I suppose 1 more doesn't matter

PokerStars Game #7242205228: Tournament #36590242, $5.00+$0.50 Hold'em No Limit - Level VIII (200/400) - 2006/11/30 - 17:29:13 (ET)
Table '36590242 5' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: badabing777 (4600 in chips)
Seat 2: The69Mets (4150 in chips)
Seat 3: orian_sharp (15450 in chips)
Seat 4: elusively (6425 in chips)
Seat 5: Seejay (12015 in chips)
Seat 7: vladmonster (10050 in chips)
Seat 8: Graham0573 (7650 in chips)
Seat 9: amory70 (20615 in chips)
badabing777: posts the ante 25
The69Mets: posts the ante 25
orian_sharp: posts the ante 25
elusively: posts the ante 25
Seejay: posts the ante 25
vladmonster: posts the ante 25
Graham0573: posts the ante 25
amory70: posts the ante 25
Graham0573: posts small blind 200
amory70: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Graham0573 [Qs Ac]
badabing777: folds
The69Mets: folds
orian_sharp: raises 1200 to 1600
elusively: calls 1600
Seejay: folds
vladmonster: folds
Graham0573: raises 6025 to 7625 and is all-in
amory70: folds
orian_sharp: folds
elusively: calls 4800 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [Ts 2d Ks]
*** TURN *** [Ts 2d Ks] [7s]
elusively said, "j"
elusively said, "j"
elusively said, "j"
*** RIVER *** [Ts 2d Ks 7s] [2h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Graham0573: shows [Qs Ac] (a pair of Deuces)
elusively: shows [Th Ad] (two pair, Tens and Deuces)
elusively collected 15000 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 15000 | Rake 0
Board [Ts 2d Ks 7s 2h]
Seat 1: badabing777 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: The69Mets folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: orian_sharp folded before Flop
Seat 4: elusively showed [Th Ad] and won (15000) with two pair, Tens and Deuces
Seat 5: Seejay folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: vladmonster (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Graham0573 (small blind) showed [Qs Ac] and lost with a pair of Deuces
Seat 9: amory70 (big blind) folded before Flop

BOLLOCKS, what do I have to do! Go in with crap by the looks of it

Why does everyone have to call me?

After getting nothing for the first 45 mins of the Crypto £8k, I get AQ utg and raise to 150 (3xbb) 1 caller from the cut off. Flop comes 9 rag K, I make a continuation bet of the pot (350) and he reraises me! I move all in, he shows 9T!!!!!! Even 9 bloody ten is calling me and beating me. The King didn't scare him, the crap kicker didn't scare him, the preflop raise didn't bother him!

Been the story of the day and I'm feeling sorry for myself now :(

Monkeys at low levels

Playing an $3 triple shootout to the $1m on Stars and there's two mateyboys that are happy to move all in for 30 chips (SB & BB so yes, 1st level still) I comment that it's not the best play in the world and they're all "ooo what's your book called" and "call then, it's only a bluff" crap like that. Anyway, I do call one of the MB's, take all his chips and am looking good. I take down a couple more and I'm heads up on the first table with over 5k in chips and MB has 2k ish. He moves all with AT preflop and I call with AQs. Needless to say he hits a ten. Now the blinds are only 50/100 at this point - it was a big move imo. The later, I have AA on an 6T22 board, he bets, I move all in, he's got AT and hits another ten on the river, game over. Then, he says "gg" to me. OK it's polite but it wasn't, he got damn lucky, twice so I told him. "BS, you're just not as good as you think you are" was the comment. Now, I was only pointing out earlier that moving all in for 50 chips or so isn't the best idea in the world. When I took MB1 out with a straight to his pair of 7's (7 was the low card on the board btw) I would have assumed that my point was valid. Also, he said that he could read my game and that's how he won! What he read that I played solid hands only and he still moved all in with a pair of tens! I didn't play one hand bad in the game but he wouldn't have that he got lucky.

I'm done with the small stakes mtt's. Last night I played for about 4 hours for a measly $7. I'd rather play less of them and be more choosy in those I do play. It's not the bad play I mind, it's when you comment and they don't get the idea and think they've outplayed you. It's also the money. In a mtt, unless you make top 7, there's not the money to justify it.

Damn, and I've just had a 0-0 in the +1 goal betting :(

Feeling sorry for myself

Went out in an omaha tourney on Stars when my trip queens lost to trip kings, then my full house lost to a better full house. Final hand of that, my Q high flush lost to an ace high flush. Made the final table of the sat to the 8k on Crypto, went out in 7th. Played a triple shootout to the $1m on Stars, move in on Ace Rag Rag board with AQ, MB with A8 calls and hits an 8 on the turn. Lost large percentage of my stack in a £20 mtt trying to bluff a straight on an Ace 2 4 6 board only for MB with pair of aces to keep calling me, then went out with T5 on a 6 8 T board when MB called with T8. I only tried the bluff because it was a crappy board and I was getting blinded away. The Poker Gods seem to be giving me decent hands at the start of tourneys at the moment then nothing for hour. I think they are testing me. My mtt game is pretty good at the moment but perhaps my patience needs working on. How long can a man go in an online tournament without trying to make a move? A bit longer aapparently.

The missus is out tonight so it's poker again (well it would be anyway) Hopefully I'll do better later.

Didn't manage any joy in the $35k guaranteed but still in the $8 mtt and doing ok

Nice hand

Not had anything for ages now, since the last break at least so that's 50 mins. It's been fold fold fold. Anyway, just gave away 14k in chips :(

Gah made a move against a short stack, only to run into AA!

Damn, what's up with pokerhand these days??

BOLLOCKS!!! Just folded AJ on the turn, A7 won it :( Just high card ace

Made the 3rd break with 20k, average is now 36k. 38 left. Really could use some hands now please Poker Gods

They listened

but not for long. Main devour of my chips came with me holding pocket tens. Someone raised 6k, 1 caller and then I called from the big blind. The flop came K 6 4 and I've bet 12k. Original raiser folds, Mateyboy moves all in for another 30kish and I folded. I think the right move would have been to fold preflop. He's obviously showed strength by just calling, then to reraise me isn't a good sign. I guess he could have had AA, KK, AK, AJ, KQ, KT. either way, I think I was behind and the only way out of it would have been to move all in preflop, but then it could have all been over. Folding was the correct move I'm pretty sure and I didn't do it.

Ended up in 25th out of 909 runners. I was in 2nd and 3rd spots for quite a while but I seem not to be able to manage a large stack. It's something I need to work on.

Some quite bad play by me in cash games tonight. I don't think I'd have got away from the Full House loss but other than that, I've made some bad calls/plays. I've only won 12 out of 23 pots at showdown tonight. I'm usually tighter than that and have a high percentage here of around 80 upwards. Also played too many crappy hands and the net result is that I'm down about $100 tonight.

I've got a late start in the morning, but I'm stopping at 2am (15 mins). Not been the best of nights really.

Cash hand that was sick

PokerStars Game #7200002977: Hold'em No Limit ($0.50/$1.00) - 2006/11/27 - 16:26:51 (ET)
Table 'Goto' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: CK the 1 ($48.75 in chips)
Seat 2: Hunt_18 ($43.35 in chips)
Seat 3: LuckyAce1522 ($36.55 in chips)
Seat 5: Graham0573 ($58.90 in chips)
Seat 7: allinal24 ($109.30 in chips)
Graham0573: posts small blind $0.50
allinal24: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Graham0573 [Js Jh]
CK the 1: raises $3 to $4
Hunt_18: folds
LuckyAce1522: folds
Graham0573: calls $3.50
allinal24: folds
*** FLOP *** [Qc Qd Jc]
Graham0573: checks
CK the 1: checks
*** TURN *** [Qc Qd Jc] [9d]
Graham0573: bets $3
CK the 1: calls $3
*** RIVER *** [Qc Qd Jc 9d] [2s]
Graham0573: bets $8
CK the 1: raises $22 to $30
Graham0573: raises $21.90 to $51.90 and is all-in
CK the 1: calls $11.75 and is all-in
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Graham0573: shows [Js Jh] (a full house, Jacks full of Queens)
CK the 1: shows [Qh Qs] (four of a kind, Queens)
CK the 1 collected $96.50 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $98.50 | Rake $2
Board [Qc Qd Jc 9d 2s]
Seat 1: CK the 1 showed [Qh Qs] and won ($96.50) with four of a kind, Queens
Seat 2: Hunt_18 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: LuckyAce1522 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Graham0573 (small blind) showed [Js Jh] and lost with a full house, Jacks full of Queens
Seat 7: allinal24 (big blind) folded before Flop


Then in a sat to the $1m on Stars, I lost with another full house with 66 on a T6644 board to mateyboy holding TT :(

Not a bad day again. Not good for sports betting. I decided to try and make some 'easy' NFL money but when Giants lost from 21-0 up in the 4th, lost 21-24! it was a bit of a setback.

Poker went well though. Played in a £2k guaranteed on Crypto and made the final table finishing 6th (I think) for £80. Also got £18 in the Payday thing that UK betting are doing (not much but profit nevertheless). Played a $50 mtt on Stars and didn't cash but managed to get to 144th out of 707. I need to improve my game at this level though. I seem to try and get in a few of pots and then get raised then have to fold - mugged all the time towards the end. I'll work on it. Playing cash games I made the money back though so overall not a bad day :)

Not so good in the cricket. I'm praying for rain but it's not due till late in the afternoon and I suspect we'll be all out by then.

Come on England!

Quite a nice day really. I stayed up playing poker again whilst watching the first session of the Test match (not going well, I've finally conceded we've lost!). Anyway, it started off poor and I couldn't hit anything, my money went down and I topped up with another $20, then another $20 and I was looking at a $100 loss for the session. Fired up another table with $30 in the hope of playing agressive and getting something back on the new table. The original table started to do things for me and I also finished up a bit on the second table and at the end of things, I'm $40 up! Not a massive profit overall but considering I was nearly $100 down not that long ago it's fantastic! And I won the money back I lost last night this afternoon :) It's been a great day for me really. You wouldn't consider $40 up on this time yesterday a result really but it's fantastic!

And finally my aces pay off!

PokerStars Game #7167935880: Hold'em Pot Limit ($0.50/$1.00) - 2006/11/25 - 10:44:59 (ET)
Table 'Nihal IV' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: Mardagg ($114 in chips)
Seat 2: GatorChas ($70.80 in chips)
Seat 3: Mazeface ($25.35 in chips)
Seat 4: einarth ($67.40 in chips)
Seat 5: Prosper777 ($99 in chips)
Seat 6: Graham0573 ($93.95 in chips)
Seat 7: justtme ($22.05 in chips)
Seat 8: Skyline150 ($57.80 in chips)
Mardagg: posts small blind $0.50
GatorChas: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Graham0573 [As Ac]
Mazeface: raises $2 to $3
einarth: folds
Prosper777: folds
tdbug58 leaves the table
Graham0573: raises $7.50 to $10.50
justtme: folds
Skyline150: calls $10.50
Mardagg: folds
GatorChas: folds
Mazeface: calls $7.50
*** FLOP *** [3s 8h 8d]
Mazeface: checks
Slicker66 joins the table at seat #9
Graham0573: bets $31.35
Skyline150: raises $15.95 to $47.30 and is all-in
Mazeface: calls $14.85 and is all-in
Graham0573: calls $15.95
*** TURN *** [3s 8h 8d] [Kc]
*** RIVER *** [3s 8h 8d Kc] [4d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Graham0573: shows [As Ac] (two pair, Aces and Eights)
Skyline150: shows [Jc Js] (two pair, Jacks and Eights)
Graham0573 collected $64.90 from side pot
Mazeface: mucks hand
Graham0573 collected $74.55 from main pot
Skyline150 leaves the table
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $142.45 Main pot $74.55. Side pot $64.90. | Rake $3
Board [3s 8h 8d Kc 4d]
Seat 1: Mardagg (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: GatorChas (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: Mazeface mucked [Ah Kh]
Seat 4: einarth folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Prosper777 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Graham0573 showed [As Ac] and won ($139.45) with two pair, Aces and Eights
Seat 7: justtme folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Skyline150 (button) showed [Jc Js] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Eights


SHIP IT!

I was nervous that matey with the jacks had kings when one appeared but thankfully the hand paid off.

I thought I had him
PokerStars Game #7159856953: Hold'em No Limit ($0.50/$1.00) - 2006/11/24 - 19:39:05 (ET)
Table 'Adorea III' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: Graham0573 ($31.50 in chips)
Seat 2: speedycarlos ($154.45 in chips)
Seat 3: Turner08 ($118.20 in chips)
Seat 4: MURF99 ($51.50 in chips)
Seat 5: PhilAntropic ($67.10 in chips)
Seat 6: aas0920 ($64.95 in chips)
Seat 7: mrbaldhead1 ($109.25 in chips)
Seat 8: Bunkbeds ($182.65 in chips)
PhilAntropic: posts small blind $0.50
aas0920: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Graham0573 [5c 4c]
mrbaldhead1: calls $1
Bunkbeds: folds
Graham0573: calls $1
speedycarlos: folds
Turner08: calls $1
MURF99: folds
PhilAntropic: calls $0.50
aas0920: checks
*** FLOP *** [4h 4s 8c]
PhilAntropic: checks
aas0920: checks
mrbaldhead1: bets $1
Graham0573: raises $1 to $2
Turner08: folds
PhilAntropic: folds
aas0920: folds
mrbaldhead1: calls $1
*** TURN *** [4h 4s 8c] [Kd]
mrbaldhead1: checks
Graham0573: checks
*** RIVER *** [4h 4s 8c Kd] [2c]
mrbaldhead1: checks
clarice229 leaves the table
Graham0573: bets $4
mrbaldhead1: raises $6 to $10
Graham0573: raises $18.50 to $28.50 and is all-in
mrbaldhead1: calls $18.50
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Graham0573: shows [5c 4c] (three of a kind, Fours)
mrbaldhead1: shows [8h 8s] (a full house, Eights full of Fours)
mrbaldhead1 collected $63 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $66 | Rake $3
Board [4h 4s 8c Kd 2c]
Seat 1: Graham0573 showed [5c 4c] and lost with three of a kind, Fours
Seat 2: speedycarlos folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Turner08 folded on the Flop
Seat 4: MURF99 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: PhilAntropic (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 6: aas0920 (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 7: mrbaldhead1 showed [8h 8s] and won ($63) with a full house, Eights full of Fours
Seat 8: Bunkbeds folded before Flop (didn't bet)


Bastard, I hate lucky bastards like this. He's playing all sorts of crap and getting away with it.

Bastard. Bed time now.

Damn this was annoying. Not only did the idiot reraise me preflop, then he reraise me on the flop with only a bloody draw! I wouldn't have minded too much if he had a hand, but man it was annoying to lose with aces to an unlucky draw. Wanker.
PokerStars Game #7159346967: Hold'em No Limit ($0.50/$1.00) - 2006/11/24 - 19:01:10 (ET)
Table 'Adorea III' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: Graham0573 ($48.30 in chips)
Seat 2: speedycarlos ($125.20 in chips)
Seat 3: Turner08 ($94 in chips)
Seat 5: chienvichai ($101.20 in chips)
Seat 6: jack0hearts ($15.20 in chips)
Seat 7: mrbaldhead1 ($56.95 in chips)
Seat 8: Bunkbeds ($198.65 in chips)
Seat 9: pipeliner711 ($34.95 in chips)
jack0hearts: posts small blind $0.50
mrbaldhead1: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Graham0573 [Ac Ah]
Bunkbeds: folds
pipeliner711: folds
Graham0573: raises $2 to $3
MTHawghunter joins the table at seat #4
speedycarlos: folds
Turner08: folds
chienvichai: folds
jack0hearts: folds
mrbaldhead1: raises $2 to $5
Graham0573: raises $2 to $7
mrbaldhead1: calls $2
*** FLOP *** [6s Qd Jd]
mrbaldhead1: bets $10
Graham0573: raises $20 to $30
mrbaldhead1: raises $19.95 to $49.95 and is all-in
Graham0573: calls $11.30 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [6s Qd Jd] [8s]
*** RIVER *** [6s Qd Jd 8s] [Qc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
mrbaldhead1: shows [Td 9d] (a straight, Eight to Queen)
Graham0573: mucks hand
mrbaldhead1 collected $94.10 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $97.10 | Rake $3
Board [6s Qd Jd 8s Qc]
Seat 1: Graham0573 mucked [Ac Ah]
Seat 2: speedycarlos folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Turner08 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: chienvichai (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: jack0hearts (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: mrbaldhead1 (big blind) showed [Td 9d] and won ($94.10) with a straight, Eight to Queen
Seat 8: Bunkbeds folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: pipeliner711 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Reloaded with another $50 with a view on getting it back, now he's playing a bit more solid and I'm card dead now.

Not a good day. Had two 0-0's in the footy betting, Ronnie didn't win the snooker and in the poker, I was running well in a mtt but then lost two big hands, once to 93 suited when 3, yes 3 nines turned up on the board, and the other to the massive 32 off suit when the straight hit the flop. Even my exit hand was a bit of a beat when I moved all in with T7 (had no choice) and hit a ten on the flop then caller hit an ace on the river to beat me :( Still, money made again in the tourney and I think I played pretty well again overall, just a bit unlucky. My own fault really for the losses to the 93 and 32 as I should have raised preflop but I didn't like my position. At least a raise would have hopefully got rid of the rubbish. Lesson has been learnt.

Went to see the new James Bond film tonight - Casino Royale. Great film. The new Bond actor is excellent, a proper character suitable for the role. Bond ditches that cheesy smarmy facade that he's had and goes gritty and hard - top stuff and I can't wait for the next one.

Played some more PLHE whilst watching the cricket but the cards aren't coming and I'm down $35 so far but on a postive note, I made another W$175 playing the $5 rebuys. I was CL at one point, then I called a reraise from someone with pocket tens. He held aces and I should have known really. Anyway, that left me in the mix and it was a bit nervy at the crapshoot stage (well, it's all crapshoot) but I came through and the money was added to my W$ pile. Glad I made it as I ended up spending $25 on this and my usual amount is only $15. Was only on 3300 after the add on at the break and really I shouldn't have added on but it turned out nice.

Edit: finished at 2.30 am, was going to go to bed half an hour ago but 'one more round' on the poker table got me and eventually I hit some cards and ended up $10 up overall rather than $50 down.

Great night all in all :)

I did it! Logged on for a sneeky half hour at work, made $40 and earned enough points to get Silver Status on Stars!

Played PLHE tonight and quite enjoyed it. Seemed quite passive preflop (which I definatly like) to start with but people seemed to be playing better. There are still a few dodgy calls obviously but overall, possibly a better game for me.

Helped being up $50 - that made a big change. Only 11 points to go! Going to play a nice mtt with my winnings to get those 11 I think.

My main problem in cash games is that I call big raises with what seems an ok hand but it's not the nuts. Lost my money last night calling with TT on a 7 high board to AA. The $40 raise wasn't enough to put me off and I called. I've just now lost $40 calling an all in with AKs on a JQrag board because the other guy has been playing all sorts of crap (calling a $3 raise with T2o and alike) Why do I assume that I'm going to win? I never do. It's real money too and it's costing me a fortune yet I can't seem to sort it out. I think I don't want to get an image that I can be bullied which is probably a crap excuse.

Made the money in a small mtt last night too which I was pleased with. My exit hand was a bit bad play. I had JJ and about 10k (blinds quite high - all in stages) and a big stack was BB. I only raised to $4k and made it cheap for him to call with A7 and the ace came on the flop but I pushed first. All in preflop was the answer. I may still have lost but at least he wouldn't have been in cheaply.

I'm starting to feel a little hard done by at the moment. I seem to be missing flops with unbelievable regularity at the moment so when one comes along, it's really nice.
My bankroll has dropped a lot in recent times with the cash games so this afternoon, I fancied a change and played the $8 rebuy on Stars. Started off nicely and I trippeled up in the first hand. Made the break on 8k and was plodding along nicely then my KK hit trips on the flop and I doubled up. Moving along nicely until I was in the small blind with 25 off suit. 3 callers to me and only 100 to call a 1k pot, so I'm in.
Wow, I've hit the flop big time. I surely can't fold to one of the big stacks reraise can I?

Gutted doesn't cover it at the moment. I thought I was playing decent poker in this. I don't think the call was a bad one. The raise was just bullying and yet again, the cards seem to favour the big stacks.

Not a particually good couple of sessions recently. Managed to get back all my losses from last week but have lost them back again yesterday and today. Had to stop for the night. I must have missed every flop bar one in which I held KK and a K66 flop and no one was in the pot! Every other flop I saw I missed. It was the same in a multi table I played. I tried to make some moves but having got a kick in the teeth when my TT raise was reraised by JQ off suit and a jack came on the flop. I managed to claw back to a reasonable stack but blew it when my decent preflop hands failed to materialise into anything. Ah well, that's poker!

Started another betting project off. Going to have a bet in every catagory on Betfair. I know very little about the two or three things I do bet on, yet alone all the others. Started with Bandy as I have to wait till the weekend for American Footy and there is no Aussie Rules on at the moment and the bet came in. Basketball tonight too with an NBA match. Quite looking to my 3 month statement in a few weeks and seeing all the catagories there! I'm probably only going to take odds on favourites in each bet though.

I was shown a post from Blonde with my first mtt win in and asked if I'd have expected my game to come along like it has done. It's nearly a year ago now since the first win. My reply was a bit long and winded but I'll post it anyway.

Ah my first mtt win :) That's a nice memorable read, thanks for digging it out. The PRO was good back in them days. I was thinking on how I've developed over the last year not that long ago. I've certainly come a fair way on I think. I used to stick some money in my Betfair account, play a few £1 or £3 stt's and a load of £2 mtt’s, reload once I'd lost it and do it all again. The cash in that mtt meant I didn't ever have to redeposit into Betfair for poker again. I carried on playing the same games and snuck in the odd £5 or £10 mtt and earlier in the year managed to win a £10 mtt which really helped my bankroll along.

Strangely I haven't won that many mtt's. I've managed to cash in quite a few though which is always nice. Not sure why I haven't won many, in fact I haven't even made that many final tables on Stars. My biggest mtt wins seem to come on other networks which is quite annoying as I'd like my bankroll in my Stars account! I'm putting it down to the volume of players that play my tourneys on Stars though. 1200-2000 people playing all sorts of hands is hard to beat. I'm also not a fan of the 20% payout thing - paying 300 people $3 each seems pointless. When I started, I loved it, it was another buy in, but now, it's just taking $900 out of a decent prize fund.

I'm considering playing $20 and $50 mtt's and funding it separately if I don't cash in the first few I play. The cash games have really honed my game. It's made me think a lot more about what I'm playing and why I'm playing it. The thought of losing all that money in a single hand really concentrates my mind. The cash games also go well for my mtt game. The game play needed seems to compliment both games more than playing stt's. I'm not sure I'll go back to stt's now, they don't appeal to me at the moment. I'm enjoying the cash games, they get the heart pumping. I quite often feel my heart rate increasing when there's a nice pot involved. They also don't seem that difficult to make some money out of at the level I'm at. If you play sensible and respect other peoples big raises, you seem to do ok. There doesn't appear to be much bluffing at this level. I'm playing well outside my bankroll though on the 50c/$1 tables. They say you should have around 20 buy ins for cash (or was it 100) anyway, that's $2000+ for the level I'm playing. That would be nice but I've only got $xxxxxish and I only sit down with $xxxx at a time too. It does mean that a bad night will see a massive dip in my account but also a good night sees a huge rise of course. The thought of this a year ago would have been, well unimaginable, I just wouldn't have played cash games.

So I've gone from reloading weekly to play £3 games to not even remembering when I last actually paid money from my bank account to play poker to possibly $50 mtt's and cash games with a $450 EPT sat final on the way!

I guess when you start playing the learning/experience curve is quite steep, then it probably slows down so the next year may not be quite as exciting. For now Silver status is my goal and I should make that this week hopefully. See, there's another thing, when I started on Stars, I perhaps earnt 100 points a month, now I'm doing that a night! Actually, since I started cash games (the last deposit bonus time) I started earning points, so it's still quite new for me.

What does the next year hold? Who knows! I'm going to try and get some more W$ as I’d still love to play an EPT/WPT/WSOP event. I'm just going to store them up for now. If I manage to qualify for one too then that's great but I don't think I'll play any finals for now, I'll take the money probably. I'm going to have a decent bash at higher levels mtt's and continue to play cash games. Hopefully I can increase my account to a couple of thousand and then we'll have another think about goals. I also need to play more live poker but getting the time isn't easy as I'm out a couple of nights a week already and can't leave the missus alone even more! Plus I also have a funny thing in my head that say I want to be playing big events and not £10 rebuys in my local card room. Snobbish perhaps or just stupid. I loved it when I played there last but I really enjoyed the Blonde Bash game with over 100 runners and a couple of big names there etc etc - I want to be on that stage, I just can't afford it! The WSOP next year? I used to laugh at the thought of playing it when I started. Now, well I can't think of a reason why not? I'll certainly be trying to qualify. I don't think qualifying is out of my range. I guess it depends on what the WSOP set up will be next year with the new USA laws. Hopefully it won't be my first proper live major event then either.

Well, that's a load of waffle. I did think a couple of lines would sum it all up but I seem to have gone on for a bit longer and still don't think I've covered it all. I just love playing poker. Even the bad days make me want to play more. I admit my bad days are only losing a couple of buy ins on the cash tables but to me that's still quite a bit of money. I just enjoy it. I wish my wife would play. She doesn't like it and doesn't like all the time I spend playing it. She would like it if I could win a big event though! I'm also paying for a trip to Edinburgh to a mates wedding this weekend through my poker winnings. If she could see more rewards like that coming though then I think she'd be happier. I don't think the laptop I bought recently to play poker on really does it for her! I'd also like to get my couple of mates that play poker more involved but they seem to be happy playing the $1.50 turbos once a week. I can't help but feel I bore the arse of them talking about things a lot. I just don't have anyone to discuss hands with. At the moment, I try telling my little girl - she's only two and doesn't have a clue but she smiles and says 'yes' in the right places :)

I'll finish there, call it part I ;) Bet you wish you'd never asked now!

Final Thought

Perhaps the secret is knowing when to fold.

OK I promised not to moan about bad beat again but this really annoyed me. Well, I say annoyed, but I mean made me tusk! I wouldn't have played A3s yet alone raised with it and I certainly wouldn't have called a raise.

A BAD BEAT

1 Ace left in the pack surely I shouldn't be expected to spot that he had it and fold a full house Aces full of Kings?

I guess it's times like this is the reason that they say you need 100 buy ins for no limit cash games for the level you are play in. Tonight, I just can't catch cards. The best two hands I've had KK and AA, I lost as above with the kings and the aces, some other guy had AA too so we split the pot - and I can't help but feel I was lucky there. Saying that, I've just won a nice pot with QQ but a 999 board appeared and I was a bit anxious to say the least but it couldn't happen twice in a night could it? Thankfully he had pocket 10's and the pot was mine.

I like to think I've got better at ring games but my call of $21 when I held two pairs on a straight board makes me think perhaps I haven't. I certainly have learnt but I get excited with two pairs and think I've won. I don't like to fold all the time because I'd be forever putting hands down to reraises or large bets, but unless I have the nuts, for large bets, I think I'll have to.

There's one guy on $240 and one on $176 and I can't work out how they get that much. I see them playing all sort of things. I think the main thing is that I probably don't bet strong enough. The hand posted is probably a good example of this. I only raised $3 and gave him the odds to call. It's hardly a 'get out of my way punk' raise, probaly more of a trying to steal raise.

Didn't manage to get much of my loss back. It's a small lesson learnt - raise more preflop. I still see it as a bad beat - and a proper one too, but I probably do have myself to blame. It hasn't effected me though which I think is good. I guess it would have been a prime example to go on tilt with but I reloaded after one hand out and carried on. Made it up to $90 before calling that straight (mentioned) and went down a bit, back up to £68 now but will probably call it a day soon.

I like cash games though. I like mtt's too. I'm not so keen on stt's now. I think the cash games and mtt games are going well together for me too. It's made me concentrate more on the mtt's and play stronger. Sometimes I perhaps play too tight though which can be costly but overall, I think my game has improved.

Providing I don't lose to much money getting to Silver status, I'll continue to play 50c/$1 NLHE. I certainly enjoy them and they make you think one hell of a lot - I could use some brain activity, I don't really have that much to concentrate on in my life at the moment. I need to get into the maths side of things more though. Winning (or cashing in) a mtt is such a great feeling and cash games give me that feeling every time I win a nice pot. I can't afford to be putting my entire bankroll at risk for the sake of enjoying a game so if things do go south at a noticable rate, I'll have to cut back. The trouble I have is that I don't want to be playing micro stakes stt's, I want to be playing for some nice money, I just can't afford it lol
It's been a bit of a bad day with me losing a buy in, but it's only happened twice during my attempt to go for Silver. Unfortunatly it's twice in the last two days. I may reload with £100 just to cover it, althogh I still have enough in my account, I Just don't want it to look so small.

I'm still happy though.

Silver is looking an easy target now though. Almost half way there, perhaps I should go for Gold!

.......maybe not

Love it or hate it.

Yesterday, loved it. Lost $60 yesterday in a cash game when my top two pair lost to bottom trips (I so struggle to spot trips) but logged back on about 20 mins later and got most of it back. A session in the evening proved a bit profitable and I ended the day around $20 up.

Just finished a two hour sneeky session on Stars now and couldn't hit cards to save my life. If I called with high cards, low cards on flop, call with low cards, high cards on flop. Anyway, lost the initial $60 with AA to someone that can't put down K 'but it was sooted' 9 to a $5 raise preflop. Bet on the 9 high board and called all in and hit the king on the turn. Reload with $25 more, managed to get back to $50 with full house but not much action, then lose all that with KK when some guy called a $4 raise with 9 8 off suit and hits J T 7 flop! How the hell am I supposed to put him on 98 off suit? I know they're bad beat moans but I have had 3 decent hands all session and lost all the bloody money on them to what I would consider bad play preflop. 53 points earned. Now need 1009 points to make silver.

50p

And another good night! Played some more cash in my attempt for silver status and managed to get a $46 profit for the night and 113 points in the process! I know it's not big bucks but like I said yesterday, profit is profit. I'm not a big cash game player, I get nervous getting involved with $20 pots so coming away even but with points towards the target is brilliant and makes me happy. I guess it's like all things, once you get used to it, you get less nervous. I don't mind betting £90 on 1 goal or more to win a few quid now, a few months ago the very thought of betting that much would make me feel ill (I still get nervous when it's 0-0 at half time though!) Anyway, my point is that I only used to bet £2 a bash, now I am happy betting more, hopefully the cash games will be like that too. I've only been playing them for a couple of months now so hopefully it will get a bit easier to play for me.

Anyway, not only that but my little $5 rebuy to the WPT $175DS sat also came up trumps again - two nights on the trot - another $175 for my W$ account! Was a bit nervous in the end as the blinds were on 10k/20k and I had 19k on my BB, but luckily the J8 off suit I held was enough to share a pot and kept me in. It's very nervous at the bubble time in these, the blinds are massive and anyone can go out. Luckily people generally fold but tonight I went from 6th (out of 18) to being all in just because of the big blind. Crazy times, but $350 in two days from it - over $300 profit from this alone. Not sure what I'm going to do with the W$'s yet but I'll think of something at some point, the WSOP is how many months away ;o)

The weekend ended quite nicely with a 3rd spot in a small mtt taking £120 (pounds makes a change!) and I also made 5th for $85 in a $3 rebuy speed donkfest earlier in the day. Played 50c/$1 nl cash again for a bit and made a small profit again. I've decided that I may have a bash at going for Silver on Stars this month and I'd need to play 50c/$1 nl cash in order to do this so any profit is good, breaking even is good but I'm sure with rock solid play then I can make a couple of dollars doing it. I've about 1250 points to go for the month which does sound a lot but I earnt 80 last night playing 1 table cash alongside the mtt I played in. If I can do that most nights this month I should make it with a few days to spare.

Ended a terrible dry spell on a nice note. I've been playing a few tourneys recently from the comfort of my living room on the lappy but recently I've just been card dead. Tonight, for ages, I think my highest starting hand was AQs. I seem to be getting outdrawn a lot, and even know an ace is going to fall on the river to mess me up. Anyway, tonight I decided to have a go at another $5 rebuy to the WPT $175 DS. First attempt I didn't do anything but I've just won another $175! Was a bit close towards the end though. Moved to my big blind and I was all in with blinds of 12k but I had pockets 6's, luckily the only other person in the pot (also an all-iner) had 74s and my 6's held up. Also playing cash, managed to get my $60 down to $25 but have worked my way back up and if I end now, I'll be up $8! Not great but a few FPP's earnt and money up is definatly good.

Happy ending to a poor few days really. Must go to sleep though, nearly 2am and I'm on early shift so at best it's 6 hours kip.

Finally, I have a laptop! Betting is going to be easier and playing poker certainly is. I need to hook up my wireless internet tonight but saying that, I turned on the lappy last night and it found someones connection! I would just piggyback of whoevers it is but I guess long term, it's asking for woes.

Had a losing bet on Sunday but luckily had only £50 on it. Not sure why I didn't bet the full amount (was up to £90ish) Started again with £20 and am on £28 at the moment - it's slow to get started.

Not much poker going on at the moment, lost in the $35k last night with my nut flush losing to 3c 6c. Not a beat story but a lesson to make a raise preflop to get rid of mucky hands like this - lesson learnt, I was going okish at this point too.

More poker tonight, it's the Blonde final table (qualified in 7th) which should be good - some good players will be in that, I'll probably give the $35k a bash again along with a $5 rebuy for a CPC sat (will cash the W$ again if I make it) and I'll be watching the footy - all from the comfort of my sofa! God bless wireless.