Stats update and witterings

31/12/05 - 31/01/06 = $248 profit 74 hours played. Bankroll total $3063

31/01/06 - 28/02/06 = $455 profit 45 hours played.Bankroll total $3517

Current standings: Interpoker $1348 ,Ladbrokes $1285,Pokerroom $785 Party $199 ( inc $100 dep)

The decrease in playing hours is probably because I was off work until Jan 9th and played a ton over Xmas.Hours played doesn't include Pokerroom ( est 5 hrs) or tourney time.


Played a little over the last few nights for a net profit of $17.Mrs A was asking when we're going to go and live somewhere hot and sunny instead of cold wet Scotland.She was only joking of course as I could never leave my beloved football team.( or family obviously!).I watched the Gers play in a pub in Florida when we were over in '99 and there are supporters clubs all over the world but nothing beats my seat in the Rangers end.

I had considered a life of crime a few years ago.Cigarettes are £5.50 per 20 these days and in Gran Canaria they are £13 for 200.Live in the Canaries and make two visits home a month with a full suitcase and spend the rest of the time on the beach.Ok I only considered it when very wasted late at night whilst looking out to sea from the hotel balcony but now I have a new plan!

The $4239 I made playing low stakes nl last year may not be enough to go pro in this country but with the wonder of the net I could be playing my poker and living very comfortably in somewhere like Goa in India or even Sharm in Egypt.

I think I just need my upcoming trip to Egypt really badly.Even a customer remarked today that my job is shit ( after arguing for 10 minutes) and at times I would struggle to disagree.Why the hell should we all work anyway? We're on this earth for a mere nano-second in time yet we have to spend most of it grinding away at work.Its all wrong!! I don't mean to make a joke of alcoholism but on those nice hot sunny days when I'm passing the tramps/bums/jakeys drinking from their brown bag as I'm trapsing back into the warm stuffy office after using up my 1 hour "get out the office free" card I wonder whose got their priorities right!

On todays lunchtime travels I did notice that the fallout from Juice's visit continues.The amusment arcade with pool tables that we played at has been mysteriously closed since the day after Juice left and remains shut! Maybe they are still doing forensics at the site of the slaughtering...

Pay day today so took Mrs A and Step A out to the Auldhouse Arms for dinner."Saw" is coming on Sky movies in an hour and we're going to watch that too.Mark will be up tomorrow night for a go at my new game on the PS2 then its all down hill to the weekend after that.

Apolgies for the rambling and lack of poker content.I did leave Juice a comment on his 6 max post which seems to have vanished so I'll try and repeat here.

He mentioned he was trying to be uber agressive and if that suits your game then fair enough but thinking that all 6 max requires is loads of agression and much lower starting hand requirements if far from the case at low stakes nl.

Its more about selective agression and the happy fact that most of the players are only bothered about their own hands and will give you action on your preflop raise despite it being the first hand played in 3-4 table orbits.

Reads are vital but I don't mean having precise notes for every situation but a feel for how the table and individuals are playing.Spot the weak ones and the ones who can't keep control after losing a pot.Look for the egotists who can't fold.( they have to let the clock run down). Oh and don't bluff a fish whose going to call because he's barely thinking about his own hand let alone the hand your trying to represent.

I saw some of very lowest nl tables ( .10-.20) with average pots of $8.Over the long term simply by being patient and playing better starting hands than your opponents you can't fail to make money.If its 30c per orbit you could do nothing for 20 full table orbits then win an average pot and come out ahead!

Don't involve your ego and make sure your bets are telling the right story.Always be thinking what you'd be thinking if you'd been on the other end of that bet but take into account past form as often its the only guide to their thinking( if indeed they are!) .Judging the standard of the table and other players is vital in knowing where you stand.I wouldn't consider going all in with AJ for example unless I knew the villan liked to push with any Ace or an even weaker hand in which case an all in with AJ is fine in my book even if its not in any poker book out there.

Film starts soon and then if I remember I'm going to try and listen in ( 11.30pm Uk time I think) to blogging superstars Jordan and Tripjax on Web Poker radio talking about Daddi,blogging and stuff.If you read this beforehand then good luck and no pressure.It's only the whole world listening!

Ok I'm going to hit post before I send myself to sleep let alone any readers I have left.Probably back Thursday or Friday....

Back with a bang

Started my poker last night by losing $15 at a ring game before playing in a 6 player $3 sng at Ladbrokes for readers of a Rangers forum I use.We were down to three in quite a short time but the 3 handed battle raged on for far longer than I expected.You'd have thought the difference between 1st and 3rd was hundreds of $$ and not just $6! I eventually won after and hour and 20 mins play to take down the $9 prize!

Winning that though probably gave me the confidence boost I needed to have one of my finest nights at the tables.I didn't win hundreds but I did deal with my AK/AQ being busted by Ace rag hitting their kickers on the turn after the money was in by keeping calm and not steaming.It was 3rd time lucky and the next time I had AK and it on the flop it finally held up V A10 and for once it was me stacking the chips.

Played mostly .50-1 nl 6max and finished at 4am $170 up for the night.Being emotional at the table is a recipe for trouble but as soon as I switched my pc off I felt damn proud that I'd managed to rescue my week with a decent nights play.

Figures are Party $199 ( inc $100 dep) ,Interpoker $1322,Ladbrokes $1300 and Pokerroom $777. Total $3498 ( not inc Party dep) + $17 for week.

Yep its only a $17 profit but considering how it was looking this time yesterday I'm just happy to be in the black for the week.

I'm never going to be rich though.In the next few months I've got Mrs A's dress for my sisters wedding to pay for along with a present,holiday next month,holiday in June,Rangers season ticket ( £500 aprox) and my car insurance (£700 last year).That doesn't include getting the "sporty" sounding holy exhaust fixed or any other repairs to the car or my flat which I still own and rent out.

I have been a good Acorn since I remortgaged my flat last year and paid off my credit cards.At the end of next month my balance will be about £100 in total on them.I have £25k in available credit.Can you pay for WSOP seats with your card? LOL ( couldn't resist a lol.every blog need more of 'em LOL).

Not complaining though.Far from it.I've had my season ticket for about 10 years ( ever since I stopped working weekends) and would never give up my seat.The car insurance may be cheaper this year.I drive an Alfa 156 2.5 v6 .Even the fuel costs me around £130 per week but its the best car I'v ever had.Looks great and drives like a dream.

The holidays we could cut down on.Mrs A was looking through an old briefcase last night and there were loads of tickets from our first year together.We saw Irvine Welsh plays,went to cinema,go karting and I even took her to a couple of Gers games all of which we don't do as often these days as we are usually saving for our next trip abroad.

To be honest having a poker addiction makes and a tiring job mean it too easy to spend weekend after weekend playing and not enough time getting out and enjoying life.

I hate getting older if the truth be told.I'd love to be 23 again with the life experience I now have.I have a terrible fear of getting old and getting ill.Footballers tend to retire around my age as they say the legs start to get heavy and though I run up and down 3 flights of stairs at work every day and I'm probably fitter than I was a decade ago you can't stop the shifting sands of time.

These days most people live longer and as 40 seems to be the new 30 ( right Gcox?) I should stop whinging and just get on with it.Despite my paranioa over every lump or bump I ever have apart from my smokers cough and a touch of IBS I'm in good health and damn grateful for it.

Ok back with more next week...

Scotland tank England!

Frustrating night at the tables last night.Played at Party for a couple of hours and broke even after being behind for most of the night.I should have packed it in after that happy to be card dead but not down.Instead I moved to Interpokers 6 max tables and hit the £1-£2 nl.I was playing well until I slow played A2 sooted from late position,caught an Ace and two on the flop but didn't bet enough post flop allowing Mr A10 to catch his ten on the turn to take me for a buy-in.I was angry at myself for that one.$198 down.

Moved over to Ladbrokes for 10 mins at 4am and won $10 before hitting the sack.Usually if I'm down a couple of hundred I have a word with myself and go and try and win it back but last night I was so tired I didn't feel like playing on.It was probably a good move not to.

Got tonight to try and rescue what's turned into a poor week but overall last night despite playing one hand like a fish I felt I kept my patience well considering the utter junk I was being dealt.Too easy to say stuff the poor cards and start trying to push edges that aint there to turn things round.

Overall not too down about it.It does seem though that every time I step up a bit the cards kick me in the junk or I make a donk play that costs me.That's what my bankroll is for I suppose....

I read at Sir Waffles site about Zee Justin having his accounts closed at Party.I've read Zee Justins blog a few times and had great admiration for his consistency and results so it was disappointing to read that he's a cheat.His arguement that if 2 of his accounts ended up at the same table at an mtt then he would open 4-6 more sng's to distract him is just a joke.I've no doubt he's probably 1000 times the player I'll ever be but cheating is cheating and the sooner players like that are booted out of online poker the better.

It did console me slightly that while I'm down $188 last night Justin has had $100k removed from his accounts.One bad beat that is well deserved.

Thanks to PWS ( Prince William soundalike) for the complimentary comparison to the French male model Jaspur Car'ot. A bit worrying that he finds me that attractive but I'll take it as the compliment I'm sure its meant as ;-) Did Arsenal lose again today btw?

Nearly cracked another rib laughing after reading The Poker Champ entry for Febv 23rd.Not sure if he's just a clever writer with a funny online persona but this line is pure poker blogger gold. "I already got one of my call center chumps buying me cokes all day so I'll teach him poker at lunch - AND HE WON HIS FIRST PLAY MONEY TOURNAMENT LAST NIGHT! ".

I mentioned aiming to hit $5k and move up but as usual real life demands are butting in.Mrs A wants me to buy a £50 pressure washer for the car.I also want the new PS2 game "Black" aswell as a few more movies for my PSP.My Johnny Cash collection is far from complete and I'd love to add some of his highly aclaimed later cd's ( American Recordings etc).


Didn't make the EK Thistle game today as Mrs A needed Acorn taxis.I may watch a bit of the Scotland V The Auld enemy ( England) rugby.I'm not much of a rugby fan.Egg chasers! I hear Prince William likes it though...

Edit: I've always thought Rugby should be used to define which sporting nation is the finest.18-12 to Scotland today at Murrayfield.What a game!

England sent homeword tae think again! Ya beauty!


Enjoy whats left of the weekend and good luck to Rosie in Laddys $100k freeroll.

Poker break

Its true! I played no poker at all on Wednesday night after the game.None.Zlich.Nada.What a difference a day off makes.

Played at Partys $50 nl full ring and won $50 for my 1 hr 1/2 work.The difference was that I was far more tuned into the table and who was doing what instead of just going through the motions waiting for a big hand.Ok I still waited for big hands but also siezed a few opportunities to see cheap flops from late position and that paid off a couple of times.

It was loose game so as per The Theory of Poker I also cut out the bluffs/semi bluff and bet more to protect when I did make a hand.

Finally got my Party account over $200 after buying in for $100 and getting a $20 bonus.I'd like to get it over $400 before withdrawing my original $100.

I mentioned above being more tuned in but the main benefit of a night off was renewed patience.I was down at $45 without having played a hand before I made my mark.Once again some of the play was dreadful.Players all in preflop with 33,A10 etc.I won a $30 pot when my Aces held up v 1010.Now I've been all in preflop with 1010 before but only against the loosest all in every hand type of player and not someone like me who hasn't played a hand in 20 minutes and is suddenly ramming and jamming.

I have noticed there seems to be a lot more chat at Party than most other sites.It was fun watching the table coach go down in flames but only a matter of time as he was such a poor player.

I read a lot of bad reviews about Party before signing up but thus far I've been quite impressed with the set up.The play is quick and the software looks good enough.I do wish it would give the full betting history of the previous hand in the chat box ( like Pokerroom) but being able to easily access the full hand histories to see what the fish are betting with is great and a feature that kept me at Pokerroom for many months.

Nothing exciting in store for this weekend.Used up my excitement quota last weekend at the football on Saturday,meeting up with my favourite gangster Michael Coreleone. (**Edited due to comment left by Prince William Soundalike) on Sunday not to mention participating in the famous Dadi tourney on the Friday night.

I may head off to Govan to watch EK Thistle play away from home or if I end up playing poker until late then a well deserved long lie could beckon.

Only three more weeks of work before Mrs A and I head off to sunny Sharm.80f there today and more of the same will do me nicely.

Here's a couple of wee funnies from the paper before I go.Have a great weekend and may you hit dem flops hard!

Root problem: A Scot visiting Sydney found a bar showing the Rangers v Villareal game, with the only downside being the channel using American commentators. Thus, he had to grapple with their description of "locker room" for the dressing room and "midfield stripe" for the halfway line.Much amused were the Australians in the bar when the commentator said the Man Utd manager Alex Ferguson was "rootin'" for Rangers manager Alex McLeish. To the Aussies that meant a close familiarity not expected between football managers.

Further news on President Bush's plans to protect the United States from bird flu. Apparently his officials had to talk him out of making a pre-emptive strike on the Canary Isles.

A Desmond

Just back from Ibrox where Rangers and Villareal played out a Desmond ( Tutu) before 50,000.The card display before the game was amazing but we fell behind to a penalty after only 7 mins when Prso handled in the box.

Lovenkrands equaliser was an absolute peach from outside the box but a dodgy looking offside goal gave them the lead before an own goal pulled it back to 2-2.

We now have to win in Spain or draw 3-3 or more due the away goals rule where away goals count as double if scores are level.At least we still have a chance I suppose but once again some of the managers team selections were way off track.

I heard tonight that Paul Le Guen is a 99% certainty as the new manager but as I've said before I'll believe it when I see it.Attracting a coach of his calibre to Rangers would be fantastic for us and Scottish football.Watch this space...

To the poker and I moved away from the full ring and hit the 6 max Party $25 nl tables for 1/2 hr last night for $11 profit.

Also discovered a fine new blog via TripJax's "blog of the week" post.I've added Opoker to my blog list and I'd recommend a visit.I found it fascintating to read an NL player who's trying to overcome a pain threshold of $1k but can deal with losing a $600 hand when I'm still learning to handle losing any pot over $100.

His post from Feb 15th to demonstrate the swings at shorthanded $5-$10nl should be a lesson to anyone thinking of playing above their bankroll.

I don't consider myself gulity of the above offence.If anything I'm too cautious but I'd like to have at least $5 k in my roll before moving up and beyond $100 nl 6 max.Maybe I just have the "fear" and should just grow a bigger set of balls and give it a go but I've spent too many hours playing this game to lose my roll because A) I can't handle the higher levels b) the bad beats get me.

I may come across as being quite laidback about my poker future and in many ways I am but that doesn't mean I'm easy on myself over bad plays and mistakes.Already its Thursday tomorrow and I'm probably about even for only a few hours play since Sunday.I've got this drive inside me to try my best to post a profit every Sunday but I feel as if I'm stuck in poker limbo land sometimes.

I work damn hard all day and want to enjoy my hobby and not feel compelled to play because I've targets and goals to hit but then I'm not the type of player who always plays his "A" game.That could simply be down to playing so often but the paradox of not wanting to set too many goals and targets is that I play better under a little pressure from myself and from knowing I have to post my results here.Ok I don't have to post them here but I don't want let things slip and feeling accountable to myself in this space seems to help.

End of tonights ramble.Discovered today I can no longer accesss bloglines from work or post from work which is frustrating.I'll keep posting from home but as Gcox mentioned its not easy to come home and post after a long day at the fun factory.

That's all for now...

Champions league..We're havin' a ball...

Don't worry this blog aint going political but these two crazy comments from either end of the spectrum made me wonder what kind of world we are living in.No need for further comment from me.They speak for themselves. Thanks to Poker Champ for the first piece of wisdom.

"I am sick and tired about Iraq. There is only ONE solution to that place, and that is to level the whole thing. We've got enough ammo and bombs to just flatten that whole shithole. This way we don't endanger any more American lives, and we can just get rid of a bunch of worthless ragheads at the same time. "


Abu Omar, a 41-year-old civil servant from Rawalpindi, had brought his five sons to the march, one as young as eight. The only way to end the riots, he said, was for the Danish government to hand over the cartoonist to "the Muslim community".
"Let us decide - either to forgive him or punish him with death. If America can decide the punishment for Osama, why can't we decide that?"


I'm actually really enjoying The Champs blog.It really is a LOL experience.His post about being a "chosen one" on Feb 15th is worth the admission price on its own. Forget about Andy Beal v The Corporation or Negreanu v Dreamclown. The Champ V Jordan will be the Daddy of 'em all.Lets get ready to rumble!


My own poker play hasn't been too fruitful over the last 2 nights.Typical that I lay into the Party "beginners" tables as being amongst the juiciest I've ever played yet I'm down $20 over a couple of hours play on Sunday and Monday.Still $20 up ( exc bonus) for 10 hours play in total which I suppose is ok.Maybe I'm being greedy but the play is so bad I feel that despite not catching many cards I should be well ahead of where I am.Still if its the long run that counts I should have stored up some nice positive variance for the future.( if only it worked like that)

The trick is not to run out of patience.When you buy in for $50,pay the blinds a few times,limp with pairs and miss your set and then see your continuation bet reraised when you've missed the flop its easy to get out of line.Win $20 on your first hand and suddenly its "Chill city".

Football tends to be similar.I've watched Rangers struggle at times this season when at 0-0 but as soon as they go a goal up you can see the confidence it brings and every pass is quicker and more accurate and everyone wants the ball.

To the beautiful game in a moment.To finish off my poker round up I moved to Pokerroom and played a $5 turbo sng late on last night.Came 2nd for $10 profit after a titanic battle.We were 3 handed for what seemed like hours before the Heads-up. We were about even in chips and I was hoping I'd learned something from my battle with Phluxer on Friday night but after many garbage hands ( stealing to stay in game) I pushed with a weak Ace and lost to the villans AK.

Watching Arsenal V Real Madrid tonight before heading to Ibrox tomorrow night for the first leg of our game v Villareal in the 2nd phase of the Champions league.Villareal are a decent side with some real quality and are favourites to go through against one of the worst Rangers sides in recent years.To be fair Rangers have kept their best form for this competition and Villareal are probably the weakest of the teams left that we could have drawn.No matter what happens so long the players give 100 % effort and show even half the passion that'll come from the stands I'll be happy.

Probably no poker tonight and certainly none tomorrow night so I'll be back later in the week.

Good luck at the tables and to any celt*c fans reading this I believe "The Bill" starts at 8pm on Ch3 tomorrow night.Enjoy, muppets.

Champions league,We're having a ball........

Most excellent times

What a fine weekend that was.Friday night was the heads up Dadi tourney at 'Stars.I was well outplayed by Phluxer ( couldn't find link) after getting a bye in the first round.I folded 55 to his first big all in and ended up going out ( shortstacked) with A3 v QQ.I actually caught my Ace and 3 but a rivered Q sent me to the rail and as I was well behind to start with I can have no complaints.

Played a $10 sng after Dadi with Jordan,Tripjax,Dnasty,Sureflex and Garyc who was still playing Dadi popping in for the chat.Apologies if I've left any bloggers out who played but it was around 5am by then. The non blogger players must have wondered what they'd stumbled into as the smack talk flew round the table.It was a blast.I came 3rd with Jordan making a great comeback from a low stack to win it from a non blogger.

Good times indeed and a welcome break from the grind.

Figures update sees Party $161 ( inc $100 dep) ,Ladbrokes $1123 ,Pokerroom $768,Interpoker $1520. ( + $151 for week). Total $3472 ( not inc Partyy dep)

Watched Rangers beat Hibs 2-0 on Saturday before heading home and hitting the tables late on.

Played mostly at Party's beginnners tables and I've never seen play as poor in my short poker life.You simply cannot play your normal game and expect to profit there.I soon adapted though and won back most of last weeks loss there.The beginners tables are only open to new accounts for 45 days.When I looked before they only had .05-.10 nl table which may be soft but only have an ave pot of $2.

Not really worth it but last night they had $25 and $50 buyin beginners tables.Quote of the night was when one player mentioned another was multi-tabling.Another chimed in a "wow" before stating they only multi-table at the play money tables.Sure we all have to start somewhere and I hate the poker snobbery that sees players at one level look down on others below with contempt ( like my favourite poker gastronome hehehe) but that statement did tickle my funny bone.

Moved from there to Ladbrokes and played with Juice at the low limit nl 6 max tables for a while.I'd been running well but made a costly error whilst still in "party" mode.

On a flop with all hearts and a Jack I called a post flop bet with QhJc.After a Q on the turn they both went all in and the action was on me with my 2 pairs and Queen flush draw.Somewhere in my head the probabilty of flopping a flush ( 123-1) was flying around.To call one all-in would have been careless but calling two was downright daft.They both had 2 hearts in the hand and had flopped it.

My tilt trigger had been pulled earlier when I'd folded AQ and watched as KKK beat JJJ on a board which would have made me the nut straight."Party" mode meant I was giving the villans no credit for having a decent hand which is never the case at Ladbrokes when 2 players are all in.

$400 profit in 2 weeks hopefully means I'm over the worst of my downswing.Although I didn't actually have a losing month at anytime it felt like I was treading water for a while.

I was in bed for 3.30am last night as today was the day I would finally meet up with another poker blogger for the first time.I was up at 12pm and just slightly late in picking Juice up from outside his hotel at 1pm.What an all round nice guy he turned out to be too.Not the raving lunatic I was expecting at all...He's just as funny in real life as he is at the tables and I really enjoyed his company.

Brought him back to Acorn Towers to meet Mrs A and more importantly ( after all the gifts sent) Nacho who took an instant shine to the Juice.Mrs A had baked him a loaf and I helped show him the musical light by giving him Johnny Cash's live prison cd's before we headed off to shoot some pool.

I said Juice was a nice guy and in fact he was so nice he let me win all 10 games even firing the white off the table on the one occasion he did pot the final black.To be fair a lot of the games were tighter than the scoreline would suggest.

Good times indeed.I started my blog as a poker diary for myself and never imagined making cyber friends all over the world would come from it.

I mentioned playing with the US blogging crew on Friday helped break up the poker grind but thats an understatement and a half.It obliterated the grind.Smashed it into the ground.

When your plugging away on your own for hours at the table its easy to forget there can be more to the game of poker and life than just the constant pursuit of more money.As recreational player I sometimes wonder if I take it all just a bit seriously but then its real money not play chips I'm playing for and I would never want to gamble lightly with any hard earned cash.

I've touched on poker burnout recently and it was interesting to read Phil Ivey say he doesn't get tired of it even after playing 12 hours a day for 3 weeks.My first thought reading that was
that at least he probably takes a break after the 3 weeks.I probably average 20-25 hours per week but when that is every single week only broken by holidays abroad then I should probably look to take more frequent days or even weeks off from the tables.

Right enough of that pish.I've got poker to play....

Its Dadi day!

Busy house last night.We had Grandson Josh staying over.His Dad ( Mrs A’s boy) and Mum are clearing out their stuff from their army house in Cypus before moving to Edinburgh next month.

Read some blogs after the wee man went up to bed before giving into to my poker obsession and hitting the tables around 10.30pm.

Decided to play a HU $5 tourney at ‘Stars to try and prevent me playing like a complete fish in tonights Dadi event.It was my first ever HU sng and apart from the fact the constant action reduced my rolling capacity I really enjoyed it.

4 players start and the 2 HU winners play for a $20 prize.I won my first match after a marathon 45 min game.The villan had sucked out a couple of times but though it took me a good while to adjust to the format I eventually made it through to the final.

My first hand was AA and although I raised before and after the flop I didn’t play it hard enough until the river and discovered my opponent had hit both his Q and 9 on the turn and river to knock me out.Probably deserved it.I reckon I’m going to have to get very lucky to have any chance tonight.

Moved over to Laddys after that for some .25-.50 6 max.Won $20 in a fairly short time then headed to Juice and Rosies table for some .10-.20 full ring fun.

Congrats to Juice on making $500 in a month at these table.A fine achievement though it has to be said these tables are fish fests.Players raising UTG with KQ, calling all ins with Ace rag and family pots with all ten players in the pot not unusual.Rosie must have made a good few $$$ too recently and is not a girl you would want to tangle with in a pot!

Dropped $5 before winning it back and adding another $5.Hit the sack just after Rosie and Juice left.Juice has mentioned being in Glasgow on Sunday and we’re hoping to meet up for a game of pool if he can make it.My cousin has asked me if I’m up for a live game at the Wabash club and I’ve already agreed but if Juice does make it for once I’ll be choosing pool over poker as it would be an honour to meet up with a fellow poker blogger for the first time.

A pokery night in store tonight.I still require 72 raked hands to make Laddys $100k Sat freeroll and at 2am its Dadi time.

Off to Ibrox to see Rangers play Hibs in the league.We’ve lost out last 3 games to them which is unacceptable.Still no news from Rangers on the new manager situation.Supposedly because its linked to a large investment and no details can be released due to stock exchange rules.Still hoping its Le Guen but won’t believe it till I see him on the famous marble staircase.

Ok have a great weekend and don’t forget to sign up for Dadi on ‘Stars.

Here’s a few funnies for the weekend… Have a good one..


No handicap: WE asked what should happen to all the redundant pub ashtrays when the smoking ban comes in next month.

Jim Gordon in Edinburgh is worried about the fate of a chap he met in Fife. He tells us: "Years ago a friend and myself were playing pool in the Kilconquhar Inn, where we had the table to ourselves until the local Union rep popped in for a drink on the way back from a meeting.
He challenged us to a game of pool and duly whipped us three or four frames on the trot.

"The relevance of the ashtrays is that to our shame he only had one arm and used an ashtray, with its groove for a cigarette, as a rest for the cue."

Theme tunes: Rangers supporters still endlessly debating on the fans' website if Frenchman Paul Le Guen will ever be named as the new manager, have turned to song.We particularly liked the Vera Lynn plea:We'll meet Le Guen, don't know where, don't know when. And The Three Degrees melody:When will we see you Le Guen?When will we share precious moments.

Class act:A nurse delivering a sex education lesson to a class of first-year pupils in Glasgow was treated with world-weary cynicism when she asked if they all knew what a condom was. Sadly, it was only when she said she was going to put it on a courgette did the class sit up and ask, "What's that?" in baffled astonishment.

Blame the Mrs!

Stayed away from the poker on Valentines night and watched the excellent Hotel Rwanda with Mrs A.Made my bad beat stories and complaints about people not using car indicators etc seem pretty damn insignificant.

Only played for ½ hour last night at Party and would have made a small profit it it wasn’t for Juice and Mrs A!

I’m not sure what Juice said to the poker gods but my 6 max table had gone 3 handed when I get 23 sooooted on the button.I bet $1 and get one caller.Not keen on that as despite it being my fav oddball hand I really just wanted the blinds.Flop comes 2 3 K rainbow.Villan bets $2 and I double that to $4 which he calls.I’m sure he probably has the King and I have him by the short and curlies when the turn brings another King.He bets out $6 and I curse my Juice Jinx and fold!

Moved to a full ring table and I’m $10 up quite quickly when Mrs A wanders over to say goodnight and relay news of some magazine article she read about someone gambling online ( not poker) who wins at first but then loses it all and kills himself.I’m sitting folding garbage and showing her my bankroll update and a couple of my poker accounts cashier page just to show her I’m doing ok and not on the road to ruin.

I also pointed out the stuff we’ve bought from cashouts.Lets go up to bed and sleep on our poker bought mattress!

To be fair she did say she knew I was doing ok but I hope the reassurance helped.I am going to get out of my cupboard more though.I know people joke about whether it’s a gambling problem if you are winning but when I realised the other day I’ve probably only had Xmas day off completely from the game ( I did squeeze in literally 5 mins of poker whilst Mrs A was showering on Valentines night) its becoming too much of an influence in my life.

Like GaryC I’m giving serious consideration to buying a laptop so at least I can join Mrs A on the couch while I play.I also smoke a lot in that cupboard and with it being under the stairs there’s no real ventilation and that can’t be good although I think Mrs A is being very selfish in not letting me fit a chimney…..

Anyway Mrs A gets the blame for my $6 loss for the night after I let her decide whether to call or not with 77 on a J high board.I advised I reckoned the villan had top pair or trips but she went for the call and lost to a set of sixes.”Nevermind we were unlucky” she said.That’s what I get for trying to point out the skill involved in poker!


Bought “The Making of a poker player” by Matt Matros today for taking to Egypt next month.I’m going to buy a few more books and some PSP movies too to keep us amused.Just over one month to go before we’re off to sunny Sharm El Sheik.Looking forward to it although I’d better make sure its only books I take and not any cartoons…

Not much more from me today.Watched a lot of internet poker on the poker channel last night but I still haven’t seen any decent WSOP 2005 coverage.The UK has 2 Poker channels and loads of other channels show poker but ( maybe I’ve missed it) I’ve yet to see any coverage of the main event.If I want to watch pathetic so –called celebs butcher the game then no problem but the final table of the biggest event in the poker year…no chance.

Hold on the biggest poker event of the year aint no WSOP main event.Who’s the Dadiii?

If your not in yet there’s still time to register at Pokerstars for the tourney tomorrow at 2am UK time.

Ok thanks for reading and hope to see you at the tourney tomorrow night.

Ruby Murray

Currently suffering from a poker related injury.I must have pulled a hair out at the top of my inner thigh and its got infected and hurts like hell with every step taken.My new John Wayne/just shat myself walking style has proved a real hit with the ladies though…

Before I get onto the poker I have to mention the customer complaining about the problems he had with our call centre in India.He asked for the password “Dalmation” to be set up on his account after his faithful pooch.He’s not happy that he now has to enter “damnation” every time he wants to log on…

Played a for ½ hour on Sunday night at Party and lost $15.Lost a further $25 last night when my trip sixes were busted by a flush.I don’t often feel outplayed at the table but the villan raising preflop with 10c 9c caught me out.Flop was 2 4c 5c and despite him being the preflop raiser I mixed it up and bet into him post flop thinking I could get him to lay down AK/AQ/AJ there and then.I took his flat call as a good sign and when the 6c fell on the turn I considered it unlikely he had 2 clubs in his hand and bet the pot.He called and thinking I was ahead I got it all in on the blank turn and was surprised he called.

Took that blow and decided to move to Pokerroom.I had a $10 bonus which required a further 18 player points to clear by the 18th Feb. Opened a full ring $1nl table and settled down to play a tight game and earn my $10.

Now we all know that donkeys always draw and that good players are supposedly on the wrong end of bad beats more often than bad players and while I don’t wish to change the style of play that has worked for me until now I feel I’m sometimes too quick to lay down a hand especially when I have a piece of the flop.As a cash game player my motto is usually “there’s always another hand” and I wonder if that’s always the right philosophy.

Bottom line is I won $40 at $1nl and most of it when I called a raise from the BB with one of my favourite oddball hands,the mighty 23sooted ( diamonds) alomg with 2 others.The flop came 3h 5h 8 h and the preflop raiser led out for $5 ( I'd paid $2 to call his $3 pf raise).The other 2 folded and the action was on me.There was $17.50 in the pot and for a change instead of folding I called.

The turn brought a 6d giving me an inside straight draw to go with my bottom pair.He again bet $5 and this made me think he was either a weak player or had a weak hand as he was not denying me odds if I was on the flush draw.Maybe he was worried I already had him beaten.

River was a 2h giving me 2 pairs and I bet out $20 thinking a) my 2 pairs may be good b) I'm representing the flush or straight.

He called and I won.Hand history never showed his holding but it could have been anything from mid pocket pair to AK.


Quirky hands like that where I may only have 5 or 6 outs but will get paid off if I hit are something I’ll need to consider more.The implied odds are there but I’ve always tended to see implied odds as an excuse to be a drawing donkey.



Cleared my $10 bonus and then went back to party and blew $8 in a few minutes to leave me on a net profit of $2 for my play this week including the $10 bonus.

The play at Party 6 max $25 nl seems to be either super tight ( moved when all folded to my $1.3 preflop raise on one table with AA) or fishier than a fishy thing made of fish.So fishy in fact its taking some adjustment to get used to.Still up slightly there and you wont hear me complaining about the low standard.Just means I have to pay more attention to who the biggest fish are and play accordingly.Best way to play the worst players at the lowest levels is the bet big or go home way I reckon.Make sure if they are going to outdraw you its gonna cost them big time.

Just had a specially cooked valentines ruby murray( curry).Chicken Madras with rice and nan bread.Tasted great.

I can't understand why America isn't as big on Indian food as the UK.Properly done with a nice nan bread there's not much to beat a fine Garlic chicken balti or tikka masala.

Mrs A has also been busy flooring the attic this week with her brother and has set my dart board up too.Looks great and looking forward to making the most of my new den especially as the wee one gets older.Maybe even room for a plant or two...

No poker tonight.Mrs A's dad had lent her "Hotel Rwanda" on dvd so we're watching that.A nice light hearted romantic comedy...not!

That's all for now.Thanks for reading and keep walking that line...

Bankroll Stats + Weekend Update

Its been a decent week at the tables.Played for around 20 hours and finally made my goal of getting my Ladbrokes account back over the $1k mark.Current standings are Ladbrokes $1008,Pokerroom $717,Interpoker $1523 and Party $173 ( + $73). Total $3321 ( + $229 for week).

For my records:
In my 2nd year of real money poker I've made $1652 in Nov/Dec + $277 Jan1st-Feb 5th + $229 Feb 5th-Feb12th.

Total profit: $2158 since Oct 31st '05.

1st year profit Oct 31st '04- Oct 31st '05 : $4239

Overall total from Day one : $6397 ( aprox $600 bonus money included in total)


Busted my chops on Friday night trying and eventually managing the 500 raked hands required for Laddys $100k freeroll only to go out in 343rd place ( 200 pay) when my AJ never improved v 44.The blinds were coming round fast and if I'd won that hand I would probably have made the money ( $150 for 200th).

This time it was laying down 77 to a raise and an all in that frustrated me as I would have been up against AQ and AJ and would have flopped a 7.The player to my right played a great game and I noticed when I checked later he/she had made 2nd for $9k.Nice.

Finished Friday night $50 up at the ring and $129 up from my tourney placing leaving me just short of the magic $1k.After the tourney last night I was doing ok until I called a min raise with KJ and got it all in on a flop of K J 2 only for Mr Rockets to hit a 2 on the river for a better 2 pairs.That hurt and I stupidly allowed a little tilt to creep in and lost a hand ( and $40) when I tried to bluff on the river against a villan with a set.

I was annoyed at myself for playing decent ( break even) poker for 5 1/2 hours then losing $$ through my own poor control but over the course of the next couple of hours I pulled it back.Never saw Aces once in 721 hands but at least the 3 times I had KK they held up...

Posted the hand below after reading about dry sidepots and how to play them on other blogs.

First let me say I'm not in the habit of calling $12 raises with 44 but the original raiser was tilty and seemed to be throwing away what was left of his $50 buy-in whilst the other caller was a loose goose who would probably have called with any two.My reads were not far off when at showdown the first villan bet $12 with A8 and the loose goose called with K7 but that sadly didn't win me the pot.

I posted the hand to see what people think.Initially I was kicking myself.If I'd bet the turn and Mr K7 had folded I win the pot.My worry was I wouldn't be able to call if he'd reraised me .I'd also been playing tightly and he may well have folded expecting me to have a better holding than 44.That's probably why he checked when he hit his 7 on the river.


** Game ID 426483279 starting - 2006-02-12 01:00:18** Bayin [Hold 'em] (0.250.50 No Limit - Cash Game) Real Money

- ladron sitting in seat 1 with $14.80- Relief sitting in seat 2 with $40.18- oh-jeah sitting in seat 3 with $50.71- Mini-Me sitting in seat 4 with $53.15- duster28 sitting in seat 5 with $69.27 [Dealer]- Acornman sitting in seat 6 with $66.79

Acornman posted the small blind - $0.25 ladron posted the big blind - $0.50**

Dealing card to Acornman: 4 of Clubs, 4 of Diamonds

Relief folded oh-jeah called - $0.50 Mini-Me raised - $2.00 duster28 called - $2.00 Acornman called - $2.00 ladron raised - $12.50oh- jeah folded Mini-Me folded duster28 called - $12.50 Acornman called - $12.50

** Dealing the flop: 10 of Clubs, Jack of Spades, 3 of Clubs

Acornman checked , ladron went all-in - $2.80 , duster28 called - $2.80, Acornman called - $2.80

** Dealing the turn: Jack of Diamonds

Acornman checked, duster28 checked

** Dealing the river: 7 of Spades

Acornman checked, duster28 checked ,ladron shows: Ace of Hearts, 8 of Clubs

duster28 shows: 7 of Hearts, King of Hearts Acornman mucks: 4 of Clubs, 4 of Diamondsduster28 wins $46.00 from the main pot


Nearly didn't post today.In a shitty mood after losing the Old Firm game 1-0 at Ibrox to the vermin from the Eastend.Two poor teams and a poor game.We had 2 shots on target.They scored with the one they had.If I was a celti*c fan I would blame the referee but thats not the Rangers way.Paul Le Guen's assistant was at the game and I can only hope this means Le Gaffer is closer to coming to Ibrox.He's won 3 titles in a row at Lyon and transformed them into one of the most exciting teams in Europe and whilst there are no certainties in sport I would fancy his chances v the other mob.

Vive La Revolution....

Yabbadabbadooo

Began my night at the tables $9 down at a .25-.50 6 max table before jumping into Laddys $5 turbo mtt.574 keen eyed poker players and me chillin' to my tunes n building sweet smokes...

Slowly chipped my way up to a decent stack when I get my fateful mtt hand ....JJ.Three all ins and the actions on me.Top 60 pay.I'm top 20 with 67 left.I fold n watch the flop bring Trip Jax.Would have taken me to over 100k and numero uno.

Kept my head this time.Stole a few blinds and was chip leader for a while.Not many sweeter sights than seeing "Position 1 " at the tourney lobby.

Took a break,ate a dairy milk,rolled another and went back into the trenches.Made the final table in 7th and finally busted in 6th when I raised all in from late postion with KQ and the BB
stomped all over me with AK.

$129.Ty gg nh vnh wp.lol

Off to blow it at the cash tables.....

Friday Frolics

Played for an hour last night at Ladbrokes.Started at .25-.50nl 6 max and not much happened apart from losing with a full house to Quads.That cost me $18.

Popped out to pick up a nice oz of fine herb and then hit a .50-1 6 max table when I got back.

Wasn't there for long before found myself calling a min raise with errrrr Kd3d.I don't recall all the details but there was an Ace on the flop aswell as a King.The preflop raiser checked and so did I.Turn brought a 3 but also a 3rd club.I decided to bet out with my 2 pair and represent the possible flush too.Got called and the river brought another club.

I was out of position and there was only me and the preflop raiser in the pot but I used acting first to my advantage and made a pot and a half size bet hoping it looked like I'd bet out when drawing on the turn and now I'd hit my flush I wanted paid.I was also gambling ( its been known) that he didn't have a club.He let the clock run down and folded.

I was probably ahead with my 2 pair so it wasn't a pure bluff by any means but it felt like it while that clock was ticking.-$5 for my hours play overall.

Didn't get many raked hands in and still require a ton ( well 175 at least) to make Laddys $100 k freeroll.

Dropped off Step A and looking forward to a night of pokery fun and a long lie in tomorrow.I'll need to be careful though because although smokin' da herb benefits my game the new oz I've got is very strong and it'll probably take a couple of nights to get used to.

I may head into Glasgow tomorrow to watch EK Thistle play and get Mrs A something for valentines day.The Old Firm game kicks off at 12.30pm on Sunday and will be the departing managers last game v the soapdodgers at Ibrox.Both teams defences are poor so there could be a few goals.A quality game of free flowing football would be nice but I'd take a scrappy 8-0 victory!

Also did my bit for a fellow blogger today and transferred $10 from my 'Stars account to "HeyKidsItsBG" after reading about his problems at http://taopoker.blogspot.com/.I don't read http://www.gamblingblues.com/ very often ( barred from accessing at work) and don't know BG at all but his colon condition sounds awful so if you can help please visit Toapoker for more details on how to.

On a more upbeat note I also registered for the DADIII:Heads-Up Championship on 'Stars although I've only ever played heads up at the end of 5 or 10 player sng's so I'm not going into it with great expectations.The lads at my work are talking about a night out that Friday.I'll usually be home by 2am ( UK start time) but as I'm not much of a drinker I may have trouble switching my pc on by 2am let alone coming up with the strategy to beat my fellow bloggers.Should be fun.

Have a red,white and blue weekend...

Bye Eck .

I read Tripjax’s comment on yesterdays post and gave myself a kick up the backside.The plan was to stage a Rocky type comeback by playing a $5 sng last night and take it down by playing my best game.A nice neat post today about what a difference playing fully focussed can make was the plan.Came 5th in the first one and 6th in the second so no fairy story here.


I moved to a Pokerroom $1 nl table,bought in for $100 and waited for the fireworks to begin.I didn’t have to wait long…Called a $2 raise with 44 along with one other.Flop came 3 5 6 rainbow and the original preflop raiser made a weak $3 bet into a $7.50 pot and I was the only caller with my low pair and open ended straight draw.I didn’t like the Ace on the turn but I wasn’t folding to a $7 bet.The river did deliver a 7 and here’s where I screwed up slightly.The villan bet $25, I raised to $50 and he insta called with his busted set of Aces.I only considered him having 48 for a nano-second.I had no reads at the table but a maniac doesn’t bet 2 bb preflop.I just wish I’d made a larger reraise.Maybe he would have laid down his set but I doubt it.Still it was nice to leave Pokerroom $45 up after blowing $11 in sng fees first.

I’d only played there as I have a $10 player point bonus to clear and have until the 18th to do it.Back to Ladbrokes though tonight and Friday.I’ve 296 raked hands and require 500 for the $100k freeroll on Sat evening.I’ve only played one so far and they’ve been running since the start of January.200th pays $150 and the other players are probably other ring game players not tourney specialists who’ve bought in for $1k.

Ok after Pokerroom I should have headed to Laddys but the temptation to try out Partys 6 max tables again was too much.Unfortunately they were packed out and being far too impatient to wait on a list I jumped into a $25 nl buy in game for which I emerged $2.95 up for my 20 mins play.


Just heard that Rangers manager Alex Mcleish ( big Eck) is leaving at the end of the season.We lost 2-0 to Aberdeen last night and enough was finally enough for the chairman.Apparently there will be some kind of new financial injection which we'll be told about after our game against Villareal in the Champions league.What a relief to hear he's going.I'll never forget winning the league on the last day of the season twice under his management. "Helicopter Sunday" back in May will always be one of the most incredible days I've ever witnessed.To win the league in the last 2 minutes of the last game of the season when the media and fans of our rivals had crowned them as Champions the month before was sweet beyond belief.

"Craigan's gonna play this, it's a long one up there ,varga ,foran shot He's Scored McDonalds scored for Motherwell.......The title will be heading to Easter Road to Rangers, The Helicopter is changing direction!!!!!"

Hee Haw

Garyc mentioned there being at least one joker who goes all in on the first hand of most SNG's.I read his post just after I'd crashed out of a $5 sng after going all in on the first hand with JJ.It was a donkey move.I even called 2 all ins before it got to me.The villans had AK and QQ with QQ holding up.No real logic to my call other than being happy at the thought of either being out or tripling up my stack.I wouldn't have done it in a $10 sng but boredom and greed got the better of me.

Moved to Party and bought into a $25 nl full ring table.Lost $20 when I called a pathetic min preflop raise with 7 5 sooted.Flop came 7 5 J.Ended up all in with the preflop raising villan who had AA and hit his miracle A on the river to win.

Changed tact and tried out the 6 max tables at Party for the first time.Maybe it was just the table I was at but some of the plays I saw people make were enough to put a big smile on my face.

Finished playing after an hour having racked up an astounding $1.57 profit.Better than a loss I suppose.

Not much else going on today.Going up to my Mum and Dads tomorrow night so Step A can try on her bridesmaid dress for my sisters wedding in May.

My friend the Big Chap phoned last night.He's in a lot of pain just now with back problems.We used to play pool every week until he moved a year or so ago and I was hoping for a game to warm up for Juice's visit in a couple of weeks but looks like the Big Chap won't be playing much pool for the forseeable.

Here's a couple of good yins from around the web before I go.I like the photo ( I shoulda let the donkey play my $5 sng last night) and loved the bad beat story posted on a Holdem forum by "Muck".












By "Muck".

How about this one on WillHill last night. I pick up [A][A] in the BB. I raise 5xBB and it folds around to the button who calls.

Flop: [Ace][Joker][The Rules of Bridge]

Now I knew he wouldn’t call my raise with just TRoB but he could be have pocket Jokers and wanted to see if the flop brought over cards. I move all-in to take down the pot and he calls.

Turn: [Blank...completely white]

River: [Mr Bun the Baker] I show my Trips.

He turns over [Kernel Mustard][Candle Stick] to take down the pot.

Now that’s a bad beat!


Here's the "unbreakable" bone Juice and Mr Edge sent Nacho...

















Still its day 2 and he's not finished it which has to be a new record for him....

A happy tail

On my way to work this morning when Mrs A called my mobile.Was it an emergency? Had I forgotten my sandwiches? Had the pin number for my debit card finally turned up? In excited tones she told of how she had just signed on Nachos behalf for not one but two packages from Juice and Mr Edge. He's already enjoying the huge bone and has shown great interest in the squeaky shark toy too! If there's anything left by the time I get home photos will follow.Thanks guys.


Before:















After: Nacho cleverly transforms Sharky into a finger puppet!

















Not played much poker over the last two nights.$11 up which hardly seems worth mentioning.Had a frustrating time last night.Found a very juicy .25-.50 6 max table with a high average pot size and a fish with a big stack in charity mode.Sadly while another player won over $150 from the fish my only decent hand against him came when I had only been at the table for 5 minutes and I was still trying to work out if he was a dangerous Loose player who knew when to bet big or the total fish I'd eventually pegged him as.

He raises to $6.75 for about the 3 or 4th time in a row.I look down and see 1010.My first instinct was to go all in or reraise to $24 but I’d told myself to try and sit at any new table for at least 15 minutes to allow me time to settle in and work the table dynamic out.Too often I seem to be too keen to out play unknown opponents and taking some time to get to know them probably isn’t a bad idea.

There was also another player still to act after me so I called as did the other player.Flop came A J 6 rainbow and was checked down to a showdown where my 1010 beat the maniac fish’s 33.

I’ve been too lazy at the tables recently.Not moving if the table isn’t fishy enough and not spending enough time in the lobby seeking the best tables.

I’ve mentioned loads of times how when I’m on my game I prefer to play at tables with freakishly high pot averages.Now at weekend or late at night this can often be against players on tilt or maniacs with too much money and can be very lucrative.Much of the time though I’ve noticed that though these may be .25-.50 tables the players are averaging such large pots because they are mostly all big stacks well over the initial buy- in and are probably better than average players who have been at that table a long time.

Being lazy and staying at these tables costs money.Yes its always good to improve your game playing better players but success in poker is measured by money earned and its always easier to earn money playing weaker players.

After writing this I found an exellent article on line which as well as being a great story contained this gem which sums up the strategy which has served me well in recent months.

" Mason Malmuth has a theory about non-self weighting strategies. The idea is that good gamblers win because they can vary their bets, and so they identify when they have an edge and bet a lot more. They find a few really good situations, and bet them hard. The conventional application of this to poker is the fact that we put different amounts of money in on different hands. However, if we look on a larger scale, at what games we sit down at rather than what hands we play, Mason's concept has obvious applications to the theory of poker game selection. You should be willing to risk a lot more on good bets, which means that you should be willing to play in much larger games when those games are very good."



Last night was games night.Mark came up about 9.30ish and we battered away at Ridge racer and virtua tennis till Mrs A arrived home from work around midnight.

Quiet night planned for tonight.May hit the tables if I feel like a game....

Stats Overload

Something strange going on.Read comments from Veneno and Juice at my email addy but they've not appeared on the blogspot page.Hmmm.

Anyway Veneno said she couldn't make ROW v US tourney due to it being the Superbowl final and as Jordan can't make it either putting it off for another day is probably the best idea.

Rosie has said she would play if it was at Pokerroom or Party.If Party do private tourneys that may be best as everyone seems to have an account there.All thoughts welcome although tourney will probably not be for a couple of weeks.

Juice asked about my AA and KK pokertracker stats so I thought I'd use this post to cure insomnia and rattle off a few current stats....


I didn't actually play much poker last week hence not much change to figures. Ladbrokes $829,Interpoker $1523 ,Pokerroom $690.

Most $$ was made at Party where including a $20 bonus and a $100 deposit I have $150.I was going to withdraw $100 from pokeroom but hope to work the Party roll up a bit and just withdraw my original $100 deposit.I'll count my Party balance as $50 as thats my profit there.

+ $12 for week or + $27 including Party bonus. Total $3092

Pokertracker doesn't seem to want to download any new Pokerroom hands ( despite me downloading fix files) or have any Ladbrokes hands from before Dec 20th ( no clue why that is).

At Pokerroom I have 34206 hands recorded over 420 hours at 7 levels.

AA 152 times won 82%

KK 156 times won 77.5%

QQ 149 times won 75%

Hand dealt most often A6 o/s 351 times.
Hand dealt least often AKs 80 times.

3.12bb per 100.


Interpoker I have 10K hands over 145 hours

AA 45 times and won 80%

KK 48 times and won 77 %

QQ 38 times and won 52%

Hand dealt most often 73 o/s 117 times.
Hand dealt least often J3s 16 times


At Ladbrokes I have 6439 hands over 68 hours.

AA 39 times won 89%

KK 41 times won 78%

QQ 23 times won 82%

Hand dealt most often is The Hammer 78 times ( lost $16 with it!)

Hand dealt least often is 63s 6times.


Dec 31st- Jan 31st + $248 38 hours at Interpoker.36 Hours at Ladbrokes.

Dec 31st - Feb 5th + $277

I'm not sure about incuding bonuses in my figures.Some like the Inter bonus which took 6 months I feel should be added.That was hard work. The Party bonus was a breeze though.

I suppose they balance my mtt tourney fees which although are a legitimate expense do come off my cash game profits when I post.


I have 90 of the required 500 raked hands done already at Ladbrokes after last nights session with Juice,Rosie and The Edge so my aim for this week will be to qualify for the $100k raked hands freeroll next Sat.

Weekend was mixed away from the tables. "Walk the Line" was excellent on Friday night.Well worth seeing.Mrs A loved it too.

On Sat afternoon I was at Ibrox to witness yet another pathetic performance from Rangers as they crashed out the cup losing 3-0 to Hibs.I didn't join the protest outside the front door afterwards as I headed to the Show Park to watch EK Thistle get beaten 3-0 but I don't blame the people who were there making their voices heard.

The chairman said in Dec that money would be spent on the team in the January transfer window but only Kris Boyd came in and we lost out out on the Hibs player,Riordan,who set up their 3rd yesterday.

He also talked of a major announcement in a few weeks ( on Dec 8th) but so far nothing.I can only hope there's major investment and a new manager ( please let it be Le Guen) but its looking like a forlorn hope just now.

We only have the Champions league tie in a few weeks left to look forward to this season and not investing in the team leaves us well short of quality for that.What makes it worse is that our rivals are a very poor side.The only upside of this crap season will be that despite celt*c suffering the biggest Euro humiliation ever and being taught a lesson by lowly Clyde their manager will be kept on and even a half competent new manager at Gers next season should wipe the floor with them.

We play them next Sunday at Ibrox.Roll on....

Blogger Tourneys

Possible ROW v USA tourney on Sunday at 'Stars. 5pm EST/10pm Gmt.Please let Garyc or myself know if your up for it.

Also proud to pimp the next Dadi tourney on Feb 17th.See below.

Just a quick one today.Just heading out to the cinema.

Good luck to all at the tables this weekend...

Monkeying around

Had a fine night playing Ridge racer last night before hitting the tables at Pokerroom for 23 minutes.I was at a .50 nl ring table and just wasn't feeling very patient at all.Called a raise with 10c 9c and chased like a drawing donkey. First an open ended straight draw ( Jh 8h Jc flop) and added a flush draw when another club came on the turn.I put the villan on AA or KK but when I missed on the river ( 3h) I was $20 down already in the hand and was very tempted to push all in to represent either the flush or set of Jacks but I had no read at all on the other player and no clue if he was good enough to be considering my holding and what an all in bet from me could mean or if he was the type to call me down with a large pp no matter what the board read.I'd put him on AA or K K due to his 10bb preflop raise.

I weakly checked my busted hand and he checked behind showing 66 to take the pot.At a $1nl table I would probably have pushed but at a .50 table I was new to I didn't think it worth the risk depsite a bet being my only hope of winning the hand.

Headed off to bed $23 down for my 23 minutes outdoing my $15 profit in 15 mins yesterday.

Mark asked me last night when I last had a day with no poker.I think I managed to stay away on Xmas day/night but before that it would be the last day of my holiday in Sept.This doesn't mean I play every hour available but a wee break for a few days to freshen up my attitude at the table would probably help.My idea of a poker break is playing full ring instead of 6 max....

Noticed Ten Mile mention in Garyc's comments section that Wil Wheaton blogged about possibly organising a European poker bloggers tourney at 'Stars if there was enough interest.I'd certainly be up for it and will be registering on his site to say so.

I've also asked Captain America if he can make a ROW v USA game on Sunday.Been a while and I miss playing with ( and kickin' the ass of ) my US blogger friends.

I would hope to get some positive replies from Juice,The Edge ,Rosie and the London crew this time for both above tourneys.I've seen your bankroll chart Juice so no excuses about cost accepted! ( besides your our nominated trash talker required to give Eminem verbal hell!)

Nearly another week of taking abuse from the public over.I've mentioned before I deal with high level ( I'm on the 3rd floor) phone company complaints.This weeks "you couldn't make it up" moment was dealing with the customer who wanted compensation for burning her dinner when the gas company phoned her while she was cooking. Not the phone company I work for but the gas board! She explained she called us because she thought we were in partnership with them.I'm a phone monkey....get me out of here...

March in the sun

Hello,I'm Little Acornman.Bought the two Johnny Cash live prison gig cd's on Monday and while Mrs A was working I rolled a couple of nice fat smokes and lay back on the couch and chilled out to his classic tunes.Looking forward to seeing the film on Friday.

Played for 15 minutes later at Party on the $25 buy-in nl full ring tables and won $15.Quite enjoyed the change of pace from 6 max.

Played for 20 mins last night at Party and a wee while at Inter for a whopping $5 overall profit.
On reading some of the forums I'm may be a bit harsh and demanding of myself sometimes.Tempted as I am to cash out a big wad of my roll I feel I'd be a lot more comfortable playing 6 max $100 or $200 nl when/if I get my roll nearer the $5k mark.I would love the security that would bring to my game instead of feeling that with only 15 * a $200 buy in any bad run could easily bust me.

While adjustments have to be made when moving up from $25nl to $200nl the extra padding in the roll would mean I could play my A game.At the .25-.50 tables although I play tightly I don't miss a chance to get in there with more speculative hands preflop if I have position and face a weak preflop raise.I actually think the size of bet a player makes preflop is a vital factor in working out how good they are.I love calling 2bb raises with not much ready to fit or fold on the flop.

Despite hating min bets and raises at the lowest levels they can serve as great information bets.Donkey bets 2 bb preflop.I call with nothing and the flop comes with an Ace.If I'm first to act or its checked to me with only 2-3 of us in the pot I may well make a min bet and try and gain information from the preflop raisers reaction to it.

In some situations when drawing if you feel you can get a cheaper turn card by making a blocking bet then why not do it.What I mean is that say you call a 4bb raise and are 4 to the flush post flop.Instead of checking and only calling if you have odds I like to lead out sometimes with a bet which if called and not raised will give me odds.Even if you are raised if the villan has AA he'll still usually be cautious as you could have 2 pair or trips so you should get a fairly cheap turn card.He may even fold the best hand to your bet.

This is for 6 max and works best when you have an idea of how your opponents are playing.


Booked a weeks holiday for Mrs A and I at the 5 star Reef Oasis hotel in Sharm El Sheikh leaving on March 19th.Good flight times and the reviews on Tripadvisor and holidaysuncovered
are mostly excellent.It was -4c the other morning so it'll be great to get some sunshine.I wonder how many camels I'll be offered for Mrs A this time! I will certainly refuse to entertain any offer.....under 100.

Also organised my kilt for my sister wedding in May.Fell out with my Mum on Friday because the kilt hire shop is 2 minutes from my work yet she wanted me to go with my cousins on Sunday during the football.Choose a Ferguson tartan and I'm paying £76 for the hire of it for 3 days! Forget pro poker and start a kilt hire shop.This will only be the 2nd time in my 33 years that I've ever worn a kilt.( and yes I will be a traditional Scotsman!). Chose the Ferguson tartan as there isn't one with my family surname ( no acorn tartan..what a shocker!).Wore a Rangers tartan last time and as Barry Ferguson Captains the Gers it nice to have some link to my beloved team.

Back later in the week.Thanks for reading.