Postcard from Sharm

Having a fine time in sunny Sharm.Almost recovered from the zillion mozzy bites I got over the first couple of nights.I thought I'd escaped the bad beats for a while! ( actually the nearest I've been to poker was dreaming that some bassa beat my Kings with A6).Woke up well hacked off at that one!

It's certainly been a relaxing week so far and I feel as though it's taken almost the full first week to unwind completely.I've read Michael Craigs excellent book on the big games between Doyle n co and Andy Beal,Stu Ungars ultimately tragic tale,Irvine Welsh's new book ,a couple of football autobios and a book on serial killers.The hotel has a small book exchange and I plan on leaving the serial killer book with a note on one of the pages ,right after a really gruesome bit, reading "Be afraid,I know your room number"....

No poker but I did try and log onto Pokerroom only to freeze the hotel net terminal and worry that someone would raid my account if it unfroze!hmmmmmf.

I'd like to reflect more on the poker books I've read but at $2.50 per 1/2hr this aint the time! I will say that I've realised I lack "gamble" in my game.Reading about pro's like Jennifer Harman who tried and failed many times before making it at the highest level does motivate me to take more chances with my roll and my game.All poker players go broke all the time.Errrr not me so far and I'm not even sure that's a good thing anymore.

Still at least I've kept my promise to myself to play more sng's over the last few months and though I'm not making fortunes ( Sharkscope has me averaging $2 profit for every $6 spent),I've come to really enjoy playing sng's and will look to play more and take a small step up from the lowly $5-$6 level on a more regular basis when I get back.

Not much time to catch up on other blogs but did notice Juice's pokeredge link and though I'm not sure which sites it's rating my cash game on ( Laddys n Crypto are where I mainly play cash) I can't disagree with it's weak preflop /agg post flop analysis.At the mostly high average pot,6 max tables I play at that seems to work, though I realise I'd have to step up my preflop aggression bigtime at higher levels.
I probably do play quite a predictable game at Laddys 6 max $50 nl.It's just that the standard of opposition is so poor/unobservant that I can still win money with my style!

Okdokay, 12 mins left before it's back to the room to get ready for a night out in Namma Bay. " Engleesh Engleesh, cheap as chips" . "Naw we're Scottish". "Ahhh William Wallace bravheart". Should be fun!

A fine holiday and Rangers have won both games ( including a fine 3-2 win in Italy v Livorno).What more could an acorn ask for! ( a 6 max nl poker game???!).

Ok,that's probably it till I'm back on Nov 2nd.Thanks for reading and gl at the tables...

Steps taken

"Here are the steps to take in case of fire...fuckin big ones!" That was the "safety" announcement before last nights Mrs Brown play.Mrs A and I had a fine time and really enjoyed the show.

I'm too busy packing and running around like an idiot to do a proper end of year review post ( 2nd yr real money anniversary on Oct 31st) but will do so when I get back on Nov 2nd.

It's probably just aswell Mrs A and I are off to Egypt tomorrow because it's not been the best of weeks at the tables so far.On Tues night I lost just over a buy-in at Party after a suckout.Last night I won a $10 turbo at Pokerroom and decided to finish the night at Ladbrokes with a few 6 max hands.I picked up K5 in the sb and as everyone else called a min raise I did too on the basis that I would only continue if I hit big.Bottom line is that flop came 3 5 5 ,I got it all in v Q5 and the river was a Q.That as they say is poker and has been typical of the way I've been running over the last couple of months.

Edit: won a 30 player, $5 turbo and two $10 turbo sngs.Failed to get itm in two others.


Updated figures are Inter $91,Ladbrokes $1666,Party $146,Pokerroom $1383.Total $3286 ( - $12 for week).( + $326 for month Oct 1st-Oct 31st)

Total 2nd year real money profit $4101.1st year profit total $4239.Total made since starting real money poker on Oct 31st '04 is $8340.

Ok,before I go thanks Iysam for the comment on my last post.I'll add you to my links when I get back.

Righty 2 weeks of much needed sunshine coming up! See you all in November.....

Charity Challenge Results

This post was going to read "Played last night,down about $50,that's it" but the last of the charity money has been paid in and instead of big moaning whiney post about why I feel I should have won last night,I'd like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who donated to my sisters cancer charity sponsorship thingy.Thanks especially to the s-man for his generous donation which allowed myself,Rosie and
Miasdad to turn the £100 donation into a grand total of £163.

I dont consider myself a person who is easily impressed or moved by much but I can tell you that checking my sisters page almost daily and seeing yet another donation from another blogger really made my heart swell with pride at just what a fine wee community we have.Give yourselves a big pat on the back folks! Her site is open until the middle of Nov if anyone still wishes to give.The money is going to the Maggies Centres.


Ok,that's all for today! Theatre tomorrow night so maybe one last post on Wed before I go away....

Just 17

I made a whopping $17 net profit from my poker play last week, though after my midweek tilt, I suppose I should just be happy to come out on top.Last night was going along nicely until I hit a bit of a brick wall at Pokerrooms $10 turbos.A few beats and a few bad decisions, meant I went on a 0/7 Itm run, before eventually coming 2nd in the last one of the night.I even played a $22 sng at one point and went out on one of those hands nobody has any right to moan about, when I got it all in with AJ v AK,flopped a Jack then watched the river bring the King and my swift departure!

It leaves me the task of trying to win $129 over 3 nights play ( tonight,Mon and Wed) to equal last years profits.I'm tempted to play more $22 turbos and make a real push to try and get there, but in the grand ( or not so grand) scheme of things, I don't suppose it really matters too much if I make exactly the same profit as my first years play or not.It is a bit odd that over countless hours of play and variance that I'm probably going to finish with aprox the same profit as last year.Perhaps once I knew I was nearly there I've eased off a bit and taken less chances.Who knows!

Ladbrokes $1716 Inter $91 Party $219 Pokerroom $1272 ( + $17 for week) Total $3298.

Mrs A is working tonight and tomorrow night so I'm hoping to hit the tables after walking Nacho.Tues night is theatre night and ( have I mentioned I'm off on holiday?!!) Thursday morning we leave for Egypt.

I've bought a couple of movies to watch on my psp but I'm tempted to take my laptop so we can watch dvds on a 15.5" screen.It may be a 4 * hotel but it's very unlikely to have wireless broadband so I'll probably end up leaving it at home.Hmmm.

Ok,enjoy what's left of Sunday....

Sat Update

I managed to recover from the folded Royal and scraped into the money in that sng.I then won a 20 player turbo and a 10 player $10 turbo after that, before moving to a full ring $100 table(ave pot $49), where I won large pot with Aces, then slipped back a little, before finishing up by dropping $30 at Party after a horrid suckout.

I still have tonight play to factor in and don't want to count any chickens but it feels good to be back in profit for the week after my tiltfest the other night.The tilting experience was strange because it was so full on yet I seemed to get over it and back to my usual game fairly quickly the next night.I suppose in part that may be down to experience.

Pissed off tonight after Rangers went down 1-0 to Inverness Caley at Ibrox.The keeper,Letizi, the new manager bought in the summer has been out injured for 2 months and his stand-in ,McGregor,has been excellent but the Letizi was back in the team today and made the mistake which gave Caley their goal.Got home and found out EK Thistle lost 3-0 too so not a good weekend on the football front.

Still at least its 90f and sunny in Sharm el Sheikh just now! Mrs A has already packed the cases and I've bought in all my books n shades n stuff.The only problem with Egypt is that( unlike Europe and the USA)there's very little chance of seeing the Rangers games on tv.( on current form that may be a bonus!).The last time we went it cost £20 to use my mobile to call home to get the score and the first time we went I think I frightened most of my fellow guests by going absolutely mad with joy when I got the text to say we'd beaten the Orcs in a cup game.( major fist clenching and pumping combined with louds shouts of "YES" and looks to the heavens for thanks!)

When we there in 2004 Ahly were playing Zamalek ( two big rivals) and when we walked round Old Sharm there were rows and rows of men watching the game,sitting on old plastic chairs ,straining to see the 1970's 20" tv showing the game down at the front.Not quite the 42" Plasma /lcd experience of pubs in this country.The population may be Muslim and live a completely different lifestyle to me but football brings everyone together and I ended up swapping my giving my Rangers top to one of the locals.

Ok,stats post tomorrow....

It's free to fold,eh!

$5 turbo 20 player sng.Just won a nice pot and woke up to this.I like to play raise or fold preflop in turbos and I felt I could sit back and await a better spot...

Not gonna stew over it though...




View Previous | Next hand for this table.



Seat 1: odovie ($975 in chips)
Seat 4: herb2000 ($2,665 in chips)
Seat 5: mafio ($1,190 in chips)

Seat 7: Zagga [JD,10D] ($3,500 in chips)

Seat 8: alanandy ($5,645 in chips)
Seat 9: Min-Mon ($1,860 in chips)



ANTES/BLINDS
odovie posts blind ($100), herb2000 posts blind ($200).

PRE-FLOP
mafio folds, Zagga folds, alanandy folds, Min-Mon folds, odovie bets $875 and is all-in, herb2000 calls $775.

FLOP [board cards KD,9H,KS ]


TURN [board cards KD,9H,KS,QD ]


RIVER [board cards KD,9H,KS,QD,AD ]


SHOWDOWN
odovie shows [ 8H,4H ]
herb2000 shows [ 6H,6D ]
herb2000 wins $1,950.



SUMMARY
Dealer: Min-Mon
Pot: $1,950
odovie, loses $975
herb2000, bets $975, collects $1,950, net $975
mafio, loses $0
Zagga, loses $0
alanandy, loses $0
Min-Mon, loses $0

Inter the Dragon

Came 3rd ( Rosie won) in a $5 sng before going out in the 2nd when I ran my Kings into Aces.I sat down for a few orbits at a $100 full ring table after that and did nothing but fold.The only playable hand I had was AQ and I folded that to a preflop raise so not much to report from there.Headed to Party and won $10 to leave me about even for the week at that site and that means I’ve won back about half the money I donked off whilst tilting the other night.

I nearly played Inters $3k gtd but Rosie informed me that it’s been reduced to a $2k gtd.I remember posting that in the short-term the overlay may be good in these type of tourneys due to the ban on US players but I suspected moves like reduced guaranteed prizes would soon follow.I read today that Pokerstars is staying open to US players which is great.I just hope other sites follow on from this as the idea of trying to stop people enjoying their hobby just annoys the hell out of me!

That's all today.Back Sunday with stats etc....

Give me a "p" please Bob...

Kicked ass playing Halo 2 last night before hitting the tables for a little poker late on.I began at Party 6 max $50nl with 10d 7d in the bb, and after checking to see a free flop, I was delighted to see it light up with 3 shiny Diamonds.( Ace High).I bet the pot not expecting much action and was reraised.This was my first hand and I had no reads at all but when I was reraised my first instinct was to fear the worst,we’d both flopped a flush and his was higher, but I also decided the villain could have been drawing to the nut flush or trying to protect 2 pairs.I ran over the logic of those thoughts as often as I could in the 30 seconds allocated just to be sure they weren’t the thoughts of a mad tilter and decided that as it was aprox 120-1 to flop the flush ,that if the villain had flopped a better flush than me then I would just have deal with it.I reraised him back from $7 to $14 and he went all in for the rest of his stack.Hmmmm.I called and won the pot with Poker Indicator showing me he had A6 with no diamonds.It was like running into the tilty me of the other night!


That wee pot had me up $45 after hand number one and feeling good.A few hand later I pick up KK from early position and make a 6 bb raise, getting 1 caller.The flop was a nasty 8 9 10 rainbow and I bet just over the pot to try and take it down and got flat called.The turn was a Queen and I led out for half the pot this time.The river brought another Q and by now I was wondering what hands I could actually beat as so much seemed to beat my hand.Sure I could beat a hand like A10 but any J,Q,straight or even 89,910 two pairs had me beaten so I checked the river and folded to the villains $16 bet.


I left Party $20 up and decided on a quick heads up $5 sng at Pokerroom.I’ve only played a few headsup sngs but after playing and winning quite a bit when heads up in sng’s I thought I’d give it a go.I started off aggressive as usual and raised most pots before bluffing at a large pot and showing the villain my rags.I always have it set to give me the choice to show my hand if the villain folds but it’s something I rarely do when not headsup.This time though the villain didn’t react in the chatbox but went all in a couple of times preflop and showed rags himself which had me laughing as it just made it obvious that I’d got under his skin and it also meant if I did catch a decent hand peflop I could bust him if he was making one of his “moves”.Eventually,down to his last 600 he min raised and I called with 9c10c,made the nut straight by the river and induced the villains bluff which I gladly called.

Ok,just back from my Mum and Dads after a fine dinner with Step A and Nacho in tow.Nacho was as good as gold in their flat...but on the way out he lifted his leg over the plants in the foyer giving them a generous sprinkle.That's my boy...

Things change

Began last night with Pokerrooms lucky dollar mtt as I reckoned if there was any tilt left in me then a $1 game was just place to donk off chips.Instead I folded several hands ( 33,k10 and j10 come to mind)which would have won huge pots but I kept my head and played my best game ,managing an itm 58th for a whopping $2.58 prize.I wasn't to bothered about the prize and was just happy that I seemed to have got my game back on track.

Next up was Inters $3k gtd and after winning one decent pot the deck went cold and only a few steals with hands like KQ kept me afloat until I pushed with 22 and ran into 55,to finish 101st.

A sensible person would have gone to bed but I decided to test the waters at Party's $50 nl 6 max tables for a while first.I'd folded my way down to $45 when I finally picked up a hand which hit the flop and held up,giving me a $12 profit and my cue to switch off,just happy to book a win.

I'm now down to my last $100 at Inter and will probably use that to play $10 sngs and the $3k gtd.Not much poker planned for tonight at Mark is arriving soon to continue our battle against the flood in Halo 2.

Bought a few books today for my hols and will be buying Ridge racer 2 for the psp when it comes out on Friday as the first one was a classic.

Not much else going on in Acorn land today.Just watched Scotland go down 2-0 to Ukraine away from home which aint great but wasn't exactly unexpected.Nacho will be staying at my Mum and Dads place for 1 week of our 2 week holiday so I'm taking him up to visit tomorrow night to get him more used to their place.

Also bought tickets for the theatre for Mrs A and I to go and see "Mrs Brown rides again".It's a comedy and we've seen the first two which were both excellent and this is the final run before another new "Mrs Brown" comes out next year.I have to say when my Mum told me ( she originally recommended it)it was about an Irish granny and her family ,I didn't think it would be my scene at all, but the guy who plays Mrs Brown,Brendan O'carroll,is great and his timing excellent.Roll on next Tuesday.

Ok here's another couple from the paper afore I go..

A CUMBERNAULD reader was watching the American Civil War film Sommersby about whether a wife would identify her husband returning from the war, when he idly turned to his wife and asked, if she ever got a call from the police to say they had a body in the morgue which might be her husband, how would she positively identify him over the phone.
"I would tell them you walked with a slight limp," she replied.


Bumper stickers continued. Sandy Lawson from Strathkinnes spotted in Colorado: "Maybe the Hokey Kokey IS what it's all about."



Thanks for reading and thanks to all who comment on this here blog.Much appreciated!

Camouflage

“Just then a big marine, a giant with a pair of friendly eyes,appeared there at my shoulder and said wait”

Well actually ( unlike Stan Ridgeways classic 80’s hit) he didn’t appear at all and I tilted away just over $100 late last night.


The night began pleasantly enough with the S-man visiting and a few turbos being played at Pokerroom.I worried when I started playing poker that it would be addictive in the way that fruit machines can be, and I gave myself a monthly budget that I would spend on my hobby.Luckily for me I’ve been able to make a profit at the micro-limits but the S-man and I have discovered the crack cocaine of poker that is Laddys $2, 1 chip all in or fold sngs.( auto all in when in small blind or big blind).There’s a tiny amount of skill ( if not in sb or bb at start of sng) but really it’s just a gamble.


That wasn’t where I did my tilting though as I actually won $14 for my two 1 chip games.I think the trigger was a cash game at PR whilst waiting on Miami Mark to finish his game.It was only a $25 nl full ring game and I’d just won a pot with queens ( raised preflop and forced two callers to fold with a continuation bet on an Ace high flop) when I get 8c9c and call a raise.The flop paired my 9, and gave me a flush draw, so I reckoned even if the villain had hit his ace, I had plenty of outs.Bottom line was I missed and my stack went from $30 to $16.I’m not even sure why this pushed me over the edge, as it wasn’t as if it was even a bad beat of any type.


Moved to Party and sat down at a $50 6 max table and woke up to AK in the bb as my first hand.I’m not sure if I was on “greedy tilt” ,”lost a pot at PR and not happy tilt” or “turbo sng mode tilt” but whatever happened when the small blind raised me ,I reraised and before I knew it I was pushing hard on a missed flop and losing a buy in to the villains 1010.


Next it was off to an Inter £100 6 max table where I bought in for £80 and once again faced a raise on my first hand.Any sane person would have folded 76 off but I reraised and when the villain bet out weakly on an Ace high flop I decided he didn’t have the Ace and I would force him off.Hitting a 6 on the turn “gave me outs” in my head and I reckoned I pushed even harder to shove him out before checking the river to see I was beaten by A9.

Fortunately I recovered my senses enough to switch off at that point and headed to bed to contemplate my 10 minutes of madness.Loads of excuses came to mind from the aforementioned possible tilt types to the fact I was hungry,tired and a little bored.Knowing I only needed $146 to reach my goal of equalling last years profit maybe meant that after a few failed sng’s and no serious poker played I felt I needed to push too hard to lodge a quick cash boost before bed.

It could have been due to arrogance ,a trait I usually detest.I’d also played ( 75th) in Inters $3k gtd and remember playing a hand so well I nearly saved the history to write it up here.It was just one of those hands where my read was spot on ,the cards fell into place and my check raise induced an all in which I geefully called with the winning hand.Maybe hands like that led to "daft cocky numpty winners tilt".


Anyway whatever the root cause it was the most destructive 10-15 mins of tilt I’ve experienced in a long time.Sure I’ve maybe played a little scared when running bad but I’ve not been on full on self destruct tilt like this.


I’m usually my own worst critic and get really down on myself after tilting like this but as I mentioned it has been a long time since my tilt monster reared its head in such a fashion and I don’t suppose there’s many players that manage to banish it entirely ,so I’m trying to be philosophical about it and will jump back on the horse this evening to test the waters.

Here's a few wee funnies from the paper afore I go...


The Scotland-France game reminded retired police officer turned author Les Brown of a previous encounter with France at Hampden when six French supporters missed their coach home and had nowhere to stay.
The police wanted to give them a cell for the night but were dismayed to discover they couldn't do so under health and safety regulations.
So one officer had the bright idea of asking them to jump up and down waving their arms about. When this strange instruction was translated to them, they did as they were asked – and were promptly arrested for breach of the peace and put in the observation cell with the door left open for the night, and then given breakfast in the morning.The cops even received a letter of thanks from the French Embassy.


A chap having a quiet drink with pals in Hamilton last week received a phone call on his mobile from the wife explaining that she was on the train back from Glasgow after a day's shopping, and could he pick her up in the car at the station.
His drinking buddies are still laughing after hearing him gently explain to her down the phone that the reason he couldn't pick her up is that he did not have the car as she had, in fact, driven to Glasgow that morning.

Bumper stickers continued. Spotted by Paul Scott in Dubai while visiting Colorado: "QUICK! Employ all the teenagers while they still know everything."

Forgot to mention my wallet suffered a bad beat today,paying out £116 for four "Pink" tickets for her Glasgow show on Nov 30th.It'll be Step A's first live gig and being a generous Acorn she's bringing a friend.

Yeah just £116!! It had better be some show!

Back soon..

Once in a lifetime

And I might ask myself "Did we really beat France 1-0?" and I may say to myself "That was a beautiful result"...

Yes,I've calmed down to a frenzy after yesterdays incredible result from Hampden, which leaves Scotland looking down on the World Cup finalists from our position at the top of the group.I'm enjoying the "once in a lifetime" moment but realistically we still have very little chance of getting through our group.Scotland have a habit of always just missing out when it counts.( usually on goal difference).I remember being 13 mins from qualifying at Euro '96 before a late goal for Holland ( v England) sent us home.Even last night at 1-0 when France got a freekick on the edge of our box with 2 mins to go I thought "here we go again".It's just part of being a Scotland supporter I suppose.

I noticed the Sunday Post and Sunday Mail both printed a "your boys took one helluva beating" headline today.Can't claim they stole from my blog as we were all putting a new slant on the famous Norwegian commentary from when they beat England 2-1 in a World Cup qualifier played in Oslo in 1981.The full translated version was...

"We are best in the world! We are best in the world! We have beaten England 2-1 in football! It is completely unbelievable! We have beaten England! England, birthplace of giants. Lord Nelson, Lord Beaverbrook, Sir Winston Churchill, Sir Anthony Eden, Clement Attlee, Henry Cooper, Lady Diana--we have beaten them all. We have beaten them all!. Maggie Thatcher can you hear me?"

"Maggie Thatcher, I have a message to you during your election campaign. I have a message to you: We have knocked England out of the World Cup of football. Maggie Thatcher, as they say in your language in boxing bars around Madison Square Garden in New York: Your boys took a hell of a beating! Your boys took a hell of a beating!"

Also used when England won the ashes,Scotland beat Norway.....


To the poker and last night was another decent night at the tables.Made the money in the majority of the 20 and 30 man turbos I played at Pokeroom to give me a nice wee profit there for the week.Nothing fancy ,just a tight ( 25% flop seen ) but aggressive game ( esp shorthanded) did the business.Miami Mark enjoyed me winning one turbo by going all in with 45 off and hitting to win.It's certainly not a move I would have made before I read Matt Matros's
fine book a while back.I've mentioned it before as it had a major impact on my game.I went from wondering what the hell Matt was thinking to seeing the mathamatical sense in his aggressive game.

With the 45off hand ( v Jh10h) I had a huge chip lead heads up and reckoned with 2 live cards I was no more than a 65/35 underdog ( got that about right) and reckoned by betting enough to put the villian all in, there was also at least a 50% chance of him folding preflop.I also thought I had a big enough lead to get him all in twice as ( at worst) a 65/35 underdog and that meant I was favourite to win at least one of those and knock him out to win.

I also crashed and burned in Inters $3k gtd after never really coming back from a nasty beat but there's no doubt I'm enjoying the experience of playing sngs almost as often as cash games these days.I love the way the dynamics of the sngs are always changing and though the gameplan mostly stays the same,adjustments and tweaks have to be made all the time to stay ahead of the rest.

To the stats... Ladbrokes $1632 , Inter $164 , Party $228 , Pokerroom $1257.Total
$3281 ( + $321 for week)

I now require $146 by Oct 19th to match last years profit.

Pizza tonight followed by "Hostel" on dvd.

Back soon...

Jacques Chirac,Napoleon,LouisXIV,

Inspector Clouseau ,Gerard Depardieu and Renne from 'Allo Allo, YOUR BOYS TOOK ONE HELLUVA BEATING!!

Scotland 1 France 0

Sent them homeward,tae think again.

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!

Back in black

Just back from the showpark where EK Thistle played well in windy conditions v the mighty Irvine Meadow ( were you there anon?!) but went down 2-0 in the end.It was the first Thistle game I've been to this season and if we keep playing like that then hopefully we'll be good enough to stay in the Super First division.

Only an hour until the Scotland game and the butterflies are starting.I wish I felt more postive but our defence is slower than a week in jail and I fear Henry is going to run riot for France.Someone needs to clatter him early and let him know he's in a game but even that probably wont be enough.Gerrinatethum Scotland!

The poker went well last night.After a bad run at the Pokerroom turbos ( 20/30 player) I finally hit some form and some cards to take a first,second and a few more Itm's to bring my Pokerroom roll back from $1070 to $1140.

Late on I moved to Ladbrokes ,sat down at a $100 nl full ring table,fired up GT+ and Poker Indicator before rolling a large one and hoping for some decent cards.I'd won a smallish pot and lost one when I found myself in exactly the same situation as on Sept 26th when I lost a buy-in to a set holding AK with an Ace + King on the board,only this time I won.

I'd called a raise with my big slick from the cut off and the flop came Ad 5c 3h.The original bettor ( later said he also had AK) bet $6 which I raised to $12 leaving the button as my only caller.The turn was the Kh giving me 2 pairs and I led out for $15, which with no flush and only a slim chance of a straight draw ,I felt was a good pot building bet.The villian went all in for $75 leaving me a huge decision to make.That was certainly the pressure point in the hand to be fair to him.My GT+ said the villians vpip% was 52% ( full ring) but aside from 20 mins playing with him ,I didn't have much else to go on.

I obviously feared the set and I was certainly close to folding but was delighted to see the villian show 44 and the chips slide my way.
One of those hands where I'm still not sure I played it well as all I could beat were a worse two pair or a semi-bluff.I don't hate the villians play because if I hadn't made 2 pairs on the turn I'd have a hard time calling his large bet with a hand like AQ.( I may have to assume he had at least 2 pairs).The villian also had a gutshot and two fours to hit too of course.

I'm glad it worked out but I suppose these type of hands are such a grey area in poker.If he did have a set I wouldn't have been too surprised and I'd be kicking myself for making the same mistake as I did when I lost previously!

Moved from there to a $50 nl 6 max table with a $25 average pot and won a swift $20 before going to bed at 4-ish before I lost concentration and gave some of my profit back.

Ok,Scotland game and then a movie with the Mrs on the agenda for tonight with perhaps a cheeky wee game of holdem thrown in at some point...

TFI Friday!

Just aswell this is a poker blog or I’d be writing about the council that put a fence around a 50yr old pear tree just on the off chance that a pear fell off,hit someone and they got sued.I could be moaning about work and having to spend my days dealing with people who complain because the latest marketing brochure received says prices have been “slashed and shredded” and they find this language offensive….but you wont see that kind of drivel posted here!


I played a couple more turbos ( no itm’s ) with Miami Mark on Wednesday night and last night after working late I played a little and won a $5 sng at Laddys before sitting down at a $100nl full ring table and leaving $25 up after ½ hour of play.In the $5 sng I played it tight as usual and only played QQ ( twice ) and KK once before the money.

The QQ hand was funny because Juice and I had just had a chat where he asked what I would do in a cash game if I bet with QQ ,got reraised,reraised myself and was then put all in.We discussed how Phil Gordon says the 4th raise means Aces ( though at Laddys it can mean 83 sooted) so when I raised with QQ in the sng and Juice only flat called I reckoned I was good.When the flop came low and Juice bet out I was fairly sure I was ahead ( he had AJ) and put him all in.


The full ring table experience was actually quite enjoyable but that observation is probably entirely based on the fact I won a few pots.Full ring is certainly a lot less intense than my usual 6 max but after running quite badly at cash games recently,I’m not complaining about a more relaxed experience at the tables.


No major plans for the weekend ahead.Hope to take in the EK Thistle game tomorrow followed by watching the Scotland v France game afterwards.I doubt Scotland have much chance v the French and even a draw would be a great result.Looking forward to it though.


I quite fancy seeing that new film “The Departed” but it’s been a helluva week ( workwise) and I also fancy just sitting around chilling out this weekend.

Back on Sunday with more..

Inbetween Days

Enjoyed a fine dinner with Mrs A last night before hitting the tables late on for four 20 plyr $5 turbos at Pokerroom with Miami Mark and failing to make the money in any of ‘em.I had my best chance in the last one but it was after 1am and I let my concentration slip and donked out after a good start ( and an excellent hammer bluff).

From reading other poker blogs I note that Cryptologic have already thrown in the towel and no longer allow Americans to play there.I checked last night and their $3k gtd only had 267 entrants which made me think that there could be a short term opportunity for players outside the US to take advantage of the current situation where there are guaranteed prize pools.I don’t play many Mtt’s so I may be way off but it could be worth checking out Mtt’s at site that ban our US friends.( At least until they reduce the prize pools accordingly).


I’m going to use my forthcoming break in Egypt to give some more thought to next years poker goals as I’m in several minds over which direction to take.I really enjoyed Joannes recent post about how she plays blogger mtt’s v her usual mtt games.What really struck me was the sheer focus and hard work that she puts into an MTT.Now I enjoy chatting to friends on IM ( or playing whilst Mrs A watching tv) but I don’t know how many times recently in an MTT ( or even an sng) I’ve woken up to a decent hand from early position and wondered how the hell I should play it because I’ve no idea how the table is playing due to lack of attention.


For example I’m dealt Aces UTG ( 1ST to act) at the start of level 3 having barely played a hand yet.Is it a crazy table where I’d get 4-5 callers if I raise 3* bb or is it so tight I’d be lucky to get one caller with a 2bb raise? Sure I’m obviously paying some attention to the table, but poker is a game of incomplete information and whilst I can get away with at the lowest levels most of the time,if I’m to even consider moving up the stakes ( cash or tourneys) then I need to be willing to put in a lot more work.Assuming I can cut it then obviously the rewards would be greater financially but part of me says that if I can average $4k profit per year playing mostly $50 nl with some tourneys thrown in then why would I want to get all serious and sit in silence taking notes on the villains and how they play etc etc?

Ok the mission to conquer Halo 2 begins again in 1/2 hr.Time to squeeze in a few hands..

Bad beat free zone

Thanks Anon for reminding me to post about the US v ROW sng which has been postponed for the moment but will be hopefully be resurrected in the near future.( do they have wi-fi in US jail cells?!).


To answer your other question I am indeed from EK and I’m hoping to get to the showpark this weekend for EK Thistles big game against one of Junior footballs biggest names,Irvine Meadow.( 1pm ko).


I may be joking about the wi-fi in US jail cells but I’m genuinely shocked that the so called “Land of the free” can pass a law banning money transfers from US players into poker sites.I think it’s an absolute disgrace.More like the Nanny States than the United States .


There doesn’t look like there is much danger of the UK following suit but some clowns are already stirring things up on this side of the pond too.

From The Herald:

Mike Weir, the SNP MP for Angus, yesterday called on the government to take strong action, similar to that passed by the US Congress, making it illegal for banks and credit card companies to process payments to online gambling companies.
He lodged a motion at the Commons to push the campaign Weir said: "There has been an explosion of gambling over the internet in recent years, much of it on credit cards. I have previously called for curbs on the use of credit cards but neither the gambling companies nor the credit card companies seem inclined to address the problem voluntarily.
"We need to take strong and long overdue action to tackle the rise of online gambling. Adopting the recent American legislation could certainly help us tackle this growing problem."

Feel free to click the link and give Mikey your views on the issue.


After some quality time with Mrs A some poker was squeezed in last night beginning with a wee turbo sng at Pokerroom followed by a decent night of cash n sng play at Party.Bubbled in one $11 turbo and came 2nd in the other for an overall profitable night.After the excitement of the turbos I sat down with £40 at a full ring Inter game fully intending to fold a lot and chat to Mrs A at the same time.All was fine until I lost £15 after raising with AJ from the small blind and following through with bets on the flop and turn after missing completely only to fold to when the villain led out on the river.I probably overplayed a set of fours a few hands later but I was happy just to cut the deficit to $10.

Ok, just a short post today and I promise not to add any bad beats later...

Monthly stats( You can't always get what you want!)

Just back from Ibrox where Rangers beat Aberdeen 1-0 after Sebo scored in the last 5 mins.We dominated the game but after drawing 4 games with these scumbags last season we badly needed a win today.I say scumbags because their supporters resort to singing songs about the Ibrox disaster ( 66 died in 1971 after a huge crush on stairway 13) which sickens me to the core.There's a break now for international football with Scotland playing France at Hampden next weekend.

I managed to resist the lure of poker for a few hours last night and Mrs A and I watched Jarhead which I thought was good without being a classic.Mrs A's boy is a sniper with the British Army so it was good to get an insight into army life.( from the comfort of the couch!).

Handed over the tv remote and logged on to Party for a little pokery fun and despite a small losing session ,I felt more relaxed at the tables than I have for sometime.Moved to Pokerroom and played few wee turbo 30 player sngs with Miami Mark and bubbled in one and came 3rd in another.The bubble game was interesting in that I went out after ( the blinds were 500/1000) making an all in move to steal the bb with KQ ,only to get called by A4 and go out when we both missed the board.As is the case at the end of tourneys, I was counting more on what my opponent didn't have more than on what I had myself.The villian had been fairly tightish ( for a turbo) and unless he had a top 5 hand I didn't expect the call.I'd been stealing quite blatantly though ( exploiting everyones bubble fears as per earlier post) and I maybe need to be more aware that by that point I'd shed the tight image I'd built earlier in the game which allowed me to start stealing in the first place!

I did head back to Party and won a little back over 1/2 hr of play before bed.I do like the way Party software seems so quick compared to other sites.I'm usually silent in the chatbox but had a go back at one "table coach" who seemed to think I was playing like a maniac despite the fact I was seeing less flops than the table.I was trying to stick to a mostly raise or fold game preflop and when I did raise it was 6bb and he was obviously getting steamed.I enjoyed asking why such a great player like him was playing $50nl with a $13 buy-in and enjoyed it even more when he busted. ( "oooops, bye!")

To the stats: Ladbrokes $1483, Inter $197 , Pokerroom $1119 , Party $161.Total $2960 ( - $192 for week).

Total on August 31st $3082.Oct 1st total $2960.( - $122 for month).

$467 required to match last years profits but I think its counter productive to push too hard to achieve that so I'll simply play my game and see where that takes me till I go away on the 19th.

I only logged 20 hours of cash play last month which is far less than my usual 45-65 hours.When I include sng's and turbo games then the hours total probably hasn't changed much and whilst I'l always think of cash games as the foundation stone of my game,I am growing to like sng's more and more and as hinted at previously, when I return from my holidays and begin my 3rd year of real money play ,more sng's are on the cards.

Off to order tonights curry in...

Edit:asgbkajsbakjgdf!! Warning,bad beat ahead.Above stats ammended.hmmmf.


** Game ID 590431453 starting - 2006-10-02 01:04:09
** Barnsley [Hold 'em] (0.25|0.50 No Limit - Cash Game) Real Money

- 104101 sitting in seat 1 with $76.83
- Acornman sitting in seat 2 with $52.20
- Ackedofilus sitting in seat 3 with $76.08 [Sitting out]
- sadsimba sitting in seat 4 with $93.90 [Dealer]
- steveray sitting in seat 5 with $50.77 [Sitting out]
- Crunsch sitting in seat 6 with $50.00 [Sitting out]

104101 posted the small blind - $0.25
Acornman posted the big blind - $0.50

** Dealing card to Acornman: Ace of Clubs, Ace of Diamonds
sadsimba called - $0.50
104101 called - $0.50
Acornman bet - $2.50
sadsimba raised - $4.50
104101 folded
Acornman raised - $10.50
sadsimba went all-in - $89.40
Acornman went all-in - $42.20

** Dealing the flop: Ace of Spades, Queen of Diamonds, 4 of Hearts

** Dealing the turn: 8 of Spades

** Dealing the river: 10 of Hearts
Acornman shows: Ace of Clubs, Ace of Diamonds
sadsimba shows: Jack of Hearts, King of Hearts
sadsimba wins $104.90 from the main pot