Sun Update

I've had my two weeks off work and sadly I go back the world of corporate bollocks and customer complaints tomorrow morning.This last week has certainly been more relaxing than my first week off.I just wish I was off for the next two weeks too!

Monday morning will be the first time I've gone to work since I moved back here and in some ways although I'd happily never work again,I'm looking forward to trying to establish some kind of routine.I'm also really looking forward to next Saturday nights home game and to seeing my good mate the San Jose Salmon!( Al Eleven)It's looks like the venue will be the S-mans place and hopefully we can get at least 6-7 players round the table for some quality trash talk and perhaps even some poker!

Not much too report from last nights poker play.I managed to break a 0/5 non cashing run by winning a $16 game and then crashed out of a $27 when my Queens were crushed by Big Slick.

More nasty laptop freezing saw me leave Laddies when $40 up and I didn't manage to get going at all at 365, before the same thing happened.The next requirment for any bankroll withdrawl will be a new laptop and a new front door.The front door of my flat is actually an interior door and isn't the most secure.When I stayed here previously I used to keep a tyre wench beside my bed and I was quite paranoid about getting robbed etc.This came from living for a year in a crappy run down housing scheme back in my younger days.The house was robbed about six times and I had a knife held to my throat on one of those occasions.Moving in with the ex to a place in a nicer area than my flat, seemed to cure my edginess, and thankfully since my return the tyre wench has stayed in the cupboard ( still handy though!)and I'm not wondering what's going on outside every two minutes.

I'd still like a solid front door with a couple of big hefty locks though...


Back to the poker and after all that screen freezing I headed back to Stars and decided to take a wee shot at a $400nl full ring table.I left after about 1/2hr, up $35.I only raised with J10sooted, followed through on a 10 high board and then called a raise with AK and won a pot on an Ace high board.Apart from that I did a lot folding!

Righty, I've Nacho to take up the road,shopping to be done,sandwiches to be made and a Bloggerment to take down.....

Duck Broken!

After many attempts I finally took down a Blogger/forum game last night!It was even sweeter as I won the final hand with ...The Hammer! That win also leaves me sitting top of the Raise the River league, but with two games to go I'm sure I'll find a way to donk it up!

I also won a $16 ,18 player turbo and crashed out of two others.With my confidence high I hit up a Bet365 $200 nl 6 max table and....lost $60! I never really caught a playable hand and the blinds seemed to eat away quickly at my stack.

After that run of cold cards I joined the Al Can't Hang donkament which Kat was hosting at Full Tilt.It was a $1 rebuy ( for 1st hour) and a real chance to donk it up and release some pent up poker frustration.I did just that and made over 20 rebuys.Just after the break when the rebuys ended I won a big hand and shoved over the top of a preflop raiser on the next one with my AK.The preflop raiser showed AJ but someone else woke up with AA behind me and I finally got to my bed!

Good chat at the table.Always a pleasure being at the same table as Gcox25 ,Jordan ,Hoy ,Ingoal and co and the rebuying meant nobody seemed to be taking it too seriously.

I was up early to go to the Rangers game at Motherwell today which ended in a poor 1-1 scoreline.Headed back to my place to pick Nacho up and take in the East Kilbride Thistle game which my cousin and I thought started at 3pm.It turned out to be a 2pm kick off but the last 35 mins saw all five goals in a 3-2 for the Thistle.( against current league leaders!).

I took Nacho for a run afterwards and tonights plan is to chill out with a takeaway pizza,football on the tv and some poker...

Don't Miss....

That's 2am UK time...

Old School:1988 revisited.Apr-Dec

After last night I'm now down $177 from playing at Laddies and Pokerroom this week and up $211 at Party.I'm also down $45 at Stars, which leaves me down $11 for the week, excluding my success at Bet 365 with my take a shot mini roll.All very boring stuff so here's one I made earlier....nearly 20 years earlier,when I used to keep a diary...



April 9th: Went to party and got very drunk.I remember dancing and being very loud and also quoting Shakespeare and being very sick before bedtime.

May 19th: S-man came round after breakfast.I still can't find his Def Leppard tape and he doesn't stop going on about it.

June 1st: Went to the shops with s-man and bought him a new Def Leppard tape.It cost $6.70 but s-man is a cunning little shit and swapped the price label it so I only paid £5.49.

June 2nd: Had a careers interview and a big computer print out suggested :Social worker,teacher,Public relations,sales rep or copywriter.

June 3rd: Once again I'm wearing a shirt I ironed myself.I hope my wife will be good at ironing because judging by the creases ,she'll have to be!

June 18th: Wimbledon starts soon.I want McEnroe to win and reckon Navaratalova will win the Womens, though I want Gabriela Sabatini to win.

June 20th: In English we had to do an optimistic composition on our future.I quoted Lord Pritchard in the first line of mine.Unfortunately Lord Pritchard doesn't exist but how is the teacher to know that!

July 2nd:Went to Italy with the school.

July 3rd:We went on a grotty bus full of smelly Italians to the vatican.Plenty of amazing pictures on the ceiling and we heard the pope talk in Italian to his people at 12pm.We could hardly see him he was so far away and I reckon it was probably his Spitting Image puppet.

July 6th: We got a bus to Pompei.It was covered in ash in Roman times.We saw the toilets,plaster casts but most importantly we saw the brothel!

July 9th: Arrived home.Three words sum up the holiday.Delays,stairs and Sun.

July 16th: My tapes now include "Graceland","Tracy Chapman","Best of OMD","Best of Billy Idol","Tubular Bells","Brothers in arms","Like a Virgin","True Blue","Best of The Police","It's a kind of magic" and "Revenge" by Eurythmics..

Aug 22nd: Still doing Romeo and Juliet in English.Just think,if Shakespeares great grandad hadn't met his great grandma ,Willy may never have been born and we wouldn't have to read his pathetic crap writings!What a shame that wouldn't be.

Aug23rd:I had a babysitting ad up on the board at Asda and P ( friend at time) copied my idea so....my sister called him,pretending to be Mrs Lauderdale and offered him twice the going rate.She told him he'd have to change nappies and she didn't want the house smelling of fish and chips ( P works in a chip shop).While she put on this fake voice I listened in as she said she'd called me first and got P to slag me off and say how untrustworthy I am.We're all going to tell him on Friday he was set up and he's a dickhead.

Aug 26th:First period was English and although Miss McPhail is quite strict I had planned on having a bit of kip ( sleep) but Big Slever has left school and he read the part of Romeo.Miss Mcphail spent several seconds looking round the room before picking me to take over.Romeo says far too much and I wish he would just hurry up and die.

August 27th: Rangers 5 Celt*c 1. What's the time? 5 past Ian Andrews.hahaha

Sept 5th:I'm now seriously considering going to live abroad.I'm tired of school,Scotland,pressure to do this and that and as America is the land of opportunity I'd love to go there.I'm a bit skint just now though so it would need to be an extremely cheap flight.( less than £7.50!).I'd also have to persuade W to come with me of course!

Sept 8th: First period was Maths.I started a letter to W with "I'm in greasy Cowels class" and greasy Cowel found it.I hope she doesn't do anything about it.

Sept 9th: Lecture from Maths head of dept about the letter.I noticed he never disputed the contents.hahaha

Oct 5th:When I got to school I didn't bother with classes, gambled 20p a game at pontoons and came out slightly up.

Oct7th:Q:What's the difference between Ian Andrews ( celt*c goalkeeper) and Cinderella? A: Cinderella got to the ball....

Oct17th: Playing cards on holiday with my sister.We played lots of games and though she won one game,I do the dealing and always give myself and Ace or two and won most of the rest .hahaha

Nov 2nd:Another average day.I didn't win the pools,meet Patsy Kensit or do any studying.I did go into the bakers and asked the girl how much it was for a bit of crumpet.The woman laughed and said I wouldn't know what to with it.hahaha

What do you call a bear with no parents?
Rupert the bastard

What's grey and comes in pints?
An elephant.

Dec 7th: Orwell wrote about 1984.Here's my predictions for 2014.

Records will cease to exist and compact discs will be extra cheap.People will have hovercraft type shoes and not have to walk anywhere.A single currency will be introduced in Europe.It will be called "the bastard" and anyone who has B100000 will be a rich bastard!Due to no ozone layer the UK will be hotter and have earthquakes and Levi 501's will still be trendy.Cliff Richard will have the Xmas number 1 and Slade will be number 2 with Merry Xmas Everybody.Telephones with pictures will be available and in Neighbours Mrs Mangle will be shot and the world will wonder "who shot Mrs M?".

Dec 10th:I took 2 cuttings from plants round the house and I'm going to try and sell them round the doors next week.I just hope nobody checks to see if they have roots!

Bloggerment 28!

Bloggerment 28 is open for registration.Please steal the above banner and pimp the damn thing!( Thanks to Mair for last weeks pimpage!) All welcome as usual...

To the poker and last night at Stars began in customary fashion as once more I couldn't win a race to save my life.No major beats but AK failing to improve v 1010 and 77 losing to AQ sent me packing from two 18 player $16 turbos before I finally ended my poor run by coming 4th in one ( 4th pays $27) and taking down another for a much needed $108 1st place.

I managed to win $25 at Bet365 after another quick hit and run session was ended by my screen freezing.I may try removing the software and re-installing it to see if that improves things, as I like the site and I'm doing quite well there.I get the occasional freezing up at other sites too and I'm still unsure if it's my cable connection or my cheap laptop that's causing it.

I also won $50 at a Ladbrokes 5 max table where I was lucky enough to take a fishies stack before he left.

I'm still off work until next week, so the plan today is to pick Step A and my sister up shortly and go and buy some lightshades for my flat.It will be the first time Step A has seen the flat since I moved back and I've even done a few dishes to make the place look respectable!

Actually the flat does look great after the recent decorating and almost feels like I've moved somewhere new rather than stepping back.The general area and downstairs neighbour ( touch wood) have also been quieter than I remember, and having my boy here a few nights every week has certainly helped me settle.



Ok,no poker until late tonight as CW ( the ex) is working and I'll be looking after Step A at her place until CW gets home around midnight.I offered to keep the phone line and broadband going at her place for now ( Step A loves her msn thing) but CW declined ,which means it's a night watching tv,reading my Christopher Brookmyre novel and following the East Fife V Rangers league cup tie by teletext for me.

Oh,thanks to all for the comments on yesterdays post.Perhaps we should pick another date in the future for a more full on blogger meet up but it would be nice to get maybe Al Eleven,his mate,the s-man,my two cousins,Dd ,Stan and Mair and possibly my mate the Big Chap together for a game on Sat Oct 6th.

Watch this space!!

Ouch!

In my first $16 turbo last night I had my Aces cracked by 44.In the second I flat called with Aces after another player had limped in first.I very rarely limp in with rockets but there was a sound reason.The last player to act preflop had been all in on almost every hand and had been getting lucky until the previous hand where he was reduced to 500 chips.Now I just knew that he would push his 500 into the middle and I hoped this would induce a call from the other limper before I bumped the pot up by shoving myself.The plan worked.Mr 500 chips showed 108 off, Mr Limper showed Ad5d and I finally thought I was going to get off to a flying start...until Mr Limpers Ad5d rivered a flush.... Ouch!



Instead of dealing with it as just one of those things, I donked out of a couple more turbos and also bubbled an $11 sng at Full Tilt.I managed to pull myself together briefly to win $50 at a Bet 365 cash table ( before it froze up again when I had JJ!).I moved to Laddies,my tilt monster returned and I blew $100 at a $100 nl full ring table when I called a raise with AJ and something inside me kept insisting the villain was bluffing when he bet out on a Queen high board.There was a Jack there too, but I've no idea why I thought my hand was good.The villain was even smart enough to only bet $1 on the river,allowing me to represent the flush that I obviously didn't have by shoving in my last $30...

I took a wee break before hitting up three $100 nl tables at Party and finished up winning $3 ( yes a whopping $3!) over 1/2hr of play.At least I'd shaken off the tilt monster though!

In other news SJS ( Al Eleven) and Mair have left comments on my last post re a possible blogger/reader get together on Sat 6th October in Glasgow.Dd has mentioned he is interested and although it's short notice everyone else would be welcome too.( my living room could handle a few sleeping bags!).

Hopefully the S-man ( sookraboaby) and my cousins would be up for it too and we could get a wee home game organised.A visit to a local poker club/casino is an alternative depending on numbers and what people prefer.

Perhaps any visitors may like to visit the Offy mentioned in the paper today for that perfect gift to take home...

WE like the humour of the off-licence in Govan which is offering a Buckfast gift pack, complete with Cellophane wrapping and a ribbon, at £9.08, which includes a bottle of Bucky, 20 Mayfair and a packet of Rizla.

Banner Bungled

Congrats to Weegem for taking down the Bloggerment last night.I finished in 12th when my A10 failed to improve against Mr Clouds 88.I was also playing in Stars $100k mtt and I managed to nearly break into the top 1000 ( 18000 starters) for a $36 payout.( all profit after winning a frequent player point sat).

Not much to report from Saturday nights play.I suffered a couple of really nasty bad beats in tourneys and won about $50 at Laddies cash tables.

Last night after the Bloggerment and $100k were out the way, I decided on some $22 turbos at Full Tilt.Once again I seemed to sink into cold decked, bad beat hell and bubbled several times,lost to more two outers,ran KK into AA and generally grew more and more pissed off.The only bright side was that the $22 turbos seemed to be over flowing with fishy losers and it seemed to be bad luck rather than bad play which was letting me down.

I managed to rescue things a little with a win and a 3rd place but still lost about $140 overall.( two tabling most of the time) I'm still planning on withdrawing $1400 from my poker roll at Full Tilt to go towards flat decorating costs.Looks like I'd better be quick before I blow it all!

The good news is that I took a wee break and moved to Party where I two tabled, playing one 6 max and one full ring table at $100nl.Poker can be a funny game.I made $43 profit over the last two weeks and made $220 at Party in less than an hour last night.I don't think I played particularly well.It was just a case of hitting a few flops and having my big hands hold up.

I did wonder why I'd only made $43 over the last two weeks and I reckon I can pinpoint a few factors.Running badly,not playing my best game due to tiredness, having a lot on my mind and the main reason, which is that I think I've been trying too hard to make money.The last reason may sound daft, afterall money making is the name of the game in poker, but when I stayed with the ex my poker profits were a nice wee bonus, whereas now things are a bit tighter I'd quite like to be able to get to a stage where I can withdraw monthly to help pay for a few wee extras.That wee bit of added pressure hasn't helped my game.I play best when I'm just playing my game and not checking the cashier every 5 minutes trying to work out where the last pot I won/lost had affected my roll.

Ok,that's more than enough rambling for today.Just time to say that I really enjoyed Rangers fine victory over Aberdeen yesterday and after Ce*tic lost 3-2 to Hibs ,we are back at the top of the league!

The real highlight of the weekend though was a banner the Celtic fans displayed against Hibs.They've bought a few players from Hibs over the years and tried to take the piss by calling Hibs their "feeder club".Unfortunately for them and to the great amusement of every other football fan in Scotland ,they can't even spell the name of their own team correctly! I didn't think anything could top their laughable bin bag displays but I think they've found a way....

Programme not responding....

I donked out of the RTR league game early last night and followed that by coming 6th in a $16 ( 18 player) turbo and then moving up to a $27 turbo and scraping 4th for a small profit.

I moved to Bet365 where I was $40 up at a $200nl table when my screen froze with me holding AA.I'm not usually the type to go radio rental over bad beats ( most of the time!)but watching some donkey betting out on a ragged flop,seeing my wee egg timer frozen and then getting the dreaded "programme not responding" message nearly sent me loopy!

The freezing up/site lag seems to happen at other sites too but nowhere near as often as it does at 365.I wonder if it's a general problem with 365 or my overworked cheap laptop playing up.I love playing there though and have now built the $50 I deposited a couple of months back into over $700 worth of profit.

I took a wee break and then hit up a couple of Laddies $100 full ring tables where I played till about 4am.On one of my tables I just couldn't get anything to run for me at all and a couple of "cooler" hands really hurt.It's not a bad beat when you have AQ and the villain has AK on an A K Q flop but it did make me want to puke!

I dread to think how much I actually lost on that table because I was over $140 up at the other one and still finished $100 down overall by the time I went to bed.

I do now have over 2000 Laddies player points and will probably use them up in either an FPP cash prize tourney or a in a qualifier to their upcoming main event tonight.

I thought I'd post this hand from last night.I actually folded preflop ( I had 6s3s) but I was left asking myself if I would have called the post flop all in bet considering number of outs I had.Would you?!



Here are the post flop odds...



One of my turns...



Typical that I folded preflop here, but played a similar hand later and completely missed every draw by the river!

Back to Laddies player points and I enjoyed this line from their terms and conditions.. "The offer is available to genuine players only, genuine players being ones that are active and participating in games with the intention of winning pots."
I'm glad I'm not an imposter player intent on losing and throwing my money away?!
I assume they are trying to put off multi-table bonus grinders but surely if you're paying the blinds/rake then you are entitled to play whichever way you like.It's hardly that generous a scheme that you could afford to not play any hands and just rack up points to make money.Maybe I'm missing something...

Righty it's Sat and I will have my boy ( Nacho my half staffy/half whippet)for company tonight and I'm back at Ibrox for the Rangers game tomorrow.My sister has been fantastic over the last week or so helping me choose the decor etc for the flat, and she will be popping over with her hubbby sometime this weekend to see the almost finished article.One bottle of white wine awaits her for her fine efforts.I've fallen out bigtime with my Mum at the moment ( don't even ask!) and my sister has had to listen to all that too,( from both sides) so I think she's earned her wine!

Righty here's a wee one from the paper to help stoke up the the Bloggerment rivalry with the Auld Enemy!Don't forget to register at Stars for tomorrow evenings game.See previous post for details.Everyone is welcome t play in it and will be made very welcome.

Donald Buchanan was at a meeting in Milngavie this week where the speaker on global warming informed them that the sea levels were rising at 2mm per year, but that the effects on Scotland would be limited, since Scotland itself was rising by the same amount. England, however, was less fortunate, since it was sinking by 2mm per year.

"There is a God!" a voice cried out from the audience.

Oh, and as it's been a while, here are the the required post Bloggerment blog posting requirements as decreed by the Poker Across Nations Team Subcommittee ( P.A.N.T.S)...

First out does the walk of shame and posts..


The bubble boy/girl must post...



And of course the 2nd place finisher ( despite 2nd being the new 1st!) must post the Bridesmaid dress..



If it's me again though, I'm gonna post this to remind me there are more painful things in life...


One last one.Exclusive footage of fellow blogger and Spurs supporter,The Cloud at White Hart Lane working as a ballboy...

Osama speaks...

I came 3rd in the standard speed $11 ,18 player game I mentioned in my last post though it seemed so slow I nearly fell asleep.Normal service resumed in my first $16 turbo when I had to lay down my JJ after being called on an 8 8 10 10 board.After the flop I just knew I was ahead but the second ten on the turn was the killer and I couldn't stay in the hand.Why Mr 910 stayed in the hand after big bets from me both preflop and postflop I'll never know, but long term I suppose that's where I make my profit.I ran KK into 1010 a short time later and crashed after a 10 flopped.

I kept the heid and came 3rd in my next one, although once again I feel I would have won it if a couple of hands had just held up at crucial times.Nice to book a couple of ITM ( in the money) finishes though, so I shouldn't grumble too much.

I did play a short $200 nl 6 max session and broke even after being up $30 and down $40 at one point.I almost only bought in for $100 but that shows weakness and if I'm going to play $200nl 6 max I need to be confident enough to be thinking about maximising profit and not focussing on containing losses.If I get a big hand I want paid in full!

I enjoyed reading about total newbie, Martin Johnson,playing in a WSOP Europe event.It was a highly entertaining read and got me thinking too about how a newbie almost has an advantage sometimes by not making the "by the book play".At one point he goes all in with JJ and pro Kenny Tran lays down his hand putting Martin on KK or AA due to the aggressive way the hand was played.A short time later Martin bets out with 99 on an Ace high flop and Tran folds, certain Martin had paired the Ace."How can you bet without the Ace?",he asks after Martin tells him he had the nines.

Just goes to show that while ABC poker may get the job done, there's nothing wrong with trying to think a little differently at times, and that occasionally making a seemingly daft move may be the best play.

I read ( not the greatest example, but it'll have to do)Yorkie Pud mention the RTR crowd railing him and not thinking much of a Pud shove from the button with 62 off when shortstacked in a tourney.The Big Blind woke up with KK and Pud went out.Nobody wants to push with air ( a hand of little value) but I like the move and most of the time your only going to be a 65/35 underdog at worst if the BB calls.

Look out for me with a big grin on my face, raising with air all the time tonight at the Raisetheriver league game...!




Just had a call from Setanta sports.I posted a wee while back that they had taken a years subsription from my credit card for this season despite me moving out and getting their service free at my new address due to a cable offer.They said I had agreed a "rolling contract" last year and that's why they took £180 from my credit card.( despite the service now being available monthly for £10 with no contract).The good news is that they have finally agreed to refund me in full ( less the month or so I've had the service whilst in dispute with them).I should get around £160 back which is a huge relief.After my recent grumble and link to them I thought it only fair to publish the happy outcome!

In other news apparently Osama Bin Laden has released a new tv message to prove he's still alive.He stated that Celt*c were shit in their Champions league away defeat the other night.

British intelligence have dismissed it saying "it could have been recorded anytime in the last ten years"......

Bloggerment 27 open for registration!

Find it under the "private tourney" tab at Pokerstars....

Also forgot to add that I saw Step A and CW's sister off to the gig tonight and Step A asked me for a big hug which made my day!

I also won an $11 entry to the Sunday $100k last night as I blew off some steam playing a 70fpp sat at Stars.

Nacho is here again and seems far happier and I'm donking off chips in an $11 slow play 18 player game at Stars...

Stats update + Charlie Adam goal v Stuttgart

Ahh well it turns out one of Step A's friends can't make it and another has been grounded for smoking so CW ( I hate the "ex mrs a" title and as I used to call her Cuppa Woman the ex Mrs A shall be referred to as CW from now on!)asked her sister who jumped at the chance and will take Step A to see Gwen Stefani tonight.I was a bit disappointed but as her sister has a car, it doesn't really make any sense for me to take them.I will have Nacho tonight though and I did get to see Step A last night after Rangers fine victory over Stuttgart.

The wee one was in good form and has promised to come and see my newly done up flat.I'm not a bloke who cries easily but last Fridays last school run from CW's place was really tough and I'm not ashamed to say the tears were rolling down my face as I waved her goodbye and drove to work.

Even last night as I chatted to her whilst she was watching The Simpsons I began to feel the same! I think tiredness has something to do with it too as I've felt absolutely done in over the last week or so.I did get a big hug from Step A last night and reminded her that I hope I'll always be more than just "Mums ex boyfriend".

How about some poker content?!

CW made me a cuppa tea last night when she got back from work and then I headed home,read all about Rangers fine win on followfollow and caught up with a bit of blog reading.

I'm 0/6 as far as cashing in my favourite 18 player $16 turbos and decided to hit a Bet 365 cash table.It was $50nl 6 max with an average pot of $30.I didn't really pick up anything playable until I limped with Ad2d and saw a rainbow A A J flop.I'm always very cautious about playing Ace rag at cash tables, although with only one more Ace out there I did hope my hand was good.I bet the flop,one player called and we saw a 6c fall on the turn.He check called again and I began to worry about my poor kicker, until a 2h fell on the river,giving me a nice full house.He bet $8 and as the only hands I felt he could beat me with were AJ or A6 ,I reraised him all in and he insta-called with his A6.Was it a tired donkey move from me or just one of those cooler hands that happen in poker? No replies required.

Either way I played a few more orbits and hit the sack.The only good news is that losing a buy-in at $50 nl really doesn't affect my poker at all anymore.I reckon I can handle losing a few buy-ins in a row these days as that's the nature of poker sometimes.Having said that I think it would take me a long time to get used to swings like that at $200nl and above.

I do need to make sure my head is in the right place ( attached to my neck preferably!) as there have been times over the last few weeks when poker and blogging etc all just seems so damn pointless and insignificant in the overall scheme of things.Whilst it can be useful to be emotionally detached at the table,not caring at all is just a bankroll/tilt disaster waiting to happen.




Ok, here are my latest poker stats.I need to provide Full Tilt with passport scans etc before I can make the withdrawl I require to cover the cost of decorating my flat so that total remains untouched for now.

Full Tilt $1603 Party $1133,Ladbrokes $2044,Pokerstars $550,Pokerroom $477.Total $5807 ( + $42 since Aug 31st).

This doesn't include my Bet 365 account which is still doing nicely despite last nights loss of a $50 nl buy-in.

Righty here's Charlie Adams well taken goal from last nights game v Stuttgart at Ibrox.Alan Hutton beat at least four German defenders before passsing to Adam who calmy slotted it away and sent the Rangers crowd wild...

Pottered out

I've never been much of a potterer but I've done some amount of pottering about over the last few days! Apart from the blinds,curtains,lightshades and tumble dryer the flat is looking in great shape and though the hit to my poker roll is going to be a bit more than I thought ,it's going to be well worth it.

I've just built a toilet roll holder and storer and ( its a silver stand up thing)and can't believe it has to been unscrewed to get to the "stored" rolls.Hmmm DIY aint my bag!

The first night here the other night felt a little strange.I did have Nacho though and decided to keep to routine and let him sleep in the living room, which being somewhere new he wasn't too sure about at first.I put the gas central heating on ,popped his bed beside the radiator, and he was a lot happier when I went off through to my bed...until the curtain I'd stuck up as a temporay measure awaiting the blinds arrival, fell off and scared the life out of him! He slept in my room for the rest of the night!

I slept a little better last night, although my head is full of wee cogs and wheels all going the wrong way. ( copyright my mate the Big Chap)

I've an awful lot of mixed emotions about the whole split/move back to flat shennanigans and as Mair wrote in my comments section, I reckon it will just take time to adjust.I'm going to Ibrox tonight to watch Rangers first Champions League group game v Stuttgart and after that I'm picking Step A up from the ex's work ( she works till midnight at Chinese takeaway) and will be looking after her until the ex comes back.

Tomorrow night is the Gwen Stefani gig in Glasgow and I'm really looking forward to taking Step A and a friend ( or me if she canny get a friend to go!).I also pick up my curtains tomorrow ( aye,it's curtains for me)and tumble dryer and the new blinds get installed on Friday.

On the poker front thanks to those who made kind comments on my game and recommended moving up.I'm going to post a stats post soon and include my planned Full Tilt withdrawl which should leave me about $4k online.I may move some $$ out of sites I hardly use anymore like Pokerroom because whenever I look at my Stars roll of about $550 it seems to low to be playing $16 turbos never mind $27, which is silly as that $550 is only a small part of my overall roll.

Dd and the SJS ( San Jose Salmon aka Miami Mark aka Al Eleven) have suggested a live game when SJS is back home around mid October.Dd also mentioned inviting Juice and I think it would be a great idea to invite any bloggers/readers that can make it.In similar fashion to how BM and I began the bloggerment I think the best way is to come up with a date and venue and if you can make it that will be great.If not then maybe next time!I only say that because you can never please everyone and the lesson from the bloggerment was to stop trying to do just that and simply choose venue/time etc and see what happened.

Ok, game kicks off in just over an hour and I've yet to microwave my dinner....

1st Night Home in Flat

My stress levels are still through the roof over my move back to the flat.My hall and kitchen floors are done,most of the wallpapering has been done,the blinds are ordered,the curtains for the living room are bought and in for alteration,the microwave and dryer are bought and my brain is frazzled!


I moved out of ex Mrs A's place yesterday and stayed at the Hilton in Glasgow for a night as a wee treat to myself ( and because I got Hilton vouchers for Xmas!.I went out for a fine pasta dinner before firing up the lappy on the hotel connection and coming 2nd yet again in the Britbloggerment game.I remember getting lucky quite early v Kenn and going out when my A9 failed to beat Burnley Miks A10 and that's about it.Congrats to Mik on taking it down.One of these days....

Since my last post I have won a $16 turbo,come 3rd in a $27 ( 18 player) and gone out of two more $16 games.( 33 lost to AK and 1010 lost to 99 when riverstars delivered on the river!)

I did however have another stab at the higher stakes on my bet365 roll and once again came out well on top.It's not part of my main roll and I don't want to jinx myself by giving figures but lets just say it's at over $500 now....

I did manage to lose about $50 at laddies last night after running my cunningly disguised trips into an invisible full house.(was to me anyway!).

Ok,too tired for more.This is my first night back at my flat and I have Nacho with me for company.He needs out....

Nice shot

I did so much rushing about last night I missed the start of the Raisetheriver league game.When I did get there I was fairly card dead until I got it in with 77 and lost a big pot to QJ.I was left with 115 chips and managed to come back and scrape a 3rd place in the money finish after running 22 into QQ to go out.

After that I played a $16 turbo and my recent crappy Stars tourney run continued when I limped with KJ on the first hand and reraised a small bet on a ragged King high flop.KJ is not a great hand but I didn't think I was outkickered because the villain didn't raise preflop.He called my reraise and when I pushed after a 10 fell on the turn ,he gleefully called with his K10.K10 was one of the hands I put him on so perhaps it was poor judgement on my part...



I then dropped $20 at Pokerroom and $30 at Laddies before deciding to use my Bet365 take a shot roll at a $200nl 6 max table.

I can't find where to download the hand histories at 365 and I've not set Pokertracker up yet for that site, but the bottom line is that my $200 buy-in was sitting at around $180 when I picked up QQ.All my money went in against a player I'd just watched get lucky and river a flush v a set a moment earlier.It held up and on the very next hand I raised 910d from the button and was lucky enough to flop the straight.The same villain ( tilting possibly) gave me the rest of his stack ( his hand was mucked ,I wish I knew what he had!) and in two hands I'd gone from $200 to $485 and was starting to wonder why I don't play higher more often!

Just finished watching Rangers play poorly and lose 4-2 to Hearts this afternoon.Must do better!

The wallpapering and painting is nearly done at my flat and I'm just about ready for tomorrows big move.I've checked and my cable connection is working so I will be playing in this weeks Bloggerment.

The hall and kitchen lino arrives on Monday with the living room and bedroom carpets to follow within the next week or so.I'm also about to order new blinds for every room and they should be installed by next weekend.The flat is a bit bare ( no sofa in until carpets arrive) but I think I'm actually looking forward to getting back there now and making a fresh start...

Bloggerment 26! Register now!

All welcome! Find it under the Private Tourneys tab at Pokerstars.

Mcfadden Goal!

The first pic was French striker,David Trezeguet,showing a Scottish player the score was 4-0 before they went on to thrash us 5-0 a few years ago.The second pic was him last night....Ho ho ho !


I'm still on Cloud 9 after last nights result, although I'm realistic enough to know that it's still going to be very very tough for Scotland to get through this group.

Not much joy on the poker front last night after playing poorly in a $16 turbo and losing $25 at Laddies.I bubbled a $16 turbo on Tues night and won $50 at Laddies, so I think I'm still up a little for the week.

I'm still rushed off my feet sorting my flat out.Ex Mrs A spent all day yesterday cleaning the place and the wallpaper has now been stripped too by the decorator.Sunday will be the day I move.

The ex and I seem to be getting along fine these days.This was the case after we initially split and to be honest the fact that nothing seemed to have changed seemed to reflect just how far apart we had grown.After influence from her poisonous neighbourhood friend she became really frosty for a while and we barely spoke.We both agreed last night that it's good that we still get on and that there's not nastiness or bitterness between us.

Ok,thanks for reading and don't forget to register for Bloggerment 26!

Here's James Mcfaddens brilliant goal from last night.Gives me goosebumps just watching it.



In fact I think it almost tops this one...

Scotland the Brave!

We'll be coming,We'll be coming
We'll be coming down the road!
When you hear the noise of the Tartan Army boys,We'll be coming down the road!

In the toughest qualifying group of all for the European Championships next summer, Scotland sit top, ahead of World Cup winners Italy,runners up France and quarter finalists,Ukraine!

We beat France AGAIN tonight!! 1-0 in Paris (James McFadden 68mins)! I can hardly believe it! We came to France only five short years ago and were soundly thrashed 5-0.There was never a danger of a repeat.

It's still a tough task to qualify as Scotland always seem to find a way to blow it, but this will probably go down as one of our best ever results! In fact it is THE best result ever!!

Not bad for a country with a population of five million!!


European Championship Qualifying : Group B Table
12 September 2007 21:53
P W D L F A GD PTS
1 Scotland 9 7 0 2 17 7 10 21
2 Italy 9 6 2 1 15 7 8 20
3 France 9 6 1 2 15 3 12 19
4 Ukraine 8 4 1 3 10 9 1 13
5 Lithuania 9 3 1 5 7 11 -4 10
6 Georgia 9 2 1 6 14 15 -1 7
7 Faroe Islands 9 0 0 9 3 29 -26 0


Here's tae us,
Whae's like us?
Damn few,And they're a' deid!

Congrats to Mair the Bloggerment Queen!

Congrats to Mair for taking down the Bloggerment on Sunday evening and thanks to all 30 people who turned out to play in it for making it another fine battle.Bloggerment 26 is now open for registration!

I finished a lowly 17th after folding a medium pair to a reraise preflop and then not being able to fold KK on an Ace high flop when Dull Trev bet into me with his AJ.

Not much else going on at the poker tables as I’ve been very tired over the last couple of nights and haven’t played a lot.


Edit: This post contained the silliest attempt at a strategy post of all time and I've now deleted that part!

It’s funny how the mind works too sometimes.I played a $16 turbo last night ( 11th after losing with KK to Ace rag!) and I limped with 22 then folded without much thought to a decent sized raise.Now with 5 minute blinds everything is a little forced in turbos and many players play AK very hard indeed preflop.It’s not uncommon to see many AK/AQ v Med pairs all in preflop, even quite early on.I may well have gambled myself with AK in that position, but would usually only push if I felt there was a chance the villain may fold ,giving me the chance to win it right there or at showdown.

The point is that 22 beats AK yet I instantly folded it ,despite the fact I may have pushed with Big Slick.Maybe it’s just that if you have 22 and are all in v AK then you have to watch five cards fall and as soon as an Ace or King falls ,you’re dead unless you hit that unlikely two outer.

With AK v 22 there’s always hope until the river card falls that an Ace ,King or ( depending on the board) some kind of straight or flush will save the day and I think that appeals more to the mindset of most people.Maybe it's just me! If so then enjoy the photo....




Anyway,I’ve now got the keys to my flat and have a mate starting the decortating today after my sister and I bought all the wallpaper yesterday.Still tons to do and I’ve realised I've a lot more stuff to move than I first thought.

It's also all going to cost a bit more than I first anticipated and I may need to raid the poker bankroll to some extent.I do have nearly $6k online and taking out $2k should cover it will still leave me 40 buy-ins at $100nl and enough to feel secure with.


Ok,here’s a wee poker related laugh from todays paper...


THE Guinness drinker in a Glasgow bar the other night was explaining that he had a few mates round one night and decided they would catch up with the growing popularity of poker. So when one of his mates was going for the carry out, he asked him to bring back a couple of boxes of matches which they could use as chips.

When he returned he said the shop didn't have matches - so bought him a lighter instead....

Final Countdown

Just a quick post today as I'm up to my eyes in it trying to organise my move back home.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Scotlands win yesterday and although I still think it's a tough task to qualify for Euro 2008,we've still got a chance.It's the big one v France on Wednesday in Paris.I can't see us taking anything from it, as they'll be out for revenge after we beat them last time out at Hampden, but you never know in football.

On the poker front I lost yet another race to go out the RTR league game before the final table.That run continued into the $16 turbos where I couldn't win a race either,no hand held up and when I did have a monster there was a bigger monster out there!

I stuck to my game and eventually managed a 4th place ( top 4 pay at 18 player turbos) and a win which helped a little.

At the cash tables I blew the last remaining cash at Interpoker ( £15) after pushing all in with AK preflop ( something I rarely do at a cash table) ,getting called by A3 and losing when the 3 hit.With calls like that I may need to reload there sometime as the play was very soft indeed.

I played some $300nl 6 max on my 365 account and lost $80 which I wasn't too bothered about as $80 wasn't even the size of the average pot at my table! ( $106 ave). I'm still trying to adjust my mindset because at $50 nl an $80 loss would be almost two buy-ins and would be a bad night, whereas it only takes a few raises/missed flops etc to do in $80 at the higher level.

Righty that's all for today.Don't be forgetful like this chap! Register for the Bloggerment right now!

Lost to a 2 outer...No No No!

Last nights poker began with a wee $6 turbo Juice and I played and both bombed out of.I then went 0/3 playing my usual $16 games after more cooler type luck.Ran AK into KK in the first game ( preflop) and then picked up KK as my first hand in the next game.I didn't get too excited and actually feared Aces when I shoved after a small raise and reraise.The original raiser folded and the other villain called with 1010.A ten on the turn sealed my fate and I sat back and took a deep breath.

I was card dead in the last one until I limped shortstacked with J10 and shoved after a Q 10 6 flop,got called by A10 and I didn't improve.

After a short break I moved to a Laddies $50nl 6 max table,bought in for $50 and left with $140 about 3/4 hr later.I wrote my new country song at that table "How can I go to bed when there's a fish at my table?".( Released soon!)

I ended up switching off around 1.15am, but I had to drag myself away, as the table had been going well for me.I was seeing only about 9% of flops due to the loose aggressive/tilty way the table was playing.My biggest winners were not premium hands but came from calling min raises preflop ( I love villains who min raise preflop at cash games)with hands like 78c and 910s.

TAG style at these tables seems to have the added bonus of slowing down the villains sometimes.Even if they have a premium pair on a fairly non scary flop ,they have to wonder why the seemingly rock like player is calling their continuation bet.It may slow them down but it doesn't seem to stop them calling when I do hit my monster well hidden draws.

Ok,tonight is the return of the raisetheriver league game and I'm looking forward to playing in it.

No Gers game this weekend as Scotland have a couple of vital qualifiers to play.It's Lithuania tomorrow at Hampden ( must win game) and the small matter of France in Paris on Wed night.

I've been listening to Amy Winehouse all week and she might be a screwed up girl but her album is superb and one of the best I've heard in a while.

Ok, don't forget to register for Sundays Bloggerment....

Thankyou for completing our survey,now....

I filled out a wee customer survey at Ladbrokes last night ( to earn $10) and then they flicked my doomswitch!

It's not often that I lose $80 over a poker session and can't find a mistake or donkey move that contributed to the loss, but last night I just got plain old unlucky.

I began at a full ring $50 nl table at Laddies and lost $20 when I limped with QJ from the cut-off ( perhaps that was a donk move)and bet out when checked to me on a Q 6 9 Rainbow flop.The only plus point about this hand was that I controlled the betting ( power of position) and the villain only called my river bet with his Q6 and didn't reraise me.

Next up was a 6 max $50nl table where one donkey ( swede2000) was pushing all in on every single hand and rebuying when he lost.Here's a question for anyone reading.If you were in my position to the left of this nutter what would be your calling range?

I folded AQ before picking up AQ soooted about 5 minutes later and this time I called his usual all in shove.One of the other players who had previously called with QJsooted ( said in chatbox he was getting annoyed) and flopped a flush v the maniac even wished me luck, but the villain managed to hit a six with his A6 and that was $50 gone.

The maniac left a couple of hands later.Grrrr! The funny thing is that when the maniac was in a hand against anyone else I was cheering him on to suckout and win because a)he would stay longer b) he'd have more money for me to take c)it may tilt the losing player in the hand.


I mentioned a few things on the Raisetheriver forum that help prevent me tilting after coolers like the above hand and missed the most obvious...my bankroll.

Losing the $50 was a sickener with such a dominating hand, but my bankroll is there to absorb such beats and I soon moved on to a 'Stars to play a $16 turbo without dwelling on it too much.

Luck continued to desert me there,with a 6th place finish after running QQ into KK and AA.( the Aces held up).In true "it's not my night" fashion I actually had about 600 chips left and folded Q5 on the next hand only to see two villains go to war preflop with AK ( both had it) and the flop come with two Queens! Of course when I pushed my J9 on the next hand I ran into KK...

Back to my impending home move and just as soon as I buy a Microwave,carpets,blinds,wallpaper,paint, tumble dryer ,arrange to get my ex tennants gas and leccy payment card meters removed,get cable installed,chase Setanta for a refund and get the noisy toilet cistern sorted then I should be just about ready!

Thankfully my wonderful wee sister is on the case and has already arranged for someone to come out and measure up for new carpets and blinds.My head is spinning already with it all!

Ok,thanks for stopping by!

Bloggerment 25!

The banner was a bit rushed this week... Password is "donkament" and the tourney can be found under the "Private" tab at Pokerstars.As always, it's open to all and there's no need to have played in any previously,write a blog or know anybody else who plays in it! Just bring your poker head and and get stuck in!

Wed Update

Big thanks to Rosie and Juice for their comments on yesterdays post.I think I have been looking to find someone ( me!) or something to blame for my split with the ex Mrs A.Rosies assertion that the ex and I simply like to spend our spare time differently and have grown apart seems to be spot on.Hey, maybe I'm not a total c*nt afterall!

On the poker front I played a couple of $16 turbo,18 player games and after coming nowhere in the first one I managed to grind my way to a 3rd place finish in the next one.I came across another situation I hate in these turbo games and that is picking up AJ sooted in early position just a few hands into the game.I usually raise 5bb preflop early on and I was almost happy someone reraised me and I could throw my AJ into the virtual muck.What a crappy hand!

I did win a buy-in at Bet365 at a $50 nl table.I'd watched a player lose his stack just before I joined the table and my instinct was that he was on tilt.My first hand was 1010 and this player had bet 7bb preflop before the action was on me.I reckoned my tens were good and pushed all in,he called,I hit a ten on the flop and I won the pot without seeing his cards.

This was all watched by the rest of the table and according the Bet 365 lobby it was also watched by five railbirds.Now I've railed the high stakes games on Full Tilt and enjoyed watching huge pots slide across the virtual felt, but I can't understand the appeal of spending time watching $50nl!

Righty ,here's a wee funny from the paper before I go...


Scots businessman Neil Gibson is wondering how strong his accent is after a trip to Oklahoma where he picked up a hire car from Hertz. The nice lady behind the counter asked if he would like satellite navigation in the car.

After he agreed that it would be a good idea, she helpfully told him that he could set it to his own language, too.

Tues Witterings

Congrats to MattyH for taking down the Bloggerment on Sunday... again! I finished a poor 11th.I had to lay down a couple of hands to reraises and eventually had to go with A10 and ran into BM's AJ.That left my stack crippled and I went out soon after.

I played a wee $6 turbo with Rosie ( who took it down!) and later I managed to almost bust my Inter roll after a nasty wee hand.( I can't afford the $1 so I'll spare you the bad beat tale!)

Last night I took more stuff to the flat in preparation for moving in on Sat 14th.Rosie said that all men are c*nts the other night in the chat but kindly made an exception for me!I'm not sure she should have done.I'm still unsure if I'm a net addicted,poker addicted numpty who has just blown a fine relationship or if the relationship was on the slide and I escaped into my laptop as a consequence.

I'm not sure either if I'm a selfish bassa who was too set in my ways after nearly a decade of living by myself, or if it was just that over the last year as the ex retreated into her shell to deal with her Mothers death,that I did the same.I do feel I tried to support her and be there for her, but maybe I didn't do enough, or try hard enough to keep things going between us.

It was a tough year though.She was obviously very very depressed but then went from that to a kind of false amphetamine like high a lot of the time, due to the prozac she was on.( which drove me nuts)

When she came off that there were more major lows and it's only really now her moods seem to be evening out.Of course starting the menopause and piling on the weight didn't help matters either.

When the ex actually told me I was being dumped I was quite upset for a few weeks and then kind of came round to the idea that I'd just been kidding myself I was happy and that splitting is probably for the best.

It then became a case of dealing with not seeing Step A and Nacho on a daily basis and making provisions to keep seeing them as often as possible.Some friends have mentioned making a cleaner break but I've been a Stepdad to Step A for 7 1/2 yrs and although the situation may change ,as long as she wants me in her life then I will be there for her.

As the actual move out date closes in though, I'm just not sure how I'm feeling.I found a couple of photos of the ex from a few years back and looking at them brought back memories of happier times and I felt like a c*nt again!

Her assertion that she was far more outgoing than me and that was one main reason for us splitting does still seem like nonsense to me.I'm not and never really have been a pub person and excuse me if my idea of fun is not Karaoke in the local Indian restaurant/pub on a Sat night.

Part of me feels quite excited to be going back to my flat,doing it up and then making a decision on whether to stay there and I wonder if I would feel like that if I was still deeply in love with the ex.Another part of me will miss the feeling of belonging that comes with a relationship.


Just now though, I feel like I'd happily stay single for the rest of my days.I know I'll eventually want to try and meet someone new and that won't happen by spending my nights glued to my laptop playing poker or surfing aimlessly.I find that idea a bit daunting to be honest, as although I've had a few serious relationships, I've never been good on first dates, chatup lines, or even the small talk required when people first meet.

Dealing with those evenings where the last words I speak in the evening are to the work security guard to say goodbye and the next time I speak is to wish the same guy good morning the next day can be lonely.When I used to stay at the flat I did volunteer befriending to keep myself busy during the week.Still, back then I didn't have an online poker addiction to feed and close friends at the table such as Mr "bodybag+u" ( charming 'Stars name )and "yourdead".

Actually "bodybag" wasn't my friend.I don't chat at non-blogger tables but when "bodybag" complained because he was sitting next to someone called "gayjack" I couldn't help but ask if it was because he found it too tempting.( he tilted out a hand or so later).


Anyways back to the poker and I didn't play much last night as I just didn't have much motivation to do so.I played one $16 turbo ( 18 player as usual) and had built my stack up to $3k ( from 1500) when I made a 5bb raise with JJ.A solid winning player instantly shoved when the action got to him, greed took over and I called.I just had a feeling I was behind or it was a coin flip at best and when the villains AA held up I was very annoyed at myself for not taking more time over the decision.

Righty I'm not sure how much of the above makes sense or is anything I haven't already written but I do feel better for it! ( better than I felt after getting the £94 bill to repair my car stereo yesterday!).

Ok,thanks for reading.....

Bloggerment tonight...

Dudley may reckon Rangers will struggle against the mighty Barcelona in the Champions league this season but this man doesn't!

To the poker and once again the poker gods were not on my side at the sharp end of a blogger tourney.I felt I played quite well in the Raisetheriver $10 main event and was feeling confident when heads up with Cogsgoigne at the end.We were both about even in chips when I raised with 4h5h from the button,flopped a flush,called Cogs push all in ( he had nut flush draw) and after a blank turn, I was 2nd again when another Heart hit on the river.I've no problem with Cogs shove and it's just the way poker goes sometimes, but after losing to a rivered gutshot when headsup in the charity game a few weeks back,this was another hefty kick in poker stones!

No point whining though and at least the $33 2nd prize covered the cost of my RTR world series.Hats off to BM and co for organising it.

After a quick break and a herbal refreshment I played in one of the $11, 180 player turbo games I'd read about on Raisetheriver.The top prize in these games is $594 and I fancied a bit of that! My exit from the first one gave me plenty of food for thought.There were 22 left with the top 18 spots paying.I had 9.5k in chips and was sitting about 15th when I picked up AK under the gun.( first to act).As the blinds were 1200/800 with antes, I knew I wouldn't have much fold equity left if I laid down my AK and tried to scrape into the money.18th paid only $18 ( for a $7 profit) and I'd already decided I'd rather gamble and build a decent stack if I got the chance around the bubble.

I reckon the ICM calculations would probably say to lay down AK here and make the money first ( ye old better to make 20% profit than lose 100% of buy-in scenario)but I was after the beeeeg money and pushed all in....only to run into a bigger stacks JJ and go out when my hand failed to hit.

I played one more short 180 player turbo and went out when my Jacks fell to Tens.( ten on flop sealed it).Tens were the hand of the night.I laid 'em down to Mr Clouds AA preflop in the RTR game and pushed BM off a hand with them too in the same game!

I hit the cash tables and although I lost $100 of my Inter take a shot roll ( overplayed A10 on an Ace high flop) I won $80 at Laddies.

Here are a couple of my favourite hands from last night..

In this first one I called a raise with A7s and when the villain led out for half the pot post flop it was a marginal decision to call.I reckoned I could win if I hit another 7 ,an Ace or if a scare card fell.When the perfect scare card which completed both the flush and straight draw it was the perfect time to reraise and take the pot.

This hand was one of my smaller winners but I liked it because I all the factors were in place to get away with a small semi bluff.If someone had the 6 or 7 I would have expected a bet post flop due to the flush draw being out there.When nobody bet and the Ace fell on the turn it was easy to bet the scare card and take it down.

Righty that's it for today.Don't forget to register for tonights Britbloggerment.......

Sat Update

Things are pretty busy at the moment as I sort through preparing to move back to the flat.I dropped some boxes of stuff off yesterday and the place is looking a bit grubby and lived in.I've owned it 14 years without painting or decorating and it's certainly beginning to show.A couple of new carpets,a lick of paint and having all my stuff there should make it feel more like home again.

To the poker and I'm playing in two events to dwarf the Wsop main event this weekend!Tonight is the raisetheriver.com $10 main event and tomorrow is of course the next Britbloggerment installment.

Last night I played the Headhunter mtt at Inter and crashed out without making an impression.After that I hit up Ladddies and won about $25 before losing $40 at 365. I finished the night by taking down a $16 ,18 player turbo at Stars.


I read this morning that from today the UK has relaxed the laws re gambling adverts in the media.Hopefully Laddies and co will be able to actively seek out new fishies for me to fleece!

To the football and I was pleased to see Rangers snapped up Stevie Naismith in the very last minute of the transfer window from Kilmarnock.He'd been linked to Rangers all summer and like Nacho Novo told celt*c where to stick their offer as he wanted to play for Rangers.

Righty that's all for today.I'm off to Ibrox to see if Naisy makes his debut against Gretna....