Britbloggerment 15

I suppose dD's banner heading is a bit out of date considering the blazing car that's just been driven into Glasgow Airport....

No mention of casualties, and hopefully nobodys been hurt.Hits home a bit when it's my local airport, but I'm a fairly regular holidaymaker, and it wont stop me going anywhere.

I did like the quote from the BBC website.Taxi driver Ian Crosby said:
The reaction of members of the public was not to help the men in the car, but to restrain them" he told the BBC.Aye,don't mess with the Glasgow public!

Assuming nobodys hurt, then I just feel really sorry for all those caught up in the disruption as all flights have been cancelled for the moment.

Ok,that's all for now.

Old School 1986 revisited.

June 19th: Went to USA on holiday!

June 22nd:It was very hot so I got an icecream.A beautiful big chocolate one.I had just taken one lick when the icecream fell off the top of the cone.Typical! ( 2007 edit: bad beat even back in '86!)

July 9th:Bobbys back in Dallas.Who cares?! Fav songs are Pappa don't preach and It's 'orrible being in love when your 8 1/2.( 2007 edit: thankfully I never purchased the latter!)

July 10th: Thrown out the arcade for being too young.

July 17th.Bought Old Moors Almanack.Got a poisoned big toe.It hurts.

July 19th : Stayed up to watch Frank Bruno lose to Tim Witherspoon.

July 20th: Recorded the Radio 1 chart show onto tape.Camouflage by Stan Ridgeway is my 2nd fav song now.( behind Madonna!!).Watched TJ hooker and MMMMMMMax Headroom later.

July 24th: visited the building site nearby and got a chase from the security guys.haha


July 30th.Saw Porkys Revenge and Mum got a parking ticket.hahaha

Aug 3rd:Rangers sign Terry Butcher.

Aug 13th: Listened to True Blue and I'm now GOWS ( going out with Suzy!)

Aug 15th:Used a rope to make a swing over the burn from the tree.While testing it Lee fell in the river and got soaked.He went home to get changed.Hahahaha

Aug 19th: Nine of us were sitting on the big branch at the tree when it broke! Oh well.

Aug 22nd: Gregs keys fell down a drain! He got them out after school.

Aug 28th: At the interval Lee got his head kicked in by Robert.I reckon Lee could have won if his hand wasn't sore.Watched Moonlighting.

Sept 1st: I am grounded for a week after Mum called me back after I had left the house and I never went.hee heee

Sept 4th: In Soc n Voc ( social and vocational skills) we had to write a letter to an old person called Mrs Murie.We are visiting the old people on Sept 22nd.I bet she is an old cow.No that's sick.I am reading a cool book on telepathic powers.

Sept 8th: We all went to Broompark and had a competition to see who could jump the furtherest off the swings.I didn't win.


Sept 9th: I had to pay 10p to borrow a calculator in Maths.She is a stingy cow.I bet she keeps all the money she gets and retires with it one day.After school we went up to the quarry to light a fire using a magnifying glass.Went to the building site later and messed around on the scaffolding before being told to clear off.


Sept 29th: After lunch at school Greg and I took biscuits and letters to the old folk round the corner.We were let in by Mrs Foley who is a dotty old cow who doesn't know what year it is.Maybe it was just an act so she could get the biccys to herself.
Set up Scaletrix after tea in my room.

Sept 30th: After school I recieved a really nice letter from Mrs Murie.She sounds dead with it ( you thought I was going to leave out the with it) and I might visit her.Michelle dumped Lofty on Eastenders.

Oct 3rd: At the service today nobody sung any of the hymns and you could hear Climies ( Slimey Climie the headmaster)voice above all 200 of the 3rd year pupils.


Oct 6th: Watched A Nightmare on Elm street and got my BCG jag.Ouch!

Oct 10th: 4 of us were interviewed at school for Radio Scotland on careers and options.After we finished the guy gave us album tokens!


Oct 14th: Diary upgrade.I attached a pen holder.

Oct 17th: For lunch I was looking for something in the fridge when Jasper picked out the dogs meat roll and asked for some.( not realising it was the dogs).I made him a nice sandwich.He took a bite and said it was delicious.After 3 more he nearly puked.hahahaha



Oct 21st: Found a hedgehog outside so we named him Rocky,brought it in and put it on a newspaper.


Oct 26th: Went to the Skol League Cup final.The match was brillaint.Ian Durrant score first then celt*c equalised through Mclair.Rangers scored the winner with a Davie Cooper penalty and Mo Johnston was sent off for them.hahaha


Nov 6th : Alex Ferguson leaves Aberdeen to join Man Utd.I think he'll go on to be a great success.( ok, I added that last bit in 2007!!)


Nov 23rd : Tyson ko's Berbick in 2 rounds.

Dec 19th: In Maths 3 of us were playing cards when Climie walked in."What are you working out boy?" Hillhouse replies "how many more games of cards we can play before the bell rings".hahaha


Dec 25th: Got a personal stereo,Now 8,2 pairs of jeans,wet look gel,annuals,2 computer games,bigger snooker balls and for some reason 1000 labels with my name and address on.Played Ghosts n Goblins and Paperboy after tea.I hold the record at Paperboy.33912!

New Car arrived.

I didn't sleep too well last night even after playing poker until the wee sma' oors with Rosie and Juice.I'm not a great sleeper at the best of times and having ( as my mate the Big Chap would say) my head full of wee wheels n cogs all going the wrong way doesn't help.Chatting with Rosie and Juice really cheered me up, as have the comments left on my recent posts.I feel lucky to have such friends.


Yesterday I was set on renting that new semi-detached place I mentioned.I got my new car yesterday and when I drove over for a look, the guy doing the garden let me have a look inside and it was lovely.Today I'm back to being set on returning to my flat and using the extra ££ to do some decorating and possibly get a holiday ( Vegas baby!) at some point.The semi may be lovely but when the door closes at night it's not going to make much difference to my happiness and my flat has a better bit just outside it for walking Nacho.

As mentioned in my comments, I've now loosely agreed to pop over on a Mon or Tues and see Step A and walk Nacho.On Wed I'll be over to look after Step A as Mrs A ( I suppose I should say ex Mrs A)will be working.She works Thus night too and I've said I would take the dog overnight then too and bring him back Fri am.Hopefully I can also do the school run on Fri mornings and I'll have the dog again on Fri or Sat night.She has said she will take Step A to her work with her on Thus nights but I'm kind of hoping Step A will want to be at home to play with her friends and I can look after her then too.I'll also be downloading msn at some point and can chat to her on that too.


My mate SJS ( San Jose Salmon) is right about getting out sooner if there's friction in the air.So far so good, though she made a big deal previously about me saying ( at first because I later suggested we make a night of it)I only fancied attending her cousins wedding reception for a couple of hours because I had work the next day.She ended up working and not going at all.

Obviously I have a few questions I'd like answered and the me of 10 years ago would probably have steamed in head first.She told me for example that she'd decided over last weekend, but she also told me( about a month ago) her friend two doors away was finishing with her man but they were going on one last holiday together.Considering how distant Mrs A has been for weeks I reckon her decision was made long ago.In the end though I don't suppose it really matters and the main thing is getting on and ensuring access to Step A.( and Nacho!)


I am going to miss Mrs A bigtime too when I move out, but not the Mrs A of the last couple of months.I used to feel she was my best friend aswell as a lover and partner but more recently that feeling has been eroded away a bit.I think there's still confusion there as the S-man invited me down tonight, and at first I fancied it as the s-man is great company and getting away from here for a couple of hours seemed a fine idea.

Now Mrs A and I seem to be getting on better than ever, and as she's going away for a week, I'm thinking I'll hang around here tonight, as I'll miss her when she goes.Silly really as she wont be missing me and will probably be 2 doors along anyway.I am still giving her lifts to work etc and she has mentioned she'll be making my sandwiches for lunch next week and putting them in the freezer.

Righty to the poker which does seem a little meaningless just now.I have managed to keep the heid at the tables though and have actually come out on top over the last few days.I did play Pokerrooms crack cocaine like $2.50 "mad tilt" turbos where you get 60 chips and blinds start at 10-20.I played the 50 player ones and failed 7/7 after getting my money in as fav 6/7 times.Not bad beats as such but they felt that way.Still good entertainment for $2.50 a go, though I don't plan on making those games a regular leak.

I managed a 2nd in a $6 ,18 player turbo at Stars last night ( Rosie came itm in the other one which I busted out of by slow playing a flopped straight) and also a 2nd at a Full Tilt $11 turbo.JJ on my first hand and a set of two's won me a buy-in at Laddies and I also got lucky at Stars and won a buy in with KK all in preflop v Aces when I spiked a King on the flop.( frittered the Stars winnings away sadly)

Ok,I've another 1986 revisted post I made earlier ready to go and I suppose a monthly stats update is due tomorrow.I should also mention I'm really pleased with my new Focus ST 170.It seems just the right mix of speed and build.(14369 miles)

Don't forget to register for Bloggerment 15 at Stars on Sunday ( 9pm bst,4pm ET under private tournaments,pass:donkament,$5.50).Everyone welcome.

Oh and if your looking for somewhere to chew the fat about poker or pimp your blog then register over at Raise the river and have your say.You'll be made more than welcome there too.

Last word is to wish Burnley Mik all the best at in his next tourney at the Scottish Poker championship through in Edinburgh.Read about his progress at the raise the river link above...

Britbloggerment 15:Sun 9pm.Pass:Donkament

First up,thanks again to all who commented on my last post or contacted me.

On Sunday night I didn't see me ever posting again here and I wrote Mondays words with tears in my eyes.I've been off work and will probably remain off all week.Mrs A and Step A are off to Millport for a week this Sat, so Nacho and I will have the place to ourselves.

It's not all doom and gloom though.It struck me that what is making me most upset is the thought of not being here day to day for Step A and my dog.Hearing the wee one tell me to "chop chop" ( hurry up) in the morning, helping her with her homework,insisting she loves Johnny Cash as I play it during the run to school,watching her happy with her friends etc are just some of the things I'm going to miss terribly.I'm also going to miss Nacho bigtime and seeing him on a Wed night and for one weekend night just doesn't seem enough.

I will still get to see Step A and Nacho though.Mrs A and I have been getting on far better since Sunday night.I don't know if it's forced niceness on her behalf or just her relief at knowing I'll be gone in Sept, but if we can stay friends then it surely means I'll get to see more of Step A and my boy ( Nacho) and I don't need to mourn like I'm losing them forever.( which is how I've felt this week)

If I'm honest my feelings are still very much up and down at the moment.Maybe knowing I have almost 2 1/2 months left to enjoy the summer with Step A is what's keeping me going.I've had kind offers from Mother Acorn and my sister to stay in their spare rooms if I want but I feel I want to make the most of the time I have with Step A and Nacho and will only move if things turn sour/nasty between Mrs A and I.


I only played a $1.40 sng the other night as I didn't trust myself to play any higher.I still can't bear to think of telling Step A I'll be leaving as I feel so close to her, but we have decided to leave telling her I'm going until nearer the time.Perhaps it's a reflection on the state of my relationship with Mrs A,that the wee one probably won't notice much difference over the next 2 months.I suppose time will tell on that one.

Maybe I'm kidding myself on re my feelings for Mrs A too and it's just my anger at being given the cold shoulder over the last month or so that's numbed me.Again time will tell I suppose.

I'm still in two minds over my next move.I could go back to my flat in Sept and only have a fairly low mortgage to pay.The flat isn't in the greatest area of East Kilbride but I never had much hassle before and was there for nearly 10 years.I'm just not sure if going there will feel like being back home or like a huge backwards step.( thanks to Miasdad for the reassuring comment on that btw)

If I did move back to my flat then I would really need to spend some ££ doing the place up as I've owned it for nearly 14 years without doing much to it.Doing that in itself may be enough to make it feel like a new pad.

I do have ( or will have) enough money ( without touching my poker roll!)in Sept to rent somewhere in a better area than my flat.I've seen a 2 bedroom semi in a lovely area not too far away which would cost me about £1800 on top of my mortgage over a years rent.I could afford it for a year, and moving somewhere totally new for a fresh start seems very tempting.If I move back to my flat though, that £1800 can be invested in somewhere I own, and besides if I really want out when I go back, then I can sell it and buy a new place elsewhere.

Ok,back to being a poker blog. Don't forget to register for this Sundays Britbloggerment mtt at 'Stars.( under Private tourneys).Password is donkament and it starts at 9pm bst ( or 4pm est in Stars lobby)and only costs $5.50.All welcome and it should be easier this week as my fellow Joint Supreme Overlord ( we don't take our roles in this too seriously!) is actually playing live in Scotlands 2nd city this weekend and I'll probably still be an emotional trainwreck!

The Bloggerment is open to all bloggers and readers.Hope to see you there....

Old School- 1st 6 months of 1986

Long before Blogs, and not long after computers were invented I kept what was known as a diary.I started in 1986 when I was 13 and I thought I'd throw a few quotes out there for fun, and possibly to jog some memories, although this will probably be strictly for my own records and amusement.If the post title is "Old School" it means a post like this...

Jan 22nd: Bought a new pocket warmer and Beachhead + Rambo for my Spectrum 48k.

Jan24th: Went to get my watch back from Hendersons but they didn't have the batteries afterall.Took it to Tandy where the guy dismantled it and then told us he didn't have a clue.I got a free battery.The guy was nuts.

Jan 26th: Watched Spitting Image and the Chicago Bears bt the Patriots in the Superbowl 46-10

Jan 27th: In Tech nobody owned up to breaking Alans model.However we didn't get a punny.

Jan 28th : Challenger shuttle disaster.What is NASA short for? Need Another Seven Astronauts... Madonna at num 4 with Borderline

Jan 30th: My letter rack in tech burst in the vice.Baaaaa.

Feb 5th: It's snowed today and me and Mic ( San Jose Salmon) went sledging.What was 14 feet and lies at the bottom of the sea? The Shuttle,Challenger!

Feb 6th: Went sledging again and fell in the burn.

Feb 10th: Went to cinema to see Rocky 4 which was brilliant.

Feb 14th: I got two valentines.One from Fiona and one anon.Did cross country running at school.It was hell!

Feb 23rd: Snowed again and Chingy and I threw snowballs from the barrier outside Marks.( Al Eleven) I missed a car by about 1cm.We panned my neighbours house too and went home.

March 1st: went into town and spent £4 at Treasure Island ( amusement arcade).Got Madonna t-shirt and Robin of the wood for my 48k.The 128k was launched in early Feb.

March 3rd: Mark is in trouble because of Miss Barsote the French teacher.This was the same teacher who when threatening to cancel a class "party" by saying it was "hanging by a thread",prompted a voice at the back to shout "well cut it aff then".The whole class cheered at that one.

March 5th: Someone farted during the Ministers speech this morning.hahahaha

March 21st: Had cross country for what I hope is the last time in 2nd year.Lee,David and I walked round the course and took a shortcut across a few fields.We were all joint last.

March 23rd: Played Football Manager,subboteo and played Ad Astra with infinite lives!
Watched Brewsters Millions too.

March 30th:James Cagney died and Dad took the fuse out of my wee tele as I was a bad boy.hahahaha

April 2nd: Went to Campbeltown with Greg.We played pool and on the "snappy viper" ( fruit machine). I have made up my mind never to gamble again.....on fruit machines.

April 5th; Won £8 on Grand National.West Tip won.

April 7th:We are doing World War 1 in history.I wonder if my children will be doing the history of World War 3!

April 9th: School was boring.I let the art teacher grab a note off me which said " I hate nosey teachers".hahahaa


April 10th: Murdo fell asleep in English.Dougie came over and we had a cushion fight and put useless pokes into the computer.Watched The Thing.

April 14th: After tea Greg came round and we watch tv and talked about sucide.I couldn't convince him.hahaha

April 15th: USA bombs Libya.Gaddafi is a fool.In PE we did the Shot putt and I only got 5m 22cm.We were all asking Euan if he had sucked a girls big toe before.He said he has at a party last summer.What an idiot.hahahaha.

April 18th: Enjoyed burning food in Science as an experiment.I have good experience here with Mums cooking.Nicola and Sarah came round later and we told each other creepy stories.

April 22nd:Ran 200m in 38.75 secs.What a greyhound! Murdo was throwing bits of cucumber at the roof of our base at School.

April 23rd: In art the teacher told me I couldn't draw my breath.I told her the only thing she could draw was her pension.hahahaha.In French everyone was throwing their pens out the window.

April 30th: The Soviets are saying only 2 people were killed when that reactor blew up the other day.The UK papers say 2000.

May 2nd: Bought Spitting Image "Chicken Song".It's brilliant. ( 2007 edit: cringe!!)

May 6th:cleared freeball and all the colours at snooker!

May 12th:It is the inter-class challenge in PE.I am doing the long jump.A dead flea could jump farther than me but at least I'm not doing any running!

May 13th: Spurs manager sacked!

May 14th: An Indian boy came to the school and spoke to us about poverty etc.Scrounger!What a bore.Still at least he took so long we missed history! yahooo!

May 18th: Chicken Song is num 1 !! Played more snooker and watched That's Life later.

May 19th: Last day of Music at school ever.I hate Music.We were doing the keyboard and I did Row your boat whilst hitting the keys on Euans at the same time.

May 31st:World Cup starts in Mexico

Next 6 months to follow at some point maybe....

The long warm up

Spent loads of time messing around yesterday and finally decided to begin my pokery fun by playing a $1 Brit/Irish mtt on Stars with about 80 others.I was down to 200 chips after my flopped two pair big blind special ( gotta love 53 off) was beaten by a higher flopped 2 pair ( Q5).Can you work the flop out ? :-)

I won an all in with Aces and before I knew it I was chip leader by a mile and wondering when I was ever going to get to play a proper $$$ game! I very rarely chat at the tables I play at, but as it was only $1 I happily got involved and had a good laugh doing so.

I made the final table in 2nd and much like the Britblogger game,pride came into it and despite the lowly prizes on offer,everyone seemed to be playing to win.I came 3rd for $20 after my AK was beaten by k10sooooted.The poker gods must have enjoyed that one because a player won a huge pot at my earlier table after going all in with k10 sooted after a raise and reraise and the move was debated for ages afterwards.Well, until the player complaining pushed QJ and went out!All good fun and it was nice chatting to some of the UKFF crew ( Skivey,Minx-girl,Everton babe,Trikky Dikky,Big Dazzer,slimcraigs,jashawk,Paulo n co) who were playing.

After that I played some $50 nl at Laddies and won over $90.I decided to step up and take a wee shot at $1-$2 6 max ( I don't take nearly enough shots at higher levels)and after dropping $60 pretty quickly I moved to two tabling $100nl full ring games.I came out even there over two hours play.I did lay down AK after making the mistake of limping with it and then raising a King high flop.A big stack reraised me on the turn and although I could have been ahead ( it was $10 to call into a $40 pot) I laid it down.Maybe a little weak as he could easily have had KQ/KJ.I don't mind limping with AK if there's a mad tilter about, but not in full ring games like this one as the villain could easily have made 2 pair.

A couple of wee things before I'm done.I reckon the main difference between my cash game and tourney approach is that in cash games I don't want to appear too tight in order that I'll get paid off when I hit, whereas in tourney games a tight image is ideal for stealing when the blinds go up.

Short -stacked Seamus is putting out some quality posts just now.I loved his quote by Eugene Todd,taken from a Poker Wire radio interview where Eugene was asked about the caliber of play in the WSOP so far this year.

"“Brutal. So bad. If I went to the supermarket and put a table in aisle five and picked out the next 10 people that came and played poker with them, they’d be better than the f*&!ing idiots we’re playing with downstairs.”

Don't forget to register for tonights Britbloggerment game on Stars.See previous posts for details.

I'm off to Sainsburys to test Eugenes theory....

Freewheelin' Salmon

I was tempted to vent a little on the frosty atmosphere between Mrs A and I at the moment.Between her coming off the happy pills and going through the change, life is not exactly a cher of bowlies in the Acorn household just now.

I'll leave it at that for now, as I'm not long back after taking Nacho a long walk across Langlands nature reserve which is only a few minutes from the house.The view from the plane window when landing at Glasgow airport the other week, reminded me that whilst Scotlands weather may be shitty,we do ( England,Wales and NI too) have some of the most beautiful scenery in the world right on our doorstep.

Perhaps the showers yesterday after the thunder storms put people off, ( too many puddles) but there was nobody else about, and it was great to take a stroll and clear the cobwebs from my brain.I usually walk or half jog at a fairly rapid pace ( for a little acorn!)thanks to years of having to keep up with the San Jose salmon and the the s-man on the walk to school.It was nice to remember my Grandpa taught me to slow down and simply stroll too.It gave me time to appreciate the pine forrest, which evoked memories of bmx'ing through similar places in my younger days.Oh how I wanted a Mongoose or Raleigh Burner instead of the shiney Viceroy ( weight aprox 8 tons!) I had at the time!

To the poker and not much to report from last night.I did enjoy playing whilst watching the highlights from Glastonbury.I loved the Artic Monkeys set ,especially my favourites,Mardy Bum and I bet you look good on the Dancefloor.Superb.


Anyway ,I had my Aces busted in about the first five minutes of the $3k 1000 pp freeroll last night before losing a $16 turbo at 'Stars,winning $25 at Party and losing $20 at a Ladbrokes $100 nl full ring table.It was also great to catch up with the San Jose Salmon ( aka Al Eleven,aka Miami Trout)when I got up today.He was still playing drunken $60 turbos while I was eating my shreddies.I did play one $16 turbo with him and crashed out with JJ v AQ on a Queen high flop only two hands into it.

I've mentioned before I reckon one of my biggest leaks is not being able to lay down big pairs and I'm pleased to say I ( not exactly move of the year I know) managed to lay down JJ after raising preflop and facing a reraise and then another all in.KK beat 77.Perhaps I find it easier to respect opponents holdings at $100nl as $50 nl ( especially Party 6 max) can be very fishy indeed.

A few last wee appeals before I go.Fellow bloggers get yourselves over to Raisetheriver.com and pimp your blog at the superbly moderated (!!) Poker blogs section.

Next up, do any of my American readers have an opinion on footballer ( and I mean real football with a round ball!)DaMarcus Beasley? It looks like my team are about to sign him from PSV Eindhoven. Seems like he made a good start at PSV, but faded and isn't getting a regular game now.Any thoughts welcome.

Lastly an appeal to anyone who may be reading from the San Jose area.If you can help my "weedless in San Jose" mate,Al Eleven to score, it may prevent him from applying to be the new spiderman.( climbing all those walls!)

Ahh well it's a good excuse to post this picture at least....

Don't forget...

Thanks to Dudley for the excellent banner.

Small Mtt Success

I checked last night and found I had 2000 player points at Laddies which needed to be used by the end of the month.I fired up Laddies $3k 1000pp freeroll,and sat down to play with 278 of my closest poker buddies.Actually make that 277 as the guy next to me at the the tables profile said he was a celt*c fan.( just kidding, I even said gg when he was knocked out!)

I missed the first few minutes, as I was still messing about after a late dinner.When I did start playing, I got a bit lucky when I called an all in on the turn with Jd10d.I had the flush draw plus top pair, but the villain had J9 for 2 pair, and he hit the rail when a lovely 10 came on the river.

I doubled through with KK ( yes it actually held up!) and won a race in the very next hand with 55 to double again.After that I sat back,played solid poker and the next time I checked the lobby there were only 84 left.I was 45th and the top 45 paid.( 45th paid $13)

I managed to get my stack up to 20k and was one of the biggest stacks at my table, before I ran 1010 into JJ and was slapped back into the main pack.I laid down AQ to a raise and folded A10s when it was folded to me in the cut-off because the big blind was the chip leader.

I'm a big fan of the gap concept and although I folded AQ to a raise ,I made a few reraises all in ( squeeze bets) with hands like AJ to boost my stack.
I also made a couple of blatant steals with A4d and K10off ,both from fairly early position which I felt looked less dodgy - not from UTG though, as it's the new button for steals and many players are aware of that.

The bubble eventually burst and winning a race with 99 and having Kings hold up ( again!) v a big stacks AK gave me a decent sized stack and a top 15 position.
I still had to deal with a couple of big stacks on my left, which did't make it easy to steal blinds and chip up further.

I did make a couple of resteal moves against the players I felt were raising preflop too often, and won a battle v one in a big hand, where I hit 2nd top pair on the turn and pushed representing the made straight.The turn had also put a flush draw out there and I reckoned that made my story more believable.The villain called with his open ended straight draw and thankfully a blank river card saw the pot come my way.

I made the final table in 2nd last position, sat back and mostly let the rest of them do battle until it was down to five of us.I was the shortstack and the remaining players all seemed quite solid and happy to fold until the blinds got me.On that basis I decided I had to move and pushed my 30k stack in the middle with K9c when it was folded to me in the small blind.

The villain and eventual tourney winner called with A7c and I went out after neither of us hit.I don't blame him for calling as although he would have been shortstack if he lost ,he wouldn't have been crippled and winning that hand probably helped give him the momentum to go on and win.The blinds were also massive and although I felt I had a tight image ( so did he,hence the steal) my raise probably looked like the steal it was.

Not exactly zillions or anything but I was pleased with the $165 prize especially as I consider mtt's to be the weakest part of my game and play in very few.

Righty just time before I go to mention organising a charity tourney for a very good cause.Head over to Kennys blog for more details and to add any ideas to make it more money.

I've was also delighted accepted Burnley Miks invitation to be moderator of the poker blog forum on Burnley Mik and co's Raisetheriver site and I look forward to seeing the whole site grow into something special.

Before I go I had to mention a player called Silverfox's Laddies profile in which he said he was so unlucky that if he was one of Jordans triplets ,he would be the one on the bottle....

WSOP 2007

More WSOP 2007 results are in, and I was pleased to see a blogger I link to picking up a bracelet.Congrats to Katja Thater for winning Event 29 ( razz).When I initially swapped links it was with Jan at 50 outs.Looks like his Mrs can play a bit too!

Only eighteen ( from tomorrow) more events on the Wsop 2007 schedule until the big one,the one and only main event starting on July 6th.

Mark your calendars,it's gonna be huge!

Bought New Car!

Not long back from the Arnold Clark carshowroom where I've just purchased myself a silver 2005 Ford Focus ST170 like the one pictured! I absolutely love my black Alfa 156 2.5 v6 but it's a 1999 model with 77k on the clock and the repairs were getting more and more expensive.The Focus looks great, drives like a dream and I can't wait to get the loan and plate transfers etc sorted. ( my "Acorn 1" number plate *)

It's still got a year left on the Ford warranty and will hopefully cost a bit less to run too.I spend about £150 ( $300) per month on petrol alone just now for my Alfa.
The Focus ST is just about as quick as the Alfa,has full traction control option and half leather sports seats.I can't wait to get it now!



Poker bit back last night at the tables after a decent start at 'Stars.I was $30 up at my cash table when my Kings were busted by some donkey calling pot size bets with 910 on a 10 high flop and hitting his 9 on the river.

I moved to a Party $100 nl 6 max table and suffered another suckout, which led to me making a daft tilty bluff ( I had Q10c and was on a failed flush draw) against the tables resident fishy calling station, who called my river bet with his 3rd pair.I realised I was tired and had had enough so I watched some of the Party Poker open on Ch4 before heading to bed $80 down.

On reflection I wished I'd shown the character to stay at that last table,tighten up my game and try and take out the fish using my failed bluff to hopefully get me action.Perhaps though, after that nasty combination of suckouts and card deadness, my bed was the best place for me.

I could also blame the bloggers curse for my woes last night.It seems everytime I read about another bloggers poor night at the tables I go and have one myself! More success stories please!

Righty that's all for today.Thanks for reading...

* ok my private plate isn't "Acorn 1" but maybe one day....

Wsop 2007

The World series of poker 2007 is well under way in Vegas ,with Helmuth making all the headlines with his 11th bracelet and his record 60th wsop cash.

It's an exciting time of year for poker and I'll be following the wsop 2007 results to see who my competition at the $50 nl tables will be over the coming year :-)

Good luck to all bloggers at the Wsop this year!

No rust but no glory!

My first game back in over a week was at the 13th Britbloggerment game and once again I managed to come 2nd which is fine when you're with a lady but not so good at a poker game! Congrats to Dudley ( Res Evil) for taking it down again for yet another Scottish win!

It was also great to see a few new faces at the game and I hope that continues next week.The regulars may have been playing for 13 weeks together but there's no need to ask about joining the game.Simply look for Britbloggerment at 'Stars under private tournaments ( 4pm est ,9pm bst Sundays $5)and use the password "donkament" to enter.It may be a "Britblogger" game but we really do welcome players from the US,Canada and Europe so give it a go!


I read Tan's latest post where he wrote that he felt that after not playing very much all week,he overvalued med pairs,made hopeful reads and felt he possibly wasn't making laydowns he should have made.In contrast I felt that my week off gave me a far fresher and clearer outlook on the game, and I found it much easier to open out my game a little and go with the reads I made.In part, this is probably because my standard speed mtt game needed opening out more than Tan's in the first place.


Starting a game without the baggage of being on a poor run or having recently suffered a bad beat seemed to boost my confidence and I reckon I probably played somewhere near my best poker.I like posting on an almost daily basis but I reckon more breaks are in order in the near future to help keep me focussed and fresh.


To be fair I also caught some decent hands and was lucky enough to pick up Aces v Lousabans KK and have them hold up.As ever I was enjoying my Sunday smoke and don't recall too many other hands, other than a fairly pivitol one ( though I didn't realise it at the time) v Res Evil where I raised with AQ and called his push over the top with AJ.Dudley ( res) said he thought he may be able to push me off which was fair enough.I had quite a large stack though and winnning that hand would have give me a decent chip lead and losing it wouldn't cripple me, so I was never folding and suffered my only real unlucky beat when he rivered a straight.

The final table seemed to be quite fast paced and before I knew it we were down to three with me being the shortstack compared to Dudley and Mikesaban who clashed bigtime when Dudleys KK beat Mikes AJ on a Jack high board.Soon after Dudley and I were heads-up but it was 2k v 29k ( aprox) and it did't take long for Dudley to see it through after that.

After the game I mused on what next for a while before deciding on a Full Tilt $50 cash game and I'm glad I did as it was as fishy as hell.( or heaven I suppose!)
I doubled up at my first table with Kings v JJ and left my second table with a nice wee profit after one particular fish got very generous with his monster Q7.



I did lose $7 after playing a couple of orbits of full ring $100 nl at Pokerroom ( called a raise with 99 and folded post-flop) and after that I watched a bit of the Sunday Million final table replay before hitting the sack for a long lie.Tomorrow is my last day off before it's back to the happy joyous world of work.

I took a look at the recent search words/phrases that people type in before stumbling upon this here blog.

Here are my top 5 favs...

1) "Bella Bella weed" ( for anyone who remembers the classic film "Gregorys Girl")

2) "Magic poker chant" ( if anyone has any ideas ,let me know!)

3) "5 dollar sngs's on Tilt are rigged" ( hehehe they're all rigged dontcha know!)

4) "old laddys pussy" ( ahh the dyslexic pervert strikes again!)

5) "to be kicked in the groin" ( join the queue!)


Just time before I go to say Happy Birthday to my blogger mate Juice.Have a good one.

Back soon....

Home sweet home + Britbloggerment 13

Arrived back home just after 6.30am this morning after our holiday in sunny Ibiza.We'd stayed at the Nautilus Hotel a couple of years ago and had a fine time.This time though we ended up complaining and getting a move to a sister hotel down the road.( San Remo)

At the Nautilus the aircon was rubbish,there was no fridge in the room,we had to pay for the sunbeds on the "private" beach and the food was awful.We also had to contend with our fellow Brits arguing and shouting most of the night.Oh and if we did get to sleep we were wakened by the cockerel out the back around 6am....

The San Remo was far better and we had a great room ( 311) for people watching although the aircon was only good enough to cool the room enough to sleep at night and not much else.

The only real let down was the jobsworth barman.I nearly lamped him one night after my all inclusive wristband had snapped and he wasn't going to serve me my beer.Mrs A was right next to me with her intact band and he was just being a dick and telling me to go to reception to get another before he'd serve us.On the 2nd last night I tried to order beers at 11.55pm only for him to tell me it was after 12am on his watch and the bar was shut.I didn't complain this time and walked away leaving him to ponder just what a "wee Spanish knob jockey" is!

Mrs A and I did enjoy ourselves and had plenty of long lie in's before hitting the beach and enjoying a few bevvies at night.We treated ourselves to a large steak dinner last night, before waiting over an hour for the prepaid transfer bus which failed to turn up.Thankfully the airport is only a 30 min ( £20) taxi ride away.

Mrs A and I got on really well during our break, although I did bring up the fact that after she read her book on "the change", she seemed to be trying to live up to everything in it! I did wonder if we were growing apart a little before our holiday, and although I'm trying to appreciate what she's going through, it does seem to be putting a bit of distance between us.For example she is going on a weeks break with the wee one and her Dad at the end of this month and in August.She's only going to Millport ( wee Scottish Island)but has said she doesn't want any more holidays abroad this year.I only booked us for 8 nights in Ibiza and had been looking forward to a proper 2 week break in September.Looks like I'll have to speak to my wee cousin about another 'Dam trip...

I read about ten books on the beach ,the best of which were Carl Hiassens excellent "Nature Girl",Anthony Holdens "Bigger Deal" and the strangely compelling "The Damned United" by David Pearce.The latter was a fictional account (based on fact) of Brian Cloughs 42 ill fated days as manager of Leeds Utd in the 70's as told from his point of view.( he died in '04).All well worth a read.

I didn't play any poker at all on holiday unlike Mother Acorn who was away on a cruise break with my Dad for a week and triumphantly texted me to tell me she had won two £10 live tournaments on board the ship!Apparently they electronic type dealers on the ship and by all accounts my Mum had a blast! Gaunyersel Maw!

Looking forward to getting back in the poker saddle later today.I did give my game some thought on holiday and I reckon I'm not a 15% roi sng player at all( As Sharky says).At my best and when my cards hold up I think I can edge nearer 30% ( at $16 level) but I also think I let my best game slip too easily and can play at -30% just as often.

They say poker reflects a mans ( or womans!) character and I reckon the above also applies a bit to my life too.I either seem to be operating at 30% roi and dealing with everything with zest and enthusiasm or I'm at -30% and feel disinterested and bored with my lot.This can change from one hour to the next!

I am feeling good after my break though and I'm looking forward to fighting the poker rust and hopefully playing my +30% game tonight at Britbloggerment 13.Hope to see you there, as everyone who blogs or reads blogs will be made more than welcome...

Happy 2nd B/day Blog/ Ytd stats

This will be my last post before I take a break for just over a week in Ibiza with Mrs A.I'm gutted at missing Sundays Britbloggerment game ( on Stars at 9pm bst,password:donkament) though a weeks break from the poker will probably do me good overall.

I played a wee $6 turbo at 'Stars to warm up last night ( no joy) before scanning my current sites for a juicy table.Party poker won the day and I sat down for some $50 nl shennanigans.

I'd chipped up a little when I was dealt 9c10c in late position.Nl can be a funny old game.Big hands tend to win small pots and the most lucrative way to win money is calling raises with speculative hands and hitting big against big pairs/AK/AQ etc.

It's a balancing act though, because if you called everything hoping to hit buy-ins would leak away fairly quickly.Back to the hand and I called the villains $2 raise and saw a lovely 10h 10d 7h flop.

There were only two of us in the pot and as he'd raised preflop, I wasn't too worried that he was drawing to the flush and therefore I just called his $3 continuation bet.

The turn brought a Kd and this time when he bet $6,I reraised him to $12,hoping it would look like I was semi-bluffing on a flush draw and hoping he was on the AK his turn bet suggested.

He smooth called my raise and checked to me on the river.I bet $21 and he called with his AK and called me lucky in the chatbox.

I did lose a little of that profit after trying to be too smart and pull off a bluff against the loosest player at the table.He'd folded a few times to my preflop small blind ( he was the bb) steals but when I tried again with 73off and the flop came King high he called my flop and turn bet and I had to fold to his bet on the river.

Ok, a couple more things before I vanish for a week.When The Cloud mentioned it was his blogs first birthday I checked and realised my blog is just over two years old.( born on 31st May '05).I didn't want to steal The Clouds thunder ( can you steal thunder from a cloud??) last week by mentioning it but I'm quite pleased I've stuck at this ghey blogging lark for so long.

Big thanks to the US bloggers who encouraged me with comments/links when I first started out ( Gcox,Tripjax and Jordan ) and there didn't seem to be many UK poker bloggers.( at least that I was aware of)

The last six months or so have been great, as I've added more and more UK blogging links ( drop me line to swap links) to my sidebar and I feel that we're building a fine wee community on this side of the pond too.I was always envious of the US blogger tourneys ( mostly too late for me to play in) and I think it's great that we now have our own successful Britbloggerment regular Sunday game.( 9pm Stars on Sunday,password: donkament)


Righty it's 9.25pm and I aint rolled a smoke or posted my stats!

Here are my latest stats: Party $963, Full Tilt $1287, Pokerroom $556,Ladbrokes $1379,Pokerstars $69 Grand Total $4254 ( +$8 since May 27th)

YTD Profit since start of 3rd year of online poker real money on Oct 31st until June 7th = $1599.

Edit: Bubbled a $16 when my AK soooted was beaten by A2 off.( I was shortstacked)
Crashed out of a $6 and won $60 at a Laddies $100 nl table when I called a small raise with 107,hit two pair and check raised the flop.The villian went all in for $68 and I called,beating his AK bluff despite the Ace on the turn.


With only 4 1/2 months to go and having made nearly $4k profit in both years one and two, I'm a little disappointed with my ytd figure.I have been playing far more sngs this year and although I've enjoyed adding to my skillset ,I'm never going to make much profit one tabling and I don't really enjoy playing more than two at a time.My Ytd also includes my tilt nightmare in May.Without that included I would have been on track to equal previous years.Poker isn't an easy game and whilst I'll be striving to equal or better last years profits, I just want to stay on track and come out in the black again this year.

Righty ya'll be good out there and best of luck at the tables.

Ibiza here I come....

Loose call?

I barely played at all on Monday night ( one failed $16 turbo) and last night I registered for a turbo, before deciding I'm getting a little bored of the format,so I moved to a Laddies $50 nl cash table with a $25 average pot.

As usual ( for an high ave pot table), there was a player raising every pot preflop and betting hard post flop.He was taking down a lot of pots and tilting players into donking off their stacks with less than stellar hands.

I made my first stand with AQ,limping in and calling the villains 8bb raise.The flop came 2h Qc Kh and I elected to call the maniacs by now standard continuation bet of $9.25,planning to take it away on the turn if possible and not be too afraid of the King.

The turn was a Js and I check raised the villains $13 bet to $27.I reckoned that raise would look as if it wanted called and as it was the first time I'd played back,I hoped it would be enough.I only had $11 left from my $50 buy-in so he knew he probably wasn't going to push me off.He folded....

A bit later I'd lost the profit from that hand when I picked up AK.Another villain made a weak min raise to $1 which was reraised by the maniac to $6.50.I decided the first guy was getting frustrated ( he'd just asked the maniac if all in was his only move) and my Ak could well be ahead and was almost certainly ahead of the maniac.

I moved all in for $46 and the first bettor called with A7 and the maniac called with ( I'm not making this up!!) 7c 4d.Thankfully my big slick held up.

The next big hand was interesting as I made a very marginal post flop call which the villain and I debated for the rest of my time at the table.I don't normally get into that sort of chat or I'll try and tilt 'em with "I had a feeling" etc but I had a note against the villain which said he was a "great player" and for some reason I felt obliged to point out it wasn't quite the bad beat it seemed.

I was dealt Ac Jc and limped in,ready to call the maniacs standard preflop raise.Mr "Great" called too and we saw a Js 2c Qc flop which I obviously liked.Mr Great checked ,the maniac made a $7.50 bet and I called with my ton of outs.Mr Great suddenly check raised all in for $76 more and I went into the tank.

I reckoned Mr Great had to have a hand to bet like that but that with me holding AJ it was less likely he had two pair and against the maniac in particular could be going to war with a hand like KQ,K10.It was very tight but I decided my flush draw and TPTK ( top pair top kicker) may well be good.There was $23 of dead money already in the pot and I made the call.The turn was an Ace putting me ahead with my 2 pair and the 4c on the river gave me the ( unrequired) flush and sealed the deal against Mr G's flopped 2 pair with QJ.

Mr Great felt it was a terrible beat despite me and Killerpea ( another player I've played with and respect) pointing out just how close it was.I was a 45/55% dog when the money went in, although if he had Qx ( my read) I would have been a very marginal favourite at 50.51 v 49.49%.

To be fair Mr G did go on to say that it was more the fact he felt he's suffered a 100 bad ones in a row and a bad three months that made him feel so bad but jeez did he harp on about it!

For the first time ever I mentioned I'd be posting it on my ghey poker blog so if you should read this,Hsvedan,feel free to rant in the comments box about what a donkey you think I am :-)

My car loan has been approved and I'm not long back from test driving the Focus ST 170 I looked at on Sunday.Doesn't seem quite as quick as my 2.5 v6 Alfa 156 but it can shift and was smooth to drive.The garage guy called my mobile whilst I was driving on Sunday and told my Dad he agreed to the part exchange price I was looking for.Today is went back on that and says he'll call me tonight if he can do a deal.I like the car but it aint the only one out there.

Righty I'll probably manage one more post tomorrow before heading off to Ibiza for a week on Friday night.Thanks for reading!

Grinding

It's not often I go to bed at 6am after a long poker session feeling happy at losing $35, but that's how I feel today.

I began by donking it up with Juice,Rosie and Mr Edge at a few $6 turbos and one $16 game ( no itm's in any of 'em for me).Great chat and a good laugh but no profit!

After the troops departed, I hit a Laddies $50 nl table and would have stayed there if I hadn't noticed the crazy table at $100 nl 6 max. I've posted the screenshot of above.$92 average pot and 57% to the flop!

It was time to take my chances.One player was raising every pot preflop by between $8-$25 and another maniac was doing something similar.I played a patient fairly tight game ( 30% vpip) and tried to hit a flop hard.My strategy seemed to be working although I was still trying to decide just how good the maniacs were.One was very strong preflop, but slowed down postflop if played back at, and as I had a fairly tight image ,I used that to my advantage and stole a few pots that way.

The other maniac seemed to call everything down and it was when I tangled with him that I made a huge mistake.I had AA and led out preflop,betting big on the flop.He hit his open ended straight on the turn, but there were two others still along for the ride and there was a flush draw out too, so I ( cringe!) went all in for $150.The two other villains folded ( one claiming he was open ended too) and Mr Hit his straight had the easiest call in the world to pick up the $392 pot.

As ever Mrs A chose this moment to open the living room door to( she has a habit of this kind of timing)tell me she's back downstairs as she couldn't sleep.I think I tried to say hello but couldn't form the words in my mouth.Actually my head was spinning so fast I couldn't think of anything and could only stare at my Laddies account page with my mouth gaping open.( in an appropriate fishlike manner)

I switched off Laddies,opened a Party table at $50nl, turned that off too and sat back to take stock.Yes,I made a daft move, but I had been more then holding my own at that table and I'd decided by then that the villain was going to part with his by now $700 stack to somebody and I'd rather it was me!

No fairytale ending here.I didn't leave hundreds up.I did though grind my stack up from $100 to $220 and greatly reduced my loss for the night.I was also right about the villain as he left just before this screenshot having gone from $100 to $700 to zero.

All good fun! I was out this afternoon looking at cars and I reckon the Focus St170 is going to be my choice.

Righty time for dinner and the Britbloggerment game! See you there...

Hummmf!

I don't usually write about my work as I've read about too many bloggers getting the sack over comments made about their employers,however I would like to make a wee exception and mention the new scheme my company have introduced for customers who are not entitled to compensation.( I deal with complaints)

The idea began with allowing us to send a bunch of flowers or box of chocolates, which I agree may well go some way to soothing customers who have low level complaints.I checked the website today and the range of gifts has now been expanded upon and we are now able to send out incredibly valuable and useful gifts such as space hoppers and even an acre of the moon!I can imagine that will go down a treat for those who have suffered endless service problems. "Terribly sorry about your troubles there Sir/madam, and that the company caused you such stress,inconvenience and wasted so much of your time.You're not entitled to any comp as such, but hey get up early tomorrow morning,the postman is bringing a treat!".

Later the next morning...

"What do you mean you're not happy with your space hopper or the acre of the moon for which you're now the proud owner?".

Honestly,you couldn't make it up!


To the poker and I feel I post enough of my own donkey moves to justify moaning about a particularly horrible night at the tables.It began in reasonable fashion as I came 2nd in a $16 ,18 player turbo on 'Stars,though I had the villain all in twice when heads up with higher pocket pairs only for him to hit his 2 outer.

In my 2nd turbo I ran 99 into KK and on the very next hand I pushed my remaining stack in the middle with JJ and ran into AA.Niiiiiice!

Laddies cash tables were beckoning and I hit the $50nl 6 max table with the $25 average pot and 45% of players seeing the flop.Once again I experienced complete card deadness until I picked up Kings and got 'em busted by A10 for a buy-in.I lost what seemed like a ton by rebuying everytime I dropped below $45.I never let my stack get below that, as I always want to be ready to make the most of any decent hand I am dealt.

I opened a $100nl full ring game which was incredibly loose and juicy for that level,with pots averaging nearly $50 and 40% of players seeing the flop.More card deadery ( hmm is that a word?)saw my $100 slip to $90 before I called a $2 raise with 7s8s soooted from late position.The flop was all Spades ( 10s 3s 2s) and I finally perked up a little ,thinking this might be my chance to win a nice pot.

There were five in the pot and I was surprised when it was checked to me.I was in the cut off and decided to take a wee chance and also checked intending to get out if another spade fell and I felt I was beaten.The plan of course was to allow someone to catch up a little and I could then really build a pot worth playing for from the turn onwards.It would also allow me to disguise my flopped flush a little as the standard move would probably be to bet out there.

Anyway the turn was a 6h and this time there was a $7 bet and one caller before the action was on me.I reraised to $18 ( pot was $27) which was reraised again to $29 before I went all in and got one caller.We saw another 6 on the river.I didn't like the paired board but even at this table I couldn't see anyone making their full house as they would have had to call the prelop raise with somethig like 106 or 63.The villain showed 66 for dem quad biatches and I switched off my laptop and went to bed!

In total I dropped ( much nicer word than lost!)$150 at Laddies although that was offset slightly by my 2nd place at the Stars tourney.

The good news is that I've been playing long enough now to not be overly bothered by nights like last night.That doesn't mean I wasn't upset in the few moments after the hand but overall I can accept that is just how the poker cookie crumbles sometimes,especially at the type of tables I choose to play at.

If I had a horse I'd be ready to jump back on it!

Right,time for another bad beat.Gotta go shopping with the Mrs..

Britbloggerment 11 on Sunday!

Good work Mr Cloud and Juice!

All welcome!

Weekend at last...

I'm not sure whether it's just that I was feeling incredibly tired last night or if it was the aircon in my office but my eyes were so dry last night even the Pokerstars river couldn't get my tear ducts going.
( hard as it tried!)

My eyes were as dry as my posts over the last few days.To be honest I've not been feeling anywhere near my best recently and I reckon it shows here.

Maybe I just need a really good nights sleep because at the moment my poker/blogging enthusiasm seems to vary between an almost manic state where topics and ideas just seem to flow, and a being in a state of complete inertia where I feel like I'm churning out the same old rubbish day after day.

Mrs A has come off the happy pills just over a year after her Mum died and is walking around like a bear with a sore head, which although understandable ,is not helping lighten the mood in our home.Roll on next Friday when Mrs A and I head to sunny Ibiza for a much needed holiday.

To the poker and I began by playing a $1 mtt on Stars for UK players.The main reason for playing was that I felt too tired to play properly but still fancied a game.I think I came around 35/100 and went out when I ran AQ into KK.

A $6 ,18 player sng followed and my luck was out there too.I finished when my steal ( and I'd hardly played a hand) with Q8 was called by Q7.It didn't feel like any great surprise when the flop came 7 9 9 and the turn and river didn't help me either.

I moved to Party $50nl, won a buy-in overall and felt I played quite well.My first table had one loosey goosey fishy and I was fortunate enough to get a chunk of his shortish stack when my 1010 was good on a low ragged board.

I moved to a new table and bluffed the big stack off a hand with my failed flush draw.It wasn't hard as the flop brought two hearts and a Jack.When another Jack fell on the turn I bet as if it had just given me trips and he folded.

I wouldn't usually get away with the above move at the very loose tables I usually play at but this table had tightened enough to make betting draws and throwing in the occasional bluff a profitable move.

Righty thanks for reading.Back soon..