Tea Time

I’ve had four cups of tea ( two green,one white and one ginseng) to wake me up today after I stayed up too late last night,gambling on being snowed in today.The town I stay in is set just above Glasgow and if it’s going to snow anywhere, it’s usually here.Not last night though.Hmmf!

I did arrive at work to some good news.The companies latest plan to reduce it’s costs and carbon footprint has finally meant an end to the sub tropical office temperatures we’ve had to endure for years.The thermometer will now be set at 21c and the the cool air blowers will come on at 24c.That should help me stay awake around 3pm when I could usually do with a nap.Good old global warming! Of course I already do my bit for the worlds carbon footprint by eating as many of those pesky methane emitting cows as possible.( cows along with the S-man and Al Eleven produce far higher emissions than cars every year).Make my steak medium please!

On the poker front it doesn’t feel like there’s much to report.I was 0/4 at Party last night before a win and 3rd place finish helped me back into profit by about $40.Although I’ve been staying away from the addictive super turbs at Full Tilt,I relented last night and took down the wee $7.50 I played before bed.

Not got much else today.It's probably about time I made my posts a bit shorter anyway...

Stand Ups...

It's been a quiet week for me on the poker front.I've played some cash at Full Tilt and Bet 365,winning on FT and losing less than $10 on 365.( I was up over $50 until I floated someone and on a daft bluff!)

I blew my FT winnings running badly in those highly addictive 300 chip super turbos on Tuesday night.On Wednesday I was looking after Step A and last night the s-man was over to sample some more herbs of the tea and smokable variety.I did squeeze in three games after he left and managed to win one of them.( $16 ,18 player Stars turbo)

Amatay reckoned my comment on stretching and taking herbs during play was funny but I'm not sure why.As a poker sportsman ( ahem!) I feel it's important to maintain peak physical fitness by following a punishing exercise regime.I probably did about 7-8 stand ups during last weekends 7 1/2 hr MTT and felt all the better for them.For those couch potatoes unaware of the terms us fitness fanatics use,stand ups help boost many major muscle groups and are a fairly advanced move requiring the participant to stand up and when this has been achieved,sit back down again.Start slowly and consult a Doctor first if all this is new to you...

I said I'd post some hands from the MTT I played last weekend and here's the bad beat that could have knocked me out after 49 minutes if I'd been daft enough to call the reraises.I was cursing the flop that's for sure...

*********** # 61 **************
PokerStars Game #18941154719: Tournament #95444505, $50+$5 Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2008/07/19 - 15:49:06 (ET)
Table '95444505 127' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: Hówie (3935 in chips)
Seat 2: AetherShock (4523 in chips)
Seat 3: annmagritt (3242 in chips)
Seat 4: grayzee1 (5260 in chips)
Seat 5: zagga (2620 in chips)
Seat 6: San3L100 (2330 in chips)
Seat 7: jeroen187 (1890 in chips)
Seat 8: TutuScoot12 (2925 in chips)
Seat 9: sisco2000 (3005 in chips)
sisco2000: posts small blind 50
Hówie: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to zagga [2c 2d]
AetherShock: folds
annmagritt: folds
grayzee1: folds
zagga: raises 150 to 250
San3L100: folds
jeroen187: folds
TutuScoot12: folds
sisco2000: raises 750 to 1000
Hówie: calls 900
zagga: folds
*** FLOP *** [Ts 2s 4s]
sisco2000: bets 2005 and is all-in
Hówie: calls 2005
*** TURN *** [Ts 2s 4s] [5d]
*** RIVER *** [Ts 2s 4s 5d] [Ks]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
sisco2000: shows [Kh Kd] (three of a kind, Kings)
Hówie: shows [Jd Js] (a flush, King high)
Hówie collected 6260 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6260 | Rake 0
Board [Ts 2s 4s 5d Ks]
Seat 1: Hówie (big blind) showed [Jd Js] and won (6260) with a flush, King high
Seat 9: sisco2000 (small blind) showed [Kh Kd] and lost with three of a kind, Kings

A few hands later I called a small raise with 55 and check folded on an Ace high flop to leave me sitting with just over 2k in chips after the first hour.I was then involved in the next couple of hands.I shoved AJ from the small blind into the big blind and he folded to take me to 2.2k.I shoved that 2.2k with 77 on the next hand and was fortunate enough to be called by 66 which doubled my stack.

I folded JJ to a raise and a reraise and was sickened to see a Jack on the flop and two fish both with AK split the pot after about 1 1/2 hours.I had to lay down A9d and JQ after attempted steals were reraised.I kept stealing wherever possible though ( antes had kicked in) and just before the 2 hour mark I doubled through to just over 9k when my 55 held v AK.

Next up I lost 3k when my 44 failed to hold v AJ and QJ.Aces holding v JJ for stacks took me to 14k after 2 1/2 hours.I shoved over the top of a frequent raiser with 77 and after he tanked and folded my stack was up to 18k.I got a "nh" from the villain followed by a ""u owe me for that big laydown zagga" to which I genuinely did LOL and not just in the chatbox.Not wanting to give any clue as to what I had shoved with I replied ""I'll smoke a fat one for you" which got a few laughs.Shoving 55 over a short-ish ( 6k) stacks limp/fold took me to just over the 20k mark after 3 hours.

Ok, more on that game later...

Tonight the ex is coming over to clean my flat and after that I'm heading out to play some live poker in a wee game Two Pies is setting up...

Silence is probably golden

Grrr,last night I spilled some green tea on my laptop keyboard.Unfortunately the tea had failed to "refresh and invigorate" as described on the box and has left me without the use of about 4-5 letters.I've impressed myself by managing to ( after 3 months) renew the IP address on my old Lappy and I'm hoping the keys may still dry out and spring back to life on the newer one!Just aswell for the onscreen keyboard or I'd have been locked out completely.

The ex ended up keeping Nacho last night and I headed over to the s-mans about 8-ish.He was engrossed in Call of Duty 4 and after nipping outside for a smoke,I hit the RTR league game about 20 mins late.Between chatting to the s-man,bombs going off in COD4 and the terrible clunky software of the poker site,I'm amazed I scraped 3rd place.It was very frustrating not being able to chat properly!

The s-man and I watched the new Rambo film and I felt old Stallone carried off the role quite well.It did cross my mind that surely an army of fit bad guys should be able to catch a man in his 60's fairly easily in a foot race but then he is Rambo.

I made it home in time for Kats Donkament and was once again frustrated by not being able to cht prply! 2Blackaces was rebuying after almost every hand and by the time the rebuy period was over the blinds still seemed tiny in comparison with stack sizes.Good to see Tan at my table although I think he realised just how long it could go on for and eventually shoved light just to get out and to bed! I couldn't repeat last weeks win but I did manage 3rd for a small payout.

Ok,don't forget Britbloggerment 50 begins at 9pm Uk Time/5pm dst on Stars.Password is donkament,it's $5.50 and open to all bloggers,readers and password blaggers!
Find it under the "Private" tab...

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....!

Fri Update

Well my mortgage co called today to see about getting their £5k back.Interesting call!I decided to be reasonable and only ask for a £75 arrangement fee.I think the girl nearly fell off her seat.She asked me to put it in writing to her complaints department which is a standard fob off.( complaints are my job!)

I've faxed them a few lines with my invoice and a warning that £75 is my fee based on a speedy resolution and will be revised rapidly upwards should I need to spend much more of my time on the issue.Watch this space.....


I played a couple of $15 turbo's last night and after getting rivered in the first one I came 2nd to some lucky trout from the Miami area in the other one.

Actually Mark wasn't lucky when we were headsup as I sold the jerseys by over commiting with a crappy flopped bottom pair, but boy was he lucky to get past the bubble at all,mainly thanks to the sheer stupidity of a total donk.

Mark was automatically all in with his shortstack on the bubble with Jack high.Two others were in the hand and it was checked down to the turn.A harmless river card fell and Mr Total Donkey bet out,forced the other player to fold and proudly showed his ten high hand.I've seen many daft moves at the table ( I've made plenty myself) but that takes the biscuit!

I played a little Laddys full ring $50 nl later dropping $5 when I gambled with JJ against a shortstack with QQ.Not much else to report and hit the sack happy to be in profit.

Righty I've finally found something green in life I actually like.( celt*c play in green)I'm not long back from the Chinese supermarket where I bought more genuine green tea.I hate fruit,don't eat much veg so it makes a change for me to actually like something that's good for me.

Gee that was interesting...

Right until next time make mine an awfuckit call....