I've been on a bit of a break from playing poker after managing to lose most of my roll over the last year or so. It doesn't seem that long ago I was nicely rolled for NL50, overrolled to some extent, but sadly that's not the case anymore and I found myself getting fed up with the game. So I've had the last couple of months off and probably played too much Warcraft(!)

Anyway, the point is, I'm sort of back. I was going to play NL20 and grind it up but I played some Sunday tourneys last night and made a few small cashes, but the highlight was coming 8th in a 38XX runner comp on Stars for just short of $500. Not world breaking and a hell of a lot short of the $6k on top, but needless to say, it's a welcome boost to my accounts.

Playing the comps last night was great. I'm not sure I can handle 5am bed times each night, but it was good. I'm now torn between tourneys and the NL20. At least I'm rolled for the cash games!

I think I just suck at poker. I'm not one that is capable of grinding out a bankroll from nothing. I'm not even sure I can keep one once I have one. Not everyone in the world can be good at poker, there has to be some bad players, it's the way things work.

Clearly this comes following a bad swing. I did build up a couple of hundred on Stars and blonde playing PLO20/PLO25 but have since lost it leaving me nearly busto yet again. Sure there are bad beats in there and 'variance' but I expect a better player wouldn't have lost so much.

I don't really care now to be honest, I'm accepting my role in poker - a recreational player that sometimes has a nice score.

After the PLO, I played a couple of tourneys again and I have to say, I do prefer them. In my last few, I was 72 (just itm) of 464 in a PLO comp, 179 of 5219, 13th of 180 and 4th of 180 in my two 180 man sit and go's last night and came 30something in the iPoker $30k for $140ish the other night. I think there's only been 4 comps I haven't cashed in in the last couple of days and whilst it's nothing major, money in is better than money out.

I think the problem is that I get bored with the bad runs in tourneys, and I get bored playing the low stakes buy in ones where winning either means you're still in the same buy in or you have to get through 5000 people. The staking thing was great for playing better comps, but there's just not enough of them at realistic times for me on iPoker, but at the same time, I think I prefer playing on my own dime too. Given that if you quit, you pay back any make up, I wonder how deep stakers allow you go before calling it a day. I'd have hated to be in for £1000+ and wanting to quit, the £600 sucked enough, just curious how deep one can go.

In the mean time, back to playing tourneys, probably switching to stt's when I get bored (I love 9 tabling on Stars and I'm prob break even or there abouts)

and in the words of Nina Simone...

And I'm feeling gooooooood.

Been playing a bit of PLO again. I'm so skint at the moment I'm starting out at PLO25 but also buying in cheap for $15. I know it's wrong and I should either move down or buy in, but it's working so I'm going to continue. I'll start buying in for the full amount when I'm rolled to play PLO25!

Started tonight off with the intention of playing the £2k gtd at Sovereign Poker in North Camp, but when I got there, there was a huge queue to register and when I arrived at the front, I found out it was sold out with 23 on the waiting list! So I headed home and fired up some PLO tables. Thought it was going to be one of those nights after a few hands. Firstly my double suited aces against double suited aces lost, then my nut flush lost, but after that, it was go go go! I was waiting for ages to get in against a hyper agressive player, then I hit a decent pot. I know the hand wasn't that good, but he 3 bets and reraises all the time so I figured there was a good chance I was ahead so I made the call on the end. I just had a feeling about it. That set me in good shape for a nice double up and it finally happened I was gobsmacked that he folded for $6 in a $70 pot but was very pleased to scoop the lot regardless.

Called it a night not long after. I'd risen to around $40ish on the other three tables I was playing and finished the session a nice $110 up. Not bad for me, especially at PLO25!


Tonights stats - 360 hands - 61.36 bb/100
Total stats so far - 1438 - 33.35 bb/100

Can I finally build a bankroll? Variance is bound to kick in eventually!

Hi Pop Pickers,

Been a while again but I don't think you're missing out on anything my fast paced life has to offer. I obviously went to Download last month which was just fantastic. I have quite a lot of highlights - everything from getting there as soon as a new field was opened for camping to watching some amazing bands. I've never been to Download before and I'm can't believe that it's been going all these years and it's missed me by. I'm more than likey going next year. One of the guys that we went with did mention that he may be able to get a caravan but sadly this never happened. It did plant the seed that it may be we sweet to get one anyway for weekends away with the family, then I can do Download in it next year! Once my staking debts are paid, this is my goal - couple of thousand for one bad boy!

Won't say anything about Marilyn Manson, except to say he was the biggest disapointment of the weekend. Not sure why he bothered to turn up. Bands I never knew how good they were:- Firstly Faith No More. I always though Epic and that cover they did. No no no, totally owned the place, amazing rock band. Slipknot, I have new respect for. I had no idea how good they actually are and what a presence they command on stage. I've never been really in to their cd's but they are a fantastic live band and deserved their place headlining Saturday night. Pendulum are my new favourite band, never heard of them before going but have been listening to them loads since. Great to see Therapy there - never knew they still existed, but exist they do and apparently have been releasing albums yearly for the last 15 years too! They went down well in one of the tents which I was pleased with. Steel Panther before them - what can I say, such fun rock. Deserved the main stage rather than the overflowed tent they struggled to fit in. Korn were by far the best band of the weekend for me. Another band that I decide to get into just as they are in their twilight.

Haven't got anything poker related to mention, just grinding away now and then. Playing a few of the 45 and 90 man sit and go's on Tilt to see how I get on. Not good so far but will keep at them. I had my Bokeh Tilt account locked for multi accounting which sucked but thankfully I got the money out, they only took my points which was only about 5k, but at my level I don't earn many so was a bit gutted. I'm stuck on Graham0573 which is what I was trying to get away from. I asked to close this and keep Bokeh, but no.

Hopefully going to turn my Tilt account in to something yummy!

Be lucky guys, take care

Went away for a few days in Somerset during half term and since then, I've not really played that much, certainly not with any volume, but those games that I have played, I think I've played a lot better than pre-holiday. I've not set the world on fire yet, but I've had a few min cashes. Made the final table of Early Double B the other night but sadly finished 9th, but still good for a profit for the night, and last night made 3rd in the same event for a handy $445. Nice to be in profit for the sessions, certainly makes a change.

Few days off now, Download is calling me!

Been playing some NL25 on Stars and it was going well. Tonight, it went to shit. I did start off ok, managed about $16 profit or so which isn't a lot but was running at 21bb/100 so I was quite pleased with that

Then Stars support must have realised it was me and that I was up for the night because

This happened, this happened and I know I didn't have anything here, but was called down with a shit hand. A whole host of other small pots were lost too and I ended up $47.75 down for the session.

What a kick in the bollocks.

Not giving up though, I'm going to beat this stupid annoying game

Not had anything to report recently apart from the usual downward spiral, but I do have to report that I'm no longer part of Stable Evilpie. It's been great to be staked, but the results aren't coming my way at the moment so I'm finding it tough. The main reason for my decision was that I'm unable to rake $100 playing tourneys on blonde. At the times I can play, there's only 3 tourneys which rake $2 total, per day. Clearly that over 30 days isn't enough and I'm unable to play all the days in the week. There's the 10pm + ones too, but they finish too late to play on a regular basis and my work has to come first.

So with regret, I've decided to quit working for the Pieman. Sadly I'm in make up at the moment and need to find £600 to pay back, but thankfully Matt isn't in any rush for it, just when I have it but I'll crack on with getting it sorted and pay back some each month till it's gone. I've still got $200 in my account that I could carry on with, but I think I'd best use that to take off some of the make up so it's 'only' £450ish.

Thanks to Matt for giving me the chance to be staked. Seemed a good idea at the time, perhaps one day I'll sort things out and either won't need staking, or be in a position where I can fulfill what's asked of me! On the plus side to this, money aside, I've been feeling bad and under pressure about results and the lack of tournaments I've played in so it's some relief to have that removed.

In other news, Stars have a great promo on for UK players in May. Basically a dead easy way to make supernova for a lot of players, but small stakes like me will be pleased with Platinum for next month and should I ever get good at this game and move up, 60,000 vpps towards the 100k needed for SN. The downside to this is that I've pissed away a bit of cash playing Limit PLO8. Thankfully in 20 points I'll be at the target and I can stop!

I also need to build a bankroll. I've been playing for a couple of years now and apart from a few tourney wins, I've done nothing. All the money I've won has been from these tourneys and I've lost it all doing other things with it. I need a plan, a proper plan and whats more, I need to stick to it. I'm thinking of moving back to cash at NL25 and building up, probably full ring for less variance but maybe 6 max in the future. I'll play the odd tourney here and there and hopefully get some better results. If that fails, I'll need to rethink, perhaps play less or consider that poker just aint my game!

I do enjoy it though ;o)

After the 2:30am finish on Tuesday, I couldn't face another late one last night so wasn't going to play. But the footy was on so I was alone with the tele and my lappy and the 8:10pm $5 freezeout was just perfect timing and it seemed rude not to have look at least. To cut a long story short I did ok in this too, although not quite the final, but still made 32nd - good for another $30 to the make up. Go me I know, but any money coming in is better than no money!

Anyway, my point. I've been thinking about two fairly similar hands that have occured in the two tourneys. On the FT of the $25k, we're down to 9. Play has been painfully tight on the final. We've been at it for about 35 minutes, maybe more, and only lost one. Blind steals have come in position and no one has been out of line. Blinds are 10k/20k/ante and I'm on 270k. UTG+2 raises 5x to 100k on my big blind. I have AJ sooted and made what I thought was a standard pass.

Last night, blinds are 2.5k/5k/antes (just at this level so it was a big leap) and I've 45k. Again in the big blind holding JJ. We're down to 32 (see where we're going??) and UTG+2 raises to 25k. He's got me covered. Again, a big raise. Is JJ a fold here or good enough to shove? He's not folding for what we have left. The range to 5x from EP has to be pretty tight doesn't it?

Can't play tonight, need to get up at 5:45am so going to get an early night in hopefully.

Life's a little more peachy having made a final table last night. Yes, I ran good in the $25k $10 rebuy and made the final table. I arrived 5th out of 10 and departed in 9th but still, a final is a final. I even managed to get lucky on the way when my AQ shove was called by AK and I flopped a queen, then twice I had to call from the big blind when some shorties shoved and I won with Q8 and KT which all helped. Did get a bit unlucky at the end when I had to shove with AJ and was looked up by QQ. Flopped the ace and a jack but the river came with a queen, but no complaints really, best hand won. At least I wasn't ahead preflop etc etc. Was hoping for 7th to get me out of make up, but the $400ish at least brings me back to level for the most recent deposit made so I'm only technically one down now.

All good, great to final - at least I know I can! Hopefully I'm getting my shit together now and get some good runs on the go.

Just another example of how bad I run. UTG raises to 560 at 80/160. I'm next and reraise to 1500. Folds round and he calls. Flop QT8 (I have AK btw), he checks and I decide that with the overs and the gutshot, I can cbet here for the rest and stick in 2.5k and he insta calls with 77. Clearly I miss as you'd expect and I'm out. Now I don't mind losing, but how the hell can he check/snap call with an under pair? It's not like I played it weak! Zero respect, I'm not finding it anywhere.

Another miserable Sunday. Started out ok, found that I only had $7 in my Tilt account so decided to have a go at qualifying for the Double Deuce, which I made. Ran ok in that till the 100/200 level when UTG raises for 5x, the small blind called and I'm with QQ in the big blind. I'm thinking that 5x is more than likely a small pair, poss AK at best, but AK tends to shove more than 5x. I shove and am up against AT (Mr 5x) and A4 calls also. Ace on the flop said my goodbyes for me in that one.

Was kindly staked in the Low $109 SCOOP ME on Stars and was quiet for the first hour. At the end of the 2nd hour I doubled up with AQ against some others, and then AA helped. Ended the 2nd hour on 25k and in good shape. First hand after the break and this happens and I'm out. Not sure what to say about it really. Can't be expecting 53 to call, then flop the perfect flop surely? Must be nice to be up against me cos you just know you are going to hit.

I think I'll get out and play some live poker this week, need to get away from this bloody annoyance.

APAT Summary

Sat Nav took me to Merthyr Tydfil instead of Cardiff for some reason. Got sorted and arrived, checked in hotel and got to the casino in pretty perfect timing, no hanging around needed.

Got KK beaten by TT. To be fair, I'd have probably shoved with the tens too, neither of us we're in great shape but the flop could have been kinder.

Got very drunk, played cash, doubled up with AQ v KK, lost it all with TT v AA on a 6 high board, got more drunk, took money out and lost that too. Was welcomed back by the locals....with more money!

Lesson learned? Don't play cash whilst drunk. I'm bad enough sober, but drunk is a bad idea. Disapointed with myself for going to the cash desk to withdraw money from my account to go back to the table.

Had a good night, the cash game was fun even if it was too easy for me to lose money.

More fails tonight. In the blonde $35k, for once I was running ok and had built a nice stack of 14k when I was dealt JJ in a hand with some action. EP limps from a massive 40k stack for 300, then there's a raise to 1500, then it's me. I decided to shove and am called by AQ, and the Q comes. That put me down to 3.5k but I manage a double up before getting a hand and running KK into AA. On Tilt, I did the same, KK into AA then shoved with AQ and was called by A9, cue the 9. Surely it has to be my turn one day?

Trying to work out what I can rake on blonde and it's not looking good for over $100. There's only the 7:30pm $10 comp and the 8:30pm $10 rebuy that start at a reasonable time. There's a couple of $5 games, but I'm trying to avoid them. So that's only $2 per day in rake. I can't do the 10pm one's every day, I just can't handle the late nights all the time. Perhaps once or twice per week would be ok, but more than that and I'm done for the next day. Need to think about this one.

It's been a long time, but then there's been nothing to say to be honest. I'm cutting out moaning, hence my absense for the last month, times have been hard. I've had a reload on my staking scheme and I'm not a million miles away from asking for another. Not sure how deep I'm allowed to get, but I think I'd sack me in all honestly - the cashes simply haven't been coming and I'm feeling a bit bad about it, but I can't buy myself out even if I wanted to so I'll keep trying. I've even failed to make the rake requirement so far. Feb, I thought I was there but apparently wasn't. It must have been damn close though and March, I just haven't, but I did warn the StableOwner at the start of the month. Wouldn't be so bad if I was winning. I can manage to get deep, but fail when it matters. I'll work on it and something will come up hopefully before I run out of money again. I'm still enjoying playing though!

I did manage to win the blonde/celeb league recently for a few quid though. Out of 4 league games, I won 2 and came 2nd in one. Shame they were poorly attended with about 13 people in each, but that's good for me as I scooped a bit of money for each win (50 euros) and £350 for winning the league - the money is appreciated at the moment as that's pretty much all I have in my bankroll. The general standard of the blonde events is quite a bit higher than the average donkathon so it always feels good to do well in them.

APAT Cardiff this weekend and I'm really looking forward to it.

Been a while since I updated and I've played a fair amount of poker, but I guess I've been too busy playing Warcraft or watching House (started on season 1 the other day, great program!) to update. This also obviously means I have nothing to brag about so there's nothing being missed.

The staking is still going, I'm not kicked out yet. I've taken some pretty sick beats, normally my kings lose to jacks, but it's all variance and one day it will pay off. Came close last night when I managed 4th in the 10:45 double stack on blonde. The exit was hard to take at 2:30 am - UTG raises to 8k and I repop with KK to 20k. He decided to shove and ends up showing A4o. The 4 on the flop wasn't that much of a concern, but the ace that followed really pissed me off. I'm just amazed that he though A4o was good here - I'd not shown one iffy hand and I'm not even sure I'd 3 bet before without ending up showing AK+, yet A4 it was that took me from 2nd in chips to 4 big blinds instead of propelling me to chip leader with a dominant stack. The $216 saved me asking for a top up though and 4th is 4th afterall. Another final table chalked up.

I've played 51 so far this month on blonde and it's getting close to if I'm going to rake $100 or not. I only need to rake another $16 but the 10pm+ comps are pretty much going to be out the window as I can't cope with 3am nights during the week and on the last day I'm off to Arsenal v Fulham so that doesn't leave a lot left. I guess if I take one down I may be forgiven for not raking what's expected, but I'm still a couple of hundred in make up so the small bonus would probably be welcomed by my backer.

Been having a bad time since the cashes the other day, I've not won a thing on Blonde and have gone from being $200 up to just about back in make up for a small amount. I came so close to a nice cash tonight but busted in 40th in the $30 7pm tourney. I was above average and went to take the blinds with AQ but the BB flat called. We both checked the flop and turn on a KTKT board, then an ace came on the river and he bet the pot of 2700. Obviously I called but it must be fucking lovely to call a pre flop raise at 200/400 with K8o and flop the doo dah's. This put me around 11 big blinds and the next hand I'm dealt AQ again, but my shove is called by TT and there's clearly no help coming for me and I've gone from around 12th to out in 40th for zip but a bigger hole in the bankroll.

Anyway, the good news is that the tournament structures on blonde have improved massively so I'm expecting some big scores soon enough, I just hope I don't have to ask for some more monies before it happens!

Thermos, French Truck Drivers, oh and a Poker Tourney

The weekend marked the new season of the APAT poker tour; a two day £75 freezeout in Walsall. I'd had the obligitory bash at qualifying online but failed as per usual so it made it a £100 or so comp for me! Packed up the usual bag of things I think I need but never actually use (lappy, ipod, 3 pairs of shoes etc) and headed off on Saturday morning for the trip to the Midlands. Mrs S had given me a thermos just in case of severe weather despite the bright sunshine, but I stuffed it in my bag nevertheless.

Made it to the hotel in plenty of time and was met by a couple of familiar faces. I like these events because I get to see people that I don't see that often and having little poker friends around where I live, it makes a nice and welcomed change. After a brief check in, we headed off to the casino. Couple of pints and a lot of hellos later and the game was under way. I have very little to report about the comp except from about the second hand where I was dealt KK. I'm paranoid about kings in the first half hour or so. Someone always always gets knocked out AA v KK and this comp was no exception,it took all of...the first hand for it to happen. As a result I tend to play KK safely for a short period. Anyway, there's a raise to 250 (5x) from EP, a min raise from the guy to my right to 500 (remember, this is 2nd or 3rd hand). I'm chatting to someone so casually call the 500 despite shaking like a leaf underneath with the view of it's ace high, I can get away and I can play it fairly passive on the flop otherwise. Q 4 Q flop (two diamonds) Check to me and I toss in 1000. The early checker raises to 2.5k and the other guy passes. Now, this is where I'm convinced that it's aces but I'm reluctant to give up yet so flat the raise. The river brings another diamond and again it's checked to me so I take the safe option and check back. River brings another diamond and thankfully I have the K but it's far from safe as there's a 25% chance of AA having the diamond too so I flat call the bet of 1k to be shown AQ no diamonds and I scoop a nice pot. Not sure how I played this to be honest, not the best. Had the C/R have been more, I'd have let go and had they lead on the turn, I'd have let go, so whilst I probably didn't play the hand that well, I think the other person played it worse.

Other than that, there was a guy who later on lost KK v AA and then the very next hand got KK again and lost to AA again! Two hands in a row, that's some cooler.

I made the second day in reasonable shape with just under average but the blinds were high and I was totally card dead and ended up busting in 25th for £75 back (5 alternates entered)

I didn't stay too long before heading home as the weather had taken a turn for the worse and it was snowing quite hard. Just as I left, I heard a traffic report that the M42 south was closed due to a car fire so headed down the M6 to the M1. Things were ok at this point, it was when I saw a sign from the M1 to get to the M40 that it went wrong. There's about 17 miles of dual carraige way between the two motorways and it seemed to take forever. Visability was down to a minimum due to the amount of snow that was falling. I was moving along at about 30 mph and after a bit, the traffic became quite conjested. At one point, I went to go around a roundabout but despite moving about walking speed, the car failed to turn and I was sliding towards a lamp post. Natural instinct told me to brake, even though I knew it wouldn't work, and the crunching abs noise did little to calm my nerves. There was a small deep thud but the light was still on so I wasn't getting out to check and I carried on.

The next roundabout was a different problem. The road continued up a slight hill, nothing massive, but it had caused cars on the other side to spin around and there was plenty of problems with cars trying to get up this part. After about 20 mins of waiting for 'my go' I'm sat on the start of the incline, the car infront took off and then a French lorry came out the outside lane (thanks for waiting eh!) Just after he passed me, he jack knifed the truck and I had to watch in hope as it slid across the dual carraigeway slowly. There was nothing else I could do except hope that it didn't hit me and thankfully it didn't, but now I had the problem of an artic 5 yards in front of me and I now have to overtake it and get up the hill. The car behind wasn't waiting for me either so I had to wait for him to piss about as he'd already pulled out and was level with me. Managed to get out but was actually shouting "COME ON" to the car as it spun on the ice and was almost pleading with it when I started to slide towards the artic sat there, but somehow the car gripped and I pulled in in front and managed to continue at a steady pace. There was a while where I was regretting not filling the thermos up in case I was out all night! Thankfully there was only a few miles to go and I decided to take things ultra safe and just joined in the procession towards the M40. After a short while, Mr Frenchy steamed passed in the other lane going about twice as fast as everyone else, and low and behold, jack knifed again but thankfully rather than kill me or anyone else, he crashed in to the central reservation. I obviously gave the obligitory hand signal and called him a wanker, but it was dark and we both had our windows up so it was pointless other than making me feel better. I'm not sure what skills lorry drivers have that make it safer for them to go at high speeds during bad conditions like this but it makes it damn scarey when a 40 tonne lorry is sliding towards you in slow motion. It's no wonder you see accidents in the news in these situations, some people drive like total tossers with no consideration for others. I've been in snow like this before in other countries, but they're geared up for it, we're not, and it's damn scary stuff being out there. Thankfully from then on, it was a slow but safe drive to the M40, then it just rained all the way home. I made a quick drop in at Oxford services to check my car and thankfully that was ok, I guess it was the tyre against the curb or something, but no damange done. Moral of the story, if it's really bad, don't leave a motorway for a short cut home! It saved me about 50 miles, but it took over an hour to do the 17 miles or so and I could live without the worry of if I'm going to die or not, so next time, stay on the motorway!

So that was that, good weekend and came home to see Sky HD had been installed!

I have a backer. I have a couple of reservations about being staked for poker, but needs must and I can't afford to play the stakes I want to play on a regular basis so having a backer actually comes in handy. I'm playing the guaranteeds on blonde that are around $30 and under, which is at a level I'd like to play, and whilst I do generally play at this level, I can't do 4 or 5 comps a night without getting a result first, so having a backer is good.

It takes a bit of adjusting changing from the Stars/Tilt structure to the iPoker structure, but I think I'm getting there. I started off fairly badly on my first day (Tuesday) having no cashes in 5, but yesterday went quite well with 3 out of 5 including a 5th place in my highest buy in of the day for $300ish which not only got me out of the small amount of make up I had to clear but leaves me up a couple of hundred.....so far. There's a long way to go till the end of the month, but I was feeling bad about being in make up straight away so it's good to get out. Nice to get my best result in the highest buy in for a change, it usually works the other way round!

As for the tennis betting, well I haven't really had that much time to look at it, but I'm off to a bad start. Not too sure about these events after the grand slam events, it seems like some have had a nice payday and don't give a toss at the moment. Perhaps that's just my excuse for the bad start. I'm not sure why I do sports betting, perhaps I have a small problem. I don't bet big, far from it, only a couple of quid a time, and I don't hide my losses and it's caused no problems, but I do like a punt. I think I have it in my head that it's an easy way to make some money, shame it's not working out really. Ah well.

I'm going to start with tennis betting again. Apart from a big blow up a year or so again when I lost so much on a game it made me feel physically sick, I've done ok with tennis bets so we'll start again with small sensible bets with a view of growing my Betfair roll.

Now, it's fair to say that I'm not starting with much here, only £25.52, so now and again, I'll afford myself the luxury of going all in but generally I'll try and stick to bets that reflect the roll. I would use points to try and sound like I know what I'm doing, but in reality, 1 point would be £1 at the best so there's little point, I'll stick with £'s

Todays bets are

£5.52 on Youzhny at 1.62
£20.00 on Ljubicic at 1.23

I'm not overly comfortable in betting my whole Betfair account but a) it's only £25 and b) early stages comps, should be safe enough! Famous last words.

GL me!

In poker news, made another final table last night in the Laddies $4 deepstack but spectactularly bust in 6th in two hands where I went from from CL to out! I did suck out a couple of times on my way to the final so I can't really complain about the bad beats. Broke even for the night anyway and had some fun which is all good.

I'm not one to shy away from moaning, but I've not played much since my last post, hence the quietness! Actually, I've sort of given up moaning - a late New Years resolution. There's little point, it does make me feel better, but it's piss boring and it doesnt' stop the bad beats happening. Volume is the key, but that's a struggle at the moment.

I did play a few on Sunday but nothing decent to report other than some dude not being impressed that my shortstack shove with 87 soooted beat his AJ sooted - what can ya do? He did proceed to call me a donk for the rest of the tourney and then delight and cheer for ages when someone's 33 beat my JJ which was nice of him. I don't mind the beat, it's just rude wankers that I'm not impressed with.

I'd like to say that something importent has been taking all my time up but the sad truth is that I've been hooked on Warcraft and just can't stop playing it. I log on for 30 mins in the evening, and all of a sudden it's 3 hours later and I'm deep in a quest. I'm loving it at the moment and sadly poker has taken a step backwards, but it's probably for the best that I have a bit of a break

Made a final table last night in the 180 man sng's and another tonight. I know it seems like I moan a lot, but I am beginning to think I'm jinxed. I was CL at the final table tonight from two tables out then end up getting coolered in 7th. Not bad beat this time, but every time I reach a final, I just get shitted on it seems. Obviously I didn't recover and ran out 7th.

Still, profit is profit and the Stars roll continues to grow. I'm not downbeat by the harsh hands, but posting them makes me feel a bit better, it's just bloody miserable to read!

Not played that much compared to usual recently. I've finally decided to download Warcraft and become a geek. It's quite good fun but it saps time like nothing else. I have an idea on how to spend less time though, don't make it an 30 minute walk to get anywhere!! Seriously, it's good fun though, I may subscribe when the trial runs out.

Did make a final table in an omaha comp yesterday though, ended up 4th but really could have won. I managed to run my king high flush into an ace high flush, get quad queens busted by a straight flush and then someone didn't laydown bottom trips on a straight board with a flush draw (I had a straight) so they rivered a full house - this was all on the final table too, so I guess it wasn't to be. Still very handy to get $160ish for the 4th spot and it will keep me in $4 180 man sng's for a while. Quad queens though, how sick is that! Still you know me, don't like to moan ;) Onwards and upwards. The Stars roll is now quite comfy for the 180 man sit and go's so it's all good.

Probably off to Luton tonight.

180 Man STT Progress

Played mainly the $4 180 man sng's for the last couple of days and it's not going that bad. I've only cashed in two out of lol about 20, but I think I'm up - need to see after this session ends.

I'm finding them quite enjoyable at the moment and am managing to gather chips nice and easily early on. It's later on I have trouble; in one hand folded to me in the SB with 57s, I completed and lead out on the 2K5 board, matey called, turn was another K and I lead again, river blank so I effectively put him AI, obv he had K5 lol. Another example of a hand I could live without. Moaning about the beats aside, I'm enjoying them and think I can make a decent go of them. The play isn't great and I'm getting quite deep even when I don't cash, hopefully I can grow my Stars roll with these.