Monthly Stats

Party :$3528 (+$487 over 168 games) FT $95 ( -$8) ,Stars $410 ( +$253 over 8 games)
Total $4033 (+ $732 for July)

I had a decent July at the virtual felt, especially considering I played under 200 sng's.In fact I barely played at all during the first ten days of July and my poker psyche felt all the better for it.

Off out tonight.Back after the weekend...

Удача v динамомашина сегодни вечером мутантов

Thanks to Al Eleven I remembered to register for Stars Monthly Turbo player point Mtt on Sunday and even persuaded Mother Acorn to use some of her points to play.Meantime the s-man was doing a fine job of setting up the wireless cable modem I bought months ago and thought was broken.

I squeaked the last longer comp,finishing just under the 4000 mark ( from 24.5k players) for $75 although I did have to deal with an upset fishy in the chatbox.He was shortstacked and limped from UTG ( under the gun:first to act) with AK ,I checked my 97 in the big blind and bet into him when I caught a piece of the flop.He insta-called and missed on the turn and river.Of course if he'd just shoved preflop I would have folded.

It never fails to amaze how stupid some players can be.I don't usually chat but when he typed a load of foreign guff I replied that he should "speaka da English Fishy" as I was hoping he may give an unique insight into the mind of a poker donkey by explaining his terrible play.Instead he consulted his google translator and asked if I knew where my Mother was.

I had just typed "Still in this game with a large stack of chips" when my Mum ( who was watching) answered the muppet herself in the chatbox by letting him know she was there.He didn't hang around for long after that.

I've gone back to two tabling over the last couple of nights and it's been going well.I've been winning money,enjoying being able to pick up reads and actually feeling like I'm playing a game rather than just following a routine ( and boring set formula).

I realise the $22's are still at the lower end of the sng food chain but some of the plays I've seen have been so bad I've almost felt compelled to point out in the chat that I don't know the villain and there's no collusion/chip dumping going on.

Hopefully my decent run at Party can continue and I can post some half decent monthly stats on Friday.I'm considering only posting quarterly stats from now on.I realise nobody probably cares or pays much attention to stats posts but if I start a month badly it preys on my mind and if I start well I sometimes play less just to stay ahead.I seem to get into a similar mindset when the end of the month approaches and there's simply no point in focussing so much on the short-term.Anyone who is interested can check my latest stats on Sharkscope at anytime and I'm sure my posts will be pretty clear about how things are going at the felt.

Ok,just time to wish Dynamo Moscow all the best for tonights Champions league qualifier against the Scottish Premier League's runners up from last season.....

Live Game and PLO Donkery

22 players started the £22 ( 15 min blinds,10k starting stack) live turbo game at the Alea casino in Glasgow yesterday including my Mum and me.After folding a few hands I called a small raise with 88 from the small blind and was delighted to see a ragged Q 8 4 flop.It was checked to me and I checked too hoping to let the initial raiser catch something.

The turn card was a 9 and my wish was granted...The villain had 99 and only his stupidity prevented me from crashing out.I led out on the turn and after making what I thought was a value bet on the river he asked me if I had a 9 for a full house.The board wasn't even paired and he had 99 so who knows what he was thinking as he only called my bet with no raise.That left me with about 5k and thankfully I managed to double with AK v JJ a short time later to keep me in the running.

As we approached the final table bubble I had less than 10 big blinds and began shoving quite frequently at my 5 handed table to stay afloat and not lose my fold equity.After chipping up to 19k I took it easy for a few hands before looking down to AQ.The blinds were 1k/2k and as I'd shoved a few hands already I opted to shove again,hoping to look weak and get called by a worse Ace/KQ type hand.Of course the lady on my left woke up with AK,I didn't improve and bubbled the final table.

I hung around for a bit as Mother Acorn made the FT with a small stack and after an early double up she hit the rail when she ran her soooted A3 into JJ.

Back to the internet pokers and here's my sharky graph for my first 1k games at Party.Considering I was new to single table sng's and the stakes are a small step up from the $16's I suppose I should be reasonably happy.I also have the tourney numbers of 5 wins and 1 no cash which Sharky missed.I've just remembered too that Sharky only started covering Party sng's from last November so the stats are only from then and are more of a guide than a precise record.

Just over 1k games may seem a lot but in reality at least 2k would probably be a better sample size to draw conclusions from.



Stars stats...



I had a late dinner last night and only just remembered in time to register for Dr Pauly's PLO game.I've only ever played 10 PLO sngs ( Dec '08 was my last one) and a few of Dr Pauly's ( I even lucksacked my way to a win onetime) tourneys before and I really am a clueless fish when it comes to Pot Limit Omaha.I was nearly calling Dudley to ask if being double soooted is better than 2 pair preflop ( I assume it is) or if I should be playing hands like 910JQ hard as they must hit a lot of boards.Somehow I managed to make the final table and luckboxed my way to 6th from 48 starters.I really enjoyed the game but wish I knew the hand rankings as I hated feeling like an even bigger donkey than usual due to my lack of knowledge.Good times though!

I played some $22's and a $33 later and even managed to catch up with the Connecticut Cod ( aka Al Eleven,Miami Trout,San Jose Salmon) in the wee small hours.

Tonight I'm taking Step A home,picking up Nacho and will be playing the Stars Turbo Takedown and the RTR league game.The s-man is coming over too for a sesh.I seem to have a repuation as a nit/rock in the league games. ( doesn't stop 'em calling my raises with a4 and flopping straights!)

Here's one of my less nitty hands from a $22 bubble last night.The villains stats over 35 hands were 35% vpip /15% preflop raise and I suppose it was just one of those acting on instinct hands where I could easily have been looked up and made to look silly.( not that I'm bothered by that!)

The background was that we were the two shortish stacks on the bubble and her initial raise just felt like a cheap steal attempt.Her range certainly included weak Aces and her flop bet could have been a trap but it just felt weak and my plan was to bet the turn if she slowed down and checked to me.After she called my turn bet I put her on a pair ( 22-1010)and when she checked to me on the river I shoved all in hoping the added power of it being the bubble would get her to fold even a weak Ace if she had it.I was representing the Ace or even a 6 from the blinds and was happy to see her hand hit the muck.Nitty? Not always!



Just about done for today but had to post this clip from a pokernews interview with Italian pokerstar Dario Minieri .I know it did the rounds a while back ( there's still a thread on Pocket Fives somewhere) however it never fails to make me smile.

Back soon...

Friday Update

I chased up my sabbatical application yesterday and was told that the offer doesn't apply to my department despite the encouragement I was given by local management.It's a pilot scheme and if successful they will probably roll it out to everyone.( they're hedging their bets in other words) When that will be is anyone's guess but I've not given up hope of it happening at sometime over the next few months.

On the poker front there's not much to report.I've been sticking to the $22's and ( including $100 bonus ) have been hovering around the break even mark despite a decent start to the month.Sometimes I agree with the general poker forum consensus that the games are getting tougher ( 8-9 players still in at level 5 blinds aint good) and other times I still marvel at the fish and their ability to reraise me and call my shove with hands like A8 ( first hand of a $22) when I have QQ.

I reckon I've now got a decent handle on who most of the regulars are at the $22's, although as with Stars I often wonder if they see me in the same light as the volume I put in is tiny compared to the guys grinding for a living.It is important because assigning ranges becomes a different kettle of fish when dealing with regulars as opposed to random fish.

For example last night I raised QQ during one of the early levels,got one caller and a TAG ( Tight/Aggressive) regular shoved all in.I put him squarely on KK/AA or AK at a push,made the call and cursed myself as he showed KK and knocked me out.I did manage to lay down AK to another regulars reraise and this time I avoided his bullets ( pair of Aces) but I still need to learn to trust my instincts more often.

I've persuaded Mother Acorn to come along to the Alea in Glasgow with me tomorrow for the 3pm £22 turbo tournament.I'm not sure of your current mobile number Dudley but if you read this today ( or any other readers) and you're up for some live turbo poker give me a shout in the comments or by text/email.( and no mention of poker blogs if ye do make it!)

I took Step A to her Dads with Nacho earlier and I'm looking forward to a nice chilled out weekend with a trip to the s-mans and live poker on the agenda.It's been over 2 years since I split with her Mum and although I don't see the wee one as often as I'd like I'm glad we're still in touch.( even if only in my role as taxi driver)

If I'm not out tomorrow night I plan on playing in Dr Pauly's PLO game at 9.20pm UK time on Stars.The password is the title of Pauly's new book "Lost Vegas" and I'm looking forward to some "2 cards bad,4 cards good" donkery.On Sunday evening I'll be playing in the RTR league game on Stars and looking to last longer than last weeks early exit.

Back soon...

Record Attempt Donkery

After donking out of the RTR league game on Sunday night I also played in both the Stars and Full Tilt world record attempt tournaments.I didn't last too long in the Stars $1 game ( 65000 entrants) but managed to do a little better in the Full Tilt game,finishing 3584th from 50,000 players for a whopping $30.At one point I noticed the player on my right kept raising a lot preflop and I reraised him a couple of times just to keep him in line.I'd pegged him as a decent player and then noticed there were railbirds cheering him on.It was a chap called Bill Gazes and at the next break I googled him and discovered he's won over $2m! 50,000 freeroll donkeys and I get a seasoned tourney pro on my right.In the end if I'd won a couple of key flips with AQ I could have been a contender, but I didn't and I wasn't!

I went back to the $22's and this time I only 2-3 tabled them and managed to pull back a few of the buy-ins I'd lost previously.

It was a bank holiday in Glasgow yesterday, Two Pies popped over for the afternoon, and it was great to catch up with the s-man again for an evening session of Motorstorm Pacific Rift online.

I hit the tables after the s-man left and played a few games,finishing with a cash to bring me back into profit on Party this month.I've also cleared my $100 bonus and now need another 700 player points to get my next one.I've never ever played with rakeback or chased bonuses on different sites and it's nice to get the equivalent of 13.66% rakeback whenever I'm clearing the ones on offer at Party.

I also followed a link from Lucky Jim's blog and discovered the world of urban exploration.I've always been fascinated by the past and urban explorers seek ways into old derelict buildings and take some beautiful photo's.( hospitals,hotels,swimming pools etc)
28dayslater.co.uk seems to be the main forum and after admiring the photo's I made youtube my next stop.It seems that as well as exploring abandoned buildings some folk do stuff like this which I reckon looks pretty damn cool...



Back soon...

The Dark Night...

Ok,it wasn't that dark but after catching up with my old mate the Connecticut Cod I played a couple of $16,18 player turbs on Stars and took 1st and 2nd for a nice wee profit.

Feeling confident I hit up the Party $22's and ran like hell losing 12 buy-ins over 26 games.Clocking up a couple of $20 bonuses helped a bit and as usual on that kind of run if just a few key hands had held I'd have made a profit.Party's latest update seems to have messed with the sng filter in the lobby though as once again I found myself in a Double or Nothing game and yes it did take me until the bubble to actually notice.( I cashed which was something I suppose)



I loved the reasoning one particular donkey came up with in the chatbox after being berated by someone he sucked out on."I call when I think I'm going to win".( obviously regardless of cards held)

I think I may go back to three tabling for today's grind.I read a Patrik Antonius interview last week where he said that he was only comfortable playing three tables and although I can play four I sometimes feel it makes me try and force the play too much.For example I reraised AJ over a regulars open raise last night and there was just no way I was ahead in that spot.( he had KK)It can be too easy to get into a coinflip mentality where I'm just looking to double up or crash out and move on to the next one instead of focusing on playing my best game.

The WSOP is over for now until November and I think it's great news that Phil Ivey beaten over 6000 donks to make the final table.He's one of the shorter stacks but can never be written off.If he wins I can see it attracting a zillion new fish to the tables all wanting to emulate pokers undisputed number one player.

Not much else going on here today although Two Pies should be popping over later for some ps3/poker action.He has been taking Nacho out during the day for me as he starts work around 4pm and this makes life much easier and more guilt free for me.He said he doesn't want money but I'm insisting on a couple of quid a day as a paid dog walker would cost more than double that and whilst he only lives five minutes away I don't want to take advantage.He wrote his car off recently ( MOT had expired so no insurance) and if I don't get my sabbatical from work I'm going to offer to pay him 10 months dog walking money upfront to help towards a new car for him.

I'm also looking forward to the 3rd Raisetheriver league game tonight and shall be spite calling very light from the outset tonight so be careful when stealing my blinds! Late edit:That should read I'm looking forward to raising AJ within the first 5 mins,hitting my J on the turn and losing to a flopped straight!( A4)

Sport is so dang boring at this time of year.I can't stand cricket ( couldn't care less who wins The Ashes) and the only time I've ever got into golf was when that French bloke blew his chances in The Open a few years back trying to play a ball out of the water.Roll on the new football season starts!

Back soon..

F*ck the F*cking Genius!

I began my poker playing hobby( in '04) at $25nl full ring cash tables and soon found my calling at $50 nl 6 max,moving up occasionally to $100 nl and sometimes a little higher.After getting the hang of sng's a couple of years ago my visits back to ye old cash games have been rarer than a rare thing.Last night as I was three tabling the $22's at Party I hit up a $50nl 6 max table too as they were running a "genius" promo which pays out every so many hands.Within 15 minutes I managed to get it all in with AA V KK on a King high flop and there endeth my latest cash game flurry! Of course everytime the chat box filled with the words "It doesn't take a genius to be a winner" I wanted to launch my lappy through the window!

I lost about 3 buy-ins at the $22's and hit the sack around 3am.Around 1am I noticed the Party sng lobby seemed almost empty and I wondered where all the players had gone.My next games took ages to fill and I'm afraid to say my observational skills are so good it was only when there were 4 left ( on the bubble) that I noticed the blinds clock stating there were 6 minutes left of that level.Hmmm the turbo's are 5 min levels and that was when I clicked that I'd been playing standard speed games..Doh!


The alarm clock woke me at 1pm today and after brekky and walking the dog I headed to the Alea Casino in Glasgow for their Saturday afternoon £22 turbo game.( 18 runners)

My previous experiences of live play have all been small rebuy mtt's and I don't feel I adjusted well enough.This time though the format was right up my street as I've played thousands of 18 player turbo's on Stars and have always done quite well.

It was 10k chips and 15 min levels and I got off to a decent start with QK hitting the flop and 77 taking it down preflop.I lost some of that reraising a late position calling station with A10,continuation betting a King high flop and having to fold on the turn.

My sister is works at the Alea in a management position and although I called her to let her know I was playing I didn't mention it to any of the staff or other players.That was fine until a staff member brought the house mobile over to my seat and told me I had a call.It was quite funny watching the other players try and work out ( with no help from me!)why I was taking a call on casino phone.

With 14 players left and with a stack of just under 10 big blinds I looked down to QQ on the button and shoved over a cut off raise from the active lady player at the table.She called with AK and I lost the race when an Ace came on the turn.

Overall I enjoyed the experience,loved the format and will be playing there again soon.I know many players will wince at the short levels and would prefer deeper stacked play but I'm a creature of routine and when it comes to playing with 10bb or less that's my game.

Actually on checking Sharkscope perhaps ( meaningless sample size I know) I should be moving down.Who says the micro-limits are hard to beat? Hehe




Taking Nacho out soon and then looking forward to a nice chilled out weekend of poker and da herb....

Back soon.

Holiday Weekend

I've not been feeling much love for poker this week and when firing up the virtual felt feels like a chore I tend to play quite poorly.I've still not heard back from my work re the proposed sabbatical and I wonder if I've been subconsciously playing less poker to try and stay fresh for a decent assault at the tables if I do get the time off.

It also seems to take me a couple of games to get properly tuned in and sometimes being on the end of repeated crap variance just makes me want to switch off rather than go into battle mode.By tuned in I mean emotionally ready to play my strongest game without getting all whiney when it's not going well,by crap variance I don't necessarily mean 2/3 outers and by repeated I mean a few hands!

For example I fired up just two tables to start with ( two $22 turbs on Party) the other night and had to fold my AK after the turn card on table 1 after continuation betting on a dry flop which missed me.I got it all in a few hands later with a slightly overplayed 77 and lost to AJ and QJ when another Jack hit on the flop.At table two I raised 1010 from mid position and folded to a reraise and a shove.The villains showed AK and QQ,the flop came A 10 10 and despite making a good fold I swore loudly and let it throw me off my game.

I'm not sure why that kind of stuff bothers me so much on occasion when most of the time I can play far more games,suffer far worse beats and keep playing my best game.Perhaps I need to smoke more herb before I begin!

It's a bank holiday weekend ( Monday off work) so I'm looking forward to chilling out and possibly playing some live poker too.I've discovered that the Alea casino in Glasgow hosts a £22 turbo mtt ( aprox 20-30 players) on Saturday afternoons and I may be tempted to give it a go tomorrow.

Away from the felt I was saddened to read about ex celtc player John Hartson's battle with cancer this week.He's only 34 and although I may have dished out my fair share of abuse to the guy when Rangers met celtc in the past,I hope he can somehow overcome this horrible disease and make a full recovery.

Back soon...

Mon Update

I managed to pull a couple of tidy wee birds at the weekend.Actually they pulled me and unfortunately they were wearing police uniforms at the time and seemed more concerned with my average speed than anything else.Luckily for me they were in an unmarked car and let me off with a warning.

To the poker and I four tabled the $22's on Saturday night, winning 6 buy-ins ( over 21 games) and then losing a couple last night over a few games after the s-man left.

I'm about 11 buy-ins up for the month at Party which isn't bad considering I've only played 58 games.I hope my last post didn't come across as being too negative as I'm finding that when I take regular breaks away from playing I feel far more motivated when I do come back to the virtual felt.It feels pathetic to write about burnout when plenty players grind out far more sng's per month than I ever will, but after 5 years of play and a few tough months recently, burning out was a real possibility.

The s-man was over last night for some Motorstorm online action but I also managed to play in the RTR league game where I shoved A6c with just over 6bb,ran into QQ and was helped by Stars 14 Ace deck when I spiked my Ace on the turn to knock Amatay out.Obviously I was racked with guilt at knocking out the man who brought Guesshermuff.blogspot.com into my life...but I'm over it now!

I was fairly card dead as usual in blogger games and eventually went out in 5th when I shoved J10 and ran into QQ.Good times.

Back soon...

No Fate

With the exception of a couple of $22's last night I've had a few poker free nights recently.On Wednesday I was at the cinema to see Terminator:Salvation and although it's a different type of film to the other Terminator movies, ( more Matrix/Star Wars than the first three films) I wasn't exactly blown away by it.A Terminator film without Arnie or Linda Hamilton just doesn't seem the same.It was no surprise that the ending left room for more of the same, but there were no legendary scenes like the start of T2 ( Bad to the Bone) or the "I'll be back" police station scene from the original film.

Jumping back to the poker I downloaded the latest Pokertracker 3 update and realised that the reason my tourney stats are all wrong is because I've not been downloading the sng summaries.I tried to do it manually but failed miserably.Any tips on how to do this quickly and easily would be appreciated!

No word back on my proposed sabbatical from work and I reckon it could be 7-10 days before I do get an answer.I wrote in my last post that even if I had the skills/mental capabilities to play poker for a living ( and I'm not saying I do) I didn't think a life spent mashing buttons on my own would be much fun.That doesn't mean I don't have great respect for players that do grind out a living from the great online cardgame we know as No -Limit Holdem.

Aside from the fun and social factors I'm also not sure I have it in me mentally to cope with dealing with the daily swings which come as standard when playing a lot of sngs.I work hard at my day job but I'm a lazy git too and I doubt I have the stamina required for being able to put in a ton of hours at the virtual felt.Something Shamus posted recently ( see his July 8th post) also rang a bell with me.When comparing his feelings on live poker v online he wrote " When I play online, I almost never feel that sense of satisfaction, win or lose. In fact, I often feel something very different, something more akin to self-loathing over having “wasted” my hours in a non-creative, unproductive, empty pursuit.".

His words really hit home and I wonder if there's something within me that feels that way about grinding at the virtual felt.Playing for say 8 hours and not making any profit does feel like a complete waste of time and yet I'll play PS3 games for long periods without feeling the same.(no reward at all other than getting to remind the s-man of the Immortal badge I earned for winning a ranked race in Pacific Rift...)

I've also banged on for years about how I'm terrible at actually starting to play poker even when I've plenty of spare time to play.I'll surf the net,watch tv and mess around, although once I do start and get into the zone,I feel like I could play all night.This usually leads to me starting around 11pm and not wanting to switch off and go to bed at a reasonable time.Maybe that reluctance to begin play comes from the feelings Shamus described.Perhaps I'm just making excuses for being a lazy git or I'm just mentally weaker than the hardcore grinders.Who knows!

Ok,time for a quick Arnie scene.Back after the weekend...

Sabbatical Thoughts

Well it's Tuesday and my head is still up my backside after hearing about the sabbatical deal my work are offering.I've gone from looking at 8 months off to 3 months and now reckon I've almost settled on 5-6 months.The revised plan is to use poker bankroll money to top up my wages for the first couple of months and my credit card for the other 3-4 months.It will only take up to about 6 months to clear the card debt when I go back to work and that's assuming I make no poker profit at all.

Of course hopefully I'll continue to make $$ at da pokers and I'll obviously play more when I'm off, but this way I'm not having to rely on it and won't be under any pressure to play because I have to.I have Nacho to look after so that rules out long "gap year" type trips but if the poker goes really well I may look at getting away for a couple of weeks to do something different.( like ironing or cleaning!)

I'm sure some poker players reading this will wonder why I don't commit to a proper playing schedule and try to make it as a pro.( or at least someone who makes a living from game).That may have appealed to me in my 20's, but I'm old enough and wise enough to realise that even if I made a roaring success of it I'd still be doing what amounts to a pretty lonely data entry job and also creating a hard to explain gap on my cv if it all went tits up.

On the poker front I enjoyed the RTR league game on Sunday night despite being card dead and eventually crashing out when my AK was rivered by KJ soooted.I played some $22's afterwards and ran horribly,only cashing in the last one.I took a break from the game last night and....watched a couple of training vids.

I've not mentioned Michael Jackson's recent death as I wasn't a big fan.I do recall the hype round the Thriller video and being allowed to stay up late as a 10 yr old to watch it.The Big Chap and I also used free corporate tickets to see him play at Wembley a few years back.Great seats and great weed as I recall.Is it just me or is the whole funeral/memorial thing turning into a pathetic circus?People whooping and waving their tickets around like they've just won a tour of Willy Wonka's factory just doesn't seem right to me.

Ok,thanks for reading.Back soon...

Keepyourdayjob

The post title was also the excellent screename of a villain at one of my tables recently.Checking the news yesterday it looks like I may get the chance to keep my day job but take a break of up to a year on 1/4 pay.( paid up front)Of course I may be getting ahead of myself and the offer won't apply to my department but if it does I intend to take advantage and have at least a few months away from the Mon-Fri office grind.I'm in the fortunate position of having a small mortgage and no other debts so I reckon I can afford to do it,especially as I've paid all the major stuff already this year ( car insurance,council tax,car loan,RFC season ticket)If they paid me my remaining 17 days holiday pay I may even be tempted to stay off until the end of next March.

The aim would be to use my existing poker roll as required and make at least $800 per month at the virtual felt.If I fail to do that I could remortgage,take enough equity to tide me over and still have plenty left available.That would probably be a better idea than selling my car and buying a cheap run-around or even using my credit card.( and obv paying it off when back to work full-time).

To the poker and I had a good night at the felt last night.I was only two tabling and for once the tv was off,I had the tunes on ( Floyd,Dylan,Acdc,Queen,Trance tunes, Classic FM) and I was focussing as hard as a man smoking "power plant" possibly can!

I was close to registering for one of the $11 rebuys on Party that Liquid Eyes and The Kid have recommended but apart from Kat's Friday $1 donkament I've never played a rebuy Mtt and like those Headhunter games,I'm not sure it would suit my style of play.

Anyways the $22's were good to me and I even made a few $$ playing $16 single table turbs at Stars.I'll be back on Stars tonight for the first RTR league game.

Righty I'm off to watch the Wimbledon Final....

Sticking to $22's

It's been so hot recently I even bought my brave dog an ice-cream the other day.I say brave because I certainly wouldn't be lifting my leg to pee on the local hedges with all those bee's buzzing around! ( of course without the bees I wouldn't hesitate...)

Scotland is usually a cold wet country but it's been hot and humid ( nearly 30c yesterday at times) recently and a bit of fresh air wouldn't go amiss.No doubt it'll be back to being cold,wet and miserable soon enough.

I've been sticking to the $22's so far this month and have been taking it easy,only playing a few games per night and so far so good.I've stopped trying to focus so much on nightly results on my blog as the fact is that in the overall scheme of things one nights results are pretty meaningless.Even monthly results are more an indication of how I've been running rather than any indication of well or badly I've been playing.Not posting daily results helps stop me feeling as if any money won has been banked and my new roll total is my starting point.( causing me to feel annoyed when I drop below that point)

For example I'm up about $100 up this month, but in reality I'm not because that's only aprox five $22 buy-ins and has to be seen as a floating roll rather than a set in stone total.This is because sng variance dictates it's possible my roll could swing up or down substantially in either direction without that being a direct reflection of how well or badly I'm playing.

Off out tonight and looking forward to a chilled out weekend.Have a good one...

I am Immortal!

I've only played a few $22's at Party over the last couple of nights.I've been too busy watching Andy Murray continue his run at Wimbledon and playing ps3 games online.Hopefully Murray can beat Roddick tomorrow and make Sundays final, although even if he does I reckon Federer will prove too strong for him.

The only ps3 game I'm playing online is Motorstorm Pacific Rift and if any readers/bloggers fancy a game leave me a comment or drop me an email and I'll pass on my username thingy.The s-man and I thought we were pretty good at the game until we got online.I've actually won a "ranked race" ( earned my "Immortal badge" as I occasionally remind the s-man) but most of the time we're the poker equivalent of a couple of donkeys! Be warned though that I don't always play to win.I picked a Big Rig last night for one race and heard the kiddies on their headsets mocking my choice as it didn't suit the course.I may not have won but I had great fun ramming the motorbikes off the course at the start and listening to other players swearing loudly at my antics.

I also procured some fine new herbs although the downside of that is that I almost ate the new lighter I bought in the Dam as it looks very much like a chocolate bar..

Back to the poker and here's a wee hand from a $33,45 player turbo I played back on June 21st.I often find that when a player loses a big hand,they tend to shove the last of their chips in the pot on the next hand regardless of it's value.In this case I had 4 big blinds left,had been playing my usual TAG ( tight/aggressive) game and reckoned that if nobody woke up with a monster behind me I'd get a chance to take all the blinds/antes and sidepot against what was probably a random hand.I was also due to take the blinds within a few hands and lose any fold equity I had left.I'm still unsure if it was a standard move or an act of donkery!





PokerStars Game #29639477969: Tournament #173649248, $33+$3 Hold'em No Limit - Level IX (200/400) - 2009/06/22 2:02:50 WET [2009/06/21 21:02:50 ET]
Table '173649248 9' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 2: jtravis_11 (8675 in chips)
Seat 3: bigmikeft (7360 in chips)
Seat 4: gandolf7026 (3761 in chips)
Seat 5: 22clown (332 in chips)
Seat 6: obywatel_g (2430 in chips)
Seat 7: zagga (1610 in chips)
Seat 8: k2beardawg (3130 in chips)
Seat 9: hwhsa (3312 in chips)
jtravis_11: posts the ante 50
bigmikeft: posts the ante 50
gandolf7026: posts the ante 50
22clown: posts the ante 50
obywatel_g: posts the ante 50
zagga: posts the ante 50
k2beardawg: posts the ante 50
hwhsa: posts the ante 50
jtravis_11: posts small blind 200
bigmikeft: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to zagga [Qc 4c]
gandolf7026: folds
22clown: calls 282 and is all-in
hg18l7 is connected
obywatel_g: folds
zagga: raises 1160 to 1560 and is all-in
k2beardawg: folds
hwhsa: folds
jtravis_11: folds
bigmikeft: folds
Uncalled bet (1160) returned to zagga
*** FLOP *** [Kh 2d 9h]
*** TURN *** [Kh 2d 9h] [Ts]
*** RIVER *** [Kh 2d 9h Ts] [4d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
zagga: shows [Qc 4c] (a pair of Fours)
zagga collected 236 from side pot
22clown: shows [6d Qs] (high card King)
zagga collected 1446 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1682 Main pot 1446. Side pot 236. | Rake 0
Board [Kh 2d 9h Ts 4d]
Seat 2: jtravis_11 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: bigmikeft (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: gandolf7026 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: 22clown showed [6d Qs] and lost with high card King
Seat 6: obywatel_g folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: zagga showed [Qc 4c] and won (1682) with a pair of Fours
Seat 8: k2beardawg folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: hwhsa (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

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