the idea of moving back to full tilt and having a crack at the 24s, however i need to have a good month before i do that. For the time being im going to stick with the 16s, however another option is to move to party, Longy from blonde said the games are soft and i need all the help i can get!

I have played 238 games so far this month and am $28 down! Tomorrow is the start of the rest of my life! LOL LOL LOL

SS

The poor run continues!

2007-09-05T14:23:00.000-07:00

Treading water at the moment in the turbos, today my game was v.good however something is still missing. A few mistakes around the bubble really cost me today. That plus the times i made the money i came 3rd far too much, calling for pot odds can really fk me over some times!

After my bad time on the turbos i played about 40mins 10c 25c 8 tables, pretty good results ended 4 buy ins up, it was a welcome break from the turbos. I doubt i will continue with cash but its good to play ABC tight/aggressive multi tabling as the play is so weak u get paid on your big hands regardless.

E.G i have 9 10s in bb, button makes min raise i call. flop middle pair and flush draw, he best i call. turn brings the flush, he bets i call river comes blank i bet out he shoves with bottom pair! The best thing is its a standard play at this level!!

I may look at reducing the amount of turbos i play and introducing a few more short cash sessions but im reluctant due to my previous failings! For the time being i will carry on till i make 500 for the month! I just hope things turn around soon as after 220 games im down $10!! If only stars did rakeback...lol

First week in my new job and things are going well, expect i will be gaining another promotion within 12 months as the competition is poor!! We will see, nobody likes a cocky twat!

Well thats all for now

Gl at the tables

SS

PS - any ideas on how i can finish my posts as im sick of 'gl at the tables'

Moormans Blog

2007-09-03T14:48:00.000-07:00

Just linked Moormans blog and must say for anybody that hasnt seen it check it out as its a great read provided by one of the best multi table players about at the moment!

SS

Negative Post Warning

2007-09-03T14:35:00.000-07:00

Had one of the worst runs on the turbos...again! Sick sick beats, mostly around the bubble. Result - even for the month after 180 games!

I think i need to re-assess my game as i seem to be playing far too many 60-40s/50-50s for my tourney life towards bubble time, I dont really know why im posting this as i cant be fked explaining why im playing/running so badly.

8 tabling is simple enough however i think im going to drop back to 6 until i start hitting form again! I played some of the better $16 level multi tablers today, i am trying to observe them to see what they do differently, the only thing i can think of is they are tighter around the bubble. This play goes against my strategy of pushing the majority of hands and taking advantage of a big stack, however i think that i need to hold on till 200/400 before i start pushing more frequently as people call you v.light in the $16s.

Moan over

Gl at the tables.

SS

Sunday Funday!

2007-09-02T07:36:00.001-07:00

i have played about 24 sngs so far today and thought i would update now as my spreadsheet looks so pretty!

It seems to be pretty small but i think readable! After 125 games im running at 8% ROI, obv these figures dont mean a great deal as the sample size is so small but its good to have a target and im only $40 off mine!

Today i've been 8 tabling and found it much easier than i expected, as long as you keep on top of it you dont come up against too many tough decisions at the same time, especially in the turbos. I really hope i can continue playing high volume (for me) sngs so that i can invest in a new desktop and decent monitor!

I have also found playing over the weekend is much easier than during the week, so many weak players giving money away, i was down to last 4 earlier during the 50/100 level!

Anyway back to the grind!

Gl at the tables!

SS

405 to go!

2007-09-01T04:16:00.000-07:00

I have played a total of 95 games, which for me is an awful lot over a short time! I started off badly dropping over $100, turbo's can be so frustrating when things arent going your way. I tried to play through it and after 95 games im $8 down! so im around $160 off target which is going to take some recovering!

I can take a couple of positives from the games, i have taken note on when the better players are on and have got all the v.good multi tablers stats making avoiding them easier! Also im going to avoid 4pm - 7pm like the plague! I have had a couple of days playing at those times and ended up playing 3+ v.v.good players with 15%+ ROI. This is defo worth avoiding as at this stage i need all the help i can get!

Although im miles away from target and am struggling somewhat in the sngs at the moment i am happy with my game and i think that i can play more tables with less effort as i go forward. I expect i will be 8 tabling by the end of the month and if i can make target for a couple of months in a row i will be investing in a desktop including a 20" monitor!

Mighty leeds take on luton at home and im hoping for another 24,000+ crowd, the atmosphere against southend was class!

Thats all for now!

SS

Awful Start Part 2

2007-08-30T09:50:00.000-07:00

Well i have had a terrible start to the 'new' month. Ive lost about $90 over 30 games or so and im pissed off! Some shocking beats and a few mis-timed plays by me have ended in me bubbling over and over! 6+ bubbles going out with the best hand, one of those things but im steaming at the moment after idiots that have -20ROI over thousands of games are sucking out on me!

Sorry for short and shit post but cant be fked to think of something worthwhile to write!

SS

Back to the Turbos!

2007-08-29T09:41:00.000-07:00

Decided to hit the turbos a few days early! Only a couple of short sessions so nothing to post results wise at this point! I have spent some time talking to a couple of blondes, as well as looking at a couple of sng power tools with the aim of improving my game. I think that i have picked up a few ideas about bubble play that will set me in good stead for the month ahead.

I start my new job on monday, will be working 8.30 - 5.30 most days so need to rethink my playing times. I expect i will try to get into a routine and start playing late evenings (9.30 - 11ish) 3 days a week so that my girlfriend doesnt leave me, weekends will be where i get the hours in when i have the house to myself! Not sure if my 500 game target is abit high but we will soon find out!

My teas ready so time to go!

Gl at the tables!

SS

Uneventful Sunday

2007-08-26T15:22:00.000-07:00

Had a disappointing day, i won about $130 playing 25c 50c cash however dropped most of that playing some bigger buy in two table sngs.

I found the cash tables v.easy compared to how i have played in the past. I think the main reason for this is my new found discipline. During my 500 sng trail i have had to develop a whole new set of skills. This has also helped to improve my cash game as i am able to give up on pots after i run into resistance which is definitely the main leak in my game. I might look into playing more cash in the future however sngs will be my bread and butter for the coming months!

I won a v.big pot with 44 when flopping a set. I bet out and luckily my opponent had flopped top pair and paid me off on the turn. However i played a 11r on stars earlier when the following hand occurred.

I had about the average after rebuys and had 22 on the bb, one limper i checked and saw a magical KQ2 board. I bet out and the limper called. Turn is a K, this was a scare card with possible holding for him being KQ etc. I bet out and he min raised and i shoved. I played it badly as i expected him to turn over KQ, it was a frustrated push by me and its something i shouldnt do. He had K2o and i was in total shock! how the fk does somebody limp with K2 like that! Anyway nh gg and it was back to the grind!

The one positive i can take is it didnt effect my game and i continued to play good poker for the next couple of hours, be it treading water in the end!

I have also been looking at some sng power tools which should improve my ROI and bubble play for next month! Onward and upward!!

SS

180 Man STT

2007-08-25T13:50:00.000-07:00

Just finished 5th in a 180 man stt, AK vs AQ, vs chip leader. Pretty sick but one of those things. I'm pretty sure i would have taken the victory if i had won that hand. I have played quite a few MTTs today without much joy. I won a sat to the nightly 50k but took the T$'s to play some multi table sngs.

I am going to continue on the mtt trail for the rest of the month. Hopefully i will have a decent win to update before i get back to the turbo grind!!

SS

500 SnGs...Done

2007-08-23T16:42:00.000-07:00

Finished the 500 games i aimed to play this month, my results are

Now the results aren't as good as i'd hoped, however i have shown a profit which its all about! I won my last two games and should have cashed in the other sngs from the batch i played, however 80/20s being what they are...

I will prob stay off the sngs for the rest of the month trying my hand at a bit of cash or mtts, however i will be going for another 500 next month! Really want to improve my ROI and make the magic 10%!

Plenty of lessons learnt over the past 25 days or so! My preflop play has changed dramatically, no longer am i opening for 3x in the early stages of sngs, 5x is now my opening bet with premiums, limping with pairs. I am much tighter during the early stages, and if the table allows i open up after the 50/100 level. I have 'sharkscoped' most of the winning players so know what i can and cant get away with! My bubble play is coming on great, i have a long way to go however when i get a stack i am able to take advantage. I do need to work on calling off a medium stack with poor holdings due to the pot odds as on the bubble survival is more important!

I know i still have a long way to go, and am going to continue to work on my game but all in all im happy with my first month's crack at the turbos! As i say my aim is 10% ROI over next months 500 games and i'm determined to achieve it!

Thats all for now! Hopefully i will have a big MTT score to post about!!

Very difficult couple of days!

2007-08-21T18:11:00.001-07:00

Well since my last post things went from bad to worse, i was losing pretty bad, i had even created a why me post that i ended up pulling as it was far too negative. Anyway i was missing ever draw, losing every 60 40 and playing average! I lost at one point about 10 sngs in a row. Tough times!

I posted a quite pathetic thread on blonde, and after reading the response i decided to take a little break! I logged on tonight after having a think about my game, and was making steady progress. My final 6 sngs i was on fire, winning 2, taking 2 seconds and finishing 3rd and 5th in the other ones! This took me back into profit for the 16s which seemed like a mile away yesterday night!

I have learned alot from this dry spell, at first the cards turned against me, which will happen from time to time, however it was my bad play that extended the poor run! I passed QQ preflop early in my session tonight and that made me think about my game from the previous day. Yesterday im pretty sure i would have jammed the pot with the queens, i would have lost and would be complaining about it! I passed and ended up winning the tourney.

The difference between winning and losing can often be one hand in these sngs so i really need to ensure im playing my A game for as much of the time as possible!!

Well thats all for now, results below!!

Manchester City 1 - 0 Manchester United

2007-08-19T09:18:00.001-07:00

i have played 22 more games whilst watching Man City get very lucky against scum and am pretty happy with my results which are shown above. I have been very unlucky in the 3 sats ive played for the warm up and sunday mil, thats the way it goes sometimes! My turbo game is coming on great, i'm finding myself deep in most of the games i play.

I have played 4 $12s on full tilt as i didnt like my figures being so bad on them and the rest ive played on stars. Currently on 6.5% ROI which is good progress imo. I would like to hit 10% and im sure that next month i will clear that quiet comfortably.

Only 104 games to go until i hit the 500 i aimed for, i really think that the turbos can become the main game i play. I have struggled with cash and didnt enjoy the variance of MTTs, the SNGs are a great alternative.

Anyway thats all for now!

GL at the tables

Playing well, still bubbling!

2007-08-19T04:24:00.000-07:00

I just played 4 $16 turbos, won 1 and came 4th in the other 3. I ran QQ into KK, A2 into Q10 and finally pushed with KQ straight into AQ. No bad beats to bad timing really. My turbo game is coming on very nicely reducing the leaks in my game and increasing my profit.

So the stats dont look amazing, they dont knock you on your arse however im pretty happy with them, if i hadnt bubbled in the last 3 $16 the picture would be much brighter. I have cleared a nice amount playing short cash sessions and am comfortable playing the $16s, i can also play the $27s without too much risk to my roll however i would like to prove myself at the $16s first.

Im playing a few sats at the moment to the warm up and the sunday million, hopefully i can pick up a ticket some time soon! Hopefully i can avoid the curse of the bubble!!

Anyway thats all for now!

PS
V.disappointed with newcastle vs villa yesterday, really fancied a result at st james, i wont be backing anything today

Todays Tips...and alittle poker

2007-08-18T02:57:00.000-07:00

First things first saturday morning, big games ahead! Looked for value today;

1) 3pt Newcastle vs Villa (9/10)

I think that this year newcastle will finish just off the top 4, villa are a solid side however the 'toon army' at home are too big at a shade odds on! Im expecting a 2-0 win with a first goal from viduka!

2) 3pt Portsmouth vs Bolton (5/6)

I'm not really betting on portsmouth in this game, just betting against bolton. I think that little sam is going to have a really tough season, defensive problems in a side that last year was v.tight at the back and a temperamental striker that will prob leave if the club arent winning by the next transfer window. Things look bleak for bolton this year imo.

3) 1pt Treble - Newc, Port, and Fulham

Boro were truly awful vs wigan and i fancy fulham to turn them over. Thats it really!

POKER

Today i played a few $16 turbos without much joy, then started up 4, 50c $1, tables. I bought in for 2x the min ($40), finished one table on $30, two on $80+ and one on $120. Only played for about an hour and a half and was very happy with the results. I picked tables that had other short stacks so i wouldnt get knocked about too much. I really enjoyed the game, especially calling a guys shove with A high for a $70 pot (he had worse A), i also made a few good laydowns which felt good as thats one of the major flaws in my cash game.

I dont think that i will play cash much over the next couple of months, however i do enjoy dipping in for a bit of variety when things arent going too well with the sngs!

Finally im down to the last 10 of a double shootout sat to the stars million! Hopefully i can qualify and play the warm up.

SS

Edit - bubbled for a ticket :(

Spinning!

2007-08-17T14:48:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

I had a poor few days on the turbos, so bobbed a few quid into stars for some down time! I played 5 heads up matches, of which i won five, the standard was very poor. In one game i got KK first hand raise reraise rereraise push from matey boy and he turns over 86s. I also played some micro cash and some sats.

I then decided to try to spin $50 into what i could. I sat at 50c $1, few mediocre hands, i played LAG from the outset. I called a raise with Q10, flop 10 9 9, i check raised the flop, called a small blocker bet on the turn when a blank fell and then checked the river. He had AK and moaned like hell.

With that pot i moved to $1-2. I sat with $100 and played quite nitty stuff, after about 25mins i changed gears calling a raise with KJ from the button. Flop came perfect Q 10 9, i called his bets to the river when a J fell. He then checked it to me. I was for some reason v.concerned with this, i had my mind set on him holding AK so checked behind. He had J10, and im certain he would have called off a big stack with that hand. Mistake on my part but still i decent sized pot. I played some more solid poker avoiding tricky situations and left the table with $400.

Time for $2-4, i logged in but bottled it slightly not placing the full $400 in, i sat with half the max and played pretty tight slowly building the $200 to $300. Now if you have ever read this blog you know im a shocking cash player, i decided to quit while i was ahead (my mum would be proud).

So i had a nice little amount in stars from a very small deposit, i moved most of my full tilt roll across, and logged 8 turbo sngs ($27).

1st - 1, 2nd - 1, 3rd -2, other - 4. $54 profit.

The level is much higher than i have played before but i enjoy playing with better players (for now). I am going to tread carefully, if i run into trouble of suffer a bad night i will be moving back to the 16s.

I left enough for 4 6.50's on full tilt, played them just now and cashed in 3 for a $30 total profit. I might try to spin the funds i have in there another day however i dont expect to be as lucky again! Then again i do enjoy the odd MTT on full tilt so maybe thats where the funds will go!

Will be updating tomorrow morning with a footy tip!

Gl all

SS

8 games and pissed off!

2007-08-15T10:22:00.000-07:00

Just played 8 sngs before i crack on with my tea, and im v.pissed off, i played the luckiest fker i have ever met heads up and lost. I also came second in another game i should have won and am feeling tilted! I have logged off of poker so i cant go on a tilt rampage, though i wish i could!! The most upsetting thing was that the guy i was playing was a truly awful player he was on -20% ROI according to sharkscope and i was pwning him. I need to deal with this kind of shit better but i feel full tilt poker is taking the piss out of me!!

I feel better after my moan, going to get a drink and look at tonights game for my tips!

...Ok feeling much better, i have had a look for tonight and im going to go for a max bet 5 pts on Man City to beat Derby, now it doesnt take a genius to select this bet however i think this is as close to a banker as you can get, the price is shocking at 8/15 but if i hadnt set up the 5pt max bet i would be putting more on! I have also placed a 1pt bet on Pompy at 9/2, i fancy an upset tonight, Man Utd couldnt break down Reading at home and i think that Pompy are value at that price. I will probably end up with egg on my face when Man Utd turn it on however i think at a big price its worth a small one!

In other news i picked up my season ticket for Elland Road, im in the north west corner and have got some decent seats so pretty happy with that!

Gl at the tables

SS

PS

The results for poker so far

Not very nice reading i have a long way to go but im sure i can make it up with a few good wins over the next 163 games!

Update.

2007-08-14T15:32:00.000-07:00

I have played a few more games and my results are below...

again i am happy with my play however at one point i lost 7 in a row bubbling 4, this was hard to take however i loaded another 6 up and put it behind me. Playing these sngs is reducing the effect of bad beats, when you play 6 at a time your bound to run into one suck out. Im coping much better which is defo a positive for my game!

Wish i hadnt mentioned spurs in my post earlier, they were outclassed by everton which is a really strange thing to write down. At times spurs looked like they could have got something out of the game but everton defended v.well and looked like scoring everytime arteta got the ball in an attacking position! If only i had stuck him in the dream team! Charlton won which is sods law however i think backing in the cup is defo -ev! Finally another win for Mighty Leeds! Getting my season ticket tomorrow hopefully we can make it 3 out of 3 against Southend!

SS

$12 Turbos

2007-08-14T10:07:00.000-07:00

I have only played 26 games since moving upto the 12's, i am pretty happy with my results so far, i had a few early knocks and started badly, i took some time to look through a couple of the hand histories to see check my exits. I was happy that i was making +ev moves so put it down to variance, not me getting pwned at the new levels! A bit drastic i know after so few games however i said in my last post i was going to be careful and i am!!!

So far i have cleared 16% ROI, its far too early for this to mean anything. it does mean im $44 up and therefore $60 so far! V.poor figures over 300 games however the first hundred games were hard work and a huge learning curve. I am enjoying the games at the moment, and think there is plenty of money to be made.

My current plan of action is to play 6 tables at a time, in batches. I start them all up together and if i get knocked out dont start another. This way in the later stages im not clicking all over the shop trying to keep up (which can happen when i am auto loading up a new table every time i get knocked out), but i am able to play as many games as possible. It also helps because all the games are at more or less the same stage enabling me to concentrate on auto fold/push strategy! This is how 'The Tank' played the sngs during his 4k in 4 month challenge and i find it much easier to keep up.

I wont be placing any bets tonight, although i do fancy spurs to beat everton. The price is not good enough to warrant a bet. I also like the look of Charlton however i dont really want to be backing in the early stages of the cup.

SS

Good start to the season

2007-08-13T08:23:00.001-07:00

Both Sunderland and Newcastle won on saturday to take my total to 107.46 pts, pommy failed to retain there 2 - 1 lead over derby which was a shame as that accumulator paid over 20-1. Will be putting a few more tips up when i fancy a bet.

Back to the poker, i have had a few days off as i have been down with my girlfriends parents for her birthday. I have had a think about what im going to do with regards to these turbos, originally i was going to wait until i had 50x the buy in for the $12s however on further thought i think that this is being over cautious and therefore i am going to move up now with only 35x buy ins. i am going to monitor my results closely and move down if needs be, but hopefully i will be able to clear over 10% roi over the remaining 225 games in my '500 challenge'!

Thats all for now, gl at the tables.

SS

The Big Kick Off!

2007-08-11T02:02:00.000-07:00

Todays bets are below, sticking with the 1pt = 1 pound staking, when i get a few more quid i will be increasing the stakes!

£2.00 Win Single: SUNDERLAND @ 23/10 -

£1.00 Win Treble:
NEWCASTLE UNITED @ 15/8
PORTSMOUTH @ 7/5
MANCHESTER CITY @ 13/5

Promo Cash: £3.00 NEWCASTLE UNITED @ 15/8

My bet on Newcastle only pays 5.60 as i used promo cash so wont get the stake back.

Short but sweet update, heading to the ladies parents for the weekend so dont have time to explain the selections!

Update on my return!!

SS

Hard Fking Work

2007-08-10T10:37:00.001-07:00

Things are not going well, i cant put a decent run of wins together, i bubble more than any other position, and its sickening! I was hoping that i would be moving upto the 11+1 turbos soon but that isnt looking too good at this stage. I havent lost much but i havent won either which is really frustrating. Im about $150 away from having the required bankroll for the 12's but that seems like a huge mountain at this stage!

I have played nearly 300 tournies now and i feel that i'm a much better turbo player than i was a couple of weeks back, but i certainly have a lot more to learn. I havent had a great run of cards but i havent had the outdraws which would make this shit form acceptable. My main aim going forward is to cash and play the bubble better. When i have a stack i pwn it but when im one of the strugglers i have ended far too many sngs in 4th place. I am going to once again return to cardrunners to watch a few of the turbos, i will post something positive as soon as i can! this blog is becoming a depressing place to be!!!!

Results so far are...

Will be posting a tip for the start of the premiership when i get the chance! Hopefully i can start off strong this year!!

Pretty Good Session!

2007-08-08T14:19:00.000-07:00

Played 17 games tonight, and my win rate was very good, i thought it was going to be one of those days when i came 3rd 4 times in a row, however things soon turned around and after getting past a few bad beats i managed to take 4 wins down in quick succession. My total results are below...

so running at about 3% roi! whoooop whoooop! A few more sessions like this and i will be feeling much better about the turbos! I am improving my game with pretty much every session, i have really cut down the amount of 50 50s i am playing, and passing some very playable hands to a raise. The standard is so poor if you can make it to the last 5 without being crippled then you can take it down.

One of my biggest leaks is probably AK, i find myself running into AA and KK far too much, at the moment when i pot it pre with AK and somebody reraises i pretty much auto push, this is defo -ev as the small reraise are more often than not AA KK or QQ, as i said earlier i am trying to reduce the races so this is something i need to address!

Well going to call it a night!

Gl at the tables

Bubble Bubble Toil and Trouble!

2007-08-06T12:51:00.000-07:00

4 bubbles today, each of them an 80/20! QQ vs KQ, AK vs AQ, A10 vs 10 9 and finally JJ vs 88. Pretty hard to take if im honest! Currently on -$20, should have been a very good day but instead is a shocking one! Ah well thats life, im gonna relax and take in a $10 mtt!

Gl at the tables

SS

Champion Tipster!

2007-08-06T01:32:00.000-07:00

My tipping season has started badly with chelsea drawing with man utd, drogba's firepower was the difference for me, it was a close game with both teams having decent chances however i think if drogba was playing chelsea would have taken the victory. Joe Cole upfront struggled for me, i thought that the new left winger did well, his finish was excellent. I think he will do well this year, he might even get a place in my dream team!! Anyway currently on 98.23 Pts, more tips next week!

Poker

I seem to be stalling, i cant get the first places that i need, my push fold game which gets me to the last 3 ruins my image, i need to work on playing for 2nd when i have attacked the bubble, i have had far too many 3rd places and its just not profitable.

As you can see over 191 games winning 50c is a joke! I really want to improve, i feel that i would have been around $150 up if it wasnt for my lack of understanding during the first 100 or so games, plus i had a little $80 blip later on. I need to ensure i make as much as i can from each stt as small mistakes eat into profits!

One thing i have picked up is people dont understand bubble play, i semi knew this but ignored it thinking that 'he wont call his stack off with A10 when there is a shortstack who will be all in next hand.' Well i now know that people will do that! The winning players at this level know what they are doing and will pass big hands, however there is a high number of small losers and marginal winners that will make some crazy plays.

E.G

I had around 8k in chips, second had 3.5k, the other two players had 1k each, blinds at 200/400. I have AA utg, its 2nds bb, i push he calls with 44. Now what the hell he was thinking there i dont know, he is pretty much gtd second if he plays properly but no he goes out 4th and the two shorties soon follow. I need to remember that people will call it off with small pps and Ak-A9, so although at higher levels pushing will work where i am i need to think more about the players not the plays!

Im nearly halfway through the 500 games and im a long way off target, i hope to achieve my goal as when i get to the 500 if my BR allows i am moving upto the $12 turbos on full tilt. I am still learning the turbos but i think that i have the ability to beat them, cash has hurt me alot, mtts are my best option however take too long and take over my life, so stt turbos it is...for now!!

Back in the black!

2007-08-05T06:09:00.000-07:00

15 more games since my last update and im back in profit, i have a long way to go to make the double figure ROI that im aiming for but i think it can be done. I have tried to make a few tweaks to my game to reduce leakage and things seem to be going well. My main problem is lack of 1st place finishes and its certainly something i need to work on. As per usual a few bad beats but again its part of the game!

The new season is nearly upon us, i will be putting a small bankroll to one side to crack on with football bets, this will stop me taking out poker money for a 'dead cert'! Im really looking forward to the new season even though leeds are in league one i cant wait to get my season ticket and get down to the games, i also think that the premiership will be great this year mainly due to the competition for first place, Man Utd have bought some cracking players and i dont want to rule out liverpool, even though i hate them more than any other team due to the amount of money i have lost on em!

Im going to start a tipping account and see how i do over the year. 100 points to start.

Todays Tip

3 pts Chelsea win (2/1)
2 pts Under 2.5 Goals (8/13)

My max bet will be 5pts and i will be hoping to pick a bet from the top three divs each week, and aim to have a banker, long shot and treble! We shall see!

SS

Nice little session!

2007-08-04T14:40:00.001-07:00

Played 7 more games on full tilt and did quite nicely 2 wins 2 seconds and 3 out of the money. When the turbos go your way they are great however it can turn on a sixpence! I played very tight early and got my money in for the most part good, not a single dominated hand which is what its all about! Few beats in the games which i lost but thats the way it goes. Anyway thats it for the night!

Turbo Blues!

2007-08-04T13:25:00.000-07:00

The turbos are out to test me, im sure of that! I cant win a race and its starting to hurt! Ive had to cash out stars due to some unexpected bills! I have changed my spreadsheet to take it into account, so now ill be only playing full tilt. I prefer FT in all honesty, stars has a few regulars that clear well over 15% ROI whereas there dont seem to be that many turbo 'pros' on full tilt. My results are as follows...

Not very nice reading, i really need to reduce the leaks in my game, i bubble far too much and when i make the money i come 3rd too much, ITM of 30% isnt too bad, could do with 40% plus, my issue is taking em down! Gonna watch a few cardrunners vids and see what i can do!!

BORED!

2007-08-03T07:13:00.001-07:00

Had enough for the day! some difficult beats, and a few too many 2nds have made me decide that i am done for the day ! i will prob nip on later for a few games but cant be bothered at the moment!

only 70 games less than i wanted to play, ah well!

Morning session...

2007-08-03T03:42:00.000-07:00

I have started my plan on trying to play 100 stts today, however i doubt i will be able to play that many, quite a high target! I have played about 20 this morning, going to try to get to 60 by 6 then try to play some more in the evening, the results so far are

I have had some difficult beats but thats part of the turbos, if i hadnt had those i would have made a nice profit however i need to deal with the beats as at this level its going to happen!

Anyway will be updating again soon, gonna use this blog to keep track of the day!

5 more games...

2007-08-02T14:44:00.000-07:00

Played another 5 games won 3, 1 second and an unplaced, to turn a losing session into a winning one! pretty solid play from me without a single bad beat! pretty pleased with that batch of games though i should have won 4! lol

SS

whats it like, whats it like, whats it like to win a race?

2007-08-02T13:16:00.000-07:00

Had a shocking session tonight, 10 games and a few 3rd places to show, dropped back to about 30 in the red on full tilt, cant be bothered posting the spreadsheet! just a case of losing pretty much every race and losing a couple of 80 20s. i cant get angry about it or frustrated just need to come back to it later and try again!

Hoping to smash some games tomorrow, my aim is to play 100 but i think thats very unlikely! 60 should be pretty comfortable though and that what i plan to do!

decent update tomorrow!!

SS

Swingy!

2007-08-01T11:53:00.001-07:00

Im still learning as i play these turbos, as i said previously the games are completely different to any other type of HE, i am trying to figure out who/when/where i should push from, a couple of times ive pushed with any 2 rags expected every1 to pass and getting called by K10 or A8 etc, this is hard to take as i feel that there call is the mistake not my push, but again im still learning and the levels im playing are v.low so crazy calls are to be expected!

I had been playing mostly on stars but now the new month has started ive moved back to full tilt with the aim of making the leaderboard! not sure how likely this is with the amount of games i'll play but worth a try! I have logged a total of 85 games so far which isnt too shabby and my results are below...

I played 15 games today on full tilt and made about $40, this is better than i'd expect but not huge and would have been better if it wasnt for the 3 seconds i got. One major thing i need to work on is my heads up play, i used to pride myself on HU but when playing these turbos, especially 4 tabling i can get sloppy! This must stop if im to make the magic 15% ROI.

Anyway the results are not amazing but im happy as after 41 games i was over $110 down! Im sure i will have losing sessions but hopefully it will be due to sick luck not stupid play!!

gl at the tables

Improvement!

2007-07-30T13:59:00.000-07:00

17 more games and im feeling much better about the turbos, i was pissed off after yesterdays post however feel that im starting to get the hang of the style of play required to be successful. The game is so different to any other type of HE that its taking some time. I watched a cardrunners video on the turbos and took alot from it. However im finding that some of the people at these levels do not understand bubble play at all and will call off all there chips with KJ with a shortstack at the table, this is not good as it means i need to be more careful during bubble time and not get too crazy!

One think that i have changed about my games is avoiding re-raise bluffing. People cant pass Ax sooooted so i need to stop trying to make them! My game currently is very tight early then push fold later, its pretty simple but i need to be careful not to push too many marginal hands or call a shortstacks push just because im getting 2-1 on my money! If the call will do too much damage to my stack especially on the bubble i need to stop doing it!!

Running totals are...

GL at the tables

Awful start...

2007-07-29T16:25:00.001-07:00

As expected i've had a terrible start to the turbo stts on both starts and full tilt, some of the plays are unreal. Its v.testing losing the amount of games i have, but i'm going to carry on, read some 2+2 threads and see if i can improve my game. I feel that the games are very beatable, many people are proving this and i think that i will be one of those people soon enough!

I have figured out that cash isnt for me and can't accept that im unable to beat these games!!

Anyway stats so far are...

Pretty pathetic!! I have had some awful suck outs and seen some even worse calls on the bubble but things need to change for me to carry on with this lark!!

Anyway will update when i can!

Plan for August!

2007-07-29T03:40:00.000-07:00

After having a difficult time of late on the poker front im planning on some rebuilding over the next month, i plan to play 500 single table tournies. 250 on stars 250 on full tilt. I will be updating on here with my success, i have had a few practice runs and have enjoyed the games. Discipline is key for this, i have been all over the shop of late and i need to work on my consistency! I am hoping for double figure ROI and think that this is possible at the level i will be playing! Anyway hopefully i will have something decent to post soon. It seems i just update with my next plan without completing any! ah well, no more treading water!

SS

Cash Game Downs.

2007-07-25T03:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts! Im sure that one or two people still read this! i have been v.busy in the 'real' world and my poker hasnt been going well! I have pretty much come to the conclusion that at this stage of my poker life cash games arent for me! I just dont have the discipline, i think that im better admitting this now rather than trying to bang my head against a wall!

I have watched loads of cardrunners videos and have a good understanding of the game. The problem is that one beat/mistake can make me plummet into crazy shocking play! I am going to concentrate on the 9 seat sngs on full tilt for a while, i will be playing v.low stakes $10+1 for now as i want to have 30x the buy in and thats all im left with after my cash game adventure! Plus i am in the process of applying for a new job, interview today and if i get it i will need to work on that, playing cash games for hours on end can really take it out of me! Whereas sng's used to be my bread and butter on the old tribecca network and i can play them with v.little effort!

My aim is to move upto the 20's as soon as possible but it might take a while as i wont be playing all that much! Im going to set up a spreadsheet so that i can can keep decent records. I have grown tired of poker if im totally honest, i used to love reading about it, watching it and thought about it all the time...however at the moment im sick of it, and only want to play to supplement my income like i did in the past...problem is i havent made decent money for a long time and therefore need to re-evaluate what im doing.

I wont be setting targets with regards to games played but will be trying to get a little session in most days! I will be 3 tabling as 4 tables is abit much for me and i lose the little observations i can pick up when i play 3. Finally i am no longer going to get drawn into the chat box's. I am one of those people that cant help but say wp nh to fish after a big suck out and when they say ty i go wild, its a real idiot thing to do and i get no benefit from it. It winds me up makes me play like an idiot and puts a target on my back for the rest of the table! So new rule... DONT GET INVOLVED!

Gl at the tables

SS

PS

Congrats to The Claimer who took 3rd in the GUKPT in Newcastle!

The road to recovery!

2007-07-14T03:39:00.000-07:00

I have only played a couple of hours since my last post, with a grand total of 3k hands, im now on 0bb/100! Better than where i was however two hands were the difference! first was a set getting paid for $150 vs AA the next was 2nd nut flush vs KKK. Pretty happy with my play and my game has come on a long way, even though i am prone to play a few too many hands and bluff off chips when i know my opponent isnt passing!

At the moment i am trying to work on check passing in un raised pots unless i have a good hand, this may seem crazy to other cash players but i cant help but bet into a pot with 3x players when its checked to me even if i have air, this isnt the problem, but when people play back at me i continue trying to take the pot. This is ridiculous play and i lose plenty of $'s doing it!

Another area im currently working on is not getting too involved with hands that i raise PF when somebody plays back at me. This is a big problem as i can lose alot of chips vs players with solid holdings. For example today i had 10 8s, make a raise from the button, BB reraises 3x. Now at this point i think AA KK AK or QQ, however still call trying to outdraw, the flop is
10 Xs Xs and im just in front of an over pair. I get my chips in on the flop he has AA and it holds. Now on the flop this isnt such a bad play i have 14 outs and am marginally in front however why am i trying to play 108s vs big pair preflop i will never know, too many times i will miss and try to take it down!

I need to remember that ABC poker with aggression from late position is winning poker at the levels i am playing, i know that when i hit a set vs overpair im getting paid more than i would pay with the hands reversed! Today when i had the 2nd nut flush if the roles had been reversed and i had trip k's i would have check called the river rather than betting pot and committing myself.

Mistakes my opponents make will make me more money than trying to pull off fancy moves!

SS

The learning curve is steap...

2007-07-09T14:53:00.000-07:00

The cash learning curve is a very harsh one, i have gone from 7x buy ins to the good to -1x buy in, the main reason for my slump is poor play. During my winning sessions i was playing LAG from position and TAG out of it, i was working on my table image enabling me to get my big hands paid.

Then i went through a few hours of having shit cards and missing flops, this resulted in me being over aggressive with VP$IP between 40 and 66. This is far far too high and i feel my optimum VP$IP is around 30, high but i want to play an aggressive game, TAG just doesnt work for me.

After a v.bad session -4x buy ins I took a break and read some of Sklansky HE for Advanced players, to gain some focus. This helped me, making me think about the bigger picture, TILT is a major problem for me and i need to avoid it at all costs. I have lost money since starting on full tilt but the amount lost is minimal, it feels like more because of the great start i had however this is still a learning curve i need to remember this to improve my game rather than take a bad beat drop 2x buy ins and go crazy.

Im going to try to improve my game as much as i can, my main aim is not working on how i gain maximum $ from my winning hands but reducing the amount lost when i have the worst of it. I always say im not going to set tartgets as they end up taking over however i will be aiming to play with VP$IP of 30, and 8bb/100 over 10k hands . This isnt a huge amount however 8bb/100 is a figure which i can achieve if i put my back into it! At the moment im -3bb/100 after 2200 hands, i need to make just over 10bb/100 over then next 7800 hands to achieve my target. This should take me about 40 hours of play time as i will be playing 2 tables.

Hopefully the next post will have me in profit again from cash and on my way to the magical 8bb/100!

SS

PS - more likely i will be busto so dont get your hopes up!

Running well...

2007-07-08T04:36:00.000-07:00

I have played for the last couple of days on full tilt and im really enjoying it, i have mostly played cash and have picked up around 6x buy ins overall. Which isnt too shabby, my current stats at the 25c 50c tables are 26bb/100 hands which is v.good however only played 1k hands so prob will drop over the rest of the month.

I also played a MTT to check out the structure, i have played a couple before and enjoyed them but as it was a long time ago and my play has changed v.much (from TAG to LAG). So i signed up to the $3k GTD $10 buy in 404 runners. It was a cracking structure and i played some v.good poker, i finished 3rd for $450+, although it was a nice result i was unhappy as i took a horrific beat, i raised preflop with AJ, table idiot called. Flop comes AA6, i get all my chips in to be called by 88...river you know what. that put me down to 4/4, however the same guy flopped a flush vs a guy with nut straight and a straight flush draw which pretty much knocked him out.

Other than that i had a good tourney, i managed to lose a limited amount with AK on a 5 x k k x board, vs 55. Was v.pleased with that as i would have been out in 7th if i hadnt got away cheaply!

All in all im happy with my poker at the moment which is a good place to be, no longer feeling at the start of every session here comes an horrific beat, or donking off chips with stupid bluffs vs calling stations!

The hand i posted previously i called his turn bet he had 88 and i lost the hand. It was a very marginal call and after talking about it with a few people i think the right play was to simply call the flop bet and try to draw to the straight/flush on the cheap, knowing if i hit i can stack him if i miss i dont get stacked!

Thanks for all your comments! LOL

gl at the tables.

SS

Full Tilt Poker

2007-07-06T14:47:00.000-07:00

Now then where to start. I have been in a transitional stage with regards to poker over these past few weeks. I was planning on playing on the DTD Cash tables working to earn rakeback playing the odd GTD tourney however that has kinda gone out of the window with me cashing out from there and moving some funds into blonde poker/virgin poker for the challenge as well as putting a lump into Full Tilt.

The reason for me leaving DTD was the rakeback scheme that is in place, last month i hit 1400 points and got about 80quid or so back, now 'free money' is great however i think that i lost far more trying to make the points through the mentality of i better play for a couple of hours or i wont make the 1k required points. I dont want to be in that position anymore, i want to play my A game for as long as possible playing because i want to not because i have to get another 200 points for this week. I already have a job i hate i dont want to start hating my hobby!

So while i learn/improve my cash game i will be playing 25c 50c on full tilt, and thanks to a few tourney wins and a nice few cash sessions on DTD i have the roll for this level and a few quid in the bank. When i put money into an account i always aim to build a roll/move up levels etc, however as i feel right now i want to work on having a static BR, and aim to cash out any profit at the end of the month, i will post my results when i get the chance.

So this is where i am now, i played the first two blonde events, in the first i came 6th running a huge bluff which i almost got away with, almost being the key word! The second event was shocking play from me, i made a stupid move with 10 8 when i thought the sb was making a squeeze play, he had KK... gg me! Team Northern Boys are doing ok, and are far from out of it! A few good results and we will be right up there!

Back to now! Cracked on with the cash tables on full tilt, a good start and a few buy ins to the good, i am going to post a hand and i would really like to know what people think, the problem is nobody reads this....oh well fk it!

25c 50c, both players just over the max buy in.

Im on the button with 4c 5c, a loose/crazy player raises to $1.75, i call, blinds pass

POT - $4.25

Flop 6c 7s 9c

Villain bets out $5, i raise to $20 he calls.

POT - $44.25

Turn is Kh

He pushes all in for $30, i have him covered.

POT - $74.25 (less rake)

To call or not to call that is the question!

Will talk more about the hand next post...

GL at the tables!

SS

picture

2007-06-30T07:07:00.000-07:00

I dont know how to let you increase the size of the pictures in my last post, therefore the results were as follows

Top Left $104.43
Bottom Left $153.40
Top Right $138.56
Bottom Right $102.50

Happy days!

ss

Much better session

2007-06-30T06:58:00.000-07:00

Today i have played 25c 50c and it has been a much better day. I have had a couple of beats but nothing that has broken my heart! I four tabled today and found keeping up with the action quite easy.

When i play cash in the future i am going to try to avoid any other distractions, i normally have the radio on or a film i have seen in the background, however i found today that i was able to make a few lay downs that i wouldnt have been able to yesterday! AQ pre flop yesterday was getting shoved which is -ev to a reraise for sure!

The end of session screen shot is below! Quite happy to double the buy in on every table i played!

Gl at the tables!

playing well and losing.

2007-06-29T16:35:00.001-07:00

Its been a few days since ive updated and i have played quite a bit! Im finding bad beats harder and harder to take, today i have played 25c 50c along with a little bit of 50c 1$.

I shouldnt really be posting as nobody likes to read people moan but if you are one of those people stop reading!

I dont know how to take some fking moron catching a two outer on you then saying something such as TY. It happened twice today, both for pots that were over 3x the buy in. If i win those pots then im flying and writing about how great the game of poker is however as it stands i feel like finding the people that play on crypto and bricking the bastards! I guess that every1 gets the same amount of beats and that the most important thing is how to deal with them, however i just feel that at the moment i cant catch a break!

Maybe tourneys are the way forward for me as i am able to deal with a bad beat at a tourney by simply putting it down to being short stacked being a big stack or simply being at it! However in cash when a guy limps then calls my button raise with 10 2s, i hold AJ flop comes A J x and he gets it in with a flush draw and then proceeds in making it i just dont know what to do! Other than of course giving the poor sod aload of abuse!

I try to tell myself this is the kind of play i want but it isnt, the kind of play i want is him calling with A10 then paying me off but that never seems to happen! Cash takes alot of discipline and im currently unsure on whether i have it. I think that tomorrow i am going to put some hours in as its the last day of the rakeback month and then take some time off cash! If tomorrow i play well and come away with a few bob i might reconsider my time away from the cash tables... only time will tell!

Anyway sorry about the moan it was either that or give the missus a slap! (joke)

SS

Virgin/Blonde Team Event.

2007-06-25T15:03:00.000-07:00

I have been getting a team together for this team challenge which will be played throughout July. Currently we have 4 members, me, wardonkey, acidmouse and Jakally. We are the northern boys and im hoping for some nice results and a buy in to the grosvenor grand prix! Should be good fun if nothing else! I had to reactivate my virgin poker account so decided to play the $20k GTD Rebuy for abit of fun. Well 3 hours later and i came 29th. I was really upset with some of the beats i suffered but thats the way of the world especially in MTTs, i had a huge chip lead with 44 left.

However i didnt reraise with AK to a EP raise and when i flopped the A i managed to get half my stack in and found myself up against A2. He had flopped two pair and i played the hand really badly. I still had an ok stack and found myself card dead and situation dead as the now huge chip leader was running the show.

I got to the last 3o and was in the BB with A5. Button raise i think its a steal so push....he calls with KQ and its all over. Sickening really but i feel that a big win isnt that far away as long as i continue to do the right things in these tourneys.

Cant really be that upset with doubling the amount of money i put in my virgin account in the first day however i only put a small amount in to play the events so not a huge achievement!

Will be updating on the event if anybody is interested feel free to comment and i will consider you for our team!!

SS

Standard Cash Beats!

2007-06-24T05:21:00.000-07:00

Been playing some cash mixed with a few tourneys. Not won anything worth mentioning nor have a lost a substantial amount.

I have lost a couple of cash pots to standard bad beats but nothing that is too unusual. i had trip 3s, got all my chips in vs top pair. River gave 4 card flush to the villain. I had two pair which was beaten by a rivered higher two pair, and thats about it really!

I have cleared the 1000 points required for DTD rakeback which is good as for some reason getting 100 quid from the site feels better than winning it at the tables! maybe its just me! I think that next month i am going to try to play cash for the first 2 weeks of the month followed by more MTTs the 2nd half of july. My cash game has improved alittle and my confidence is high so i dont automatically think i will suffer a bad beat when i sit and therefore can play my hands with a clear head not thinking, i will over bet this pot so he wont flush me out etc.

Anyway have to go to the shops get some food in for the week!

GL at the tables!

Its been a while!

2007-06-21T09:12:00.000-07:00

I havent posted for about 5 days and things have gone from bad to worse. I have had one of the worst runs of my life. Sick beats and bad play has really cost me over this past week.

I have tried to combat this run by playing NL cash, Heads up, MTTs, ive even played limit holdem all to no avail. i have probably dropped around 1k pound sterling which to some poker players is nothing but to me at the moment this is pretty tough to take.

This week has made me ask alot of questions about playing online, and i have come up with an answer, the game doesnt change. I have dropped money because i have played outside of my roll, got emotionally involved when losing and continued to play when things havent been going well. The biggest problem in my game is not running into sick beats its how i deal with them, too many times have i reloaded and lost more rather than either taken time out or reloaded and played my normal game.

I have found that a beat which lost me a $80 pot has cost me $200 through tilt and this is just not acceptable. I have tried to take a step back, think about my game and work on the areas that need improving. The most important thing for me is to sit when i have time to play, wont have the missus in the ear and finally avoid playing when im totally knackered! If i do this then when i get a beat or a sick run of cards i will be able to cope with it rather than tilting and dumping chips trying to win 4 buy ins in 30 mins!

I have thought some more about game selection and what i should be playing, i think that my best option at the moment is to keep the number of tables i play low, play a mixture of MTTs, Limit and NL cash. Cash games are vital for me and my future play online, there is plenty of money to be made and grinding low limit cash improves my MTT game. I am able to assess situations much better when i play multi tables after i have played cash for a couple of days, because cash requires so much concentration.

It is all too easy to 4 table MTTs not concentrate pass and raise like a robot however this is no way to win a tourney. After cash games i really enjoy the challenge of a multi so i will be mixing my play up to ensure that i play at an optimal level.

I have played from 2 o clock today (about 3 hours) i played cash for around 30 - 45 mins won enough to enter into some mulits, the 1300 pound gtd, the €1200 and a 10 pound mtt with only 20 runners.

I won both the 1300 gtd and the 10 small mtt. for a nice profit of 500 notes. Im going to run through the 1300 history and post some hands, as when i read blogs i love to know how different situations played out.

My plan for this tourney was play nice and tight during the first 30 -45 mins and if a situation arose in which i had a lot of chips run over the table from pos. I didnt want to start all loose and try this tatic without a comfortable stack as too many fish at these levels will reraise a button steal with rag hands which are impossible to read!

First couple of hands i got didnt turn out great, i had AK raised 4x two callers missed flop and bb bet out. I dropped to about 1100 chips when i found 3 4s in the sb. I complete and flop comes 9 x 3. small raise from mid pos limper and i call, turn is 4 and he bets out again i reraise he pushes and i call he has 98 for top pair and i drag the 2400 pot. He gives me some abuse but he played the hand terribly.

At this point im not too interested in trying to bully the table as i have just over the ave stack, i continue with the waiting game, however i get hit in the face with the deck preflop but miss every flop. this results in me dropping back to around 1200.

The table is v.tight so i decide to try to chip up alittle, out of the 15 hands that followed i won 9, 8 without contest the last being KJ vs 7 where i turned the straight for a 3000 pot.

I decide to settle down as my image is shot...luckily i get moved!!

2nd hand at my new table i get QQ...i put a bet in 1 caller, flop comes A high and i have to pass after my small c-bet. More shit situations occur in which i have a good hand preflop and a useless one post...i felt it was going to be one of those days!

Im back to 1200 and getting pissed off!! I get 6 7 and make a bet into a serial limper. Flop comes 9c 2d 4c, he checks i bet he calls... i dont figure him for the 9 more likely has face cards maybe a draw but i felt that if i hit my 7 or 6 i was infront. 6 falls he checks i push and he calls with KQc. i dodge many cards and win a pot of 2250

Not very much happens for a while and i get to the last 2 tables with the same stack i started with. one player at the table is very aggro and is making moves constantly however every1 else is very meek. I am getting to the push or pass point and feel that i need to loosen up, if i get some chips then happy days if i bust out in 11th then so be it!

I find 66 on the bb, one raiser i call flop of 6 7 9 and check push, he turns 88 and i manage to hold on...very fortunate hand for me ! I carry on looking for spots and get into a hand with the aggro player, he seems to overbet and isnt that good a player. I have A9 in an unopened pot. flop comes 9 7 4 and he bets i repop and we get all in. He has up and down draw and i take the pot after turn and river dont help him.

Im in an ok spot now and i steadily make my way upto the 10k spot which i figure is an ok stack to take the FT. This is exactly what i do.

I then sit out picking up a set of blinds from time to time. A few players drop out and matey boy is running the show. I decided that its time to change gears, i reraise on of aggro's steals, then i go on a blind stealing mission! Betting from button and cutoff pretty much every round! The two shorties to my left continue to pass and everything is going well!

I make my usual steal from the button with 6 4s and the sb has had enough he pushes and i make the simple call for 2.5k to win a 10k pot. I hit a straight he complains and im going strong. I drop down a few gears and start to play a tight ABC game, luckily most people are staying off my blinds a fringe benefit of calling an all in with 6 4!!

Next real hand i play is make or break vs the chip leader and table captain. I have A10 and have raised UTG into his bb he puts me all in and i make the call he has K7 flop comes 3 3 7 turn is 5 and i river A...PHEW!

From then on its pretty much plain sailing to heads up. I have about 30k and he has 55k, but after 20hands of heads up its all over and i have taken the 400 pound prize down!!

I got lucky at crucial times but more importantly i wasnt unlucky when it mattered! I was very happy with my play and love the structure of these small MTTs.

Well my fingers are tired!

GL at the tables!!

MTT's the way forward?

2007-06-17T10:59:00.000-07:00

2nd in the 1,500 GTD. heads up was 1 hand. i bet with 74, he called. i hit 7 he hit flush draw...rivered it and im done in 2nd. should have played the heads up better! but at least i got my chips in infront.

The tourney paid 315 quid so nice little result after my shitty time at the cash tables! i think i need to consider playing the gtd tournies and reducing the time i spend playing cash as i feel that i tilt far too easily when i play NL ring games!

Ah well im still in the €1200 and a sat to the 40k. so hopefully i will have another update or two!!

SS

DTD account busto again!

2007-06-17T05:01:00.000-07:00

Well i have dropped $500 over the past couple of days, really sick beats, terrible play and moving up a few levels when i was losing. My BR management is shocking, i am great at sticking to the correct level when things are going well but when im losing i play like a donk, change levels, and play when i am playing shit! Will have to have a serious think about what to do from here, online poker is getting expensive!

Ah well im sure that i will be back on with a new "idea" very shortly.

SS

Insult to injury with this river

2007-06-16T03:50:00.000-07:00

Game #4707391164: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2007/06/16 - 11:50:06 (UK)
Table "OtterburnPark" Seat 4 is the button.
Seat 1: Mob06 ($80.70 in chips)
Seat 2: gmmatt ($78.65 in chips)
Seat 3: Dephased ($16.40 in chips)
Seat 4: shadow20 ($36.40 in chips)
Seat 5: mekko ($50 in chips)
Seat 6: sovietson ($15.50 in chips)
mekko: posts small blind $0.25
sovietson: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to sovietson [6c 6s]
Mob06: calls $0.50
gmmatt: folds
Dephased: folds
shadow20: folds
mekko: raises to $3
sovietson: raises to $15.50 and is all-in
Mob06: folds
mekko: calls $12.50
----- FLOP ----- [Jd Qd 2d]
----- TURN ----- [Jd Qd 2d][7d]
----- RIVER ----- [Jd Qd 2d 7d][6h]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
sovietson: shows [6c 6s] (Three of a kind, Sixes, Queen high)
mekko: shows [Ad Kh] (A Flush, Ace high)
mekko collected $29.95 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot $31.50 Main pot $29.95 Rake $1.55
Board [Jd Qd 2d 7d 6h]
Seat 1: Mob06 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: gmmatt folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Dephased folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: shadow20 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: mekko (small blind) showed [Ad Kh] and won ($29.95) with A Flush, Ace high
Seat 6: sovietson (big blind) showed [6c 6s] and lost with Three of a kind, Sixes, Queen high

ffs

2007-06-16T03:42:00.001-07:00

Game #4707390504: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2007/06/16 - 11:40:50 (UK)
Table "OtterburnPark" Seat 2 is the button.
Seat 1: sonics6 ($33.18 in chips)
Seat 2: gmmatt ($42.70 in chips)
Seat 3: Dephased ($16.50 in chips)
Seat 4: shadow20 ($36.55 in chips)
Seat 5: mekko ($50 in chips)
Seat 6: sovietson ($62.60 in chips)
Dephased: posts small blind $0.25
shadow20: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to sovietson [Qh 8h]
mekko: folds
sovietson: raises to $2
sonics6: calls $2
gmmatt: folds
Dephased: folds
shadow20: folds
----- FLOP ----- [Qs 6c Qc]
sovietson: bets $3.50
sonics6: calls $3.50
----- TURN ----- [Qs 6c Qc][6d]
sovietson: checks
sonics6: checks
----- RIVER ----- [Qs 6c Qc 6d][7d]
sovietson: bets $7
sonics6: raises to $27.68 and is all-in
sovietson: calls $20.68
----- SHOW DOWN -----
sonics6: shows [6h 6s] (Four of a kind, Sixes, Queen high)
sovietson: shows [Qh 8h] (A Full House, Queens full of Sixes)
sonics6 collected $64.11 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot $67.11 Main pot $64.11 Rake $3
Board [Qs 6c Qc 6d 7d]
Seat 1: sonics6 showed [6h 6s] and won ($64.11) with Four of a kind, Sixes, Queen high
Seat 2: gmmatt (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Dephased (small blind) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: shadow20 (big blind) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: mekko folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: sovietson showed [Qh 8h] and lost with A Full House, Queens full of Sixes

when your running bad...

2007-06-16T03:35:00.001-07:00

Game #4707389974: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2007/06/16 - 11:33:58 (UK)
Table "OtterburnPark" Seat 3 is the button.
Seat 1: sonics6 ($26.18 in chips)
Seat 2: gmmatt ($49 in chips)
Seat 3: andy125 ($49.55 in chips)
Seat 4: shadow20 ($37.55 in chips)
Seat 6: sovietson ($62.25 in chips)
shadow20: posts small blind $0.25
sovietson: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to sovietson [6c 3c]
sonics6: folds
gmmatt: folds
andy125: calls $0.50
shadow20: calls $0.25
sovietson: checks
----- FLOP ----- [6s 6h 2d]
shadow20: checks
sovietson: bets $1.50
andy125: raises to $3
shadow20: folds
sovietson: raises to $7
andy125: raises to $49.05 and is all-in
sovietson: calls $42.05
----- TURN ----- [6s 6h 2d][Ks]
----- RIVER ----- [6s 6h 2d Ks][8d]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
andy125: shows [Kh Kc] (A Full House, Kings full of Sixes)
sovietson: shows [6c 3c] (Three of a kind, Sixes, King high)
andy125 collected $96.60 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot $99.60 Main pot $96.60 Rake $3
Board [6s 6h 2d Ks 8d]
Seat 1: sonics6 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: gmmatt folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: andy125 (button) showed [Kh Kc] and won ($96.60) with A Full House, Kings full of Sixes
Seat 4: shadow20 (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 6: sovietson (big blind) showed [6c 3c] and lost with Three of a kind, Sixes, King high

I couldnt have played this hand any better.

I feel sick after this hand!

ss

This hand says it all...

2007-06-15T14:53:00.001-07:00

Game #4702144194: Hold'em NL ($0.15/$0.25) - 2007/06/15 - 22:37:07 (UK)
Table "Blow" Seat 5 is the button.
Seat 1: sovietson ($46.37 in chips)
Seat 2: mickuss ($25 in chips)
Seat 3: indsdress ($5.17 in chips)
Seat 4: sheridan8 ($55.13 in chips)
Seat 5: MoCrew ($61.10 in chips)
Seat 6: asirius ($25.43 in chips)
asirius: posts small blind $0.15
sovietson: posts big blind $0.25
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to sovietson [Ah Ks]
mickuss: folds
indsdress: calls $0.25
sheridan8: folds
MoCrew: folds
asirius: calls $0.10
sovietson: raises to $1.25
indsdress: folds
asirius: calls $1
----- FLOP ----- [Ac 3d 5h]
asirius: checks
sovietson: bets $1.25
asirius: raises to $6
sovietson: raises to $13
asirius: raises to $24.18 and is all-in
sovietson: calls $11.18
----- TURN ----- [Ac 3d 5h][2c]
----- RIVER ----- [Ac 3d 5h 2c][6d]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
asirius: shows [4h 7h] (A Straight, Seven high)
sovietson: shows [Ah Ks] (A Pair of Aces, King high)
asirius collected $48.56 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot $51.11 Main pot $48.56 Rake $2.55
Board [Ac 3d 5h 2c 6d]
Seat 1: sovietson (big blind) showed [Ah Ks] and lost with A Pair of Aces, King high
Seat 2: mickuss folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: indsdress folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: MoCrew (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: asirius (small blind) showed [4h 7h] and won ($48.56) with A Straight, Seven high

Need i say more?