Stats

I had a great Xmas,spending most of the time with family and friends and of course playing a load more Black Ops and poker.I was all ready to post earlier in the week with a wee happy tale of short-term run good, but I'm glad I didn't as I'd probably blame that post for the run bad which followed! I was down to $50 on Full Tilt,made a quick few dollars at the Rush tables and fired up a couple of $24,45 player games.I crashed quickly out of the first one when my Jacks were rivered and managed to take 2nd place in the other for a nice $210 score.Being the sensible kind of player I stepped down to $11 sng's.... and ran like crap losing most of my winnings over a couple of nights.AA V KK with a rivered King at the Rush tables didn't help either.

Anyway here's a quick stats update for my records.Back on Oct 12th I posted that I had $865 on Stars and $134 on Party.I now have $1213 on Stars and $432 on Party for a total of $1645 and a profit of $646 over the last 2 1/2 months.I'll update again at the end of January and as usual I won't be including any money on sites other than Stars and Party.( got a few $$ left on FT and just over $150 on Bwin)

Away from the poker my plans for 2011 are to try and eat more healthily,exercise more and get myself a girlfriend.On the latter front I really do need to make more of an effort.I suppose I'm a bit of a romantic and also probably a bit lazy in truth.Sad as it sounds I don't fancy compromising on my lifestyle of freedom,poker and video games unless I meet someone really special.

Perhaps that's a little selfish and maybe after living on my own for 17 out of the last 20 years I'm too set in my ways to try and settle down again.I mentioned being a romantic and what I mean by that is that instead of treating a relationship quite casually and just seeing where it takes me I tend to let my feelings get ahead of me and jump in feet ( or is it heart!) first.I suppose I'm quite a practical person and if I don't see it going anywhere then I don't see the point.( other than the obvious benefits!)

Ok,thanks for reading and have a great Hogmany and 2011.....

Merry Xmas

I mentioned I was exhausted on Monday after enjoying a smoke on Sunday night.Well I'm pleased to report that despite having lots of ready made excuses ( it's Xmas week etc) I had no inclination at all to roll one up on Monday night.People like to compare weed to alcohol, but I can honestly say if I enjoyed a drink as much as I like a smoke I'd probably be dead or living out of a cardboard box by now!

Last night I took Step A out for a Mc'ds although it felt like I took all her friends out too as she was chatting on MSN via her mobile for much of the time! ( when she wasn't testing my car radio speakers by ramping up the volume) As usual I asked if she had a boyfriend yet and for the first time since she was about 13 she said she did.I don't have the quietest voice in the world and when I asked again to double check a few people also in the queue congratulated her too! ( cue one bright red teenager!) Her latest favourite band are called "Angerfist" and although they're a bit hardcore for me ( and I like my dance music) they're a big improvement on the those tuneless wonders "Dot Dot Curve"!

When I arrived home the temperature gauge was showing -9.5c and I turned the heating up and settled down to play a few games of Black Ops and a bit of poker.I only played a set of four sng's and managed to win two of them.If only poker was always like that! I played a little PLO and one tabled a NL cash game for a while before hitting the sack.

I'm just about ready for Xmas and have spent most of my cash on stuff for my wee nephew.( I just need to wrap it all now) Nacho and I are going to my Mum and Dads on Xmas day and I'm looking forward to it.My Dad retires on Xmas Eve ( he hit 65 earlier in the month) and my Mum,sister and I are going into his work just before he clocks off on Friday to surprise him.He'll probably drive my Mum nuts being at home all day ( interrupting her poker sessions!)although he does have a beer making kit and a metal detector to keep him busy!

Ok,thanks for reading and have a great Christmas!

I Win an Old Firm Game...

Well I did break my "no smoking before a work day" rule yesterday and despite a late ( 9.30) start at work this morning I still feel completely exhausted.Still,it's a decent reminder as to why I cut back in the first place I suppose!

I did enjoy my poker last night.First up I played in a Rangers v Celtc tourney organised by a couple of football forums.There were 32 starters and after being card dead through the first few levels I managed to win a few hands and made the final table.Up until then it had been reasonably civil ( considering the bitter rivalry that exists) and there were a few of the usual pokery gg's and nh's being thrown around.

The final table chat degenerated into a lot of vile disgusting crap being spewed which was a shame, but rather than take offence I actually just felt quite sad that grown men can be so bitter and twisted.I've learned not to feed the trolls when it comes to chatbox nonsense and simply rolled up another one,tuned out the nonsense and focused on winning the game.

The Bloggerment started at 9pm, but my heart wasn't really in it and I donked off my chips early doors with AK on an Ace high board.( I shoved the turn when there wasn't a hand left that I could actually beat!)

It was good to see so many familiar faces at the Bloggerment tables and I did have a laugh when I saw Rosie's location as "chat banned".Some things never change eh! I was too focused on the Gers game to chat much although I did log on to yahoo IM straight after I crashed out and no one was on!

Thankfully the last Celtc fan in that game went out on the bubble,the chatbox calmed down a bit after that and I managed to take it down for a nice profit on my $5 entry fee.( $64 for 1st)

I caught up on The Apprentice final and ended up going to bed far too late.Back soon...

Cashed in Live Game + Bloggerment Returns

Yep,it's back this Sunday on Stars.Open to all bloggers,readers and Raise the River forum members + lurkers!

Despite the connection issues I've still been playing a ton of Black Ops this week although I did hit the virtual felt last night for a set of four sng's and managed to come 1st,2nd,3rd and 4th for a decent profit.

The Rangers home game was postponed due to burst pipes at the stadium so after a long lie today, I decided to go and play in the £22 Turbo tourney at the Alea Casino in Glasgow.There were 70 starters for the 3pm game and with 15 minute blind levels and 10k chips I didn't expect to be there for very long.As it turned out I managed to chip up nicely until I had my Kings cracked by AK just before the break at the end of level 6.

I hung in there when play resumed and winning a few key flips eventually saw me make the final table with a just above average stack of 91k.The top 7 paid and it seemed the shorties were doubling up every time they shoved.I had a Billy Mitchell lookalike on my right and an old guy with shaky hands who looked like he could have been Doyles Grandad on my left.

The old boy was a bit of a calling station and when it folded round to me in the small blind I probably made a mistake by just flat calling with Jh8h.( I had under 10 big blinds and should have shoved)The flop came Ace high with two diamonds and when I led out ( hoping he would fold if he didn't have an Ace), he called and I slowed down after the 8d came on the turn as I was sure he either had an Ace or was on a flush draw.When another diamond fell on the river making four on the board I was tempted to bluff at it as it was more likely he had an Ace and would be scared of the flush.I only had about 35k behind though and looking at his chipstack I reckoned he would call my shove and I checked behind.He showed AJ ( no diamonds) to take the pot and that made me glad I didn't shove preflop!

We lost the 9th and 10th place and the table agreed a £40 save for the 8th placed finisher so at least I knew I was at least getting my money back.I wasn't playing to min cash though and shoved Q8 and 96 sooted without contest to try and maintain some fold equity.

We lost one more and the old boy crashed out in 7th when his JJ fell to QQ.With the blinds getting crazy high,I shoved with K8 sooted when it folded to me on the button.The shortstacked big blind called with A8 and I was lucky enough to bink the King on the turn to knock him out.With 5 of us left ( £100 for 5th ,£470 for first) my luck ran out when I called a shove from Billy Mitchell and my tens were beaten by his A2.A few hands later when I shoved QK from utg ( first to act) he called with J10,hit his Jack on the turn and I hit road with £100 in an envelope for my 5th place finish.

Despite getting so close and losing out with the best hands at the end I left with a smile on my face.I'd got lucky with the K8 V A8 hand,come back from the KK V AK hand and won a few flips to get to the final table so there's no point in playing the "what if" game.

Away from the poker I enjoyed "The Apprentice" interview stage on Wednesday although I was disappointed to see Stuart Baggs finally bite the dust as he was great tv,calling himself "The Brand" and coming out with classics like "Everything I touch turns to sold" and "I'm not a one trick pony,I'm not a ten trick pony,I'm a whole field of ponies and they're literally all running towards this job".Liz was my favourite to win before she was fired last week and I reckon Stella deserves to win the final showdown.

I've been feeling quite fresh this week as I only had a smoke on Tuesday night.( off Wednesday) As it's coming up to Xmas and I'm playing poker tomorrow night I may have my first Sunday smoke in a long time tomorrow night.The problem ( ok,not really a problem)is that I've cut back so much that when I do have puff it's leaving me too zonked to play many tables.( in fact blinking seems quite strenuous after a puff of this stuff!)

Anyways that's enough wittering for tonight.Hope to see you at The Bloggerment felt tomorrow night.Back soon...

Bye Pokerroom...

I enjoyed my week off last week, although I didn't get my car back from the town until Thursday due to the snow and ice.Fortunately I also saw a man about some fine herbs and chilled out playing Black Ops and poker most of the time.Thanks to The Big Chap I also got to watch Rangers grab a draw in Turkey without having to pay for it.

The first poker site I ever played on was Pokerroom and I was loyal to them until a couple of years ago when Stars and Party became my main sites.It suddenly struck me at the weekend that I probably still had some dollars on Pokerroom and after going through the usual password reminder stuff I logged on to the site and discovered an account balance of $97.Keen to play I clicked through a ton of options but still couldn't find the actual poker tables!

Google knows everything and after a quick search I discovered Pokerroom ceased operating early last year! I didn't think I'd see the $97 that was still showing in my account but I've emailed support and have opened a new account at Bwin to allow them to transfer my balance there.In fact I've just checked and they've emailed me back to confirm the balance has been transferred.

I've only played about 20 sngs' since my last post and made a small profit.( mainly on Party and a few $16's on Stars) I've also managed to drop a couple of buy-ins at Rush poker and win a few playing PLO ($12.50 buy-in 6 max) and some NL on Stars.( $50 NL 6 max) It still feels like I've not played much over the last week as I only play one cash table at a time and it feels very slow compared to 4-6 tabling sng's.I'll try and remember to do a stats update at the end of this month for Nov and Dec and hopefully that will motivate me to play less Call of Duty and more poker.


Anyway thanks for reading and enjoy the youtube clip.( safe for work too and I'd better point out it's not my snow cock!)

Snow Fun

I stay about 8 miles outside Glasgow and when the weather forecast says "snow on high ground" that usually means my area gets it first.Yesterday morning though it was raining when I left for work and only began snowing heavily as I got within a few miles of the office.As the morning wore on the snow became worse and tales of gridlock and public transport nightmares were filtering through.I left at 12pm, decided to leave the car and was lucky enough to get on a train home and only had to walk a couple of miles in horrendous conditions to get back to my flat.I actually walked in between the stuck cars on one of Scotlands busiest roundabouts which was a bit surreal.I booked the rest of the week off work and will collect my car later in the week when the roads are finally clear of the sheets of ice and snow.Loved this story from the Daily Mash about the people stuck on roads.

I did hit the poker tables last night and won a wee private tourney run by the guys on my favourite football forum.There were only 9 players in the game and it was over within 90 mins due to chips flying in all directions and nobody appearing to have a fold button!

I like to read papers online and usually stop by the Daily Mail site and the Guardian's Comment is Free section on a daily basis.I don't contribute as I tend to agree with the old cartoon about arguments on the internet.The Mail is a right wing rag and in the past has raged against everything from television to video games as causing all society's problems.Their latest crusade seems to be against Facebook and they constantly run stories about people being stalked or being sacked for comments written there.I don't use it myself for a few reasons, but The Mail's over the top scaremongering does make me laugh.

Their latest story
was about a girl who smashed up her boyfriends laptop due to his constant use of the Facebook site and as always there were plenty of daft comments from readers below the article.30 people gave the comment below a red arrow ( or a dislike in Facebook speak) and I thought it was a superb piece of trolling worth a mention.Note the deliberate spelling mistake.There's nothing Daily Mail readers hate more than a spelling mistake or any grammatical errors as Daily Mail readers never make mistakes and live their lives as perfect human beings at all times...!

"Shocing story this. I think our government should show some responsibility and ban Facebook so nothing like this can happen again"
- pedantic hamsik, bratislava, slovakia,

Made me laugh anyway.

Something that certainly hasn't made me laugh is the fact that tonights Champions League tie between Rangers and Bursaspor of Turkey is only available on Sky Sports via the red button.I'm a Virgin Media customer paying a fortune for their "XL" Tv package and despite paying a high premium for the Sky Sports channels I won't be able to see the game tonight as the red button isn't available to cable customers.I really don't care about the arguments between Sky and Virgin and I'm raging that I'm going to miss the action.Rangers have already made 3rd place in the group and as such the match is a dead rubber but I don't pay good money to not watch my team play in Europe!

Before I head out into the snow to walk Nacho I thought I'd give a quick link to the Pokerology site.I get a lot of emails asking me to link to poker/casino type sites and most of the time I don't bother as I reckon they're probably after free links.I've no clue about how site ranking etc works and I've probably ignored a few genuinely decent links in the past.The only reason I've chosen to link this site is because Jennifear posts on their forum and her articles/posts on Pocket Fives helped me beat sit and go games when I first tried them after being a mainly 6 max cash game player.

Ok,thanks for reading.Back soon....

Gimme Fried Chicken...

I watched Barcelona destroy Real Madrid 5-0 on Monday night and can honestly say it was the best display by a club side I've ever witnessed.Their one touch pass and move style made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up at times and it was truly a joy to behold such a footballing masterclass.Staying on the football I was sorry to see England lose out on their bid to host the World Cup, but spare me the crap about the English Premier League being the best in the world.The richest and the most over hyped maybe, but the worlds best players play in Spain's La Liga.

I can clearly see which league is the best because happily I had it confirmed today that I still have 20/20 pilot vision after an eye test at lunchtime.It seems the wee wispy floaters I can see at times out of my right eye are just a sign of age and not a detached retina or something worse.

To the poker and due to the time difference I was unable to defend my Very Josie tourney title this month but I will be dropping Josie a line soon in order to claim the much coveted winners t-shirt.I've not played any sng's since my last post but I have messed around playing some more Rush $25nl hands on Full Tilt.Two hands in particular stuck in my mind.On the first hand I held QQ and raised preflop,getting one caller.The flop was a rainbow J 7 7 and I led on the flop and a blank turn with my opponent check/calling all the way.A Queen fell on the river,the rest of the money went in and I was surprised to see him turn over JJ for the flopped full house.Wow I hit a two outer on the river.Damn I run good!
Only a few hands later I raise with 1010,get one caller and all the money goes in on a Q 10 8 flop with two clubs.Yep he had QQ and my heater was over!

Not much else going on apart from not being able to get into work on Wednesday due to the snow and -10c temperatures.All SPL games this weekend have already been cancelled so it's another weekend of Black Ops and poker.It's a hard life...

Quick edit to add the post title is taken from the end of Queen's "One Vision" and not a reference to KFC's!