Monthly Update.Records Post

Inter $527,Ladbrokes $1515,Pokerroom $1040.Total $3082. + $323 for month of August.

Yearly total profit since Oct 31st '05 is $3894

I have two months left to make the $345 required to at least match last years $4239 profit.It will probably be close as I intend to use the S-mans donation and get my charity challenge underway and will also be on holiday from Oct 19th for two weeks.

Watch this space....

Bye Bye Interpoker

The best laid plans o’ men and mice often go awry.Yeah so much for waiting on Inter pokers wonderful new easy to clear bonus.Looks like only games above $50 nl will count towards the bonus from now on so that particular games a bogey as far as I’m concerned.I do like the soft juicy games at Inter but I think it could be time to withdraw and move on.Here's the quote below.Great if you play $100 nl or above and complete crap if you don't.Thankyou Interpoker for screwing over your micro-limits players.

"From 1st September 2006, all hands played on 1 / 2 Unit ($/£/€) tables and above, where ANY rake is taken will count as a raked hand.
Hands played on tournament tables or tables less than 1 Unit ($/£/€) will not count."



Not played a lot of poker over the last couple of nights aside from a few Pokerroom sngs’s with Miami Mark last night.MM placed ITM in all three and I ….didn’t!



The truth is that maybe cutting down on my poker play this week is a good idea because at times it’s starting to feel more like coming home from work,having dinner and then beginning work again and whilst I make a little money from my hobby there has to be more of balance achieved.For example I remember writing previously that I played for money and whilst that’s true ,there’s plenty of overtime available at my day job and I know of colleagues earning three times the basic salary just by doing plenty o/t. When a hobby feels like a chore it’s time to cut down! Of course not running very well doesn’t exactly have me gagging to play every night but variance is just part of the long game that is poker and I'm getting used to it.


Finally booked up our next holiday and it’s back to the Club Fanara in Sharm El Sheik , Egypt on October 19th for 2 weeks of 4 star all inclusive luxury! We were at the same hotel in Nov ’04 and it was fantastic.It did cross my mind that I’m going to miss the last 15 days of my 2nd year of playing real money poker but the game ain’t going anywhere!

Mark will be over soon for a night of Halo 2 and then it's all downhill to the weekend.Mrs A's brother and wife are coming over tomorrow night for a while ( he said he's just loaded £100 onto Virgin poker)and so far no plans for the rest of it.

Back soon...

Slow starter + Alfa back

After Saturdays poker marathon I didn't start playing till after 10pm on Sunday when I played a £3 sng at Inter and found myself wih 20 chips left after only a few hands after another suckout.It would have been a much better story if I'd actually made the money but I did manage to mount a comeback,only to go out on the bubble.Joined MiasDad for a couple of $5 sng's at Pokerroom and managed to win one and get third in the other which means I'm 4/4 In The Money after my 0/10 nightmare Saturday.

Played a little 6 max at Laddys afterwards and nearly tilted after accidentally folding QQ preflop when it had been folded round to me in the sb.I was just considering how much to raise when my cards folded themselves.Ok ,that's not quite true but nobody told me that when you use a laptop and touch the mouse pad ,that pushes the return key!I was very careful not to hover over the action buttons after that especially as I'd made a couple of minimum raises in the sngs by mistake too.
A new way to mix up my game a bit maybe...

The S-man was over last night and as if by magic has sorted my laptop so I can now run Pokertracker with Gametime + on it! I only started using GT+ a few months back and have realy missed it over the last couple of weeks.It's not a substitute for paying attention at the tables but it's a huge help ,espcially if playing more than one table.S-man also helped get my old pc working but it seems to be back in an uncooperative mood again tonight.

I only played one sng last night and came 6th before opting for an early night and going to bed around 12.30am.I think after the weekend I needed a wee break and a good sleep.


I've mentioned before in this space that I hate starting to play poker and usually mess about lots first before sitting down at a table to actually play.I get annoyed with myself because once I've been in a game while ,I feel as though I could play forever.I thought I just needed to warm up my tiny poker brain but on reflection I think there are a couple of reasons.Number 1 is that I'm happy to admit I'm a lazy git and I just want to sit down and start crushing the table I'm at, without taking the time to get to know the table and how everyone at it plays.I also play slightly differently depending on how long I intend to be at my cash table.In a short session I want to "give action to get action" and for a long session I want the table thinking I'm tight so I can steal more pots.I also find it hard to guage when I'm on my best game and when I'm just playing because it's there to be played and I never seem to know which mood I'm in until I get started.

Finally got my car back sorted today.The mot is done and for my own records the recent work includes a full new exhaust,2 front tyres,new handbrake cable,full service and new Air flow sensor.It has been a bit sticky when accelerating at the top end for ages now and although I'm annoyed that no garage until now worked out it was the air flow thingy,I'm just delighted to get it back and have it running like new.

I got the car sorted,arrived home and found poor Mrs A had been to hospital to get her finger stitched after crushing it when our loft ladder swung in and trapped it.Ouch indeed! She's ok thankfully but the breaking news tonight is that I may have to make my own sandwiches for lunch tomorrow! ( I've forgiven her though.hehe)


Ok,I'm off to fetch Mrs A whatever she need then hit up a game....

Sunday stats

Football first and Rangers drew 2-2 with Kilmarnock today after losing a dodgy last minute penalty.I was a the game and The Gers played some nice stuff ( 2 goals from Boyd again) but still missed too many chances.EK Thistle won their first home game in the Superfirst division,beating The Gow 4-2 to continue the fine start to the season.

On the poker front I only played a little yesterday between 4pm and 6am! I began by going on the worst sng run I've ever been on when I went 0/10 ,mainly playing £5,£10 and one nightmare £20 game.I'm not adverse to playing £20 sng's but playing one on the back of three bubbled sng's in a row was just plain wrong.Inter sng's only start with 1000 chips and I'd frittered way 1/3 of them on semi-tilt mode before getting my head right.Folding a gutshot in that £20 sng ( which hit on the river for a huge pot) was probably the trigger.

I was down $100 and feeling like I'd never win another sng when I finally came 2nd in a £10 game and made a little back.Joined Rottie,Juice and Mr Edge for a couple of sng's ( one at Laddys) and made the money in them too before leaving for the 6 max cash tables where I started by losing nearly a buyin after a couple of nasty ones.I opened a $100 6 max table and had it running alongside a $50nl 6 max and $50 nl full ring table and I have to say that what's lost in player reads is made up for in having much less emotional involvement in each individual game.I did miss my PT and GT+ but the fish were so obvious at all my tables,I could spot 'em without any added software.

I did mean to write down details of some of my more interesting hands but between playing 2-3 tables,smokin' my head off and listening to my Dylan and Paul Simon stuff ,I never got the chance.

I did give a lot of thought to a hand where I raised with AQ ( loose 6 max $50nl),the flop came a Queen high ragged rainbow and instead of the villian "checking to the raiser",he led out with a 2/3 pot sizebet which I flat called.He was a loose calling station and I felt I probably had the best hand and that the villain had either KQ,QJ or had paired another part of the board with a decent kicker.He did have QJ and caught his J on the turn and I was annoyed with myself for not reraising his flop bet at first.At Laddys the cards are determined before the hand is played and if he hadn't hit his Jack then he would have bet into me on the turn and river with the 2nd best hand and I'd have won a big pot because he would have called my river value bet.A reraise on the flop wouldn't have scared him off anyway so maybe I didn't play it so badly.( apart from calling him down when he hit one of the hands I put him on!)

Stats for the week are : Ladbrokes $1509, Inter $548 Pokerroom $1033.Total $3090 ( - $75 for week).

I'm quite please I managed to turn my week at Laddys round and turn a profit but obviously not happy at being down overall.I'm wondering if I should separate my sng and cash results but it's all just poker bankroll I suppose so there's no real need for that.I did kind of start the charity challenge but decided after my sngs run that the best idea is to separate that $70.I'm keen on Sun poker but they are reducing the bonus requirement from Sept and I'm loathe to put $$ in now if it'll be easier to clear in a week.My pokerroom account total is actually $1103 including the extra $70 ( my share of the S-mans generous donation).

Ok,just ordered Chicken Balti for Mrs A and I.I'm off to collect it...

Better times

I hope todays post title doesn't jinx my play today but after losing that $200 pot at the start of the week and then losing another $37 on Thursday night it was nice to pull a little back last night.

Began by playing a few $5 turbos with Miami Mark before going out of the $3k gtd mtt at Inter with a desparate move with KsQs which hit a Q and flush draw on the flop but the Ace on the turn meant the villians A3 beat me.How could he call with that?!! hehe.

Back to the $5, 20 player turbo's at Pokerroom and MM and I battled through 18 donkeys to get headsup which only lasted a hand and gave me a much needed $40 win.
Headed off to Laddys for the late night madness that usually ensues there on Friday and Sat nights and and won about $60 at $50nl 6 max.It gave my poker confidence a boost and I think I'm ready to take my shot with the charity challenge $60 now.I felt I played well last night although I'm still not happy with just calling bluffs,I want to reraise them too!

I feel I'm sometimes missing opporunities when I'm ahead and I check on the river but I suppose if the villian is on a stone cold bluff then I'm never going to get my reraise called anyway.I did enjoy calling one particular players river bluff bet of $5.50 on a board with paired fives.Maybe I read too much into things sometimes but I was sure he bet $5.50 because he wanted to make me think he had the 5 ( surprised he didn't bet $5.55!).


I'm probably still down about $80 for the week but I'm feeling much better about my game overall afte last night.I hate the way my poker self-esteem seems to ebb and flow so much according to how my week has gone.I know it's about making the right decisions I shouldn't sweat the results but I suppose I worry that if I stop thinking about da money ,I'll start playing too loose a game and be making costly wrong decisions.

Enjoyed an interesting debate with Rottie and Mark about ranting at players after bad beats or simply cursing the variance biatch instead.Reading Phil Gordon's "Little Green book" ,it seems we are all wrong and we shouldn't be making a fuss either way.

"All I can do is get my money in the pot with the best hand.No matter how hArd I try,I can't control the cards after the money is in the pot.All I can do is get my money-as much money as possible-into the pot when I have the best hand.

Bad beats,suckouts,and lucky catches for my opponents are an essential part of the game.If bad players couldn't occasionally get lucky and win,there would be no poker games worth playing.

It does no good whatsoever to fret about losing a pot if I got my money into the pot with the best hand"

Didn't finish playing till 5am last night and will need to watch for tiredness creeping in to my play today but Mrs A is working from 4pm-12.30am so a pokery night ahead.I wont be up too late as I'm off to rugby park tomorrow to watch Rangers play Kimarnock.

Ok, gonna end on a high note.With 10 mins played at the Piggery our hated rivals,Celt*c are 1-0 down to Hibs. "Tell every tim you know,that we're top of the league and your no......"

Thurs poker thoughts..

I’ve been so tired over the last couple of nights I’ve wisely not played too much poker.Lost a couple of sng's and won $5 last night in 10 minutes play at Laddies.My Laddies table was quite funny as one player obviosly thought he could play a bit and was trying to put everyone to the test.The funny thing was that his gameplan became so easy to read as he folded if anyone played back at him.I raised from the button ( 6 max $50nl) with 33 to take the blinds and he called and then bet out $2 on a King high flop.Ok,so he could have had the King and left me looking daft but I was sure this was yet another of his "moves" and raised his $2 to $6 whereupon he instantly folded.( having got his info that I had a King I assume)


Looking at my game in general I feel I have been running quite poorly over the last two weeks.Variance affects everyone and I’ve been in a rut before and pulled it round and no doubt will again, but playing with low expectations can easily become a self fulfilling prophecy and can turn into a spiral of doom that eats away at the bankroll.


Funny all we all look at bad beats in differing fashions.I’ve never once raged at a player for hitting a 2 outer, or outdrawing my hand when they didn’t have the odds to do so, and I don’t question too often why a fish would call with a garbage hand when they crack my Aces.I do get down and annoyed that variance has decided to kick me in the junk right at that moment and the teenage cry of “it’s just so unfair” reverbs round my head after a few beats in a row but I respect peoples right to play their hands in any way they wish.

Sites like Inter and laddds are linked heavily to sportsbetting and casino type sites and I’m sure this encourages far more people to “gamble” on hands than at other sites.What I think a lot of us forget are that whilst we may not be playing at high stakes,we are still hardcore poker hobbyists compared to players who don’t keep a bankroll but play for fun and can afford to lose most nights as an entertainment cost.They keep playing for the thrill of busting solid players with their garbage hands and the thrill of the gamble in general.As well as no bankrolls I would doubt they read poker blogs,forums or books and have probably never thought to look at their own hand histories to see where they can improve.



I follow Rangers FC and we have over 40,000 season ticket holders all of whom pay a great deal of money to watch the team ,yet the main fans forum site may only have a few hundred people on at one time.My point is that whilst over 40k people pay money to Rangers for their seats and no doubt consider themselves to be good supporters,only a small fraction of even that dedicated bunch take the time and trouble to get really deeply involved and spend their leisure time chatting about, and debating all things Rangers.To draw a similar comparison although there may be many blogs and forums about poker,there’s probably only a tiny % of players with the time and inclination to pursue them and who have a real drive to improve their game.

Rottie asked me to post a players very fishy Sharky stats in the chatbox of a recent sng to get back at the big mouth.I’m not adverse to doing that on occasion as it can be a quick way to shut up a table coach but my guess is most of these fish are just gamblin’ and having fun and if they lose it’s just part of the entertainment and game that is poker.


Back to my rut and I’ll need to climb out of it quickly though as the S-man has deposited the charity challenge money in my pokerroom account and I’m going to divvy it up between myself,Rottie and Miasdad very shortly.

Personally I think I may open an account at Sunpoker as they’re a skin of Inter and I’ll use it to play $5 sng’s to begin with.I’m really grateful to Rottie and Miasdad for taking part and hopefully we can take our $60 each and really make it grow before the deadline of Sept 15th.We have $190 between us which will leave $10 for an emergency sng if it all goes Pete Tong..


I may need to change the charity to Acorns Alfa fund as my total spend now on my beloved car over the last month looks like topping £1700! It’s running better than previously but is still only about 80% right and requires an air flow sensor replaced to ( hopefully) put it right once and for all.


Step A is coping quite well with her first week at the big school.I dropped her off at the gate the other day but she didn't seem keen on me singing Show me the way to Amarillo ( complete with Peter Kay walk) and leading her up to the main entrance.
Maybe next time...

Legendary Complaint letter

Won an sng and lost an sng on my poker account since I last posted.S-man was over and we managed to lose an sng and place 4th ( itm) from 20 for a small win in another.Dropped $20 at a wild 5 max $25 table at Pokerroom before the S-man hit the road.

I'm not getting the car back until tomorrow and had a nightmare getting home with a 40 minute wait to get the bus home followed by having to get a taxi most of the way because when the bus got just over half way up the road the driver decided he wasn't going all the way to my area.He said the front of the bus never gave East Kilbride as it's desination but that's what my ticket said so I took a photo of the driver and regestration number on my mobile and will complain bitterly!!

Maybe a letter like the one below in fact....( more poker content arriving soon ,honestly!)


Ok the names have been deleted to prevent me being sued but it was written to a large UK cable company with a 3 lettered name starting with N and ending with L.The other co mentioned is probably the UK's largest phone co...

Dear Cretins,

I have been an N*L customer since July 9th 2001,when I signed up for your 3 -in-one deal for cable tv,cable modem and telephone.

During this three month period I have encountered inadequacy of service which I had not previously considered possible ,as well as ignorance and stupidity of monolithic proportions.Please allow me to provide specific details,so you can either pursue your professional prerogative,and seek to retify these difficulties-or more likely ( I suspect) so you can have some entertaining reading material as you while away the working day smoking B@H and drinking vendor-coffee on the bog in your office.


My initial installation was cancelled without warning or notice ,resulting in my spending an entire Saturday afternoon sitting on my fat arse waiting for your technician to arrive.When he did not arrive at all,I spent a further 57 minutes listening to your infuriating hold music ,and the even more annoying Scottish robot woman telling me to look at your helpful website….. how?

I alleviated the boredom to some small degree by playing with my testicles for a few minutes - an activity at which you are no doubt both familiar and highly adept.


The rescheduled installation then took placed some two weeks later,although the technician did forget to bring a number of vital tools – such as a drill-bit,and his cerebrum


Two weeks later,my cable modem had still not arrived.After several further telephone calls ( actually 15 calls over 4 weeks) my modem arrived…a total of six weeks after I had requested it,and begun to pay for it.


I estimate that the downtime of your internet servers is roughly 35%...these are usually between the hours of 6pm and midnight ,Monday to Friday,and most of the useful periods over the weekend.


I am still waiting for my telephone connection.I have made 9 telephone calls on my mobile to your no-help line this week ,and have been unhelpfully transferred to a variety of disinterested individuals ,who are it seems also highly skilled bollock jugglers.



I have been informed that a telephone is available ( and someone will call me back) ,that I will be transferred to someone who knows whether or not a telephone line is available ( and then been cut off) ,that I will be transferred to someone who knows whether or not a telephone line is available ( and then redirected to an answer machine informing me that your office is closed ,that I will be transferred to someone who knows whether or not a telephone line is available ( and then redirected to the irritating Scottish robot woman… and several other variations on this theme).


Doubtless you are no-longer reading this letter ,as you have at least a thousand other dissatisfied customers to ignore ,and also one of those crucial testicle moments to attend to.


Frankly,I don’t care,it’s far more satisfying as a customer to voice my frustrations in print than to shout them at your unending hold music .


Forgive me,therefore,if I continue.


I thought XX were shit ,that they had attained the holy piss pot of god-awful customer relations,that no-one,anywhere,ever could be more disinterested,less helpful or more obsrtructive to their customers.That’s why I chose N*L,and because ,well,there isn’t anyone else is there?



How surprised I therefore was,when I discovered to my considerable dissatisfaction and disappointment what a useless shower of bastards you truly are,You are sputum-filled pieces of distended rectum-incompetents of the highest order.XX-wankers though they are -shine like brilliant beacons of success,in the filthy puss filled mire of your seemingly limitless inadequacy.


Suffice to say I have now given up on my futile and foolhardy quest to receive any kind of service from you.I suggest you do likewise ,and cease any potential future attempts to extort payment from me for the services which you have so pointedly and catastrophically failed to deliver-any such activity will be greeted initially with hilarity and disbelief-although these feelings will quickly be replaced by derision,and perhaps even a small measure of bemused rage.


I enclose two small deposits,selected with great care from my cats litter tray,as an expression of my utter and complete comtempt for both you and your pointless company.I sincerely hope they have not become dessicated during transit –they were satisfyingly moist at the time of posting,and I would feel considerable disappointment if you did not experience both their rich aroma and delicate texture.Consider them the very embodiement of my feelings towards N*L and it’s worthless employees,


Have a nice day-may it bethe last in your miserable short life ,you irratatingly incompetent and infuriatingly unhelpful bunch of twats.

Yours psychotically,


And a quick one from the paper....

Last word
ONE of Her Majesty's Greyfunnel Line ship-driver's insists this is a true tale from a recent naval conference which brought together admirals from America, Britain, Canada, Australia and France.

As the officers chatted amicably in English, a French admiral complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English, asking: "Why must we always speak English at these conferences, not French?"

A certain froideur greeted the American admiral's reply: "Maybe because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German."

Aces busted

Edit: Lost $100 with AA v K9.Hand history deleted.


I moved up to $100nl because I'd been reading bits of my blog from this time last year when I was having quite a bit of success at that level and I really need to push myself out of the $50nl comfort zone more often.My $3k bankroll gives me 30 buy-ins which should be enough to cover the swings but in truth I wasn't ready before to deal with the really bad streak of negative variance at that level that came my way.I think fear of it happening again is whats prevented me taking any major leaps forward in terms of moving up over the last 8 months.A terrible run over the Xmas holidays really knocked me for six and I reverted back to $25 and $50 nl to rebuild and have just never gone back.

Straight after the hand above I switched off my laptop and felt absolutely gutted for about 5 minutes before the cloud started to lift.It was made worse by the fact I'd folded 97 soooted to a raise the hand previously and would have won a $140 pot with a flopped two pairs v AA.( Aces for the player who busted mine!)

I wasn't in the least bit angry with the villian for making the daft call.I'd thank them for making a call like that 100% of the time ,even though I'm only going to get paid off on 80% of occasions.I'd watched the table beforehand and at least 2 players from the 5, ( the other left) including the player who called me,were far too willing to commit with inferior hands.After the cloud of despair had lifted a little I actually went to bed feeling quite excited that the $100 nl tables at Laddys were just as wild and crazy as I remember them.

Ok,I've got it out there.Please don't think I'm looking for sympathy.I would have felt much worse if she'd turned over 77 and beaten me that way.I know I played it right and would do the same again.That's poker!

The S-man is visiting tonight so I'm gonna type up my favourite letter of complaint of all time for anyone who made it through the bad beat hand history.It was sent to a UK cable company in 2001.Arghhh .he's arrived.The letter will get posted tomorow...

Some funnies from the paper first.......

Appearing at the Fringe last week was a group of Paisley teenagers, performing under the name All the Milkman's Children, being encouraged by Radio Scotland to become comedy performers and writers. We don't know if it's a Paisley thing, but one of them told another: "Your mum's so ugly that when she leaned her head oot the windae, the neighbours accused her of mooning."

Neigh luck:Radio station SAGA 105.2fm's sponsorship of the first day of the Ayr Gold Cup next month reminds their morning broadcaster Dave Marshall of when he was a fresh-faced driver and had borrowed his dad's beloved Mini.Careering round the Hurlet crossroads on the way to Barrhead, he had to stand on his brakes as there was a horse ahead of him. He thought he'd stopped just in time – but the car gently nudged the horse's back legs, and it simply sat down on the Mini's bonnet, which promptly crumpled.Which is why Dave still remembers taking the car back to his shocked dad and telling him: "A horse sat on it."

Recommended Links

- Online Poker Casino
- Internet Poker
- Poker Strategy

Kings,Queens and Sunday Stats

Rangers beat Hearts 2-0 yesterday ( Boyd scored both) and the unwashed ones could only draw 1-1 today, so Rangers are back where we belong at the top of the league.

To the weekly poker stats first : Inter $658 ,Ladbrokes $ 1479 ,Pokerroom $ 1028.Total $ 3165
( + $34 for week)

Happy to post a profit but after a long session last night I'm a bit annoyed I didn't make more.I was playing £50 and £100 nl 6 max for most of the night and managed to recover from a nasty hand when my Aces fell, after I got most of the money in on a K high ragged rainbow flop, only for mr K8 to hit his 8 on the turn.I led out on the turn aswell and when the villian raised my bet in an instant a better player than me would probably have folded.He was all in by that point and I wasn't surprised when the chips slid his way.

I'm posting a couple of KQ hands as I feel I may have found another leak in my game.This time it's making the right read but not having the bottle to make the raise on the end rather than just calling.Here are a couple of examples: (Both tables had the highest average pot of any at those levels at the time and were fast and loose. )


** Game ID 562691308 starting - 2006-08-20 01:46:56** Sheet Harbour [Hold 'em] (0.25-0.50 No Limit - Cash Game) Real Money

abadabatiss posted the small blind - $0.25 Acornman posted the big blind - $0.50

** Dealing card to Acornman: King of Clubs, Queen of Diamonds

loverudh called - $0.50, sliderule folded, abadabatiss called - $0.50,Acornman bet - $2.50, loverudh called - $2.50, abadabatiss called - $2.50

>>> 5*bb raise as it's four handed and KQ is a damn fine hand with only four at the table


** Dealing the flop: 4 of Diamonds, Queen of Spades, 8 of Clubs

abadabatiss checked,Acornman bet - $5.00, loverudh called - $5.00, abadabatiss folded

>> made a continuation bet but it wasn't strong enough to suggest I had actually hit flop and I was hoping the villian had hit a smaller part of it and would stay in hand.

** Dealing the turn: 5 of Hearts

Acornman checked. >>> I didn't think the 5h was a scary card for me and checked to give the impression I had just taken a stab at the flop with nothing and was now backing off.

loverudh bet - $2.00, Acornman called - $2.00 >> I reckon I'm still ahead and on a rainbow board I plan to bet river.

** Dealing the river: 10 of Spades

Acornman bet - $6 >> Slightly worried about straight but I'm not checking it down and want paid so I make a value bet.

00loverudh raised - $12.00, >> This is where I feel I should have trusted my instinct that I was ahead and reraised the hell outta him.

Acornman called - $12.00,

loverudh shows: 3 of Clubs, Queen of Clubs

Acornman shows: King of Clubs, Queen of Diamonds

Acornman wins $43.50 from the main pot





** Game ID 562735535 starting - 2006-08-20 05:00:47** Clinton [Hold 'em] (0.50-1.00 No Limit - Cash Game) Real Money


Acornman posted the small blind - $0.50,DSRasmussen posted the big blind - $1.00, barcrest posted to play - $1.00

** Dealing card to Acornman: King of Clubs, Queen of Clubs

>>> five handed and out of position I decide to limp here.


jannik32 called - $1.00 ,barcrest checked, limpnfold24 called - $1.00, Acornman called - $1.00, DSRasmussen checked

** Dealing the flop: 2 of Hearts, 3 of Diamonds, 10 of Hearts

>>> ok missed the flop and only have two overcards and runner runner possibilities.Time to fold to any decent size bet

Acornman checked, DSRasmussen checked, jannik32 checked, barcrest bet - $1.00, limpnfold24 called - $1.00, Acornman called - $1.00, DSRasmussen folded, jannik32 folded

>>> I ain't folding for $1 especially as barcrest could be drawing to the flush with that small bet.


** Dealing the turn: Jack of Diamonds

Ok,I've picked up a well disguised open ended straight draw and if it hadn't been such a loose table I may have bet out to try and win it there and then.


Acornman checked, barcrest bet - $3.00,limpnfold24 called - $3.00, Acornman called - $3.00

** Dealing the river: 9 of Hearts

>>> Bingo,I've hit my straight but it's another heart and my first instinct is that 00limpnfold has hit it as he has been calling ( more likely to be drawing) along with me.


Acornman checked >>> I felt if I bet and 00limp made a huge reraise then I would have to fold.


barcrest bet - $20, 00limpnfold24 folded, >>> Ok,it was 00limp I was worried about and that smells like a desparate bet from barcrest so....

Acornman called - $20,

00barcrest shows: 7 of Spades, Ace of Diamonds

Acornman shows: King of Clubs, Queen of Clubs

Acornman wins $55.00 from the main pot >>


Two decent reads and both times I never followed through on them.I can see the sense in the arguement that there's no point in betting the river if your only going to get raised by a better hand but where I'm fairly certain I'm ahead ( especially if I've tried to play it deceptively) then I need to push on and make that reraise.

Hope all that makes sense ( it was 7am by the time I went to bed last night so I'm just a little tired today).Looking forward to the s-man visiting tomorrow night ,Rangers are playing a friendly on Wed night and the car goes in for it's MOT on Tues.

Big day to for Step A tomorrow as it's her first day at high school.I think Mrs A and I are more nervous than she is!

Ok back next week with more...

S-mans Challenge...

First off a big thanks to Juice for his donation to http://www.justgiving.com/nicolashike. Much appreciated!

The S-man left such a great offer in the comments bit of my last post that I felt it deserved a post of it's own.Here are the details of his challenge..

"The missus has had her best friend survive leukemia, so i think any cancer charity is worth investing in. Therefore, I have a proposition for you(s)...

I will donate £100 to you and the sharks of your choice to split which ever way you (Acorn) see fit, to see how high much you(s) can win for your sis.You lot play (details to be ironed out my man) until the 15th sept, then cash out and donate the 'stake' and the 'winnings'.Furthermore, i will guarantee the £100 for your sis's fund. If you(s) make more, job done. If you(s) make less, i'll make up the difference to £100.Who is up for and more importantly, is capable of the challenge??? "

Huge thanks to the S-man for putting up so much dosh for us poker degenerates to gamble with in the name of a great cause. Hopefully we wont end up cursin' like Tuffish and we'll make a few bob for chariteeeee.£100 = aprox $200 and though I don't want to spread it too thin ,if anyone would like to volunteer ( Rottie and Juice are in so far) please drop me a comment. ( nae total strangers though ,sorry!)

I'm not asking anyone to forget about their own bank roll and just play with the charity fund for a month but anyone who feels they can put in at least a reasonable amount of hours is welcome.No set format.If your in you can play it any way you like from sng's to cash games.

To last nights poker and I had a decent night,starting with a 3rd and a win at $5 sng's before winning about $40 at the 6 max.

No time for much more as I'm off to see the Rangers play Hearts at Ibrox in a minute.Fitba' followed by poker.Oh and I finally "burned" my first cd last night.( and no matches in sight!).From my cd onto the HD and then onto a blank cd! Tw'as easy! Now I just need to learn how to burn it from the web and rip it onto a blank cd.I'll be writing programmes next....

Turbos n Ghey quizzes

Todays big shout out and thanks go to Rosie for her donation to my sisters fundraising effort for the Maggies Centre cancer charity. Just had an email from my sis to let me know she's delighted that a couple ( Mr Edge too) of my poker playing friends have contributed to http://www.justgiving.com/nicolashike. You guys are the dogs dangly bits!

I’d just posted here last night and was about to begin playing when I noticed an email from my
Miami Mark with a few ghey questions ( see below) attached.Answered ‘em, forwarded it to a few saddo’s I thought may reply, ( just kidding troops) and then waited for Mark to get on the Yahoo thingy.He had a webcam and full sound which was cool as Mrs A was out working.We had a laugh as I accepted his “voice invitation” and then spent 5 minutes scrabbling around in my dark cupboard hunting for my daft wee headset and muttering to myself before I realised that my new laptop has a built in mic and he could hear me already.Doh!

MM has an account at Pokerroom so I opened it up and hit up MM’s game of choice,$10 turbo Sng’s.I won one ,bubbled in another and crashed and burned in the other two.Great to catch up with MM and good to hear that both him and his Mrs are doing well.Hopfully more games and nonsense to follow.

Cancelled Sat night over at friends who stay ¾ hr away as my car has failed its MOT and that invalidates my insurance and it would be just my luck to have an accident or get done for speeding on the way over.Quiet weekend of pokery goodness and time spent with Mrs A ahead.Big week next week for Step A as she starts high school.She's had a haircut and her ears pierced and a new ( no cartoon characters on it!) schoolbag too.

Before I go Congrats to Scottish tennis player Andy Murray for beating Fedderer this week.He's only 19 but with Brad Gilbert now coaching him hopefully he can go right to the top and at least win a Grand Slam or two.

Righty to the ghey quiz.Feel free to ignore,delete my answers and leave yours in my comments or blog 'em....

> > > Things you may not have known about me....

A) Four jobs I have had in my life:
1.Xmas tree salesman
2.Adult video retailer ( at school)
3.Cold calling phone monkey
4. part-time micro limit poker pro!

B) Four movies you would watch over and over:
1. The Wall
2. The Princess Bride
3. Goodfellas
4. Scrooged

C) Four places you have lived:
1. Clarkston
2. Ar'den by the Cullins
3. Kingspark
4. East Kilbride

D) Four TV shows you love to watch:
1.Still Game
2.Question Time
3.Poker night live
4.Willo the Wisp

E ) Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Egypt
2. Mexico
3. Gran Canaria
4. Amsterdam

F) Websites you visit daily:
1. Glasgow Rangers #
2.Follow Follow
3. Bloglines
4. The Times

G) Four of my favourite foods:
1. Indian
2. Shreddies
3. Steak n chips
4. Chocolate Angel Delight

H) Four places I would rather be right now:

1. On a balcony somewhere Sunny ( like Miami!)
2. in a coffee shop in Amsterdam (Dutch Flowers)
3. Playing in the "big" game". Vegas baby!
4. Snorkelling in the Red Sea

I) 4 people I think will respond:
1. none....
2. Naebudy
3. > 4. > Now, here's what you're supposed to do... and please do not spoil the fun. Hit reply, delete my answers and type in your answers. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know INCLUDING the person who sent it to you. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little known facts about those who know you. Remember to send it back to the person who sent it to you.

Oh and whilst you'll find the full back catalogue at Guinness n Poker,I can't resist posting my fav montage of the best of Tuffish..( not work friendly:plenty of cursin')
http://tuffish.ytmnd.com/

100 SNG's Played

First off a huge thanks to Mr Edge for his generosity in donating £15 of his hard earned money to http://www.justgiving.com/nicolashike. Our family went through a hellish time when my wee sister had cancer last year and any donations/sponsorship ( of any size!) from anyone reading this space will be very much appreciated.

Very quiet week on the poker front so far this week with still not too many hands played overall.I think after my usual weekend marathon sessions ,I need to ease my way back in gradually during the week or it starts feel like more of chore to play than a pleasure.

I did however play my 100th Sit and go at Interpoker and as 100 is probably about the first figure reached where stats start to mean something I thought I'd lose any readers I have left and post mine! I can't seem to post any pictures on the blog from my laptop so you're saved from the really boring graphs but not the full stats picture!

Played /Ave profit /Ave stake/ Ave Roi % / Total Profit

100 / $3 / $6 / 46% / $332

( Roi = Return on investment %)


I've come first 24 times and my next most favoured position is 3rd which has happened 13 times.I just need to improve on the 10 bubble finishes.

I'm quite please with my stats and despite the fact the $6 sng's at Inter are probably the fishiest/softest around ,it's a nice boost to my poker confidence to see a healthy profit figure.
I'm not kidding myself that this means I'm a great or even half decent player as any monkey that has played for a couple of years would probably beat the $6 sng's but it does feel more tangible to see those Sharky stats and feel good than it does when I tell myself I'm a decent Micro-stakes player because I can beat $50 nl 6 max.

Just back from my old folks place where I tried to help my Mum get her game back on track after a wee slump recently.We looked at her ten biggest losing hands from recent sessions and her biggest leak was that she had started making weak 2 *bb preflop raises due to playing a bit scared after a few tough beats.If I'm playing $25 nl ,I would usually bet $1.20 peflop depending on what the tables biting point is and how many callers I want.We didn't get much of a chance to play a game other than a $5 turbo shorthanded sng which I came 2nd in.

Mark never made it up last night ( pity as I bought Halo 2 yesterday) and Mrs A is working tonight.Got the Rangers V Hearts game at Ibrox on Sat before heading over to friends for the night.Rangers have just taken another Man utd kid on loan after getting Lee Martin last week.Heard good things about Bardsley and I hope he starts on Sat and shows us what he's made of.Two draws and a win so far has not been the best of starts but Le Gaffer is building a young team and it will take time for them to gel together and play as a unit.


My Alfa is booked in for next Tuesday.The latest quote for repairs including a full service is £700! £600 a few weeks ago for the exhaust,£120 for tyres ,£110 for failed MOT and brake check the other day.All that and petrol ( gas) is nearly £1 per litre! I have 11 months left on my car loan and I'm just hoping that all this money being spent just now will help prolong the cars life well beyond the end of the loan term.I'm sure there's tears of sympathy rolling down your cheeks by now so I'll finish up and let you go grab a big tissue....

Charity Appeal+ Lifes bad beats

This could easily be a long whining post about the latest £600 car MOT bill I'm faced with, but getting an email from my sister requesting sponsorship, for a walk for the Maggies Centre cancer charity, kind of helped me get a sense of perspective on what a bad day really is.My family don't know I blog but if anyone would like to sponsor my sister ( who beat cervical cancer last year) on a 17 mile walk across London at night then please visit http://www.justgiving.com/nicolashike and either sponsor or donate.Thanks!

Other minor bad beats this week include ordering a ham and mushroom pizza delivery and for the second week running ( different pizza shop) I get a flippin ham n pineapple! I detest pineapple!

Still on the good news front I was delighted to see the UK lower it's terrorist warning threat status from "severe" to "critical".We can all relax now eh!

Mrs A gave me a laugh last night though when she read out a "handy tip" from her "Take a Break" magazine. "If your jumpy about creepie crawlies,keep post- it ( sticky) notes to hand when reading a newspaper or magazine .If you see a scary picture,just slap a post-it over the photo". Aye pure genius! Wonder if that would work playing online poker if your opponent has a scary flush draw.Simply cover the area where the cards appear with a post-it and watch where the chips go after the hand....

At the tables I've not played too much poker this week so far.My Nolan sisters were busted by Mr A8 hitting an Ace on the river last night before I moved to laddys and won $15 in a short session of $50 nl 6 max.I left for bed just after 1am but my table had one real live one and it was tough dragging myself away.

I mentioned before not using Pokertracker enough for analysis ( or not at all just now!) and in truth I don't take enough notes or do enough fish tagging either.I actually think I'm too lazy to move up much further in blind levels.I look back at posts from last August and I was playing a lot of $100 nl and even a few weekends of $400/$500 nl( all 6 max),yet here I am still playing mostly $50 nl a year later.I can chill out,smoke,read blogs and chat to Mrs A ( with tv up loud for her) whilst winning 9bb/100 and while the beats can be a strain sometimes, it's still at a level where I can do ok with relative comfort.

I am enjoying my wee bash at sng's though and will post my Sharkscope stats when I've hit 100 Crypto games ( 3 to go).

Righty that's it for today.Back tomorow or later in the week...

Sunday stats

Ladbrokes $1403 ,Interpoker $ 713,Pokerroom $1015. Total $3131 (+ $131 for week)

I had a fairly tough night at the tables last night but still managed to finish up $130 for the week which isn't too bad I suppose.At least I went out of last nights $3k gtd at Inter with my money in as a slight favourite with JJ losing to AK.Not placing in a $5sng and then winning a $10 sng at Ladbrokes were my other tourney results from last night.

The cash tables weren't too kind with my Nolan sisters ( QQ) getting busted twice ( all in pre flop) by 77 and j8 and my Aces falling to someone who called with 47 sooted! I didn't realise that Interpoker is also a William Hill skin which must be part of the reason it's so juicy ( but high variance).I must admit the 47 and j8 suckouts rocked me a little for a while but these are the type of players I take money off on a regular basis so I'm not going to whine about it.

Part of my way of dealing with it is to try and lower my expectations when I get a premium hand.AA is only 55% fav versus 4 random hands and at these loose Inter tables 3 or 4 callers can be the norm even after a 5/6 bb raise preflop.There's a lot written about players wrongly falling in love with tptk ( top pair top kicker) but you really have to judge the table you are at because at Inter if players get any piece of the flop they usually don't go away and tptk can be very strong and needs to be played hard at times to prevent the fish catching up in the hand.

One wee observation from this weeks play concerns raises with hands like AJ,AQ preflop from late position in sng's and mtt's especially and that is that if you get heads up and there's a K high ragged flop instead of seeing that as a bad flop for my hand ,I rather like it ,as a 3/4 pot size continuation bet seems to take it down the large % of the time the villian doesn't have a King either.Actually that may be part of the reason I've had a decent run at sngs's recently.I'm more willing at sngs's to make a bet based on what cards I think my opponent doesn't have rather than on what I think they do hold.In loose aggressive cash games it's just not so easy to put callers off it seems and a strategy of trying to get in cheap from good position and bet big when the flop hits me hard ,seems to work best.

Ok,off to watch the rest of the Rangers game.0-0 at halftime v Dunfermline.

Here's the final hand of this years WSOP for anyone whose not seen it yet.Back next week...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2lIqILInK0

Book pays for itself..

No direct quotes as I've lent it to the s-man but Doubleas book paid for itself last night after I won a $90 pot at $50 nl 6 max.It was a very loose aggressive table ( average pot $27) and I limped with J10 from the cut off and called a 4* bb raise as there was already another caller behind me.Flop gave me a gutshot ( K 9 3 rainbow) and the preflop raiser bet $4 which was called before the action was on me.I would usually fold a gutshot here as I wasn't getting the pot odds to continue but as my hand was well disguised and I felt I would get paid off if I did hit.I called ,hit my gutshot on the turn and won a nice juicy pot!

I used to dismiss implied odds a lot of the time as an excuse to make a loose call but thanks to "Pressure Poker" I am now able to see that in the right situation calling or raising with a gutshot type draw can be a good move.I actually did raise with a gutshot at a less aggressive table during the week and was still able to take the pot with another bet on the turn even after I missed.If I had missed on the turn with my J10 it was an easy fold if the turn bet had been large or another call to see the river if I still felt I'd get paid off if it hit.

I should maybe reread the section on deeper stacks poker though ( not that $200nl is very deep) because I moved to a $200nl 6 max table and dropped $60 there over 1/2 hour of poor cards,missed flops and too much passive play on my part.I just wasn't ready to lose a $200 buy-in and probably shouldn't have been playing there with that state of mind.( not that I plan on losing a buyin at $50nl but I can brush it off fairly easily and move on).I think that's why Doublesas suggestion of a separate "take a shot" roll works so well as opposed to taking a "scared" shot just because I've had a good week.

Won a $5 sng at Inter for a change of pace before getting into a good position in their $3k gtd and then blowing it through a moment of daftness.I tried a blinds steal from the button with 97 off ( hoped the fact I hadn't played hand at the table since being moved there may help) and the BB ( half my stack) moved all in.The blinds were high and I reckoned I wasn't so far behind that I should fold and called only to face 77 and I didn't improve.I expected to have two live cards at least but I should still have folded and went out a few orbits later.

Loving my new Laptop now I've finally moved on to the comfort of the settee with it.Only problem is that it's not on an NTFS file system which means I can't download the SQL database I need to get Pokertracker working.Grrrrr. Mr Edge reckons I may be able to upgrade my FAT32 system thing but that I could lose my o/s! I'll ask the s-man next time he's over for advice because I do love PT and GT+ is a superb piece of software and I'd hate to lose it especially when playing two tables.I'm still going to try and get my old pc sorted as otherwise I've lost all my PT records ( Back up? nahhh) and will have no way of measuring my monthly hours played.

Ok off to visit my Gran.May all your data bases be compacted....

Easy with Aces

Logged on late last night and began by playing a $5sng at Inter to warm up.I was using my laptop on the couch and although I hate the keyboard and mouse pad ,it was certainly more comfortable than my cupboard.I’m hoping to get my usb keyboard today and now I’ve downloaded Pokertracker ( email sent to support for new reg code) and bookmarked my Bloglines page,I’m feeling a bit more at home on my new Laptop.

The $5 sng didn’t last long after I made a preflop raise with AJ and the biggest fish at the table called with k10.Flop was a Q J 6 rainbow and I bet the pot,feeling fairly sure he didn’t have the Q.He called that bet and my all in on the blank turn and finally hit his straight on the river.

Moved to Laddys 6 max $50 nl and as usual picked the table with the highest average pot,$20 this time, and sat down ready to pick my spot.After about ten minutes of play I get AA and after reading Scurvydogs post on limping with KK and AA ( don’t do it!) I decided that as it was a very aggressive table ,I’d take the chance and limp as I was fairly sure someone would open the betting for me preflop and I’d get a chance to reraise or win a big pot if the flop texture was okay.It did get raised and I decided to call and see a flop which was a 2 8 9 rainbow.I was out of position and bet the pot hoping the villain would put me on a hand like tptk and reraise with JJ,QQ,KK.He did just that and I decided not to mess around and went all in for another $40.Sure he could have had trips or made a pf raise with 89 but my instinct said he had a big Pocket pair and sure enough he called with KK and I took the pot when no K fell on the turn or river.Whilst I may use the occasional limp with AA or KK to throw off opponents ,I wont be using it very often as perfect scenerios like the above come along very infrequently.

Moved to another table a shorttime after that and picked up Aces again and was lucky enough to be able to get all in preflop v AK and have ‘em hold up when I made a flush.Amazingly I was dealt AA again on the very next hand and won that too for a small pot.I showed my hand ( very rarely do that if I win and don’t have to show) and got a “hmmmmmm” response.If I didn’t find my new lappy keyboard such a pain I was going to reply something about “my new Aces on demand button working just fine” just to increase the paranoia.

Finally hit the sack about 1am after helping Mrs A ensure Step ‘s new bike was ready for her birthday today.The wee one was staying at a friends last night but I’ve called home today and she’s well pleased with it.Mrs A says she’s probably more excited by the Rangers Young Supporters club pack that my Mum organized for her but that’s kids eh! Not a kid for long though as she’s 12 now and starts secondary school on the 21st Aug.More a tweenager than a kid already.For some reasons she’s beginning to hate me calling her the “mighty midget” and “pipsqueak”….

Ok thanks for reading and don’t forget to check the links on the right for some quality blogging.Klopzi’s thoughts on tptk ,Scurvydogs limping with prem pairs,Gcox’s advice on low limits and chatbox abuse,Jordans trip reports,Juices thoughts on not relying on gamtime +,Jan at 50 Outs pixel map,the return of pokersweethome and probably my current most clicked on blog “The Tao of poker” for the best wsop coverage out there and where I first found out Jamie Gold had won the Wsop.Oh and don’t forget the Blogfathers excellent output especially the Tuff fish video clips which were the funniest clips I’’ve seen in a long time.Plenty of other good stuff to check out there too.

Just had a call to say my Gran had another fall last night and my folks have moved her into the nursing home at the end of my road.She spent 62 years in her house and is understandably upset at the move but due the stairs in her own house and her health problems ,I think it's for the best and that she'll feel more settled after a few days there.

Righty off for dinner...

pc crash

Hit the tables late on Tuesday but not for long as my computer completely died on me.It would boot up and then cut out.I eventually managed to get back on and managed a quick turbo sng before bed but on Wednesday morning when I tried it out ,it had conked out totally.

I mentioned I got cash from Mrs A and my parents for my birthday so I was off to Tesco at lunchtime yesterday to buy my new £299 laptop.It’sfairly basic but wireless and comes with Norton virus guard and a 15.4” lcd screen.Amazingly for such an e-tard I managed to get it set up fairly easily and even have my wireless hub thing working with it! I’m buying a new usb keyboard though for use in my poker cupboard as I hate the one built onto the laptop.

Downloaded the essentials last night ( Interpoker,Ladbrokes and Pokerroom) but I’ll need to get Pokertracker sorted again.I think I just need to download it and email support for a reg code but it’s frustrating to lose all my bookmarks and software from my busted pc.My dad knows someone who will take a look at it but with refurbs available for £100 it’s probably not worth fixing.I may just go with the laptop only but I’ve only just bought a 17” lcd monitor and I rather like it.Hmmmm.

Mark was over last night for our weekly ps2/ xbox fest.My “Black” game wouldn’t load so we played a bit of “Snowblind” until we remembered why we’d abandoned it before….we was stuck.

Hit the tables after Mark left and lost one and came 2nd in another turbo sng at Pokerroom.I had to find £170 of my own cash to go towards the laptop and with the car going in for its MOT next week I’ve decided to take out $325 from Pokerroom to cover the laptop purchase.It’s not ideal because I’m trying to rebuild my roll but I don’t play cash games at PR anymore and a $325 withdrawl leaves plenty for the turbo sngs I like there.PR also allows cashouts to my debit card which makes life a lot easier than Inters slow cheques.( and yes one day I’ll get netteller)

Opened a Laddys cash table for a quick game before bed and immediately got caught in two minds with AJ on a Jack high flop.It was 6 max as usual and I’d called a preflop raise ( I was going to raise myself).When the preflop raiser led out I raised but with all the recent posts n blogs about overplaying top pair top kicker ,I slowed down on turn and allowed Mr J9 to catch a 9 on the river and beat me.( I made a crying call when he reraised my river bet).

I need to remember that while nobody wants to go broke with tptk,at 6 max and especially at loose tables with high average pots,tptk can often be the best hand.

That weak play cost me $20 but I clawed back $10 before hitting the sack for the night.

Forgot my sandwiches today so it was down to the works canteen again.I managed to avoid the chile chicken after last weeks effort ( posted) but I don’t think wee Betty believed me when I told her I’d posted a photo of it on the web and had comments from round the world!

I’m probably going to pop over to my folks place tonight for a while as my Mums poker account has taken a hit and has sunk from $256 to $60.Time to go through PT and find some leaks!

Today is also the day I’m going to book our next holiday in Egypt.Two weeks all inclusive at the Iberotel Club Fanara in Sharm from Oct 19th.Roll on….

Play the player,not the cards

Enjoyed a nice birthday dinner before coming up the road and hitting the tables late on for some pokeron Sunday night.Crashed out of a sng when Juices KT beat my 22 before two tabling some more £25nl 6 max.For anyone thinking of moving from $25 nl to $50 nl I would recommend trying £25nl ( if available) instead.£25 is almost $50 but I reckon a lot more Brits and Euro players who like playing in their own currency begin at £25nl and so long as you adjust your game accordingly it's jucier than $50nl imo.

I titled this post "Play the player,not the cards" as it's a phrase I've changed my mind on recently.I used to think I never played the person,only the cards and that as online poker saw so many more hands played than live poker,there was really no need to try and get too clever.
The phrase used to conjure up images of players pushing people off hands by making huge raises with rubbish hands because they "sensed weakness" but now I see that while that extreme would hold true playing the player is usually far more subtle than that.

I've not posted a hand history in a while ( have a glance at it then pop back here) so I thought I'd use this one from last night to make my point as my first thought afterwards was that it really played itself ( flopped a straight) and we all just played our cards.

This was my very first hand at this table and it was instantly obvious from watching for five mins before I sat down,that hotchef was the main aggressor both preflop and postflop and that his play was bordering on the maniacal side of the fence.Ok so I had 95 off and for once hadn't waited to post my blind ( usually a sign of impatience for me but it was very late ).I was ready to fold to any bet preflop and had to double check the flop to make sure it really had given me a straight.When hotchef bet out $5 I considered raising him there and then but I'd seen the other players back down in previous hands ( I expected them to fold) and thought if I flat called I could extract more from him if the turn card wasn't too scary.

When s007 went all in for his last $21,hotchef took his time before calling and I considered calling again too before rightly thinking that s007 would have slowplayed it if he had the nut straight ( 9 10 seemed unlikely but possible) and that he was probably trying to protect a top pair,good kicker type hand from hotchef who could have anything.If $21 wasn't a big enough bet to scare hotchef off then I wanted to make him pay if he was drawing which was why I went all in myself.With hindsight I feel that was the best move as the turn and river cards were horrible cards for me but I could have gambled more to try and win a bigger pot by flat calling the all in from s007 myself leaving hotchef and I heads up in the hand after the turn.


** Game ID 554879890 starting - 2006-08-08 01:37:40** King George [Hold 'em] (0.250.50 No Limit - Cash Game) Real Money

- Acornman sitting in seat 1 with $49.50-
professor4 sitting in seat 2 with $68.96
[Dealer]- cityman111 sitting in seat 3 with $42.75 -
soo7 sitting in seat 4 with $21.81-
davyfun sitting in seat 5 with $46.43 [Sitting out]-
hotchef sitting in seat 6 with $100.81

cityman111 posted the small blind - $0.25 soo7 posted the big blind - $0.50 Acornman posted to play - $0.50

** Dealing card to Acornman: 9 of Diamonds, 5 of Hearts

hotchef called - $0.50 ,Acornman checked, professor4 folded, cityman111 called - $0.50 , soo7 checked

** Dealing the flop: 7 of Spades, 6 of Diamonds, 8 of Diamonds

cityman111 checked, soo7 checked, hotchef bet - $5.00, Acornman called - $5.00, cityman111 folded , soo7 went all-in - $21.81, hotchef called - $21.81, Acornman went all-in - $44.50, hotchef folded

** Dealing the turn: 10 of Clubs

** Dealing the river: Jack of Spades

soo7 shows: 8 of Clubs, Queen of Clubs

Acornman shows: 9 of Diamonds, 5 of Hearts

Acornman wins $65.43 from the main pot

I did mention it was late so I played about ten more hands and finally hit the sack after that.The S-man had been round earlier for a fine evening of chat and poker.0/3 $5 turbo sng's at Pokerroom before we played one under the s-mans username and scraped into the money.I also played a £5 sng at Inter but came 5th at a fairly tight table.Interesting to see Tan's comment on MiasDads recent post re £10 sngs at Inter not being too much tougher than the sng's I've been playing.I may just have to test that theory!

Thanks to all for the birthday wishes and comments.Still can't believe a babyfaced youngster like myself is 34.

I've added a link to Derbywhite on my sidebar.Had a quick glance at his blog and I like his style.He's a big Leeds United fan ( Leeds and proud of it!) and whilst my EPL team is Chelsea I have a soft spot for Leeds after Rangers played them in the '92 battle of Britain European Cup games.I still have the video and still get goosebumps watching the goals go in.

Ok that's all for today...

Just a little poker...+ Sunday stats

As it's my 34th birthday today I treated myself to a marathon poker session last night.Mrs A had an early night and I decided on no distractions ( tv off etc) and to hit the tables in a determined,resilient mood.

Began with a fairly early exit from Laddys weekly raked hands freeroll, before playing in another freeroll event which was a qualifier for a direct satellite into their $750k tourney on Oct 1st.To be honest, for the first half hour I thought it was a direct qualifier, and when I realised I was playing nearly 3000 others and only the top two got through my motivation could have slipped, but I was in serious mode and finished 80th which was close but no cigar.

I'd won $80 at Laddys late on Friday night, but started my cash game night in bad shape by losing most of that in one of the only hands in my whole session where I felt I was truly outplayed by the villain.I'm usually careful about betting on the river when checked to me if I feel I'm only going to get raised by someone with a better hand but even players with a vpip% over 70% hit their hands sometime...

I left Laddys after I flopped a straight with 910 on an 678 board and the damn connection froze just as I was trapping a fish.He was betting into me and I was just about to pull the trigger when it went.I called support who assured me there was no problem at their end but I was absolutely raging and closed Laddys down straight away.I was still able to surf the rest of the net so I'm not sure I believe them!

I took a break after that and kept myself fresh by taking 10 minute breaks from my cash game every time I felt my concentration start to slip.I reckon I usually play for 2 hours before needing a break but for me recognising when I'm tired and doing something about that plugs a definite leak I had in my game.


Moved to Inter and after a poor showing in their $3k gtd I opened two £25nl 6 max cash tables and didn't switch off until just after 6am after winning about $200.Gametime + with PT was absolutely vital to my success last night as was choosing the right tables to play at and also being able to sook up the badbeat suckouts that came my way.( all in for a buyin preflop with Aces v queens and J7 soooted ,Q on flop was prob biggest.)

I felt I played well last night.I picked off a few bluffs and made a few at the right times.I won a nice wee $30 pot with 44 on a K high board because I felt the LA ( loose aggressive) was making a move on me.( he was, with AQ).

I won another nice wee pot when I raised with AsQs from early position and bet my flush draw on a Kh 2s 6s flop.The villian called my $4 flop bet ,I hit my overcard Ace on the turn,bet $8 which was raised to $35 and then called for my last $6 on the river to beat K8 o/s.

Looking back ( as per Doubleas book suggestion) at my ten biggest winners and losers from last night makes for interesting reading.I mainly use Pokertracker for its gametime+ function and for helping with bb/hr ,hours played etc and don't use it for looking at my game in more depth as much as I should.

One benefit of two tabling which I may have mentioned before is that it was easier to be emotionally detached from the goings on at each table.Having said that I had some real fun late on at Inter when some guy wrote "Scottish w*nker" in the chatbox.I'm usually silent in the chat and concentrate on the game but the same guy had been acting the big table coach for a while now so I checked him out on Sharkscope ( love that site) and found he'd played ( Llanbabo was the username) 105 games and lost $526 so I asked "Do you do better at cash games than sngs?" in the chatbox. He ignored that so I asked again and after pretending he didn't know what sng meant he said "I mostly play comps not sngs" to which I replied "but you lost a £50 turbo sng yesterday". "Oh yes,I remember now" he said as I tried to contain my by now almost hysterical laughter.He donked off some cash and left shortly afterwards.

Ok better run.Due up at my Mum and Dads for a family birthday dinner.Step A is 12 next Friday so it's a double celebration.Didn't wake up till 3pm today so god knows how I'm going to sleep tonight.Mrs A gave me cash for my 34th and I'm hoping for the same from my folks and I'll put it towards a laptop so I can escape this smokey cupboard and play poker from the couch.

Sunday update figures are : Interpoker $727, Pokerroom $1044,Ladbrokes $1230.Total $3001
( + $242 for week)

I'm quite pleased with this weeks profit especially as I've mainly messed about with the odd sng here and there and only really hit the cash games properly last night.Also good to get my Bankroll back through the $3k barrier.Now I just need to keep it there and build on it.

A sandwich short of a picnic

Friday at last! I've been enjoying following the coverage of the Wsop at the Tao of Poker all week but haven't played too much myself for one reason or another.Last night was the same and I only managed one $5 sng at Inter ( 3rd) before quitting.I actually really enjoyed playing in that sng because three of us battled back and forth for so long with all of us leading and being the shortstack at some point.My A4 was finally beaten by A2 sooted ( flopped flush) but no complaints from me.Aggression seems to be the key to doing well in these sngs.I beat the bubble after calling a preflop raise with J7 and going all in on an Ace high flop forcing the raiser to fold.Felt great!

Hopefully plenty of poker ahead this weekend.£5 sngs and 6 max are in my sights and I may even tackle an MTT or two.

I'm looking forward to Rangers first home league game of the season v Dundee Utd tomorrow at Ibrox.We had a good start last week and will hopefully continue in that form.Had to laugh at this Youtube clip of New England fans taunting our rivals on their recent US tour.Good to see not everyone falls for their plastic paddy routine...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDfnKzXzK7Q


On Sunday we're heading to my folks place for birthday dinners.Mine is on Sunday and Step A has hers a week today.I did joke with my colleagues that I was practising my surprised look, for when they were going to hand over the expensive gift they all chipped in for but so far...nothing!


Mrs A was working until late last night so no sandwiches for my lunch until I paid £2.55 for this sad effort at the works canteen...
















You know when you start posting photos of sandwiches that it's time to finish the post ( if not the whole damn blog!) so thanks for reading this weeks witterings...

End of Inter challenge

As a special favour to Mr Edge here are the legendary hi-tec
Silver Shadow trainers in all their glory!











Not much happening on the poker front.$7 down for the week so far though I'm quite keen to play more £5 sngs after winning one and bubbling out on one last night.Tuesday nights sng was interesting because I was completely card dead and yet still made the bubble ( my AK fell to A7).It's only a few games there but it doesn't seem too big a step up from the $5 games.I'll give my Sharky stats for Inter again when I hit 100 games but so far I'm doing ok I think.

Last night my mate and I finally finished Halo and I'm now looking to buy Halo 2 or Half-life for the Xbox.After he left the only poker played was a $5 turbo at PR and I just missed out on the money after a suckout.

I've now finished reading Doubleas poker book and I'm seriously considering trying the plan he recommends to "take a shot".My poker has got lazy recently and I spend more time chatting and playing lowly $5sngs than trying to improve my game and test myself at higher levels.The table in the book requires only three buy-ins and has a fallback safety net too.I have $494 at Inter and if I go ahead then it will be there as the bonuses clear very quickly at $100 nl and up.
I would declare my whole Inter roll to be withdrawn from my main bankroll and play with it completely independently from my main roll.I'd have to otherwise it would be playing with scared money and while I don't want to get wreckless ,playing scared is never good.

The Inter challenge appears to be over and quite honestly although I was trying to use good roll management skills to avoid busting at Inter,I find $25nl 6 max a little tedious and boring and motivation hard to come by.Rottie and Mr Edge have retired from the challenge,MiasDad has taken so many tough beats at Inter he's playing at other sites,Juice has made withdrawls from his Inter account and only Kronsdat and I appeared to be left in it.Thanks to all who took part.

I'd also like to add a big thanks to Juice for posting me his copy of Phil Gordons "Little Green book". Looking forward to reading it over the next few days.

Ok dinner time and then I may just hit the tables....

The Silver Shadow

I’m a hopeless poker addict! I switched off on Sun night at 1am and then decided I wasn’t tired,switched back on and blew $50! ( see adjusted stats!).

Last night began well and ended poorly.I’ve a decent sng record at $5sng ( inter) and began by winning a £5sng ( aprox $10 sng).The play was slightly tighter than than $5 and Sharky indicated there were a couple of solid players at the table but it was still quite soft.I’m going to give the £5 sng’s more attention in future and see if I can maintain the returns I’m getting at $5.

Played some £25nl at Inter and left £13 up ,only to join Rottie at $25 nl and proceeded to get fishslapped until I finally gave up for the night.Finished $17 up for the night but after such a good start it felt like almost like a loss.

Nearly finished Doubleas excellent book which covers all the basic fundamentals required for winning online play.I’d like to think I knew most of the fundamentals already after nearly two years of real money play online, but there are a few gems in there along the way which stick in my mind and which will help make a difference to my game.I particularly liked the hand analysis done and the different thinking applied.As I consider moving up and playing at higher stakes more often the deep stacks info was a real help and the fact that most of the book was based on No Limit poker also suited me.

Not much else going on this week in Acornland.I did have fun buying a pair of my favourite trainers from my youth,Hi-tec silver shadows.A workmate called me to say he’d seen a pair in a local sports shop ( I thought I’d bought the last pair in Glasgow a year ago) and I could hardly contain my excitement as I made my way there.When I asked the assistant if they did indeed stock the Legendary Silver Shadow shoe, she disappeared for ages before returning with a box and an apology that they didn’t have the “Legendary” ones ,just the “ordinary” ones.I didn’t have the heart to tell her that Legendary was my own description of the worlds number 1 training shoe and gleefully made my purchase!

Thanks to S-man for his Bollywood film effort ( see yesterdays comments) and yes GCox I probably do have entirely too much time on my hands!

If anyone else comes up with any fine Bollywood efforts email me or leave me a comment and I’ll post the best ones here.