No Fate

With the exception of a couple of $22's last night I've had a few poker free nights recently.On Wednesday I was at the cinema to see Terminator:Salvation and although it's a different type of film to the other Terminator movies, ( more Matrix/Star Wars than the first three films) I wasn't exactly blown away by it.A Terminator film without Arnie or Linda Hamilton just doesn't seem the same.It was no surprise that the ending left room for more of the same, but there were no legendary scenes like the start of T2 ( Bad to the Bone) or the "I'll be back" police station scene from the original film.

Jumping back to the poker I downloaded the latest Pokertracker 3 update and realised that the reason my tourney stats are all wrong is because I've not been downloading the sng summaries.I tried to do it manually but failed miserably.Any tips on how to do this quickly and easily would be appreciated!

No word back on my proposed sabbatical from work and I reckon it could be 7-10 days before I do get an answer.I wrote in my last post that even if I had the skills/mental capabilities to play poker for a living ( and I'm not saying I do) I didn't think a life spent mashing buttons on my own would be much fun.That doesn't mean I don't have great respect for players that do grind out a living from the great online cardgame we know as No -Limit Holdem.

Aside from the fun and social factors I'm also not sure I have it in me mentally to cope with dealing with the daily swings which come as standard when playing a lot of sngs.I work hard at my day job but I'm a lazy git too and I doubt I have the stamina required for being able to put in a ton of hours at the virtual felt.Something Shamus posted recently ( see his July 8th post) also rang a bell with me.When comparing his feelings on live poker v online he wrote " When I play online, I almost never feel that sense of satisfaction, win or lose. In fact, I often feel something very different, something more akin to self-loathing over having “wasted” my hours in a non-creative, unproductive, empty pursuit.".

His words really hit home and I wonder if there's something within me that feels that way about grinding at the virtual felt.Playing for say 8 hours and not making any profit does feel like a complete waste of time and yet I'll play PS3 games for long periods without feeling the same.(no reward at all other than getting to remind the s-man of the Immortal badge I earned for winning a ranked race in Pacific Rift...)

I've also banged on for years about how I'm terrible at actually starting to play poker even when I've plenty of spare time to play.I'll surf the net,watch tv and mess around, although once I do start and get into the zone,I feel like I could play all night.This usually leads to me starting around 11pm and not wanting to switch off and go to bed at a reasonable time.Maybe that reluctance to begin play comes from the feelings Shamus described.Perhaps I'm just making excuses for being a lazy git or I'm just mentally weaker than the hardcore grinders.Who knows!

Ok,time for a quick Arnie scene.Back after the weekend...

Sabbatical Thoughts

Well it's Tuesday and my head is still up my backside after hearing about the sabbatical deal my work are offering.I've gone from looking at 8 months off to 3 months and now reckon I've almost settled on 5-6 months.The revised plan is to use poker bankroll money to top up my wages for the first couple of months and my credit card for the other 3-4 months.It will only take up to about 6 months to clear the card debt when I go back to work and that's assuming I make no poker profit at all.

Of course hopefully I'll continue to make $$ at da pokers and I'll obviously play more when I'm off, but this way I'm not having to rely on it and won't be under any pressure to play because I have to.I have Nacho to look after so that rules out long "gap year" type trips but if the poker goes really well I may look at getting away for a couple of weeks to do something different.( like ironing or cleaning!)

I'm sure some poker players reading this will wonder why I don't commit to a proper playing schedule and try to make it as a pro.( or at least someone who makes a living from game).That may have appealed to me in my 20's, but I'm old enough and wise enough to realise that even if I made a roaring success of it I'd still be doing what amounts to a pretty lonely data entry job and also creating a hard to explain gap on my cv if it all went tits up.

On the poker front I enjoyed the RTR league game on Sunday night despite being card dead and eventually crashing out when my AK was rivered by KJ soooted.I played some $22's afterwards and ran horribly,only cashing in the last one.I took a break from the game last night and....watched a couple of training vids.

I've not mentioned Michael Jackson's recent death as I wasn't a big fan.I do recall the hype round the Thriller video and being allowed to stay up late as a 10 yr old to watch it.The Big Chap and I also used free corporate tickets to see him play at Wembley a few years back.Great seats and great weed as I recall.Is it just me or is the whole funeral/memorial thing turning into a pathetic circus?People whooping and waving their tickets around like they've just won a tour of Willy Wonka's factory just doesn't seem right to me.

Ok,thanks for reading.Back soon...

Keepyourdayjob

The post title was also the excellent screename of a villain at one of my tables recently.Checking the news yesterday it looks like I may get the chance to keep my day job but take a break of up to a year on 1/4 pay.( paid up front)Of course I may be getting ahead of myself and the offer won't apply to my department but if it does I intend to take advantage and have at least a few months away from the Mon-Fri office grind.I'm in the fortunate position of having a small mortgage and no other debts so I reckon I can afford to do it,especially as I've paid all the major stuff already this year ( car insurance,council tax,car loan,RFC season ticket)If they paid me my remaining 17 days holiday pay I may even be tempted to stay off until the end of next March.

The aim would be to use my existing poker roll as required and make at least $800 per month at the virtual felt.If I fail to do that I could remortgage,take enough equity to tide me over and still have plenty left available.That would probably be a better idea than selling my car and buying a cheap run-around or even using my credit card.( and obv paying it off when back to work full-time).

To the poker and I had a good night at the felt last night.I was only two tabling and for once the tv was off,I had the tunes on ( Floyd,Dylan,Acdc,Queen,Trance tunes, Classic FM) and I was focussing as hard as a man smoking "power plant" possibly can!

I was close to registering for one of the $11 rebuys on Party that Liquid Eyes and The Kid have recommended but apart from Kat's Friday $1 donkament I've never played a rebuy Mtt and like those Headhunter games,I'm not sure it would suit my style of play.

Anyways the $22's were good to me and I even made a few $$ playing $16 single table turbs at Stars.I'll be back on Stars tonight for the first RTR league game.

Righty I'm off to watch the Wimbledon Final....

Sticking to $22's

It's been so hot recently I even bought my brave dog an ice-cream the other day.I say brave because I certainly wouldn't be lifting my leg to pee on the local hedges with all those bee's buzzing around! ( of course without the bees I wouldn't hesitate...)

Scotland is usually a cold wet country but it's been hot and humid ( nearly 30c yesterday at times) recently and a bit of fresh air wouldn't go amiss.No doubt it'll be back to being cold,wet and miserable soon enough.

I've been sticking to the $22's so far this month and have been taking it easy,only playing a few games per night and so far so good.I've stopped trying to focus so much on nightly results on my blog as the fact is that in the overall scheme of things one nights results are pretty meaningless.Even monthly results are more an indication of how I've been running rather than any indication of well or badly I've been playing.Not posting daily results helps stop me feeling as if any money won has been banked and my new roll total is my starting point.( causing me to feel annoyed when I drop below that point)

For example I'm up about $100 up this month, but in reality I'm not because that's only aprox five $22 buy-ins and has to be seen as a floating roll rather than a set in stone total.This is because sng variance dictates it's possible my roll could swing up or down substantially in either direction without that being a direct reflection of how well or badly I'm playing.

Off out tonight and looking forward to a chilled out weekend.Have a good one...

I am Immortal!

I've only played a few $22's at Party over the last couple of nights.I've been too busy watching Andy Murray continue his run at Wimbledon and playing ps3 games online.Hopefully Murray can beat Roddick tomorrow and make Sundays final, although even if he does I reckon Federer will prove too strong for him.

The only ps3 game I'm playing online is Motorstorm Pacific Rift and if any readers/bloggers fancy a game leave me a comment or drop me an email and I'll pass on my username thingy.The s-man and I thought we were pretty good at the game until we got online.I've actually won a "ranked race" ( earned my "Immortal badge" as I occasionally remind the s-man) but most of the time we're the poker equivalent of a couple of donkeys! Be warned though that I don't always play to win.I picked a Big Rig last night for one race and heard the kiddies on their headsets mocking my choice as it didn't suit the course.I may not have won but I had great fun ramming the motorbikes off the course at the start and listening to other players swearing loudly at my antics.

I also procured some fine new herbs although the downside of that is that I almost ate the new lighter I bought in the Dam as it looks very much like a chocolate bar..

Back to the poker and here's a wee hand from a $33,45 player turbo I played back on June 21st.I often find that when a player loses a big hand,they tend to shove the last of their chips in the pot on the next hand regardless of it's value.In this case I had 4 big blinds left,had been playing my usual TAG ( tight/aggressive) game and reckoned that if nobody woke up with a monster behind me I'd get a chance to take all the blinds/antes and sidepot against what was probably a random hand.I was also due to take the blinds within a few hands and lose any fold equity I had left.I'm still unsure if it was a standard move or an act of donkery!





PokerStars Game #29639477969: Tournament #173649248, $33+$3 Hold'em No Limit - Level IX (200/400) - 2009/06/22 2:02:50 WET [2009/06/21 21:02:50 ET]
Table '173649248 9' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 2: jtravis_11 (8675 in chips)
Seat 3: bigmikeft (7360 in chips)
Seat 4: gandolf7026 (3761 in chips)
Seat 5: 22clown (332 in chips)
Seat 6: obywatel_g (2430 in chips)
Seat 7: zagga (1610 in chips)
Seat 8: k2beardawg (3130 in chips)
Seat 9: hwhsa (3312 in chips)
jtravis_11: posts the ante 50
bigmikeft: posts the ante 50
gandolf7026: posts the ante 50
22clown: posts the ante 50
obywatel_g: posts the ante 50
zagga: posts the ante 50
k2beardawg: posts the ante 50
hwhsa: posts the ante 50
jtravis_11: posts small blind 200
bigmikeft: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to zagga [Qc 4c]
gandolf7026: folds
22clown: calls 282 and is all-in
hg18l7 is connected
obywatel_g: folds
zagga: raises 1160 to 1560 and is all-in
k2beardawg: folds
hwhsa: folds
jtravis_11: folds
bigmikeft: folds
Uncalled bet (1160) returned to zagga
*** FLOP *** [Kh 2d 9h]
*** TURN *** [Kh 2d 9h] [Ts]
*** RIVER *** [Kh 2d 9h Ts] [4d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
zagga: shows [Qc 4c] (a pair of Fours)
zagga collected 236 from side pot
22clown: shows [6d Qs] (high card King)
zagga collected 1446 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1682 Main pot 1446. Side pot 236. | Rake 0
Board [Kh 2d 9h Ts 4d]
Seat 2: jtravis_11 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: bigmikeft (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: gandolf7026 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: 22clown showed [6d Qs] and lost with high card King
Seat 6: obywatel_g folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: zagga showed [Qc 4c] and won (1682) with a pair of Fours
Seat 8: k2beardawg folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: hwhsa (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Back soon....

Monthly Stats

It's been a funny old month at the virtual felt.I ran well at Party,moved over to Stars and managed to run my $536 roll down to $1.58 before bouncing back slightly to finish on $157 there.Actually, I didn't find that my pish poor Stars run funny at all.After my Party success I was hoping to make at least $1k this month but the poker gods obviously decided otherwise.

I played the Turbo-Takedown and cashed for $85 on Sunday before losing those winnings and a bit more at the $16's through a combination of poor play,lost races and bad beats.

Last night I watched Andy Murray win at Wimbledon whilst 4 tabling the $6.50,18 player turbs.I actually ran quite well, won a couple and cashed in a couple more.I even replied to someone in the chatbox when they mentioned that "you don't see that playing live".I'm usually Mr Silent at all times and a lot of the time these days I have the stats or info showing rather than the chat, but it was only a $6.50 game and I had a friendly chat with the guy after telling him online poker is definitely not rigged!

I'm pretty sure the vast majority of players have no idea ( not my knowledgable readers obv) how variance works and the type of downswings which are completely standard even if you're a solid winning player.Perhaps that knowledge comes with experience.Here are the stats for a Party grinder ( great name btw).Playing 842 games and being down over $300 must mean he's a bit of a fish eh?



Errr no,he's actually ranked number 1 on the Holdem 9-10 turbo $16-$35 total profit for '09 leaderboard.



It's not how hard you can punch but how many you can take and keep coming back for more.

Party Poker $3041 ( + $738) Stars $157 ( -$379) Full Tilt $103 ( =).

Total $3301 ( + $359)


Back soon...

Raring to go...back to bed!

Am I feeling refreshed and raring to go back to work after two weeks off? Am I f*ck!

Thanks to all who commented on my Dam trip report.Since my return I made the tough decision to finish things with the lady I was seeing.We did swap a few friendly texts last night before her final one which said "I miss you, but don't reply".I do miss her too but have respected her request.

To the poker and the good news is that it looks like being a marginally profitable month for me at the felt.( stats on Tues)I went on a bit of a run at the Party $22's, although after not cashing in a few I moved back to Stars and decided to take a wee shot at $36 45 player turbs.It did take me some time to adjust my game to the format but I also ran like crap too and dropped a couple of hundred.

The same happened at the $16's and only a wee run at the $12 45 player games kept me afloat.In fact I found the 45 player games ( $12 and $36) are very soft indeed and they are also far easier to multi-table ( I played 8) than single table sit and goes for the simple reason that the 45 plyr games are all full tables ( until final table starts to lose players).

Anyway I had $72 left on Stars ( $536 at start of June) and fired up three $16's before the s-man arrived for last nights ps3 sesh.No cashes in those games meant when the s-man left and I hit the felt my Stars roll was in danger of being no more.I nearly took a screenshot when the cashier page showed a $1.58 balance but I managed a win and a couple of cashes at $6.50 to finish the night on $77! Of course I should probably stop being so bloody stubborn and go back the the Party $22's, but now that my Stars roll is on life support I'm actually quite enjoying trying to rebuild it.I could also easily cash some Party profit out and stick it back on Stars but wont do that unless I bust the last $77.

Quick questions: Had anyone else found the Pokertracker 3 auto hud has stopped working on Stars? It's still importing hands but not giving the usual stats overlay on the opposition.( which I definitely missed when playing 8 tables)

Jeeez what a boring comeback post so far! I did read on P5's that David Sklansky's house has been robbed.I loved the post by zander on that thread asking if they only took his real money or if they stole all his Sklansky dollars too.( money "won" everytime you get your chips in as favourite at poker regardless of result)

If you're a Raisetheriver forum member don't forget to transfer your $30 to Amatay and get ready for the upcoming Sunday donkaments.( chance to win a trip to Paris to play in a 250euro buy-in event!)

Ok,thanks for reading.Back on Tues with monthly stats.Watch out for the donkeys...

Amsterdam:Trip Report

I'm still on a blogging break until I go back to work ( off next week too) but thought I'd throw together a wee 'Dam trip report before my last two remaining brain cells give up completely.

My cousin Two Pies made it round to my place in time for our taxi to the airport on Monday morning.My mum had texted me a message asking us to "be careful" and my sis ( who refers to these breaks as "Dumb and Dumber on tour") texted aswell to wish us a good trip.As if two mature men in their 20's and 30's couldn't go abroad for a few days without incident....

Our flight was on time and when we arrived at Schipol we quickly made it through passport control and into the baggage collection area where Two Pies bag came through first and I was made to sweat as the same three bags trundled round the conveyor belt with mine seemingly nowhere in sight.Thankfully just as I was about to give up and report it missing,my holdall miraculously appeared on the belt.

We checked in to the Multatuli hotel and headed straight out to the Rokerij 2 coffee shop to begin our herbal odyssey.Back in '07 Two Pies managed to create his own pavement pizza after his first smoke, but this time around he was older,wiser,not mixing beer with his herbs and I didn't anticipate a repeat performance....

As we were about halfway through joint number two, Two Pies said he was feeling a little hot and was going to pop outside for a moment.After asking if he was ok and being assured he was fine I sat back with my joint and chilled out.The barman walked passed a minute later and enquired if the boy outside was my friend.I began to explain that Two Pies was in fact my wee cousin when he interupted with the words" he fell over".It took my slightly addled brain a minute to process this information and come to the conclusion that any falling over of Two Pies wasn't very mellow and required my immediate presence.I moved outside to be confronted with a very pale looking cousin who had eyeballs like pin holes and sweat dripping off him.Goot start!

That first night we made our way down the the Red Light district and after a look around I decided ( being the fine upstanding moral member of society that I am)to have a smoke and drink at Ye Old Church Coffee shop and wait for Two Pies who was going to meet me there when he was ready.I got chatting to the girl running the bar and soon 45 mins had slipped quickly by.After an hour I was getting a little worried and after 1hr 1/2 I was pacing around the place looking for the dopey twat.Should I report him missing? Should I spark another and tell myself that 26yr old men don't go missing and that he'll turn up? I decided to head back the hotel and when I arrived back at the room....he wasn't there.I sunk to my knees and as I tried to force my cloudy brain to come up with a plan, Mr Pies showed up.He'd got lost trying to find his way back to me and only found the hotel by asking for Central Station and making his way from there.

On Tuesday we headed out about 3pm,ate breakfast and played pool until late in the evening when we headed back the room with more baggies ( 1-.1.5gram bags of the Dam's finest)and some philosphers stones magic mushrooms.They were real mushrooms back in '07 but the law has been tightened and they were slightly weaker "truffles" this time round.Not quite as giggly or as trippy as last time but enjoyable all the same.About an hour after taking them and just as they were kicking in I decided I fancied a game of poker.I'd brought the laptop and already paid for wireless so I fired up Stars and a couple of $6.50 games as I could barely focus.I crashed out of one and took down another ( 18 player turb) which made me giggle a little more.

The next day we headed out for another late breakfast at around 5pm and I could still feel the effects from the truffles.Why else would there be a small wisp of smoke coming from the menu and slowly swirling round in front of my bloodshot eyes? Perhaps I wasn't still tripping and the smoke was due to the lit candle I'd chosen to rest the menu on....( the front of it had bubbled but didn't catch fire)

We headed back to Ye Old Church where the bar girl played "Don't Leave me This Way " by The Communards in tribute to Two Pies vanishing act.Conversation was struck up with a couple of young Belfast lads who had just arrived for the first Dam trip.After they headed off I was joking with Two Pies that we'd forgotten to fill them in on the golden rules if you ain't been before.1)Don't mix weed and alcohol 2)Set a meeting place and times if you split up 3)Keep it subtle when rolling with tobacco in coffee shops as baccy is now illegal to use 4) Don't be in the Red Light District after about 11pm as that's when it starts to get very shady 5)Keep your money safe and don't get into chats with the guys who whisper about cocaine and ecstasy on the streets.

Not much else to report really.Two Pies tried a space cake and it knocked him off his feet for a about six hours ( leaving me free to smoke the baggies!) I also enjoyed teasing the s-man by emailing him as he worked to remind him of just how dang good the Dam is!

Ok,thanks for reading.I'm off to take Step A to her Dads and pick Nacho up.Next post will probably be in July....

That Friday Feeling..

Friday at last....at least it is for me as I'm off work after today for a fortnight and off to Amsterdam next week for a few days.Pud was spot on with his comment on my last post about me needing a break.Roll on!

Thankfully I'm also feeling a bit better today after suffering from a painfully sore stomach for the last couple of days.I could barely walk the dog without having to bend over in pain.I don't do doctors or pills, although I did look at the NHS24 website which didn't exactly set my mind at ease.I followed the flow chart and it said I should call 999 ( 911 equivalent) immediately as I had heart attack symptoms.Instead I took another medicinal route, fired up Party poker for a few $22's and finished up $70 after taking down the last one.

Not much else to say on the poker front other than to thank everyone who has played in the Brit Blogger game over the last few years.The numbers were boosted recently by US/Candadian players due to the BBT Sir Al organised but fell away last Sunday and after consulting co-host Mr Cloud,we've decided to can it for now.It does seem a shame to me that us Brits/Euro's can't get a decent turnout for a low stakes friendly game, but I suppose it's simply run it's course.

Ok,I don't plan on posting much ( if at all) over the next couple of weeks.Time to go away and refresh the blogging batteries....

Movin' Up Plan

Spoke to the good lady on the phone yesterday.I said that I can understand her friends advising her it won't work out ( due to the kids issue) and that she deserves to find someone who can offer her more certainty than I can at present.For her part she said she was over emotional the other night due to other reasons,she appreciates my honesty and that she wants to keep seeing me.As long as we both know where we stand I'm happy to take things as they come for now and see how it goes.I hope my previous post didn't imply she wants to rush things as I don't think that's the case.She simply doesn't want to get hurt further down the line due to a issue neither of us can do anything to change.

In a previous relationship it was probably my partner who was the more sensible one re any issues ( kids,distance,that type of thing without getting specific) whereas I was the one who reckoned feelings can't be fought and we'd work things out one way or another.Being wrong hurt( several times) and I wonder if perhaps I'm not as keen as the current lady seems to be about me due to that experience.I do like her, I don't want to mess her about and I'd like to give my feelings a chance to develop some more.If they don't though I defintely won't string her along as I told myself after splitting from the ex Mrs A that if something wasn't working I'd be far more pro-active about ending things rather than letting a situation drag on.

Now to far more important matters...poker.So far this year I've paid off my car loan,bought my Rangers season ticket,paid for my Dam trip next week,covered car repair bills and generally put my poker winnings to good use.As I don't have any immediate bills to cover I think it's time I I used my roll to take a few shots at higher buy-in sngs.I began the month at Party with $2300 and have made...$1 so far.The plan is to stick to $22's until I hit $2400 and then play $33's.If I drop below $2300 it's back to the $22's and if I can hit the $3k mark playing $33's I'm going to try the $55's and drop back a level if my roll drops back below $2400.10-11 buy-in swings are totally standard and I should probably give myself more leeway but dropping from $3k to $2.4k still seems like a lot to me and I'll see how this goes.

Thanks for reading.Back soon...