Peck the Eyes Right Oot Yer Heid

Just off the phone to the Doc and I've been given a sick line for a further two weeks with an appointment for Dec 3rd at 10.30am.I've been prescribed a stronger pain killer as I'm still in quite a bit of pain down the right hand side of my body.I'd rather have my Aces rivered ten times in a row than sneeze!Apparently it can take 4-6 weeks for torn muscles to repair and I also have a couple of lumps on my leg and a bit of numbness too.

My insurance company ( More Than) made a good offer to replace my car and I've already looked at a few online.I was tempted to go for a Vauxhall Vectra Sri or a Honda Civic Type S but I'll probably go for a 2litre Mondeo TDCI and maybe look at remapping the engine to add a few bhp.( although 0-60 times aren't quite as big a priority as they used to be a few years ago)

I've been keeping busy by playing at Full Tilt under the name Isildur1 and so far things have been going well against Durr and co at the Heads-up nose bleed tables.Ok,lame joke but I have been watching some of the Isildur1 heads up battles with the top HU players online and it's made for fascinating viewing.Here's an excellent take on the emergence of Isildur1 by InternetPokers over at Cardrunners.

I haven't played a great deal of poker over the last week.The Bloggerment on Sunday saw 16 runners and it was great to see some new faces and some very very very old ones like Dudley too.I didn't last long after my 66 fell to Mr Clouds A10 but it was fun while it lasted and I'm looking forward to doing battle again this Sunday.All readers,bloggers and Raise the River members welcome!Read an excellent write-up on last Sundays game by Rubbish here.

Perhaps inspired by watching Isildur1 I've played a few more PLO games since my last post although the one DON ( Double or Nothing where 5/10 players get paid) I played last night seemed to last forever despite it being a turbo.I've also played a few of my usual $22 NL turbo's and they have been as swingy as ever.Up a few hundred for the month,go on a cashless streak for 10-12 games,win 2 from 3 games etc etc.As it stands right now I'm up a few hundred Dollars for the month over about 75 games.

Call of Duty:Modern Warfare 2 also arrived in the post and I've had a wee go at the online team death matches,getting my arse handed to me on a plate by 12 yr olds shouting "pussy faggot" on a regular basis.Managing 6 kills and 12 deaths in one game is my best effort so far.More progress is being made on Motorstorm Pacific Rift where I'm hoping to move up from Gold Veteran to Hero status soon.Drop me an email/leave a comment with your Play Station 3 user name if you fancy a game sometime.

Ok,just time for a bit of info I found in "The Times" re online poker in the UK.With so many new players coming into the game from other countries I'm not sure any fall in UK players would affect Party or Stars a great deal although obviously the more fellow Brit donks at the tables the better overall. I included it as I felt it may be of interest to any fellow poker geeks** reading this.

"Internet poker: The boom in online poker is over in the UK, according to research from Mintel, which found that after growth of 72 per cent between 2004 and 2007, the poker market had stagnated last year and would fall by 7 per cent this year."

**Watching the Poker Million coverage last night Jesse May commentating said that of the two players heads up at the end,Gus Hansen and Taylor Caby,only poker geeks will have heard of Caby.My previous subscription to Caby's Cardrunners site,the hundreds of games I play per month, the poker blog,floattheturn membership and the endless surfing of RTR,2+2 and Pocketfives may already indicate a certain love of the pokers already but I don't think I've ever been a geek!

Ok,thanks for reading.Here's an old classic I felt was worth dusting off.The tv Dolmio adverts Glasgow style....

NSFW:

The Return of...

...The Bloggerment!



Yep,it's back this Sunday and will be coming soon to the Pokerstars Lobby under the "Private" tab.( click on Tourneys first).It's open to all bloggers,readers and Raisetheriver forum members.Feel free to chat it up or play the silent chip stealing assassin! Bounties are on offer and I'll pay $5 to anyone knocking out Dudley ( Resdent Evil) after just getting a text from him suggesting the crate I swerved to avoid last Monday was put there by a rep from the Foxes Welfare Society!

On the health front I called the Docs this morning and was referred to Accident and Emergency at the hospital due to the slight popping sound I can hear when lying on my front.They literally took the piss,gave me another x-ray and the outcome was that they reckon I've torn muscles in my back and it'll just take time to heal, which in the grand scheme of things is good news.Called the Doc back for a sickline and I've got an appointment for Wed morning.Hopefully a week or two off and I'll be fighting fit again.

*Edit: Just had a call from the Docs to say they've read my hospital notes and I've been given a 2 week sickline with no need to go on Wed.

My sis popped round last night with Spag Bol,Chile and a DVD box set of The Wire and Prison Break.Oh and the Frankie Boyle live dvd too.After she left I played some poker and watched Slumdog Millionaire.I'm actually up a couple of hundred dollars at the $22's this month over not too many games, but as the swings are huge that really doesn't mean very much.

I also called the insurance company and they say I should get a call within a couple of days to negotiate a payout for my wrecked Focus.I like the look of a Honda Civic v-tec Type S I spotted and may raid my poker account if required too.

Ok,Back to feeling like I've been attacked by a Fire-Truck...

Sabbatical Thoughts

Well it's Tuesday and my head is still up my backside after hearing about the sabbatical deal my work are offering.I've gone from looking at 8 months off to 3 months and now reckon I've almost settled on 5-6 months.The revised plan is to use poker bankroll money to top up my wages for the first couple of months and my credit card for the other 3-4 months.It will only take up to about 6 months to clear the card debt when I go back to work and that's assuming I make no poker profit at all.

Of course hopefully I'll continue to make $$ at da pokers and I'll obviously play more when I'm off, but this way I'm not having to rely on it and won't be under any pressure to play because I have to.I have Nacho to look after so that rules out long "gap year" type trips but if the poker goes really well I may look at getting away for a couple of weeks to do something different.( like ironing or cleaning!)

I'm sure some poker players reading this will wonder why I don't commit to a proper playing schedule and try to make it as a pro.( or at least someone who makes a living from game).That may have appealed to me in my 20's, but I'm old enough and wise enough to realise that even if I made a roaring success of it I'd still be doing what amounts to a pretty lonely data entry job and also creating a hard to explain gap on my cv if it all went tits up.

On the poker front I enjoyed the RTR league game on Sunday night despite being card dead and eventually crashing out when my AK was rivered by KJ soooted.I played some $22's afterwards and ran horribly,only cashing in the last one.I took a break from the game last night and....watched a couple of training vids.

I've not mentioned Michael Jackson's recent death as I wasn't a big fan.I do recall the hype round the Thriller video and being allowed to stay up late as a 10 yr old to watch it.The Big Chap and I also used free corporate tickets to see him play at Wembley a few years back.Great seats and great weed as I recall.Is it just me or is the whole funeral/memorial thing turning into a pathetic circus?People whooping and waving their tickets around like they've just won a tour of Willy Wonka's factory just doesn't seem right to me.

Ok,thanks for reading.Back soon...

Raring to go...back to bed!

Am I feeling refreshed and raring to go back to work after two weeks off? Am I f*ck!

Thanks to all who commented on my Dam trip report.Since my return I made the tough decision to finish things with the lady I was seeing.We did swap a few friendly texts last night before her final one which said "I miss you, but don't reply".I do miss her too but have respected her request.

To the poker and the good news is that it looks like being a marginally profitable month for me at the felt.( stats on Tues)I went on a bit of a run at the Party $22's, although after not cashing in a few I moved back to Stars and decided to take a wee shot at $36 45 player turbs.It did take me some time to adjust my game to the format but I also ran like crap too and dropped a couple of hundred.

The same happened at the $16's and only a wee run at the $12 45 player games kept me afloat.In fact I found the 45 player games ( $12 and $36) are very soft indeed and they are also far easier to multi-table ( I played 8) than single table sit and goes for the simple reason that the 45 plyr games are all full tables ( until final table starts to lose players).

Anyway I had $72 left on Stars ( $536 at start of June) and fired up three $16's before the s-man arrived for last nights ps3 sesh.No cashes in those games meant when the s-man left and I hit the felt my Stars roll was in danger of being no more.I nearly took a screenshot when the cashier page showed a $1.58 balance but I managed a win and a couple of cashes at $6.50 to finish the night on $77! Of course I should probably stop being so bloody stubborn and go back the the Party $22's, but now that my Stars roll is on life support I'm actually quite enjoying trying to rebuild it.I could also easily cash some Party profit out and stick it back on Stars but wont do that unless I bust the last $77.

Quick questions: Had anyone else found the Pokertracker 3 auto hud has stopped working on Stars? It's still importing hands but not giving the usual stats overlay on the opposition.( which I definitely missed when playing 8 tables)

Jeeez what a boring comeback post so far! I did read on P5's that David Sklansky's house has been robbed.I loved the post by zander on that thread asking if they only took his real money or if they stole all his Sklansky dollars too.( money "won" everytime you get your chips in as favourite at poker regardless of result)

If you're a Raisetheriver forum member don't forget to transfer your $30 to Amatay and get ready for the upcoming Sunday donkaments.( chance to win a trip to Paris to play in a 250euro buy-in event!)

Ok,thanks for reading.Back on Tues with monthly stats.Watch out for the donkeys...

Back to the 6 max...

After the excitement of cleaning the flat and doing a washing,I was ready to hit the tables,starting with the Bloggerment.I came 5th after shoving Q10 and being called by A6d.Congrats to Weegem for taking it down and thanks to all who came out to play.

I was all ready to hit the $16 turb's, but the Stars sng lobby was down.As soon as the shaking and cold sweats had subsided, I decided to get back to the cash games which were always my main game until just a few months ago, when I caught the turbo sng bug.

I won a quick £5 at Littlewoods £100nl before the table died.I've only got the £25 I deposited at 'Woods to play the RTR league games and although I hate the software and colour,the rakeback deal ( via rtr site banner) is brilliant and well worth a look.

I checked out Ladbrokes and was once again disappointed by the low average pots on offer.Bet 365 was a far jucier proposition and I hit up a $50nl 6 max table for the first time in ages.It went well and I left $80 up.It would have been $130 and I'm still debating getting it all in preflop with QQ v AA.

One of the other villains commented on my play and prehaps I was still shaking off the last of my usual turbo sng and it was a little loose.I enjoyed replying "ty table captain" to the wee lecture, although when looking at the average Bet365 donks all in range, ( he was new to table so no reads)I don't think it was the worst move ever.

Tonight I'm about to have dinner and then head over to the ex's to look after Step A.Hopefully I'll have a net connection and be able to get a few games in...

Every other Saturday...

Ahh writers block again! I'd love to title this post "Rosies coming to stay next weekend" and write about ten pages about it, but I wont! It is true though, and all I'll say is that next Friday can't come around quickly enough for me!

Yesterday we had a good laugh at my teams Xmas lunch.I don't like my job much but I do like my team ( some women behind us has apparently complained about loud swearing coming from our two banks of desks!) and it's a shame we're all about to be split up. ( not a shame to get a new manager though!)

After that I whupped the s-man at badminton once again,pausing only to tap my cigar ash between shots...

I've been crazy tired this week and when I arrived home I watched a cardrunners vid and caught 1/2 hour of sleep.I had started the reg process for Littlewoods poker through the raisetheriver site ( good rakeback deal) when I got a call that the man with the dog was ready.Not great timing and it turned out I didn't get back until just after the new RTR league season has started.I just need to deposit now and I should be there for the game after next week.( may be busy next Fri!)

I did catch up with Rosie and Mr Edge and played some unsuccesful $6 sng's ( for me anyway!) before a few more even more unsuccessful $16 turb's.Maybe I was a little rusty as I've not really played a lot over the last week, or maybe the new herbs were just a little too good!

After Rosie went to bed I hit up two 8 seat $100nl cash tabs at 365 and won $50 quite quickly.I sat contemplating how fishy $100nl was at 365 and how much more $$$ I could make before bed....when I ran a set of fours into a well disguised straight and lost $85! Didn't feel so feckin' smug after that!

My pain threshold can handle that kind of loss though ( hardly a fortune I know) and I stayed as focussed as an acorn smoking fine herbs can do at 3am after a long sleepless week!

I could route through Pokertracker for more ( I liked this one below!) but the bottom line is that I won a little back at $100 nl and a little more at $200nl and finished even at the cash tables for the night.

GAME #759940006: Texas Hold'em NL $0.50/$1.00 2007-12-15 03:18:36
Table Aluminum
Seat 1: jlt2000 ($76.65 in chips)
Seat 2: besi1603 ($96.25 in chips) DEALER
Seat 4: whoRay ($49.95 in chips)
Seat 5: meimei666 ($20.00 in chips)
Seat 6: liujia ($91.00 in chips)
Seat 7: akulafish ($162.35 in chips)
Seat 9: Mendacity ($109.00 in chips)
Seat 10: leon1986 ($156.85 in chips)
whoRay: Post SB $0.50
meimei666: Post BB $1.00
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Mendacity [H10 H8]
liujia: Fold
akulafish: Fold
Mendacity: Raise $4.00
leon1986: Call $4.00
jlt2000: Fold
besi1603: Fold
whoRay: Fold
meimei666: Fold
*** FLOP *** [C9 HQ D4]
Mendacity: Bet $8.00
leon1986: Call $8.00
*** TURN *** [C7]
Mendacity: Bet $18.00
leon1986: Fold
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $42.25 Rake $1.25
Mendacity: wins $42.25

Just about to head off to watch Rangers play Hearts at Ibrox,go shopping,pick Nacho up,walk him, come home and hit the tables.

The Bloggerment is on this Sun and I'll set it up later (if Burnley Mik doesn't beat me to it!).

Cheerio Lads...

First up,I was sorry to see that Burnley Mik and The Cloud have quit their blogs, as they were two of my favourite daily reads.All the best to both of them, as they continue to chew the poker fat, over at the Raisetheriver forum and blog.

I've not much to report on the poker front as I've not played very often since my last post.I did enjoy playing a couple of wee $5 Full Tilt sng's with Rosie ,but I don't think either of us were taking them too seriously.

I think Rosie was more annoyed than me when a fish called my raise( I had AJ) with his 45 and crippled my stack.When she remarked that she was pleased when Mr fish finally bombed out,I disagreed, as I wanted a fishy like that around to help me double up and get me back in it!I even disagreed with Rosies comment that "at least he can't win it" as I reckon when donks win the odd game,this is what keeps them coming back to the tables.

Nothing wrong with either attitude.If berating the fish or ranting about the fish in IM helps clear the head and helps prepare you better for the next hand then go for it.Perhaps it's better than my colder more logical approach, as I tend to focus more on my bad luck rather than what my opponent did wrong.

I've also watched yet more training videos since my last post and they have really helped boost my game.In particular they have made me more sure of my reads at the table and more able to correctly define the range of hands my opponent may hold.

The training vids have also helped me increase my preflop cash game aggression, which is something I knew I'd have to work on to do well at $100nl and above.I now feel quite comfortable at $100nl 6 max and if I am playing $50nl,I'm very confident as I know for sure I can beat that game.

Ok,I'm taking Nacho out for a walk after work and he'll be staying with me tomorrow and Sat night.The ex has been charged with threatening behaviour for simply running her finger across her throat in front of the woman next door.( out of sheer frustration)The same woman who arranged for the ex's car to be set alight last week and who hasn't been charged with that yet.There's no justice sometimes.

ok,thanks for reading...

Torn + PT screenshots

I'm torn between buying my Mum a pxf or cardrunners sub for her birthday.Pxf seems more suited to MTT players and my Mum is an avid sng and micro-limit cash player.I've also been very impressed with my own cardrunners sub and I watched another training vid last night to get me in the poker mood.BM's advice has been very useful and I'd appreciate the thoughts of any other pxf/cardrunners subscribers.

Before hitting the tables last night I watched a rerun of yesterdays Old Firm game.The celtc fans are using the old "it was the ref's fault" excuse despite the fact he failed to give Rangers a stonewall penalty and wrongly ruled our 4th goal to be offside.Some things never change!

I ventured back to $16 ,18 player turbo land last night and two tabled as I'm never going to make any decent profit playing just the one game at a time.My AK fell to AA before I had AQ scudded by A8 sooooted and then ran J10s into AA ( who made quads just to rub it in) to leave me 0/3.Thankfully I felt I played quite well in my last $16 game and I took it down after accumualting a huge stack by the final table.


I downloaded DTD poker in order to play tonights big Raisetheriver game and managed to donk out of a $20 mtt at the halfway stage.( I only put £40 in and wont be including it as part of my roll as I'll only really be playing RTR events there)

A juicy 8 seat $100 NL ,Bet 365 table was next up and I limped in with Aces from the small blind against a very Loose Aggressive player who was raising most hands by $7 preflop.He checked his option and I made a weak lead bet into him on a Jack high flop ( I bet $2 trying to look weak and hoping to induce a bluff) and he flat called.
An Ace fell on the turn giving me a set and once again I led out for a weak $3 and once again he flat called.The river was a Ten and this time I made an almost pot sized bet of $12 and he shoved quite quickly.The only hand that beat me was KQ and though it fitted with how he had played the hand I decided I'd pay him off if he had it and called his large bet.He showed A10 ( nice turn and river!)and the pot was mine!

I took a break and when I came back I gave back most of those winnings ( at 365) by overplaying a little preflop at $50 nl tabs.I was attempting a few preflop resteals which is not always a good idea at $50nl as many villains who raise preflop are too attached to their hands to fold.I'm also used to having a TAG image at cash tables and need to learn how to adjust better to other players adapting to me when I loosen up a bit.( esp preflop) Adjust before they do is the answer I think.

Ok,thanks for reading and don't forget to register for tonights Bloggerment.( and DTD game if your an RTR member)

The screenshots below are because I'm deleting loads of hand histories etc to try and speed up my Pokertracker and laptop and are really only of interest to me.Please feel free to move on to the fine links on the right!

Pokerroom 2005



Ladbrokes 2007




Party 2007

Power cut

No poker on Wednesday night and last nights play began with a couple of nasty exits from 'Stars $16 games.The good beat yesterday was that at about 1pm a power cut at work meant we all went home! ( though typically they are trying to shaft us over our flexi-time for leaving early).

I went to Comet first and had a look at new laptops.Even after more screen freezing at Ladbrokes last night, I'm still a bit reluctant to splash out for a new one in case it's my cable connection.I did try and run Pokertracker though and it gave me the "programme not responding" message as usual.At least a new Lappy should sort that out.

After my sng exits I fired up a Laddies $50nl 6 max table and after winning a big pot with a marginal call,I ended up playing 3 handed for a while until one villain left and I cleaned out the shortstack.The marginal call saw me face an all in after the turn card with a flush draw,open ended straight draw and 2 overcards.I suspected my overcards may not be live ( villain had flopped 2 pair) and I was probably lucky to river my flush and take the pot.

Picking up my lad ( Nacho) after work again today and will be taking him for a run ( well he runs,I stroll!) before dinner and the final Raisetheriver league game.I'm not sure how the points are allocated but I'm fairly sure it's going to take Ricky Rosa exiting early and a win for me to wrestle back 1st position and the league title.Highly unlikely but not impossible.

Ok,that's all for now.Don't forget to register for Sundays Bloggerment at Stars.4pm est/9pm bst. Pass:donkament

Nice shot

I did so much rushing about last night I missed the start of the Raisetheriver league game.When I did get there I was fairly card dead until I got it in with 77 and lost a big pot to QJ.I was left with 115 chips and managed to come back and scrape a 3rd place in the money finish after running 22 into QQ to go out.

After that I played a $16 turbo and my recent crappy Stars tourney run continued when I limped with KJ on the first hand and reraised a small bet on a ragged King high flop.KJ is not a great hand but I didn't think I was outkickered because the villain didn't raise preflop.He called my reraise and when I pushed after a 10 fell on the turn ,he gleefully called with his K10.K10 was one of the hands I put him on so perhaps it was poor judgement on my part...



I then dropped $20 at Pokerroom and $30 at Laddies before deciding to use my Bet365 take a shot roll at a $200nl 6 max table.

I can't find where to download the hand histories at 365 and I've not set Pokertracker up yet for that site, but the bottom line is that my $200 buy-in was sitting at around $180 when I picked up QQ.All my money went in against a player I'd just watched get lucky and river a flush v a set a moment earlier.It held up and on the very next hand I raised 910d from the button and was lucky enough to flop the straight.The same villain ( tilting possibly) gave me the rest of his stack ( his hand was mucked ,I wish I knew what he had!) and in two hands I'd gone from $200 to $485 and was starting to wonder why I don't play higher more often!

Just finished watching Rangers play poorly and lose 4-2 to Hearts this afternoon.Must do better!

The wallpapering and painting is nearly done at my flat and I'm just about ready for tomorrows big move.I've checked and my cable connection is working so I will be playing in this weeks Bloggerment.

The hall and kitchen lino arrives on Monday with the living room and bedroom carpets to follow within the next week or so.I'm also about to order new blinds for every room and they should be installed by next weekend.The flat is a bit bare ( no sofa in until carpets arrive) but I think I'm actually looking forward to getting back there now and making a fresh start...