Wed Update

First a big welcome back to one of the best bloggers out there http://sirfwalgman.blogspot.com/.
Good to see you back at last Sir.

After all my talk about how I loved tourneys I played a $5 sng for the first time in a while and enjoyed it despite crashing out in 5th. I was down to 470 chips and when one of the other players wrote " You'll be all in next Zagga followed by me" I replied that "I'm just going to play pussy poker and blind myself out of here" and the moment I hit the return key I get AK. I push and get one caller with KQ who hits his Q on the river." lol gg "I say on the way out. "Ya jammy lucky snidey bastart" I say to myself once I'm back in the lobby.

Moved over to Interpoker but I'm not sure how long I'll stay there.I deposited and withdrew money from there at the beginning of May.Deposited to get a $200 bonus and withdrew because they changed their rake requirement meaning the bonus was impossible to clear.I read they had changed it back so thats when I made another deposit to get another bonus.The problem is that that the original bonus is still showing and requires 4000 points to clear.I've played there for many hours recently and only cleared 34% of it or 1400 points.

The August match up bonus of $100 only requires 500 points but I have to clear the other one first. Pokerlistings have a new sign up offer which gives a $300 bonus for only 1825 points.

I called their support and the guy agreed it was unfair on me.I'm not disputing I agreed to the $200 under the terms and conditions at the time but I'd rather they even cancelled the $200 bonus altogther and just let me earn my $100 match up August offer which I could clear quite quickly.

The support guy may have agreed with me but said he couldn't do anything and to email the casino manager.I emailed 2 days ago and haven't heard back yet.Watch this space....

I don't want to leave there as I'm enjoying the play.$38 up last night.Most of it came when I called a $24 all in bet from someone with Ah Kh .I had QQ and when 2 hearts fell on the flop I thought I was done but my Nolan sisters held up.

Moved to another table and watched a player tilt away $100 but sadly none of it to me.I very rarely show my hand if I win although I always leave the option open.Last night though I mixed it up a bit though after one of the other players showed down a couple of bluffs.

Of course I immediately tagged him as as bit tricky and expected him to be a decent player.I then showed him a couple of my bluffs when I pushed him out of pots and he started to tilt a bit and I started to smile.To be fair to him he stayed out of my way and I stayed out of his after that and he stopped showing his bluffs.From my point of view I was glad I'd got his respect and he wouldn't try it on too much but not sure if I should have kept quiet and let him show.

I've never used trash talk or showing down bluffs as a tactic.Its true though that you make more money from other players mistakes than you do from your own brilliant play.Maybe thats why its hard to build confidence in your first year playing as whenever you win a big pot you just wonder if the other player was simply a bigger donk than you are.Maybe the skill is in finding the bigger donks at the tables and moving if there aren't any.

Not sure about the trash talk but I'll certainly consider showing a few more winning hands in future especially as I play quite tightly for 6 max and it showing down the odd bluff should help me get more callers on my monsters.

Working till 6pm tonight then straight to the football.Its warm outside ( 17c is warm for Glasgow) but looks like there could be thunder later.

"What did he just say"?

"He said theres a storm coming"

"I know"



Ok nuff said.I''ll be back.....

Tourneys V Ring Games

I always assumed that most people felt the same as me about this.The cash games are the grind and the Sng's are where the real fun is at. This was until I read a couple of fellow bloggers who took the opposite view.I did note that Matt from ThePokerchronicles.com said today that he plays tourneys for the excitement but he just won $20k in the Party Poker Million so maybe he's biased.

I prefer ring games because thats where I'm comfortable and where I've made most of my online poker profits. I've only played 244 tournaments and have 68 wins which isn't bad as that total includes tons of freerolls and lucky dollar tourneys at Pokerroom.Including my player points tourneys I've made a profit so why not play more? Why am I happy to sit down at a cash table with $100 but reluctant to pay more then $5 or $10 to enter a tourney?

I think its because I consider my entry fee as spent when I buy into a tourney but when I buy into a cash game I usually have a postive expectation.In tourneys I feel more able to play more carefree poker whereas in the ring I'm thinking about my roll and how to guard it against traps etc.

Perhaps compared to the pot averages at $1 nl the prize for winning a $5 or $10 sng doesn't feel like a big bankroll boost.I can play a tourney for over an hour for a $17 profit if I win or I can win $50 in one pot in much less time depending on the cards at $1nl.

Perhaps I should try some higher stakes Sng's or simply play enough $5 and $10 ones to give myself an idea of wether its +EV for me over a longer run.

Tourneys appeal to me more than cash games for several reasons.Until they are knocked out the players stay the same so over the course of the SNG its possible to get at least an idea of how everyone plays.The escalating blinds force the action meaning especially late on its more about what your opponent doesn't have than what you hold.I love making my opponents make uncomfortable decisions.I love the adjustments you have to make to your play depending on the size of your stack.

I love coming back from a chip n a chair and kicking ass.I love the heads up battles at the end of tourneys. The fun of working out when theres 4 left and 3 pay wether to play your QQ in the face of a raise and 2 calls as if you do you may get the chip lead but could crash out and if you don't you may make the money but be well behind the other two.I enjoy the freedom I get from feeling my buy in is spent and my chips are tools I can use to push people around to increase my stack.

I love the Pokerroom feature of showing both players hold cards and % chance to win when both are all in.( the % changes as the cards fall like on tv).

Tourneys just seem like more of a psychological battle.More of a battle of minds rather than simply 2 players who've both waited patiently for a monster hand putting in their money and hoping their monster is best.

One of the other reasons I don't play more tourneys is the time factor.This may be partly because I really should go to bed earlier.I'm usually up until 12.45-1am and it does leave me very tired some days.Crazy when I play 8 or 9 hours sessions some weekends but I like to know I can leave anytime and haven't got to commit my time.

I did buy my new mattress today so looking forward a better sleep from Thursday night onwards. I did ask for one that sounds an alarm if the occupant is detected as still in his poker cupboard when he should be sleeping but I'll just have to settle for hopefully sleeping better when I do eventually hit the sack.

Didn't play at all last night.Mark was up for a night on the PS2.

Florida Mark has changed the night we're going out to Thursday which suits me as my other team the mighty East Kilbride Thistle are playing in the semi final of the Sectional league cup v Dunipace at 6.30 tomorrow night.We won it in 2002.It was the clubs first trophy in about 20 years and tomorrow nights game will be the biggest EK have played in since that final.Its just a shame a town with a population of aprox 80,000 can't get more than 50-100 fans to turn out for the local Junior team.( Junior meaning partime not Under 18)

C'mon the Thistle.....

Mr Mean

$37 up at Pokerroom and $30 down at Interpoker last night for an hours play.Nothing special at either site to report.
Read another thought provoking piece by http://www.gcox25.blogspot.com/ about what a tightass he is in general and I have to be honest and say I'm sure I fit into the same category.Sorry if its not PC and no offence to anyone but my friends called me Yasser when I was younger as they reckoned I was a stingy Arab.( met a few in Egypt and they were very kind and generous). My friends reckon I wouldn't give up the steam off my own piss without charging for it!

Hell when I lived the single life I complained to the local supermarket cafe that their "buy one meal,get one free" offer was unfair and asked if I could either take the other meal home or come back for it the next night!
Yes typical Scotsman I'm sure I can hear a few folk say!

Unfortunately I'm sure I read that the best poker players are carefree with their money and that's partly what allows them to be so good.I like being careful with my money though.I think when playing cash games while nobody wants to play scared being a bit conservative is no bad thing. I have AK and face a raise and a reraise.Now while going all in with AK preflop isn't always bad as it allows the full board to hit you I would mostly fold.Too tight to risk it. A pp and its a coin flip and obviously behind to AA or KK.Theres no hurry.I'll just wait for a better spot.


Being so frugal ( ok damn stingy) does mean its hard for me to stop thinking about my bankroll whilst playing.I'm trying to be less conscious of it and simply play each hand correctly but its a constant struggle. I notice most other poker bloggers don't keep banging on about their bankroll and exactly how much they won or lost that day and I even mentioned I would be cutting down on that info myself.Didn't do it though. I think I post like that more for my own records and to help me stay disciplined but I will try again to cut back on it and keep the focus on playing well.

Last night for example the $30 loss at Interpoker was not through bad plays which meant I actually felt good about my session there.Just never hit a flop and the old story about nothing much holding up.

Ok this was going to be a post about why I find tourneys exciting and ring games a grind but that'll have to wait.I've written enough nonsense for one day!

Finally a couple of wee snippets from the Herald diary :

Opportunist of the week was the chap in Glasgow west end pub Bloody Mary's at the weekend wearing a T-shirt with the legend: "If you don't sleep with me tonight, the terrorists will have won."

THREE burly chaps in Highland dress carrying cardboard boxes were beside reader Raymond Hainey on a flight from Edinburgh to Gatwick on Tuesday who were evidently going to London for the service commemorating the anniversary of the execution of Sir William Wallace.On arrival at Gatwick a security official cheerily asked them if they were going to a wedding."No, hen, we're going to a funeral. These are wreaths," replied one of the kilted lads.Her face turned red with embarrassment – to be replaced by bemusement when he added: "It's all right – he's been dead 700 years. We're over it now"

He shoots....He Scores!!!

I love Interpoker. Won $445 there last night playing 0.50-$1nl 6 max. I've now made over $800 there in two weeks and cashed out my orginal deposit and some more to buy a new mattress,my champions league tickets, a chauffeur driven Limo for our holiday airport transfer and a bung to Mrs A to buy herself something nice.

Isn't poker wonderful sometimes!

Still left about $1100 in my roll but it feels great to have some more winnings to spend even if in the big scheme of things its only buttons.

When I sat down last night at the table there was one big stack with over $400 who bet all in on a flop of K K K . I folded 88 but found his a strange bet.If he had the K why not wait and see if someone with a pp ( like me) wants to build the pot and if he didn't then why risk your stack as someone else may have it.He was way ahead of everyone in chips so he wouldn't have gone broke but my point is valid.

He went all in again and I started to peg him a a loose goose.

I look up from constructing some smokeable inspiration and see JJ. Our friend raises to $31 behind me and once again I play the player and raise to my $100 buy in putting me all in.
I must stress I'm not in the habit of pushing all in with JJ after a 31 * bb raise but I had a feeling I was ahead.He called with 10 10 and on a K 3 4 Q Q board my hand held up.

A few rounds later I get A8 in the BB and check.Flop comes a delightful 8 4 8 rainbow and my friend bets $1 which 3 of us call.The turn brings another sexy snowman 8 and I'm luvin' my quads and just hoping my loosey goosey friend flips again.....
River is a 4 and suddenly he obliges and bets $58 from out of nowhere.I consider a value raise for about a nano second then remember what a donk he is and raise $195 all in which he called for the $137 he had left! He had 4h3d. Did really think he was ahead or did he think it was a split pot and I was trying to steal? I don't know and don't care.

I stayed at that table a while and really bossed the show for about an hour before deciding that while respect for my raises boosted my ego it wasn't helping my stack.( apart from a lot of minor bluff steals of course).

I moved to another table and bought in for $100 as some sensible part of my brain said that if I moved and lost my $100 buy in I'd still be well up.

I'd been at my new table about 3/4 hr when I get AA and the pot had been raised first to $3 and then to $5.My move.Hmmmm what to do.... Zagga is all in for $100. Call, call and my AA amazingly holds up v 10 10 and KK for another nice virtual rack of chips.
I doubt that would have worked at Pokerrooms $1nl. Why would anyone call a bet, a raise and an all in reraise preflop all in without AA? I can only assume Mr 10 10 thought I was a simliar kind of fish to my earlier friend.Mr KK I can understand especially going on some of the wild bets I've seen at this site.

Table selection was once again a major factor.At one table I was at one player seemed to have my number.Didn't lose much to him and maybe he just hit some nice cards but I didn't hang around to find out.Congrats on having my number but I've just changed it.Bye Bye.
I must have moved 6 or 7 times.If I didn't fancy the table conditions then I was offski.Back to the lobby to look for high % flop seen and big ave pot size.

On another night of course he'd have had QQ to my JJ,my AA would have been cracked and my Quads would never have happened.I feel I've had my share of "another night" though recently and while it doesn't work that way ( oh he's had his share recently we'd better make sure all his good hands hold up tonight) it will certainly go down in history ( well ok just this blog) as my best poker night ever.

Certainly cheered me up after Hibs staged a smash n grab at Ibrox today and beat us 3-0.Don't remember the last time we lost by 3 goals at home.Hopefully give the team a kick up the arse and get them going again.The transfer window shuts on 31/8 and I hope we bring in at least one more player as if the management think the team that lost 3-0 to Hibs is going to beat Adriano,Figo,Martinez and co at Inter Milan then they better quit and go do some stand up comedy!

Over and out....

Crazy Night

No apology for the hand history! Played for 4 hours at Pokerroom $1nl full ring for a 75c profit.Yawn.

Moved to Interpoker 6 max .50-1nl and lost a $100 buy in all in Preflop with AsAd v KK.Board had 3 spades and a K.

Shimmied on up to $2-$5 and lost another whack playing A10 weakly.Shouldn't play it weekly nevermind weakly.Even weakly weekly wouldn't be good.

Slithered into my seat at another table and tightened right up.Only a few orbits later and this happens.....My biggest pot to date and ended the night well up.

Game #940974663: Texas Hold'em No Limit ($2/$5) - 2005/08/26 - 22:10:36 (ET)
Table "Vail" Seat 5 is the button.
Seat 1: 1nicky ($141 in chips)
Seat 2: Thu160530 ($840 in chips)
Seat 3: geoff41gl ($283.19 in chips)
Seat 4: Zagga ($393 in chips)
Seat 5: sancaetan ($161.82 in chips)
Seat 6: Fysikern ($1331.16 in chips)
Fysikern: posts small blind $2
1nicky: posts big blind $5
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Zagga [Qd Qs]
Thu160530: folds
geoff41gl: calls $5
Zagga: raises to $15
sancaetan: calls $15
Fysikern: folds
1nicky: folds
geoff41gl: calls $10
----- FLOP ----- [Jh Td 4d]
geoff41gl: checks
Zagga: bets $35
sancaetan: folds
geoff41gl: calls $35
----- TURN ----- [Jh Td 4d][7c]
geoff41gl: checks
Zagga: bets $85
geoff41gl: calls $85
----- RIVER ----- [Jh Td 4d 7c][As]
geoff41gl: bets $148.19 and is all-in
Zagga: calls $148.19
----- SHOW DOWN -----
geoff41gl: shows [9c Ts] (A Pair of Tens, Ace high)
Zagga: shows [Qd Qs] (A Pair of Queens, Ace high)
Zagga collected $585.38 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot $588.38 Main pot $585.38 Rake $3
Board [Jh Td 4d 7c As]
Seat 1: 1nicky (big blind) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Thu160530 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Zagga showed [Qd Qs] and won ($585.38) with A Pair of Queens, Ace high
Seat 5: sancaetan (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 6: Fysikern (small blind) folded before Flop (didn't bet)


Going to swap my head for a sensible one soon.....

Back to the $.50-$1nl to chill ;-)

I AM a genius!

No doubt about it.Afterall I won $50 in 1 hour 15 at .25nl on Pokerroom tripling my buy in.Do I get a braclet?

Seriously though I read some decent strategy posts yesterday and went into the game with the right attitude.I saw 22 % of flops and concentrated on correct decisions not how my stack looked at the time.

However I can relate to http://www.gcox25.blogspot.com/ excellent post yesterday as I felt more like I simply caught my cards than I did anything particularly well.Sometimes I feel poker is just a battle of the monster hands and you've just got to hope your monster has the sharper teeth.

Consider I get 22, hit my set on a Kd 10c 2d flop and get all in before the turn with a villan who had K 10.

I also get all in post flop with set of nines v eights.

Later my AK on the button wins v UTG's AQ for another nice pot.

I won all these hands but so would any monkey that played them.I suppose the skill if any was in making the most on each hand.I actually checked by mistake on the first hand ( I had another window open and was trying to close it)and luckily the villan started the betting so not much skill there.

The hard part is staying as patient when your 22 doesn't hit a set when its the first hand you've played in 20mins or your AK loses to someone who called your raise with rags and hits two pair.

At .25nl its also easy to become involved in the play.Most of the shortstacks haven't bought in for $5 -$10 just to fold,fold,fold.Got to stick to your gameplan.

I also agree with 25Garyc's comment on playing better after a good start.

Down a few $$$ and not seen a hand for a while.....
A6 soooted UTG is worth a call.Its only .25 and even if my A is no good it could hit 2 pair or a flush.Hey this pot could reach $30.Its 123-1 to flop a flush.I have implied odds! And if I call the table won't think I'm such a tight ass when I raise with the AA i'm due shortly....

Or worse down a few $$$ and fold it only to see the flush hit on the flop.Arghhhh.I kept my discipline ,played it right and THAT happens.All thought of continuous shufflers vanishes and you watch as two clowns go all in with not a lot in a pot which should have been mine.Only it shouldn't as the fold was correct.

Up a few $$$ and its an automatic fold including a laugh at the fool who played A7 and lost to a better A. Your flush flops and you think "happens but I played it correctly".You give yourself a pat on the back and easily move on unaffected.


Not sure if theres a point to all this other than to reiterate the old mantra about simply playing each hand on its merits and not letting other issues cloud judgement.


Moving away from poker Rangers got Inter Milan,Porto and the team that humped our rivals,Art Media.Not a bad draw but it'll be tough to get through.So long as we don't lose 5-0 to Art Media like the muppets across the city.

Ok its lunchtime.Time for a wish sandwich and a rubber bisceeeeeeeet.......

Bluffs n reads

Good game last night.2-0 to the Rangers sees us into the Champions league draw today.Buffell and Prso scored.Just glad to be there.The Scottish teams get very little in the way of tv money from the satellite companies so its tough to compete with teams from England and other countries where the clubs get massive payements.Rangers and our rivals are very big fish in a very small pond.Theres been talk of moving to the English league but I doubt it'll ever happen.Why would the top clubs there want more competition? Turkeys don't vote for Christmas.

Arrived home late about 10.30pm after picking up the wee one from Mrs A's work and was looking forward to watching some internet poker on the tv.They show the hole cards and its interesting to watch.Its like railbirding a table only you know what they've all got.That was the plan but Mrs A had left a lovely note asking me to record some load of guff movie that she'd watched the first part of the night before and as it was on Sky I had to forget my viewing and hit the tables.No choice...

I only played a short session but learned a valuable lesson. Apart from .25nl I'm not cut out for multi-tabling.Now this is not a sorry tale of losing money whilst playing 2-3 tables.In fact I only played one table and won $15 in the 20 mins I played but the hand I won made me realise how much of an edge I would lose playing more than one table.As they would have said in Top Gun if it had been a poker movie..."I feel the need.The need for reads".

Ok so Im on the button with AdQd ( $1nl) and I'm the only one to call an $8 raise.Flop comes low blanks and he checks.I bet $10 and he calls.The turn is another blank and I bet $25 and he fold.Brave,bold or stupid?

Well there was some logic behind it. The villan was very loose and loved to bet big.But he'd previously raised $26 preflop after 4 or 5 limpers and then checked it all the way down with one caller.( he lost).I'd only been at the table a short time but he was raising almost every hand but only following through if he hit his flop.

I'd probably have folded AdQd to anyone else raising 8 * BB but I put him on high cards or a mid pair and as I had postion I thought it worth the call.

When he checked to me after the flop I started to put him on AK,AQ,AJ,A10 and decided to try and push him out of the pot.My $10 post flop bet was more to see where I was in the hand and when he just called I had a feeling he thought he was beaten so when another low blank came on the turn thats why I bet $25.

Had I been playing more than one table I'd probably have folded.Maybe I smoke too much when playing but I simply can't keep up with reading the other players when multi-tabling.I'm not saying I have great reads on every player and that my reads are always right.I think its just more of a feel thing than anything else and hopefully the more experienced I get the better my reads will become.Sometimes its as basic as spotting the 2 or 3 slightly loose players at a tight table of campers or who calls the maniacs big raises on a regular basis.

My notes are usually very basic.My excuse is that its dark in my wee cupboard and I only put my wee light on to roll up some inspiration. I don't go for "Raised out of position and made continuation bet with nothing". More like "LAA", "Bluffed on river" etc. I do use Pokerrooms colour code system to tag players as Dangerous,Tight,Maniac,weak etc but my notes could definetely be more extensive especially as there are a lot of regular players at Pokerroom.

Another aspect of my game I need to be wary of is my play when switching from 6 max to full ring.I used to bluff very rarely at the full ring but its an essential part of 6 max and I noticed I've been carrying it over to the full ring.Nothing wrong with bluffing at 10 max but its a long long game lasting a lifetime so no need to bluff furiously.I'll need to keep an eye on myself (maybe a wee mirror by my pc) to make sure adding bluffs to my full ring game is +EV.

Good luck at the tables.

Nolan sisters

Got my loose filling sorted yesterday afternoon and was home nice and early for a change.

Hit the tables after dinner and decided to have a go at Pokerrooms $1nl full ring.Played a very tight game and watched as one particular villan raised preflop in almost every hand.$3 raise and I glance at my screen and see KK.I decide not to baffle myself with fancy plays and raise him to $8. Flop comes J Q 4 rainbow and I bet the pot and he calls with Q9 and hits another Q on the river.I check but stupidly call his $20 river bet.I thought he had AQ but that logic went out the window and while it would have been easy to steam about him calling my raise with Q9 I should still have folded when I knew I was beaten.

Moved to Interpoker $.50-$1nl 6 max and joined a table that had an average pot size of $28.Other tables had a $4.5 average so I reckoned this was the loosey goosey one to be at.That average was higher then most of the $1-$2 tables.

Anyway I sit down and buy in for $80 and notice the raising maniac straight away.Just joined so I'm unsure if he's on tilt or not but every hand is raised $11 preflop followed by at least a $20 post flop follow up bet.Great I think.Time to sit tight and make him pay when I hit hand.
A couple of table orbits and he raises $11 again.I glance at my screen and there are the Nolan sisters ( glam UK equivalent of the Hiltons). Ok do I play 'em cool and just call letting the villan do the betting or is he fishy/tilty enough to call my raise?

From experience on this site I decide that theres no point in slow playing.I'm in the mood for dancing and as I'm fairly sure I've got the best hand when he reraises me I put him all in.I'm sitting with my full $80 stack in the middle and the moment our cards are flipped up seems to take forever.My QQ vAJ.
Lets go fish boy I think.First card on the flop is an A and the rest are blanks.

Now I should be really fuming that this fish has dared to go all in for $80 with AJ but looking at the bigger picture I realised that if I could have seen his cards I would play it the same way every time.Now when fishboy caught his flush the other night at Pokerroom after calling without the right odds I wrote "nh" in the chat box hoping to encourage him along that road.
Despite not fuming I couldn't quite bring myself to write the same after my QQ hand.
I think he was tilting because of course he tightened up after that and I eventually found another table where I won $10 in 3/4 hr.

$10 is obviously buttons but I was pleased that all my internal promptings to myself about forgetting the past and focussing on the hand of the moment worked and I didn't steam.
It is hard to treat every hand as a unique event unrelated to any other.I had a "one of those nights" type feeling and thats never good.I read that you should never play unless you have a positive expectation but when your opponent hits his pair on the river and calls your bluff which you know would have worked if it wasn't for that one card falling it can be hard to remain positive.

There's no way I could allow myself to tilt.If I'm going to look for loose tables I'm not about to tilt at the first sign of a bad beat.No way Jose.


Ok no poker tonight as I'm off to the match.

Back soon....

Filled In

Back from the dentist.I had a loose filling he took out and replaced and although it hurts a bit ( or a lot if Mrs A asks) I'm glad its done and dusted as dental surgeries 'aint my favourite hang out.

No poker last night.Too busy playing MOH.

I did have some fun the other night playing at the play money tables with my Mum again.Good fun and you can't beat bluffing your own mother out of a pot even if it is only for play chips.

Heard from my friends in Florida again.They're not back for long but going out for a few beers with him and another old friend Sandy next Wed night.Should be a good night.

Going to the Gers game tomorrow night.Playing Famagusta in the 2nd leg of the Euro qualifier.2-1 up and should go through but anything can happen in football so I hope we get the first goal which will pretty much bury the Cypriots chances.

Ok here are the much anticipated answers to my Scottish phrases from the other day.


Yirfaessisawskrewedup : Your face is all screwed

Wotchooterrapolis: Watch out theres the police.

Gonnaenodaerat: Please do not do that.

Awaanboilyirheid: Off you go and boil your head.

Yirteethshinginoottaedry: Your mouth is open ( your teeth are hanging out to dry)

Maheidsburstin:I have a sorehead.

Girowrhereanstopyirmoochinaboot:Get over here and stop hanging about.

Hesaglakitedjit:He is a stupid looking idiot.




I'm off to sooth my sore mouth with a big doob and some poker...

Stay away from Americans!

Enjoyed a nice relaxing Sunday.Watched my favourite English team Chelsea begin their Championship defence with a 1-0 win over Arsenal.Not as good a game as I'd hoped it would but after Saturdays game most other games would seem a bit dull.

Went for a nice drive with Mrs A then picked the wee one up from numpties and had a late dinner.Didn't get up till 2pm after another 6am poker playing marathon and a decent weekend it was at the tables.Took a hit on Friday night but the good times rolled on Sat and last night.

Ok now to the title of my post and its true.My advice to anyone wanting to win at poker would be to avoid the Americans/Canadians at Pokerroom etc and seek out the Europeans at Interpoker! Its not called Texas Holdem for nothing.Not Kent Holdem or StavangerHoldem.So far my experience is that our cousins across the pond are far better players than we are over here! Maybe its a timing issue.Many Brits seem to like their beer and their poker combined.I'm sure many Americans do too but being 5-10 hours ahead I don't get to take advantage of it as much.Maybe I should wait until I have at least 1 month at Interpoker not 1 winning week but so far so good.

I'm $345 up in my one week at Interpoker and even after a couple of very small losing sessions last week my theory about the weaker play there compared to Pokerroom seems to be holding true.

Of course every table is different and as usual it takes a bit of chopping and changing to find one with sufficent fishies but its worth the hassle.If your 6 max table folds round to the Big Blind more than a couple of times.....its time to move.

The play at Interpoker continues to astound me. A player pushes all in pf for $24 with 66 which holds up v a caller holding k 8 sooooted and then tells him he shouldn't play trash.The funny thing was K8 made a pair of 8's but the 8 gave Mr 66 a straight.I just sat smiling and shaking my head.

So I've bought in for $80 and I'm sitting with aprox $140 at .50nl when I get 44. The big stack ( the caller in paragraph above) on around $170 bets $2.He's been raising almost every hand to $4 or $5 so I call and the flop comes A 2 4 rainbow.He bets $5 which I call and the turn is a 9.He suddenly goes all in for another $163. I'm thinking 53 or trips.Possible AQ or AK but he'd have raised more pf with those holdings.I put him on A2 or A9 but as usual its only a best guess.
I've got my set of 4's and I think they're good so I call for $132 putting myself all in and he shows........92 for 2 pairs.Blank on the river and I forget all about an icy cool emotionless state of mind and punch the air with my fist clenched.Pow,Bam,Take that!

The best way to treat the 6 max tables for me is to try and camp and grind the same as at a full ring rather than try and be loose and aggressive and dominate the table.The play seems a bit better at $1-$2nl 6 max but not a lot.While my attitude is still that of the grinder 6 max means that especially in position I can loosen up my starting requirement a little and bluff more often too.Only had one bluff called that I can remember and I tried to use that to my advantage later in the game if I manage to stop myself leaving instantly out of embarrassment.I'm actually getting better at hanging around but sometimes if your table image is shot to pieces a sharp exit is probably not a bad idea.

As I've mentioned before in this blog I'm a creature of habit and routine and I do like Pokerroom but the lure of Interpoker is strong.( I've still got a $300 bonus to clear at IP).Why play better players if there are worse ones out there? I must give Party Poker a go and see if its as fishy as Iggy says on his blog.Looks like I've learned that site selection is as vital as table selection.
I do draw the line at Pacific poker though.Played a couple of freerolls there and while the play was some of the fishiest ever the software was just too bad for anyone to play on it for any period of time.

Going round to pay my sister a visit after work and then picking up my meal and Step A before heading home.Looking forward to seeing my good friend Mark ( the celt*c fan) tonight for our Medal of Honor battle.

I may just mention the score on Saturday.......

Championeeees

What a fine 24 hours. Caught up with http://www.gcox25.blogspot.com/ at the Pokerroom .25nl tables and it only took minutes for us both to run over the table scooping stacks from anyone crazy enough to get in our way.A Pokerroom manager even asked in the chat if we could tone it down and take it easy on the fish.
Well thats the fiction version.In reality we were at a crap table with low pots and low flop % seen and I hadn't been in such fine company I'd have left long before I got the fish all in with his flush draw which he hit on the river.Pleasure playing with you Mr C.Hope you had more luck at the Omaha tables.

Good has triumphed over evil today at Ibrox with the Champions winning 3-1.Prso,Buffel and Nacho Novo scored for the teddy bears and it should have been more. Chants of "No Tims in Europe","Stand up for the Champions","We are the People","We can see you sneaking out" and more were belted out.Lots of McDonalds balloons and almost complete silence from the 7000 muppets from the other side of the city. It may take me a week to get my voice back but I don't care.What a fantastic day.To top it off I got text from my friend in Florida to say he'd watched it at one of the Supporters clubs over there and that he and the missus were coming back next Sunday for a few days.He and his Missus are 2 of my best friends and it'll be great to see them for the first time since Xmas.

Went to the Showpark in EK and watched my junior team lose 1 -0 in a game they should have won which wasn't great but nothing will spoil my mood after todays Rangers result.

Quick message to Juice and any other fans of the darkside....Get it right round ye!!!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.I'm off to watch my recording of the game and play some poker....

Pre-match Nerves

17 hours till the Old Firm game at Ibrox kicks off and the butterflies have arrived.I'm always this way the day before we play them. Forget Barca v Real Madrid, Arsenal V Spurs, Inter Milan v AC Milan,Liverpool v Everton,Boca v River Plate and all the rest.The greatest football club derby game is Rangers v celt*c and always will be.

The atmosphere at the game will be mind blowing as usual and I'm sure many of the new players in both teams won't know whats hit them when they walk out the tunnel.

Won't get much sleep tonight so gonna play some poker and when Mrs A goes to bed I'm gonna watch some videos of some of our recent victories over them to get me in the mood.

Heres a couple of clips:

http://media.putfile.com/Rangers-Champions-2005/original

http://media.putfile.com/CNN-Rangers

http://media.putfile.com/Rangers-51

http://media.putfile.com/Rangers-Champs-2005

More tomorrow or Sunday....

Hi-de-hi-de-hi-di-hi!

Can't beat driving to work on a sunny Friday morning with Minnie the Moocher blasting from the car cd player.Great way to start the day.

Yep its Friday at last and so long as Rangers tank Celt*c tomorrow it should be a fine weekend.
Off to McDonalds at lunchtime for flags/balloons etc to take to the game tomorrow to wind up the celt*c fans by reminding them who scored the 2 goals which sunk their league title hopes in the last 2 minutes of last season."Scott McDonald scored two goals, Ee i ee i o".

$54 up last night from my 1 1/2hr session at Interpokers 6 max $.50-$1nl. Played a fairly tight game and just waited on bad plays by opponents.I did fold 99 pf to an all in and a call and would have lost as J 10 hit a J and beat the original All in players 88.

Amazingly I split 2 big pots last night. 97 o/s in the BB and two of us flop the straight.Another straight with AK sees a split pot.A bit frustrating but the funny thing was that the villan I split the first hand wrote looooooooooooollll in the chat box.I didn't reply and he proceeded to tilt away the rest of his stack.lol. While I was a bit pissed to see he had the same hand we were both all in after the flop which had 2 spades and I was also a bit relieved he wasn't on a flush draw as another spade fell on the river.

Overall still enjoying Interpoker 6 max and will probably stay there for a while.I may try and find http://www.gcox25.blogspot.com/ at the Pokerroom tables if I'm having a late night.It would be nice to play with another blogger.Glad the raising from the BB trick worked.Made a few more $$ from it myself last night.The table conditions have to be right though.Tight tables are obviously best for this move.

It always pays to keep in mind how the table is playing.At one table I was at last night the action was loose and tightening up and betting big with a good hand seemed the best strategy with very little bluffing.At another tight table I bluffed the same player twice in 15 mins.I never show my hand but I had 2h3h and with 2 hearts on the flop bet out on my draw.No help on the turn and I called his bet.When he only bet 1/3 of the pot on the river after another blank I raised him and forced him to fold.Didn't show as I didn't want to ruin my tight table image but the temptation was strong.

Ok I'd have looked a bit daft if he'd called but if he had I'd just tighten up and hope to get a call next time I have the nuts and make a similar river bet.

Finally finished reading Iggys http://guinnessandpoker.blogspot.com blog and what a read it was. Now started http://www.alcanthang.blogspot.com/ after reading GaryC25's recommendation and I'm enjoying it too.

Also read Garys comments on the controversy about blog links etc and I agree with the low limit grinders thoughts. I'm happy to link up any fellow bloggers and while it would be great to have a growing army of eager readers I kept a daily diary from age 13 to 18 and I was quite happy to have a readership of one for it.I may well email Mr Canthang and ask for a link and while it would be much appreciated if the answer is no from him or anyone else I won't be losing sleep over it. So if anyone would like to swap links please leave me a comment and consider it done.
I didn't even realise there was a contoversy about it! I think I'll leave a comment on every blog I can find now and ask for a link just out of badness.lol. I love the net and cyberspace but some folk seem to take it all a bit too seriously.

Ok a wee Friday funny from The Herald..

A GLASGOW couple holidaying in Newquay thought their young daughter was unhurt when she took a tumble down a few steps, but they were horrified when she woke up the next morning with an ugly red bump on her forehead. Fearing they were bad parents for not having her checked out the day before, they immediately rushed her to hospital and anxiously waited for her to be seen in accident and emergency. Imagine their mixed emotions when the doctor looked carefully at the blood-red lump then carefully picked a half-chewed and congealed jelly baby off her head.

Have a great weekend people.The much anticipated answers to yesterdays Scottish phrase meanings coming soon.They must be harder to work out than they look or as we say in Scotland ...Naebudygiesatoss!( nobody cares at all!).

Pick n Mix

Had a quiet night last night.Played for an hour and a half at Interpoker and finished about level for the night.Slow played an AK which hit an A on the flop but folded to a $40 river bet when there was a straight on the board.Also lost a decent size pot when I had KK preflop, reraised a villan and had to give up on the turn thanks to an A hitting on the flop.On another hand though I had QQ and again slowed down with an A on the board and ended up checking it down with the villan before the pot came my way.

One frustrating hand was when I had AKs and called a $26 all in bet from a player who seemed a bit tilty after someone else hit their boat on the river to beat his flush.One other caller who I put on a pp. Blanks for me on the flop and I checked and the other caller checked too.Another blank on the turn and I check and so does the villan.No picture cards out.Maybe hes not got a pp and has AQ/AJ. 7 on the river and I check and so does he.Don't know what Mr Tilt had but my fellow checker took it down with Q7s.( pair sevens). Why call a $26 bet with Q7s?
As the virtual chips made their way to him I was kicking myself for not betting before the river and taking the pot.In tournament situations checking down and knocking out the all in player may be ok but in cash games I need to be more aggressive.


Only 4 weeks until Mrs A and I head off to Gran Canaria for 16 nights of fun in the sun.I'm really looking forward to getting away.Mrs A and I tend not to go on a lot of nights out at home and save our money for as many holidays a year as we can afford.As usual we've not had much of a summer in Scotland.A few hot sunny days but not a lot.I do love my country but I wish it didn't rain as often.Goodbye blue sky...goodbye.

Just had a complaint from a man with the unfortunate double barrelled surname of "Browne-Mark". I bet his first day at school was fun.

Todays tune thats stuck in my head is the Dido sample from Eminems "Stan". Better than the flippin' Spice Girls tune that Step A is playing on repeat at the moment.
Bought "The Definitive Blues Brothers collection" cd at lunchtime.Great film.

Elwood: "It's 106 miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses."

Jake: "Hit it".

Here's a wee test for any non-Scottish readers of this blog.Heres a few Glasgow phrases I saw at lunchtime on car stickers.As legendary artist Rolf Harris would say "Can you tell what it is yet"? I'll give you the first one.


Yirfaessisawskrewedup : Your face is all screwed up
Wotchooterrapolis
Gonnaenodaerat
Awaanboilyirheid
Yirteethshinginoottaedry
Maheidsburstin
Girowrhereanstopyirmoochinaboot
Hesaglakitedjit

Panic time.I've got a dentist apppoinment for next Tuesday.I'd rather chew my own arm off than go but after my sister went through her op for cancer I've decided to try not to be such a coward about it.I hate going but booked the appoinment after I ate a piece of gum last week and it felt like a filling came out.I could hardly eat on Fri or Sat but its got better since then.I called to put the appt back but first appoinment is October and I'd hate to get toothache on holiday.
"hey Meeezter I use de beeg dreel"as some road digging type machine is wheeled out..( I'm a fluent Spanish speaker as you can tell).

Adios Amigos....

BB Trick

Picked up a tip from watching the Poker channel ( 226 on Sky).The co-presenter said that he likes to raise from the BB if several players limp in no matter what he's got.Not every time obviously but often enough to increase his bb/hr rate.

I only played for an hour last night at Interpoker but I tried the move several times successfully.I raised 5 * the BB.Even when I got one caller a decent postflop bet scared him off.

I actually finished down $10 through a suckout but I'm not complaining because compared to Pokerroom the standard of play is awful. I saw someone call a $13 raise ( 6 max .50-$1 nl) with 47 soooted.He made 2 pairs and beat JJ.

Another player reraised all in with K 10 for $90 when he made TPGK on the flop.A set or 2 pair and he's down a stack.

I know high cards win more pots at 6 max but kickers didn't seem to matter with people building huge pots with top pair crap kicker.

Interpokers not a bad site either.If only you could see what your opponent had when he loses a river showdown.The hand log doesn't show that.Also unlike Pokerroom the pot total is not shown until the end of the betting round but thats only a minor gripe.

Picked up the car last night and its running like a dream.They fixed the bonnet catch too so I was able to top up the oil for the first time in months.It feels far faster than it was before.I'm not a boy racer ( anymore) but I do like to put my foot down now and then and with a 0-62 mph time of 7.3 secs my car can shift when required.

I'll need to be careful about speedtraps although I've heard that painting your number plate with clear nail varnish prevents the cameras from capturing your reg number.Hmmmmm.
Read in my local paper about drivers being prosecuted for driving at 50mph in a 30mph zone.Nothing unusual about that except that it was between 3am and 5am they got caught.Not by camera but by traffic police with radar guns.What a joke.The roads are dead at that time and to me its just the motorist being an easy target again.

Call them out because there's wee neds hanging around drinking and being abusive and you wont see them for hours but break the speed limit on a wide open road in the early hours and you're suddenly a criminal.

I suppose like many jobs even the police have targets and if this tactic makes their stats look good then who cares about the stupidity of it.

It may be only Wednesday but I'm looking forward to the weekend already. The first Old Firm match of the season is at Ibrox this Sat and I'm getting butterflies already just thinking about it.
Champions V Losers. Its a 12.30pm kick off so I'll have time to get back to EK for the junior game V Shettleston. Strange going from a game with 50,000 people going absolutely mental to a game where the crowd will be one man and a dog but I love the contrast.

Well Nacho ( my dog) is in for a shock in a few weeks.Its his first birthday and to celebrate he's getting the chop.I've told Mrs A I don't mind dropping them off at the vets but I'm not going to be there when he comes out.I don't want to be the first one he sees after an op like that.He's starting to do "rude things" to the legs of small children according to Step A so its about time his ardour was cooled!

Breaking news......seeing the words "breaking news" on my tv screen during news programmes is starting to annoy me.It started on Sept 11th 2001 as far as I remember and on that day and other terrible days like it I can understand the news companies using it but to me its now an overused hook to try and pretend that something big has gone down and you must pay attention.A cat getting stuck up a tree seems to be "Breaking news" these days and requires a large red banner across the screen.Now if it was a dog.....

A colleague just had a call from a customer who introduced himself as "Captain". I think I'll call all the utilities,bank etc and give myself a title.A knighthood would be nice.Sir Acorn or perhaps a military title like Field Marshall Acorn would have a nice ring. Maybe I'll tell them I've graduated and ask to have the letters A L L I N added in front of my name in honour of my first class degree in Holdem.

Here endeth this coherent and well structured post.......

Tilt thoughts

Reading http://tripjax.blogspot.com/ recent post about moving up to chase money he'd lost made me reread my own post from my 15 hour marathon session on Saturday and realise that I moved up to $2-$5 nl to try and chase my lost money too. Trip and I both won our money back and it got me thinking.

At first when I read his post I thought I'd been kidding myself on when I wrote that I moved up to see if the games were as juicy and that I'd really been on tilt.After some careful thought I'm glad to say that I don't think Trip or I were tilting despite the obvious tilty signs of moving up and playing at a higher level without the bankroll or experience.

Whilst part of the problem of moving up like that is "playing scared" in some respects I'm not sure if playing a bit scared is all that bad.In cash games it really is all about the long run and I quite often feel that I'll simply fold and take another shot later rather than take too many risks.
For example I raised with AK the other night at $1nl full ring and was called in 2 places. Flop comes K 9 6 rainbow and I bet out a decent $9 and get reraised all in.I was fairly new to the table and had no read of any kind on the villan.I folded.I was worried about the set or 2 pairs but I'm still wondering now what he had.Good fold and better to wait for another hand or pussy poker?

Back to why I didn't tilt when I moved up.I played for at least 7 hours at $2-$5.Bought in for $400 and left with $732 having never dropped below my buy in.
I wonder if the last part about never dropping below my buy in is the critical part of all this.

Of course the books say to play every hand as an individual hand on its own merits but do I play a better game if I am ahead in the session? I think I do and I need to concentrate even more on playing correctly.To this end whilst reporting on how I'm doing at the tables I'm going to try and not focus so much on my bankroll total at the end of each session.

No poker played last night between making sure the wee one was ready for her first day back at school after the holidays and playing Medal of Honor on the ps2 with Mark.

Good news on the car front.Passed its MOT and time belt done.Just gotta go and collect it.

Vroooooooooom.....

Monday Update

Poker is a funny game.I play for 15 hours on Sat for a $32 profit and yet I only play for 3/4 hr yesterday and made $35.

This time I was sensible and stuck to the .50-$1 nl 6 max tables. Its amazing how a good session at $2- $5 influenced my game at the lower level.I was much more aggressive and put my opponents to the test more often rather than just camping waiting for big hands.


Watched "Oceans Twelve" and although it grew on me it tried to be too cool and the humour didn't do much for me. When it finished I stayed out of my poker cupboard and watched the last hour of Kill Bill which I hadn't got round to seeing before.Enjoyed what we saw and will now try and get the 2nd one out to rent.I've enjoyed all Tarantinos other films.Res Dogs,Pulp Fiction and True Romance especially.

Car went in this morning and was due to be collected 5pm.Just had a call to say it will be tomorrow now before its ready.Grrrrrr. Looking forward to an hour on the bus to get home.Just realised my house key is on the same key ring as my car keys.Oh what a wonderful day.

Just a short post today.Tired not inspired.

Taking a shot

I was reading http://guinnessandpoker.blogspot.com/ and there was an interesting quote from Mike Caro which basically said that if you can afford it and you've a small bankroll there's nothing wrong with taking a shot at the higher levels.

With this in mind I deposited $300 at Interpoker to get a $300 bonus which I'll probably clear just before my retirement party.

Played 6 max and I have to say I found the play at Interpoker to be quite loose and wild.Big swings all day and night. Mrs A was busy doing up the wee ones room so I played for 15 hours with only a few breaks.3pm -6.15am.A mighty session.

I lost one buy in when I had K 8 and called an all in on a K 8 6 rainbow flop. Turn came 7 and river a 9 to give him a straight with K 10.Who pushes all in on the flop for $70 with that? Well he did obviously but this was $2 nl and I expected a higher standard.

Another similar beat and I lost another buy in.Patience I told myself. I was playing well and not tilting so I deposited another $400 and moved to $2-$5 nl to see if the games were as juicy.

I bought in for $400 and won $332 giving me a profit of $32 for all my play.Didn't get many quality starting hands either and when I did they didn't hold up.Had AA busted twice.Thats 4 in a row now.Isn't variance great?

The highs n lows of a session like that are why I play poker.Finding the mental strength to keep playing my A game after a major suckout at a table I don't have the bankroll for is all part of the fun. I've won with AA 80% of the 135 times I've had them from 30k hands.You have to be prepared for the 20% of the time they don't hold up.For that reason I may stay away from taking any more shots at $2 -$5 but apart from more preflop agression there didn't seem to be much to be afraid of.Then again I may not...


Overall though I'm please with the way my session went though.I probably did play too tightly and when we were 4 handed at some points the blinds seem to come round very quickly but I think I've seen enough to see that $2-$5 at least on Interpoker is not entirely outwith my playing range.One big advantage to Interpoker is that there were a lot of UK players and I'm sure that more than one or two of them were having a few too many beers during the game.
There really was some crazy play out there.

I'm always aware that table selection is crucial but site selection may be just as important and while I've always loved Pokerroom but I'm going to work at clearing my bonus at Interpoker for a while and see if the games are as loose as they seemed last night.

Watching the football this afternoonRangers drawing 2-2 with Aberdeen with 1/2 hr left.

Rented Oceans 12 on dvd for tonight.A nice dinner and a wee night in front of the box ahead.

My Alfa goes in tomorrow for its Mot and timing belt and for half the original price quoted.Pays to shop about.

Nearly forgot to mention that one of my biggest pots of the night was when I had 72s and flopped a flush. Juice would probably say soooted doesn't count as The Hammer but when I showed it down and wrote "The best damn hand in poker" I didn't care.

The poor guy on the end of that one lost another big pot a few hands later to another flopped flush.This time 73s.

I also won my biggest pot ever.$545 in total when I hit a flush on the river and had my $150 bet called by a guy who questioned my play.

"Its my first time playing.I've seen it on tv.Its easier than it looks" was my reply.

My egg and tattie scone and nice hot cuppa tea await.

Wee Story

Finally got my Adsl working again so I called up AOL to cancel the dial up trial I've been connecting on for the last 11 days.
Bear in mind I'm an avid Rangers fan.My team play in red,white and blue.Our rivals play in green and I never buy anything green.I even taught Step A to cross the road at the petrol blue man instead of the green man!

There is one product I buy in green ( apart from my weed) and I was reminded of this tonight by an Indian call center adviser who could hardly control his laughter as he asked me the security question "What colour of toilet paper do you buy?" when I called to cancel the account.

Maybe toilet rolls in your sporting rivals colours or with their club emblem could be the next big thing.

Or then again maybe not....

One Sheep

This joke came to mind when I was thinking about the $60 I was down tonight.I played solid poker for 3 1/2 hours,I'm up a few bucks and I blow $70 with a daft play when I totally misread what the villan had.Won't be the last time.

A man goes into the pub in the highlands and orders a pint. He sees a group standing at the bar having a good laugh and an Englishman sitting in the corner on his own. Instead of joining the group, he goes over and sits beside the man in the corner. "Are you not a local then?" the Englishman asks. "Oh yes," he replies. "We are all members of the local mountain rescue team, but they don't speak to me anymore." "Why is that?" asks the Englishman. "Well it was different this time last year when I single handedly rescued a group of four up on the ridge. Every body was buying me drinks, I was Tam the hero then. Or earlier this year when I pulled a dog from the river, I was Tam the animal lover then." "So what happened?" asked the Englishman.

"You shag one sheep..."

Well just as I was writing that out I get K8 o/s.I call and the flop comes A 4 7 rainbow.Not much doing and ready to fold.Checked round and a 5 on the turn.Possible gutshot and I'm calmly weighing up my options.Fold or fold.I call a $3 bet and a sexy six swims up the river.
Nice $60 pot versus the baby straight.


$5 down and going to bed....

Assorted nonsense

While I remember I meant to add that another aspect of Pokerroom I like is that you can click to see the hand histories of the previous hands played at the table.This means if your AA wins an all in showdown a quick click will tell you what your opponents ( who went to showdown) had.
This can be very useful as it gives an idea of the standards people operate at.I saw someone call and all in for $12 and when I checked they'd called it with J 10. A note was made for the future and while as they say in the financial world "past fishyness is not a guarantee of future fishyness" it can certainly help influence borderline decisions.

Played well last night but still lost $50.Lost a buy in when I got into a raising war with QQ.At $1nl I may have folded but at .25nl I thought I may still have been ahead.Up against KK and bye bye $25.

The other big hands I lost in were when I had KQ and made 2 pair on the board and was betting out but getting one caller.I bet $12 when I hit on the turn and the call made me think he was either drawing to the flush ( 2 hearts on the flop) or had trips.When a 3rd heart came on the river and he checked and I did too and his trip 9's took it down.Glad I slowed down.

It was a bit of a frustrating night.I got QQ 4 times and didn't win once with it.I don't normally bet my draws in ring games but when I had 7c5c and the flop came with 2 clubs I bet out when it was checked to me hoping to represent the Q on the board and disguise my flush draw.One caller and when a 10c hit on the turn I thought I was good and bet out a decent amount only to get called.Blank on the river and I bet out again only to get called by a villan with an 4c8c and a higher flush.

Not too down about it all though as unlike in some losing sessions recently I felt as if I'd actually played decent poker.I'd rather get garbage hands all night though than second best ones.

Started the evening by popping up to see my Mum and Dad for a while.Gave my Mum some poker coaching at the play money tables.( well I am a play money multi millionaire ) . My mum plays short handed games and together we ripped up the competition.Good bit of fun but far far removed from a realistic game.Always good to see my folks.

Another thought provoking post from http://www.gcox25.blogspot.com/ about balancing family and poker.Some quality comments too.Mrs A arrived back from work at 12am last night and came in the door just as my 63 o/s in the BB hit a 7 4 5 rainbow board and I felt bad that I didn't hear a word she said as I contemplated how to milk my unexpected straight.Switched off after that to pay her the attention she deserves but didn't stop the guilty feeling.

I'm very lucky that Mrs A is so good about my hobby.The fact that I've cashed out and bought a fridge freezer and washing machine with some of my winnings may help a little but really its down to her good nature and the fact that she gets the tv remote.I suppose if I was putting money into my poker account instead of winning that may make a difference too.
My wee cupboard that I play in is off our living room under the stairs so she still feels like I'm in the same room as we can chat away whilst I'm playing.

My other hobby is my football team and I can be quite obsessive about that too.I go to all Rangers homes games,several away games and until the kick off times changed I also went to all the Reserve team games.Oh and if Rangers aren't at home on a Sat I go and see EK Thistle play instead.

Mrs A likes poker more than football I think.I don't watch nearly as much football on tv as I used to since I caught the poker bug.I watch very little tv at all these days.

I may try and cut down on my poker playing a little to allow more time for my family and also to ensure I'm still enjoying my time at the tables.Sometimes it does feel like more of a duty than a pleasure to be playing and when its only a hobby that can't be right.Its also not good for the bankroll to play when not fully focussed.

Of course all these wise words will probably go the same way as all my other promises to myself about levels to play at,bankrolls etc.
I mentioned the other day about how I like kidding Step A by putting on a serious face and pointing behind her when we're eating then stealing her chips.

Sometimes I feel I steal my own chips.

Gotta learn to walk the walk and not just talk the talk....

Wed Update

Came home from work last night and booked the Rangers game on ppv.Rangers TV was showing it in full at 9pm but I couldn't wait and had to watch it live. 2-1 to the Scottish Champions and hopefully that and the 2 away goals should mean the Gers go through to the group stages after the second leg at Ibrox in 2 weeks.

Squeezed in 1 1/2 hours of poker last night and lost $37 at .25nl.Most of it came near the start of my session when I decided to start being more aggressive pre-flop and when my continuation bet was called ( after I'd missed the flop) I bet out again on the turn.Sometimes I don't think this is always a bad move but its all about timing and mine was rotten.

I'm terrible for staying up too late at night and being very tired the next day.This doesn't help my poker play or my mood when dealing with complaints all day.This week I've been making sure I'm in bed for 0.30 am latest and getting up about 8.30am and I'm feeling a bit better for it.I'm lucky that I have flexi time at my work so basically I have to be at work between 10 -3.30 and not be more than 11 hours up or down.To keep it on an even keel I need to do 7 hrs 12 mins per day.I'm usually a later starter ( 10am) and late finisher.I hate getting out my bed in the mornings but I could easily stay up till the wee small hours every night.I nearly fell asleep reading that back so quick subject change...

Why do people over 65 feel obliged to write their age in their complaint letters? Its like newspaper letters from kids which always have their age in brackets after them. I'd love to sign my replies with my age included just for fun.We do get some nutcases though.One guy sent in his letter on headed note paper which stated he was a member of the "Hells Angles".I think he got straight to the point.They say the customer is always right so does that make him a right angle?

Just read another from a guy whose line has been down so often he wants compensation to buy carrier pigeons. As Henry Hill said in Goodfellas " You're a funny guy".

Mrs A is working at again tonight.She works at the local Chinese takeaway and its great because I get two meals a week from there and tonight is steak night.A man can never eat enough steak I reckon.I used to do deliveries for a similar takeaway when I was younger and loved it.Easy money,good food and they were great to work for.The boss and his family took me for my first Casino visit on my 18th and bought me a huge steak for my dinner.I don't know when he found time to sleep though as he used to work from the early afternoon ( preparing food) until 12am then hit the casino.

So its finish work,pick up the wee one and my dinner then home for my part time job of Trampoline Supervisor with hopefully some poker and blog reading thrown in.

Could life be anymore exciting.....

Pokerroom review

Had an excellent meal out on Sunday.I had my favourite meal of steak and chips. The restaurant had a few birthday balloons for Step A and me and the highlight of the meal was breathing in the hellium and annoying the other diners with loud squeaky voices.My mum had never seen anyone do that before and nearly wet herself laughing.

Mrs A and I rented "Layer Cake" on DVD and although I didn't like it as much as "Lock Stock" or "Snatch" it was still a decent film.

Played 1/2 hour of poker afterwards for $10 profit.

Mark was up last night and we tackled MOH European assault on the ps2 for a couple of hours.Its much better than MOH Rising Sun and more like the first one which was a classic.

Hit the tables (.25 nl) for 3/4 hr after he left and made a quick $33.One guy uttered the immortal line "Dam,I thought you were bluffing" on his way out after I scooped a pot from him with my set of fives.

Took another player for his buy in and he said "I should stop.I've lost $500 today". He didn't stop though and lost another buy-in to another player before leaving.I was tempted advise him to take a break or tighten up but hey this wasn't blogland.This was at the table and players on tilt are a valuable commodity to be taken for every penny as they don't care about losing.

On Sunday night I won a buy in at .25nl when my AK o/s flopped the straight.There were 2 clubs on board and a player I had taken $6 from just a couple of hands before bet into me.
I raised him all in for another $15 putting him on the flush draw or maybe top pair.

Now at $1nl I'm learning to try and pitch my river bet so that an inferior hand will make the crying call but at .25nl a large bet will get the call anyway more often than not.

In this case I raised him all in because I was sure he'd call because I' d just won a pot from him.A lot of ego at .25nl. He did call and had 2 pairs.Queens and tens.

After one of the other players said "nice bet,good read" and was rebuked with "He flopped the straight.How was that a good read?". I was tempted to explain that I wouldn't have put anyone else all in but due to previous plays I was fairly sure I'd get a call but why bother.

http://www.gcox25.blogspot.com/ asked me about Pokerroom so heres my take on it.

I haven't played much on other sites apart from some freerolls but I like Pokerroom for many reasons. The gameplay is quick.The screen and chat box show the pot size and every bet made so you know exactly where you are.

There is an easy system for taking notes on opponents and colour codes.I use red for danger,yellow for weak etc.You can see the notes and colours from the lobby page when looking for a table to join aswell as flop% seen and ave pot size.( taken from last 20 hands).

The session browser is great and records every hand of every session which means its easy to check back on a particular hand or to see how you've done over a set period.Pokertracker does the same but the session browser is very handy.

You can get your own basic stats whilst at the table. Hands played/flop seen/net profit or loss.

The Sng tournaments fill up quickly and the juice is 50 cents on a $5 game not $1 like some sites.If 2 players are all in during a tourney cards are upturned and the % chance of winning is given.This changes as the flop,turn and river are dealt so you can see if your opponent really did suckout on you.

The player softness level is hard for me to judge having played almost all my poker there but the $5.50 5 max turbo sng's seem very soft and are very quick too and I'm winning at the ring games so it can't be too tough.

At .25nl flop seen for a full ring can be as high as in the 60's and quite often theres more money to be made by selecting the right .25nl table than by playing at an ultra-tight table ( low 30's) at a higher level.

If you like short-handed play they have 5 max tables at all levels and again its all about table selection.If you sit down and don't like the style of the other players then simply move to another.That is crucial to being a successful player.

You collect player points for raked hands and they run a Minor Player points tourney on Wednesdays.( too late for me in the UK).This is basically a $3k freeroll.

On Sat is the Major points tourney ( 500 pts) which is a $6k freeroll.If you don't have enough points you can try and qualify through the turbo qualifier a few hours before the main one.

Up unitl recently though the player points have been worthless for anything other than these tourneys but in the last month or so 500 points buys a $10 bonus and 50 more points release the $10. This finishes on Aug 22nd which is a shame as its the first decent promo they have done apart from the occasional reload offer.

One day I will try Party Poker ( bonus code :Iggy) and see if its as fishy as reported but until then I'll probably stick with Pokerroom.Its been good to me so far.

Hope that helps GaryC and anyone else considering playing there.Just give me a shout with any questions on Pokerroom if I've missed anything.Otherwise look out for Zagga when you're
there and say hello.

Nice to get a message in my comments from Jason who also follows Rangers thanks to his Scottish wife.We are the People!!

Rangers play the first leg of our Champions League qualifier tonight V Anorthisis in Cyprus tonight.Making the Champions league is vital for prestige and revenue so they have bring a decent result home before the second leg in 2 weeks at Ibrox.On paper Rangers are the stronger team but as we all know the game aint played on paper.


Called the local Alfa garage for a price to change the timing belt and have been told that they normally change the water pump too as its near the timing belt,hard to get to and goes faulty a lot on my car as its got to work hard to cool the 2.5l engine.The spark plugs need done too and including £360 labour charge the cost will be aprox £750 -£1k.Arghhhhhh!

I don't have to get the time belt done but with 60k miles on the clock its recommended and if it goes then so does the engine and I've got 2 years worth of loan left on it.Got some friends who are going to ask about and see if they can get me a cheaper price.Seems a lot of money to spend when the car hasn't actually broken down.

Ok the Adsl engineer is coming out on Friday morning.Hope he gets it working because the dial up service is dreadful.I had to leave 2 tables last night due to my 12 second delay.Grrrrrr.

Festival Week

Had a fine day yesterday just chilling with Mrs A who made me a great birthday dinner.
I'm trying to persuade her that my birthday is more than just a one day event and more of a week ( weekend at least) long festival of celebration meaning more of the tv remote for me and more requests to top up my drink etc.She's not for having it suprisingly.

Going out for dinner with my folks and the Acorns shortly then renting a DVD of my choice for this evening.

Last night though Mrs A was finishing her book so I played a bit of poker.Entered a 412 player $5.50 MTT tourney and came 16th for $21.A combination of tight play and some blind stealing but didn't see a lot of good cards late on.Must have had J4 o/s about 50 times.I enjoy these tourneys and it was nice to make the money.

I did manage to lose $37 at .25nl whilst playing the tourney so after it finished I moved to $1nl and when I was down $35 at one point I had a feeling it wasn't going to be my night.
However the Poker Gods must be aware that its my birthday festival this week and gradually I turned the session round in my favour.

My 66 turned into a set on the flop and luckily my opponent had 55 and made his set too and I took a chunk of his stack when he went all in.

$28 from AA and then my 77 saw a flop of J J 7 and I took another villan for another few $$$ when he bet out on his KJ.

Overall up $60 at the cash games over 5 hrs 33 plus $21 from my tourney leaving my bankroll at $1090.

Once again though it became clear to me how much this great game we all love is a battle with self more than anything.I was running well at the $1 nl and made a few decent laydowns. AJ after a preflop raise from the villan and a flop of A 5 9 which he bet out on.I called his post flop bet but when he bet out again on a blank turn I ruled out QQ KK and folded.He said he had AQ so I was glad of that one.

When I'm up in a session I play better poker than when I'm down and while thats probably not a suprise I need to get to a stage where I play every hand the right way no matter how the sessions going.

Ok time to get the dog walked and get ready to head out..The Birthday Festival continues.....

Birthday Boost

First thanks for the flood of Birthday wishes.I'm still sifting through both messages.lol.

I began the night at Interpoker.I had registered with them a couple of months back as I'd read that the bonuses were excellent.I've read the bonuswhores.com site and until Pokerrooms recent promo I felt I was really losing out by playing there.I hadn't played a game at Interpoker when they changed their bonus requirements so I never bothered to play. They sent me a happy birthday email crediting my account with $10 so I spent a couple of hours building it up to $29 before my flopped set lost to a higher flopped set and the adventure was over till my 34th birthday.I did actually quite like the software but Pokerroom is still streets ahead in my opinion.

Back to Pokerroom and played 2 $5.50 Sng's and came 4th and 1st for a $15 profit.

Went to .25nl and 3 tabled for a while reckoning I wouldn't get the chance to play crap hands if I was on 3 tables.Left after winning $20 over a couple of hours and was pleased to say I played fairly well.Moved to $1nl and played for another 2 1/2 hours for $22 net.Finished off by losing $10 at 5 max after 40 hands.I was going to keep playing but it was 5am and my eyes were closing so I hit the sack.No point in playing 5 max if your not feeling sharp.$46 up for the night and the bankroll back over $1k at $1011.

Woke up today to breakfast in bed.Rolls with egg and tattie scone and a fine cup of tea.
Mrs A gave me Medal of Honor European Assault and some other bits and bobs.Had a go at it already and its quality.My Mum and Dad are giving me some cash so I can decide wether to buy a new throne or flat monitor.

Decided to stay in and have a chilled out day.Mrs A has popped round to one of her friends houses for a cuppa and a gossip so I'm going to walk Nacho then roll myself a big smelly birthday dooby and hit the tables and blogs.( connection permitting).

I'm listening to the Rangers game on the radio.They are away at Inverness today up in the Highlands and have just gone 1-0 up.Our rivals also lead 1-0 so we need to keep our lead to stay at the top of the league table.

Juice thanked me for my comments on his blog and I'd like to say thanks to all who comment on this one.Its not always easy coming up with stuff that wouldn't send an insomniac to sleep and any comments etc are more than welcome.

I feel I've learned a lot from reading the other blogs on my link list.Some great strategy advice and poker thoughts.I even enjoy reading about other bloggers bad beats and downswings.The poker table can be a lonely place and its nice to feel your not alone if you've had a few bad nights and get a few words of encouragement if you have.I found the Blogfathers blog through
http://www.gcox25.blogspot.com/ whose own blog just keeps getting better. I'm only at Nov '04 but loving it .http://www.guinnessandpoker.blogspot.com/ is the link.I'm still trying to work out if he's really a little person or just at the wind up!Either way his blog is a cracking read.Damnit!

Have a stoating Saturday.

Movin' Up

Played for a couple of hours last night and I'm through with .25nl. I bought in for $25 and made a silly call for $17 with a flush draw that never hit and then left feeling annoyed with myself again.I know I wouldn't put 3/4 of my buy in at $1n ( buy in $100) on a flush draw so why do it at .25nl?

The answer is that I have 38 buyins at .25nl but under 10 at $1nl and I find it hard playing my A game at .25nl when I've played 6k hands at the higher level and been winning.

I won again last night and after 2 hours left $35 up giving me a $10 profit for the night.I felt I made better sized bets than usual and when it came to my river bet ( when I was sure I was ahead) I thought more about how much I would pay if I was in my opponents shoes to see my hand rather than just making an obvious big bet that screamed Monster.

Bankroll is at $965 and while a few bad beats or bad plays at $1nl may well take its toll at least I'll be playing my best game.I may play .25nl again but will seriously question myself first to make sure I'm fully focussed.

Its also hard switching between the loosey goosey style of .25nl and the tight grinding style of $1nl. One guy at the $1nl table who was very loose and aggressive asked "Does nobody raise here pf?". I was tempted to reply that as we were all waiting to trap him with our monsters and indeed within an hour he'd gone from hero to zero after playing almost every hand.

Just had my Mum on the phone asking what I'd like for my birthday.I was going to ask for a new monitor as I use a 14" old piece of junk and I'd love a 17" or 21" flat screen and I'm sure it would be better for my eyes but comfort comes first so I've asked for a new chair instead.Us Scots get an unfair reputation for being tight with money but it certainly applies to me.I bought
my current chair for £10 from a dodgy wee unit ( not really a shop) near the Barra's market and wheeled it all the way back to my car.It obviously fell off the back of a lorry and although it was a bargain its needing replaced.My backside demands it.

Not much else planned this weekend.Aswell as following Scotlands Champions I also support my local junior football team.Junior does not mean kids but part-time football and I've tried to go and see East Kilbride Thistle Fc whenever I can and whenever the Gers aren't at home.Its a bit different going to watch a match with 50 people rather than 50000 but I enjoy it.I took Step A to her first game to watch EK lift the Sectional league cup a couple of years ago inthe final v Bellshill.It was the only trophy EK has won in over 20 years and I'm not holding my breath waiting for the next one.

Reading a couple of good books just now. "Dry" by Augusten Burroughs about a guy going into rehab which is a true story and sounds dreadful but is actully quite a funny mix of comedy and calamity. "Grass" by Phil Sparrowhawk is about a guy who made it big as a drug smuggler and worked with Howard Marks.I've read Howards "Mr Nice" ( he used it as an alias) and I saw him at the theatre in Glasgow telling some of his incredible stories.

My team at work have just presented me with a Chocolate muffin for my birthday complete with candle and a card.Deeply touching.lol. I used to have one with my lunch every day until I attended MA.( Muffins Anonymous).

From the paper today "Scottish courts are dealing with an ever growing collection of fetishists.In Sept 2003 pervert Ian Curtis was caught having sex with a frozen chicken.
When he was discovered by his wife Jean the former military policeman,42,of Glasgow,was dressed in a skirt,silk blouse and rubber stockings.
Jean who later divorced him shouted at her husband " You dirty Bast*rd, that's my Sunday dinner".

Another one I liked:A reader tells us about his pal Joe the tiler who has just been tiling a wee wummin's bathroom in Garrowhill. After making him a cup of tea before he started, she told him: "Noo son, I hope yer last tiling joab wisnae that American space shuttle".

Still no sign of my MOT certificate but apparently I don't need it to get another one done.That'll be something nice to spend my birthday money on.....

One small step for an Acornman

I ended up spending most of last night hunting for my MOT certificate which I need to tax my car.Road tax was up at the end of July and I've a horrible feeling my MOT ran out in June.
The MOT is the annual test to make sure the cars roadworthy and although my Alfa is running like a dream I will need to get it in and get it tested asap.

Not much else to report.I played an hour of poker last night and finished up winning $6 which is a small step in the right direction. 1/2 hour at .25nl and was down $15 before stepping up to $1nl and making $20 in 1/2 hour when my 55 made a full house and a clown called my rather large river bet ( I was hoping it looked like a steal) with the pair of Aces he'd made on the flop.Not exactly spectacular but better than being slapped in the face by a wet fish.

Poker really is a mentally tough game.Further analysis of why I made such a dumb call with my AA yesterday led me to question my focus when I'm not at $1nl. If I can lay down QQ pf at that level when I feel I'm beaten then I should be able to lay down AA at lower levels when I know its behind.

I also realised that I made that bad play after folding AK to a couple of all in bets a hand or two earlier and of course watched as 55 took down the pot with an A and K on the board. Most of the time I tell myself that the constant shuffling software would mean that if I'd called the A or K wouldn't have hit but after dropping a few hundred in a couple of weeks I have to be honest and say that it did annoy me and may have been a factor.

I found a comment Will made at the end of his post yesterday interesting.He said that he likes sngs as they are short and sweet as opposed to having to play for a while at the cash games to make it a good session.( http://will-wonka.blogspot.com/). I've always thought the opposite.If I'm in a cash game I can leave anytime but in a tourney I'm commited to my seat until I win or go out and there's no set time for this.On reflection though I've changed my mind.A good ring game may require a couple of hours of grinding and while you can leave anytime I don't like leaving until the Big Blind is almost upon me,the table breaks up or I've been in my poker cupboard so long that roots start sprouting from my feet.( happens when your an acornman).


Enjoying my last days as a 32 yr old.I'm going to be 33 on the 6th and I'm not that keen on the idea.I tried to start a collection in my work for a bit of fun as there seem to be envelopes go round collecting money for all sorts of occasions and I've been here 10 years and never had one.Not that I'm bitter....

I even promised to start off my collection with £5 myself and to look suprised and happy when my colleagues sprung it on me but they must be doing something really special for my big day as my envelope remains empty.Maybe a rolex or a small amphibious vehicle for cruising up the River Clyde at lunchtime.

The excitement builds....

If it looks like a Duck.......

Thanks to http://raiseonthebutton.blogspot.com/ for the comment he left.I didn't mention that I also got soaked by a rain shower and battered my ankle trying to jump over a knee high wooden fence whilst on my egg timer mission.Not the greatest day of my life.

I hate dial up.I'd forgotten just how slow and cumbersome it is.I tried looking at a blog last night while playing poker and I got disconnected after waiting forever for the page to come up.

I also hate myself for making bad plays and dropped $90 in total last night after a really stupid play with AA cost me $50.I raise pf to $3.50 at .50nl. I get 2 callers and a flop of Q 7 6 rainbow.I bet $8 and one guy folds and the other raises me to $25.

I type "AA no good?" and fold. At least thats what should have happened. I could see his 2 pair/trips screaming at me to fold.If it looks like a duck,walks like a duck and quacks like a duck.......Its a f*ckin' duck!!


He obviously wasn't bluffing.AQ was a possibilty and after a brainflip I decided thats what he had.......and reraised him all in.What a stupid move.He would never have called if he did have AQ and of course he called and took it down with his 76.Can't really complain about his play.Yes he called 7 * BB preflop and if he does that all the time he'll go broke but I like his move.Call a big pair with 76 and if you hit big you can take a stack if your opponent plays as badly as I did and if you don't its an easy fold.

The only good point is that at least I can recognise my bad play and will hopefully learn from it.The amount of times I've laughed at fish who fall in love with a hand and can't let it go despite it being so obvious its beaten that their opponent may as well hire a billboard with the news yet I do it myself.

I really do agree with whoever the wise person was that said the hardest opponent you will face is yourself.Choosing the right game and having a grasp of basic mathamatics involved are important but ultimately poker is about discipline, emotional control and hitting a full house when you go all in preflop with 72 off suit.( last one just for Juice and The Edge). Substitute the last point for experience.I suppose even after only 28k hands I'm experienced enough to realise I did make a bad play with my AA and it wasn't the bad beat I'd probably have called it when I started.Next step is not repeating the error too often.

Back to playing every hand as an individual hand and playing it correctly.I do tend to focus too much on how many $$ I'm up or down in one night or week which is not the way to go.I'm not sure if I'm ready to abandon my bet big or go home style yet though.Bigger risks = bigger rewards and more fun.Bigger swings too but having the mental fortitude to cope is part of the game and I hope a part I can improve on massively in the coming months.Having said that I'm trying to bet smarter not harder and get more value from people calling with second best hands.Tough balancing act because at .25nl betting harder( more) with the best hand seems to be taken as an insult to the ego, appeals to the greedy gene and in a lot of cases induces the wrongly made call.


The other big hand that cost $$ saw me all in with KK pre-flop and out drawn by AK when he made a flush.Happens.

I also stuck to .50nl or .25nl last night and was playing while watching Celt*c win 4-0 in the second leg of their Champions league qualifier. As they lost the first leg 5-0 its a case of so near yet so OUT!

All this took place after a fine meal out at the Auldhouse arms.The steak pie hit the spot and it was fun watching the wee one try and distract me by pointing out something behind me and then attempting to steal my chips.( fries). I taught her to perfect the suprised look and the "what the heck is that behind you?" routine and its funny watching her try it out on me.

She did get me big time by pointing behind me and telling me Kylie was playing a gig in the pub next week.I turned round and informed her it didn't say "Kylie" it said "Ceilidh" and that this was a Scottish dancing night with kilts and traditional music blah blah .I turn back round and half my chips are gone.Sounds like my poker recently.....

Found out today that the old boy who sat beside me at work has been sacked after a long suspension.I work in complaints and he used to spend all day every day antagonising customers." How much will it take for this to go away?" and repeating the customers surname 3 or 4 times in a row whilst his voice got louder and louder were his favourite tricks."Mrs Lavender,MRS Lavender,MRS LAVENDER.....

I didn't like him much and we nearly fought in the office over a daft football arguement one day but he can't have been more than 5-10 years from retirement and I do feel some pity for him and I wouldn't have wished that fate on anyone.I wonder if he knows we called him "The Don" behind his back for years.He'd make a great traffic warden so be careful where you park your car....

Ok another time for another quick one from The Herald:

Size matters:

OUR story about the biology teacher drawing the male reproductive organ on the blackboard and apologising for having to do it from memory, reminds Allan Kelly of the story of the student biology teacher who found a cruder version of such drawn on her display board. She rubbed it off quickly before beginning the lesson. The next day an even larger drawing of the same subject greeted her and again she removed it.And yes, the following day an even larger portrayal greeted her with scrawled below it: "The more you rub it, the bigger it gets."

The bankroll is at $950.I just wish it also worked on the above principal.....

Booted when Up

I promise my next post will not be entitled "Booted when breaking even" but it happened again the other night and my adsl is officially gubbed.I'm using a dial up connection till its fixed but its slower than a week in jail and driving me nuts.

Apologies in advance for the lack of decent posts until its sorted.


From 31/7/05
My lack of self discipline does not bode well for my future poker bankroll.I write a post outlining
the reasons why I shouldn't be playing at $1 or $2nl and then hit "Publish post" and promptly go straight to a $2 nl table.

Settled down for a fold fest and had a decent run of cards.I said I hadn't noticed a difference at $2nl ( from $1) but on one hand I had KK and it was raised to $4 then reraised to $8.I reraised again to $15 but instead of the all in extravaganza I was expecting all folded and I raked the pot.
The good news is that there still seem to be plenty of fish at $2nl.My table had its share of shortstacks taking a shot and tilters.I know I'm just a big stack ( I always buy in for the max) taking a shot but I'm a lot more patient than most of the action junkies with very low buy ins.

The bad news is that I don't see anything wrong with playing very tightly but I see a lot wrong with playing scared and while I'm comfortable at $1nl I think that at $2nl I know that coming out on the wrong side of a coinflip or making one mistake could cost me 1/5 of my bankroll and I could be playing much better with a bigger roll.

My adsl failed mid hand and I left the $2nl table $94 up.The bankroll sits at $1047.

2/8/05 Didn't play any poker last night.Mark popped round for a night of Project Snowblind on the ps2.We must have nearly completed it by now.Its a regular first person shooter game but has some great features.You can make yourself invisible,use x ray vision and have a ballistic shield if you have enough bio power.If only I could use those powers playing online poker...

I'm taking Mrs A and Step A out for dinner tonight.Back to the Auldhouse Arms for the tastiest Steak Pie in Scotland.

Felt like an idiot the other day.( for a change).I bought an electronic egg timer to avoid the kids arguing about whose been on the trampoline but it wouldn't work.I went back to the shop and the young assistant opened another 3 and we couldn't get them to work either until an old lady in the queue pointed out that it has to be fully rotated first before setting it.Oooops.

Read in todays paper that a woman was so angry arguing over a bus seat that she bit her own arm.Maybe I'll try that the next time I get a bad beat.

Had a quick read at http://pokerandglory.blogspot.com/ and I'd like to wish the Juice all the best with his gambling problem.With counselling and help from fellow bloggers I'm sure he can get over his 7/2 obsession....lol.

I liked his Batman picture but theres only one Superhero for me and thats Mrs A or as I like to call her in the mornings .......CuppaWoman. Can't beat a cup of tea to start the day.Now where do I get a cape with a big C on it?


Heres a wee story which made me smile from the Herald Diary column.

THE strange world of toilet-cubicle humour continues, with a visitor to Dublin telling us he was having a pint in one of the city's fine bars, when an American visitor told the barman: "Excuse me sir, there's no lock on the restroom door."Without pausing from pouring a pint of Guinness, the barman replied: "That's because no-one has ever wanted to steal what's done in there."

Ok I'm off to chase up my broadband fault. I may be some time......