The life and times of an mtt monkey

Congrats..

2009-12-14T11:09:00.001-08:00

To James Atkin for shipping the 500 euro side event in Ireland this weekend!

Its been a while....

2009-12-12T13:21:00.000-08:00

Since my last update, so have a fair bit to go through.

Live poker:

Have not played a huge amount tbh. Second weekend in September, I went to Leeds for Blonde Bash 8, which was a highly enjoyable and expensive weekend!

Got there Friday afternoon, met up with Bongo off Blonde at the train station, straight to the hotel, saw a few of the guys outside having drinks, so after checking in, when straight out for a quick drink... 4 hours later still there, and luggage still there. Great fun chatting to everyone, missed the comedy moment of Bongo falling backwards down the stairs, but we saw the aftermath!! Drinking in the sun is just awesome :) Bout 8-11pm we were all in Leeds, getting drunk in random places, met up with the Shrewdies after escorting Ling ( ie making sure she didn't fall over) to meet Rooks, then on to the casino for some comedy cash. Sat down with £60 on a 1/1 table. Sure wasn't an all in every hand. Jones sure didn't bink hard. Bongo dealt and prob got the best profit! Went to toilet at approx 3am, next thing I remember its 6am and Bongo's hammering on the hotel room door as he forgot his key. Sure remember how I got back there.

Obv, getting up at 9am to play footy was always tough, but it was managed somehow. Team I played for won on penalties beating the Shrewdies, think we won 4-3 on penalties, scored my 1st and then scored the winner in sudden death before saving FTW. Quick shower/changed/food before going to play the £30 tourny. Managed to get to the last 2 tables fairly comfortably, even tho I got it all in with 74 after calling a raise with it ( 7 4 3 flop he had 7 2), and with J7 blue, beating Bongo's pocket pair. Ran AQ into AK one hand after the break, then watched as Bongo managed to luckbox his way HU, then winning it!! Went to bed fairly early on Saturday as I was exhausted ( still 2am-ish)... Sunday consisted of many many bacon sarnies for breakfast, cricket for 45 mins which was just awesome, then the quiz, F1 watching, HU ( too short n sweet lol) even tho we got a bye ( also managed to deal a HU match which lasted one hand, 2 pr vs nut straight) then general chatting and more drinking in the hotel, midnight cricket which was just the NUTZ and more drinking.

An absolutely awesome weekend, which I hope is repeated fairly soon.

Also played the APAT event in Bolton, a very sick structure, 10k and 45 min levels. My 1st table dind't last that long, my 2nd I had 3 regulars from Manchester G in, so was comfortable. Managed to double up my 6k with AA v 10 10 , then lost 10k the hand after QQ v KK. Managed to grind it all back up to 14k, then at 300/600, got it all in blind on blind with 99, he had QQ. Game over sigh. Stayed in the G playing scrabble, and ended up drinking with Laz and MickyP. Sure didn't have a hellish hangover!!

At the G in Salford, I've won the £15 Wed f/out again ( bout the 3rd/4th time I've won or chopped it) as well as chopping the Saturday afternoon tourny. No other cashes ( all or nothing it seems).

Online poker:

I've run awfully again on Stars, got mega deep in just 1 tourny despite getting some decent stacks, finishing 32nd out of >6000 in a $5 tourny for all of $32. Prize structure is sooo frustrating. Obv, with 40bb stacks, a guy raises from late position, I re-ship it, he comes over the top, I have AQh, auto call, he as A8os, 1st card is an 8 and I have 3bbs left sigh. wp.

On Blonde, I've had to call a halt to my staking, as at the mo, I just don't have the time to play. Have paid everyone back what they're owed bar 2 ( paying them at APAT team in Manchester). Ran really well over the last 2 periods, without getting that mahoosive score. Think I had about 8 final tables, and still didn't show any profit ffs.

Life:

is just poo at the mo. Still single. The ladies I like are all taken. FML. End of haha. Still working my arse off for not enough money. Can't wait for a chance to find a decent paying job when I actually figure out what I wanna do! Will be moving to Bolton at some stage in the 2nd half of next year, so need to find somewhere and someone to live with as I def can't afford anywhere half decent on my own. FML x 2. But c'est la vie, it'll all turn round at some point.

I'm giving myself some goals for 2010, some poker related, some not.

1) Win a decent NL tournament on Pokerstars, or at least get a 4 figure cash on it.
2) Grind a bankroll playing STT's on whatever site Blondepoker ends up on.
3) Go on a decent holiday for the 1st time in 4 years.
4) After having a year off doing sod all, getting fit again and losing the belly I've so skillfully gained.
5) Final table another good live tourny.

Probs have more to add to that when I think about it.

Quick update....

2009-08-30T07:01:00.000-07:00

Its the busiest time of the year for me at work at the mo, so haven't had the time to play much online. Had one session, bust early in all of them, way ahead when I get my chips in. Way it goes.

Played a few times live, last Monday in the £10 + 1 £5r/b, finished 7th for £40, which was fairly annoying, played pretty well all night in spite of dealing, and lost twice when ahead, QQ v AJ, A river, and KJ v K10, 10 1st card out.

Played both games on Saturday. Only 32 in the £10 + 1r/b, finished 4th for £60. Played extremely well yet again. Had 7 all ins on the final table. Lost 6 of them, all ahead, most ahead 70/30. The other one we split AK v AK. Final hand sb shoved on me, I had JJ and instacalled. He had A9, flop 939... gg me.

Playing the £15 f/out tonight in the G, and having online sessions tomorrow and Wednesday, which will be the last 2 before the Blonde bash in Leeds.

Mega looking forward to it, many people I haven't seen for nearly/just over a year. Lots of drinking and poker to be done!

Cursed... and popping bubbles,

2009-07-26T05:53:00.000-07:00

Work is fun at the mo. Got 2 lovely 4-midnight shifts today and 2moro, and then lates till Weds night, meaning I won't be playing at all till Thursday.

I've played pretty much all of the tournies at the G, minus the £20 r/b and the £30+1 as those are both on nights I can't play... the only other fairly big one is the Sat night £25 + 1. I've played it about 6 times, and have never cashed. I know its just variance, as the players aren't anything different or special, I just run bad at crucial times.

managed to final table bubble last night, shoved UTG with KJ for 9k at 600/1200, s/stack calls for 5k with 78, which flops 2 pair!

Next hand have Kj suited and lose to A7 suited. LOL

My 3rd staking period has finished, being just over $1k down. Most annoying, when I've hit the final tables, I've never gone above 8th. Also have run bad approaching the bubble, several times losing with KK or AA for a CL pot.

Apart from that life just goes on. Nothing special happening, just saving up for BB8 in Leeds in September. Its kinda my hols for the year ( I have the week off after it as well) so not planning anything expensive till then.

Staking period 4 starts on Thursday, giving it a good go and will see what happens!

In a hole

2009-07-02T14:47:00.001-07:00

$500 in my mtt hole...

its quite bluntly fucking me off how bad I'm running from the bubble onwards.

I've cashed 4 times more often in this staking period than in any others, and its the only time I'm way down.

I NEED a win, that much is certain.

I'm in shock!!!

2009-07-02T12:33:00.000-07:00

A final table on pokerstars!!

The fact it was a HORSE tournament ( knowing nothing about the other 4 formats, even tho I played particularly well at stud hi/low) doesn't bother me!!

Ended up finishing 3rd for just over $200, after losing a mahoosive pot to go into HU 10:1 on the river in stud hi.

Happy days :)

A good catch up

2009-06-15T16:25:00.000-07:00

Haven't updated for a while. Mainly due to laziness, and a hell of a couple of weeks.

June 10th would have been my Dad's b/day, which always makes the week leading up tough, compounded by the sudden passing away of my grandad the week before. On top of that, work hasn't been fun recently, if I had another place to walk into a job, I may well have done.

On the poker front, I've played much more live than online recently. Online, I KNOW I've played pretty damn well. I'm regularly going much deeper in tournaments, generally getting to within the bubble period. From here on, I'm running awfully. My best result in the last few weeks has been 9th, which was last night. I keep finishing 35th onwards, which is most frustrating, to me and my backers. I know that a big score is close, but its soooooooo annoying!

Live, I had the utter joy of looking forward to the £500 summer series event in Bolton. I somehow lasted 5 hours, having just 2 pp's, losing 4k with one of them hitting trips vs a rivered straight. Had AK once which I managed to raise past everyone, and eventually went out when I shoved all in with A9c after a raise and a call, one of them unsurprisingly called with 66 and the board came 8 high. It was interesting, but oh so frustrating.

Have played about 6 tournies in Salford, going out on the final 2 tables once, but mainly not even troubling anyone. Have dealt pretty much every tourny I've played as I find it helps me focus.

I needed to get Saturday off my back, so played the £10 + 1 £5r/b on Sunday. Played pretty passively, and was paid off pretty much every time I raised. Got down to the last 15 and shoved 64c into KK to leave me with 9.5k at 4k/8k. 2 hands later, shoved Q6d UTG, 2 callers and it somehow won. 2 orbits later I have 110k, picking up KK twice, esp handy after someone had raised all in with JJ before me.

On the bubble I dealt a cruel hand. It was passed to the SB who shoved for 40k, BB insta called with AQ as you would, SB posted K3.. flop... 3 3 3 ... rofl!!

Was a bit of a joke the FT. At no point did anyone stop the clock throughout hand for hand so by the time the bubble was broken we were at the start of 6k/12k.... and I was CL with 110k!! Crazy!! They still hadn't stopped the clock so when we got on the FT it was 8k/16k. We basically refused to play unless we had a round of 6k/12k then start the clock at the start of 6k/12k.... the dealer agreed and we didn't bother telling the guys running the room...

2 were out within 3 hands, I had AQ knocking A 10 out with one of them. I had pretty much the chip lead knocking a cpl of people out, until we got to an interesting hand 4 handed. The 2 short stacks had both shoved in, and I was in SB holding A6 suited... had 160k back if I called the raise so 10bbs... and was about to call... then noticed BB 's antics.. looking very nervous.... eventually I folded.. BB auto shoves as you would in that position with AA... LOL.. he knocks them both out..

He had maybe a 100k lead, but he said it'll be a coin flip, lets split it.. I wasn't saying no with £480 for 1st and £270 for 2nd... £20 for the dealer and £365 each was a good Sunday afternoon!!

Won't be playing any mtt's at all this week. Working lates all week, with my grandad's funeral on Thursday, then stocktaking all weekend meaning I'll be working silly hours.. .so to relax I'll go back to my stt grinding on stars... $3 stt's aren't fun, but I need to build a roll on stars. Am now up to 50 buy ins at that level from a start of 30, and intend to carry on until I hit approx $275 so I have 50 buy ins at the $5 level.

Pokerstars can just die. + I run bad at crucial stages live

2009-05-12T04:18:00.000-07:00

Played all the mid stakes tournies on stars on Sunday. In the 1/4 million, get lovely stacked up, with 800 left am in the top 60 in chips, when the following hand happened.

Blinds 2k/4k, I'm in BB with approx 240k. Villian raises to 12k from mid position, s/stack goes all in for under 12k. On BB, I have AK, so raise to 56k. Villian insta calls. flop 9 9 7, I shove, he calls instantly with A7?? How the HELL does he make that preflop and flop call??? gg Stars tyvm and a whopping $50 to me. Gladly, he didn't get too far and only just scraped over $100 winnings, but still.

After that, I tilt played my minute roll off on stars on the $16 turbos. Won't be going back on there unless I get staked I think, or unless I start winning big monies elsewhere.

My Blonde staking is going ok, at crucial times I'm losing the vital hands, usually against players making awful calls. Have final tabled more often, but because I run SO bad on them, the best I've had is 2 4th's. Going in to the last $100 of the period, I need to win $150 to break even, which just sucks. Will still be going all out for a result tho, can't play any other way.

Live I've played more recently than I have in a while.

Played a £10 + 1 £5 r/b a cpl of weeks ago. Was in the last 15 when I lost a race at 1k/2k and went down to 8k. A cpl of shoves got through, then 3rd hand, mega stack limped, I looked to see 83d so shoved and he folded his A + decent kicker!!

Crucial hand was on my SB, 2 limpers, I have 24k so shove the lot, BB eventually calls, as does one of the limpers. Q hi flop was nice, esp when they both checked. J turn and BB shoves. He has JJ. FML.

In the £25 + 1 r/b on Saturday, 5k starting, I bullied my way up to 8k with no worries whatsoever, then did 6k in one hand.

Early raiser to 325 at 50/100 5 callers and I have 10 10. Just call ( I know I know) and see a K J 10 flop. Check raise all in, someone has KK sigh. Manage to get back up to 8k by the add on break, shoved KK off an A hi flop, I had 65 was one of the highlights. Had 12k at 200/400 and 10 10 UTG, so raise to 1200. Villian repops to 3k, he'd reraised a few times with Ax, so I tank/shove. He obv has AA. gg me.

Also played the £15 + 1 r/b last night. Wasn't a big tourny, only 37 in it, but we all had a laugh, especially at the new fucking self deal rules. One shuffles, another cuts, another deals. Absolute fucking farce if you ask me. Only interesting hands came late on. Am on the button with 12.8k at 600/1200, no raise before me so I shove with Q8d, BB obv calls with KK and he's dead by the turn weeeeeeeee. The hand before the break at 800/1600 killed me. SB checks to me in BB, I have 63 in BB so check. We both check the 552 flop, and he fires 5k outta his 10k on the 4 turn. I just throw 21k in, he tanks for an age, eventually calls with KK. I flip 6 4. Oops.. major fucking misread there. Go out on the FT bubble with a standard shove of KQ after a mini raise and a caller, mini raiser apparantly folds A8 for just 8k more, and same villian tank calls his A2. I miss my gazillion flush, straight and KQs and out 10th.

Pls run better. On the plus side, I am seen as quite a dangerous player in there. The regulars that I've talked to think I'm one not to tangle with as they know I'll stick it in in any situation with any 2. Which seems to be quite advantageous. Shoved 10s off a KQJ high board last night, both times with air.

On the negative side, work is abs fucking doing my head in at the mo. I just cannot be arsed with it all. Def need a new job as retail is fucking with my head. Its such fucking easy work, yet can be so fucking stressful. Anyway, will stick with it through this recession bollocks, and decide what I actually want to do. On a 7pm-7am shift tonight as there's new tills going in. Marv.

GUKPT side event report part 2, railing FTW and the summer series

2009-04-29T02:51:00.000-07:00

My second attempt at the side events lasted until level 3. Have a fairly good image at the table, and at 100/200 on my BB I was dealt AK, 5 limpers and I have 4.5k so shove the lot. One bloke insta's with KJ and spikes the J, go out soon after.

Then watched Simon Moorman, father of the pretty famous Chris Moorman proceed to rip the final table of the main event apart, which lasted until 2am.. up for work at 6, totally worth the lack of sleep just for the look on Chris' face!!

Using part of my winnings from my 5th place, I'm wanting to play in the summer series main event in Bolton, £550 buy in. Am putting in £275 myself, and selling off the rest at 1:1. Of that half, I've already sold 50% of it, not bad as I only put it up late last night!!!

In other staking news, got a cpl of decent results on Monday night, 4th in the 4.5k on Blonde, where I ran KQ into AA blind on blind for just over $400, and 21st in the 10k, where I lost a 3 way all in KK v 77 v A2, obv the A2 got there sigh. I've got roughly $300 of tournies to play ( will check properly tonight) and am about level, so 1 decent result puts us in profit for the period.

GUKPT side event report..

2009-04-24T14:51:00.001-07:00

Thursday 23rd April was my first glimpse into the GUKPT world, playing in the £100 f/out. Met up with Claw from Blonde about 6ish, had a bit of a wander sampling the atmosphere and meeting a few Blondes around the place... then to kill time...

£20 each in a fruity.. Claw wins £75, I win £110... we stick £20 each in another one, similar results :)

feeling flushed, we go and play 3 card poker... never played it before.. started with 40 quid, and just continued winning... came off the table with £100.. so was freerolling in the tournament already. Obv Claw and myself swapped 10% and we were off.

Started in seat 2 on table 9, noone recognisable on my table, so went about playing my own game. On my 1st BB I get KK, only limper is the SB, so I raised 4bbs to 200. He calls, flop is J 4 3, he checks I bet 350 and he calls.. turn is a 2, again he checks and I pot bet, again he calls. Turn is a 5, pretty big danger card, to which he checks. Weigh up carefully, am behind to any A and even with just 2k back, I don't want to go out on 1 pair.. so check.. he shows 42os. Sigh. It was the sign of things to come from him, I just knew I had to get in my chips at the right time.

At 50/100 after multiple limpers he raises to 700, don't even look at him as I shove with KQ, he has KJ and calls, J turn and Q river weeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Only one other time was an all in of mine called in the first 4 levels, raised UTG with 66, s/stack shoves so I call, he has QQ and I hit a 6 river ( although I did have many more outs). From then I on, I just quietly accumulated chips, picking on the weaker members of the table, still trying to bide my time to bust the guy on my SB, however he got knocked out with 2 tables remaining, calling all in on a K J 9 7 flop with J3, and was drawing dead.

We were down to about 16 at this point, with 13 paid, and the table noticeably tightened up, apart from 3 players, myself, and the 2 guys to the left of me. Shoved all in on my SB a cpl of times with nothing, causing agony for the BB, both times he folded however. The pivotal moment for me came when, on my SB I had 88, I had about 42k at 2k/4k, and UTG had raised to 12k. He'd been playing a lot of pots with suited cards, KJ, Q10 etc so decided I could get him to fold with a shove. He called however with KQs, 1st card out was an 8 and had safely housed up by the turn.

Once the bubble had gone, we were playing 6 handed, so started opening up a few more pots, and eventually made the FT with 70 at 3k/6k.

Was pretty card dead during the 1st 2 orbits, managed to get a raise through twice to keep my head above water, and eventually we were down to 6. At this point, get chatting to a guy opposite, he's only tommymfkinC from Blonde, so we have a quick chat, wish each other gl gl, and he goes out next hand, QQ into KK!!

5 way, there's a deal proposed. CL 3k, 2nd CL 2.5k, other 2 2k and me 1.5k, I'm s/stack so happy to take as thats higher than 4th pays, but one guy isn't interested in seat 4 ( as he was on my other table) so we play on. I manage one double up, shoving with Q9d UTG, getting looked up by A2os, hit my Q, he hit his A, but I hit a diamond river. Am still fairly s/stacked tho, so when it comes round to me with no raises on my SB, I sneak a look at a card, its an A, I shove, BB eventually calls with AJ, my kicker was a 5, and I was gone. Was shoving any 2 in that position with the blinds + antes what they were.

Happy enough with my first foray into the GUKPT world, probably will play the £100 bounty on Sunday, but as of yet am undecided.

I'll update this with names of opponents etc when the results get posted

work and more fkin work... staking period 2 and GUKPT side events

2009-04-11T14:41:00.000-07:00

Been working a ridiculous amount of hours recently, which is knackering me out. Means when I get chance to play poker, I'm shattered. Have cut right back on playing. Finished work early today for once, so had a pop in a few Blonde tournaments, as well as a few on stars. In the 30k on stars, ran up the 3k starting to 12k within 15 mins, out within 70 mins having lost 2 races, both times chips in 1st and ahead. Finalled the 3k $20 on Blonde 4/10, but went mega card dead, abs no spots to shove/push as most of the time, someone was all in b4 it got to me. Its fair to say I was playing tight...

so when I shoved all in on a 9 hi board, showing 3 diamonds, I didn't expect a call from 10 9 h??? I'd raised pre as well. 8th place for not much more than $100 sigh

Played the $33 NL SCOOP event on stars.. comfortably in the money, then quite bluntly get fcuked over...

[ ] good call pre sir

PokerStars Game #26771983927: Tournament #200904081, $30+$3 Hold'em No Limit - Level XIX (1000/2000) - 2009/04/06 2:41:39 WET [2009/04/05 21:41:39 ET]
Table '200904081 1486' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: hamsterboy (13334 in chips)
Seat 2: ohsportsguy (25809 in chips)
Seat 3: unreality0 (53273 in chips)
Seat 4: dillerdopp (48393 in chips)
Seat 5: alimali63 (110546 in chips)
Seat 6: NotABot (71735 in chips)
Seat 7: Thomas823 (122491 in chips)
Seat 8: malle501 (59252 in chips)
Seat 9: amcgrath1uk (40104 in chips)
hamsterboy: posts the ante 250
ohsportsguy: posts the ante 250
unreality0: posts the ante 250
dillerdopp: posts the ante 250
alimali63: posts the ante 250
NotABot: posts the ante 250
Thomas823: posts the ante 250
malle501: posts the ante 250
amcgrath1uk: posts the ante 250
ohsportsguy: posts small blind 1000
unreality0: posts big blind 2000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to amcgrath1uk [Th Td]
dillerdopp: folds
alimali63: calls 2000
NotABot: calls 2000
Thomas823: folds
malle501: calls 2000
amcgrath1uk: raises 18000 to 20000
hamsterboy: folds
ohsportsguy: folds
unreality0: folds
alimali63: calls 18000
NotABot: folds
malle501: folds
*** FLOP *** [8c 2c Ts]
alimali63: bets 20000
amcgrath1uk: calls 19854 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (146) returned to alimali63
*** TURN *** [8c 2c Ts] [9h]
*** RIVER *** [8c 2c Ts 9h] [As]
amcgrath1uk said, "sigh"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
alimali63: shows [Qc Jc] (a straight, Eight to Queen)
amcgrath1uk: shows [Th Td] (three of a kind, Tens)
alimali63 collected 88958 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 88958 | Rake 0
Board [8c 2c Ts 9h As]
Seat 1: hamsterboy (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: ohsportsguy (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: unreality0 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: dillerdopp folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: alimali63 showed [Qc Jc] and won (88958) with a straight, Eight to Queen
Seat 6: NotABot folded before Flop
Seat 7: Thomas823 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: malle501 folded before Flop
Seat 9: amcgrath1uk showed [Th Td] and lost with three of a kind, Tens

Also using some of my winnings from my live win to play the £100 GUKPT side event on 23rd April, same structure as I'm used to at the place, so just the small matter of slightly better players to try my moves on!!

staking.. and live!!

2009-03-26T07:35:00.000-07:00

My 1st period of staking ended up in a profit of just over $1k, from a starting roll of $1.5k I'm pretty damn happy with the start :)

The second period has started slowly, just the 1 minor cash so far, but plenty of time to go.

As I've run relatively bad online, I decided to have a laugh and a break and play the £15 deepstack at the G in Manchester on Weds night, 7k starting stack, pretty much suits my game.

Owned my opening table, won 2 all ins both times as massive favourite, called 4th pair on a dangerous board to snap call a bluff.

At the 1st break I had 25k! I continued plundering away, had an average stack when we were at 1k/2k and then shoved with A10, looked up by 99 and didn't hit. Left me with 3k.

It then can be described as a rampage. Quadded up next hand I played with J5, shoved with AK the hand after and beat AQ. Moved tables for a short while, and ended up making a hero call. 1.5k/3k blinds, a bloke throws a 5k chip in meant to raise on my bb, was ruled as a call. I had 10 9, flop was a rainbow J 9 7, I checked and he threw another 5k in.. got a soul read on him ( had him on AK/AQ) threw in a strong looking 15k, he shoved with A10, I called, and the board bricked.

very next hand on my sb I had 44, 2 short stacks had gone all in, and I was preparing to call, when a big stack shoved, correctly folded IMO, the 4 was the 1st card out, would have had a monster stack. Get moved back to my original table, pick up JJ and shove it straight into bb's AA.

Was basically in no danger of missing final table from this point on, including shoving with Q10, called by JJ and I 4 flushed, calling a short stacked all in with Q5h, he had QJ and flushed that too.

FT'd as 2nd stack, and lost 2 races immediately, 77 into JJ, AK into 44, which left me with 50k at 4k/8k. Played positionally ( and aggressively) until 6 left, shoved my 110k stack in with AA, called by A10 and won, 3 hands later, did the same again, and bust AQ. 3 left, with roughly similar stacks, 1 wanted to deal 390 each, I was happy with that, but the guy in the slight CL didn't want to. Fine. Then went on to own him. Kept shoving over the top, won most of his chips with a straight vs 2 pair on a 4 club board.

The final hand was a fun one, I'm BB, and have QQ with 340k. short stacked bloke shoves and I shove behind, button had limped with AA. Q on the flop.. £620 tyvm weeeeeeeeee

Quick update..

2009-03-13T04:21:00.001-07:00

Off to DtD for the weekend so hoping to run good :)

Staking is still going well, 3 very well played tournies last night IMO, finished 26th ( 20 paid) running J10 on a J hi flop into a slow played AA, final tabled bubbled losing 2 straight races in another, and finished 5th for just over $300 losing a cooler, JJ v AJ, A on flop kind of killed me dead!!

Up at least $800 on the staking period, still have just over $500 of buy ins to go. Hoping for another $700 of winnings at least to double all stakers :)

Staking so far...

2009-02-28T14:10:00.000-08:00

Until last night, I had played in $451 worth of tournaments, with a total of $174 in winnings.

Played a decent schedule last night, including the 6k $30 on Blonde.

Early on, doubled up with AA v QQ, and promptly lost it all with AK v AA.

After a while, pushed for a 2.5bb raise with JJ, and called the all in from a loose player who tabled KQos.. I held..

Managed to misclick a shortstacks all in call with 87s against their AQ and managed to bink the straight :)

Twice I raised with Jacks preflop, both times called, and both times rewarded by low flops and a subsequent fold.. which helped me into a decent position..

The big hand of the night for me unfolded..picked up KJc in early position and put in a 2.76bb raise ( ty Rooks) a shortstack pushed as did a bigger stack.. was a very easy call putting in the extra 1.5k into an approx 10k pot.. rewarded by a 3 6 J K 7 board :)

Finding a raiser before me holding AA was good.. esp with an A on the flop.... also KK on a K hi flop with an all in ( and no straight/flush possibilities)

Got to the final table 5/10 and fairly comfortable, and basically, after the 1st couple of people went out, I went on a rampage.. 35 >> AJ , AJ>> AK, KT>>55, KQ>>A8, 22>>AK, A5>>32 to win

$1.7k ftw tyvm :)

Dusk till Dawn.. 13th-15th March

2009-02-11T15:47:00.000-08:00

Right I've got the time booked off work so I'm 100% going. Booked the hotel tonight for the Friday and Saturday nights.. so if anyone wants to split a room let me know!!

Staking

2009-02-10T15:18:00.001-08:00

I've decided to take a leap and be staked in Blonde mtt's for the next 4-6 weeks. Playing at the $10-$30 levels, I'm being staked for $1500, which will see me through approx 80 tournaments.

I'd like to thank those that are staking me for this chance, and hope I repay them by running like God and shipping much profit!!

It all starts on Sunday after work!!

A live game for a change

2009-02-01T17:38:00.000-08:00

Went to the G in Salford for their £30 f/out, with £10 being for bounties. 7k stack and 1/2 hour blinds till the 1st break, where it shifts to 20 mins. And had a bloody good laugh. Every minute, my table was having a laugh and a joke, and not getting disheartened etc.

Played ABC poker till the break where I'm on 8k. 1st hand after the break, 100/200 blinds, 5 limpers on my BB, and I have JJ. To make a point, with the pot approx 1.5k, I reraise to 3k with the sole intention of getting rid of the lot. One bloke goes all in, I'm priced in to call ( leaves me with 2k back) he flip AK and I hold. Nothing really of note happens until 400/800, where with 66 on the button, I raise to 3k. The BB is a total nit, only plays premium hands, he tanks then calls. The tank says to me he hasn't got a pair.. so something like AK/AQ is most likely.

Flop was Q 10 x and I continuation raise 4k. Again he absolutely tanks... he's obviously missed..so AK/AJ but eventually calls.. I have 7k back.. turn is another low card... fire 5k this time, as I kinda want him to call for value, but also want him to fold... eventually he calls... the river is an A... sigh.. I know, KNOW he's hit at last... I have 2.3k back.. he'll insta call... so decide to check in hope he thinks I have KJ.. he goes all in... I fold... sucked...

Next hand I have K5s go all in, have 3 callers inc an even shorter stack, the K hits and I win and get another bounty. I'm raising any 2 and do so 3 times in a row, none of which are called...

Right before the break, 800/1600 blinds.. I have ~13k.. on BB with J7 off.. button pushes all in... announce.. this is my fav hand online.. think its 1k/2k blinds and with 11k I won't last long.. call.. he flips 65os and I knock him out for my 3rd bounty :)

After the break 1k/2k I become aggressive, 1st orbit I raised 4 times all getting through. UTG I get A10s.. push for 8k... BB hasn't played much and raises all in... its an easy call imo and I do.. he flips 88 and I'm fairly happy...

esp with the 10 3 10 flop...

and the 2 turn...

but the fucking 8 on the river... FML!!!!!!!!

I still laugh tho, wish the players all the best and off I pop.. just pausing in time to see the 100yd interception touchdown in the Superbowl.

Single table tournaments.. and the 30k

2009-02-01T05:49:00.000-08:00

My stt challenge had a good day on Saturday. I'm not putting anywhere near the volume in that I want to, as I've other things to do. But...

I only played 12, in 3 groups of 4. Managed to win 5 and come 3rd in another. will take the $40.2 profit!!

The 30k on stars. I always enjoy this tournament, as with that little bit of luck, you can go mega deep. Managed that last night.

sometime in the 2nd hour, pushed in early position with JJ, get looked up by AK, AA and KK..

the quads on the flop were nice :)

Played fairly well, apart from running J9d into 88 aipf blind on blind, managed to bink the flush on the river :)

with about 40 left, lost AA v some random hand which I can't remember.. pushed 2 hands later with 10bbs with KJ in late position, ran into KQ and AK but still managed to 2 out the straight on the river.. :)

got down to the last 2 tables in very comfortable position, had 800k at 20k/40k.. and again blind on blind punishes me... have KQ in bb, and the sb raises just over the minimum.. its something he's done b4.. think I'm way ahead of his range so ship it in.. he has A 10 and binks the A...

down to dust which I manage to get back up to 300k within 3 hands.. then my exit hand.. get KK in late position, and its an auto all in.. the bb calls for 40% of his stack with Q7... obv 2 Q's on the flop... sigh fml etc and 16th for $123.

[ ] that was worth 6 hours of play

I HATE POKERSTARS!!

2009-01-30T17:12:00.000-08:00

I'm a little annoyed at the moment...

get into the last 50 of the 10k $10 on stars...

1/50 in chips..

blinds 3.5k/7k

Button +1 raise to 21k with 33

BB calls..

flop 3 4 J

"we're getting paid!!!"

bet 28k he calls...

turn 10... thinking now if he has J 10/AJ/KQ time to ship it in...

bet 70k ( about 65% of pot)... he RR all in... I have to insta call IMO

He obv flips JJ

wp sir. ty stars. gnite

why I do what I do... and other ramblings

2009-01-30T14:10:00.000-08:00

Its a Friday night and for a change, I've not been at work today. Since 2 weeks ago, I've not had a day off, and this is the 1st day off of a long weekend. And to put it honestly, I'm exhausted. I've got a new boss at work, and unlike my previous boss, she actually is good at the job, but it does mean on a temporary basis, I need to put that bit more effort into each and every day.

Last Saturday was supposed to be a day off, but I ended up helping in our Wigan store, which is one of the smallest and quietest about. Obv the day I was there it was as busy as it had ever been. But me being me, I've also volunteered helping other stores out and about over the next 2 weeks, 8 shifts in Stockport, which for me is a pain in the arse to get to, 1 in Bolton and 1 in Warrington. Which is all going to be great fun not driving!! But if that what's needed to move onwards and upwards so be it.

All this has left me very little time to play poker. Especially with my stt challenge!!

Managed a FT on the Blonde league game after magically sucking out on 3 straight all ins.. then proceeded to lose the flip to give me the enormous chip lead. Needed 1st to win the league, but busted 7th. Quite happy to have been in contention, seeing I'd only played 2 of the 4 games. Had a giggle on the 10c/20c cash game, where the others all railed me in the 6k on Blonde, finishing in the last 20, quite an achievement, when 40 out, I was down to 1sb!! I did run sick tho, KK, AJ both all ins not called, ( even for 1bb extra) then my next all in called very next hand.. I had KK again which held v 77... can't remember how I went out but was a good laugh nonetheless.

Managed to spend nearly half of the 1k comedy cheque so far, Ipod, Friends series 1-10 box set which was an abs steal @ £55, and a cpl of digicams ( one for my mum.. awwwww)..the rest I think I'll use for poker.

Playing a new tourny on Sunday night at the G, £30 bounty, £10 for the bounties so will be taking a pretty aggressive game I think. I tend to play conservatively and start pushing hard at 10-15bbs, think I'll take more risks this time... must tell myself to NOT limp!!

The stt challenge... total stats so far:

Played 30
1st:4
2nd: 4
3rd: 2

total buy ins $102
total prize money $108
profit $6

I soooo need to develop my stt game... struggling at the $3 level lol!!

Having played them in the past, I'm pretty comfortable at the $10stt level, but I'm going to earn my way there this time rather than just playing them when I fancy it.

Grinding.. and my work night out..

2009-01-26T15:52:00.000-08:00

So my decision to play stt's on stars has actually happened. Have slightly changed it tho.

I'm playing $3 turbo 10 seat stt's. They're pretty quick which stops me getting bored, and I can play 4 at a time on my laptop without worry, and can probably get through 12 an hour if I try hard enough. Work at the mo means I don't get home till about 10pm, and after doing all the usual shit it only gives me an hour to play. I've got a bit of a good weekend coming up ( finish 4pm Thursday not back in till Monday) meaning I'll be hammering the tables. Going to see if I can play a good few hundred and see how I run when I'm concentrating properly. I do need to have a slightly higher bankroll, as I want to use Sunday's as an mtt day, using my weekly profit to play some fairly decent ones on stars. So its a decent challenge for me.

So far, I've managed to play a whopping 16 in 4 days! And made a whopping $11.60 profit haha.

My work night out as a comedy night. Started off planned as our store going on the piss in Manchester ( about 20 of us).. ended up being just 5 of us ( a 6th joined later).. At the same time, Vinny ( or celtic as he is known on Blonde) was playing in the EC tourny in London, of whom I had 20% of. He gets into the money.. so I start celebrating buying cocktails... as he gets deeper.. I buy more expensive cocktails.. obv he ships £4k so £800 for me... weeeeeeeeee a beautiful Xmas present.. hopefully when I get to use some of this for playing a weekend/few events at DtD I've already mentioned to him he has 20% of me if I run good...

now if I can just get Trigg to ship me the $100 on stars that no doubt he's forgotten about...

And a quick well done to Le( golden boy) Knave for shipping $77k... fancy staking me??? LOL

A new challenge

2009-01-23T17:13:00.000-08:00

I've decided over the last couple of weeks to stick to just 2 sites for the time being, until I have a comfortable roll on them.

Blonde: for mtt's. Especially after a decent start to the year.
Stars: for stt's. Purely about traffic levels. Oh and starting to learn bankroll management.

At the moment, I'm playing the $3 turbo stt's. Don't find them difficult at all, but as I've only started on them tonight, maybe its beginners luck

Played 3. Total spend $10.20
1st = $15
2nd = $9

and lost in the other aipf in the 1st level AA v JJ v 44.. obv 44 won

so a good start. As I'm working a lot over the next week or so, I won't have time for mtt's apart from maybe Sunday night, so am planning on 3-4 tabling stt's on stars which I'm comfortable doing. $300 profit is my target before moving up...

goodbye 2008... 2009 starts with a bang!

2009-01-16T11:23:00.000-08:00

December 2008 was probably my worst month in a while. No significant cashes, with my best result being winning a blonde league game, and 2 cashes in one of my favourite mtts, the 4k $15 that starts at 3.30pm on Blonde.

On the 5th Jan, my mini-run started.

I final tabled the 10k $10 on Blonde, but after being chip leader 20 out, managed to play as bad as I could imagine, but 7th for $400 was a welcome boost, both to the bankroll, and the confidence.

Exactly a week later, on the 12th, I managed to final table the same tournament. This time, in a completely opposite situation, laddering all the time, was 10/10 on the final table, before eventually finishing 6th for just over $500.

The night after, I also final tabled the 6k $5 on Blonde. This time, I managed to play fairly well. Followed my instincts and eventually got HU.

We battled for what seemed forever, however I did feel I was getting the better of things. Played very aggressively and forced my way through to a 2:1 chip lead.

In the end, I got him to call all the way with big bets for just 3rd pair, I had 2nd pair.. and SHIPPPPPPPPP the $1.5k+

Astonishingly, just 2 nights later, Geo from the Blonde poker forum took down exactly the same tournament... we Blondes obv pawn that tourny...

So with over £1.4k sitting in my Blonde account, the temptation was to go for a mega spin up...

However, have withdrawn 1k, so I can stay within my current comfort levels with a slightly higher bankroll than I usually keep on Blonde, so I can play a few $20mtts when I fancy it. As I write, I'm 7/14 in one at the mo... ONE TIME!!

Pokerstars:

How the HELL do you run good in mtt's on this site??? I've been chip leader in an mtt after an hour, and lost 12 flips in a row.... whenever I take on, or see anyone else take on a chip leader, the chip leader always, ALWAYS manages to find a card when needed...

Tilting like a biatch

2008-11-23T14:43:00.000-08:00

Not posted for a while, partly due to work, partly due that I've not played much either.

Its probably a good job tho as I'm running like I've broken mirrors whilst running under ladders...

As a casual poker player, my bankroll is quite low, I keep a max of $200 on a site at any time. Now I know thats its not good bankroll management to play $5/$10/$24 mtts but thats my level as I've proved to myself time and again, and can comfortably play at those, and indeed higher levels when I've had a) the opportunity ( last year I won a $5 r/b for $2.2k, and treated myself as a Xmas pressie to a $100 mtt on blonde, where I cashed so so comfortably, and had my play commended by Flushy of all people!) or b) when I've been staked ( consecutive cashes in the 80k on stars ). At the mo, I've run down to about $150 on blonde ( where I tend to keep it about $350) $120 on stars, $5 on tilt ( more to come) and $50 on party.

FT is tilting me so bad at the mo. I play regularly the $24k/o at 8pm. The tourny is easy, field not that strong. Comfortably got to the last 60 last weekend, get dealt AA, someone pushes all in in front of me, so I obv go all in too. The luckbox tables K9 hits both on the flop and it bricks out. TYVM for a top 10 chips pot. Down to dust and soon out afterwards for an entire $60. Since then, tilt has raped me on every opportunity, run KK into AA 5/6 times and then KK has lost to 10 4 ( called my all in pre), AA to 76 ( all in on a A hi flop) and so many more I've forgotten.

Am off work 2moro, so after doing the truly tilting thing of going shopping for work shoes as mine split today ( walking home when the floor was soaked was fun today) then going to have a day JUST playing Stars mtt's. Weds I'm off again, and will be playing just on Blonde ( might do this the other way round, haven't decided yet)..

Just hope I run better soon otherwise I will be crying out for staking, which I really don't want to do!!! ( Unless that is, someone offers me a decent long term one ;) )

Shock horror. An mtt win!!

2008-10-24T15:12:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-10-23T04:48:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-20T15:21:00.000-07:00

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....

2008-10-17T17:16:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-10-16T17:41:00.000-07:00

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..

2008-10-14T15:36:00.000-07:00

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-10-12T15:27:00.000-07:00

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??

2008-10-12T08:43:00.000-07:00

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!!

2008-10-11T18:15:00.000-07:00

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???

2008-10-11T14:41:00.000-07:00

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..