Cry Me A River

April Update - Dont take breaks

2010-04-18T03:36:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys

Just a quick one. April basically hasn't gone to plan, it started out a complete blank in the 1st week as I had a wedding and then was on an intense driving course which lasted 8 days and which I passed 1st time :-) after numerous days of driving tilt cause of the rigged government DSA fuckin system, but I wont go into that. I think I only managed 200 games in a week and lost $$$ over the 200 games. I was running bad but also playing bad and confidence was low. Its un-believeable how much you lose sharpness after 10 days off or only playing here an there. You lose confidence, balls, sharpness and basically the ability to win. Since Monday gone however it has been much better both volume and playing wise. I really felt I played my A game most of the week and only really remember 1 FT mistake were I shoved 11BB to from the H/J to steal with K7o, didn't really need to do it as I was 3rd in chips and playing well, but I picked a bad spot to shove with 4 left to act if I never I could have took it down. Final tables are were the money is made n lost so when I make a mistake on them I tend to beat myself up alot more than if I did say mid tourny

Also been taking advantage of Nick this week. He has assigned himself 9-2 in the day to sit on skype and live coach students as they're playing. Its fantastic to have him on hand for help, encouragement and obvs training. The course gets better with new things being introduced week in week out, it doesn't seem to stand still or go stale as nicks always adding little things in. I think I tend to annoy him sometimes as I constantly firing spots over but am sure he would rather that than not doing it at all as the more money I make the more he makes and lets face it, when it goes dark, that's why we're here.

Also a quick shout to bodeye, not much to say apart from that kids a poker genius and if you're unlucky enough to encounter him at your tables, good luck. I think some students tend to give away to much in their blog posts which I don't like to do but if you haven't read this one from FoxyShazam then go an read it now. The kids a good player that's for sure but he also very clever were the psychology part of the game is concerned to http://foxy-shazam.blogspot.com/2010/04/focus-on-what-you-want-not-what-you.html

Here's my April graph, hoping to play 1000 games more before the end of April after a slow start and would be happy to stick to $3 game at the end of it and also come out with platinum star.

Justice for the 96 - You'll Never Walk Alone

2010-04-15T03:16:00.000-07:00

One day the city of Liverpool WILL get justice for what happened on that tragic day. However 21 years on an its still no closer.

April goals

2010-04-01T14:09:00.001-07:00

Hey Guys

Below are my April goals, tough but achievable if I work hard enough.

1. Play 2400 SNGs
2. Study 5 hours a week + attend, or get recordings of, all HH reviews
3. Profit at $4 per game
4. Remember I do this shit for a living an put 9 hours a day 5 days a week minmum
5. Figure how the fuck to get PT3 to pick up my tourney results

Hopefully by the end of April Everton will be above Liverpool to

Peace out!

FML - More MTT shafting

2010-03-31T16:55:00.000-07:00

There isnt anyone who likes a bad beat story but this one is comin anyway! I am deffo gonna take this MTT down one day but this is my latest soul destroyin beat in it. The tourney is the $7.50 turbo on stars an averages about 1200 runners an this chip leader pot was with 15 left an $1.7k FTW. The guy was a maniac as cogs will tell you because he was railing. It was obvious he was isolating super wide with ATo being pretty much the top of his range in that spot, he had showed down some very suspect hands. So sick.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5320818P

1st week of elite

2010-03-29T03:12:00.000-07:00

Hey Fish

Last week I was given the amazin opportunity of joining Rainmans elite team of students. We get to work super closely to the likes of Bodeye2, johnnyhilldo and not to mention the man himself MI_turtle. We also get the chance to go live in california an meet eveyone for a weeks intenseive training which is just going to be the nuts. Nicks been fantastic this week and is always on hand to answer questions about diffucult spots etc an how we could have played hands differently. Last night nick was 13 tablin MTT's an still managed to find time to look at a spot from one of $12/180 FT/s.

One thing is I really feel alot more confident now when playing the $12s and I genuinely feel like the best player at most final tables I make. I am learning to jab my way through them alot more an turning alot more FT appearances into wins which feels good. I am also mixin low buy in MTT's an the daily $7.50 turbo on stars hs got my name all over it soon. My last deep run I lost a big pot with 16/1125 left. My exit hand was sick an for a chip leader pot an $1.4k for the win. 3 limpers an I punish them by shoving with 18bb an AQs on the button, the SB & BB come along with A9s & JJ an the A9s flops the nutz an its gg me, FML.

Lastly can I just say a big congrats to the boss yesterday as after my session I railed him to victory on the $8+r Final Table. Its was so funny as down to 3 handed nick had 1million chips and the other 2 had 6mill and 5mill respectively. Nick asked did they wanna look at number an the chip leader (so confident he would win) said he wanted to take it down for his 1st 5 figure socre. Which ok is fair enough but you still have to win it against one of the best MTT players on stars haha, neeedless to say Nick politely wished them good luck the owned their souls an took it down.

Here's my results monday to monday from my 1st week on the elite team. The results are nice but the easy part was doing it the hard part will be emulating it week in week out, but am gonna give it a good fucking go

A little something for the doubters

2010-03-28T08:26:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys

most reading this know the game but there will be an still is people reading who think they are unlucky, online pokers rigged, its impossible to beat that many fish etc etc so am gonna stick my neck on the line an admit up until 4th jan 2010 I knew a little about this game maybe a bit more than a little but this graph will show me I didnt know how to make money, so really I knew nothing because thats what this game is about

The arrow is a little out but it basically indicates when I met Nick an his team and before that was about the 3200 game mark and at -$1.5k in 18 months, after it well you can see for yourself, 2500 games at +$4.5k in just over 3 months but yeah pokers about luck, online pokers rigged an I was the unluckiest person alive until I actually learned the game an all that chaged!!

back officially as a poker pro and 2010 goals

2010-03-26T11:40:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys

Sorry it's been a while with no post but only really hit the tables again full time on monday night. This week has been my most enjoyable yet to date were poker is concerned and made me realise its what I want to do. I managed a total of just under 400 games an a profit of $2k since monday. Yesterday I managed 111 $12/180 turbos in a day an believe me it was exhausting but enjoyable. Nick has also given me alot of his time on skype this week which has been good. He is watching my final tables live an giving me advice after them and going over tough spots with me. He believes in and ecnourages me which is nice and it gives you the confidence to keep going. He is worker and a half an its excellent to have him taking time like he has this week to help me. The mentality part of my game is improving vastly to. I believe if I keep working at my game and improving I can get to a minumum of $3 per game profit at the $12s but could achieve up to $5 and my aim is to play 2k per month minumum. I will no longer be playing the $2s an will be playing $12s and above only.

Goals:
Since I am going to be doing this shiz for a living from now on I have looked more into the stars rakeback system. Well tbh I never, Pud from over at Betfair did and told cogs who emailed me it all over but its not bad. My aim is to get platinum star next month which should be easy as I only need to play 1364 (less if mixin the $36s) games an its then the equivalent of 23.5% and at the moment I am getting an equivalent of 21% as gold star however my main goal is to make supernova by 31/12/2010 and I am goin to do it no matter what and I will be earning 33%

I also plan on playing alot more MTT's, preferably turbos an hopefully learning Nicks strategys behind them as well as my own game. I managed a deep run in the stars $11/7.5k this week, it got 1100+ runners but I couldnt win a flip for a top 5 pot with 29 left when my JJ was not match for QK/AK all in preflop, sigh but I feel an MTT score is around the corner as I have come close so many times. No one is willing to work harder than me this year so hopefully I will be rewarded.

Lastly but not least I want to make a top 20 appearance in the shakrscope leaderboard for 54>180 man sometime this year and a top 10 in the stars TLB 1 month would be amazin. I know these are tough goals but I am now surrounded in a team with, not only, some of the best players and most succesful proven online poker players in the world but also alot of players that are gonna be the future of this game we all love to hate so if David can go against Goliath with a stone???

I am not gonna be one of these poker players who sits infront of a PC 100 hours per week and hopefully I'll be that good I wont have to. I enjoy life an the good things it brings which is why I am doing this and I am a very sociable person so I am goin to work out some sort of schedule. Its gonna be hard tho because the games run better at nights. However its could involve simply hammering nights sun night - thurs night an havin fri-sat off but we'll see. The other side to coin is that the games are soooooooooo softer during the day so maybe I could play a little less but win as much. I will do some proper experiments over the coming weeks an see. I do know 12 tablin you can get 100 games in 7 hours using only the sync breaks. I have no qualms playing 12 hours a day 4 days a week though.

I will leave you with my graph to date since starting the course as its 7.30pm and I have 100 games to play. I will be blogging alot more. This graph is frustrating as if the personal problems that I had didnt come this would be so much better and I would be so much further.

badcallthat is back

2010-03-10T08:46:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys

The situation is resloved an basically pokers what I want to do. I will be back at the tables pretty soon. I have emailed Nick and asked him can I come back on the course and hopefully he will accept me back. If not I will still be back at the tables from monday. I will be re rolling at the bottom so will start grinding the $2.20/180 and $3.40/45 on stars and will be lookin to play a bare minimum of 600 games per week

I am coming back more focused and more determined to crush this game beyond belief

Good Luck an stay out my way

Badcalllthat

Leaving the programme an poker to

2010-03-02T14:41:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys

I have had to make a tough decision to leave the course. Its nothing to do with the game itself but basically I have problems and situations in my private life which require 100% attention and I cant give 100% to the course so I felt it would be unfair on both Nick & Allan to continue coaching me.

They are great guys and I felt confident enought to tell them my situation and their response opitmises what they're about. They basically wished me all the luck in the future and they hoped I got everything sorted. They also told me they would welcome me back on the programme at any time an that I was well on my way to earning a very good living off poker. So really its a shame but it doesnt even come close to being as important as what I need to do

People do say 'never say never' so who knows but I very much doubt I will pursue poker as a career in the forseeable future. I do have a message to anyone out there who has aspirations of being a professional poker player though. You really need to understand that the game takesover in the early run. You have to put so much dedication into it its unbelievable. Dont think these players who are winning thousand make an easy living. The likes of the Rainman programme can teach you everything except the psycology of the game. This is something you have to master yourself and belive me it isnt easy, 200 buy in dowswings hurt. You sit there grinding for 10 hours an just receive beat after beat after beat. It aint rigged, you aint unlucky its called variace and will always be there and if you cant handle it you cant win, period. If you let the beats affect your game, you miss +EV spots, you shove in -EV spots and just generally be all over the place. If there was no such thing as a river card we would all be millionaiires quick so shut the fuck up moaning about them cos they are there. Maybe we should invent a new game infact take the 'R' for river of then end of poker an call it poke, same no river, simplessss

Despite all the above I believe I could have beat this game an a 48% roi over my 1st 1500 game aint bad so who knows, but for now its being put to bed. Thanks to everyone who followed and a big thanks to cogs who really helped me get my head round the psycology of the game. I doubt I would have done well over the 1500 games without him helping me with that part all day everyday and we have had some laughs. Only really met him through this an RTR but spoke millions of times on skype an he's a good lad. I will continue to blog about any odd MTT's I play or just general poker an sport. I enjoy it.

Good Luck at the tables fish
Garry

Week 7 - Game Selection

2010-02-18T11:55:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys

Hows it goin, sorry for missin week 6 out but I just all mixed up with the weeks by posting mid week. Week 7 has continued well $$$ wise so am happy with that but my move to the $12s has seen me learn a very valuable lesson in game selection. The best time for me to play would be of a night around 6pm-2am because the games run faster which obvs means a bigger $$ per hour/game. I havent really done calculations around hourly rate because for some reason HEM is only picking up 80% of my games and PT3 wants me to manually input all my results, why that is I dont know but the faster the games fill means more games an more money. However this is when I seem to be coming accross alot more regs which is without doubt -EV. Last night for instance I have luvmywife chip210 johnnyhildo and jphillips EeeTee2008 and I GRIND THIS all at the same table of a $12/180 wtf, and all other names I recognised popping up all over the show like 1bigacehole, jbrown877, vertek, longy11 an of course MI_Turtle, plus plenty more even gavin griffin keeps poppin up, I am shocked at how many top players play the 12s tbh, basically all are solid winning players so why would I want to surround myself with them when I have the luxury of being english and able to play say a 9am-5pm schedule when all these guys are tucked up in bed or doing whatever. I really need to do some calculations as to how many games I can play in each 4 hour session etc but I certainly dont mind playing xtra hours to get the same amount of games in if the games are softer at certain times which they undoubtedly are so its time to research the games at each times an see what I come up with. I am no were near as good or experienced as alot of the regs on stars and I dont need to beat the best to flatter my ego, all I need to do is make money.

Its so funny when you hear people talk about 'moving up to were they respect my raises' or 'I cant win with all them donks about' or 'I think its easier to play against the best players' what a load of bull. Anyone who says that again might aswell never player poker again and the funny thing is I used to say the same. The fact is you find the softest easiest game around an play in it cause no matter what the donks throw at you, you play well make the right moves an you'll come out on top.

I squeezed an MTT in this week just the small field $8.80 [500 cap] on stars an managed a final table but the sickness of what happened to me was just sick sick sick. I had 300k in chips an there were 2 short stacks if I remember, I may post the hand history but basically a guy made this like weird shove of 25k, half his stack (or so i thought) but leavin the other 30k chips behind, I misread the shove for like 25k instead of the 250k it was an over shoved with 99 to isolate the shorty, only he werent a shorty an was another big stack with 250k in the middle. I dont know what happened it was pretty weird an quite clever on his part if he meant it but I had been playing about 10 hours an my concentration slipped when I really needed it hold and I ened up out in 5th, I did have 180s up to but it was so sick. I felt by far the best player at the final yet I blew it.

Reviews with nick are still getting better everytime but I am really starting to struggle with the times they're held. I have a 1-2-1 review with him soon which will be my first one and I am really looking forward to it with all sorts of questions on the ready. As mentioned in my previous post the reviews have been going into more around pre an post flop hand reading based on the actions in the hand etc and it really is interesting and I think I am takin alot out of it. We then obviously use stove to measure our hand against their assigned range an make the correct decision accordingly. This isnt to realistic when 15 tablin turbos but will help alot. Yes alot of our decisions are going to be pre flop but you still find yourself in post flop situations, especially if you've chipped up early an people start defending their blind light in the mid stages, on final tables or in MTT's so its important we get to grasp this concept fast. Plus I dont think I want to be on 180 man turbos forever so the course getting more advanced can only be a good thing

Anyway along with the above final which paid $224 I have managed to get lucky an ship 3 12s so far an an a good few finals which has kept my role intact but I am expecting a big downswing soon. Infact I am in a 35 buyin downswing as we speak which is nothing in 180s so I expect it to continue lol. I havent played at all today for the 1st time in weeks. I had 2 seperate universal replayer sessions a 2 hour session with cogs then a 1 hour session on my own then got some hand historys over to nick and basically just chilled as I have played for like 20 days straight in feb.

here is my current graph to date since I started

Moving up to $12/180

2010-02-16T05:40:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys

Things have been going ok since saturday I ended up finishing on the $2s this week an starting on the $12s. My total figures for the $2s were:

Played 989
ROI 56%
Profit $1217

I ended up gettin lucky in the sense that after droppin 15 buyins at the $12s I went an took one down just as I was about to hit the drop back down in buy in amount so that has helped me. After paying paying Nick back his 25% profits etc my roll now stands at $1376 which is ample amount to hit the $12s. I am under no illusions that I may have to drop back down and there will be no shame in doing so, hopefully though, that wont happen. I win at least 1 / 180 manner everyday and hopefully today will be no different

I think I may have done enough to get on the sharkscope leader board for the $2s but I dont seem to be on there yet and I am currently lying 700th in the Feb TLB on stars so hopefully I will maintain that an get in the nice 20k freeroll at the end of the month. I have aslo set a plan to get to gold star by the end of the month, not because I want the 3 shitty lil gold stars next to my name but it means I will have played 400 $12s in the next 2 weeks, acheivable but tough. Also Nick asked me to dabble in the sunday quarter mill on stars which I did this week an min cashed but the encouraging thing is that hopefully I will eventually move towards learning to beat MTT's which we all know is where the big money is.

The reviews are just gettin better an better. Last nights went in depth about pre an post flop hand reading and assigning oppos a range etc. Nick really wont give up once he starts and even gets himself all tangled up sometimes when going really in depth. I mean we all know the genral poker maths but sometimes your talkin mathematics that 98% of poker players simply wont get but he wont stop until we all understand. The more I get to know him the more I get to like him tbh and he is a funny guy when he's not pickin on you. However the thing I like is the whole professionalism about the guy. There is no way I could have done this with anyone else an believe me when I tell you the work he is puttin into this course is phenomanal and if you'e lucky enough to get on it, then lucky you!!! Big thanks Nick if your reading this.

Come on the Everton tonight. This is a massive game for us against Lisbon and I think we will progress to the next round. We are playing well and confidence is high, it should also be the perfect game for Arteta to show his skills after a lengthy period out.

Here is my total graph for the programme and good luck at the tables fish!!!

$1k mark reached

2010-02-13T04:37:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys

I know I said I werent playing again this weekend but about 1am last when I was going to bed an email came thourgh on the blackberry about a rview w/ Nick but at 5am GMT. Anyway Doris was tired an ready for bed and I felt ok so thought Id stay up for the review and ended up firing 20 tables up an winnin about $200 to put me on the $1k profit mark so it ended up being a good choice even if I am really tired now. My coach told me to let him know when I had reached the $1k mark so I have just sent him an email now and will await his reply before playing anythng else, hopefully he will want me to now move up to the $7s but we'll see

Winning 500 buyins in under 1000 games is a real sense of achievement for me and I am not gonna lie... I am really pleased. However I know its only the begining of a very long road so I am just going to keep focused and keep grinding and hopefully good things are about to happen for me. Febuary so far is whats done it for me, since the 1/2/10 I have played 502 games with a 71% ROI an total profit of $781, all this when I felt I was running bad an seein more bad beats in a month than I have in my life so this just goes to show that discipline an making the right moves will profit over luck when you stay disciplined and put the volume in

Also I am in 909 spot off the stars monthly TLB of playin the $2s so my aim is to stay in the top 1000 which again will be another lil acheivement for me not to mention the $20k freeroll which comes with it

here's my new updated week 5 graph

week 5 - strong learning curve

2010-02-12T06:14:00.000-08:00

Hey guys

week 5 has been my toughest yet in poker. I have played alot of games an variance has hit me real hard. I was given a target by nick to play 500 games in feb and I have 460 so far already so thats pleasing. I dont think, up until this week, I have ever experienced the true variance in poker. I am constantly gettin fucked over when deep but I am learning to handle it more an more each time it happens. I mean check these 3 hands out, I was CL on the FT just now and these happened within mins of each other and I was out in 9th http://www.pokerhand.org/?5178524 http://www.pokerhand.org/?5178518 http://www.pokerhand.org/?5178514 . I dont think i could get away from any of them tbh an its just one of them. I havent had a lesson for 2 weeks or feedback off HH's I've sent, just reviews w/ nick but you cant question on them so I will save this one for my coach when he gets back to see what his take on it is. I actually typed all sorts in the chat box to which isnt like me but I was just so totally tilted. I really wanna hit the $1k and I am so close yet silly little things like variance keep knockin me back. The tiltin only tends to happen when am wrappin up a session an 1/2 tablin my last ones so its not to bad as thats often so...

Despite all the above I have still been slowly profiting and I am happy with the reults so far. I have came so far in a short space of time in terms of what I have learned and I aint gonna let a few bad beats knock me off course. I am having a break now til Monday which will do me the world of good so its plenty of nice food, nice company an lots of grey goose vodka cocktails coming up.

I have gotten to know that fish cogs from RTR alot of the last few weeks an he's a good lad. He's waiting to get on the same course although he is crushing them anyway. He has been railing me alot an me him to which is helping. The main thing we talk about really is just talk about how bad people are tbh and sometimes how we may have played a hand differently but we are also motivating each other to play alot which helps alot. He's gettin bad beated everywere this week an finding it hard to motivate himself so I might even offer him some sort of prop bet for next week to motivate us both even more. We keep coming up up against each other to and needless to say I own him hard everytime, a bit like my Everton owned his Chelsea the other night. He does go on about how bad he runs but really he runs like god an is just a total fish:-) which is also a bit like Chelsa to really

Anyway am off to buy a new shirt for tomorrow night so here's my results for the course so far. Have a nice weekend fish an treat them ladies well.

New set up and Table Ninja FTW

2010-02-10T08:35:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys

Before I get started guys check out this new an exciting poker site called victory poker and sign up using this link https://www.victorypoker.com/en.get-started.sign-up?bonus=Nick123 for bonuses etc, see http://www.rainmanpoker.net/ for more details

Got a new set up all sorted. Got a 24" HD monitor for all my tables an my old 14" aside of it with PT3, table ninja, pokerstove and my stars lobby an its definately better havin a solid proper set up

Been gettin used to table ninja an its probably the best $40 I've ever spent on poker I just love it. I am now up to about 15 tables which just means the bad beats come more and faster but hopefully it will mean the profit will come more an faster to. Navigating these 180's is a total minefield so having 15 tables cascaded means you can sort of sidestep the emotinal rollercoaster of sweating every flop turn an river when you're all in. I am not going to lie its a leak that I need to plug. I get so mad an tilt easy which is gonna effect my profits if I dont to get to grips with it long term. I even get tilted by the play when am not in a hand but not seein the flips is certainly helping so am gonna stick to cascading for now.

I have always liked keeping my bets the same but its hard when multitabling and with TN I can have all my pre flop an cbets for each stages of the tournament / blind levels all pre set along with the opener opening all my games for me at a rate I have chosen. There is not many situations you need to deviate from your generall play in these 180s but I can still do it if I need to. Not to mention the way it has got rid of all the little annoyances, such as auto clicks of your time bank, free to check and I'm back button, plus the auto closure of lobbies and the BB indicator on your screen. I also like the hotkeys were you can just CTRL+A for all in, its amazin. I have been modifying my stars tables using http://www.tiltbuster.com/ to which has all good note takin gadgets and table mods check it out if you havent already seen it. I probably post a picture of my set up soon anyway

Things at the tables are still bad although the volume is picking up. I have still been makin enough to slowly grow the roll but it could and should have been higher so I am hoping for a quick upswing soon. I know bad beats come an they're part of poker an everyone gets them bla bla bla but the ones I cant take are deep CL pots on FT's thats when they hurt an thats when all mine seem to be coming along lately so soon as that evens out things should be fine:-). Here's a few of examples of my week so far and what happens when I make it deep http://www.pokerhand.org/?5172175 http://www.pokerhand.org/?5172181 http://www.pokerhand.org/?5172189

I have played 184 games since my last post on saturday an a total of 353 games so far in febuary which isnt to shabby considering I only played about that the whole of jan. As the volume has picked up my gorgeous girl has taken a back seat. She's been very supportive about all this though so this weekend am gonna take a lil break and I am not playing a single game. I wanna really spoil her for valentines an take her out for a slap up meal etc and spend some quality time with her as she deserves it. I am off for a sleep anyway and then a another grind from about 8pm-2am when the games are better. My total figures and graph are below.

Played: 776
Roi: 37%
Total Profit: $613

gl at the tables fish

Week 4 - Understanding profitability in SNG's

2010-02-06T08:32:00.001-08:00

Hey Guys

Week 4 has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster. It all started so well winnin a few tournies and then bang the deck hit me, probably the coldest ever if I am being totally honest. I am finally starting to understand how this game works after reading a great post from one of the students that nick posted on his blog recently an it can be read here: http://chip210sng.blogspot.com/2010/01/starting-to-get-it.html

Now I havent played enough games to come close to knowing my true ROI or winrate and tbh I dont want to be hanging around the $2.20's long enough to find out what this figure will be. So lets say for arguments sake I can beat them for $1 per game its important to remember that everytime I sit down an play I earn exactly that. So doesnt matter if I am on a heater and I take 10 down out of a set of 50, I have only won $50. It's something my coach is drilling into me and I am starting to undertsand it more. My coach has been supporting me through the bad beats on skype an giving little enouraging messages. It doesnt matter how many times top set gets beat by runner runner quads or AK gets beat by Ax orf my JJ is beaten by 88 and the reason it doesnt matter is because we cant control the cards once all the chips are in the middle. We can however control other aspects. Gettin them in ahead or behind as long as its the correct decision in an optimnal spot, managing our stacks correctly at different stages of a tournament, putting in the volume required, studying accordingly etc are all things we can control an the rest will fall into place regardless of short term swings or how cold/hot the deck is running for you. One of the main things that was frustrating me is I believe I am playing better and more now than in weeks 1,2,3 but had worse results but after undertsanding eveyrthing I am learning it just doesnt matter an I just need to keep playing. I have compiled a note pad of calls shoves, folds etc over the last week and sent them over to my coach for a lesson early next week so lookin forward to seeing the results of that. We have also been given a buddy and mine is a young lad from america called paul who i chat with on skype and I am going to try an set up a sweat session with him over next week to. He's a cool lad who seems a nice person. Just like me really, cant be arsed with rat race and wants to learn to beat this game so I think that was a good idea and we can start to bounce decisions of on each other an hopefully learn more.

The reviews with Nick really are starting to get better everytime. Maybe the more its drilled into you the more you understand I dont know but I find they're helping more and more each time. Also he has moved from using skype and now does it using some sort of VPN programme called wbinar and I find it alot better and easier to follow. He has even been doing earlie ones for us european students to and they will be recorded from now on which will make life so much easier for me. The programme were on is just immense and I have looked around out of curiosity and there simply isnt anything like it about so I do feel amazingly lucky. I mean last night we got to live sweat on the VPN, nick an BFizz11 multi tablin MTTs with a rationale behind everything, I mean were the hell would ya get that for nothing anywere esle????? It was interesting to see the way they position tables, note take etc as all these things help. I will have a new 24 inch monitor and the exact same set up as nick table wise. I will be purchasing table ninja on monday for when my new monitor comes. Online poker tools are invaluable and if you are multi tablin on stars without table ninja, PT3 and pokerstove your wasting your time these 3 are just the minumum. Check out Daleroxxus post for more info on each one an get using them http://daleroxxu.blogspot.com/2010/01/pokerstars-multi-tabling-guide.html

I feel I have learned and know enough to hit this game an beat these 180s its just a case of sittin back, putting in the vloume and making the right decisions and am sure, even after a horrible horrible dirty disgusting week at the tables, I will love the results. I have been given a goal by nick to play 500 games in february and I will aim to sufficiently surpass that and be on the $7s (need to earn $1k on the $2s) by march. Here's my figure to date on the programme which btw I started on 7/1/10

played: 592
av prof £1
ROI 30%
Total Prof $391

Here's my graph and I will probably stop the whole week 1, week 2 thing an start making more posts. I will just post my results on a weekly (fri-fri) basis as then when I need to provide them to my coach

Gl at the tables fishes

week 3

2010-01-28T05:58:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys!

Negatives out the way first. Week 3 has pretty much been a dissapointment. I started w/ a lesson on the wendesday with my coach. We were on for about 6 hours and he said my play had improved which was good. However wednesday through to sunday my internet connection was being a twat which meant I didnt make the weekend reviews and obviously couldnt play. I did squeeze some games in but it was tilting me no end and affecting my play badly so I just didnt play anywere near enough. It hasnt been totally bad an I did still book a small profit but I am not yet on the $7s which has not pleased me. My roll is on $360 an thats my total 3 weeks profit lol.

Anyway on to the positives. The main one being I have left work. I have done this for a few reason but the main one being I fucking hate it an lifes to short to stay in a job you hate whether its security or not. Too many people in life plod along with their monitinous lifes an dont realise that soon it will be over. We only get one chance at life an this is it, lifes not a rehersal. I have a enough money to see me through for a little while and a good business opportunity to go into with a friend in april. Plus i could always find another dead end sales job. Yes I have a mortgage and responsibilities but its time to take a risk

The next 4 weeks will be spent with total dedication to the programme am on. Playing a strict 10 hour per day shcedule mon-thurs, then on sundays to. I have informed both Nick and my coach of the situation so they will be expecting alot of volume from me starting Monday. They have both shown patience with me when it comes to the lack of volume but they wont wait round forever so next week I am goin go step things up and want to be on the $7s by the end of next week at the latest. Infact guys I am goin to set myself a challenge right here an right now which is to play more in week 4 than I have in weeks 1,2 and 3. Or at least equal it

Another positive is that this is my 1st consistent month of profit in poker ever. Yes I have good wins in the past but never stuck to a system, playing the same games with strict BRM. The fact £360 is a small profit and nothing to write home about is not the point its a consistent profit which is what matters. No matter how frustrasting the 180s get I just have to keep going and keep grinding. The $2s are so sick. I have been making more deep runs an FT's than in week 2 but just cant book a win for love nor money. I dont seem to playing any differently just running into big hands in optimal spots or people calling of light and hitting so I am just trying not to let it get to me.

Stats so far;

Games played: 355
profit per game: $1
ROI: 46%
Total Profit: £357

**Edit***

Just been set owned in the WBCOOP!! I knew if he 4 bet the flop he'd flopped a set or a straight but o well I couldnt find a fold... gg freerollaments!!

PokerStars Game #38878710316: Tournament #280000004, Freeroll Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2010/01/28 23:17:23 WET [2010/01/28 18:17:23 ET]
Table '280000004 182' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: hks1989 (1625 in chips)
Seat 2: moondino (2065 in chips)
Seat 3: kpuche35 (1895 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 4: altvoid (5130 in chips)
Seat 5: badcallthat (1855 in chips)
Seat 6: lostsoul311 (3210 in chips)
Seat 7: onlybeef42 (1895 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 8: Mr.PacoLoco (1955 in chips)
Seat 9: pansanitar (4610 in chips)
Mr.PacoLoco: posts small blind 15
pansanitar: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to badcallthat [Ad Ac]
hks1989: folds
moondino: calls 30
kpuche35: folds
altvoid: raises 120 to 150
badcallthat: calls 150
lostsoul311: folds
onlybeef42: folds
Mr.PacoLoco: folds
pansanitar: folds
moondino: calls 120
*** FLOP *** [7h 9c 6d]
moondino: bets 30
altvoid: raises 150 to 180
badcallthat: raises 450 to 630
moondino: raises 1285 to 1915 and is all-in
altvoid: folds
badcallthat: calls 1075 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (210) returned to moondino
*** TURN *** [7h 9c 6d] [Qd]
*** RIVER *** [7h 9c 6d Qd] [6c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
moondino: shows [9h 9s] (a full house, Nines full of Sixes)
badcallthat: shows [Ad Ac] (two pair, Aces and Sixes)
moondino collected 4085 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4085 | Rake 0
Board [7h 9c 6d Qd 6c]
Seat 1: hks1989 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: moondino showed [9h 9s] and won (4085) with a full house, Nines full of Sixes
Seat 3: kpuche35 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: altvoid folded on the Flop
Seat 5: badcallthat showed [Ad Ac] and lost with two pair, Aces and Sixes
Seat 6: lostsoul311 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: onlybeef42 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Mr.PacoLoco (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: pansanitar (big blind) folded before Flop

gl fishes an wish me luck for next week an I leave you with one my fave songs ever, what a legend he really was!
Garry

Week 2

2010-01-20T10:28:00.000-08:00

Over the 1st week of the programme I really struggled. I went on a 77 buy in downswing an really wondered whether I could even do this. I had some harsh words from both my coach and Nick as they said I wasn’t doing what I had been taught and things had to change w/ immediate effect. So with just $25 of the original $200 left I was obviously pissed off. So I went back through all our reviews and my notes for a night and didn’t play then since then things have picked up. I have won 2 took about 4 2nds and a couple of 3rds over the last week and have managed to pull the roll back to $430. I have not been on a heater or ran good as some people would put it I have simply been working hard making the moves that I was previously scared to do an its paying off. Yes some of my moves are totally unorthodox to the average player and even to me sometimes but the key things is having a reason for every single thing you do on a poker table. Since I have been able to say I done this because…. Or I raised there so I could… its really helping. I was trying to play to much to ‘a system’ and obvs that can’t work in poker. What Nick an Allan are teaching us is invaluable but he also teaching us that what’s right one time might not be right the next time and why, so these are the key things I am learning. Each decision is based on its own merit.

I have paid Nick his original stake back and now I feel I am playing a lil better and the moves I am making are right moves. The aim is to increase the volume fast and get to the $7’s ASAP. My coaching session went well last night and my coach said my late game is improving a lot. Making the right steals, raises and shoves etc. Obvs still missing the odd spot but as long as I keep doing what I am doing I should get there in the end.

To be honest I have surprised myself at how much I have actually been studying to get things right. You can’t win unless you study period. I have never grasped this concept in poker until now and anyone out there who is playing and not winning I suggest you put the mouse down and get the pad out. The thing is studying has never been my thing obviously as this is why I have a shit dead end job as a salesman, but with poker its different. I am so passionate and determined to beat it I found I really enjoyed the studying part. Maybe for the first time in my life I have found something that I am willing to put the work in because I love it so much.

Another thing I am learning is to be emotionless when playing. No fist pumps when I hit my set on the river and my 77 cracks AA. No crying when my lovely lookin AKs is busted by A3o. No smiles when I turn the nut flush etc etc I am tryin to play like a complete robot and its working. A solid set up is imperative and I am getting a new 24 inch screen to go with my current 17” then a lad from by mine is gonna link the 2 screens for me and create a nice set up which am looking forward to. Also there is a lot of regulars, more than I thought tbh and PT3 is helping me identify them and adjust against them accordingly.

One thing for sure is I owe Nick and Allan a lot already. Nicks a great guy and so is Allan, who has showed patients in his students. What these guys are doing is fantastic imo, so I just thought it deserved a mention. One of the reasons I am determined to beat is to repay the faith they have showed in me. The least they deserve is for us to work hard with time and money they’re putting in so all I can do is work my hardest and try my best which am doing. I have asked Allan for some heads up sessions now as I feel the 2nd to 1st ratio is to high and while 2nd places used to be nice, now they’re the scum of the earth, I hate them and I want to win. I know I can’t win them all but I want a higher 1st place than 2nd place ratio

Here are my stats after 2 weeks. The clear thing that stands out is VOLUME and the lack of it

Week 1 Review & Football

2010-01-12T08:29:00.001-08:00

Poker
Last night I had a review with Nick. He asked us not to play any games Monday or today to keep it free for studying. Studying HH's is not something I done before this programme but I am now starting to become aware just how important this is. Basically Nick asked us to watch a SNG that a student had played and then gave us a list of questions of were we think the student went wrong an the mistake he made. After that we went through as a group using skype and everything he brought up in the review I had noted on my pad.

To be honest my 1st 110 $2.20/180 games never went to well an my original stake had dropped from $200 to $110. This is not important at this stage and we have been informed that the money is no object in the 1st week. The variance in the $2.20's is sick and you could probably easy go 100 games without winning, especially the way were being taught to play. It’s play to win. I think if you took 100 non cashes and 2 wins back to Nick, he would be happier with this than 75 cashes but no win. As of yet I have came 2nd twice and I think my heads up game needs working on but it shows I am moving in the right direction.

Nick is really supportive but he's pretty strict to and there is no fuckin about. One student got through of the programme for simply emailing over stupid questions were the answers can easily be found on Google. He won’t suffer fools but at the same time he is really encouraging. All he wants is you do as he says and you will be fine. This is understandable with the time and money he’s putting in to helping us. He doesn’t mind criticising you hard if he thinks you need it. To be honest I am really enjoying this too, it helps keep me disciplined and focused on the main thing here, which is learning to beat online poker

All in all the 1st week has gone well and I have learned a bunch of things I never knew but also I am taking encouragement from the things I was already doing right. These are things that you think you may be doing wrong but having someone tell you its right and to keep doin it, don’t be results orientated etc really helps. For instance you can sit there an you know everything they are saying but then suddenly boom they hit you with something and your like 'wow' never looked at it like that, so in that way you have to stay sharp an on the ball throughout the reviews.

Do I think I can beat this game with this team behind me? Of course I do, they really are top drawer, tbh the work they're putting in has surprised me and they really are determined to make it work just as much as the students if not more. I have one more session w/ my coach tonight then I am taking the night off from playing so I can some back tomorrow refreshed and ready to crush!

My playing schedule is not as big as it should be w/ work commitments but there is nothing I can do about that. It’s tough for example last night I had a 2 hour review at 1am my time and work at 9am but it should be worth it in the end. Here’s a schedule I am going to try and stick to over the next few weeks:

Monday
Gym 6pm-8pm
Studying 8pm-11pm

Tuesday
Lesson /study 6pm-8pm
Grind 8pm-12am

Wednesday
Gym 5pm-7pm
Grind 7pm-12am

Thursday
Gym 5pm-7pm
Grind 7pm-12am

Friday
Grind 5pm-11pm

Saturday
Grind 8am-4pm
HH reviews 4pm-6pm

Sunday
Grind 8am-4pm
HH Review 4pm-6pm

Football
Nice to see Everton back playing well again. We really took the game to The Arse on the weekend and had it not been for a lucky last minute deflection Moyes might of finally had his scalp of beating one of the so called 'big 4' on there own turf. Pienaar looks at his best and I think he would walk into any team in the world. Billy is settling in more and cahill will always be a menace, Phil nevilles back an Osman is a footballers footballer so nice to see him back to and the new American lad Landon Donovan once again looks like a moyes mini masterstroke. He has everything we have been lacking lately, pace being the big one., he is rapid and the last person I seen that fast in an everton shirt was radzinski. He is determined to make a name for himself over here which is only a good thing. I think we can now make a surge up the league and w/ Arteta and Jags still to come back in feb Everton will peak when everyone esle is tired make no mistake about that. I cant see us finishing in the top 6 this simply cos its to late after our nightmare start with injuires this season but dont be surprised if you see an everton side in a cup final this year

Also, nice to see our idiot neighbours surpass even themselves this week when the director and owners son, decided to send a fan an abusive email, I mean WTF? what did they think the outcome of that would be LOL, well said Mr Hicks imo though as anyone who supports liverpool IS an idiot! They live in trhe 80's, get over it. Benitez fluked the European cup in istanbul, which was a blessing in disguise for everton fans as it kept him his job, which helped the 'liverpool fc decline' go faster than one could dream to imiagine:-).

Lets every fan out there hope City do the best thing to hit english football in the last 15 years, WIN THE LEAGUE!

gl fish

Rainman Programme

2010-01-06T10:06:00.001-08:00

Hey Fish

Hope you all had a good xmas & new year, even if you have broke your resolutions by now.

My poker career has taken a significant step over the last week. I am now on Nick Raineys programme. Check it out at http://www.rainmanpoker.net/ if you're not aware of it. To say am happy is an understatement, the chance to work with an learn one of the best in the business is an excellent opportunity for me. I have never made a secret of the fact I need coaching and always reiterated it's something I would be lookin for in 2010 so this is pretty timely.

Why he chose me I dont know I am just happy to be on it. I had my 1st session with a coach called Allan who is currently crushing the multi SNG's on FT. He is good friends with and learned from both Nick and Colin (moshman) so he knows his stuff. We basically use skype to communicate and universal hand replayer to review the tournaments HH's. I learned alot just in my first session so I am looking forward to it as it progresses. I am also going to be hooked up to people on the same programme so we can talk strategy on skype hopefully keeping each other sane.

we are playing the $2.20/180s on stars

The deal is basically nick takes a 25% return on any profits made. To be staked and coached off the best team around for 25% return is an unbeatable deal imo

The fact the $2.20s are variance filled donk fests, I have had one cash in my 1st 20 games and I am running like a one legged donkey in blackpool doesnt help so I am looking forward to my next session with Allan to see just were am going wrong and what I could be doing differently in them.

Allan asked me to play a SNG an send him the HH to see were I was at and he was impressed with my early to middle game but has identified leaks in my end game.

Anyway I will keep a detailed blog so pop in an check it now and then

Hopefully the snow will start fall heavily again and I can get snowed off and use the days to simply grind grind grind
Gl at the tables

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T08:09:00.000-08:00

Hey fish just a quick one to wish you all the best!!

christmas was fantastic, a much needed break from poker, lots of great food, lovely company and not mention plenty of ale flowing. Am in work now then off to a big family party to see the new year in then after 4th Jan its back to poker with which I have some big plans for.

I have had more contact with the one an only Rainman (nick rainey) and it does look like things are going to start moving in the next 2/3 weeks. I am itching to see exactly whats on offer and what am goin to be doing but one things for sure whatever it is, if I put the work in, has the potential to be life changing so fingers crossed on that one

a mate of mine has just started a blog and he knows hs stuff, check him out; www.tucktornado.blogspot.com

Gl at the tables

Merry Christmas all and....

2009-12-21T04:26:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas fishies!

.....Remember it's a time for family, friends, ale an food so dont be ignoring an isolating those around you and grinding those cold winter days away. Remember what's important in life, show them, let them know but most importantly spend quality time with them.

All the best and see you in 2010 when I come back more educated, more determined and more prepared to crush all you motherfuckers into oblivion

Badcallthat

Time to take a break, stop playin and start studyin after these 2 bad boys

2009-12-15T13:25:00.000-08:00

Am not playin another hand of poker now til feburary as am gonna relax an spend much needed time with family an friends between now an the end of the year. Then when reality hits again on 4th Jan am goin to invest in studyin an just basically take a break from playin! I've been playin 18 months an never really taken enough time to learn properly. Everythin I know about the game I have learned myself or through blogs an its obvioulsy not working. I'm not a bad player and could easily grind out break even / small profit if I stuck to BRM but 2010 IS time to move to the next level. I have had decent wins an done quite well in little personal challenges but never stuck to them. Then I do play well out of my roll on many occasions too, which is obvs stupid an bit degenrate but its all gonna stop now.

To add to this I recieved a pleasant email from Nick Rainey the other day an if something comes of it then I might be back at the tables quicker but who knows. He does say he looks forward to workin with me soon? The guys a legend imo an the way he's crushin stars at the minute is phenomanel, he's even got an outside chance at the yearly TLB an the sicko has only been on there just over 3 months I think. If you can get on his programme there's only gonna be 1 outcome, many $$$, so fingers crossed. I emailed him in response to this, check it out cause it makes you realise poker doesnt come easy even to the best of them.

http://drop.io/hpnpolr/asset/daleroxxu-interviews-mi-turtle-mp3

onto the 2 hands, the 1st one I check raise the flop with an over shove. I am not hangin around in these BIG ANTE tournies as you'll ante out pretty fast, I know am ahead I dont like the flush/str8 draws so am takin it now. The very next hand I pick up the ladies an while am beratin him still (which I dont normally do) he bums me again and am out. 87% on the flop an he still draws out. I really flipped after this which I dont normally do so thats the reason I need a break. This 'seems' to be all the time an just need to refresh an find out what is am missin!

PokerStars Game #36739906271: Tournament #221476309, $25.00+$2.50 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (30/60) - 2009/12/15 21:16:48 WET [2009/12/15 16:16:48 ET]
Table '221476309 27' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: grafschi (1592 in chips)
Seat 2: SirXO (2947 in chips)
Seat 3: martintc1 (3169 in chips)
Seat 4: runondiesel (3061 in chips)
Seat 5: nesnen (6749 in chips)
Seat 6: badcallthat (2520 in chips)
Seat 7: Frankboy111 (2819 in chips)
Seat 8: Lika77777 (3125 in chips)
Seat 9: COOL WATER1 (1765 in chips)
grafschi: posts the ante 12
SirXO: posts the ante 12
martintc1: posts the ante 12
runondiesel: posts the ante 12
nesnen: posts the ante 12
badcallthat: posts the ante 12
Frankboy111: posts the ante 12
Lika77777: posts the ante 12
COOL WATER1: posts the ante 12
nesnen: posts small blind 30
badcallthat: posts big blind 60
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to badcallthat [Qs 9c]
Frankboy111: folds
Lika77777: folds
COOL WATER1: folds
grafschi: calls 60
SirXO: folds
martintc1: folds
runondiesel: folds
nesnen: folds
badcallthat: checks
*** FLOP *** [9h 6s 6h]
badcallthat: checks
grafschi: bets 180
badcallthat: raises 2268 to 2448 and is all-in
grafschi: calls 1340 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (928) returned to badcallthat
*** TURN *** [9h 6s 6h] [8s]
*** RIVER *** [9h 6s 6h 8s] [7c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
badcallthat: shows [Qs 9c] (two pair, Nines and Sixes)
grafschi: shows [9d 7d] (two pair, Nines and Sevens)
grafschi collected 3298 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3298 Rake 0
Board [9h 6s 6h 8s 7c]
Seat 1: grafschi showed [9d 7d] and won (3298) with two pair, Nines and Sevens
Seat 2: SirXO folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: martintc1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: runondiesel (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: nesnen (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: badcallthat (big blind) showed [Qs 9c] and lost with two pair, Nines and Sixes
Seat 7: Frankboy111 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Lika77777 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: COOL WATER1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

PokerStars Game #36739958216: Tournament #221476309, $25.00+$2.50 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (30/60) - 2009/12/15 21:17:49 WET [2009/12/15 16:17:49 ET]
Table '221476309 27' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: grafschi (3298 in chips)
Seat 2: SirXO (2935 in chips)
Seat 3: martintc1 (3157 in chips)
Seat 4: runondiesel (3049 in chips)
Seat 5: nesnen (6707 in chips)
Seat 6: badcallthat (928 in chips)
Seat 7: Frankboy111 (2807 in chips)
Seat 8: Lika77777 (3113 in chips)
Seat 9: COOL WATER1 (1753 in chips)
grafschi: posts the ante 12
SirXO: posts the ante 12
martintc1: posts the ante 12
runondiesel: posts the ante 12
nesnen: posts the ante 12
badcallthat: posts the ante 12
Frankboy111: posts the ante 12
Lika77777: posts the ante 12
COOL WATER1: posts the ante 12
badcallthat: posts small blind 30
Frankboy111: posts big blind 60
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to badcallthat [Qc Qs]
Lika77777: folds
badcallthat said, "WP SIR"
COOL WATER1: folds
grafschi said, "nb"
grafschi: calls 60
SirXO: folds
badcallthat said, "nice call"
martintc1: folds
runondiesel: folds
nesnen: calls 60
badcallthat: raises 856 to 916 and is all-in
Frankboy111: folds
grafschi: calls 856
nesnen: folds
*** FLOP *** [4s Js 9s]
*** TURN *** [4s Js 9s] [Qh]
*** RIVER *** [4s Js 9s Qh] [7d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
badcallthat: shows [Qc Qs] (three of a kind, Queens)
grafschi: shows [Ts Kh] (a straight, Nine to King)
badcallthat said, "fadslhfaDIHLafljhaCSH:ILcsa"
grafschi collected 2060 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2060 Rake 0
Board [4s Js 9s Qh 7d]
Seat 1: grafschi showed [Ts Kh] and won (2060) with a straight, Nine to King
Seat 2: SirXO folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: martintc1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: runondiesel folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: nesnen (button) folded before Flop
Seat 6: badcallthat (small blind) showed [Qc Qs] and lost with three of a kind, Queens
Seat 7: Frankboy111 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: Lika77777 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: COOL WATER1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

gl at the tables and all the best to everyone!

guy's OP is 27% to win against antonius' wrap an Flush draws. They run it 4 times an Antonius misses all 4, incredible!!

slowplayin sets, why do i do it?

2009-12-12T07:33:00.000-08:00

with a raise an re raise I though surely one of them had an A and had to bet. Has to be said its a pretty nice check on the river by my opponent after rivering his back door flush! my own fault for being greedy I suppose

PokerStars Game #36587694908: Tournament #219272964, $30+$3 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (50/100) - 2009/12/12 15:29:20 WET [2009/12/12 10:29:20 ET]
Table '219272964 37' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: arocha111 (2255 in chips)
Seat 2: churchy123 (7590 in chips)
Seat 3: joso76 (4760 in chips)
Seat 4: badcallthat (2915 in chips)
Seat 5: arifino (4450 in chips)
Seat 6: Pinowww (2255 in chips)
Seat 7: daryldee1988 (1270 in chips)
Seat 8: alodub1 (4655 in chips)
Seat 9: ejustin (1815 in chips)
arocha111: posts the ante 10
churchy123: posts the ante 10
joso76: posts the ante 10
badcallthat: posts the ante 10
arifino: posts the ante 10
Pinowww: posts the ante 10
daryldee1988: posts the ante 10
alodub1: posts the ante 10
ejustin: posts the ante 10
Pinowww: posts small blind 50
daryldee1988: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to badcallthat [9h 9d]
alodub1: folds
ejustin: folds
arocha111: folds
churchy123: folds
joso76: raises 200 to 300
badcallthat: calls 300
arifino: raises 600 to 900
Pinowww: folds
daryldee1988: folds
joso76: calls 600
badcallthat: calls 600
*** FLOP *** [9c Ah 6d]
joso76: checks
badcallthat: checks
arifino: checks
*** TURN *** [9c Ah 6d] [3c]
joso76: checks
badcallthat: checks
arifino: checks
*** RIVER *** [9c Ah 6d 3c] [Kc]
joso76: checks
badcallthat: bets 2005 and is all-in
arifino: folds
joso76: calls 2005
*** SHOW DOWN ***
badcallthat: shows [9h 9d] (three of a kind, Nines)
joso76: shows [Jc 7c] (a flush, King high)
joso76 collected 6950 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6950 Rake 0
Board [9c Ah 6d 3c Kc]
Seat 1: arocha111 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: churchy123 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: joso76 showed [Jc 7c] and won (6950) with a flush, King high
Seat 4: badcallthat showed [9h 9d] and lost with three of a kind, Nines
Seat 5: arifino (button) folded on the River
Seat 6: Pinowww (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: daryldee1988 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: alodub1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: ejustin folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Blow Up!

2009-12-07T10:25:00.000-08:00

Been messin gettin used to multi tablin on ipoker ready for the new year. Its pretty hard to multi table on there but I've been practicing on the $2/5 tables an am gettin used to it slowly

I went back to stars and played the $5/2R1A the other night. Made it through 3000+ people then this happened, the inevitable blow up with 18 left. So fuckin stupid but he never had me covered an I thought we'd be flippin. However i didnt need to take the flip so it was a simple blow up but id been playin SNG's and with that tourney I'd been playin 14 hours easy and am not used to playin that long. Still in it after the 1st one an the exit hand hand is typical of my relationship with stars, important hands at important times never go my way, even when I have them dominated.

PokerStars Game #36261543605: Tournament #234010675, $5.00+$0.50 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level XXXVI (17500/35000) - 2009/12/05 4:27:45 WET [2009/12/04 23:27:45 ET]
Table '234010675 44' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: repir (695376 in chips)
Seat 2: zenpagan (1651294 in chips)
Seat 3: SharapoFFF (1710357 in chips)
Seat 5: sir_bogey (1388340 in chips)
Seat 6: markbarr (848844 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 7: koukos13 (302114 in chips)
Seat 8: Aceswild60 (1575022 in chips)
Seat 9: badcallthat (1099166 in chips)
repir: posts the ante 4375
zenpagan: posts the ante 4375
SharapoFFF: posts the ante 4375
sir_bogey: posts the ante 4375
markbarr: posts the ante 4375
koukos13: posts the ante 4375
Aceswild60: posts the ante 4375
badcallthat: posts the ante 4375
markbarr: posts small blind 17500
koukos13: posts big blind 35000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to badcallthat [9s 9d]
Aceswild60: folds
badcallthat: raises 70000 to 105000
repir: raises 140000 to 245000
zenpagan: folds
SharapoFFF: folds
sir_bogey: folds
markbarr: folds
koukos13: folds
badcallthat: raises 849791 to 1094791 and is all-in
repir: calls 446001 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (403790) returned to badcallthat
*** FLOP *** [Qc 4d 4h]
*** TURN *** [Qc 4d 4h] [4c]
*** RIVER *** [Qc 4d 4h 4c] [6c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
badcallthat: shows [9s 9d] (a full house, Fours full of Nines)
repir: shows [Kd Ks] (a full house, Fours full of Kings)
repir collected 1469502 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1469502 Rake 0
Board [Qc 4d 4h 4c 6c]
Seat 1: repir showed [Kd Ks] and won (1469502) with a full house, Fours full of Kings
Seat 2: zenpagan folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: SharapoFFF folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: sir_bogey (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: markbarr (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: koukos13 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: Aceswild60 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: badcallthat showed [9s 9d] and lost with a full house, Fours full of Nines

Exit Hand
PokerStars Game #36261719229: Tournament #234010675, $5.00+$0.50 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level XXXVII (20000/40000) - 2009/12/05 4:34:04 WET [2009/12/04 23:34:04 ET]
Table '234010675 44' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: repir (1474502 in chips)
Seat 2: zenpagan (1736919 in chips)
Seat 3: SharapoFFF (1584300 in chips)
Seat 5: sir_bogey (2735430 in chips)
Seat 6: markbarr (724469 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 7: koukos13 (142739 in chips)
Seat 8: Aceswild60 (463364 in chips)
Seat 9: badcallthat (408790 in chips)
repir: posts the ante 5000
zenpagan: posts the ante 5000
SharapoFFF: posts the ante 5000
sir_bogey: posts the ante 5000
markbarr: posts the ante 5000
koukos13: posts the ante 5000
Aceswild60: posts the ante 5000
badcallthat: posts the ante 5000
Aceswild60: posts small blind 20000
badcallthat: posts big blind 40000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to badcallthat [Ad Qh]
repir: folds
zenpagan: raises 120000 to 160000
SharapoFFF: folds
sir_bogey: folds
markbarr: folds
koukos13: folds
Aceswild60: folds
badcallthat: raises 243790 to 403790 and is all-in
zenpagan: calls 243790
*** FLOP *** [9c 8h Jh]
*** TURN *** [9c 8h Jh] [Kd]
*** RIVER *** [9c 8h Jh Kd] [3c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
badcallthat: shows [Ad Qh] (high card Ace)
zenpagan: shows [Qd Th] (a straight, Nine to King)
zenpagan collected 867580 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 867580 Rake 0
Board [9c 8h Jh Kd 3c]
Seat 1: repir folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: zenpagan showed [Qd Th] and won (867580) with a straight, Nine to King
Seat 3: SharapoFFF folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: sir_bogey folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: markbarr folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: koukos13 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Aceswild60 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: badcallthat (big blind) showed [Ad Qh] and lost with high card Ace

$6k FTW an out in 15th for $200, fuckin sick

included this from a SNG simply for its hilarity;

PokerStars Game #36333824982: Tournament #219368686, $11+$1 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2009/12/06 20:27:42 WET [2009/12/06 15:27:42 ET]
Table '219368686 4' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: Prosims (1395 in chips)
Seat 2: sojoe11 (615 in chips)
Seat 3: empty head1 (1225 in chips)
Seat 5: chauncy (2030 in chips)
Seat 6: badcallthat (1500 in chips)
Seat 7: mauric9 (1625 in chips)
Seat 8: 001Major (6525 in chips)
Seat 9: MadDogFerg (1280 in chips)
MadDogFerg: posts small blind 50
Prosims: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to badcallthat [8h 8d]
sojoe11: folds
empty head1: folds
chauncy: folds
badcallthat: raises 177 to 277
mauric9: folds
001Major: calls 277
MadDogFerg: folds
Prosims: folds
*** FLOP *** [4c 9h 5s]
badcallthat: bets 599
001Major: calls 599
*** TURN *** [4c 9h 5s] [3h]
badcallthat: bets 624 and is all-in
001Major: calls 624
*** RIVER *** [4c 9h 5s 3h] [2h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
badcallthat: shows [8h 8d] (a pair of Eights)
001Major: shows [8s As] (a straight, Ace to Five)
001Major collected 3150 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3150 | Rake 0
Board [4c 9h 5s 3h 2h]
Seat 1: Prosims (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: sojoe11 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: empty head1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: chauncy folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: badcallthat showed [8h 8d] and lost with a pair of Eights
Seat 7: mauric9 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: 001Major (button) showed [8s As] and won (3150) with a straight, Ace to Five
Seat 9: MadDogFerg (small blind) folded before Flop

Christmas Grind!!!

2009-11-20T09:08:00.000-08:00

After withdrawing last months profits and my roll I was bit pissed off tbh, even though I had no choice. Xmas is expensive and the money has come in handy and also got me some brownie points with the chick. I was meant to be takin a break from playin poker and do more on the studyin side ready for a non stop grind in the new year startin at the $16s on a new site w/ rakeback. I did analyse quite a few hands for the 1st time ever and some of the things I seen were quite shocking.

After mullin through thousands of hands I obvs got the urge to play a lil game so deposited £25 on pokerstars an played the $22/5k an came 14/980 for $180 so close to the final losin 2 standard flips. I then won 2 $16/18 man turbos for $216 an its gave me a little role so my plan is to grind out $3 18/45/90/180 turbos between now an christmas moving up as i have the buy ins. Why I am bothering doin it to meself I dont know but am ready for some redic beats, 4 new mouses, 3 new keyboards and probably a screen, with work commitments I will try my best to get 100 games in a day an al post the results every monday.

gl fish

100 games finished

2009-11-12T16:49:00.000-08:00

Played the 100 donk n go's, took me 3 days because of work. Bit pissed off tbh because I made some stupid mistakes and it could of been different with a nice top 10. Games are sick because of the amount of hands you're seeing obv mean bad beats seem like they're constantly coming an you gotta keep on reminding yourself its standard but seein so many in such a short space of time is a killer

played 100 - 1450 points which should see me in top 25

Profit - $162
ROI - 55.3%

You have to run so good but play good right across the 100 games, when 8 tabling though its pretty tough when youve been in work all day! O well theres time for another shot this week an I play better at weekends!

GL

Battle Of The Planets Promo...

2009-11-09T06:01:00.000-08:00

20 games played last night:
$3.40 - 18 Man Turbos
1st x 0
2nd x 4
3rd x 3
4th x 4 - 312

no were near the top 10 as you're looking at about 450 points, sick thing is I had 300 points after the 1st ten games then ran like [censored] in the last 10 games, also ran like [censored] heads up and when ITM

If hands like this held, then who knows?

4% on the river
http://www.pokerhand.org/?4867992

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4867766

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4868223

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4868255

ROI 79.7%
ITM- 52.6%
Won- $51.50+
hours 5.4
H/R $9.48

deffo havin another go look at these 5 hands, this is how bad the play actually is, you will laught at these:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4867727 - SERIOUSLY?? WTF guy in the bb has 600 invested an folds my all in for 295 more into 2045, 7/1 ffs!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4867700 - Blinds 200/400 i shove 2bb UTG an the guy in the BB folds for 570 into 1.5k WITH 5K behind

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4868064 - guy limps in then snaps off my 15bb Shove with 89

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4868046 - I mis raise to 1800 with 500 behind (meant to go all in) an the chip leader flats, then FOLDS my 500 into 4k with 11k behind, WTF?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4867702 - top pair 10 kicker, WP!

Few deep runs, my games progressing but still many leaks!

2009-11-06T09:26:00.000-08:00

Ok so I have a couple of decent results since coming back from Vegas. I think I see online poker in a new light and my game is definitely progressing nicely. As I have said before I am no pro and am learning this game every time I play. One thing that I have noticed is I am becoming a lot more patient were MTT’s are concerned. They are so redic when it comes to variance but are also, (imo) the best way to make money at the game. One of the biggest leaks I had in MTTs was thinking I was dead when I weren’t. A prime example of this came in the 1000 runner $22 5k on stars the other night. I was down to 10bb at 50/100 but managed to grind my way through were here I would normally be shoving pretty light trying to get my chips back, however I grinded and stole blinds were possible and made it to 300/600 with 6bb when I shoved 88 from the CO after one limper, pretty optimal I suppose but I was looked up by JJ and TT respectively and rivered a miracle 8 J to treble up. Straight after I found AK soooooted and flopped the nuts on JQTr board with 2 big post flop shoves in front of me and I trebled again to take the chip lead as we neared the bubble. Normally at 50/100 I would be in with a very wide range of hands but I am starting to realise the key to tournaments. Not long ago I heard the saying ‘you have to stay in the tournament long enough to get lucky when the big pots are out’ an never has a truer word been spoken. I ended up making the final but couldn’t lay queens down pre and ended up coming 6th. I have posted the hand below and wondered if anyone thinks I should be getting away from these hands on final tables. When he shoved over my 3-bet I kinda felt priced in for 117k into 500k but should I have 3-bet in the first place? Even if I call am not getting away from it on that flop anyway, is it just unlucky, a cooler?? Or can I lay it down and wait for a better spot, personally after analysing it I think the latter but that’s easy to say when I now what he has, I will appreciate any input!!!

PokerStars Game #34845130776: Tournament #209010431, $20+$2 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level XXXI (6000/12000) - 2009/11/02 23:30:37 WET [2009/11/02 18:30:37 ET]
Table '209010431 23' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: xlakex (341494 in chips)
Seat 2: zopu (55536 in chips)
Seat 3: badcallthat (523045 in chips)
Seat 4: charlsbcn (564795 in chips)
Seat 5: Gamblow (311189 in chips)
Seat 6: ScarletMacaw (298484 in chips)
Seat 7: kleath (199374 in chips)
Seat 8: GJmetal1 (262273 in chips)
Seat 9: worabu (530810 in chips)
xlakex: posts the ante 1500
zopu: posts the ante 1500
badcallthat: posts the ante 1500
charlsbcn: posts the ante 1500
Gamblow: posts the ante 1500
ScarletMacaw: posts the ante 1500
kleath: posts the ante 1500
GJmetal1: posts the ante 1500
worabu: posts the ante 1500
zopu: posts small blind 6000
badcallthat: posts big blind 12000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to badcallthat [Qc Qh]
charlsbcn: folds
Gamblow: folds
ScarletMacaw: raises 24000 to 36000
kleath: folds
GJmetal1: folds
worabu: calls 36000
xlakex: folds
zopu: folds
badcallthat: raises 84000 to 120000
ScarletMacaw: raises 176984 to 296984 and is all-in
worabu: folds
badcallthat: calls 176984
*** FLOP *** [7s 2s 5h]
*** TURN *** [7s 2s 5h] [4c]
*** RIVER *** [7s 2s 5h 4c] [Ad]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
badcallthat: shows [Qc Qh] (a pair of Queens)
ScarletMacaw: shows [Kc Kh] (a pair of Kings)
ScarletMacaw collected 649468 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 649468 | Rake 0
Board [7s 2s 5h 4c Ad]
Seat 1: xlakex (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: zopu (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: badcallthat (big blind) showed [Qc Qh] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 4: charlsbcn folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Gamblow folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: ScarletMacaw showed [Kc Kh] and won (649468) with a pair of Kings
Seat 7: kleath folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: GJmetal1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: worabu folded before Flop

In the end 6th of 1049 runners isn’t bad in these variance filled fields. I have also had 13th in $50 buy in / 500 runners and finaled tabled numerous $3+r180 manners and a few finals in the $4.40 90 manners. I have also been enjoying the $12 45 turbos on stars. The fields are so weak but variance is very high.

At the minute I feel like I am playing my best game in MTTs and multi SNG’s so I am going to stick to them. I have no real plan which isn’t good, I simply loads stars an decide what type of game I am going to play but now I have a built a role I can play with BRM as the key factor.

The other night I played the $22 six max 500 cap on stars. I was doing so well, my confidence was high and I was cruising with 25 left when these 3 hands happened one after the other practically

PokerStars Game #34924420780: Tournament #208701565, $20+$2 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level XX (700/1400) - 2009/11/04 22:18:29 WET [2009/11/04 17:18:29 ET]
Table '208701565 4' 6-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: badcallthat (99805 in chips)
Seat 2: Conky19 (41311 in chips)
Seat 3: IPROpovednik (40843 in chips)
Seat 4: haunebu_ii (51847 in chips)
Seat 5: dikke13 (35265 in chips)
Seat 6: barrel46 (29312 in chips)
badcallthat: posts the ante 175
Conky19: posts the ante 175
IPROpovednik: posts the ante 175
haunebu_ii: posts the ante 175
dikke13: posts the ante 175
barrel46: posts the ante 175
barrel46: posts small blind 700
badcallthat: posts big blind 1400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to badcallthat [Kh Kc]
Conky19: folds
IPROpovednik: folds
haunebu_ii: folds
dikke13: folds
barrel46: raises 27737 to 29137 and is all-in
badcallthat: calls 27737
*** FLOP *** [3d Td Tc]
*** TURN *** [3d Td Tc] [6d]
*** RIVER *** [3d Td Tc 6d] [As]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
barrel46: shows [Ac 3h] (two pair, Aces and Tens)
badcallthat: shows [Kh Kc] (two pair, Kings and Tens)
barrel46 collected 59324 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 59324 | Rake 0
Board [3d Td Tc 6d As]
Seat 1: badcallthat (big blind) showed [Kh Kc] and lost with two pair, Kings and Tens
Seat 2: Conky19 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: IPROpovednik folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: haunebu_ii folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: dikke13 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: barrel46 (small blind) showed [Ac 3h] and won (59324) with two pair, Aces and Tens

Now the KK is fucking sick, I mean he shoves right in me eye BvB when I’ve got KK. Now I actually time banked this as I knew he was doing this with any naked ace. His range here is obvs any 2 but Ive seen this guy overplay Ax so many time. Therefore the fact I knew he had one over made me nervous obvs am not passin and obvs he rivers his bullet to make his A3o the nutzzzzzzzzz

I am not going to lie I tilted like hell and then knew when I got JJ 2 hands or something later, something like this would happen, if I won that KK flip I am cruising to the 6 handed final, so I muck it, but after what happened I obvs over played it. I mean 1 over is not the worst board but from his betting patterns and previous history he clearly had it yet I stationed him down anyway like the donk I am

PokerStars Game #34924464999: Tournament #208701565, $20+$2 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level XX (700/1400) - 2009/11/04 22:19:29 WET [2009/11/04 17:19:29 ET]
Table '208701565 4' 6-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: badcallthat (69618 in chips)
Seat 2: Conky19 (36761 in chips)
Seat 3: IPROpovednik (40493 in chips)
Seat 4: haunebu_ii (51497 in chips)
Seat 5: dikke13 (45065 in chips)
Seat 6: barrel46 (54949 in chips)
badcallthat: posts the ante 175
Conky19: posts the ante 175
IPROpovednik: posts the ante 175
haunebu_ii: posts the ante 175
dikke13: posts the ante 175
barrel46: posts the ante 175
Conky19: posts small blind 700
IPROpovednik: posts big blind 1400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to badcallthat [Js Jd]
haunebu_ii: raises 2184 to 3584
dikke13: folds
barrel46: folds
badcallthat: calls 3584
Conky19: folds
IPROpovednik: folds
*** FLOP *** [5d 3d Kc]
haunebu_ii: bets 4550
badcallthat: calls 4550
*** TURN *** [5d 3d Kc] [Td]
haunebu_ii: bets 5600
badcallthat: calls 5600
*** RIVER *** [5d 3d Kc Td] [4c]
haunebu_ii: bets 5600
badcallthat: calls 5600
*** SHOW DOWN ***
haunebu_ii: shows [Ks Jc] (a pair of Kings)
badcallthat: mucks hand
haunebu_ii collected 41818 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 41818 | Rake 0
Board [5d 3d Kc Td 4c]
Seat 1: badcallthat (button) mucked [Js Jd]
Seat 2: Conky19 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: IPROpovednik (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: haunebu_ii showed [Ks Jc] and won (41818) with a pair of Kings
Seat 5: dikke13 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: barrel46 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Then a few hands later AK is no good for QK, albeit post flop I check shoved w/ fold equity 2 overs and a gutshot on a QJ3r board and obvs he held and I couldn’t believe I was out for a measly $100 profit so sick.

I have decided while I work I can’t make money of the $16 18 man turbos, I have a 300 game sample with a $600 profit for a $2 profit per game. It doesn’t take carol vordeman to figure out they are profitable but the volume I would need to put in would be redic. Plus I can still only play my game when I am 4 tabling, anymore than that and I am done. I read a good post from burnley mik were he talks about the amount of regs that play these games. Now these regs are playing at the only time I can play because of my work commitments. They are so nitty and there is hardly any dead money in them so I will be putting them on the back burner for the time being. The 45/90/180 manners may have a higher variance factor but more dead money. Plus at the minute its multis I seem to be playing best in

I am going to be concentrating on MTTs fore the foreseeable future as the new cap tourneys on stars suit me down to the ground. Hopefully I can continue building the roll and be inspired by people like f3nix35 who has built a roll through sheer, hard work, commitment and volume. I have followed his blog for a while and think he will go far in this game. In fact I would go as far to say as he will probably be one of the top MTT players in the world in 5 years if not quicker.

Still haven’t watched any training vids as I feel they can only teach you so much. At the end of the day everyone has different styles so you can confuse yourself by watching to much. I would much prefer 1on1 live coaching and will be looking at this option in the New Year. I still feel the best way to learn this game, is play play play, adopt your own style, yes you might lose a bit more $ in the interim but I think in the long run its better for your game

BR - $650 from $50

gl at the tables fishes

Las Vegas

2009-10-15T03:14:00.001-07:00

Well what an amazin place! what can I say that hasnt already been said, poker on tap, neon lights gorgeous girls serving you free drinks whilst you play, nightclubs galore and people treating you like a king. I stayed in the paris hotel and it was amazing, right in the centre of the strip opposite belagio and either side of ballys and planet hollywood! It has an eifel tower which runs through the building and comes out on the 3rd floor at the pool area. Hot waitress' and nice food also. Its just out of this world!

The week started off OK pokerwise, winnin 2 buy ins an 200NL in planet hollywood then over to belagio winnin another 2 buy ins. Then this happened in belaggio on the 2nd night and kind of put me off cash when I realised just how easy I could lose so much money in one hand. I was lucky I never had more cash on me as the villain had a bout 1k infront of her and I would normally keep 2, $100 bills as well as chips on the table just incase that rare holding called the nuts ever came my way, well it did an here's the outcome

Belaggio - $1/$2 NL + standard $4 straddle

me BB - Js9s - $500 stack after spinnin me initial $200 up, Villain - old chinese lady, with 2 very hot daughters standing behind her. She was getting needled, by some fat american constantly. To be fair he was a twat, going on about how he dealt Hellmuths home game for years and made 50k in tips which he span up to over half a mill on BJ. He claimed he played 25/50 mainly an was only playing 1/2 because he was drunk an out for fun. At one point he asked to old chinese lady were the nearest whore house was and how she must know, one of her duaghters proceeded to bitch slap him in front of the whole table lol, to the tables delight the floor was then called and he was asked leave. This was directly before the below hand

Full ring 9 man table. Young Chinese lad makes the standard straddle to $4 and everyone flats round to me and I complete the straddle with my J9s

flop....

Jh 9c 4c

I bet about $30 which is nearly the pot, 1 caller from mid position and old chinese who's hitting the deck like you wouldnt believe squeezes to $70 otb, I consider a set but she has been playing so aggressive and the table is way to lose to lay top 2 down just yet, so I think maybe NFD and 2 overs / SD, an OP is unlikely as she would deffo of bumped it up pre, no way she could get trappy with AA/KK on this table 44 is possible but i put her on TP or completer air/draw, so I decide to flat, now I do this because I think i am ahead, if a club lands on the turn I can still get away, she's hittin so many draws maybe I should just get it in there but I wanted to trap her, she werent folding any draws to a shove, she was so aggressive plus if she had top pair, she could put me on a draw, If a blank comes my plan is to get in on the turn or give it up. The other person in the hand now folds.

turn...
Jc$

Lickin lips time, either she has hit her FD or has 44 or even a J, even my initial nightmare 44 is now my dream holding for my opponent so I decide to now check the nuts, she shoves an I fist pump call

dealer hollywoods the river which is a K

she flips JK and I feel physically sick, I stumble out the bellagio in utter shock, back to my hotel an think to myself, cash poker can FUCK OFF!!!

Found a nice tourney in ceasers palace, $85, 7500 stack average 70 runners 20 min clock, gets a bit crap shooty when deep tho. Busted the 1st time I played after being card dead and shoving 10 bb and 77 into AT which hit. Made the last 17 2nd time but shoving 9bb and 99 in from mid position and the button found AA, 2 other callers called with QK and AT aswell which both missed an would of been a good final table stack! My dad finaled it twice 8th and 4th and we were half of everything so that was nice. After busting that I lost a buy in in cash in ceasers when I raised KK and got a caller by TT and all the chips went in on a TJJ flop. Maybe I coulda folded but some one folded a J face up pre so it made the hand really weird, chinese lad couldnt put me on a J and I couldnt put him on a J, obvs he had TT lol. Had the J not been folded faced up I may of passed me OP, chinese own live poker in vegas! I seen one chinese lad 4 best shove 50bb against some poor english mans AA with 35, flop A46, turn J river 7, they are just so sick!!!

won a small tournament in Planet Hollywood, $80 buy in 30 runners an a couple of re entries so about $800 FTW, small but nice to win one. Bubbled this twice and me dad won it once to. Also had 2 min chashes in it. Planet Hollywood was were we had the best cracks, dealers were funny, waitress were hot and the atmosphere was relaxed, cash games were lose and the tournies were small and beatable. 'The Blimey Limeys all in' was one dealers fave saying (in her crap attempt an english accent) whenever I went all in LOL

I never played poker as much as I thought I would because of the running bad but more because the place is just amazing, spent most nights drinking until the early hours so werent focused enough for big long sessions. Plus it was so sick and I werent about to waste 7 hours a day in tournies to bubble on a standard flip when i was missing everything else vegas had to offer, a week werent long enough to cope with variance either. One thing is for sure I will never slag online poker again for the rest of my life! anyone who thinks its sick, just go to vegas and you will love online poker forever!

all in all it was a great experience and made me look at online poker in a new light. I will be starting a project pretty soon with BRM being the key. Just awiating the role..........

few pics from the trip as I know your all dying to know what I look like ;-)

she dealt me the win haha!

In Summary - GG Vegas and Online poker FTW!!! cant wait to go back next year tho! The main problem was we didnt play any of the $200 deepstacks were you expect the best poker to come on top but they were like 13 hours in average, all the tournies under $150 were a worse structure and while there was play at the start if you went card dead after half way you were fucked with rising fast blinds/antes and no fold equity you needed the cards, obvs they never came at the right times

Stars have some nice new tournies running. They have a 3k stack with capped runners. Something I have wanted for a while, smaller fields suit me down to the ground. They use 10% payout structure to so you get more than double for a min cash. Hope the trials succesful because they will put them in the regular schedule. Played my 1st one last night an here's my exit hand, standard flip for a good pot approaching the FT, but instead busted 13th, so sick he hit his set on the river but hey thats poker

PokerStars Game #33844125821: Tournament #201432062, $15.00+$1.50 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level XXIV (1500/3000) - 2009/10/10 2:31:38 WET [2009/10/09 21:31:38 ET]
Table '201432062 39' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: yaniyoux (118829 in chips)
Seat 2: RENDEEZY (142335 in chips)
Seat 3: badcallthat (34732 in chips)
Seat 4: datrell (45375 in chips)
Seat 7: Shaneopoker (18717 in chips)
Seat 9: Iplaythbored (51979 in chips)
yaniyoux: posts the ante 375
RENDEEZY: posts the ante 375
badcallthat: posts the ante 375
datrell: posts the ante 375
Shaneopoker: posts the ante 375
Iplaythbored: posts the ante 375
badcallthat: posts small blind 1500
datrell: posts big blind 3000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to badcallthat [Ac Ks]
Shaneopoker: folds
Iplaythbored: raises 48604 to 51604 and is all-in
yaniyoux: folds
RENDEEZY: calls 51604
badcallthat: calls 32857 and is all-in
datrell: folds
*** FLOP *** [7s 2s 6c]
badcallthat said, "ONO"
*** TURN *** [7s 2s 6c] [Ad]
RENDEEZY said, "sigh"
*** RIVER *** [7s 2s 6c Ad] [Jc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Iplaythbored: shows [Js Jd] (three of a kind, Jacks)
RENDEEZY: shows [Ah Kc] (a pair of Aces)
badcallthat said, "wow"
Iplaythbored collected 34494 from side pot
badcallthat: shows [Ac Ks] (a pair of Aces)
Iplaythbored collected 108321 from main pot
badcallthat [observer] said, "nh gg"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 142815 Main pot 108321. Side pot 34494. Rake 0
Board [7s 2s 6c Ad Jc]
Seat 1: yaniyoux folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: RENDEEZY (button) showed [Ah Kc] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 3: badcallthat (small blind) showed [Ac Ks] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 4: datrell (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: Shaneopoker folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Iplaythbored showed [Js Jd] and won (142815) with three of a kind, Jacks

played the 20k guaranteed $22/1500 runners whilst today as well an this was for a top 20 spot with 400 left, not long after losing this sick I shoved 68 suited on the BTN for 8 BB same guy called with J9 and rivered a flush after i flopped 2 pair. One day I will hold an take one of these down lol. My game is gettin better each time I play. Its so tough when you play good poker an donks hit like this but what can you do? keep goin i suppose. BvB he might have a legitimate hand I suppose but i hadnt got tricky with once up until this and had only showndown good hands

PokerStars Game #33867622521: Tournament #200030396, $20+$2 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (125/250) - 2009/10/10 18:51:35 WET [2009/10/10 13:51:35 ET]
Table '200030396 66' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: Piquette (22869 in chips)
Seat 2: fleming1979 (5211 in chips)
Seat 3: Robby g 901 (4155 in chips)
Seat 4: lowrider21 (10008 in chips)
Seat 5: badcallthat (14189 in chips)
Seat 6: R.P.T.K (10065 in chips)
Seat 7: juelle07 (13554 in chips)
Seat 8: Mr.Kissy (16827 in chips)
Seat 9: ricolajuve (3005 in chips)
Piquette: posts the ante 25
fleming1979: posts the ante 25
Robby g 901: posts the ante 25
lowrider21: posts the ante 25
badcallthat: posts the ante 25
R.P.T.K: posts the ante 25
juelle07: posts the ante 25
Mr.Kissy: posts the ante 25
ricolajuve: posts the ante 25
badcallthat: posts small blind 125
R.P.T.K: posts big blind 250
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to badcallthat [Kh Ad]
juelle07: folds
Mr.Kissy: folds
ricolajuve: folds
Piquette: folds
fleming1979: folds
Robby g 901: folds
lowrider21: folds
badcallthat: raises 500 to 750
R.P.T.K: calls 500
*** FLOP *** [5s Kd 2s]
badcallthat: bets 1250
R.P.T.K: raises 8040 to 9290 and is all-in
badcallthat: calls 8040
*** TURN *** [5s Kd 2s] [Qs]
*** RIVER *** [5s Kd 2s Qs] [2d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
badcallthat: shows [Kh Ad] (two pair, Kings and Deuces)
R.P.T.K: shows [Kc Qh] (two pair, Kings and Queens)
R.P.T.K collected 20305 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 20305 Rake 0
Board [5s Kd 2s Qs 2d]
Seat 1: Piquette folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: fleming1979 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Robby g 901 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: lowrider21 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: badcallthat (small blind) showed [Kh Ad] and lost with two pair, Kings and Deuces
Seat 6: R.P.T.K (big blind) showed [Kc Qh] and won (20305) with two pair, Kings and Queens
Seat 7: juelle07 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Mr.Kissy folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: ricolajuve folded before Flop (didn't bet)

gl fish!

God Dam Blogspot

2009-10-14T09:11:00.000-07:00

Done a vegas post, took me fuckin ages, an its now gone. Dont know if Ive wrote something blogspot didnt like but its seems to have disappeared!

anyone know how i can get it back?

Sickest Hand I've Ever Played, Vegas and BRM (or lack of it)

2009-09-28T11:58:00.000-07:00

*********** # 3 **************
PokerStars Game #33391794164: Tournament #199550541, $10+$1 USD Omaha Pot Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2009/09/28 19:45:57 WET [2009/09/28 14:45:57 ET]
Table '199550541 15' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: osnapper (3000 in chips)
Seat 2: halberry (2960 in chips)
Seat 3: Qcity1 (5950 in chips)
Seat 4: Hughnormous7 (3650 in chips)
Seat 5: stevo_95658 (3580 in chips)
Seat 6: duchpool (5000 in chips)
Seat 7: Szammy (1440 in chips)
Seat 8: badcallthat (2110 in chips)
Seat 9: ResDogs23 (5900 in chips)
ResDogs23: posts small blind 15
osnapper: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to badcallthat [As 9d 7h 7c]
halberry: folds
Qcity1: folds
Hughnormous7: calls 30
stevo_95658: folds
duchpool: folds
Szammy: calls 30
badcallthat: calls 30
ResDogs23: calls 15
osnapper: checks
*** FLOP *** [7s Jd 7d]
ResDogs23: checks
osnapper: checks
Hughnormous7: checks
Szammy: checks
badcallthat: bets 90
ResDogs23: folds
osnapper: folds
Hughnormous7: folds
Szammy: calls 90
*** TURN *** [7s Jd 7d] [9s]
Szammy: checks
badcallthat: bets 210
Szammy: calls 210
*** RIVER *** [7s Jd 7d 9s] [Ts]
Szammy: checks
badcallthat: bets 420
Szammy: raises 690 to 1110 and is all-in
badcallthat: calls 690
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Szammy: shows [2s Js 8s 8c] (a straight flush, Seven to Jack)
badcallthat: shows [As 9d 7h 7c] (four of a kind, Sevens)
Szammy collected 2970 from pot
Szammy said, "lol"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2970 Rake 0
Board [7s Jd 7d 9s Ts]
Seat 1: osnapper (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 2: halberry folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Qcity1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Hughnormous7 folded on the Flop
Seat 5: stevo_95658 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: duchpool folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Szammy showed [2s Js 8s 8c] and won (2970) with a straight flush, Seven to Jack
Seat 8: badcallthat (button) showed [As 9d 7h 7c] and lost with four of a kind, Sevens
Seat 9: ResDogs23 (small blind) folded on the Flop

now that is disgusting!!! to top it off he had already had me the hand before with my KK vs his AA BvB after he lost a massive pot, so he only had 700 chips and he doubled twice in 2 hands through me. Very next hand I flop the nut flush an the rest of me little stack goes in an 2 pair turns a full house, very sick!

I havent really been playin very much because of stuff like this, however I have taken stupid shots at big money an lost. I do have some interesting graphs from experiments but they're only from small sample of a couple of a couple of hundred games, but they look promising. I know the game I am good at and I know what I have to do to make money at it and achieve long term success. I go to vegas on wednesday an cant wait to try my hand at some real decent live tournaments. I am there for a week and I am only going with my Dad who's been to many times so while there will be a day set aside for site seeing for me to see the necessarys and a bit of time for relaxing, the main aim will be to play as much poker as we possibly can, tournaments and cash. I dont have much experience in cash games but have watched an read more than enough to know what I need to know, an I have played some with small success. Me dad is a consistent cash winner so I might play the tournaments an leave the main of the cash games to him.

Poker has not been fun for me lately and I have been learning the hard way. I hit a brick wall, but the obvious positive is that its the not poker or the way i play it thats the problem its the lack of bank roll management. I am not a even a gambler, I hate blackjack, roulette, horses etc. I put the odd bet on the footy thats it so this is an easy problem. I learned the hard way that you just can not win in poker with out BRM. Hopefully Vegas can get me enjoying poker again then I can come back refreshed an ready to do it. May the cards be with me!!!

Leave you with 3 donkaments Ive picked already, deffo takin one of these down. When I am back I will be putting everything I have learned into practice. Its a tough game this, but I will beat poker before I let it beat me

Casino Name: Venetian
Game Type: NL Hold'em
Day of Week: Mo,Tu,We,Th,Fr,Sa,Su
Time of Day: 07:00 PM
Total Buy In: 120
Admin Free: 20
Fees Returned: 83%
Rebuy: No
Rebuy Description:
Addon: Yes
Addon Description:
$5 optional staff bonus for T2500 in chips. Included in starting chip count. This is included in total buy in and admin fee, but is optional.
Starting Chip Count: 5000
Avg Number Players: 100

Casino Name: Wynn
Game Type: NL Hold'em
Day of Week: Mo,Tu,We,Th,Fr,Su
Time of Day: 08:00 PM
Total Buy In: 225
Admin Free: 25
Fees Returned: 88%
Rebuy: No
Rebuy Description:
Addon: No
Addon Description:
Starting Chip Count: 20000
Avg Number Players: 80

Casino Name: Venetian
Game Type: NL Hold'em
Day of Week: Mo,Tu,We,Th,Fr,Su
Time of Day: 12:00 PM
Total Buy In: 150
Admin Free: 20
Fees Returned: 86%
Rebuy: No
Addon: Yes
Addon Description:
$5 optional staff bonus for 1500 in chips. Included in starting chip count. This is included in total buy in and admin fee, but is optional.
Starting Chip Count: 7500
Avg Number Players: 90
Payout Structure:
unknown
Level Time: 00:30
Avg Tourney Length: 8-9 hours

pokerstars sunday million...........

2009-08-24T08:34:00.000-07:00

...............Heartache

After 2 decent cahses after sat'n into the warm up I thought Id use this sat ticket for the million. Before we go there I want to start by sayin I played some of the best poker I have ever played in my life in this tournament. I started well chippin up to about 16k then got lucky against a shortstacks KK with AJ to put me up to 20k. I lost 2 big races with QQ V QK (k on the turn) and JJ v AK BvB he hit an ace. I then got upto 50k without showdown I was corectly assigning ranges to peoples hands, I laid QQ down to a 4 bet shove pre and he showed me AA. I was feelin really good and hadnt been at risk once which also felt quite good. Then this happened...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4618888

firstly I want to explain my reasoning behind my pre flop actions. The initial raiser was a serial early position stealer an the button had high squeeze % but the table was aggro also, so I flatted here hoping to induce a squeeze from behind. Anyway it never came an AAbenjaminAA a winning online regular flatted AJo in the SB (pretty bad imo). when the flop came JJ9 2 clubs I felt physically sick tbh, but I just couldnt lay it down. AJ was a possibilty but they way the hand was played his range had to be wide pre. He then bet 1200 into 1600, standard considering his stack size. Now here I am thinkin he has a FD. I smove call at this point with the intention of seeing the turn action wich again brought more draws, but could of completed for KT or 8T. He then led for another 30k, I basically didnt know were I was at this point. is he drawing has he got AQ QK, I have no major winning numbers, does he just see me as weak?? is he playing his big stack?? I really didnt know so I just shoved hoping to see QK, AK, AQ, flush or straight draw obvs he had the AJ an I was out.

I posting it here hoping for some advice. Did I basically out think myself pre flop? 90% of the time here I am 3 bettin here without a doubt, sometimes shoving.
I think the flop call wasnt bad, maybe should of raised to see were I was, but looking back I think I probly fold the turn as most of time he shows me the J here. But this was a top 10 pot approaching the bubble and I am sick of min cashing I really thought maybe he's at it and if I win this hand, who knows. Plus am not drawing completly dead. Anyway sick as fuck

Everton & Sharkscope Data

2009-08-19T08:37:00.000-07:00

Time for Moyes to bite the bullet an sell Lescott. As much as I wanted him to stay and it would have been nice to finally see a manager stand up and say fuck off to player power, its just not realistic anymore. He tried and tried well but he has to accept defeat. I say defeat lightly though because if he can get 25 mill in a package of cash and players then I think its excellent business. Not going to come on here and say he's shit, I want him to go anyway etc because he's not. He's 27, English, scores goals, and is consistent in terms of appearance. He does however have a tendency to make a mistake. The amount of times Jags pulled him out the shit last season was unbelievable. He gets left by the top class strikers and the cup final was a perfect example of this, he just couldn’t contain drogba at all. Jags is the main man at the back for us and I just hope he comes back stronger than before his injury. We need at least 4 new faces and the rumour on the street here is , 18 mill and dunne for lescott, then buy Stephen Taylor from Newcastle and moutihno from Portugal, along with the Swedish midfielder rassmus elm now if he pulls off them signings then I think it could be a decent season. The start doesn’t worry me, if anything getting tonked 6-1 at home by arsenal is better than getting beat 1-0 as it highlights the problems that moyes will have to deal with, lets face it when you CH tells the boss 10 mins before the game he doesn't wanna play as he is not focused, then what else dya expect to happen when the team goes on the pitch. Something dramatic needs to happen in terms of a "reaction" and am sure it will. Last season we lost our 1st 3 home games, Wigan, Blackburn an Portsmouth yet we finished 5th and made the cup final, so it’s a marathon not a sprint. People still forget our 3 best players are out an when we get jags, arteta and the yak back it will be like 3 new signings. I think Chelsea look uber strong and I can see anyone getting near them so they're my tip for the league and under ancelloti it could be their year in the champs league to, definitely 1 of the 2

Poker has been a bit non existent lately on the playing front, playing for fun really but I have put a lot of volume in terms of studying. I bust my stars roll by playing with out BRM as stated in me last post. Won about $600 on FT and withdrew it because I am going to Vegas in 6 weeks so needed some money for that. Still waiting for this staking deal to start but I had to be brutally honest with myself and say I am just not ready for that. I am not far off but needed to study more. The studying is going well learning new things and reading plenty of archived and new posts on 2+2. I need to buy cardrunners which I will be doing and will probs watch every streets SNG video on there. He's a sicko. Also www.sngnick.com is up an running so check it out if you haven't seen it. Its Nick Rainey's site an he's a sicko when it comes to MTTSNG's,. Wouldn’t mind 10 days in his boot camp.

I bought sharkscope and found some very interesting facts on myself and the way I have been playing. It fairness I needed something like this, its not nice seeing that you're a losing player but something you have to do in order to improve obviously. I did find one game that I am a winner at which was nice and it was the $6/$16 18 man turbos on stars.Another good thing is I am a winner since starting the blog and a lot of my losses are from when I was a clueless idiot and had not even learned the game before playing it. The fact I am a loser at $3.40 18 manners makers me wonder how this is possible. I just hate playing micro stakes poker. You are basically playing no fold em hold em against clueless dickeads who type 'ajajajajaaja' or 'hahaahaah' or 'weeeeeeeeeey' every time there pocket deuces bust your rockets after flopping quads, it tilts me no end an there is just too much variance playing at that level. Also the fact that win rate is so small makes you about as happy as losing a £100 and finding a quid. You sit there for 5 hours 6 tabling and make a about $0.50 a game for a profit of $50 over a 100 games and 8 hours lol. So I am going to wait til I have $1600 dollars spare an take a proper shot at the $16 18 manners and couple that with the staking deal on VC w/ rakeback then things do look good for the coming months. Its just a case of getting this extra bit of training an coaching. I am by no means giving up. a little experiment on the $16 18 man turbos, threw this up. Obvs 125 games is not a big enough sample, but its a start

gl fish!

leave you with this! $22/5k on stars 950 runners, 50 off the money!

running bad in key spots tonight

2009-08-07T15:11:00.000-07:00

I love this game

2009-08-07T13:53:00.000-07:00

Playin the eary double A & B tourneys on full tilt, check this out! would of of put me in a good position to, squeezin mainly to take the button out an pot build incase i hit big, I love seein flops IP with QK suited, sick this... still in the both tho

Full Tilt FTW

2009-08-06T07:52:00.000-07:00

Yep that’s right I as good as busted my stars roll last weekend. After a hard, all day session at a wedding on Saturday I tried a mammoth poker session on the Sunday which resulted in 4 things:

• Playing like a twat
• Playing to high
• Chasing losses
• Virtually going bust

Dropped about 25 buyins but just couldn’t log off and instead tried higher buy ins, with a ‘my lucks gotta change soon’ attitude, clearly that would never happen. I was hung over after partying until 6am. I really was not thinking straight and paid a heavy price. So after really hard work and grinding $20 up to$1000 I then proceeded to drop and drop and drop until I had $300 left. It was then I realised I was being a complete twat. Losing SNG’s, busting multis early and losing satellites everywhere so I logged off an withdrew the remaining money and felt pretty shitty. TBH its can be a blessing in disguise as I need a break from stars anyway, its sick I came up against BOKU87 so many times during my own little challenge, and to say he runs good against me in key spots is an understatement. However he is such a sicko, I checked him out now and then when I came across him and he was playing 30+ multis at a time for hours on end. GL to him I say but he does run well. Can you imagine the PR stars are going to get out of this? O look someone turned $5 - $100 000 in a year on our site. This will be pretty bad cos they will fail to mention he is a pro who multi tables for most of his life. They will mis-advertise and get shit loads of people trying the same thing.

Full Tilt

I felt like playing a multi on Monday so I deposited $50 in my account I have on FT poker and played 2x 90 manners. $24 buy in and $12 buy in. finale tabled them both, took 3rd in the $24 and 7th in the $12. The $24 felt particularly good as I was down to 3 BB approaching the bubble when I shoved 57dd UTG and got 2 callers form AQ/KJ and binked a 5 on the river to treble up. Immediately after that I shoved AA and got 3 callers and they HELD. I went from potential bubble boy to chip leader in 2 hands. Got KK cracked by AK on the FT to go back to average and then grinded a 3rd place finish when QQ was no good 3 handed against JJ. Felt good cos after busting most of me stars roll I really did need a win and something to turn it around. Took a good payday and they were knock out tourneys to, I busted 6 people in both, so it was around a $500 payday, which pulled back most of my stars losses the night before. Going to keep playing on FT in the meantime they’re 90 man KO multis are good an pretty soft, specially with fish like http://amatay.blogspot.com/ floating round.

The deal I have in place, which I mentioned in my last post should be materialising in the next couple of weeks. I have signed up to VC poker with a good deal which I got through http://tetleyboy-affiliates.com/ it’s ran by a guy called Nik Spooner who is a cracking guy. It's a unbeatable VIP deal they do for high rake earners, mine is based on me generating 1K a month, which is easily achieveable. He is always happy to answer any questions you have and will happily talk strategy all day on MSN. I recommended you give his site a look if you’re looking for good rake back. They have some really good deals available Planning on meeting up with him in Leos casino in Liverpool next week, so that should be good. I am starting to get more people around me who are involved in and passionate about poker so that can only help my game.

The Plan

I have basically spoken to work who say in the current climate anyone looking to drop to part time hours will be happily converted to part time within a week of asking. Now this means I will be working 9-2 or 10-3. This will be enough for me to cover my mortgage and bills etc but will also allow me to concentrate a lot more on poker, whilst also being fresher. I just cannot motivate myself to play enough after 9 hours on the phone to idiot customers who think BT owe their business a living, with redic sales target (thanks BT). Now when I go part time my targets half and I will probs make up the deficit in bonus. I will be working core selling hours and probly bring in the same figures with half the target.

Soon as the $5k lands in my account, I am going to do it. Then I will spend a week watching a ton of sheets’ videos on cardrunners and re-read colin moshmans book which I have only briefly read. I will be playing the $50 SNG’s on VC which are running really well. They have superturbos, regs, turbos and double ups. I will be playing 6 max trubos/double ups as these will be miles better for the hourly rate. I plan on playing at least 50 a day and while this will be tough it will be certainly achievable if 6 tabling as they only take about 20 mins per game. I have spent hours this week just sat there watching them and the play is questionable, people busting double ups at 20/40 level with AK etc, they just don’t seem to be grasping the basic concept of the games. I am already noting the regs as much as I can and really can’t wait to get going. I plan playing 4 hours a day or more if I have to in order to hit the daily target of 50. Now obvs when am on a heater I will play until I cant play no more. If I can hit a consistent hourly rate of profit I will then make the next stage which will be leaving work etc. I will need a larger sample than normal to make a step that big but I am pretty confident I can do it. The rake back part of this is massive as on the minimum calculations, even if I break even I throughout the games; I will still profit $125 daily through rake back. I am currently a break even player over a large sample on stars so with the extra training and coaching I have planned and putting everything I have learned myself into practice I don’t see why its not achievable. I will blog the results weekly.

Gl fishies

Ps sorry for bad literature – I am no English teacher!!!!!

running bad but optimistic of things to come...

2009-07-22T13:30:00.000-07:00

First off I want to get the negatives out the way. I am reallly running worse than I ever have. Now I wouldnt say am any were close to being at the standard I want to be at because I want to be the best lol but I have played enough of this game to know I am good enough to earn money in the long run. I started blaming online poker lol, but obvs this cant be the case, can it?? is thetr something funny about it? strange? personally I think to much money goes through it for it to be rigged so I am not in the 'online is rigged brigade' its just playing with major donks at micro levels and seeing so many hands imo.

So tonight I go down to my local poker league ran by www.pokerresults.co.uk for the start of the new league, £20 FO with an average of 30 runners of 4 different venues Mon-Thu with a biggish prize money final at the end of the league to, its ran well and we have a good crack plus its a change from the online game. Anyway played a couple of small pots in the first half an hour then with 5k stack at 75/150 an utg tight raiser to 450, now his range hear is JJ-AA, AK AQ, so one caller an comes to be on the button with 89cc so with a busting hand, position and pot odds I call knowing if I flop big I am taking the lot , any way flop comes a beautiful Kx6c7c and I am licking me lips, he bets the pot an the second caller reraises effectively putting me all in, now I know am behind at this point, I cant see no fold button on my screen an make the shove with 5 million outs, now I obv brick the lot and his AA takes it, 2nd raiser on the flop folded btw lol with 1.5k left, i mean come one. So point is on the way home I realised its not online pokers fault and I am simply running bad, that flop was live rigged and it fucked me right off lol

Soon as i got home I fired 4 6man turbos on pokerstars, an seriously in 100 hands and about 20 mins of poker watch wtf happens here. Its so funny an i was actually laughin in the end. These hands sum up my first month of this blog, which btw is fucking jinxin me to I reckon lol

AK>AT - http://www.pokerhand.org/?4501239

NF-Str8 flush - http://www.pokerhand.org/?4501252

AA>88 The early pre flop raiser was effectively all in anyway i flatted trying to induce a shove from behind which works alot in these SNG's - http://www.pokerhand.org/?4501243

however every now an then I do catch a fish, This was beautiful as on the turn when the chips went it, I felt sick as I knew his flush was coming but didnt know it would give me quads tho - http://www.pokerhand.org/?4501243

This hand made me sick in the $22/5k today, this is why I logged off and went playing live, wtf he thought i was UTG raising with this early I will never know. I kinda had a feelin JT after his second turn call an in hindsight I think I should of raised big on the blank turn anyway, but i was trying to get max value but he had postion and his monster double gutter - http://www.pokerhand.org/?4501576

Now i will just leave these, i was gonna post more but I really dont want to be negative. The lower limits on stars is full of people who havent gotta clue which will make it easier in the long run. Now since I started this blog the $20 deposit which peaked at $700 is now sat at $250 lol, Alot of this is tily sesions on cash, which I am not rolled or educated enough to be playing. I have also took some shots at MTT's I am not rolled for an busted the lot except a min cash in $109 FO on stars.

Now on to the positives. I have analysed alot of my play through holdem manager. Now alot of the things I have done have been correct but there are still alot of leaks. Now the biggest stat that stands out for me is AKo is -EV at early and mid levels of these SNG's and that I am busting ealry with premium hands like QQ-AA because you cant raise enough pre to get rid of them an when running bad you know your in trouble holding AA on a table full of donks. Do I fold it early if am running bad/unlucky?? would this be deemd +EV in the long run??? I dont know. Things are going to change over the next couple of months. I have had a real good proposal which involves money for coaching, and playing the higher end of medium stakes SNG's, excersing a strict 100 buy in BRM, whilst not risking a penny of my own money. Now if this happens it could be the start of something good. I have played thousands of SNG's and whilst maybe only breaking even/losing, its not a huge amount and what I have learned in that period is invaluable. So now is time to stop pressuring myself an grinding small stakes sit an go's hours a day after working all day, on a break even scale. Its time to take a lil break read some more books, more analyses of poker tracker, but most importantly get some really good coaching and pay good money for it, lettin some one paper over the cracks that I must have but cant really see. I really do believe I am a few good coaching sessions away from becoming a winning player. I am disciplined and can stick to what I am taught, especially were good money is involved. So when the money comes from the offer, I will be looking for the best coaching deal out there also any advice on were to go would be nice. I will watch some cardrunner vids which again I have never done, but I want real live coaching.

My main problem is I am not really around people passionate enough about the game, but more importantly knowlegable enough with proven reuslts to back their theorys up. I only learned the game 2 years ago from scratch and none of my friends are passionate about it, they see it as fun LOL to that!

I didnt think I would stick to this blog but I enjoy it an it helps gettin shit off your chest to a different an random audience than those normally around you and I intend to stick to it.

GL and thanks for reading

couldnt of put it better myself

2009-07-22T05:28:00.000-07:00

Nice Little Win - Omaha H/L

2009-07-15T06:07:00.000-07:00

After some bubbles, min/medium MTT cashes and breaking even/losing on my SNG's I decided I would play some Omaha H/L for a change, its me dads favourite game an he taught me the basic concepts of it plus I have read 'Farha on Omaha' which is quite a good read and as sammy himself said, when it comes to omaha "no one knows what sammy knows".

Now tournament poker is generally the same, in terms of the way you approach it, regardless of the game you're playing but the $5 NL/Omaha H/L [Ante Up] tournament on stars is unique as they come, but its also quite fun and enjoyable, I recommend it to anyone. Basically the Antes go up each level and the blinds stay at 5/5. There is certainly lots of dead money, people doing silly things like raising 3 x blind (5) into pots of 1k+ lol. I was involved in plenty of hands from start to finish being aggressive, hittin flops and gettin decent starting hands. All ins galore to the point were you could wait for your big hand and call, one lad called my AKK2 double suited with 789T, rainbow for a big pot, now were playing H/L here and he plays the dead on medium cards, wp! In the end I had that big of stack I would call off with any 4 against the shorties and win. I ended up coming 2/173 for $138. We were heads up for ages and deep, it was late and I could see it would be a long boring slog, he asked me to chop, I mean we were playing for $50, to which I replied I would flip him every hand for fun til some one won, he kept saying "after chop" lol, in the end we carried one til I flopped trips - http://www.pokerhand.org/?4477844 but so did he and he filled up on the turn. A little disappointed as it would have been nice to win for winnings sake and it could of been an easy fold to his allin on the turn, but I was fuckin knackered an on a lil tilt from...

... I also played the $22 PLO H/L $3k guaranteed which ended up getting 326 runners paying 45 with a prize pool of $6,520 and $1,225 ftw. I ended up busting 15/326 with AA7Kcc against A8Q5 for a 80k top 5 pot approaching the FT, why the fuck he didnt just fold pre flop is beyond me. I didn't like the flop but there was now way I was folding once I had commit ed so much pre. Maybe the wrong move and I would like to know if any has any advice on the way played the hand, which is here - http://www.pokerhand.org/?4477911

SnG's are turning round a little, while playing them 2 tournies. I 4 tabled the $1.75 18 man turbos on stars, done 5 sets of 4 and made a profit lol but never broke into the top 10 of the LB which are basically your best score for each set of 20 you do in a given week, ended up get 395 points, 480-600 seems to be average in all divisions for top ten. I then tried the $3-5 division an broke even an got no were on the leader board still 4 left to play with 177 points, probs need to win all 4 lol . I will have a shot at $5-10 division this week and a couple more at the lower ones. They are fun and give you something to aim for. Plus nice little prizes, especially if you win, but MTT's are were the money are so I will be doing my best to play more of them

got to step 3 this week with me FPPs, but bubbled step 4 ($215 dollar tourny ticket), with KK>QQ AIPF, sick!

I have also lost alot on SNGs in the last 2 weeks and my bank roll was down to $90 at one point, I went on sick tilt played a $27 18 manner and won it for $180, then reverted back to a 50 buy in minimum. It seems I do better at higher buy ins, one things for sure trying to build a bank roll from scratch at micro limits by playing SNG's is proving to be one painful, stressful and variance hit experience, take down that Sunday mill one time pleaseeeee

GL!!

God Help Me!

2009-07-01T10:35:00.000-07:00

Seriously do not know what the fuck i have to do to win on these SNG's, you just try mixing variance, with donks and pokerstars an watch how quick you lose your money! I am down like 15 buyins since yesterday but just look why, seriously, these will make you laugh if you havin a bad day!!

KK no good against J8sooooted - http://www.pokerhand.org/?4427303

obviously aces are no good - http://www.pokerhand.org/?4427363

flop a king high flush, ye thanks pokerstars - http://www.pokerhand.org/?4422825

what do i have to do? - http://www.pokerhand.org/?4426879

set under set - http://www.pokerhand.org/?4426402

ye you re-raise my pot size bet on the flop, all in, with A9 high and ZERO fold equity - http://www.pokerhand.org/?4426408

AK beat AJ??? dont be silly - http://www.pokerhand.org/?4426411

KK>A8 - say no more - http://www.pokerhand.org/?4426419

win one important race please? - http://www.pokerhand.org/?4426891

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4426425 - watch how bad this play is here, a raise an 4 flat callers ffs, I knew my AQ was clearley the best hand, i never really belive the original riaser lol an unless someone was settin up a squeeze, which I doubt any1 had the brains to do anyway an if they did I werent in the mood to believe them

Now these are only a few, every hand I go with as 50/50 I lose, whether i have the overs or the pair, its just so frustrating. I am losing 70/30''s left right an centre, the few times I go in as a 60/40 or 70/30 dog I seem to win, its fucked up! I do think after tryin to evaluate it all that I am puttin me chips in a little bit to early, now even tho I am ahead maybe i should be folding these hands pre flop in the early stages, but then the blinds go up that quick you just blind out or end up have to push with hands like KT etc, which judging by pokerstars might not be such a bad idea

maybe its just variance an it is a small sample an I should just keep playing but I just feel like I am pissing in the wind and the more I play the more I'll lose. Or you hit your flush and your scared someone gotta higher one, or your start thinkin your sets not good, or lay top pair cos you know hes gotta flush draw, an you know the fuckers gonna hit!

any advice will be greatly welcomed!!

main june goal achieved

2009-06-30T03:01:00.000-07:00

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49 Victoria Street, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 2LD

This was one of my main goals in june, I will work out some july goals tonight, I think that maintaining it for the first month is more realistic than going for gold star

Gl
Garry

Sunday Warm Up, SNG Progress and EFC

2009-06-29T08:49:00.000-07:00

MTTS:
Ok so I won a step 4 ticket on stars and decided to play the Sunday warm up. You cant convert the ticket to cash or tourney dollars and I didn’t fancy going beyond step 4 so thought fuck it, warm up it is and decided I would take it down and leave work, yeah obv that didn’t happen.
I woke up Sunday went the gym then a little barbecue at me brothers and I was feeling good by the time 5pm came. I was a lil apprehensive about playing as I had been running badddd in SNGs but thought fuck it my luck has to change sometimes so I fired stars up an regd for the warm up and I had built my stack up to 16k an feeling pretty good when this happens. www.pokerhand.org/?4414895 now I think I played the hand well, I made the 3 bet big enough to say something along the lines of, I know your raising light but I aint 3 betting light you cunt, however he found a monster that is A4off and a 4bet/shove. I actually considered folding for like 1 millionth of a second but it weren’t me tourney life so I thought fuck this and snapped lol,. Hard to blame him as I had been 3 betting alot, to the table it must of seemed I was playing loose aggressive and in a way I was, and I was happy as I had been trying to set this hand up, only to get dry bummed when I did o well . I then proceeded to go through the rollercoaster of emotions and ended up 25/620 when the bubble burst and i was feeling real good thinkin just one time maybe?? anyway I knew big flips were gonna be key then I lost this one http://www.pokerhand.org/?4418449 which pissed me off big time, the villain had been raising alot in position but with only 10 bbs why hadnt he open shoved?? 10bb and a min raise is either ultra strong or ultra stupid, anyway I just couldnt accept a strong hand wouldnt just shove here, if he is AA/KK then why play it in a way in which its obvious?? I once read if in doubt shove, plus I had him covered so took the gamble. I couldnt get nothing going then open shoved QQ 12bb UTG and button moon found the pokerstars nutzzz that is AK off and called, heres the exit hand http://www.pokerhand.org/?4418443 Anyway all in all thats 2 warm ups, 2 cashes and good experience, the play is questionable and if i just ran better or stopped going card dead in the end game then who knows. It only cost me $7.50 for a $410 score so cant complain. I am in step 3 again so another sunday major could be on the cards again this sunday. I have had min cahses in the daily 30K lol, 3 dollars for 3 hours work jsut doesnt do it for me, I may play the $11PLO tonight for fun, I will not play a higher buy in than $11 again unless I sat into it or the roll allows, its a shame cos I really enjoy MTTs and on my day I can play well in them

SNG's:
In my SNG progress I really dont know whats going on because I still havent got poker tracker up an running and wont do until tomorrow. I should be up, however I have lost a bit of money being an absolute WANKER in cashgames and MTT's. I hate meself for doing it and could easily have had more of a roll after me 1st post. These Stars $6 MTTSNG and STTSNG are just so sick its untrue. I cant wait to really analyze it through poker tracker because some of the shit you see in them is unbelievable an its hard to not tilt, sometimes I even get the 'if you cant beat them join them syndrome' and go in 70/30 dog yet win, after crying over losing me last 10 70/30 faves in a row lol. On the face of it it seems the odds just dont way up. Yes the play is ridiculous, you would think that makes it easier, but if the odds arent adding up then it can make it harder. I havent made close runs on the leaderboards but no top 10 yet. I have $600 so may even try the $10/13 buyins an see what happens

My worst beat,
2nd hand, needed the points for the leader borad, in fact this one has just happened in the last ten mins lol this is what your dealing with on pokerstars

KK - flops a set, still no good I did consider JQ but thought if he has the bollocks (which is unlikley) i still have 20% equity, o well - http://www.pokerhand.org/?4418442

denegenarate tales:

100NL pissed all or nothing shot, ended up with nothing obvs

50NL pissed all or nothing, lost

$20 rebuy pissed, rebought 3 times then quit lol i was bladdered, so $80 down, grrrrrrrrr

$44 6max MTT, this one i was sober an really felt I could do something, played it 3 times last year an came 12/256, 11/285 something like that and a min cash, I was doing really well until at 4 handed i had KK>QQ AIPF and the board ran AQJ58, still shouldnt of played it due to roll reasons and my new mission, but I really like the shorthandedness and short fields the tourny offers

Everton

Well pretty quiet down at goodison, we do need to add to the squad but the main thing for me is keeping players this summer. The chelski of the north, shittee are sniffing round Lescott whos statement didnt do much to ease my fears, now the price is £18 mill plus micah richards, if we get that then I cant complain as we paid £4m 2 years ago, lets face it richards was england class 2 years ago til mark hughes took over, and lescott was in the 1st division til moyes took a risk, I think moyes will turn that round, lescott will die off and richards will come back in the england squad if the move goes through, I really rate moyes that highly. As for lescot, go an play for a 2nd rate manager, a club with no history, fans as exciting as me nan (an shes dead). Mark Hughes wont the last the season an the next manager migh not even want you. So if you art going to turn ya back on the manager who has given you premier league football, 2 wembley appearances and european football, fans that our passionate an the best in the business, a club with more history than city can ever buy and the uncertainty of whats going to happen in the future, then we dont want you anyway you mercenary, FUCK OFF
The main one for me is one who not many have yet heard off, but beleive me, you will! Jack Rodwell, people are making comparison to ferdinand when he was 21 and this lad is only just 18. Towering performance beyond is years in the U21's with stuart pearce licking his arse refutely. Now the rumor is sir red nose is sniffing round another of our big stars and lining up a 18 mill bid. I have heard that he wants to stay if moyes play him Centre half. Moyes has been playing him in a 5 man midfield to get him used to the prem an comfortable on the ball but looks like he may be our centreback next year, I for one would have no qualms throwing him in the deep end.

Thanks and GL - Roll - $580

Garry

Introduction

2009-06-15T10:31:00.000-07:00

Ok so were do I start? My names Garry and I have been playing poker from scratch for just over a year and like many when I first started I was awful at the game however my game is progressing nicely. Poker is one of my 3 loves in life, the other 2 being my beautiful gf Hannah and Everton FC.

My main in problem in poker has always been my bankroll/bankroll management, or should I say the lack of both. I would literally deposit $100 each month until it was gone. I have had some semi decent results, i have finaled the 5k $22 on stars twice and had a decent results in other tournies such as th warm up etc

This year I am really going to start having a real go at the game. I have built a $20 deposit on stars up to $360 were I will be playing exclusively the $6 18 manners and $5 27 manners giving me 50 buy ins at each level. I will then move up the stakes when and only when I have 50 buy ins, 50 buy ins should be a sufficient roll as the players are pretty poor. I probs shouldn't be playing on stars as the rakeback system doesn't exist an the FPP system will only benefit you more as you move up the stakes.

Stars do however run a battle of the planets promotion and I think by disciplining myself i can take advantage of them. I have had 12th and 14th place finishes in them, however the top 10 is were you want to be. Its a good payout for 1st plus you get a freeroll 50k shout out if your in the top ten

So why am I blogging when only playing small stakes?? Well basically the blog is to discipline myself, learn of others and for fun. It will be interesting to see if I can stick to it and I look forward to recording my results

I will be getting poker tracker or hold em manager at the end of the month but dont know whats best so any advice would be welcome??? I will start posting graphs and charts recording my rersults weekly along with my worst bad beats of the week :-) loool!!! I will be looking at my results from this moment on not previous to this as obvs my results from when I 1st started are pathetic

screen names:

stars - badcallthat
tilt - givemerockets
cake - CryMeARiver

I only have any sort of sample on stars and even thats not high enough, I will be playing the others more regulary when my roll increases.

I can get you a 33% rakeback, $600 deposit sign up bonus and a weekly $100 freeroll on cake if your interested just let me know

right GL me and wish me luck in my small to high stakes mission!!

GL all - Roll $360
Garry