Back to the Grind....

I’d love to say I’m back feeling refreshed after a two week break from work, but the truth is I’m feeling almost jet lagged after getting used to late nights and long lies.

Tempting as it was to get away for a few days, I simply enjoyed relaxing and taking it easy. Long walks for Nacho, online poker,football,PS3 gaming and mindless net surfing were the order of most days. I also hit the Alea casino last weekend for another go at their 3pm , £22 turbo tourney which attracted over 70 runners. My AJ didn’t improve v 88 all in pre flop with less than ten big blinds left and that was that.I intend giving it another go this weekend as I’m starting to feel a bit more comfortable playing live.

As per my September results post I ran well and posted a healthy profit over relatively few games.Going into October I knew I wasn’t going to continue averaging $7 profit per $22 game ,but I wasn’t immediately prepared for the the kind of bad run you wouldn’t believe was possible unless you play a lot of sng’s. The 25 buy-in downswing I suffered at Party back in March certainly helped me cope better this time, although it’s hard to stay sane when you can almost call out in your head the 2 outer card your opponent requires and bang it arrives by the river.( over and over again)

I’ve never ever believed online poker is rigged in any way, but playing 2-3 tables I began to notice I was being dealt the same hand ( sometimes even the suits matched) on two tables at the same time on a seemingly regular basis. When I started to point my mouse at the wee boat on my screen saver photo to try and ensure I was dealt a better hand ( I did it once and of course was dealt KK so it must work ) I knew it was time to stop being silly and get back to focusing on the poker.

The company I work for are still offering a years salary to anyone who wishes to leave by the end of this month. Part of me wanted to use my time off to try and 4-6 table for 6-7 hours and see if I had it in me to consider jacking in the 9-5.In reality I played approx 100 games over the last 12 days which isn’t bad for a hobby player,but comes nowhere near the 70-80 sng’s I’d need to play per day if I wanted a decent full-time income. Of course I was in holiday mode over the last two weeks and perhaps if forced by circumstance I would have enough self discipline to get up at 9-10am and put in 6-7 hours of multi-tabling.The chances are though that I’m just not cut out for endless hours of grinding and I’m far better off just making a few £k every year as a hobby.( cutting back to 4 days per week is a more serious proposition)

October 31st is the 5th anniversary of my real money online poker playing adventures and after making $15k last year, ( including $4.2k Mtt cash) some quick addition shows I've slipped back to only making $4.5-$5k over the ( nearly) 12 months since Nov 1st '08.I've only played approx 2800 sng's over that period and realistically if I'm only going to play about 200-250 games per month then I can only expect to be making around $400 profit.

I suppose I've also made a small step up from the Stars $16's to the Party $22's and have also had to adjust to playing 10 seat single tables games instead of the 18 man games I played previously.After reading a 2+2 thread on how the Party $22's are infested with solid regulars perhaps I should be grateful I'm making anything at all there!

I do plan on using poker winnings to pay for the usual stuff like council tax,car insurance,Rangers season ticket etc when they come round next year so I don't want to blow through my whole roll but I do plan on taking bankroll management a bit less seriously at times and taking a few more shots.( playing a few $55's and one $109 sng over the year is just too nitty!)

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...

Tues update

Although I don't usually post on a Tuesday I thought I'd clarify a couple of things and maybe even squeeze in some poker too!

On rereading my words on the situation with Step A I felt I was being a bit unfair on the ex.I wrote that her remark about how I'd given Step A money and therefore the wee one should have brought me a gift ( from her Holiday last week) was weak.It was weak as it had nothing to do with money but to be fair the ex ,we still get on well and she was trying to stick up for me in what was probably a tricky situation for her.

I've also have no intention of issuing any kind of dramatic ultimatums to the wee one and I hope it didn't come across that way.Even if she doesn't want me to babysit when her Mum is working, she'll know that if she needs me for anything,anytime then I'll be there.The ex says the wee one has been quite clingy towards her since she got back from her hols and I think she just wants to spend more time with her Mum.Hopefully normal service will resume soon!

Ok ,to the poker and I only played a couple of wee $6 games with Juice last night.In the first one a donk raised,I shoved with QQ,he insta-called with A3 and the 3 on the flop and another on the turn sealed my fate.Juice didn't have much luck either as Riverstars lived up to its name!

The standard of play was so poor it was almost like play money.I made a daft mistake right on the bubble and only made the money due to there being an even bigger donkey at the table than me ! With 5 left ( 18 player,top 4 pay) it was folded to me on the button.I had Jh4h, was 2nd shortest stack and reckoned if I shoved the very short big blind would call and my Jh4h would do ok against his random hand.I hadn't bargained on the tight small blind calling with 55.If the big blind had folded his 83 ( with 200 chips left) he would have made the money.He didn't ,55 won and I scraped 4th.( due me having a slightly larger stack than the bb at start of the hand)

The only other hand of any interest was the one below because I usually only limp occasionally early on in sngs and almost never when there are antes in play and the blinds are getting higher.

PokerStars Game #16899996766: Tournament #85622019, $6.00+$0.50 Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (100/200) - 2008/04/21 - 19:33:20 (ET)
Table '85622019 2' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: zagga (1955 in chips)
Seat 2: mistyq (2620 in chips)
Seat 3: bonesditch (5220 in chips)
Seat 4: khairome (3084 in chips)
Seat 5: solshine (1915 in chips)
Seat 6: kage1526 (5132 in chips)
Seat 7: jkr1 (1871 in chips)
Seat 8: Kingpin55 (2902 in chips)
Seat 9: ADHD_kiddo99 (2301 in chips)
zagga: posts the ante 25
mistyq: posts the ante 25
bonesditch: posts the ante 25
khairome: posts the ante 25
solshine: posts the ante 25
kage1526: posts the ante 25
jkr1: posts the ante 25
Kingpin55: posts the ante 25
ADHD_kiddo99: posts the ante 25
mistyq: posts small blind 100
bonesditch: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to zagga [9s Ts] >> Nice hand on the button but I have chips and don't need to shove 10 high just yet to accumulate.

khairome: calls 200
solshine: folds
kage1526: folds
jkr1: folds
Kingpin55: folds
ADHD_kiddo99: folds

zagga: calls 200 >> Calling for 200 here with position wont make a huge difference to my stack.I expect my next bet to be a shove and again shoving 1955 or 1755 didn't seem significant.Misty had also been tight in the small blind and I didn't think he'd make a squeeze bet very often.

mistyq: folds
bonesditch: checks
*** FLOP *** [2s 7c 9d] >> Flopped top pair on a reasonably dry board.

bonesditch: bets 600 >> After checking his big blind preflop he now leads out for 600.It looks like a steal to me and as he's in the big blind even if he has hit the nine he could have any kicker and I don't feel even a hand like K9 could stand a lot of heat here.

khairome: folds >> Glad the other limper folded.

zagga: raises 1130 to 1730 and is all-in >> Bearing in mind I'd limped on the button for the first time in the game,I think it's possible to get the big blind ( bonesditch) to think I've slow played an overpair or that I'm playing either a 9 with a higher kicker than him or possibly even have a set.( though less likely)

bonesditch: folds >> Phew!

zagga collected 2125 from pot >> sweet!
zagga: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2125 | Rake 0
Board [2s 7c 9d]
Seat 1: zagga (button) collected (2125)

Just back from Glasgows fine Alea Casino .Time for food and football...

Quarter finals here we come....

Hey Y'all,how ya doing already? That seemed an appropriate opening line to todays post as my body clock seems to have moved on to Eastern Standard Time over the course of the last week,with last night being no exeception.5.15 am to bed and up just before 2pm today.It'll have to stop!

My night began with the most nervy 90 minutes of football I've watched in a very long time.Rangers were 2-0 up from the first leg and the Germans threw everything bar the kitchen sink at us in their home leg,scoring not long after half-time and continuing to pile on the pressure right until the final whistle.Big Shagger McGregor in goals was superb and made several great saves and one world class effort where he pushed a certain goal bound shot onto the bar.

We did see it through,winning 2-1 over the two legs and now face Sporting Lisbon in the quarter finals and PSV/Fiorentina in the semi-final if we can beat the Portugese giants.Roll on!

To the poker and I played two $16's before the Riverchasers game and took 2nd in both.The Riverchasers game was at 1am and I didn't get off to a great start after raising AJ in late position and betting on every street of an Ace high ragged board,only to lose to AK.The only saving grace was that I controlled the pot size and didn't completely cripple my stack...until a few hands later when I raised the hammer,took a stab on a missed flop and had to fold to a reraise.Not long after that I shoved A10 and ran into AQ.

I fired up some $12,180 player turbs on Stars and didn't have any joy at all,despite getting quite deep in a couple of them.My cousin popped over, we chatted about the Rangers game and I blamed him for being a cooler as I bombed out of yet more $16 and $12 turbs!

Three more before bed was the cry and although I bubbled one in teeth gnashing fashion,I took down the last two games of the night to leave me $178 up over 14 games played.

The turbs are such a rollercoaster though.On Monday night I lost $130 and hated the sight of them and now after a decent week at 'em I feel like I've finally found the poker niche that works for me.Making 8bb/100 at $50nl was fine but I never felt that I had as good a handle on those games as I do at the turbs where I feel like I can compete with most players on my day.( at my level and cards willing!)

My major game weakness is still the mid stages of standard speed mtt's.I struggle balancing my turbo instincts with adjusting to the slower structure.I only really play Blogger games at slow speed and although I'd like to have won a few more ( Kats Donkament and 2nd place in the first season of the RTR league are as good as it gets)I'm quite happy to play 'em for the fun and chat,focusing on my core turbs for profit.


Tonight is the first RTR league game of season 3 and hopefully I'll be there! I had been hoping to get across to the s-mans tonight but Mrs A is going out and has asked me to look after Nacho.

Great news on tv just now.Shannon Mathews,the wee girl missing for weeks,has been found alive.Sadly these type of cases all too often seem to end with a body being found so it's fantastic that she's been found unhurt.I don't know the full story yet but the main thing is that she is ok!

My cousin popping over last night reminded me of an amusing moment we had when attending the launch of The Alea casino in Glasgow a couple of weeks ago.We were standing on the smoking terrace over looking the River Clyde when my cousin asked about the bridge we could see further down.I informed him that it's Glasgows newest bridge,known as the "Squinty Bridge".He then proceeded to enquire as to how the cars managed to get up and down over that big arch safely....( if it's not obvious ,I had to explain to him that the big arch is above the road!)



Ok,that's about it for today.I know it's late but if anyone from the UK is still up tonight and fancies letting off some steam ,hit up Kat's game on Full Tilt.Let's keep the title on these shores!

Katitude's Friday:Blogger Donkament
Full Tilt, 9:00 PM EST 1:00 AM GMT
Password: donkarama
$1 + $1, unlimited rebuys + one add-on, NLHE

Chicken Coinflips

On Monday night the s-man popped over and we chewed the fat for a couple of hours before he left and I hit the tables.I was so dang tired from my weekend 5.30am exploits I was wary of not being on my best game.I began at Stars and my first exit was frustrating as I shoved 44,hit a set and still lost to a runner runner flush.

I'm not running well on the sandwich front either! I make up a weeks worth at a time on a Sunday night and freeze them.Everyday for that week I have the same sandwich.One of my colleagues suggested making up enough for two weeks and I did this.Half are chicken and cheese and half are ham and cheese.I grab a bag from the freezer every morning randomly and three times this week I've picked the dang chicken.If I lose another coinflip tomorrow and it's chicken again it may just tilt me! Check out my stats on sandwichscope....

Back to the poker and I came 2nd in the next one I played before I moved to Party for a couple more ( $22 single table turbos this time),bubbling in one and winning the other.I did attract a lecture in the chat for keeping the bubble going by reraising a shorty with AK.I had a huge stack and my reply of "I don't care " may have caused him to steam as that big mouthed idiot did end up bubbling.


Last night I attended a union meeting after work which went on longer than I expected.I logged on and saw that my good mate Al Eleven was around ( the San Jose Salmon) and we both hit the $16's.( 18 player turbos as usual)

Al took one down,made the money in another and I.....didn't!

Al had also fired up a $12 ,180 player turbo and I joined him.In the first one I was so card dead I was blinded down and actually won all in with A7h V two donks.I went on a wee run from there and was frustrated to go out 21st after shoving from the small blind with 96 and being called by some idiot and his Q7 off.He had a similar stack to me and had called for his tourney life almost on the bubble with that hand, but the standard is so low in these games I suppose it wasn't entirely unexpected.

No point ranting in the chatbox.He paid his money and can play any way he likes.It's up to me to adjust accordingly.

I fired up another and again found myself card dead.There is little room for moves and bluffs in these games, but the players drop out so quickly it really only requires a double up or two to stay in the hunt.

I had chipped up to about $5k in chips when I actually got very lucky indeed.A shortstack on the button raised,the small blind flat called and I elected to shove JJ hoping to isolate the shorty.The shorty had hee haw but the sb showed Aces and I was stunned to actually hit a Jack on the river and scoop a nice pot.

I stole a few pots,reraised a bigstacks bet with my JJ ( he folded) and also had my lucky hand ( J9!) win v a short stack.

Before I knew it I was at another final table and I sat back a bit and watched as Muppet Wars ensued and the numbers dwindled further.I'd love to say I took it down but I was quite pleased to come 4th in the end ( $158 prize).The blinds had reached a redonkulous level ( $5k/$10k with antes) and I ( $30k stack) shoved QJ and got called by the bigstacks A10.

Tonight I'm heading home to watch the Gers away game with Hearts on tv before heading over to the ex's to look after Step A until midnight.Tomorrow night it's the casino launch night and on Friday night I'm going to head over to the s-mans.

Roll on..

Fish Party

I watched Rangers dispose of Gretna with ease yesterday at Ibrox before doing some stuff around the flat and talking Nacho out for a run.( he ran,I strolled)

At 9pm it was Bloggerment time and congrats to Jjay2005 on taking down the title for the Watford posse.Thanks to all 19 runners who turned out to play.

I came 8th and really only played a couple of key hands.Last weeks winner ,Lukkybugr,raised from early position and I woke up with KK.I was tempted to make a standard reraise but decided a shove would look more like I had AK/AQ.Lukybuggr called with 66 and my cowboys held.

I managed to stay afloat until I limped in the sb with ( may have been bb,I'm not sure) with Q9 and faced a tough laydown on the turn when reraised on a 9 10 10 Q board.Cell showed A10 and I think I was only able to make the laydown because his bet looked like it wanted a call and he'd only want that if I was beaten.

That left me on about 1700,the blinds were rising and when it was folded to me in the small blind I looked down to 1010, shoved and ran into QQ in the big blind.My fantastic luck in blogger games continues!

I checked out the $16's afterwards but all the registering games were brimming with solid regulars.I don't mind playing with these guys at all, however if there are fishier games I'd rather be in them so I headed to Party for some $22 single table turbo action.

As a sidenote when I checked my miscalleneous stats on Sharky at Stars it shows that 97% of the sng's I have played in have been turbo's! The Bloggerment and RTR games must be the only standard speed games I play and they do seem very very slowwwwwww.

The Party $22 turbs continue to be softer than a last minute freekick for celtc and actually require a bit of downward adjustment compared to Stars $16's.For example ( my hand doesn't matter) a villain with 99 called me down on a board with an king and queen on it after I'd made my usual large preflop and flop bet.( which screamed I have a big piece of this!)

Bottom line is that I played about four or five turbs and only made the money when I won the last one for a small overall profit.I do love the Party fish factor but I also like knowing who the regulars are at Stars and Sharkscope doesn't seem to work well on Party either.

I'm picking my boy up again tonight,fitba' and babysitting on Wed and on Thursday I'm donning some smart clothes and heading to Glasgows biggest casino,The Alea,for the grand opening night.From what I've heard it sounds like a fantastic venue and I'm looking forward to it.

Thanks for reading.I'll be back later in the week...

The beats go on...

I chatted to Rosie for a wee while last night before a friend popped over for a wee smoke and the usual fine banter.Many things can seem more amusing after a little herb and the sight of my friend donning a rubber glove to ensure his fingers didn't carry any smell home with him certainly tickled my funny bone.

After he left I hit the tables and continued to be screwed over at almost every turn.I kept Klopzis comment about staying positive in mind and managed to only lose $45 over 18 games but once again if the team from Candid Camera had jumped out from behind my sofa and asked me to "smile",I wouldn't have been too surprised!

I four tabled at times but mainly stuck with 2-3 which allowed me to play better and pick up some reads on the villains.Looking closely at my own play,I felt I was on form and playing well for most of the night.In fact I take it as a positve that my luck could run so very badly and yet I only dropped $45.That may seem odd, however I've been playing long enough to recognise a cold streak and that is most certainly something I'm having to deal with right now.I was almost tempted to make another video on the subject of running badly and playing through it.

My Stars roll is down nearly $400 this month and I'm determined ( cards willing) to get that sorted as the downswing I'm on can't last forever.It reminds me of my first casino visit on my 18th birthday.I worked as a driver for a Chinese restaurant and the owners took me for dinner and some roulette.As I ate a fine steak and chips I could see display boards which showed the numbers/colours that had come up at each roulette table.I had no idea of ( still not much of a clue)how probabilty worked and everytime I saw there had been a streak of 10-15 red or black numbers coming up in a row,I wanted to dash up to the gaming floor and bet the other colour as the red or black streak just had to be on the verge of ending...

I'm trying to view my recent downswing as just being one of those statistical streaky runs.If red was winning a coin flip or even an 80/20 then my display board just happens to be very black with only the occasional red thrown in.Apart from staying emotionally stable ( not tilting) there's not much I can do other than to keep banking my $3 Sklansky bucks profit per game and hope there's more red appears on my personal display board sometime soon.

I don't like getting myself so tired ( see last Sundays pathetic self-pitying post) that I can't retain a sensible perspective on the game but I suppose most poker players find that occasionally it all just seems so damn tough at times.

I have discovered the joys of Ginseng tea this week and now drink a few cups of it per day along with the green tea I've also been drinking a lot of recently.One of the cardrunners vids talked about drinking tea to help the mind.( talked about using excercise too but one thing at a time!)I honestly believe the mental boost these teas give can really help with focusing and making correct decisions at the tables and in life.It's hard to describe but they seem to help with an overall feeling of wellbeing and positivity.Maybe there's a reason the Chinese have been drinking them in one form or another for over 5000 years...

Hmm just checked my post and there's an invite for the grand opening of the Alea casino in Glasgow on Feb 28th complete with champagne reception and entertainment.I reckon I fancy a bit of that!

Ok,time to drop Nacho off shortly before hitting the tables to see if the good people at Riverstars have come up with any new unique ways to piss me off even further at their tables....

Much more and I run away....!

Glasgows biggest casino opens

I returned from seeing a man about a dog last night and hit the tables,only for my downswing at $16 to continue as I went 0/5 without cashing.Not being able to win a race,running into monster hands and having donks insta-calling my raises with Ace rag and hitting against my high premium pairs was the story of my night once again.

I am looking closely at my own play and in truth I don't think I've been anywhere near my best this week.Not tilty but perhaps playing slightly scared in some games and trying to correct that by being too gung-ho in others.

I should be able to squeeze a few games in tonight as I've booked a days annual leave for tomorrow.Looking forward to hitting tables and listening to Buddydank radio or my trance tunes.

Big thanks to Mair and Sir Al Can't Hang for pimping the Bloggerment.Feel free to use the banner from the other day and join 'em!

I'm still no nearer to organsing a date for the next home game although it's looking like being in March now.Perhaps we should hold it at Glasgow newest ( and biggest) casino which is now open.The Alea Glasgow looks great and I like the fact you can get in wearing jeans, as UK casinos have usually always had a very strict dresscode.I know they are into their poker though I'm not sure yet what kind of format their tourneys will use.Watch this space!

Ok,I was lucky enough to be able to get tomorrow off work.Time to walk Nacho,chill out and hit the tables...