Annual bankroll stats + new laptop

There's not much too blog about after I made a total of $6 profit last night.I crashed out of a $16 turbo early on when I raised 4bb to 400 chips with KK and was called by the mighty 89c who flopped his flush.I had the King of clubs but there was no last club on the river to save me.I wish there had been a club in my hand and the villain around to feel the force of it but sadly I just had to shake my head instead!

I took a break and watched an excellent BBC4 documentary on Barcelona FC which followed the club in 2003/4 when their new president took over.

My laptop was playing up again and I had to abandon a couple of games before taking a quick shot at a $200 nl table on 365.I wasn't paying much attention and was ready to log off and go to bed when I picked up QQ.It was late and I forgot it was a $200nl table and only raised $5 from UTG.( 1st to act).Even when the flop came 557 with two diamonds and with only one caller I led out for a weak $8,giving the villain good odds to hang around.After a blank turn I finally made a decent pot sized bet and took it down.

Just back from Comet where I bought a shiney new laptop! It's a Fujitsu Siemens Amilo LI1818 2G and set me back £459. ( + £30 for Norton)The spec is : Intel dual core,1.74ghz,160gb hard drive,2048mb ram and a 17" screen.

The other good news is that my cashout cheque from Full Tilt has finally arrived so I can get it deposited ( assuming my bank accept cheques in US dollars!)and pay off a huge chunk of my flat decorating costs.



Stats time as today marks the end of my 3rd year of real money poker online.Here are my end of year standings..

Ladbrokes $2254,Pokerstars $839, Full Tilt $167,Party Poker $1622,Pokerroom $436,Bet365 $660.Total $5978.

Previous total on Oct 14th was $4891.New total of $5978 includes my Bet365 roll ( $50 deposit already withdrawn)for the first time.Profit since 14th Oct including Bet365 is $1087.Total profit since Oct 1st is $1157.Previous ytd profit on Oct 1st was $3566.

Final profit total for all poker played Oct31'06 - Oct31'07 is $4723.


Oct 04-Oct 05 profit $4239 Oct 05 - Oct 06 $4101

Total profit since starting to play for real money online on Oct 31st '04 is $13063.

As of today I'm withdrawing $1k from my poker bankroll to cover the cost of my new laptop.$400 from Pokerroom and $600 from Laddies.I was going to cashout my Bet365 account but it's just too fishy there!

New bankroll figures after withdrawl are Pokerroom $36,Ladbrokes $1653,Pokerstars $839,Party $1622,Bet365 $660 .Total $4810.

Bounty hunters

On Sunday evening I came 8th in the Forum game after running 99 into 1010 and 3rd in the Bloggerment after not being able to lay down 33 to Cogs reraise.I was fairly sure he had me beaten but as it was 3-handed I convinced myself it would probably be a race and of course I ran straight into AA.

Congrats to HullJimi for taking it down and to Kenn for beating the Raisetheriver players and two pro’s including Simon “Aces” Trumper to take down the forum game.Fair play to Simon and the other pro Paul “action” Jackson for turning out and doubling the bounties on themselves after last weeks no-show.

Yesterday though, was simply a dreadful day.It began when I arrived at work to find my boss has moved to the seat next to mine. I managed to move my pc screen round a bit, but jeez it’s a pain.We have a lad up from Norwich to help with the new IT system and he said he supports celtc aswell as Arsenal.He wore his celtc top yesterday and I joked with him that he’d was too early to be dressing as a tramp ( vagrant) for Halloween.He laughed ( we’ve been firing banter back and forth for weeks) but my boss interrupted to say how that could be seen as being offensive.How about you mind your own feckin' business in future!

Between a new system I can’t work and the new seating arrangement,I’m feeling my stress levels rise and a trip to the Docs may be in order soon.( another manager had just been signed off for two weeks due to stress)

I picked up a tv stand and new vacuum cleaner on the way home before nearly crashing the car.I then picked up Nacho and fell out with him after he refused to give his ball back at the end of his walk! ( we made up soon afterwards!)

I do at least have a new girlfriend ,but I’m not sure it’ll last, as I hadn’t met her before she shouted “there’s ma boyfriend,hello sexy” as I walked past a group of neds/chavs last night on the way to get my sausage supper.As I walked back past them with my dinner I’m sure ( despite the s-mans slanderous slurs) I heard her say “ and he has such a fine head of hair too”….

Still no word back from two emails sent to Sngicons enquiring about gift certificates.They seem like a smaller outfit then pxf and cardrunners and perhaps the email contact is away just now, but the bottom line is that they’ve not replied to a potential customer and despite their site looking good ,I think it’s time to look elsewhere.

Back to the poker and I went 0/4 in $16 turbos on Sunday night.Last night I only played one 18 player turbo as I was in a seriously stonkingly bad mood and probably shouldn’t have been playing at all.I got lucky once and also resucked a King on the river with AK V A10 after a ten had flopped.I went on to take down the $108 first prize...which was nice.

Ok,thanks for reading...

I pull my hair out...

It's just aswell I'm blessed with thick abundant folicles ( all comments from s-man and Al Eleven will be deleted!) because although I won at the tables last night,a bad beat at Dusktilldawn had me literally pulling at my own hair in sheer frustration.Surely shouting "don't pair the feckin' board" is a proven poker method used by all the pro's?!

I'd managed two third place finishes after playing a set of four $16 ,18 player turbos before moving to DTD.I had deposited £40 there the other week to use for Raisetheriver games and I'd managed to reduce that to nearer £10 during the last week.I won £23 yesterday afternoon and last night I took £25 of my £33 to a 6 max £.50-£1nl table.There were two solid players,1 semi-solid but careless player,a fish and a someone who overplayed many hands.I actually sucked out bigtime with Q8 all in on a Q 9 10 flop when the turn brought me a Q to beat one of the solid players 910.

I had increased my stack to £60 and felt like I had the measure of the table when I called a small raise from Mr Overplay.I had 67 and the flop ( 5 8 9 rags) brought me the nut straight.I bet out,we got all the money in, and he showed a set of nines which I thought was a bit of a cooler for him....until an Ace on the turn and another feckin' Ace on the river gave him a full house to beat my straight.Arghhhhhhhh!!

I did at least manage to laugh about it a few minutes later.Ladbrokes was next up and it didn't take me long to get back in my stride as my quads twos beat a full house.It was fairly obvious the villain had the full house and it was one of those sweet occasions where I knew my apparent overbet ( all in) would get called.

I left Ladbrokes $128 up and again looked around the various sites for juicy tables.I should also mention I caught up with Juice in the chat and we both managed to donk out of a $16 turbo before my screen froze again and I had to abandon the chat just to get my game finished.Looks like I'll need a new laptop afterall.

Oh and I also began my pokery night by making the top 500 of that Party $5 freeroll I'd mentioned I'd been invited to play in.Two hours of work for $2 profit!!


Back to much later and I found a loose ,high average pot table at Bet 365 and won £40 there before finally hitting the sack around 5am.( 4am after the clocks went back)

No stats today as I'll be doing an exciting ( ahem!) end of year stats post on Wed 31st as this will be the end of my 3rd full year of playing with real money online.

Looking forward to play the DTR game and the Bloggerment tonight although I just hope my laptop can cope with playing 2 games on two different sites without freezing up.

Ok,thanks for reading.Back next week....

Donkaments

I didn't play much poker on Thursday night.4th place ( paid $27) in a $16 turbo was my only game.In truth I was feeling a bit stir crazy and not really on top form, despite having Nacho around for company.Sometimes I think the hardest part of dealing with a breakup is not in the immediate aftermath, but comes at that point a while later where normal life just doesn't seem normal anymore.( if that makes any sense!)

I did keep myself very busy doing up my flat before I moved in and I have settled into a routine here, which is good, although I can't really seem to begin to get my head around thinking about another relationship yet.Perhaps much of the passion had left my relationship with the ex but we were very comfortable in each others company and usually ( until the last few months) had a good laugh at life.Being a lazy bassa I just don't have the motivation to think about getting to that stage with anyone new.I suppose more primitive urges ( and not just the one for a proper cooked meal!) will kick in and I'll eventually feel like making the effort to meet someone new.It just seems a very daunting thought just now.


To the poker and after Mark at Planet Gongs recommendation ,I emailed sngicons to ask if they have any gift certificate options as I think their site will be the best option for my Mum's birthday.Not heard back yet.I've resent the email and I'll give them a couple of days or so but if I don't hear I'll be sticking to either a cardrunners or pxf subsription for her.I'm really enjoying cardrunners ( training site) but it seems daft to have two subscriptions, when I can let my Mum view some of my downloaded videos with me on my laptop when I visit.

Last night I played the wee Raisetheriver game ( and it was a wee game,we had 4 entrants!) and came 3rd after running A10 into AQ.Good fun though and well done to Mair for winning it.

I decided I need to stop being such a wimp about running into bad beats/better hands in turbo sngs and have a little more faith in myself and my game.According to startracker database I make the money in 18 player turbo's 25% of the time so I fired up four turbo's ( 18 player,$16 on Stars),tiled 'em and told myself to aim to make the money in at least one.I multi-tabled better than I have done previously and managed a 1st,2nd and two crashouts.I didn't find it too hard to keep up with the action and just played until all four games were done ,rather than keep opening new games.

Next I fired up Bet365 and took a shot at a very loose $200nl table,only to run into two nasty coolers.This prompted a semi-tilty bluff with nothing which cost me more $$ and I decided to take a break and chill out.( lost $120 in total)

I played in Kats Friday night donkament on Full Tilt next and enjoyed donking it up before eventually going out when I pushed an open ended straight draw into top pair,top kicker.When I made my initial bet and was reraised, I didn't really think the villain was bluffing but it was a donkament and after 3am, so I gambled on hitting my hand.

Ladbrokes was next up and another $200nl 6 max table was my destination.This one had an average pot of $100.At one point I was up $165 but I left for bed at 4am happy to take a $100 profit.

I hop around so many poker sites I never really earn many player points at any of them.I don't have any rakeback deals and don't bonus chase at all.I may be missing out but I balance this up by always being free to choose whichever site has the juciest table for selection.I did get an invite though to a Party Poker $5k VIP freeroll and will be playing that to start with at 6pm tonight.

I'm just back after picking Nacho up ( I have him until Mon)and taking him for a long run about at the local pitches in the pissing rain.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and don't forget to register for the Bloggerment.....

Bloggerment 32...

All welcome! Please note the clocks go back in the UK this weekend which means the start time is 5pm est which is 9pm Gmt.( in Stars lobby under Private tab).

More than a club..

Thanks to all for the comments on my last post.Maybe I should rant more often!

No poker on Tuesday night as I was at Ibrox to see Rangers secure a 0-0 draw with the mighty Barcelona.It was great to see players like Messi,Henry and Ronaldinho in the flesh and I was delighted Rangers managed to contain them for 90 minutes.After our 3-0 gubbing of celtc at the weekend and their usual away defeat in the Champions league last night,it's been a fine football week all round!

The ex called yesterday to say she isn't well which meant she wasn't working and I wasn't needed to go over and look after Step A.I decided to treat myself and had dinner at the excellent Paperinos and had the same tortelli di Parma (ravioli stuffed with ricotta cheese and spinach, served with parmesan cheese, butter and sage) I ate the last time and it was just as tasty.

I played some poker at DTD when I returned and after a couple of swings I left £1 up after an hours play!

I two tabled $16 turbo's at Stars ( 18 player) and managed 2nd in one of them.I should probably have won it after dominating the heads-up by playing a hyper aggressive style, but I didn't change gears at the right time, and couldn't regain momentum after losing a big pot with Q4 to Q7 on a Queen high board.

I moved to Bet 365 and played at a juicy $200nl 8 max table ,finishing even after 1/2 hrs play.

Tonight I'm picking my boy up ( Nacho) after work and taking him to the local pitches to test out the new ball thrower thing I bought yesterday.( should save my arm hurting for 2 days!)

After that it's dinner and to the tables....

Rant time!

Time for a mini-rant.It's my blog afterall and if I upset any eco-warriors or Daily Mail/Guardian readers then too bad.

Being a Rangers fan I've never much liked the colour green and right now I've just about had it with the constant crap being spewed about how we should all be super green and environmentally friendly.From what I've read, the world has been cooling and warming constantly over the centuries, nobody can actually prove that Global warming is man made and even if it is for real, I doubt it can be prevented by me putting my tins cans in a separate bin from my normal waste.( Especially considering the huge industrial growth in China and India)

Todays Radio 5 live phone in was encouraging twats to take a stand at the supermarket checkout by removing all the packaging from items and demanding the manager recycle it.If some numpty takes a stand like that in front of me I won't be slow in asking them to move aside and stop wasting time.( or a swift kick to their package may follow!)

Apparently Slough council has even used the "green" excuse to avoid holding their annual bonfire on Nov 5th as it would pollute the atmosphere! I would venture that just one Egyptian taxi ( 25yr old smoke machines!) would produce about ten times the smoke a bonfire produces,simply by starting the engine.

Another story hacking me off is the one re the two community policeman who supposedly stood by and watched a boy drown because "water rescue" was not part of their training.The Daily Mail are making a big deal of the fact they didn't dive in to help, despite the fact the police were initially directed to the wrong part of the lake, and when they did get to the right part, there was no sign of the stricken boy.Diving in randomly would have been like searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack.

The last part of my min-rant is directed at radio dj's who imply that the simple act of playing a song is a huge favour for the listener."Stay tuned and if you're all very good little listeners I may play this great song shortly".I accidentally tuned into Scot Mills on Radio 1 and this was his highy annoying style.

I'll leave drivers who don't indicate alone, as I've ranted about them before, ( they're still A-holes) but a quick mention of all those "outgoing" idiots who declare themselves to be "totally mad" or "crazy".Lock 'em up in a padded cell and see how crazy and mad they are then I say!

Ahhhh that's better!

On the pokery front I came 4th in an 18 man ,$16 turbo last night before playing a wee bit of cash poker at bet 365 and leaving $20 up.I didn't catch any playable hands at all but I did make some aggressive bluffs.At one point I called a raise, and just before the villain continuatiuon bet $3.50 into a $4 pot on a ragged Jack high flop,I swear I could hear Sbrugby's voice in my head saying ( adopt US accent!) " Huh,I don't think he's hit this flop and I'm gonna check raise and try and take it down".I reraised his $3.50 to $9 and the villain folded.

I'm off to Ibrox tonight to see Rangers take on the mighty Barcelona in the Champions league.I can't wait to see Messi,Ronaldinho,Henry and co in action.I only hope Rangers give a good account of themselves and don't get humped too badly!

Tomorrow night I'm over at the ex's looking after Step A ,and as she has no net access I've downloaded a few cardrunners vids to my media player to watch.That's my idea of taking a break from the poker!

I also added a Pokertracker screenshot of my stats summary over 27k hands at Ladbrokes to yesterdays post.Any comments welcome!

Righty that's more than enough for just now.Back later in the week....

Double Donk Out + PT Screen shot

After spending hours throwing together yet another cullinary delight, ( 5 mins in microwave for a ready made chicken meal) I watched an Sbrugby HU vid and loggged on for the Bloggerment and RTR game.

It was a bit of a letdown that the pro's who were supposed to be playing in the RTR game didn't show, as it was watching guys like Simon "Aces" Trumper on Ch4's late night poker that brought me to poker in the first place,however the overlay and chance to go to Nottingham were still worthy prizes.

In the Bloggerment I was lucky enough to beat Kats QJ with KK on a board which gave us both a full house in the end, but I didn't really seem to catch many other hands there and I soon found my stack dwindling.Another blogger tourney and another case of running into Aces for me as Hammerheid scudded my Nolan sisters ( QQ) with his pocket rockets.

I had just crashed out of the RTR game ( 11th I think) after making a move on Kronsdat with 44.I obviously didn't want him calling when I shoved over the top of his raise and had hoped ( he's solid enough to lay a hand down) to get him to fold A5-AJ and 22-99 and hands like KQ.He probably realised I was making a move though and made a good call with his 88.

I came 6th in a wee $6 turbo ( 18 player) I played with Rosie and Juice afterwards before playing 10 minutes of cash poker at 365.

One big difference watching Cardruner vids has made to my game is that I used to want to wait until I had a very tight image before making any moves at cash tables.

Last night on the 2nd hand I had A10 in the small blind and there were two limpers before the action was on me.( 6 max $50nl table) I had considered a 5bb raise and even thought about folding ( due to being out of position) but instead I raised 6bb ( to $3) and they all folded.It was only a tiny pot but one I probably wouldn't usually make a move at and I'll need every edge going if I'm to move beyond $100nl.

On the topic of moving up I've already played a good few thousand hands at $100nl but mostly at full ring tables.I feel I can say after 3 years that I can beat $50nl 6 max but I've not proved to myself that I can consistently beat $100nl 6 max yet and that has to be my next step.( along with shots at $200 and $400nl).

I'd love to have it in my nature to be able to take $1k from my roll ,sit at a $5-$10nl table and take a real shot at taking a shortcut to success, but the thought of losing $1000 of hard earned ( hours of $50 nl grinding) profit over a few bad beats stops me taking the plunge.

Looking after Nacho tonight,Barcelona at Ibrox tomorrow night,Wed night I'm looking after Step A,Thus I have Nacho again and then it's the weekend.Roll on...

Pokertracker screenshots for my records.

Torn + PT screenshots

I'm torn between buying my Mum a pxf or cardrunners sub for her birthday.Pxf seems more suited to MTT players and my Mum is an avid sng and micro-limit cash player.I've also been very impressed with my own cardrunners sub and I watched another training vid last night to get me in the poker mood.BM's advice has been very useful and I'd appreciate the thoughts of any other pxf/cardrunners subscribers.

Before hitting the tables last night I watched a rerun of yesterdays Old Firm game.The celtc fans are using the old "it was the ref's fault" excuse despite the fact he failed to give Rangers a stonewall penalty and wrongly ruled our 4th goal to be offside.Some things never change!

I ventured back to $16 ,18 player turbo land last night and two tabled as I'm never going to make any decent profit playing just the one game at a time.My AK fell to AA before I had AQ scudded by A8 sooooted and then ran J10s into AA ( who made quads just to rub it in) to leave me 0/3.Thankfully I felt I played quite well in my last $16 game and I took it down after accumualting a huge stack by the final table.


I downloaded DTD poker in order to play tonights big Raisetheriver game and managed to donk out of a $20 mtt at the halfway stage.( I only put £40 in and wont be including it as part of my roll as I'll only really be playing RTR events there)

A juicy 8 seat $100 NL ,Bet 365 table was next up and I limped in with Aces from the small blind against a very Loose Aggressive player who was raising most hands by $7 preflop.He checked his option and I made a weak lead bet into him on a Jack high flop ( I bet $2 trying to look weak and hoping to induce a bluff) and he flat called.
An Ace fell on the turn giving me a set and once again I led out for a weak $3 and once again he flat called.The river was a Ten and this time I made an almost pot sized bet of $12 and he shoved quite quickly.The only hand that beat me was KQ and though it fitted with how he had played the hand I decided I'd pay him off if he had it and called his large bet.He showed A10 ( nice turn and river!)and the pot was mine!

I took a break and when I came back I gave back most of those winnings ( at 365) by overplaying a little preflop at $50 nl tabs.I was attempting a few preflop resteals which is not always a good idea at $50nl as many villains who raise preflop are too attached to their hands to fold.I'm also used to having a TAG image at cash tables and need to learn how to adjust better to other players adapting to me when I loosen up a bit.( esp preflop) Adjust before they do is the answer I think.

Ok,thanks for reading and don't forget to register for tonights Bloggerment.( and DTD game if your an RTR member)

The screenshots below are because I'm deleting loads of hand histories etc to try and speed up my Pokertracker and laptop and are really only of interest to me.Please feel free to move on to the fine links on the right!

Pokerroom 2005



Ladbrokes 2007




Party 2007

Bloggerment 31!

Please feel free to use the banner and pimp the tourney on your blog!Thanks.

So f*ckin' easy!!

Oh that was so f*ckin' easy! 3-0 to the Rangers today v celtc, with the Nacho man scoring two ( see photos above) and Ferguson banging in the other.It should have been four ( which would have taken us top of the league on goal difference) but one was wrongly ruled to be offside.

We were easily the best side today and thoroughly deserved the win.I was also amused by the celtc supporters banner celebrating a 7-1 win over us in 1957, because at halftime the Gers support unveiled one about three times the size informing them of our 8-1 win over them in 1943!! They may try and claim it was during WW2 and doesn't count, but they count the goal scored by their player that day in their official records so it'll do for me!!

I paid £50 to get another 256ram added to my laptop and it does seemed to have sped things up a little,though I still can't get Pokertracker to work when I'm actually playing.I may try deleting it and starting again.

Last night after ex Mrs A had cleaned the flat and I'd dropped her off,I began by playing in the Raisetheriver tag team game.I missed the first level and ended 5th overall but the chatbox buzzing and I really enjoyed myself.

I watched another cardrunners vid afterwards and hit up a couple of $200nl cash tables,finishing about even after an hours play.I even joined a juicy $2-$4 nl 8 max table at 365 but never found the right spots to make much profit.

I was very tempted by Kats donakement at 2am, but as it's a rebuy for the first hour and I had to be up early today, I gave it a miss.

I'm just back after taking Nacho for a long run ( he ran,I strolled!)and tonight I'm going to enjoy the rerun of the Old Firm game.

Big thanks to BM for the pxf info.Looks like my sis and I are going to split the cost and buy it for my Mums birthday!

Ok,I'm off to try and get my voice back after the game today....

Doh Doh Doh!

Ahh well nobody does glorious failure quite like Scotland and it now looks like despite accumulating more points in our group than teams who have already qualified in other groups,we will need to beat the World Champions ,Italy,to progress to the Euro Championships.This was after our poor 2-0 defeat away to Georgia the other night.

Back to club football and at least I have the first Old Firm ( Rangers v celt*c) game of the season at 12.30pm tomorrow at Ibrox to look forward to.It's a tough one to call because Rangers are capable of going to Lyon and winning 3-0 and then coming home and losing to some diddy team.I'm not greedy though and would settle for an 8-0 thrashing of our ancient rivals.

On the poker front I'm not sure why I feel the need to detail almost every session as if some auditor is waiting to catch me out for missing one...but I do!

I managed 4th in a $16 sng the other night and lost a few $$ on my Bet 365 account when I pushed with a flush draw and two overcards and failed to hit v top pair.

Last night was dinner with Step A at my Mum and Dads.I actually watched my first ever episode of The Simpsons last night and quite enjoyed it, though I still reckon South Park ( and Cartman especially) is the Daddy!

I didn't get home until 12.30am but fired up Party for a little $50nl 6 max action and was lucky enough to win a buy-in on one of those sweet hands a beginner could have played.I'm dealt AA, there's a min raise to $1,three calls and a reraise to $7 before the action was on me.I'd reraised the same villain a few hands earlier with KK and laid it down to a bet on an Ace high flop.This meant he knew I was willing to reraise big without an Ace and when I made it $19.50 ,he shoved and I insta-called and my hand held up.

I did enjoy some chat with a player called sweetkat who made a good call v a donkey with 2nd pair and exclaimed "OMG!!!!" in the chatbox which made me "lol"! It was only after I'd left the table I realised she was from Canada but surely there's only one Kat in Canada!

Here's one from the paper just for Kat..

A student teacher draws our attention to the allscottishteachers website and the story of the older teacher at a conference describing her pupils in her remedial class, as such classes were then called, as "her little elfs". At question time, she was asked if did she not think it a bit patronising and rather old-fashioned to call her unruly students little elfs.

She replied that the listener obviously didn't realise that elfs stood for "evil little *******".



The ex Mrs A is coming over this evening to clean my flat and after that I may be playing in the raisetheriver.com pairs game if we can get enough people to play.Register at raisetheriver.com and join us for a game!

Don't forget to register for the Bloggerment either.It's on Sunday as usual at 'Stars at 9pm bst/4pm est under the Private Tourney tab and the password is donkament.All welcome!

Overtime...

I did my first ever weekday overtime at work last night.As I may have mentioned I'm not that fond of my day job, but I'm quite lucky that for what I do I get paid reasonably well and there's usually plenty of overtime available.In some ways I think I'm daft for staying up so late at weekends playing poker, when I could make a lot more by getting a decent sleep and going into work for a few hours.They say money won is twice as sweet as money earned though and I reckon that's true.

My employer also provided a meal which meant when I arrived home about 7.30 ish I could get straight into watching a cardrunners vid.I watched a LAG ( Loose aggressive) player run over a couple of tables and eventually hit the $50nl 6 max tables at Bet 365.

I was trying to keep my preflop aggression up and keep putting pressure on my opponents.A donkey shortstack came over the top of a quite regular preflop raiser and I decided to shove with AK to isolate the donk.Unfortunately for me the preflop raiser had AA and although the donk showed KJ my Big Slick had little chance and I lost a buy-in.

I am very keen to improve my game, however I'm a 7bb winner at $50 nl and I need to make sure I'm not ignoring my instincts in favour of misplaced aggression,especially as it's not easy to get many $50nl players to fold at times.I can't expect to make changes to my game without making errors and as long as my game gets better overall, then I can take a few hits to get there.

Righty,here's a quick one from the paper for my English readers.

Such larks from the England fans. A Scot working in a London office was sent the following e-mail which is doing the rounds of the excitable Nigels.

It reads: "I've just been offered corporate hospitality for the game on Saturday in Paris, all-expenses-paid and I can take a mate.

"So, I was wondering - can you put my bin out on Monday morning?"

Ho ho ho!!

Tues Update

After chatting to my neighbours, it seems the tennant who stayed here had big problems with the local "Young team" and I'm 100% sure the broken window wasn't aimed at me.Hopefully word will now get out that he's gone and I'll be left in peace.

Someone asked in the comments for feedback on Cardrunners and having watched another video last night I am even more pleased than ever with my investment.I am currently reading Harrington on Holdem and although the worked examples and the thought processess described to reach decisions are excellent,I don't feel it's much of a match for watching a pro talk me through countless decisions over an online poker session.

I played two Bet 365 $50 nl, 6 max tables after the vid and the main improvement I've already made to my game was to ramp up my preflop aggression.I've always believed in "lethal limping" at $25nl and $50nl with marginal hands( hit big v monsters and get paid off) and overbetting hands like premium pairs.The bottom line is that I make my money by simply playing a tighter game than my opponents and therefore when I do enter a pot it's usually with the best hand.

At $100 nl and above ( esp if I want to play $200nl upwards) I need to improve my game massively to continue to make a decent profit.To be fair I've always used table selection ( picking wild loose high ave pot tables) and my uber tight/aggressive style seems to work there, but I want to be able to mix it up at any table I sit at.

The only problem I have with cash tables just now is that my laptop is too slow/overloaded to allow me to run Pokertracker when playing.Last night there was a raise and reraise before the action was on me holding the Nolan sisters.( QQ) I flat-called and folded to an all in from the reraiser on a 10 high ragged flop.I just felt he had KK/AA as I was fairly sure he'd been playing quite a tight preflop game.Pokertracker and GT+ would have confirmed this for me and made my decision easier.

Ok,back soon ....

Smashing night

Woke up this morning to find someone has thrown something at my living room window and shattered the outside pane of the double glazing.I heard a noise about 2am, but my hall lightbulb had fallen out the previous night and in my half asleep state I assumed it was that again.When my tennant was in my flat I had to pay for new glass in 2005 and I have a feeling he had problems with the local neds/chavs.So much for the area being quieter than I remember!

It's not the end of the world though.My buildings insurance means it's going to cost me £50.What really makes me mad is that although he wasn't there last night,Nacho sleeps below that window ( I actually suspect he moves to the couch when I go to bed!) and it could have scared or even injured him.

I didn't want to post negative stuff today because with the Bloggerment and the Pokerstars Wccop raging last night ,the tables were buzzing.

Big thanks to Wolverine, GCox and Al Can't Hang for the Bloggerment pimpage.Obviously it helped that it started only 1 hour after the main Stars event.( and to think we nearly cancelled it this week) It was great to see 38 players turn out for the Bloggerment and even better to see so many US/Canadian playing.Every table seemed to have a good mix of nations and characters.The chat/trash talk seemed to flow easily enough too, as did the aggressive moves!

The good news for the UK/Europe is that after 30 Bloggerment games,the title stayed on these shores after Burnley Mik won heads up in the end against Bin-golfing.Congrats to BM and well done to all who took part for helping make it one of the best attended Bloggerments to date.

My own Bloggerment story came down to two main hands.I raised Rosie with A9 from the small blind,had to fold to her reraise on a Jack high ragged flop and then ran 99 into JJ.Game over in 20th position!

In the WCCOP Stars game I managed to build my stack to 32k before losing most of it when I semi-bluffed 77 and ran into K9 on a nine high flop.I hung around like a bad smell before finally going out in 337th place.

Burnley Mik was tearing up the tables and I railed him until he went out around 60th in the Wccop.I was also playing a $100 nl full ring table and left $20.No major hands to report but the cardrunners vids I have watched so far did give me the confidence to raise my aggression prefop, which seemed to work.

Ok,that's it for now.Thanks for reading...

Training + Stats

What a great result for Scotland yesterday! We beat Ukraine 3-1, with goals from Miller,McCulloch and McFadden.We'll probably still need to beat Georgia on Wed and get a point v Italy which is going to be tough but the team are flying just now so you never know...

After watching the game I decided to take the plunge and sign up for cardrunners.com.I chose cardrunners over Pfx mainly because first and foremost I'm a cash player and cardrunners seems more suited to ring games.I watched a couple of the vids and was keen to play some pokey, when my cable tv and internet went on the blink! Called cust services and was told it was a fault in my postcode area and it should be fixed within 24hours!

After failing to find a neighbours wireless connection to steal, I dug out my Play station 2, loaded up Medal of Honor and spent an enjoyable couple of hours doing my bit to save the free world from Nazi domination.When at last my services returned I logged on and began to wish it was still down...

I joined a $100nl 6 max table at 365 which had an average pot of $71.Very juicy and within a few hands I picked up QQ.A bet,a raise and I reckoned it was such a loose table that I probably had the best hand and shoved.Against one opponent and with a decent read that may be ok, but although one guy called of his stack with AQ ,the other had woken up with KK and my Nolan sisters went down in flames.( Mr KK turned out to be a real rock and if I'd been at the table longer I like to think I may have laid those Queens down)

I played a $16 turbo next at Stars and continued my recent habit of running into Aces when I pushed AKsooooted into 'em to crash out in 15th.( from 18)

Next up was Laddies and I stayed in my comfort zone and played $50 nl 6 max there.I was up a wee bit when I had my KK scudded by some muppet and his Q8.Maybe he knew the 8 was coming on the river after hitting his Queen on the flop and I'm the idiot!
Why else would he call big bets on the flop and turn? I do wonder what ( if anything) hand he put me on.

The 365 loss isn't part of my main bankroll and the good news is that losing aprox $165 in one night didn't cause cold sweats and certainly wont affect my poker confidence.

Having said that, I'd been chatting to Rosie on the IM thing and ended up railing her all the way to 2nd place in a $5 mtt at Full Tilt. It was a great run ,though the winning villain sucked out on the last hand to deny Rosie 1st place and an extra $200.Still a $322 pay out for a $5 entry is a fine return on investment! Congrats again on a great finish Rosie!

Jumping back to the cardrunners sub and I almost feel it's paid for itself,even after watching only a couple of videos.( of pro's playing and talking through their moves)It is refreshing to watch vids aimed at players who have a bit of experience.Poker shows on tv are great but when you've been playing for three years ,the constant newbie guides ( "this is the button which means you are the dealer" etc) end up grating a bit.

The main thing I've picked up so far is...send me £61 and I'll tell you! Cheque in post? Ok,it's the art of four betting or restealing preflop at $100nl and above.Below $100nl at cash tables the concept of fold equity hardly seems relevant sometimes because it's Nofoldem Holdem and more often than not the villain will call you down.

I did enjoy Action Jeffs $27 turbo at Stars video.I recognised two of the players from my turbo exploits there and when Jeff flopped a set with AA against one villain ,he was sure the villain didn't have much.Jeff wasn't using any databases for research ( sharkscope etc) and to be fair he didn't know any of the players.I knew the villain in the hand was a big winner and I wasn't surprised when he showed a lower flopped set at showdown.( enjoyed the rant that followed too!)

Ok,I've had my rolls n sausage.Time to take Nacho up the road before hitting the tables.It's the Pokerstars World Blogger game at 8pm ,followed by the Bloggerment at 9pm.

Here are my latest updated stats.Only 17 days until the end of my 3rd year of online real money poker...

Ladbrokes $2011 Party $1595 Pokerroom $438 Stars $680 Full Tilt $167 ( includes -$1400 cashout from FT poker roll) Total $4891. ( + $70 since 1st Oct)

This excluded my "take a shot" Bet 365 roll, although I plan to withdraw it soon to buy a new laptop.( I will probably include it at end of the month to help get me to over $4k profit for the year,if I don't blow it!)

$70 profit over two weeks is mince but better than losing and it's quite pleasing that my Full Tilt cash out will not leave me needing to completely rebuild my roll before playing too much higher.

Actually 365 is so juicy I may add my account there to my bankroll and withdraw from Pokerroom.

Enough witterings for today.....

Sat update

Missed out on the Raisetheriver league title by 5 points in the end after coming 4th last night when I shoved 22 into AA.Perhaps with a smaller raise I could have laid it down if my opponent ( solid tight player) had come over the top ,but that's poker and congrats to Ricky Rosa for taking the honours over the 10 week series.
The game and the chat were both excellent as usual last night!Looking forward to more of the same at the Blogggerment on Sunday.

I bubbled a couple of turbo $16 and $6 games before scraping 3rd in one and hitting up the cash tables.After a load more smokes I decided on "Mendacity" as my new smart arse name at Bet 365.There used to be a Scottish radio pundit whose favourite phrase when hosting football phone-ins was "are you accusing me of mendacity?" (the late James Sanderson)and as it means "A lie,a falsehood" ,I thought I'd go with it."Crazy Diamond" and "Freewheelin" ( Franklin!) were taken....

The software has totally changed at 365 and for 10 mins I was very close to cashing out all my money there due to the very low average pots at all the cash tables.....until I realised I was looking at fixed limit games and the No Limit games were as juicy as ever.Their new buddy system ( no need to have the fish accept an invite) is superb and the gamepla is quite quick too.You can even have a voice telling you "check,fold,raise" etc as the players make their moves.A bit annoying but good for those late night herbal sessions when my eyes are half shut!

I won almost a buy-in and was feeling good when I lost it to a real clown who called me down with 23 on a J 3 7 board ( I had KJ) and hit his 2 on the river.Luckily he checked and I checked behind.It nearly tilted one of the other players who berated the fish for ages which I found highly amusing.

I left that $100 nl table and played a $200nl full ring table for a bit and left even after 1/2 hr play with no major hands to talk about.I also logged onto Full Tilt about 30 seconds too late to play Kats Friday night rebuy donkament.Why don't Full Tilt allow late registration?

Today I've just had my rolls n square sausage and I'm about to take Nacho for a walk before settling down to watch the Scotland v Ukraine game.They are a decent side and I reckon we're in for a very tough game.My only real hope is that Ukraine are almost out of the running to qualify and may not be totally focussed.We'll see!

If your playing in Stars World blogger game....

Register for this on Sunday...



Find it under the Private tab on Pokerstars lobby.Only $5.50.Are you up to the challenge?

Please steal the banner and GIP! ( Get it pimped!)

Power cut

No poker on Wednesday night and last nights play began with a couple of nasty exits from 'Stars $16 games.The good beat yesterday was that at about 1pm a power cut at work meant we all went home! ( though typically they are trying to shaft us over our flexi-time for leaving early).

I went to Comet first and had a look at new laptops.Even after more screen freezing at Ladbrokes last night, I'm still a bit reluctant to splash out for a new one in case it's my cable connection.I did try and run Pokertracker though and it gave me the "programme not responding" message as usual.At least a new Lappy should sort that out.

After my sng exits I fired up a Laddies $50nl 6 max table and after winning a big pot with a marginal call,I ended up playing 3 handed for a while until one villain left and I cleaned out the shortstack.The marginal call saw me face an all in after the turn card with a flush draw,open ended straight draw and 2 overcards.I suspected my overcards may not be live ( villain had flopped 2 pair) and I was probably lucky to river my flush and take the pot.

Picking up my lad ( Nacho) after work again today and will be taking him for a run ( well he runs,I stroll!) before dinner and the final Raisetheriver league game.I'm not sure how the points are allocated but I'm fairly sure it's going to take Ricky Rosa exiting early and a win for me to wrestle back 1st position and the league title.Highly unlikely but not impossible.

Ok,that's all for now.Don't forget to register for Sundays Bloggerment at Stars.4pm est/9pm bst. Pass:donkament

Youpaymycaroff....

I thought I'd start todays post with a couple of links for anyone wanting to improve their Karma and suffer less bad beats at the poker tables! ( ok,no promises!). This first link is to a breastcancer site and simply requires you to "click" to donate towards free Mammograms to help detect breast cancer.Bookmark the site and click daily!

I've added this link to Colinhowe.org after reading his story here.Bottom line is that Colin has terminal kidney cancer and requires a £3500 per month treatment to give him a good chance of doubling the time he has left.The local hospital trust have refused to fund it.I'm not going to debate that decision,but to help,please follow the link and make a donation.

Back to the poker and I've finally requested a withdrawl of $1400 from my Full Tilt poker bankroll.This will go towards paying off the flat decorating costs I've run up on my credit card.

I crashed out of one and came second in another $16 ( 18 player) turbo last night.I lost about $30 at a $100nl Party 6 max table and logged onto Bet 365,only to discover they have have new software and require me to register a new username.I use Zagga and Acornman at most sites but I'd like something a bit more original this time.

Prime candidates include Stinky Finger,youpaymycaroff,curtains4u,dontcallmeplze,Ismellfear,livetobluff or even a girly name.If anyone has any suggestions please leave me a comment!

No poker tonight as I'm back at CW's to look after Step A as CW is working until midnight.I'll finish reading Christopher Brookmyres "Attack of the unsinkable rubber ducks" and watch a bit of tv.The book took a bit of getting into, but has turned out to be up to his usual high standard.

I'm still looking at new laptops.Last nights Party poker chatbox message that they were not allowing chip animations etc because of a lack of memory in my computer has further convinced me my laptop is the reason for the occasional disconnects and slow/freezing screens.

I recommended Amy Macdonalds cd "This is the Life" in a recent post and Mr Cloud mentioned how much he loved it too.I don't think I made it clear just what a truly outstanding album it is.If your going to buy/download one album this year then I'd highly recommend you make it this one.Nearly fifty minutes of music which will blow your socks off.Don't miss it!


Ok,don't forget to register for the Bloggerment on Pokerstars this Sunday.9pm bst or 4pm est under "Private" in the lobby and only $5.50! All welcome!

Laser treatment required.....

I wasn't going to post today but after reading about the husband who spent £800 to have a huge photo of his wife tattooed on his back ,only for her to run off with a Latvian toyboy,I wondered if Hammerheid has a similar tattoo of Mair and is currently in the queue at the tattoo removal shop, after she beat him Heads Up last night to take her second Bloggerment title!

Thanks to everyone who turned out to play last night and Congrats to Mair for winning it after a fine Headsup battle with her hubby ,Hammerheid.

I came a poor 15th when I ran JJ into Cells min-raised AA.( should have picked up on that!) I was very tired and still a bit hungover, so I ended up watching some of the rest of the game and also just managed to find Burnley Miks table at the $100k Stars mtt,just in time to see him go out to a nasty 3 outer.

I have now received confirmation that Full Tilt have approved my documents and I can now request a withdrawl.It was a pain in the ass having to scan and send passport/credit card statements but at least they have approved them very quickly and I can get things moving.( and get my c/card cleared!)

Looking forward to picking Nacho up after work,walking him and having a relaxing evening.

The Big Chap has suggested we try and organise a home game every 8 weeks ( he must need a regular income!) and after Saturdays high enjoyable shennanigans I'd be well up for that.The s-man was such a fine host I'm sure we'll all be invited back asap!

Yep,apart from Rangers losing at home to Hibs ( and that jammy lot across the city coming from 1-0 down to win 2-1 in injury time) it was a great weekend.( topped off by my Mums excellent steak pie dinner last night)

Burnley Mik and I were considering cancelling the Bloggerment this Sunday as it starts an hour after the Stars world blogger game.We've decided to let it run as usual.Feel free to play both and if you're playing in the Stars freeroll please give the Bloggerment a little pimpage at the table/in your blog and hopefully we can attract a few new players.

Ok,that's all for today.Thanks for reading....

Live donkaments

I was 5th in the RTR Friday league game and managed to donk out of a couple of sng's, before winning $75 in quick 365 hit and run $200nl cash session.The second sng exit hurt because it was right on the bubble of an 18 player $27 turbo!

Last night though,was the first chance this year to catch up with The Miami Trout ( aka Al Eleven aka San Jose Salmon) and also to see the S-man's ( sookraboaby) new place.Hammmerheid never made it through from Edinburgh but The Big Chap ,Dudley ( res evil) and my cousin arrived at my place about 7.30ish and we headed off to the S-mans around 9pm.

After breaking out the beer and smokes, it was pokery time and we began with a £5 turbo tournament which didn't last long for me.( about two hands longer than Dudley though!) I limped with Aces from the button and my flop bet of £10 trillion zillion pounds wasn't enough to stop The Trout chasing his straight and hitting!

The S-man was still awake at this point ( hehe) and came 2nd to the Big Chap who took it down Headsup when his 33 held up against ......another hand! ( lots of detailed hand notes were not taken!)

More smokes and it was time for a cash game, which we started with a £5 buy-in and 1000 of chips.I was drinking my first alcohol since June last night and I'm glad I did ,because it loosened me up enough to call a raise from The Trout with Q10 and then call his bet on a flop of A J 7.I was out for revenge and when a sweet King came on the turn, The Trout reraised me all in and I couldn't call quickly enough,beating Mr Trouty's AK.

I lost a chunk of that to The Big Chap when his 56 made two pairs on the river v my tptk.( top pair top kicker)

Meantime the s-man supplied the munchies,I nearly burned my leg off when I dropped a hot cheesy Nacho ( took it like a man though and didn't make a fuss!) ,Dave Gilmour played guitar like a God on the tv and Dudley had his AJ ( I think it was AJ!) big bet called by The Trout and crashed when Trouty's powerhouse 74 off hit on the flop!

My cousin had played a solid game but had lost a couple of big coin flips.He sat out and by this time Dave Gilmours guitar was competing in vain with the s-mans ( he like a beeeg drill) snoring on the couch.

Yet more beers and smokes were consumed,much nonsense was spraffed,much donkery abounded at the tables and The Big Chap ( the guy who only plays with play money online) continued to clean up.

By 5am it was all over and The Big Chap walked away £55 up and I wondered how I'm going to wisely invest my overall of profit of 50 pence...

My cousin gave us all a run up the road and I finally hit the sack about 6.30am, which is probably why I feel so exhausted today.

That'll have to do as far a game report goes as I'm also suffering from my 5 beers hangover!

Heading over to my Mum and Dads for dinner soon and I'll be taking the documents Full Tilt require for a withdrawl so I can finally cash out and pay off the flat decorating costs I've run up on my credit card.

Don't forget to register for tonights Bloggerment game on Stars at 9pm bst.....

Bloggerment 29.Sun 7th 9pm UK time

Find it under the Private tab in the Pokerstars lobby.Start time is 4pm est/9pm bst.

All bloggers,readers,newbies and oldies welcome!

ps It's actually only Bloggerment 29 but I aint changin' it now.No prizes for guessing what next weeks banner will look like!

Caledonia

I didn't play much poker on Tuesday after the game and none at all on Wed night when I was up at the ex's looking after Step A.It was great to see her, although I must remember her hair is "crimped" and not curled.( apparently!)

I usually ask her what subjects she is doing at school that day and when she said she had PE ( physical education) first thing on Thursday morning I said "well that'll wake you up" to which she replied "you always say that".I do?!!

I probably repeat myself just as often in this blog and I'm surprised I don't get more "you always say that" type comments!

Last night after giving Nacho a good run out at the local football pitches I eventually hit the tables,running KK into AA in my first $16 turbo and crashing out of the second.I fired up a third one and was doing fine until I ran 88 into QQ.The flop was all clubs and also brought me my 8!

Although I was happy with my set ,the villain held the Queen of clubs and after the turn brought a blank ,the river delivered.....another blank and I actually felt stunned that for once I had sucked out and inflicted a beat on someone!

Of course normal service resumed when I went out fourth ( in the money at least as it was an 18 player)after having my KK busted by AK when an Ace flopped.

I'm really looking forward to this weekend.I have Nacho again tonight and after a dinner and a long walk it's the raisetheriver league game.

Tomorrow I'm off to Ibrox to watch the Gers play Hibs and around 7 ish The Big Chap,Dudley and Hammerheid are meeting at my place.My cousin will be driving us down to the S-mans place where we'll meet up with the San Jose Salmon,have a few drinks n smokes and play some poker.

Ok, before I go I posted an youtube clip of the amazing Amy Macdonald the other day and Mr Cloud and I agreed on what a great album she has out.I didn't realise though, until last night, that at the end of the last track ( if you leave it running), she does a cover version of Frankie Millers "Caledonia", which is one of my favourite songs.In fact it's the only song I've ever attempted to sing Karaoke style.( and even that was thousands of miles away in Gran Canaria!)

Here's Frankies original version..

Pokerstars World Blogger Championship

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 8968578

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Rangers Romp it!

Lee McCulloch pictured after scoring Rangers opening goal.

Yeeeeeeeeeeees! 3-0 to Rangers tonight in France against Lyon.( McCulloch 23'Cousin 48' ,Beasley 53').Joint top of the group with Barcelona! Follow Follow......

The Losers

When I began playing poker online for real money nearly 3 years ago after becoming a play money zillionaire,I had no grand plans or ideas above my station.I worried about becoming an addicted losing gambler and gave myself a £50 per month budget for my hobby.I actually only started playing for real money because Pokerroom withdrew their play money tables and ran a "real money isn't scary" type Halloween promo back in '05.

I've always been aware that the vast majority of players lose money online and although I've been stunned by the extent of those losses at times, ( usually when checking Sharkscope for info on tourney opponents) I've never given it too much thought.I always assumed that these guys/gals were probably earning a lot more than me in their daytime jobs and could afford large losses at poker.

Last night though I read a few poker blogs ( no names and they are not linked by me) where the blogger is posting about losing at poker, constantly feeding more money in and losing that too.Poker was a priority over food and the basics of life for this blogger and it did make for a very sad read.

Maybe the guy who shoved his KJ v my Aces the other night preflop ( I was genuinely surprised as I expected him to flip QQ/KK)is one of those players chasing the thrill of winning that big pot.Perhaps he gets his money in as huge underdog to punish himself in some psychological self-loathing way.

I've played plenty of turbos won by very poor players who don't know where the fold button is and are involved in every hand.Sure,I shake my head as they suck out time after time and run up huge stacks and maybe that's the rush they play for.The stats don't lie and though every dog ( or fish) has his day ,on most days these guys lose and lose again.

I've never been one to get angry with guys like Mr KJ.( even after he busted my rockets!) It's my own bad luck that I curse and I always remember I want to have players with weak hands calling my big bets when my holding is strong.Maybe now though I can understand better why they would make such a play.

On another point this blogger also mentioned how boring the blogs of small-time winners can be and to some extent I agree. I sometimes look at my blog and reckon my daily posts detailing every small profit/loss would induce sleep in even the worst insomniac.I named the blog "poker and life" to give myself the chance to bore people to death with life stories too and to avoid repetitive hand histories and bad beat tales becoming all I post.

No bad beats last night though!I entered a $12 slow speed 6 max sng on Stars by mistake and donked out of it before managing 4th ( for $27) in a $16 turbo.

Nacho was staying last night and I was really looking forward to runninng Step A to school this morning until CW texted me to say the wee one was at her Grans and didn't need a lift when I dropped Nacho off.I really miss having her around and I'm looking forward to going over to CW's ( the ex) and looking after her tomorrow night while CW is working.

I've not missed CW as much as I expected since I've moved out, which is a good thing, but it does worry me that I don't seem to know my own mind very well at times.I did tell my sister I was unhappy back in Feb and maybe I'm just such a creature of habit and routine that I just accepted the situation I was in.

Righty I'm watching the Lyon v Rangers Champions league game tonight followed by some pokery fun.We're in the toughest group and I'd be delighted with a draw against the six in a row French Champions.

Back later in the week.Until then here's the fantastic Amy Macdonald.....

Knock knock + stats Ytd

The title is because ( I made up with my Mum at the weekend) my parents have offered to buy me a new front door for Xmas! What a great idea!

Congrats to Spid for taking down the Bloggerment for the second time.I finished a lowly 12th after overplaying 66 and then running A8 into Hammerheids AJ.

I mentioned overplaying the sixes and both Cogs and Rosie ( both players I respect) have mentioned my habit of overbetting recently.I think it comes from the fact I usually only play turbos and not standard speed games.I have tried to tone down my preflop raise sizes a little but my “bet big or go home” philosophy has served me well and I’m not sure I even want to adjust my strategy too much.

I hit up a couple of $16 turbos afterwards and had my Aces scudded by KJ only a few hands into the first one.Yes the fish called off his whole stack without hesitating with KJ.A king on the flop and Jack on the river left me shaking my head at my poor luck.The second game I played ended with yet another nasty one and I reflected that at least I’ve played enough turbos now to not get too hacked off.

Partys cash tables were calling and I’m pleased to say I won $75 during a very short $100 nl 6 max session thanks to fish who called with crap.I only won two big hands for my profit.In the first one my AK was good on a King high board and for the second I called a raise from a tilty shortstacked moron with A10.We saw an Ace high flop and I checked to the raiser,awaiting his enevitable all in bet ( he had k6 sooted and had missed board totally) and he didn’t let me down.

I read an interesting article on tilt recently which concluded that winners tend to sit on gains and losers chase losses.Despite the impression probably given by this blog I wonder if that’s one of the reasons I don’t play more often.Yesterday I was free all day but my first game was the Bloggerment at 9pm.Most evenings I don’t start playing until later either and I wonder if the desire to sit on my winnings ( lowly as they are) has something to do with it.The other factor is that I usually feel exhausted from work between 7-10pm and it’s only usually after 10pm when I get my second wind and feel like I could stay up all night.

The article also mentioned that bad beats lead to tilt because when people see that they are for example, 80% favourite when their money goes in on a hand ,they mentally bank the winnings, which leads to a major shock to the system when they lose to that nasty 2 outer.Perhaps I reasoned , I deal with beats quite well most of the time because I’m an inherently cynical pessimist who doesn’t mentally bank the pot when I’m a big favourite, because I’m just waiting on the “enevitable” bad beat coming!

Either that or the repetitive nature of the beats has numbed me slightly to them.I’m not claiming I’m immune and several in a row can still awaken my tilt monster but generally I reckon I cope reasonably well.

Ok, here are my updated end of the month stats.I now have only one month to go before the end of my 3rd year of real money online poker and the last time I checked on June 7th I'd made $1599 in profit since Oct 31st '06.The overall total was $4254.Profit since June 7th is $1967.Overall profit this year so far is $3566.I made aprox $4k per year in my first two years and after a poor start to this year it looks like I'll make about the same again.

Full Tilt $1530, Party $1625,Pokerroom $440 ,Pokerstars $685,Ladbrokes $1941.Total $6221. ( + $414 since 20th Sept).This also excludes my Bet 365 "take a shot" roll.