Ziggin' n Zaggin'

Not much bankroll movement over the last couple of nights.I played in a Laddys player points $50k gtd sat last night and went out 50th.I was doing just fine until I made a turbo move and raised from early position with 77 and called a large reraise ,only to face KK and not improve.I still had chips but that was effectively the end of that challenge.

Hats off to one of my fine sponsors Full Tilt for the speedy response to their site freezing on Sunday night, whilst I was in the middle of an $11 turbo sng.I received an email apology ,a refund and a $5 goodwill payment without any prompting.

I did move to ‘Stars after that outage and introduced Miami Mark to the my new poker fetish,the $2.75 Sunday Million triple turbo shootout.I don’t play many MTT’s but I’d love to take a shot at a $1m prize pool.I think I was spoiled by the Laddys $100k Saturday freeroll they used to run.Anyway in my first turbo shootout I was wondering why the table wasn’t balancing when players were knocked out, before eventually realising that it’s the winner of each table who moves on.It’s limited to 216 players and you get your $215 ticket by winning three 6 max turbo tables.No joy so far but I like the format.

Last night after going out the Laddys satellite I played another 18 player $15+$1 turbo at ‘Stars.I played a good game and seemed to zig and zag at all the right times.I executed one fine squeeze play from the button when the blinds were 100/200.I was getting a little low in chips and had been the tightest at the table as usual when I look down to KQ. I’d been about to steal on the previous few hands but ended up folding to raises before me.There were three limpers before me which meant a 900 chip pot so I moved all in and took all the dead money after they all folded.It’s not a play I make many times in an sng but it can be highly effective for accumulating chips if you have the right table image to carry it off.

I made it to the final table but went out when I made a good call against a regular blind stealer.He had been caught with stealing with K5 previously and when he made the button steal with his A6 spades I reraised with my A9 ( known as The Daddy by Miami Mark) and made a tough call when he set me all in ,only for the villain to make his flush.

I took a wee break and hit the cash tables at Laddys and then Party for an hour after that and apart from the drama of splitting a pot ( after we were both all in for $50 each) with a villain who had the same full house as me ,I left aprox $3 up.

I felt as though I was playing good poker at the cash tables.I was very tight/passive until I got some reads and then opened out my game a bit and stole enough to keep me just ahead of the rake.

Ok,That's it for today.Hope these make you smile...

Howzat!
A DRIVER weaving erratically down the road was asked by the police officer who pulled him over to breathe into a breathalyser, but he declined and produced a letter from his doctor which stated: "This man suffers from terrible asthma. Please don't make him perform any action that'll leave him short of breath."

So the officer asked for a blood sample, but then a second letter was produced which said: "This man is a haemophiliac. Please do not cause him to bleed in any way."

Exasperated the officer said he would need a urine sample, but at that a third letter was flourished in which was written: "This man plays cricket for England. Please don't take the piss out of him."


Do we believe the chap in the pub who was telling his mates about being stopped by the police while speeding? He claimed he pulled over when the flashing light went on behind him, put his window down and then the officer asked him: "I suppose you know why I'm stopping you?"

In a mad moment of optimism he replied: "Are you looking for directions by any chance?"

Sunday Stats

It's been a profitable weekend so far at the tables.I got off to a bad start when my Aces were cracked by 99 in the 2nd hand of an 18 player $15 turbo at 'Stars but I managed to come back from 90 chips to win and that gave me a wee boost.The 18 player games certainly seem to attract looser and more fishy players, and I like the fact that there's quite a lot of shorthanded play before the two tables merge for the final one.

I came 10th in my next 'Stars game and moved to Full Tilt where I won one $11 sng and came 5th in another.

Last night after getting back from watching Rangers draw 0-0 with Hearts,I fired up the tables and finally used my $24+$2 token at Full Tilt to try and qualify for the $350k gtd.On the 2nd hand in I got into a raising war with KK and was might relieved to see the vilian turn over AK and not AA until an Ace fell on the flop and left me with a crippled stack and a major sense of injustice.Of course poker,like life,isn't always fair but I managed to claw my way back from 110 chips only to go out later when my AK was beaten by the loose big stacks Q9 making a straight on the river.

I opened a Party $50nl cash table and promptly lost a big pot to a flush chaser who had called my preflop raise with qd2d.I usually keep quiet in the chat but got the response " I had to try lol" to my "nice catch fish".It wasn't even a really bad beat but I'd outplayed him and been shafted again and I could feel my blood begin to boil.All thoughts of how I make money thanks to fish like him vanished and I left the table before I tilted as I could feel it coming on.

Instead I did the sensible thing and began a $2 turbo sng at 'Stars ,determined to let off some steam and get my game back on track.I ended up playing it like it was a WSOP final table and came 2nd.So much for going a bit mad and letting off steam but I did feel like I'd beaten the tilt monster which was the purpose of the game.

I headed back to the cash tables,this time at Laddys and began two tabling $100nl.I was playing one 6 max table ( ave pot $56) and a full ring table ($53 ave).The 6 max table had one resident maniac and a couple of other very loose players and I reckoned it was just a matter of time before I would get the chance to win a big pot.I first tangled with the maniac with KK.He reraised my preflop bet ( as maniacs do) and when he reraised my flop bet ( lowish ragged rainbow) I reraised all in and forced him to fold.Perhaps I overplayed it a bit but you had to see some of this guys play to believe it and I wouldn't have been too shocked if he had called.

Meantime I had to lay down AK on the river after hitting my Ace on the flop.I would have lost to the rivered flush which beat the other villians trip nines.I also lost $20 when someone called my 4bb preflop raise ( I had AK again) with J7 and we saw a K 7 7 flop.Although Big Slick wasn't being kind to me thankfully the pots I lost weren't too big and before long I was rewarded for my patience at the 6 max table.

Whilst this was going on I was keeping an eye on Lucko21 as he demolished yet another MTT with a fine display of aggressive poker.

Back at the maniacs table I was dealt KsQc.I was sat to the immediate left of the maniac and called his standard $3.50 raise.The flop came 5h Jd Qh and the villain bet $8.I wouldn't go crazy with KQ on that flop under normal circumstances, but the manaic had been seeing the flop 90% of the time, and had been betting on most of those occasions so I popped it to $38 (which he called) and when another Q fell on the turn and he put me all in for $56 more, I called that, and was delighted after a blank river (7h),that he showed AJ and the pot was mine.

I'm very glad I kept topping up my buy-in every time I dropped a few dollars as it meant I was able to maximise that win.Obviously nobody likes reloading but if you have confidence in your game there's no point in waiting for a hand like the one above and then not having enough at the table to really cash in.

Righty to my stats.... Party $302,Ladbrokes $1082,Full Tilt $994,Pokerroom $830.Total $3208 ( + $208 since 14/1/07).

I'll do a quick end of month update to these figures on Wednesday.

Righty enjoy what's left of the weekend....

Fri Update

I managed to finish Wednesday night with a 1st place in a ‘Stars $15 turbo which helps keep my small ‘Stars roll afloat.Last night I was over at Mother Acorns for dinner and I played a few $5 sng’s at Party.The play seemed incredibly fishy there and my Mum and I managed a 5th,3rd and 2nd in our games by playing a very tight bet big or go home type game.One advantage to betting big at that level is that fish who only use level one thinking ( What cards do I have?) see the big bet ,look at the board and so long as it doesn’t hit their hand too hard ,they will fold.I’m no expert but I’m trying to teach my Mum to sense opportunities aswell as playing her big cards hard.

An example would be when we made up the small blind with 34 off and along with the big blind and the button we saw a lowish ragged rainbow flop.The bb had obviously clicked the check/fold button so whilst they could have got lucky and hit top pair ,it was unlikely.This left only the button to get through so we bet out just over the pot and took it down uncontested.

It’s frustrating not being able to keep up with blogs from work anymore and I caught up a bit last night.I was sorry to read the other day that Cadmunkey has given up his blog and that Klopzi is taking a bit of a backseat too.Both are enjoyable reads and I hope they don’t vanish off the radar altogether.

I hit the tables fairly late on last night after arriving home and manged 3rd in a $6 sng and 2nd in an $11 game before donking out the last one I played.The 2nd place was frustrating because it meant I made about $6 profit overall and as I posted earlier in the week it’s winning them that keeps the roll heading the right way.No complaints about getting my awesome K3 busted by Q8 sooted at the end of that game.

Mrs A is keeping herself busy this weekend so I’ve got a load of poker and the Rangers game tomorrow to look forward to.

Have a good one...

Burned

Last night wasn’t too much fun at the tables as the variance biatch seemed to want to laugh in my face and test my patience with a host of 2 outers.I was tempted to list them in a kind of “look I’m not a donkey and was just very unlucky” kind of way but we’ve all been there and the beats just need to be sucked up , forgotten and not dwelled upon.They all occurred during $15+$1 sng’s at ‘Stars and my limited take a shot roll has taken a nasty hit.

I managed 3rd in an 18 player $15 turbo which helped a little but overall it was a sng night to forget.The ‘Stars games do seem to have tightened up over the last few days and I wonder if the some of the recent e-wallet pullouts are starting to affect the tables.At one table I was at there was only one loser according to Sharky and that’s fairly unusual.

I left ‘Stars and headed off to Party to play some $50 nl and left with a $23 profit after about ½ hours play at a fairly loose table.

Ok,not much else going on just now.Good luck at the tables....

Raising with air

After dinner last night I watched some tv with Mrs A before beginning my pokery fun with a 5 card draw freeroll at Pokerroom.I played at my first ever 5 card draw cash table the other night at ‘Stars and left quickly after losing nearly a buy-in when I got too attached to the Ace flush I was dealt.I stood pat ( didn’t change any cards) and lost to a full house.I was doing ok last night in the $100 freeroll but by 11pm I wanted my holdem fix so I blew my way out of the freeroll and hit Full Tilt.

The $11 turbo I played was very loose to start with and there were five players gone within fifteen hands.After that it tightened up so much I nearly joked about cutting a deal in the chat box.Eventually I picked up the Nolan sisters ( QQ) and made a decent raise from the small blind and the big stacked huge fish on my right called.The flop was K K 5 rainbow so I bet ½ the pot and got called.The villain was very fishy, had been calling most raises ( and getting lucky) and there were only two kings left in the deck so I continued to push on the turn and river and I felt like a right donk when he showed AK to knock me out.

I then hit a play money tables to blow off some steam.That helped remind me that it’s only cards and bad beats only really hurt when there’s money involved.I’d for forgotten what it’s like to lose to a big suckout and genuinely find it amusing.

From there it was on to Pokerroom for my last game of the night.I won a 20 player $10 turbo and felt as if I was in the “zone” throughout the whole game.My first move was to steal a pot with my big blind special hand 10c5h.The flop brought an Ace ,10 and 6 and as I was out of position I checked it.The other 3 players in the hand checked too but when another Ace fell on the turn I bet ( another Ace meant it was less likely one of the three players had an Ace) and took down a nice pot.

I’ve written about stealing more when it’s folded round to me, however until very recently I’ve always tried to make sure I had a least a high card to fall back on.Now I’ve moved on to ( unless your at my table of course..) betting with any two when it feels right to do so.Even after the bubble when we were down to three players the guy to act after me was kind enough to fold and let me overtake him.

Instead of going to bed I hit a Party $50 nl cash table afterwards and was heading for a small ( $16) loss until the last hand, when I played a weak Ace from the button to a raise, and probably managed to get the other guy to lay down a better hand when I bluffed $17 into a $24 pot.My $16 had been frittered away due to being pushed off hands that missed flops so I think the villain reckoned that if I was finally making a stand then I must have him beaten.I left $1 down but happy.

Ok,that's all for now.

Sit n Go slow

On Sunday afternoon I watched Rangers beat Dunfermline and Arsenal beat Man Utd before enjoying a fine Sunday roast and hitting the tables with Miami Mark.We played at ‘Stars and I had a tough time of it at the turbo’s and must have played 6 or 7 without making the money at $15+$1 level.I wasn’t too down as most of the time I’d been card dead and I’d managed to chip up without ever winning the kind of pot that would have given me a nice comfort zone to work with.Steals and resteals may have increased my stack but were not enough to get me past the bubble sadly.

The good news is that I managed to stop the rot and win one ( $67 for 1st) and I believe the key to Sng success is being able to get over the finish line and win as many as possible as this is the only way to get through the barren games that are unavoidable at times.That is probably stating the bleeding obvious but anyone with a problem closing out games isn’t going to be profitable.

Last night seemed a bit topsy-turvy because every time I got my money in as favourite I seemed to lose, yet in the game I won, I sucked out a few times and even finished off the villain heads up with my A5 beating his A10.I did bubble in my final game however and I reckon my wee Shark fin has gone forever after 40 games at ‘Stars.

I’m still not including my Stars roll in my overall bankroll ( just aswell after yesterday) and I’ll continue to play fairly fast and loose with it until it’s gone or I’m a multi multi zillionaire.( and the smart money aint on the latter option)

Ok,here's a few funnies from the paper to brighten up this Monday evening....



Third-party claims
FURTHER proof that life in America can just be a little bit different. A couple who moved over to New York State were delighted when their six-year-old son was invited to a birthday party by one of the kids in his class. They were just a little bit surprised that the invitation included an accident waiver which they had to agree to sign in advance.

Time's money
STANDING in the shocking weather behind someone taking unduly long at a bank machine can be a bit of a frustration, especially as the uses of said machines have grown from the original, tap in four numbers and get a tenner. So we can understand, but not condone, the chap in such a queue who shouted to the person at the front: "You do know that's not a word processor? What are you doing? Writing a novel?"


Geoff Peart draws our attention to the appositely named manager in charge of dealing with complaints from the public at Passenger Focus, the new name for the Rail Passengers Council. It is Ashley Grumble.
only good "for washing the shoes, sir" and brought the couple an alternative.

Fellowship of the ring
THE story of football supporters who wanted to sleep, reminds Tom O'Hagan of his dad going to a boxing match in Glasgow where the two heavyweights were putting so little effort into the contest that they were doing no more than hanging their arms around each other's necks. This proved too much for one fan who shouted: "Pit the lights oot! This perr want to be alone."

At which a fellow frustrated fan shouted: "Naw, leave them on! I'm trying to read the paper."

Why does it always rain on me?

My post title seems to be the eternal question asked by poker players who are not on a major rush.All we can do is get our money in as favourite and the rest is down to variance and the poker gods.Turbo sng's seem to be a decent way of building up some kind of tolerance to the beats simply because they come round so quickly I'd drown in a sea of poker despair if I dwelled on them.

I began last night at Inter pokers $4k gtd and came 95th when my QQ fell to AK.A 6th and 2nd place in $11 turbos at FT followed before it was off to 'Stars to tackle some $15 turbos.I played seven there and only made the money twice after some poor play and a couple of the usual nasty beats.I'm not sure why but most of the turbos I played last night seemed to be squeaky tight which reduces the edge available.

Looking for multi-tablers and exploiting them by stealing their blinds more aswell as using Sharkscope to the full helped too.I'm also stepping up my play at times by making the occasional resteal and executing more squeeze plays.There's no point in trying to fancy play my opponents to death but when the whole table is tight and seemingly relying on playing decent hands then the occasional move to try and chip up is vital.A large part of the above is down to timing and betting more on what the villians don't have in their hand rather than what hand I'm holding.That is especially true when making a steal when it's folded round to me in late position.My tight table image helps too in those situations.

After my sng fun I hit a Pokerstars cash table ($50 nl) and played two big hands.I called a $2 raise from a loose player with QdJd from the button.Most 4bb raises at this table were attracting 3-4 callers but I didn't plan on continuing in the hand unless I hit the flop very hard indeed.It came Jh Qh 7h and it was checked round to me.I bet just over the pot and to cut long story short got shafted by Mr 3h6h who took my stack.I obviously considered the 120-1 flopped flush when I got reraised all in but decided I'd simply have to pay it off if he had it.I'm not sure that was wise!

I got a little revenge not long later when my 22 made a set ,again on an all hearts flop of Kh Qh 2h and I bet out and faced a raise.It wasn't long later and the table had seen me rebuy so I hoped the villian would think I was tilting and I overbet for value ( copyright Fuel55)and he insta-called with his K Q for 2 pairs.My set held up and I was back nearly even.

Ladrokes was next and I joined a full ring $50 nl table with an average pot of only....$36.I had Ak twice but had to fold after missing the flop, firing a couple of bullets and facing reraises before I picked up 66 and limped in out of position.The flop came 5s 4s 3c and I planned to check raise and try and take it if there was any action so I checked.The big stack who I'm familiar with and I rate as a solid player had overplayed a hand previously and I remember thinking he was maybe a little over confident due to his five times the buy-in stack.He bet $3 into the $3.50 pot but my checkraise to $6 was weak and he obviously sensed that and reraised me to $12.I could hardly put him on 67 for the straight when I held a 6 and reckoned he was more likely to be drawing to the flush or have a hand like A5.A higher pair like 88-1010 also worried me and instead of pressing I called and I also called his $13 bet on the turn after a seemingly harmless Jd fell.We both checked after an Ah on the river and his Jh3h took the money.


Ok,onwards and upwards...

Sat Update

Thursday night at the tables was a bit lame.I bubbled an $11 turbo at FT,blew out of a $15 turbo at 'Stars and came poor 8th in a token race at FT.The 'Stars loss annoyed me as I'm having fun trying to retain my shark status on Sharkscope at 'Stars and that loss meant I lost my fin!( I did get it back after Friday night!) I did at least go to bed at 12.15am which for me is a very early night so I felt much fresher yesterday.


Jacks were cursed for me last night at the virtual felt.First my JJ fell to 44,followed by my QQ getting mugged by JJ,followed by JJ holding up v my AQ soooted.( that last one was a horrific bad beat eh!)

My luck seemed to change for the night after I made a terrible mistake and got lucky.I'd just let the dog out and had rushed back to my seat after a large herbal refreshment, when I see I have KQ and have been set all in by a fairly fishy player.I didn't put the villian on JJ-AA and decided to make a loose call and hope I was only slightly behind a low pair.I try and remain patient but had been card dead in this particular turbo.Anyway just as I hit the call button, I took a closer look and realised I must have been hallucinating as I only had K9!I rivered a 9 to win the hand and quietly accepeted the chat abuse that came my way.

I came 2nd in that one and another before winning the next one and coming 7th in my last FT sng.My luck wasn't all good and I suffered a beat in my first 'Stars $15 turbo of the night ( 8th) before going on to take 2nd in the next one and 1st in my last sng of the night.

There are some good players at 'Stars but in general the games seem looser and fishier than at Full Tilt.The Neteller debacle is worrying though and I hope 'Stars and FT manage to find a solution for the US players as I'd hate think that the fishy ones will be denied the chance to keep boosting my roll.

I finished my night by winning a few Dollars two tabling $50nl at Ladbrokes before having an early night and going to bed around 4.30am.

Mrs A is working a little tonight then off out for drinks so I'm going to hit the tables later.I had forgotten I had $7 left at Interpoker until I got an email offering me $10 for one raked hand played.I managed 3/4 of a raked hand before busting, but I did notice I still had over 700 player points, so I reckon I'll play the $4k gtd pp mtt at 8.30pm.

Back soon...

Welcome to your Acorn blog....

My good mate Mark has now moved a good few miles away so our regular weekly xbox/ps2 fest wont be quite as regular and this meant I was at a loose end last night.( Mrs A working)I read a few blogs and ( thanks to the link to Manik79 on Waffles blog) watched some of the High Stakes poker clips on you-tube.

I began playing by coming 5th in a ‘Stars $15 turbo after a nasty suckout and moved to Laddys to play a little cash poker before bed.I was very very tired and was actually in bed for 12.45am ( early night for me) but not before dropping about $25 at a few different $20 and $30 tables.I kept the buy-ins low because I knew my concentration was poor.What I’d forgotten is just how bad the players at that level are and how hard they can be to read.( min bets and playing every hand to showdown).

Ok, who wants to know what has been annoying the hell out of me this week? It’s the increasing use of phrases like “It’s your NHS” ,”Your BBC” etc. Ok, if they are mine I’m going to demand “MY” NHS send round a fulltime nurse the next time I catch man flu.( Mrs A did a good job last time to be fair!) and I’m calling the BBC to tell them that as it’s “MY” BBC I wish to make a few changes to the programme schedules.( plenty more poker coming soon!) I am looking forward to seeing an advert for “It's Your Burger King” because I’ll be leaping over the counter at my local BK and helping myself as you do when you apparently own something and it’s “yours”.

Righty, rant over...

Twirlies

Mrs A and I had our wee nephew staying over last night so I only logged on to play poker much later on in the evening.Step A was on the msn chat thing with her friends when I noticed a “friend” called Lewis on chatting.Step A’s wee friend reckoned this was Step A’s boyfriend! Much mickey taking and mirth followed although to be serious for a moment Lewis may be in for a visit if I ever see his name appear on Step A’s msn again.(ok I’m not being serious but what happened to “I don’t like boys”)

I suppose I forget it’s a long time since I was 12 and Susan Peters tried to munch my face off during a fire alarm at school.Memories came flooding back of learning those traditional dances such as the Dashing White Sergeant and the mad sprint across the gym hall ( boys on one side and girls on the other) to try and ensure you weren’t left with the Uncle Fester lookalike.


Anyway to the poker and I began slowly last night.So slowly in fact that in my first $11 FT turbo I crashed out the first time I entered the pot.We had only played 16 hands and already the table was down to 5 players when I looked down to A3 sooted when it was folded round to me in the small blind.My flop seen % was 0 and I literally handn’t played a hand except from the big blind so I decided to make a move.I have been trying to open my game more and steal when it’s folded round to me but the villain had AJ,called and that was that.

I won the next one and then played poorly and threw away a decent chip lead in the sng after that.I’d broken my golden sng turbo rule and called a bet rather than stick to the raise or fold strategy that seems to work.I’ve said I like to be aggressive when I do enter the pot and I’ll usually make a large continuation bet ( unless I really hate the texture of the flop) even if I miss with a hand like AK sooted.In this case I also failed to take into account that I was trying to push the biggest fish/calling station at the table off a hand and that was never going to happen.

As usual I can recall in great detail my donkey moves and have very little memory of the hands which won me the 4th and last sng of the night aside from remembering that I beat Miami Mark heads-up at the end :-)

They say you learn something new every day and I’m now able to reveal to anyone reading why pensioners from Liverpool are called Twirlies.Pensioners ( over 60’s ) get cheaper bus travel after 9am in Liverpool and bus drivers are always having to answer the question “Am I too early?”.( try it in your best scouse accent)

To more serious matters and I read today that The Gutshot Poker Club in London has lost it’s landmark court case after a jury decided that luck, not skill , plays the greater part in our favourite game.I didn’t hold out much hope for a good result because the prosecution argument was that poker is a game of “mixed skill and chance” and the jury were instructed to find against The Gutshot if they agreed.

The Gambling Act states that a licence is needed to host games of chance such as blackjack and roulette, but not games of skill, such as chess and quiz machines.In my opinion it’s ridiculous to compare poker to roulette but it looks like the onus was on the Gutshot to prove poker is only about skill rather than it being up to the prosecution to make the complete opposite case.The prosecution only had to muddy the waters to win.

I’d rather see poker labelled as a game of skill and probability but I did wonder how the Gutshot were hoping to win an argument stating poker is purely a game of skill as I’d still rather back a steady winner than a highly skilled poker genius with a severe tilt problem.Perhaps dealing with bad beats and staying on course emotionally is a skill in itself.

Ok,thanks for reading…

Ticking over

I said I’d be happy making $30 per day profit at the tables and that’s exactly how much I made on Sunday and again on Monday from the $11 turbo sng’s at Full Tilt.I’ve only played maybe 3-4 games on both nights and I need to be careful I don’t let tiredness and fatique affect my game.I was up until after 5am on both Friday and Saturday night and have hit the sack around 1am over the last couple of nights.I’m on flexi-time, usually get up about 8.40am and start at 10am but I can feel it starting to catch up on me and maybe a few earlier nights are required.I should probably grab an hours sleep around 8pm when I’m feeling the most tired because around 11ish the nightowl in me kicks in and I could stay up all night.

Not much else going on this week.I may try and follow Miami Mark and use my Full Tilt player points to qualify for a bigger tourney.He did well to win an 18 player turbo and then qualify from another mtt to finally gain entry into a $450k gtd mtt.I also still have a $24+$2 ticket waiting to be used up.I may have to wait a while to though as I want to get the best value I can for it and Full Tilts Sunday night $35k gtd begins at 3am UK time.Either that or I try and win a $75 ticket with it.I was put off by the fact there doesn’t seem to be any great leap in prizes at $75 tourney level but it looks like the advantage is that there are usually only aprox 400 runners instead of 2500 or more in the big Mtt’s.

A couple of wee points before I go.Any fellow poker bloggers reading this will ,I’m sure, know all the poker jargon and lingo out there.I’m never quite sure what level to pitch my posts at sometimes.I suppose I’m just going to keep assuming that most folks reading know what it means to raise the bb whilst UTG in an mtt but if anyone does ever want the plain English version ( I was first to act and raised to steal the big blind bet in a multi table tourney) just give me a shout.Like the company I work for it’s easy to assume everyone knows every acronym and slang term.Likewise I’m not into political correctness in any way but unless I know for sure when writing up a hand, I will assume the villian is male.Just keeps it simple.

Ok, Thanks for reading todays exciting post…..

Sunday Stats

Another funny old night at the tables last night as my sng turbo luck seemed to run cold but my cash game exploits rescued me.I won a $10 turbo at Pokerroom,managed 3rd in a $25 turbo at 'Stars and a 2nd place at Full Tilt sng before going on a 0/5 run at FT.

$20 from a released bonus and an amusing hand at a $50 nl cash table helped me steady the ship ( or small canoe) that is my FT roll.The amusing hand was when I decided to limp with AhKh from the big blind.

The villian bet $2 on an As 9s 9h flop,I flat called and he bet $5 after the 4d fell on the turn.I called again and decided I was either well ahead or behind because he had a 9.( more likely because I didn't raise preflop forcing him to fold a hand like k9 etc)When the 3s fell on the river completing the flush draw I decided that if my Top pair ,top kicker was no good then I'd take a stab at representing the flush so I bet out $12 into a $15 pot trying to make it look as if I wanted a call but was trying to extract the maximum with my bet.

He took almost the full 30 secs and then folded before typing "lucky, lucky,you had no odds to draw and hit that".I'm normally quiet in the chat but a wee smiley and a "you know my game so well" was my reply.He said he had the 9 giving him trips and I told him how ul he was...

I moved to Laddys and promptly lost a buy-in at $100 nl against a tilter when we got the money in on a low ragged flop.I had JJ and he had A10 and hit an Ace on both the turn and river.

I managed to let that one wash over me and moved to Pokerroom where I spent around an hour two tabling at $50 nl full ring, winning $50 when good old A9 beat A4 on an A A 3 9 Q board.I was even in that wonderful poker position of having my well judged value river bet raised all in.I call!

The night wasn't over yet so it was off to a Party 6 max $100 nl table where after a stuttery start I left $70 better off and needing my sleep.( 5 am by this point)

Ok,here's my latest stats.I've debated including my Stars roll as it's now over $200 from $15 a couple of weeks ago but perhaps the pyschological trick I'm playing on myself by not including it is working and that's why I'm playing well in the $15 and $25 turbos there.Rest assured it'll just take one bad week elsewhere and my Stars money will be counted as part of my roll!

I've also withdrawn $466 from Laddys which will pay our Leccy bill and part of my road tax at the end of the month.Why $466? Well that leaves me exactly $3k in my roll excluding 'Stars.I may even take more out.It just seems silly to keep very much online, especially as the US Dollar is so weak just now and my online roll is losing value all the time.

Ladbrokes $1090 ( - $466 cashout),Party $350,Full Tilt $799,Pokerroom $761.Total $3000.( + $145 since Dec 31st)

Fish Talk

Thanks to cell 1919 and the s-man for comments left on my last post.Cell wrote about the luck factor in turbos sng's and there's no doubt the sheer speed of turbo's seem to mean the beats come round faster.As ever though the trick is being able to suck 'em up and keep firing the right bullets at the right time.

Easier said ( or written) than done.I came 2nd in a $22 turbo last night after getting all the chips in Heads up with 77 v 33 only for a 3 to fall on the river.Instead of showing all the character I've been on about recently I played below par in a couple more and then donked off $50 at a Laddys cash table.The cash table donk off was actually all on one hand of $100 nl 6 max and afterwards I was just pleased I managed to beat the "awfuckits" and fold when the villian raised all in.

I'm not long back from Ibrox, where Walter Smith made a happy return to manage Rangers, as we beat Dundee Utd 5-0 with goals from Boyd ( 2) ,Adam,Burke and Ferguson.It was our biggest win of the season and hopefully we can now sign a few new players and take things forward.

Ok,for your reading pleasure if you've ever wondered what fish think when they play here's a wee insight courtesy of the s-man ( yerabawbag) who was watching one of my tables and winding up the losers.I don't believe in tapping the glass but in this case I'll make an exception.

I've edited the chat box conversation and provided the fishies Sharkscope stats.I was particularly taken with fish 1 asking fish 2 how much he has "invested" so far.


Games pl Ave loss pr gme ave stke roi Net loss
Fish 1 546 -$2 $7 -23% -$1,159

Fish 2 331 -$1 $11 -15% -$427


yerabawbag (Observer): @&%# me, Fish 1, have u really lost
nearly $1.2k?

Fish 1: yes yera
Fish 1: i've lost alot of dough
Fish 1: how'd u know that ? lol
Fish 2: calculatem
Fish 1: and why would u be intrested?
Fish 1: but im a big baller so its all good
Fish 1: im just wondering why some out the blue
who aint the table would look my stuff up

yerabawbag (Observer): i'm trying to work out why people
play....
Fish 2: there is software to keep track of people
Fish 1: cuz of fantasy man

Fish 1: poker players who lose like me, are usually
dreamers
Fish 2: i just researched it this week,anybody hear of pokerspyware?

Fish 1: ok

yerabawbag (Observer): k, why u a dreamer?

Fish 1 : sounds interesting

Fish 2 : yera how much have i lost?

Fish 1 : because life is ridiculously hard that
sometimes u beleive , ur gonna catch a break some how

Fish 2 : amen

Dealer: Fish 1 calls 420
Fish 1: this is my some how
Dealer: villian shows a pair of Queens
Dealer: Fish 1 mucks
Dealer: Villian wins the pot (1,920) with a pair of Queens

Fish 1: damn QK

Fish 1: lol

Fish 1: had QJ

Fish 1: Its My Way Of Trying To Make Money
Legally....Its Not a Realiable Way But The Possibilty Is
Always There.

Fish 1: Fish 2 U Ever Found Out How Much U've
Invested?

Fish 2: nope

Fish 1: What U Think Just Around The Same?
fISH 2: yeah

Fish 1: He Said I Was 2gs?

yerabawbag (Observer): Fish 1, i guess u've got to play the
lottery to win...but don't judge your worth against the cards...

Fish 2: i have done a lot of research and this is a scam

Fish 1: Naw Its Entertaining At The Same Time And
Over All Its Fun To Dream If U Got The Money To Back It Up

Fish 2: bots and winholdem software

Fish 1: I HEar U Man
Fish 2: yeah it is

Fish 1: Wouldnt Doubt It....Sometimes Things
Seem To eerily Set Up

yerabawbag (Observer): Fish 2, wot are bots and winholdem
software?

Fish 2: check it out winholdem.com
Kc]

yerabawbag (Observer): intersting...

Fish 2: i know scared the hell out of me

Fish 2: about to quit for good

yerabawbag (Observer): **confused**

yerabawbag (Observer): if its all rigged, why do we play?

Fish 2: its fun but everbody has seen some weird stuff
on these sites

yerabawbag (Observer): mmm... i'm off to investigate further,

Fish 2: good luck

The Spade 13: get out now

That's all folks..

Friday at last

It’s been a quiet couple of nights since my last post.I’ve still not moved my blog over to the new version yet and I seem to be having trouble leaving comments on others blogs who have taken the plunge..Hmmf.

I’ve begun reading Scott Fischmans “Online Ace” and the first part that knocked me over the head was the reminder that playing poker when distracted is not clever.It’s hardly an advanced concept, but staying patient and also watching the table closely are both vital to playing the player aswell as the cards dealt.I’m looking forward to reading the rest of it.( probably whilst sat at an $11 turbo….)

Reading back over my last post on poker confidence I think the point I was trying to make was, that having never particularly excelled at any sports or hobbies, I sometimes find it hard to believe in myself at the poker table despite being a winning player over a couple of years.I’m not even sure winning at micostakes and low level sng’s is much of an achievement.I read a forum where a poster reckoned he could teach almost anyone to have a great ITM ( in the money) success rate in $11 sng’s and I do wonder why, when the winning formula seems so simple, ( ultra tight,very aggressive) that more people don’t beat these games.

Then again maybe I need to give myself and other winners at low stakes a bit more credit.I’ve played sng’s with friends watching and I’m whilst moves seem obvious to me the explanations as to why I did a instead of b depend on a ton of variables,some of which a monkey could follow and some which are far more subtle. It also kind of begs the question that if it’s that easy why don’t a far higher percentage of players win online?

I sat at that fishy ( $25k lost between them) sng at ‘Stars the other night ( $15 +1) and wondered just what goes through the minds of these players and why they don’t think to adapt their games.I think one of the advantages of sticking to turbos is that they attract far more action junkies who generally play fast and loose and are often seeking the buzz of winning a big pot rather than to consistently win money.

I didn’t watch “Colin and Justin on the estate” last night but apparently they were in Arden near Thornliebank in Glasgow to see if they can regenerate the “run down Glasgow council estate”.The S-man got a house there about 15 years ago and I shared it with him for nearly a year.The programme review says “The programme-makers gleefully capture the full graffiti-stained, broken-bottled, damp and urine-perfumed ambience in all its gory glory”.

"I hope they come with a f***ing armed guard," one local resident tells the camera, "they're going to f***ing need it." It seems things have improved since we were there then and were burgled six times and I had a knife held to my throat! I remember the local neds leaning in the open window of the s-mans bedroom and setting fire to the net curtains whilst the s-man was taking a nap. Ahh the good old days…..

Ok,that’s all for today.Have a great weekend.

Poker Confidence + Welcome Wattie

It’s been a fairly break even couple of nights since my last post with not much to report ( which has never stopped me before ) apart from unlucky hands.

It began with an odd wee hand against a solid player where we both made mistakes and probably ended up pot committed without really meaning it to end like that.I had 66 and raised from the small blind ( after it folded to me) ,he reraised,I decided he thought I was stealing and as I had a pocket pair I reraised back ,he reraised all in and I called.He showed K10 and hit a King on the turn to knock me out.The mistake I made was not to reraise all in initially and create a proper pressure point.( copyright Doubleas)


I ran into a cracker on my next table with about 6 left when I raised from late position with 66 and was raised all in by a fishy player.I made the call,he showed 44,flop of 6 Q 9 followed by a 4 on the turn and another 4 on the river.Hmmm nice!

I didn’t have much joy on Monday night either ,running my Aces into tens ( 10 on flop) and losing a race ( don’t mind that so much) with my tens v AK.

I managed 2nd in the last sng I played and felt quite proud afterwards because I managed to get my money in as a huge favourite twice against a major fish and I bounced back from his 2 outer suckouts to place in the money.

Along with Miami Mark I did win another $26 token in Full Tilts $8.70 18 player turbo.I'm not sure when I'll use it although Fri night at 3am for the $25k gtd is a possibility.


Previously I wrote about being confident at the table and how it can affect my play.I’m aware that I seem to play a far better game if I get a good start especially at the cash tables.It’s taken me over 2 years and a load of stats to back it up, to prove to myself that I’m actually a winner.

Part of the reason is simply down the fact that I've never particularly excelled at any sport or hobby and didn't start playing poker with any expectations at all other than spending a maximum budget of £50 per month.

I thought I was a fine badminton player as a teen, until our church badminton club played another and we were thrashed.I can play a reasonable ( eh Juice!) game of pool but I'm not a great player.I love darts too and have a board in the attic, but am I any good? Nope.I enjoy my X box and Ps2 games but am I a fantastic gamer who quickly learns and kicks ass in most generes? No,I'm not even very good at the first person shooters I love.


Perhaps my slightly negative attitude is down to me being an old git at 34.If the Internet and online poker had been around during my teens I may have had a lot more faith in myself but I think as people get older they tend to realise that many of the dreams and hopes they had as a teenager will never come to fruition and some were totally unrealistic to start with.As a teen I had a definite air of invincibilty in my own eyes.I may have been ignorant ( who me?!) and naive but I felt I could be the best at whatever I did and that my immortality meant I could drive my car hard and fast without any problems.Nowadays I read sad stories of young lads killing their friends in wreckless car acidents and think how easily it could have been me in their shoes.

Maybe it's simply a fear of failure that stops me pushing myself too hard at the poker these days.I see 5000 people playing freerolls and feel proud at least that I can make money at $50nl and so far at $11 turbo sng's.

It amazes me that there are still so many poor players around.I carefully selected a 'Stars $15 sng last night because it seemed fishy.I came 2nd but what was remarkable was that according to Sharky the table (apart from 1 winner who was + $88) had lost just under $25k between them! Who says sng's are tightening up?!

Ok,I'm not sure the confidence thing came over as I wanted but I'm gonna hit the publish post button anyway.

In other news Rangers have tonight named former manager,Walter Smith,as our new manager.He brought us 9 league titles in a row and his assistant will be my football hero ,Ally McCoist.Smith has left the Scotland managers job to take over and though he wasn't my first choice I hope he can provide a safe pair of hands and guide us back to the top where we belong.

I loved the wee advert in my local paper that declared that "Calderwood Bluestar are looking for experienced players.Players born in 1994 should apply".Most of those players won't be 13 yet! So long as they've played in a couple of World Cups eh...

Bad news from this afternoon is that the IT security team at my work have found a way to bar access to all blogs.I'll still be catching up at night after they blocked bloglines recently too.Baaaaa!

Ok,that's all for now...

Comeback Kid

Thanks to Mark at Planetgong for the comment on my last post containing a link to a 2+2 article on Sng's.It was a good read and has also prompted me to get a bit more serious about sng strategy and look for more quality writing on the topic.( Marks blog also seems a good place to start)

To the results and yesterdays got me wondering if I just like doing things the hard way.Maybe I have some kind of poker hero complex where I only play my best game after a bad run of results.I remember the heady late nights at 6 max $100-$500 where I'd be in the hole for $200 by 3am but have dragged myself back into the black before hitting the sack around 5am.

I played twelve $11 turbos at Full Tilt yesterday and made $54 despite Miami Mark knocking me out in one sng with the hammer and then nailing my own hammer hand with Q10 on the bubble of another! We may have been friends since school but there's no mercy at the tables especially when it comes to dropping the hammer.

I was heading for a breakeven day but a 1st and a 2nd in my last 2 games at FT meant a profitable outcome to my days play.I did do a little more 2 tabling and although I had a few hairy moments when heads up at one table and on the bubble at another,I did enjoy the non stop action of it all.

Time was marching on ( 4am ish) so I decided to try a couple of $25+$2 turbos at Pokerstars before bedtime.I sharkied the opposition as usual and there were several huge fish at my first table and one in particular who was playing like a manaic, but catching lucky, whilst also mouthing off in the chatbox.None of his chat was aimed at me, and I'm usually very good at ignoring it, or trying to use it to my advantage, but he was such a fish I found myself getting annoyed at him.He'd been raising most pots, and I'd been uber tight, so when it folded round to him in the small blind and he raised my big blind, I reckoned he was on a steal and I made a substantial reraise with my A2.I bet half my remaining stack as a continuation bet after completely missing the flop, and he reraised with J8 after making 2nd pair on the board.I made the donkey call and out I went.

I launched another $25 turbo but allowed the events of that last one to prey on my mind and put me off my game.This time I made a bet from early position with JJ and all folded to a tight player in late position who reraised me.Alarm bells were already going off ,the only problem being that I was ignoring them.The flop came lowish and ragged and I led out, and then faced a huge reraise for most of my stack.I said to myself that he had at least Queens,made the call,he showed his Queens and out I deservedly went after no 2 outers hit.

I came a poor 6th in the next $25 game and as the clock said it was past 6am I was going to quit but my poker hero complex said I should give myself one last shot at winning so I launched another.I can honestly say at that point I was completely at ease with the situation I was in and the pressure I had put myself under to perform better in what would be my last sng for the night.

I suppose overall there wasn't really a situation.I'm not even counting Stars money as part of my roll and it's not as if I do this for a living and the family would go hungry.It's not as if $27 itself or even the $79 I was down in total at Stars is a lot of money but somtimes I think I need the thrill of knowing it's an all or nothing ( $108 down if I lost or $4 profit if I won) situation to make me play my best.

Anyways to cut a long story ( aint they all at this blog?!) short I did win and went to bed a happy acorn at around 6.30am.The only problem was I was buzzing so much from the game I couldn't sleep...

I did get up in time to watch Rangers season from hell continue as we lost 3-2 to Dunfermline in the Scottish Cup.Unless we win the Uefa cup ( and that's not bloody likely) this will be only our second trophyless season in a row since the 1960's.At least the only way is up....

Back to work tomorrow.My sleep patterns have been so eratic over the holidays I'm probably gonna feel jet-lagged at work.Just what I need with a job dealing with complaints.

Ok,time to walk Nacho and maybe squeeze in a little poker...

Sat Update

I didn't post yesterday because I've noticed my blog becoming a bit tedious recently with lots of boring stats posts.I suppose I like to use the previous nights results as a starting point and then try and expand a little but sometimes it feels like it's all been written before and there aint much to expand upon.

Since I began playing I've always wanted to make decent money at this game.$4k per month instead of per year would be ideal but even averaging $30 per day profit would be an improvement.I hope I've ridden out the horrendous luck that sucked the life out of my game between September and the end of December.It was that bad run which prompted me to give the world of sng's a proper try and so far so good.

I've always had problems being confident that I'm actually a decent player and not just someone who waits on donks making huge errors.Posts about how Sharkscope says I'm a shark ( for one day only at least ) are not to try and be boastful and arrogant but more a reminder to myself that I can actually play this game.Something to fall back on in a situation like last night where I bubbled twice at Full Tilt,crashed out in 8th and only managed a 3rd place finish.

I moved to Pokerstars where I'd previously built a forgotten $15 to $99 before losing a $15 sng to leave my balance at $84.I don't include my Stars balance as part of my bankroll and I'm using it to take a shot.Being a tight conservative git, my idea of taking a risk is playing $15 turbos on an $84 roll.I did register for a couple of $25 turbos after coming 3rd in the only one I've played at Stars on Jan 4th.I quickly unregistered after Sharkscope told me most of the other competitors were huge sharks.

Having said that, my poker confidence was further boosted by winning two and coming 2nd in another $15 sng especially as I beat ( according to Sharky) a few sharks to get there.A 6th and a 7th after getting my money in as favourite and losing brought me back down to earth a little and after that I headed to the cash tables where I broke exactly even after about an hour of two tabling $50 and $100 nl 6 max.

I've only played 442 sit n goes in total and have made $623 in profit.I do feel though that I've learned an awful lot and that so long as I remain confident in my game then I can keep playing and profiting at $11-$15 level with a view to giving $22-$33 games a real go one day in the not too distant future.I'm trying out 2 tabling these turbo's more often and trying to get used to that.It's a little different from 2 tabling full ring or 6 max and I'm still working out the best time to jump into the second game.( Miami Mark reckons when the big blind hits 100 chips). It's not an easy balancing act because although I play uber tight during the early and mid stages,I will often become an ultra aggressive blind stealing push monkey later and I need to pay attention to know who I can steal from.

Ok,thanks for reading....

From Shark to Donkey?

Mark left after our Half-life 2 night and I hit up the tables for a game or two.I bubbled one $11 sng and won another before joining the s-man at Ladbrokes for a little cash play.

Upon checking my Sharkscope stats at Fulltilt for games over $10 I'm the proud owner of a wee shark symbol next to my name.I've only played 83 games over $11 but after a terrible start at that level it's a nice wee confidence booster.( even if it probably should be replaced by a fish in a bowl after my Mookie exit)

I was still up just before 3am and took the chance to play with the ( mainly) US bloggers in the weekly Mookie $10 mtt.There were 44 runners and it was great to see a good few familiar names at the tables.I'm an avid reader of The Flights of Iakris who was at my table and I would probably have told him what an excellent read his blog is however "ghey chatbox comment of the year" is not a title I'm after.

To the game itself and as the blind levels were standard and not turbo I determined to take my time,feel my way in and not make any awfuckit moves.I was also equally determined not to be in awe of anyone and to play my own game.My first hand was 55 and I choose to limp along with a few others.The flop came 4 4 6 and was checked round.I checked too and bet out when checked to me after a 7 fell on the turn.All folded and I'd won my first ( albeit small) pot.A few hands later and I reraise a 120 bet with my Nolan sisters and sigh with relief as I'm not reraised all in and put to a major decision at that early stage.I bet out aprox 2/3 of the pot on a King high flop and thankfully took it down.

I had chipped up a little and was prepared to be patient when I woke up to AA in early position.I've not played a blogger sng with my US friends for a while but I remembered the last one was uber tight so I didn't want to scare off the whole table with my raise and made it just over 4bb to go and got three ( may have been four,it was after 3am!) callers.I was first to act on a 10 high board with 2 spades out.I bet a little over the pot and was reraised all in by krazybangs.

Before it got to me jeciimd had called all in for his last 800 ( aprox) chips.I spent nearly the full 30 seconds trying to do some maths and work out where I was in the hand.I was sure I had at least one of my opponents beaten but reckoned I could be behind to jeciimds rapid all in call.After I'd bet out post flop there was aprox 1130 in the pot.With Krazys all in and jeciimds call the pot was aprox 3300 and I had 870 to call which would leave me just under 400 if I lost but on over 4k if my Aces were good.I quickly Shark scoped my opponents as I had no reads at all on either of them but that didn't help my decision much.Anyways I made the donkey call and was behind Jeciimds's set of tens and ahead of Krazys JJ.I was trying to calculate the sidepot as the J fell and that was nearly that.

Having gone over the AA hand with Miami Mark ( accountant ) I think I made the right call.He reckons if I had folded after the flop bets, then I would be left with aprox 1250 in chips, but beating Krazys hand would have given me 1650.If I had beaten Krazys JJ but lost to Jeciimds set of tens then I would have lost 400 chips on the hand overall whereas if I had folded I would have been 800 down.Obviously with Krazy hitting his Jack on the turn all that's irrelevant but at least I made the right call.



A couple of hands later I pushed with AQ and ran into Iakris's KK.No suckout and I was gone after 13 minutes wishing I'd been smart enough to type "AA no good?" and fold rather than career on into the abyss.All good fun though and the next time I'm off work I'll be looking to play again.

Righty pizza,poker and watching Sky sports for Gers news are the plans for tonight.....

Paul Le Gone

Less than seven months after taking over and after stripping Barry Ferguson of the Captains armband at the weekend,I woke up this afternoon to the news that the 12th manager of Rangers since we were formed in 1873 has left by mutual consent.

I'm gutted it never worked out as Le Guens former team Lyon are a joy to watch and I was hoping the could bring that brand of exciting,flowing football to Rangers.His signings and results have been poor however and he seemed to be in conflict with Ferguson over the Captains role in the team and Fergies aggressive stance towards teammates he felt were letting the side down.

Where do we go from here? The talk already is of former manager Walter Smith returning but my top ( realistic) choices would be Gus Hiddink,Sam Allardyce or the feckin' know it all who sits behind me at Ibrox.

Back soon with a poker post once I get my head round todays events..

Goals

It was tough getting out of bed for work this morning but at least I'm off now until Monday.Half-life 2 night tonight and not much to write about last nights poker so I'll probably be back with more on Friday.

At the tables last night I got suckered at Pokerroom late on in an $10 turbo and blew $5 at a shorthanded sng with some fishy play.Things were better at Full Tilt earlier, where I played with Miami Mark and managed a first,second and 9th placed finishes for a profitable evening overall.

My main poker goals for 2007 are to make at least the same profit as last year and strangely enough to play more poker.The last goal may seem odd however I've been finding that more and more often I may well be online to blog,surf etc but my actual poker hours have diminished over the last few months.I also plan on keeping up my venture into the world of sng's ( probably still turbos) and maybe playing some more mtt's.

Ok dinner awaits...

Happy New Year

The darts world final was a true classic last night as Barney came back from 3-0 down to win a "sudden death" leg after they drew 6-6 in sets.Even Mrs A enjoyed it!

It was a lazy day after spending Hogmany at friends and getting to bed around 6.30am.( after watching Pink Floyds Live 8 performance many times!)

After arriving home I heard the news from Rangers that Le Guen has taken the Captains armband from Barry Ferguson.Fergie is a 100 % bluenose and has been our best player this season by a mile, but overall the team have been very poor for 18 months, and if the boss thinks changing the team by selling Fergie would improve the performances and results, then he has to do what he thinks is right.Personally I hope the two can sort out any differences but it doesn't look like that will happen.hmmm.

To the poker and I began 2007 with a couple of drunken sit and go's at Pokerroom on Hogmany with my friend whilst the girls were gossiping.I didn't last long in either and after losing $10 decided the poker could wait for another day.

I hit the tables last night and began by going 0/4 in the money at Pokerroom $10 turbo sng's before two tabling another couple and managing 2nd in both.Finished there and moved to Full Tilt later for some more $11 turbo sng's.I got disconnected in the middle of one sng along with Miami Mark and couldn't reopen the site due to server problems.I emailed support and to be fair when I eventually did get back in my sng fee was refunded and an email of apology was sent to me.

I had a decent night at FT,winning three $11 turbos,coming 2nd and 3rd in two others and only going one game without making the money.( donkey called my post flop all in with his straight draw and hit).According to Sharkscope my form is now "hot" and I've made the money in 8 out of my last 10 FT sng's but that can all change rapidly in the high variance world of the sng turbo.

Ok,Mrs A is working over the next few nights so I should be able to squeeze in a little more pokery fun.I'm in work tomorrow then off till Monday which isn't too bad.

Make mine a 9 dart finish...