Merry Christmas Everybody ....

.... and have a happy and prosperous new year.

-

Lets hope 2010 brings many more new players to the online felt and that the poker sites continue to do an astounding job of giving us new and varied poker offerings.

-

2009 was all about learning and relearning at the lower stakes and my game has transformed dramatically in my mind from what it was.

-

Last night I played at the GALA in Leicester in their cash game and came out £180 in profit.

-

There were two hands of note.

-

The first I was holding 8c8s and hit my set on the flop that had 2 diamonds with the pot at £10. I bet out £8 and got two calls. Just like online and on demand the diamond hits the turn. I check as first to act and the guy to my left bets £20 into a pot of £34. The player to his left calls and I call hoping for the board to pair. The river brings an Ah. I again check and the guy to my left bets £26. The third guy calls and I have a decision. Now I am confident the third guy didn't have the flush otherwise surely he will raise, but I was worried about the guy to my left as his bet looked like a value bet (if a little weak) or a blocker bet with a medium hand like 2 pair. Anyway I thought and thought and then called feeling that he wasn't that strong and sure enough he was betting with a pair and I took down the pot (the third guy thought the last Ah was actually a diamond so he thought he had a flush).

-

In the second hand I held JJ on the button. Now this was a heavily calling table and the pot already had 3 players (pot £3) and no matter how big a raise I knew they were all going to call. I just put in a small raise of £6 just to let them know I have something ... and as predicted the blinds folded and the first 3 callers all called. The flop came down two hearts with a J on it. I get checked to and bet £20 into the £24 pot. All 3 call again and the turn comes a heart. It then goes check, check and the guy to my right goes all in for £50. Now he hasn't hardly bet a hand (called lots but not bet many). I start to think and then realise its an easy fold. He gets one caller and he shows the flush. The board doesn't pair and I get away with a £26 loss.

-

So a nice way to finish 2010. A live cash game profit and not making any wrong decisions. Roll on 2010.

-

So until next time.

-

Keep it Tight!

November Roundup

I haven't got to play too much during November ... been trying to have a month of early nights to catch up on much needed rest.

-

However the rest must be doing me good because I have had some reasonable results.

-

I only got to play 34 SnG's ranging from $2.5 - $10 buy ins but managed to cash in 28 of them (ROI of 63.5%).

-

I played 6 Multi Tables and cashed in 2 having an 18th out of 221 players and a 38th out of 323 players.

-

Unfortunately December looks to be equally as hectic as last month so there may not be much to post here as my playing time is reduced.

-

In short I would now put rest before poker, because even though I have played less I have had consistently better results and earn't more profit.

-

Give it a try!

-

Until Next Time

-

Keep it Tight!

Playing too fast?

Listening to a Full Tilt podcast the other day got me thinking about my game again.

-

Now I like to think of myself as a tight player who plays aggressive in most of the pots I enter.

-

However I believe I may be playing too fast and aggressive when I hit a hand ... most of the time.

-

Now everyone can slow play when they make a monster but can they slow play when hitting a hand ... say top pair top kicker for instance?

-

Well the obvious answer is it depends on the opponent, past hand history, whether we are heads up and our own image ... etc, etc.

-

However my personal answer is I don't believe I am playing slow enough at the right times.

-

If you watch Phil Helmuth he looks like he makes alot of trap plays. However in reality I think he has a true angle on where his opponent is in the hand and he takes a few extra cards to get some more chips in the pot.

-

Obviously he gets caught sometimes ... and I think this is why we see him get frustrated "Once in a While". But the truth is those extra chips ... especially in a tournament ... can mean the difference between winning and losing.

-

So ... some key thoughts for my own game ...

-

Don't chase people away so quickly when I hit my hand ...

-

Try to improve my hand reading abilities ...

-

Don't be afraid to let the hand go if I think the opponent has overtaken my hand ...

-

and try to make a few extra chips.

-

Until Next Time

-

Keep it Tight!

Little things please little minds ...

... and with something as little as this I am not sure it will please anybody but me!

Thats right it is my sharkscope graph for my Pacific account ... what did you think I was talking about?

This all started from a dinky $20 I had in the account a few months back that I have now micro-SnG-ground out to a reasonable little balance.

My stats look quite pretty too ....

And the little icing on the cake ....

When I find a SnG tournament that shows up as neutral on the Sharkscope Tournament Selector and then join, the status changes from neutral to one of these ....

-
Yep I am a one shark player on Pacific ...

-

Maybe not big stakes but still a small shark ...

-

He He!

-

Until Next Time

-

Keep it Tight!

Pokerstars UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT)

This looks quite interesting! Could this be a challenger to the GUKPT I wonder?

With buy ins from £500 - £2000 (or qualify on line) I am looking forwards to seeing how many runners there will be and what sort of total prize fund amounts will be up for grabs.

Will the major UK Pro's be attending?

I would think with the backing of Pokerstars this could be a very well run set of smaller buy in events.

I am going to have a look at the qualifying schedule and give a couple of the sub sats a go.

For now here is the expected tour dates.

-

Until Next Time

-

Keep it Tight!

Loss of Memory

I think I must be going slightly mad.

I played 3 events on the gala SnG decathalon and then completely forgot all about it until I just fired up my blog to make another post ... Doh!

I had two third spots and a 4th spot in the events I did play so I definitely wouldn't have been in the hunt for any of the prizes. However this isn't the reason I didn't play the rest of the events.

I have just been so busy.

So not much time for poker ... hence nothing of interest to put on the blog.

Nothing is certainly happening on the poker front other than messing around with a few free bonuses which are now cleared.

I did get a free £30 on William Hill Casino which is completely impossible to clear on their bonus terms (i.e. it had to be wagered £600 times. However a game such as craps only counts as 10% of the wagered value so on this game alone I would have to wager the £30 for £6000 times). Still it was free entertainment.

I am starting to feel like I need to do something interesting to make it worth people even reading this blog.

Lets see if I can win at the Jolly Waggoner poker tournament on Thursday to make a post worthwhile.

Until Next Time

Keep it tight!

Gala free tourney offer

-
-

Gala Poker are putting on the following promo

10 free sit and go tournaments as per the following table

Earn points for wins as per the following table

Finish in the top 200 and share prizes of $50,000 dollars

Now I haven't played much Omaha and I haven't played any Stud 7. But if only to learn a new game format I will still have a go at this.

I am under no illusion I do not think I can get into the top 200 but it is a great offer.

Until next time.

Keep it Tight!

This tickled me!

Until Next Time

Keep it Tight!

Concentrating on Poker

Well I have probably spent the best part of last month trying to figure out how to make Betfair a winning proposition - and I can't.

Horses, dogs, football, motor sports ...

I have had successes and losses but in the end the margins of winning and losing is so small that unless I am wagering large stakes i cannot see a future in it.

I certainly make more profit playing poker.

In fact this little detour has helped me to decide whether poker is a game of skill or not.

In my mind:

Sports betting = no control over the outcome in any situation = gambling.

Poker = personal decisions influencing the outcome of a given situation = game of skill ...

END OF !!

So from now on I will be concentrating solely on playing poker.

This doesn't mean I won't be having the odd day at the races or the odd punt on England in the world cup ... but gambling will be purely reserved for pleasure ... nothing else.

Until Next Time

Keep it Tight!

Gala Leicester £60 Double Chance

It has been a while since I played live so thought it was about time to visit the Gala Leicester again last Thursday night.

The tournament is a £60 buy in with 4000 starting chips plus 4000 more to be had by the end of level 2 (oh and a £6 meal voucher). With blinds starting at 50 / 100 and 40 minute blinds this gives for plenty of play.

All the card room regulars were there including our own APAT and GBPT champion Neil Blatchley. The only down side was that the Gala had capped the tournament at 30 because of a lack of dealers even though there were plenty more who wanted to play.

Well I started on table 2 (which turned out to be the table of death) as this table had many knockouts. As happens in these circumstances this resulted in our table having more of the fair share of chips to play for which would put any survivors going to the Table 1 final table in good position.

The table dynamics were absolutely excellent; 1 very loose aggressive player and about 5 other very experienced players.

I have to say I was very happy with the way I played only really making one bad play in position attempting to bluff someone off of a board showing A33 on both the flop and the river after my opening raise then having to fold to his large river bet.

I had a little bad luck early on when my top pair Q's (holding AQ) saw a short stack all in with an open ender for him to hit his 8 outer.

The loose aggressive openly stated to the table he was trying to dictate that I, [i.e. me!] only played with an ace in my hand. This information was put to great effect as I used the board cards to take him off the hands when premium cards showed ... lovely. Equally nice as he always had a stack to draw from as others folded in his wake.

So I hit the final table with a stack of about 32,000 with blinds at 1000 /2000. After a couple of rounds my exit hand came.

Finding AK suited on the button I open raised to 6,000. The loose aggressive who was now on my left called (as I knew he would) and then the BB went all in. Now this guy had only made this move with AJ and better as I had been playing with him on table 2. The LAG then helped me out by mucking his cards out of turn (despite trying his best to get them back). I decided that this was my moment, either I am crushed or I could win this hand and get to the top 4 places for the prize money.

I called and he table the same AK. However he went on to hit his one card flush on a board of 4 diamonds and I was out stunned and shocked.

Still it was a great game and I was happy to finish 8th in the freaky way I did to that field.

Until Next Time

Keep it Tight!

Some belated August tournament results

I have played 4 multi tourneys so far this month.

The first being on Interpoker.

This was on an evening where I was too tired to play normal cash games for fear of my concentration levels being too low. So I signed up for a micro rebuy at about 9pm thinking that I could play for an hour or so then get to bed without losing too much money.

However at around 2am I came in 8th out of the 168 runners for what amounted to next to nothing in prize money ... my pride just wouldn't let me get to bed and leave my cards folding to the table ... that's the competitive nature in me.

The second in the poker listings $1k I came 308 out of 436 ... not too good eh?

The third was the poker listings $5K.

In this tournament I had very few cards early on and was forced to push with 89 suited and 9T suited in position and doubled up twice to get to the cash stage.

After this I waited for my hand and got KK ... not once but twice in consecutive hands. The first time it doubled me up leaving me about 20th of 33 left, the second when I raised UTG 3 x BB at $2000/$4,000 blinds ... only the BB called leaving him $18000 chips to my $13500 chips with a pot of 24,000. On a flop of 3TJ I pushed the rest of my stack and got called by his 88 only for him to hit his runner runner flush.

I think he played his hand horribly for the following reasons:

1. Why call as if to hit a set if he has such little implied odds from my stack?

-

2. Calling with 88 in this spot I can only see as a valid play if you are to use your first to act position to bully the pot if you do not hit your set; he did neither and checked as first to act.

3. When I go all in why does he call. Surely if he thinks he has the best hand he would lead out ... is this a valid trap play with 88 after an UTG raiser?

Should he have folded or all in preflop? I can't see a call preflop... call flop play here as great ...

However I ended up 33rd out of 701 starters.

My last was this morning, a therapeutic game with some of the free cash Party has given me. Turning a starting tournament of 194 players into a 7th place small cash.

Until Next Time

Keep it tight.

Bonus City

The websites really are crazy with bonuses at the moment.

On Full Tilt I have to earn 1 more point a day for 4 more days and they will wing me a free $50. Add this to my current balance of $65 built from the last free $10 they gave me and I have a tidy free bank roll for what amounts to about 15 minutes play on Full Tilt an evening.

Also Party have just added another $50 free bankroll (restricted on earning 300 points) which stands for 60 days.

Rakeback on Interpoker is slow and I am beginning to think it will not pay me to play there at the stakes I am playing. Currently on the .25 / .50 tables I am only a fifth of the way to the $100 minimum rake needed to be paid my 30% rakeback. This is compounded buy the fact that the SnG tourneys seem incredibly difficult to beat on the Boss media network hence I haven't been playing SnG's there, unfortunately this is where a large amount of my rake would normally come from.

I am trying to boost my playing bankroll on Interpoker by adding my Betfair winnings to that poker pot to take me up the levels.

Anyway I am going to give it a go at the .5 /1 tables and see if it will help me reach my rakeback next month, if not I will have to ditch this site because I can earn smaller easier bonuses elsewhere.

Other than this there is nothing much to report for my poker life at the moment, a true reflection of what the poker grind is truly like.

Until Next Time

Keep it Tight!

Where's my rake?

So far I have not earned myself rake back ...

Why not?

-

Well I did start late in the month so only generated $8 of rakeback. However it is a boss media term and condition that rakeback only gets paid if the rake is over $30.

I kept an eye on my account and it looked like they would roll my $8 over to the next month, however today my previous balance has been reduced to zero.

So I am now playing on the $.25 / .50 tables to see if I can generate enough rake for rakeback this month.

Once I settle into the routine I think it will pay.

One other thing about Interpoker though ... the SnG's are tough. If you Sharkscope the tourneys you will see many are in the 2-4 shark band ... best stick to the cash games I think.

Until Next Time!

Keep it tight!

Best Bonus for a While

Has any body else noticed how the poker sites are throwing bonuses at people at the moment.

-

Last month I had another $50 put into my account on Party (bonus clearing terms pending).

-

This month CD poker are giving me about 5 qualifying tickets for live events.

-

And to cap it all off Full Tilt are providing us with the Take 2 bonus for September.

-

This has to be the easiest bonus to clear in the history of bonuses. All you have to do is play two ring game tables simultaneously and earn at least one point ... If you do this for 5 days they will give you $5. If you do this for 10 days they give you $10 ... but wait ... they also add it to the $5 you've already earned.

-

The maximum you can earn is if you do it for 25 days they will add $25 to your account in addition to the $25 you will already have earned for playing for 5, 10 and 15 day durations.

-

So a whopping $50 for what amounts to about 20 minutes play an evening at most.

-

For any poker player $50 is quite a nice bonus and will very thankfully be added to my struggling yearly profits.

-

Bless you Full Tilt!!

-

Until next time.

-

Keep it Tight1

The Betfair "Holy Grail"

Just like the knights of old I am a modern day Crusader obsessed with the search for the one true treasure ... "The Holy Grail of Betfair".

Ever since a friend introduced me to Betfair over a year ago I have been convinced that somewhere in its vaults of experienced and ageing gamblers there is a niche bet that is going to bring untold riches ...

And just like the Templars and the Hospitallers of history a true road is trodden for a while, with all clues seemingly leading to this great treasure, only to have the truth ripped away from me as I am left standing here holding a mere gourd and not the Grail at all.

So where am I searching for this heavenly reward? ...

Well my search is focussed within the walls of the world of horse racing. I am certain there must be a way to beat the odds and other players. Even one small identifiable edge of a standard bet over the hundreds (neah thousands) of horse races a year will over a period of time slowly add profits to an ever increasing bankroll.

Luckily I am not spending too much money in search of this reward ... and on days where new theories work I actually turn a reasonable profit. However on losing days this is taken back to a close to break even balance.

But in the words of another set of Ancient Philosophers "I still haven't found what I'm looking for" quote U2. (Sorry stretching it a bit with that metaphor).

But I feel i am so close to an answer ... lets just hope it isn't "There is no Holy Grail!"

Until Next Time

Keep it tight.

Oh! And any tips would be welcomed.

Long Time No Post!

It is about time I posted here again ... not because I have much to say but just to keep the page refreshed.

So what have I been up to?

Well we had a week on the boat and actually got to sail out this time. We had a great week on the east coast and broke one of my personal records ... being out in strong winds with the wind instrument showing over 30 Knots. Also the boats personal speed record was broken (8.5 knots over land) but I think the tide was with us so that would have notched the speed up a bit.

On the poker front it is pretty moribund really.

I have decided to join a rakeback site - http://www.raketherake.com/.

This is on the back of the fact that I am currently only working a 3 day week (out of choice) and am likely to play more poker.

The poker site to join for rake was quite a tricky selection actually ... I am signed up with practically every poker room. However Interpoker was one that I hadn't sampled and so that is the rakeback site of choice.

I will keep people posted on how much rake I have generated at the end of next month to see whether the rakeback is more value than playing on a site that gives their own bonuses.

Until next time.

Keep it Tight!

Leicester Races on the Hoof

Another lazy Sunday so we thought ... until a late decision to go to the Leicester races came over us.

With half hour to the first race we quickly got changed from our gardening clothes and trotted down to the Leicester Races.

With seconds remaining we had our bets on the first race and the placepot.

Getting EW wins on the the first two horses in the second race and a correct reverse forecast in the third we had started off well (albeit for our usual £2 tote bets we may have been rich!!!).

Then we continued our good form with us both getting winning bets in races 4 and 5.

Another drink was in order and then a quick check on the placepot ... ... ... OMG we needed our final horse to come in to win the placepot ... we had successfully predicted the rest of the races to a place ... COME ON!

Our choice for the final race was Inside Story ... and I was happy with it ... until an announcement came over the tannoy ... it had been withdrawn!

Damn we were on the favourite now ... Focail Eile... WHO?

Any way it was looking dodgy two furlongs out, it looked to be hanging ... then someone put a rocket up its arse and WHOOSH! ... it came in first!!!

Woo Hoo ... my first ever placepot ... I am no longer a placepot virgin!

All that was left now was to collect the winnings for our £2 stake ...

and heres the good bit ...

a whopping £45.

Well, its not going to buy me that Ferrari but it is a great day out; and to come out clearing about £60 in my oppinion is an afternoon well spent.

Until next time

Keep it Tight!

Ohhh the PAIN!!!

How demoralising can this game be at times.

After all this time and 4357 hands. After clawing my balance back from the brink of extinction it is happening again.

I just cannot break through and my balance is back down to $75.

Every big pair I get is getting beaten.

Every two pair I hit gets "Set Up" or "Flushed Out", and when I hit a big hand no one is around..

This is the test of character side of the game.

GGGGGRgrgrgrgrgrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

Until Next Time

Keep it Tight!

A few more qualifiers

CD poker had decided to give me a few tournament tokens ... all qualifiers for bigger events.

So this week I have used the ones for the $50,000, $100,000 and $250,000 qualifiers.

All paying only 3 places made these a tall order and proved too tough to hit the prizes for me this time.

I came 592 out of 909 in the $50K, this was my worst effort with a better showing of 40th out of 484 in the $100,000. I however saved my best performance for the $250,000 qualifier.

Mid tournament I had a flurry of activity and sat around 30th with 500 left but just couldn't keep up the momentum and finished a respectable 24th out of the 1000 entrants. Just a shame it wasn't a normal tounament, that would have given a reasonable return.

Otherwise in the month I have played another 16 tournaments cashing twice and hitting the final table once.

Unfortunately not for much prize money.

Until next time.

Keep it Tight!

Just missed out on cash in pacific $10K Guaranteed

A galling 68th out of 418 when the tourney only paid to 64th.

Managed to double up early with KK against a player who just went all in every hand (strange tactics but each to his own). Needless to say he didn't last long.

Then won a reasonable pot with a set of nines.

That was with about 200 left in so still had a long way to go.

I then went completely dry on the card front and fell into the trap of thinking I would make the bubble and then hope to get lucky. It was too late by the time I realised I wasn't going to make the money and went out with a weak ace against pocket nines.

Oh well try, try again!

Until next time

Keep it tight!

Back fresh from my holiday

The Chateau

What a joy to be back from holiday .... NOT!!!

We went to the Charente in the SW of France ... what a beautiful place.

View over the villiage

We went via Ryanair, which despite bad press, I have always found to be excellent value. This flight cost us just £30 pounds each return to Limoges Airport. What a bargain ... even with 30 minutes delay going out!!

-

The only down side was that we hired a car from Alamo which was going to be 200 euro for the 6 days. However when we got there they had no cars and so had to get one from Avis at 400 euro. How much ?????? @*&# I could buy one for that!!! So it is going to be lots of letter writing and a headache no doubt to get the difference back from Alamo.

So despite that hiccup driving in France is quite a different experience to the UK. In fact it is great ... open roads ... no traffic ... no cameras ... makes you actually want to drive.

Anyway we visited many different small villages ... drank lots of cheap French wine ... and stopped in a B&B that was actually run by a couple that had done the renovation with the Homes in the Sun TV programme.

Absolutely gorgeous.

Having got back home I have vowed to play some more qualifiers.

I still have about $480 left in my qualifiers pot and so decided to play a $5.50 qualifier to tonights $25 + $2.50 $10,000 guaranteed on Pacific.

All was quiet until with 19 players left from the starting 79. I was dealt A7s on the button when it all folded around to me. So with my short stack it was an insta shove. The SB called and I thought I was looking at the exit. Well he had KK, I hit an Ace on the flop and dodged his flush draw to get me to about 6th in chips with 19 left. I didn't need to play a hand from there on in as the tournament gave tickets to 15th and other short stacks were forced to shove and get themselves knocked out ... so ticket number one earned.

Half an hour to go to the tournament so heres hoping for some luck and a decent cash for a change.

Until next time ...

Keep it Tight!

Still here and Bored of the Freeroll

Well I do not seem to be showing any symptoms of the dreaded Swine Flu yet (touch wood).
-

The GF seems OK and has taken her course of tablets. Hopefully she wasn't infectious at home this weekend otherwise my dose may still be yet to happen. Hopefully not though because we go to France this week, roll on the inoculations I say.

As for the freeroll test I am already bored and have got my balance from nothing up to $1.46. I am going to end it here after 10 days play because it is just too boring!

As long as sites have free 10 man STT freerolls then it is very easy to start a balance from nothing. It just takes time. I suggest you would only need to get it upto $10 with good bank roll management then you can start to build it up from there as can be seen from my Full Tilt Free $10 I received some while back.

On another note my Quarter Roll balance is back at $200. After 3232 hands and dropping to just $30 at its lowest point hopefully I can make progress on that first step of $400 I need to move up a level.

Also I have a real need to play more cash now after my wasted time on the freeroll test, so on with the games.

Until Next Time

Keep it Tight

Swine Flu's Increasing Prominence

I haven't been able to play much because I have been very busy so the freeroll balance still sits at 0.99c.

On a worse note there has been a reported incident at my partners offices of Swine Flu. Not only that but her sons girlfriend has been given medication for it ... and now my GF has left work early today feeling poorly and has likewise been given medication for it.

So swine flu definitely seems to be taking hold in England and in Leicester in particular.

I am sitting here wondering whether the fact I am starting to feel rough is because I also have it or if it is purely psychological.

Anyway I will keep you posted.

Until Next Time

Keep it Tight!

Freeroll Challenge Day 3

New 1 Month Freeroll Challenge Balance - 0.99c

-

"I have often wondered if I went totally broke would I still be able to play poker and enjoy it? Moreover could I start a bankroll from scratch, zippo ... nothing.

-
So this month I am going to start with a balance of zero and just play free games to see what can be achieved."

-

Not quite a bankroll yet but a rudimentary start I think.

-

Managed to play a further 8 freeroll SnG's on blue square, cashing 2nd in three and first in one.

-

Having a balance of 0.69c I decided I had enough to enter a 0.10+0.02c 6 man SnG.

-

First hand 4 players go all in with one taking the whole pot leaving just 3 left paying to 2. Either of the two remaining players entered every pot with a raise so I just went into solid play mode. Hardly playing any hands the other two went into barracking mode. So funny ... telling me to read a book. That I needed to learn how to play etc. etc. ALL on a 0.12c Table. Made me smile. Anyway I ended up trapping most of the chips away from these two to take first prize; a whopping 0.42c.

-

Will not be playing any Freeroll Challenge on the 4th July as it is another trip to the Leicester races.

-

So until next time.

-

Keep it Tight!

WoT - Day 2

Balance - 0.56c

Got home a bit late from London (not working tomorrow) so didn't get to play much tonight.

Managed to get in 6 of the Blue Square 0.05c freeroll SnG's.

3rd in 3 and 2nd in one - for a massive 0.09c payoff.

Scanned the rest of the poker sites for freeroll Multi Tournaments and to be honest they are not easy to come by.

I will hopefully be playing the 11.00am $300 freeroll tomorrow on Party Poker - no Doubt the entrance will be about 1500 players.

Until next time.

Keep it Tight!

Waste of time - Day 1

Freeroll Cash on the first day - No.8 on Virgin

Balance from Zero - 0.47c

So the freeroll fiasco has begun.

I started off by playing a few of the 10c SnG freerolls on Blue Square.

I managed to play 7 of these 10man STT placing 3rd in 6 of them for 0.12c. Multi tabling 4 of these at the same time whilst catching up on emails, doing a bit of online banking and reading blogs seemed like the poker holiday I was expecting - and the weather was fine.

Then I had a scout around the freerolls on various sites.

I intend to do a full survey of the 24 or so sites I am signed up to, but last night I only managed to look at the following:

Bodog - 19.40 - $500

Party - 02.00, 18.00, 20.00 - $100; 11.00 - $300; 22.30 - $50

Virgin - 18.30 - 25euro; 17.00 - 100euro

I ended up playing the Bodog $500 and the 25 euro on Virgin

The Bodog looked quite a good prize fund but then I realised that there were 3086 players, I crashed out 1408th

The Virgin however was a much better prospect with 224 players, but only for a small prize fund.

Well when there were 33 players left I was sitting 20th, then I had to leave the game. I had arranged to meet a work colleague for a drink at the pub. Nooo! I was gutted for the chance at a $7.50 first prize.

So I left it folding me out, to come back and find I had finished 16th for a massive 0.25euro payday.

So I sit with 0.47c from my first freeroll foray, not bad for a first days work (roughly 0.15c / hour).

On to the next waste of time tomorrow (but unfotunately not with enough cash to move onto the next level).

Until Next Time

Keep it Tight!

A whole month of nothing

I have often wondered if I went totally broke would I still be able to play poker and enjoy it? Moreover could I start a bankroll from scratch, zippo ... nothing.

So this month I am going to start with a balance of zero and just play free games to see what can be achieved.

Just to keep some interest in the month (and so it is not a complete waste of my time) I am going to play my quarter roll for the last hour of each session. However I will not be including any profits made there in my freeroll monthly total.

So the rules:

1. Only free entry games are allowed - or points tournaments for which points have been accrued during play from this zero balance.

2. Any winnings can be re invested into buy in tournaments / cash games but any buy in cannot send my running bankroll below zero.

3. I can't get bored and give up!!!!

-

One other luxury I am giving myself is the ability to take my bankroll to any site. In reality I wouldn't be able to move such small starting amounts around until i met a minimum cash out amount ... but don't get all purist on me and allow me this one concession!

So welcome to my complete waste of time!!!

I will try to post my game entries and results each night I play. This is not a Chris Fergusson- esque challenge. This is for one month only!

Lets call it a poker holiday!

Until Next Time

Keep it Tight!

Wasting my time?

Just to show I have not been wasting my life away at micro stakes using the free cash I have been given I have also played a few more hands of my quarter roll game.

Ever since my initial $200 balance dropped to $30 I have really been grinding away to build back up to my start. So 2700 hands in I have worked the balance back to just over $150 still playing at the .25 / .50 level.

In fairness I have been pulling any trick in the book to build the balance back but in the main the hit and run tactic has produced the best results.

Now I know I won't be making any friends using this method, but when I only have 3 buy ins left at this level I have to take what I can.

I am hoping that the fact i am not short stacking will win me a bit of karma back, sort of a trade off between the two evils.

So hopefully the balance will be back to $200 shortly and I can go ahead with building it to the $400 that will allow me to step up to the .50 / 1.00 level.

Until Next Time

Keep it tight

Paddy Power Freebies

Paddy Power very kindly placed two $5.5 SnG tickets in my account for not playing there for a while. So I invested them in two double up tourneys and cashed in one giving me a free $10 to cash out.

-

Not much money you say, but when you add this to the free $10 placed into my account from full tilt (currently at $20) and the $60 free over the last year or so I have had from Party Poker and a free birthday £15 added in CD poker it starts to add up.

-

So heres some tips for getting freebies:

-

1. Make sure your email details are totally up to date in the lobby / account sections of all the poker sites you are signed up to.

-

2. When you are offered a bonus be sure to try and clear any clearance requirments in order to keep the cash.

-

3. Once you are cleared, if you do not normally play on the site ... cash out.

-

Hopefully after a short perid of time you will be emailed with a free amount to join them back at their tables.

-

So whilst it looks like I'm freeloading (which I am), the site does gain some additional rake from my winning play which I presume is why they do this.

-

Until next time

-

Keep it Tight!

Changes ahead

Well after another 10 months working in London it has come to the time where I have had to make some life changing decisions again.

-

5 days a week living out of a Travelodge has taken its toll and it is time to pack bags for the last times before I return to a normal home life.

-

Currently it looks like I will be working down here until the end of July, but after that, who knows.

-

Still I have lots to do around the house and at last some proper poker time (hopefully).

-

On the poker front there is nothing much to report.

-

I am still playing my quarter roll experiment when I can (currently sitting around 2500 hands) and many SnG's. I have also been having my last 1/2 hour before going to bed playing micro stakes with a free $10 Full Tilt credited to my account. This is currently sitting at $22 - nosebleed stakes eh? - and I am bank rolling this in the same way as I do with the quarter roll experiment. I keep thinking it would be a great story if I turned my free $10 into $10K - so that is my intention. Graphs to follow.

Until Next Time

Keep it Tight!

Now I'm Calm ... my Truro Week!

A quiet drink at the pub after a sail to Falmouth

Not much to write about really.

I have a customer at Truro that I have had for about 7 years. Anyway this month was one of my visits.

So mainly it was work, work, work ... trying to get 40 hours completed in 4 days (which considering the travel time involved is pretty hard work).

-

But I did get to go out on the Clients boat.

Leaving Falmouth

Until Next Time

Keep it Tight!

This green and beautiful land!!

I just wanted to write a quick post to thank the council official who thought it would be a good idea to close the A46 at the M40 junction for road works this week. I especially liked his idea to send everyone on a glorious diversion back down the M40 for a junction - and then through Leamington - and back on to the A46 half an hour and 12 speed and traffic light cameras later - to find myself about 100 yards further on than than the start of the road works.

The whole glorious adventure was made even more enjoyable as it arrived 4hrs 45mins into my normally 5 and a half hour journey back from Truro where I chose to work this week.

Am I missing the point or is something really wrong with this country?

I travel a 600 mile round trip to earn an honest weeks work, putting my life at risk on our road work riddled roads - to end up watching the front door mat for speeding fines and court sommons. Despite trying really hard not to exceed the speed limits ... or cross traffic light cameras on amber ... should a fine happen to come my way the likelihood is I would be in negative equity on my weeks hard work ... or as the real criminal I am ... trying to dodge a short ban.

Perhaps I should pack it all in, and wait for the government to wing me some paid for housing and a few benefits that I have kindly donated to during my working life.

Better still I could become a politician, get chauffeured to Truro ... stay in a 5 star hotel and claim it all back as a boost to my income.

Rant ... rant ... rant ... !!!

Until Next Time

Keep it Tight!

Update on the year

A quick post to show my graph for the year to date.

After a losing April I dropped back down the buy ins and played mainly Micro SnG's up to $10. But I also decided I was going to multi table for a change so when I played i fired up to 4 x 10 man and 6 man STT, and managed to eek out a small profit.

These stats do not include my quarter roll balance which I still have a bit of, but I haven't really been playing with that roll that much, just getting into a winning stride again was my aim for April. That done back to increasing the levels again!

Also just a quick good luck to those who will be heading to Vegas for the WSOP, wish I was going to be there!

Until Next Time

Keep it Tight!

Birthday Boy!

Happy Birthday to Me ...
Happy Birthday to Me ...
Happy Birthday to Me .. Eee ...
Happy Birthday to Me!

Yep today is my birthday. One more year until the Big 4 zero. .... And still no major wins to note.

I think if I was trying to play this game for a living I would be one of those "Journey Pros". I'd make a steady return ... but not a world beater.

Still its not the taking part its the winning that counts.

Anyway I'm off now to eat drink and get merry to celebrate the day (possibly off to the casino tonight, but no poker as it will be a family event).

Until Next Time

Keep it Tight!

Healthy Living!!

They say a healthy body leads to a healthy mind ...

Thats why I've decided to join a gym for my time in London to see if it improves my mental game. That, and the fact that I am getting some middle aged spread. Last thing I would want is to win a prestigious tournament and have my lard ass spread all over the covers of magazines ... LOL.

I am trying to make it 3 times a week and am beginning to realise why I have been putting on weight ...

Last night I ate a small Tesco's prawn salad, packet of crisps and glass of orange juice (500 calories).

This took 1hr 40mins of walking and cycling to burn off ... and to think I would normally eat this lateish at night with no exercise.

So what are my targets.

To get from 12 1/2st to 11 1/2st, and to reduce my resting heart rate. I think all the poker over the years has added to my increased heart rate, which can't be good.

Unfortunately this is going to reduce not only my weight but also my playing time, so emphasis is going to be on quality not quantity ... more emphasis on cash play perhaps.

So from a fitness evangelist.

Until next time.

Keep it tight.

Summertime !!!!

Hi everybody ... how is everyone enjoying the weather? Summer is here! Long live summer! Doesn't it make you feel better?

Well I have spent most of the holiday weekend gardening, drinking and barbequeing with a litle time at the end of the day for some poker.

The plan was to go to the boat but the drive out there (usually 3 hours) would have probably taken a 5 hour bank holiday journey. So time to get the garden done instead. I will be going to the boat the weekend after next for a short 4 day holiday.

Now for a short update on my quarter roll experiment at just under 2000 hands whilst there is some good news to report.

My initial $200 bankroll dropped right down to $30 following a couple of big pairs failing to hold up. However, leak number one identified. I am committing all my chips to big pairs (AA, KK) after the flop regardless. I should be able to control the pot size to at least save some back on tricky looking boards.

At this $30 point I dropped down to the $0.10/$0.20 tables and ground back up to a full $50 buy in for the $0.25/$0.50 tables.

-

I then had a good session where I took my buy in of $50 up to $109. Just about to cash out and I look at KK. Well the leak I just described about saw me put $40 back when I failed to lay down KK when a guy hit his set holding 99. Unfortunately I hadn't identified the error in my ways at that point, but am not sure the result would be any different now.

-

So a few winning sessions see's my pot back at $80 and ready for the next 1000 hands.

-

Wish me luck!

-

Until next time

-

Keep it Tight

An entertainment quickie!

Don't play cards with this guy ...

Keep it tight!

High Stakes Poker and Tom Dwan

Has anyone been watching the 2009 season 5 of high stakes poker?

What a series this is ... and mainly due to the excitement and variety brought to it by Tom Dwan. He is not really a talker but his game speaks louder than any words he could utter.

I can't help thinking he has more than his fair share of luck though. But you cannot question his heart, just watch the largest hand in High Stakes Poker History.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P_gfwtnAJo

But it has got me thinking ... is Tom Dwan "The Man" of modern day poker?

So many card players have made it to the top of the game over past years. Some came and went and some passed the tests of time and are still a force to be reckoned with today. But only a few earned the reputation and title of being "The Man".

Before poker became a main stream game as it has in this internet and WSOP era "The Man" would earn his reputation. The best players would find out about anothers skill by word of mouth. Challenges would be issued. Games would start in backrooms and basements. Hours would be played and the victor would not only take the spoils, but also the prestige of an increase in notoriety.

So is Tom Dwan "The Man" of today?

Well I think he certainly is putting himself out there for the title. He is issuing the sort of challenges that are set to prove he is "The Man".

Surely he is not prepared to offer the best in the world 3-1 odds (as with his current 50,000 hand omaha match up with Patrick Antonius on Full Tilt) just to make a little more cash. These games are born out of bravado and competition. He is doing this to make a statement to the poker world that he thinks he's the best and to jocky himself into position to show he is THE force to be reckoned with in poker today. I believe he wants to be "The Man" and is doing it in a way that gets him from behind a computer screen and into the minds of players and onlookers alike.

I don't think he is a Stuey Ungar yet ... and he may never be ... but one thing is for sure ... it is going to be great watching this guy to find out.
-

Until Next Time
-

Keep it Tight!

Update on last month

Last month was my first losing month of the year. As you can see by the graph I dropped about $100 of my profit.

-

Due to work I only managed to play 96 games through the whole of April and these didn't contain any qualifiers or Multi Tourneys.

-

The losses were mainly due to hitting a barren spell on Party Poker. I could do no wrong in March, then, just as happened on Hollywood, I hit a massive losing streak. No matter what I did I couldn't win a double up SnG, even at the lowest buy in.

-

So I cashed out my profits (after taking my bonuses) and moved my allegiance again ... now I am playing on Pacific Poker.

-

So far I am playing small buy in 10 man double ups and 6 man STT and sit here feeling like a poker nomad.

-

Work is still manic and I have already had to cancel my golf trip. I just can't fit everything in so this holiday has gone to the wall to save the one with my girlfriend the week before.

-

A quick note on my quarter roll experiment. I still have a balance after playing about 1800 hands and will do a full report when this gets to 2000.

-

That's all for now ... short, sweet and boring ... hopefully I will have something a bit more interesting to write about next time.

-

Until then.

-

Keep it Tight!

What a busy time ... Unfortunately all work

Frimley Hall Hotel

I haven't been able to tell my arse from my elbow recently.

Been working 10 - 15hr days for two presentations .... one was to about 60 people, what a nerve wracking nightmare.

Any way they both went well.

Wednesday night (the night before the big presentation) the company I am working for put me up in a very plush hotel. Frimley Hall Hotel at £163 a night ... LOL, bit up class for me. Anyway there was a teddybear that was supplied in the room by the Hotel (a tiny little thing in a dressing gown with the logo of the hotel on it). I thought "that's nice, a free teddy bear, the girlfriend will like that!". But next to it was a letter stating that if I wanted the teddy bear it was gonna cost £10. The cheek, £163 a night and an extra £10 for a poxy teddy.

Bank holiday last week I did manage to get a round of golf in. I hadn't played for a year and before that it was probably 4 years. Suffice to say I didn't play great ... went round in 97. A far cry from the 14 handicap I used to play off.

It was a practice round for a golf society trip in June. We will be going to Skegness North Shore with a society run by Steve Cherry ... goal keeper for Notts County early 90's.

Steve Cherry ... 2nd from left (Goalkeeper).

Anyway now the work rush is over I will get back to regular posting and some Poker hopefully.

Until Next Time.

Keep it Tight!

Leicester Races and Quarter Roll Update

Well Leicester races was very enjoyable. Many drinks were drunk a dodgy burger was eaten and a few bets were placed.

In my usual non gambling fashion I just had a couple of quid per race and hit 1 winner (pictured below - can't remember the name) and two places. Was gutted in the first race when I had a reverse forecast come in second and third behind an outsider ... OUCH! ... that would have been a nice payoff.

However overall on the day (betting only) I ended up about £8 down.

So that's the good news ... now onto my quarter roll experiment.

Not so good. Take a look at my graph after just over a thousand hands.

See the first big drop from about buy in 22 ? That was when my AA got called light by a small pair, they hit their one card flush on the river and I lost about $30.

-

See the second big drop from about buy in 24 ? That was when my KK ran in to AA and I lost my $50 buy in.

-

See the third big drop at about hand 30? That's when I hit my set of 8's on the flop and was called all in by a player who had paired his 96 on a 789 board, to see him fill a straight by the river. His call was OK with about 44% considering the pot size was reasonably big following a raise re raise fest, but why couldn't I just win this race?

-

So I guess "They" are right when it is said you need 20 buy ins at a particular level to take the swings. I still have about $57 left of the $200 so am going to persevere and see if it takes me anywhere.

-

Until Next Time.

-

Keep it Tight!

A good night out ... Gala Casino Leicester

Well the GF and I did go to the Gala Casino as planned last night and started the night with a drink and then a meal upstairs. They do an offer called "A Stake for a Steak". Basically you get a 10 pound voucher for every steak you order to be placed on any evens bet on the roulette tables. So we both had a steak (they are very good at this casino ... well recommended), got our two £10 vouchers and headed for the roulette table. Wanting to get at least some return from our vouchers we decided not to gamble and placed one voucher on red and one on black ... that provided us with £10 win number one.

-

Happy with our lot we decided to have a few more drinks and another go on the slots on which we had lost about ten quid earlier. So sitting on the Cleopatra machine we fed it another £10 and got to playing. Feature number one came in after about 5 spins and we thought we were in ... however it only paid off about £5. However after about another 10 spins we got the feature again and this time it paid us handsomely ... as seen in the picture below.

-

-

Now completely happy with our evening we cashed out our pound coins and just as we were leaving I noticed that the Friday night Poker Comp was drawing to an end but there were a few £10+£1 SnG's running. Asking tentatively if I could play one, and being given the answer of yes I sat down for the first comp and the GF made her way off home.

Anyway I didn't figure in the money on the first comp (9 man paying 1st and 2nd) but got to the final 2 on the 2nd one which only had 8 players and ended up splitting £40 each so as to quickly get another under way. The 3rd and 4th tournaments only had 5 players in each and we agreed to pay £40 to the winner and 2nd get his buy in £10 back. Missed out in the 3rd but got into the last two again in the 4th SnG. We agreed a £20 split and play to the winner for the final tenner. Well this heads up lasted about 45 minutes and was a really great game that finished around 3.30am, unfortunately I wasn't the victor.

Still cashing in 2 out of 4 for a £16 profit and another chance to play a far more enjoyable live game rounded of a very enjoyable and tiring night.

Leicester may not be Vegas but a night out at the Casino can be just as enjoyable.

As I said yesterday its off to Leicester races today, although looking out of the window the weather doesn't look too good, fingers crossed it improves.

Until next time.

Keep it Tight!