"Four Jacks No Good"

2 x bottles of wine & a packet of crisps...

2007-12-29T16:17:00.000Z

Look out there is a hypocrite about…

It's 3:34 in the afternoon and I have just got out of my pit my head is spinning and the carnage is all there in front of me. One times large bottle of Jack Daniels with about shot left in it, 2 x empty wine bottles and a little bit of nan bread. I have just looked up at my bookshelf and noticed a bottle of Amaretto with a bit missing, oh dear…

Now I've been heading back to the cash tables and really enjoying the poker. I have also been enjoying the fact that I can play constant winning poker regardless of suckouts. So last night while the booze was flowing and my confidence was ever growing and I went on the cash tables well oiled. That's all I can really remember, other than a few all in moments for 5/6k pots.

First thing I did after analysing the carnage and to be honest thinking I don't really feel that bad for the amount I have drunk was checked my poker account. 2.5 K. released into the poker economy just for old times sake. Obviously I am a little pissed off especially after the poker that I have been playing and the discipline I have been applying, but hey it's only money. Okay, stop right there before we go any further I am coming back to this paragraph to explain myself. However without further ado…

Here's my excuse, I have two daughters aged 13 and 14 from a previous relationship and I haven't spoken to them for three months. I have been studying and have become a master practitioner of NLP. Some say NLP is the study of excellence I like to describe it as the art of freedom. In a nutshell you could describe it as the way we communicate verbally and nonverbally and I haven't spoke to my daughters for three months. They have a reality tunnel which has been created by their mum and in their reality tunnel dad doesn't exist. Yesterday I took them their Christmas presents and a long letter explaining my feelings and offering them the choices available. I've tried everything apart from pen to paper so I thought I'd give that a go.

I included metaphors as my last ditch attempt to communicate past the barriers that have been defended ferociously from a young age. I bought them a laptop each so that no matter what they have a means of communication - no excuses. One of the girls seems uncomfortable with the situation the other gave me a dirty look. Now before anybody thinks it's the thought that counts, my Christmas present from them was a tumbler with a miniature whisky inside it. It was very unique and even looked aged, in fact it looked about 10 years old. Isn't it amazing what they can do these days to make things look old?

Anyway, I sent them a letter it was more like an epic to be honest because when I start writing I generally can't stop. And I poured out my heart, my feelings, my frustrations. One of the stories was about when I lost my mum and how It took 10 years to for me to realise she was still a part of me even though she'd gone etc. One of my girls sent me a text message ‘thanks for the presents dad x’. That was it. Fucking marvellous I thought, isn't it great to be appreciated. My new abilities to control my state disintegrated for the day and even nearly ended up in a road rage incident. However, I managed to recover and brushed it off as “hey just one of those things”.

So I got pissed lost 2.5 K. playing poker and lived to tell the tale… the following is an excerpt of what I wrote to my daughters which I've just decided to share because sometimes you should take a leaf out of your own book…

Part of my epic....
I was thinking back to Florida the other day and how it was meant to be the perfect holiday the one holiday that we never forgot. The week before the journey I was so excited, everything booked all the spending money arranged, first-class flights with Virgin Atlantic what more could I ask for. That night a week before I decide to go to the jujitsu club and do some training open to burn off a few calories before I hit the buns big time. Training went as normal until it came to doing the throwing and I thought “oh dear here we go, knowing my luck probably injure myself”. I did a few throws and got thrown a few times until it was my turn to throw the big guy. Guess what was going through my head?

“If you throw him you will end up injuring yourself.”
Guess what happened?
Well you already know the rest, sometimes we are just so good at creating our future. The doctor told me I had injured my knee that bad when I needed surgery, major surgery as soon as possible. I told him about Florida with my family and he just said don't worry I will write you a doctors note and you will be able to claim on your insurance. I sat and thought about what he was saying and then pondered what everybody else would think and asked the doctor if there was anything else that could be done. I didn't want to let my family down, not to be the hero but selfishly I want to be holidaying just as much as everyone else. He said the only alternative was by wearing a knee brace go on the holiday on crutches, well you already know the rest.

It had been my life's ambition to one day have a holiday of a lifetime. What better place than Disneyland to make that dream come true. Bring it on... There are lots of things to learn from the holiday, I was going to call them bad memories but I'd much rather class them as learning opportunities. One thing in particular springs to mind and that is the ability or lack of as far as Disney was concerned ability to control our own ‘states of mind’. I remember thinking when everybody was whingeing about the heat, “does anybody consider the fact that I am here with a mangled knee in the same F*****G heat?”

Have you ever heard somebody say “ put yourself in my shoes”? Have you ever put yourself in someone's shoes? Yes, actually I can answer that for you because if you remember in Spain we played a game whilst we were driving in the mountains. I asked you before we went in the tunnel to pretend you was an artist and look through an artist eyes - take an artist's viewpoint, can you remember? Then I think after the tunnel I asked you what you saw and you described the mountains, clouds, colours etc. Then I suggested that you imagined you were a motorway maintenance man in charge of the roads and I asked what it is you saw then (remember how different the experience was). I don't know whether I actually went in and explained about how we filter our experience through our beliefs and values but the exercise was to give you an insight into just how easy it is to see something from somebody else's point of view.

So back in Florida I understood that it was hot and that’s why I bought you water sprays to cool yourselves down. I stepped into your shoes! a quick look through your filters/lenses and accepted why you were feeling hot and flustered. Wouldn't you agree that probably if somebody would have took the time to see things from my point of view then the heat probably wouldn't have been as important? In fact you probably wouldn’t have noticed it was hot. They are some memories I can choose to select and dwell on.

Alternatively I make a CHOICE - I change my lenses/filters and put the past behind me and guess what? I can look back at Disney and recall the good times. Having the Godfather theme played to me in a big Italian Resteraunt., Tony and Tina’s wedding and the drunken Vicar “was he really drunk?”. Tubbies and loading up for breakfast and realising why a lot of Americans are fat. The magic of the Disney characters. Losing the bottom of my crutches when Levi dropped it in the water. That parking spot “what number was it again?”.

The things I learned then and the things that I still learn now just by reflection give me hope for the future. Sometimes just floating back in your past and having a little look round give us the opportunity of new discoveries. Just what can you discover?
Can you see now its what lenses you CHOOSE to wear? Why not CHOOSE to wear someone elses for a change instead of putting the same one’s on, you may be surprised !

Mmmmmmm Food for thought :)

Merry Xmas & good luck at the tables (sober)

You're not what you think you are, but what you think, you are..

2007-12-15T15:26:00.000Z

So I have decided to start updating my blog on a regular basis again. The reason is that I have started to play nice smooth recreational poker and I'm enjoying the ride. Before I talk about the present just been doing a little reflecting on the past and where my poker journey has taken me. Things were going well actually and at the time of my poker beginnings, things couldn't be better. I was living a life of riley. The poker filled in the gaps and I remember thinking to myself this is the life, flashing off my three screens and talking to anybody who wanted to listen about poker.

Poker on the surface level so simple but as you drive down into the realms of the poker world you enter an intricate web with more facets than the finest cut diamond. As I drove down into the realms of the poker world I sampled some of the different roads available on my journey. The further and deeper I travelled down some the more I felt I was escaping the reality of the fact that something was missing in my life. Anyway I carried on regardless and wherever it was, whatever it was I was still making a tidy profit even though now the alcohol had crept into my game.

Alcohol and poker do not mix, it was great at first playing on the play money tables with my friends and the old Jack Daniels but Jack and real money poker was a recipe for disaster. By the year end I was winning the 30k tax free recreational poker player profits that could have been treble that. However, I was still pleased with my progress until I blew the lot in a tilt infested frenzy that lasted about three weeks culminating in my decision that online poker was rigged. I really did what Robert Anton Wilson says in his book ‘Prometheus rising’, (what the thinker thinks the prover proves!) I thought online poker was rigged, and deleted everything from my experience that suggested otherwise, how laughable but true.

So without further ado from a little reflection of the past to my projection of the future in the context of poker. I realised whilst on the emotional roller coaster that the reason I was playing poker so much was not that I was living a life of riley but there were just gaps that needed filling in at that time, pretty big ones. I had achieved my goals and as a result took my foot off the accelerator. Now, with no sense of direction had tried to adapt to the life of leisure but it wasn't me something was missing.

I'm playing poker now with a new-found vigour and I play for recreation and to test my ability to control my ‘state of mind’. This is my new challenge and part of my new goals. I am focusing more on live play but don't mind firing up the odd six-pack when I feel like doing so and if I don't feel like it I just don't do it. That's all part of the discipline. The discipline to be able to take it or leave it and not to become a victim of its complexity. The journey has been a fantastic one to reflect on and as I sit here now writing this poker taught me a valuable lesson.

I have the ability to walk away…

Good look at the tables Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

P.S I am now a certified master practitioner of Neuro linguistic programming and my training was taken with the co-creator of NLP doctor John Grinder. One of my goals is to work with professional poker players in helping them achieve their potential and I am currently in the process of setting up this aspect of my business.

MrDigital

Sometimes things give us the opportunity to reflect and learn…

2007-10-04T00:03:00.000+01:00

Years ago when I was being bullied by the family I have told you about before. The adopted one in the family and me became best of mates after a few fist fights and years of physical and mental abuse from his family; I have told you about him before as well. In fact he was adopted he had to go through much more than me as his 4 x brothers and Mum and Dad bullied him. Anyway, I remember we would go into town after robbing some fags from a shop where we had a couple of birds, and once cashed in - straight into the amusement arcades. I would think to myself **** this gambling what I have earned for a game of soldiers, and spend probably 20p on the Galaxian game. Once my 3 lives had gone I’d go and watch my best pal as he gambled every penny on the eachway nudger machine, bit of a careful hebrew I was in hindsight, even then!

So once skint he would ask me for 50p and I’d give him a quid (because I knew 50p wasn’t enough) until eventually he’d wipe me out and my £8 days robbings now did not belong to me (or him anymore). Every Saturday without fail we did the same thing and no matter how lucky he may have been on a particular day it went in the same pattern. When I see him now 25 years later I see it in his eyes and hear in his tone that he thinks back to the times when we were lads and things we got up to. One thing always concerned and ate away at me at the time and without the benefit of reflection… As it didn’t matter to me how I felt as long as he was alright, it didn’t really matter as long as he could see me for who I was (try to make sense of that). Did he really know though or was he blind to it? should I have pointed out just how much of a friend I was?

When I think back I remember how it felt to be able to give something away in the knowing it probably wouldn’t come back how I wanted. I also remember always wondering and hoping that he appreciated me for who I was. Maybe if he didn’t then he soon would recognise where to place his values one day and then I’d know if I was a true friend. However, at the end of the day I can only assume what he might be thinking, feeling, remembering, when I see him now and I cant keep going back 25years for them feelings can I? Yes of course because the feelings of being who you are cannot be taken away by anyone. Money comes and goes in and out of the hands of fools but memories are ours to keep, they cannot be bought or sold; just reflected upon and learned from. What about the bad ones I hear you say? Well, they don’t exist is my answer, they are all good, it just depends how you remember them and what you choose to learn.

I know he knows I am genuine…. what else? Haven’t got a clue but the fact he knows me more than most is back payment for 25years ago. It’s funny you know me and Kev were talking while eating a baked spud in town yesterday and I was mentioning peoples intentions, and frame of references, even perceptual positions, where you put yourself in the other persons shoes. The thoughts start rolling in again, maybe I had an external frame of reference and wanted my old friend to just let me know I was a friend. Maybe in my internal frame of reference I thought I was a dickhead and just wanted feedback to the contrary, access to his innermost thoughts on how he perceived me as a person.

So back to the frame of reference and normally I just know If I’m doing a good job, I don’t need feedback. One thing I am brilliant at if I don’t say so myself is finding a positive to why a person did such a thing then constructing excuses for them for why they may have done it. I am so good at that, I can even make the persecutor feel better for doing me harm as I reframe the intentions for them to help them feel better. I am laughing at myself here as what I have learned cannot be bought for any price…

What have I learned ?
Development of this topic is well beyond the scope of this virtual letter.

Self beleif re-visited

2007-06-30T12:23:00.000+01:00

On march 7th 2006 I set myself a goal and placed it in my future (30th June) after a very serious knee injury had seen my weight spiral up to 21st 7lb or 137kg of:

15st or 95kg fighting fit by 30th June 2007

I weighed in this morning at 15st 6lb & fighting fit…

I have achieved so far a total weight loss of 6st 1lb or 38kg.

I calibrated my results today and it’s funny but I always thought I was going to easily achieve what I was setting out to do in. This, although made it seem easier did enable me to relax on the more than the odd occasion. My love for white wine and fine dining definitely got in the way with a few hangovers to boot. However, my outlook changed in many ways and I never once came off track to the extent of giving up. This goal was mine and I was going to get it.

After a while I started to realise that not only could I easily achieve my goal but also I had so many limiting beliefs that had been hindering me all my life – (unbelievable). So I have missed my goal by 6lb but thoroughly enjoyed the ride (with a cherry on top).

Now it’s time to reset my new goal and get that six-pack I never before believed was possible. My self belief has now become my ally from within and life is fantastic.

I have always believed that you can have anything you want in life you just have to want it enough to go out and get it. Weight was the one thing that I was always doing battle with and I have learned so much in the process..

To anyone thinking or struggling with anything:
‘Self-belief is your secret ally. You've just got to be able to turn it on, boost it when you need it most. It’s part of the armoury of all people who achieve great things. To win at anything in life, your greatest battle is with yourself. Your most powerful enemy is within. Your greatest ally is there also. The person who has the weapon to make you win or lose is you. Your weapon is your mind. Your mental approach makes you strong or weak, tough or flabby. Conquering yourself is the ultimate challenge.

Great self-believers have the edge. They carry within a formidable advantage over the average person. They know how to dig deep and muster additional resources and back-up when called to. They never lose. They always live to fight another day. They always come through. Even if you identify yourself as one of the great self-believers, you’ll still be eager to run a check on your current levels to ensure you’re in peak condition! Self-belief is your secret ally. You've just got to be able to turn it on, boost it when you need it most.’

A very happy & grateful

Toshiwonka ----- switched on ;)

Positive Intentions

2007-06-03T12:02:00.001+01:00

Every behaviour has a positive intent.. E.g A smoker smokes because they say it helps them relax, concentrate etc..

My positive intent:
I play to test myself and manage my emotional 'state' i.e absorb the beats and play controlled Poker. It to me can be the ultimate test of discipline, and when I come off 'knowing' that's what I achieved then all well and good. I also played to escape boredom which I hate and do anything to avoid.

However, as far as positive intent is concerned and playing to test my discipline poker wise my conclusion is... To test myself and manage my emotions I stopped playing poker. To avoid boredom I found other things of interest to me. Basically I got the same result I played poker for by stopping playing (Discipline) & (New Interests). I found new ways of putting myself to the test in the process e.g Fitness training/Study business ventures etc.

The result:
Sometimes if you have a look at what your trying to achieve 'unconsciously' whether its to chill, escape boredom etc. you may find like I did that there are many other ways of getting that result that are more beneficial to you. I like the fact I can choose to play if I want and test my discipline.

I also like the fact that I have proved to myself I have the power of making choices. The more choices we have available the more flexible we are as human beings.

Sometimes we become so involved in something it overpowers us and we become tunneled as to the choices available to us. It's like standing in the grand canyon looking through a toilet roll with one eye and saying the view is fantastic. Sometimes if we drop the toilet roll theres a little bit more on offer that we couldn't see previously...

This is why I haven't played for over four months till now and I believe I'm missing the buzz from the game I was so obsessed with... I am focusing on some live poker and a little online maybe the odd MTT.

The true test now is to win a major live event :D

Good Luck

I started with the man in the mirror!

2007-03-12T09:32:00.000Z

Been a while since my last post and I have hardly played any poker at all. In fact to be honest I haven't got the time to play at present, just how did I manage before???

Well it's a long story that I am trying to compress into as little wordage as possible but here goes.

I have had a lot of success in business and continue to do so with ever increasing results. However, there has been a lull in this process and an opportunity for me to re-evaluate my life and make some major decisions. You see, Poker took control of 'me' for a while in every shape and form and I wouldn't have swapped my leisurely lifestyle with anyone. I didn't need to work, I just delegated to the people I thought valued my business as much as I did (he he). Gave opportunity, encouragement and vision of the future to them while I decided I was going to get myself on TV playing poker.

Poker is a game of deceit and cunning and some of the people I have dealt with in business would give any poker player stark insight into the greed and levels some people will stoop to for a few quid. Now where was I? Oh yes....

At 26yrs old I was attacked by a couple of lads with chopped down budweiser bottles as weapons which they used to great effect. One day I stood up looked in the mirror at all the stitches and damage and said "That's it!". I had a vision that day, a mental movie of what I wanted in the future and from that day I set my stall out and I went and got it. When I think back to that day of "That's It!" I can feel how I felt, See what I saw, and hear what I heard when I created the vision of what I wanted. I acheived it by the time I was 29, I realised what I never before thought possible in the space of 3 yrs and It felt better than I can explain.

Poker has taught me another lesson and guided me to where I am today (37yrs young). The blog is 'chronicles of an obsessive recreational poker player'. I had my goals and rode on the buzz for a couple of years after getting them, then the poker filled in the gaps. Something was missing however, the motivation had dissappeared and I couldn't be arsed anymore. Poker was there for me and I escaped reality for 2yrs the reality of not having any goals. No mental movie of what I wanted anymore, no ambition or direction. Slowly but surely the poker playing gnawed away at me and my emotions till I had to have another look at myself and where I was.

I have always beleived that you can have anything in life you just have to want it enough to be able to make the changes to go out and get it. I have made them again and I know exactly what I want NOW.

Business is booming and life couldn't be better. I need to practice my skills so will be using this blog as a workshop and am looking for people to work 'with'. Thanks to poker I have re-routed my Internal maps of the world and I'm ready for anything!

"What do YOU want?"

And be careful what you wish for ;)

I did manage two TV appearances by the way Crimewatch (cough cough) I mean Poker channel :) ...

Do not read if Queasy !!

2006-10-28T18:37:00.000+01:00

Sorry about the lack of updates of late but I have been ultra busy with my business commitments and other things. However, my head is not lacking poker thought and i shall be applying them to my virtual paper soon.

My best friend & business partner has been playing high stakes cash on BF for as long as me basically, well actually longer. He's the gung ho personality of the two and I much prefer a more methodical approach to certain ventures. Needless to say, he's paid to learn NL poker and I've read books and whatever I can to limit the $$$$$ damage.

The two of us have combined well over the years in business and perhaps the only area we work against each other is on the felt... Here I Introduce DEBIDAX...

It's Saturday night and my girlfriend has took the kids to Cleethorpes for the weekend. I haven't had a drink since the BFWCOP but there is some wine chilling in the fridge. You know the score tonight I am playing some aggressive poker ;)

Anyway DEBIDAX rings me hysterical with laughter trying to gather hiself so he can speak on the phone. Now I can't read into his laugh because it could be anything from losing a 20k pot to well you get my drift - he laughs a lot. OK so he says "Wayne your not going to beleive this but i'm playing two tables". Stop right there here is a Good beat coming - he's just fished a monster on the river type scenario. He continues "and I'm in the middle of two big pots on them after running bad for a couple of hours."
"go on" I reply.
"Well you know when you get that sudden urge for a shite?" Now conjuring up images of my experiences of this scenario in different parts of the world.
"yes, carry on".
"I got the urge, so I take my laptop off charge and run as fast as i can to the toilet not wanting to miss the opportunity of winning a big pot.
"And?" I query...
He starts laughing again uncontrollably... "well I manage to whip my kecks off sit on the bog and releive my bowels of the biggest sloppiest turd you could ever imagine"

So a bit of an anticlimax here I think but he's still laughing his head off. I ask "did you win the pot or pots?" He says "yes I doubled up on both tables!"

"I just wish that I had lifted the bog seat up before I started shitting!"...

l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0ll0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l

Good Luck

Self-belief - Are you a beleiver?

2006-10-02T14:30:00.000+01:00

‘Self-belief is your secret ally. You've just got to be able to turn it on, boost it when you need it most. It’s part of the armoury of all people who achieve great things. To win at anything in life, your greatest battle is with yourself. Your most powerful enemy is within. Your greatest ally is there also. The person who has the weapon to make you win or lose is you. Your weapon is your mind. Your mental approach makes you strong or weak, tough or flabby. Conquering yourself is the ultimate challenge.

Great self-believers have the edge. They carry within a formidable advantage over the average person. They know how to dig deep and muster additional resources and back-up when called to. They never lose. They always live to fight another day. They always come through. Even if you identify yourself as one of the great self-believers, you’ll still be eager to run a check on your current levels to ensure you’re in peak condition! Self-belief is your secret ally. You've just got to be able to turn it on, boost it when you need it most.’

I think I have a game but I’m not convinced, I play outstandingly well when I get the cards but don’t we all?

When the cards are not there for you you need something else and that’s what I’m looking for – the discipline to avoid tilting when things aren’t going my way. If I join a table and can manage to win a few early pots I am a totally different player than if I lose a few initial skirmishes. Something inside starts eating away at me and I start playing cards I wouldn’t normally play! Yes TILT sets in. In tournaments it normally happens when I have less than the ave stack and in cash when I’m leaking money from every orifice and my body clock is telling me to hurry up.

I hate playing passive but I would say my style at the minute is Loose/tight with a little hint of passive/aggressive

The thought processes are mad at times but here is an excerpt from my head and the emergence of TILT.

“I am missing everything this site is a fooking joke”

"FFS, what a goon!"

“How come every other twat gets the easy money on the table then the easy money gets my fekker”

Finally emerging into:
“I’m playing too passive; they’ll think they can walk all over me”.
And subsequently losing a big pot by calling down with Ace high because;
“the twat’s trying to steal here cos he thinks I’m a weak player!”

Other than the girlfriend who can send me on tilt by just asking me if I want a cuppa, things are really good. In fact I realise I actually did used to like playing poker at one time.

The swings I can cope with at present and I have had some harsh beats but I keep telling myself that as long as I’m ahead when the chips go in then ‘no problemo’. It does seem real hard at times, especially when you've built up a decent stack only to get donked; ‘just when you thought it was safe’ springs to mind. However, if you keep focused when your nut straight gets busted when all-in against a set that turns into a rivered full house for 5k you will crack it – or crack up (your choice). This is where self belief comes into it and if you’re a doubter you’ll doubt your money away with little effort.

By the way I lifted the top two paragraphs from a site that I found whilst googling on the net (credit where due) and it’s just perfect in accord with my current thinking. I am playing some good poker at the minute and managing to control & read the game without the white wine numbing my senses. Want an edge? Don’t always look for advice and read the books – take a big hard look at yourself and who YOU are. Whilst doing that take a look at people who you consider to be successful and try and figure out why and what they do to make them so.
Self analysis is hard because you have to be critical of yourself or just honest. I think honesty is a better term and if you can avoid deluding yourself your well on your way to being a better player in poker & life.

Good Luck & Beleive in yourself!

A Semi Somnambulant Trance!

2006-09-25T13:59:00.000+01:00

Well what can I say other than it’s been a funny old last 6 weeks and if I could understand what on earth the heading above meant it would probably describe my state of mind at present to a tee. I’ll check what it means later but I told someone it was the heading of my next update so there goes…

Ok, as previously explained my 30k profits (online) have been donked back into the poker economy and I’m back on a level playing field as far as P&L is concerned. Live play sees me in a tidy profit however, and it’s definitely an area where I will be focusing more for the future.

Six-pac Erghh what can I say other than they no longer interest me and I find them quite boring. Too many players seem to have the same strategy in these things and the variance is ‘wild’ to say the least. In my opinion they are not worth playing unless you play high stakes and focus intently or multitable like some of the pro’s and over-ride the variance. I will still play them but I always get this feeling of bad value – probably cos I have more second placed, but when you enter a £500 six-pac you have to make it pay in the next 45mins. Personally why not stick it on a cash table and take your chances as there is much more value to be had if you select professionally your victims. Even if you don’t make victim selection a priority I think there is more money available long term by edging your money on cash than the pacs especially on Crypto. On other sites there are better STT structures but you need to analyse them and alter your game accordingly, it’s all about knowing your enemy.

On shark scope at one time I was a shark finned assassin on a mission. However, now I don’t know what it is but I walk round opening and closing my mouth and bubbles keep coming out of it. I don’t feel pain any more and my girlfriend keeps telling my I am cold blooded. To top it all I can swim underwater for huge periods of time without coming up for air and my eyes shoot side to side like that action man (eagle eyes)– it’s scary. I really shot through though when I heard a player say when he re-raised me live I went in to the tank for 3 or 4 minutes… Yes send the men in white coats round I have turned into a fish!

Why leave a profit based style and become a Donk? Because I have this compulsive nature that makes me strive for perfection. I always try to get to the bottom of things by hook or by crook and six pacs to me are one of the best ways to develop poker skills. My spell away from cash has been a positive one although mostly negative but I have seen all the combinations from every angle and more turns and rivers than more dare to see because that is the nature of them games. Inevitably you need to gamble, you have to select your moment and pounce. Your position on the table is vital your stack % fundamental and your emotions need to be hardcore emotionless. Ruthlessness becomes natural as you see how cruel the game can be and take measures to stamp out the variance. Ultimately your card reading skills become fine tuned and inevitably as a result your beats become more prominent. Your chips are going in the race ahead only to be sat scratching your head time and time again, and you hear people say they play STT’s to avoid the variance and Tilt that cash games are prone to offer.

Here is where I disagree completely with the masses. Yes variance on cash can be cruel and harsh but if you can play and can accept it the profits can’t be matched. Anyone who can play six-pacs successfully up to crap shoot levels can become a great cash player and should have pop see how they get on. I have concentrated the last year on trying to develop tournament strategy at the expense of playing no cash whatsoever and I go on about having no discipline. Yesterday I thought how disciplined is that just taking myself away from cash for 6/7 months? My edge now is my new sober style of play, since BFWCOP I haven’t had a drop and I am razor sharp again on the tables. In fact I have been so sharp I am really disappointed in the fact that some of the states I have played in are an embarrassment to me personally.

So back to cash, I have been playing £5/10 NL and some 10 seated £25/50 NL starting originally disastrously. I found a maniac one night and decided to join him in his all-in fest of any two cards. He went all-in with ATC and I had the opportunity of selecting mine. Needless to say that night cost me 6k 4 of which was my own and other that I had won off him previously. Every time I had my money in with the best cards and every time he kettled me it was unreal. Hawko joined the table and left with 9k that I was glad about, for me it was at least consolation that it had gone to someone I knew other than one of the prey mantis’s sat on the table.

I’ve been back playing cash for 2 weeks and can’t believe I ever left it in the first place. The variance is back but it’s so easy to handle now it’s untrue and I have managed over the last couple of weeks to accumulate 12k of profits negating all my bad luck and shite of late. All I can do is thank the six-pacs for bringing me on as a player and a person. Now I just need to become the assassin when I play and get some proper dough earned.

I haven’t left the pacs completely as my intention is to get my FIN back so watch out there’s a -

----Semi Somnambulant Fish About----

BTW the BetFair do was a blinder… Great to meet everyone again…

More Shit, Different Day!

2006-09-08T14:26:00.000+01:00

I’m on the train at the minute on my way to Croydon for the BFWCOP tournament knees up extravaganza organised by Mandylou. The GNER trains 1st Class is excellent value @ £70 return to Doncaster, it would cost me £150 in juice + hassle with my motor so it’s perfect. Wireless broadband as well what more could you ask for? I’m sat here typing away whilst all around me probably think look at the executive typing up his documents.. LOOOOL

Tough for me to make it today and if it wasn’t for the amount of effort ML puts into these events I’d 100% be swerving this one as I am full of cold and feeling real shitty. In addition to having a cold I am severely jet-lagged and since I came home from my jollies I have tilted away another 7k of my extremely hard earned cash.

Tilted is probably being a little to hard on myself or (honest) but I have this feeling that I don’t know how to play poker anymore. My previous successes mostly came from cash games online however, now I’m apprehensive about playing cash as I feel my game is too loose at present and I’ll bluff to much as a result. You see the 6-pacs really improve your game as a player in my opinion and I feel like my game has taken huge leaps forwards although comically in results terms it’s gone backwards. The point is the more aware I am of the game the worse my results have been

As I make progress in Poker I have integrated new things into my game and my thinking has changed as a result. There are so many facets to this game it is mind boggling but at the minute I wish I could turn back the clock a little to when ignorance was bliss, (I might win a few quid then) instead of blowing it… Basically it feels like I’m going through a phase of all that is bad in poker and can’t find my feet. I have tweaked my game a little and possess bursts of clever play every now and then but predominantly I need to either pack in or sort my head out. Add to that some real bad outdraws when I play clever in the six-pacs I indulge in more hand history analysis, and send a couple to Hawko cos he loves reading them so much. I seem to start turning it around but it doesn’t last, it's just not sustained anymore.

(I have played the wrong way I think for a good while now and the formulae I had is long gone unless for some reason it’s a ‘Live’ event). Mmmmmmmm where have I heard that before?

So as I get to this stage of my update and have a little look at what’s been wrote I know what I need to do to bring my game back. I answer the question to myself every fekking time

---DISCIPLINE MYSELF TO MAKE CHANGES---

OK no more depressing shit on this blog I have the answer. Every time I say I have a game ‘live’ why do I not have a game online??

'Live' I believe people a lot more maybe that’s a sense of mine when looking at an opponent. There is room for improvement available cos online in my mind they’re always bluffing and if they’re not then my cards might at least be Live and I’m only a 6/4 dog LOOOOOOOOL.

When ‘Live’ I don’t play pissed, online I regularly play pissed and I think I’m brilliant at controlling my self whilst loading up another table.

When the house is empty I play my best or when I’m not constantly sat on my PC all day loading tourney after tourney. I have all the answers they’re looking right at me saying sort it out fool and this is my ultimate test.

Get my drift yet?

I believe I know all (well not all) the answers but I (know) how to win at this game so I have no more excuses for not doing so and....

------------- My statement as from today is 'I MUST not SHOULD' -------------

When I first started playing I lost 12k online then spun it round to winning 30k. That has gone back into the poker economy and I am basically starting from scratch. I have had over 2yrs of free poker training and now I must prove to myself I possess the self discipline to make a success of my chosen recreation. This blog is full of what I should do and I repeat the same things over and over. However, SHOULD has now become MUST and in order to improve I MUST implement these changes, END OF...

The BFWCOP is my time to chill and meet fellow players from the poker forum at Betfair. When I return home I have some big changes to make in my life and I’ll keep you posted on them. However, now it’s time to get back into the real world and away from the confines of this blog where the skeletons definitely come out of the cupboard for a couple of hours.

All the best of luck at the tables...

Endnote:
Whilst playing comfortable in the day with no distractions I play in 3 x games with Buzzer and in 3 of the games I see him wipe players out in every game by hitting a miracle river card. One of the victims was me with blinds at 200/400 I had just managed to steal my way back from the dead after the table fish got lucky on me and found A 5 in the BB three of us left. Buzzer raises on the button all-in and I call instantly knowing with him it could be any two he shows 10 4 off suit and the flop comes K 5 Q the turn is an A giving me two pair and the river a Jack to make buzzer the winning hand sending me to the rails…

Why is this game so fascinating???

Just arrived at Kings X!
This was one productive and hopefully profitable journey...

Time for a Holiday

2006-08-20T12:44:00.000+01:00

I feel the need to update my blog as since gatsby has assisted in putting a hit counter on my site I've had quite a few hits!

My terrible play and booze induced calls are obviously generating some kind of intrest.

Anyway Vegas was great bring on the Carribean Poker Classic lets get some poker in. However, in the meanwhile It's time to spend some time with my family & Jamaica is the destination. In the morning we fly from Manchester (all 6 of us) erghhhh to Beaches Negril for what i'm hoping will be the dogs ballearics of a break for us all.

Here I go again with this blog. The above was it... period... apart from wishing everyone good luck at the tables and yet again I start typing and allsorts of thoughts start popping into my head that need to go down on my virtual paper.

Just lately I have been taking some advice from kinghawko about my terrible run and play in the six-pacs of late and all the beats/tilting etc. that goes with such a bad run. I told him one night that I felt like I had forgot how to win six-pacs and after a few pointers and a little tweaking (all credit where due) I have actually started winning again. I had previously made the decision that I was going to go back playing cash as I never had any problems there (cough Cough) LMAO.

Poker=Problems that's why we all love/hate it so much.

Anyway due to sharkscope's incorrect statistics that keep telling me how shite I am every time I log on, I have decided to stick around until I have turned things around for my own peice of mind. There's my obbsessive nature at it again, I mean I could have left a long time ago and probably be back having success on the cash tables but i cant help myself - I'm a results oriented person and my results are carp.... Any way if you want to check my poor results on sharkscope just log-in and type ........................ ---------------------->>>> leemur1 ;)

You know what? I actually do know how to win 6-pacs it was there all along all it needed was someone else to point it out! it's so wierd how your head gets in this game it's unreal!

A few things I have noticed about my own style of play and my character.

1] The more I learn the more I realise I don't know about the game.

2] As I apply what I have learned it takes me ages to integrate it into my game/personality & my results suffer till its IN.

3] I didn't think I tilted 'Live' but I do especially when I'm ave stacked or under for some reason - the pressure starts inside and the NEED TO RACE syndrome starts.

4] I dont beleive people in online poker enough where I do have a spidey sense 'Live'.

5] I have an all or nothing personality that needs managing with total discipline. I am the one that can't go out for a meal and have 1 glass of wine with a meal. If I can remember what's happened the night before I havent been drinking.

6] I can pick tells up from people by using information they send out subconsciously, I thought I was the one that couldn't. (when you do start noticing things you wont stop) it's called memory by association.

Anyway ramble ramble ramble - had enough now.

Many thanks to kinghawko for his efforts in nurturing the monster within, oh and as I was going to say earlier.

All the very best at the tables...

Additional food for thought!

2006-08-07T12:04:00.000+01:00

I enjoyed the break and learned a lot. One major thing I learned was that mental preparation is vital for big live events and an awareness of people’s actions and responses should be maintained at all times. If you’re an ipod user stick your headphones on and even pretend to sing along whilst it's switched off for a couple of hours while you suss the job in hand out. Set your stall out when you first sit at a table to get a measure of each and every player and allow for change as they become stronger/weaker. Notice how they respond to you being in a pot. Do they think they can outplay you? Do you think you can outplay them?

If everyone’s chucking their cards away every time you enter a pot your not entering enough pots. All basic stuff I here you say but here is the biggest lesson I learned the (BASICS).

Focus on them and don’t get too carried away with the complexities of the game. E.g. awareness of previous action when entering a pot, maybe the button had pushed all-in on your BB and you look down to see AJ and call instantly!! Did you notice that he was re-raising the UTG raiser that’s located to the left of the dealer not directly in your line of sight!

You get no second chances in MTT’s and these mistakes are huge and unrepairable. I flat called a straight flush one night in a ranking tournament cos I thought there was another card to come (lack of focus & fatigue). I would have been a massive chip leader and probably come 1st instead of 8th. I didn’t need to work out anything other than how much to make the player pay and I failed. No rocket science in the answers just basic awareness.

Talking of awareness I think I need some training. I stayed in the bellagio and for the 1st 3 nights was bathing using this Green minty bath lotion then going out on the razzle. After 3 nights I thought this lotion is shite it doesn’t even make soap suds, I read the bottle it was antiseptic mouthwash…

Need I say more?

WSOP 2006 Main Event

2006-08-07T11:31:00.000+01:00

Main event preparations went brilliant and when I sat down at my table nothing could have been better. I felt fantastic, relaxed and at ease with my opponents and sharp, yes razor sharp, I was spotting everything. I was soaking up information like a sponge and it was flowing in abundance, the importance of preparation I realise. The player to my immediate left was a Vegas Pro cash player who was very affable and willing to give up his blinds constantly telling me how well I was playing. Yes, I had his game sussed and I was not reciprocating, I knew he was constantly probing for information and trying to pal me up for later.

I did not have any plans other than see how it goes and see how the table develops over a couple of hours. However, I did plan to get in a few pots and see if I could build my stack in comfort rather than putting myself under any pressure to make difficult decisions. The first 6 hours went to plan and I had grinded my way up to around 18k, my table image was good and I still felt like this was going to be my day.

One player on the table was just min raising constantly without any awareness of anything other than his own two cards. He was talking constantly so I did what KP recommended and stuck my earphones on to drown him out. At first he was hitting allsorts but inevitably from a large stack he eventually dwindled it away to around 5k. Everyone wanted his chips and I got my opportunity when he raised to 800 and I flat called with AQ flop J 8 3 he bets 1k I call thinking he’s most likely missed and the turn brings the Ace. He bets 1500 but he bets it a little too eager for my liking so I call but proceed with caution to the river where he makes a bet of 1k. I think now that I am possibly behind he’s acting real weak and the bet stinks. I make my crying call and see his AJ and he says “sorry dude I didn’t want your chips so I bet small on the river cos I kinda like you”. TY and fekk off dogs arse! I think whilst smiling and thanking him for being so kind.

I convince myself this is no problem but I did feel disgruntled at the fact that I’m up against the table Muppet and he draws nearly a third of my stack (who’s the Muppet I ask myself amongst other thoughts now infiltrating my mind). The AQ was the best hand I’d had in ages and it was going to be a while for another but the assassin who’d been grinding away with ruthless precision was tilting. In the process of waiting for something decent a few skirmishes cost me another 3k leaving me with 10k my original buy-in and that feeling of unease inside. Now I am a little gutted here and thinking allsorts of stuff about how to build my stack back up, checking the time, counting peoples stacks, thinking here we go just when I get started etc. Generally speaking I went on a little tilt that was gathering pace and my mindset switched from solid/aggressive poker to if I don‘t act soon I’ll be swallowed up mode.

Here comes what I consider my only real bad/disgusting/poor/shit decision in 9hrs of play. I get QQ UTG and UTG+1 (Vegas Pro) smooth calls my 750 raise everyone else folds. Now he has 8.5k I have 10k we are both aware of our short stacked-ness and the smooth call makes my brain hit the red alert button this guy is tight. Flop comes 10 7 3 with 2 x diamonds and I lead out with a near pot sized bet of 1500. Player states “raise” & calls the 1500 and makes it another 3k to go. I look at his stack and I know 100% he’s committed to the pot. I consider his range and decide that AA or KK is most likely also a possible set. He could possibly have AK diamonds or some kind of draw but I think he’s too tight to make that raise so basically I have worked out my QQ is beat.
Now clear as day here whilst I’m thinking and concluding I visualise throwing my QQ down face up and saying “nice hand”. I know 100% if I do and I’m beat he will show me his cards because he wants the pot he’s not bothered about racing. Only if he’s bluffing will he muck.

Just as I’m about to pass as I have everything worked out I think to myself what a poor stack I have and how it’s all gone pear shaped when it was going so well. “ALL-IN” I announce and “I CALL” is the response followed by AA landing on the table before he rolled the LL from Call off his tongue. Split second of madness, I had him worked out to a tee I knew he’d show me those Aces and what a good pass I’d made and I DONKED my chips in the middle and felt a right cnut for doing so.

$1500 left and I was determined to put my head back into the job and I did make a comeback. Managed to steal a little then moved with 66 on the table min raising Villain who called with KQ off and I hit a set to double me up to 7k. I was waiting to move again when dealt AK in late position. Min raising Villain min raised as per usual and another short stacked player started pondering whether to call or push. When he eventually called I sensed it as weakness and moved all-in, this was my chance to get right back in it especially after my 66 push. If I can get another loose call from him then bring it on! Villain announces “CALL” and the player who I sensed as weak folds. Villain turns over QQ and they stand up to take me out of the tournament.

I have a lot to learn in MTT’s but my nagging thought is this. I didn’t start gambling till I was at $1500 why not play like that at $15000 and try for a big stack or busto. I was fading away and could have faded in better circumstances than QQ when I know I’m behind. Decisions Decisions… Yes I made one big bad mutha of a decision now I have to work out why, how, where when and what I need to do to correct my mistakes. How, why where when and what I do is another topic…

Now where’s the sats for the EPT gone ….

The Big Dance 30th July 2006

2006-07-31T03:30:00.000+01:00

Pre Main event entry...

Last night I went out for a meal with a few professional players. I won’t mention their names for media purposes and bragging rights if they win (cough cough). Had a great meal at the Wynn Hotel sampling only the finest of foods and wines the perfect pre event nightcap. I had this beef, forget what it’s called where they apparently massage the cow every day for only the finest cuts when he’s ready for the inevitable. Sorry to any veggies but hey I had a massage this morning and if I could have one every day for free then you could eat me when I’m gone too.

Anyway it was a good buzz and I enjoyed every bit of it thanks for the invite!

Ok today as previously mentioned was go deep within and find myself day. I started of with some aromatherapy then a massage and for 2.5hrs I actually disappeared off this planet into another dimension. The normal process for me to change ‘State’ is either writing these online journals or getting pissed. I find blogging the easiest way to start flowing and always end up with a large amount of text when at first I couldn’t think of anything to write. As a result blogs are a form of therapy for me and a way to put things down for all to see so I can put the thoughts away as they are logged analysed and forgotten.

Getting pissed is my demon and the state it brings is never an enjoyable one as I drink to get drunk too much and have spent too much of my life doing so. My drinking seems to be a sort of self punishment I mean why keep waking up feeling shitty after drinking too much? It baffles me but I go out and do it again and again, time after time! Moderation Ha! another time maybe but not tonight I tell myself maybe tomorrow. Tomorrow comes I feel shit again but it’s not because of the alcohol poisoning my system it’s because I’m sick of drinking and I feel guilty for doing it.

Anyway now that’s out of my system where was I? Oh yes well ermmm it’s been one of those experiences for me this WSOP thing and I feel like I’ve already won. The time I have spent here alone has opened my mind up to allsorts of locked away thoughts and emotions. For all the tilt sessions I must thank the poker gods for this journey as I couldn’t have done it without them. I have been reflecting whilst here about allsorts of things that are important in my life and all of them important things none are related to money.

I have put the effort into utilising this trip to change where I am going and I have made a lot of progress. I have been proud of the way I have prepared for this event, I know I’m not the best player on earth but I have done everything in my power to give a good account of myself. I am, although I might sound contradictory here very happy, in fact I’m over the moon that I have the chance to go and do battle tomorrow in the main event. I realise how lucky I am in life and what I have achieved so far many people would settle for but I want more.

The online Tilt sessions, the bad beats are all behind me, tomorrow will be my opportunity to test myself to see if I can make the right choices. As I said earlier I feel like I’ve already won over myself inwardly now I need to go and….

TAKE EM DOWN

Finally my quote for the day, and when I look back on this post I’ll try and work out which category I’m in…

***When you're deluded, every statement is an ulcer; when you're enlightened, every word is wisdom.***

Wish me luck…

The Big Dance 29th July 2006

2006-07-29T22:46:00.000+01:00

I make my 1st appearance on the WSOP stage Monday and the preparation is going very well at the minute. In fact it’s going so well I feel like David Carradine at the minute - restricted alcohol, plenty of water, early nights and chill chill chill!

So grasshoppers todays quote:
Zen is the game of insight, the game of discovering who you are beneath the social masks.
- R. H. Blyth

Just a quick update for yesterday and today before I go out and chill in the desert heat. Yesterday I woke up after yet another decent night’s sleep glad that the nightmares weren’t really true and I was still in the main event with chips. However, I felt really shitty and light headed so I thought a good walk would clear my head. I managed to get out of the Bellagio heading towards Caesars Palace when I realised I needed the loo. Needless to say a psychological battle ensued as to by the time I got to the elevators whether I was going to shit myself or not.

That was my day in a nutshell so being a positive person I tried to incorporate it into my WSOP prep and yesterday was (interval training). Every time I felt the need to fart, I sprinted to the privacy of my room and pebble dashed the toilet. Ave HR 165 V02 max 170 kcals burned 458.

Determined to get at least something out of yesterday I booked for the Cirque De Soleil Show at the Bellagio for 7:30pm. I managed an hour by the pool and seemed to pick up a little, however by the time I was at my room I started shaking violently and was absolutely freezing I really thought I needed the doctor but decided to have a hot bath that sorted the shakes out, but not the terrible feeling of sickness. I went to the show feeling terrible and on two occasions went to the restrooms and the valets were asking me if I was ok so I must have looked rough. The show honestly made me forget how bad I felt it was amazing unimaginable organisation and 1st class entertainment (don’t ever visit Vegas without going to a big show).

9:30pm I’m in my room feeling ill again so I ordered room service (white wine and Cheesecake) and watched a movie called flight 93 about the Sept 11 flight where the passengers tried in vain to take control of the plane. So a good night sleep required and praying that I feel ok Saturday, a good night sleep, a feckin good nights sleep pah.

I was nick nacked and had no problem dosing of into the abyss of dreamland when I heard continuous knocking at my door, being in my sleepy state it didn’t register until I looked at my clock and it was 2:30am. I go to the door open it and at first don’t see anyone until I look again and there’s a group of girls shouting “hi, is Kirsty in there with you?” I said no as politely as possible to which they reply “yes she is tell her she needs to come to bed”! I nearly shouted ah fekk off but I bit my tongue and dived back into my pit.

Next thing I can hear my mobile ringing it’s now 3:15am and I look it’s a private number calling. Now usually I switch it off here and put it down to someone phoning from UK not realising the time switch. But because of the earlier incident I answer in case it has something to do with Kirsty the disappearing American girl that needs to go to bed. So I press green and say “hello”, the person responds “oh hello do you have a staffy dog called Toshi?” I reply “yes” and he says “oh it’s just that I have found him in the woods and wondered if he had got out by accident”. Argggghhhhhh “ok, I respond politely I will sort it”, and proceed to get the retrieval of my dog organised.

Back to sleep now and the phone is switched OFF. Now here is the pearl of all pearls and for all you people that think I’m naïve for not knowing this trick then I stick my hand up. Yesterday I switched rooms for one with a better view same style room and coffee is still $7 but I have the water display view now. So I have been disturbed at 2:30 and 3:15am what more could go wrong… 4:20 precisely I wake up to RnB blasting out of my alarm clock and to be honest had to laugh because that one took the biscuit. When I leave I am 100% setting my clock for 3:30am for the next unsuspecting punter.

Today I feel good and proud of my discipline, I have not played any casino games nor any poker which I don’t mind but feel like I need a game now so at 2pm for definite the $1000 + 80 MTT in the Bellagio. Booked myself in for a Royal Shave and a haircut pre MTT and I’m going for it. The lady who shaves me was a Russian called Uba and every time I have a cut-throat shave I wonder about the mentality of the person holding the razor. She said she like Europeans so that was a good start and I relaxed a little while she proceeded to prepare me. In the background CNN was on and over here they have just found a lady who killed her four sons by drowning them in a bath ‘NOT GUILTY’ due to insanity. She had planned to do this ffs just inject her and save a few quid. Anyway, I said to the lady this world is crazy and she says “yes society today has gone mad there are too many mad people about”. Again re-enforcing my comfort with the lady with the razor. She adds “My friend used to say when we were shaving clients, don’t you ever think of cutting your clients throat at all?” Needless to say I gripped the arms of the chair for the rest of the shave...

12pm I went to register for the Bellagio £1000 + 80 2pm and when I got to the desk to register the lady took my money and said it’s alternating now sir. What does that mean? It means that they have enough players and you have to wait whilst people get knocked out before you can take your seat. I ask how many players before I get chance and the answer is 21. They reckon a 30min wait and I reckon what a load of bollocks. The levels are 40mins and the blind structure quite good so by my reckoning about 2hrs of valuable table time and analysis gone. No thanks, back to the pool.

I went into the spa and said look I need a good relaxation treatment can you recommend something I am playing in the WSOP Monday. Tomorrow at 11am I am being wrapped in seaweed followed by a massage then raindrop aromatherapy. So if I bust out of the WSOP on Monday at least I will be chilled out…

P.S Just one sprint today so I think I’m getting better!

The Big Dance 27th July

2006-07-27T17:53:00.000+01:00

Arrived in Gatwick on the 25th for an overnight stay at the holiday inn gatwick and met hawko and his missus clare who were doing the same. Me and hawk decided to have a few beers and generally discuss how good i am at poker and how i always trap him and take his stack... this went on till the early hours whilst slurping caffreys in the bar and watching this bloke make himself look like the only tool in the village...

Arrived for check in the following morning with Virgin Atlantic and luckily for me I had managed to get a premium economy seat which I had pre booked i cant sit in them little seats unless i have one for each bum cheek and 1st class flying was 4.5k ermm no thanks thats a bit too batty. Anyway I always worry when travelling on my own and if i have the right documents etc especially with the American connection - they are so rude at customs cos when the say have a nice day you don't throw $$$ at them. At the minute my luck is running good yes i am a RACK TY so i'm not too perturbed when the lady behind the desk dissapears for 20mins...

Just as my mind starts playing silly games with me she comes back with a smile on her face and says "are you feeling lucky sir" i reply "yes thanks!" and she responds "well you must be because we have just upgraded you to 1st class enjoy your flight, you owe me some flowers". l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l After 3 x glasses of champers a 4 course meal and a bottle of chardonnay i asked the flight attendant if she could turn my seat into a bed oooh the gadgetry! whilst i had a good sleep. As you probably can imagine i am smiling a lot at the minute :) A FLIGHT MADE IN HEAVEN I watched this real funny program with Ricky gervais and Kate winslett as a nun (pure class) I dont think my donkey sounds went down to well but hey...

Met Betfair player Matdamon (emmille) on the flight and introduced myself and also implied that his seat is probably paid for by me, lest we forget. Deejay and his bro Fish1047 cracking pair of lads, top drawer and you just feel a good time is coming your way. I am staying in the Bellagio and Hawko, deejay etc at the RIO where the WSOP is playing so i arranged to go over for a few drinks while we try and stay up as late as possible to adjust our bodies to the timeshift. We are 8hrs behind UK here. Arrived at the bellagio incidentally via a cab driver who reckons in 2003 wsop he took Moneymaker to his hotel so I tipped him well for luck!god they are so good at extracting your money.

The Bellagio, what can I say it is pure luxury period. I have stayed in some good hotels but this one takes some beating. The expense of a place like this is par for the course really even though my 1st glass of chardonnay at $14 did last me longer than it normally would HEHE. The shops the atmosphere the service is 2nd to none and I just couldnt leave it last night so I stuck around and chilled, whilst the lads probably had a good slurp I slipped into my environment like a duck to water mmm time for a coffee wheres the service menu ah here it is coffee $7. Thinks i've had enough coffee for the time being hey this is turning into good detox therapy..

I'm off to the RIO to meet the Pokerstars Team and collect my goodie bag. I am so sad but when they stated you dont get a goody bag if you do not play as a sponsored player i couldn't resist and said OK. I dont mind really promoting a site that I beleive offers good support and service and has an RNG that allowed me a 12k package for $33 just make sure I look good on the final table with all the treatments at Bellagio I will come home looking like a spring chicken.

I feel fresh and really happy with the choices i have made so far, as for the poker I know I can play and I feel I have a good feel for the live game. Everyday in the Bellagio there is a $1000+80 MTT which averages about 300 players maybe this will be my first attempt at war with the Yanks, i'll see if i feel up for it later. Also need to meet the lads Pomo, Dubai, Filth, KP etc and say hello. So much to do here it's mind boggling.

On a final note watched TJ Cloutier on the craps tables with his $25 chips his money lasted a good five minutes. Mike Sexton the TV presenter Ram Vaswani and Stephen Hendry all kicking about the place. A few others who I don't know there names knocking around, will be typical for me as I am not really a name person but i just keep seeing people and thinking where do i know him from. Oh and in the poker room for the 1000 Mtt was last years main event winner Joe Hatchem lots and lots of faces.

So it's a show for me tonight and a chill or the bellagio MTT.. Dunno yet but good luck to everyone in the main event and thanks for all the good wishes.

OK forget the last sentence as I am back editing and adding and earlier today I had the pleasure of meeting Dubai and another Betfair Player who plays online as Racontouer (won the 50k GTD twice recently) for a couple of drinks at the pool. Apparently it's the betfair meet and greet do tonight at the RIO so I plan to gatecrash and have a bit of fun, i'm banned from the forum so lets see if i can extend it to betfair hospitality functions lol.

Just one more thing to add regarding the goodie bag from stars, please help me. OMG I opened it up and there are a few nice souvineers but come on you can't be serious. Honestly, the clothing is piss poor and I have said i'll wear it. I need to contact them asap cos I am not wearing that shit ffs the T-shirts make me look like i have wings. Theres a jacket that makes me regress to the days of Y Cardies maybe even Y fronts. The only thing I could feasibily wear is my bareback with pokerstars Tattood on in henna or even permanent rather than wear this stuff. I am e-mailing for some different clothing as it is stressing me up the thought of it LOL.

HAVE A GREAT DAY!

'ONLINE TILT' - With a Totally Topical Taste

2006-06-12T12:54:00.000+01:00

Last night I made a bad play which I just wouldn't do live and it proved to me that I possess a lack of respect for the online game that needs addressing before it starts costing me Big Style. In fact forget what I just said I’ll start again; it’s already cost me it’s cost me a lot and more than money could ever cost me I need to add. It’s cost me emotionally, I am officially on tilt, and this tilt is new this tilt is ‘ONLINE TILT’. With a totally topical taste.

Now not wanting to sound contradictory but I am a profitable player! Or should I say a player that’s in profit? However, here comes hard fact number 1! It won’t last forever at the rate I’m going. The amount of hours spent playing online poker, although mostly an enjoyable learning process is what can only be described as in the majority of a ‘waste of time and predominantly, not much effort’. For a game that can suck you in and spit you out with no remorse or conscience my ‘online game’ is a recipe for disaster and there won’t be any shoulders to cry on.

Today I am like the Alcoholic that has had his moment of clarity, it is all totally clear to me now and I can’t believe how long I have got away with this ‘Self delusion’. If I want to become a truly ‘good’ no fekkit I speak my mind on here ‘GREAT’ player I have to start from the basics and stop deluding myself that I’m a good online player, I am not I am shite. Now I’ve made my admission of shittiness where do I go from here is the big question.

First and foremost I have no ‘Respect’ for the games I am choosing to play so how can I expect to win them. I stopped playing a while back because I realised I was just being a Zombie until I spotted £300 rake back in my Betfair Account. What did I do, I played a few 6-pacs and won about 7k sterling only to give it back with a cherry on top. Yesterday I noticed £377 credited again so I decided to blow that as well just for good measure. Good aren’t I?

Typical play in a £200 six-Pac I am on the button with AA blinds at 25/50 and 3 players limp into the pot for 50 chips I make it 200 to go all fold to late limper who flat calls. Flop Q 3 8 and late limpfish bets 200 so I re-raise half my stack he goes ‘ALL-IN’ I have to call but consider myself possibly behind. He has Q 9 offsuit to my delight and I shake my head in disbelief as he spikes a 9 on the river to bust me out yet again. OK before the thought goes through your head let me stop you right here. We want people like this in the games, long term they are losers we are winners blah blah etc. But who can I blame for this bad luck the Rig? The bad player? Or poor me the unlucky fekker on the end of these torrential floods of beats that have whipped me up into Discombobulating proportions. (I love that word) it means confused btw.

I have to blame myself because I am singling these beats out and tilting as a result. Trying to get my chips in from behind is an art I’m trying to perfect and whilst tilting it is much easier. So what have I been doing wrong ah yes back to the point, I have no respect for the ‘online games’ I take them for granted and they mean nothing to me.

I am on ‘Online Tilt’ and I require a break. I wonder if anyone can relate to ‘Online Tilt’ but believe me it exists it is very dark very ruthless and very REAL.

As previously mentioned I am in love with the psychology of the game and all the emotional control required whilst playing is a true test of mental stamina. ‘Live’ play I possess a game and I have the ability to avoid tilt and control my emotions whilst trying to analyse other peoples. When I go to a ‘Live’ tournament I make sure that it means something, that there is something rewarding to play for and I go home after them and analyse my play, my decision making, my image etc. it’s all a buzz for me. Online I take the tournaments for granted I show them no respect and as a result I get punished for making bad decisions. When I make correct ones the beats seem Mountainous to me and I could post them onto the forum where they are of pale insignificance to anyone else. Normally I post then wish I hadn’t but I have to tell someone how fekking unlucky I am even if it’s just the universe that’s listening, someone has to know.

The cure for me is to play more ‘live’ events I still love the game and I have this burning passion to become a force on the poker circuit. ‘ONLINE TILT’ has been diagnosed and I need corrective measures implementing to help in the healing process. I keep saying to myself I want to write an article on TILT and its effects so maybe spend some time looking inwards and reflection is part of the therapy required.

I feel better already so thanks for listening and beware – there is a ‘GOOD’ no ‘GREAT’ poker player in here - he just hasn’t come out …YET…

Oh back to the beginning where I made my mind up I was on ‘ONLINE TILT’. Sunday 50k GTD on Betfair. I raised in EP with 10 10 blinds at 50/100 to 300 nursing a 2.3k stack and a player called BillyFish flat calls EP everyone else folds and a flop of 6 8 9 rainbow comes. I have an overpair plus a Gutshot draw but I also know BillyFish is an aspiring poker player and I lead out with a near pot sized bet which BillyFish calls the turn is a rag card. I think I’m behind here to a premium maybe AA KK and I’m toying with checking but decide to bet half my stack and basically commit myself to the pot. BillyFish goes all-in and I call he has 88 for a flopped set and I go and load a few six-pacs up whilst getting slaughtered on the wine.

I send a text message to Mat Tyler a very good tournament player ranked 7th or 8th in Europe “I would get away from that live”. He sends back “yes me too” but not online. My decision was made from that moment. Maybe we all suffer from . . .

‘ONLINE TILT’

I must finish by apologising to Mandylou who after speaking with the other day and listening to some valuable advice I might add says that my blog is “all doom & gloom” of late. Bit of a shock that because I thought I’d brightened since my losing 8k pots pished up LOL; anyway carrying on…

Get yer Prozac out chaps if you feel like a lift anytime read my blog…

(Just bought a private Number for my Quad with the money saved LOL)

T1LT x

The worst call ever made by the biggest Donkey!

2006-05-30T13:54:00.000+01:00

Was by me :(

I decided to go to Sheffield for the main event £750 Double Chance Freezeout on Friday and see if it was possible to last more than the 30 minutes I achieved in Blackpool. Starting chips 5k with an option to add on within the 1st hour if need be ok here we go.

I settled in very well in fact I’m never nervous at these ‘live’ events I enjoy them that much I just can’t wait to get going to be honest. Now talk about card dead it was unreal I never got anything worth playing for over 3 hours so basically I just sat studying my opponents and waiting patiently, at least I’ve lasted longer than Blackpool I tell myself.

The blind structures at these events are getting better and this one started at 25/50 with 45 minute increases so you know you can be patient and play the game. One player on the table I noticed as the ‘Station’ constantly in pots calling them down to the river and his stack was swinging that much I thought the table would subside at one time. He raises (minimum) in mid position and after another two callers I call for value out of the BB with 6s 4s. Flop comes 9 6 4 rainbow and I check round to the raiser who bets 800 into the pot followed by one more caller before it’s back to me. I decide I’m happy just to take this pot down if possible so I grab my stack and ‘All-in’ to the middle, Raiser ponders and scratches his chin (I know he can’t fold, and I know I’m in front) then calls the other caller mucks. On their backs and he shows A 9 and my 2 pair hold up and double me up to 8k with still 5k in the kitty.

Bits of tit for tat poker then I collected my other 5k and on the last hand just before the break I get AsJs OTB. I lost 3k in that pot to a clever player who flopped the nuts and checked it down to the river leading me to believe I was in front with my 2nd pair when he over bet the pot. Oh well his cards marked for later. . .

Down to the last 30 players or so and I am now pretty short stacked holding about 6k and in need of chips. I have been very patient and disciplined and I am pleased with my performance but that doesn’t win you the money so I’m looking for opportunities now the blinds are 200/400. I get JJ in mid position and raise to 3 x BB 1200 and everyone folds to my earlier friend ‘MrStation’ himself who calls all then fold round to a player who I recognised immediately and now know as Malcolm "the Rock" Harwood, seen him plenty of times on late night poker rocking it up and moving with AA minimum he announces "All-In", oh dear dilemma time. I count his stack he has about 7.5k and could be making a move here himself, I say that anyone else pushing I call straight away but I know I have to respect his raise as ‘something’ so I leave it a few seconds before I gambooooool and ‘call’. MrStation calls also say’s it’s for value and they go on their backs. Malcolm "the Rock" Harwood shows A K ‘MrStation’ grimaces no wonder when he shows A J and my JJ holds up to treble me up and back in the tournament.

The worst call ever made by the biggest Donkey!

Over the next couple of hours I play solid aggressive poker and keep myself about 10k above ave stack taking the blinds with position and not much of a fight. Then the following hand occurs… I am in late position every player folds round to the BB I have played against him for a few hours and with position he likes to get in with virtually ATC (connectors etc) with a limp or sometimes a raise - I have also noticed he over-defends his blinds and thinks everyone is 'AT IT' when they raise when he's in a pot. I have Jh 10h and I raise blinds are 400/800 and make it 2400 to go. Now I think my image will get me through but of course he doesn’t care about image and calls from the BB. Flop comes 7c 8h 9h what a perfect flop and a perfect opponent to flop against. He checks and I think that a bet will look better than a check so I make a just under the pot sized bet and he calls. Turn comes 7h and after looking at the flop 10 x I realise that it isn’t going away and I have the absolute nuts against one of the chip leaders with an attitude. I decide I really need to trap him here this is my opportunity to take hold of the tournament he checks the turn and I check it back.

We are 6hrs into the tournament and I am really tired and the caffeine has sent me on one of those had too much and head is in bits syndrome. Mixture of extreme lethargy and Amphetamine type alertness (not a good mix) I feel shitty here but I have a monster hand and need to disguise it. I lose my composure totally whilst trying to hide my excited ness and whilst in a near hallucigenic state I decide I am going to check/call the turn and put him all in on the river. Can you see where I’m going yet? I decide I am going to check/call the turn WTF the turn has already been played we’re now on the river. The river (which I think is the turn) is 8s and he bets 5k, now I start a bit of an act ‘should I shouldn’t I’ and then throw my 5k into the middle ready for the river. He flips his cards over and shows 8 6 off suit for a full house 8’s over 7’s and at first I think what’s he doing but it’s just a split second before I realise I just made the worst call in my poker playing life and embarrassingly show my 10h Jh for a str8 flush to the raised brows of the table (ground/swallow springs to mind here).

He’s over the moon and I know he couldn’t fold there if I had put him all-in and that would have left him with 6k he was gone with the wind. I was too exhausted to tilt but to say my head was shot to pieces is an understatement. Poker is a simple game on the surface and being alert in EVERY hand you play is a fundamental rule of the game, I just got burned by the simplicity and it hurt. One thing that did happen here is my head cleared back to razor sharpness and I was back playing again, what a bad time I picked to go into an altered state of mind and in hindsight thank Fuk it’s not the WSOP because I would never live that one down in a million years.

Onwards upwards and 4:15am player goes out on the bubble and we are down to the final table. Play resumes the next day at 3pm and I am in 3rd place in chips with 61,800 chip leader is my ‘surviving villain’ on 71k not much in it blinds at 800/1600 now let me get some sleep.

Final Table:
‘surviving villain’ is 2 to my right and that’s my only qualm because I know he’s going to be having a pop at me and my blinds through the stages but otherwise I'm pretty happy. There are 3 short stacks and the TV cameras are there I’m just glad I did my hair today. Cut a long story short 1hr into the game I have been in a couple of pots and 2 players have departed 8 left now and I’m confident I can go very deep here. Then the following hand occurs with my nemesis ‘surviving villain’…

8 players left blinds 1000/2000 no ante.I'm on the BB with Ah 10d nursing a relatively healthy 56k in chips. Every player folds round to the Button ‘surviving villain’ who has just won a few pots and is chip leader on about 90k. To re-iterate, I have played against him the previous night and with position he likes to get in with virtually ATC (connectors etc) with a limp or sometimes a raise - I have also noticed he over-defends his blinds and thinks everyone is 'AT IT' when they raise when he's in a pot. I feel I have the measure of him now and have outplayed him a few times post flop (and outplayed myself).

He limps OTB into the pot for 2k and the SB folds.I raise the pot from the BB to 6k and he ponders then calls (not unusual)

Flop comes Ac 7c 4dI bet 9k and he thinks for a bit and calls

Turn 4c

I bet 12k and again he thinks for a bit and asks me how much I have left, I state "20500".. He toys around for a bit then puts me all in....

Here's my thinking at the time 'OH FUKK' sorry forget that here's my thinking - The limp was weak pre-flop and I have seen him raising with A 10 upwards no limping - but he will limp with connectors etc so maybe A rag. Possible limp with AA KK but he's not coming over the top with KK surely so Ace rag is more likely in my opinion. Now if he has limped with A rag and flopped 2pair or FH I'm obviously in bad shape but I have a distinct feeling he's at it here so now I think I have put 30k in the pot I can still play 20k and chuck this hand... However it’s niggling me that he doesn't look to confident and I can’t seem to put him on a hand that beats mine.

The Valet comes over whilst my brain is doing 100mph and asks if anyone wants a drink, I say “yes, Double JD and coke please” she says jokingly “it’s no problem” but I say “no a coffee will do” and a player comments “he must be folding and hanging round a bit longer”. However, in the meantime I have decided I’m calling because I think my hand is good. I call and his face is a picture of misery and he’s holding his cards to himself till I flip over and show Ad 10h and he laughs and shows As 10c wow and phew! and people on the table say good call etc...

He has the club draw and I don’t think I deserve a club on the river after making that call but the cards have no compassion and the river brings a cruelly devastating Qc and he four flushes me out of the tournament.

I have beat myself up a few times about certain things like straight flushes etc. But I can only learn from these experiences and learning I am doing at the minute at a pretty fast rate.

Tikay from Blondepoker.com sponsored by 425 asked for an interview for poker channel 425 which is actually channel 835 and I accepted for my 1st TV appearance gracefully. However, I talked a complete load of garbage and how anyone will ever make sense of how I try to explain my exit hand beats me…

Good luck

My next venture for stardom is the Poker Million on Ladbrokes…

Who's Tha Daddy

2006-05-24T16:31:00.000+01:00

The girlfriend has booked a family holiday to jamaica for when I come back from Vegas so I say "hey I need more poker time to be funding these adventures". Works for a couple of days at least then just as I get up to make a coffee she dives in my seat and starts looking for holidays again. I mean Holidays ? What's the fun in being sat looking for a daft holiday we've already booked ours for this year and I'm having a brucie anyway Vegas Baby (I have to say it again sorry, it just rolls off the tongue so well)!

So she finds this holiday in Majorca and starts the old "oooh this is cheap look here!" tactic, "so much value £1500 i'ts a one in a lifetime your own Villa" blah blah blah. "It'll be a nice chill after the family holiday in Jamaica" etc. etc. etc. I say "hey babes you know I'm not Baron Rothchild! but if you let me have some peace and play the Daddy tourney (Evil grin) tonight whislt supplying an all inclusive Coffee/snacks etc. who knows". (Evil he he he). They say negotiation Is the ability to be able to cut the cake so each person thinks they have a decent slice. "And" I state, because I have a tell on her now, "If i reach the FT like last week then go ahead and book it". We both now feel like the cat that's got the cream and I have full all inclusive rights to register in the Daddy hoping to better my previous weeks performance.

The Tuesday $320 Daddy tourney $70k GTD after last weeks 10th place finish and hopefully I'm in for another long night, alongside a deviously negotiated poker playing time deal.

I played a good solid tournament made some folds that mark my improvement in the MTT side of the game and kept my mistakes to a minimum. By folding I mean giving up that slight edge I think I have at the time and waiting for better opportunities to come. In a cash game you have to take those slight edges knowing you can always re-load and survival is not so important because of that fact. I made a couple of mistakes however, nothing major, one was raising from EP with a small PP when the blinds are at a decent level so obviously if the raise doesn't get through I am forced to fold to a re-raise (waste of chips). Another mistake I would say is I think I can get more out of the game by taking advantage of my position (stealing), however, with hindsight when I fold my A2 (hate the kicker) LP and everyone folds to the BB I am thinking here 'dam it I should have raised'. In fairness though my aggressive raises were getting through so maybe I was at optimal frequency and the odd fold here and there worked for me rather than against.

My biggest mistake by far was NOT WINNING!
I messed up completely when 3 handed and with every chance to win the tournament. The timing went haywire and I also lost focus on the game in hand. 1st place required next week...

Managed 3rd place and $8964 prizemoney... Holiday booked, Happy Dayzzzzzzzz . . .

Asta Llueago Amigo's, Buena Suerte !

In Training for the BIG DANCE

2006-05-22T11:17:00.000+01:00

I won’t allow myself to play poker on the cryptologic network any more it is not worth the hassle. For months now I have been fighting ‘Variance’ of untold proportions. I mean was I so lucky last year that it’s all coming back to haunt me now?

Well I’ve tried answering that one and many other questions whilst constantly getting my chips in only to get sucked out by the river. Now I’m fully aware of the fact that it’s not over till the fat lady sings but how long does the fat fucker have to keep singing???

Here is a hand that stuck in my mind from a £300 six-Pac last week and an example of the ‘Negative Variance’ happening to me on Betfair. I get dealt AJ in mid position in the 1st level of the tourney. Deejay raises 3 x BB from UTG (45 chips), and I call as does another player. Flop comes A 8 x and Deejay checks, I think that this early in the Pac Deejay wont trap with two players on the go and the check from him could indicate he didn’t like the A so I think I need to bet here and let him now his KK is beat ). I bet out 105 chips and PlayerX re-raises to 210 Deejay folds. Soon as the raise comes I think oi oi and start considering his range and A 8 is one of the possibilities here. I decide to call and see how he responds on the turn. Turn brings a J and now I have the top 2 pair and believe I’m in front. Now I'm sure if I bet he’ll at least call so I lead out again and he re-raises all-in and I can’t click fast enough. His cards show A 8 and the river comes an 8 for him to fill his boots, Deejay types in chat “I folded KK”, for an all round perfect read on my behalf ending as usual getting turned over.

The above example is happening to me game after game on BF and it has reached a point where I expect to get turned over. Yesterday I realised I should quit playing when I moved on the bubble with A 7 and was called by K 5 the flop came K 7 X and my stomach dropped only for the turn to salvage me from the brinks of despair with a friendly Ace, now it’s obvious here that the King can ruin my hopes of the RIG letting up on me for at least one game. The river is a King and I’m defeated yet again.

Cards don’t have memories so why stick around feeling like this expecting every hand to be beaten there’s no point. Expecting hands to be beaten is a sign of tilt in my opinion but I have fought hard to prove to myself that this is not tilt and that this unbelievably bad run of cards is such. Regardless of my opinions no matter how farfetched they may seem, I do not feel like this on other sites and feel like the ‘Variance’ on them is not as ridiculous. In fact while playing Betfair I have won over $15k on other sites so why am I so loyal to the site - stupidity?

I am in training for the WSOP in Vegas and I am taking the tournament and the experience very seriously. Coming from mainly a cash poker background my focus is on tournament strategy and obviously the mental adjustments accorded to these games. I am playing 3 sites regular Ladbrokes, Poker stars and Full Tilt with plenty of heads up action mainly on full tilt And Stars god they are so weak it is unreal. The structure on the HU tourneys are very good and you can really set weak players up for moves which get all there chips pretty quickly. Value betting Q high on the river sounds a strange concept to most but it frequently gets you the pot. Although lucrative I find them mentally draining to play and can only really manage a couple or three but my record in them is excellent.

Midastuck recommended some tourneys for me to practice for MTT experience and I played one Tuesday night on Ladbrokes called the Gatcha Daddy MTT $320 entry 3000 starting stack with 20 minute levels & a top twenty payout structure 1st was about $27,000 10th $933. I managed to get to the FT and lost a pretty big pot when I got away from KK after re-raising pre-flop then folding after leading out on a flop of a nasty A Q x I was re-raised so I mucked he shows AQ. Very next hand I have about 50k in chips and got JJ one raiser who was the table 'suckout merchant' blinds at 3000/6000 raises to 12k I decide to move all in with my hand so it looked as if I was steaming from the previous pot and after a long dwell he calls with wait for it…………………………….. 33 and on the river a nice little 3 popped up to send me to bed. Great tourney, great structure THE BEST I have played online plus $933 winnings. I have decided to stop playing plenty of the daft ones as i don't take them seriously but when I sit down to play one of these I want to be trying my best.

Last night on full tilt I thought I’d give the $200,000 GTD NL tournament a shot 1031 runners and again a good prize structure. They have so many top pro’s playing in this it’s worth entering just to steal their blinds. Any of the big names have bounties on them but they play with their proper names not nicknames so you know who you’re up against which is pretty good. I played a good solid tournament and stole Erick Lindgrens blinds on a few occasions, he made a move all-in with A7 just after and was called by AQ but he rivered a 7 to the dismay of his opponent but a very friendly chatty endorser of the full tilt fraternity. I eventually fizzled out when my AK was turned over and then I made a move with 67 off called by Ak no improvement. However, another good game and plenty of players in to get used to the big field syndrome that awaits for the big dance (placed a respectable but not profutable 138th)... I can’t wait...

All the Very Best and Good Luck…

I feel free as a bird no I’m away from that shitty craptologic software :)

Practice makes perfect ! ! !

2006-05-15T15:57:00.000+01:00

Blackpool Festival Main Event:
Hawko told me he was off to Blackpool to play the main event £1000 plus £30 NL tournament. I decided it would be good practice for my WSOP debut so I slung some clothes in a bag and was off with ‘A bag of sand in my hand’.

158 runners and no idea about blind structure etc. I am so organised. Not to worry, I’ve got my IPOD and my belly is full with cheese n ham toasties what more could I ask for. Hawko says “just chilling for the first few hours; playing real tight until the blinds start getting worth pinching”! Mmm that sounds about right I’ll make that my plan as well, no point in thinking about the job when someone’s already done it for you eh.

Sat round my table and I’m very relaxed the information is flowing big style. I really am surprised at just how much people give away without realising to be honest. However, it’s welcomed but the paranoid Pete in me is wondering which one is dishing out false info and setting me up its that strong. Whilst analysing my opponents I even managed to look at a sheet with the blind structures which were very good by the way and hopefully allowing some real poker to be played.

The last time I played a festival Matt Tyler approached me and said you have a tough table Toshi top 3 ranked Pro’s in Europe I didn’t have a clue who they were and I like it that way I don’t need to start second guessing myself I can just play my game; I finished 12th. Anyway, to my left I have a player that seems to know everyone very affable talking Vegas etc so I’m assuming pro and I'm assuming recognised pro. Next the player has a purple Littlewoods T shirt and looks every bit the seasoned internet player with a complexion reduced to deathly looks from too many fags. No offence ere I can empathise. Few on the table don’t give anything away just ordinary looking folk however two young lads one later recognised as a blondite ‘Hartwith’ sat opposite and the other one to my right. Both friends who have been allocated the same table. ‘Hartwith’ or Villain 1 looked every bit the confident/aggressive player with good poker clothes and headphones round his neck, he’s come to play I thought. The other friend Villain 2 I’ll call him seemed more passive and didn’t have that confident aura about him or that’s what my senses were telling me anyway. Further to my right was a huge man probably round the 40 stone plus mark had me wondering if it’s the player I read about in the news that qualified online and is having difficulty getting to Vegas because of his weight don’t know but he obviously can play if it is so. Finally a couple of players to the right of the dealer I can’t see them properly owing to where I'm seated on the table but one of them I have down as a bit of a loose cannon judging my how the other players are talking to him etc. Anyway the pre-recorded ‘Shuffle up and Deal’ comes over the sound system and I’m about to see if any of my judgements are correct over the next few hours, BRING IT ON.

Ok so this is going to be a long night best get comfy. About 15 minutes into the game and I have a general perception of the table and its players, I’m buzzing as well because my intuition served me well to start with. Few players are in it right from the beginning tit for tat poker and I’m happy just gathering information and setting up my tight image for later. Now although my planning is not the best on this occasion I do have an idea that I want to create a tight image and stick around a while. My first involvement I would like to be a winning one so I can stamp my solidity on the table, yes that’s the plan. I get dealt QsQc UTG the blinds are 25/50 and the starting stack is 10k. I make a raise of 4 x BB to which UTG +1 calls and 2 other callers’ one being Villain 1. Not the best result for me here but que sera sera. Flop comes Ad Qd Jc and as far as being in the Zone where calling an UTG raise is concerned I don’t like this flop at all and before you say what do you want well remove the A J and replace with rags please. I lead out and bet 600 UTG + 1 smooth calls other player folds and Villain 1 announces “re-raise” and fires in 1200. I consider his possible holdings and my perception of him as a player and rule out AA/KK as in my opinion he would have re-raised pre to narrow the field could be K 10 or a semi bluff with a diamond draw. I think about re-raising at first but I still have UTG + 1 in the pot who could have a monster too so I call the re-raise and UTG +1 mucks. The turn brings a 4d and I check to Villain 1 who bets 2k, now here I’m pretty much convinced I’m behind but I think that if he has connected well with this board I can bust him for his stack if the board pairs up and with the implied odds I tell myself I have to call. The board doesn’t pair Villain 1 bets 5k and I muck my cards face up and Villain 1 says “very good lay down” and shows Kd Td for the flopped straight and nut flush on the turn. Oh dear so much to the 4hr plan half my stack has gone in 15 minutes.

I tell myself that this is not an opportunity to tilt and still feeling relaxed regain my composure and carry on playing my game. 10 minutes later Mid position and the player to my right Villain 1’s mate Villain 2 limps for 50 chips I look down and find 10 10 and raise it up to 6 x BB this time still scorned from multiway QQ pot and Villain 2 calls everyone else has mucked. Flop comes Q 10 2 and I have flopped the 2nd nuts now I just need to get my chips in the middle if he has QQ then it’s rigged. I bet out and he goes for his chips then backs off as if he doesn’t know what to do. This signals to me he is strong maybe AA KK and he goes back to his chips and says re-raise so I go all-in and throw my 10 10 on the table expecting to double up until he flips his QQ over and set over set has me out of the tourney in a deeply unrespectable 35 minutes.

On reflection, it was just bad luck, Very Bad luck as a matter of fact but that’s poker. I’ve replayed the 1st hand over and over and posted it for analysis but thought I played it quite well. A few say I played too loose on the turn by calling etc but that’s why I post because I want opinions on my play so I can improve.

I Went on the piss later on with some pals of mine from Manchester then met up with Hawko and another player Called Dave (Runner Runner) Callaghan :) and had a good craic. I could have saved myself 1k by not going online (TY Hawko) that day but I did enjoy the overall experience just wish I’d have had more table time.

Running very bad on Betfair and ‘live’ just hope I’m saving up all my luck for the WSOP. Booked my flight with Virgin on the 26th July and a deluxe room in the Bellagio for 10 nights. Can’t Wait!!!

My post on the 1st hand with comments http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=9940.0

Good Luck …

'SHUFFLE UP AND DEAL'

2006-05-02T14:33:00.000+01:00

See you in Vegas:
I have fulfilled one of my goals and targets that I set myself last year.
WIN AT LEAST 1 SEAT TO ANY MAJOR EVENT
Rob Sherwood a respected tournament Pro player who plays as Filth online said I ought to try qualifying for the WSOP 2006 and that Pokerstars were doing some good Satellites to this event. I gave it some thought and ‘why not’ was one of them so I looked about for tourneys and found one for me to have a play. A one seat GTD qualifier to the WSOP in July $12,000 package. Entry $33 re-buy till the first break 183 runners and the girlfriend is stopping at her mum’s house - I’m in bring it on. My strategy was to see some flops try catching some serial re-buyers for their chips and take it from there. Played hyper aggressive knowing I could re-buy and managed to get to the break on about 7.5k where I added on for $30 another 2k.

I decided after the break I’m on the attack it’s only £40 total and no point sitting about only to get busted when AA gets cracked. I play very aggressive poker and it’s paying me big style. Seemed to be a lot of inexperience and once you twigged who was who - stealing was so easy it was embarrassing. Some cottoned on to the stealing and were re-raising but If you called or re-re-raised (with better holdings obviously) even maniacs get hands ;) then led out they were backing off. Ok it’s all well and good when they aren’t getting the hands to play back at you but maybe it was my night.

After a few hours I was chip leader on about 70k and I thought hey Toshiwonka you could win this if you leave the cork on the wine bottle. Long story short I battled it out with no major swings until Final Table blinds 3000/6000 and me on about 150k thinking omg I can definitely win this… One player was soo lucky against me it’s unreal and I could have easily tilted my chips away but I felt as though I could win this by hook or by crook. I get KK and have about 200k leading the charge against 2nd stack of 160k others round the 100 mark and raise to 36k blinds at 6000/12000 player on 100k goes all-in and I call instantly he shows 66. Flop K 10 J rainbow Turn Q River A OMG lucky tw@T. Onwards upwards then I get AK against same player and push all – in he calls with 33 and they stand up.

I was playing for 1st place now I’ve got 100k but I’m still in with a chance. I know the rocks and can pinch some more bring on AA I push all – in and the short stack calls 60k with 97 and hits a straight. What a waste of time AGAIN. Anyway although I'm short stacked no-one wants to play so I start pushing and pushing and pushing and no replies till my stack is over 100k again. Take a rain check here and the fight is on eventually I am Heads up with 450k against 250k if I remember correctly.

My plan here is not to fukk up and let him in to double up, I’ve got this far I have to win now. My plan is to fire a few raises in and see how passive he is to my play so I start raising and he starts folding great... I make couple of limps from the button, lead out on flop to take it there for a little variety things; are going very well. I get Ak and make my normal raise this time he goes all – in for 200k now I think I can outplay this player but I can’t pass here. I call and he has AQ and my hand stands up to win me my seat at WSOP Get innnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.

To say I’m over the moon here would be an understatement; I’m in training now and looking forwards to the event for £40 LMAO

Good Luck & See you at the tables and in Vegassssssssssssss

Some stuff I typed earlier:
Playing six-pacs has kept me playing poker recreationally and earning a steady few quid in the process. However, I just can’t seem to break free on them and get a good run going. Here I’m getting all serious about the game again due to my competitive nature, well, that’s what I keep telling myself. I think that if I continue playing these I need to adjust my game and tweak it slightly, maybe tighten up a little here and there because I think I gamble too much sometimes. Don’t get me wrong they have improved my game no end and I believe they are a good way of honing poker skills, especially making moves etc. but the swings are nothing like cash games so you’re never really storming away with the band. (missing the big swings) not.

Now for a recreational player these mini tournaments have everything and yes it’s good in a sense that you can play hours of relatively high stakes ave £200 six-pacs running terribly and only be doing 1k – 2k. I mean if it was cash table play you’d be doing your bollocks probably 10k – 20k running as bad. I have been toying with moving back to cash but I’m also still aware of my erratic play when not focused on the job in hand.

I have made a conscious decision that when I go back to play cash it will be £5/10 NL 6 or 10 seated. These are the stakes I am most comfortable with for some reason and this is not a bankroll decision. I have based it on my abilities and my comfort zone as far as starting hand requirements go. Basically on the 10/20 tables raising with small suited connectors pains me i.e. 4 x BB £80 no thanks, that’s how I feel, uncomfortable with the thought! Now stick me on £5/£10 and I don’t hesitate with whatever hand I like to play and the Careful Hebrew in me doesn’t infiltrate my mindset. Maybe it’s a little psychological here as my 19k loss was on 10/20 and my premiums never won a race never mind 4 5 suited but that’s where I’m heading when I do go back. More beats to follow. . .

Someone gave me an interesting article to read the other day about TILT and the different effects it can have on people. I know when I’m on tilt or (emotionally unbalanced) I can always tell when I sit down at a table if I’m up for it or not. Discipline here would work wonders for my profit margins because if I could walk away when I don’t feel right I would be winning a lot more online than at present. Some interesting stuff in the article and I also have some strong opinions on mindset and the psychology of poker which I plan to write about soon, it is actually what attracted me to poker in the first place. Poker the game of ‘LIFE’…

Anyway, whilst on the subject of tilt…
My girlfriend is the best at tilting me followed by the kids and last but not least the dog. I get guaranteed peace and quiet while ‘Footballers Wives’ is on the box, you could hear a fekking pin drop in our house till the adverts come on and then all hell breaks loose… The dog get’s kicked off the couch while she goes in the kitchen for a cup of tea… He (the dog), when he realises she’s not looking, jumps back on the couch and wakes up my Son who comes running into my office screaming “BALAMORY” “BALAMORY” if you don’t know what balamory is stay that way (don’t have kids).

The dog realises now he’s fukked the job up and comes hiding under my feet throwing a few farts in as he grunts and wipes his nose on my leg, creeping cos he been a naughty boy. I have my son sat on my knee now watching ‘Josie Jump’ and ‘Archie The Inventor’ who don’t really like kids if they were honest ‘you can just tell’ and then SHE walks in behind me saying “The dog’s just woke him up”…. Har Har I aren’t no rocket scientist but I have managed to work that one out TY, as my stack which I’ve been nursing for over three hours dwindles into a tiny fragment of it’s former self. “That’s your fekking fault that is” I say. “What is” the reply. “This cnut here has just hit Runner Runner against my set and hit a four flush on the River”. “Oh and that’s my fault is it?” she shouts...

Not really but by the time ‘Josie’ has finished ‘Jumping’ and Archie’s made a ship out of yoghurt pots I’m beat and upset about wasting my time so I find a six-pac where I can donate some more LOOOOOOOL. This is a typical night of poker for me, I should get out more.

Adios

...They Say That Fortune Favours The Brave...

2006-04-24T11:28:00.000+01:00

Ah well, AH WELL seems to have a nice ring to it? Or maybe it’s like that name you don’t like at first but eventually it grows on you. (Ah well) has been typed a lot by me of late alongside ‘mug’ and whatever derogatory comments I can make before chat is disabled on Betfair Poker as I see my measly AA busted by a four flush by the mighty K 9 off (AGAIN).

Don’t know what’s happened to me of late but I have become quite abusive online, a kind of keyboard warrior with a difference. This mouth wishes it was ‘live’ so he could leap over the table and strangle the Muppet that thinks my read and subsequent ‘push’ on a flop of 556 (I have 96 -Grimace-) should be called for all his stack (and mine) with Q 4 off suit. Obviously a Q pops up on the river I proceed to get my action man converted into a voodoo doll out ‘where are the fucking pins?’ and Villain types in chat LMFAO. By the time I respond raging the message ‘Observer chat is disabled while we try upgrading this shit site’ appears and my “you mutha fekker coca roach” disappears into the abyss of deleted text.

So I jump on the Betfair forum (Slightly Pished BTW) type something like (Betfair is a disgrace shite site) as a header and paste and post it about 20 x on the forum see how long it lasts……

Anyway, I’m banned off the forum for being a big baby basically, not that I really care most of the time it’s a load of bollox day in day out anyway. I browsed and posted basically because there are a few on the forum who enjoy a bit of banter otherwise I would have been long gone. The forum moderation is pathetic I’m getting nervous now even daring to think I can type pokerstars without it being published as ********** that’s how sad it gets. Maybe one day they’ll get contracts out on MS Word for typing I like ‘partypoker’ which I don’t btw its carp I mean crap (looks over shoulder again for the Betfair Police).

Playing other sites now more and more, Pokerstars & Full Tilt being the ones where I can get on with the software and don’t mind the interface. Stars has been mainly for practice with MTT’s and full tilt I have been playing the very VERY weak HU tournaments, very profitable and a good way to practice hand reading skills with the blinds at non crapshoot levels.

Six-pacs on Betfair I’m still playing plenty of them so even though I'm chat banned I’m allowed to pay rake LOL. The £300 from rake back has been up to 6k at one point now the account is at 4.6k with some real bad luck and CASH PLAY in the mix. I can take bad luck I just wish he’d dish it out a bit more evenly instead of all at once for a month then give me a day’s grace.

Normally as a cash player I would have 5k in my account to play the £5/10 NL on Betfair and (starting to reminisce now) when I got to 15k I would withdraw 10k and rebuild again to 15. Been a long while since I made a withdrawal but I feel my game has improved heaps and don’t think it’s many moons away now before I can continue playing for even more fun recreationally and earning a few quid in the meantime. Anyway talking about cash play I have popped back a couple of times over the last week or so with mixed results........................... - blushing here-

Here is a brutally honest account of my erratic play sometimes. Bring on the £5/10 6 seater Tables& RayVon is playing. Always a good aggressive action filled table when he’s about me thinks from past analysis. I’m in the small blind and limp to RayVon with AJ off he raises to £50 what do I do? Well I must think for a minute I’m not in the crapshoot stages of a Six-pack so call see a flop and see what happens from there but £50 bit of a raise here - he's teeving!!!??? I’ll put him to the test LMAO. I move All–in for 1k nick his blinds and tell him not to mess with me cos I’m back grrrrrr. He calls with KK [sigh] and takes my candy LOOOOOL what a mug I am. Well over the next 2 hours I knuckle down and play my ‘A’ game. Yes I have one sometimes! And manage to claw it all back with a few hundred on top.

Lesson learned – RayVon is playing some solid poker and he can play - don’t judge a book by its cover in future dogs arse!. Playing in the ‘NOW’ is fundamental and nearly; well did cost me! I don’t need telling it was bad/terrible/Muppet , play I am fully aware of that and anyone who’s followed my ‘Chronicles’ will know what play I’m capable of TY.

Right I’m finishing off by advocating Blondepoker.com as a great site to get excellent hand analysis from resident experts and Pro’s and here’s my last two cash hands and comments from one of the experts.

Playing £5/10 NL cash 6 seated on Crypto. Aggressive game and my opponent is loose/aggressive. The following hand occurs

Me:
I get deal As Js and make it £30 to go - Button (Aggressive) flat calls and we get to see a flop of 2s 3s 5d I’m first to act and I bet £40 which is instantly re-raised to £140. Ok here I think of the possible holdings of my opponent and my draw and I push all in for just over 1k which my opponent instantly calls and shows 10h 10c.My draw doesn’t connect and a couple of players LOL at my (loose play). I spoke to a few people about this hand and have their opinions as well as my own but as a new member to Blonde would like to here yours...

Totalise:
Push looks kind of drawy, but still, u are a likely favourite over his range, and you surely have some FE vs. the mid over pairs... I think for the benefit of deception you could make it £500... You still have odds to call on the turn if he calls flop and jams turn, it just makes his call a lot tougher if he has a medium pair, because it’s (probably) consistent with how you would play bigger pairs/sets... but that’s semantics. If you jam your big pairs/sets here as well as jamming your big draws, jamming is more then fine.

Me:
2nd hand that is here... Different player been LOL'ing at me I get Ad Kd and raise to £40 this time and see a flop of 5d 6d Jc I raise player re-raises and I push again, again I’m called and the player has Qh Qs turn brings another Qc river no help.Just unlucky or poor fish that needs therapy?

Me:
Thanks Totalise welcomed thoughts. The 2nd hand to be honest was Tilt induced but I still considered in hindsight that I was a slight favourite in both hands and the poker gods were not paying my draws. My thoughts were that in cash you need to take advantages of slight edges as you can always re-load not like in the tournament scenarios. However, definitely looks drawy and possibly the reason he called my all-in so in that case I should congratulate him. He wasn’t beating much IMO and on a different night I would hope to re-load and take it back somewhere along the line...

Totalise:
This is ok as well... you are getting a fantastic image as a result, and as long as you play sets/big made hands the same way, its going to be real hard for your opponents to beat you over the long term....the problems from this stem from you NOT playing the big hands the same way, as that is just throwing away the opportunity that your image has created.

Just a taster of some of the advice offered on here Quality IMO and I don’t intend on getting banned. Thought I was my normal polite self.

GL GG WP All the very best!

See you on the cash tables :)

Think my blog has gone a bit stale of late so any opinions would be appreciated you know a 'GOOD READ' here and there Mr KPNUTS !!!

Comments appreciated..

No Cash for me please. . .

2006-04-08T15:52:00.000+01:00

MrDigital is still on the Sit 'n' Go trail and still winning a few quid whilst I ponder whether to venture back to cash. I play £90’s and upwards to the odd £500 but in general £120’s & £200’s are what I look for. I tend to play 3 per day as mentioned in a previous thread depending on a few very basic rules i've set to allow me to play as well as possible.

1] If I have the time I will play
2] If I’m in the mood I will play
3] If there are no distractions I will play

I do practice game selection to an extent but I have found that in this format I am very confident and that is a major step up in my poker playing life. I read other bloggs and the confidence from players oozes out to sometimes Big Headed proportions. Now don’t get me wrong I’m not knocking them for their perceived abilities (justified or not) I have just never been able to relate to them in this way. You see I have always doubted my abilities as a player and the negative side of me has always infiltrated my consciousness whilst playing. When someone rants at a player or states someone is ‘Carp’ I’ve been a bit like ‘is he’? To dumb to rate anyone cos I was playing on autopilot-tilt-induced-muppetry.

Confidence is obviously a fundamental roleplayer in anyones success where poker is concerned and it's definately one area I hope keeps progressing. You have to be confident to be able to recognise there are players worse than you out there and to even dare announce it WOW (am i sounding bigheaded yet?) Hope not, it's not my style but quietly confident is an acheivement in my struggle for poker stardom so bring it on.

Leading me on to…
My attitude towards poker has been good and my ability to read the game improving all the time. Short Handed Sit & Go’s have a lot to offer foremost, as in the ability to play some real poker. As a recreational player that’s what I want, also the stakes need to be at a level where they mean something to players as my goal is to constantly improve, and you'll never do that on the virtual money tables! Have no fear my friends! the level of play on some of these higher stakes Sit & Go’s is a JOKE! Now take heed blogreaders because that statement is coming from ‘ME’ and the following is an example of play in a £120 six-pac that springs to mind.

I raise to 3 x BB with AA early on in a £120 6-pac Blinds are 15/30 and get one caller and a flop of 2 5 Q rainbow. I bet out pot sized, opponent re-raises so I have to assume that this player has something however, i'm not second guessing here I think my AA is good (famous last words on the cash tables) and proceed to go all in. This player (anonymous for future financial reasons) calls automatically with J 8 off suit ? ? ?. LMFAO the Turn brings an 8 and the river delivers a Tyson like blow to produce a Jack; ouch that hurt! but WTF was he thinking here? the re-raise was OK he could take a decent player off AA so early in an STT but calling the all-in re-raise, what was he beating? he did type sorry (bless his cotton socks). This is obviously an extreme example but the standard of many players on the higher stake Sit & Goes is very poor and any player with a keen eye and enough discipline will rake it in at these levels.

Has tilt disappeared out of my life?

Have I had it under control?

Yes to an extent but I think that the fact that I’ve been carving up the 6-pacs lets me allow a few outdraws cos I’m expecting them. However, I’m going through a spell at the minute where my chips are in when I’m ahead but by the river the ‘Oh well’ is now becoming ‘Oh this is a fekking joke’. In conclusion TILT is lurking and the last few games it has crept in to me calling from behind when I know I should fold which is more disappointing than being outdrawn in my opinion.

At the minute I believe in myself, my game, and my confidence yes you guessed it i'm brilliant :) . I have tilted a couple of times and instead of packing in for the day played another and gave my chips away. Suppose I can’t play perfect poker all the time but overall I have much more consistency. In fairness though I see ‘TILT’ and recognise the emotion when it arrives, that’s a major hurdle for me to jump and I intend to make bigger leaps in the future. I personally don’t think I’m ready for the cash games at the minute but I am now looking at moving up stakes on the Sit & Go’s and maybe looking at other Poker sites that offer these tourney’s.

Played this morning in a £300 six pac and down to the last 3. Made my move on the button with A 6 all-in and one caller who holds K Q off. Flop RAGSSSS Turn RAGGGG River (Just add that i could type this while the dealer decided what was coming)

River ACEEEEEARGHHHH. Finished for the day UL GG WP.

£300 rake back from Betfair and I’ve played the Sit and Go’s and turned it into a nice steady £6000.

Cant’ all be luck CAN IT ? ? ?

RAKING it in ! Not yet but it's coming to a table near you.

2006-03-21T11:56:00.000Z

Quick update on my break from poker. I'm back playing intermittently and really find that I’ve improved as a player in every aspect. Tilt still exists within and can do it's devilish damage but it's under control, hand reading skills have improved 10 fold and my luck is probably above average at the minute.

Mmm keep looking at the £25/50 10 seated NL on betfair it looks soooo juicy, however the odd multi and no more than 3 x 6-pacs a day for the moment. I say no more than 3 because I tend to find that more than 2hrs is too much at the poker table when focussing on a game. Multi’s I tend to not take notice too much of the table before the 1st couple of hours and music, TV etc are all good distractions.

At the minute Strictly (NO CASH) poker although I’m like an addict that thinks hey I’m clean I could play a bit of cash now I know I’m not ready yet; still e few creases to iron out. Losing 19k in a short period of time is a pisser but the manner in which it is lost is where I have learned a few things. Firstly, and undeniably even in the cold light of day I was on a miserable run of bad luck and bad cards (fact). However, secondly as a result I was not playing appropriate poker and one hand springs to mind which was the pinnacle of my tilty crap play.

Quick reflection coming:
I had witnessed dozens of premiums being busted and was pretty pissed to say the least, not alcohol BTW just playing pissed off (not good). I’m playing the 10/20 NL 10 seated cash and winning about £1500 so I have with my buy-in £3500 on the table and in late position I get dealt AA. Yes the best preflop starting hand possible, I remember when I got it thinking ooooh dear, anyway everyone folds round to ‘Rhaegar’ a Rock/solid player who frequents the Crypto tables who raises 4 x BB to £80. I feel I have to name the player here so that anyone who knows him will know what a Muppet play I made here. I smooth call and no other takers, see a flop 6 7 J Rhaegar bets £120 and I’m not messing here I re-raise to £240 to see where I am LOL. Rhaegar re-raises to £800 and I think SET SET SEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET and proceed to re-raise all-in for all my stack – my AA will not be beat, it cant be beat, it’s lost too many times! Rhaegar calls with 6 7 and his 2 pair stand up as quick as I stand up to bang my head against the wall.

What have I learned from this and all the bad beats, A LOT. A lot about me in particular and a lot about poker which won’t be much to most but to me is a lot. I learned that OK I suffered terrible bad luck on occasion but had I not tilted the money I saved could have helped me earn it back. I lost 3k I didn’t need to here which is 1.5 buyin’s on 10/20 and if I add it all up I could have probably played through the bad run and came out on top like the top players do. Just an insight to my thinking here since having time out but obviously I could write forever with the amount of thinking I’ve been doing.

Back to now:
This blog has been a real reflection of my poker playing career and being able to look back on previous posts is a real eye opener and insight into the sometimes crazy view I have of events, especially when I was in 'Zombie' mode. In 'Zombie' mode I didn’t think it was tilt, it was everything else in my life the girlfriend, Kids, Dog, someone phoning me whilst in the middle of an important pots everyone but me basically. Playing like a twat was easy, it came natural. I looked for any reason I could to call instead of considering the opposite and well played like a twat. Also, I took the game serious and didn’t like the view one bit TY.

The only reason I have played the last couple of weeks is that a friend told me to check my account I may have some rake back and when I looked I had been credited with £300 so I though Ok I’ll have a dabble like the old days ‘bit of fun’ play. The account now has £3575 in it and I think Toshiwonka is back looking for some scalps!!!

The racehorse I bought MrToshiwonka 2yr old is doing really well and we have entered him for the £200,000 Super sprint @ Newbury in July so fingers crossed I’ll be in the winners enclosure with a bottle of the finest.

Good luck as always to anyone reading and be disciplined! LOOOOL

I would recommend a break to anyone feeling like the games against them it works wonders. I’ve lost a stone of poker weight as well. Only another 4 to go.

Just thought i'd drop you a line to say the Holiday is GREAT

2006-03-07T07:09:00.000Z

The road to realisation is a long one and poker is definitely a long uneasy road???

As previously stated I decided to have a little break from my ‘recreational’ hobby ‘Online Poker’ and guess what?

I can’t bring myself to play at the minute I just don’t fancy a game I have better things to do. Can’t believe I’m saying this!

Why?

I know the answer and can feel myself rejuvenating every day…

I was no longer a recreational player who enjoyed playing ‘occasional’ £5/10 NL cash with a ‘few’ 6-pacs and the ‘odd’ multi. Nope, I’m afraid that I had become a poker robot who sat there day after day playing any 6-pac that would have me, jumping on cash chasing lost money and generally playing like a twat. Saying that, playing like a twat in 6-pacs usually sees you getting paid, in fact playing like a twat in any form usually sees you getting paid, ‘YOU’ being the word not ‘ME’ no matter how I played I lost or at least that’s how it felt.

Now I’ve heard through all channels Books/Forums common sense that when things aren’t going your way and emotions start to become a big part of your game i.e. tilt then take a break, have 5 minutes away a cup of tea a walk round the block… Maybe even a couple of weeks to chill that’s what true pro’s do. Nah, fekk that I want to put as many hours as possible in (i'm due a right winning streak) mentality cost me 20k of last years profits which was 25k. Obviously I have had my swings the other way so it feels like losing 50k but hey, ‘It’s only money’. The question is, do I just give my last 6k of hard earned money back to Betfair and any player lucky enough to join my table or do I hold on and take a break then use my profits to earn profits. You see I just said “It’s only money” but it’s much easier to say that when you’re in profit and it’s not your bread and butter, oh how I don’t envy the pros.

Little section on Pro’s… Top respect to the people that can handle being a pro and say they enjoy it. I believe I’ve had a taste of what it’s like to be a pro but in my case… I’ve had a taste of what it’s like to be an ‘unprofessional professional’ if that makes sense. The attributes required for this game not new to anyone I’m sure but ‘Immense Discipline’ will make a decent player a great player. If you’re not on the top of your game/life/emotions/environment etc. this game will eat you alive and spit you out like the saying.

“When the fox hears the rabbit screaming, he comes a running… But not to help”
Most poker players especially Pro’s don’t want your bad beat stories and don’t care, they want your money it’s not rocket science but you would think it if you seen some of the donators online.

I became a donator of late but didn’t believe I was. No way, I was so fekking unlucky I said to myself day in day out. It’s rigged was a good way to cope with an outdraw and blame everyone but me. I wont even mention that … OK just a little mention, I must admit I became fearful of AA preflop and one of the lads on Betfair said if you feel like that you need a break, I believed him and took a break.
The problem is that I have enjoyed my break so much I don’t even like poker anymore. Ok, I still want to play but just can’t bring myself to do so! it’s like I know I’m not ready yet and enjoying the learning experience. I was disappointed that I wasn’t blogging because it’s generally believed people don’t blog when they are losing but I have always been able to sit and type especially when doing my knackers.
I reckon it’s a big move in my poker playing life and a very positive one. You don’t stop learning when you are away from the tables in fact I think in certain circumstances you can learn more.

Here is something I believe to be true: Your subconscious mind as a poker player helps you along sometimes due to past experiences, it may detect betting patterns online or a facial expression when playing live and give you that gut feeling to make the right move – learned experience that you utilise to make you win even more…

Now don’t make the mistake of playing too much like me and burning yourself out. Because you’re bad play and bad reading of the game creeps in and infiltrates your subconscious mind so it learns incorrect behaviours and them good calls will all of a sudden become bad ones leaving you as confused as me…

Got to go see you soon at the tables

I HOPE…

Here's my sicknote

2006-02-17T19:40:00.000Z

Having a break . . .

But my head is full of shit so this blog will be getting some hammer when i get the chance..

Good luck to everyone, update next week...

Help me if you can I’m feeling down…

2006-01-22T18:55:00.000Z

Please ignore previous post: Back to winning ways - Toshi's Back (In disguise)

The bad run that I said is all behind me is back to haunt me big style. Its never gone really just hung around waited for me to re-load my account, build up my stack and then dish it out to everyone again as well as pay my rake to the real winners THE HOUSE… I’m not bitter here by the way lol…

I feel today as if poker has done me no favours at all and I have eventually come to the conclusion that I have wasted my fecking time even allowing it into my life. Wasted hours/days/weeks sat looking at a screen while life passes me by, I really am missing something here, it doesn’t feel good to be a poker player anymore (not one bit).

My new account was blessed with a 5k deposit that dwindled to 2k and then eventually through solid/sometimes a little crazy play I get it up to 9.5k and my game starts to come out of the woodwork again, omg I can play (famous last words). I have to take a rain check here especially after losing yet again and here it starts! - When I look back at this blog through to November 2005 I am experiencing a bad run of luck that will not let go of its grip on me. All the measures have been taken, alcohol cessation, timing of moves, game selection etc. Pah

I played 400+ hands today and never once hit a set, straight, full house or flush. I had some premium hands beatch slapped again by sets but I played tight poker and observed other players hitting set after set, the full kit caboodle. I called 4 x BB raises with my little pocket pairs that never produced anything, however, my premiums were busted nearly every time by sets and to be honest an absolute nightmare at the minute so painful to sit being dealt this shit day in day out [Sigh].

It’s cost me 6k today for the pleasure of now sitting down and putting into words just how happy I am (repeat) [Sigh]. However, to get one thing straight; in my time I have lost a lot more than 6k in the space of a few seconds in business so the swings in cash P&L are not my major concern. My concern is how online poker seems to be destroying my leisurely lifestyle. I sit for hours monging out on my pc, no exercise just coffee and being ignorant to the world around me. All the while I concentrate on re-raising a flop of Kc 6h 2h with my Ac Kh because I think the other player is possibly flushing or more likely has A weak (knowing the player). He called my preflop raise of £80 and threw in a bet of £120 on the flop, I re-raise it to £240 and he moves all-in for 3k mmm.

To be honest from this particular player I expect this type of re-raise and it doesn’t take much for me to call. I am happy but sad to see he has Ah 7h in his hand and the turn draws a blank to my surprise, I thought it would all end there to be honest. Then with a little pause which the crypto logic software does sometimes (making people like me with paranoid schizophrenic mindset) think its looking at what hand to deal the other player for maximum TILT effect. Yes the river is a 4h to make the player his nut flush and leave me with £125 on the £10/20 table. I leave here losing 6k for the day and commend myself for having the discipline not to give that £125 away as a booby prize for anyone who wants it...

I get a couple of players saying V U L etc. I think no not really, not that particular hand ‘coin flip’ in most players’ minds he's a 4/1 favourite in mine, and moreover, he takes his chance and he makes his hand. No, my mind is travelling back further than this; my mind is asking questions my mind needs answers because this is becoming a drain on me rather than a pleasure.

I admire the aggression of some players online they are fearless and they play the game and the people with consistent results. NightmarE_ and Dpommo spring to mind as players who do not rock up on the tables but get on there and play and do some damage in the process. I model myself on players who I believe are the best and try and emulate their styles. The problem here is I cant get away with these players styles at the minute till my confidence in the cards is back and I feel a kind of normality and even distribution… Feel like I’m heading towards the RIG theory here but i'm fighting it…

My thought of late is in the theory of implicit collusion on the higher stakes tables in online poker. Implicit collusion is the unspoken and legal way of collusion and I’m not targeting or being vindictive of anyone here, just a theory. Simple E.G. taking a small stacked player out of a tourney by 2 or more players calling his all-in raise then checking it down between them to get him out and move further up in the payout structure. I reckon that some of the players who frequent the high stakes cash tables reveal their hands when up against other regular Rock style players to avoid confrontation with a view to ‘you scratch my back and we’ll take out the fish between us mentality’. (In reveal I mean by recognised betting not via MSN BTW) As I said I’m not saying this is wrong (it’s actually very clever) just an observation of players keeping pots small with say pairs but cranking them up when they have two pair or more on the board and targeting the fish that constantly keep going back for more punishment. Glug Glug Glug.

I’m up the creek without a paddle at the minute and would appreciate anyone’s input that has been through a long run of bad cards and their thoughts on the length of time they have had to endure them. It is definitely a mental character test but I need to start taking time out of poker as I think it is starting to dominate my life to an extent; and that is scary…

Back to winning ways - Toshi's Back (In disguise)

2006-01-18T15:25:00.000Z

It has been a strange end to a relatively good year and this year started off same as the last one ended ‘very bad’ for me in so much as being card dead, and yet again confused as to whether this game really is worth spending so much time doing…

So here is just a quick update make sure I get at least a few bits of information down from memory before it all goes Pete Tong. My hard disk crashed last week on my new PC and I have lost my entire poker tracker, 2006 Spreadsheet stats etc. etc. At the minute I am relying on my laptop to get me online and have in the process sorted my disconnection problems which were guilty of sending me on tilt on a few occasions alongside the gremlins in the system that keep dealing me long streaks of abysmal cards.

I have had AA cracked more times than I can remember and draws are an impossible dream, in my opinion of late a 5/1 shot for me is 200/1 and a 50/50 is more like a 80/20 in my opponents favour. Cant post any more hands that show how passive my play had become but the ‘Variance monster’ continued to scratch his head while everyone around him made money online… There have been a few players saying the odds on Betfair just aren’t right, and a lot believe this to be correct. My view on this subject is that I haven’t played for long enough to recognise this kind of information, I believe I have experienced my first major bad run which the poker veterans speak of as part of poker life, so therefore can’t blame the RIG…

Right before I go any further that’s the negative out of the way and now for the positive…

Toshiwonka at the minute is concentrating on the MTT and STT side of the poker world and I have incorporated; thanks to ‘Smart Money’ a Betfair forumite a P & L strategy to monitor my progress for 2006 and assist me in achieving my goals, sooner hopefully rather than later. I have recognised a few flaws in my MTT tourney play and just need to adjust strategy to assist in this area.

STT play shows me in profit at whatever level I play which is anything from £60 six-pacs to £500 Six-pacs and I enjoy the ability to be able to make moves and play some real poker with some of the better players on the site. I think some Very good players exist on the higher stake six-pacs but play scared because they are playing out of their comfort zone. The opposite end of the spectrum some players just have money to burn and just kamikaze it away on the bigger tables much to delight of the more solid online players who take advantage of both these situations with very profitable results.

10 Seated STT’s no longer exist as a game for me to play I find them too boring and at the later stages are just a crapshoot for the 3 positions at the end. I don’t skip them altogether as you will find me regular on the £1 --- 10 seated STT’s going all in every other hand and generally testing tilt inducing strategies on possibly the most tilt susceptible players on the site. A lot are trying to play by the book and learn the game as it should be played so when log on and start spoiling their fun they don’t take it very lightly... UL GG WP….

My New Year Account is open and I’m playing some of the best poker I think I have ever played. Toshiwonka is on the cash tables but under a new name and it’s a good buzz to be actually winning again after so long a bad run. Yes I said WINNING again, its true my draws are hitting, my AK is flopping A’s and K’s and my middle pairs are flopping sets an acceptable amount of times. My new problem is getting the most equity possible for my hands at the minute which is good or even great (dare I say). I have tilted a little with one of my problems needing to be accepting of the fact that weak players also get good hands every now and then, and don’t always have A rag in their hands. Discipline wise other than that I’m happy, I pick times to play and I concentrate more on my opponent’s style of the moment which is helping heaps. If I don’t like a table or the mix of players on it I leave. I also recognise when I’m out of my depth when it fills up with sharks and a once loose table is now rock tight, you know where only monster V monster will ensure a payout for the lucky player to get the best of it.

Moreover, I play sober poker and I haven’t looked back since my last drop of beer in November 2005 I’ve never felt better or sharper for a very long time. I always feel like I might sound like a recovering alcoholic when I mention the booze LOL, I don’t know but to think like that could mean I was one or at least on the verge of being one! My problem with the drink is like most other things in my life I’m either ALL or Nothing, if I have a pint I it has to be 8pints etc… Anyway there’s the clue to my new screename, Toshiwonka is still alive but my friends have given me a new name and I have incorporated it into my online existence. Good luck at the tables…

?????????
TOSHIWONKA

P.S I have just bought a yearling racehorse with a good friend of mine, he’s training at the minute with Dandy Nicholls and looking good. Mid February we should know if he is any good so fingers crossed. Anyone who follows the racing shouldn’t miss him when he runs his name is TOSHIWONKA. Hope soon to be writing my winners speech rather than my blog, or both would be a brucie…

Aims and targets for 2006

2006-01-06T12:40:00.000Z

BETFAIR 15K GTD (PRACTICE) - - - Is my 1st goal, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. I always mess it up at the business end but am learning. I have hit the final table on a few occasions but always seem to be card dead and probably too passive cos im on unfamiliar ground...

WIN AT LEAST 1 SEAT TO ANY MAJOR EVENT - - - I have a licence to travel and play in these tourneys and this year I will be entering more local festivals for experience but I would like to win a WPT/EPT seat And 1 somewhere HOT :) . My closest shave was 9th in Carribean Poker Classic qualifier sending the top 6 away on an all expenses paid seat included trip to the bahamas, that was gutting...

FINAL TABLE AT A RECOGNISED LIVE EVENT - - - 1st Festival I entered was a £750 Double Chance Freezeout at Napoleons in Sheffield, with over 80 runners I came 13th and realised they were not all robots with calculators built in their heads...

BETFAIR SUNDAY 40K GTD - - - Would prove to myself I can get past the business end and give my confidence a boost. One win would be sufficient here two would be a nice brucy bonus.

INCREASE CASH TABLE PROFITS - - - Fold when i know i'm behind no matter how much i invested trying to stop them chasing their draw ! ! ! I think a reasonable target to acheive whilst it not dominating my life is £50,000 any more is welcome...

STICK TO MY DAY JOB - - - poker is fun i want to keep it that way, but it has taught me a lot and I enjoy the role of permanent student because poker is the game of life...

Final Thoughts for this year and next!

2005-12-24T15:42:00.000Z

From £10,961.77 up to £14861.77 Back Down to £7,498 in 3 x days
(Taken From Last Post on the 24th December 2005)

Spiralling down to an all time low since 1k deposit in october to £563 as of 29th December. Oh dear.

Well it hasn’t improved or should I say hadn’t improved because the last 2 days have seen me liking poker again! Or at least maybe thinking of giving it another chance in our very emotionally charged relationship…

I have continued to be on the receiving end of unbelievable bad luck that has sent me on a tilt spree that I didn’t recognise until a few players actually kept saying I was playing differently and ‘Badly’. I knew my table image would have changed in anybody’s opinion and the best advice would be “when Tosh raises call with ATC for + EV purposes” cos if you connect with the flop you will get paid off if he owns anything above what the flop can offer.

Pocket 2’s flop 2 6 9 rainbow I raise £120 get re-raised to £320 I call and on the turn 4c comes off I move all in and get called by a player holding pocket 4’s LOL. The same player takes a hammering every time he plays unless I’m about and he takes 3.5k of me in the space of 30mins. I feel for the first time since I started playing that I no longer care for the game in fact I cant stand it, what the F***k have I been doing for the last 18 months (sigh).

The above is a small example of what’s been happening and the keyword that kept springing to my mind when going through this run of bad cards was ‘DISORIENTED’. AK couldn’t connect and a continuation bet was always disastrous, AA would find me scratching my head when another player flopped 2 pair on the flop and a full boat by the turn, if I ever allowed them to reach the turn. I’d normally have the chips in the middle from the flop hoping they didn’t outdraw me when they already had He He. I am the first to admit that although I feel mentally strong and thought I was playing normal the beats were nagging at me like no other person can grind at you. I was falling fast I needed to take time out and have a look at myself, but couldn’t bring myself off the tables in case ‘I HIT’.

OK thanks to a few online players Heaven, Hawko readers of this blog JPJ etc. and even some players that by stealth help you when they don’t even know it (Eoinak springs to mind) he typed in the chat box when we were playing the other night “Toshiwonk the Variance Monster”, got me thinking that one. I really started to evaluate what I was doing and why I was doing it. I don’t look for pity or sympathy, the poker world is the wrong place to do that, but encouragement and advice is always welcome and that is available in genuine abundance. Now Variance Monster is a screename I would love to take on but you can only use 9 letters (pity) maybe a variance of the name is required for the new Toshiwonk Account.

Variance usually suggests discrepancy or incompatibility… Sounds about spot on!

Anyway, I was advised to have a break but I was determined to play through this bad spell. My thinking was that I would recognise when It was over. Now I know the cards don’t have memories but when your luck is down you can recognise a glimmer of hope and I did. I flopped the nut flush and thought wahhheeeyyyyy I’m back and the board paired on the river and player X wiped Mr. ToshiTilt out like George Foreman hitting Mr Muscle full pelt would. For dessert I flopped a full house and was disconnected when I re-raised on the river, however, I escaped that one cos he didn’t call. Maybe I was getting sympathy the poker gods had finally listened to my plight. Thursday 29th December 3:00am end of Tilting and bad luck sob stories I have £563 in my account and I am … where’s that word again … DISORIENTED..

Thursday teatime I'm looking at cash tables and I tell myself that if I put that money down I will give it away in an instant, shall I just sling it in and start a new account where no-one knows me and cant target that crap player?? I look at the 6-pac Stt’s and there’s a new one on the block a £500 6-pac mmm can’t get registered quick enough. Long story short I take it down not before Outdrawing a player called Crocos when it’s 3 handed he raises my BB and I re-raise all-in with my A9 suited he calls with AQ and it’s one of those boards where your in front and back again, the board distributed me 3 x spades and I went on to the claim the £2250 prize pool..

Back to cash but with a different outlook and a more determined mentality joined the $10/20 table and managed to nick a few quid before my AA gets cracked by 89 off suit flop 89q and $4775 pot lost and I kick myself because I could have and should have got away (AGAIN). Disoriented … No not this time, just rolled up the sleeves and cracked on again learning as I went along … The mobile phone companies have a name for a tariff that seems to fit nicely … PAY AS YOU GO …

Yesterday I was thinking I can’t remember last time I hit quads. Played a £5/10 10 seater and hit quad A’s not a bad pot either and eventually won another 2k. My £500 is now just under 4k which I can’t beat myself up too much for because I’d cleared all my accounts out and withdrawn profits in September. The money I’m playing with at the minute is from 1k I deposited in October after my holidays so as a recreation it’s pretty good going because I’m in profit and playing regular poker. Just when I was going to take 10k out as I reached 15k and leave a 5k float; to get to 14k then down to £563 is a bit of a grrrrrrr to say the least. New Years Eve and my Account is £3719 so 3k + over last two days and I’m on a roll.

I feel I have learned more in the last 2 months than ever before and I also know what a bad run is about and can wholeheartedly empathise with the players who do this to make a living.. Real stress involved I would say and mindset is the key to this game that constantly plays with your head and roll.

New Years Resolution:

Never follow the masses, if they go one way go the other if you want success. Every player that’s made a loss will be making a resolution to play tighter more disciplined poker. I think I will try and take advantage of this theory and pinch a few quid while I’m at it LOL. He hasn’t learned a thing I hear you say!!!

Tip of the Year

Mindset is everything look after your emotions and recognise them don’t ignore them.

Total Profit to date £23456

Target for 2006 – Still thinking about that one

Merry Xmas & a Happy & Prosperous New Year to all ............

WP GG ATVB ™

Poker Claus is feeding everyone my money!

2005-12-11T19:30:00.000Z

Just a quick update to get a few things cleared from my warped mind so I can crack onwards and upwards LMAO. It is not a joke it is real but it is definitely improving me as a player and it is …..

Sober poker….

Sober poker is a game where when played you seem to be able to keep in touch with every emotion, recognise tilt via anger/frustration etc. and generally feel like your hitting that golf ball perfect every time onto the green. Sober poker can be very rewarding and enjoyable when things are going your way and the poker gods love you. Moreover, even when things are going wrong or have gone wrong if you have the awareness to recognise your play (win or lose) a certain element of satisfaction can be gained by the fact you played your ‘best’.

Last couple of days have seen very strong hands turned upside down and inside out within a matter of seconds only to find yourself back at the drawing board knowing what you could have done different in certain areas but wondering why you did the opposite. I have made a lot of mistakes and the 33 call in the previous thread says it all, well almost.

Playing a £5/10 6 seated cash table and I don’t feel right, Kirderf a strong player IMO is to my right and he has witnessed my erratic play the night before, I feel generally uncomfortable on that table and I believe I’m on tilt a little. In tilt I mean I felt a little stressed and couldn’t work out why, I have been having plenty of arguments with the girlfriend and also been very tired lately, maybe kirderf unsettling me? However, I’ve just had an hours sleep on the sofa so what is it? Anyway, I’m on MSN with a friend telling him I feel I’m on tilt and anyway long story short after a bit of a laugh and joke I ease off but I am 1k down on that table and see no future in playing on it anymore.

I join a table Richard £10/20 NL cash and settle in really well with a couple of early decent starting hands that connect and allow me to win a little money in the process. I am soon feeling very comfortable and focused on the table, along the way adding ‘pays for flushes’ etc to the players I don’t recognise notes, it’s not long before I’ve taken down a nice few pots and my 1k deficit is forgotten. More super sober solid play brings about more cash and I find myself cruising on about the 4k mark.

Here cometh the cash swing bonanza, but before it does just one little pot that intrigued me and was a right kick in the Kerry packers when he ‘showed’, in fact that’s a lie because again I’d made the correct read although not the correct play.. cough cough the 33 call the other night. I am dealt 3d 4d OTB after a minimum raise to £40 and one other caller, I call and see a flop of (4s 2d Kc) both players check to me and I take my freebie turn card (Td) one player checks the next bets £120 now I expected a bet here from this particular player and I flat call the £120 the other player folds. The river comes a 7s now I haven’t made a hand of any strength but I don’t believe the other player has anything and is just stealing, he bets £280 and after the 33 episode (lost £3100) I’m not calling stark raving sober as well with just a poxy pair of 4’s but on a different night I might. Anyway I fold and he does me the pleasure of showing (Qs Js) for a £367 pot with the King high from the flop. Realised that a call here would have been a correct read but he who hesitates never wins and I hesitated, and I never won…

Two more big pot losses occurred again on table Richard, player X raises to £60 with 3 callers including me on the SB with Jd Tc Flop comes (9s Kd Qs) being 1st to act I check and original raiser player X bets £140, everyone else folds back to me who re-raises to £305 player X calls £165. The turn brings an 8h and I bet £305 player X calls obviously I know I’m in front or at the very least spilitting.. nah I’m in front way in front I just don’t want a spade to land on the river or the board to pair that will really mess the job up. River comes the 6s and I think OH SHIT, I bet £405 and he re-raises to £810 good value bet which I call and he shows Ks Js and collects £3100 from the pot… adjustments required in my game and I think in hindsight he would have paid more for his cards and made me feel better about him hitting if he did.

Plenty more like the one above but played differently and better IMO but the same outcome Outdrawn Outdrawn Outdrawn..

Last but not least I get dealt pocket 9’s and raise to £80 with 2 x callers and a flop of (9h 3c 8s). This time I bet out £100 and Player X re-raises to £300 other play folds and I flat call thinking oi oi. Now I know he could be raising with a draw or overpaid etc and the turn brings the 10d I don’t like this card but I’ve lost so much money tonight on bad draws etc he surely cant have 67 or JQ surely. I check and player X bets £400 here goes I re-raise all in my last £1200 and he calls and shows pocket 10’s knocking my set of nines out like a heavyweight boxer would a featherweight... OMG.

Could I have got away, yep 30 mins earlier might have (grin) ;) …

From £10,961.77 up to £14861.77

Back Down to £7,498 in 3 x days

Not unhappy with my play, but I’ve rode my luck at times and got away now I’m playing with focus I’m being slapped about like a pimps beatch….

UL GG WP ™

Them ladies have come back to haunt me!

2005-12-07T18:05:00.000Z

Another topsy turvy time when all that happens could never be wrote in a journal in a million years. My account has been up and down more times since the last post it’s unreal but I feel I’m slipping away from the reality of the game and the fact that it can be an expensive hobby.

My major advantage I believe is if I join a table with the right attitude I can switch styles and compete with the table/opponents on whatever level and play my socks off. At the minute playing mostly £5/10 and £10/20 and the results have been pretty good and BAD because the major advantage is circumvented by a major flaw.

The bad results are down to a basic fundamental flaw in my game (trying to think of the word for it….) ah yes complacency. It is hindering my progress big style and I have to gain control or I will have to pack it in, simple as. I am becoming more aware of the fact that there’s a fortune of easy money out there to be earned in as much as a couple of hours play a day, ok not easy but an enjoyable way to earn a nice few quid for little effort.

My account went down to about 8.5k earlier this week I switched off from the six-pacs as the beats were diabolical (every game) I’ve never experienced a run as bad and as surreal as the one I’ve just had, my decision – CASH IS KING. Without any major problems other than my drinking which is muppetry in motion when I get on the tables ‘thinking I know what I’m doing’ it’s laughable; sometimes you get away relatively unscathed others it’s a catastrophe.

So ok two major flaws in my poker system are now up for analysis, complacency and the urge to play whilst under the influence of alcohol. Whenever I begin to build my stack, which I know I could do at a lot quicker rate I get cocky and seem to go on autopilot. Then sometime along the way I’ll lose my stack through a bad read or sheer aggression channelled wrongly i.e. deciding I’m taking a pot without considering anything other than I’m taking the pot. Alcohol doesn’t help me at all, well maybe it chills me at first but eventually it gets me and if I could add up the times I’ve lost huge pots whilst under the influence, I’d probably have the new Bentley Continental by now!.

Managed to get my stack up to £13,700 from £11,500 since last post and suffered a few mishaps along the way. I am going to mention two hands that have stuck in my mind and one is open for discussion the other is just a complete and utter display of my rash play sometimes (unexplainable I’m afraid)

Here's the 1st £10/20 NL 10 seated cash table I get dealt KK in the SB everyone folded round the table one player flat calls I make a 4 x BB raise of £80 and Blouscous who is in the BB re-raises to £200. OK great (smells of AA but) now do I raise or smooth call, I decide to smooth call £120 and see a flop of (Ks Js 4d) I love this flop and due to the fact I have been re-raised pre-flop I decide to check it to the raiser and sit praying - the bigger the bet the better, he checks back (germpppp)…. Now the turn brings a Qs and I don’t like the look of that card but a quick analysis of the situation has me thinking he wouldn’t have re-raised with A 10 so I can’t have him for the straight, possible AA JJ QQ AK AQ etc. But 2 x spades possible but hey, cant be afraid of the flush can i ?. I bet £299 and Blouscous re-raises again to £598 now I’m in a dilemma should I flat call and see what happens or shall I fold (LOL) no folding here I move all-in for £2246.83 blouscous quickly calls and shows As 5s for the nut flush, river comes 10c and he collects £4619.66 from the main pot.

I cant see how I could get away from this other than now with hindsight if I flat called and the 10c came on the river I have an escape route, so I can see how I could get away from it (I’m such an hypocrite) I just took the easy option and went all in.

Conclusion, to take away the need to use skill in the hand I went all in on the turn and got wiped out by the Queen of spades; and I thought the ladies really did love me after what I did to InsideEdge last week with AQ….. Pah poker I’ve shit it..

Next hand short and simple £10/20 NL cash table 4 handed - player has raised pot 7 x BB twice on the trot, third time I find 33 OTB he raises 7 X BB I call, no set no bet… Flop comes raggy Jack high and he makes a large continuation bet. I ponder and call, turn is a brick he goes all in I think yeah righto here’s AK AQ he’s got nothing here and wants me to go away, I call and he shows pocket Q’s. Them ladies have come back to haunt me BIG STYLE what a Pratt £3100 pot gone in a left click. Again hindsight tells me one thing, that wasn’t an instinctual/six sense call it was a two bottles of white wine and an argument with the girlfriend Muppet complacency/under the influence call.

Major thinking in my poker analysis at the minute is it is essential to learn who you are playing against and how good they are at mixing it/consistency etc etc. Play with extra caution till you do!!! Sometimes 33 will be good and your read will be correct, doubt whether there’s a positive EV here though especially when pished thinking your Stu Ungar…

UL GG WP ™

Balance of last post £11,572

Up to £13,700 down to £8,500 back up, back down, back up, and now

Back down £10,961.77

Onwards and Downwards, I mean upwards!!!

Beware the scumbags of the online Poker world!

2005-11-29T21:41:00.000Z

Played after a bit of an argument and wine lost 1500 on 10/20 playing like an absolute muppet, my problem when i've had beer is i dont beleive anyone but expect them to beleive me!

Sunday played 3 x £60 sixpacs 1st one three of us left i am short stacked 1300 in chips chipleader moves all in i call with KQ he shows k5 and hits his three outer :( nay probs lets crack on i say to myself. next one early in the tourney i limp with j 10 flop comes Q92 rainbow player in BB bets 60 i re-raise to 120 everyone folds to BB who calls. turn brings an 8 and i think with the way he's been playing (BAD) i can get his chips in the middle so i make a bet of 120 into the pot which is now round the 440 mark and BB re-raises to 400 i only have 783 chips left so i cant get the chips in quick enough.. he calls and has Q9 for two pair and a 9 drops on the river for beat number 2.

Third = straitforward fingers in cookie jar defeat. Cant do anything about them but here it has all started. £300 6pac moved with 33 called by 10 10 at the latter stages but no tilt and felt comfortable so i entered another £300 then a £120 and cruised to victory in both

Tuesday 3 x £300's and 2 x £90's all unplaced - not beats but card dead feel like everything is against me like they can see my cards!! £120 now and place 2 i think i gave it away tbh thats my thoughts dunno maybe a little tilt. continues into 6pac after 6pac defeat defeat .. play cash and win 2k then blow £2750 cos ive had too much to drink omg what's happening here im like a broken record on this blog i've blown £2800 total in two consecutive saturdays.

Now it has got worse and worse and worse beat after beat, i mean so bad it seems surreal. The one consolation at the minute is my chips are going in whilst im in front but its still a pisser. Ive switched back to cash and have steadied away and absorbed some damage from the six-pacs but one strange thing is happening at the minute. I am keener and more determined than ever to become better more successful player. I have a few railbird followers who like to abuse me when i'm playing but in the cyber world if that's what gives them kicks then GL, they need help..

I hit a set of A's today and thought my luck was changing, my 5 x bb raise of £40 was called and the player managed to get his chips in before me on a flop of A 3 K he showed K 4 and the turn was a 2 followed by a 5 on the river to complete his straight. I have to laugh here because If i put down all the outdraws the hosts at the blog centre would have to open a new server to store my beats.

Anyway onwards and upwards, today I played Stt's and cash and again covered my bad run on the Stt's with my cash game. However later, the cash game went the same way, if i get KK and raise and get a lovely looking flop of mixed cards i find myself having to fold because one of the tables rocks has tried getting me all in (oooer time to get away). Time for some reflection i think I cant just keep playing i'm becoming paranoid of anything on the board again. I consider myself a good loser and never critisise peoples play it's their money and their choices, again if im in front when the beat comes all the better feeling for me and my game and if i'm behind well thats cricket.

I played a £300 six-pac the other night and two players who pretended not to know each other were colluding on the table blatantly, i knew they were friends and I take offence to people trying to rob my of cash that I have earned and choose to risk. They know who they are they are lowlifes who got very personal with me about family members etc. Real sad people who claim to be poker players (well lads i'm afraid not) you are theives and sometimes theives rob the wrong people and it comes on top for them. I argued online for two nights with them on the cash tables (there was a method behind my madness) so i could log the (chat) and was laughed at by some players who seemd to want to lick their arses for some reason. It was funny cos i was winding them for a reason and they slipped out of character on a couple of occasions letting anyone know with any brains that the were cheap dirty colluders who rob a good percentage of already decent folk and some losing players money online by unfair means... They chipdumped towards the end of the six-pac and still nearly got beat by me HU, and one of the accounts they are using belongs/belonged to a respected player in the betfair community..

Best of luck at the tables, I am back with a the same attitude and vigour abeit improved from last update and hope all the honest genuine folk out there can spot these cheats and take their money....

Anyway my Betfair account of last post was £13,545.67 Now it's £11,572.34 Backwards at the minute :( But if it was that easy we'd never have a beat to complain about..

I think the ladies really do 'Love Me'

2005-11-19T17:27:00.000Z

Well a hell of a lot has happened in the last 11 days and I’ve been avoiding blogging because once I start I cant stop all sorts of stuff starts popping into my head and a short blog turns into another long one !!!

I’m playing this one pretty general and no specific details of hands etc. well maybe a couple; we’ll see how it goes. First of all I am playing Six-Pac tournaments regular and I have been having a lot off success and fun whilst doing so. They are very entertaining, beatable, and allow you to make some real plays and get your Poker head right into the job. Got a spreadsheet for STT analysis of the forum Maths Guru Smart Money that I want to start using but at the minute my bank is telling me the ROI is pretty good. I have still played cash and had some decent results so things are looking pretty good at the moment. Oh and I’ve also had an agreement with the missus about my poker playing (more details shortly).

Entered the Six-Pac CPC MTT qualifier with 6 seats GTD to the $1000 + $50 main event and placed fourth so Friday/Saturday was my chance to qualify and go to the Caribbean. Had a real good solid start then lost half my stack on a bluff where I had to bail out when the other player put me all-in. Gradually built up my stack to about 6k and came across AJ in the BB, everyone folds to the SB who has about 6k who makes it 3 x BB to call blinds were 300/600 I think. I smooth call and the flop comes with no help for me, player X checks so I make a bet of around half the pot to try and take it away player X has a different idea and re-raises me all-in. Ouch he’s put my tournament on the line and all I have is over cards to the flop, so here is an imminent fold coming. However as I go to move my mouse I click on all-in/call button by accident and in the split second thought Oh F*****G NOOOOOOOO, then had to rub my eyes in disbelief when he shows 6 2 off suit and was stone cold bluffing his tournament away LMFAO and I doubled up UL GG WP.

Players on the table were typing ‘great call’ but must have been thinking ‘idiot’ I know I would have. A while later I made a call because I thought the player was trying to desperation steal the pot and I called with A9 there was a 9 on the board and a flush draw that I didn’t have him on but he was representing, he mucked and I was cruising to a seat. Later with nine of us left I was now quite short stacked and needed to make a move while everyone was in survival mode apart from one player who was just trying to bully all and sundry on the table. I was severely card dead and made a few moves here and there eventually picking up A 10 the Bully made it his normal 4 x (BB) or I want to take the pot without contest bet and I moved all in with my A 10 which looked like AA I must admit. I haven’t come here to shy away from a call but pray if he calls my 11k stack my cards are ‘live’. He calls and shows AJ and a rivered J adds to the pain and sees me out of the tourney in 9th place and my Caribbean dream is over. UL GG WP.

With hindsight maybe I could have waited till I had chance to be the raiser but it’s over now and I am gaining more and more experience in tourney’s. All my best wishes for anyone going to St Kitts.

Went to Mandylou’s £200 + £25 NL freezeout tournament last Saturday and met some fellow betfarians although I had a real bad migraine the night before and was left with the horrible feeling that they leave you with that actually lasted while about Tuesday. Anyway came third in the tourney, again was card dead, so having to make the odd move here and there to stay up with the quickly increasing blinds. I’m on the button with 97 off blinds 1500/3000 3 of us left and I make it 15k to go the small blind announces “re-raise” oh shit, he then re-raises to 30k making it another 15k for me to call, I don’t hesitate and quickly add another 15k to the pot. Flop comes A 3 6. Now I’m gambling that he’s got a PP or obviously no Ace, and have decided that the A is mine so I move all – in for the rest of my stack representing the A, he calls and shows AQ geeerrrrrmp… oh well that’s poker 3rd place paid £700 and made for a good entertaining HU match won by Diddly £1500 and runner up The Nun £900. Another well organised event from the Ponte connection GG.

The hand of the day award goes to Kinghawko LOL
I limp in the pot with Ah 6h and couple more callers hawko calls I think OTB. Flop comes with 2 x hearts and I bet out everyone folds round to Hawko who looks at his cards and calls. Turn brings a heart and I check my nut flush, hawko says “I’ll have to make a value bet” and throws 2k into the middle, I flat call. River then brings another heart and I bet out 5k hawko calls and throws the Jack of diamonds 3 of clubs onto the felt and says “Oh my god I thought it was a heart”. Please don’t be fooled by this behaviour, it’s a one off but a classic Total Poker move gone wrong TY UL GG WP Hawko..

Again still recording very good Six-Pac results and only one losing boozing session last Saturday I did about £1300 playing under the influence, not cricket I know but hey the other 6 nights were booze free so I’m getting there. The other night I jumped on a $10/20 cash 10 seated table and was losing about $300 when INSIDEEDG joins the table and I get AQ and raise to $80 now when I say I can’t miss I cant miss and I am hitting everything on the six-pacs so I’m feeling good on the cash table. Anyway EDGE re-raises to $550 I’m thinking mmm edge sometimes does this with ATC but he might just want me away, I have to go away now, do I? Do I hell I re-raise all-in and he types ‘didn’t wanna see that’ phew I think he’s folding or he’s calling with crap. He calls and has AK geeerrrrrrrmmmmp flop brings no joy, turn a brick and the river yes the river a beautiful sexy lady yes a QUEEEEEN on the river UL GG WP. Bad play gets rewarded my table image is Toshi (maniacal moron fish) Wonk is at it’s peak best and EDGE is busy chatting away calling me all the names under the sun, to which I’m saying TY etc. and would you rather have been re-raised by AA ? Anyway I think he’s been running cold lately and he was very UL.

Leads me on to last night played a bit of cash won £600 and a few six-pacs won about £300 and bring on the £300 six-Pac and INSIDEEDG. What can I say I have played 3 x £300 six-pacs won one, 2nd in one and 6th in the other I’m in the mood but I have had a couple of glasses of wine or was it bottles. Couple of hands in and EDGE is playing in the odd pot I’m folding away till I find QQ in the BB EDGE is OTB and raises to 90 chips I debate whether to flat call or re-raise thinking it’s a good chance I’m in front and he might be in I’ll get you back you fish mode. I proceed to re-raise to 180 chips and EGDE moves all-in. Ok here’s my warped thinking AA KK no way probably AK middle pair to JJ maybe, you know the any excuse to call thinking mode, I call. EDGE shows AA and that beautiful sexy lady yes a QUEEEEEN turns up to save me again, OUCH UL EGDE I really did feel for him there, I wasn’t sorry not for a minute but could empathise with how he must have felt. He was left with about 60 chips and played real aggressive poker and managed to build his stack back up to 600 and odd chips then he raises all in and I call with my beautiful sexy lady’s yes 2 QUEEEEENS this time and take him out.

I have looked for him today on the cash tables and hoped he was winning a nice few quid so I could have a bit of banter, I found him on the cash tables about 1k up so hopefully it’s swinging back round for him, but I didn’t comment might do when he’s winning about 5k - GL Mr Wolfe..

Anyway my Betfair account of last post was

£8250

And today it’s

£13,545.67

Think I might be spending some more time playing and I have the backing of the missus (no joke) the exciting compromise is to follow shortly!!

These are always going to be quick updates!

2005-11-08T23:19:00.000Z

Well just a quick update as I like to keep it going at least on a weekly basis and its coming up to 2 weeks on Friday.

Strange enough that I can’t really post my weeks or fortnightly earning / losses only guess this time. Funny how when you win you know exactly how much but when you lose or when I lose it’s a different kettle of fish.

Lost £1200 one day and the next day I was playing two £5/10 tables and on one table I was solid as a rock on the other I was gambling, it was like I was using one tables profits to gamble on the other table. Anyway needless to say on the solid table I won £1800 and on the gambling one I lost £1800 FFS. The £1800 loss was both all ins on nut flush draws that missed leaving me scratching my Barnett once again.

In future I think its best to work from what I have invested in my poker accounts at the minute and then withdraw or deposit as and when is necessary. Today in my betfair account I have £8250 and in my Ladbrokes account that I have opened I have $2000 while I try it out. I like to have a minimum 5k in my betfair account and my normal process is to (try) building it up to 15k then withdrawing 10k.

Last Friday night I entered a ‘live’ £750 double chance freeze out tournament in Sheffield and held my own with some of the UK’s top rated tournament pro’s which gave me a huge ego boost. I didn’t know any of them apart from the celeb types i.e. Greco, Mad Marty Wilson etc. which suited me cos I wasn’t in awe of anyone and just played my game. After 8hrs and my short stack all in with KJ being called and beaten by the table’s rock with AQ I went home placed 13th very pleased with my performance and my management of dismal cards all night. B4MATT another betfair player actually won the event £16800 he was the one pointing all the pros out to me, WP Matt GG.

I have found that I am a much better player live than online, I just seem to play more solid poker. I am not passive in anyway but I tend to be able to lay hands down a lot easier on the felt than when I have a mouse in my hand. The experience of playing this tourney, (I play live regular small stakes BTW) has given me an edge to look for online and I need to tighten up my game instead of taking unnecessary risks sometimes and blowing my stack. The thing I noticed is that ok we have beats and they are part of the game but beats + Bad play = Negative Expectation and I am fully aware of the concept of minimizing losses so I need to apply it to my poker.

Last night I entered the CPC Sixpac $130 qualifier for the 6 Seat GTD ST Kitts package on betfair and won my place in the $1000 + $50 final on Saturday at midnight so I am going to concentrate on qualifying and keeping off the beer on Saturday L .

Tonight I put my discipline into practice and jumped on two £5/10 cash tables and played a solid game which saw me showing after 45 mins a steady profit of £600 that I fully intended to hold on to. I made some pretty big lay downs for my normal style and was concentrating on building up nice and steady when the missus came in with the kids the dog and everyone else that could fit into my office. Needless to say in a matter of 5 minutes flat I had blown the profit plus another £600 so in total £1200. I had to just leave the table it was a bad call by the player IMO (I would say that now wouldn't I) but terrible play by me, I just wasn’t focused and paid the price.

Anyway here goes.

----- HOLE CARDS -----
Dealt to Toshiwonk [8c 8d]
luckyjimm: calls £10
PUNTER63: calls £10
StuBlue: raises to £50
Toshiwonk: calls £50
luckyjimm: calls £40
----- FLOP ----- [6d 3s 5h]
luckyjimm: checks
PUNTER63: checks
StuBlue: bets £212
Toshiwonk: calls £212
luckyjimm: folds
PUNTER63: folds
----- TURN ----- [6d 3s 5h][3h]
StuBlue: bets £180
Toshiwonk: calls £180
----- RIVER ----- [6d 3s 5h 3h][6h]
StuBlue: checks
Toshiwonk: bets £1030.50 and is all-in
StuBlue: is all-in £612.84
Returned uncalled bets £417.66 to Toshiwonk
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Toshiwonk: shows [8c 8d] (Two Pairs, Eights and Sixes, Five high)
StuBlue: shows [Qh Qd] (Two Pairs, Queens and Sixes, Five high)
StuBlue collected £2221.68 from Main pot

5 minutes earlier I would have got away without a blemish but in the heat of the moment I played like a complete prat yet again and gave my profit plus VAT. I can’t explain any of it it’s just total bollox , shite play… I should have checked on the river at least but hit the all-in instead, I mean he thought he was up against something hence the check but I should have …………. …………. I just thought the board was scary enough for me to take the pot down ………………. Come and get me that’s all I can say…

Apart from that everything is fantastic at the minute... I’m back on the mat training Brazilian Ju Jitsu, walking/Jogging 5/6 miles every other day and I have a lot of control in my life at the minute as my fitness levels get back up and apart from the odd bit of muppetry my poker roll builds up.

P.S I think i'm invincible on six-pacs at the minute and will be concentrating on them more as well as talking shite...

Official Dublin EPT final table Blog

2005-10-31T13:48:00.000Z

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)

2005-10-31T13:45:00.000Z

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. . . .

Topsy Turvy Week

2005-10-21T17:03:00.000+01:00

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...

Please don't read if bored easily!

2005-10-14T19:27:00.000+01:00

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…

Still scratching my head

2005-10-04T13:06:00.000+01:00

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.

Muppetry in Motion

2005-10-01T15:18:00.000+01:00

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.

Well here is today

2005-09-29T21:02:00.000+01:00

Played ‘live’ last night and came home losing £300 at 5am in the morning, one of those nights. Top set on the flop manage to get my chips in, beaten by a runner runner flush, KQ all in against J 7 flops brings a 7, AQ all in against A 6 blah blah blah… Played for 8 hrs and lost £300 PAH... wheres my PC!

Got out of bed at 11am and Jumped on a £5/10 6 seated around dinner time after 4 x strong coffees without watching or analysing any of the players in the game. About three of them were names I didn’t recognize and two others RayVon and Psychatog whom regularly play the £5/10 tables. Had a few minor skirmishes and not the best of starts but I did give myself a pretty loose image which paid off later in the game.

Things seem clearer when you’re in the mood and you don’t have any distractions to hand and that is one area of my poker that needs sorting if I’m going to take it more serious. I have a 12month old boy and an 8 week old staffie to contend with, plus a girlfriend that thinks I’m having an online affair because I spend so much time with my PC.

Anyway back to the table, RayVon is a very aggressive player he was seated directly to my left and he got the table going with some very good timed raises, 5 x limpers RayVon £70 raise you think he’s at it but not strong enough to say hello so not strong enough=fold. Anyway long story short, my starting requirements take a drop and I have a few stabs at some pots.

SB I get 67 clubs every one limps and I limp to Mr. Von who makes a cool £70 raise on the BB. 1 player who is showing signs of tilt and I make a loose call to see a flop. Flop comes 885 2 x diamonds so I’m open ended (with a flush blagg draw escape route) and 1st to act which I check and Mr. Von bets £125 other player folds and I call. Turn is a 6s and now I like the shape I’m in and I also don’t think I’m up against anything other than a bluff/continuation bet. I check again and he bets out £400 . . . I have 13 outs plus my Diamond bluff draw and I’m about 5/2 to catch on the river (legitimately) if i'm incorrect in my hand reading analysis.

I call and the river is a Jack of diamonds so I could bet here and represent the made flush but I believe I’m in front and if I bet I’ll only get called if I’m beat (cant rule out the misread for the 1000th time) so I check and RayVon checks to which I win the hand with a pair of 6’s, I was correct and the hand held up. Hope this all made sense!

Ended up winning £1097 in just over an hour and I’m finished for the day... GL

Oh hang on a minute well just one more then... Went out last night and had a few beers came in and couldn't resist it :-( anyway was just looking on the tables see who was playing and chatting to Shaboom and another player Hangman. I decided to enter a £90 + 8 six-pac, came first playing very aggressive loose poker but managed to maintain some discipline won £405. Look around and find 10 seated £50 + 5 STT and enter that. Ultra aggressive head spinning play wins me that as well so add another £250 to the kitty.

I'm invincible (ha ha) sees a six-pac with squidy and Mavis registered have to have a go at this one, a gutshot re-union i type in and even Filth is here with us to see my chips dissappear. Oh forgot to mention kthomas00 the new online abuser was playing and was quiet for a change. Well i lasted about 5 minutes in level 1 it was now mega ultra ultra aggressive, squiddy typed in 'u pissed toshi?' dont know why he thought that but anyway no wonder he so good on the STT's he even can smell alchohol on me :-) . Anyway went to bed after that one, not a bad day in the office and I avoided cash when slightly pissed... GL again.

£1430 for the day .

Confidence is back

2005-09-29T20:58:00.000+01:00

My confidence levels are back on the up and I have been hitting the £5/10 tables and getting some good results...

Jumped on a table that looked a bit lucrative and fishy and within a couple of minutes was winning £100 which I like because it allows you to settle into the game early and get a feel for the players. UTG I get AA and raise it to £30 every one folds and I can’t get my breath because this table at the minute everyone is calling any raise apart from mine.

Few minutes later KK in small blind and table full of limpers I raise this time to £50 I’m sure I’ll get some action and I get 2 callers one (on tilt) the other an aggressive/solid player. Flop is 884 with 2 x spades on board to which I make a pot sized bet of £200, fishy folds and Solid calls, turn is a rag and I bet again £400. Again solid calls, another rag on river and I’m sure I’m in front and this player is drawing so I could check to induce a bluff; maybe put myself in the position of thinking oh fuck I’m behind, so I go all in he quickly folds.. I collect £1400 pot...

Baffled here cos this player isn’t as solid as I thought or he was hoping to take the pot away at some stage, I think maybe in the past he’s hit is draw and I’ve paid him off??

Not sure but he had something on his mind, or maybe I just overrated him!!

Sometimes you can give players too much respect and as a result it can affect your game and enhance theirs, that’s my theory anyway. Not that players shouldn’t be respected or ‘AVOIDED’ unless nice and strong yourself, but a lot will pick up on your passivity and take advantage of it. The credentials of a good all round player, (when the fox hears the rabbit screaming he comes a running, but not to help) springs to mind.

Playing STT’s as well £60 six-packs seem to be my area at the minute but I do sometimes lose patience and my stack in the process. Noticed I am quite good at working back from a small stack and think some of the plays can be used while healthy but psychologically when you are healthy you tend to be more careful, well I do. When my stack is dwindling I seem to be able to detect openings where I can exploit weak play and take the pots.

About £875 profit today... Which means yesterday...

Here he is!!!!

2005-09-21T17:27:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I was looking around the cash tables see if I could find any action and all the tables were full barring vineland £5/10 NL. One player had just had a bad beat and was on tilt big style it’s a 10 seated table but there were only 5 players so I takes a seat and bangs a £1000 down to try my luck.

On Betfair you jump on anytime but you have to post a blind to play or wait while the BB comes round to you I clicked on wait for Big Blind and by the time the BB come to me the player had given all his money away. Serves you right you daft twat I say to myself, however, in the meantime this other player who jumped on just after me is twice as mental. In 13 minutes I was £700ish up and after 63 minutes I leave for my tea with a steady £1087 profit. They say a big part of it is table selection!

Then last night Mandylou a betfair player and MTT specialist/promoter/bloke BTW Organised a £100 freezout tournament at his local in Pontefract. There was about 18 runners all good lads of different skill levels, good drinkers also.

Never really got going the 1st couple of hours 10k starting chips were heavily depleted by the time I had been moved tables, decided that IA (immediate action) was required, especially when Mandy Lou said “you, want a hand carrying them chips across Tosh?”. Stole a few pots here and there (like you do) and gradually built my stack up, then I couldn’t put a foot wrong, the rest of the players were soon to be history. I did have to move back to what was the final table and had to ask Mandy Lou “can you gimmee a hand carrying this stack Carl”… LOL, GG, UL ,WP.

A well organised event by a man that dedicates a lot of his time to the cause. Moreover, a good earner for me cos I won it and came away another £720 wealthier (did hit some hands late on).

Great night, great people… The new champ now has to defend his crown,

Donny V Ponty the re-match…

Yesterdays profit £1807.75 – played with confidence and without booze!!

Where's The New Improved Player??

2005-09-19T13:15:00.000+01:00

POKER STATISTICS (last 18 months) ish

Lost originally -12250
Credited back 12250
Credited back 15000
Credited back 7237.52
put in account -2000
put in account -5000
Profit 15237.52

And a 5k float at the minute!!! so current profit = £20237.52

I get to play for free basically but my game has gone backwards not forwards. This is my top priority at the minute to gain control of my game and bring it up to a consistent standard. I do only play for leisure but I am serious about Poker and want to progress.

The – 12250 is when I first started playing as in poker introduction and my transition from Virtual chips to real cash. I didn’t start winning till I moved up the limits and found a more true game. Just lately I’ve been playing anyhow, mostly whilst on the pop which is not the way forwards, so I now intend on adjusting my entire strategy and this means more focus less booze.

My aim is to start traveling and entering tournaments, I do seem to play better ‘live’ maybe it’s because you can’t hide behind a screen when you make a bad call I dunno but I don’t think it’s too far from the truth. My stats are probably comical to most because I don’t do any real analysis I just play and I do pretty well until I start celebrating with a Bottle of white wine and then get caught by the short and curly’s and taken away by the sharks on the tables.

I played the other night worked my way up to 6.3k and blew the lot in the space of 10 minutes, one was a beat the other I could have minimized the damage but used the fearless method and got legged up. Problem here was not the booze but I was playing really well and fancied making it up to 10k then beddy byes. Big mistake, yes some of the stacks feared my raises and yes someone had the balls to call me and take a 7.5k pot in the process UL GG BP (Once again I cant sleep for the knowledge of my painfully bad play).

I’m used to taking risks, and for the most part the risks have served me well in business, but if the risks aren’t calculated in this game, it’s take your pants down and wait for your arse to be slapped time. I relate it to a game of golf which im shit at by the way, when you hit a golf ball properly you KNOW you have hit it correctly and as a result you can measure how good you are or how crap. I know instantly when I make a bad play, but keep making them FFS and this is what I’m going to start focusing on more because in golf there’s more than just your mind to control in poker your mind is everything.

From here on I’m trying to be the new improved player that I know exists inside and hopefully this blog will be a more cheerful account of anticipated future success GL . . .

BFWSOP The Blogg

2005-09-12T21:20:00.000+01:00

What a fantastic weekend BFWCOP turned out to be, the only negative is I didn’t get to meet all the people that I wanted to but hey, there’s always a next time and who would doubt there wont be after that one (1st class).

Speaking from a general viewpoint on everyone who attended and who I met along the way all I can say is what a great bunch of people and a surprisingly small amount of ego. There was mutual respect flying around from every corner, you never feared going to join a table because the warmth of the people (and not just from the gutshot boiler room) was present constantly. It was an event not to be missed in my opinion and I definitely will make the effort for BFWSOP II. Also just to add the folk who had to give up the gutshot were just as friendly and deserve credit where due for doing so.

The night before I jumped on a cash table with Mavis, Noseyboy, Schmo, Fartpants and a few regulars playing 1/2 NL cash which was a good laugh as well as a lesson in how beats occur ‘Live’ more regular than they do on crypto.

1st beat only me and SB left in he calls my BB and I raise it up with KK to which he calls. Flop JJ8 Turn J, Long story short I cant have him for a Jack in a ‘live game’ and he’s definitely not got ‘AA’ surely so I put him all in for his £100 that he jumped on the table with and he showed AJ arghhhhhh.

Next norwichfan has taken a few beats of his own and throws his last £16 all in pre flop to I think approx 5 callers mavis being one of them, I flat call with AJ and the flop is dealt Q 10 K with 2 x hearts. I decide that although I have the nut straight the flush draw is credible with so many in the pot so I over bet the pot of about £85 with £100 and to my glee Mavis re-raises the rest of my stack about another £70 to which I gladly call. Turn is a queen, I remember thinking Oh shit then river a 2.

I show my AJ and the table Ooooh’s and Ahhhh’s, Norwichfan jumps up does a little dance and shows Q 2 a full house Queens over 2’s, MavisFish says “ hang on a minute” turns his cards to show KQ a full house Queens over Kings, My nut straight on the flop was in last place by the turn LMAO. Turned it round a little later and made an exit about £300 down instead of £700.

The main event I couldn’t get going at all and busted out early (80ish) when Sha’s QQ SB held up against my K8 suited BB that was me out and sha holding my bounty chip, good luck Shaa top geezer hope he does well in the event. Reactive was hammered on the morning, and at one time I spotted him slouched on a couch barely able to hold is head up, well done fella you won it if you don’t remember!!!!

More beer, Jack Daniels then a £200 entry STT with 11 runners payout was 1st £1200 2nd £600 and 3rd £400 a good solid table with Duffs, B4matt, Fartpants, BigDogg, Mavis, Filth, squidy plus others. A real enjoyable game that lasted nearly 2.5 hrs ending up with me, squidy, filth and mavis battling it out. At one time squidy mavis and Filth who had their stacks covered were all in and I was the short stack, go filth go... Squidy actually laid his hand down (good laydown) and mavis and filth split the pot.. Grrr ok back to the game. Mavis was out in fourth and I took squidy out when he moved at my BB all in with JQ I found A 4 called and got heads up with filth. We were evenly stacked and the blinds had reached crapshoot levels so we split the winnings £900 each not a bad night work, and to be honest filth would probably have outplayed me HU cos I’m sh1t.

Back on the booze meeting more people and generally buzzing, a free weekend thrown in now, couldn’t get any better.

One thing to note, I have met some top people and seen some very good players. I think it’s fair to say I have seen some players that I personally think will be future faces of poker in the UK, they are young aggressive, fearless and I think if they keep their heads about them they will make it big time…

BFWSOP

2005-09-08T23:09:00.000+01:00

Betfair World Championship Of Poker is on Saturday, a good chance to meet the lads who play regular on the site and I think I’m just peaking at the right time :-). Moreover, the good beats are coming my way and I’m looking forward to having the crack with everyone whilst indulging in one of my favorite pastimes BOOZING…

Today I played 3 x 10 seated STT’s today one £50 and two £100 + fees. Unplaced in the £50 but managed a 2nd and a 1st in the £100’s. I don’t know whether it’s just a coincidence but I do feel better playing in the £100’s. Maybe its just cos they earned me £600 profit, we’ll have to see…

GL ATVB

Hell and back! ok not that bad but....

2005-09-08T13:03:00.000+01:00

How long can a bad run of cards last?
Do you play through it and create your table image of weak/tight cos your missing that much and even a bluff sparks 3 all in re-raises?Or do you start calling with the 62 93 10 3's and see if you can flop a monster?
Should I play 1c 2c Limit for a while?

Answers on a postcard to . . . . . . .

Yes the cards carried on last night in the same fashion and I stuck it out I even posted a reply to someone on the forum (bad beat poster) my sympathies cos this deck has been running cold a long time now. Another £500 placed on Tupelo the £2/5 NL 10 seated cash table and another 2 hours of painfully experiencing bad cards after bad cards, again it wasn’t my night.

I recognized I was on tilt a little; started playing the odd hand out of position like 97, 10 8 etc. It actually added to the frustration cos every one of those hands missed completely which made me emotionally more frustrated. I was down to about £128 and I had a stab at a pot with top pair and lost £40 in total when he hit two pair on the river and left me reeling with £88 left.

My decision was to come off with the £88 it wasn’t worth staying on just to feed people, I might as well donate to charity If I’m giving it away, however, I waited for my free cards to come round and before its my BB I will leave table. Well the hand before a player sits out so my BB is automatically Posted, fuck I thought! Oi Oi QQ, I raise when it gets round to me get 2 x callers flop QKK take the pot down with a nice short stack all in desperation move and hey presto….

One of the players who used to play under the name BITOLA and always makes me laugh with his table tilting techniques type’s in ‘NOOOOW GOOO ANDDDD FOOOKKKK THEEEE TABLEEEE TOSSSHHIIIIIBAAAAAA’.

Well my luck changed and in a very short space of time;

Dealer: Game #841418784, Toshiwonk wins pot (£280) with A Full House, Tens full of Queens
Dealer: Game #841495744, Toshiwonk wins pot (£265) with Two Pairs, Jacks and Eights, Ten high
Dealer: Game #841495754, Toshiwonk wins pot (£234.75) with Three of a kind, Twos, Ace high
Dealer: Game #841495784, Toshiwonk wins pot (£209) with A Full House, Jacks full of Kings

Just a section of about 30 mins play!

Left the table with £1102 not bad from £88 quid and a bit of the confidence entered my brain. Does outline the importance of patience, and being able to have the ability to minimize losses when cold decked; it is as important as selling your good hands for the maximum when you hit. I’m fascinated again; this game gets ever more complex…

GL ATVB.

Cash is KING

2005-09-07T21:03:00.000+01:00

Well yesterday took a trip back to cash, I had played a couple of Stt’s in the daytime and went out very early, not in the mood so I sit about playing like a maniac on level 1 didn’t do myself any favours.

Entered 15k GTD Started pretty well then went low on chips so a little gambling or Heavenly Aggression (taken from Korpen. The Fisken) (korpen. With a full stop BTW) as I like to call it took place. After building my stack to above average got the Old American Airlines arrive on my desktop, raise 4 x BB player goes all in and has my stack covered turns over Pocket 5’s and hits a set on the turn Night Night. Bit ironic really cos I’d just outdrawn someone when I was short stacked with A7 against AK (ce la vie)...

So Fuck this tourney lark I’m missing the cash let’s get it on... Most of my early success and bankroll build up from behind to in front has come on the £5/10 6 seated NL tables but I don’t know if I’m playing correctly on them If that makes sense, It doesn’t to me and I’m writing it but that’s how it is (think I’m reading too many books). I do like playing on the 10 seaters and always feel comfy playing them, the £10/20 is well within my reach but I feel apart from the odd Fishes that jump on and quickly off skint that I’m definitely not superior to any of the players and sometimes the mug on the table is probably me.

To me the thinking there is incorrect as far as being a confident poker player is concerned, I must be positive, I cannot play on a table where I’m feeling inferior, but I shouldn’t be feeling inferior, I’m overall 3.5k up on that table?? so incorrect thinking yes! Correct thinking to avoid the table yes! A double edged sword but one side causes a superficial wound that can soon heal, the other a fatal downward spiral that I want to avoid.

Anyway found a 10 seated £2/5 NL cash table containing 3 players who I know to be very fishy, cant throw top pair away in the face of adversity, reminds me of someone I know sometimes!, in general a good soft table to get my teeth into. First hour I’m up and down can’t seem to get paid off on my good hands, so I try and loosen the table up a bit with a few OTT raises. It worked, it definitely worked, the table seemed to tilt a little but all the action was everywhere but at my front door. I was real cold decked I mean real bad and if I got QQ the flop would be guaranteed to have over cards, twas one of those days I told myself.

The niggling thought at the back of my mind was, “you’re playing shit, you can only play when you get the cards, sort the job out”, but it just wasn’t happening and the negative thoughts are with me again. Just loading Poker Tracker . . . . . . . . Lost £563 on that table and was clever enough not to lose more in 2.5hrs and I was tired, thought better days are ahead and went to bed. Oh plus 2 x stt’s and a multi down £700+ today.

Now here’s some hypocrisy, I read a players blog and told him if poker was boring him and the fun was missing have a break it works wonders. He responded by saying tried it came back and had a real bad run. Well I’m eating my advice cos I’m shite and I blame the break (LOL).

I feel it’s just a phase I’m going through at the min, day, week, and month oooer; anyway I do wonder how other players think when the going is tough and nothing seems to be running smoothly, what changes do they make. My thoughts on the job are being ahead of the game bankroll wise doesn’t mean you should keep chucking money into the pot for people to swallow up.

Now to me that’s when to me you need a real long break from the game, and I don’t think I’ve reached that stage YET… GG WP UL ATVB!

WSOP II

2005-09-05T20:31:00.000+01:00

Entered the CPC_TIME touney last night $25 entry 791 runners 5 x GTD Carribean Poker Classic seats up for grabs as an added bonus to the prize money on betfair. They kept it quiet, just managed to see a thread on the forum about it and entered.

Had a real good session made some better plays and kept my cool towards the later stages where I normally blow up, received a bad beat not that I didn't dish out a couple and made a super aggressive comeback to eventually finish 23rd and $158 richer.

Anyway here's my exit hand; I was in early position with pockets 7's and about 26k in chips, the blinds were 200o/4000 and the antes about 500 so I decided there were 7 possible starting hands that would be ahead the others I'm favorite so raise half my stack, one re-raise of all in from the chipleader with 249k I call and im pleased to see im up against AK, well his AK held up and I said my goodbye's, GG WP.

Don't think I did anything wrong there, my (M) according to the Harrington book was (4) so im in the red zone and first opportunity I get I need to push all in no messing about and I raised half my stack instead, but that's about it. All in all I think I was correct in my play at this stage of the tournament, but im only half way through his book I might get to a chapter that says (however when holding Pockest 7's never)...

Comments Welcome!

Bring on the WSOP

2005-09-04T15:52:00.000+01:00

My tournament play has improved since I have got halfway through Harrington on Holdem Volume II. However, I need to read more because my endgame i.e. final table play is built up around pure gambling (the strategy goes out of the window).

Over the last week I placed 26th in the 35k GTD blew my stack in bad fashion, 16th in the 15k GTD (same again) but a little improvement…

The other night I was in the Caribbean Poker Classic Main Final $10k for one winner package and it was down to four players, me being one of them with a tidy chip lead. A player from Betfair typed in to me good luck Tosh concentrate on the small stacks via MSN. Sounded good advice eliminate the small stacks and go head to head with the bigger stack when strong... Didn’t happen I got into a confrontation with the 2nd chip leader on 2 occasions and in them 2 occasions lost my stack.

I can understand how some can play brilliant at cash and some players excel in tourneys; they are a completely different game (COMPLETELY). I would like to find my feet in tournaments because they are exciting and very lucrative but I believe they at the minute should be supplemented by cash games because I just cant win/place every tourney so keeping in front on the cash games makes it easier to throw $200 at a satellite qualifier for a big event like the Caribbean Poker Classic (just to play against the big guns).

There’s a bigger element of luck involved in tournaments in my opinion due to the sheer size of runners in them sometimes and the chances of fish like myself outdrawing better starting hands (LOL). But keeping in front of the blinds etc is essential in tourneys you can’t wait like a gnat waits to be swatted you have to get in there and sometimes your starting requirements are completely different to cash where there is a solid continual blind structure.

Learning tourney play might have a detrimental effect on my cash play I don’t know yet, can’t really have much effect on me however I’m shite at cash at the minute.

Not getting anywhere fast

2005-09-04T15:01:00.000+01:00

Well I returned the favor and logged into my pals account and blew 2k for him over a period of four days. Strange playing on someone else’s account and from my viewpoint not advisable, not just because I blew his 2k and he did mine BTW.

When he asked me to let him use my account I felt obliged to do so, I mean he's my best pal I trust him 100% and also my business partner. Moreover when he has a good week its a 20k + sometimes, he's had more bad ones but that’s for his blog if he ever starts one; my thinking is here, fair enough lose 1k my 50% share or come back to a very nice profit and take my account back over...

When he told me it was gone and a few bad beats along the way it didn't bother me in the slightest (Grrr) but I was concerned about another aspect of this loss. When he asked me to use my account his idea was withdraw a cheque from Betfair and leave 2k balance, fair play can’t blow the 9.5k I have in there at the minute so I do so. However, it did affect me mentally because I was conscious of the fact that I have always left 5k in my account to play, then when I reach a certain amount I make a withdrawal and leave 5k to build up my profits again (hopefully).

From a psychological perspective knowing that I have altered my ‘successful’ system of bankroll management has assisted in my bad play since I come back off my holidays. There are obviously other reasons for my bad play of late but this is one I more or less told myself would happen when I gave the Idea the OK. It’s like I programmed myself to go on tilt if he blew my account and left me having to get the Old Visa out and top my account up. Probably sounds silly to anyone reading but the days of keep putting money into my account were put behind me and now I found myself putting it in again (even though I’ve drawn it out) and it’s had an effect on my confidence. I believe if I had come back to a healthy balance I’d be playing like a good un!!

Just lately I have moved down the NL stakes to the £2/5 sometimes £1/2 where I do get on the table and feel confident in my abilities, but when I decide to look at the higher stake NL games I just think sod it you’re not good enough at the minute stick to the lower stakes (some people might deem it as playing scared).
Maybe I am playing scared in some ways, but not from a point of financial status but confidence in my game at the minute is low and I’m trying to find the way out by just getting my game in order. It’s only recreational for me, wonder if the pro’s sometimes have these dilemmas or I’m just another daft Poker wannabe…

Anyway, back to using my pals account I lost his 2k or his 50% over a period of four days. Now I didn’t play the same as I normally would and do recognize one particular thing that contributed to my loss. I tried too hard to win too quickly for the sake of saying “there you go we’re back in profit mate”. Situations where I had the opportunity to say to myself “there will be better opportunities FOLD”, my worse judgment took over and I was in the thick of it gambling rather than playing, hence the 2k disappeared and I was left saying “I knew how to win with your money but couldn’t discipline myself to do it”….

I could blog forever on this subject and hope I’ve not bored anyone to tears but on a final note I can see how hard it is for a player to get backing for tournaments etc. To me there’s a lot more to being able to manage your own bankroll when someone else is involved, if you blow your own money you’ve no-one but yourself to answer to. There are some shit hot poker successful players on Betfair that spring to mind who play the lower limits and I sometimes think to myself they would be great to sponsor. However, I have proved to myself they could play a completely different game in that position over the last few weeks, there are definitely more ingredients required.

A true poker player that can play when someone else is on a % of that player must possess real discipline and have all the ingredients mixed into one or else you will be left scratching your head with the cheque book out…

Back to poker

2005-08-29T20:07:00.000+01:00

My account is topped up and i'm just messing about at the minute trying to get a feel for the game, but im still in holiday mode so nothing to serious at the minute, just topping the alchohol levels up..

4 + hours in the 35 k gtd, I haveplayed my paps off. Ive been reading Harringtons latest book Endgame (absolutely brilliant)... 26 left in 12th chipstack (thanks Dan you've paid for yourself)... hoding KJ flop q 10 7 rainbow I raise 6k other player raises all in 43k... I called without hesitation...Turn K river 10, busted out make him chipleader, managed 3rd place.. well done actionjack :-(Even if i would have hit my hand that was terrible, terrible, terrible -->

Blamed everyone but myself, then read my previous post - this game is all about making the correct decisions I tell myself AGAIN.

Holiday blues

2005-08-29T19:11:00.000+01:00

Well I definately have a case for saying I still have the holiday blues, I just want to go back and chill a while longer. Can't do that though the betfair Live game is coming up on the 9th and 10th i'll get a chance to put some names to faces. Really looking forwards to that one.

My prediction was nearly right, I let my pal play 2k of my account, drew the rest out by cheque in case he got too giddy, and the 2nd day in it was gone. We were 50/50 so that's 1k down, no ice cream for the kids for 2 weeks, how much do people pay for ciggies in the UK (as i ponder how to earn it back) :-)

Just one more off the subject of poker, whilst away on the 3rd night I nipped to get my Family a pizza, the shop was directly opposite to our hotel and when I got there it was closed. Next best thing to pizza? 4 packs of bacon fries for the family from the boozer next door. Ate my bacon fries, this divpott started gobbing at me in the bar, I told him to get F****D off and he went for me all guns blazing. Next thing I remember is waking up in my Hotel bed with two black eyes and no memory of the incident other than the police turning up and these spanish youths were all stood around me asking me if i was ok.

Walking through the hotel with my shades on this manchester lad pulls me up and says you had no chance son, they was on you like a pack of wolves. On asking him what happened apparently once this lad kicked off inside I retaliated and the group he was with decided to give him a hand. He said I went outside they followed and was proper trying to do some damage, on my knees at one time but never knocked out which I thought must have happened because of the memory loss. A group of spanish locals came and broke it up and the police arrived with 2 ambulances, one for me and one for the other twat I hope.

Seriously though, this is not a blogg for any other purpose than to highlight to myself where my personality is flawed on and off the tables. Here is my perspective, at the time the adrenalin would be pumping and I'm in the boozer full of anger at some balmpot who wants to have a pop at me, not considering the odds or the negative EV of the situation i proceed to move in instead of asking myself "is this the correct decision?", as a result get my head kicked in by a bunch of footy fans and dedide the next day in hindsight it was a BAD MOVE.

Yes poker and life very much integrated and easy to associate with real life situations, i have a son who was 1 yr old on Friday, an older lad of 11 and 2 x daughters 12 & 13. They could have had a dad that was incapable of dignity through brain damage etc. through lack of making the right decision at the appropriate time. I need to correct it fast..

Wondering if it's correct to put this in my journal cos i dont want to come over as anything other than someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, well hey it's my blogg.. I have the scars to prove it....

Asta pronto amigo's

2005-08-09T12:39:00.000+01:00

Off to Benidorm for a fortnight with my family. No poker at all just quiet reflection :-) . I have a book to read that a player on Betfair recommended to me a while ago (pennick), called Positively fifth street, by James Macmanus, so i'm looking forwards to reading that and chilling.

Beware however, I have withdrawn all funds from my BF account barring 2k, and my pal is playing my account whilst I'm away. I think he'll be tough on the tables he's a very solid, fearless player who's used to the higher limit tables. All things being equal it might be a cheap holiday.. So if you see me on the 10/20's change your notes from muppet/fish to dunno yet (at least for the next fortnight)!

So i'm not completely away from the tables (his idea btw) I did um and rrr for a while but what are friends for... Since writing this blogg im actually buzzing thinking about it, i'll probably land in alicante and there will be a text, dun the lot 1st hand my AA against his 22 all in pre-flop...

They say a faint heart never shagged a pig!

Good luck to everyone...

And beware the new Toshiwonk..

Done my coco's late last night

2005-08-05T17:17:00.000+01:00

Well just a short one this one because i cant really remember much about it, but here goes. After playing yesterday and having my bottle of vino (previous post about how well i'd done), had a look round the site and found two friend of mine who I play live every week on the £1/2 cash tables. Eventually i get on load £200 on the table and start hitting everything, bloody hell this really is my day, or was it just a preflop disaster waiting to happen.. Anyway two hours later and two bottles of wine in my system i leave the table with about £675 not a bad nights work again and whilst half pissed. Anyway my girlfriend say's come on lets go to bed and i said the dreaded i'll be 5 minutes and go and look on the £10/20 see who's about. There was a spare seat.

5:00am I went to bed and had a good night sleep, i know i'd done some damage but not worried at minute im steaming. Woke up today and went to check my account knew i'd lost a few quid but was clueless to how much. I loaded my Betfair software and i'd lost a grand total of 4.5k (what an idiot). Went back to bed for a few hours as i find a good sleep works wonders when you lose like that, forget the hangover it didn't even exist. What pisses me off most is i try my best to play correct and pride myself on recognising tilt, taking a break when things are going wrong, all the things to do with keeping it together etc. Earlier like i said i jumped on a 1/2 knew i couldnt do much damage and have a nobble with the lads but this is just a disaster, pure stupidity... I am gutted...

I remember one hand all in preflop my JJ against AQ well that's just one of those things lost about 1k, it's the other hands I cant remember that worry me. Later on im getting my pokertracker software to see exactly what a muppet i've been last night, and that's the end of that. Oh and theres this observer who watches the tables all night every night and if someone loses big he has a little pop at them. I can handle him no problem, in the past i've let him get to me and had a go back, since though i have ignored the sad git. He was proper LOL, LMAO at me last night and the sad git did wind me up I must admit. This is one complex game and there's one thing for certain, the only way is down doing what i did last night, end of rant..

Hope i dont sound to deppressive :) but i could have easily left this part out and let people think what a together all round person this is, and a great wages added bonus for him to. That is what i'm striving to be but at the minute there are glitches in the software, i'll share them because I cant see the point of telling porkies on these bloggs your'e just lying to yourself, and it's possibly where some people can relate to how they lose at poker I dont know.

One of the books i've read The Phsycology of Poker talks about being honest with yourself as one of the most important parts of your development as a player, cos if you keep lying to yourself you never improve yourself you only justify things as right for your ego's sake. So when you do something wrong look for ways to put it right dont give yourself a reason for it. That's my advice to myself in thought format! Two completely different perspectives of a days poker, they say "A smooth sea never made a skilled Mariner"

Im off now i need to phone samaritans.. LOL.. GL

Here it is! the main 1!

Game #786029353: Texas Hold'em No Limit (£10/£20) - 2005/08/05 - 04:24:21 (GMT)Table "Richard" Seat 1 is the button.
Seat 1: Capucho.. (£3564.50 in chips)
Seat 4: Toshiwonk (£3516.50 in chips)
Seat 6: Mafews (£3261.50 in chips)
Seat 10: The_twin (£1738.50 in chips)
Toshiwonk: posts small blind £10
Mafews: posts big blind £20
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Toshiwonk [Qc Qh]
The_twin: folds
Capucho..: folds
Toshiwonk: raises to £60
Mafews: calls £40----- FLOP ----- [9s Ah 8h]
Toshiwonk: bets £60
Mafews: raises to £180
Toshiwonk: calls £120
----- TURN ----- [9s Ah 8h][2c]
Toshiwonk: checks
Mafews: checks
----- RIVER ----- [9s Ah 8h 2c][6c]
Toshiwonk: checks
Mafews: bets £500
Toshiwonk: raises to £3276.50 and is all-in
Mafews: is all-in £2521.50Returned uncalled bets £255 to Toshiwonk
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Toshiwonk: shows [Qc Qh] (A Pair of Queens, Ace high)
Mafews: shows [7d Ts] (A Straight, Ten high)Mafews collected £6520 from Main pot----- SUMMARY -----Total pot £6523 Main pot £6520 Rake £3Board [9s Ah 8h 2c 6c]Seat 1: Capucho.. (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)Seat 6: Mafews (big blind) showed [7d Ts] and won (£6520) with A Straight, Ten highSeat 10: The_twin folded before Flop (didn't bet)****HAND ENDS****

My Night ends!!

My day in short!

2005-08-04T19:28:00.000+01:00

Made a decision that today I was sorting all those jobs that just never get sorted but hang on to you and don't let go till you have to do them. Ring the council, sort the visa, make a claim for my mobile which hit a wall at 100mph last week (on the claim form it fell out of my pocket) them kind of tasks.

Chatting away to some pals of mine online and downing 5 cups of coffee per hour and generally thinking this is not so bad. I decided to load a table up on Betfair looked at the £10/20 no limit and it was a tough line up, if you want wages out of this table you need more than patience cos these players know how to make it and limit losing it. However, I decided I would have an hour because I could sort my work out plus play some poker not getting too bored in the process cos i'm busy enough anyway.

Turned out a great day for me and I feel I had one of those days where you really knew you had taken something away from the game (not just money by the way). I played what I considered as good as poker as anyone on the table was playing, managed to get legged up once but generally gave a good performance that I think has finally put me back on track. To me it's great winning money and topping up the bank account, but I’m big into the mental side of the game (yes I’m crackers) and the feeling like you've conquered certain emotions whilst playing (hope I’m making sense here).

Anyway when I say got legged up, I was the SB (Small blind) everyone folded to me and the BB (Big Blind) and I was holding KJ off. Now me and the BB have had few hours on the tables before now he is definitely one of the above average (solid/aggressive) players on the site. I made a decision to flat call to the BB deducing he would raise because it was about time for him to do so (it's a play he makes regular with anything), if he didn't no problem its then "hope i hit the flop time", otherwise I would re-raise (I’ve been very conservative btw). True to my calculation he raised to £60 to which I re-raise to £120. He calls and the flop comes with no real texture (3,8,10) rainbow, he then bets £200 and I re-raise to £400 representing my monster hand; he then re-raises to £900. OOOooeeeer I thought i’m f****d here! I’ve got £1400 left in the kitty if I call the £900 i’m pot committed, I have overcards but?? and at that I fold. The player collects the pot and shows me A7 off suit, brilliant I can honestly say I laughed and couldn't do any other than realise I was outplayed by a better player.

He was winning about 8.5k at the time which possibly made him braver here but I congratulated him on a job well done and cracked on with the game in hand. I would be very interested in opinions here please.

The only other skirmish I believe is worth a mention is being dealt pocket 10's there was two of us in from a £120 raise. Flop came 10 J J lovely hope I get some action here I like this flop a lot. Anyway player bets about half the pot and I flat call, I decided i’m checking and calling to see what I can get out of this pot and try keep my holding hidden away, turn comes 6 he bets £160 and I think relative to the pot he's unsure about his hand, keep him in and try to extract a little more, but i’m sure i’m in front.

Now the river is where i’m going to re-raise him and try get some value for my hand, it comes a queen... Timer goes down a little and £340 bet thrown in.. Before I chuck em all in a little alarm bell rang in my head £340 now i'm a little concerned and instead of my re-raise I flat called it, the bugga had pocket queens and had hit is Q's over Jacks full house on the river.. In the past I would have been all in without thinking then scratching my head at the lucky twat who rivered me. This time I actually thought about it and although going all in against his 2.5k stack seemed a nice prospect I felt there would be better times to get my chips in and settled for the £340 on the end, sorry just lost the £340 on the end. Obviously again there are more to these hands than just betting etc. certain players i wouldnt have even considered anything but all in, but here my instincts worked for me. An emotional victory lol.

Still £900 up on the day so had my tea and now a nice bottle of chardonnay... GL

A week off (or more)

2005-08-02T18:16:00.000+01:00

I have had a week at Glorious Goodwood for the racing, in fact for the beer but I have just about recovered and I came back on the 29th July (that's an indicator to how much beer I drank).. It's a great meeting but next year a poker tour is for me!

I thought the break from poker would make me feel like a dog on a leash waiting to be set free and jump on the tables like a man possesed, but the exact opposite has happened, I just cant be arsed at the minute. I have played a couple of Single table tournaments (STT's) a £50 & £100 plus £90 six-pack, was doing ok then just decided to play hands that I normally wouldn't and as a result go my arse kicked (think it's defined as tilt). Played the 30k GTD tournament Sunday night and came 40th won £147 don’t suppose it was too bad I was playing 3hrs + but the hunger wasn't there. Soon as I knew I had got my money back I went all in with Q 5 off because I just could not motivate my mind into concentration mode...

Last night I played on the $10/20 no limit cash tables and started enjoying the game again but it was one of those night when you are just going to bed behind no matter how many times you get dealt premium hands. In fact I would say on them nights I’d prefer less premium hands because I’d lose less. Lost 2k when after several limpers I raised $140 and got one caller, nice one I say to myself. Texture of the flop looks good for my AA (6 2 j) he bets I re-raise he calls, mmm. Turn comes a nine, now he goes all in... I go through the normal what could he have procedure big pair, AJ, set etc, but this guy has been playing some real loose/poor poker I call. He had 9 6 off, he's called a $140 pre-flop raise with 9 6 off. Good luck to him. Fair to say his money didn’t last that long.

This is not a bog off bad beats but to anyone that plays (it was one of those nights) and you can probably relate. One player on the table was a raving lunatic he got up to about 6k he was hitting everything. The feeling I always get is (hope I catch him before anyone else) well this guy raises to £280 and another player goes all in $1950 It was a standard raise for the maniac so I thought he'll crumble on this one but he called --- he had 10 4 off and the other player had AK suited.. Mr AK suited re-loaded shortly after that hand; he was having a night like me by the looks of things... Must admit though i do not so much welcome these type of night but you have to expect them and not let them get you down.

One thing is true about internet poker, there is money to be earned and I am going to have some fun trying to do so. To me it's all about correct mindset, yes you need a good knowledge of the game but a strong controlled mind is the key... What is it Patience, Discipline and selective aggression... A lot of the top players tilt to easy so it's not that hard for medium players to take advantage of their strong will and become that top player everyone aspires to be. My tournament play is poor, I always seem to be the one that if I put my mind to it I can get a "well that wasn't bad 35th out of 565 runners" but it's not good enough and I want to learn what it is the other tourney players have got that I haven’t. If you are out there and you are reading this and you are any good, I will be watching you on the tables trying to get the edge. I have read that some people just cant play both because they are two completely different games and I definitely agree, but some can and I like to think I’m one of them lol.

Cash is more lucrative, and I believe requires more skill, you have to take the slight edges in cash, tourneys you have to sometimes give them up. Some people argue that tournament poker isn't true poker at all maybe that's a topic for a later discussion; I’m on the fence on that one. Today i jumped on $2/5 10 seated table and was dealt pocket 7's first hand. I had put $500 on and was just messing in my office sorting paperwork etc. The flop was great for me 872 i bet $20 and get called, great turn is queen, i try a bigger bet $45 he calls, river a 3 so i bet a little over the pot see if i can take him with me. He calls, shows pocket 8's with the 8 on the flop his over set wins the pot. I think my luck is back why just flat call me??, and i put in my notes (PASSIVE) glad to meet you . See you at the tables.....

The road to ????

2005-07-23T17:09:00.000+01:00

When I started out watching poker on TV I thought that it was all about outrageous bluffs and all in "pushes!" the education of "No Limit Holdem Poker" was just about to begin....

The first couple of months of my poker leisure was spent on Ultimate Bets virtual money tables where you started with $2000 play chips and if you lost them you could just re-join the table with another 2k replenished - simple as that. Now one thing about these tables was you learned that any hand could win because no matter how hard you tried it's just to easy to move all in with absolutely sweet FA. 99.9% of the virtual bankroll poker players all did, no matter what odds! moreover, what are odds? The raising re-raising was just brilliantly boring after a while, I needed more..

Along the way you learn all the jargon wp (well played), ty (Thank You), lmao (laughing my arse off) etc. Then as you build up your stack of virtual chips and start playing the high stakes virtual tables, the jargon becomes easier to decipher --> Fish, Moron, Muppet, Lucky bastard, Yo Mama etc. Throw Phil helmet's book (play poker like the pro's and win) into the equation and all of a sudden I became a serious contender for a WSOP bracelet on my first attempt, I now had this game sussed!

Anyway next, I read a fantastic book called Mike Caro's book of tells, body language, psychology, strong means weak, weak means strong, this game is more complex than I first thought. It will probably come in useful one day when you can see your opponents online but for now who was going to become the provider of my leisurely riches.....

Enter Betfair Poker, where did you find us? "some lads I knew from the casino said they played on there so I downloaded the software and signed up my credit card and stuck £200 into my account" simple as that, mmmm... Well 12.5k later (or down the swanee) and I was starting to feel like I knew how to play the game, or maybe I felt like I was capable of making my money last longer. I did know one thing, the more I thought I knew about the game the more I realised I didn't know... I was HOOKED. What a mega easy but subtly complex game I had stumbled across, I had to spread the word.

It all started with Single table Tournaments then small cash games 50p/£1 no limit and the odd session on Jack Daniels. From the of I would have been doing ok and no major disasters but The JD sessions where the major cracks in my armour, worst because I still played like I was on "UB play money"to my bank balances detriment. I also played on UB cash games and lost $3000 in a couple of hours and then moved back to the £1/2 no limit Betfair tables. Outdrawn on them tables is the keyword, I personally found them to be bad tables to play on because when you made what would be a fair raise on a £5/10 or £10/20 was just too easy to call on the £1/2's, e.g 4 x BB in £1/2 no limit = £4 raise hence the game to me was not as true as I would like, whereas 4 x BB in £5/10 = £40 an so on to the £10/20's which is ave £80 raise; people in my opinion less likely to call with J 4 off, although it still happens.

I moved up the limits to £5/10 one reason because of the above, the other being my best friend and business partner started playing on the play money one day for an hour, got bored and jumped straight on the £5/10s and started winning a nice few quid... Beginners luck BTW but it got me up there playing with the rocks, maniacs, etc. I have never looked back, and steadily re-couped the 12.5k defecit, gradually replacing it with a 30k profit.. Now i'm playing what I believe to be decent solid poker, (notice i say I believe) and I am constantly trying to learn and adapt to players styles. I have had my weeks of very poor play and escaped relatively unscathed to some players detriment when i've outdrawn them, but that's poker, and I take the rough and smooth of it all in my stride. No tilt Honest :-)

Toshiwonka was a name given to me by a friend when I was driving about town in a brand new landcruiser Lexus that was imported from Japan and was pulled up from the police because it had foriegn number plates. The police man asked if it was my car which i said no, then he asked me who it belonged to and i replied Mr Toshiwonka (first thing that come into my head), fearing arrest because my pal was in passenger seat pissing himself with laughing I continued to say he Didn't speak english cos he was a Japanese guy the police man just said ok have a nice night, that was it... Toshiwonka became my new Betfair,pokerstars, Pokername...

Some good, bad, indifferent, very thick and very clever people exist on these tables and it's always a pleasure making new friends, also as mentioned in other bloggs some very solid players whom you must let your ego avoid or your bankroll will suffer. I play weekly "Live" games with friends and whoever wants to join; there is always more players than seats which is great and we have a proper laugh. I play more seriously now but haven't lost the ability to have fun, if I started taking It too serious I would jack in and try something else, life's too short....

This blogging is also new for me but im up for posting the trials and tribulations of life and poker along the way. I think of it as therapy away from the tables and a chance to maybe reflect on issues that get in the way of poker, everything gets in the way at the minute cos I enjoy the game so much, but life exists beyond the tables.... GG