Funny wee night

I wasn't going to post today but Rosie the Rottie came 3rd in Laddys $5k gtd for a $760 score so that seemed liked a good excuse to ramble here once again! Congrats on yet another MTT cash.

Meantime I'd played four $10 turbo sng's at Pokerroom and had no joy at all.Getting my money in ahead in all four games was no consolation.It does seem even clearer to me though that Pokerroom in general attracts fishier players than Full Tilt.

After railing Rosies FT success I played a $10 turbo at FT and scraped 3rd after the s-man bubbled when his AK sooted was sucked out on by QK.Back to Pokerroom for one last $10 sng and I managed 3rd again in that one.There has been some chat in blogland recently about how turbo's are just luckfests.I was messing about with sharky and checking out leaderboards etc and it seems there are quite a few top players ( Johnny Bax and Huck Seed for starters) who seem to play mostly turbos and I doubt these guys would play them if they felt these games were just down to plain old luck.


My style for the turbos is simple.Uber uber tight ( usually tightest at table) but very aggressive with decent pocket pairs and AK.I'll play lower pairs and hands like J10 sooted from late position and almost always either raise or fold.I reckon that style would allow me to two table ( or three) $10 sng's but I'm not sure how long into the first one I should be before starting the next one.It's nice to have a few reads,win a pot and have full sharky stats on the table but so far I haven't tried more than one at a time.Perhaps I should play a few hundred at $11 before I think of Multi-tabling.

Anyway after my last sng I was looking for a juicy cash game but there were none at Laddys or Pokerroom.About a week ago I downloaded Pokerstars software to register for a US blogger tourney.I'd not played on 'Stars for a long time and was surprised to see I had $15 there.The tourney cost $20 ( ended up being cancelled due to lack of numbers on the 25th for some reason!) and I'd hit the cash tables and built it to $32 so last night I took $30 to a $50nl table, went on a wee rush and left with $99...which was nice.I'm not counting that as part of my bankroll though and have no idea where I'll fritter it away yet.

Night out tonight followed by the biggest darts match in history tomorrow night when Phil Taylor ( 13 time world champion) plays Raymond Barneveld in the PDC final.Darts was split about 15 years ago into two organisatons and two world championships but Barney moved over to the PDC in February and he's not met Taylor in a final since.Should be a cracker and I'm tipping Phil "The Power" Taylor to win an amazing 14th World crown.We shall see.

Have a Happy New Year...

Tale of the unexpected

Just back from Ibrox where another gutless performance saw us draw 1-1 with St Mirren and stay 3rd in the league.Totally unacceptable for Rangers.I'm still backing the manager though.I don't think he realised just how poor the team was when he took over in June.I've not been impressed by his signings but the transfer window opens soon and I'm willing to give him more time to turn it around.I'm fairly sure Le Guen is now aware of the enormity of the task facing him.I just hope he has the solutions and doesn't turn out to be Rangers version of Santini at Spurs or Perrin at Portsmouth.

To the poker and I played the late night crap shoot again last night and after an early exit I watched Rottie play a fine game in the $5k gtd at laddys only to go out 14th when her KK was beaten by 99 hitting a 9 on the flop.ITM at least but should have been more.

Found the s-man online later and he joined me at a $50 nl 6 max table.After a slow start I picked up Aces and beat Kings for a nice pot before the s-man headed off to bed and I hit a $100 nl full ring table.

I hope anyone reading would give me credit for being honest enough to highlight my own donkey plays in my posts but I did lose a big pot at $100 nl which I felt afterwards was fairly unavoidable.

I'd not been at the table long and had no good reads on individual players.Maybe my mistake was calling a raise and reraise with AQ soooted in the first place, but I had good implied odds and the raises were a little strange.First a raise to $2,reraised to $3 and finally reraised again to $4.The reraise to $4 was what fooled me, as the villian made that raise with QhJh and when we got to the turn I just could not give him credit for that hand, due to the way he played it preflop.Certainly for an extra $1 it disguised his hand beautifully, but why anyone would put in a 3rd raise with QhJh I'm not sure.I actually expected the 2nd raiser to make a big reraise back and thought I would be folding preflop.Here's the hand history with a brief summary of my thoughts.


Zilla25 posted the small blind - $0.50
spread posted the big blind - $1.00
** Dealing card to Acornman: Ace of Clubs, Queen of Clubs
pst7221 raised - $2.00
danny777 raised - $3.00

>>I'm not keen on calling a raise and reraise with AQc but was it was still fairly cheap ( obviously a 4bb raise would be $4 at this level and even the reraise didn't amount to that).

Acornman called - $3.00
DaddyT called - $3.00
Bnormind folded
Jonmelon007 raised - $4.00

>>> They say the 4th raise is usually Aces.I reckoned he must have a hand like QQ/KK or AA to make the 3rd reraise here although due to the fact it was so small I was willing to keep an open mind.

Zilla25 folded
spread folded
pst7221 called - $4.00
danny777 called - $4.00

Ok,I'm not liking my hand much but as its heading towards a $20 pot and we haven't seen the flop yet I do like my odds to call here.


Acornman called - $4.00
DaddyT called - $4.00

** Dealing the flop: Queen of Diamonds, Jack of Spades, 7 of Clubs

>>> Ok,I've hit my tptk ( top pair top kicker) but I still don't like my hand too much after all the preflop reraising that was going on.I could maybe have bet here to "see where I am" but my reckoning was that I could already be behind to KK or AA and seeing where I am could leave me in a tough spot if I was reraised.

pst7221 checked
danny777 checked
Acornman checked
DaddyT checked
Jonmelon007 bet - $5.00
pst7221 folded
danny777 called - $5.00

>>>hmmm $5 into a $20 pot seems weak to me and I was tempted to reraise but reckoned that the villian could be making that weak lead type of bet with either a very strong hand like KK or AA and was hoping for me to reraise with exactly the type of hand I had or he had a hand like KQ and really was quite weak.Although preflop there were a few reraises nobody had even doubled the others bet so perhaps they were all weaker than I thought.

Acornman called - $5.00
DaddyT folded

** Dealing the turn: Queen of Spades
danny777 checked

>>> Ok,I'm hoping my KK/AA/KQ read is right here and going with it.

Acornman bet - $18.25

Jonmelon007 raised - $36.50

>>>I looked back over the betting here and as mentioned simply couldn't put him on QJ and although JJ did worry me here too I decided I was ahead and....

danny777 folded

Acornman went all-in - $67.75

Jonmelon007 went all-in - $32.34

** Dealing the river: 9 of Clubs
Jonmelon007 shows: Jack of Hearts, Queen of Hearts
Acornman mucks: Ace of Clubs, Queen of Clubs
Jonmelon007 wins $171.18 from the main pot

With hindsight perhaps folding preflop was the correct move but overall I don't think I made any big fishy mistakes in that hand.( feel free to disagree!)

Anyway I took a short break to clear my head before hitting up a couple of 5 player,$5 turbos on Pokerroom.Made a lot of aggressive moves and generally felt a litle better.The poker gods just had to toy with me though and I went out of the 2nd one when my AK sooted was beaten by my hand of the night...AQ.

I may never be the most skillful but I can certainly be the most resilient so I got back on the horse and headed to FT where I managed to hit a few hands and come out on top.( 6 max $50 nl).

My poker year starts and end on Oct 31st as it was Oct 31st '04 I started playing for real money.Current stats ( and I may revisit to edit later as I'll be playing tonight) are Full Tilt $599, Party $280, Ladbrokes $1678,Pokeroom $764.Total $3321 ( + $200 for Dec).

Total on Oct 31st '06 = $3276

Nov - $165
Dec + $200
ytd from Oct 31st = + $35. Total profit since Oct 31st '04 = $8375

Righty apart from editing these figures later I reckon that's me done for the year.I'm too lazy to do a year review.I started looking back over some of my posts but as they would generally cure insomnia I gave up!

By the way if anyone has anything they'd like to see less of or more of ( commas perhaps )on this blog please let me know.


Righty I would like to wish all fellow bloggers,readers and sponsors a very happy new year when it comes.See you next year...

Fri Update

I'm still getting over the last remenants of my man flu.My cough is still worse than Charles Ingrams ("Millionaire") but the sore throat has finally gone and I can at least breathe more easily.

Watching Rangers pathetic peformance up in Inverness the other night ( lost 2-1 to a last minute goal) didn't do much for my mood, however Miami Mark and S-man were over and we played a few £2 sng's in my kitchen after the game.It was only 3 handed, so we played turbos with blinds up every 7 mins ( by the last game).I busted MM's hammer with 99.We were all in preflop and saw a 7 2 4 flop.A blank turn, before the 4 on the river gave me a better two pairs.I finished £4 up after winning a £3 bounty in the last game.All good fun and when Mrs A came home from work MM set up a horse race card game and we had a blast with that.It was great to see MM and the s-man.Thanks to the wonders of Skype the world really does seem a smaller place, but there's no subsitute for a proper sesh.


The funniest thing about the holdem sng's was that despite the tiny entry fee there were hardly any uncalled hands shown.We all play online a lot together and nobody wanted to give anything away!

Mrs A was working again last night but I didn't hit the tables until late on as I'm trying to be more disciplined about playing when unwell/tired.I bombed out the late night crapshoot when my 66 couldn't hold up v QJ and J8 but won back my entry fee by winning an all in or fold $2 sng.Enjoyed chattting it up with Juice and Rottie before switching off the IM when Mrs A came home.Just before I did though, I managed to give myself a fat lip when I won a tug of war with Nacho over a bone and had been pulling so hard I punched myself in the face!hmmmm nice.

I decided to two table full ring $50 nl at Ladbrokes and played a fairly patient game awaiting the right opportunity.It came when a loose goose player raised to $1 and I called with Ks8s from the button.I called on the basis that I would need to hit a monster or get out, because I felt I could get the villians stack if I did hit.I noticed the other night after a small win, my flop seen % rose to 60%, as I was using the above logic to limp with too many marginal holdings from late position.I suppose that is where experience comes in.What I mean is that I wouldn't advocate playing Ks8s from anywhere as it's a crap hand, but under the right circumstances I'm well aware that it's more well hidden hands hitting big that usually pays off the most."Win a small pot or lose a big pot" is the usual mantra for AA/KK.

Anyway there were 4 other callers so I wasn't the only one not respecting mr loose goose's preflop raise.The flop came Qc 4s Qs and Mr LG checked ( terrible play) and the turn brought an As giving me the nut flush, but on the paired board.Now Mr LG
bet out $5 and got one more caller before the action was on me.I was tempted ( and probably should ) to raise but called too, and we saw an 8d on the river.Mr LG and the other caller checked, which looked weak to me, so I bet $14 reckoning my flush was good.Mr LG thought, and reraised all in for another $33, and I fretted for nearly the full 30 seconds before making what I felt was probably a crying call, only to see him show Qd3d and, the pot come my way.I don't think I played it very well ( better than Mr LG though) but after losing $9 at my other table, I was happy to switch off $35 up.

Looks like Mrs A and I are visiting friends for Hogmany which should be a fine evening as we've not seen them for a while.

Ok,thanks for reading...

Pat n Mic

Still suffering from man flu so I've called into work and secured the next 3 days off on the sick.( pat n mic) S-man and Miami Mark are coming over tonight to watch the Gers game v Inverness.Roll on.

Xmas was great in the Acorn house apart from all the sneezing.Step A ( aside from asking "is it new or second hand?") loves her PC and new hamster and has been happily playing Sims games with her friends,Mrs A has been chilling out to the tunes on her MP3 player and I have been ( take a guess!)playing the occasional game of.......online poker.

I had been trying to stick to freerolls and lucky dollar games because I've not been feeling well or getting a decent sleep but occasional adventures back to the cash tables and $5 sng's have gone quite well.I won a $5 ( 5 player) turbo at Pokerroom last night where the standard was so poor I reckon Step A would have given the villians a run for their money.I tilted one poor fish after forcing him to fold when I check raised the flop with my K5 big blind special on a K high board.Check raising seems to work best with a marginal hand rather than a monster.He called an all in with 25off in the very next hand.

I would hope I use at least level 3 thinking on most of my hands but when playing against total muppets overthinking is not the answer.In one hand last night in the $5 shorthanded turbo the flop came 8 8 4 with 2 diamonds and after calling a preflop raise I led out with a slight overbet of the pot( with nothing).I could almost hear the fish thinking to himself "shit,I don't have an 8,time to make an amazing laydown" whereas a better player would be more suspicious.Maybe I just read too much into the game!

I may do, but there's no doubt that adjustment needs to be made depending on the site/buy-in/table.There would be no point in playing squeaky tight to build a tight image in preparation for stealing blinds later when nobody is paying an attention.

I generally have no interest in learning other poker games however I did play a 5 card draw ( NL) freeroll at Pokerroom and enjoyed the experience.I missed a lot of it helping Step A with her wireless connection and didn't finish near the money.Made a pleasant change though I can't see me straying far from nl holdem in the future.

Ok,that's all for today.Expect infrequent posts until Jan!

Btw, What do you call an insect that has forgotten the words?"
"A humbug."

Oh and for anyone who stumbled here looking for information on the new Techwood 3711 lcd tv they got for Xmas...mine is great but seems to take forever to switch on.I'd be interested in others opinions on the tv too....

Sunday Stats

Last night was a great night at s-mans despite the onset of man flu meaning I was coughing and sneezing so hard I think I've burst blood vessels round my eyes.S-mans wife doesn't smoke so we had to partake outside where it was 3c ( thats 3 centigrade not the 3 clubs).The highlights of the night were S-man bringing his bow and arrow downstairs, out of its case, and then firing an arrow into the ladder of his kids slide.( took 10 mins to pull it out).The outdoor fire and later UFC fighting ( s-man and Donald) probably had his neighbours wondering what was going on.

Stats are as follows: Full Tilt $ 408 , Party $305 , Ladbrokes $1769 Pokerroom $791.Total $3273 ( + $263 since 10th Dec).

Back sometime after Xmas...

Wee boost

Well I wasn't planning on a post today, but I had a decent night at the tables last night, and this blog has been so full of moans and hard luck tales recently, that it was too hard to resist posting.

I started the night by playing a $10 standard speed sng at Ladbrokes with S-man and won that, before moving to Full Tilt and winning a $5 turbo.I came 3rd in the next one and bombed out of a couple after that.The s-man headed off, and I hit up the Laddys 6 max cash tables.I've mentioned the loose wild tables on Laddys after midnight at weekends before, and last night was no exception.I did start out at a $100 nl table, but didn't catch any cards and the $75 ( yes $75!) average pot put me off my game a little.

I opened a $50nl 6 max table with a $28 average pot and soon sat down at another too.( $25 ave).I got off the mark (2h2s) after calling a $2.19 bet from Mr 85% vpip along with two others.I was out of position and when the flop came As Qc 2c I bet out about half the pot.Mr 85% was very loose and aggressive and my bet was the kind of weak lead bet that was designed to prompt a raise.I got one caller first, before Mr 85% raised to $18.52.I didn't mess about and reraised to $32,got a call and a reraise all in, which I called.The turn was a 10s, and when the river was a 3c, I was sure someone had hit their flush, but the pot came my way ( the villians hands were mucked)to my great relief.

I then flopped a straight with QJ but ended up splitting a huge pot with another villian with the same hand.

I'd been the tightest at the table but I was also mixing it up a bit with the occasional steal from late positon when checked to me.I called a min $1 raise from the big stack with 6h 8c because he'd made it cheap to do so, and he also seemed the type of villian that couldn't lay a hand down if he was beaten.The flop came a 9 5 K rainbow.I bet out $1.50 with my gutshot ,hoping to slow down ( I didn't expect to take pot with that bet)the preflop raiser if he didn't have a King.He raised to $4.49 and I was left with a tough decision.

I called and a beautiful 7 hit on the turn,the villian bet out $32.As I had the nuts and there was no danger on the board I flat called.After the river card I was tempted to check and try and get him to commit but decided that with a pot that size I would probably get called anyway if I went in for my last $19.40.He did call and the $113 pot slid my way.

I've had a bit of a cough all week and was feeling a little stuffed up and woolly headed by 3.30am so I hit the sack.

The S-man is looking after his wee ones tonight as his Missus is working so we're heading down there for a sesh.I'm really looking forward to seeing my friends and it should be a great night.( nae poker though or Mrs A may just behead me)

A winning night,Rangers just beat Aberdeen 2-1,seeing friends tonight and Xmas just round the corner.So long as man flu ( men get flu,women get colds as we all know!)stays away it's gonna be a good one!

Ok,time to walk Nacho and maybe play a wee tourney...

Merry Xmas

Last night I watched a bit of tv,read some blogs and walked Nacho before once again playing in Ladbrokes $10 late night crapshoot.From 327 starters I managed to finish 19th for a whopping $31 payout.I feel I played quite well,got lucky once or twice and ramped up the aggression whenever it was folded to me.At sng’s my flop % seen is usually the lowest at the table but last night I was the loosest at 24%.I didn’t feel as if I was playing a loose game but I was raiding blinds with my Ace rag hands and at one stage was all in on a preflop steal with a pair of fours.

It’s called a crapshoot for a reason though and with 18k in chips and blinds of 3k/6k I pushed with a shiney Qd10d when it folded round only to be called and beaten by AK.I wasn’t miles behind when the money went in and have no complaints at all.I did fold AK to a preflop raise all in from a tight player at one point and could possibly have taken a chance, but if I’m going to be all in preflop with AK, then I’d much rather have some fold equity and at least be first in the pot.

Hoping to play some poker tonight.Miami Mark n Mrs MM are home in Glasgow and coming up tomorrow night for drinks n smokes along with another couple and hopefully S-man.Looking forward to it as it’s usually one of my favourite nights of the year.


I’ll probably not be posting as often over the festive period.I will be trying to avoid last years Xmas eve bankroll disaster when between Dec 24th and 27th I lost $800.Hmmmmm nice.

Before I go I did enjoy following a link from Katitudes blog and completing a poker IQ test.I scored an average 106 and seemed to excell in some areas and score very poorly in others.No more tourneys for me according to The Donkey Test.My speed % may have beaten zero if I hadn't left laptop on in the middle of the test whilst I went and picked Mrs A up from the shops.

It's probably more for fun than anything else because although they give scenarios and options you can never really know how to play a hand unless you are there and can take all factors into consideration.



Righty that's all from me until after Xmas.( stats only update will be posted on Sunday).

Have a great Christmas!

New Sponsor

I have a new sponsor “Bonus Key”
They have a number of new “poker bonus codes”
for new and existing players.Help support my sponsors and make sure Nacho doesn't go without big juicy bones...)

Duck Santa

Mark was over for our weekly xbox fest and we’ve now met and defeated plenty of headcrabs in Half-life 2.

After he left I played Laddys Late night crapshoot again and hadn’t played a hand when Mrs A arrived back from work at midnight.I look down to a pair of tens and decide to go all in and pay the good lady some attention.I ran into Aces,no help from the board and I’m about to switch my laptop off when I realise I have 10 chips left ( 2000 starting stack).I wish this story had a happier ending ( like a final table or ITM finish) but I did at least double through on the next hand ,the hand after that and the one after that.This was partly due to donks shoving each other out of pots with rubbish hands.Each time I thought I was out( they pulled me back in) ,my Ace high on a paired board proved to be good.I went from 10 chips to 2.5k but couldn’t catch a hand or chance to steal and eventually went out when I had my A2 busted by AQ….


Just been to the local pub for a lovely meal with my parents and as Mrs A is working I think it's time to hit the tables.

Before I go I couldn't help but smile at the story below from todays paper...


SANTA has been forced to wear a hard hat to protect him from mince-pie-hurling neds.A gang of around six youths targeted Father Christmas while he was handing out chocolate coins to kids in a shopping mall.

His bosses carried out a risk assessment and decided that for health and safety reasons, he must wear a helmet from now on.Santa said: "It's a tough job being Santa at the best of times."Trying to get down all those narrow chimneys is difficult enough, without having to wear a safety helmet"But I don't want to let all the children down."So, even if it looks a bit odd, I will just have to wear my festive hard hat."

He added that he would defy his attackers by dishing out gifts to youngster sat the Paisley Centre on Saturday afternoon.

The assaults on the jolly chap happened a year after neds attacked Santa at the same mall.

Malcolm Watret, 52, who was Santa last year, was forced to defend himself with a five-foot Christmas tree after being set upon by a gang of teenage boys.

They knocked him to the ground and launched a shopping trolley at him before security guards chucked them out.

Speaking after the incident, the furious dad-of-two, of Johnstone, Renfrewshire, said: "I didn't see them coming.

What kind of idiots would attack Santa?"

Andrew MacKinnon, manager of the Paisley Centre, admitted the mall has a problem with youths throwing missiles.

And he said the latest incident has left this year's Santa shaken.

He said: "Some customers looked really shocked as the mince pies rained down on him.

"The neds really made mincemeat of Santa."

Andrew added that Father Christmas will not be allowed to stand in his grotto without the specially modified hard hat, complete with reindeer antlers.

He said: "I think this was a bit of Christmas high jinks by the local neds.

"I look on it as a health and safety matter, more than anything else."

Poker Justice

I began last nights play by messing around at a laddys $30 nl 6 max table.The average pot was $14 and I tried to experiment a little by playing more aggressively preflop.I left 9 cents up after 20 mins so I’m not sure if it worked!


I checked Pokertracker and over 17.5k hands at Ladbrokes $50 nl 6 max I’m earning 8.5 bb/100, so at first I was very wary about deviating at all from what has worked for me since I began playing.Most of those 17.5k hands have been at very loose ,high average pot tables with one or two ( or even a table full of ) maniacs and I feel my style has become specifically tailored to making money at those tables, but is not a style which would be a big winner in more passive games.

At those Laddys maddys loose goose games late on Friday and Saturday nights I’m quite happy to limp a lot when I can and my game is all about trapping and winning big pots.I don’t mind appearing to be the type of weak, meek type that can be bossed around and shoved off hands because I’m patient enough to wait until the right moment before commiting my stack.


I suppose, what I’m trying to say is ,that for most of my online poker life, I’ve not played in average run of the mill type games.This leads to higher variance,a more rigid style and faster burnout.Burnout was why when I began my variance nightmare in September ,I decided to play more sng’s and focus on them.The change of pace and new situations I’m still learning to deal with in sng’s have helped keep poker fresh for me.

To last night and after my short $30 session I played in Laddys late night $10 ( $3.5k gtd) Crapshoot. I made a raise to steal from late position with A3 after about 1/2 hr of card dead play when I realised ( ok I'd been watching tv) that the UTG ( first to act) player had already made a raise.Thankfully along with one other player,the UTG player just called and didn't reraise.I was saved by the flop falling 3 3 8.The UTG player went all in and as I had him covered I just called (hoping to trap the other caller).The other caller stayed in the hand and I knocked two out and began building my stack.

I was trying ( as per Luckos style and Tripjax's recent mtt strategy post) to keep pounding away when I had position and not go into my shell too much.The top 30 paid and although 30th paid $24 I was trying to purge myself of my usual "just make the money then see what happens" attitude.

With 33 players left ( 12th with 24k) I look down to KK and when it's folded round to me in the small blind I make a min raise to 4.5k ( blinds 1.5/3).Now to me I may aswell have typed "AA or KK" in the chat box but the villian ( same stack size as me) thought I was at it and raised it up to $10k.I considered the stage of the tournament,his stack size and the high possibilty it seemed I had run my KK into AA but I reckoned he thought I was simply stealing so I went all in.Bottom line is he called with A6,hit his Ace on the turn and I RFTW ( ram fist through wall).32nd.hmmmmmf.

I had no regrets about the way I'd played it so I gave myself a mental shakedown and hit a Party 6 max $50 nl table.To cut another long story short my Aces beat Kings all in preflop for a $37 profit after 10 minutes play and I logged off and went to bed happy with my nights work.

Not so happy with my GT+ as the HUD only seems to be giving me one or two sets of stats instead of the full tables.My laptop did say it was short on virtual memory ( whatever that is)but I'm a bit annoyed because GT+ is a very valuable tool at the cash tables.


Ok,that's more than enough rambling for today...

Short ramble

No long rambling nonsense post today as I didn’t play much poker last night.Actually I’m glad I never really finished yesterdays post because it was probably going to be mostly bollocks anyway! I was kind of thinking about how much profit could be made if I can make enough progress through the $11 to $22 sngs and begin 2-3 tabling them.In theory it sounded good but in reality I work hard all day and don’t have the inclination to push myself that hard in the evenings.Whilst that may be true, I'm still determined to push on and improve as a player.

On the subject of improvement here's a link for I Strongs online poker videos.My memory isn't the greatest but I'm sure it was at Blackscribe's via Yorky Puds that I found them.I really enjoyed watching the guy play and hopefully I've learned something from them.

As I mentioned I didn't play much last night.Bought Step A a pc through the adtrader and was back in time for the s-mans visit.I came 8th from 18 in a token sat at FT,won about $8 at the cash tables and went to bed.

Ok, anymore and I'll have to delete the first line of this post.Here's a wee link,courtesy of the S-man to the current Irn Bru( Scotlands national drink) advert.It tickled my funny bone anyway...

Back to back

Sat night at the tables was almost breakeven overall although I did manage to pin down a large leak in my game which is chasing to the river with inferior hands.In my defence I only do it once or twice during a longish ( 8-9 hours) poker session and it may be down to lack of concentration and focus or simply greed because I’m annoyed at not making any money over the last few months.I need to slow right down at these moments and if my instincts say I’m obviously behind then I need to fold.Easy to write and harder to actually do as with most pokery advice.


The Old Firm game went as I predicted and finished 1-1 although Rangers dominated the game and should have won it.It does look as if the young team Le Guen is putting together is finally gelling and his football philosophy is sinking in.Consistency is what is required now and a long unbeaten run is required starting with the Aberdeen game on Sunday.Hopefully I’ll have my voice back by then…


I don’t want to tempt fate but last night actually went quite well at the tables.Mrs A was working again but I didn’t start playing until I played a couple of sng’s with Juice and Rottie at Laddys.Only $5 and not turbos but I made the money in both before losing my profits at the cash tables.


I then played and donked out of a $10 turbo at Pokerroom before winning my next one and then moving to FTP and winning an $11 sng there too for a profitable wee night.I mentioned greed at the top of this post and I have to be honest and say that I still have a very strong desire to make good money at the virtual felt.

More thoughts on all that soon.Mrs A and I have to pop out to see a second hand pc just now.The S-man says mine is gubbed! He's coming over in about an 1 1/2hrs so I'd
better fly....

Poker thoughts

I did play a couple of mtt's last night but spent most of my time at the cash tables.I bought in directly to Full Tilts $15k gtd ( $24+2) and didn't pick up a playable hand until after the first break when I went all in with my remaining 860 in chips with AdKd only to be called by 88 and QQ.No help from the board and IPHTNW.( I place head through nearest window).AK was also the hand that sent me out of Laddys late night ( $10) crapshoot,this time to 55.Hmmm I think I'd rather have gone out with a badbeat so at least I could say I was favourite when the money went in...

The cash tables were swingy as usual and I finished up winning a little overall for my nights work but I'm probably still down about $70 since last Sundays stats update.I stuck to a fairly tight game for most of the night and used my Poker Indicator and Pokertracker with GT+ to help with marginal decisions.

I'm currently rereading Super Systems No Limit section but while I can take bits and pieces of Doyles style and use them ,I don't see me ever being as loose and aggressive as pokers greatest ever player.The LAG ( loose ag)style certainly seems a lot sexier than simply waiting for good hands and playing those hands hard but I think having the discipline and patience to stick to a TA ( tight aggressive) game can be very demanding indeed, especially if your on a downswing, and those long awaited hands get busted time and time again.On top of that you have to deal with watching what can seem like almost every folded hand hitting a monster flop, and the subsequent huge pot sliding over the virtual felt to some undeserving fish.

Another wee topic I'd like to cover today is calling an all in bet from a shortstack during sng's.If there are two callers it seems to be the accepted wisdom to check it down to showdown unless someone hits the board and if one player bets v the all in player without hitting the board then accusations of donkeydom and fishy play abound in the chat box.Two points.If the blinds are low then I'm happy to go along with the
general consensus and will sometimes call with marginal type hands because if I hit anything with my J9 sooted ( for example) and I bet, that will usually mean the other villian folds leaving me HU with the all in shorty.

I will sometimes bet out though with very little.An example would be a hand I played the other night at a $5 turbo.The blinds were 200/400,the shortstack was all in for 600 and I chose to call from the small blind with KQ.I'd already paid 200 and paid another 400 to see the flop along with the big blind who paid the extra 200.The pot was 1800 and the flop came J 7 4 with 2 diamonds.As the shortstack was desparate, his hand range was huge and I had to put the big blind (who only had to pay 200 to see the flop)on a wide range too.The sidepot was big enough for me to want to take my chances heads-up with the all in shorty so I bet half the pot,got Heads up and beat Q8 to a nice pot.The other guy was annoyed that I'd bet but I feel that when there's a large enough sidepot and the all in shorty is on a wide range then it can be worth trying to take it down.It also means if the big blind had a hand like AQ and had me beaten, then I take the pot with my KQ on the Jack high flop, rather than wait till I hit my Queen and get beaten by a better kicker.

At worst I lose the pot to mr all in and keep a shortstack in the sng and at best I win a nice pot.

I hope all that makes some sense and people can see that whilst it's not a play I would make everytime,it can be useful in the right situation.

Righty I'm off to ask the stable girl to change my hay....heeeeehaw!

Donkey tale

The night began well with The Gers winning 1-0 at Ibrox to top our Uefa cup group.We've drawn Hapeol Tel-aviv and if we beat them we've got another potentially winnable tie in the last 16 with a game v Bordeaux or Ossasuna.First up is the small matter of the Old Firm game on Sunday at 12.30pm.I'm feeling a bit more confident after the last couple of weeks but in all honesty I reckon it'll probably be a draw which is no good to us as it would leave us still trailing the orcs by 16 points in the league.Still I'm looking forward to the usual 90 minutes of madness from the most passionate football derby in the world.

I'm usually a slow burner when it comes to the game itself.I start off feeling quite calm ,with few shouts of support before kick off,, but just one meaty tackle or poor decision from the ref and the football fever takes hold and I'm on my feet going ballistic.Ahh well two sleepless nights ahead before the big one...

To the poker and I donked off $65 last night when I was probably too tired to be playing at all.I knew I had my team lunch today at work and a half day after that so there wasn't much motivation for an early one.I came 3rd in my first $5 sng with the s-man before he knocked me out in the next one with his A6 v my Big Blind not so feckin special 106 on a 6 6 rags board.S-man is fairly new to poker,is developing a solid game and after the turn my instincts said I was outkickered but I wasn't good enough to make the fold.

Moved to a very loose 6 max cash table and couldn't believe some of the play.The fish I was to tangle with later called a large preflop bet with j6 off V AsQs.The flop came Ad 7s 3s.The fish called a large post flop bet and the money went all in on the turn after a Jack fell.Another Jack on the river won him the pot and my desire to get in a pot with him.

He made a few more moves like that and was soon down to his buy-in of $50 when I called a raise from the player to my right with AQ.To cut a long boring story short the fish called too,the flop came Q 6 3,the fish had 63,I didn't believe him and it was adios buy-in.

I should probably have hung around but I moved to another table only to tread water for 20 mins and leave a few dollars up.

Ok,I've had a big lunch n a big smoke.Time for a wee sng maybe..( or a sleep!)

Durty bassa's

Just a short one today because I'm leaving for the Rangers game in 1/2 hr and have still to eat my dinner.

Last night was Half-life 2 night and Mark and I suffered another downswing when the damn game froze after an hours play.We were stuck treading water and had to restart.It felt like being on the end of a 2 outer,only cheaper.

I decided on a couple of $10 turbo's at Pokerroom before bed and was cruelly rivered in both several times.It was so bad other player were discussing it in the chat box!
No complaints though because the play was far looser than the same sng at Full Tilt.Obviously all sng's are unique but Pokerroom does seem to be softer than Full tilt at present.

Ok a few moans before I go today.Why do people pick their noses and rub the contents on the toilet cubicle walls at work? It's disgusting and shooting would be too good for the culprits.

Why did yahoo.com want me to tell that fat actor from Titanic ( di caprio) what differences I feel I can make to the planet to make it greener.( on yahoo homepage yesterday).A complete waste of time.


Why do I always get stuck behind some slow mo-fo when I'm driving home from work in a hurry?!

Ok the microwave has pinged...

Finger lickin' good

First off I’ll answer Cadmunkeys question/comment on my last post asking about the standard of play at Full Tilts’s $11 sngs.So far I’ve found that much like the $5 sng’s the standard can vary greatly from game to game.Some games seems to be full of loose goose gambling sorts and in others nobody is over 20% of flops seen.There are more tighter games than loose games and one aspect I’ve noticed is that there are a lot less hands go to showdown at $11 level.As mentioned previously I use Sharkscope to tag the villains at the start of sng’s and while I may miss some of the action doing this I feel it’s well worth it.


Enjoyed visting the s-man the other night.We managed to make the money in a couple of $5 sng’s on his account before I drove home in yet more of the driving rain and wind that has been the hallmark of December so far.I played Laddys late night crapshoot ( $10, 3.5kgtd) and was card dead for most of it.I raised and stole from UTG with AJ soooted and a few hand later with blinds at 300/600 I pushed from the small blind with K4 when it had folded to me and was beaten by a call from Mr 910 who hit the board.



Last night I decided to treat Mrs A to dinner in a top dining establishment…then changed my mind and took her for a KFC :-) We watched United ’93 on Sky when we got back and I have to say I found it heavy going and very harrowing.We watched Hostel a while back and I found it more funny than scary but watching United ’93 and knowing it was based on real events made it seem almost too close to the bone and a far more emotional experience.



Mrs A wanted a go on my old PS2 eye toy game so I set that up for her then sneaked the laptop on for some pokery fun.I started with an $11 turbo and got lucky twice then unlucky twice so no complaints.My first piece of luck was when I reraised a loose goose player with my A8 and won an all in race with AK when an 8 hit.I’d been card dead and this was my first bet and I hoped I’d either get him to fold or that my Ace rag would be ahead of his KJ/k10 type hand.I may have been slightly frustrated because I’d folded a few Ace rag hands which would have won but it was a fishy call.For my second suckout I hit a flush but at least that time I was the one applying the pressure point with a large postflop bet.I got heads up and then suffered a couple of nasty suckouts to finish second but I’ve got no complaints.


I was very tired after this and decided on a quick $1 turbo which I was going to play fast and loose.I was determined beforehand to be raising most pots and to play the table maniac for a change but I won two big pots almost right away and just couldn’t help tightening up and trying my best to get ITM.I finished 3rd in that one and hit the sack.

Ok it's Half-life 2 night tonight and I've got the Rangers game at Ibrox tomorrow night.Back Friday or Sat....

Turbos n Graphs

I watched Chelsea draw 1-1 with Arsenal yesterday ,spent some time with Mrs A,saw a man about a dog and eventually hit the tables later on for a few sng's.I was 9th in the first one after speculating on a few hands that never hit and having every continuation bet reraised.I've decided that I detest being dealt AJ from early position near the start of sng's.AJ is driving me bonkers.In a standard speed sng AJ would be an easy fold but at a turbo I feel it's worth playing but how best to do so is the question.I hate limping at turbo sng's although I will limp with low-med pairs and hands like KQ/KJ from late postion during the first couple of levels, but after they are over I believe raise or fold is the way to go.Anyways the last few times I've had it I've raised preflop and had to lay it down so maybe I'll add it to my preflop limping hands.

The next $11 turbo went well and I managed to win that one before donking my way out of the last one on the bubble.Funny how I don't remember much about the one I won yet my donkey bubble play sticks in my mind.The annoying part is that I was paying full attention to the table and was well aware that the fish on my right was calling large bets with very little but I decided that I was UTG any big move would look all the stronger so I pushed with K4 only for the fish to wake up to a shiney KJ hearts.No help from the board and I was out.I've been trying to push harder on the bubble recently but it's a fine balancing act between stealing and risking my sng life and it's certainly a part of my game which needs work.

Off to visit the S-man just now for a little poker.He has also been kind enough to agree to take a look at my old pc and see if it would be cheap to fix up as Step A wants a pc for Xmas.We've spent loads already and I don't feel at 12yrs old she'd make full use of a brand new one so hopefully fixing the old one will work.

Before I go here's my latest ( edge of the seat stuff) Sharkscope graph with all 101 sng's at FT on it.Below that is the graph of all my position finishes so far.After a terrible start at FT hopefully I'm getting my sng game on track....

Sunday stats

Played a ton of $11 turbo sng's and some cash games and despite the fact I lost most of my winnings from Friday night,I enjoyed hitting the tables with Miami Mark and S-man.Luck continues to desert me on a regular basis however and last nights creme de la creme was at one of the $11 sng's, when my bullets were cracked by someone who raised with 103 off suit from under the gun,called my large reraise and hit both a ten on the flop and a 3 on the turn to send me packing.nh sir!( ya feckin tosspot!)

I don't usually chat much at the table but when I called down a players river bet with AK ( Ace high on a blank looking board),he showed the same hand and said "nice call",I had to reply with "Easy call,it's like the muppet show at this table".Got a laugh from it, but whilst I called because I felt Mr Nice Call had missed the board too,I wish I had gone with my instinct that he was weak and made a large reraise instead of taking the safe option.

I've now played 101 sng's at FT and have made a whopping $57.Sixty sng's at $11 have yielded $130 so I think I need to avoid the $5 sharks and stick to $11!After 101 games I'm starting to see a few regulars and that can only help.I'm not sure if FT's latest sofware update had made a difference but my notes on players seem to be working now.Scurvydogs tip of copy/pasting the villians sharky notes into the player notes section and allocating a colour based on the whether the villain wins or loses seems to be working now,which is nice.

I am enjoying my recent foray into the world of sng's but I still find it a lot easier to immerse myself in the game when it's 6 max cash or a $22 sng.Could I focus a lot more when I'm at the table? Yes,without a doubt.Poker Indicator is useful for opponents stats and of course PT is essential at cash games ( aint that right YP?!)but I could certainly be doing with paying more attention to the games I'm in, as every piece of info on the table may be useful at some point, and could make the difference in a seemingly marginal situation.Maybe paying too much attention and having notes on all players like "raised 4bb with aq but laid down on non Ace flop" etc would just serve to distract me from the general job of tuning into the table or maybe it would give me an extra edge but hey I'm a lazy git....

Ok here's my latest stats... Party $231, Full Tilt $364, Pokerroom $794 and Ladbrokes $621. Total $3010 ( -$32 since Nov 26th).

Steamin' in

It's been a great weekend so far.Rangers played well and beat Hibs 3-0 at Ibrox today.We've had a poor season so far and whilst I'll keep believing,we are 13 points ( they play tomorrow) behind Satans minions and our chances of winning the league are slim.We have already qualified for the next round in Europe which is something I suppose but we really need a result against the orcs next Sunday.

My night out went well last night and I managed to get quite blitzed before catching the last train home.Logged on to Skype and Miami Mark and the s-man were both on and at FT playing sng's.As I've mentioned before I'm not much of a drinker and I was very wary ( even when half cut) of losing a fortune due to my pished state and indeed began by losing two $6 sngs before coming 3rd in the last one.I was ready to call it a night as I'd had a smoke or three by then too and could barely focus.S-man left and Miami Mark persuaded me to play a $22 turbo which I won after beating MM heads up.He wanted another but I didn't want to push my luck so I played another $11 turbo and came 2nd in that for the most profitable night I've had for a while.

Ok, Mrs A is off to help out a her work for a couple of hours so I'm gonna walk Nacho,roll myself something strong n smelly and then hit da tables...

Jekyll and Hyde

Well I wasn't sure I was really in the mood for poker last night so I began with a $5, 20 player turbo at Pokerroom.I called an all in bet on the turn with a flush draw ( the King overcard persuaded me) and realised that I was not in the mood for patient poker.With that in mind I began a play money sng and had some fun.I was twice all in preflop with the hammer and announced it preflop in the chat box.The hammer won both times ( the first on the river) which gave me a laugh.

I then moved to a Laddys $100 nl full ring table and began treading water for a couple of hours.I folded a set of 3's which I slow played into trouble by the river,played a few pocket pairs,stole a few blinds and generally made no real headway at all.The set of threes hand got me wondering if my last few months of at best break-even poker have put me on subtle tilt.The kind of tilt where I'm desparate for a big score to make my poker world ok again.The pot was only $3 post flop with a flush draw and runner runner straight draws yet I was fearful of betting and taking it down without maximising my profits.

The being in the right mood for the game problem is worrying.After dinner at night I'm so tired from working all day and being up late the night before that I could fall asleep ,yet around 11pm I seem to come to life and by the time I go to bed at 12.45am I feel as if I'm on my "A" game and could play all night.


I'm up early for work tomorrow though as its the boys Xmas night out.It's unofficial so we don't need to watch what we say or do because it's work related.Unusually for a Scotsman I'm not much of a drinker,much preferring the herbal side of life but I aint tee-total and I'm looking forward to a good bevvy tomorrow night.I just need to remember when I get home not to log onto any of my poker accounts as things could get very messy.

Ok,thanks for reading....

Frittering away

I've probably been too tired to play poker over the last two nights but it hasn't stopped me from frittering away a few dollars at the tables.Part of my problem is that I never seem to know if I'm going to be playing at my best until I begin and most evenings I mess about a lot before finally sitting down to play.Anyway I came 3rd in my first $11 sng at FT before going out of my next one to a two outer.That tilted me a bit and was enough to see me crash out of one more at FT and two $11 speed sng's at Party.I managed to screw the nut and hit up a loose ( $16 ave pot,$30 buy in ) 6 max table for a little cash poker.

I'd played a couple of orbits when I get QQ in mid position and raise 4bb to $1.20 and get two callers.At loose tables I usually raise 6bb with premium hands but I was trying to get a feel for the table and was curious to see how many callers I would get.Two obliged and we saw a 4 6 7 rainbow board.First to act bet 30c into $4.30 pot.Why? I've no idea but my guess would be he had paired the 4 or 6 and was hoping I was on AK/AQ and couldn't raise him.I raised it to $3 and was insta-reraised to $12 by the player on the button.Hmmm the power of position eh.I had no information at all on the big raiser as he was even newer to the table than me and eventually I decided he could have A7 but could just as easily have 76 or a set so I folded.It was a real borderline decision and even now I'm not sure it was the right one but in cash games there is always another day and another game so I'll live with it.

Sometimes though it doesn't feel much like poker skill is invloved but just a guess based on not a lot other than my 2 years of online experience.In an sng the other day I'd raised with Kings and when I bet out on a J 4 4 rainbow flop ,I was put all in and had a tough decision to make.I concluded that if he had hit a 4 then he'd be more likely to try and trap than reraise me all in and that if he had JJ well I'd be in the dung.Once again we hadn't been playing long so I had nothing but instincts,the above thoughts and crossed fingers when I called his bet.( he had 77)

I'm not sure the above is actually a good example ( looks quite clear cut written down) but I suppose it all goes back to nothing being set in stone and the conclusion that so much really does depend on many factors.

I'm not sure where this is headed but I know where I'm heading and it's a poker table...

Rushes/downswings

I wasn't going to post today but decided to get a few thoughts out there.Good for the soul and better for the mind.

I played four $11 turbo's last night and came 5th, 9th and 1st twice.The second win was quite funny because I'd been knocked out in 9th in the one before whilst playing with Miami Mark and I won the next one with just enough spare time to watch Miami Mark take down his.

I've never bought into the arguement that it'll be easier at higher limits because the play is more predictable but I was saved in my last sng by the fact some $11 sng players actually go beyond level one thinking.Since reading Lucko's blog I've been attempting far more steals from late position in turbo sng's, even although when it does fold round to me and I raise from the button/cut off, it feels like I'm being so obvious and transparent I'm bound to get a call.In reality the calls come a lot less frequently than I would expect but last night I raised to steal "Mr 6% flops seen"'s blind with 83 and got a call.The blinds were 200/400 and I'd raised 800 preflop.The flop came A 7 4 and I bet the same 800 again.Cue long pause before the villain typed "I think you have a better kicker" and folded.I was very tempted to show my bluff but my tight image is more important than trying to look smart at the table.The point ( yes there is one) is that at $5 level Mr Ace Rag would probably have not given my hand a second thought as he'd hit his ace.He would have called and I'd have been in a world of trouble.

On the same note I use Sharkcope frequently at the tables and it's almost always the better players that I try and steal from as I'm less likely to get looked up unless they have a hand.Of course if they're that good and I keep stealing I'm sure the top players ( not too many at my level) are capable of reraising with nothing and forcing me to rethink.

I've been rereading the NL section of Super System recently to try and absorb some more of Doyles wisdom.I found his belief in rushes very interesting because they are something I'm sure maths geeks and scientist would say cannot exist,yet as Doyle says, he has won millions playing his to the maximum.I started playing more sng's and less cash game back in September to try and minimize any damage from the downswing that I felt was enveloping me.Do downswings exist or did a few bad beats lead to the vicious circle of poor, weak plays and more losses? After 2 years experience I'm with Doyle ( I bet he's very relieved) and truly believe players can run hot or cold and that recognising either state and acting accordingly can only help a poker bankroll.

The above is not a reason to slip into tilt mode.I folded 85 twice last night and would have flopped monsters.Did I miss my poker rush? No,I simply played correctly and folded a mince hand.

Ok, Mrs A is working again tonight,I've had my ribs,chips n gravy and now it's.........poker time.

Full speed ahead

I played eleven $11 turbo sng's yesterday ( from 6pm to 4.30am)and according to Sharky I made $46.I also played in the FT $11K GTD but went out when my flopped straight ran into a rivered full house.That happened in one of the sng's too and I wonder if I slow played the hands too much.I was betting but only enough to build the pot.Still it's a fine balancing act between extracting the max and allowing opponents to catch up.No complaints at all though the $26 mtt exit was a little painful at the time.Fair play to Miami Mark who lasted longer than I did and went down in flames paying the hammer hard.

One of the benefits of playing so many turbos recently is that suckouts happen so often they become just another obstacle in the way of profits and don't feel quite as soul crushing.The turbo's are hard to guage.It's easy to say that the blinds go up so quickly that it's all down to luck and believe me when a cold run of 8-9 games hits then coming to the conclusion it's all luck is very easy.I reckon there is more skill in standard speed sng's but that the gap is not that big.Part of the reason ( apart from loving the action) I'm trying to focus on turbos is simply to make more money due to the shortened time the games take.From reading a few forums it seems the $22 sng's are not a huge step up and if I can show profit over a decent number of $11 sngs then I'm looking forward to giving them a try.Half the battle at $22 would be coping with a run of 0/10 in the money finishes but that's what a bankroll is for afterall.

I'm now only down $22 overall after 78 sng's at FT and $61 up from the 42 $11 games I've played which is quite pleasing after my terrible start there.I'm also enjoying mixing up my game a lot more over the last few months and not just sticking to the 6 max cash games.I'd be interested to read peoples opinions on what level of cash game equates to roughly the same sng buy in.

My strategy at the turbos is to play uber tight but be very aggressive when in a pot.I will limp with sooooted connectors and other lesser hands from late postion if
I'm given good pot odds but I mainly keep it tight and use that image to open out my game when the blinds go up when I can start stealing.

I wish Rangers would keep it tight ( esp in defence).We went down 1-0 away to Falkirk after a poor performance in terrible weather.Hummmf.

Righty thanks for reading.Time for Sunday dinner...

Let's get this party started

Borat was excellent last night.Arrived home and hit the tables only to suffer another frustrating night on the virtual felt.My Kings ran into flopped quads and then trips 8's before this hand finshed off my last £40 at Interpoker...

It was a loose table with £27 average pots and I'd been trying to keep my head down and wait for a good spot to commit my chips.At least I was ahead when the money went in I suppose....


Game #2661278503: Hold'em NL (£0.50/£1) - 2006/12/02 - 00:30:19 (ET)
Table "Flax" Seat 6 is the button.
Seat 1: Bangole (£65 in chips)
Seat 2: Golly_w (£182.33 in chips)
Seat 3: Shwinator (£27.25 in chips)
Seat 4: Zagga (£34.25 in chips)
Seat 5: Elise777 (£29 in chips)
Seat 6: Maudas001 (£33.75 in chips)
Bangole: posts small blind £0.50
Golly_w: posts big blind £1
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Zagga [Ts Td]
Shwinator: raises to £3
Zagga: calls £3
Elise777: folds
Maudas001: folds
Bangole: calls £2.50
Golly_w: raises to £10
Shwinator: calls £7
Zagga: calls £7
Bangole: calls £7
----- FLOP ----- [6s 5d 9h]
Bangole: bets £12
Golly_w: raises to £24
Shwinator: is all-in £17.25
Zagga: calls £24
Bangole: calls £12
----- TURN ----- [6s 5d 9h][6d]
Bangole: checks
Golly_w: checks
Zagga: bets £0.25 and is all-in
Bangole: calls £0.25
Golly_w: calls £0.25
----- RIVER ----- [6s 5d 9h 6d][9c]
Bangole: bets £7
Golly_w: folds
Returned uncalled bets £7 to Bangole
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Bangole: shows [9d Ad] (A Full House, Nines full of Sixes)
Shwinator: shows [7c 6c] (A Full House, Sixes full of Nines)
Zagga: shows [Ts Td] (Two Pairs, Tens and Nines, Six high)
Bangole collected £21 from Side pot #1
Bangole collected £106 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot £130 Main pot £106 Side pot #1 £21 | Rake £3
Board [6s 5d 9h 6d 9c]
Seat 1: Bangole (small blind) showed [9d Ad] and won (£127) with A Full House, Nines full of Sixes
Seat 2: Golly_w (big blind) folded on the River
Seat 3: Shwinator showed [7c 6c] and lost with A Full House, Sixes full of Nines
Seat 4: Zagga showed [Ts Td] and lost with Two Pairs, Tens and Nines, Six high
Seat 5: Elise777 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Maudas001 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

On top of all that I had to deal with my adsl connection failing again during bubble time at a FT $11 turbo sng.I was in a good chip position and by the time I got reconnected I had 290 chips left.Dealt KcQc I went all in only to be booted again.It's not Full Tilts fault though as I had the same problem on Party later.Decided to stick with Party due to the "disconnect protect" facility but after the nasty quads hand I headed to Laddys 6 max $100 nl where I won this very odd hand thanks in part to Ladbrokes new software.I'd just rebought for $50 so this hand only left me about $90 up at Laddys for the night but it was a relief to finally have something go my way....


** Game ID 633481758 starting - 2006-12-02 03:59:08
** Bourdieu [Hold 'em] (0.50|1.00 No Limit - Cash Game) Real Money

- k0k0n0tz sitting in seat 1 with $107.20 [Dealer]
- Acornman sitting in seat 2 with $101.10
- Mr_Welltoni sitting in seat 3 with $159.15
- ----BM---- sitting in seat 4 with $90.50
- NvrAgain sitting in seat 5 with $123.29
- gjh sitting in seat 6 with $102.35

Acornman posted the small blind - $0.50
Mr_Welltoni posted the big blind - $1.00

** Dealing card to Acornman: 8 of Spades, 7 of Spades

----BM---- called - $1.00
NvrAgain raised - $4.00
gjh folded
k0k0n0tz called - $4.00

Acornman called - $4.00 > Once again I choose the loosest table with the highest average pot size.( $51 ave).Soooted connectors are less valuable at 6 max but I reckoned as it would probably be a family pot it was worth seeing the flop.


Mr_Welltoni called - $4.00
----BM---- called - $4.00

** Dealing the flop: Jack of Spades, 9 of Spades, 4 of Diamonds

Acornman checked>> Not much point trying to steal the pot on a semi-bluff at this table.

Mr_Welltoni checked
----BM---- checked
NvrAgain bet - $14.00
k0k0n0tz raised - $45.00

Acornman called - $45.00>> Marginal call of $45 into an $81 pot but I knew if my flush or gutshot hit then there was a good chance of getting paid off.

Mr_Welltoni folded
----BM---- folded
NvrAgain folded

** Dealing the turn: 3 of Diamonds

>>>Damn!

Acornman checked

k0k0n0tz bet - $1.00 >>> WTF?? Is he on the flush draw too?I'd put him on trips or 2 pair.Is that a weak bet I should be raising or is it a Doubleas style weak lead hoping to tempt me to commit?Hmmmmm.


Acornman called - $1.00>> Ok,I'll see if I can make my hand cheaply.

** Dealing the river: 10 of Clubs>>> That will do nicely.No messing about,I'm all in.


Acornman bet - $1.00>>> Shit,I've bet a feckin Dollar!Damn the new software.

k0k0n0tz went all-in - $57.20>> Thankyou Pokergods


Acornman went all-in - $50.60>> my fastest call of the night


Acornman shows: 8 of Spades, 7 of Spades
k0k0n0tz mucks:
Acornman wins $226.20 from the main pot


Kokonotz actually said he meant to go all in on the turn and I believe him as I thought I was going all in on the river.Maybe laddys will need to look again at it's software or maybe Koko has been smokin' as much as me....

Cleaned out at Inter and down to $260 at Party.Up $90 at Laddys and down $24 at FT after the sng debacle.I'm going to upgrade to adsl max next week to hopefully get a more reliable connection because I've bombed out of four recent sng's ( over the last week) due to it going down and it's driving me round the bend.

So down $70 for the night but not too down about it as swings like that are run of the mill at $100nl 6 max tables where a bit more luck on one or two hands could have made all the difference.It has felt like I've been in poker hell for a few months now ( prob since beginning of Sept) but if one of the worst runs of luck I've had leaves me only $31 down ( since Sept 1st) I suppose long term I can't complain too much.Having said that 3 months with no profit is probably my worst ever run at the virtual felt and I hope that changes soon.

Mrs A is working tonight so I'll be taking a chance on my adsl connection and playing FT's $11k gtd with Miami Mark and hopefully S-man.It's a $24 buy in and last time I used a token I won but with a $3k roll it's about time I gambled a little more and took some more chances.

Edit: Built my stack in the $11k after making a good call with 2nd pair v a loose player.Just gone out after limping with j9,hitting a gutshot on a 10 K 4 Q board only to see the villian's K10 hit a 10 on the river.Niiiiiiiiice! Ok the sick gutted feeling has washed over me.Time to hit those tables...( I did make 2nd in my warm up $11 so not a wasted night yet..hmmmmf)


Ok,Just dropped Mrs A off so it's poker n smokin' all da way...

Here's a quality link to some of the greatest football and sporting Youtube clips of all time which included this compilation of some of the late great Davie Cooper's finest moments ( one of my first football hero's).His penalty winner in the 1986 League Cup final v celt*c was my first ever Old Firm game.

Friday update+ monthly stats

I only played a little poker on Wednesday night and managed 2nd in an $11 turbo sng at FT.My two immediate poker goals are to get my sharkscope Full tilt stats profitable overall ( still $44 down though apparently I’m a hot fish) and also to get my FT balance back to it’s starting level of $400.I’ve played a few very short 6 max $50 nl sessions and have definitely got the taste for 6 max back again.The variance may be high which hurts more on a downswing but I’m optimistic that I’m over the worst of my bad run and can start making decent profits again.


I’ve certainly enjoyed the small step up to playing $11 sngs on a more regular basis.After a poor start I certainly don’t feel outskilled by the players there.On the subject of skill levels, poker is one helluva hard game to determine just how good/bad a player is.The main measurement is of course monetary profits but I reckon there are tons of players playing at the wrong levels out there.How many have truly worked their way up by using sound bankroll management and skills and how many are just able to afford “entertainment” at a higher level and so that’s where they play? Is there a huge skill gap between the levels or is a lot of it down to being able to cope with the bigger swings and being a lot more fearless and carefree when it comes to money?



I read an interesting post on Fuels blog about a villain who couldn’t have played a pair of Aces any more poorly if his play had been decided by committee and some of the comments mentioned players at low levels only thinking on level 1 and that they are simply not capable of laying down AA postflop.



Pokerpeaker made an excellent comment when he said that the reason it’s so hard to fold Aces even on a scary board where the flush draw has hit is because there’s plenty of players would play QQ and KK even in that situation so the Aces may be good.I agree that many players do only use level 1 thinking ( what cards do I have?).The hard part about playing micro-levels is working out which players are level 1 only and which players are slightly more sophisticated.Someone else commented that “anytime you get raised on the river one pair is never any good.Never never never” which I totally disagree with.That may well be true at levels above micro and personally I can’t say I’d love to be calling that river raise with my lowly pair but plenty of times my opponent at the micro levels has demonstrated such donkery that a call or even a reraise is required.A regular reraise situation would be holding an overpair like QQ on a rainbow 2 5 10 8 6 board where the villain lead out on the flop and made it obvious his monster k10/j10 ish type hand had hit.


Righty that’s enough daft witterings for now.Just time to say that Step A and her friend enjoyed the Pink gig last night and despite what some music snobs may say ,she actually put on an excellent show.”Family Portrait” and her version of the 4 non blondes hit “What’s up” were my favourites.


Borat tonight followed by a little poker is the plan.Here are my stats for the last calendar month.Have a fine weekend...

Full Tilt $313,Party $310,Ladbrokes $1592,Pokerroom $820,Inter $86.Total $3121 ( - $165 for month Nov 1st-Nov 30th)

1st month of 3rd year of real money poker = -$165.

Looking back over my downswing it would seem I'm actually up $39 since Sept 1st but it's felt like a long slog.Onwards and upwards....

Aug + $323
Sept - $122
Oct + $326
Nov -$165