Viva Espania!

Reports that Yahoo Answers are written by Sir Waffles are still unconfirmed....

Back from my break a bit later than I hoped after spilling tea on my keyboard and having to shell out £90 for a new one.Using the slider buttons on Stars I was still able to play poker and put in decent Mtt sessions most evenings while watching the action from Euro 2012.Although I made a few final tables, overall I lost money and it just seemed that every time I played a vital hand I would get royally screwed over by the deck.Losing coin flips is one thing but continually get by big hands busted by Ace rag and other 3 outers gets very frustrating.Hands like one of last nights crackers where I get it in with AK V AQ for the world,the flop comes KKJ,turn is a blank and of course the 10 falls on the river just seem to keep on coming.

I mean sure I'm still learning Mtt's and of course I'm making mistakes but my luck has been so awful I still believe I can make money without having to revert back to the push/fold world of sng/hyper sngs.

When footballers talk of playing "one game at a time" I want to kill them but somehow when the great Roger Federer said it after coming back from two sets down at Wimbledon it forced me to refocus my efforts to do the same at the felt and to try not to dwell on past bad beats when playing.

I also realised I may be overthinking things sometimes.Amatay posted a hand where he folded JJ after an UTG raise and a rereaise.Other Mtt pro's agreed it was a fold as an early position raise followed by a reraise generally means Jacks are toast.I was wondering how loose the UTG raiser was.If he was raising a lot preflop had the re-raiser had picked up on that and was therefore 3-betting light etc then maybe Jacks are still good.If the two players were known regs than maybe my thought process had some merit but in general I'm just talking myself into a bad call there and that's even if the HUD stats showed UTG was raising a lot and the re-raiser liked a 4-bet.

Yesterday after going to my wee nephews 2nd birthday party I went to Alea casino to play the £22 Turbo game.With 10k stacks and 15 min blinds it's a real crapshoot but I fancied a live game for a change.Not much to report.Lost a few thousand chips with AK when I missed the flop and eventually shoved QQ into AA with just under 6k left and blinds at 300/600.

Came home,ordered a Domino's pizza and registered for a load of Mtt's as I watched Andy Murray win in four sets at Wimbledon.With my roll on life support again I gave the $55's a miss although I couldn't resist the late night $44 Turo and $33 Sat Speedway tourneys.I wish I had because I crashed out of both quite quickly!

I did make a deep run in a couple of $27 KO $20k Gtd games but once again lost sickening hands at vital times.One hand at a time....One hand at a time!

I was still in an $8,$8k Gtd standard speed game with 1100 runners and managed to attract some chat box abuse for calling a cut off shove with QK and beating Mr Unhappy's QJ.Mr U had been stealing 65% of big blinds and I just felt I was well ahead of his shoving range."You've played like a nit the whole game and then you call with QK" he whined.I was down to a couple of tables by that point and although I rarely chat I replied "Sorry for adjusting my play,it shouldn't be allowed".He then hoped I had aids, I thanked him, wished him "much love" and off he went.

I had been card dead and nitty but my own Big Blind steal % was nearly 70% so I was making the most of my image to try and chip up where possible.Eventually I made the final table as one of the shorter stacks and got lucky after a few orbits when someone shoved their QQ into my Aces to double me up.After my live game exit in the same manner I did feel a bit sorry for the villain there and the thought that "maybe Queens are cursed today" crossed my mind.

Of course cards have no memory,it's one hand at a time and all that so I had no hesitation in 3-betting QQ after an open from an aggressive player when were down to six players.He had AQs ,hit his Ace on the flop and I took 4th place, $696 and a sharp exit for my efforts instead of taking the chiplead and a real chance to take it down.Ahh well that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Next weeks plan is to help Step A fill in her passport renewal ( I'm paying for it for her 18th),visit my folks on Thursday as usual and I'm heading down the M77 for a dinner date at Frankie and Bennys on Wed evening.I've only swapped a couple of messages and texts with the woman ( she looks like a hotter version of Tanya from Eastenders)so as ever I'll just see how goes and won't be too fussed if there's no spark at all.

It's paella for dinner tonight as I got Spain ( and Poland) in the Raise the River Euro 2012 sweep.I'll be hoping they play better than they did in their semi v Portugal and have enough about them to see off the pasta munchers in tonights final.I did think England would make the semi's at least but forgot how good they are at messing up penalty shootouts.Still, I have heard that Roy Hodgson watched Spain complete over 800 passes the other night and has a special plan for England to do the same.He's asked Rooney to apply for Mastermind...

You Can't Always Get What You Want....

Not much poker to report on this week as I've not had much time to hit the virtual felt.I met up with Step A on Tuesday evening for a Mc'ds and spent most of the time trying to talk sense into her without sounding like a lecturing old man! I didn't mention that I like a smoke myself but nearly gave it away when she said skins were made in Bristol and I said I didn't know that's where the Rizzla factory was located.Errrr she meant the tv show..

I was also arranging my date for last night and Step A was laughing so hard at my slow texting ( prodding the keypad on my phone with my index finger) that I ended up dictating my text and the wee one typed it.She's also got an Android phone and I've now downloaded the free virtual Zippo lighter app which is so cool the flame even flickers when I blow on it!

I was off work on Wednesday when the S-man contacted me with the tragic news that his Playstation had suffered from the yellow light of death.I'm no expert but I reckon his machine was just politely letting him know that he's been wasting his time trying to get as good at Call of Duty games as the mighty GusterBonad!( one of my PS3 names) Still,I was pleased to see he's struck a deal with his Mrs and will be back online soon.

After at least six months since my last date I've finally made a bit more of an effort over the last couple of weeks.As the classic Stones song goes "You can't always get what you want,but sometimes you get what you need" and after months of fancying a local girl and not doing anything about it ( I'm pretty sure she still has a boyfriend and my flirting/reading the signs skills are rusty as hell anyway) I met a hot chick for a few drinks last night.I was a lot more relaxed and laidback than I've been on previous dates and we seemed to hit it off quite well.She sent me a text saying she enjoyed my company and we're texting each other again over the weekend to arrange a second date.

I've no other plans for the weekend other than going to the league cup semi-final on Sunday with my cousin Two Pies.I was quite pleased with myself for not smoking anything at all again this week between Tuesday night and this morning.( had a cig on the way to work after giving my neighbour a lift into town).Two Pies was over on Wed night for the Gers game and although occasions like that give me an easy excuse to spark up,I stuck to the nicotine gum and felt all the better for it the next day.

Ok,thanks for reading and good luck to Andy Murray in his Aussie open semi-final.I know he's not everyones cup of tea but I like him and hopefully he can make the final and win his first Grand Slam event.C'mon Andy!

Back soon...

Question Time

Aghh ,hit the publish button by mistake! Apologies if you read this post on a reader before I deleted and tried again!

Not much going on this week.I did receive a vaguely threatening letter from my workplace asking that I get in touch to arrange a meeting with the head honcho re their concerns about my fitness and "potential ability to carry out your work".I also had a call from my new manager who tried to assure me the letter was standard.I'll speak to the Union before calling the boss on Monday.I still have a painful lump at the base of my back and will probably pay for my own ultra-scan if I don't get an appointment card through from the NHS very soon.My new manager also mentioned they are offering everyone a years salary to leave again and I suppose taking that would be a last resort if I can't get fit and it looks like they're going to fire me.

To the poker and after a good start playing Rush poker my AK fell to 1010 and my JJ lost to AK to set me back a couple of $50 buy-ins.I did manage to claw most of that back late last night,playing 400 hands before bed.

Here's a quick Pokertracker Hud question for my more techie readers.On Stars if I fire up four sngs and start the HUD I have to sit in the seat Stars allocates me as the HUD stats don't move if I change seat.If I do move everyone has someone else's stats showing instead of their own.It's possible to right click and move the stats manually to the correct player but that's an awful lot of messing around when 4 tabling.Any ideas anyone?

On the subject of techie stuff the Blogger format allows videos to be posted.My Mum sent me an audio file ( amr. if that means anything) of my new nephew/nieces heartbeat and I keep getting an error message when trying to post it here.None of my family read my blog ( though I did give my sister the url a while back)and I realise it's of no interest to readers but I'd love to somehow embed the file into a post to keep.I don't do guest posts but I like the idea of giving my forthcoming relative an early start in the blogging world! Again,any ideas appreciated!

Other answers my knowledgeable readers may know? Does anyone know whatever happened to Surflexus of the DearPokerdiary blog? He's not posted since Aug '08 and I've been wondering about his absence for a while now.He played a few Brit Blogger games back in the day and used to comment regularly here and on other blogs. I nearly asked Kat ( also a Canadian blogger) at last weeks Bloggerment table, but I thought I'd look like an idiot if I'd missed any really bad news etc! ( hope not obviously)

It looks like I may have to set my alarm for an early start this Sunday to cheer on Andy Murray in his Aussie Open Final v Federer.He's in the best form of his life at the moment and although beating the greatest tennis player of all time won't be easy I reckon the wee lad from just up the road can do it! Gaun yersel Andy!

Righty I'd better get back to the poker tables and try and earn enough to let me keep up with my latest addiction.Honestly do yourself a favour reader and treat yourself to some Silver Needle white tea.I get it from Adagio and have just placed another order.The taste is a dream,it's benefits are incredible and it's guaranteed to make you run better at da pokers.

I'm off to brew up.Back soon...

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)

Back soon....

Monthly Stats

It's been a funny old month at the virtual felt.I ran well at Party,moved over to Stars and managed to run my $536 roll down to $1.58 before bouncing back slightly to finish on $157 there.Actually, I didn't find that my pish poor Stars run funny at all.After my Party success I was hoping to make at least $1k this month but the poker gods obviously decided otherwise.

I played the Turbo-Takedown and cashed for $85 on Sunday before losing those winnings and a bit more at the $16's through a combination of poor play,lost races and bad beats.

Last night I watched Andy Murray win at Wimbledon whilst 4 tabling the $6.50,18 player turbs.I actually ran quite well, won a couple and cashed in a couple more.I even replied to someone in the chatbox when they mentioned that "you don't see that playing live".I'm usually Mr Silent at all times and a lot of the time these days I have the stats or info showing rather than the chat, but it was only a $6.50 game and I had a friendly chat with the guy after telling him online poker is definitely not rigged!

I'm pretty sure the vast majority of players have no idea ( not my knowledgable readers obv) how variance works and the type of downswings which are completely standard even if you're a solid winning player.Perhaps that knowledge comes with experience.Here are the stats for a Party grinder ( great name btw).Playing 842 games and being down over $300 must mean he's a bit of a fish eh?



Errr no,he's actually ranked number 1 on the Holdem 9-10 turbo $16-$35 total profit for '09 leaderboard.



It's not how hard you can punch but how many you can take and keep coming back for more.

Party Poker $3041 ( + $738) Stars $157 ( -$379) Full Tilt $103 ( =).

Total $3301 ( + $359)


Back soon...

Come on Andy!

Alcanthang,Mr Cloud and I are looking for 8 players from Europe and 8 from the US to play a heads up mini Ryder cup event on Full Tilt.The entry fee is $20 ( + game fees) and once the draw has been made you will need to arrange a time to play your opponent.All applications for the European team are welcome!Please leave a comment or contact me by email at the addy on at the top of this blog.

I didn't play much poker yesterday.The s-man came over about 8-ish and in between chatting, watching a bit of Braveheart and the tennis,I played in the Brit Blogger game and the RTR league game.I managed to win the Brit Blogger game again ( this time with a more respectable 18 entrants)and bubbled the RTR game for the second week in a row,this time after my 88 proved no good v QJsooooted.

I have to admit that I'm not much of a poker player fan boy.The first time I read someone call a top player "sick" on the Pocket Fives forum I hoped the player in question would make a swift recovery from his illness!

I have great respect for the top players both online and live, but apart from watching their training vids I don't particularly care who is top of which MTT ranking table or how "sick" they are running this week.Later on though, after the s-man had left and I'd finished playing,I did watch some of the WCCOP $10K tables and enjoyed watching some of the bigger named players doing battle.

This was of course after I'd watched Scotlands Andy Murray play brilliantly to finish off Nadal in the US Open semi-final.The Five Live phone-in this morning was full of middle Englanders asking why Murray should expect their support.(A couple of years ago Murray had the cheek to joke he'd cheer any team playing England at football).I'm sure the truth is that Murray couldn't give a toss if they support him or not."Who cares" I was shouting at my radio.The Scottish people will be behind him and if he's not clean cut enough or is too honest for the English public/media to accept then I doubt he will lose any sleep over it.GL against The Fed young man!

Until my next 100mph serve....

Wax on,Wax off..

I always seem to start the month poorly these days.I don't know if it's because I become a little bored and complacent,my game slips and I can then get my teeth into turning the situation around.I'm only $100 down over 61 games at Stars which is down to being on the wrong side of a few coin flips and some bad play by me.On Friday night I even let myself slide into the tilt zone for a couple of games.Calling off my stack ( I had 860 left from 1500 starting chips) with Q5 soooted at least rang an alarm bell with me and I took a wee break to get my head together before resuming.

I've been mainly 2-3 tabling to try and get more reads and focus more.The strange thing is that I've not been running well when doing that and yet when I start 6-8 tabling ( cascade style) in the wee small hours,I've managed to cash a lot more.Again I wonder if there's some odd psychology at work whereby I'm not playing my "A" game until I'm left with no choice due to the hole I've dug myself.Perhaps being overrolled for the games I'm playing in has something to do with it too.More focus required,hopefully starting with tonights Brit Blogger and RTR league games...which I'll be playing aswell as watching the rest of Andy Murrays US Open Semi-final against Nadal.Come on Andy!

I watched Scotland go down 1-0 to Macedonia yesterday.I'd been telling everyone at work on Friday that the Macedonia were a great bet at 9/5 but I couldn't bring myself to back against my country.Baaaaa!

I'm certainly glad I didn't fork out £14.99 to watch Britains next great boxing hope,Amir Khan,get knocked out in under a minute!I loved watching guys like Nigel Benn,Naseem Hamed,Ricky Hatton and co over the years and I was hoping Khan could follow in their footsteps.Although he can still bounce back from his defeat, having a glass chin is not the best trait a boxer can have!

Ok,thanks for reading.Back soon...