Update on life

Been a while since I last posted so thought I better make one now... I can't remember exactly where I left off but i'll just ramble.

I did well on a multi on blue square, won about $500 and used it to bankroll my cash games there as Blue Square have this ridiculous 72 hour withdrawl rule. In two days I managed to work my balance up to $1700 before blowing the lot in 2 hours... I went over to Noble poker and lost another £320 with AK before calling it a night, angry and broke!

Fortunately Noble owed me £1k at the time so I was only broke until they paid me, as well as the £100 in my wallet.

I took the £100 to Gutshot on Friday (as usual). Not many people there that I knew that well, Paul was there playing deuce seven triple draw. Crazy game that one... I played solidly in both the happy hour and the £10 rebuy but I didn't pull a result and eventually went out when I moved in with KQs and got called by 44...

I was £50 stuck for the night and down to my last few pennies, so I span it up on the pony game... 2nd hand in and I have the elusive aces UTG. I make it £1.50 to play (blinds £0.25/0.50, pot limit) and next position calls. Mid-position raises the pot, BB reraises the pot, I get my 25 quid in quicker than lightning, next position guy calls, mid-position calls, and the BB also calls!!! The guy to my left has 66, mid pos has QQ, BB has TT, and amazingly my aces hold up and I become unstuck. I win another big pot later on but I can't remember the details...

I went home with £350 in my wallet so it was a good night... My Noble cheques cleared yesterday and after paying off my credit card I had a play around on Laddys and Stan James. Lost £40 on SJ and about the same on Laddys just doing multi tables. I knew I wasn't playing well and I really should have gone to bed.

I overslept an exam this morning stupidly -- not sure how important it was but it wasn't a big one. I have also missed 3 days of lectures now due to a ruined sleeping pattern. I'm going to sort my head out a bit and get back on track, losing the £1k that night got to me a fair bit and I know I was playing on tilt straight after which I shouldn't do.

In the early hours I was doing a $20 multi on stars and was going strong. 600 entrants and I was 1st going into the 2nd break. I wound up coming 40 something which paid out but not a lot. I had JJ in late position, early-mid raised it to 3600 blinds 600/1200, I had 13k and stuck it in, he called with 88. The flop came all spades with no 8 or J and I had the Js. Turn was the 8 of clubs and the river gave me no help. Was really gutted as I knew I was playing so solidly.

Did a sit and go 2 table afterwards and won it which was nice and I am feeling good about my game in general at the moment. Going to gutshot again on Friday with Dan (old school friend) and going to look to make some money from both the comps and the cash games.

In other news... Van Persie scored an absolute cracker against Blackburn which i'm glad to say I was there to witness. It really was a different class and I think Van Persie is going to become one of the worlds best. Arsenal are doing well at the moment and I think if we can keep this up until the Chelsea game, and then beat them, it will throw open the title race again. A decent european cup run would be good as well but anyway...

Sadly a guy at my old 6th form died in a car crash the other day. They were driving through thick fog with out their safety belts on and had a head on collision. Tragic stuff and obviously thoughts go out.

I'll try and keep posted more even if no ones reading this, it's fun writing and looking back. Hopefully by the next time I write I will have another multi win under my belt... Could sure use one right now!

Shit weekend

Kicked off on Friday at Gutshot, £10 rebuy, spent £60 on that one and went out with QQ vs KK vs A9. Moved onto the pony game and before long I had my top two cracked after I bet the pot on flop and turn before the river completed the other guys flush. Next up I had my flopped trips called by 3 people when I was in for £30, flop was 553 and I had 52. Not wonderful with 3 callers, one was flushing, one had queens, one had 46. The flush made on the river. I was down 280 for the night and started playing rock at the pony table. Managed not to lose any more and there were 3 of us left at 7am. Myself, Malcolm, and Cal. Cal is a dealer there and Malcolm a regular. Good players but I went on a big card rush making trips/set almost every time I entered a pot! It was a fun game and I reduced my losses for the night to £80. It felt like a win though.

Next up the £100 freeze on Saturday night at Gutshot. My multi table game has been pretty good (before this weekend) and I felt I was playing solidly. I passed kings after I raised pre flop on an ace high flop and got bet into. The hand I went out on, I was BB with AK suited, 4 limpers before me including SB and button, I made it 600 more (blinds 75/150), so 750 total, the button called, the SB moved in on me, I called (2000 chips before the hand), the button dwelled and folded. The SB, (Stuart who plays at gutshot a fair bit) had 66 and we were racing. Flop came 234, turn 5, river a blank and I was out. The button says he folded 77.

I played the pony game a bit and was playing awfully, not sure how much I was down but about £90 I think.

Tried a $100 tourn on stars, Rupon comes over and asks if I want to play together for 50% each. I say yes and he takes a call whilst I get 1000 more chips with a set 7s. We play solidly before losing a huge pot with KK vs JJ in pre flop... The flop looked nice but the turn was a jack, and the river was also a jack. Out of that tourn...

We decide to go back to Rupons appartment to play some multi tables and just chill. Tried a $50 multi and a $20 multi at the same time. The $20 is over soon, we move in on a 6 high flop with JJ having raised 7xbb pre flop, someone calls with 86!! They turned another 6... The $50 was also pretty bad, moved in on a T high flop with JJ again, they had TT... We both agreed that we did the right moves and played well but were just unlucky... Next time maybe

To round off a shit weekend, I tried a $11 rebuy satellite to the big $215 tourn on stars. I was playing very well in the satellite then my tens ran into nines and they made a set on the flop! How many times!! I bought into the tournament regardless, played pretty badly, everyone was tight as hell, I was aggressive, I ran AJs into queens and the queens held up. Huge field and you need to get chips from somewhere...

Did a $200 multi on victor chandler, AQ ran into 88 on an ace high flop... They turned an 8. Marvelous.

Luck will get better soon I hope, playing very solidly though so not too bothered. Forgot how long Noble cheques took to come so i'm a bit skint as it is but owed lots of money ;)

Ben Mayhew and Tom Ferrari (links on right) are off to St Kitts on Thursday to play the CPC, I wish them both good luck and hope they do well!!

Playing well

I feel like i'm playing really solidly in multi table tournaments at the moment and really badly in cash games. I have imposed a ban on myself for online cash games but I will continue to play the pony game at gutshot as thats still profitable.

In the last week or so I reckon i've done to the tune of $800 on online cash...

To the tournaments... Saturday I played the £100 freezeout at gutshot, I was playing strongly at my first table and managed to double my stack up to around 8000.

I was moved table and there was one player who was HUGE value and everyone knew it. I got involved in a big pot with him. He called in early position (the guy was a donkey he had no idea). Everyone else folded to me in the SB, I called with AJ and the BB checked. The flop came J45 which I checked, the BB checked, and limper bet out 1000. I reraised to 3000 (blinds are 200/400). The BB dwelled and moved in for 5000 total, the initial limper dwelled and called, I also called as it was an under-raise. The turn came 2 and I moved all in. The initial limper dwelled for the best part of 5 minutes before a clock was called. He asked "if I call thats all my chips right?". With 10 seconds on his clock he finally folded. The BB showed J3 and I was in good shape. A 6 came on the river though to cut my stack back to ~7000. Later on the limper said he folded A2 with the reasoning "I was hoping for an ace or a 3 on the turn but it was too tense". Madness! He was a good chap though and probably pissed anyway.

I built my stack back up and got to around 30,000 with 11 of us left. This is where I crashed due to the stupidest move ever. The game was reasonably tight but there was 1 guy attacking blinds a lot. He was on my right so he stole mine with reasonable success. It got passed round to me on the button and I had 63 diamonds. I opted to call with the intention of raising on a scare card. The SB folded and BB checked. We both checked a flop of 992 with 2 hearts. The turn was an Ah. He checked and I made it 3000. He dwelled a fair bit before making it 7000. He had about 12,000 left. I reasoned that he was trying to find out where his ace was or he was just trying to resteal as he thought I was weak. I moved in and he called with Q7 hearts. He said that he actually thought I had aces the way I played but he had to call. I guess it's hard representing the hand your opponent has! I crashed out 4 hands later with Q2 diamonds (I was reduced to 2 big blinds). Made £80 from £25 on the pony table despite being up to £160 at one point and down to £15 at another...

On Sunday I played 2 big online tournaments. The $50,000 guarenteed on VC and the $500,000 guarenteed on stars. I was playing solidly in both and had accumulated a nice stack. The blinds in the 50k were getting big and I decided to come over the top of someone with 66. I had him covered, he called, then another caller called! The initial raiser had AK as I suspected, the other caller.... A7... Needless to say a 7 on the flop and we were both out! The stars $500k was a bit different. I was playing ridiculously well, a lot of people betting into me with top pair when I had an overpair. I was very pleased with the way I played but then I guess I blacked out or something, lost 2 big pots after folding to reraises (AQ one time on the button, AT in late pos). Then I moved all in UTG with QT hearts... What a donkey move, AK called and crushed me. He later went on to come 2nd.

Last night (Monday) was interesting... I got home at 5:30 from uni, straight to the $2/4 NL, did $600 about as quickly as you can... KK on a Kxx flop all spades, he had flush but I didn't think he had.

Tried the $5k guarenteed on VC, $36 buyin. Played very solidly and strongly and eventually won it when my AA held up against 44 on a 235 flop. A four came on the river and I thought I had lost (it was 4:30am!) but after a moments reflection I realised I made a straight. Screenshot...

Playing The Hendon Mob forum league event tonight, as well as the Gutshot forum members event. I will probably try out some other tournaments as well, just to keep me from doing my plums on the cash tables

Sicko

Since I last blogged...

• Lost $1000 on Noble poker playing $2/4, some guy called $250 on the turn with a flush draw and hit when I had aces
• Won $1100 on Ladbrokes coming first in their lunchtime crapshoot - screenshot
• Lost $700 on VC, $200 on a tournament which I got sucked out on but was playing badly anyway so I didn't mind. Then did $500 on cash games, $2/4. Always in ahead, always out losing
• Another $300 in the same cash game, I won back $880 to leave me on profit!

I'll be alright as they say...

Swings and roundabouts!

The weekend had me up and down in money terms but i've come out on top eventually!

It kicked off on Friday afternoon when I went down to Gutshot for the £20 freezeout (and further events). I met my mate Mike there and his mate Sam, also Paul from LSE was there and a few other regulars. Zimmi from Imperial came later on.

The £20 freezeout was pretty much over before it started for me, second hand in I limped with Q9 with about 7 players, the flop came QJ9. I bet, another guy called, another guy reraised, I called, the caller went all in, the reraiser folded, and I announced that I was going to gamble and call. He showed KT as I expected and I didn't house up. I later found out the other guy folded AA. I was hungry though, that's my excuse and i'm sticking with it!

Two hours and two sit and go's later, i'm breaking even in the internet room. Played the pony game for a bit and did my £25 within an hour. The £5 happy hour tournament was starting though so I had that to play in. I took the full 1500 chips at the start for £15. Pretty weak table except for Paul and a couple of others, it was mainly fish ;)

I was quite strong before I got moved table, it is a turbo tournament so the blinds go up very quickly (10 minute clock). I had Mike and his mate on my new table, and soon enough I was all in with 88 after Mike had called. He dwelled then called and showed QT. My hand stood up and that put me in a strong position. Final table came quickly and Sam had done well to hold on till final table. First prize was something like £240 so there was a fair bit to be won.

As expected the players dropped very quickly from final table and before soon we were down to 3 players. I had gotten lucky a couple of times with the blinds being so big and having a bigger stack attacking my blind. The 3rd man dropped out and it was heads up! Back and forth with the blinds and eventually the other guy moved all in and I found TT. I called in a flash and it was looking good for me when he showed 96.

Flop came AK4 or something to that effect. Turn 6. River 9. Balls. Oh well I picked up a healthy £124, left a £14 tip for the dealer who gave me some very lucky hands. So I turned a £95 profit from that tournament.

The £10 rebuy was dull as hell, had 2 rebuys big deal, no big hands, moved in with K9 at one point with 6 callers or something, didn't win. Quit at the end of the rebuys.

Pony games 'till sunrise! The first one in the VIP room was very very tasty. Some awful players and I doubled up soon enough the details of which I forget.

A big pot developed when I had kings. A guy bet the pot in early position pre flop. I raised £10. Everyone folded to him, he raised the pot again. I was worried at this point. Aces were my only worry and he was playing his hand like they were. So I raised the pot again and he was all in. I showed him kings (showing is optional in cash games until showdown) and to my amazement he showed me 55. I was in great shape but the pot was huge and I was still worried. Zimmi dealt the cards out nice and slow to torment me but the kings were good!

I left the table soon after with a £165 cash out as well as £60 in cash from other people buying chips off me. Good start, took a break in the internet room and did $25 or something. Had a chat with Mike and Sam and chilled out before going down for another game.

A last hand before the table charge, I limped with T8 hearts along with about 6 or 7 others. Flop came with two hearts and a pair so I had the flush draw but was worried about the full house. Mike bet £3 and a couple of people called as did I. The lovely 9 hearts came on the turn and I suspected I was ahead. Mike bet £10, another guy called and I also called. Mike was left with £2.50 or so at this point and the other guy had me covered. River was a blank and I bet £20 and they both folded!! I showed the flush and they both showed AJ (with no A or J on the table!). Shocking hand but I guess they were winning until the turn.

I cashed £100 from that game and called it a night for poker just chilling out with a coke and sandwich.

Absolutely shattered the next day, I managed to get myself up in time to put some bets on before heading off to Arsenal. A good performance, expected a win but we played well. Sunderland had about 4 fans arrested which was funny.

Got home still tired as hell, decided to play a $109 double shootout on stars. I should NEVER play when tired and I went out in 4th on my first table bluffing off my chips. So what do I do, well the $109 heads up tournament of course! A bad idea as well, the first guy was easy because he couldn't play heads up, I think he thought we were 9 handed or something because he hardly ever played. The second guy was better than me but I lucked out, and the third guy was easy but beat me.

Oh well, at least I came £150 up on the sports. Brings me on to tonight, tried the $500,000 guarenteed tournament on stars. The players were mostly bad but there were 2 good players at my table (other than me ;)). Stupidly I bluffed into a calling station. I was doing quite well, up to about 3600 chips from the initial 2500, taking small pots with no hand or sometimes a hand and making good calls. I raised in mid position with JT off suit and the button called. We saw a flop of 983 with 2 diamonds and I led out again which he called. The turn was a 3 of diamonds which he bet about half the pot into, I raised him all in as I thought he could get away from his hand especially after a dangerous turn and he called with A9 and no diamond. He stood up and I was down to 1100. Later on I was in the SB with 77 for 50 chips and the button made it 400. I moved all in (tired, steaming, some other excuses probably) which he called with... the monster that is 95 suited. Of course he flopped a 9 and I went out.

I took a 2 hour nap and decided to play some $2/4 NL on pokerroom. Unfortunately there is a $250 deposit limit there per week unless you are a VIP. I deposited $80 as that was the max I could and sat at the $2/4 like a maniac! Picked up aces second hand and doubled up against queens then did all my money playing like an idiot.

Took on the $2/4 NL on Noble Poker where I can actually deposit $400. Soon enough I was up to $500 and not long after up to $800.

A big pot arised where basically I bluffed $120 on the river and they called and won the $440 pot which put me down to $450. Another big pot started building where I had aces UTG. I made it $12 to play, the button called and the BB made it $30 which I called as did the button. The flop was 954 and the BB lead out for $65 which I limit raised to $130. The button called and the BB folded! Seemed a bit curious to me but I liked the off suit ten on the turn and pushed all in for $380. They folded and I scooped the pot.

The last pot I played before I left -- KJ spades on the BB. Couple of callers and the SB makes it $12 which everyone calls. Flop is A76 with 2 spades. The SB leads out for $24 which only I call. The turn is the lovely 9 spades and once again they lead out for $34. I call again and the river is an off suit 4. I have the stone cold nuts and they make it $123! I dwell then push them in for their extra $80 which they call with A9. A lovely pot and I cash out $1080.

Off to bed now, did badly in a practice exam on Thursday (read: 0%) and I really need to focus for this Thursdays real exam. Still not booked flights to WPT, waiting for the info email from Stars and for my mate Ben who i'm taking to get his passport sorted. Still really excited about that, it's a great oppurtunity as well as a great holiday. I'm looking to play my best game so I need lots of practice at gutshot -- that's my excuse for going there every week anyway! I'm going to i26 on Friday for the weekend (it's a big computer LAN party/geekfest) so I might not get any poker in this week at all! Oh well I need a break anyway.

Au rev

WPT havin' a laugh!

It was a pretty quiet week up till Wednesday night. On Tuesday I whacked $200 into pokerroom to play some $1/2 and $2/4 NL. The 1/2 paid off nicely and soon enough I was up to $700 before I called it a night.

The half day off on Wednesday allowed me to get some more NL in before the Arsenal match, I worked my way up to $1300 before I lost a big pot where I read someone incorrectly (Mi1kyBarKid -- Ben Grundy). He had trips and I had two pair but I put him on the same two pair as me or a PP. Anyway I was down to $800 and withdrew my cash before I tilted it all away as I so often do on pokerroom.

Off to the match I went, a good start from the arse scoring midway through the first half with a classic Thierry goal (although it looked like it was an accident and he slipped from his celebration). The rest of the match was tight until Van Persie came on and showed everyone why he should be picked up front. Good result, good night, qualified for Europe, next case!

I had already decided before I left for the match that I would try a satellite for the WPT when I got home. I got back with 1 hour to spare before the start of the $175 double shootout event which I bought into. I didn't even know what a double shootout was but Tom Ferrari told me on MSN.

After a bit of persuasion I got him to play as well so both of us were in the satellite. Amazingly he got drawn to my table as well. We agreed before the tournament started that no matter how big the pot we would not tell each other our cards as it isn't good for the integrity of the game. He was doing well until unfortunately a maniac went in with 74 off and Tom called with AK but got outdrawn. Interestingly the very next hand I picked up AK with position on the maniac. He went all in again and I called based on his previous play. Everyone else folded and he showed 74 again!!! I guess he was in a hurry to go or something but this time AK stood up and he was out.

I breezed through my first table, outdrew people a couple of times, got outdrawn in a big pot. It's all part of the game though.

The final table was tougher than the first one but there was one guy who was pretty big value. Early on he showed that he would fold hands easily and so whenever I got involved with him I just raised him up and he would fold giving me respect. I managed to win a LOT of chips without showing down and i'm not sure if they cottoned onto it or not. There was one pretty good player who said he met Dubai/dpommo out in Dublin for the EPT event so based on the fact he'd played I had to give him some respect. Not the case, as I had position on him everytime he raised I pushed them in. The first couple he folded, the next one he called with KQ where I also had KQ (suited) which was a chop. Another big one he had AT and I had KJ. I flopped a pair but he turned and rivered a straight! Big pot but I remained chip leader for the most part and we were still 4 handed. I knocked another short stack out with jacks after a T high flop and he had QT. The turn gave him a flush draw but I managed to avoid the suck out! Anyway this EPT guy raised it up nicely, I moved in again with KJ and he called with AQ, this time I made my pair and held up. Bit of a suck out but you have to get lucky at some point and he could just have easily been stealing my big blind! The heads up went in with me having a 12.25:1.25 chip lead over him. It was over in three hands:

1) Me SB him BB, I fold
2) Me BB him SB, he folds (I had AQ suited)
3) Me SB him BB, I move all in with 9To, he calls with K5, I make a full house and it's over!!

I'm going to the WPT event in the Bahamas! Check out http://www.pokerstars.com/2006pca/main.html if you are interested in more details.

I am taking my mate Ben Mayhew, he helped me out a bit towards the end of the satellite and kept my head straight (I don't believe I considered calling QJ!!!). He loves the game but has had some ups and downs recently but its all good. We will be jetting out Jan 4th to fleece the pros of their dinner money.

So keep your eyes open around the start of January guys, you never know I might wind up being the next WPT champ!

More gutshot hands

From Sunday:

Bet the pot with kings pre flop in the 25 PL, one caller in the BB, flop comes T97, i'm absolutely loving it, throw in £5, he makes it £15 which is all of mine, I call he shows me J8!

Called a £4 bet pre flop with 55, 5 runners and pots just over 20 bones. Flop comes Q54 with 2 spades. UTG checks, initial raiser bets out, I reraise, UTG rereraises, all-in, all-in. Initial raiser has AJ with two spades, UTG has 44. 2 turn. 2 spades river. I house up and take the £90+ pot.

77, one raiser, I call, another calls, 3 players. Flop comes 743. Initial raiser is in the blinds and bets the pot, I limit raise, last position calls, initial raiser reraises, I reraise, last position dwells then declares that he's calling for value. Initial raiser shows TT, last position has 52 off. 77 holds up.

By this point i'm on £150 from £25 (minus the £65 I did on a different table). A big hand then develops;

A9 on button but one, half the table calls the 50p and I make it £2 to play (it's a loose game, I planned to outplay on the flop). 4 people call and it's 5 to the flop of A96. UTG makes it £5, folds to me, I make it £10 which he calls. Turn is an 5, he checks, and I also check. River is an 8 which he checks to me, I bet £25 and he dwells and puts in his remaining £46. I call the £21 and he has A7.

Such stupid play from me, firstly not reraising enough on the flop, secondly not continuing to bet on the turn, thirdly betting so much on the river, and the final call was debatable just in case he fancied his lower two pair or something. Bad play but it was 2am and I was thinking of skipping the programming lecture the next morning.

A pretty good night out, was with the poker society from Imperial, 7 or 8 of us went in total and none of us had any luck in the tournament. I was drawn left of Adam our poksoc chief. Second hand I have AA, raise it up with one caller. 554 flop, he checks I bet 3/4 pot size, he limit raises me which I call. Both check the Q turn. River comes 2. He bets 3/8 of the pot which could easily have been a double bluff with a low queen or even a 4, I call and he has 55. Adam had a nasty one with aces as well. He bet pre flop with the bullets, one caller to see a flop of Qxx with 2 diamonds. The money goes in and his opponent has AQ of diamonds and a diamond nails him on the turn.

Our furthest finisher came 12th with 9 paying so he was a bit gutted I think but he is less experienced to live play and overrated a lot of hands that are bigger on the internet -- he was the AJ player in the earlier hand.

Got back at 4:30am on Monday, slept till noon then went in for the afternoon lectures. Was actually a very productive day although i'm a lecture or two behind now in programming and logic so i'll have to do some reading.

Watched The Cincinnati Kid this evening which i'd say was largely disappointing. Apart from a few legendary lines "You're good kid but while i'm here you'll always be second best" or words to that effect, and a couple of others it was mostly dull misplayed hands of 5 card stud. How can you possibly call $3k on a flush draw and gutshot straight draw with one card to come in a pot of about $2k. What a fish. Personally if I was the kid i'd be loving the action he's getting from Lance Howard. Still, nice to see a film that doesn't end happily ever after. The cock fighting was good as well.

Pro Evo 5 arrived today (well Friday actually but we have to collect parcels between 8pm-8:30pm for some obscene reason and I was out on Friday and Saturday) so I have been playing that a fair bit. It seems a lot harder, I lost 5-0 on 6 stars my first game and only just scraped a 1-0 win through a penalty on 3 star (both Arsenal vs Chelsea). Guess i'll have to get used to it a bit more, Pro Evo 4 got to the point where it was 5-0+ every game on 6 stars.

Speaking of footy, off to Arsenal on Wednesday for the game against Sparta Prague, then Sunderland on Saturday. Pretty disappointing result on Saturday in terms of bragging rights against the scum but to be fair to them they are playing well and our away form is pretty poor at the moment. Hopefully things will pick up and Wenger will maybe get his arse in gear and throw some cash about in January whilst holding onto Henry for the next 40 years. At least Europes going well for once.

Tunes this week? Audio Bullys new album without a doubt.