Happy Daze

Thanks to Josie for the comment on my last post.The answer is that I've been completely smoke free ( no cigs or weed) from Tues night until Fri morning for the last couple of weeks.

That certainly wasn't the case last night as I rolled a couple up and hit the virtual felt.I only scraped one third place finish from my first set of four $22's but managed a couple of wins and a second place from my next set for a decent profit.I even managed to win a few buy-ins over 80 hands of Rush poker before hitting the sack just before 3am.As ever, after a winning night there doesn't seem much to say about it!I did find the hand below quite amusing and was tempted to type "Bot gone wrong?" in the chat box as I've no idea what the big blind could have been thinking when he called here...



I didn't even get annoyed at myself for banking a win and only playing eight sng's.Running well over a tiny sample size really shouldn't matter in the same way as losing a load of buy-ins over a similar sample is just the nature of the game.I suppose as humans we're always looking for affirmation that we're doing the right thing and the hard part about poker is that playing well is never any guarantee of short-term success.

I've not heard from my date yet this weekend.A girl at work informed me that apparently there are a whole host of (unknown to me ) rules about waiting twenty minutes before replying to text messages etc.My date also sent the first text the other night after we'd met saying she had enjoyed my company.My reply saying I had a great time and telling her to give me a shout if she fancied going out again should have seen me dropped like a hot potato according to my colleague.Jeez,play it cool,show more interest blah blah!Ahh well,I'll see how it goes!

A couple of snippets from the papers made me laugh this week.Scottish Socialist Rosie Kane talking about the lying swinger and former MSP Tommy Sheridan in a Guardian interview said, "We would have been behind him, helping him become first minister, and younger socialists would have paid the price".Do me a favour love.( to use another topical quote) Even at his political peak the bold Tommy was ( thankfully) a million miles from achieving that particular ambition.

Of course The Sun are loving Sheridan's downfall and even wrote about his new cellmate at Barlinnie Prison.I always laugh when they quote a "source" or better still "an onlooker" as the quote that follows has almost certainly been written by The Sun journo to enhance the story.

Apparently Sheridan has been locked up with a serial shoplifter called Dodds and a source said "Every one was wondering if they would get locked up with Tommy.But lo and behold it was Dodds,the only one who is not at all interested in politics". Aye,because the rest of the prisoners in Bar-L ( one of Scotland's most notorious prisons) do nothing but debate the latest early day motions from the House of Commons and are always chatting about the UK's deficit reduction strategy and what Cameron really means by the "Big Society".

Righty,good luck to Andy Murray in the Aussie Open final tomorrow morning.I'd love to see him become Britains first Grand Slam winner since Fred Perry but not enough to get up at 8.30 am in the morning to watch it! It will be the first thing I check when I do get up though!

Back soon....

Fools Rush In

Pud mentioned the swings when playing Rush poker in the comments on my last post and I had a nasty one on Monday night when I lost a few big hands/buy-ins in a row.I won't bore you with all the beats other than to say the worst was KK v KJd all in pre flop.I cursed my luck obviously, but don't begrudge Mr KJd his win, afterall those are the type of wins which keep fish like him/her at the tables.

I did manage to recover some of the losses from that nasty night over the course of the week and I still like Rush poker for making me feel like I'm not a complete lazy git when it comes to hitting the tables.As you can probably tell from reading my blog,poker has taken a bit of a backseat over the last few months despite me being off work and having plenty of time to play.Playing a about an hours worth of Rush and logging 300-400 hands feels almost like a cheats way of getting some hand volume logged.

Not much else going on.I did watch a Party poker classic cash game last night and although the coverage may be a few years old, watching Phil Helmuth say "wow" when someone bet $250 preflop seemed a bit lame after watching Durrr make a huge bluff at a half million dollar pot on High Stakes poker.

The Big Chap is popping round today and the s-man will be round for a Sat sesh with the latest Steven Segal film to help me waste another hour and a half of my life I'll never get back!

I'm going to try and lay off the Call of Duty for most of today as my poor wrist hasn't hurt this much since I was a teenager.

Just saw this on a football forum.Got to be the greatest marketing campaign ever...



Ok,thanks for reading and don't forget to register and play in Sunday's Bloggerment on Stars...

Sneezy Game

There was a knock at my door at 4pm on Friday and I was surprised to see Step A and one of her wee friends.We played some COD online,they took Nacho out and about 6-ish I took the pair of them for a Mc'ds.We popped round to see my Mum and Dad afterwards and it was nice to see Step A drop the drinking/smoking teen rebel routine as she shyly covered her snakebite piercings and was full of hugs when my Mum answered the door.She's a great kid and I hope she gets through this tough stage of her life unscathed.

On Saturday night the s-man and Al Eleven were round and we had a good laugh chewing the fat and playing some COD online.Yesterday I watched the Gers draw 3-3 in the cup and made a cash transfer on Stars to my Mum to cover Mothers Day.I dropped the extensively researched and carefully selected card ( yeah,the last one in the garage)round a bit later and also helped my Mum cash in a $3.25,45 player turb.

I picked up Nacho and a Chow Mein on the way home and after walking the boy,I hit up the Bloggerment a few minutes into the game.Despite my fuzzy head and runny nose I actually ran quite well in the game,sucked out a few times and generally luck boxed my way to victory! It was good to get 12 runners ( where were you Dudley?!) and hopefully last week was just a blip and The Bloggerment can get into at least double figures every week.

The Party $22's were calling and after a 2nd and 3rd place finish from 3 games the lure of Rush poker was too much and I opened a 6 max $50 nl table.I've also watched some of Isildur1's over the last few days and just observing him play seems to make me want to take more shots.Playing $50nl with aprox 10 buy-ins ( on Full Tilt) still feels quite nitty when Isildur1 has his whole bankroll spread across 6 Heads Up tables v the worlds best! After dropping nearly a buy-in at $50nl I moved up to $100nl where 1010 holding v AK for a buy-in inspired me to move up further and give $200nl a go.It was only a short 20 min session at that level and after raise/folding with 99 from mid-pos after being reraised to $35 I decided it was time for bed!

According to Pokertracker I've now played over 18k Rush hands and have earned $7.24 per hour.I'll resist moaning about how I've paid nearly $600 in rake and don't get rakeback...!

Ok,thanks for reading.Back soon...

Sweet Lemonade

There doesn't seem much to write about at the moment.I've been trying to step up my poker grinding over the last few days and haven't really made much progress as far as profits go.I'm still up at Rush poker on Full Tilt, but have taken a beating there recently too.I've had Aces 49 times now ( 12k hands) and although I've won 87% of the time,I've still managed to lose $4.79 overall with 'em.The exact opposite of my "lose small,win big" plan!

I've been thinking about my poor multi-tabling skills and part of the problem I have is getting into a funk when I have a tough decision at one table and the rest are demanding action too.Do any of my well informed readers know if Table Ninja or the Party equivalent can be easily programmed to start the timebank automatically? I've never looked too closely at that kind of software as even setting up hotkeys looks beyond my very basic computing abilities.If the people behind these hot key sites offered to remotely set it up ( even for a small fee)I think more pc illiterate donks like me would jump at the chance to give it a go.

I've just finished my phone interview with a level 2 manager at work.She was very nice and not heavy handed at all.I know I was lucky not to get killed in the accident, but the constant back/leg pain is grinding me down a bit and I'm hoping the physio on Friday can help.

Of course once I'm better physically I can then see about therapy for my growing getonmyhorse addiction.Sweet lemonade,Oooh sweet lemonade!

Thanks for reading.Back soon...

Feel the Rush.

After all the pathetic hype in the Scottish media when Keane signed on loan for celtc the other night, the vermin lost their game in hand 1-0 and are now 10 points behind the Champions.Mowbray's record is worse than John Barnes and that's saying something.Loved this website set up in Monkeyheids honour.

On to Rush poker.Disclaimer: I've only played sngs over last 2 yrs and have no recent cash game experience to compare to Rush poker.With less than 10k Rush hands played it's more just a few thoughts on my playing style so far and not any kind of proven strategy guide.

Anyway ,I used to crush $50nl on Ladbrokes ,although to be fair I was the biggest bumhunter in town ,waiting for huge average pot tables late on Friday/Sat nights and taking money from drunk fish.I'm sure I have screenshots posted way back showing some of those $50 nl cash tables with $46 average pots!

The sheer number of hands I can now play at Rush tables still astounds me.I feel like I've hardly played at all over the last couple of nights, yet I've clocked up over 700 hands.It's a poor multi-tablers dream!

Sets are gold.

Most of the poker generation span have a short attention span, therefore delaying for a second or two before raising marginal hands may get them to fold holdings they may play otherwise.(they know the next hand is just a click away) Errrm I've just folded A6s on the button.They were taking too long!

As I mentioned in a previous Rush post it's worth checking the lobby before starting to play to check which players are four tabling.Generally if these guys play back at you it's time to fold.

The play at $25nl and $50nl is soft.I'm strict with bankroll management, but I believe you have to take a few chances with a small roll to be able to play at stakes where you can make enough money to make suffering all the beats worth it,even if it's just enough to pay a few bills. $25nl , a $25 buy-in cash game with .10c and 25c blinds was the lowest available level on Pokerroom over 5 yrs ago when I began playing and I won't be playing any lower unless I hit a really bad run.( famous last words probably!)

From reading figures on forums etc I'd estimate 70-90% of players lose money at $25 and $50nl 6 max and as far as reads go it's usually safe to assume they're a donk unless they prove otherwise.(the skill of being able to hit their 2 outer on the river doesn't count) Many of these players are so weak they can easily be outplayed preflop and on every street thereafter.I feel the advantage of cash poker being more of a postflop game evens up the edge of having no prior reads in a hand when compared to turbo sng poker, which is basically correctly shoving/folding late in the game, and grinding out a very small edge over plenty of volume to make a profit.I'm certainly finding so far that the average $22 Party turb player has more of a clue than most of these low stakes rush donks.

I have been ratholing, but I was 4 buy-ins up at $25 tonight ( obv brag to show I should be playing nosebleed stakes with Ivey and co) and found I could open more widely and seemed get more respect when I had a big stack.It was also easier to build momentum and I seemed to get more big blind walks.Playing better when winning is a definite influence too, but it's not an overriding factor.

Sets are gold.

I also find they play a bit like turbo sngs.Wait for big hand,hope to get it in preflop and pray to the poker gods that it holds.Raise all pairs pre or call if there's only one raise behind or if they're deepstacked and it's not too expensive.Raising helps disguise sets and if reraised pre you can almost certainly be sure of getting paid if you hit and be able to get away cheaply when you miss.I like calling 3bb raises in multi-way pots with suited connectors,gapped sooted conns,sooted Aces and small pairs.

There's no pride on the line as any players in a hand quickly move on to a new table after folding or their current hand plays out.In bigger pots that effect seems to make players more likely to make nonsense bluffs which don't make sense, as they don't look silly for long if called down.It also makes players more likely to try and sniff out bluffs in big pots for the same reason.

Smaller pots are the polar opposite.The pride/ego factor being absent makes it easier for your opponent to fold to a c-bet if he/she's missed the flop and in general they seem less likely to make a move without a hand.Players with big stacks though are more likely to be better players, and as they probably think they're dealing with a random donk, they can often be easier to re steal from or bluff.Obviously only bluffing with a believable line depending on board texture and preflop action.

Like turbo sngs the big hands and general confrontations come thick and fast and you have to be prepared for the beats ( brutal at times as ever) and take breaks if you feel yourself tilting.Don't be to keen to get into the action when you start playing.Be patient,wait for big hands and the look hard for the right opportunities to crack their monsters and get suitably paid off.

Sets are gold.

Back soon..

Dudley Does-Right!

Thanks to all who showed up for this weeks Bloggerment on Stars and well done to me for finally....winning a hand in that game. I managed to finish 2nd,beaten by Dudley, the man with no raise button! Here's a pic of him celebrating his fine win...



Obviously the excitement overwhelmed him in the end though...


After the fun of the Bloggerment I moved to the Rush tables on Full Tilt and decided to try some $100nl 6 max.I almost never take shots ( a $109 sng last year was my sole shot!) and fancied seeing if I could do the degen thing and build a small roll quickly.I built my $100 to $118 and just as I was about to rathole ( take the profit and buy back in for $100) I picked up QQ,got it in preflop v AK and of course the King came on the flop.I rebought ,regrouped and a short time later I managed to win nearly a full buy-in when I flopped a set of Queens v a guy with AQ.I ended up making that my last hand and hitting the sack.

Today my Silver Needles White Tea arrived and what a damn fine brew it is! It tastes fantastic and despite the price,I'll be ordering some more soon.

After brewing up I hit the $22's on Party,managed to play 12 in just over 1 1/2 hrs and made about $100.I assume I must be seen as a regular on there by some as it was quite frustrating to load up 6 tables,start playing on 3 and have nobody join me on the other three.They started yet another table and filled it instead!

Away from the poker I picked Nacho up yesterday from his weekend with Step A and all hell was breaking loose when I arrived.She was swearing and calling her Dad all sorts because he was trying to have a discussion with her mum ( the ex Mrs Acorn) about Step A missing school.It's so tough as Step A is obviously a desperately upset kid without her Mum around, but her Dad ( nice enough bloke but not the sharpest tool in the box) is struggling to stay on top of things.Her Mum is back on Thurs for a few days ( first time she'll have seen Step A since she left for England in Sept) and hopefully she'll sense and either move back here or take the wee one down South with her.I'd hate to see her go ( the wee one) but she can't go on missing school,drinking,ranting at her Dad etc.

After the initial shouting match with her Dad was over I chatted to her as she played COD:MW2 and I've arranged to take her for a Mc'ds tomorrow evening.She's a good kid and teenage stuff is hard enough to deal with as it is without your Mum buggering off to go and live with someone she met on the net.

Righty,the s-man is coming over for some more Modern Warfare tonight.I may also try and make the first Stars Blogger game of the series.

Back soon..

Rush Poker

I don't like change.My latest Tesco shopping arrived yesterday and even my Shreddies ( my fav cereal) are now being made using a "scrumptious new recipe".If I hadn't liked the old recipe I wouldn't have been buying them for the last 20 years.My workplace is the same.Centralise one week and a new broom the next week decides the local approach would be fresh and innovative in a dynamic fast changing environment.( Is there ever any other type of environment in business?) He/she gets booted out 6 months later and it's back to the previous approach which is now seen as the fresh,innovative...blah blah blah.

Where's this going? Well I read Burnley Mik's thread on RTR re the new Rush Poker game on Full Tilt and decided to give it a wee go with little expectation.Tripjax has a great post covering Rush Poker and I'd highly recommend clicking the link and having a quick read.So great in fact that I hope he doesn't mind me copy/pasting the "how it works" bit from his post!

"Rush Poker is a cash game where you are added to a queue of a ton of other players. When you start play, you have one table of action. When you fold, you are immediately moved to a new table in the same room to begin a new hand. There could be upwards of 2000+ players in one room, so there are always new hands starting. Also, there is an option to quick fold, which means even if the action has not gotten to you, you can quick fold and move on to the next hand".

As it's been years ( a couple at least) since I was a $50nl 6max regular I fired up a Rush 6 max $25nl table and finally made it to bed at 4am after completing 2270 hands in just a few hours playing one table! The format is perfect for donks like me who struggle to play more than 4 tables without losing the plot.Stats wise I played an 18 vpip/13 pfr game and finished $88 up overall.( most of that profit came in the first 500 hands)

No reads,no HUD and yet I still love it.I love not seeing when I would have flopped a monster as I'm already playing the next hand if I fold.I think the dynamic when heads up in a pot is different to standard poker because if a pot gets heads up it's only the two players left in the pot who follow the action.( those who folded move on and are already playing another hand at another table) There's no table image to worry about and I'm finding strategies like donk leading into a preflop raiser are working better because if the preflop bettor had missed the flop he knows nobody apart from the other player in the hand sees him make a "weak fold" and he also knows that with one click he's on a new table with a new hand and his ego isn't hurt knowing the rest of the table saw him "back down" to a reraise.

I did suffer a few painful beats over those 2k hands, but as a turbo sng player I'm used to losing coin flips and enduring a ton of bad beats on every session so I found it quite easy to recover mentally when I did lose a buy-in.To be fair I usually have $66-$88 on the tables at one time when 3-4 tabling the $22's so perhaps losing a $25 buy-in isn't going to hurt much anyway.

It does feel more like a video game than poker at times such is the speed and the lack of reads can frustrate occasionally.Here's a hand I should maybe have gone with as I under represented my Aces by just cold calling the initial preflop raise.Folding did feel a bit nitty but my cash game is still rusty and obviously I would have had a better idea where I stood if I had reraised preflop...

Full Tilt Poker Game #17725334368: Table Warp Speed (6 max) - $0.10/$0.25 - No Limit Hold'em - 11:58:50 ET - 2010/01/19
Seat 1: Acornman ($59.11)
Seat 2: dardai784 ($83.95)
Seat 3: mapouille68 ($31.39)
Seat 4: uPayMyHyundai ($66.30)
Seat 5: Whos Da Pro ($51.17)
Seat 6: sfc21 ($33.64)
mapouille68 posts the small blind of $0.10
uPayMyHyundai posts the big blind of $0.25
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Acornman [As Ah]
Whos Da Pro has 8 seconds left to act
Whos Da Pro raises to $0.85
sfc21 folds
Acornman calls $0.85
dardai784 calls $0.85
mapouille68 folds
uPayMyHyundai folds
*** FLOP *** [6d Js 9d]
Whos Da Pro bets $2.75
Acornman raises to $6
dardai784 raises to $16.50
Whos Da Pro has 15 seconds left to act
Whos Da Pro folds
Acornman folds

Ok,I'm too tired to write anymore! Just time to say thanks to all who played in Sundays Bloggerment.It was good to see some more new faces too.I've linked up TheWookieWay as promised and if anyone else would like to swap links just let me know.

Back soon...