Final Tables and Goals

Last night was a funny old night at the virtual felt.I was exhausted after a long week at work and felt quite rusty too after not playing since last weekend.Still being fairly new to Mtt's,I'm forever trying to find a balance between playing tight,aggressive poker and finding more spots to gamble and give myself the chance to build a big stack.As usual plenty of my premium hands were getting busted and at one point I even noticed my play was getting a bit tilty after I crashed out the $16,$4k Gtd when I couldn't lay down my JJ on a Queen high board when it was obvious I was beaten.

I had a word with myself,got back to playing solid poker and managed to build decent stacks on some of my tables.Despite this I was down to 3-4 tables by around midnight and fired up a couple of $15,180 player turbo's to keep me busy.I ended up making the final table of the $11,$3k Gtd and one of the 180 player turbo's at the same time and only just missed out on two more with a 12th in a $5 Hyper turbo and a 25th from 1500 players in the $11,$10k Gtd.My JJ was no match for A5 in the $3k ( took 6th) and after completely dominating the 180 turbo final table I could only come 2nd when my K9 was beaten by Q9 rivering a straight.It was still a decent nights profit though.

I did save the funky wee hand below from the Boom replayer.The villain was raising around 33% of hands preflop but was weak post flop and I felt I could take the pot away from him at some point in the hand.Not often I check raise the flop,lead the turn and shove the river as the line didn't make much sense but the fishy villain probably put me on the flush or Ace when he folded on the river.He was raising so often preflop an Ace was only a small part of his range which is one reason I kept firing.Having almost no showdown value was another!

I'm not really a "goals" type of guy ( unless they're being scored by Rangers!) but Pocket Fives has me down for $36k in winnings on Stars and I've decided to make it my goal to reach $100k and earn a wee $100k badge next to my name.I've also reached the heady heights of being ranked 343 in the UK and 3175th in the world for Mtt's.I'd love to climb higher but that's not very likely unless I greatly improve both my game and volume.( and working full time the latter is not going to happen).Nice to have something to aim for in terms of winnings though. I was sad to read Josie posting that she wont be blogging anymore as she's just not feeling it and doesn't want to waste her time and energy on it.There seem to be very few regular poker bloggers left and in truth I'm not sure I'm "feeling it" much either these days.I used to post at least a few times a week and now it can feel like a chore much of the time to just get a couple done per month.It does feel a bit like my blog has jumped the whole of Sea World and not just the shark but I'm a creature of habit and probably won't quit boring you all with exciting tales of 12th place Hyper Turbos finishes just yet.


Thanks for reading.Back soon..

The Dogs Bollocks

I had a couple of close but no cigar moments at the virtual felt last weekend.I came 17th from 1900 players in a $27,$20k Gtd for $170 and 119th from 2500 starters in the big $55,$80k Gtd for $180.As I've written before I really shouldn't be playing $55's on my bankroll but they're fun and good value,especially on Sundays with the higher guarantees.

I wrote the bit above other week but apart from some small cashes I'm running cold at the moment and there's not much to do other than to keep working on my game,stay confident and wait to hit a decent score again.I'm still loving Mtt's despite the fact the longer run is much longer than in sng's or cash games.Short term variance can be a bitch and I do wish I had a far bigger role to be able to play more $44's,$55's etc.Just gotta grind it up!


Away from the poker I took Nacho to visit the hot chick vet the other evening.It was all going swimmingly well.He was as good as gold being given his annual vaccine jags and loved the biscuits afterwards.Before the check up was over though,she starting checking his nuts and just as I was thinking "Well that's why I pay a vet", I heard a voice say " You really should check his testicles every two weeks.If you notice any difference from week to week,blah,blah"...What?!,Sorry?!WTF!WTFF!

Just ever so slightly stunned and feeling like I'd stepped into a Monty Python sketch I asked "Can you just confirm you just said I should be feeling my dogs bollocks on a fortnightly basis?"

She confirmed.Feeling.

*Picture posed by a model as Nacho refused to take part in this blog post!


Yeah,we're not talking just checking they're in place, but getting to know them well enough to know if they feel different from the last check.Every two weeks.By the end of six months I'll almost certainly be able to say I felt more dog genitials over that period than human lady ones and that's not a good place to be!

Should they stay or should they go now? If they go there wont be "feeling" and if they stay he climbs the ceiling!

So it's rubber gloves and the kind of fortnightly squeeze I never imagined when I joined an online dating site,( FFS,squeeze sounds worse than feeling) or I pay £140 and Nacho loses his balls.

On a serious note and leaving out "The Clash" songs, he has no road sense and wouldn't run away for hours on end ( twice this summer) seeking out bitches on heat if he did get the chop.I also wouldn't need to worry about him developing tumours and stuff in that area.

Then again he's doing just fine with them firmly attached to his body at the moment ,any op is a risk however small, and I don't think I could look him in the eye when he got home either.Got it sussed though.More regular visits to the hot chick vet where I'll happily shell out my hard earned to let an expert do the my boy's nuts check.

Always nice to finish with a nuts check on the river...

Well,nearly finished.It's a long time since I've seen any poker blogger post a winning hammer hand...

That's Not A Guide Dog

After a highly enjoyable first week off work I went down with a bad dose of man flu the night after my MTT win and spent most of the second week blowing my nose and feeling miserable.I did actually make the final table ( 6th for $353) of a $5 Hyper Turbo Mtt on that Friday night after my last post but any thoughts that I may actually be running well and on a heater have been quickly put to bed by my luck at the felt since then.

Things went a little better last night, although I only managed a few small cashes and just missed out on the final table of a $5,$10k Gtd ( 3500 runners) when I ran QK into AK and AA.At least when the cards were turned up I was so dead in the water there was no need to sweat the flop,turn or river I suppose!


I've also been messing around a bit trying to find more spots to put other players to the test, but while getting creative is fun,staying out the way during most of the 3,4 and 5 betting wars that are standard in Mtt's these days is probably more profitable.It was interesting to hear the guy that came 2nd in the WCOOP Main event ( behind Mr "I WONT MILLION") saying on the 2+2 Pokercast last week that his way of combating the aggressive nature of that tourney was simply to nit it up and play a tight game.


That's not to say there isn't room for moves at the right time.My current favourite is probably 3-bet shoving with a wide range over light openers/limpers.Even if I do get called there's always the chance of sucking out and it also means that if I've been playing a tight game,I'm more likely to get action in future on my big hands if they've seen me 3-bet shove with an average hand.


Away from the poker life has been pretty quiet.I had my 1-1 with my manager at work and asked about only working 4 days for 6 months.I asked before and was told there would be no guarantee I could come back fulltime but the complaint queues are down at the moment and we have new management so it could be a good time to ask.


For all the talk about how "flexible and agile" the company is I think they'll still tell me it would have to be a permanent change to my contract.Even if that is the case I'm pretty sure I'm going to do it.If I'm going to be stuck in a job I don't enjoy then only doing it for 4 days instead of 5 would make it far more bearable.At the moment thanks to poker winnings I don't have a car loan,car insurance bill,council tax bill etc and I've calculated that if I did have those bills to pay I could still live in relative comfort.Dropping 20% of my salary would mean less treats and a tighter budget but as I reminded myself on Mon morning when the alarm went off,it would also mean every week would be like a bank holiday week! ( and I assume I'd get an extra day off when there was a bank holiday if I get Mondays off as I would like).


On the subject of work Step A has volunteered to work in a local charity shop and I'm delighted she's finally going to be doing something as she's never worked since she left school just before her 16th and she's just turned 18 now.I think she's finally got bored of playing Final Fantasy all day and she also said the encouragement ( nagging I think she called it!)from me and her Gran also persuaded her to give it a go.

Ok,thanks for reading.I'll finish with this fine tale.It was posted on a forum as having happened to the OP ( original poster ) but it's an old one that's been around a while so I don't mind pinching it and posting it here.Subtitles for anyone outwith the UK who hasn't seen Trainspotting... "Dug" = Dog. "Whit huv" = What have.Ah = I.Ma = My

I was working in an old Social Security office years ago and was interviewing the punters.The office has a strict no dogs policy unless needed.

I call a guy into a room and he comes in wearing sun specs-it was summer- and has a wee scabby mongrel on a leash.

"Sorry sir but you cannot bring your dog in here." says me
" Ah needs it mate, it's ma guide dug," replies the claimant
Me noticing the er, breed of said dog..." guide dogs are usually Labradors"

The reply?

" How, whit huv they gave me?"

I let the dog stay.

Back soon....