The Angry AussieWell its been a while but I thought this deserved a wider audience
This guy going nuts because he lost ten bucks.....
FullTiltPoker Game #8259554250: Table Arlene (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Hold'em - 7:52:55 ET - 2008/09/28
Seat 1: redcar99 ($48.25)
Seat 2: mike0980 ($55.45)
Seat 3: ziborbor ($60.30)
Seat 4: That One Guy 00 ($13.95)
Seat 5: 51LBO ($34.35)
Seat 6: Potamology ($51.25)
redcar99 posts the small blind of $0.25
mike0980 posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to redcar99 [Qh Qc]
ziborbor folds
That One Guy 00 calls $0.50
51LBO calls $0.50
Potamology raises to $2.50
redcar99 calls $2.25
mike0980 folds
That One Guy 00 calls $2
51LBO calls $2
*** FLOP *** [Qs 8s 8d]
redcar99 checks
That One Guy 00 checks
51LBO checks
Potamology checks
*** TURN *** [Qs 8s 8d] [Kc]
redcar99 bets $2.50
That One Guy 00 folds
51LBO folds
Potamology raises to $8
redcar99 raises to $22.50
Potamology folds
Uncalled bet of $14.50 returned to redcar99
redcar99 mucks
redcar99 wins the pot ($25.20)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $26.50 Rake $1.30
Board: [Qs 8s 8d Kc]
Seat 1: redcar99 (small blind) collected ($25.20), mucked
Seat 2: mike0980 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: ziborbor didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: That One Guy 00 folded on the Turn
Seat 5: 51LBO folded on the Turn
Seat 6: Potamology (button) folded on the Turn
Potamology: well played
Potamology: i guess when you are a
moron you call with 89 from the small
blind
redcar99: lol
redcar99: dry your eyes
Potamology: lol, you utter spastic
redcar99: ha ha ha
Potamology: btw you extractred max
value then
redcar99: whinging aussie
Potamology: you play very well
Potamology: well i folded aces you
fuucking moron
redcar99: thanks for the
donation..donk
Potamology: lol, well i would bet
anything it was the right fold
Potamology: you fuucking moron
redcar99: dry your eyes
redcar99: u lost $10 stop crying
Potamology: lol, you ignorant moron
redcar99: u need to learn how to lose
redcar99: or play better
redcar99: mug
Potamology: lol, learn to fold a hand
51LBO: or dont play at all
Potamology: you fuucking idiot
redcar99: lol
redcar99: boo hoo
Potamology: its funny that you are too
stupid to admit that you played the
hand like a fuucking moron
redcar99: lol stop crying
redcar99: let it go
Potamology: way to win the minimum
genius
51LBO: it's poker
Potamology: lol 5ILBO shut the fuuck
up
redcar99: lol
Potamology: you uneducated blue
collar cuunt
51LBO: ha ha ha ha
Potamology: you are worse than redcar
Potamology: and that is saying
something
redcar99: let it go
redcar99: its only $10
Potamology: yeah thanks to you
Potamology: lol
redcar99: lol
redcar99: well thanks for it
redcar99: i appreciate the donation
redcar99: mug
Potamology: lol, you saying that just
proves that you dont even understand
what we are talking about
Potamology: you 'mug"
Potamology: lol
redcar99: ha ha
redcar99: stop crying
Potamology: i dont actually recall crying
Potamology: but you can keep
repeating that iff you like
redcar99: jeez your giving me earache
redcar99: stfu
Potamology: i wasnt aware that FTP
had audio support
redcar99: If you think you're sat with
bad players, why complain ?
Potamology: what is it like to have the
mental capacity of a 10 year old with
down syndrome
redcar99: oh dear
redcar99: u realy are a sad kunt
Potamology: loooool
redcar99: do you swear at everyone
who takes your money ?
redcar99: u must be one angry dude
Potamology: at least im not sdumb and
ignorant like your good self
redcar99: lol, it sounds like it
redcar99: im off thanks for the
donation donk
Potamology: ahahahahaha
Potamology: go and kill yourself All quiet on the western frontThings have been pretty quiet lately, still grinding away at 25c/50c on Full Tilt, still making a small profit, mainly due to bonus and rakeback, would be barely breaking even otherwise.
I recently signed up through poker strategy for a free $50 on Titan poker, anyone else who wants the free cash can sign up through this site. http://www.brickandmortarpoker.page.tl/Home.htm
The deal is, complete the quiz and get an immediate $50 in an account on a poker site of your choice, gain so many frequent player points and release further bonuses up to a total of $100.
Thats $150 for free, just for taking the quiz.
The tricky bit is not losing the original $50 to try and build a bankroll from nothing like Chris Ferguson, bank roll management is the key, I'll update on future posts (unless I busto in which case I'll never mention it again)
The actual strategy proposed by the site is a little strange though, it seems aimed at minimising any potential losses rather than maximising profit, by playing a strict short stack strategy, which is, I guess, the way to grind up a $50 bankroll, but its not much fun :(
Not much else to report, haven't played live for a while, will try to think of something interesting for the next post Short-StackingI think its fair to say that opinion is divided over short-stackers, while some people see this as a legitimate tactic, others look on shortstackers as the lowest of the low.
At my usual 50NL 6max cash games there are a number of regular short-stackers, most of whom make a loss, but some show a small profit according to my pokertracker stats.
There is one guy in particular who buys in for $10 and either folds or pushes every hand, never a call, never a raise, its all in or nothing, he multi-tables 6 or more at a time and must be showing some kind of profit, I wont name him, but I'm sure any Full Tilt regulars at 50 NL with know who I am talking about.
For me this type of player is pretty easy to play against, first you identify his range, (this is easy when he is multi-tabling, and you can data mine through PT), once you know this you can simply play the hands that beat his range and fold the hands that dont, this works pretty well for me, although I do avoid sitting to his right.
Against short-stackers playing a more orthodox style I tend to play my normal game, though I am more inclined to call them down, knowing that my losses are limited to the size of their stack.
This got me thinking, that if I am more likely to go to showdown against a short stacked opponent, then maybe I can reverse the position and take advantage of opponents calling me down lightly by short-stacking with $50 at NL100 or even NL200.
By playing a TAG style while short stacked at higher stakes, maybe I can get bigger raises called and more $100 pots than by buying for the max on a 50NL table.
I know that conventional wisdom says you should always buy in for the maximum, but I think that maybe this tactic is worthy of some investigation.
If anyone has tried this, I would be very interested in the results Table selectionI have long been of the opinion that table selection is one of the most important factors in winning online poker, but recently I have been reviewing exactly what makes a 'good' table.
My natural game is pretty tight (I'd like to say tight/aggressive, but one out of two aint bad) so I normally look for a pretty loose game where I will still get callers when I raise for the first time in three orbits.
Using PAHUD I look for tables where 2 or more players have a VP$ of over 40% with a table average VP$ of around 30%, or higher if possible.
The difficulty then comes with the fact that nearly all the pots I play are bigger than average, and with a couple of calling stations on the table, after a raise with maybe two callers, and a continuation bet with one caller, or maybe more, I have odds to call with almost any drawing hand, which can start to get expensive when I miss (and I miss a lot of draws).
I have been wondering if there is a better way to play, maybe by picking tighter tables to play on and playing more hands, a more LAG style.
This way I get to play more hands, see more flops, for less money, and once people see me playing more junk, I should get called down even more when I do hit a hand.
I'd be interested to know how any readers pick their cash tables, is the loosest game always the best ? I notice that from time to time, there is a big queue for a particular table for no apparent reason, I guess there must be a big fish sat there to have 7 or 8 people waiting for a seat, but I don't see the need to join a queue that long, as surely the fish is the first to leave and by the time 6 or 7 people in the queue ahead of you are seated any value must surely be gone.
If anyone has any strong views either way on this please post a reply. Lady LuckI played a short session recently which just served to remind me how big a part lady luck plays in proceedings when you sit down at a poker table.
I played for a couple of hours without really getting into any big pots until with 22on the button I called a 13 x BB reraise to $6.50, hoping the initial raiser would just call.
He did and the flop came A92 rainbow.
It was checked to me, and hoping that they were both slow playing AK or AQ I bet the pot of around $20.
The initial raiser reraised all in and the other player folded, leaving me with a decision.
The villain was playing around 44/28 or something so I called, hoping for AK and not AA, he flipped A9 and I was celebrating until the 9 on the turn gave him the bigger Full house and I lost around $75.
I think the loss tilted me as I determined to take a stand against a couple of serial raisers soon after.
The first was on another table where the player to my immediate right kept raising my BB from his SB, and after folding A3, A5 and K9 I decided I would take a stand next orbit with any two cards.
As expected he raised to $2.50, and I pushed all in for around $50 with 75o (Yeah, I know), he insta-called with pocket Queens, and I was kicking myself until my straight hit on the river.
Back on the original table, another player kept reraising my $2 raise from the button to $12 on his BB.
After this had happened about 5 or 6 times, I decided I would again take a stand the first time I had any kind of hand on the button.
A couple of orbits later I find AQ and raise to $2, he reraises to $12 (again) and I push all in, he calls with AK. The flop is 55J, another J on the turn gives me a split, until a queen on the river hands me the full pot.
Despite being up around $100, I decide to call it a day before I tilted away the lot. A dream come trueI know I run the risk of being called an aftertimer posting this now, but I swear its true, the only person who can verify this however is my wife so if you dont believe me....c'est la vie.
I had a dream on Tuesday night where I dreamt the result of the eufa cup final, I woke during the night and nearly got up to write it down, as I thought I would forget.
In the end I didn't get up but went back to sleep after memorising 0-0 then 2-0, by the time I awoke in the morning, I had just about forgot the the dream, but remembered the mantra 0-0 followed by 2-0.
I wasn't sure if it meant 0-0 half-time and 2-0 full-time or 0-0 full-time and 2-0 after extra time.
I was a little bit dubious about risking hard cash on a dream, but decided I would rather risk a couple of small bets than kick myself afterwards if it turned out to be true.
In the end I had 3 x £5 bets on Draw HT - Zenit FT, Zenit to win 2-0 and Zenit to win in extratime.
I watched the first half on tv, and at half-time thought I had some kind of chance of a profit at least with a Zenit win in either the second half or extratime.
To be honest, the match was so boring I switched over in the second half and just flicked back ocaisionaly for updates.
At 1-0 I was thinking I had shown a profit, but when Zenit scored the second with the last kick of the game, I went from delight at winning £75 to disapointment that I had only had a fiver on.
I've been to bed early every night since, but as of yet, I still dont have any lottery numbers or the FA Cup final winner, but watch this space.......... Bad Beats and RetardsThe purpose of this blog is not to post all my hard luck stories, but recently it seems like lady luck is taking the piss.
I ran into another candidate for 'numpty of the week' today, I can think of no explanation for his play, maybe 4s5s is his 'lucky hand' or something, it was certainly pretty lucky against me.
The thought of this idiot running off with my hard earned is enough to make me want to puke, I don't suppose he will hang on to it for long playing like that.
After the first hand, I just reloaded and carried on, ater the second, I had to stop playing before terminal tilt set in.
FullTiltPoker Table El Greco (6 max)
$0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Hold'em - 11:49:06 ET - 2008/04/27
Seat 1: ($52.60)
Seat 2: ($22.05)
Seat 3: ($45.95)
Seat 4: j2ah1ve ($45.20)
Seat 5: redcar ($69)
Seat 6: ($58)
redcar posts the small blind of $0.25
Seat 6 posts the big blind of $0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to redcar [Kc Ac]
Seat 1 folds
Seat 2 folds
Seat 3 folds
j2ah1ve raises to $2
redcar raises to $7.50
Seat 6 folds
j2ah1ve calls $5.50
*** FLOP *** [Ad 7c 9c]
redcar bets $7.50
j2ah1ve calls $7.50
*** TURN *** [Ad 7c 9c] [4h]
redcar bets $15.50
j2ah1ve raises to $30.20, and is all in
redcar calls $14.70
j2ah1ve shows [5s 4s]
redcar shows [Kc Ac]
*** RIVER *** [Ad 7c 9c 4h] [5d]
j2ah1ve shows two pair, Fives and Fours
redcar shows a pair of Aces
j2ah1ve wins the pot ($87.90) with two pair, Fives and Fours
FullTiltPoker Game #6196663108: Table El Greco (6 max)
$0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Hold'em - 11:58:43 ET - 2008/04/27
Seat 1: ($48.80)
Seat 2: ($56.40)
Seat 3: ($36.95)
Seat 4: j2ah1ve ($84.90)
Seat 5: redcar ($77.25)
Seat 6: ($56.50), is sitting out
redcar posts the small blind of $0.25
Seat 6 posts the big blind of $0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to redcar [Qs Qh]
Seat 2 folds
Seat 3 folds
j2ah1ve raises to $2
redcar raises to $7.50
Seat 1 folds
j2ah1ve calls $5.50
*** FLOP *** [7h 5h 5c]
redcar bets $15.50
j2ah1ve has 15 seconds left to act
j2ah1ve raises to $77.40, and is all in
redcar calls $54.25, and is all in
j2ah1ve shows [5s 4s]
redcar shows [Qs Qh]
*** TURN *** [7h 5h 5c] [Kc]
*** RIVER *** [7h 5h 5c Kc] [4d]
j2ah1ve shows a full house, Fives full of Fours
redcar shows two pair, Queens and Fives
j2ah1ve wins the pot ($152) with a full house, Fives full of Fours Numpty of the weekApologies for a bad beat post, but I had to get this one off my chest
Its been a bad day, down $100 early on before a recovery to about $40 down
HansFrans & Nayock420 are both retards and have been raising and reraising with atc
I've been patiently waiting my chance to stack either of them
I've already laid down QQ and JJ both on a K high flop to big raises of my C-bet
My chance finally come and this happens
FullTiltPoker Table Golfcart (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Hold'em
Seat 1: Nayock420 ($42.70)
Seat 2: wyvern17 ($55.15)
Seat 3: redcar99 ($43.20)
Seat 4: toreds ($54.35)
Seat 5: Sloukka ($35.85)
Seat 6: HansFrans ($55.40)
wyvern17 posts the small blind of $0.25
redcar99 posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to redcar99 [Th Ts]
toreds folds
Sloukka calls $0.50
HansFrans raises to $1
Nayock420 calls $1
wyvern17 calls $0.75
redcar99 raises to $5.50
Sloukka folds
HansFrans calls $4.50
Nayock420 calls $4.50 (well you have to call a reraise with J4o don't you)
wyvern17 calls $4.50
*** FLOP *** [2h 6s 4c]
wyvern17 checks
redcar99 bets $37.70, and is all in
HansFrans folds
Nayock420 calls $37.20, and is all in
wyvern17 adds $0.35
wyvern17 folds
redcar99 shows [Th Ts]
Nayock420 shows [Jh 4d] (Middle pair and no draw)
Uncalled bet of $0.50 returned to redcar99
*** TURN *** [2h 6s 4c] [Ac]
*** RIVER *** [2h 6s 4c Ac] [Jc]
redcar99 shows a pair of Tens
Nayock420 shows two pair, Jacks and Fours
Nayock420 wins the pot ($93.90) with two pair, Jacks and Fours
And just to rub it in he promptly leaves the table, what a twat !
Well done Nayock420, you are officially Numpty of the week Learning to play cash
I've spent most of the last month or so trying to teach myself to play 6 seater cash games on Full Tilt.
Thankfully the first deposit bonus and an apology bonus for some downtime on the site in February (Betfair take note) has kept me in the black.
I've played around 15,000 hands of 25c/50c over the last 6 or 8 weeks for a very small overall profit, but I do think I'm improving, my bankroll on full tilt is increasing thanks to the bonus payments and I feel I can hold my own at this level now.
The plan now is to persevere on full tilt or maybe another new site where I can release another first deposit bonus to try and earn enough to pay (or partly pay) for a planned trip to New York next January (Yes I know that sounds a little ambitious, but it helps to have targets).
The cash game has got me more focused on improving than I have been for a while, the bad beats hurt a bit more, and its easy to get bored and tilt away a few hours worth of grinding in a few minutes, but on the whole its been enjoyable and hopefully will remain so.
Im still playing the odd tournament, the groundhog day syndrome remains in the EPT and WSOP qualifiers on Pokerstars, I'm still stuck on level 3 and keep bubbling for the next level and returning back to level 3 again, and again, and again, but one of these days I'll be at level 6 with a trip to Las Vegas or Monte Carlo in my sights.
Enjoyed a couple of weeks off work over Easter, just took it easy for a few days, had a few day trips out and about in Spain, and generally chilled out for a while.
Also had an e-mail from Betfair offering me a £10 refund, win or lose if I transfered £10 to their casino and played. This I did and manged to release a first deposit bonus, make a profit at Blackjack, and get back my original tenner for a total profit of around £80, so thats the end of my casino career, quit while I'm ahead. :)
Groundhog Day
It feels like groundhog day recently trying to progress in the steps tournaments on Pokerstars for EPT and WSOP seats.
I started off using player points to play the step one sit & go tournaments, bounced up and down to level 3 ($75 + $7) and eventually paid for a couple of $7 + $0.50 step one sats.
Im now going round in circles on level 3, with 4 third place finishes in a row leading to a new start on level 3, without getting to level 4. I'm at level 3 for both EPT and WSOP, but one of these days I'll crack it for a seat in one of the big live tournaments.
Heres hoping.....
I started off pretty well in the $50 satellite to the 'Mr Silent charity WSOPE' tournament on Betfair.
This was for a seat in a $500 satellite for a $23k WSOPE seat donated by Betfair player Mr Silent in a quite amazing show of generosity.
$50 is a big buy in for me, but I thought it would be churlish to turn up my nose at a charity event given how it was donated for free so I decided to play.
I managed to double up early on and held the chip lead for a while, and was playing pretty well, even though I do say so myself. I think I was second at the first break, but didn't make it to the second. The key hand was one where I raised 3 x BB in early position with AK, had one caller in mid-position and the short stack pushed all in from the button for about 9 or 10 BB's, I pushed all in to isolate the shorty and was called by the MP with 77 or 88. Shorty had AJ and the 88 held up and I lost about half my chips.
I never really recovered after that, was card dead for quite a while and blinded away for half an hour before taking a risk and pushing in only to lose a race and crash out.
Return of the blog
Well, its been a while !
Six months without an update so where do I start ?
Well to be honest I never played at all in September and October, had a complete two month break from poker and I never even missed it.
I returned to the fold in November with a couple of MTT cashes for around $400 each on Pokerroom, 3rd in a $10 mtt and 2nd in a $5 mtt if I remember correctly.
I struggled on playing stt's on Betfair in December for a small loss on the month, stayed on the sit and go's during January without much success and in February I opened a Full Tilt account to play some small stakes cash.
Finally got to see some benefit from my Poker Tracker playing cash games and bought PA HUD to go with it, Its hard to beleive anyone playing cash games seriously can do so without this software. It really is terrific, displaying stats from poker tracker live on the tables showing you details of opponents previous history over however many hands.
Using this I managed to show a (very) small profit on the $0.25/$0.50 cash tables over around 5000 hands, and will be persevering with the cash tables for the forseeable future.
I also managed to win the Mansion staff invitational freeroll last night for a nice payday, doubled up on about the third hand of the tournament with pocket Aces, pushed all in for around 1800 on the turn with two spades on the board to push out any flush draw and was inexplicably called by 66 with three overcards on the board, his 2 outer missed and I got off to a good start, stayed in the top ten or so throughout despite donking off 1300 chips when misclicking and calling a huge river bet with what was obviously a made straight when I meant to fold.
I recovered untill losing a hand with trip 2's v a full house just before the final table and was last of ten going onto the final table.
A couple of well time bluffs and some decent cards when needed helped me build back up, and I eventually won the tournament, bragging rights at work, and a cool £1000 for my troubles.
I'll try to keep the updates a little more regular from now on , not just when I win a freeroll, and hopefully try to stay profitable in the cash games as well as the odd tournament
No PokerI must be the only poker blogger who never plays poker, well not for a couple of weeks anyhow.
To be honest I've been busy with the new house etc so I haven't had a lot of time to play, but a year or 18 months ago I would have found time to play at the expense of something else.
I'm just not as keen to play these days as I was, time was I would play at every opportunity, now I can't be arsed to set up the laptop.
There is a live game I may enter on Thursday night, £50 freezeout at the casino, but my elder daughter is flying out here on the same day so I may just go for a drink or stick around in the house with her instead.
I have another weeks leave booked next week so I'll be out and about in Spain again, maybe I'll play some poker that week, maybe not.
Judging by other blogs and the forums, I'm not the only one for whom poker seems to be losing its gloss. I guess the big winners and the pros will continue, but maybe the boom is over and numbers will now start to decline.
Then again, maybe this time next week I'll have won an online multi or the £50 freezeout and I'll be back n love with the game again, Time will tell. At Last !! An Update !!
Well I finally got moved house, sort of.
Had to move in before all the internal building work was completed, so my bedroom has only three walls, theres a bit of plastering and tidying up to do, and then of course decorating when its all finished, but at least we are now living in our own home again and paying a mortgage instead of rent. The tax breaks for the mortgage are also pretty good out here so another good reason to buy.
The decision to move all the stuff myself because it was only 50 yards further up The Rock turned out to be a BIG mistake, I spent 12 hours lugging suitcases and boxes of 'stuff' up the steps, I must have climbed everest with the number of trips it took.
But at least were moved, we have tv and internet access so I can start playing poker again soon, in fact I may play live on wednesday night as there is a £100 freeezeout at the casino.
I've dabbled in a few sit and goes on Paradise poker the last week or so with no great success, usual routine, everyone is tight as a ducks arse until the blinds start to bite, then it turns into a crapshoot with 5 or 6 players chasing the top three places. I won a couple and made a small overall profit, but more by good luck than good judgement really.
I have a few days off booked in August, My younger daughters pal from England is flying over for a week on Monday morning, then my elder daughter is coming over for two week holiday towards the end of August, so the home improvements will probably go on hold for a while until September (wife permitting).
Mansion finally stopped there charitable daily give away of around $45k a day in the $100k Gtd tournaments, but still plenty of value available in the weekly $110k Gtd on Thursday evenings and $150k Gtd on Sunday evening as well as some lower value $10 and $20 tournaments with Gtd payouts. Thats the advertising done, check the mansion poker site for details
Sorry for the Lack of Updates
Apologies for the lack of recent updates
I'm in the middle of moving house and to be honest haven't any time for poker in between work, tiling, plumbing painting etc etc etc......
Poker in Gibraltarhttp://www.cardplayer.com/cpeurope/article/16799 Failure in the Main Event
My success rate in the satellites for the $11k Gtd and $16k Gtd on Betfair is pretty good, qualifying from one in every three satellites I enter. The rate goes up for the 10 seat Gtd satellites which are usually my first attempt at qualification. This gives me pretty good value with an average buy in cost in the $11k Gtd of $36 as opposed to the actual buy in of $82.50, and an average cost for the $16k Gtd of $48 against the full buy in of $109. I'm actually getting in to them for less than half price. Its all the more frustrating then, to find out that my record in the actual Guaranteed tournaments themselves is pretty awful.
Apart from one tournament, where I finished 4th for $880, I have failed to make the money in any of the main events, and the cash I did make was assisted by AA and a double up first hand.
The tournament always seems to go the same way, I lose a couple of early pots, where I stay in with draws, because opponents give me the odds to do so, then I tighten up because I feel I'm below average on chips and blind away for a bit, then a crucial hand comes about, and I have a big decision to make, to either fold and leave a lot of chips behind, or take a gamble. I always seem to take the wrong decision, or if I take the correct decision, lady luck kicks me in the teeth.
Last night I pushed with AK pre-flop from late position to try and steal a few chips, I get called by the BB with AJ and the first card on the flop is a Jack. Today I raised from LP with AQ in a multi-way limped pot and get two callers from the blinds, flop is harmless looking 2 6 T rainbow, its check to me so I push in to steal (definately not the best move I could have made) and BB calls with 66 for a set. I feel I need a little bit of early luck to settle down a bit and get 'in the groove' once I increase my starting stack I can relax and play my normal game, losing early chips makes me edgy and this leads to bad decision making on my behalf.
Maybe its because the buy in is a bit high by my standards and I feel a little uncomfortable, I seem to want to make moves rather than sit back and play the same way as I do in the satellites.
Overall though, I'm enjoying playing, though a little profit would enable me to enjoy it even more, and hopefully I'll get to play live tomorrow in the £5o freeze out.
Satellites
Betfair is slowly becoming a favourite site of mine again after hardly playing there at all following the move to Pokerchamps software.
The mtt structures are good with 15 minute levels and the higher value tournaments also have increased chip counts, allowing more poker to be played. Ive been back on the satellite circuit today, qualifying for the $16k Gtd and the $11K Gtd, via the 10 seat guaranteed satellites which offer overlay in the sat as well as the main tournament.
I Snagged £100 worth of tournament entries for around £15 which is value in anyones book.
Unfortunately the $16k main event didn't go so well, had to fold AQo early doors to a raise and re-raise pre-flop. Never really hit a flop at all as the first break approached and I was struggling with around 1750 from a starting stack of 2500 when I find KK in late position, theres a raise of 3 x BB (300) in front of me which I re-raise to 750, to push out the blinds and I'm heads up with initial raiser, flop is 8d 8s 3d its checked to me, and with two diamonds on the board, I push all in to find myself up against AA and that, as they say, was that.
The $11k Gtd was very similar, AKs first hand for a small pot, then nothing of note until I limped in late position with Ad 3d, two diamonds on the flop gave me some hope, and single opponent made it cheap enough to call until the third diamond hit on the river and I won a pot of around 600.
The joy was short lived however, a couple of hands later I'm all in Pre-Flop with JJ against what turns out to be QQ.
KK v AA in the $16k and JJ v QQ in the $11k, Thems the breaks huh ? still it was an enjoyable if profitless day, with the chance at two big payouts for a relatively small outlay, and there's always tomorrow
Three hands from Sunday
An interesting day of poker on Sunday, started off with the 10 seat Gtd satellite to Betfairs $16k Gtd. Software problems stopped the tournament after about 35 minutes, just as I took over the chip lead, but a refund of $32 or double the buy in enabled me to enter the turbo sat to the same tournament on a freeroll.
Qualification from this left me in the $16k for free, and I tried the 1 cent wsope sat next, this again crashed without starting and credited my account with $2.20 or 220 x the buy in.
4th place in a sit and go on poker stars preceded my attempt at the $16k Gtd, but I never really got going and was eliminated before the break gambling with 33 v AQ.
Some interesting hands cropped up during the course of these tournaments, first of all, in the turbo sat. With ten seats available and 11 left in the tournament, I’m sat in 6th place on the button with around 7k in chips, blinds are (from memory) 1000/2000 with a 75 ante.
Two players on the other table have less than 1200, including the next BB, and one guy on our table has 145, less than 2 antes.
Obviously in this situation with any one of three short stacks all in within the next 3 hands, I’m not playing anything at all, and in fact was hoping for pocket rockets, just so I could fold them pre-flop.
The rockets never arrived I folded 2 poor hands and after the BB guy survived, Mr 2 antes was out next hand and I’m safely through.
A similar situation in a 9 handed STT on poker stars, 4 of us left, 3 on around 4k each and the shortstack on about 1200. In this instance I’m willing to take a gamble as the difference between 3rd and 1st makes it worthwhile, I raise from the button with 85o, BB (not the shortstack) calls. Flop is Ts5s2h I lead for 3 BB’s and villain re-raises all in. I cant believe he has flopped a set, no open ended straight draw unless he has 34, so I reckon he’s on a draw, possibly has 2 spades, or more likely Ace 3 or Ace 4 for a gutshot so I call. He has the flush draw and hits on river so I’m out in 4th, but that’s the cost of ‘taking a shot’
Next one is in the $16k Gtd on Betfair, I lost a chunk early on with my usual, ‘he must be bluffing’ thought process, and end up approaching the break after an hour with around half my starting stack of 2500
I limp for 50 in early position with 33, there are about 5 other limpers and the BB raises to 300, I decide to gamble and push all in for about 1200, the other limpers fold and the raiser insta-calls with AQo. The flop is 245 forfeiting his ace and giving me hope, but he hits a three outer on the river, and that’s that.
Three similar hands in very different situations, I would be interested to hear peoples thoughts on.
Maybe I was too rash in the stars stt and the $16k, but I got my money in while ahead and long term that’s +EV
What do you think ?
Sit & Go's
Despite taking a chunk of cash from the 'loss column' for 2007 with 4th place in the $11k Gtd, I'm still in the red for the year.
I've been playing some sit and go tournaments to try to build the profit for the year and get back into the black.
I've stuck to low stakes stuff, $10 buy in with the odd $20, and had some success, including three wins on the trot on Paradise poker $10 STT's
I've also had a few shots at the low level satellites for the wsope on Betfair and still played the Gtd seat satellites to the $11k and $16k Gtd, with rather less success.
I'm actually considering laying off the multi-table tournaments for a while and concentrating on sit and Go's and low stakes cash to try and build the bankroll a bit.
Maybe still try to qualify for the Guaranteed tournaments on Betfair from cash/stt profits (if there are any)
Live games are still showing a profit, and I may try to play a few more live tournaments, the house purchase should be completed this week, so maybe I'll buy a car once all the finances are sorted out, which will allow me to get to a few more games over the border in Spain.
I've still not been tempted onto the live cash tables yet, too many sharks for my liking, inexperienced players and newcomers to live poker seem quite happy to take their chances in live tournaments, but the cash games seem to be filled with the more experienced players and therefore seem to be of little value, easier cash games on-line imho.
All the best to Barretta who's recent elevation into the ranks of the poker pro's appears to be going well, good luck in Vegas mate.
$11k Again
I qualified for the third night in a row for the $11k Gtd on Betfair, and sat down, full of confidence, unfortunately there seem to be as many fish in an $75 buy in tournament as a $5 tournament.
Apologies for posting another hand history, but I really expected better in a tournament which costs $75 to enter.
What makes people want to put their whole tournament on the line on level two of an MTT ? May as well play roulette ! Notwithstanding this kind of play, the $11k and $16k Gtd tournaments on Betfair are becoming my favourites at the moment, especially with the 10 seat gtd Satellite tournaments.
All I can do is take a deep breath and start again.
***** Betfair Poker Hand History for Game 220871081 *****
NL Texas Hold'em $75 Buy-in + $7.50 Entry Fee, Level:2 Blinds(15/30-(no ante)) - Tuesday, June 19, 20:24:48 GMT 2007
Daily $11k GTD #79339
Table 2 9-max (Real Money)
Seat 9 is the button
Total number of active players : 9
Seat 1: potkiller ( 2,420 )
Seat 2: PUSSYMGNET ( 2,435 )
Seat 3: holker ( 2,330 )
Seat 4: TWoods18 ( 1,895 )
Seat 5: paoulo ( 2,335 )
Seat 6: beanos ( 3,562 )
Seat 7: TMSO.R ( 2,675 )
Seat 8: keeper ( 2,895 )
Seat 9: michaelg2 ( 1,953 )
Tourney Level:2 Blinds(15/30-(no ante))
potkiller posts small blind [15]
PUSSYMGNET posts big blind [30]
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to holker [ Js, Jd ]
holker raises to [96]
TWoods18 calls [96]
paoulo calls [96]
potkiller calls [81]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 8c, Th, 4c ]
potkiller checks
holker bets [440]
TWoods18 folds
paoulo folds
potkiller goes all-in
potkiller raises to [2,324]
holker calls [1,794]
holker goes all-in
Returning uncalled bet [90] to potkiller
** Showdown **
potkiller shows [ 7c, Ac ] for a flush draw on level 2
holker shows [ Js, Jd ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Qh ]
** Dealing River ** [ 2c ] obviously
** Hand Conclusion **
potkiller wins 4,882 from main pot with a Flush - What a muppet !!
************ Game 220871081 ends ************
I know that idiots like this will pay off in the long term, and if I keep getting my chips in while I'm ahead, I'll take their cash, but ffs, all in with a flush draw on level 2, when he must know I've hit the flop.
If it happens in a $5 tournament, I'll call him a twat and play another, but after playing for three hours in a satellite just to qualify for this, It really pisses me off.
Ah well, rant over, I'll be back, after all, if the Gauranteed tournamenmts are full of muppets like this, I'll be rich in no time
Thanks for reading, and best of luck at the tables
After the Lord Mayors Show
Well, after the excitement of last nights final table on the Betfair $11k Gtd, today I started full of confidence. (Though half expecting to go to Badbeat city).
I started off with the 10 seat Gtd satellite to Betfairs $16k Gtd but was eliminated in 15th out of 41 runners with A9 v KK on a board of AK995. I guess however I played it, I was going bust on that board.
I tried two tabling on 25c/50c cash tables on Betfair for a while, but my heart wasn't really in it so I quit after 20 minutes up $10 on one table and down $10 on the other.
The 10 seat Gtd satellite to the $11k Gtd was next up, I managed 17th out of 54 before some french numpty called my all in with the nut straight to catch runer runner for a flush, he even had the cheek to type 'bye' as I was eliminated, oh for spectator chat !!
I did qualify for the $11k Gtd eventually via the turbo sat later in the afternoon, and played a £5 headhunter tournament on William Hills at the same time, I made the final table in the headhunter tournament and raised from the button with 66 in a multi-way limped pot, 2nd chip leader calls with T8o (Thats TEN EIGHT OFF-SUIT), well of course he hits with the first card on the flop and I'm out in ninth.
The actual $11k Gtd was a bit of an anti-climax also, I lasted till just before the first break with a stack of around 1700 from a 2500 start, I hit a flop of J72 with QJo on the button and pushed after it was checked round to me, unfortunately someone decided the flush draw was enough to call, he hits, and I'm out.
I'm still pretty pleased with my play at the moment, sometimes lady luck doesn't smile on you, and sometimes she does, but play well, keep positive and keep doing the right things, and I'll end up profitable this year, just like the previous two.
Thanks for reading, stay positive and be lucky.
Waiting for the rewards
I feel like I have been playing pretty well recently without getting the reward. Played a $25 buy in $5k Gtd tournament on Paradise last night. Had a stroke of good fortune when my AJ outdrew AK all in pre-flop on what I thought was a steal by him on my BB. Then ran 66 into the Big Blinds AA when I tried a steal myself from the button.
My play on the cash tables yesterday was disciplined, and but for two strokes of misfortune would have ended in profit, a 3 outer on the river followed by a 4 outer on the river did the damage so no need for despondency.
Played some more cash on Betfair today, 45 minutes for a profit of around $10 is never going to get me rich, but its a step in the right direction, which is whats needed at the moment.
I also played a satellite to the $11k Gtd tournament on Betfair tonight and won a seat after a war of attrition for two and a half hours.
I'm determined to play my way out of this slump by concentrating on one table at a time and looking for value in my choice of tournament, and also being patient on the cash tables to undo the recent damage to my bankroll.
Update on $11k Gtd : Got off to a good start with a double up on only the second hand with AA v KQ on a Q high flop, stayed in top 20 throughout, and made the final table with about average chips. Eventually went out in 4th for $880. McLucky was the chip leader and pushing the table around a little, I made a stand with AJ when he had QQ, no Ace when I needed it and I'm out. Pleased with the payout though, my third biggest cash ever online and I think I was about due a decent payout.
Congratulations and well played to McLucky who went on to win the tournament
Lady Luck kicks me againI've been playing back on Betfair poker recently, I still don't like the software, but people keep telling me its the place to play low stakes cash, and there are now satellites to the evening Gtd tournaments with ten seats guaranteed in each so I thought I'd give it another try.
I particularly like the satellites with guaranteed seats, they give overlay in the satellite and overlay in the main evening tournament too, I love a bit of value.
Anyway, I decide to try the $11k Gtd satellite, still on level one, I pick up KK in mid position and there is a raise to 80 from utg, one caller so I reraise to 240, the caller folds and utg raises to 440. I do consider that he has Aces, but decide that there are a lot more hands he may have that I am beating so I push all in. He insta-calls with A8s (lol). Of course the first card over on the flop is an ace and I'm out.
Never mind, I'll play some cash, Buy in for $25 on a 25c/50c table determined to play like a rock and wait for a monster, full in the knowledge that I'll still get paid if I raise for the first time in 4 orbits.
After an hour, i'm still on $27 having peaked at $32 and been as low as $17, still waiting.
Eventually the hand arrives, utg min raises, I call with AQo, one other caller from the BB.
The flop is perfect, Q high, no flush or straight draw, BB checks, original raiser bets $2.40, I raise to $4.80 BB folds, raiser calls.
Turn is a second spade, but otherwise harmless, I decide not to risk the flush and go all in over his $4.80 bet thinking we must be splitting the pot if he calls and hoping he doesn't have AsQs, he calls quickly and shows QJo, no spade. Happy days I think until the Jack hits on the river. To rub salt in the wounds he leaves the table 2 hands later.
I persuade myself I'm not going to tilt and that a reload would be a good idea, so another $25 and I'm again playing the waiting game, this time its only 10 mins before I pick up JJ, my $2 raise is called by 2 players and I hit a set on a flop of 7JK rainbow, BB bets $2, I reraise to $5, one caller and BB folds.
Turn is a harmless 2, I push all in and get a quick call with AQ, a ten on the river and I'm bust again.
Time to log off.
I'm still trying to stay positive, I know that I'm playing well and that lady luck will smile on me again soon.
Nil Illegitemis Carborundum (Don't let the bastards grind you down) Credit where credit is dueAfter looking through some of the recent tournaments I've played and the crucial hands which have cost me a payday, or a better cash, I have come to the conclusion that I am giving players too much credit.
For example, under the 'fresh start' thread My pre-flop raise of 4 x BB was called from the SB with 34o, who then called a pot bet with middle pair on a 732 flop.
When a 4 comes on the turn, I cant see any hand I'm behind to apart from 77 so I'm sure I'm ahead, and end up losing the lot.
Maybe its me being niaive, but I coulodn't envisage anyone calling a raise on level one with 34o in a $100 buy in tournament, nor a pot size bet with middle pair on the flop.
I think Im just going to have to give a lot more thought to what an opponenet may be holding in any particular scenario, not write off some hands on the bass of 'he couldn't have called the pre-flop raise with that'.
I suppose the upside is when a player acts as demonstrated in the 'you called with what' thread. Although it cost me when he hit a 4 outer on the river, the fact that he will call my pre-flop raise with T2, a pot size bet on the flop with bottom pair and eventually get all in with the worst of it will be +EV in the long term, but in the short term its damn frustrating.
I also seem to treat too many players as if they think carefully about what they're doing, which is definately a mistake, for instance if they make a large raise, I think, if they really had the goods, they wouldn't make it so obvious, therefore he must be bluffing, or I assume a check means they have hit the flop and are inducing a raise so I slow down. In actual fact, in most cases, a big raise means, I have a hand, and a check means I've missed the flop.
The overall picture for 2007 is pretty gloomy, down £600 this year, which equates to around 25% of my total online poker profit, it is offset slightly by a £120 profit from playing live this year so around £480 down overall.
The problem seems to be that if I buy in to mid-stakes tournaments ($20-$50 buy in) I run through the bankroll too quickly and end up playing scared, but if I stick to the small stake stuff (<$10 buy in) I have trouble taking it serious and end up playing too loose, bluffing my stack away etc.
I know that just one decent win in a good MTT would put everything right, but to be honest, I cant see where its coming from right now.
Anyway, I'll be positive, try to give every game 100% concentration and hope that the breakthrough comes. You called with WHAT !!***** Betfair Poker Hand History for Game 216028790 *****
NL Texas Hold'em $5 Buy-in + $0.50 Entry Fee
Level:4 Blinds(50/100-(no ante)
Tuesday, June 05, 21:02:03 GMT 2007
Regular $5+$0.50 NLH #76741 Table 4 9-max
(Real Money)
Seat 5 is the buttonTotal number of active players : 9
Seat 1: giz123 ( 654 )
Seat 2: mandalou ( 2,974 )
Seat 3: JinxRock ( 6,957 )
Seat 4: bamse11 ( 8,845 )
Seat 5: redcar ( 5,378 )
Seat 6: fishy28 ( 3,594 )
Seat 7: SCRUBS46 ( 5,788.50 )
Seat 8: fla ( 8,529 )
Seat 9: carefree75 ( 4,882 )
Tourney Level:4 Blinds(50/100-(no ante)
fishy28 posts small blind [50]
SCRUBS46 posts big blind [100]
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to redcar [ Kc, Kd ]
fla calls [100]
carefree75 folds
giz123 folds
mandalou folds
JinxRock folds
bamse11 folds
redcar raises to [400]
fishy28 folds
SCRUBS46 folds
fla calls [300]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 2d, 7d, 7h ]
fla bets [100]
redcar raises to [1,250]
fla calls [1,150]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Ts ]
fla checks
redcar goes all-in
redcar bets [3,728]
fla calls [3,728]
** Showdown **
redcar shows [ Kc, Kd ]
fla shows [ Th, 2s ]
** Dealing River ** [ Td ]**
Hand Conclusion **
fla wins 10,906 from main pot with full house, Tens full of Sevens
************ Game 216028790 ends ************
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