Monthly Stats

Party $492 ( + $56)
Pokerstars $2375 ( + $368) Profit for August $424

Total Bankroll $2867

After a crap month stats wise in July it was nice to run a bit better in August and get back to being profitable,especially as I'm only playing at weekends.As ever with poker it's all about the long term and not short term swings and there's no point in focusing on a good August,bad July, or the fact I've only made a small profit over two full months of play.As I've mentioned before, playing heads up hyper turbo's has definitely improved my 9 player sng results as more 1st places make a real difference to my profits.It's only over a relatively small sample size, but I do feel more comfortable playing more poker when heads up instead of just blasting all in as often as before.

Away from the poker I had a second date at the cinema last night with the girl from last week.The Inbetweeners started at 7.50pm and after grabbing a coke and having a wee chat in the lobby we headed in at 8pm to see the film.It had already started and another couple of latecomers arrived too and sat in front of us.The film is the characters from the superb tv series going on their first holiday abroad and as the lads were moaning about how bad their hotel was it was obvious we hadn't missed too much.Even when the titles began after only half an hour I assumed that as it was a comedy film this was some type of jokey gimmick and the rest of the film would start again shortly.When the lights came on it slowly dawned on us that we had gone into the wrong screening and we sheepishly made our way to another screen next door where we missed the first 25 minutes,caught up with the middle part of the movie and watched the last half hour for the second time!

The date seemed to go quite well, although she is off to New Zealand next Wednesday for 7 weeks to follow the Scotland rugby team in the upcoming World Cup so I'm not sure it'll go anywhere.She did text me to say she enjoyed the night and will let me know if she can squeeze in another date before she goes.I promised that if she did have time for a meal out before she left we wouldn't start with desert,move on to another restaurant for the main course and miss the starter altogether...

Dates,Donks and Dirty Talk.....

My internet date the other night got off to a bad start when I arrived at the cinema and spotted a sullen looking blonde haired woman who looked much older than her profile photo.After glancing across a couple of times and only getting a hard stare back I was ready to make a sharp exit.

Thankfully she wasn't my date for the evening and when the girl I was due to meet showed up a couple of minutes later I was quite taken aback as she was far nicer looking than her online pics.I did mention that to her, however I'm not sure implying she looked quite plain in her photo's online but surprisingly hot in person is actually much of a compliment!

I had pretty much decided beforehand I was going to enjoy the film and anything else would be a bonus.As it was the movie ended up being totally sold out and we ended up going to a nearby pub instead where the chat flowed quite easily, despite me calling her Laura instead of Lorna a couple of times! Perhaps it helped that approaching the situation with very low expectations ( after previous dates) meant I managed to resist talking complete crap at a million miles per hour like I usually do on first dates!

Anyway we've exchanged some texts and have made plans to go back to the cinema to see "The Inbetweeners" this Tuesday so as ever I'll take it easy and see how it goes.

Of course if I can learn to talk dirty like Simon in this NSFW Inbetweeners clip I'm sure my second date will be fine...


On Thursday night I was at Ibrox to see Rangers go out of Europe to Slovenian minnows Maribor.On the balance of play and chances created over the two legs we should have gone through, but football is about scoring goals and defending well and we did neither well enough.Back to trying to get excited about being being slightly better than that mob across the city.( who also crashed out of Europe)

On the poker front I'm still only playing at weekends these days and thanks to a Stars promotion I'm only 45 fpp's away from reaching platinum star this month.I pay that much attention to that kind of thing that I only just noticed this week that I had $80 worth of free rewards to collect!

I warmed up by owning a couple of donks at $1.50 Heads Up games.I like the rematch option as it keeps some fish coming back again and again.I beat one particular donkey several times before he declined a rematch and the competitive part of me loves the thought that somewhere in Canada there was someone sitting in front of a laptop/pc feeling sick and frustrated at being outplayed.Even if it is only tiny stakes, heads up games always seem more personal.

The $1.50's and $3.50's were only a warm up for 6 tabling the $15's and after my usual rocky start I played good poker and ran well to finish the night with a decent wee profit.After playing 8 tables ( and rolling!) last week I felt more comfortable going back to 6 and beating one of the better regulars heads up a couple of times felt good too.( though the heads up part could have gone either way to be fair)

The standard of play was reassuringly awful and at times it felt like Sng's from a few years ago when it was possible to almost fold into the money.

Ok,that's enough for today.Quick question for anyone using Blogger.Any idea where the spell check option has gone when posting or why there's a small gap at the foot of every post since I hit some upgrade button?

Back soon...

A6 Shove:Case for the Defence

Wildcat
asked about the blinds/stack sizes in the A6 hand I wrote about in my last post.I've pasted the relevant part below and edited it to correct my table position from the small blind to the big blind.

"Coming 198th from just over 2000 runners in a $55 game won me $124 and meant I ended up $4 down overall for the night after adding up my buy-ins.I've been trying to lose my nitty Sng nature, although I'm not sure my exit move was a good one.The button raised and I shoved A6 from the big blind, forcing him into his timebank before he called with A8s and knocked me out."

In my defence the villain had a 25% Attempt to steal stat and I had been tight and hadn't made any recent moves.Watching vids on Float the Turn has made me realise I need to look for good spots more in Mtt's and worry less about what my actual holding is.

The villain did have decent pot odds to call, but would have been pretty much crippled if he had lost the hand and he would still have had enough behind if he had folded to my shove to make future moves.If he had folded I would have won more than 50% of my chipstack at the start of the hand and given myself some fold equity for future hands too.

I probably shouldn't admit that I don't even have Pokerstove downloaded on this laptop but I'd guess my A6 would play ok against his button raising range here,especially as I'm guessing he was decent enough ( 11 vpip/7pfr over 94 hands)to think I was ( 11/10 over 253 hands) only going to play back with a tighter range than I actually did.He did use much of his timebank which would reflect that.

Perhaps my resteal was marginally light and having paid the big blind I would have had nearly an orbit to be first to raise in a pot, however the big stacks had been quite aggro and I may never have got that chance.

Here's the actual hand:



Last night I hit the $15's on Stars after warming up (and finishing the night) with some of those addictive wee heads up micro hyper turbo's.I'm such a nit that last Sunday I did the HU challenge idea posted by Burnley Mik on Raise the River and chickened out after getting to $15 and moved back down.( the idea is to start at $3.50 and keep moving up with winnings and to start again after any loss)

By the time most Sng's get to the heads up stage they're a bit of a luckfest, but my HU game is quite weak and playing even $1.50 hyper games can only help I reckon.I've even started chatting back to some fish although I need to learn the tricks when replying "ty and fu too" as my fu's keep getting censored by Stars! ( f.u. works I've now learned!)

Anyway I played 30 of the $15's and made about $60 despite the usual sick beats and Ace rag being golden against any premium hand I held.I even managed the quite impressive feat of stepping up and 8 tabling whilst also rolling a wee number at the same time.

Poker and Black Ops is the plan for today,Two Pies and I are going to the Rangers game just down the road at Motherwell tomorrow and I'm taking an internet date to see The Inbetweeners next week at the cinema.I'll also be at Ibrox on Thursday to see if Rangers can overturn a shocking 2-1 first leg defeat to Maribor in the 2nd leg of the Europa League Qualifier.

Hmm where's the spell check option gone now that I've upgraded some option at blogger.com? Baaaaaa!

Back soon...

USA! USA! USA!

Looks like we'll be playing the Star Spangled Banner at Ibrox this season after Rangers confirmed we've signed the USA captain Carlos Bocanegra to play alongside our other Americans,new signing Alejandro Bedoya and midfield regular Mo Edu.Bocanegra will probably go straight into the team tomorrow night for the Europa league game with Maribor.Hopefully we can still resign Carlo Cuellar before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.

On the poker front I watched the Rise of the Planet of the Apes last Saturday night at played some Mtt's on 'Stars. ( planet of the donkeys) Coming 198th from just over 2000 runners in a $55 game won me $124 and meant I ended up $4 down overall for the night after adding up my buy-ins.I've been trying to lose my nitty Sng nature, although I'm not sure my exit move was a good one.The button raised and I shoved A6 from the small blind, forcing him into his timebank before he called with A8s and knocked me out.

I went food shopping after work today and saw the most ridiculous sight I've ever seen in a supermarket carpark.Some daft woman had eyelashes attached to her car above the headlights.The motoring equivalent of novelty ties or socks and most certainly jailable offence!

Back soon...

Head In A Box

Just back from taking Step A out for a pub meal.She's just turned 17 ( gave her a Machinehead ticket and money to go and see The Inbetweeners movie) and I thought she was finally growing up a bit when she agreed to go to the pub instead of out usual Mc'ds.That was until she admitted she hated the ginger colour she has dyed her hair and doesn't want to bump into anyone she knows.Back to Mc'ds next time I think!

I thanked her for the happy birthday text she didn't send me and she managed to make me feel good by guessing "54" when I asked her which Birthday I celebrated a few days ago.I did get my own back when we arrived back at her Dads place and she pointed out the "hot neighbour" across the road that she fancies.I've never seen her move as quickly from my car to her house when I offered to lower my window and shout "Hello hot neighbour"....

It's been a good week between visiting my folks,wiping the floor with Two Pies at pool and watching coverage of the riots Juice and Mr Edge started in London.I was pleased to see the those arrested getting long sentences for their behaviour though it would be even more pleasing to see all those cabinet ministers who scammed their expenses serving a jail term alongside them.

Work wasn't too bad this week.I had some fun with the girls ( well mostly middle aged women) around me yesterday when I was talking to an angry American woman on the phone and trying to sort out her complaint.She said that one of our staff had been on her premises and lied to her.Almost as soon as she made the lying accusation she said she needed to put me on hold which gave me a chance to hit the mute button and pretend to carry on with the conversation.I promised to have the lying member of staff involved beheaded and to send the head round in a box to mount on their wall.My voice isn't the quietest in the world and there were a few shocked looks from my colleagues before I let them know how it had really played out!

Ok,seeing as this is still a poker blog I'd better go and load up some tables....

July Stats and Useful Flushes....

Thanks to Rosie,Josie and Wildcat for the birthday wishes left in the comments on my last post.I even got a card from the girls in my team at work addressed to "The Auld Yin" which is a bit of a cheek considering most of them are in their late 40's or early 50's.In fact, when a few of them complained the office was cold the other week I nearly got a slap for suggesting they just wait for the next incoming hot flush amongst them and they could all simply gather round and get some heat!They give as good as they get to be fair and I'm always kidding them on I'm on first name terms with the good people on the employee counselling hotline.

The S-man came over last night and we played Black Ops online with a few mates before watching Inception.I liked the film ( though it took a bit of getting into) and after a few smokes I was glad the S-man was there to keep me right with wtf was going on.To jump back to the gaming,I've had a headset for my PlayStation for nearly 18 months,used for mature chat like telling kids I've owned them and that they don't need their fathers anymore because "You got a new Daddy now boy!".I was thinking about a new headset as I've never been able to hear much once the game starts and the sound of gunfire and the S-mans noob toobs become too loud.That was until last night when the S-man pointed out my headset ( wee earpiece thing) actually has a volume control....

Today I hit the local casino for the £22 turbo tourney.My sister paid my entry fee as a birthday gift and also treated me to dinner afterwards.There were 78 runners and I felt I played quite well this time although in truth I didn't have any really tough decisions.The blinds rise every 15 mins and with a 10k starting stack, despite starting well, the lack of playable hands after that and the creeping blinds soon left me needing to double up.I called a late position shove with AQ from the big blind and beat A6,won a race with AJ v 88 and made it to the first break with a just above average stack size.

After winning a nice pot with QQ V JJ I was pretty much card dead and with such big blinds to stack ratio there really isn't much room to get creative.Eventually with blinds at 4k-8k ( my stack 44k) I made the final table of 10.We all agreed a "save" of £20 for 9th and 10th and battle began.I folded for an orbit and then shoved over the top of a couple of limpers with JJ,they folded and I was up to 73k.

A few hands later it folded to me in mid position and I shoved my 73k in the middle with JJ.I had just under 10 bb before the hand and when tightest lady player of all time called my shove I knew I was toast.It would have been stupid to raise/fold with my stack but she was probably the only player I would have folded my JJ to if I'd made it 20k to go preflop.She showed KK.No regrets though and at least I walked away £20 better off!

My Mum had a wee op last week and I'm going over to see her and my Dad tomorrow before heading to my local pub for a £15 freezeout poker game that Two Pies saw advertised.The pub is within walking distance and has been refurbished recently.It's had a reputation as a bit of a dump and I vaguely recall going there with the ex Mrs A a few years back on a Sat night and it was full of glakit looking couples nursing their pints of lager and staring at the walls.As long as the poker game is good and it's not full of men with tattoo's and folds at the back of their shaven heads ( never mess with such men is a good life lesson!) then all should be good.

July Stats: Pokerstars $2007 ( + $18) Party $436 ( - $367) Total Loss for July -$349

Total current online bankroll $2443

As I mentioned in reply to Josie's comment on my last post,the only famous thing to ever happen on the anniversary of my birthday ( and Sugar Bears!) was this delightful historical moment...( great clip though)

Thursday Update

Since I stopped smoking da herb during the week I save my poker playing for the weekend.I do still enjoy playing,it's just that it's a mentally taxing game and after a hard day at work I'd rather relax playing Call of Duty than have to deal with the repeated kicks in the balls which are the staple of sit and go's.I actually have more fun playing Mtt's as I have to cancel my auto-pilot mode and think about the game.The problem with them is the time they take and I'm not a fan of Stars late registration as they just make the games last even longer.

The S-man is coming over tomorrow night and I'm going to try and get my backside down to the casino on Sat afternoon for the £22 turbo game.Rangers play Chelsea on Saturday afternoon in a friendly and although I've a soft spot for Chelsea, ( I saw them beat Ipswich at Stamford Bridge a few years back)I'm not paying good money to watch a training game.

I was obviously gutted to see Rangers fail to qualify for the Champions League, especially as we were by far the better team until two of our players stupidly got themselves sent off.Too much messing around over signings meant we also lost out on David Goodwillie to Bastard Rovers and although I'm pleased we've secured Kyle Bartley on loan from Arsenal for the season, we need more fresh blood in soon if we're to do anything in the Europa League and for the push towards 4 in a row.

My 39th birthday is on Saturday too and I suppose when it arrives I'll be willing to admit I've finally hit my mid thirties.( late thirties will come this time next year!)

Baaaaaa, blogger ate the rest of my post and I'm too tired and in work too early tomorrow to type it out again.I'll add my crappy July stats to my next post.

Back soon...