What doesnt kill you...

Took a Shot

2009-02-09T15:16:00.002Z

It'd been a while since i last moved up the stakes but having had a few drinks I gave it another go, I was by no means arseholed this time but on the wrong side of tipsy and knew i didn't have it in me to grind at the lower stakes. I set myself a stop loss amount but god knows if i would have actually stopped if I had made it to that point.

Was a funny session, i was 4 tabling between NL600 and NL2000 which is well out of my comfort zone, but due to my recent winning sessions (and the alcohol) I was playing really confident and not letting any bad beats effect me. Played just over 2,500 hands and definitely played the best high stakes action i have done in ages. I didn't feel out of my depth at all, in the past when sober i've often been playing these stakes as a way of chasing losses or to get bad beats out my system and therefore not played anywhere near my "A game" and generally i have come off thinking i have been outclassed by a couple of opponents.

Don't think you can ever be disappointed with $3,300 win but equally its tough to be too happy with a session that you have ended over $4k down for ev. I know that I flopped hell of a lot of good hands which is why i kept getting it in ahead on big pots but the suckouts were very nasty. These included hitting a set of 6s on a 862 flop, i reraised the c bet but only called his next reraise as i felt he was finding out where he was (+ there was a flush draw out which i was representing) another 2 on the turn was perfect and was delighted when he check raised me all in with QQ only for the 2 outer to hit on a 2,600 euro pot. That only took me back down to evens after i'd made a good start so didn't let it effect me however not long after that i 3 betted my QQ pre to get 1 call, J high flop and i get it all in v loose opponents JK, this 5 outer for 1,500 euros had me reeling a little. The only time all night i half tilted was after this hands, KhKs v JhTh flop was low with 2 hearts and opponent flat called 3rd heart on turn he reraised me and i knew i was behind but pushed all in and got lucky on the river (for just shy of 1200 euros). If I hadn't hit this hand i fear i might have tilted but that calmed me down a lot and i realised i was being stupid, so from then on played well again.

After those hands I gradually won and despite 1 more terrible pot where i rose pre with KQ and flopped Q87 - i again bet but am against truly horrendus fish (plays 65/15) and he calls, turn is a K so i again bet and he goes straight all in, i've seen this move before was sure he had K8 / K7 or AA so instantly call, this time its actually AK he has and 3 outs for 1200. By this point i'd ran out of alcohol was still very happy with my overall profit and decided it was time to call it a night.

Delighted with the win and it continues my good run, and February at the moment is shaping up to be every bit as good as January. So all in all pleased to turn a profit in those circumstances as woken up with some very expensive hangovers in the past but also left thinking about what might have been. If my recent luck had held i could easily be posting about my largest ever win, $7k+ but i'm just being greedy really.

Another Happy Post

2009-02-05T02:50:00.002Z

Warning: this post contains some truly sickening chirpiness, if thats not your cup of tea turn away now!
I know a lot of people don't like this time of year, a fair few suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) but i'm not having any of that, so far the start of 2009 has been great and while i'm not a fan of the cold i can handle it when you throw in some good quality snow too. There's a hell of a lot of reasons why everything looks good at the mo and here goes with a few:

Everton are on fire! We've had a horrible run of games recently but come out of them with some great performances and very respectable results:
Man U away = lost 1 - 0 to a penalty but there is no shame in being outplayed by probably the best team in the world.
Liverpool 3 times:
Drew - late equaliser by Tiny Tim but fully deserved the point
Drew - this time outplayed for long periods but was no surprise as we had taken an early lead, pleasing that they still created very little despite having all the possession and took a rare mistake from Howard for their equaliser.
Won - Excellent display completely deserved the win although felt like the goal was never gonna come after the earlier missed chances.
Arsenal Home - drew but took a late stunner from Van Persie and we should have taken all 3 points, lack of concentration at the end but it shows how far we've come when we are disappointed at not beating them.
If you had offered me them results 3 weeks ago i would have snapped your hand off especially as we are still playing with no recognised strikers.

As for poker since my last post I have had 1 session at the tables and logged a very tasty win, this time i'm not even blaming it on luck, think i'll take some credit for the way i played. Its true what they say about PMA, thinking positively and playing with confidence does seem to make poker an easier game. Granted you still need the cards to fall your way, I had some good hands against the poor players and didn't have many suck outs go against me but when playing well (and winning) you take the bad beats on the chin and don't let them affect your game or tilt you.

Also got a fair bit going on in my none poker life to look forward to, heading down to Liverpool to watch Everton take on Bolton on Saturday followed by a mates party in Manchester then the following weekend having a couple of days away in the lakes with the mrs. Throw in a 3 week holiday come the end of March and everything is looking grand. Even made it to the gym for the 1st time in god knows how long today and would like to make it a regular occurance but i'd be surprised if that resolution even lasts the month.

Still not really hitting the tables as much as i should be but i'm sure a bad run will come soon enough and that is when i will get my motivation back to play the long nights so at the moment i'm sticking with the philosophy of "Always look on the bright side of life..."

Cannot miss

2009-02-03T01:28:00.002Z

Today absolutely everything went right, didn't play particularly well but was winning races galore (AK v TT + AK v 99 v same opponent both won well) and even had QQ beat KK for a decent pot too, won $1400 from 3000 hands and most of that was +ev. If my own sets could stand up to flush draws and overpairs it would have been an unbelievable win but you cant take every pot down.

This was my first day playing of the month and it comes on the back of an excellent January, ended up £100 shy of my record total for a month. Went back on for another long go at the tables on Friday night and turned in a nice profit considering how much i'd been down during the day (also made about $350 from rakeback) and was very tempted by having a go on Saturday to chase the record but last sessions of the month have a habit of being shite so gave myself a celebratory night off to hit the town.

So all in all today i've been a robbing bastard and long may 2009 continue in this way.

It was always going to happen

2009-01-30T15:42:00.003Z

This is not going to be a whinging post as I knew sooner or later the cards would turn against me, it has been due for a while as been running ridiculously well of late. When the bad run happens it does however always do it in spectacular fashion. The standard of poker played this afternoon at times was ludicrous but flopped trips were just no good today. I had them done by higher sets and terrible backdoor flushes. The worst was probably AA v AhJh on As7h6d all in on the flop for $600 but thats by no means the only bad hand.

As you can see Ev was horrendous today and goes way over the +$1k i had been lucky with earlier in the month but im not too pissed off as recovered from being $2k down to a little over $300 down for now. (the figures in the graph are incorrect as it takes everything as $ and not euros).

Very pleased with how i played apart from a little rocky spell early on, often that kind of down turn in the past would have led to some loosening up and chasing but not this time as I did see it coming. Sticking Rocky 4 on for a bit of inspiration did me no harm either!

1 bonus from this session has been a bad run is all it takes to inspire me to finally put some hands in, I always play more when i'm losing and getting in over 3k hands by mid afternoon isn't bad. Having a couple of hours off but definitely gonna hit the tables big time tonight to hopefully win back that cash.

Piss poor post

2009-01-29T05:33:00.003Z

Just wrote a long post but had to delete it as it was shite mindless wittering, gonna shorten it down instead to a few key points:

Not played too much but still running well above ev and logged good profit,
Still targeting raked hands bonus for end of the month but need to sort out sleeping / poker routine before i can put in long hours,
Everton were robbed by late goal so not happy,
Brighter note Liverpool continue to screw themselves over and Rafa is looking more like an idiot by the day,
Very pleased to have resisted poker when coming home pissed twice over the weekend (long may it continue as would love to kick this habit full time)

I realise its a terrible post but its 6am and i'm knackered, if i cant write proper sentences gotta be too tired for poker so off to bed now!

Winner winner chicken dinner

2009-01-23T19:11:00.002Z

Another day another 250 hands and another quick win. Never had a run like this before, was again intending on playing a few hours this afternoon but decided to come off after about half an hour. my heart wasn't really in it anyway and after 4 very nice pots decided to cut and run.

Only a few hands in i get trip 5s on a JT5 flop having been raised pre I get quite a lot in on the flop followed a perfect K on the turn v opponents KJ, this means i'm guaranteed getting the rest of it from him and i was off and running.

That was a nice start but i followed that up with 2 hands in a row versus the same loose aggressive opponent, firstly 3 bet him with AK - flop KT3 rainbow and i lead out which he flat calls, wasn't entirly sure where i was at so checked into him after a 6 on the turn he also checks, another blank on the river and i again check, he pushes all in for $150, his range here is slow played AA or TT, possibly AK but would be surprised by check on turn or nothing to be afraid of, turn out he has AJ and its happy days. Next hand he has reloaded and i have TT this time he 3 bets me, it comes 876 rainbow i'd already decided if it came low i'd go for it and was happy with this flop, he lead out and i reraised big which he pushed all in, not too happy as generally behind but with outs and already committed so called the last $50, delighted to see he has 8Tos and its another nice pot.

I finished this up with QQ 3 bet pre flop versus J9 on a J high board - he paid me off much more than he should have done which i'm very pleased to say has been the story of the last few days, keep waiting for the bubble to burst and expect to see trips on all these pots but so far they haven't appeared.

Wish poker was always like this

2009-01-22T17:55:00.002Z

The running good in 2009 is continuing in spectacular style. Had another small afternoon session as finding it impossible to get back to being nocturnal and to begin with i thought my luck had ran out. After 250 hands found myself in a $400 hole when i should have been $600 up, the majority of this came from getting QQ all in v AK on the turn on a T622 board, miracle K on the river for an $800 pot.

As the title suggests however this is not a bad beat / whinge about negative ev post it is in fact another very positive story. I knew I was due some bad luck which I think is why I didn't let a few early bad hands effect me at all and played well for the next 500 or so hands grinding back to about evens which is when lady luck decided to shine.

The next 250 hands were a dream, it started off with Ac9c on a Jc9d3c board i ended up all in against unraised pre pocket Js and got a lucky river for $500. Pretty much simultaneously on another table i raise with AcTc and get 2 callers for a 3c3sJc flop, a well known awful fish lead out and the other opponent flat calls i reraise big to represent the overpair and i get 2 half stack all ins, for a $600 pot i was facing 5c7c (from fish) and JQos (from usually solid opponent), another lovely club on the river and i'm on a roll.

Those pots had me in a rather good mood and was feeling very confident especially after yesterdays win when the biggest pot of the day came up. A tight opponent pre flop raised and i call with 9hTh, a lovely looking flop of 2h4hTs comes up and he obviously has the over pair when he again reraises against my reraise, i'm always going all in there even if it's pretty obviously gonna be 50 / 50 and sure enough he turns over bullets, 6h on turn and he is drawing dead for a 300BBs pot.

I have known for the last couple of days against a couple of the regulars if I start hitting trips on any kind of a board with a draw i'm getting paid off big (case in point with the above hand, we had only invested $16 each pre I could just as easily have had pocket 2s or 4s and played them exactly the same and he is going bust). So pretty much final hand of the session hit trip Ts on the same table as before against pre flop raiser with JJ and he again paid me out large, he spat his dummy and left so I did the same.

I know a bad run is just around the corner as it can't continue in this vein forever, i turned a - $1k ev into a + $400 ev in just 750 hands and i'm gonna enjoy it while it lasts. One slightly negative part is I fancied a gamble and a game of poker without really having the concentration so deposited $200 on another site to take a shot at spinning it up. managed to get that original $200 up to $600 on NL1000 pretty much raising every other hand but the inevitible happened as 2 top pair shit kickers in a row against trips bust me, can't complain and it was fun to play although stupid too.

Thats now me done with poker for a few days as got a few mates coming up for the weekend so going to take a not too well earned break. Was planning on playing Friday night to catch the fishes but after these last two sessions can't really be bothered and the reload bonus will just have to wait till next week.

The poker gods are smiling

2009-01-21T19:32:00.002Z

Played all afternoon today logging about 2500 hands in 4 hours play which ended a slightly harsh $100 down, could have been a lot nicer had a couple of coin flips gone my way but nothing too nasty to complain about.

Anyway came back on around 6.30 and played for about an hour - this was going to be a larger session but i ran so golden in 500 hands or so decided not to push my luck and just be pleased with what i had.

I hit some beauties - AQ v a retards Q5 on AQ5 flop started things off nicely followed by trip 5s cracking bullets both for large pots at nl400. Then KK did the business a couple of times v QJ - Q33 board and all in pre v A9. Even KK v AQ losing at the end couldn't take the shine off a great hours work that ended a very tasty $1200 up which continues my golden streak nicely!

Running very nicely

2009-01-21T01:43:00.002Z

Although i haven't put in anywhere near the hours in that i normally aim for in a month the total $s column of my holdem manager is looking very healthy.

Not playing too bad at the moment but also running very well and a canny bit over ev, even getting AK all in pre v AA for a lovely KKx flop for $400. Its not all been suckouts though there have been some great hands along the way too, a personal favourite being ATs risen pre 1 bad caller to my c bet on a QJ9 flop - K on the turn to make the nut straight and opponent leads out, if he has the T hes never folding so i go all in on massive overbet and take down an $800 pot (thats what he gets for playing T6os).

So far so good then in 2009 - lack of raked hands aside - its got so bad that if i don't get my finger out i'll miss out on a $2000 reload bonus for raked hands, 30,000 raked hands in 60 days is normally a piece of piss but 40 days in and still 10k to go so that's the only target i'm setting myself for the rest of the month (well that and to continue to post a + in the total column).

Its been a while

2009-01-18T11:25:00.002Z

After a losing session last month i spat my dummy with the blog and decided i couldn't be bothered writing this drivel anymore but having given it a month off i've decided its time to restart it up (for a while at least). Since about 20th December to the 10th January played very little poker but getting back into it the last week and trying to get the motivation in to play a lot of hands.

As seems the way at this time of year i thought i'd do the review of 2008 and preview of 2009 post.

2008 - The Good:

Increased my profit by about 18% from 2007 results
Improved my game no end - NL200 has been beatable for a while but now feel very comfortable at NL400, rather than just searching out the terrible pissed players feel i can definitely hold my own against the regulars at this limit.
Negotiated a few decent deals at different sites, no longer limited to just 1 and also getting much more out of bonus'.
Took advantage of the flexible hours with a few trips abroad seeing countries i'd never visited before and got down to see Everton more than ever before.
Casino losses were pretty much stopped - only visited a few times compared with 2007 and was pretty much evens - when i did lose i stopped at reasonable amounts.

The Bad:

Although happy enough with total profit i had set myself an ambitious target which i fell a bit short on,
Pissed up play still a problem, cut down from 2007 but still had 4 sessions where very big losses were recorded,
For the 1st time i had 2 losing months - although 1 came solely from losing $7000 (sober) on the last night of the month
High stakes loser - previously i'd had some big wins and some big losses but overall was in slight profit even with pissed play at stakes between NL800 and NL2000, in the last 6 months i had some big losses without the big wins which seriously dented yearly total.
Due to lack of practise i now have no skill at all at MTTs.

2009 Targets

I have another ambitious target that this time i would like to make, more than the 1 i failed to achieve in 2008 and it will equate to about another 20% increase in profits.
12 months in profit
Whenever i have a break from the game for over say 5 days drop down to NL200 and possibly even NL100 and no more than 4 tables - last year lost a fair few buy ins straight after coming back from holidays etc - this is a definite leak that needs plugging.
Keep hunting out the best deals and rake races - started doing this the last 5 months of 2008 and i will definitely continue to do so - i should be able to make at least 30% more on bonus's and rakeback than i did last year.
Next time i have a really good month I would like to put around $5 -$10k into a seperate account that i can take a shot at the higher stakes with, trying to spin it up, if i lose it fuck it at least i gave it a shot. Always promising myself a go at these stakes just to challenge myself against the best players but tend to only do it when either tilting or drunk and playing nowhere near my "A game".
Would love to say no tilting or drunk play but it will happen at some point, but now when tilting the new aim is to not go up the stakes but instead is to now drop down a little and throw the money around playing ultra aggressive (it gets the frustrations out without huge losses and if you hit a few hands can be profitable)
Get myself to Vegas - never been and its a must for this summer

People need to get out more

2008-12-11T08:00:00.002Z

Turns out my loyalty is even more fleeting than I thought as i've already left the site that I had just joined. I did enjoy the 50% RB but that alone wasn't enough to keep me there.

Anyways, the reason for the title and the real reason I left that site was due to the rake races which have been very lucrative to me recently. After not playing on Dec 1st i really put the hours in from 2nd - 5th playing way more hands than i usually would (around 17k). After this time i get sent a copy of the current leaderboards, im not surprised to find myself 14th for raked hands (top 10 paid) as there are too many ppl 10 tabling at lower stakes and i cant compete playing 4-6 tables.

However VIP points i do normally shine at as the way they are weighted is in favour of my stakes, due to the amount i'd played i expected to be well placed for a decent prize, couldn't believe i was 21st (top 25 paid). Not only was I 21st I was absolutely miles off the pace for a top 10 finish. Turns out that not all the players were from the poker side of things (the person poaching me neglected to mention this in negotiations) they also allow casino players to compete.

Considering the amount of time I sit on my arse playing online poker this is going to sound very hypocritical but I really judge anyone who can sit for hours playing online blackjack and roullette. I like to dabble on these games from time to time but at least go to your local casino where you can be sure your not being robbed for a start.

It wasn't just these losers who were miles ahead of me - maybe i'm just not dedicated enough but i worked out playing as i do for a top 5 finish i'd need to play 14 hours a day everyday of the month - its just not worth it and as the title says these people need to get out more (I think the leading poker player plays around 16 hours a day).

As for my game only played about 1,000 hands tonight, hit some nice hands against some poor players and made $600, should really have stayed on as there was definitely some loose money at the tables but had no motivation for it and was happy with that profit from justa couple of hours.

Retard of the day - me

2008-12-10T04:29:00.002Z

More like the last 2 days really, for some reason been playing unbelievably loose / aggressive / tilty. Started playing my usual game yesterday but ran fairly shit at the start which much more quickly than normal led to some awful play. After that i cant complain as i was throwing my money around with all sorts of shit which is actually a lot more fun at times than playing normally - raising and winning with 72os winds up a fair few opponents.

Somehow got myself evens for the night at around 6 in the morning and really should have come off then, but about half hour later had 65 v T8 all in on T66 board rivered followed by trip 7s v flush draw lose to the same guy - to be fair he had every right to call given how i was playing but this left me $1k down, tilted a little more away then left it at that.

Started tonight's session not sure if i was in the right frame of mind to play properly but thought i'd give it a try and come off if similar to Monday. It did start all to similarly a couple of overpairs lose and i was back to playing terribly, about 2 hours in was about $800 down and not playing well then a bit of genius play 4 betting 66 and robbing 99 set me on a new path. By now my table image was about as bad as it can be (helped by winning all ins pre with A8 and AJ) i changed my game a little, it was still very loose but now everytime i hit a decent hand or big pair piled in or rose all in and everybody started paying me off. Managed to get from $800 down to about $2k up in a canny small number of hands (nl200 + nl400 only) - my luck didn't last forever tho and spewed about $1k of it back as Ts were done by 9s and Ks by 6s after big 3 betting pre.

Over the 2 days about evens which im quite grateful for as ahead of EV but counting up the number of times AA / KK and sets have been beaten i don't feel in the least bit guilty about that.

The winning run has sorted out my head a bit too and now back to playing ok but should probably take a day or 2 off as i know the reason im playing shit is cos ive played too much trying to place in a couple of rake races before taking a week off for xmas.

Sunday - a day of rest

2008-12-08T05:30:00.002Z

Or that was the intention anyway, had a really bad run on Sundays recently cant remember the last time logged a half decent win but still ended up playing 2 sessions of about 3 hours each today.

Started about 10am having had about 2 hours sleep and feeling rough as fuck - with hindsight i shouldn't really have been playing but fancied a game, a few hands in i got 55 all in v JJ on a 975 board only for him to running Js for quads and a $450 suck out. This didn't go down to well with me considering my fragile mood and while i wouldn't say i was tilting i was certainly more aggressive and more up for gambling than usual. I quickly found myself down about $700 with some very loose play and missed draws but i think my reputation at the tables at this point was terrible. I then proceeded to hit a few hands 2 pairs + sets and due to my earlier play i was getting paid off with huge pots when i'm sure normally the regulars would have either folded or tried to make it a lot cheaper. Somehow finished over $400 without ever really playing particularly well.

2nd session is coming to a finish now and barring any large pots in the next 10 minutes looking at another fair profit, again without playing anywhere near my "A game". this time the quality of opponents has meant i haven't needed to as they have been throwing their cash around. Again around $400 up and if it wasn't for a couple of pots where i've badly called way too much hoping they were bluffing it should be even better.

Overall delighted with the win as could easily have gone the other way and long may it continue!

Putting in the hours

2008-12-04T06:06:00.004Z

After Friday night took the rest of the weekend off as had a fair bit on and I was pretty pleased with November overall, also didn't fancy pissing away a load money at the end of the month when my heart wasn't in it a la October.

Had recently been approached at the tables by someone wanting to chat about "a great deal" was fairly skeptical as this wasn't the first time but gave them my MSN and had a bit of a chat, they must have noticed how much i raked October (November i was a bit lazy) as they were up for poaching me to their site which is also on the Prima network. I actually played a bit hard to get as was happy enough with my current site due to their good rake races but after a few crappy offers they gave me 50% rakeback - that was too good to turn down as my current site weren't willing to properly increase only offering a bit of a bonus depending on how many hands i raked. So it turns out I have very little loyalty and I certainly have my price (to be fair the extra 20% rakeback is worth at least $2k a month).

They also have a decent race on for the next 3 weeks leading up to xmas so starting Monday i decided to put some serious hours in and try to hit a top 5 finish for a fairly healthy prize. After 2 days of playing have logged 8000+ hands and i'm really enjoying playing at the moment - I think this may be helped by the fact that everything i have touched so far has turned to gold, ran like a dream so far, not by robbing people just everytime I've hit a set been getting paid off and the fishes have also been donating regularly. Especially enjoyed having AJ on JdTd9d - fish fired pot bet and I called, 2nd J on turn again a pot bet I called (assuming he either had 78 straight or Ad) 3rd J on river he goes straight all in 300 euros turns out he had 56os (no diamonds) and I make the difficult call with quads! Nothing like a good bit of beginners luck on a new site and if this continues I'll never look at another site again as both nights so far logged 4 figure wins. Would love to be hitting the tables again now but my Internet connection is playing up and i don't trust it, last time it was like this I timed out on trip 5s and missed out on 3 way all in for $450, T-mobile broadband is not the way forward.

However, its not all great news as it turns out I'm terrible at sports betting, this time i cant even complain about bad luck as it was just poor impatient bets. The latest challenge went out the window when i bet on the BIG game on Sunday - no not the Manchester derby nor Chelsea v Arsenal I trusted the once mighty Leeds to be able to see off Histon. It was stupid though as the conditions were horrendous and i knew absolutely nothing about the opposition just fancied watching the game. I would give up the betting on football altogether of I didn't enjoy it so much.

edit: that was written at midnight while my Internet wasn't working, managed to finally get on at 3ish but really wish i hadn't, cant face writing too indepth a moaning post but suffice to say the cards are not running good and everything i touch no longer turns to gold! Some of the beats have been pretty terrible but also a fair few cooler type hands going the wrong way - probably inevitable after the last couple of days and serves me right for posting to happy a running good post earlier. 4 figure losses just aren't as much fun to write about as wins.

Game of two halfs

2008-11-29T09:45:00.002Z

Played for a few hours early Friday evening and couldn't miss a thing - ran wonderfully hitting a couple of quads, sets galore and generally having the fishys at the tables throw money at me. This went on for a few hours but my Internet connection was playing up so logged off around midnight with a nice profit of $1550.

If i'd been able to sleep this would have been a very positive post, unfortunately it was not to be the case, had a look back on around 4am played for a few more hours and this session could not have gone more differently. Top pair top kicker and overpairs were done for fun against sets, top 2 pair v flush draws all in losing and the outsanding hands that were JJ v T7os all in on QJ8 board losing for a couple of hundred euros followed by KK all in v T4 on JT2 board and it was time to quit. This session cost me $1450 so all told a $100 profit from 3k ish hands, not terrible as have been going very well since Monday and won back all those losses but this could / should have been much better.

Restarted the £20 5 bet challenge last night also on the BIG clash of the day Barrow v Brentford. Went on Brentford not to win and i had 3 reasons for this:
1: Not really a big fan of Brentford as they have lost for me in the past,
2: The game was on tv and might have ended up watching some of it,
3: About 15 years ago i was at an FA cup tie Bishop Auckland v Barrow that Barrow won 1 - 0.

If those aren't good reasons for backing a team then i don't know what are, so its up to £41 after that wise investment and have put that on Wigan to win at home today at 1.84, this is more due to West Brom being piss poor and can't see where there goals are coming from than any great confidence in Wigan. Was more tempted on under 2.5 goals in this match but the price was 1.77 and so below the 4/5 required for the bet - see myself being very annoyed by that come 4.45.

You win some you lose some

2008-11-27T03:02:00.003Z

Cant really complain too much that Chelsea ruined the 5 bet challenge tonight as they put in a fairly terrible display and by no stretch of the imagination did they deserve to win... However, once 1 - 0 up with 7 minutes remaining i expect them to hold onto a lead and especially don't expect Terry to completely lose his man for a free headed equaliser. Chelsea may have been dull to watch in the past but at least you could always be sure they wouldn't let a scabby win slip from their grasp. Oh well got to remember it was only £20 and will probably have another go at this sometime soon.

As for poker i can also no longer complain about my luck, I wasn't going to play but as i'm nocturnal and their isn't much else to do at 1.30am thought i'd see if any of my favourite fishes were hitting the tables. Pleasantly surprised that there were a fair few soft nl200 tables and decided to give them a go.

4 tabled nl200 1 table of nl400 and 90 minutes later somehow clawed back over half Mondays' losses, ev $1500 better off than i should have been including a nice K on the river when having KK v AA AIP for $800 and everything is looking a slight bit more rosy. It didn't all come from suckouts as their were some idiots around and i also flopped a few sets along the way, the pessimist in me knew it couldn't last forever and as the tables began to fill with regulars i have logged off after a very good night!

Chelsea Chelsea

2008-11-26T19:02:00.002Z

Finally found bet 4 of the challenge, was in no fit state to place a decent sized bet on Saturday and glad i didn't as everything i fancied lost, same story on Sunday as i was very tempted by putting it all on Sunderland but they got done by West ham. Was very tempted by under 2.5 goals in the Everton game which would have come in but as i was watching the match with a few drinks i didn't want it to get to 1-1 and then not be happy if we scored a winner (never even got close to doing that).

So that leaves us with Chelsea at Bordeaux at 1.8 - they thrashed them 4-0 at home and while there results have been better since (and Chelseas performances not quite so impressive) i still fancy them to get the result they need to qualify.

Bet 4 - £133.50 at 1.8

As for poker i'm taking a few days off after Monday nights shambolic display - also when i do find myself back at the tables im not playing anything aboove NL600 and going to go back to grinding out some wins.

Hopefully the last post will be the last time i write a drunken big loss post but i can't promise it as its been done so many times before - hate to think of the total losses i've had on these nights although there have been some spectacular (and probably somewhat fortunate) wins along the way too.

Stupid post

2008-11-25T06:46:00.009Z

After way too long a weekend i really shouldn't be posting right now, but its the only way i can rant how i want to.

Saturday played 3K_ hands, played very well lost a few hundred $s but nothing to write home about
Sunday- played pretty shite went low stakes + very aggressive much more than normal (at 1 point $1500 down) ended up evens - happy enough but again nothing to write home about as didn't play how well i shoud have done.

Monday - only started when pretty rat arsed (in the middle of that right now + should really not play or post)
i know when im pissed and in no state to play (this pretty much is that time) although still enough compus mentus to know what is going on. i've lost and that is kind of fair enough until you see the ev for the last 12 hours...

followed by my ev for the last 60 days:

ok im feeling sorry for myself but what can you do when the poker gods are against you and u've had half a bottle of vodka? If anyone has seen as bad an Ev graph as that please let me know it might stop me tilting in the near future (it hasn't even been that bad a November with rake etc but still well fucked off) also all my gambling has gone poorly and although i fancied the mighty blues they also lost (been a bad few days!)

Running good

2008-11-21T03:18:00.002Z

Had a small session on Wednesday night which netted a small profit but nothing to write home about followed by a fun couple of thousand hands on Thursday night. In the 1st 100 hands managed to find myself down about $600 partly through my own slightly dubious play but mainly lost it to 1 guy that i didn't realise was absolutely horrendous. These stories don't always have a happy ending but soon figured out the fishes play and proceeded to follow him around nl400 tables for the next couple of hours. The inevitable did happen and although at times he built some massive stacks he lost the lot eventually and fortunately a fair chunk of it went my way thanks mainly to some BB specials. Had a lovely K4os v AQ on a Q44 board for $700 followed by my personal favourite 82os v a8 on 832 board pot bet 7 on turn followed by an all in for another $500 pot.

This is where some people may frown upon the ethics of being a professional poker player when you target and are clearly going to beat the idiot / drunk / degenerate gambler types who are always going to throw their hard earned cash away (i like to think of them as really rich people who just play for the fun and don't mind) anyways if i didn't do it 1 of the other regular grinders would.

Got to admit that overall tonight i did run well being over $700 better off than my ev (long overdue) and that includes losing 2 big pots KK v AA + KK v JJ all in pre to the same opponent.
Would like to say i played really well for my winnings but to be honest i didn't need to as the standard was poor and i hit good cards at good times. So far so good for November making up for the last couple of poor months and i've finally taken advantage of the weak £ by cashing out, $s are actually worth good money these days.

On the betting front i did exactly what i've been trying to avoid - making badly thought out bets just because its on the tv and i want a team to win. However this 1 had the added reason of being patriotic with England to beat Germany got 3 to 1 which was a price worth a little flutter but i had still had very little confidence especially after seeing the starting 11. I really must run well as the boys did us proud putting in an excellent performance and running out deserved 2 - 1 winners!

Another Day Another Dollar (actually $48)

2008-11-19T05:56:00.003Z

Took a few days off since losing on Friday but got back into it tonight getting through 3000 fairly unsuccessful hands. Although it'd only been 3 days since i last played was very rusty not playing anywhere near the standard i had been last week and quickly found myself $1k down mainly through my own fault - 1 terrible hand stands out losing $300 with AJ v 66 on A76 board (he was very loose and there were draws galore but he played it so aggressively i should definitely have let it go on the flop)

Anyway, i dropped back down the stakes again as i was only playing good enough for that standard and there were no weak tables higher up and managed to grind it back to a few $s up. Pleased enough with the result considering how i played and the hole i found myself in early on but it always seems a bit of a waste of time playing for 7 hours for the princely sum of $48.

On a brighter note happy as Larry that both the weekends bets came in. Could have done without Darlo having to play 80 minutes with 10 men but they are on fire at the moment and came through it well followed by Chelsea's stroll v West Brom.
So 3 down and 2 to go, after slightly worse odds than expected bank stands at £133.45, will probably be leaving my next bets till the weekend as this will be 1 of my biggest football bets to date and definitely not trusting the International friendlies.

Friday night fishes

2008-11-15T08:06:00.002Z

The reason these fishes keep coming back is every now and then they hit some hands and log off with a decent win, tonight was their night as i got done time + time again.
Started about 11pm not really in the mood having being out on Thursday i'd been nursing a stinking hangover all day but just about shook it off, played for a few hours and to be fair played canny shit took a break around 4am only a little down.

Decided to go back on refreshed and determined to play well and win back my losses - this session i did play ok but the cards were sick - trip 2s v trip Js - AA done by KTos + 22 (both done on river when nigh on all in) JdTd v 73os on Ts7d3d flop (risen pre by me) is a little taster.

Logging off now after 3500 hands and pissed off to be somehow $1400 down (ev down about $1k more than i should be) I suppose all good things must come to an end as had been on a great run last couple of weeks but should never have been this much down tonight. Its not all doom n gloom tho as always thank god for rakeback as managed about $250 this session and a rake race im competing in ends tonight (the reason im currently playing Prima) which should pay out about $1500.

As for the challenge back to bet 2 - i contemplated a few for tomorrows 3pm kick offs such as Blackburn home to Sunderland or Man U v Stoke over 3.5 goals but opted for Darlo home to Lincoln £40.02 at 1.91.

I don't want to curse it but if that 1 does come in and im anywhere near a computer at 5pm will make Chelsea to keep a clean sheet at evens bet number 3.

Short and Sweet

2008-11-13T03:58:00.002Z

Didn't have the motivation for a big session tonight but played a couple of hours and won a few hundred $s very quickly without actually playing that well, fortunately didn't need to as the fish were out in force and if i could have been arsed sure it would have been a good night to stay on.
As you can see i also hit a decent hand or 2:

$300.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Thursday, November 13,
12:10:52 ET 2008
Table Euphoric (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Seat 1: 1 ( $320.97 USD )
Seat 2: 2 ( $247.71 USD )
Seat 3: 3 ( $87.72 USD )
Seat 4: 4 ( $717.22 USD )
Seat 5: me ( $483.00 USD )
Seat 6: 6 ( $105.75 USD )
4 posts small blind [$1.50 USD].
me posts big blind [$3.00 USD].
Dealt to me [ Ks Js ]
6 folds
1 folds
2 raises [$12.00 USD]
3 folds
4 folds
me calls [$9.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ As, Kc, Qs ]
me checks
2 bets [$12.75 USD]
me raises [$31.87 USD]
2 calls [$19.12 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Ts ]
me checks
2 bets [$22.31 USD]
me calls [$22.31 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 9c ]
me checks
2 checks
me shows [Ks, Js ]
2 doesn't show [Td, Kh ]
me wins $130.86 USD from main pot

I know the checks look poor but their was method behind the madness, i'd get no call if he didn't have the flush or straight but would get a raise and it was a board screaming to be bluffed at - but mainly knew i was guaranteed $200 off my poker site if it went to showdown (progressive royal flush bonus which had been won 2 days earlier for $800).

Retard of the day award:

$300.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Thursday, November 13, 02:07:07 ET 2008
Table Euphoric (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Seat 1: 1 ( $280.50 USD )
Seat 2: 2 ( $256.50 USD )
Seat 3: jasonbig ( $394.66 USD )
Seat 4: 4 ( $784.99 USD )
Seat 5: me ( $552.38 USD )
Seat 6: 6 ( $350.50 USD )
jasonbig posts small blind [$1.50 USD].
me posts big blind [$3.00 USD].
Dealt to me [ Qc 7d ]
6 folds
1 folds
2 folds
jasonbig calls [$1.50 USD]
me checks
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3c, 8d, Kc ]
jasonbig checks
me checks
** Dealing Turn ** [ 6c ]
jasonbig checks
me checks
** Dealing River ** [ Ac ]
jasonbig bets [$390.16 USD]
me calls [$390.16 USD]
jasonbig shows [6s, As ]
me shows [Qc, 7d ]
me wins $783.32 USD from main pot

Not very often the fish appearing here won't have robbed me but i thought he deserved a special mention as this was my favourite hand of the night - wasn't even an instant call tho as i had to take a 2nd look sure that i was missing something.

Added bonus was that Liverpool lost having changed my mind on betting on them too.

Good run continues

2008-11-12T18:56:00.003Z

Had another reasonably good session last night posting a solid win although it should have been a lot better. I again went for the lower stakes as a general rule but on my 1 journey up to $3 $6 made a bad error and lost $500 in a pot that should have cost me no more than $200. This coupled with a $.5 $1 table where i played 3 opponents with pre flop stats of 72/2, 65/6 and 55/42 that i couldn't win at regardless of cards (AA v K3 and QQ v T2 were pretty bad) but the worst was TT v AJ all in on a T52 flop to lose to a runner runner straight for $300. As a result my profit went from a peak of $1400 down to just over $600.

Om a brighter note bet 1 of my challenge came in, it looked a little shaky around the 40th minute as Kirkland did everything in his power to scupper it, fortunately the Arsenal youth brought it out the bag and it was an awesome way to finish things off with that Vela chip!

Bank stands at £40.02 which will probably be going on the red shite to qualify tonight v Spurs but going to wait for the starting 11s before definitely putting it on.

Bet 1: Arsenal v Wigan over 2.5 goals £22.74 at 1.8 - won
Bet 2: Liverpool to qualify v Spurs £40.02 at evens (cancelled)

Edit:
Not bothering with the Liverpool bet as they've made 10 changes and Spurs have a pretty strong side out, there is nothing else i fancy from tonight's' matches so going to leave it till Saturday for bet number 2.

Low stakes fun

2008-11-11T17:18:00.003Z

Everything has been going very well the last few days and i put part of that down to a change in stakes, up until recently i've been playing $2 $4 / $3 $6 and above i have changed to now going for $2 $4 as standard but when there are no decent tables looking back down rather than up. While $4$6 and slightly above is definitely beatable at the right times its stupid to play them just for the sake of it when so much easier games are available - so new rule only higher stakes when following fishes.

This takes me to the low stakes fun, hadn't played $1$2 in a few months and the difference was noticeable but i went a step further down to $.5 $1 the last 2 nights and granted i was playing at peak times but the standard was laughable. The aggression there is non existent, 3 betting is very rare and your not buying it off anyone with top pair any kicker regardless of how much you put in. My favourite hand of the night was doubled on my BB i had Kd8d so called, flop AdQsTh checked to me i check Jd turn he fires $2 i make it $12 hoping he has the K too he calls lovely 4d river i put him all in (about $25) instant call with A6os. While the standard is very poor i must also be running unbelievable as 1,800 hands my BB/100 is at 32! add that to a very good $2$4 session and November is so far looking rosy.

£20 5 Bet Challenge

I like a bit of a flutter but my gambling has lacked any aims recently just been putting any bets on the matches ive been watching without really thinking them through hence starting the above challenge.

All bets must be full bank, on the football and on odds between 4/5 and 5/4 this should make £20 up to $500+ in 5 bets if all goes according to plan (which im sure it wont so will probably have a few goes at this)

Bet 1: Arsenal v Wigan over 2.5 goals £22.74 (what i have in my account) over 2.5 goals at 1.8

Long Weekend

2008-11-10T19:33:00.000Z

Well this weekend ive pretty much done nothing apart from watch the football (which went very well) - Arsenal Man Utd was an awesome game and Everton managed another late scabby win and played huge amounts of poker.

Friday - started about 11pm and had to really grind it out as there were more regulars than fish on and the standard was pretty decent considering Friday night is normally a piece of piss after 2ish, was about evens until 6ish when hit a good run of cards and logged off after 3k+ hands with a profit of a bit over $1k. Could have been a whole lot better if my 99 on Q98 board had been able to rob JTos on an $800 pot right at the end but wasn't to be.

Saturday was completely different started just before midnight and all the muppets who had stayed sober on Friday had been on a big piss up - very few regulars and an amazing number of lunatics. Only played for 3 hours as came off for the Calzaghe fight but in that time won $1200 and it should have been much more if i'd had the cards (and possibly a bit more patience), examples of the idiocy was got KK all in v AQos on a J82 rainbow board for $1100 ($300 in pre) thankfully that 1 did hold up. After Joe did the business in a very entertaining fight had a look back on but it had calmed down and there weren't many games going so decided to call it a night.

At this point the week had gone pretty much perfectly - was back playing decent poker, played a lot of hands and logged some canny wins, it was never gonna last. Played for a few hours in the afternoon and somehow managed to find myself $1k down after losing big pots with AA v 57s flush draw and QQ v AK and had to have a break. The evening session started in similar fashion losing a couple of 60 40s but carried on and it finally turned good. lost a fairly hefty pot with AsQs raising all in on a 9s5h2s board getting called by 88 but next hand find myself with AA, on $3 $6 someone rose 6bbs and i went for the tilting look and pushed all in for $800 he thinks for ages before calling - KQT flop has me scared but turns out he had AK and he gets no more help, so after 5000 hands i managed a whopping $75 win - thank god for rakeback.

Happy Days

2008-11-06T04:10:00.000Z

Last week everything that could go wrong did go wrong, i played stakes way above my comfort zone, i got bad beats galore + i played some truly shit poker.

I took the weekend off, went down to see the mighty blues (that's Everton) get back to what they good at - scraping a late 1-0 win, which somehow leaves us 7th in the table despite playing poorly all season. Followed that up by sampling the delights of the Liverpool nightlife had a well overdue piss up which set me up nicely for a long week at the tables.

Finally something positive to write about, since the weekend played 3 big sessions logging about 8,000 hands mainly at $2 $4 and won back the previous weeks losses. Felt i played the best poker i have done in ages and most importantly no tilting or chasing which was a miracle considering the cards thrown at me on Tuesday. Ended that session $800 down with my Ev showing i should be that in profit. That doesn't even take into consideration the 3 times at the end of the night i had overpair beaten by flopped set after big 3 betting pre (the bullets were cursed).

I did run well tonight though, not by robbing people just hitting decent hands against the worst opponents, including a lovely $1800 pot on $3 $6. i raise with 88 and get 1 call, it comes down K84 rainbow and i fire $55 in and get a call, Q on the turn and he check raises me all in with his top 2 pair and thankfully no help on the river. Seemed like a good time to call it a night and heres hopefully to a good run and a decent November!

Back on the bike

2008-10-29T01:47:00.000Z

Got myself back playing after the disapointment of Saturday night and was surprisingly feeling quite positive and motivated hoping for a good session.
Set myself 3 goals:
log a profit (however small)
Play well
No tilting

Can tick off about 1 and a half of these, was happy with how i played for 95% of it and didn't tilt despite some horrendous cards (except right at the end of the session where i felt myself loosening up and chasing a bit so left sharpish) logging a profit however i failed miserably.

In fact ended the session over £1k down again but im not completely blaming myself as the poker gods have it in for me too:

The standard was nothing to worry too much about tonight still plenty of fish about and plenty of contenders to win the 1st:
Lucky Retarded Fish of the day award and it goes to Nismyr for this little beauty:

$400.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Tuesday, October 28, 12:24:01 ET 2008
Table Sigurd (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Seat 1: player1 ( $408.00 USD )
Seat 2: player2 ( $495.00 USD )
Seat 3: player3 ( $1243.77 USD )
Seat 4: nismyr ( $355.10 USD )
Seat 5: player5 ( $362.00 USD )
Seat 6: ME ( $268.10 USD )
ME posts small blind [$2.00 USD].
player5 posts big blind [$4.00 USD].
Dealt to ME [ Tc Td ]
player1 folds
player2 folds
nismyr raises [$16.00 USD]
player4 folds
ME raises [$52.00 USD]
player5 folds
nismyr raises [$339.10 USD]
ME calls [$212.10 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3c, 2h, Qd ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 4d ]
** Dealing River ** [ 6c ]
ME shows [Tc, Td ]
nismyr shows [2d, 2s ]
nismyr wins $533.20 USD from main pot
nismyr wins $89.00 USD from main pot

While TT may not be the greatest to get it all in pre with i was fairly confident of not being dominated having seen him go for it all in with AQos, ATos + 77 and obviously deuces were too good for him to fold.

Gonna have a couple of hours off (offer up some sort of sacrifice to get the poker gods back onside) then may venture back on see if I can claw back some of the losses as i still feel a decent win is just round the corner

edit:
my apologies to nismyr he is certainly not the lucky fish of the day, after hitting the tables again things were looking slightly rosier up until this:

$600.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Wednesday, October 29,
06:04:44 ET 2008
Table Something Beautiful 2 (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Seat 1: DessEagle ( $474.19 USD )
Seat 2: 2 ( $703.60 USD )
Seat 3: 3 ( $204.50 USD )
Seat 5: 4 ( $258.10 USD )
Seat 6: me ( $500.00 USD )
2 posts small blind [$3.00 USD].
3 posts big blind [$6.00 USD].
Dealt to me [ Kd Kc ]
4 folds
me raises [$24.00 USD]
DessEagle calls [$24.00 USD]
2 folds
3 folds
** Dealing Flop ** [ Th, 6c, 4s ]
me bets [$36.00 USD]
DessEagle raises [$100.00 USD]
me raises [$160.50 USD]
DessEagle calls [$96.50 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Js ]
me bets [$279.50 USD]
DessEagle calls [$253.69 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 9c ]
me shows [Kd, Kc ]
DessEagle shows [Ks, Qh ]
DessEagle wins $954.38 USD from main pot
me wins $25.81 USD from main pot

ended waaaayyyyy down for the night as that was also in euros not $s (would have got me back to about £500 down but not to be)

What a F#%*ing idiot

2008-10-27T00:40:00.000Z

Having played poker online professionally for the last 2 and a half years Ive been tempted a few times to start a blog and after last night this seemed as good a time as any, as this way i can use it to rant as I'm sure the Mrs is sick of hearing about it. While Ive had many ups and downs and been stupid plenty of times in the past usually I'd at least have the excuse of been rat arsed or tilting but not yesterday, this was just me being an idiot for no good reason.

For the last couple of years Ive played mainly grinding it out at $1 $2 with higher stakes when the timing has been right or the tables have been poor but recently Ive moved up to $2 $4 and $3 $6 as standard and Ive been fairly happy with the results (altho the swings are a hell of a lot bigger).

So god knows how i came about multi tabling 5 euro 10 euro on Saturday night. i started around 1am and by 3.30 i was done, the quickest most devastating loss of my "career". played alright to start with even though i knew i shouldn't be playing them but a couple of hefty pots v rivered flushes all in on the flop and the madness really started. playing well out of my comfort zone i knew i should come off but instead the genius in me decided i would load up a $25 $50 (the biggest game Ive ever played) with a view to playing tight and seeing if i could hit a few hands. Decided 1 buy in of $3000 should do it - 22 hands in i get KK all in pre, love the low flop turn river both non scary gutted to see opponent has AA that's $2200 done - 3 hands later re-raise all in with TT and my last $800 and I'm gone versus JJ. Cant have too many complaints as obviously behind all the way but felt very harshly done by that my shot at high stakes lasted less than half hour.

Anyways took that on the chin and continued at 5 / 10 got QQ AIP v JJ twice for a combined total of 2200 euros both lost knew it wasn't my night but still managed to throw a few hundred more away tilting terribly and logged off with my worst ever session by a mile $7500 down. I ran horrendously (my all in ev graph showed should have been $3400 better off) but cant complain too much as was a prick to even play those stakes especially when playing that badly and having already had a shit month. When i figure out how i'll stick up a few of the terrible hand histories to shame my play into hopefully never doing it again but that can wait as not been able to face going over them again just yet.

This is going to be my second losing month since i started as even the godsend of rakeback and rake race winnings wont save me from logging a small loss as gonna take a couple of days off but onwards and upwards and hopefully my 2nd post will be a lot more positive talking about a few hundred $s win.