OK Sometimes I do get lucky

I'm officially back on nlhe for a bit

Jesus, another shitty night with the cash games. Personally I don't think I'm playing that badly. Clearly I'm doing something wrong and I'm just leaking money.

Typical example of when I hit the flop with a half decent hand


When I miss, I've put in decent raises with hands like AQ and AK but completly miss the flop and when someone bets, and another 3 call, I'm well out of it.

Ended up ruining what should have been a good day after the omaha tourney. I think I'm down around $80 in total, prettty shitty considering I won $100 on the mtt.

I may have to move back to no limit, at least with that I'm not often called but K5 off suit and end up losing to it against my AQ. It's annoying watching all the bad calls that seem to get paid off. They say in the long run you want them calling, but I have to disagree. They take your money then they do lose it all again, but not to you because you can't hit a decent hand to get paid off, some other player gets it with his nut flush or crappy two pair - regardless, just kiss the money goodbye.

Once the Stars bonus has been worked off, I may give cash games a miss all together for a bit. It's demoralising so I may concentrate on my mtt game, that's not too bad thankfully.

Just came 2nd in an omaha limit mtt. It helped getting a Royal Flush (my first ever) and then not long after hit quad queens, but then that's the luck you need sometimes. I made the ft in good shape but the big stack continued to dominate all the way through and heads up he was on about 160,000 against my 20,000 on 4k/8k blinds. Well a raise or two when I didn't have a hand and it was all over. He got lucky on the last hand though, hitting a jack on the river to give him a pair. I held pocket 7's in my hand and was ahead until this point.

Very happy with 2nd though, not only another final table, but my best Stars place finish to date.

Ok, some do go my way!

Perhaps my problem is I'm calling too much, calling with too many hands and calling too much in general.

Still missing what seems like every flop. My exit hand of the APAT event involved making a move with 44 and the big stack called and showed 33. When the 4 came on the flop, I thought I was safe, but the A 2 and 5 that also followed gave him the straight and that was that.

In my cash games, I raise preflop with AJs and get a loose caller with K9o and a king and a 9 come on the flop. I have the flush draw but completely miss it as per usual.

Not a lot seems to be going my way at the moment. The pots I do win seem to be small ones and there aren't enough of them to make up for he big ones I loose.

Oh and I don't like to moan but I've just taken a hit with AJ on an AJ3 board and matey had JJ. Down to $12 and I get TT, raise preflop from SB, BB call.s 6 high flop and I bet my last $6 in to a $6 pot - BB calls. Turn A river 9 - BB shows A9 !

Wanker

I think I need a day off. The last few days I've either played really shit or am just being damn unlucky. I seem to be missing lots of flops yet sticking all my chips in. In an omaha tourney yesterday, I went out first hand after hitting trip jacks, mateyboy held full house. I don't think I'm on my A game at the moment and a small break could be in order - pains me to say that as I love it, but I'm leaking cash.

Also my betting project took a kick in the teeth today too. Tried using Bet Angel again to trade on the horses and ended up losing £30 first go! Then I had a 0-0 in 2 games, a Greek cup game and bloody tottenham being held 0-0 against Southend after 90 mins - wankers. All my hard work from the last month or so gone. Feeling a bit sorry for myself now.

On a plus note, my phone issue is finally resolved with Vodafone cancelling the debt and cancelling my contract after they've realised how shit I've been treated by the mobile outlet - don't use them!!

It's been a while since I had some decent results but today was a good day. It could have been better but overall, not to shabby.

Started out playing a £1250 guaranteed on DTD earlier. Only 50 or so runners so it was a value tourney and I managed to get 6th for £75. I was a bit disapointed in my exit hand as I decided to make a move with Q9s when it all folded to me and ran in to AK! Not the best but still £75 is better than a poke in the eye. I also managed to win a seat in the £8k at the same time by playing a £3.20 sat. That was the afternoon session done and dusted and at this point I was feeling good.

Then I had a couple of my bets on the football - 2 goals or more in the Man U game and also under 3.5 goals in the Roma match when it was 1-0 with half an hour to go. Anyway, Man U lost 1-0 and Roma won 4-0 - the final goal coming 4 mins into injury time with an own goal.

Back to poker. Stars had a VIP freeroll with 3 WPT-PCA seats and I managed to come about 10,000th. I also entered the $20k $50 mtt and ended up going out to a bigger stack chasing a flush draw - was so gutted about going out in that.

I fired up a $2/$4 cash table and was doing ok but then the river let me down a few times to people chasing flushes, making gutshot straights etc and I'm currently down $60 on that. Ended up $70 down after not being able to claw back any.

No good in the £8k either. Was up to 3rd at one point but after getting a decent run of calling preflop hands and then not hitting anything, I ended up going out in about 115th.

I also decided to have a bash at the $27 rebuy to the $475 WPT sat with my W$ I have and only went and won a seat :) Another $475 for the W$ account - what a way to end the day.

I'm beginning to like limit poker. I always stayed away from it because I just gave my money away but after to many nervous moments playing NLHE cash games, I've moved back to limit and am learning to play it properly.

I've not been playing cash games for that long. I realised how quickly I could work a bonus off for Stars after a quick session and also realised that it was a good way to earn some money when your mtt's aren't bringing in enough and I haven't looked back since. I started on NLHE but time after time, I've lost my sit down money within a few hands and decided that I was fed up with it. You get nutters calling at every level but the number of hit and runners that you get on NLHE is annoying. Coming to the table with $20 on a $100 table and moving all in every hand then leaving once they'd doubled up takes the piss, so I moved to limit.

The things I like are that the pots are controlled. You don't tend to get huge pots, but then you don't often take the blinds and nothing else. It's also easy to get out of a pot fairly cheaply. The down side is the sick outdraws you can suffer. AA is still a good hand but if you can't get rid of Mr But It's Soooted, then you could be in trouble.

When I play tight and solid, I do ok. When I slip and make some iffy calls preflop, I don't. I need to concentrate more but sometimes I think I'll play an ok hand, hit bottom pair and call the bets.

I started out last week on $0.5/$1 tables but moved up to $1/$2 fairly quickly. Tonight I've been playing $2/$4 and I have to say, the game is not much different, if you play solid tight poker. I've lost a bit of cash but only in two hands, one I had AA and couldn't shake off 56s and the other KK and couldn't get rid of Q9! I played them ok I think but still lost. I'm still only really one pot away from being even.

I'm off to bonus whore in the next day or two which is the main reason I moved up a level.

Anyway, just really thinking out loud.

Also, my mtt game is hopefully back on track. Two cashes in the last two nights and I was going to make it a 3rd tonight, but I had to push with QQ and matey with AQ and too many chips called me and hit his ace and I went out about 7 from the money! Truth be told though, I didn't really concentrate on the tourney and had an eye on the footy, one on a cash game, another on the internet and also talking to the missus! By the time I realised I had to push, I was on 3k, average was around 6k!

The limit poker is going ok. I started out losing a bit for the first couple of sessions but last night I had an ok time. I did pretty good to start with but then lost what I made but then ended up a small amount for the session. The approach 'Tight is Right' is definitely correct, but I seem to have trouble sticking to it. I have trouble letting go of hands like KK despite there being an ace on the board - 'because it's only $2' to call. If I can stop this, I think I'll do ok in this. You do get clowns playing though. Last night one called a preflop raise from the BB with J3 off suit. He got damn lucky and hit a J33 flop and it was unfortunate for me that I had AJ suited and paid him off a bit. I guess it was only another dollar for him to call which is why he did.

Best hand of the night for me came with me holding AQ. Flop came AAA! Sweet! To make it even nicer, the turn and river both brought queens! Totally amazed and I got paid off a bit - Someone held TT and thought they were good and then thought I was blagging when I bet the flop, he called. Never had a hand like that before. If I can find it in my Poker Tracker, I'll post it later.

The LHE suits me more. I don't think I play any more hands than in NLHE but I spend less on them. I've lost my stake in one hand before in NL but in LHE, it doesn't happen and I like this. The pots tend not to be that much smaller either. The fixed bet at the start attracts a lot of callers which counters the big preflop raise in NLHE that chases off everyone. I just need to not lose focus and keep tight and I should be ok. Bankroll took a bit of a battering at first but hopefully it's undercontrol and will move upwards soon.

Oh and the rate you earn fpp's at is amazing. I must have earned about 400 points last night just playing two tables for a few hours. I've achieved my first goal of keeping silver status in 10 days, I may even make gold, although this isn't a target but if it happens it happens. I'm probably going to lay of the mtt's for a bit and concentrate in building my funds up.

Silver in 10 days, I can't believe it! The first deposit bonus I took advantage of with Stars took me about 3 months to work off. On the current rate, it would take me a day and a half! Can't wait for the next one which will hopefully be soon.

the hand

Definatly playing limit from now on. $1/$2 to be precise. I'm going to build my bankroll up to a nice amount (not decided yet how much) then move up to the next level. I'm also going to read the LHE book I have (I've only had it about 6 months!)

OK so I had another go! Tried 50c/$1 limit tonight. Took $30 to the table and pretty soon I was up to $60 - managed to hit everything. Then without warning, I hit nothing and when I did hit, my opponants hit better - trips being called by crappy hands hitting straights - you name it, I've lost with hit - pair of 9's losing to two higher pairs on the board and matey with Ace kicker wins, full house lost to better full houses by a Q3 caller! It's all happened. Still, I'm only back to my initial $30 at the moment. The people seem to play with anything and call to the end. OK if you hit a hand, bit of a problem if it's a risky board. I may try limit for a bit. I'll have another look at a book I have and see what's what. I like the fact that I don't get bet of pots early on in limit. To easy to get all in in NLHE and get beat by an idiot just joining the table with a small amount and betting crazy. I also think the thing to do is when I double up at limit, leave the table, pick another and start again having 'banked' some cash.

Liking it so far though but I may have to move up to $1/$2.

Oh dear, lost all what i made yesterday. Some guy at the table was very agressive. Raised every pot preflop, called to the end, then bet big. Anyway, he got lucky a few times (hitting 8 on river for a pair, then 8 turn, 10 river to give full house, lots of other stuff like that). Anyway, lost my $60, then reloaded and lost that, mainly with KK against AQ when AQQ flopped, turned and rivered.

Just having a go now trying raising all the time!

Very agressive isn't for me. You have to be willing to lose lots by betting lots and I'm not. I've lost enough today so that's it for me. Just going to finish the round I'm on at the moment and am calling it a day. Bit disapointed to lose all what I made yesterday but at least I'm even over the two days. It wasn't bad play that lost me the money at least, just a very agressive player that got the better of me. Mind, it doesn't help when you have pocket 9's on a 10 high board with four diamonds on the board - how can I call?

Had a good session last night. I finally had a look at Poker Tracker, found a page on twoplustwo that helps a bit in what to look for and WOW! I had a couple of massive areas in my game where I was losing money so I decided to have a quick go and try and sort it. I left the first table $80 up and then left the 2nd table $70 up! Not bad for an hours work even if I do say so myself!

I know partly down to the cards I was dealt some was down to the change, especially the first hand. I've found I'm far to passive preflop. In the first hand, there's one limper round to me and I raise to $4 with 76 off suit (yes I know this isn't the ideal hand to be aggressive with) Anyway, everyone else folds. Flop comes K high but has a 7 so I make a continuation bet of $5. MB calls. turn brings nothing special and I continue again with a $7 bet. MB calls. River brings another 7 but I'm feeling not so confident anymore and just check. Anyway, he checks too and loses with JJ. I know I was lucky, but I didn't think he played the jacks well.

Later my AA held against KK and I took a $120 pot which was nice too :) Nice for them to hold up for me. Lost the day before to an idiot pushing with K3. He was all in on the flop for his $11 on a board he'd missed. Turn and river both came with 3's! Wouldn't have minded so much but there was another person in the pot and he took about $40.

Can't seem to get my mtt game back in gear though. Only played a $5 donkathon rebuy yesterday but didn't do anything. Will have maybe another night off them and try again soon.

Anyway, good day yesterday, things are on the up again!

Some hands, comments appreciated

A losing hand

First hand in that omaha mtt. The then the one where I lost them - it was the next hand!

The AQ v AK hand on the two ace board. I think the only thing I could have done with this was to check when he checked instead of betting.

That's it for now.

I could have gone out early in the the $50. In SB with AJ, folds to me, I raise to 60, BB moves all in. Folded to be safe.

$50 Hands

1. Was happy to call the initial raise with this hand, I quite like KJs but then the bigger raise put me off. I'm not exactly flushed for chips and can't afford to call, even though I think he only raised to put the short stack all in.

2. Just lost a few more chips to a big stack after he put me all in. AJ and I've called the short stack who was making a move. Got unlucky on the flop and I'm very much in trouble

3. KTs, went in for the value and again lost.

Thus ends another grim night.

Another bad night for me. Played 4 tourneys I think and did nothing. Was going well in a NLHE game until my AQ yet again ran into AK but on an two ace board with nothing else to worry about, would you fold? I couldn't anyway. Never really got going again from there.

Omaha, trebeled up first hand!!! Two hands later, lost most of it with the nut flush to a full house :( Didn't really hit anything else in the game, lots of calling hands, no calling the flop bet hands.

I must make a note of hands that cost me a lot and see where I'm going wrong. If I can find them from tonight, I'll post them, if not, I'll remember for next time.

Don't think it was a good idea, but I've just signed up for a $50 mtt. This is probably a mistake as my account has taken a bit of a hammering in the last couple of days but I'm going to win so it will be ok :)

WHAT HAVE I DONE TO OFFEND YOU POKER GODS!

Lost 3 times in a row with AQ to AK then this bloody hand

I was on over 100% profit for the night before the 3xAQ. I didn't lose big on any of them but enough to bring me back to my starting stack. I actually made some good folds on the way after my continuation bets were raised and then there was a Q high flop and I still folded. The QQ hand is just sick and summed things up.

I've reloaded though and am going to win some back hopefully. I'm not playing bad which is the main thing.

Tonights Tourneys

$10 NLHE, going well at first break more to follow

$8 PLO going ok too.

Got to love omaha though

Omaha not going ok at all now, I'm out. On a 758 board, I'm holding 4 and 6 move all in, two callers, both have 69 :( How unlucky is that, all 4 6's were in play too, one of them held 2.

Managed to lose 3000 chips in the NLHE mtt calling an all in on a 522 board when I held a 5 - madness I know, really should have not played at all. Must not make stupid calls for the rest of the tourney. Was in 3rd for quite a while but am well down now. Come on nice cards.

Gah no nice cards, messed this mtt up badly. Ended up having to make a move so I chose 98s and ran into pocket 10's - no help.

This was disapointing really, bad calls from me caused me to go from in a great position to a really crappy position. Then the blinds get big and I have to do something and end up not getting any cards for ages so I make moves with stupid hands like the pair of 5's hand I lost loads with.

When will I learn? Tomorrow hopefully!

Played the $5 rebuy $25k guaranteed and wasn't really going anywhere prior to the break. Second break saw me in a pretty grim state too but then this hand came and all of a sudden, I'm on over average chips! Next hand I won another pot and was up to 27k. Just had to lay down AQ to a reraise then an all in on the flop - didn't think it was worth it on a ten high flop and am currently on just over 21k - Looking ok so far!

151 hands, 2.5 hours in and the first time I get pocket aces....and they take the pot :) Best starting hand up to now was 77, well, that's the best pocket pair I've had, had AKs and AQ but both haven't done anything yet.

Another wicket gone in the cricket!

Onwards...

Balls - down to 11k

Then out. I seem to not win these situations a fair bit. I know I get my fair share of luckyness like the 95 hand above, but all ins preflop, I tend not to win if it's a coin flip like this one. Take the one above, one ten would have been a big blow, but two was just taking the piss. Perhaps I don't go in to enough of them.

Ah well, lasted a while, shame not to cash though - we were less than 100 from the money. In hindsight, I shouldn't have tried to move with the A8. If I wanted to cash, I should have just waited. I think I'd probably have made the money just folding away, but with an M of only about 4 I can't sit around. At least I got first in, just unlucky to run into a bigger hand.....again.

One day, I'm going to win one of these bigger prize money tourneys. I hope the US Dollar exhange rate has got better by then though :)

Flintoff out, things not looking good for England in the cricket. I think I'll wait till the lunch break then go to bed.

Poker Highs and Lows

It's amazing the swings that you go through playing cash games. Playing them is slow solid grind and it's not easy to maintain a standard when you're folding hand after hand.

I was a bit disapointed at my early exit in a $50 mtt earlier but losing the $60 when my QQ ran into AA on a low board was a kick in the goolies. $110 down already and I'd only just started for the night. I reloaded with $40 on my losing cash table and carried on playing. It's been a good 4 hours I guess since then and I'd only picked up scraps. I also loaded a PLHE table. Managed to win a nice pot for $30 at the start but slowly it all went down and eventually the table emptied - PLHE doesn't seem to be that popular. In the last hand I played, on a T3775 board, I bet to the river and even on the river MB called, only to show A3!! Amazing, I don't know what he put me on but bottom pair! Anyway, he was right, I was bluffing but I had a straight draw to the end and the only way I was winning was to bet the river, but amazingly he called.

Anyway, back to the original table, I'm sat on $157 at the moment, all losses have been accounted for, even the $50 I spent on the mtt! I did actually play a couple of $5 rebuys to the $175 WPT DS and didn't win, but I'm not really counting that, my W$ is a seperate fund.

3rd attempt at a $50 mtt.

Payed the price for slow playing KK

http://www.pokerhand.org/?647124

Very next hand

http://www.pokerhand.org/?647126

Then the very next hand

http://www.pokerhand.org/?647129

Not quite back in it, but not far off.

JJ was the next hand and I raised to 200, 1 caller and an ace on the flop ment I had to fold to his bet - after raising when there was an ace with the kings, I thought better of it this time.

Anyway, Stuck my last chips in with JTs and got a caller with 77 but I didn't improve and thus went out. Grim night so far. I've also lost $60 in cash when my QQ was up against AA.

Great night

Managed my first cash in a $50 mtt in only my second go - came 18th for $235. Also cashed in a $8 omaha and also won $80 on the cash tables. Will write up the tourney in the morning, but for now I must sleep.

Been a good day, more than makes up for yesterday :)

God bless cash games, then can make you feel like shit one minute then make your day the next

It was actually going not too bad anyway, managed to make $50 before reducing that to a $20 profit then that hand came and I'm probably now even evens for the day overall, including my mtt losses.

May quit now

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.

Couple of nice non poker nights recently. Went to see Little Britain live on Friday night and then out for a Chinese last night. Both good fund.

Just had a very disapointing cash game session. Doubled up to $135 pretty quickly after my quad tens beat a pair of twos (I kid you not) but instead of leaving, I decided to play on then my AKs lost to trip aces after I was seduced by top pair and the flush draw. Back down to starting $60. Few small losses further and I'm dealt QQ. Action continues on a 7 high board and despite my $5 raise preflop, Mr Pair of Two from earlier, wins the pot with 56s on hitting two pairs. Money down drain. Should have been up $70 but instead I'm down $60.

Another small cash in a limit poker game last night. I don't like limit. It's really swingy, one minute you can be out, the next you're well up there. I came back from 550 in chips on blinds of 300/600 last night to being 5th at one point before being horrendously outdrawn with AK on a 9d Kc 2s flop. I'm betting all the way, MB calls with JsTs. Turn came As, river 4s. What can you do? I'm so pot commited at the turn I can't get away from it. I understand why he called with the gutshot on the flop, but it's annoying. Up till 2am for a 22nd place finish and only $7 lol. Note to self - no more limit at late hours!

Betting project is still on. An 87th minute goal last night saved my ass!

Moved up to 50c/$1 cash games and 2nd hand I play I'm dealt pocket 10's.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?572546
Probably didn't play it well but the flush draw really buggered me.
Then later, the 2nd big hand I play and I'm with AQ in the big blind http://www.pokerhand.org/?572632
What the bloody hell am I supposed to do!

Finished the night getting some of my losses back. Ended up $49 down - could have been worse I suppose. It was only one of the bad hands above that I was down over all and generally, it wasn't too bad. Made a couple of lucky hands back myself, the main one being this hand I think I'm ok at this level, I just don't really have the bankroll for it, especially as I want to withdraw $800 from my Stars account.

The betting project is still on track with 16 bets in a row. The laying first didn't go well and I went back to zero, but I think I've got a new system for that. Will see how it goes. It's all stored here now.

Quite a nice poker day today - nothing major but I joined Bet365 to play some of the freerolls they are having and joined in the $5k one. Didn't win big money but I did make $6 lol! Still profit is profit.

Logged on to Stars to see what was happening and I saw a $5 rebuy for a sat to a $175 double shootout WPT Bahamas. Wasn't going to rebuy but then I decided too, then I lost an all in and rebought, then I wasn't going to have an add on but I worked out that about 30 seats were going to be going so I rebought too! $20 invested.

Was pretty low stacked then this http://www.pokerhand.org/?569272 . May as well go for it, lots of callers and if I hit, then I'm well in things. The big stacks would surely call the extra and the raise payed off.
Then someone made a move when I had AA http://www.pokerhand.org/?569278, that was handy too. Next hand I folded pocket 10's to a raise, then a reraise. I didn't want to lose what I'd just built up so I folded. Couple of hands later and http://www.pokerhand.org/?569281 I'm in again! Then AKo http://www.pokerhand.org/?569282 and I'm in again!

It's all going amazing, this is all within a round or so of the table, getting excited when I get 10's again http://www.pokerhand.org/?569284 I wasn't sure if I should have reraised or not preflop, then the scarey flop made me just check too. Bit of my hard work undone

Bubble time for the money ($9 then two lots of $33 then 31 entries to the $175) and I'm on 16k in chips and the blinds move to 6k/12k on my BB! Gutted. Luckily it all folds round to the small blind who has 7k and I'm praying that he works out that if he folds, he'll still have 7k and we'll probably both qualify. Had he moved, I'd have had to call for the extra 1k. Thankfully he did fold and we all made it!

Cashed out my W$175. Not really in to double shootouts, especially for $175. I'll put them to use on some EPT events I think.

On the betting front, it's more good news.

The plus 1 goal so far..

11. Chelsea v Portsmouth £29.51 @ 1.07 won
New Balance £31.56
12. Monaco v Toulouse £31.56 @ 1.11 won
New Balance £35.00

And....I've started a new betting project to work alongside the +1 goal. Same market, but laying from the start and trading off after say 20 mins or whenever the odds move up a nice bit.

1. Villa Real v Levente - £25 layed at 1.10, backed at 1.20 for £2.06 profit
2. Deportivo v Athletico Madrid - £25 layed at 1.11, backed at 1.30 for a £3.61 profit

This is still early doors for me so I'll limit my potential losses for now, but the next lay will be for £50 probably (around £5 liability). I like this one too, but an early goal cocks things up. On the plus side, you're not risking a lot but can win quite a bit. Also, it was my own idea!

All winnings include Betfairs commision which is why they appear not to add up.

Just two bets today, didn't really get time. The first was 0-0 for ages and I was a bit nervous about sticking everything on it so I only went cheap!

9. D Moscow v Sp Nalchik £2.69 @ 1.73 (IP) won
New balance £26.51 (I know the figures are slightly out!)
10. Dortmund v Bochu £26.51 @ 1.1 (IP) won
New balance £29.07

Just tilted for the first time ever. Was a bit unlucky in some draws. Got my Kings beat by some Ace rag caller on the flop, lost an all in when my AA was no match for K4 off suit despite the $2 reraise preflop (only 50c bb) and I wouldn't have minded too much but the money went in on the flop and he hit on the turn! Then my Queens flopped an aces and I had to fold, so when I got AJ and an ace came on the flop, I had to reraise mateyboy, who reraised me, and I reraised again, and we ended up all in. Anyway, he hit trip aces. Stupid play really, Oh and my two pair lost to trip 6's - How the hell can you fight against crappy trips when you have two pair? Thankfully it was only my Noble account - it doesn't really count in there lol although I do have a bonus I was working off, I'll have to deposit again now :(

Todays bets

7. Wisla Krakow v Blackburn £18.28 @ 1.17 (IP) won
New Balance £21.34
8. Panathinaikos v H Tel Aviv £21.34 @ 1.15 (IP) won
New Balance £24.51

Didn't do anything special in either the Blonde league game (went out KK v AA) or the cash games I played (small loss, nothing to notice). Played the final of a freeroll qualifier to the Dublin EPT and all was going quite well but a couple of small losses and all of a sudden I'm fighting with around 10k with blinds of 1000/2000. Get 74 in the small blind, call, flop comes 7 high but matey in the BB has flopped a straight, holding 89! Lucky bastard. Me out in 13th, I'd have liked that seat and the competition wasn't that great to be honest. The amount of all in's with just a high card was amazing. Still, I didn't win and that's that. My day will come.

The +1 goal betting

I'm currently working on the +1 goal betting in football. Got the idea from the Betfair forum and thought I'd give it a bash. Started with a tenner.

Results so far

1. Arsenal v Watford 1 goals or more £10.00 @ 1.05 win
New Balance £10.50
2. Reading v Chelsea 1 goal or more £10.50 @ 1.08 win
New Balance£11.33
3. Treviso v Juventus 1 goal or more £19.12 @ 1.06 win
New Balance £12.47 (put the borrowed money back in my funds which is why it looks funny)

OK, so I thought the Juve was 'value' and 'borrowed' a bit from my main funds to get over £1 profit!

4. S Bucharest v Real Madrid £12.47 @ 1.11 win
New Balance £13.83
5. Sporting Lisbon v Bayern Munich £13.83 @ 1.1 win
New Balance £15.21
6. Chelsea v Barcalona £15.21 @ 1.2 win
New Balance £18.24

Finally!

In Augsut, I ordered a mobile phone from themobileoutlet dot com. A day later, I changed my mind, cancelled the order and recieved confirmation that it had been cancelled. Few days later, the phones turned up so I contacted them via email and got a reply saying that the contract was cancelled. Few days later and I get a direct debit form from Vodafone. I call Vodafone and explain and am informed that it will be ok, the forms must be in the post. Next thing, I've recieved a bill. Try and contact themobileoutlet, no reply. Things have escallated and I've contacted Vodafone loads trying to explain and they've contacted themobileoutlet and have been told if they get the phone back my contract will be cancelled.

OK, send the phone back (I thought stupidly that they'd send for it) and a week or so later, bill no. 2 arrives :( I'm obviously getting nowhere so I decide to call them. Call from work, spend 20 mins on hold only for our phone to not work properly so when it's my turn, the person at the other end can't hear me - bad mood. Call again later and speak to a nice guy who explains that the person who told me my contract would be cancelled was a trainee and shouldn't have told me that! Anyway, we've had a chat and I've settled for a free bluetooth headset and a months cashback up front. I only agreed to this as it's a cash back contract and it won't actually cost me anything over the year, I just claim the money back. Also informed that the phone has been sent back to me.

Called them up today as I don't have the phone yet and am told that the contract has been cancelled and am given a cancellation number that if I call Vodafone, my contract will be cancelled and all outstanding bills credited - wooooo! Happy days.

Been on to Vodafone now who are checking things out and will hopefully get back to me, but a 3 month saga could finally be over.

Not only that, but I made a mistake and spelt advice wrong on 65 tops last week (with an 's' - yes poor I know!) Anyway, there's loads of text on these shirts and it was soul destroying doing them the first time but when I found out about the mistake, I was gutted. Anyway, the main seems happy with my 'fix'.

Been a positive day today, I just need to win the omaha rebuy tonight on Blonde Poker

Hello

I have my own site that I keep a blog on but it's due for renewal and I'm wondering if I really need the whole site thing or just a blog here will do? On the plus side of the site, I get my own file store which I use a bit (ftp thing) and it's totally flexible. On the down side, it's going to cost £60 or so to renew it for a year - do I need it that much? Sadly, I don't think I do and it could be time to let go of silobass.co.uk.

So, I have a fair few posts on the site - what do I do with them? Not sure I can be arsed to copy them over here. They're just general posts about my poker and betting - not overly interesting.