More long rambling bollocks!

I played the first event of the raisetheriver Wsop last night and ended up being first out when my hammer ( 72 o/s) was crushed by an obviously inferior hand!I raised preflop ,was called by someone with 99 and they just couldn't make the laydown on a ragged 9 high flop after I pushed all in.Very fishy!

In between helping Step A with homework I watched a little of the game as it progressed and once again I was impressed by Kenns aggressive play.Like the great Mr Brunson ( Doyle,not the Grange Hill teacher), Kenns style is to raise often and win many pots uncontested.

This means that when he does raise with a hand like 4h5h he may win 50% ( at least) of the time without showdown, or if reraised, the pot odds and his ( usually large stack) mean he can take a gamble as a 60/40% underdog.

This constant raising means he gets action on his big hands too and although I feel he sometimes pushes a little too hard ,he will not actually put his tourney on the line without a real hand.I bet the table were glad to see the back of him last night when he finally went out!

I played a $16 turbo ( 18 player) and finished 6th after making a really stupid play.One other factor I forgot to mention in Kenns favour is that his play ruffles a few feathers as people don't like being pushed about at the tables.This of course helps him further as people can get emotional and make mistakes.

One of the strongest parts of my game is that I don't get annoyed at being pushed around or outplayed.I simply look to adapt my game and learn from it.For example,if someone shows me a bluff headsup then I don't show them one back the next time I bluff.Better to keep 'em guessing and show them their bluff didn't get any reaction.


I did let a villain get to me last night at that Stars turbo and I've really no idea why he got under my skin.Actually, I think it was the fact he was cold calling raises with rubbish and hitting, which is an absurd reason to get frustrated.( there's a big difference between calling a reraise with 2 live cards and simply being a calling station who flat calls raises)

I had 6k and with 6 left an ITM ( top 4 get paid in 18 player games) finish beckoned until I picked up A10 in the small blind.All folded to me and I raised the villains big blind,he took forever and shoved and I made the donkey call ,crashing out to his AJ.Doh!!


Ok,I promised myself I'd try and cut down on long rambling bollocks posts! Maybe I'll start tomorrow....

Keeping Mum?

Thanks to all who played in last nights Britbloggerment game and congrats to Spid ( Mias dad) for beating me heads up to take the title!

As usual please see the links on the right for some quality write ups as the dog ate my extensive notes...

I do recall AK winning v 1010 and I also remember making a couple of decent laydowns too.When we got heads up Spid had nearly double my stack and I tried to keep plugging away to close the gap.I got lucky when I went all in on a steal with "The Doyle" 102 off and beat Spids better hand ( soz I don't remember what it was) when I spiked my 10.

That gave me the lead and when we got it all in on the next hand with my 88 v QK I'd like to say I could taste the glory, but I've been playing long enough to know that chickens should never be counted in this game, and sure enough Spid hit his King on the flop to give him a big lead again.

A few hands later I pushed with 56 ,hoping if he called I would have 2 live cards and not be totally dominated.Spid called with AK and even hit his King for good measure.( I'd rather have been all in with 56 then an A7 type hand).No complaints from me at all and a big well done again to Spid for taking it down.

I think an early dinner and the fact I'd warmed up with a $75 profit at a $50nl cash table ( my 55 made trips v slow played AA)helped get me in the right mood for the game and hopefully I can go one better someday soon.

I also bubbled in the 2nd chance game although to be fair I did sit out for a while due to the ongoing main game.Congrats to Dudley ( res evil) for taking it down.Next time though it has to be a turbo format or not all for the 2nd chance game as the play was so competitive even with just 7 players that it could have gone on all night!

Now onto todays other hot topic...my poker playing Mother! Yes that was the observer who told me "nh" at one point and who mentioned to me in the IM that the table "all seem to know each other".She also wrote that "that Milk bloke is going out soon I think" at one point which made me laugh.

Sorry to bore any non blogging readers ( errr that's you Dudley,S-man and Miami Mark)but do my fellow online ghey poker dairy writers give their blog addys to the family to read?

For the most part I'm fairly sure there's not much to be ashamed of here, but if I want to write about my feelings ( ok,so maybe that's a rare occasion)about Mrs A,Step A or my parents etc ,then I'd like to feel I'm free to do so, without having to feel constrained by knowing who is reading.

Having said that it's only a poker blog and I felt gulity about not fully explaining the connection ( which she may guess at anyway,she's not daft)and inviting her along for the fun.

Don't get me wrong as I love my Mum to bits and love the fact that she loves poker as much as I do.We didn't get on during my teens at all due to us being so alike but we get on like a house on fire these days.( 99.9% of the time anyway!)

All thoughts and comments welcome....( quick boring stats post to follow)