Bella Bella

Not long back from a fantastic lunch with my sister at Italian restaurant Piccolo Mondo, which is just around the corner from my work.Stuffed mushrooms, followed by a chicken/pasta and roast potatoe dish hit the spot and it was great to catch up with my wee sister too.

We chatted about everything from relationships to the fact we both hate the current Picture loans advert, where the Geordie woman is on the phone to the loan company ,covers the handset and mouths “twenty five thousand” at her husband who smiles and agrees.As if you’d come up with a sum like that off the top of your head and leave discussing it until that point.

I gave my sister a laugh by telling her the story of the lift I gave Step A to school the other day.I was playing “Abbey Road” on the cd player and asked if she knew who the biggest band in the world of all time are.Snow-patrol was the answer, but the best part was that she didn’t recognise any of the band members until I mentioned John Lennon ,whereupon her eyes lit up and she said she knew he was Neil Lennons ( celt*c player) brother!Hmmmmmm!

To the poker and I only played for a short while last night crashing out of an 18 player $15 turbo on ‘Stars when I ran AK into 33 and then into AA.No wonder they call AK “walking back to Texas”.I also failed in a $2.20 triple shootout qualifier.

The Laddys late night crapshoot was next and this time I was paying enough attention to be able to chip up a little through blatant steals even although I was card dead before eventually running 33 into 55 and crashing out.

I looked for a juicy 6 max table and found one that was only a $20 buy-in but had an average pot of $14.I doubled my buy-in fairly quickly with a nice wee hand against a big fishy.He was so fishy people were asking him if they could add him to their buddy list ( you have to agree on Laddys) and he was readily agreeing.( whilst wondering why he was so popular no doubt!)

I do kind of worry this blog is becoming a fairly boring record of my results every night which really only I’m interested in, but I’m going to plod on and I’m hoping to do a wee strategy piece on the different styles required for the various games I play soon.

Ok, here’s a couple of funnies before I go…

Here's the classic tale of the disgusted American visitor who shouted out in a Glasgow pub:

"Doesn't anyone teach you guys to wash your hands in this country?"

"Naw," shouted back one punter. "They teach us no' to pee on our fingers."

Sound reasoning

Oh, dear. Do we really believe the reader who tells us he was playing Trivial Pursuit with friends and when one of them landed on Science & Nature she was asked: "If you are in a vacuum and someone calls your name, can you hear it?"She thought for a minute before asking: "Is it on or off?

Tues Update

Mrs A and I seem to have been getting on a lot better over the last few days.My only worry is that I suggested going to Relate ( relationship counselling) at the weekend and she reckoned things were so bad it would be a waste of time and yet now ,only a few days later, it’s as if that conversation never took place.It’s hard to tell if we’ve turned a corner or the clock is just ticking until the next ( and probably final) blow-up.

I missed the start of last nights Wsop Laddys freeroll because Step A had fallen out with her wee friend during a game of hide n seek and there were a few tears.Thankfully her wee friend knocked on the door to apologise and with all finally being well,I hit the tables.
It was fairly non-eventful for me and a lack of anything remotely playable meant I was never in with much of a shout and when I finally went out aprox half way through the field I wasn’t too bothered.

Miami Mark and the ‘Stars 18 player $15 turbo’s were calling so I logged in,fired up Sharky and settled down ready to fold a lot.My tens fell to a flush in my first game and although I was slightly annoyed at myself for not reraising preflop ( He’d raised with A4s from UTG) I did make him pay way too much to make his hand on the turn.That hand crippled me and I was out soon afterwards.

The next game wasn’t going so well either so I two tabled and was lucky enough to build a big stack at my new table which was just aswell as I didn’t last much longer at the first one.
My big stack stayed big thankfully and in the end I was disappointed to take 2nd after getting the other HU villain got lucky more than once on the river.The funniest aspect of that sng was that Mrs A arrived home from work right on the bubble and Miami Mark was knocked out by another player whilst trying to steal my blinds because I was busy.Justice was done!

I needed that wee boost and finished off the night by winning a wee $5 shorthanded sng at Pokerroom.

Meeting my wee sister for lunch tomorrow,renting Saw 3 on Thursday night and should be heading out for a few beers with workmates on Friday night.

Back soon....

More Donkery

My Kings were crushed to knock me out of the first $15 ,18 player turbo at 'Stars last night and I bubbled in the next one when I pushed with Ac2c and ran into AK.I followed this by moving to Pokerroom to play some $50 nl full ring.

I semi-bluffed my way to the first pot at that table when my straight draw missed and I bet it anyway( after betting on the flop and turn).My second hand at the table was the Nolan sisters ( QQ) and I raised 6bb and got one caller.To cut a donkey tale short, I ended up almost (still had my winnings from the first hand) all in on a low ragged rainbow flop against Mr 66 and his set of sixes which became dem quad biatch sixes by the river.

The scary part was that afterwards I realised that I'd seen the flop,guessed that the villian either had 1010,JJ,KK or AA and decided to take a gamble.I had no reads at all as I'd just sat down and I never even blinked to think anything through as the raise/reraise scenario was unfolding.Ok so it wasn't 103 I'd played but it was still very very poor play.

It's not much of a post today but at least I've got it out of my system now and can hopefully move on.Mrs A is working tonight so I plan on playing Laddys player point Wsop freeroll in 20 minutes.I wonder how I'll donk out of that one!

Back later in the week.....

ps Here's a great clip showing some of the finest football of all time ( not me at the local five-aside surprisingly enough).Brazil 1970.

Bacon saved ....then fried

Mrs A and I watched a couple of movies ( Little Miss Sunshine and Enemy at the gates) before she went to bed and I hit the tables around 1.30am.I started with some 6 max at a very fishy table but I just couldn't catch a hand to break the donator.Some other guy was tapping the aquarium bigtime and I broke my usual chat silence to try and keep the fish present using Juices "No guts,no glory " mantra.The funniest part of it all was that he was so fishy that whenever anyone else dropped a couple of dollars below the $50 buy-in they instantly rebought ,not wanting to miss out when they got it in the middle with Mr Fish.

Mr Fish was finally broken and left and shortly afterwards I did too.I lost $20 at another 6 max table, before hitting a $100 nl table which just seemed too juicy to be true with an average pot of $50.This happened http://www.pokerhand.org/?853654 and I was all ready to go to bed and call todays post "bacon saved".

Greed is good ( according to Geko and Mr Edge) and as I was feeling good sitting $50 up at the table I wasn't for moving.Unfortunately the cards and my own donkery cost me that $50 profit and another $50 leaving me $80 down for the session ( and week) at Laddys.

$44 was lost overplaying AQ on an 8 8 5 board ( 2 clubs).I thought I had a tight image until my 5bb raise was called by 5 players meaning it was a $29 pot.I led out for $15 when it was checked to me and got 1 caller.I couldn't put the villain on the 8 so I fired another $24 bullet on the turn after a harmless looking 2s,only to fold to ( villain 28% vpip which was tight for this table) a reraise to $48.If he semi-bluffed me off with a flush draw then fair play to him, but by then I realised I couldn't even beat AK let alone any pair and although I'd seen Ace and King high win several big pots I just didn't feel I was ahead and could continue in the hand.

Looking back at Pokertracker I also lost a daft hand ( $36 pot) when I bet the river with a straight ( I had J9) because I was sure the villian hadn't made the flush that was out there.I was right but he had made the higher straight with his KQ and was happy to call me down.The old adage about not betting because I was only going to be called by a better hand came to mind.

It just felt like one of those nights when not much hit and I was zigging and zagging at all the wrong moments .I'm tempted to blame the poker bloggers curse after yesterdays post about how I should be feeling I can beat the table whenever I sit down.Not by playing like that I wont!

Ok,that's enough of my fishy play for one post.Mrs A is working tonight so it's dinner for Step A and me then I'm off to donk it up.....

Spilled the glue

So, I said to Mrs A as I was about to head off to the football on Thursday night "You gonna miss me?" in a half joking kinda way."No" she replied,sounding all serious and instead of going to the game ,enjoying watching Rangers win 4-0 in our biggest win of the season,I was at home trying to save our relationship.Without going into detail we are going to keep working at it and will hopefully come out stronger together.One of her complaints was that we don't go out enough and whilst I can accept that ,part of the reason is that every penny goes towards our next sunshine holiday.There's probably not many couples go abroad 3 times a year but this year we're only going away in Sept so there should be more cash for the comedy nights,cinema,meals out etc that we enjoyed when we first met.

All this after I'd kind of got used to the idea that ( Mrs A's a bit older than me and going through the change) I'd never have any kids of my own.A fellow bloggers kind words ( she knows who she is!) were a great help in letting me see that I can be ( and am) close to Step A and not having any kids that are biologically mine wouldn't leave a big gap in my life.Women eh? Can't live with 'em ,can't shoot 'em! hehehe

Ok,enough! Back to the important stuff....da poker!

I didn't play at all on Thursday night but managed a few games last night,winning a FT $11 sng ,crashing out of another and coming 3rd at a 'Stars 18 player $15 turbo.I also won my first table at a $2.75 triple turbo Sunday Mill sat but never managed to get going in the 2nd round.
I also managed to donk off $20 at a Laddys cash table when I overplayed AJ on a ragged K J 3 rainbow flop with one of those daft moments where all logic said the villian had paired the K ( KQ he had) but my brain insisted he was bluffing me.Doh.

Ok,this afternoon Mrs A and I are donning the matching welly boots ( nae matching wax jackets ,we aint that sad) and taking Nacho to the local park for a walk in the (light) rain before hopefully renting Saw 3 for tonight.

Maybe some poker later, but more probably on Sunday night when Mrs A is working.Something to take from last night was, that even after one night off I found myself really enjoying the game more,especially the sngs'.I've always seen myself as a cash player, but these days it seems such a grind compared to the excitement and drama of the world of sng turbo's.

After reading one of Jordan's latest posts where he wrote ""But I try to offer advice that I have found useful, and a cornerstone to my philosophy is that in order to succeed you must be confident", I'm trying to start my games with a wee pep talk to myself. I accept I make make the odd donk move and can't influence my cards to hold up but if all else is equal then I can be as good or better than anyone at my table.Maybe part of the reason I take so long to actually start playing most nights has been that I'm a lazy git. Whilst I love that feeling of being at a table so long that I have reads on most players and have the dynamic all worked out ,I hate the blind part at the start of an sng or cash game where I have almost zero info.

Righty I've babbled on enough for today.Thanks for stopping by.

Wee update

I finished off playing with others peoples money by coming 2nd in a $6 turbo sng at Full Tilt on the s-mans account , when he was over last night.After he left I hooked up with Rosie the rottie,Juice and Mr Edge for a couple of wee sng’s at Laddys.Only $5 ,normal speed which nearly sent me to sleep and I never made the money in either.

I missed registering for the late night crapshoot ( $10,$3k gtd mtt) by 10 seconds and headed to the cash tables for a quick session before bed.I’d just finished telling Juice how great the $50nl laddys tables are, when I got scudded for half a buy in! I wasn’t too bothered at all because I’d played the hand well enough.I had J4 in the bb and the flop came J 4 6.The villain only had half a buy in and was all in with AJ before we saw a blank turn and a 6 on the river.Damn I hate getting beaten by the board pairing like that on the river.Always takes me a second or so to spot why the chips aint coming my way.

Hit the sack after that and it’s football tonight and hopefully the cinema tomorrow night.Back in a few days.

Party time

I was feeling quite tired last night so I didn’t play too much poker although I did manage to win half a buy-in at FT’s cash tables and lose it in a couple of $11 turbo’s.I got a “lol” “ 7’s?” in the chat box after I’d reraised a donkey all in,he called with AQ and my sevens held up.I’m usually silent in the chat but couldn’t resist pointing out he’d made the call and was behind when he did.There was already a limper when he made a small raise ( he’d been raising on a regular basis) so I hoped to squeeze out both players with my bet.Not my fault he called off his chips with the worst of it!

I’ve not made the money in my last few FT Turbo’s and decided to play one at Party for a change.I’ve played very few turbo sng’s at Party because sharkscope only works in beta mode there and doesn’t give stats for more than a few players at the table.On the upside though ,the tourney history they send is great and was well worth checking over to see where I made mistakes.( I came 3rd $11 turbo).

The hand histories helped illustrate how situation poker can be.I folded A10 to a raise in one hand and called a raise with A3 in a later hand.I don’t remember the last time I called a raise with A3 when 7 players were still in an sng, but it had folded round and it was an all in move from a shortstack (930 raise,I had paid 200 in bb) which I just sensed was a bit of a desperate move and called.He showed J9o/s and I won.I’m still not sure about the call but at least I went with my instinct.

Not long back from visiting Mother Acorn where I was well fed and in return helped my Mum to a 3rd and a win at Party $6 turbo sng's.She said she did try playing a standard speed sng but it was too slow.I know the feeling!

I'm off to the Gers game at Ibrox tomorrow night and I'm going to try and stay away from the tables when I get back.Friday nights plan is to go to the cinema to see "The Last King of Scotland ".Right I've wittered enough for today...

Tues Update

I didn’t play very much on Sunday night,only long enough to lose my wee shark fin at ‘Stars by donking out of an 18 player $15 turbo and then losing with KK and AA to go out of a wee $6 sng before bed.

Last night didn’t begin well as I crashed out of a couple of FT $11 sng’s,one on the bubble and one after misplaying KK.I had raised from the button and got a caller from a player appropriately named “oneloosecaller”.The flop came a nasty Ace high with two spades and I led out anyway with a decent ¾ pot bet.The usual purpose of this is to get the information I require at this stage and not throw any more money away if beaten.

He called and fearing Ace rag ,I slowed down and checked the turn allowing him to catch his flush on the river.The misplaying part was calling his all in because unless he was bluffing he obviously had me beaten.I put him on the Ace or flush and called anyway which was just plain stupid.

Laddys late night crapshoot beckoned and once again I was fairly card dead and had to resort to a couple of steals when folded to me just to keep afloat.Eventually my raise all in from the cut off was called by Mr QQ in the sb and IDOG ( I donked out again).

I didn’t have much motivation to play another intense 6 max or turbo game so I began two tabling $50 nl full ring games and got lucky in my first hand on one table.I decided not to wait for the big blind before buying in and posted.I was dealt Js9s and checked my option.The button made a min raise to $1.Why oh why would anyone ever make a pathetic raise like that preflop?There were a couple of callers and I decided for 50c I would call too and proceed with plenty of caution unless I flopped a monster.

The flop came J high with 2 spades and I very nearly raised when the button made his continuation bet but chose to call.The 9d on the turn gave me two pairs and the flush draw and we saw a blank rag on the river.I bet ,he raised all in for $10 more and I called expecting QQ,KK,AA or the dreaded set.He showed J4 and was possibly trying to steal and then got carried away by the Jack high flop assuming I was only on the flush draw.I left my other table $10 up and then made a quick $10 at a 6 max table before packing it in for the night.

Tonight I’ll be cheering on ex Ranger,Rino Gattuso,as his Ac Milan team visit the darkside to play celt*c in the Champions league and then hitting the tables.
Cm'on the Milan......

Pick n Mix + Stats

I started my poker night last night ( inspired after reading Gcox's post) by winning a $24+$2 token at a FT $8.70 turbo sat.As usual the play was generally terrible and watching guys with huge stacks still pounding pots when the top 5 paid the ticket and they were almost guaranteed a seat was rather amusing.No plans for the ticket yet.I'd love to play in one of the US blogger games and test myself against some fine players but the 2-3am start times just don't work for me.

In no particular order I then won an $11 turbo at Full Tilt ,won $20 at Juices cash table with the hammer after raising it up preflop and hitting two lovely sevens on the flop,blew most of that at a 6 max $50 nl table and then decided to enter a Laddys 5 card draw $2 Pot Limit Turbo mtt with 22 players.

Yes this holdem only blogger who has no interest in omaha,razz or even fixed limit holdem ,spent 1 hour 15 mins playing a $2 5 card draw tourney.I've dabbled before at nl 5 card draw cash tables on 'Stars but never with any great success.I was chip leader for ages after everyone at the table went all in ( pot raise after pot raise) and my preflop trip sevens made the biggest boat and I knocked 'em all out.Once I'd stopped laughing I lasted another hour before going out.I also managed to crash out of Laddys late night crapshoot without ever really building my chipstack.

I headed back to Pokerstars and managed 2nd in another 18 player $15 turbo for a nice wee profit.I could complain that my A8 was miles ahead of the villians k8 before he flopped two Kings on the last hand when we both had even stacks but the truth is I got lucky against the same villian just on the bubble when my AJ made a straight v his AA so poker justice was probably done in the end.

I do at least have the temporary ( only 79 game sample) pleasure of having earned a wee shark fin next to my name ( zagga at 'Stars) according to Sharkscope.The problem is I rather like my wee fin and don't want to risk losing it by playing any more games at Stars!

I'm still keeping the roll I've built at 'Stars apart from my main poker bankroll that way if I bust it out I wont be too annoyed at myself.If it keeps heading in the right direction that may change.

I'm not long back from Ibrox where Rangers beat Falkirk 2-1 with goals from Boyd and Ferguson.I'm looking forward to Thursdays return Uefa Cup game.We are 2-1 down from the 1st leg and will hopefully do enough to make the next round.

Ok to the stats and it's been three weeks ( Jan 28th since last update).
Ladbrokes $1305, Pokerroom $861,Party $381 and Full Tilt $1020.Total $3567 ( + $359 since Jan 28th).

Swindle? It's a Swindle...

I began last nights poker fest with S-man and Miami Mark by coming 2nd in two $6 turbo sng's.I made the 2nd table of the $2 Sunday Million qualifier at 'Stars and then donked out which was daft because I'd played good poker to win the first one after being reduced to 300 chips when I ran 99 into a slow played KK.

Cranked up a 'Stars 18 player $15 turbo and promptly ran my flopped set of fours into a set of sixes to go out first.Whilst on the bubble of the next one I began another, however I made the stupid mistake of playing the new game as if I was on the bubble too and was soon in trouble with 66 on a 5 4 4 flop.I was so busy on the real bubble ,that I thought I was only up against one player with my 66, and he appeared to make a weak postflop bet I reckoned could mean he'd missed with AK/AQ etc.I reraised and watched in horror as the invisible ( can happen after a few herbals!) 3rd player in the hand reraised again.

I blasted out of that one a short time later but managed to come back from being 5th with 700 chips to winning in the other one.After a careless play at a cash table which cost me nearly a buy-in ( still at 'Stars) I let Miami Mark persuade me to play a $55+$5 ,18 player turbo.Afterall my 'Stars roll is for taking a shot and as my balance was over $400 I decided to give it try.I made the final table before a disappointing end.

I had about $2k in chips at that Final table with the blinds at around 100-200 ( with antes) when a solid winning player raised to $800 from UTG.( 1st to act).I had AQ which is a hand I don't like calling raises with.In fact I don't like calling raises at anytime in a turbo sng as I much prefer to be the one doing the betting.Anyway I was close to folding until I thought it through and reckoned that my tight play, the fact that making a raise from UTG looks very strong and also that he'd raised to 800 and not gone all in, meant that he was trying to use these factors to represent a much stronger hand than he actually had.Maybe I overthought it and he just thought "I have QK,let's steal",who knows.

I raised him all in ,he called and although the A J 8 flop and ragged turn looked good and I began eyeing the $4k in chips which was about to come my way,the river did deliver ( is that why they call it Riverstars?!) and the 10 fell to give him the straight and IRFTS ( I rammed fist through screen).That's poker and in the cold light of day today I can say that at least my read seemed right and my money went in as ( big) favourite.Also, it was only one sng but I didn't see much in terms of the play at $55 level to worry me much.

Poker tonight and then the Gers game tomorrow are my plans for the rest of the weekend.Back with a stats post tomorrow...

How The West Was Won

I came 2nd in a Full Tilt $11 turbo last night before winning an 18 player $15 turbo at Stars, and
I had a rough plan to go through some key hands along the way in todays post.I'd requested a 'Stars tourney history email but unlike Party it only gives a dull stats summary so I'm screwed for content today! Here they are anyway for anyone seeking an insomnia cure...

109 hands played and saw flop: - 2 times out of 23 while in small blind (8%) - 8 times out of 24 while in big blind (33%) - 5 times out of 62 in other positions (8%) - a total of 15 times out of 109 (13%) Pots won at showdown - 6 out of 7 (85%) Pots won without showdown - 27

I think the number of pots won without showdown reflects the fact it was one of those dream sng's where I built a big lead at just the right time and then stole just enough to make that lead almost insurmountable.I say almost because I'm always wary that one steal gone wrong and a bad beat or two can soon cripple a big stack.

The Full Tilt sng 2nd place was fairly non eventful apart from the last two hands where I sucked out with 95 v AJ and then went out on the next hand when my AQ sooooted was busted by 107.The villian and I both managed a "lol" about that.Oh and I did catch him out when he limped for the first time in the whole game and gave me free cards until the turn.Something smelled shady and when I folded to his bet he showed KK.I think the reason I sussed him was that it's the kind of mixing it up play I make myself sometimes ,especially Heads-up where a bet usually only takes the blinds.

Setting up later plays by limping with rubbish and then folding to reraises from aggressive players before finally catching a hand and playing the same way ( apart from the folding part obv) is one way I'll sometimes play my monsters.

Mrs A is out tonight and we have the grandkids staying tomorrow night so there should be plenty of time to play.Dropped my car off this morning to get a repair quote due to the knocking noise when I turn left.£275 to fix it and she goes in next Friday.Cue the emptying of my paypal account to pay for it.Having paid a fortune to fix her up last September at the MOT I'm hoping this will be the last expense for a while.I reckon it's the speed bumps on our street which is causing most of the suspension/linkage type problems rather than it simply being down to the age of the car.

My car loan is up in July and my Dad reckons I should trade it in soon but it's the best car I've ever owned ( Alfa Romeo 156 2.5 v6) and I'm really hoping to get another year of motoring from her.

Thanks for reading.Back soon...

Say Hello..

First up, thanks to all the commenters on my last post.I've added Marks Poker Pains to my blogroll and a couple of others too.Please,check 'em out,say hello and add 'em to your blogroll if you like 'em.I've also removed a few "dead" blogs and as ever if I've removed yours and you make a comeback please let me know.

I watched Rangers go down 2-1 in Israel last night in the first leg of our Uefa tie.Poor game but not the worst result hopefully we can do them next Thursday at Ibrox.

Not a lot going on over the last couple of nights at the tables as I’ve played very little poker. A complete break may have been better as I could feel myself getting overly emotional after a couple of bubble exits at FT $11 turbos.Miami Mark calling my Ducks ( 22) with his A9 to knock me out annoyed me more than it should have.

Last night I built a decent lead at my table after my AK beat AQ and A10 on an Ace high flop ,and I was licking my lips after sharkying and noting almost the whole table was fishy.Unfortunately I was completely card dead after that, and fishy calling stations are not the easiest to steal from.Give me a shark anyday! When I did raise all in on a steal with my 53o/s against the tightest player left ,he did at least think about it for nearly 30 seconds before calling with his powerhouse kq and knocking me out.

I did at least behave myself and went to bed at 12.25am ,straight after that game.Mrs A was working and came home in a stonking mood.She works at the local Chinese takeaway and was dealing with people complaining they got prawn crackers when they didn’t order any and other such life changing disasters.Being a couple of cynics we had decided on no valentines presents although being the old romantic I am ,I did hide a load of her favourite chocolates all over the house.

Just back after dinner at Mother and Father Acorns place.Mrs A was working so it was just Step A ,Nacho and me.I've now got my Mum playing $5+$1 sng's at Party after I persuaded her to give the sng's a try.So far she's up and doing well.One day I'll persuade her to come to the Wabash club in Glasgow for a proper live game but I don't think it'll be any day soon!

Ok, to the poker...


The tale of the chap banging on the garage door and wondering why his wife was taking so long to answer, reminds Donald Bathgate of the chap swaying under the influence in his front garden path clutching his front door key. When asked by a passing police officer if he needed a hand, he replied: "Naw Jimmy it's a' right - the hoose was here a minute ago but nae fear it'll come back roon again."

Alas , the Year of the Pig reminds us of the classic pig joke about the chap passing a farm who spots a pig with an artificial leg. Curious, he asks the farmer about it, and the farmer tells him: "It's a really special pig. The farmhouse was on fire and my family's lives were saved by the squealing of the pig who woke us up.""But why the artificial leg?" the chap insisted. "Was he injured in the fire?""No," said the farmer. "But with a special pig like that, you're not going to eat him all at once."

Slow-burner

Maybe it’s a confidence issue,perhaps it’s down to stamina ( never any complaints from Mrs A!) but I just don’t think I’ll ever have the relentlessness that is required to make really good money at this game.Don’t get me wrong,I can start playing poker at 4pm on a Sat afternoon and when I log off at 6am it’s only because I know I have work on Monday.In fact at 6am early Sunday morning last weekend I was playing two 6 max tables and felt right in the zone and at my poker peak.

Fast forward to Sunday and I hardly played at all ,only starting an $11 sng at FT late on ( KK beaten by Mr 55 rivering his 5 didn’t help my enthusiasm) and then after dropping $10 at a Party cash table I decided my heart wasn’t really in it and logged off.At least now I have the experience to log off when I don’t feel I’m on my best game.

The problem is that even at Micro-stakes and low level sngs’ ,anything but my best game usually means losses.I’m not fond of my B,C and D games and I only want to risk my hard earned roll when I really feel like playing.

I mentioned at the start of the year that one of my aims was to just forget all the procrastination and just sit down at the tables,trust my game and get on with it.I’m just not sure that’s realistic.It’s much easier to lose money at this game than win it and I’m very wary of throwing away profits earned by just playing for the sake of it.

I followed the link to Blinders blog from Hoyazo to read this thoughts on the changing landscape at the cash tables after the recent US law changes and netteller debacle.I found Blinders take on it to be very interesting, but my attention was also drawn to his latest post where he writes about his ladder challenges and describes how he sometimes only played for 4 hours in a week because he wanted to be playing his best game.

Perhaps I’m just a slow-burner who needs a couple of warm-up games to be in the right frame of mind.Last night for example Miami Mark and I warmed up with a $2.20 Sunday Million turbo shootout ( though after reading Marks post I think the $11 shootout will be my next Sat qualifier) and after that I placed 2nd in an 18 player $15 turbo.In both games I got my money in ahead and in both the villains rivered the flush draw after calling with no pot odds.

After that game however I should have gone to bed but played and lost a quick $5 shorthanded sng at Pokerroom before losing $10 at a PR cash table.I’d forgotten to mention I won a $5 shorthanded turbo the other night so my PR roll hasn’t moved but I need to pay attention to when I’ve had enough for the night and switch off and go and do something less boring instead.( well not boring ,that was just a wee “Why don’t you” reference for anyone old enough to remember!)

Ok here's a couple of funnies that made me smile ....

We are told about an overweight woman in Glasgow who went to her doctor. She was told to try a new eating regime. "I want you to eat regularly for two days, then skip a day, and repeat this procedure for two weeks. You should lose about five pounds."

When she returned, he was shocked to see she had, in fact, lost more than two stone, and he asked if she had followed his directions.

"Aye, doctor," she told him, "But ah thought ah wiz goin' to drop doon deid on the third day."

"What, from hunger?" he asked.

"No," she told him, "from the bloody skippin'."


Police officer's wife tells us about hubby being called out by a homeowner, woken by crashing and banging of his garage door, who feared an attempted break-in. The police arrived and found a chap the worse for drink, carrying a takeaway curry, and banging on the garage.

When they asked what he was up to he declared that he was "trying to get the wife to answer the door".

When the officers pointed out that it was a) a garage door and b) not even his, he told them: "Oh . . . I thought she was taking a long time to answer."


A chap who took early retirement was regaling his working pals with how great his life now was, and we overhear him end his glowing report with: "Honestly, I've enough money to last me the rest of my life," then added: "Provided I'm dead by a week on Friday."


We should end the traffic cop stories with the boorish classic of the officer stopping the young chap and asking: "Have you been drinking sir?"

And he replies: "Why? Have I got a fat bird in the car?"

Back soon....

Juicy Pots

Ok, so I've registered at pokerhand.org and I'll try posting hands in that format from now on, as looks a lot neater and I can't do anything daft like forget to post what I was dealt in the hand.I've resisted before because I was able to view blogs from work but unable to follow the links to pokerhand.I've also upgraded my blogger account so if anyone notices anything stranger than usual around these parts then give me a shout.

I ended up having a fine night at the tables last night ,not getting to bed until just before 6am due to how soft my final cash table at Laddys was.I began my night with a 4th place in an 18 player $15 turbo at 'Stars before donking out of a $2.20 Sunday Million triple shoot-out sat.

Miami Mark headed off so I played one more 18 plyr $15 turbo and took it down fairly quickly after the bubble finally burst.After a few 4th place finishes ( top 4 get paid ) it was nice to take one down and I felt I'd played well and done all my bobbing and weaving at the right times.

I lost about $10 at a FT cash table before returning to Ladbrokes for some late night 6 max action and I'm glad I did.I began by playing a very tight game as usual and made my first wee steal from position with this hand...http://www.pokerhand.org/?813035 .

My vpip % for the 141 hands played was 29% and my preflop raise % was 12% which is higher than my average 7%.Since watching IStrongs 6 max vid's I've tried to be more aggressive preflop.I need to be careful as I've always been a winning player ( 8-9bb per 100 over 22k hands at $50 nl Laddys) and I don't want to change too much about my game.I realise though that to win at tougher tables and higher stakes I need to up my pf aggression.I'm wary also of missing set ( hitting 3 of a kind on the flop) opportunities by taking pots preflop with hands like 88 instead of taking advantange of the massive implied odds that sets offer at micro-levels.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?812984 was the hand that really set me on my way for the night.Sundman was multi-tabling and had a big stack at most of his tables but I felt that given time I had an edge over him and could make it pay.The villian from the two later hands I'll post was also multi-tabling and I took advantage by opening their tables and stealing their blinds when they were already involved in big hands.In this hand Sundman( 50% vpip 25% preflop raise) made the 4bb raise and I put him to the test by reraising to $8.I didn't put him on a 10 or KK/AA and reckoned I was good so I got my money in on the flop.Thankfully it held up.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?812970 was my next biggy and I only called the preflop raise with my KK because I reckoned I could make more postflop if the flop was good or I could easily get away if an Ace fell.The villian was the other multi-tabler I mentioned and had a tendency to over-value hands when he did get involved.I didn't even need the King on the turn to win and that hand probably led to his call of my all in bet a couple of minutes later.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?812980 was that hand and my only regret was forgetting to type "Dem's quad beetches" into the chat.It was a big blind special and my reasons for the all in were two-fold.Firstly it was only 2 mins since I had taken the villians last stack and he may have been slightly tilty/out for revenge, and secondly I hoped my read of him being on the flush draw and hitting on the turn or on a pocket pair ( giving him a full house) was correct and that he would pay me off.

All in all a good nights poker.I played quite a lot of 3-4 handed at that table too as it was generally me,Sundman and Cuno with others arriving,donating and leaving.My time spent playing sng's has helped my game too especially as I now have a lot more experience in very shorthanded situations.

All that and Rangers won 3-1 today with Boyd scoring a hat-trick.

I'm not sure why new blogger wants me to label posts ( for search engines maybe?) but I'll give it a go.

Enjoy what's left of the weekend.....

Turbos n 6 max

I played some sng's with Miami Mark and the S-man last night and managed 3/6 ITM with two wins at Full Tilt and had no joy in the $15 ,18 player turbo at 'Stars.

Mrs A spent most of the evening upstairs watching movies.She's started to go through "the change" and the mood swings are coming thick n fast.She's been to the Docs for stuff and hopefully things will settle down over the next few weeks.The joys of being a toy boy eh!

I wasn't in the greatest mood myself when I got in last night after what seemed like a helluva long day at work dealing with the awkward squad.Mrs A and I are still considering what to do for our holidays this year.We've been lucky enough to be able to go abroad at least three times a year recently but I'm hoping to finally get the c/card paid off and Mrs A already has a break planned with her Dad and Step A in July.

I've booked a weeks leave from March 19th and I'm off in June too.My cousin is quite keen to visit Amsterdam and I'd probably rather go in June as the weather should be sunny.There's not much to beat chilling a coffee shop, smokin' outside in the sun watching the world go by.

Back to the poker and after my sng fun I opened up Laddys and two tabled $50 nl 6 max until ( and yes I was enjoying a wee smoke) I could barely focus and it was time to hit the sack.I just couldn't get going on one table and dropped nearly $20 whereas the other table was kinder to me and I left up around $70.( net $54 profit).

Getting the money in with KK preflop v AK and hitting a flush was my biggest winner, followed by a strange wee hand where I bet $1.75 to steal preflop with Kd7d when it was folded to me in the small blind ,and then I remembered that the big blind was playing 80% of hands and hadn't folded to a raise yet.The flop came 6c Jc Kh and I led out for $3.50 hoping to represent AK and take it down.He called, and I fired out a $5.25 ( half pot) bet after the 2s fell on the turn.He called that too, but from the way he'd been playing, although I wouldn't have been too shocked to have been behind ,something told me I had him.The river was a 10s and although AQ now worried me slightly,I felt he would have reraised preflop with it so I bet out $10.50,he called ,I won and he mucked.

I did play another slightly weird hand against the same player where I raised to $2.50 from mid position with AsQs and he called.The flop came 5d Ac Ad and I led out for $3 hoping to look like I was weak and making a continuation bet with nothing.He duly raised to $6 and after a 7h on the turn,he bet $9.12, which I called.I reckoned he had either the flush draw,QQ/KK or had me beaten with a boat but when the Ks came on the river I felt the boat was highly unlikely and KK even less likely so I bet out $18 and he folded.

One wee observation from recent games and feel free to agree or disagree, is that when people bluff, they seem to use the slider to bet odd amounts, or a lot of the time they make their bet end in 50c.( $3.50, $10.50 etc).I don't know if they are betting the 50c to make it look like they are making a value bet, or they want to make it look like they've really thought about exactly how much they wish to bet as they have a great hand ,but recently most slider ( $7.23,$4.26 etc) bets seem to mean weakness.

Ok,Mrs A is working tonight so just for a change,it's poker for me...

Rocketing

The S-man visited on Wednesday night as planned and we managed to get our KK beaten by AQ ( all in preflop) in the 2nd hand of an $11 FT turbo before taking 3rd in a $6 sng ,all on the s-mans account.I played an 18 player $15 turbo later and scraped into the money in 4th for a $9 profit.

Last night was more profitable and most of my good fortune came at the cash tables.I’d warmed up with another 4th in an 18 plyr $15 turbo before hitting the ‘Stars $50 nl 6 max tables.A few hands in and I’m dealt AA and end up stacking a fish who unbelievably played AK all the way to the river on a ragged rainbow board.I was worried about trips and two pair all the way and was stunned by his call.I don’t think he put me on any hand at all and was simply over excited by his AK or on tilt.


The Laddys late night crapshoot was calling and so was the villain that knocked me out with A9 ( Ace on river ) when I got frisky with my 55 during level 7.I moved to a juicy cash table ( $13 ave pot) and nearly left as it was only a $30 buy in.I was glad I stayed when my flopped 2 pairs doubled me up and after making a good laydown with QQ v KK ,I left and watched part of Miami Marks $55 turbo sng.MM certainly has more gamble in him than I do and has done well to win a few $55 sng’s to build his Stars roll.I know my ‘Stars roll is my “take a shot” roll but I’m still too conservative ( tight ass’d) to jump up so high unless I have a few more buy ins in my ‘Stars account.

I do have money from blog ads sitting on Paypal, and I may use that to top up my ‘Stars account should I go bust there, rather than use cash from my main bankroll.With that in mind I may try and take more chances.I just wish my mindset was just a little more fearless.I sometimes wonder why I bother having a $3k roll spread around sites when I could probably get by with a lot less.Hmmm.

Anyway it was getting late by this time and I could feel my concentration slipping so I unregistered from a 5 player $5 turbo at Pokerroom and played a play money sng instead.It felt good to bet like a madman and go out in four hands with nothing at stake.

For my last adventure of the night I decided on a quick 15 mins at the $100 nl 6 max Party table with the highest average pot.( $36). I waited for the big blind and found myself in that rare poker utopian situation where I get dealt AA and there’s a $3 bet,a reraise to $10 and then the action is on me.

I raised to $24 ,the original raiser folded and I’m faced with a $76 call for the rest of my stack.Bottom line is I doubled up v KK and surgery wouldn’t have removed my smile.
My next hand was KK, and this time I’m not sure if I bottled it or made a good laydown, as I laid it down to a bet on the turn despite a fairly non –scary board.Trips were my main concern along with the worry that it would be just my luck to win with AA v KK and then lose with KK v AA in the very next hand.It only cost me $12 though and I left after that, happy with my nights work.

I hadn't planned on any poker tonight but Mrs A has declined my offer of a meal out/cinema etc as she has a headache brought on due to a sinus problem so.......I may hit the tables afterall.

Enjoy the weekend....

Tougher Sngs

I didn’t play a lot of poker last night but enjoyed catching up with Juice and The Rottie in the IM chat.It was Ladddys turn for server problems so it was quite late before Juice and I played a wee $5 sng which was more notable for Juices whisky enhanced chat than any great play.

I played a little 6 max at FT before bed, and managed to blow through most of my latest $20 bonus increment ,through a combination of slack play,poor cards and trying a wee bit hard to make things happen.

The Sng’s certainly seem to be getting tougher thanks to the US legislation biting at the poker sites.I’m not sure if the answer is to play more at non US player sites or give up on my sng quest and get back to the cash grind.At my 6 max cash tables there only needs to be a couple of fish to make the table juicy.One to think about.

Ok, the s-man is coming over shortly so that's all for now....

Refreshed

First up is an apology for yesterdays poor live game report,mainly due to my terrible short term memory and my belief that my broadband would be down for so long,the live game would be a distant memory.I love reading reports from live games ( Jordans are usually top drawer) and will certainly try harder to note down a few more hands and describe the set up better.

My one night off from online poker seemed to refresh me and I began last nights play by taking down a 20 player $5 turbo at Pokerroom, which boosted my roll there by $40.I played well,stayed out of trouble and my best hands almost all held up.

I was off to ‘Stars after that where I played an 18 plyr $15 turbo and came 2nd for a wee boost to my flagging ‘Stars “take a shot” roll, which is now looking far healthier.

I finished my poker night at Full Tilt where I overplayed A10s.I made my usual 4-5bb raise and was reraised all in by a decent player who I put on a med pair.At this point the pots odds v survival argument was raging in my head as I was getting 3-1 on my call and reckoned I was only slightly behind in the hand. I also tried to assess where my stack would be if I folded,called and won or called and lost.I decided to go for it and the villain showed nines,I didn’t improve and was left with 50 chips.I fought back to 580 chips before going out when I tried to steal with A7 and Mr A5 ( off soot) called and hit a runner runner flush.I’d had a little luck to pull it back but that still stung.

It was too late for another sng so Miami Mark and I hit the cash tables where I lost $2 and MM nearly doubled up after playing Queens strongly and inducing a bluff on the end from Mr Failed flush draw.Nice play indeed.

Ok, thanks for reading….

Booted

I'd played a few Sng's on Sat night before my cousin arrived later on.I fired up a 'Stars $15 turbo and had a big chip lead when my connection failed and wouldn't reboot.The result was the end of my sng and end of my broadband until a nice helpful chap who could actually speak English was able to help me get back online tonight.My 'Stars form has not been great in recent games and I was feckin' furious that I'd been fecked over by my connection just as I felt as though I was playing really well and certainly headed for the money.That's adsl eh.

Yesterday I played in my first live game of the year at the Wabash poker club in Glasgow,spending £12 to buy in ,a £5 rebuy and then a rebuy and an add on.Rebuys are still alien to me and I began my loosening up to gamble plan by making a really daft call with a Jack high flush draw when to two other players had already flopped the flush.It was a silly mistake but I was determined to put it behind me and hope I may reap the benefit of it later by getting action.

I made a flush a few hands later with a call I wouldn't have made if it hadn't been for the rebuy format and had an above average stack for a while.Calling a raise with AK soooted,missing and folding cost me but the fatal hand was the very last one of the rebuy period when I ended up all in with nines v A7 only for an Ace to fall.I took my rebuy plus add on and quickly built that up in the freezeout period, when I hit trip sixes and doubled up.

I was moved to a 6 handed table with a few big aggressive stacks and had to bide my time until I was very short on chips and pushed with Jacks,made a set but was flushed down the river.I plan on playing again soon ( maybe even this Sunday) and I hope I've learned more from my experience and can play a much better and more fearless game next time.

I arrived home and enjoyed a forced break from the net and poker.Heck I even watched some of the Superbowl first half and US Football has never been my thing.I followed that by watching some pokernight live ( gotta get my fix somehow) and getting a reasonably early night.

Ok, pizza time...

Pushing edges

We enjoyed a fine family dinner at my Mum and Dads place last night, before I came home and began the poker break I posted about yesterday…..by bubbling in two Full Tilt $11 turbos.Both tables only had a couple of losers, and felt like a bit of a crapshoot by the time I got caught stealing to stay alive.I would argue that Turbo’s are not usually just luckfests, but I can imagine that as the play tightens up and the players are more skilful any edge is greatly reduced.

I began playing turbo sng’s more often in September after a bad run at the cash tables, and as a break from the grind, but over the last week or so I’ve found myself heading back to the ring games.I two tabled $50 nl at Ladbrokes, and soon found myself down $15 after limping with nines hoping to hit my set or fold post flop.

Instead the flop came 3s 4s 6h and when the original bettor checked, and another villain made a smallish bet ,I was tempted to go down the passive route and call, but then asked myself why.If one of the villains was drawing to the flush or the straight then calling was weak and if I was ahead of the original raisers AK/AQ and the other villain had only hit top pair on this flop ( or was drawing) then I wanted to take it down.I bet $12 and folded to an all in and a call with the winner showing a set of fours to take the pot.I think I gave myself a chance to win the pot with my bet,got the information required and got out but perhaps I could have fold to the min bet I was facing.

I then played and won a crazy hand at my other table against a player who had been playing very fast and loose indeed.So much so that the other players were commenting in the chat and one even told him to play higher stakes if he liked to bet so much.

I was dealt AK on the button and made a 4bb bet only for mr maniac to raise my bet to $5.I’ve been trying to listen to my instincts, and I felt I had a very good chance of being ahead.I had also been very tight, and nobody had played back at the maniac yet. Many very loose aggressive players would be smart enough to fold if a tight player takes a stand, so I put him to the test and raised it to $20.He called and we saw a 7h 7d 9d flop.He made a smallish bet which I read to be weakness so I went all in,hit my Ace on the turn and the pot was shipped to me.I still don’t know what he had and perhaps my play was a little wreckless afterall I was basically all in with Ace high on a 9 high flop but at least I went with my gut feeling.

Ok, it’s Half-life 2 tonight and maybe a little poker later…

Here's a couple of funnies to make ye smile...

THE New York Daily News reports in its gossip column that rocker Rod Stewart, due to perform at Madison Square Garden, was spotted in the city's River Cafe where he got "totally wasted".

The only doubt the News had about its story was when it added: "He danced a number of jigs and sang folk songs, including one remembered as You Can't Put Grandma on the Bus - though if a song by that name exists, it would be news to Google."

We feel the urge to tell the Daily News about Ye Cannae Shove Yer Granny Aff A Bus, but are too busy wondering what a Rod Stewart performance of that late-night pub classic would sound like.


OUR latest traffic cop tale comes from Les Hunter in Lanarkshire who was told by a mate in the polis of the time they were following a driver weaving down Wishaw Main Street. Now he could have merely been avoiding the pot holes, but they gave their blue light and siren a quick blast for him to pull over. Unfortunately, the driver got such a fright he hit the accelerator instead of the brake, went straight over a roundabout, and crashed through railings before coming to a halt with the railings on top of the car.

When the officers went over to help him out, one of them asked if he had been drinking.

"Of course I have. Did you think I was a stunt driver?"

Thus update

I think perhaps I need a day or two away from the poker to help rid myself of a bit of the malaise that seems to have fallen like a mist over my game ( and blog to some extent).I mentioned previously that I wanted to dedicate more time to actually playing the game, rather than surfing the net, but to be honest my desire to play seems to be on the wane, and that in turn means less concentration at the tables which can only lead to poorer results.

At the tables I enjoyed playing a wee $5 sng at Laddys with MiasDad the other night ( didn’t make money) before moving to a $50 nl 6 max table where I won about $35 with a set of sixes.I was quite pleased with my play because although the flush scare card fell on the river ,my read was that the villain wasn’t drawing to the flush so I bet out after she made a small bet and she called for another $15.I’m always wary of the weak lead bet but in general at my levels the size of the bet tells the right story about the strength of the villains hand.

The S-man was over last night and we played a couple of sng’s on his FT account and managed a 3rd and a loss when our tens fell to AJ.Good times indeed.

I hit up a ‘Stars 18 player turbo after that but 1010 was destined to be my hand of doom at that site too.I’d usually raise with 1010 from mid position in a turbo however I decided to limp and so did a few others until the big blind suddenly raised all in.I’ve mentioned how I like to make squeeze plays where I make a large raise when last to act after a few people have limped, and the big blind raise smelled like that kind of move to me.I suspected I’d be in a race or ahead of a lesser pair ,he showed AQ and hit a Q to send me and my good read to the rail.

I moved to Full Tilt and played an $11 turbo sng quite poorly when I raised with 99,was reraised all in and instead of following my instincts and folding,I called and crashed out to QQ when I didn’t improve.

The Party cash tables came calling after that debacle and once again I had an almost break even session and finished only a few dollars up despite being dealt AA twice within the short ½ hour that I played.

Ok, tonight our family are going to my parents for dinner and tomorrow night my mate Mark ( who used to be up every Wed until he moved away) is coming round for some Half-life fun so I’ll be back in a few days.