Monday, October 31, 2005

Official Dublin EPT final table Blog

Well Dpommo says it all on his blog just follow the link to the right of this page…

But just to add water, I wasn't actually at the EPT wish I was but I have been following Dpommos poker blog recently and the high's and low's of his proffessional career. The blog has been intresting and thought provoking stuff, a person that admits doesn't enjoy the grind of playing cash poker but makes his living doing so!

Well a major tourney win would, to me, bring that spark into his poker life that he doesn't seem to get from the cash at the minute.

The intrest in the EPT Dublin was made more intense by the fact that I fully beleive he has the skills and the courage to take one of these tourney's down, and the week prior he was edging on should I / shouldn't I go proportions. Now maybe the blog helped him here because he said if he had a good week and felt right he would go and the decision was to go (it was in black and white).
Anyway I started the (official thread) thing as a laugh because on the forum numerous people were posting different threads/chip counts etc. and one person in particular (Mandylou) decided to start another something like (post here instead of anywhere else thread). Me and Heaven decided to post up as well for the laugh to piss on his strawberries, knowing that he would take it in jest but to drum up a bit of a laugh.

I posted (Official EPT Dublin thread) and heaven posted something similar. However, my competitive nature set in and i decided that I would try and do like they do on blonde and create a good thread with regular updates. It succeeded and the thread was over 7 pages long and a little insight into the support network you can build in cyberspace was created.

Quote from the thread!
"sat here in my kitchen utterly miserable, actually close to tears for Pommo now that I try to digest the whole day/night's drama" ... (KPNUTS)

He was at the event, true feelings coming out in text for everyone to read it was unreal, the support from everyone was outstanding and i must admit I was well into the saga so much so I actually felt like i was there. The updates on blonde are 2nd to non but when you read the updates they seemed to have taken on pommo and adopted him as one of their own. No negative stuff all positive and eventually he ended up 3rd in his 1st ever major tourney and 70k wealthier.

Now I met David Pomroy at the Gutshot club in London on a betfair occasion and quick analysis of him was a young genuine person with no edge whatsoever, more than willing to party and doesn't take life too seriously. I have played against him on the £5/10 NL cash tables before and have full respect for his game, tend to avoid him ;) .

Anyway that night I was playing online but was more intrested in the EPT and my (Official) thread so I got rid of my chips in the 10k GTD and concentrated on the final day and how it unfolded.

What can I say...

Nothing more really than what already has been said... WP GG ATVB

Best of luck for the future..

P.S I entered a £750 double chance freezeout some top european pro's on my table also Greco, Mad Marty etc. and came 13th last friday just missing the money, who knows it might be my turn for some glory soon ...

Not full steam ahead (YET)

Right this week been steady away and not really had chance to play much poker, well not much regarding the hours I sometimes fit in to my 'oh I can do that tomorrow schedule', but a decent weeks play overall.

Played 3 x £120 sixpacs on Friday night won 2 and placed 3rd in the other. I then jumped on the £10/20 NL 10 seated table and won 1k whilst playing a £1 STT, yes that’s correct a £1 STT. The funny thing was I concentrated more on that £1 STT table than I did on the £10/20. Wanted to test dpommo's theory of having a slanging match to relieve tension! As the first hand was dealt I typed into the chatbox ‘I WILL WIN‘ which started a torrent of abuse that lasted till eventually they got rid of me LOL. Don’t get me wrong I gave it back as good as i received but never got personal and that’s where the battle can be won on the tables with people that want to abuse. Its either ignore them completely or have a clever/witty go back if and when they get personal you are in their head and have conquered them! which normally results in their originall plan of sending you on tilt backfiring. Came off the £10/20 with 1k profit and £700 odd from the six-pacs.

Jumped on a £2/5 midweek and played real loose and the table just tilted big style and left me winning a very easy £800 with the comments “fish how can you call a raise with A 6 suited?” I apologised for not playing textbook and left with my £800 profit scratching my head as to how they sleep at night if they can only play !perfect poker!...

Been reading squiddy and pennick’s blogg and squidy has recorded a fair bit of success on Ladbrokes poker site. Another Betfair player also told me he joined the site and within a session won $33k (wants to remain anonymous). So I put £1000 into my new account and conducted a player search for squidy (great facility) players will be able to hunt for me when I log on :( . Anyway bring on table singer $3/6 NL 6 seated. Deposited $600 on the table and played for a couple of hours and came off with $1400 some real poor players on there, even I could recognise they were poor!!.

One player was on major tilt had re-loaded 12 times Squidy being the receiver of most of them re-loads ULGG WP. Ladbrokes looks a decent site but is very non user friendly, i found it more stressfull trying to bet correctly than anything cos if you're not carefull you can easily be betting $420 into a $20 pot !!!

Now I normally update on Fridays but I’ve been real busy this week so the above is a short and simple account of my short and simple week. Last night I threw the 10k mtt on purpose cos I had more important things on my plate. Yes tracking Dpommo (David Pomroy) and his success in the EPT Dublin!!!

I’m playing well at the minute profit for this week £2900

So enough of my shit lets move on to the main event. . . .

Friday, October 21, 2005

Topsy Turvy Week

Another topsy turvy week but i've managed to find my feet (don’t know how long for) but we’ll see. I don’t have any bankroll management in place but subconsciously I do think I place some strings on the wallet when it comes to poker. As a result I don’t make massive amounts but tend to be able to hold my own which suits me really as I’m playing for recreation rather than proffession.

I’m not one of those players that automatically knows the percentages on every hand in an instant. However, in a previous post I mentioned that I was going to start relying on my instincts more and listening to my gut feel which I have and I’m much more comfortable as a result. Funny how those long runs of bad cards/beats etc affect you, I really started thinking I was wasting my time but this is the game they say ‘takes a minute to learn blah bla blah’.

Sat down at a £5/10 NL table and puts my starting 1k down, I was unfamiliar with the line-up but there was quite a lot of money on the table and the average pot was at that time about £350... Mmmm my plan is to play tight see how the players are playing try and get a feel for the table etc. I wait till it’s my turn and as the BB post my £10 and get dealt 89c UTG raises to £30 and every one calls, ok so I like the hand but not to keen on the position I call £20. Flop Kc 6h 7d giving me an open ended straight draw, I check, UTG bets £100 another caller (player X) all else fold to me who smooth calls the bet. Turn brings a Jc now I am open ended with a (through the back door) flush draw. I check again UTG again bets £100 and then Player X raises to £200 now I believe UTG is a bit unsure of his hand and the raiser is probing believing he’s now in front, I smooth call the raise hoping UTG calls and with 3 of us in if I miss on the river and my bad position I’ll let them fight it out. River brings a 3c BOOM I’ve hit my hand, the endorphins are released and I’m not playing for a hand and laying it now I’ve hit so I check again UTG moves ALL-IN for £495 player X goes ALL-IN for £988.

OK quick analysis tells me some-one could have hit a bigger flush than mine but if that’s the case I’m paying them off so I call. The UTG shows his pair turned into 2 pair on the river Kh 3s. Player X shows his pair turned into 2 x pair on the turn Ks JS and I had a straight/flush outer turned into a flush King high on the river.

Total pot £2884.15 Main pot £2529.45 Side pot #1 £351.70 Rake £3
Board [Kc 6h 7d Jc 3c]
Toshiwonk (big blind) showed [9c 8c] and won (£2881.15) with A Flush, King high

What a good start to the evening! LOL ! How we speak too soon . . .

Cut a long story short I could have hit and run here but I thought I’d stick around a while wanted to maybe make a few more quid. There was a player called Flatliner playing and he just could not miss it was unbelievable, he wasn’t a bad player or anything he was just in (enter pot = he will hit mode). I called a preflop raise from him with A 10 d flop came 6h 4d 7d so I’ve got a nice flush draw which I miss but the board reads 6 4 7 3 3 and I’m confident he has no part of it and is on a high pair or two big overcards to the board.. I make a bet for value of £299 I think it’s enough to send him away but he calls and his AA beats my Ace high Grrr . Thought I played it well overall but he wasn’t being taken away when he’s on such a roll UL GG WP.

Then I hit a pair of fours and raised it to £40 juice the pot in case I hit and got 4 x callers, flop 3d Jd 4h = nice I bet out on the flop £60 and get a caller, Flatliner raises to £150 and I think great, let’s crank it up if he has a set of Jacks then I’m re-loading cant fear the set here I won’t allow it I re-raise to £240 he re-raises to £4032.25 I call. Turn shows a 2d (don’t like that card) river comes Ac and Flatliner show’s [Jd Td] (A Flush, Jack high)
Ouch I’m wiped out with one almighty swoop and it’s time to re-load.

There were some more hands like this I kept cutting and pasting them so I could analyse them after but in general a good game with lots of contested pots and me in a position of winning £1888 1st hand dealt I’ve now give that back and re-loaded twice so I’m now 2k down. I was going to leave but there was money to be had and the table was loose so I just tightened up and picked my spots and eventually built my stack up to £4k. This took me six hours LOL but I must admit I enjoyed the ups and downs and had a good bit of friendly banter at the table when hawko, bampot etc. joined.

So stats for the night:

1st hand other night on £5/10 won a £2,888.50 pot with a flush and stayed around...
lost the profit plus another 2k came off 6 hrs later 1k up... !!

so here's the math’s 6hrs = £1000
30 Secs = £1,888.50

I like the first option for play and the 2nd option for the wonga !!

Really enjoying myself at the minute poker is on the back burner whilst I fire up my training and get my head into other projects I’ve got going at the minute... There’s a fight night (Mixed Martial Arts No Holds Barred) coming up in 26th November in Doncaster that a good friend of mine is organizing and I think I’m just about ready for a return to the sport that got me into poker in the 1st place.. ATVB


Profit for week £4600 - Odd glitches in the software discipline wise but overall happy with my play...

Friday, October 14, 2005

Please don't read if bored easily!

OK OK NCFC_Rob just a quick update due to the fact that I’ve been really busy and have fell out with poker a bit.

Not really any bad results winning about 2k for the week but the negative thoughts are still kicking about, you know I’m seeing some people play and thinking hey now they are good = I’m shit LOL

Also I’ve noticed some players how they talk about soft tables etc ! !

Whenever I look at a table it looks rock hard and well that’s even 1c 2c Limit ! !

I can’t see where the money is ! !

But I can see where it will go if I join the table, comprende? ! !

Anyway I’ve recently had a real good run on the Six-Pac STT’s just playing £60 & £90’s and the odd £120 but seem to be able to hold my own and nick a few quid here and there(in fact I think I’m pretty good at em). Only problem is at the minute I’m too aggressive heads up and keep getting 2nd places far more than 1st but here I can see where I’m going wrong; Sometimes in cash I don’t see until after the event (hence bloggs of defeat and woe). I’m playing these STT’s in the day if I’ve got any phone calls to make or general business to do but I have made a conscious decision to try and get out in the big bad world and focus more on business and HEALTH IMO I have abused it too much. If I kept playing, at this rate my fingernails will be 6 foot long and my arse will be 10 foot wide (or wider before the comments start pouring in) so action is required.

P.S Managed 8th in 35k GTD and 8th in 15k GTD so tourney play is improving. . .

SO ON A DIFFERENT NOTE

2yrs ago I was a very fit 17st 6lb Brazilian Ju Jitsu (ground fighting) student also training doing combat Ju Jitsu (street) and squash 3 x a week with whatever else training I could fit in. Apart from sports induced migraine I was a mean lean farting machine, and it followed into other areas of my life, things were great and I could eat what I wanted. However, erm erm cough cough, I was sparring one night and threw a 25st man over my shoulder with what’s called a sweeping hip throw, at one stage you are balancing on one leg while you twist and sweep your opponent. I twisted the 25st monster with my combined 17.5st and my foot stayed where it was whilst my leg carried on spinning, resulting in what you can imagine as every tendon, ligament, cartilage snapped whilst I did a 180 degree turn with my foot going nowhere, the bones in my leg decided to take chunks out of each other in the process and my training career was over. The road to recovery was going to be a long one . On the night it happened I did my usual, pretended nothing was wrong smiled, allowed them to carry me to my car, went home and the fun started a few days later when the doctor confirmed what i already knew i'd done (serious damage)…

Now here’s a bad beat and believe me I was twisting in my seat whilst typing it with the thought of what happened that night. As a result my recovery has been made on sedentary lifestyle with a brain that thinks 100 mph with no real results for its work! Bring on NL Texas Holdem and between my work which is more organising and communicating I have banged on a whopping 2.5 stone. White wine and takeaways have been my vice oh and JD and coke Blah Blah Blah. The injury and Poker has eased me away from health into feel shit in your temple mode.

OK “you can take the man out the jungle but you can’t take the jungle out of the man” so poker is here to stay for a while whilst I improve, however here is my latest self psychological self analysis belief.

I think the fact that I have grown to be a fat twat whiling away on the pizza/Indian/Chinese/Italian whatever I can feed my face with is affecting my poker. I have lost my focus and not just at the tables. The poker has helped me escape from my injury (which is now 100% better) and created a new one in so much as (weight gain and lack of motivation)! In my quest for poker knowledge in as quick as time as possible I have let other areas of my life suffer. Even down to my relationship with my girlfriend and kids. Yes I am a selfish twat (for want of a better word); don’t think there’s owt wrong with being selfish sometimes you have to take time out for yourself. I have developed an escape from the reality of the fact that I have had to make a full recovery instead of an half baked

“yeah i'm getting there, but hey I’m a top poker player, I have a right to be fat” LMAO.

So what’s this blogg about?? Dunno you tell me…

I’m used to being active, buzzing about full o beans, I’ve developed a lazy attitude and I need to get back at it. You won’t recognise me at the next BFWCOP and I think that the fact I have recognised an area that requires drastic improvement it will have a knock on effect in my quest for poker stardom... ATVB

I feel sorry for who is reading this blog, my forward apologies… Sweet dreams if you aren’t already asleep…

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Still scratching my head

Ok well last week was a week of decent results and by Friday afternoon I have earned a steady 4k with not too much fuss. Confidence back, the bad run of late behind me, now to move forwards and progress to bigger and better things.

Right?

Wrong?

Yep wrong, Saturday to Monday has been a nightmare run of bad luck and dismal cards that turned my 4k into about £18 quid. Now losing money in poker is part of the game it’s minimizing the losses where the skill becomes involved. Can’t really blame myself for this loss or can I?

To start here’s a few examples of play, I flop the nut straight (twice against the same player) holding (AQ no hearts) with a flop Jh Kh 10h and twice I see rags coming off on the turn and river only to find that my opponent had flopped the flush, they cost me a few quid and put the fear of flushes into near phobic proportions. Then I flop my first set of the night but the flop is all the same suit didnt cost me too much but yep he hit the flush on the flop.

Last night I got K 10 after 1 raise and 3 x callers I call and see a flop of 2 J Q with 2 x spades I make a semi bluff raise to find my feet and get 1 caller everyone else folds. The turn is an Ac and now there is £250 in the pot I have £470 left now here I think shall I move in and try take the pot down(or hopefully get him in), or bet the pot and tempt the player if he’s flushing to come with me. I bet the pot giving him 2/1 on a 4/1 shot and he called – yes the river was a spade. Now here is the sad part, I now believe 99% he’s hit his hand and what once was a monster is now worth sweet FA. I check he raises £240 and I’ve left myself thinking I should have gone all in save this 2nd guessing and call with my £221 to confirm my suspicions.

Just realized something here… I’m on tilt…

I have pokertracker and I’m spending some time looking through it to see what happened where. Obviously they are a couple of examples, a few pots I remember were I hit a set only to be beaten by another set (twice) that’s life, que sera sera. And another hand was against Roboflop (love the name). I get dealt KK and raise to £50 2 x callers flop comes rainbow 3 7 8 I make a continuation bet of £150 Roboflop re-raises to £310 I think draw/overpair/set etc. No info on player, all in – he has pocket 7’s another 1k down the swanee.

Just realized something here… I’m on tilt… AGAIN

Am I though?

You know I watch players who are earning top money online being put all-in on the river for £1500 and they call with AQ and have top pair top kicker on the board... I must admit I’m confused again, should I have folded here or is that play too passive...

I really do understand how players like DPommo get fed up with playing because if you are constantly dealing with this type of day to day shite I can definitely see where they are coming from when they say it’s not all a bed of roses.

I am more determined than ever to improve now and need to adjust my discipline, if I think I’m beat I should fold not pay to see if I’m correct. And If I have pocket deuces on the river and I think they are good I shall call cos I think they are good and if they aren’t tough cheddar Grrr ATVB.

Saturday, October 01, 2005

Muppetry in Motion

Jumped on a £5/10 6 seated table this morning while I was doing my bits and bobs, phone calls etc. Steady away for an hour comes off with £426 profit…

Find myself a couple of hours spare and a £2/5 6 seated NL table. Doing ok but not too happy with my table choice. Made a bad play on a scary flop and didn’t need to lose my stack just miss-read the situation (completely).

I have AQ and make a 5 x BB raise as every one is limping in. 1 caller the rest fold flop comes Ks Js 10s and the caller now checks and so do I. Turn comes a 2c and again this player checks so I bet just under the pot and he calls, River comes another 2d and caller bets £100 I ponder just calling, then re-raise all-in, he thinks for a bit then calls and shows 5s 6s for the flush.

Now, this happened later on against the same player, I flopped a set but the board was 3 x hearts, I bet he raises I call then on the river he bets £95 just under the pot I call and he shows Kh Qh for the king high flush again.

In the first encounter a good player could fold his flush because the board has paired which makes my play look even worse. At first I’m thinking he can’t have hit the flush on the flop (120/1 odds against), don’t even consider the full house and pay the price. It’s actually like I was looking for an excuse to get my chips in just glad it was £2/5 not £5/10 or higher.

Now here’s where I think had I been playing higher stakes I would have just called the last bet and (folded if i knew the player) depending upon size and paid the player off for his flush, waiting for a better opportunity. Now on £5/10 the size of the bet woulp probably similar to the stack i moved in with which makes me think I didnt program myself for the level of stakes I was playing and should have adjusted accordingly. I have posted that I prefer the £5/10’s and it’s not that I don’t respect money it just seems I am a lot more comfortable and in my zone as far as the stakes are concerned.

Todays conclusion: I need to stop looking for excuses to call in certain (tricky) situations. I am very competitive natured and like to win at whatever level I play. However, that should make my decision making better not worse, and my poker bankroll could have been healthier today than it is. For the first part I think the correct play was to call the last bet even if it was just to look the player up. P.S I hadn’t had much chance to measure this player and at the end of the session added to my notes ROCK/PASSIVE, if only I’d sussed it earlier, would have been a doddle of a fold.

Minus £476 today, very novice play crept in – again. . .

I do believe that one area my game is improving rapid is the fact that I take the time to write these accounts down and as a result I am learning a lot in the process.