Shock horror. An mtt win!!

As usual while I've been off, I play the $15 and the $6 mtt's on Blonde just after 3.30pm. Cashed a few times but never run like god.... however yesterday.. I FINALLY did!!

Doubled up fairly early with 10 10 v QJ

Lost a flip vs a shortstack KJ v 44

Then went on a spree

AK>>AQ
66>>AQ
QQ>>77
AQ>>AK
K2 winning a 4 way pot..
AA>>> Ak and QQ to put me on 50k at 400/800

Got onto the final table 2/10 and was soon 7/10 with some donkish plays...

won the key hands tho

AK>>QQ
33>>A10
66>>A8
KJ>>10 10

HU 1st hand won with a 9 hi straight vs an 8 hi straight
ran J10 into AA oops ( now 50k v 260k)
ducks held v Q10 aipf
finally KJ >> 88 aipf J on the flop :)

About bloody time too!!

Live poker time...

Last night I went to the local G casino in Manchester for their £15 7k stack f/out. An astonishing 112 players turned up, which meant for the lucky ones, it was going to be a long night.

I played my usual game early, see a few cheap flops and see what happens.

Early on, called a min raise on my bb with 10 2 os with 3 others still in, and was rewarded with a 10 10 5 flop ( 2 spades), slow played it, and the 3rd spade came on the river. Obviously, original raiser had 64s. Lost the abs minimum tho.

Got involved in a pot with a chap at the far end of the table. No raises pre, and I'm holding AJ, a hand I dislike at the best of times. flop comes AKx, he pot bets, the rest fold and I call. turn is another low card, check/check.. I put him on a similar hand to me, river is a very dangerous K. I check, and he bets just under the pot ( 1500).. I call, he shows A 10.... its at this point I recognise the bloke as Darren Fletcher... so double bonus...

reach the 1st break with 8.5k, nothing special, but in no danger.

My 1st BB after the break I'm dealt JJ. Short stack limps, and young Darren raises. I push all in, both call, short shows A7s, Darren 99.. J on the flop and its all over :)

Then I move table for the one and only time. Get a table with some mega stacks, so decide to take a risk or 2 at the right moment...

at 1k/2k I have approx 28k, and am dealt QQ in my BB. Short stack goes all in for 8k, and mega stack flats. Leaves me with a decision.. I think he's committed himself so push all in.. he berates himself for bad play, then calls... he tables A3???? short stack has 10s which trip up, but I win the side pot, which slightly increases my stack.. mega stack tilts his chips off 2 hands later..

My big play comes on my next BB.. 63c.. the other mega stack limps, no one else calls. flop comes down all low, with 2 clubs, giving me a straight and flush draws, and I check.. he then makes ( in my eyes) a daft bet of 12k.. I tank, and push all in.. he folds a J hi flush draw, and obviously is over the moon when I flip mine ;) Tilts him up too!! Esp as on his bb, I push all in...

We get down to 10, and with blinds already a joke ( 4k/8k) with ave on our table being about 7bbs, I make an auto call on my BB with 10 4s to a shorts all in, she has 77 which houses up on the flop.

Eventually, I make the final table.. but have dropped to 30k ( at this point playing 6k/12k)..

The other 2 short stacks double up, leaving me needing miracles.. my bb is 74d, and I auto call a push from the button, who's pushed with 10 9os, flop gives me a flush, game on. Next hand in SB I have 44, emo bloke down the other end of the table pushes all in, have him on Arag so call, he has AJ and I hold, so over 125k.

We drop to 5, and emo guy is going all in on my BB every time.. I get 33 and again call to his push, he has A6, again I hold and am over 275k. He goes very shortly, and there's 4 of us left.

sitting 2nd in chips at this point, where someone proposes a 4 way deal, £330 each. 2nd place is £360, 4th is £120. As blinds are stupidly high, I agree to it, as we all do. Officially get 2nd place.

Happy days :)

Sunday... Monday... sigh

Played quite a lot the last couple of days. Obv the big tourny for me was the Sunday million on stars, and tbh, was quite disappointed, both in how I played, and how I went out.

was soon up to 17k, but should have been more. Called a raise with 77, flop AK7 which is pretty perfect, esp as he raised. IMO I should have flat called for more value, but I reraised him off the pot..

And for the following 90 mins or so, was completely card dead, so was being creative with raising to keep chips above 15k. After the break, moment of truth.

In late position with QQ, raise it up by 4xbb

bb tanks and pushes AI. I insta call, he has AK

blank blank blank blank A

down to dust... push 2 hands later with not a lot, and run into AQ sigh

Apart from that, its been a total dry spell.

best position was 15th in a $10 mtt on Blonde, some of other small cashes but nowt good..

Playing live 2moro for a change £15 deep stack game... should be fun

satellite.... short handed tables....

I've also used this week to try and satellite into the bigger events on stars on Sunday, namely the million and the warm up.

I finally, finally succeeded to get into the million through a $3 r/b. Playing 7 handed for 6 seats for what seemed like hours, until a short stack shoved 9 4 into a big stacks 10 10 :)

Whilst playing this, I was on FTP playing their 13.5k $24 k/o. For once, I got a damn good start, sitting in the top 5 for the 1st 2 hours, until, losing a flip or 2 I scraped into the money. I then proceeded to start winning flips again, until losing a 100k pot, AJ v A9, nut straight on the turn for me, nut flush on the river. I was down to less than 1bb but managed to race my stack back up over 100k... 12 were left, when I was knocked out ( one day I WILL win a race that matters).. shoving AK all in on the button, with the sb, eventually, calling with JJ which held. More addition to the bankroll obviously, along with the 9 KO's I got, but could have been much better.

I've learnt a hell of a lot this week, ie I need to be more aggressive when the table gets short handed...

shooting for the stars...

My main focus this week has been increasing my stars bankroll. With this in mind, I've played a lot of the $5 and $10 mtts on stars. Also have been staked into the 80k on stars ( thanks ACE2M) again after my cash on Tuesday.

In the 80k I again managed to cash, and was pretty comfortable in doing so. Won a cpl of races when slightly behind, as is needed sometimes.

The exit hand was pretty cruel, as no matter how I played it, I'm certain I'd have gone out..

A pretty loose player raised from early position, and I'm in BB with AK.. push all in, he flips KK...
flop AK2.. sigh!!

The 30k was fun!! Until...

Down to 12 players, blinds ridiculous, and only 2 moves available, all in or fold. Made moves with garbage, 1st decent hand I get ( in about an hour) 77, and push all in. No point in doing anything different. Short stack calls, and a large stack calls!!! total action!

Short stack QQ
Large stack AJ

QQ takes the pot, I take the shrapnel.

Push next hand and hit, get back up to a half ave stack

Very next hand, get dealt 88 on the bb, sb pushes all in, I obv call

he has J4.. J on the flop.. sigh

10th and the final table bubble...

Getting close.. the luck of the flips are deserting me..

The last couple of days have been decent, if not amazing.

Have cashed in probably 50% of the tournies I've played, but no big cashes.

Finalled 2 tournies on Blonde yesterday, went out 9th and 10th sigh...

Today, I set myself a challenge, could I multi-table 8/9 mtts...

Went fairly deep in a stars $10 mtt, obv a 40bb shove should be instasnapcalled by AJ.. I had KK... rivered the 3rd J..

Blonde tourny was as usual, good fun, and as usual, I can't race for toffee..

The one positive being an early double up KK v 10 10

then... KK v 44... 4 on turn

KK v A4.. 4 on flop, 4 on river...

I was very kindly staked into the 80k on stars by ACE2M...never played it before so had no idea what to expect.. found it fairly easy going tbh, never in danger for the 1st 2 hours...

Then, at 400/800 got KJ on my bb, SB pushed for 2.4k.. decided to make a stand and went all in, he called with A 10, pulled a straight on the river :)

Got into the money nice n easy, had a 20k stack at 500/1k, then with blinds 600/1.2k ( and me playing tight)...

Had 10 10 in mid position, and the player in front of me raised to 3.6k, decided to flat, as it was middle table ( about 6 behind IIRC), no other callers... flop was a rainbow Q 2 4 flop and he checks..

Now I put him on AK/AJ as I'm not checking at this point with TP on the board.. raise to 4.8k with 8k back.. he tanks for 15 seconds and pushes. I call, and I KNOW I'm ahead..

He tables A9... 40k stack here we come... until jokerstars rewards his QUALITY play with an A turn.... abs sickening..still is now some 15 mins later..

BLOODY SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Very bloody Sunday..

Played one of my fav tournies in the afternoon, a $6 mtt on blonde. Managed to final table, but finished 10th... no bad beat story, just the way it went..

The less said about the rest the better!!

Lost a few races, made a few damn good calls and lost, made a VERY daft call with KQ on an AAK flop.. didnt believe he had the A.. he did.. lost a top 20 stack when I could quite easily have gone very deep with an easy play... fold pre.. didn't need to call the raise!!

Played pretty well in the stars 30k, 2 hands were defining..

calling a raise with Q 10.. flopping 2 pair... rockets couldn't fold which hit trips..

reraising the table donk all in with AK, he couldn't fold AJ, J on flop knocks me out.

Still, positives, felt at home in the $24 k/out on FT for the 1st time, and should have definitely cashed if not for stupidity!!

Sunday... bloody Sunday??

Have a few tournies lined up for today.. may add to it later as at the mo am not playing on Ipoker ( waiting for the Blonde tournies)..

FT

Early double A + B
13.5k $24 k/o.. its about time I got deep in one of these!!

Stars

4 x $10 mtt inc the 30 and 200k
$5 mtt
$2 turbo ( for shits n giggles)

not too heavy a workload, should be able to concentrate a bit!!

Distraction of the hour: GTA4 on the Xbox360..

Bloody good start!!

Well, as its officially Sunday....

Played, as I usually do when not at work, the early doubles on FT...

In B I got a kick in the knackers, QQ v JJ.. J on turn..

In A I managed to final table, despite getting it in ( 1st every time) behind 3/4 times all in pre..

Started the final table 9/9, and tbh I think I need to re-evaluate my starting hands in the last few tables..

Get an early double up AA v Q9, but that still leaves me 7/9. Another orbit of 8k/16k/2k means that didn't last long..

table CL raised from early... I have AQ and only about 7bbs so its a pretty obvious all in. He shows 99, and after a 9 hi flop, its all over. Approx $120.. which all helps the old FT bankroll, back above $500 :)

Learnings for me: Push more when no raises pre late in tournies, people tend to tighten up!!

Inspirational final table DVD: 2005 Ashes Disc 2

Why am I doing this???

I feel I'm jumping on the bandwagon starting up a poker blog, but after reading through just a month of Silo Graham's and seeing his goals and ideas I thought it might be a damn good idea to help focus my game.

A bit of introduction is needed.

I'm a 30yo bloke from Manchester, England, and have been playing poker for just over 2 years.

I am, as my title suggests, an mtt monkey. I play $5-$15 mtts across many sites, in particular, Blonde, Full Tilt, and Pokerstars, but do play on pretty much all the sites when I fancy it.

The reason I want to blog is to help me keep a record of my winnings/losings, and to try and shore up any weaknesses in my game.

Being Sunday tomorrow, I intend to start the blog properly, giving details of buy ins, interesting hands etc etc..