Not a very good day at cash today. In fact, it was horrendous. I managed to donk off three buyin's in about 2 hours or 300 big blinds. The session was difficult to say the least. 5 times I open raised in middle position with KQ, 4 times I got called and hit top pair - be it either the K or the Q. All 5 times I ran into either AK or AQ and over the 5 hands that was pretty much 1 stack gone...
Then the table maniac decides to make a play on me. The tell I have on him, is that - if he hits, he plays really tricky with lots of teaser bets and if he has missed - he is super UBER aggressive. So I'm in a hand with him and know he has missed as he is being super aggressive. Everytime he bets, I reraise with a middle pair because I know he will push on the river whatever comes. He pushes on river and my read was 100% correct. He raised and reraised with nothing the whole hand but hit a backdoor flush....
I had to call on the river it was even money into a big pot but its so frustrating when you get it right, outplay someone - only for them to get lucky because they cant lay down K high to two big reraises! What can you do?
The other hand I lost was easily cooler of the day. A guy has picked up AA, KK, QQ a few times and everytime he has picked them up - he has minimum raised. So when he does it again and I'm in late position I call with 3 4 diamonds. Flop comes...
4 3 6 two diamonds.
Picked up a monster hand here against an over pair. As planned he bets out aggressive, with my two pair and flush draw - I reraise him, hoping he will push.
He just calls. Now at this point I put him on aces of kings after how I'd seen him play them numerous times in other hands. So I am well aware that any 5 is a scare card giving him the straight with AA.
Turn is a 7 and he checks it, I bet pot and he calls.
River is a Jack. No diamonds, I've missed the flush but still got a nice little two pair.
So I put a nice bet out there. What does he have when he calls?
5 fucking 5, he hit his straight on turn.
Happy days.
I think i've just started my bad run. We'll see!
Good luck at the tables!
Wednesday 13 June 2007
Monday 11 June 2007
All is well
After switching to cash games I'm really enjoying the deepstack poker and not having to push with marginal hands. I have just got up to go on a training course with work so probably wont be playing much today as I am pretty busy, but yesterday was a good session.
I played about 2 hours of cash and ended up around 240 big blinds in profit which was a good session. I played two big hands were people were over aggressive in hands allowing me to trap them and the other 40 big blinds came from came from aggressive plays picking on weakness.
As a result of the good cash session, I decided to play the second biggest tournament of the week on Pacific - the $25k guaranteed money monday. Usually I have football training on monday nights with my football team but this week there was no training so I decided to buy in directly for the $35. The tournament structure meant it was made for me. Deepstack 2000 starting chips and 15 minute blinds, meant I could play alot of poker for a long time and look to accumalate chips.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, I ended up finishing in 56th out of 628 and inside the money for just over double my buyin. I hit KK, AK and KQ in three consecutive hands with the blinds starting to hurt and lost with all of them and then went card dead for the next three levels which totally obliterated my healthyish stack. Nevermind. Theres always next time and its been a pretty profitable day.
Probably wont be posting until Wednesday now guys so goodluck at the tables!
I played about 2 hours of cash and ended up around 240 big blinds in profit which was a good session. I played two big hands were people were over aggressive in hands allowing me to trap them and the other 40 big blinds came from came from aggressive plays picking on weakness.
As a result of the good cash session, I decided to play the second biggest tournament of the week on Pacific - the $25k guaranteed money monday. Usually I have football training on monday nights with my football team but this week there was no training so I decided to buy in directly for the $35. The tournament structure meant it was made for me. Deepstack 2000 starting chips and 15 minute blinds, meant I could play alot of poker for a long time and look to accumalate chips.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, I ended up finishing in 56th out of 628 and inside the money for just over double my buyin. I hit KK, AK and KQ in three consecutive hands with the blinds starting to hurt and lost with all of them and then went card dead for the next three levels which totally obliterated my healthyish stack. Nevermind. Theres always next time and its been a pretty profitable day.
Probably wont be posting until Wednesday now guys so goodluck at the tables!
Sunday 10 June 2007
New Direction
Whenever I go on a bad run as standard, I look back through hand histories and evaluated where I went wrong. Most of the time the problem is, I played very well and got sucked out on. I mean, maybe I was over aggressive in certain spots, but in tournaments - you cant sit on the fence all the time. You have to get your money in when in front and hope for the best or the blinds will murder you.
Problem is, getting your money in when in front and relying on big hands can often murder you too. I played 8 tournaments today and without getting into hand specifics, this is how I exited all of them...
- Preflop all in my KK lost to AK...
- Raised with AQ, AQ and AJ in one tourny and missed everytime. Pushed with KQ sooted on a flush draw and missed when short stacked.
- Lost with AJ on A high board to flush draw the very next tournament, how ironic...
- Headsup, I push in the small blind with 66 with blinds at 250 / 500 and both of us sitting on around 7500. He calls with AQ and I never win coinflips, so out in second for one of the few cashes of the day...
- I also ran 99 into JJ twice when pushing preflop as a short stack and lost out both times.
- I also ran KK into AA twice and again lost both times when money went in preflop.
- 3 handed, the chipleader raises me all in on my blind. I reraise all in with AK. He insta calls for everything with A5. Turn 5, I dont improve, I'm out in 3rd for another cash that was few and far between today.
- I push in small blind 4 handed with blinds at 100 / 200 and my stack at 2000. The big blind insta calls with roughly the same stack. He has the monster J 9 offsuit which is no match for my AQ...
The point is, I only made any of these plays because I had to, circumstances in the tournament meant that I had to make extreme plays, that if deepstacked, I wouldn't of had to. Whether or not statistically the favourite so often or not is irrelevant. Everything is on the line often.
So, I bit the bullet and decided to go back to playing cash games. Now, me and cash games have a bad history. In fact, I've never turned a profit on them. I once played off a total bankroll of $1000 and managed to offload $800 in just 6 hours playing 0.25/0.50 NL on Full Tilt, that is - by any ones standards - pretty fucking crazy.
But, in theory I should do well. My edge being that I probably have an edge over the majority of cash games players at the levels I'll be playing. I'm going from High Stakes SnG games to 0.25 / 0.50 initially and therefore hoping to eliminate the losing element of my game which is totally obsurd but "Getting my money in when statistically a favourite"
I will be using the same principle in cash games, however the variance will be a hell of alot lower. For example in cash games I can see alot of flops and play alot of flops, which is my strength. Whereas deep in tournies, its just push push push. If I dont hit a flop in a Cash game, I can just hit the fold button - whereas chances are. Its all been decided preflop in a tourny whats going to happen.
Anyways, I played a 1 and a half hour session today on Pacific's cash tables and walked away with a nice 40 Big Blind profit.
I wont be making as much as I potentially could of in SnG's and I am now prone to losing alot more, so it seems absolutely crazy to play cash games. But by doing so, I can now eliminated the only losing element of my game which is being forced to push with hands and losing [even though I am nearly always the favourite when doing so!]
Anyways, I'll keep you posted. I'm pretty optimistic about my new path. I'm gonna stick to 0.25 / 0.50 for a while and see how I do and then take it from there.
Good luck in life!
Problem is, getting your money in when in front and relying on big hands can often murder you too. I played 8 tournaments today and without getting into hand specifics, this is how I exited all of them...
- Preflop all in my KK lost to AK...
- Raised with AQ, AQ and AJ in one tourny and missed everytime. Pushed with KQ sooted on a flush draw and missed when short stacked.
- Lost with AJ on A high board to flush draw the very next tournament, how ironic...
- Headsup, I push in the small blind with 66 with blinds at 250 / 500 and both of us sitting on around 7500. He calls with AQ and I never win coinflips, so out in second for one of the few cashes of the day...
- I also ran 99 into JJ twice when pushing preflop as a short stack and lost out both times.
- I also ran KK into AA twice and again lost both times when money went in preflop.
- 3 handed, the chipleader raises me all in on my blind. I reraise all in with AK. He insta calls for everything with A5. Turn 5, I dont improve, I'm out in 3rd for another cash that was few and far between today.
- I push in small blind 4 handed with blinds at 100 / 200 and my stack at 2000. The big blind insta calls with roughly the same stack. He has the monster J 9 offsuit which is no match for my AQ...
The point is, I only made any of these plays because I had to, circumstances in the tournament meant that I had to make extreme plays, that if deepstacked, I wouldn't of had to. Whether or not statistically the favourite so often or not is irrelevant. Everything is on the line often.
So, I bit the bullet and decided to go back to playing cash games. Now, me and cash games have a bad history. In fact, I've never turned a profit on them. I once played off a total bankroll of $1000 and managed to offload $800 in just 6 hours playing 0.25/0.50 NL on Full Tilt, that is - by any ones standards - pretty fucking crazy.
But, in theory I should do well. My edge being that I probably have an edge over the majority of cash games players at the levels I'll be playing. I'm going from High Stakes SnG games to 0.25 / 0.50 initially and therefore hoping to eliminate the losing element of my game which is totally obsurd but "Getting my money in when statistically a favourite"
I will be using the same principle in cash games, however the variance will be a hell of alot lower. For example in cash games I can see alot of flops and play alot of flops, which is my strength. Whereas deep in tournies, its just push push push. If I dont hit a flop in a Cash game, I can just hit the fold button - whereas chances are. Its all been decided preflop in a tourny whats going to happen.
Anyways, I played a 1 and a half hour session today on Pacific's cash tables and walked away with a nice 40 Big Blind profit.
I wont be making as much as I potentially could of in SnG's and I am now prone to losing alot more, so it seems absolutely crazy to play cash games. But by doing so, I can now eliminated the only losing element of my game which is being forced to push with hands and losing [even though I am nearly always the favourite when doing so!]
Anyways, I'll keep you posted. I'm pretty optimistic about my new path. I'm gonna stick to 0.25 / 0.50 for a while and see how I do and then take it from there.
Good luck in life!
Saturday 9 June 2007
Life is sick
I'm pretty certain now that its not just poker thats sick. It seems the same trends in poker also applies to life. It makes you wonder and definately puts things into perspective, when you consider that peoples personalities, often affect how good they can be at poker. For example the compulsive, impulsive or impatient would tend to make bad players.
Then theres the luck aspect, in life we inevitably go through bad patches where nothing seems to be going right for us. Just before Christmas, it seemed like I was coming out of one of these with my financial situation improving and good prospects in the career department. Although, by february when my dad had a heart attack and further into May where I had a big falling out with my long term girlfriend, it would seem the exact opposite.
Just last week, again I thought things were turning when I had a really good week. My financial situation started to lookup, my career was definately looking up, I had a big win at poker and everything was moving along nice.
But you know what? Life can turn sick at any moment, everything can change and make you feel terrible when just a week ago you were king of the world. That happened yesterday when I found out my aunty had been diagnosed with cancer. This isn't just an aunty you see at birthdays or christmas, this is like a second mother thing for me. As a kid she was always there if I needed her and still is if ever I needed her. She would make me lunch when I got locked out of my house for forgetting my key when my parents were at work. She'd also do really cool stuff for me as a kid like make Christmas that extra bit special and make sure I knew I was always welcome around her house to talk or even watch a movie or something. Hell she even helped me buy my first car.
But the point is, you get caught up in life and float along like everything is fine and then bam - no matter how bad things have been for you. You dont really take notice until something bad happens to the people you really love.
Everyday I play poker to create a better future for me and my family. I take it deadly serious and everyday I talk about bad patches and successes on here, when really - maybe what we do is linked. I mean, when we play - we break things down into odds or percentages.
Today for example my KK got beat by AK offsuit preflop which is about 80 / 20 favourite. In the same tourny my JJ got beat by A2 which I believe is the same, or even a higher favourite. Now this really shouldn't happen. But in 22 years of my life, everything goes OK when in the space of 4 months, two of the people you care about most in the whole universe get seriously ill. What are the odds of that?
So maybe life is sick and maybe we are just due to have really bad times now and a while. One thing I know for sure though, is that I'm about 2 years deep into a bad patch right now and things are scheduled to get REAL good REAL soon. So that had better mean everything sorting itself out and my aunty getting better real soon. Although, I'd definately settle for just the latter.
So, on the back of all that. When my KK starts beating A2 preflop - I'll know things are well on the way to improving. But till then, I guess we all gotta keep grinding and hope for the best.
Good luck in life guys.
Then theres the luck aspect, in life we inevitably go through bad patches where nothing seems to be going right for us. Just before Christmas, it seemed like I was coming out of one of these with my financial situation improving and good prospects in the career department. Although, by february when my dad had a heart attack and further into May where I had a big falling out with my long term girlfriend, it would seem the exact opposite.
Just last week, again I thought things were turning when I had a really good week. My financial situation started to lookup, my career was definately looking up, I had a big win at poker and everything was moving along nice.
But you know what? Life can turn sick at any moment, everything can change and make you feel terrible when just a week ago you were king of the world. That happened yesterday when I found out my aunty had been diagnosed with cancer. This isn't just an aunty you see at birthdays or christmas, this is like a second mother thing for me. As a kid she was always there if I needed her and still is if ever I needed her. She would make me lunch when I got locked out of my house for forgetting my key when my parents were at work. She'd also do really cool stuff for me as a kid like make Christmas that extra bit special and make sure I knew I was always welcome around her house to talk or even watch a movie or something. Hell she even helped me buy my first car.
But the point is, you get caught up in life and float along like everything is fine and then bam - no matter how bad things have been for you. You dont really take notice until something bad happens to the people you really love.
Everyday I play poker to create a better future for me and my family. I take it deadly serious and everyday I talk about bad patches and successes on here, when really - maybe what we do is linked. I mean, when we play - we break things down into odds or percentages.
Today for example my KK got beat by AK offsuit preflop which is about 80 / 20 favourite. In the same tourny my JJ got beat by A2 which I believe is the same, or even a higher favourite. Now this really shouldn't happen. But in 22 years of my life, everything goes OK when in the space of 4 months, two of the people you care about most in the whole universe get seriously ill. What are the odds of that?
So maybe life is sick and maybe we are just due to have really bad times now and a while. One thing I know for sure though, is that I'm about 2 years deep into a bad patch right now and things are scheduled to get REAL good REAL soon. So that had better mean everything sorting itself out and my aunty getting better real soon. Although, I'd definately settle for just the latter.
So, on the back of all that. When my KK starts beating A2 preflop - I'll know things are well on the way to improving. But till then, I guess we all gotta keep grinding and hope for the best.
Good luck in life guys.
Friday 8 June 2007
Total fucking pisstake.
The title says it all really. Totally gutted about todays play, its been nothing short of scandalous, where the worst players on the table continuously manage to suckout and win time after time. I cant bring myself to even go into hand specifics, I am too annoyed with people I have played against. All I can say is, sometimes I question whether or not people can actually know the outcome of a hand before its played.
I like to think I know the outcome of a hand, its called getting your money in when in front - but today the odds have been non existant. I should of just popped it all in with Ace rag every hand and won about 46 thousand dollars today, it seems to work for every other fucker.
Still, thats what the bankroll is for. I am about 1 tournament buyin in profit for this week. As a result, I am totally hacked off as I've played tremendously well today only to get bummed by the bastards that dont know what they're doing.
I mean really, if you want to gamble - thats what Casino's and horses are for. Why bring it to poker. Either I'm shit or somebody isn't telling me something about this game because I seem to be getting fucked with the best of it constantly.
Yesterday was a good session, but its all been undone today. Its not even as if today was a totally washout. I played 10 tournaments today, cashed in 2 of them. Was severely card dead in 6 of them and went out to stone cold coolers in at least 5 of them.
My personal favourite was this hand:
I get dealt K2 in big blind. 1 limper and small blind in the hand with me.
Flop comes
K 3 2 rainbow.
I check it, the table flop better pops in just over a pot sized bet. I reraise all in and he insta calls with K 4.
turn
BLANK
river
4
What the fuck can you do?
K2 is a hand I'd never ever ever usually be playing in any circumstances - but when that shit gets dealt out to you with that flop, just what the fuck am I supposed to do? This is a tournament afterall.
My other personal favourite was when blinds were at 100 / 200.
A guy who has raised pretty much every hand decides to raise my blind. I look down to find JJ. I reraise all in and he calls with the new stone cold nuts, A 2 offsuit.
No need to guess what the outcome was, aces came every fucking where and despite the fact that we were both deepstacked and if he lost that hand - he'd be severely in trouble since he only just had me covered and not to mention the fact he wasnt beating ANYTHING.
He still decided to call.
Totally fucked off now. Time to go to work and it will be a welcome break from the sickness.
I like to think I know the outcome of a hand, its called getting your money in when in front - but today the odds have been non existant. I should of just popped it all in with Ace rag every hand and won about 46 thousand dollars today, it seems to work for every other fucker.
Still, thats what the bankroll is for. I am about 1 tournament buyin in profit for this week. As a result, I am totally hacked off as I've played tremendously well today only to get bummed by the bastards that dont know what they're doing.
I mean really, if you want to gamble - thats what Casino's and horses are for. Why bring it to poker. Either I'm shit or somebody isn't telling me something about this game because I seem to be getting fucked with the best of it constantly.
Yesterday was a good session, but its all been undone today. Its not even as if today was a totally washout. I played 10 tournaments today, cashed in 2 of them. Was severely card dead in 6 of them and went out to stone cold coolers in at least 5 of them.
My personal favourite was this hand:
I get dealt K2 in big blind. 1 limper and small blind in the hand with me.
Flop comes
K 3 2 rainbow.
I check it, the table flop better pops in just over a pot sized bet. I reraise all in and he insta calls with K 4.
turn
BLANK
river
4
What the fuck can you do?
K2 is a hand I'd never ever ever usually be playing in any circumstances - but when that shit gets dealt out to you with that flop, just what the fuck am I supposed to do? This is a tournament afterall.
My other personal favourite was when blinds were at 100 / 200.
A guy who has raised pretty much every hand decides to raise my blind. I look down to find JJ. I reraise all in and he calls with the new stone cold nuts, A 2 offsuit.
No need to guess what the outcome was, aces came every fucking where and despite the fact that we were both deepstacked and if he lost that hand - he'd be severely in trouble since he only just had me covered and not to mention the fact he wasnt beating ANYTHING.
He still decided to call.
Totally fucked off now. Time to go to work and it will be a welcome break from the sickness.
Thursday 7 June 2007
Business as usual
Nothing really major to shout home about today. The bad run was very short and things have returned back to normal. I played 5 tournaments today and did pretty good. Out of the 5 I placed 3 times cashing in 2nd, 2nd and 1st. The two 2nd place finishes were pretty frustrating as I went into the final 2 with a heavy chip deficit against the chipleader and had to push with trash or get bullied. I chose to push with trash both times and came out with the worst of it as I generally dont ever win 60 / 40's or 70 / 30's regardless of whether or not I am favourite LoL!
I am a bit frustrated by myself though as I entered a tournament above my bankroll whilst I was waiting for another SnG to start at my preferred level [sometimes it can take a while on Pacific] and naturally I was card dead, didn't pickup any hands and the hands I did pickup I didn't hit with. So in short I got shafted.
If it wasn't for this tournament buyin, the day would of been a pretty nice result, its still a good winning day but it could of been 2 buyin's better, had I not been impatient and taken a shot at the bigger buyin tourny. Although last week I did the same thing and ended up winning the bigger buy in tourny. So I guess I was due a slap in the face!
What is encouraging though, is that the play in higher buyin tournies doesn't get any better. Its just sort of the same on Pacific whether your playing $10 SnG's or $100 SnG's. Thats kinda why I like playing tournaments on Pacific.
Good luck at the tables.
I am a bit frustrated by myself though as I entered a tournament above my bankroll whilst I was waiting for another SnG to start at my preferred level [sometimes it can take a while on Pacific] and naturally I was card dead, didn't pickup any hands and the hands I did pickup I didn't hit with. So in short I got shafted.
If it wasn't for this tournament buyin, the day would of been a pretty nice result, its still a good winning day but it could of been 2 buyin's better, had I not been impatient and taken a shot at the bigger buyin tourny. Although last week I did the same thing and ended up winning the bigger buy in tourny. So I guess I was due a slap in the face!
What is encouraging though, is that the play in higher buyin tournies doesn't get any better. Its just sort of the same on Pacific whether your playing $10 SnG's or $100 SnG's. Thats kinda why I like playing tournaments on Pacific.
Good luck at the tables.
Wednesday 6 June 2007
What goes up, must come down.
Everytime I have a good run you can bet your house on the fact that within a few days it will turn extremely sick and thats kinda whats happened today. I mean, I have a larger bankroll now so its alot easier to take but its still complete bullshit. I've bubbled in 2 big MTT's this week with complete setup hands and basically by being card dead all the way through them. This is true in my SnG's too and at the moment I cant see a win coming from anywhere.
In my last SnG of the night I made a great call with a marginal hand only to be rivered and left short stacked only to exit in 4th, when I was a comfortable 2nd although getting involved in this hand was largely due to tiredness and I probably shouldn't even of been playing.
I'm gonna have a big session tomorrow and stick strictly to the SnG grind, hopefully things will turn around and I will be in a good frame of mind to play. a win would largely repair the damage done today but we'll see how it goes tomorrow.
I need sleep now though, going to bed. Night all.
Good luck at the tables!
In my last SnG of the night I made a great call with a marginal hand only to be rivered and left short stacked only to exit in 4th, when I was a comfortable 2nd although getting involved in this hand was largely due to tiredness and I probably shouldn't even of been playing.
I'm gonna have a big session tomorrow and stick strictly to the SnG grind, hopefully things will turn around and I will be in a good frame of mind to play. a win would largely repair the damage done today but we'll see how it goes tomorrow.
I need sleep now though, going to bed. Night all.
Good luck at the tables!
Monday 4 June 2007
Climbing the ladder
The best part about me moving up levels is that the profit counts for a hell of alot more. I mean, in the past - at my own levels. I'd have a really good day but the profit wouldn't mean much. Now, even a small profitable win is a big day for me, since the payout money is exactly double what I'd get before - when the standard of play isn't any better, if anything - its worse!
Only played 4 tournaments today, all SnG's. I busted out in 2 of them before the money and then managed to finish 1st and 3rd with no notable hands to mention. I could of easily held on for atleast second in the tournament I busted out in 3rd - but I had a strong marginal hand on a safeish board and called a dodgy all in by a dodgy player only to be showed the nuts. Thats they way it goes!
The day turned out to be a nice sized profit, so I think thats it for me today. Todays profit also means I have the bankroll to move up levels again although I dont think I will just yet because I am really anjoying playing the games at my current level.
This week has been kinda crazy for me, I mean - I spend around 4 months trying to move up 1 level and in the space of a week I manage to move up 2 levels. Still, it was long overdue and now I am only 2 levels away from playing in the biggest SnG's around! Well maybe not the crazy 9 seater $5000 buy in SnG's that Poker Stars have. But on the regular every day ladder I am definately well on my way!
Good luck at the tables!
Only played 4 tournaments today, all SnG's. I busted out in 2 of them before the money and then managed to finish 1st and 3rd with no notable hands to mention. I could of easily held on for atleast second in the tournament I busted out in 3rd - but I had a strong marginal hand on a safeish board and called a dodgy all in by a dodgy player only to be showed the nuts. Thats they way it goes!
The day turned out to be a nice sized profit, so I think thats it for me today. Todays profit also means I have the bankroll to move up levels again although I dont think I will just yet because I am really anjoying playing the games at my current level.
This week has been kinda crazy for me, I mean - I spend around 4 months trying to move up 1 level and in the space of a week I manage to move up 2 levels. Still, it was long overdue and now I am only 2 levels away from playing in the biggest SnG's around! Well maybe not the crazy 9 seater $5000 buy in SnG's that Poker Stars have. But on the regular every day ladder I am definately well on my way!
Good luck at the tables!
Saturday 2 June 2007
Starter Motor is knackered!
Played 4 tournaments today but never really got going in any of them.
First tourny of the day, $5000 guaranteed on Pacific poker.
Never really got going. Some guy took a badbeat early on and was down to around 270 chips, I'm in the big blind with 99 the very next hand and he has pushed from early position. Everyone folds to me and I have to call. I haven't played a hand yet and am still holding my starting stack of around 1200. Anyway, he ends up hitting a straight and its all down hill from there.
Second tourny of the day was a SnG at my new level!
Well, since I moved up levels I was expecting a higher level of competition. How wrong could I be? The quality was shocking. Anyway, there was a guy on the table playing like a complete idiot but hitting everything. Within the first two levels he had knocked out 4 people and we were already down to 6. I pickup 10 10 in the big blind and I get two limpers including the small blind, so I just check it hoping to find a nice flop.
Flop comes, 9 5 2 rainbow. The table maniac raises, so I reraise [expecting him to put me all in since this is how he has played every hand] he oliges and pops it all in. He has A9. I bet you can guess the outcome?
Turn Ace
River BLANK and i'm out in 5th, what can you do?
Third tourny of the day I decided to play another SnG.
Again the standard at my new level was appauling and I manage to grind my way up to taking 2nd before I get shafted headsup.
Fourth tourny of the day I decide to play a good value $1000 guaranteed MTT tourny.
Well I made the final table and finished in 8th but to cut a long story short. Two hands which were almost identical ruined me. It was another tough tourny where I had to grind my way up only to be inevitably shot down. I am sat there with 6000 chips, a guy in middle position raises 3 times the BB. I find QQ in the big blind, I reraise all in with blinds at 100/200. Naturally he has AA and I am down to 3000 chips.
Then, I spend the next hour grinding my way backup to 8000 chips on the final table only to find 10 10 in middle position with the blinds crippling at 250/500. I figure, I cant raise here because it would leave me with nothing and I'd have no idea where I was if someone push back at me - so I popped it all in and ran into AA in the big blind AGAIN.
Standard.
Still, it was a winning day nonetheless - even if not a very big winning day and I'm not a million miles away from moving up levels again so we'll see how it goes! Good luck at the tables!
First tourny of the day, $5000 guaranteed on Pacific poker.
Never really got going. Some guy took a badbeat early on and was down to around 270 chips, I'm in the big blind with 99 the very next hand and he has pushed from early position. Everyone folds to me and I have to call. I haven't played a hand yet and am still holding my starting stack of around 1200. Anyway, he ends up hitting a straight and its all down hill from there.
Second tourny of the day was a SnG at my new level!
Well, since I moved up levels I was expecting a higher level of competition. How wrong could I be? The quality was shocking. Anyway, there was a guy on the table playing like a complete idiot but hitting everything. Within the first two levels he had knocked out 4 people and we were already down to 6. I pickup 10 10 in the big blind and I get two limpers including the small blind, so I just check it hoping to find a nice flop.
Flop comes, 9 5 2 rainbow. The table maniac raises, so I reraise [expecting him to put me all in since this is how he has played every hand] he oliges and pops it all in. He has A9. I bet you can guess the outcome?
Turn Ace
River BLANK and i'm out in 5th, what can you do?
Third tourny of the day I decided to play another SnG.
Again the standard at my new level was appauling and I manage to grind my way up to taking 2nd before I get shafted headsup.
Fourth tourny of the day I decide to play a good value $1000 guaranteed MTT tourny.
Well I made the final table and finished in 8th but to cut a long story short. Two hands which were almost identical ruined me. It was another tough tourny where I had to grind my way up only to be inevitably shot down. I am sat there with 6000 chips, a guy in middle position raises 3 times the BB. I find QQ in the big blind, I reraise all in with blinds at 100/200. Naturally he has AA and I am down to 3000 chips.
Then, I spend the next hour grinding my way backup to 8000 chips on the final table only to find 10 10 in middle position with the blinds crippling at 250/500. I figure, I cant raise here because it would leave me with nothing and I'd have no idea where I was if someone push back at me - so I popped it all in and ran into AA in the big blind AGAIN.
Standard.
Still, it was a winning day nonetheless - even if not a very big winning day and I'm not a million miles away from moving up levels again so we'll see how it goes! Good luck at the tables!
Back once again like the Renegade Master
Well, after May's sickness - I decided to take a long break from Poker. I took two weeks out [which is quite a long time for me considering I partly rely on Poker to pay the bills] mainly because the beats I was taking were beyond odd defying or sick - they were downright suspicious.
Anyway, I came back to the tables a few days ago, fresh to take on the world and its basically been business as usual, in a good way! Back to how I used to be where I grinded out a nice steady profit and SnG's.
But dont get me wrong. I'm a tournament player and I was never in this game to hang about grinding it out in SnG's for my entire Poker career. Multi table tournaments are where its at for me and dreams of winning big events like the World Series are strong for me.
My problem is, recently I have needed all the money I make from SnG's, so I haven't been playing many tournaments. The other night I decided to play a big tournament for the first time in a while, well I only went and bloody won it!
It was undoubtedly the toughest tournament I have ever played in. Nearly everytime I end up on the final table of a tournament, its because I have hit the right hands at the right time. This tournament was COMPLETELY different. It was so damn tough. I didn't pickup a hand in the first hour and if it wasn't a deep stack tourny I would of been finished. Then, as the blinds started getting crippling and people started making mistakes due to the pressure - I was just able to take down pots with marginal hands and generally out play people.
Consistently got my money in when in front and before I knew where we were I was in the money! However going into the final table I was the short stack, my main goal was just to get my chips in when in front and look to push with big hands and double through. Well, I did and kept doing it all the way to the chiplead!
To put things into perspective this tournament was so tough, that at the first break the guy I eliminated in 5th had 13000 chips when I had a mere 1500 when our starting stack was 2500. So it was a win I was well and truely proud of. I had to work hard for it and it definately hit home to me that poker was all about the skill as opposed to the luck - although it might not always seem that way!
Anyway, this prize money allows me to move up levels in Sit n Go tournaments and it will also allow me to play alot more Multi table tournaments which is great. Hopefully it will be the catalyst to spur me onto greater things.
Here's hoping!
Good luck at the tables!
Anyway, I came back to the tables a few days ago, fresh to take on the world and its basically been business as usual, in a good way! Back to how I used to be where I grinded out a nice steady profit and SnG's.
But dont get me wrong. I'm a tournament player and I was never in this game to hang about grinding it out in SnG's for my entire Poker career. Multi table tournaments are where its at for me and dreams of winning big events like the World Series are strong for me.
My problem is, recently I have needed all the money I make from SnG's, so I haven't been playing many tournaments. The other night I decided to play a big tournament for the first time in a while, well I only went and bloody won it!
It was undoubtedly the toughest tournament I have ever played in. Nearly everytime I end up on the final table of a tournament, its because I have hit the right hands at the right time. This tournament was COMPLETELY different. It was so damn tough. I didn't pickup a hand in the first hour and if it wasn't a deep stack tourny I would of been finished. Then, as the blinds started getting crippling and people started making mistakes due to the pressure - I was just able to take down pots with marginal hands and generally out play people.
Consistently got my money in when in front and before I knew where we were I was in the money! However going into the final table I was the short stack, my main goal was just to get my chips in when in front and look to push with big hands and double through. Well, I did and kept doing it all the way to the chiplead!
To put things into perspective this tournament was so tough, that at the first break the guy I eliminated in 5th had 13000 chips when I had a mere 1500 when our starting stack was 2500. So it was a win I was well and truely proud of. I had to work hard for it and it definately hit home to me that poker was all about the skill as opposed to the luck - although it might not always seem that way!
Anyway, this prize money allows me to move up levels in Sit n Go tournaments and it will also allow me to play alot more Multi table tournaments which is great. Hopefully it will be the catalyst to spur me onto greater things.
Here's hoping!
Good luck at the tables!
Thursday 17 May 2007
Nah, it didn't change
My luck was about as far away from changing as it could possibly be.
It just got sicker, thats why I haven't been posting. I decided to take a week long break from the tables and come back stronger. I'll play a few games tonight and hopefully it will be business as usualy. I am gonna move my money around a little bit and play on different sites though. If I do that, I surely cant hit another brick wall like what I hit this past fortnight.
Anyway, it was one horrific beat which led to me taking time out. This is how the hand went...
After a dissasterous two weeks at the tournament tables, I sit down with the maximum buyin for a cash session.
FIRST HAND IN I GET DEALT 99 in the big blind.
Guy in early position raises to 4 times the Big Blind.
7 CALLERS - YES CHILDREN, 7 CALLERS.
Already I can feel a badbeat but nothing would prepare me for what was about to happen.
Flop comes:
3 9 10 RAINBOW.
Great, I've hit a set and the only hand I am worried about here is 10 10. When there are 8 people in a hand this is a very definately possibility. But theres no way I am folding this in a cash game.
I check and wait for the continuation bet. The initial raiser obliges and pops in a nice sized pot sized bet. Everyone folds except for one guy who reraises minimum [which is quite a big raise due to the pot size]
I now naturally push and shove it all in. They both call.
I should be looking to treble up now right?
WRONG.
Turn 3
River K
What do they have?
Well one guy had AK [the initial raiser] and made the most dumbass all in call of all time. He had absolutely nothing but rivered a pair of Kings. No good against my set.
What did the other guy have?
3 FUCKING 3, he turned 4 of a kind on my ass.
The very nature of this beat was enough to put me on tilt for about a year. I thought I'd beaten tilt, until I played this hand. I was livid. Tilt was live and well in my blood.
I turned the computer off and haven't been back to the tables since, hence the lack of updates!
2 outers, 3 outers, 4 outers. They are bad but I can take them. But 1 outers, when I have you dominated and its for my entire stack when I should be TREBLING UP? Are you fucking kidding me?
Last time I took a beat like that was on Ladjokes about a year ago and I haven't played there since. I can see the pattern recurring as I swiftly withdrew the rest of my money and am now looking to switch it to some other sites.
I'll let you know how my first session of the new beginning goes soon!
It just got sicker, thats why I haven't been posting. I decided to take a week long break from the tables and come back stronger. I'll play a few games tonight and hopefully it will be business as usualy. I am gonna move my money around a little bit and play on different sites though. If I do that, I surely cant hit another brick wall like what I hit this past fortnight.
Anyway, it was one horrific beat which led to me taking time out. This is how the hand went...
After a dissasterous two weeks at the tournament tables, I sit down with the maximum buyin for a cash session.
FIRST HAND IN I GET DEALT 99 in the big blind.
Guy in early position raises to 4 times the Big Blind.
7 CALLERS - YES CHILDREN, 7 CALLERS.
Already I can feel a badbeat but nothing would prepare me for what was about to happen.
Flop comes:
3 9 10 RAINBOW.
Great, I've hit a set and the only hand I am worried about here is 10 10. When there are 8 people in a hand this is a very definately possibility. But theres no way I am folding this in a cash game.
I check and wait for the continuation bet. The initial raiser obliges and pops in a nice sized pot sized bet. Everyone folds except for one guy who reraises minimum [which is quite a big raise due to the pot size]
I now naturally push and shove it all in. They both call.
I should be looking to treble up now right?
WRONG.
Turn 3
River K
What do they have?
Well one guy had AK [the initial raiser] and made the most dumbass all in call of all time. He had absolutely nothing but rivered a pair of Kings. No good against my set.
What did the other guy have?
3 FUCKING 3, he turned 4 of a kind on my ass.
The very nature of this beat was enough to put me on tilt for about a year. I thought I'd beaten tilt, until I played this hand. I was livid. Tilt was live and well in my blood.
I turned the computer off and haven't been back to the tables since, hence the lack of updates!
2 outers, 3 outers, 4 outers. They are bad but I can take them. But 1 outers, when I have you dominated and its for my entire stack when I should be TREBLING UP? Are you fucking kidding me?
Last time I took a beat like that was on Ladjokes about a year ago and I haven't played there since. I can see the pattern recurring as I swiftly withdrew the rest of my money and am now looking to switch it to some other sites.
I'll let you know how my first session of the new beginning goes soon!
Thursday 10 May 2007
Am I turning the corner?
Although today was a tough day, it was also a winning day. I ended the day 3 buyin's up and although I am still around 2 buyin's down for this week - I do feel like I am starting to turn the corner. Today was a tough session and in two tournaments I played badly, plain and simple. I made 2 bad calls for all my chips in each case and exited both times before the money. Incidently today I have bubbled twice finishing in 4th. I haven't finished 4th once since starting this blog and I forgot how much I hated finishing just outside the money! Theres nothing worse!
I've also closed the deal twice today by finishing first although admittedly I went into both heads up encounters as a massive chipleader. Instead of trying to bust them out I waiting until I could trap and then finish the job and this worked in both cases, so for at least a little while I'm gonna try the softly softly approach heads up so long as the blinds are low enough to permit this!
Good luck at the tables!
I've also closed the deal twice today by finishing first although admittedly I went into both heads up encounters as a massive chipleader. Instead of trying to bust them out I waiting until I could trap and then finish the job and this worked in both cases, so for at least a little while I'm gonna try the softly softly approach heads up so long as the blinds are low enough to permit this!
Good luck at the tables!
Wednesday 9 May 2007
Tuesday 8 May 2007
HOW MUCH?
It was the first day of my new week today and after a great week last week, I sat down full of optimism, ready for the daily grind. What proceeded to happen over the course of the next 3 hours can only be described as complete and utter fucking bollocks.
Basically, I got nailed from every single angle in every single way. I went on a 12 GAME LOSING STREAK. HOW MUCH? Yeh, thats right - my biggest losing streak of all time. So in the space of 8 days, I go from my biggest winning week to my biggest losing DAY. What a load of bollocks. It was by no means my worst monetary losing day, but for complete and utter odd defying bullshit it was my worst tourny day.
I dont have blow ups anymore, I beat them a long time ago. Or so I thought. For the first time in months today I was pushed over the edge. Lets just say my knuckles and the walls are sore tonight! This is how it went:
I would play 3 tournaments, get fucked in all of them in various different ways. Take a 2 hour break, come back full of optimism, play another 3 tournaments and get fucked in those aswell. Repeat this process 4 TIMES. HOW MUCH?
dhskldhfsklhfskljkghjksdhshdfls
AND YOU HAVE MY DAY TODAY.
Anyway, needless to say, the bullshit drifted away and the odds started to hold up and I turned a 12 buyin deficit to just a 5 buyin deficit.
A losing day and in alot of ways it feels better than a winning day! Its my first losing day in over a week and although its not great, it could of been alot worse if I would of jacked it in at tea time for the day.
I lost 12 consecutive tournaments, not finishing in the money once and then hit this run...
2nd, 2nd, 2nd and 1st. Work that out, 12 loses on the bounce and then 4 money placings on the bounce. I must be doing something right! Ohh yeh and incase your wondering - I got my money in when in front in all 2nd place finishes but naturally I got fucked from a different angle headsup and was outdrawn on the turn and river everytime.
Sick, sick, SiCk. Why do I do it to myself?
Good luck at the tables, you'll fucking need it!
SDJFHSJKFHSJKFSJKGFSKGFSJKGASDFAWIOPUHASK
Basically, I got nailed from every single angle in every single way. I went on a 12 GAME LOSING STREAK. HOW MUCH? Yeh, thats right - my biggest losing streak of all time. So in the space of 8 days, I go from my biggest winning week to my biggest losing DAY. What a load of bollocks. It was by no means my worst monetary losing day, but for complete and utter odd defying bullshit it was my worst tourny day.
I dont have blow ups anymore, I beat them a long time ago. Or so I thought. For the first time in months today I was pushed over the edge. Lets just say my knuckles and the walls are sore tonight! This is how it went:
I would play 3 tournaments, get fucked in all of them in various different ways. Take a 2 hour break, come back full of optimism, play another 3 tournaments and get fucked in those aswell. Repeat this process 4 TIMES. HOW MUCH?
dhskldhfsklhfskljkghjksdhshdfls
AND YOU HAVE MY DAY TODAY.
Anyway, needless to say, the bullshit drifted away and the odds started to hold up and I turned a 12 buyin deficit to just a 5 buyin deficit.
A losing day and in alot of ways it feels better than a winning day! Its my first losing day in over a week and although its not great, it could of been alot worse if I would of jacked it in at tea time for the day.
I lost 12 consecutive tournaments, not finishing in the money once and then hit this run...
2nd, 2nd, 2nd and 1st. Work that out, 12 loses on the bounce and then 4 money placings on the bounce. I must be doing something right! Ohh yeh and incase your wondering - I got my money in when in front in all 2nd place finishes but naturally I got fucked from a different angle headsup and was outdrawn on the turn and river everytime.
Sick, sick, SiCk. Why do I do it to myself?
Good luck at the tables, you'll fucking need it!
SDJFHSJKFHSJKFSJKGFSKGFSJKGASDFAWIOPUHASK
Monday 7 May 2007
End of the week!
Most poker players that I read about tend to split their playing periods up into months, but I prefer to break them up into weeks so I can set myself fresh targets regularly and put bad weeks behind me. In terms of success - this week has been very good. My weekly target is to be 10 tournament buyin's up at the SnG level I play. This week I doubled this and ended up 20 tournament buy in's up.
Within the next few weeks I will look towards going back and working towards the Badbeat sponsorship deal but I am looking to move up a few tournament levels first to allow me to have a shot at some big tournaments. The Poker Stars sunday million and daily Mansion poker 100k guaranteed are looking really appealing at the moment and my bankroll isn't too far off being able to enter them on a regular basis! If I have half the week I had this week I can move up levels by next week - so here's hoping! I just hope the bullshit is kept to a minimum!
Good luck at the tables!
Within the next few weeks I will look towards going back and working towards the Badbeat sponsorship deal but I am looking to move up a few tournament levels first to allow me to have a shot at some big tournaments. The Poker Stars sunday million and daily Mansion poker 100k guaranteed are looking really appealing at the moment and my bankroll isn't too far off being able to enter them on a regular basis! If I have half the week I had this week I can move up levels by next week - so here's hoping! I just hope the bullshit is kept to a minimum!
Good luck at the tables!
Saturday 5 May 2007
What goes around comes around!
Had a tough day today on the tournament tables. Managed to grind out a small profit but at one point I was heavily down. Didn't find more than 5 playable hands in about 150 hands spread over 3 tournaments at one point, resulting in me pushing with trash and busting out on all occasions. The odds started to hold up though as soon as I started picking up hands and in the end I managed to turn around a 5 buyin deficit to end up just about in profit for the day.
5 winning days in a row now and even though today has been very demanding - a profit is still a profit. Think I will take a day off tomorrow as my brain is frazzled. Its been a successful week but a tough one and with 2 days of the poker week left to play - I think i'm gonna take a day off and then go for the sprint finish on Sunday night. Lets hope the poker gods cooperate!
5 winning days in a row now and even though today has been very demanding - a profit is still a profit. Think I will take a day off tomorrow as my brain is frazzled. Its been a successful week but a tough one and with 2 days of the poker week left to play - I think i'm gonna take a day off and then go for the sprint finish on Sunday night. Lets hope the poker gods cooperate!
Thursday 3 May 2007
In the money!
One way tournament players measure their success is through calculating the % of times they finish "in the money" in a tournament. On Pacific Poker, where I predominantly played tournaments I had an "in the money" percentage of around 42% which was a nice ratio to turn out a steady profit. However I decided to give 9 seater tournaments a try and as a result moved to Poker Stars as I found I was finishing 4th and 5th far too often in 10 seater tournaments.
As a result, this week - my first full week of playing Poker Stars tournaments I have notched up an average 70% in the money ratio! Its been my most profitable week on record and I have already exceeded my weekly target and its only Thursday! We still got 3 days left!
Unless something really bad and twisted happens - this should be a nice week to kick off the climb up the tournament ladder on Poker Stars. I might even give the Sunday millions a go if I am home from work in time! $250000 would go down nicely right about now!
Also, the sponsorship company [http://www.badbeat.com] contacted me today and offered me a chance to become a sponsored candidate for tournaments - but unfortunately I still have to play on one of their designated sites. So for now I will have to put that on ice, although ultimately - working with Badbeat is what I am aiming for by the end of the year at the very latest. They are a great company full of great people and stand for everything I stand for in poker....
As a result, this week - my first full week of playing Poker Stars tournaments I have notched up an average 70% in the money ratio! Its been my most profitable week on record and I have already exceeded my weekly target and its only Thursday! We still got 3 days left!
Unless something really bad and twisted happens - this should be a nice week to kick off the climb up the tournament ladder on Poker Stars. I might even give the Sunday millions a go if I am home from work in time! $250000 would go down nicely right about now!
Also, the sponsorship company [http://www.badbeat.com] contacted me today and offered me a chance to become a sponsored candidate for tournaments - but unfortunately I still have to play on one of their designated sites. So for now I will have to put that on ice, although ultimately - working with Badbeat is what I am aiming for by the end of the year at the very latest. They are a great company full of great people and stand for everything I stand for in poker....
Tuesday 1 May 2007
Home Sweet Home!
After moving back to Poker Stars and Full Tilt, I have put the horrendous cash sessions in gamblers paradise behind me. Played some soft cash games on Full Tilt and walked away with 80 big blinds in profit. Then jumped over to Poker Stars to play in a 9 seater tournament. I won that and a good end to a hard days work at the tables leaves me wondering why I ever left my comfort zone in the first place.
Back on Full Tilt and Stars it was a breath of fresh air to play pots without 9 people in the hand and actually watch people fold to your raises and re raises! I was able to play position, steal pots and play aggressive effectively without fear of getting totally destroyed at any given moment by some odd defying bull shit hand because someone didn't know what they were doing.
Whoever said it was easiest to turn out a profit against bad players was clearly very naive or an alcoholic! I invite anyone with any knowledge of the game to try and make a profit in these crazy cash games situated on gambling companies gaming websites! Its pure sickness, so for now I am staying put!
Back on Full Tilt and Stars it was a breath of fresh air to play pots without 9 people in the hand and actually watch people fold to your raises and re raises! I was able to play position, steal pots and play aggressive effectively without fear of getting totally destroyed at any given moment by some odd defying bull shit hand because someone didn't know what they were doing.
Whoever said it was easiest to turn out a profit against bad players was clearly very naive or an alcoholic! I invite anyone with any knowledge of the game to try and make a profit in these crazy cash games situated on gambling companies gaming websites! Its pure sickness, so for now I am staying put!
Monday 30 April 2007
Gamblers Paradise
Since I started playing poker around two years ago, I have played on all the main sites and one thing has come clearly apparent to me. If you want to play poker, play on the poker sites. If you want to gamble, go to the likes of Ladbrokes, Betfair or William hill to play poker. The difference in the games are actually quite ridiculous. Go to PokerStars.com and expect a good game of poker. Go to Ladbrokespoker.com and expect to lose all your money - fast.
Unfortunately. The poker sites affiliated with the sponsorship company - dont quite suite my playing style. It makes it very hard for a poker player to play poker on a site full of people who dont know what they are doing. So I withdrew the rest of my money that I had on Betfair and have moved back to Poker Stars, where I can continue my assault on the tournament ladder.
I will go back to the sponsorship company eventually if they include more sites in their deal such as Full Tilt Poker or Poker Stars where I know I can turn out a profit. But until then - I'm a lone soldier again. I will keep you posted!
Unfortunately. The poker sites affiliated with the sponsorship company - dont quite suite my playing style. It makes it very hard for a poker player to play poker on a site full of people who dont know what they are doing. So I withdrew the rest of my money that I had on Betfair and have moved back to Poker Stars, where I can continue my assault on the tournament ladder.
I will go back to the sponsorship company eventually if they include more sites in their deal such as Full Tilt Poker or Poker Stars where I know I can turn out a profit. But until then - I'm a lone soldier again. I will keep you posted!
Friday 27 April 2007
Journey into Badbeat
I've now been playing poker online for a two and a half years and despite any large financial trophies to highlight any achievements I have considered myself to be an above average player. Recently I embarked upon playing for a sponsorship deal, so thought it would be interesting to document my journey in this blog for other aspiring players.
I've been playing for a few days now, under the sponsorship deal and have just about recorded a profit after a tough few days at the tables! They have been so tough that some losing days have felt like winning days after losses have been largely recouped! This certainly wont be easy to achieve my goal, but like anything. You have to work hard for what you want in life and a shot at the poker bigtime is definately worth fighting for. Even if low limit cash games are like tap dancing in a minefield much of the time!
I've been playing for a few days now, under the sponsorship deal and have just about recorded a profit after a tough few days at the tables! They have been so tough that some losing days have felt like winning days after losses have been largely recouped! This certainly wont be easy to achieve my goal, but like anything. You have to work hard for what you want in life and a shot at the poker bigtime is definately worth fighting for. Even if low limit cash games are like tap dancing in a minefield much of the time!
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