The highs n lows of a winning low stakes Sng player
Monday, July 30, 2007
Bloggerment + Charity game update
First up a huge thanks to every one of the 39 runners who turned out to play the Britbloggerment game last night,beating the previous record turnout by a mile.Great to see so many new faces too, and I think the turnout shows there's no need to tweak and change the format in any way right now.
Congrats to Dremeber for taking it down after a fine battle.My own battle was far shorter after my KK fell to QQ, before my good mate Al Eleven finished me off by donkey calling his way to a winning hand v my flopped two pair :-))
Also thanks to Cloud for the $5 transfer bounty received today after Al Eleven and I destroyed the Cloud and BM in our last long bet!( after Al had destroyed my stack first!)
I had a little trouble focussing on the start of the Bloggerment game, as I was still scrapping it out in Kennys charity game on Bet365.It was a rebuy tourney and I had planned on making a few as it was for a good cause, but my donkey all ins with hands like A9 all seemed to hold up.It was just aswell because when I chose to take the add on I discovered that although my deposit had been made, my $60 was only showing as "withdrawable" and wasn't in my poker account.
I made it down to a HU battle with Mikesaban and considering his fine MTT record,I felt I held my own reasonably well.Mike had taken a bit of a battering at the start of the game and I think he even announced he was on his last rebuy, before he put in a storming performance to get it HU.
I tried to be aggressive and mix up my play against him but finally fell at the last hurdle when we both got our big stacks in the middle.My AJ V KJ dominated, but a rivered Queen gave Mike the straight and the top prize.( kindly donated by MiasDad).I was a bit gutted by the rivercard, though overall Mike played a fine game and I hope the Sabans enjoy the weekend break prize.
Not much tourney joy, however I did take £80 to a £100nl full ring table at Interpoker and managed to run it up to £185 before bed.
My third hand was 1010 and along with four others ,I called a £4 preflop raise.( I was in cut off position).The flop came 10 high with 2 clubs and the villain led out with a £17 bet.I was tempted to slow play a little,resisted the temptation and doubled his bet to £34, hoping he would read me for either an A10 type hand or a semi-bluff on the flush draw.He pushed with his KK, I insta-called and my hand held up.
I won a couple of smaller pots after that and left the table very happy with my £105 profit.I'll continue to take shots using my Interpoker account, though I've seen enough beats in my time to avoid the enevitable consequences of taking the my full Inter roll to one table.
Righty that's all for today.Poker tonight, followed by Rangers game v Zeta in the Champions League 1st round of qualifiers tomorrow night.
Not too happy with myself for just bombing out of the final heat to qualify for the Scottish world cup team at 'Stars in 16th place.I'd called a raise with AK sooted and played it too slowly on an Ace high flop.I did bet, but not enough to stop Mr JJ catching his Jack on the river.
That saw me reduced to just over 1k in chips.I picked up AK sooted again in late position and raised preflop.The flop came Jack high with two spades and I led out for 360 ,only for the villain to take his time before pushing all in.I had 495 left and though I was sure I was behind, I felt I had to call and try and hit one of my two overs.The villain showed 1010 and I was sent to the rail after no Ace or King fell.
At the time I thought I was getting good pot odds to call off my last 495 ,though now I'm wondering if it would have been better to fold and try and rebuild in that spot.
My Headhunter jinx continued ( not taken one bounty in three games) last night at Interpoker too after my Kings were busted by some muppet and his 108 soooted.I'm still getting the hang of how to adapt to these games.I like the idea but I'm not sure that style of tourney suits my game.
I did have a bit more joy at the Stars $16,18 player turbos last night.I went out of the first one after another nasty suckout and then decided to fire up two at the same time, which is not something I've tried too often with sng's.I bubbled in one and won the other for a wee profit.
I moved to Laddies and two tabled for a while ,winning my biggest pots with top pair,top kicker.I even played heads up for 1/2hr and watched my stack swing up and down until I finally took most of the villains with a well disguised straight.I looked about for other very shorthanded tables, but there were only ones with 2-3 players all with well over the table buy-in, and as it was losers I was looking for,I stuck to 6 max and full ring games.
Here is my favourite hand of the night...
** Game ID 799284703 starting - 2007-07-29 03:38:57 ** hejaheja. [Hold 'em] (0.50|1.00 No Limit - Cash Game) Real Money
- Acornman sitting in seat 4 with $93.50 - ShaunB1 sitting in seat 5 with $121.62 - pokerian sitting in seat 6 with $101.33 [Dealer] - AndyRiz sitting in seat 7 with $162.19 - golffish25 sitting in seat 8 with $177.37 - Sir_Teddy sitting in seat 9 with $97.00 - pokerchutney sitting in seat 10 with $122.94
AndyRiz posted the small blind - $0.50 golffish25 posted the big blind - $1.00 ** Dealing card to Acornman: 3 of Hearts, 4 of Hearts Sir_Teddy called - $1.00 pokerchutney folded Acornman called - $1.00
>>> Not a call I'd make everytime but if I hit the flop....
ShaunB1 folded pokerian folded AndyRiz called - $1.00 golffish25 checked
** Dealing the flop: 10 of Hearts, Ace of Hearts, 8 of Diamonds AndyRiz checked golffish25 checked Sir_Teddy checked
>>> Three weak checks.I'll take a wee stab at it with my flush draw.
>>golffish seemed a bit loose but no reads as to how good he is.Not sure a reraise would get him to fold so I'll call and see turn card. Acornman called - $8.00
** Dealing the turn: 2 of Diamonds golffish25 bet - $10.00
>>Now any 5 would give me the straight or any heart for the flush.If he has the Ace then I doubt I can push him out here by reraising.
Acornman called - $10.00
** Dealing the river: Jack of Hearts golffish25 bet - $10.00
>>> His $10 seems weak and I reckon my flush is good here.
Acornman raised - $35.00 golffish25 called - $35.00 Acornman shows: 3 of Hearts, 4 of Hearts golffish25 mucks: Acornman wins $107.00 from the main pot
>>> It is indeed good!
Left Laddies about $130 up and hit my secret santa Interpoker account.I bought in for $80 ( nearly my full Inter roll) at a $200nl table and ran it up to $140 before logging off and getting to bed around 5am.I know I stay up far too late playing but the tables just seem to be so much jucier in the early hours of the morning.I blame the chair glue!
Ok, I'm busy trying to download Bet365 software and register in time for Kennys charity game.See previous post for donations link.Ok,I'm signed up on the site and now registered for the game!
I'm not going to include the £30 I now have on Bet365 in my main bankroll.This gives me two accounts ( Inter is my other secret santa account) outside my main roll and will be used mainly for fun and for allowing me to abandon my usual tight arse bank roll management rules.
Here are my latest stats ( further update at month end).
Pokerstars $255,Ladbrokes $1748,Party $1118,Pokerroom $483,Full Tilt $1520.Total $5124 ( + $377 since July 15th).
Great to see my roll over $5k for the first time ever.( always cashed out before hitting $5k mark)
It seemed a long way off after my -$700 tilt nightmare back in May.I move back home in Sept and money may be tighter, but hopefully I can leave the bankroll to ( hopefully) grow further.Considering the weakness of the US dollar I really should probably set up a separate bank account and withdraw most of my roll from poker accounts and keep it there.Having over $1500 on Full Tilt for example probably makes no sense as I don't play there too often at all.At an exchange rate of over $2 per £1 and rising it's just giving money away keeping it there.
Just checked and we have 16 registered so far for tonights Britbloggerment game on Stars.( see yesterdays post for details).Hopefully we can have another record turnout.Only $5.50.Get registering.....
I had a mixed night at the poker last night.It was a good night for my roll, but could have been better after I was $120 up within about 10 minutes at my $100nl Laddies cash table, before losing a big hand with trips to a full house, and leaving $40 up a while later.
I also made a quick $25 at 'Stars just before bed and managed 22nd place in an Interpoker Headhunter tourney for a whopping $1 profit.Only I could come 22/369 in a head hunter bounty tourney and not manage to collect one single bounty!
In any other tourney getting that far without having to commit my stack very often would be good...!
The cash tables at Inter weren't as kind and after losing a big hand to a suckout I then tilted off a further $40 through a combination of tiredness,frustration and lack of focus.I still have over double my buy-in at Inter so all is not lost.
I also played a sat mtt to try and qualify for the Scottish world cup team at Stars yesterday and suffered a pretty awful beat ( look away now) when I got it all in with AdKd v AsJh on an Ace high flop with two diamonds ,only to see a Jc fall on the river.Nice one outer!
I was determined to try again today and sat down with two rolls n square sausage to play at 2pm along with 95 others.
I chipped up quite well, although it was squeaky bum time near the bubble as I was 10th from 13 left with the top 9 qualifying.
The significant hand was when it was folded to me with AQ on the button.The bb was very shortstacked and was sitting out.I made a decent sized raise, however the big stack in the sb must have thought I was after the dead bb's money and he reraised.I made the call, as I had to take a chance to move up the rankings, and he could have been making that move with a less than premium hand because he thought I was stealing.He showed AJ and my AQ actually held up.From then on I folded into the next round....
I should also mention Hammerheid ( bloggerment player) was at my table and played well.He was very unlucky to take a big hit when his KK fell to QQ and unfortuntely he never recovered.
The final is tomorrow at 2pm and 2/18 will qualify for the Scottish team.The countries then play off online and the top 8 go to sunny Barcelona to play live for some decent cash.( and the glory!)
I also watched Rangers beat Chelsea 2-0 in the friendly game at Ibrox this afternoon with the Nacho man opening the scoring and Sebo bagging the other.
Don't forget to register for Bloggerment 19 and if you see two in the lobby please pick the No-Limit one! As Joint Supreme Overlord of the Bloggerment along with Burnley Mik, I am happy under the collective responsibility ethos,to accept the blame....on BM's behalf if he's not around and then place it firmly on his shoulders :-)
Looks like the Wolverine fan is trying to round up some US dead money for the game on Sunday and let me just say again that the Bloggerment is open to anyone,anywhere and we're a pretty welcoming bunch.( We smile as we take your chips!)
I'm not the most organised person at the best of times and I think I've left it too late to register for the charity game Kennys hosting on Sunday.I have however made a donation at this link.
I'm also looking forward to registering for the new Raise the river league game ( see link on right).I would like to reiterate though that there will be no changes to the current Britbloggerment format.Mias Dad put it best when he said "if it aint broke,don't fix it".Mini country v country games,bounties,league tables etc are always welcome but the buy-in ,start time etc will be staying as it is!
The s-man did pop over last night and we had a fine evening chewin' the fat ,watching "Still Game" and donking out a wee $6 turbo.
I two tabled at a couple of juicy Laddies tables for a while later on but couldn't get anything going and lost about $45 in total.Just one of those nights really.
Looking forward to the weekend though.I'll be watching the Rangers friendly with my favourite English team tomorrow on tv.I've been to Stamford Bridge ( before Abramovich) to see Chels beat Ipswich and I was tempted to go to the game but I decided a couple of years ago I wouldn't pay money to watch what are basically training sessions that don't count for anything.
The obvious exception being Celt*c's 4-1 defeat to Newcastle last night which is a result I take very seriously!( and have enjoyed emailing my sellick supporting colleagues about today!)
Just time to give a bit of pimpage to Mairs poker blog.Mair and her hubby ,Hammerheid,have recently started playing ( and usually kicking ass)at the Britbloggerment game and I didn't realise she had a blog until yesterday.Well worth a read!Pop over and say hello...
Well ex Mrs A called last night when I was on the way home to say I could get a meal from her work.( chow mein).When she arrived home after work she mentioned she'd defrost some meatballs and I could cook some pasta with them for tonights dinner,( She's working again)so possibly her attitude seems to have defrosted a little too since yesterday.
The comments from Juice and SJS were very much appreciated and you both made some very good points.It's great to have such support and words like "very much appreciated" don't really convey how grateful I am for the time you lads ( and people who have commented previously) have taken out to read and respond.
I don't think I am harbouring any hopes of staying together and in truth although it would be tempting to slip back into that comfort zone,I'm not sure I'd want to, even if it was up to me.Juices point about it maybe just not working out is a good one and to be honest I'm don't think ( for whatever reason)I did try hard enough to save our relationship.I also think the lack of communication from ex Mrs A showed she didn't try too hard either.
SJS makes a good point about how moving out would show her I've accepted the situation, and I reckon even if I don't move out, I can maybe start to talk more about my plans, and move things on from the "let me know if you change your mind about us" conversation from last month.
To the poker and I have to confess to playing on a secret Santa account since I deposited £25 into a crypto skin last weekend.The idea was that if I'm not reporting results here then I'll feel more free to take a shot and gamble a bit more.To that end I won't be including my account total there as part of my main bankroll but will say that so far so good!
The reason for mentioning it is that I've been enjoying playing their Headhunter tourney where half the prize pool is used to provide bounties on everyones head and this is paid when you knock a player out.I've only played two and haven't knocked anybody out yet but the strategy adaptions are interesting.There seems to be less fold equity especially as a shortstack and the temptation to enter a pot with almost any two can be great when you know there are bounties at stake.
I also played an hour at Party $50nl last night and finished about even after a few ups and downs.
Ok, the S-man is on his way over shortly so that's all for now...
Visited Mother and Father Acorns last night for a fine steak dinner and my Mum and I played a few wee sng's afterwards.In the first one our JJ was busted by A10,our Queens fell early in the 2nd,Kings busted within a few hands of the 3rd game and to top it off our Aces were busted early in the last game after losing all in preflop to J9 and 99.( straight on the board!).
Later on I played a wee $6 turbo with Rosie and couldn't recover from having my Jacks whupped by 1010 when a 10 flopped.Who flicked my doom switch?!
In other news when I offered ex Mrs A money towards the weeks shopping she said it would be better if I got my own.I've checked and apparently we will still be sharing milk,bread etc for now.I'm very tempted to cancel the car insurance for the fiesta as it's in my name however I'll see how things go first.
The washing machine was on spinning away until after 1am last night and I'm wondering if she's now trying to annoy me into leaving before my tennant leaves my own place and I can go home.She's out working Mon/Wed/Thus, and if it wasn't for the chance to make the most of my time with Step A and Nacho, then I'd happily be out of there pronto.
A wise person said I may only realise my true feelings re Mrs A with the benefit of hindsight, and although that may be true, I honestly don't feel I'm anywhere near being as upset about the actual split with the ex as I am about not seeing as much of Step A and Nacho.
I'm not bitter about wasting 7 1/2 years of my life because I've had some great times, including several holidays abroad most years,teaching Step A to swim and cycle, aswell as some good laughs with the ex too.
Congrats to Kronsdat for taking down last nights Britbloggerment game and to Hammerheid and Spid for making the money.
I only managed a lowly 17th place finish from 24 starters, although I did manage to bounce back from 300 chips after my 1010 was beaten by Spids AK when a King fell.He had raised preflop when folded to him ( on the button I think)and this made it less likely in my mind that he had a premium hand.When I shoved I was hoping he would only have one live overcard or a lower pair to give me a real edge in any race, but his Big Slick meant I was only slightly ahead.
I ended up pushing 33 and lost a race to Kenns AQ to go out.I had just over 1000 chips at that point and as the blinds were creeping up and my stack would soon have diminished ,I don't regret the move.
If I'd won those two races... I coulda been a contenda!
All good fun and as usual the chatbox was buzzing.
Mary mentioned playing another blogger tourney during the week and I see saw someone on Raise the River forum asking about a mini league and splitting the prize pool.On the latter idea I'm of the opinion that for now the Britbloggerment game is working just fine as it stands.
I'd considered chatting to BM about possibly raising the buy-in for the first or last game of each month but the $5 seems to suit everyone and I don't think people would play any better if the stakes were raised.
If there was enough interest, then a midweek game could be an idea, although perhaps the Britblogger game is as good as it is because it's a one off every week.All thoughts welcome.
Righty here's a quick funny from the paper before I go...
Bert Kelly recalls a relative who went on holiday to Greece. It was his first trip outside the UK and (a) he could not get his tongue around the word drachma and would substitute Dracula every time the name of the then local currency came up and (b) couldn't get the hang of a bar tab as he had "always paid for his swally" when he got it.
One evening our hero and his father-in-law decided to go for a bevvy. Father-in-law went home early, only to be woken by our hero banging on his door. The police were after him, it wasn't his fault and they should have been chasing the guy who tried to mug him. In the cold light of morning it transpired that as our hero left the bar "a guy ran up to him and demanded 2000 Draculas", whereupon our hero decked him and made off. The assembled family all sympathised until the father-in-law asked him what he owed him for the bar tab. "What bar tab?:" was the reply.
On Friday night I spent just over 3 1/2 hours playing an $11 mtt on Stars and scraped into the money by finishing 156th from 2487 starters for a whopping $19 pay out.I'd pushed with A10h from the button and ran into the Big Blinds QQ.
Last night I began by playing a $25 ( $5k gtd) mtt and managed 70th from 211 when I ran my JJ into QQ.I think on reflection if I'm going to play mtt's then I'd prefer a slightly higher entry fee and a smaller field of players.
Multi table tourneys are the only poker game now where I feel very inexperienced compared to cash games and sng's.Not much fun playing for hours then going out on one nightmare type hand but I suppose if you can live with the variance,the rewards are good.
After my last mtt I looked around for a juicy cash game and began two tabling $100nl full ring tables at Party.The good news for my roll is that I played some half decent poker and my big hands held up, which resulted in me leaving about $300 up.My biggest hands included flopping quads Kings and getting action from QQ ,flopping a set of Jacks v QQ ,and good old top pair top kicker holding up ( AK) v a donkeys J10 on an A 10 8 6 K board.
I feel I'm getting used to $100 nl and I'm not feeling at all out my depth at the tables I've played at.I was happy with my play last night and the result but strangely I didn't feel a great deal of joy.This is probably a good thing because I'm trying not to go too much the other way if I have a poor night at the virtual felt.I saw a lot of bad beats at my tables and I think I'm well aware of how quickly a buy-in or two can be lost on the turn of a card and this helps stop me getting too excited by a few decent hands holding up.
Ok, I'm annoyed now! I read an excellent comment by Wil Wheaton yesterday and now I can't find it anywhere.I'm sure he left it as a comment on someones blog and I liked it so much I thought I'd link to it today.Dang!
The general gist of it was that when it comes to poker and results there's no great score keeper reading blogs etc and marking you up or down for the week.I often feel if I don't include absolutely every result from every game played in my blog, then I'm not being true to myself or anyone reading, which on reflection is actually quite silly as my roll updates are regular and honest.
I do log most results anyway, as one of the main reasons I started this blog was for exactly that reason.I am more wary now than ever though about being a slave to short term results.I do still find myself playing less poker near the end of the month ( or fortnight) if my stats are due to be posted and I'm ahead, or getting annoyed at making a bad start when I've just posted them and I'm in a new period of results.It was as if I could sense people reading and judging me when really the only person doing much judging is myself.
Sure we're all happy for blogging friends who do well and can certainly empathise when the poker gods turn nasty, but at the end of the day poker isn't a team game and the only person we're all truly accountable to is ourselves.
Righty that's all for this weekend.Don't forget to register for tonights Britbloggerment game on Stars...
After dinner last night I logged on to the net and read that the Cloud was playing in a $100 sng as part of his diceman experiment.I headed to Stars to watch the man in action and although he didn't win it did get me thinking again about how we as players find our poker level.
I wonder how many players (both cash and sngs') beat a level comfortably for a reasonable period of time before moving up, and how many play where they do because that's just where they decided to start out.Is it down to skill or do peoples varying "gulp" limits come into play? It's probably a bit of both and some people will obviously give more priority to one aspect over another.In other words some may have the skills but would gulp at losing a buy-in at a level they could win at.
For example I began by playing $25nl and never really considered that I'd missed out on even lower levels like $5 and $10nl buy-ins.( $25 was lowest available on Pokerroom) I suppose having never played them I couldn't really say how these $5 and $10 tables play but I would be confident that anyone with the skill and discipline to win there should be able to step up to $25nl and win, so long as they have the roll and could deal with losing a few buy-in's in a row through the bad beats and variance nobody can avoid.
My record at $16 turbos is ok.My roi after nearly 300 games is 16% but I'm only making about $1 per game and I'd like to step up.Ideally I'd love to be a regular at the $55's and above,and although I know there will be more sharks and better players there,that's not what's stopping me playing at that level.These turbos are high variance and it's easy to go on a run of ten without cashing ( I find it very easy at times!).
Could I cope with dropping $600 after ten failed $55+$5 games without changing my game or tilting? First of all I'd need a decent run just to prove to myself that I could live with the players at that level and that takes many games in itself.Perhaps my game may not be good enough for that level or would need adapting beyond recognition.It's very easy to stay in a comfort zone and even then it's taken me almost 300 games to get there!
Anyways I only played a few wee $6 sng's last night with Rosie,Juice and Mr Edge and managed 2nd in one of them.I did see a man about a dog yesterday and a what a fine piece of solid blonde that dog turned out to be!
A fine smoke and I even sensibly hit the sack around 12.30am last night rather than make myself even more knackered by staying up too late.
I'm enjoying reading the big fuss in the papers over cabinet ministers who admit they smoked weed when they were younger.It's a subject I feel strongly about but most people know the arguements and I'm not going to rehash ( boom boom) them here.
I did however almost cry with laughter at Mathew Normans "comment" piece in The Independent,where he states that the last time he smoked skunk ( the wicked extra strong weed we should all be scared of) he "became convinced that I was trapped inside the body of a bassett hound".Oh really, and may I have the name of your dealer, were the thoughts that sprung to mind.Next time I score some skunk weed I'm buying a muzzle in case I break my back trying to lick my nuts!
I did actually think his article was meant to be tongue in cheek, but I reckon his comment in particular that the famous potent "White Widow" strain of weed is "cocaine-sprinkled" just shows up the sheer ignorance of the man.
Congrats to Jerry Yang on winning the main event at the 2007 WSOP and taking home $8.5m.
Meantime, I managed to come 2nd in a $6 ,18 player game after a few otm finishes.( out the money!)
Last night it was time to meet up with Dudley do-right and play some live poker baby!
We met up around 7.15pm just outside the Wabash poker club and what a thoroughly decent and easy to get on with bloke Mr Do-right turned out to be!Check out the links to Dudleys blog for a proper trip report.
We were hoping to enjoy a night of £5 sngs but it turned out that they were running a £22 freezeout ( no rebuys) with 10k chips to start and another 10k available as a free add on at any time.I managed to grab a quick spot of health food ( roll n burger in batter and a roll n chips) before we headed back for the 8pm start.
There were 19 starters and I never really made much of an impression to be honest.I laid down AJ after making a preflop raise and continuation bet ,only to face a reraise on a low board.
By the time I took my 10k add on I really needed it as the blinds were getting quite high.I was caught between raising and pushing to try and stay in the game and pushed successfully a couple of times.
I do recall losing with A10 to A6 and later getting lucky v Dudleys AJ when my A4 push spiked a 4.
I nearly pushed twice when folded to me, but the big stacked solid player on my left had put me off trying, as I had no fold equity against him.We were 5 or 6 handed for most of the game and I was in serious danger of being blinded away, so I pushed with K10 when folded to me ,only for the BB to call with A7 and knock me out in 9th,one off the final table.( almost an auto-call for him due to stack sizes)
I did enjoy the experience and after a nervous start I felt quite comfortable at my table.I didn't pick up any tells at all apart from sussing out that the girl on my right only stopped smiling when she had a hand.Sadly for her she stopped smiling altogether when her full house ran into dem quad biatches!
I played a little online when I got home and got to thinking about the old chestnut people come out with about wanting to move up to play with better players because the play is more predictable and there are less donkeys.In my opinion it's simply a matter of adjusting your game to suit your opponents.
I played a low level buyin table last night and raised 5bb with KK.It was called by four players at my 6 max table and I checked on a 5 5 3 flop and led out for £3 after an 8 on the turn also put a flush draw out there.One player called and another raised my bet to £9.With 4 players in preflop he could have had anything including the 5 so I laid down my cowboys and watched Mr 89 lose to Mr A5.
Now I could complain bitterly that donkeys called my 5bb raise with 89 off and A5 but they are quite entitled to play their cards as they see fit.The reply to this donkery play is simply to bet bigger next time preflop.It's like learning to drive where you learn the biting point of your clutch and how hard to press on the accelerator.
Having just written that, I can understand the frustration people feel "When donkeys attack", though often I think it's my own fault for failing to adjust properly.For example some donk called my raise in a $6 sng with 76off and then called my pot sized bluff in order to get lucky and hit their gutshot on the turn.At $16 level more players would have a)folded 67off preflop b) folded to such obvious "strength" post flop c) not used a ton of chips to chase like a drawing donkey
$6 sng's seem to require good cards more than $16's because people are willing to call you down with a lot less.The solution? Well it's a bit like the British way of speaking to foreigners on holiday when they don't understand what you're saying....just shout louder!
In poker terms this means betting bigger.Whilst a 2/3 pot size bet may deny drawing odds mathematically ,if you don't want the call or want to make sure Mr Donk really pays to outdraw you, then forget the maths and shout in his ear "I HAVE A BIG HAND YE MUPPET" by overbetting.Also learn to be happy to pick up blinds and a limpers cash with hands like AQ with bigger bets rather than being upset at getting no action.
Bigger bets also allow you to find out where you are a lot faster and save you losing money on later streets.Due to the fact the Britbloggerment game standards are higher than your average donkfest I'm trying to learn to tone my bet sizes down a bit as I clearly don't ( in most cases!)need to tell my story quite as loudly to get the message I want across.
Great to see a record 28 players come out to play the Britbloggerment game last night on 'Stars.Thanks to all who showed up and helped make it an excellent game.Where else does a $5 game with 28 players take nearly 3 hours to complete?
Congrats to Mikesaban for destroying the field with some fine poker and to Tripjax for putting in a great display too and earning himself the bridesmaid dress!
I made the final table again but crashed out in 8th after a move I'm still unsure of.Pokermunkey raised preflop and I decided to take a stand with my 44 and pushed all in.I had hoped there was a chance PM would fold A10-AQ or 22- 88 ( it was for his tourney life too)but he made the call with AK sooted,hit his King and sent me to the rail.
I could maybe have waited for a better spot but felt if it was a coin flip and I won it then I would have a far better chance against the remaining sharks.I usually play to get in the money first in most of the turbos I play, but at the Britbloggerment game I'd rather take a chance to double up than sneak into the money.
Other key hands I recall were whupping the San Jose Salmons ( Al eleven) hammer with my AJ,always seeming to have a hand on Burnley Miks big blind and knocking Juice ( Quixote) out with JJ.
After the game I decided to play some cash at Stars and was enjoying my table as it had one really poor player who seemed intent on donating his stack to the rest of us.
All was going well until a hand where I had raised preflop with As10c,hit my 10 and when the villain ( not the fish) made a 50c bet ( Flop Qd 10d 6s)I meant to reraise to see if he was on the flush draw but instead of a $5 bet I realised to my horror I'd bet $50! Just my luck that the villain wasn't flush drawing and called with his badly played trip queens.( unless he was hoping to lure the eager fish in with a weak lead type bet).
I even hit an Ace on the turn but all to no avail and I left the table annoyed at my tired,fumbling error.
Righty that's all for this bank holiday Monday.Just time to remind my English blogging friends not to get too carried away because an Englishman won the Blogger game.I counted 13/28 English starters.Well done on improving your pitiful record in the competition though :-))
"Floats like a butterfly, sting like a bee, his hands can't hit what his eyes can't see" is one of my favourite Muhammad Ali quotes.Ali's famous rope-a-dope tactics against Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle were perfect for the fight and I loved his "That all you got George?" late in the fight just before he knocked him out in the 8th round.
For anyone who doesn't know or can't follow the link,the rope-a-dope idea is for the boxer to lie on the ropes of a boxing ring, conserve energy and allow the opponent to strike him repeatedly in hopes of making him tire and open up weaknesses to exploit for an eventual counter-attack.
Last night at a $100 nl 6 max Laddies table I had fun employing my own rope-a-dope tactic.The game was 5 handed when I joined, had a high average pot and vpip's like telephone numbers.There was one ego player who was blocking the chat box with repeated nonsense and proudly showing his cards after his big ( mostly donkey like) moves.Eventually the other three left and I got heads-up with him.
I was already down to $85 from my $100 and at first during the HU game he was reraising my every raise,I was missing flops when I called his raises, and I couldn't really bluff him because he was too stupid/drunk to lay a hand down.I could almost sense his elation at how easily he was running over the top of me ,yet I wasn't worried because I reckoned I would get my chance.It came when I picked up AK soooted and made a standard $4 raise.He of course reraised ,probably expecting me to fold.I made it $15 to go and when he reraised that, I reckoned I was ahead of his very wide range and went all in.He insta-called with AJ, my Ace high won on a ragged board and his stack went down faster than a turd falling from an aeroplane.
He rebought for another $30 and after several all ins from him,I picked up AK again and once more beat his AJ for the rest of his stack.When I typed "reload?" in the chat box he typed "you need the cash or something?" and left.I wish he'd stayed but it was still very satisfying.
I did stupidly blow $35 at Pokerroom chasing a flush at full ring $50 nl table.I need to avoid daft lapses like that and also keep my last hand/orbit syndrome in check better.
I also played four $16 turbo's ( 18 player) at Stars and won one of them,crashed out of two and bubbled in the last one after a most annoying suckout.
Ok,one last Ali quote before my updated stats.I thought this one was quite relevant to the poker too...
"Champions aren't made in gyms, champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill."
Here are my current bankroll stats since the last update on July 1st.
Pokerstars: $218,Ladbrokes $1658,Pokerroom $487,Party $874,Full Tilt $1510. Total $4747.( + $196 since July 1st)
Right just a quick reminder to register for todays Britbloggerment game at Stars.9pm bst ( 4pm in lobby under private).Password is donkament and it's open to all.Only $5.50!
I'm looking forward to it as usual.I'll also be watching the Brazil v Argentina Copa America final at 10pm.Hopefully it'll be a cracking final and I tip Brazil to win it by about three goals.( aint the edit post button great?!!)
I decided to venture into the world of mtt's last night and after crashing out of Stars $11,$20k gtd on the first hand with my AA crashing to KK ( quads by the river) ,I remembered why I don't like 'em much.( mtt's not Aces!)
I had hit the cash tables earlier at Stars and lost a big pot when my big blind flopped straight lost to a higher straight by the river.My Laddies cash game late on didn't begin well either but I just told myself my game was good and that if I was patient enough I could swing things back my way.
I ended up two tabling 6 max.One $100nl table with a $50 average pot and one $50nl that averaged $25.Both were very juicy and I left with a decent profit before confidently opening a Party $100nl 6 max table...and dropping $60 in a very short time.I didn't play badly at Party I don't think but nothing seemed to go my way.
Overall then a decent night at the tables and the first night all week where I've actually put in some hours at the game.Too often these days I sit at the start of the night wondering where to begin and if I'm in the right mood to play.
I did watch a bit of David Beckhams press conference on Sky sports last night.I'm not sure he's the type of player to excite US football ( he can call it soccer if he likes,it's fitba' to me)fans as his game is more about accurate long range passing and crossing, rather than the flicks and tricks that really entertain.Earning the money he does I don't suppose he really cares.More about building his so called brand than football I reckon.
Thanks for reading and don't forget to register for tomorrows Britbloggerment game on Stars...
My 1987 diary is lost forever so I thought I'd make a start on 1988.I'm afraid it's a lot more long winded so I'll do 3 months at a time starting here...
Jan 1st: I will be 16 this year and able to drive next August.Time seems to fly by when you get older.
Jan 2nd: "Keep the heid" is the newspaper headline after three were sent off in the last Old Firm game.
Jan 8th:I am beginning to wonder why I bother writing a diary.I mean the only person it's really going to interest is me and even then who wants to read pages and pages of the same old drivel.A diary is ok if it includes personal thoughts and feelings, but if not it's artificial and boring.I wonder if being a teenager in the eighties will be any different to being a teen in 2020.I predict my kids will be saying how awful it must have been to have 4 tv channels and robots will probably cook.I also wonder if I'll be a plumber,teacher,journalist,pro snooker player or on the dole and I hope there's never a nuclear war.
Jan 11th: S-man and I had an arguement over song lyrics on the way to school.I said that at the end of Queens "One Vision", Freddy Mercury yells "Fried chicken" but Sandy disagrees.At our service today we got quite a surprise when the new minister ( huge big guy with a beard)turned out to be a squeaky high voiced Welsh bloke.We could all hardly stop laughing.Nobody sung any of the hymns ( again) and he made he excuse that "maybe you're not familiar with that one".hohoho
Jan 14th: Nearly went to the great examination hall in the sky when a car just missed me and s-man after skidding across the icy road on the way to school! Bouncer also gave Chunk a doing before school started.
Jan 17th: Looked after little Zachary ( 2007 note: I did some babysitting for extra cash)and he was behaving like a right spoilt wee brat.He said "Acorn ( ok he used my real name obv!) wont make me a sausage".( plastacine).If I had a sausage I would wrap it round his scrawny wee neck!
Jan 19th: Laura got her new contact lenses.I reckon in 20 years time glasses will not exist and will be rare collectors items.( 2007 edit: how astute!) PE was good.Last week I did 12 circuits of the hall in 5 mins,this week I did 15.Next week I'm aiming for 10.On my way round I managed to knock over as many cones as possible.
Jan 22nd: Someone said today that in four years time aerosol cans will be banned because of the ozone layer.What a load of crap.In this weeks local paper there is a feature on Mrs Kirk (French teacher) and her husbands new "Prestige" windows.It shows a picture of her so I covered my French jotter with it and we had a good laugh when she noticed.
Jan 25th:Started work experience at the local Primary school.I went to the council planning dept last year and enjoyed it.The best part was getting them to use the council stamp to make my Library books look as if they were being handed back on the right date.( they were two months late)When I took them back the Librarian was full of apologies as she couldn't find the ticket.I was thrown out a few weeks later by the chief library bloke when they did find out what I'd done....
Jan 28th: Arrived back from lunch just in time to see a wee boy in tears because a bird had shit on his head.hahahaha.It was a shame.
Feb 1st: Washington Redskins beat Denver Broncos 42-10 in Superbowl.
Feb 2nd: Got my report card.Here are some quotes from it.Biology: Acorn is cheerful in class and enjoys the work of the class,Modern Studies: worked steadily this term, and good old Mrs Kirk in French who said "a poor performance in all sections of the exam.Acorn does not take his work seriously and a great deal of work would be needed to bring his work up to an acceptable standard".
This probably comes from the earlier jotter cover incident and my language lab tape.( oral reading)We had to describe a picture of a man falling down stairs after tripping over a dog.I hadn't a clue, but reckoned any answer was better than none, and said something like " un man trip over le chien and fell down le stairs".She pulled me out a PE class to play the tape back in the Languages staffroom and said that "If you pardon the expression,your tape is shit".Those were her exact words! hahahaha.I was just surprised I didn't get the "you're going to be a binman" speech from Mum and Dad!
Feb 8th: Here's my opinions on the current world leaders.Mrs Thatcher-hardened old bitch,Ronnie Reagan-Blithering old idiot,Gorbachev-Commie clever dick In biology we disected a bullseye and in PE we did 25 circuit laps.( or 19 if your me)
Feb 10th: I had my "s" grade maths exam and had to borrow a calculator,compass and even a pen.I hadn't done any studying and was lucky it didn't seem too hard.I'm dropping French.
Feb 13th: All night tv starts on Ch3 tonight and on Ch4 next week.No more sleep for me!( 2007 edit: Ahh the days when the BBC used to play the national anthem before closing eh!) .My favourite Rangers player just now is Mark Walters who is a brilliant speedy winger who zaps past defenders and scores goals.
Feb 16th:In PE we did cross country running and four of us got caught taking a shortcut after the teacher passed in his car just as we were heading down a side street.We've had to start again and have to bring our running stuff again to do it all again at lunchtime tomorrow.Crap.Got "Ferris Buellers day off" out on video and it was great.
Feb 26th: Winter Olympics are on in Calgary ( wherever that is).Britains only ski-jumper Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards is a big star at the moment.He came 55th out of 55 but he is very popular and has already appeared on the " Johny Carson show" in America.
March 3rd:It snowed so after school we all threw snowballs at cars,lorries and generally anything that moved.(Greg included!). A guy came round later about the cassette player I advertised.He put down a £4 desposit and will be back with the other £4 tomorrow.Considering I bought it off Paul for £1 ,that is a result!
March 6th:Ross Tarley is 5 and "That's Life" predict he will be a future tennis champion so look out for that.( 2007 edit: maybe he changed his name to Federer!)
March 8th:My sister got into trouble for making funny phone calls. 2007 edit:I remember making the odd call like that too.Me: "Hello is Mr Wall there?",Victim: "no there's no Mr Wall lives here".Me: "Is Mrs Wall there then?",Victim: ( getting more annoyed now) "No,there's no Mrs Wall here either". Me:"Well if you don't have any walls how does yer house stand up? hahahaha".
Calling the operator and and asking "Is that the operator on the line?".When they said yes you shouted "Well ye better get off,there's a train coming". I also used to call classified adverts in the paper for small items and offer double/triple the asking price if they could deliver the goods to the house me and my mate could see from my bedroom window.
Mar 18th:San Jose Salmon gave me a heavyish metal tape.It's not too bad actually.Watched Jossys Giants after school.
March 31st: I haven't argued with Mum for 35 hours!! ( probably because they are still on holiday!!)
I didn't have much motivation to play poker last night either,though I did drop $15 at Party after folding a hand I'm still unsure about.It was a $50nl 6 max table and the villain had lost a buy-in a bit earlier with KK v AA.
I raised 5bb with my AA,he called and we saw a King high non co-ordinated flop.Instead of my usual pot sized bet I led out with $2,hoping to extract more money from him.The turn brought a 10 and this time he bet $4 into me.I should probably have raised here for information but I just had a feeling he had made 2 pair, or had a set and I called.After a seemingly blank river and with him first to act ,he shoved all in for another $47.
He had seemed solid ( and not tilty) and I didn't think he would be silly to bluff off his stack without a real hand here.He may not have been tilty, but anyone losing a buy-in is still going to be extra keen to get it back if possible and I decided not to give him the chance and folded my poorly played rockets.I do believe the old adage that you usually win small or lose big with high pocket pairs.Of course he could have had KQ and I was miles ahead...
I feel I've been laying my big pairs down more often recently and not suffering as much from what a commentator on last nights Party poker game ( on tv)called "creative puting".This means everything screaming that you're behind in the hand but calling a villains large bet because you creatively put the villain on a hand you can beat! Guilty as charged on that one far too often!
I couldn't resist one wee 50 player mad tilt $2.50 tourney at Pokerroom before bed ( 60 chips and 10/20 blinds to start) but bubbled annoyingly after getting my chips in ahead.
Before I go here are a couple of quality youtube clips.The first is a peach of a goal from Lionel Messi scored against Mexico in the Copa America competition and the second is a serious warning from Chris Morris's Brass Eye series about the dangers of the drug "cake" from a few years back...
Please see Kennys blog for more details on this fantastic tournament and remember if you can't play,you can still donate!
Don't forget either to register for this weeks Britbloggerment 17 tourney which is open to all.Great work on the banner again this week dD.
I played no poker at all on Mon night and only a couple of wee games last night with Rosie at Stars and Laddies.
I did at least get some sleep on Monday night and after forgetting to set the alarm this morning ,I managed to wake up late for work.No problems with my boss and although my flexi is now running way below what's agreed,I do feel a little less like a shattered zombie!
Not much planned for tonight other than looking after Step A ( and she'll never be ex Step A as far as I'm concerned) as ex Mrs A is working.Tomorrow night I'm heading over to Maw n Paw Acorns for my sisters birthday dinner.
It's the Glasgow Fair this weekend and while it's tempting to take Monday off altogether,I'll be working for 5 hours at Bank Holiday rates to help boost the bank balance.
Ok,that's it for today.Just time to say thanks again to everyone who has been in touch via comments/phone/email etc to help support me through my breakup with the ex Mrs A and also ( on a cheerier note) to welcome Klopzi back onto the blogging scene and poker after a break.Good to see you back Sir!
I nearly didn't play the Bloggerment tourney last night as Mrs A ( Ex Mrs A)and I had a last fruitless talk about us, and I was left staring into space for a couple of hours before the game started.
I am ok though I think, despite the continued lack of sleep.Too much time on the laptop is one of the main reasons for splitting and though I feel like I've been a crappy unattentive partner at times,I also feel there are probably deeper underlying reasons for this.
It's perhaps selfish to feel rejected after a year in which Mrs A's Mum died and she started the menopause but I reckon that was part of it.The closeness we once shared seemed to evaporate and that in turn led to me escaping more into the net and poker.
I hope she feels I tried my best to support her through last year but we've never been the greatest people for talking about feelings etc and I can understand her wanting to deal with such a devastating blow on her own to some extent.
Perhaps too, never being able to have kids of my own with her affected my feelings, although I'd kind of got used to that idea and had been making the most of being the best Dad possible to Step A.
Whatever the reasons there's no going back and my sisters advice to take care of the practicalities and the emotional side will take care of itself seems good.I've called my letting agency and given 2 months notice to my tennant.I'm still unsure if I'll stay there long before selling up and seeking somewhere I can make a proper fresh start.I'll see how I feel once I'm there.
I really don't intend turning this space into a depressing blog on a relationship split.I suppose it just helps sometimes to write things down for clarity.
To the poker and I amazed myself by not donking out first and managing 3rd place in the Britbloggerment game.
I only really remember a few hands.My JJ held up against Juices AQ shove and I went out when I picked up the Nolan sisters ( QQ),raised preflop,hit trips Queens and lost to a runner runner flush.No complaints though.Good game and good banter.Congrats to Cell19 on winning and to Hammerheid for making it such a good heads up battle.Also good to see a couple of new faces ( well avatars!) too.Well played to Mair38 and the aforementioned Hammerheid for making the final table on your debuts.
Just a short post today as I'm exhausted from not sleeping well.I went to bed around 4am and ended up getting back up and trying again around 7am ish and finally dropping off.I had dropped Mrs A off at her work around 6ish last night and she's still not home yet today.I had to leave the front door unlocked as I wasn't sure if she'd taken her key or not and I wasn't about to phone her to check.No more to say on that just now but if the sleepless nights continue I'm going to the Docs for something to help knock me out.
I did enjoy a laugh playing poker last night with the San Jose Salmon and the s-man at Pokerstars and made the money in a few turbo sng's.I was rivered a few times too,the worst of which was shoving from the small blind with 88 and being called by the Big Blind donkey and his 78.( 7 on flop and turn).As usual I had no problem with the donkey actually calling ( that's why he's a donkey afterall!)but was just annoyed at my own rotten luck.
I did play a little more Full Tilt $200nl ( full ring) and made $30 by playing extremely tight but aggressive poker.( the wee owl next to my name on Pokertracker backed that up).I was $20 down at one point but a raise with AK and then firing two bullets on a J 10 5 flop ( gutshot and two overcards) won me a wee pot and put me in profit.
San Jose Salmon mentioned playing for the buzz and there were certainly a few heart thumping moments at that table.I worry about that a little as I want to play good poker and not chase the buzz of a big pot.At $50nl and even $100 to an extent I'm happy or sad to win or lose a buy-in but I'm generally detached enough not to get too emotional either way and I think that helps my game.
Ok,off to finish watching Federer v Nadal in the Wimbledon final.Seems a long time since I used to batter a tennis ball off the wall of our old house taking turns to be Borg and McEnroe.
Don't forget to register for tonights Britblogger game on Stars.All welcome.See previous post for details.
Oh and hats off to Mark at Plant Gong for a real laugh out loud post.Spot on too.Bad beat me and yer getting banjoed!
I've been jumping from one site to another over the last couple of nights,playing everything from a $6 turbo to $200nl Full ring at Full Tilt.
Mrs A and Step A also arrived home early yesterday afternoon due to the rainy weather at the caravan site they were at.Considering she spent most of last night at her friends place two doors down ,I'm not kidding myself that any serious talk we have is going to lead to any change in our current situation.I'll need to tell the letting agency to give my tennant ( in my flat)2 months notice early next week and I don't reckon there will be any going back after that.
Back to the poker and I think I've been playing reasonably well and having been coping quite well with the usual swings in fortune.I've also been laying down my big pairs far more often when I've felt they are beaten and although I've still made the occasional awfuckit call,I've managed to keep my emotions in check afterwards and not leak more $$$.
I read a couple of great quotes from a Bobby Baldwin interview over at Tao of Poker , "There's always more to learn about poker. Also, make certain that you can take a punch. You will lose big pots. You will lose everyday for a month sometimes. You have to have the confidence that your game will prevail in the end." "Even if you are the best player in the world, you still have to contend with Lady Luck. She can be a bitch sometimes."
I think I still need to start each game with more confidence.Part of the problem is that I detest arrogance as a personality trait and yet a certain amount is required to say to yourself "I'm the best player at this table and I'm going to show it".In reality though there's no need to be the best player as long as there are one or two fishy types who are obviously out of line with their play.
Mind you, I saw one player raise all in preflop for a buy-in with A8 and the other guy call that bet with Q10soooted.Total fishfest? Well the caller was some guy called Phil Ivey....( Full Tilt high stakes table the other night).All meta-game and way above my head I'm sure but on the face of it ...he's a donkey!
I enjoyed my wee stint at the Full Tilt $200 nl table I mentioned and I'm tempted to devote my whole FT roll ( nearly $1500) to taking a shot there.I have enough faith in myself to know that I'm very very unlikely to go broke playing $50nl on a $3k roll ,let alone the $4.5k I have in total and taking a wee shot doesn't seem out of the question.I have also been two tabling $50nl 6 max more often and finding that mutli-tabling helps make the decisions more logic and read based and I'm not letting emotions cloud the issues as much.
It's as though sometimes in my head I need to separate my leisure poker ($6 turbos etc) from the more serious stuff where I'm not just playing to pass time or have fun but to try and make a decent profit.
Ok,it's a lovely sunny day.I'm off to watch more of Wimbledon and walk Nacho.
Here's a couple of songs from the album which helped me through my last break up.Truly "Different Class"...
Mrs A called last night for the first time since she went away on holiday with Step A.A few factors had led me to believe we may be able to make another go of it, but I think I now realise that's not going to happen.
We got on brilliantly last week,we're still helping each other out ( lifts to work,sandwiches getting made etc),she's not told many of our friends and even her friend from two doors down is giving it another go with her man.
After a long friendly chat last night I asked if we could talk about us when she returned and got the frosty answer that there was "not much to talk about". I've been keeping my spirits up and that came as a bit of a blow and probably brought me back to reality.I've still not been sleeping well and have been going to bed later and later to avoid lying awake going over it all.
I also let it affect my poker last night, as just after that phone call I lost a buy-in at Laddies when my flopped set lost to a flopped flush.I then lost another when I called a raise with KQ at a very loose table,hit my Queen and slow played my way into trouble, by letting the villain catch 2 pair with his 45off.I read his preflop raise as not being strong and didn't believe his continuation bet but I was too weak to reraise with my Queen and push him out of the hand.
I did win back $15 at that table before leaving and also won $30 at a juicy full ring Full Tilt table where I felt I was back to playing near my best.I can slip into a very passive mode too easily but was alive to any opportunity at that table.I especially enjoyed floating with JQ sooted and bluffing the scarey river card.When the villain typed "river" in the chat box before folding I managed to resist showing and blowing my tight image.
Dinner tonight at my Mum and Dads and I'm thankfully off work tomorrow.It's not easy dealing with complaint letters to the company directors, with people writing about minor incidents being " disgraceful and stressful" or "ruining my life" when I feel like shouting "Let me tell you what's feckin stressful!".
Ok here's a couple of funnies from the paper to finish with and brighten up this post..
A reader wonders whether the flooding in England means that all those successful dart throwers who won the grand final on Jim Bowen's Bullseye programme all those years ago have finally managed to get some use out of the speedboats they won.
Meanwhile, internet interest grows on plain-speaking airport worker John Smeaton who tackled one of the airport terrorists then explained in interviews: "This is Glasgow. We'll just set aboot ye," which is now being produced on T-shirts in America.
John also described the scene as like when you throw a can of deodorant on a bonfire.
Only in Glasgow, one suspects, do folk think nothing of throwing inflammable containers on fires to see what happens.
Oh and to the person who found my blog after searching for "where do I score weed in Majorca?" may I suggest those friendly African guys that wander the beaches selling sunglasses.Just a thought ;-)
I had a decent night last night at the tables with the only real blip being a daft call on my very last orbit.Does anyone else suffer from last orbit/hand syndrome?!
I'll get that out of the way first.I was at a Laddies $100nl 6 max table and had raised to $4 preflop with A10 on the button and the shorter stacked Big blind pushed for $46.Now the average pot was quite high, but I'd been at another table and had no idea if this was a regular move from the bb,he was tilting or he had a hand.I folded.
On the next orbit I'm dealt 1010 and raise $4 again ,only for him to go all in once more.I decided I was well ahead of any lower pair and prepared to gamble if he had overs.He did.QQ.The board didn't help me.Doh!
I did managed to rack up a decent night at 'Stars and my roll there has now bounced back from a low of $48 yesterday.Flopping a flush with 67h v AA helped and 1010 eventually hitting a straight and getting paid by a real donk was also nice.I've had a few problems with using Pokertracker and GT+ at Laddies recently ( doesn't seem to pick up all players at the table) but it works a treat at Stars and I've been using it ( along with my own instincts) to move tables if there don't appear to be any apparent donators.
I do seem to spend an awful lot of time on game selection and regularly find myself hopping from one site to another to get the juciest table available.It's not a good strategy for bonus clearing or earning player points but my main focus has always been on the game itself.The fact that Pokertracker shows an I play for an average pot of $17.26 at Laddies ( over 24k hands) bears that out I think.
Ok,not much else going on today.I'm still off on annual leave and Mrs A and Step A are still away in Millport.No more to say on that situation really.I'll see what happens when she gets back.I have pretty much decided that if we are through, then I'm going back to my flat rather than renting somewhere else.
Oh and in other breaking news the window cleaner arrived today while Nacho was out in the back garden.Nacho's not an aggressive dog and welcomed him by wagging his tail and then promptly peeing in the mans nice fresh bucket of hot soapy water.
I didn't have too much joy at Stars last night.I checked back over Pokertracker and wasn't too surprised to see I'm actually down $240 in cash games there.Now I did lose $186 on tilt back in May with A6 v A5 ( Ughhh) and AA has cost me $32 over 21 hands but overall it's still a tiny sample so I'm not too worried.
There were a couple of total donks ( all in preflop for $20 each with Q7s v j8) but when I did finally get a hand ( 1010) and got it in preflop,the donk called with 22 and made trips.No complaints.That's what keeps the donks playing poker afterall.
Had to laugh at Jerry Sadowitz talking about how dumb online gamblers are."Here's my credit card details,I'd like $100 on red please". "It was black,tough luck,next bet please!".Maybe you needed to be there!
I did play a couple of interesting hands I thought I'd throw out there.The first one was a four handed game at Laddies and I think I'd joined the table just as the fish had left and the table was dying.For once I thought I'd post a hand I felt I played quite well.I'll give my reasoning and feel free to disagree! Normal donkery resumed with the 2nd hand!
** Game ID 782747806 starting - 2007-07-03 01:39:54 ** Oakmont [Hold 'em] (0.25|0.50 No Limit - Cash Game) Real Money
- wejner sitting in seat 1 with $99.12 - Acornman sitting in seat 4 with $53.65 [Dealer] - UKENS_A sitting in seat 5 with $75.31 - arsenalsm sitting in seat 6 with $95.96
UKENS_A posted the small blind - $0.25 arsenalsm posted the big blind - $0.50 ** Dealing card to Acornman: Jack of Hearts, King of Hearts
>>Don't much like JK but we're 4 handed so I'll see a flop if possible.
wejner called - $0.50 Acornman called - $0.50 UKENS_A called - $0.50 arsenalsm checked
** Dealing the flop: Jack of Diamonds, 8 of Spades, 6 of Diamonds UKENS_A checked arsenalsm bet - $2.00
>> No preflop raise means AJ unlikely and as it looks like he'd trying to deny the draw I reckon he may well hold a hand like J10/J9.
wejner folded Acornman raised - $5.00
>>> If I'm right then my bet will hopefully look like I'm semi-bluffing with a flush draw, and for an extra $3 he will call.If he has a monster here is where I find out.
UKENS_A folded arsenalsm called - $5.00
>>> Happy he called here.
** Dealing the turn: King of Clubs
>> Bingo I've hit my 2 pair and reckon I'm miles ahead.I want to make it look like the K has scared me and that I'm slowing right down.I therefore bet the same as on the flop.
arsenalsm checked Acornman bet - $5.00 arsenalsm called - $5.00
** Dealing the river: 8 of Clubs
Another 8 on the board could worry me but my read says that's not what he's on so I'm not bothered by it.
arsenalsm bet - $11.00
>>> I think my ploy worked and he probably reckons his J10 is good as no flush hit and I seemed scared by the King.
Acornman raised - $22.00
>> With no fear of the 8 ,I'm happy to double his bet and get some value out of my 2 pair in a situation where I feel I'm well ahead.
arsenalsm called - $22.00 Acornman shows: Jack of Hearts, King of Hearts arsenalsm mucks: Acornman wins $64.00 from the main pot
>> Result! Just a pity I didn't get to see the villains mucked hand!
POKERSTARS GAME #10737776161: HOLD'EM NO LIMIT ($0.25/$0.50) - 2007/07/02 - 21:05:31 (ET) Table 'Glauke II' 6-max Seat #2 is the button Seat 1: Ghostridahii ($49.75 in chips) Seat 2: geirakir ($111.65 in chips) Seat 3: GsOne ($60.65 in chips) Seat 4: 8ivyleague8 ($33.40 in chips) Seat 5: zagga ($47.55 in chips) Seat 6: sightless21 ($56.10 in chips) GsOne: posts small blind $0.25 8ivyleague8: posts big blind $0.50 *** HOLE CARDS *** Dealt to zagga [Ts Ad] zagga: raises $1.50 to $2
>>> raising A10 utg is marginal for me ,however I've been patiently blinded down by $2.50 without playing a hand and the table seems far tighter than I expected.( I think I got the donkeys seat when he left again!)
Hmm top pair,top kicker, the nut flush draw and position over the preflop reraiser.
8ivyleague8: bets $8
>> What now? I reckoned that even if he had JJ-KK, ( AA less likely as I had an Ace) I may still be slightly ahead.I briefly considered shoving here and putting him to the test.He could have had an AK/AQ/KQ type hand, but seemed a solid player, and his reraise of my bet suggested more strength than a Big slick type hand.I wondered if he would/could laydown JJ-KK if I shoved.If he had a diamond at all the answer seemed to be no ( he wouldn't know his flush would have been no good v my Ace flush if it had hit).
zagga: calls $8
>> Felt a little weak just calling here but it was $8 into a $23.75 pot and I felt any Diamond,10 or Ace would put me ahead.
geirakir: folds
*** TURN *** [Td 7d 2d] [3h]
8ivyleague8: bets $20.40 and is all-in zagga: calls $20.40
>>> Was this call an error? Had to call $20.40 into a $52.15 pot with an ( aprox) one in three chance of hitting on the river.I suppose strictly speaking I needed the pot nearer $60 to call but there's not too much in it.
*** RIVER *** [Td 7d 2d 3h] [6h] *** SHOW DOWN ***
8ivyleague8: shows [Ks Kd] (a pair of Kings)
>> Interesting to note that with the King of diamonds in his hand,the villain was 51.11/48.89% fav on the flop.If it had been two black Kings then I was 51.62/48.38% fav.
zagga: mucks hand 8ivyleague8 collected $69.05 from pot *** SUMMARY *** Total pot $72.05 | Rake $3 Board [Td 7d 2d 3h 6h] Seat 1: Ghostridahii folded before Flop (didn't bet) Seat 2: geirakir (button) folded on the Flop Seat 3: GsOne (small blind) folded before Flop Seat 4: 8ivyleague8 (big blind) showed [Ks Kd] and won ($69.05) with a pair of Kings Seat 5: zagga mucked [Ts Ad] Seat 6: sightless21 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Sticking to the poker and I always enjoy reading Hoyazo's posts as he obviously puts a ton of work into them and it shows.His quote however, "I am the fourth-best poker-playing poker blogger" did remind me somewhat of the baseball so called "World Series" where it has a grand name, but only US teams actually playing in it!
I don't doubt Hoyazo is a fine player ( better than me I'm sure, especially at mtt's).Perhaps adding "On this side of the pond" would have calmed my frenzy (more of a smile than a frenzy tbh) but he didn't and I'd love to organise some kind of cross-pond game which would prove nothing but could be fun.
I was in touch with Jordan about resurrecting the US V ROW games a while back, but we were both too busy ,and as usual the starting time was the major stumbling block.Not sure we could overcome the latter issue even by having say teams of 10 with substitues for those that couldn't make it, but if anyone has any ideas or is interested please let me know.Maybe a one off "cross-pond donkathon" would be a better option.Hmmm.
I mentioned yesterday I'd be calling out Amarillo Slim over a seemingly fabricated story in his "World full of Fat People" book.No big deal really as he seems full of tall tales but for anyone interested it was his "Kazaga" story which caught my cousins eye.( he pointed it out to me).
Slim claims he was playing Omaha hi-low in Texas when a player he called Tiger kept raising and raising a pot.When the pot got to a thousand Slim called and announced his wheel.Board was 3-4-5-9-10 and Slim held A2 giving him the low straight.Tiger had the same and Slim reckoned it was a split pot until Tiger said "you've got a Kazaga". "I've got a what"? Slim replied.
Tiger said "You can't win a hi-low split hand with a duece of diamonds in your hand.That's a Kazaga and it's in the house rules"
A few hours later a similar situation occurs and this time the other guy holds the duece of diamonds but declares a split pot.
"Yeah but you got a Kazaga,or whatever the hell ou guys call it" says Slim.
"Didn't we tell you " says the guy holding back a grin "but we have just one kazaga per night".
The book "Pokers strangest hands" by Graham Sharpe recounts the tale from 1896 ( before Slim and just about when Mias Dad was born) about the "Lollapalozza" hand.A card sharp joins three hard-bitten prospectors for a game and soon the sharp ( cheat) deals himself four Aces.He makes a fair sized bet and all fold except one old timer.At the draw the sharp counted the old timers cash and bet an equal amount.The old timer didn't bat an eyelid and called.
The sharp spread his four Aces and went for the pot."Not so fast sonny" said the old boy,laying down three clubs and to diamonds.
"What do you mean ,not so fast?" said the shocked sharper. "I've got four aces".
"Sure you do but in this town a Lollapalooza beats any other poker hand and thats what I got-three clubs and two diamonds."
Of course later on the card sharp deals himself the "Lollapalooza" and grins as he goes to rake a huge pot."this time I can't lose-I've got the lollapalooza".
The prospector rakes in the pot and says the now familiar line "Sorry pardner.You should be sure of the rules before you play.The Lollapalooza can only be played once per night".
Ok before I go, I mentioned the Glasgow public taking no nonsense when those pathetic failed terrorists attempted to ram a Jeep into Glasgow Airport last week.
Here are two quotes from an eye-witness,John Smeaton. John surpassed himself on the national news channels. The interviewer asked “What message do you have for the bombers?” He replied “This is Glasgow, we’ll just set about you.”
John took part in an interview on CNN and they asked how he restrained the guy and he said “me and other folk were just tryin to get the boot in and some other guy banjoed him!”
Stayed up far too late last night playing poker,not helped by a dose of man flu.Started by running 99 into AQ at a Laddies player point sat, before playing some sng's with Rosie at 'Stars and Laddies.The Laddies ones went slightly better for me, though I did get some unexpected 2 outer luckboxery in one of them! I also, as Rosie kindly pointed out,failed to beat the tables resident drunken donkey by crashing out before him!
By 3.30am there was a $50nl tab ( 6 max) with a $28 ave pot and I managed to lose $40 with KJ v J10 on a J high board ( he had 2 pair) before my AQ held up for a buy-in v the table maniac on a Q high flop.
The J10 player also made a great call against me when I called a raise from him with J10soooted.Perhaps it was because I had the hand he beat me with that I called, which isn't great poker, but I suppose J10sooted is ahead of hands like 55 so it wasn't the worst call ever.
His continuation bet included a .50 ($3.50) and for some reason I'm always more suspicious that a villain has missed the flop when they don't just bet a solid figure.By now I'd figured he was a decent player and decided to call,hoping to take it down on a later street.There was also a flush draw out there too.Bottom line was that the flush draw never came in although after a Queen high flop,we saw another Queen on the river.I reckoned he was on AK and had missed the board.I bet $11 into the pot ( acting first) hoping it would look like I had hit my Q, had been trapping and now wanted paid.I think he knew I probably put him on AK and was trying to represent the Queen to scare him.He may well have also put me on a busted flush draw, but regardless he did call with his AK ( Ace high) and took it down.Well played sir!
Ok,time for a couple of rolls and square sausage followed by a walk for Nacho and a lazy day before tonights Bloggerment game on 'Stars....
Pokerstars $59 ,Ladbrokes $1632,Pokerroom $523,Party $894,Full Tilt $1443.Total $4551. ( + $305 since May 27th)
Note to self:No more Pokerroom $2.50 ,50 player Mad Tilt mtt's with 60 chips to start and blinds at 10-20 rising quickly! It's a leak and not profitable!
I'm a 42yr old bloke fae Glesga.Got a dog called Nacho and a job dealing with angry customers all day.Twitter:@HeavySprinkles
I love Rangers FC and playin' poker.
Pokerstars:Zagga
Party:Acornmn
