Another disapointing night of mtt's. I only played three though and they were all cheap, in fact one was sort of a freeroll with rake (0+$2.50 sat to GUKPT) In the Party one, totally card dead all the way through and eventually with the blinds at 100/200 I pick up pocket 3's - I kid you not, it was the best pocket paid I'd had all game. Anyway, folds to me so I push for 1600, one caller on the button but the BB pushes for his last 6k. Button folds and I lose out to ATo! Talk about no respect for my tight game thus far. Anyway, not bothered as it was very boring and even doubling up there would have left me miles behind. The most annoying was the GUKPT sat qualifier. $10 rebuy and I managed to finish 5th with 3 seats to the next level and $85 for 4th! Pushed with KQ from the SB and the BB had QQ. It's just a shame that everyone folded to me the one time I had aces in the big blind, but I was gutted to bubble after two and a half hours, just so annoying. Even 4th is only $20 shy of the seat in the next level anyway, I'd have bought in if I'd made the money.

It's not another doom and gloom thread, this morning I sort of decided that I'll try cash again. I left my pc on mining FT last night and looked at some stuff quickly this morning. Some guy had lost about $90 in about 22 hands, one of which he called a $9 raise preflop (at only 0.25/0.50) with 76o and lost about $40 to someone with pocket jacks! The biggest losers of the night were just crazy hands playing muck and the big winners went to decent hands where they were played well. Arrived at work and thought I'd fire up Stars to try and catch the last of the US evening traffic. 5 hands in to the session and I receive AK on the button. Someone raised so I just flat called, Ace on the flop, bet, bet etc, king on the river and I reraise him all in and smash his AJ (who hit two pair too) and double up. Few more hands later and I pick up another small pot after losing a couple of small ones and I finish up a whole buy in of $50.

$50 profit in about 20 mins. OK I got lucky, I appreciate it's not always going to be like this, but hell, it's a damn site better than I've been running.

Back to cash it is. Hopefully this time I can stick with it for a while - I'm such a sucker for changing games quickly.

Cash games for earning the bankroll, mtt's for satellites to live events
Cash games for earning the bankroll, mtt's for satellites to live events
Cash games for earning the bankroll, mtt's for satellites to live events
Cash games for earning the bankroll, mtt's for satellites to live events................

Back to usual miserable nights playing mtt's for me. I just put myself through the pain of being outdrawn for the hell of it I think. Tonights beats include KK being smashed by 33 who flopped, turned and rivered a straight, AK beaten by a CL's AT, obviously had too many chips that he can't lay down a hand despite me not playing a hand for an hour or so, and J3s hitting a flush against my pocket 10's. I've gone out of one tourney in the last 48 hours where I can hold my hands up and say fair enough and that was my AKs against JJ in the Party $55 $18k yesterday. I managed to finish painfully close to the money in that which was annoying too.

One stroke of fortune for me was that I managed 2nd in a crappy $6 tourney last night. I signed up without realising it was limit cos Party doesn't say it's limit, just that it's Hold em. Anyway, the least interesting game I was involved with I came 2nd and actually I think I'm probably at least evens over the weekend, it's just morale that's down.

SNG's are going ok. I'm up overall and showing a half decent ROI %, but I've realised that it's going to be a hard old grind playing the $6.50's to get to a decent level. I'm considering moving to Party and going with the $10's for a while.

I didn't quite manage to make it two from two last night, but I was pleased enough to make the final table and ended up in 7th which wasn't too bad. Not sure I could have done much better to be honest, the cards just weren't coming for long periods and the time I did try to steal, it cost me half my chips when a fairly short guy decided to push AI after my raise for another 1500. Considering I'd raised 4k preflop, I had to call with my AT but his 6's held. Quite surprised that he pushed with 6's though considering I'd been playing tight and every showdown hand I'd had was credible, but then you never know how some people play I guess. Had a nice double up earlier when a new guy came to the table. He was straight in in the big blind and had a healthy stack at the time. It's folded to me on the button and I took a peak at my cards and had the aces. Raised 3xBB (900) I think and he's instantly pushed all in. Obviously I called, but thankfully his K7s didn't beat me on this occasion. Next hand he was all in again and exited the comp with Q3o! Crazy play. Some people comment that they "Can't be bothered, it's only a £20 comp" well, why are they playing in the first place?

The staking plan on Neverbeg is going so so. So far I've staked $190 and I've had $181 returned with one stake still outstanding, but I'm not sure I'll get that back. It's a funny old scheme, but people seem to be very genuine in their play with other people's money. I had one guy that I wanted to turn $5 into $30, he managed to do great and build it up to $25, then decided to play NL25 and lost it all on a pair of 8's on a board with 2 over cards and an opponent showing strength both preflop and on the flop - this was the most disappointing stake I've done because of his bad play at the end but until then, he'd done great It hasn't put me off though and I'll do some more soon I think.

The latest venture is back into the world of turbo sit and go's. I'm currently on Stars but may move to Full Tilt or one of the European networks, I'm still undecided as yet. Maybe FT as I get rakeback there and even though it's not a lot I'm playing for, it's better than nothing.

Anyway, I somehow squeezed 20 in today (don't tell the boss, oh hang on!) I'm starting at the $6.50's. Downloaded SNGWiz for a bit of an introduction to ICM and I was away. Had a bit of a blip during the middle of the last session when I realised I was playing far too much before the money. I did run KK in to AA early on which hurt the stats but other than that, I played a few bad games and a few good ones. The main joy for the day is that I ended up up. It was looking bleak for a moment, but a first victory for the day in the 2nd last helped, then I took third in the last. The last was a bit annoying. The CL was disconnected or sat out or something, anyway, basically it was two handed with a nice bonus, i.e. CL chips, for winning the pot, so it was a bit more mental than usual at this point. Sadly I ran my 9 6 into his AK and missed out.

Stats for the day

Played 20
1st's - 1
2nd's - 3
3rd's - 6
Bubble - 1

ITM - 50%
ROI - 8%
P/L - +$10.40

The next few days aren't going to be as busy. I may go out to defend my Thursday night title tomorrow and I'm off out Friday. Obv I can't play during the days either so that could be it for a few days.

Loving it though. I thought fold and push would be boring, but it's quite exciting from time to time!

Thursday night is double chance night at The Western and I was a bit undecided as to go or just stay in and play some online games last night. It's been a tiring week and I haven't' slept much plus I've had some bad nights sleep with our daughter waking us up at some unknown hour, but I managed to knock of work early and got an hour and a half sleep in in the afternoon so by 7pm I was almost ready to go and have a game. With APAT Cardiff at the weekend, I also wanted to play live after playing on the net all week to get back in the feel for it.

One thing on my mind was my exit hand from last Fridays game. We were down to the last 12 and I was fair short and it folded to me and I had pocket 7's. I pushed and ran into queens in the big blind, no complaints, but I was wondering if I should have taken the time to consider my stack size in relation to the big blinds. He had me well covered, probably by about 3 times as much so he was likely to call with pretty much anything resembling a holding. I wasn't the shortest stack and could have easily folded to the final table so was it wrong to push here? Making the final is important to me, but I decided that I had to get there with more chips than I had. Anyway, right or wrong, it was on my mind for last night and I decided that I wasn't going to argue with big chip leaders with average holdings at critical times if it meant missing out on a final table seat.

First real pot I was involved with was AJ on an Ace high board. I limped preflop OOP and it was raised by someone that had been raising a lot and making a lot of risky moves very early on. She called my bet on a gutshot and duly hit which miffed me a bit, but thankfully she was looking for the check raise, but I checked behind and mucked my TPTK. Anyway, said person raised, 3 other callers and as I was last to act, I called too. Flop came ace high so I bet 1k in to it. All fold to the guy to my right who moved all in with A4 and I obviously called and thankfully doubled up.


Not much exciting happened to me until I made the final table really. Well, nothing that exciting happened there. I made it there in my usual shorty stack but patience eventually paid off and I found a hand or two to go all in with. I was once in as a massive underdog with A2 against AT, but the blinds were 2k/4k now and I only had 10k and was in the BB next so I lumped it in and thankfully hit the two on the river and doubled up.

Made it to heads up somehow but was in very very bad shape. 159,000 chips in play and I only had about 20k of them. First hand heads up and with blinds now 3k/6k I was in the big blind first, looked down at 72o and for some reason thought I was in the small blind and just mucked them! Not a great start for my short stack. I suddenly twigged that I was at least 2nd but if I didn't do anything I wasn't going to win. With nothing to lose, I went on a bit of a rampage and took down quite a few 'small' pots here and there, doubeled up, and all of a sudden had a slight lead.

It was mentioned that we could chop it if we wanted and whilst I thought I was in pretty good shape here, I had to agree and we split the money 50/50 taking £250 each. Chopping was for the best, mainly as the blinds were now 4k/8k and we only had around 80k each. I'd been lucky up to now and it would only take one wrong move and that would be it. I had a slight lead by about 10k, but it's not even a round of blnds, but I'll still claim first spot - not only for the chips but my name went top of the prize sheet!

And that, was my first live win!

scrub that, I'm so full of shit. I don't think I can handle grinding 1c/2c cash games to $80. I'd like to say I've built a bankroll from nothing, but I think the bottom line is that I don't have to therefore I can't be arsed, certianly not by playing cheap cash games where if you win 10c it's making a large % increase to your roll. I may do it with sng's. I can handle them because you don't see what you are playing for and even a $1 stt will pay out $4.50 to the winner - that's two whole buy in's playing cash- do you know how long that will take!

The other bottom like is that unless I am winning, I don't enjoy cash games. I don't enjoy the variance you get in them, I don't enjoy losing large pots and I don't like people that call with rubbish and beat my Aces/Kings/Decent holdings. The plus side is that I do love winning large pots, but that doesn't happen at microstakes. Winning a pot at NL100 is lovely, winning a pot and NL2 is dull and uneventful which is doubley annoying as you've more than likely invested more time in the NL2 pot.

So, where do I go? Well, like I say stt's are an option. My preferred game would be mtt's but the variance is quite high and at my levels, I have to play against over 1000 people. I probably do have enough to give the $55's or the $20 with one rebuy and add on a decent bash, but I'm reluctant to put all my hard earned money on the line going for it, I'd rather build a new roll to do that, hence what I'm trying to do.

I'm not quite sure where this leaves me. I guess we need to ask the question where do I want to be? The answer is - playing the bigger buy in mtt's on a regular basis. Not the mega bucks ones, but I'd like to be able to afford maybe up to the Sunday Million without worrying about it, perhaps playing $55's or $109's on a regular basis.

That bit was easy. Next bit - how am I going to pay for it? Ummmm, I'll answer that later :)

Fresh from tilt, I have a new cash game challenge on the go.

I have about $23 left in my blonde poker account and I'm going to grind it out the hard way to a decent amount. If I can't do it, I'm giving up on cash games.

So today, I start at 1c/2c. Only on blonde, I'll try not to log on to my other accounts to play tourneys, but I may weaken if Stars announce their WSOP schedule soon as I have a few W$ that I want to try and qualify with.

Self imposed rules

Only on Blonde Poker
1c/2c until we get to $80 then it's 2c/4c (eek, wtf!)
No bluffing
Good hands only, no continuation bets that have missed
Play in position
Try and stick to hour long sessions before taking a break and restarting.
No tournaments on blonde other than freerolls, the only spending I can do is cash games within the bankroll.

I think that's it.

Why? Because bankroll management and cash games are a big big weakness of mine. Hopefully this effort will give me something to concentrate on and work towards instead of just firing up tables, winning some or losing some and not going anywhere.

Last night and tonight I lose out with key hands when I'm massive against my opponent. Both times in the $20 1 rebuy 1 add on. Last night it was AK v KJ, tonight it was AK v AQ. So frustrating that I don't get the rub of the green when it matters most. Thankfully I cashed last night, but tonight, I was out in 71stish. If either hand held up, I'd have been in with a great shout.

Tried a 1000FPP sat to a 10,000 FPP sat and despite not playing a hand for ever, when I raised UTG to 600 (3xBB) I was called by 9Ts who then put me all in and proceeded to hit a straight. That's twice AA cost me a tourney.

But..... it's not all bad beats and nightmares tonight, for I am currently 7 of 14 in another $109 sat to a $800 event with 12 spots paid. I did get a nice hold when my KK was up against AK which moved me from in trouble to 2nd. Then it all folded to me on the button when I had AA. CL was the BB and I just couldn't fold. I min raised to 1200 and he called, both checked the flop then I came to my senses and just folded when he bet the turn. I was probably ahead, but he's a massive CL and can't stop playing despite being safe so I don't need to risk anything. Thankfully I held on and shipped the $800.

Tried a couple of other tourneys too, but nothing happened and didn't cash.

I tried a few turbo sit and go's too and came second in one. Then I took a break to watch a Cardrunners video on how to do turbos properly, then came 5th and 6th in the two I played afterwards!

Mixed night last night. Obviously I'm pleased about the win, but I'm also a bit disappointed about losing so many games. Still, I'm way up overall on the night, even if they are in W$. I don't mind W$ as I'm going to be using them soon to have a bash at the WSOP.

Oh another nice thing, I think for the first time ever, I'm showing a profit in my OPR stats too!

I can feel the closeness of a decent final table coming! Last nights efforts saw a go at the $20 with one rebuy and add on and also the $3 rebuy, both on Stars. Started with an 'error' in the $20 when I rebought straight away, which isn't a problem, but it didn't leave me enough for an add on in my account for the crapshoot Sunday Million sat I was playing in at the same time! I soon bust out of the sat and just concentrated on the tourneys though and whilst it was fairly uneventful for the first hour, I did manage a nice double up to just over 6k in the $20 before the break which left me in good shape going in to the freezeout, especially with the add on.

The $3 rebuy is a fun event. I decided to use this one to practice making moves more and applying Adanthar's video tips of defending blinds and making better moves more before doing them in the $20. I was never really chipped up in this, but I did hit a few nice hands and managed to get up to 35k before I hit a hand with AQ utg where I limped, one other caller apart from the big blind and the flop came Q T 8. I bet pot and matey called, BB folded. turn bought a J so I was a bit worried about the straight, so I checked, he bet a small amount and I called. River bought another jack and I was pretty worried about the straight and I'm sure there was a flush there, so I checked, he bet 3k and I called. He showed AJ! TBH, I was pretty disapointed that not only had he lucked out hitting the two outer, but didn't give me any credit despite having him well covered and having played tight for.....since the beginning. Still, I guess that's what you get for playing OOP and not playing the flop and turn properly. I'm not quite sure what he called the flop bet for, but that's life I suppose. It was sort of nice to see him going out about 100 from the money though, just a shame I never got my chips back.

Made a few calls against shorter stacks pushing against my big blind, the best when someone pushed when I had KQ. I had him covered by quite a bit, just over double his stack, and decided that I was well ahead of his range here so made the call. Thankfully he had KJ and my hand held to crys of him typing in "WORST CALL EVER!", made me chuckle.

Whilst I didn't set the world on fire, I did cash for $17 in this for a very small $8 profit which is better than a kick in the arse I guess.


The $20 rolled on and I was getting close to the money. With 65 left, money on 63, I was dealt pocket kings, but UTG +2 who was also the CL decided to raise 2xBB to 3200, so I just pushed all in, thankfully he folded claiming AJ and then I sailed in to the money. I say thankfully because I reallly wanted to cash and going out on the bubble would have been very disapointing. My tens held against AJ to double me up in the money which was handy then it sort of went wrong in a few hands. I managed to pick up a few blinds here and there and was in good shape, doubled up with QQ but then I had TT again, raised to 9600 and the small blind pushed for his last 13k. I thought I was in big trouble, but he had A2s but unfortunately, the ace came on the river. He seemed to go on a sick run then and managed to get to over 100k, then I was dealt AK and raised 4xBB and again he pushed from the big blind and I clearly called, he showed KJ and sadly the board came QJQQ8 and that was that. I was a bit pissed last night that he made some bad play there, but I guess KJ could have been ahead of my stealing range so I can' t complain too much on that, I just got unlucky. The A2 was a bit wierd though, I clearly wasn't laying the hand down and he's not beating much. What is annoying is that he went on to get 4th for just over $2k! THAT'S THE PAYDAY I WANTED!


Still, quite pleased with last nights efforts, but I need to make a nice final table still. The $20 with one rebuy and add on is a great event for me as it's a max of $60 that's invested but it only attracts around 500 runners. The $55's would be more ideal as they are slightly cheaper, but they get around 1000 runners which is a lot to plough through. I just need to boost my Stars account really as I'm always low in there. I have the roll elsewhere, but I don't like to have it all on one site. It's just a personal thing.

Oh, played at The Western on Friday night in the £30 freezeout and John Tabbatai was there playing. He'd played an event upstairs for something else and decided to join in our little bash. Seemed a really nice guy, happy to talk to everyone and was friendly. Guess he went on to final there too. I busted out in 12th pushing with 7's and ran in to the big blinds queens. Prob not the worst play ever, but I wanted to make any final table with chips rather than my usual short stacked, so I pushed. Looking back now, I'd like the cash :)

The Doom and Gloom from 2007 sort of ended just before time. I ended up winning a small sit and go as the last game of the year which cheered me up even though it was only a small game, but a win is a win.

2008 started today and I thought I'd redeposit just $20 into Stars and try the $4 180 man sit and goes. Well I tried 3 but the standard is, well, I know it's up to me to call, but people are calling all in with A6 on a 6 T K board and calling to the end because they have overcards. I can't compete with that, nor do I want to as my AK looked pretty good to me on that board!

I decided to deposit a bit more and use $22 of it to play a $20 180 man sng and I'm pleased to say, I made the FT! Sadly I went out in 9th, but still, a FT! I'd forgotten what they felt like! That has made my day.

Also tried the $8 omaha tournament which I quite like but never really got going in that but hung in for a while but I played some 1c/2c omaha cash and someone gave me about $7 to make up for things - nice of him eh :)

I was so so tempted to play the $22 deep stacks tonight, but it doesn't start till 11:15pm so I wasn't sure. Decided against it and thought it would be an idea to play the iPoker $4.5k $16 event instead. Not quite sure why starting at 11:30 is better than one starting 15 mins earlier, I'll just put it down to the blind levels!

So the final games of the night are that and a $10 sng on Stars. I will play the deep stacks one day, it just needs timing right for me.

I've also found a site called Neverbeg.com. It's a staking site for poker so I've decided to put some money into some guys playing some $1.10 45 man sit and goes. Just a bit of fun, nothing serious, hopefully some of them will make me a few bucks, but judging by the results so far, I'm not overly hopeful! Tis entertaining though, and it saves me losing my poker money!