Fruitypro's Poker Blog

New Blog

2007-09-27T14:21:00.000Z

Hey guys, the new Cardrunners site allows for blog hosting so I'm gonna host my blog on there now. Non members can also read all the blogs.

Here's the link to mine:-

http://www.cardrunners.com/members/index.php?option=com_mamblog&Itemid=29&task=show&action=view&id=2077&Itemid=29

Take it easy and gl at the tables,

FP

Taking A Break From The Game

2007-06-04T20:58:00.000Z

Over the last few weeks I have been finding myself increasingly demotivated about Poker and not enjoying the game as much as before.

I guess the 70 hour weeks of playing and studying have finally caught up with me so I'm going to take a break from the game until I regain this freshness and drive for success. I also feel my life has no balance and I need to sort that out. I figure the warning bells started ringing when I took my laptop on holiday and packed a second monitor in my suitcase so I could multitable...

I'm going to honour my planned coaching committments this week and then take a total break from the game until I want to come back into it. I guess this could take anything from a few weeks to months but until I take the break I guess I wont know.

If anyone emails me and I dont reply quickly, hopefully this will explain why. I probably wont be that near my PC very often for a while either. I think I need a break from that too.

Good luck at the tables everyone, I'll be back in a while.

FP.

This Week's Hands

2007-05-31T08:34:00.000Z

Well now pokerhand is back up I'll post a batch of hands that I've played this week. One pretty bad cooler in there...

Can someone help me make the hyperlinks clickable again. Big Mac - I couldnt find 'enable hyperlinks' anywhere...

On my last post I got asked in the comments about why I dont play machines if I win £300 per day. Unfortunately this isnt the case any more - profit is less now and is not anywhere near guaranteed, it has a lot of variance now too! Losing days are now possible. As far as the pubs and machine distributors go - I dont know why they have tricks in machines, probably because they are not play tested well enough (really they should employ pros to test them) and in the past they weren't updated quick enough because you had to physically get an engineer to put a new chip in them. Now the updates are all done through broadband and can be done really quick. The edge is being able to manipulate the short term percentage and to know how to do that and when to leave the machine. If you can do that, you could make a lot of money. You could also empty some machines if they had a really big trick (leak I guess) which allowed you to get stupidly easy jackpots repeatedly.

Here's some hands from this week:-

The sick cooler.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1135117

Pretty ridiculous.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1135121

Hand v regular where we were both gonna get it in.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1135122

Not sure if I should have shoved this, didnt really know what else to do though.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1135124

Sick two outer.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1135125

I debated whether to post this hand as it outs the worst player on FTP. Never mind!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1135126

Nice river overbet. Unfortunately I have better set!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1135131

Nice draw lucks out over set.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1135133

Nice river - shame about his turn line...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1135134

Standard on both parts I guess.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1135136

I get aggro with La Jolla Shores and suck out.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1135137

Lol.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1135139

Back to the tables now, gl everyone!

Back To The Grind - And Some Random Musings

2007-05-27T20:23:00.000Z

Ok so I got back from holiday on Wednesday Evening and it was pretty nice to get away to be honest. I played poker a bit over there, mainly working on some stuff and studying and managed to make $1200 which was ok. I got back and did well immediately, picking up a few buyins. I played today though and things didn't go that well, I got a/i with 75 on a 765 flop against 74 who proceeded to hit runner runner flush (4 high one card!) and allin with 86 on an 863ddx flop against Callide (a regular) who had A8dd and hit his ace. I also got a/i with AKhh on a T64hhx flop against Q4hh in a reraised pot (wtf) and his hand held. Of course, I could usually show you these hands on pokerhand.org but it looks like someone has forgotten to renew their domain name or sth so the site is down. I'll post some HHs when it's working again.

Whilst I was away I read a couple of really good books, I love reading books on criminality/gangs as well as soccer autobiographies. I read a good book called Grafters which documented a gang of sneak theives from Manchester called the Wide Awake Crew, they basically went round Europe stealing all manner of crazy things. If these guys had the organisation of the gang of the second book I read, The Great Casino Heist by Richard Marcus, they probably would have got away with a lot, lot more. The Casino gang really were amazing, they pastposted on Blackjack and Roulette, as well as some other Craps scams too. The stories in there are truly amazing and it even has some good thoughts to general personal psychology which can probably be applied to Poker and definitely life.

The book really took me back to my years playing Fruit Machines full time. To be honest, if I had the chance to do that again for the money involved at the time, I'd do it like a shot. Looking back on it now, I had a great time on the road and locally. Some of the scrapes that me and my mates got into were brilliant, and we made great money. If someone offered me £600 between 2 every day with ZERO risk, after all expenses, I'd bite their hands off. If only things were good now.

Reading this book really reminded me of some incidents which we got into and some of the banter and camaraderie that we had.

One time I found this pub about 30 minutes from my house in a little village. It had 3 machines, and two were 'doable'. Basically for 10-15 minutes on each you could pretty much be guaranteed to walk out with £70-100 every time, as long as they weren't done which in this place was almost certainly not done. I went there like 10 times in about 3-4 weeks and made some great money, then they barred me. I said I'd cut them in if they let me carry on playing in there, they said no so I told them that I'd send all my mates in and they'd regret the day they barred me.

I sent my brother in a few times and he did good, obviously. Then I sent my mate in a couple of times. First time, he properly caned the fruits and I just sat in the car waiting for him, happy days. Second time, I found another good fruit in a pub down the road and went there after dropping him off at the pub which was hot for me. 20 minutes later I get a phone call, it's him sounding pretty out of breath. He's asking where the fuck I am, I'm like well just down the road mate, he goes well get here quick cos they are chasing me down the road! He jumps into my car still moving and we give them a beep and drive off. It turns out the landlord tried to turn the fruit off when he was getting the streak (a big amount of money which he has set up for it to give) out of the fruit and he ended up hitting the landlord whilst he tried to turn the machine off! He got the money out though, fair play to him.

Nothing came of it though, you've got to laugh because these landlords were basically the thickest people I have ever met. Every day or two you could be guaranteed to hear "That's my holiday fund" etc... They didnt realise that all you are doing is taking the percentage out of the machine and as soon as a drinker (aka donk) goes on it he is going to lose our profit back into it.

Now the jackpots are £35 and may be going up to £50 soon which is just ridiculous. These guys couldnt even handle £50 or £75 streaks on £25 jackpot so how can they handle it when they go for £100+. Absolute joke.

I remember many times pub workers trying to get my car numberplate when we drove off, not sure why because I'm sure they dont have access to a police database to find out who I was. Not that I was even committing a crime anyway. They were just stupid. I used to have a convertible at the time so we used to drive off with the roof down, thumbs up to them, and the stereo turned up to the max playing house music. They used to hate it, but we'd come back several days later and they'd say nothing. I've got many other stories but maybe I'll write a book someday. Many many people have told me I should, so if I ever get the motivation I might do that.

Should have a CR video up tomorrow, 4 tabling NL50 with some good PT analysis at the end.

I'll be playing all week so should update regularly, especially if pokerhand.org gets back up and running.

Cheers,

FP.

Holiday Monies

2007-05-19T09:51:00.000Z

Well I went on holiday to France on Tuesday which I definitely needed as non stop working at home was definitely getting stressful. Over here, there is nothing really to do which is what I need.

So I havent really done much although I have been putting in some study on CR and 2+2 as well as playing like 500 hands/day.

Away from the tables, I am playing sick amounts of Football Manager 07 at the moment and I'm going for the Premiership with Bristol Rovers, we are 2nd to Man United in January 2019, and playing Barcelona in the UEFA Cup. When I was younger I was properly hooked on Championship Manager but then I found poker...

I'm also up to date with Lost and its getting good! Episode 20 was the best ever IMO and although Episode 21 wasnt as good, next week's season finale should be awesome. Question is, what do I watch now PB and Lost have finished for a few months? Maybe I'll start catching up with Heroes, seeing as everyone says how good it is.

Here's some hands from when I've been away. I've booked about 4.5 buyin profit playing not much, so its all good.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1110969

Standard Preflop against a semi regular

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1110974

Sweet river. Was so obv he had Tx too.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1110975

'AK' induces terrible bluff float from over aggro opponent who couldnt fold. And there are plenty of them.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1110977

Set holds against overs and flush draw.

And thats about it at the moment. Not sure how much I'll play between now and when I get back, will have to see!

Gl everyone,

Dan

Omg, The Swings Are Huge!

2007-05-11T12:04:00.000Z

Well after Monday I took a few days off which made sense definitely - I returned yesterday and FTP was lagging up big time which obv is so frustrating but (EDITED): They showed great customer service by emailing me asking some very specific technical questions. Having said that, why cant they email their customers to tell them when they are going to have downtime? If they can send everyone emails with 'strategy tips' from Gavin Smith and Gus Hansen, why can't they do this? I know what I'd prefer. A lot of talk on CR and 2+2 has been about the 'Bot' Issues but tbh I couldnt care less. Obv it doesnt affect me so much at 6 max anyway but I'm sure they must be so exploitable as people have posted on there. I guess they shouldnt be allowed as they have unlimited stamina and dont tilt but I dont really give a shit to be honest!

Ok so I just played 1k hands at 1/2. 8 tabling. Many regulars, games were pretty tough. Didnt exactly run good on the whole, though I did win a nice little pot which I'll show later...If someone can tell me how to flop a set (esp in a reraised pot v regular), I'd like to know!

Well here's a few of the ridiculous hands from today. I was down like 3/4 buyins at one point but recovered well to turn in just over a $300 profit. The big pot certainly helped...

Ridiculous setup v regular who takes this line with a much bigger range.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1084263

I figure the OR misclicked somehow cos he folded really quick. Obv the cold caller (50% vpip+) played the hand abysmally and got lucky.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1084266

Nice cold calls, buddy.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1084267

Deepstacked, I flop the nuts on a fairly drawy flop and get raised. How to extract the most money? I know - overbet shove! Obv the turn sucked but it's fair to say that the rest of my block of flats heard me when the river paired the board.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1084270

I've got some coaching to do this afternoon and then I'm going out into town in the evening. Tomorrow, it's Cricket but if I'm feeling ok I may play in the morning. Sunday I have soccer in the morning and then Spurs v Man City in the afternoon. I went to the Blackburn game last night and it was pretty mediocre. Thanks to the stupid roadworks in the Blackwall Tunnel it took me 2.5 hours to get home (50 miles of basically dual carraige/motorway driving).

Gl everyone.

Absolute Joke

2007-05-07T10:50:00.000Z

Just dropped 6 buyins in 500 hands at 1/2. Ridiculous setups/beats. Take a look at these:-

FullTiltPoker Game #2371108541: Table Kiowa (6 max) - $1/$2 - No Limit Hold'em - 6:34:43 ET - 2007/05/07
Seat 1: SMOKINACESS07 ($150.55)
Seat 2: JustRiveredU ($317.35)
Seat 3: TLC1418 ($0), is sitting out
Seat 4: brendan01 ($222.55)
Seat 5: hairypencil ($232.65)
Seat 6: PheeRage ($200), is sitting out
brendan01 posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to JustRiveredU [Jd 9d]
hairypencil folds
SMOKINACESS07 folds
TLC1418 stands up
JustRiveredU raises to $7
SMOKINACESS07: glad i folded that ace
brendan01 calls $5
*** FLOP *** [5s Js 9c]
PheeRage has returned
brendan01 bets $10
JustRiveredU raises to $30
brendan01 raises to $50
-Brigy- sits down
JustRiveredU raises to $310.35, and is all in
brendan01 calls $165.55, and is all in
JustRiveredU shows [Jd 9d]
brendan01 shows [9h Ah]
-Brigy- adds $46
Uncalled bet of $94.80 returned to JustRiveredU
*** TURN *** [5s Js 9c] [Ac]
*** RIVER *** [5s Js 9c Ac] [7h]
JustRiveredU shows two pair, Jacks and Nines
brendan01 shows two pair, Aces and Nines
brendan01 wins the pot ($443.10) with two pair, Aces and Nines

This one was good...Against a ridiculously aggro 37/19.

FullTiltPoker Game #2371129901: Table Lynnwood (6 max) - $1/$2 - No Limit Hold'em - 6:46:19 ET - 2007/05/07
Seat 1: bonehead1979 ($244.80)
Seat 2: Fuldtit ($1,376.20)
Seat 3: JustRiveredU ($201)
Seat 4: PheeRage ($200)
Seat 5: feelingit ($187), is sitting out
Seat 6: NoNFAtMiLk ($243)
JustRiveredU posts the small blind of $1
PheeRage posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to JustRiveredU [Ad Td]
NoNFAtMiLk folds
bonehead1979 folds
Fuldtit raises to $7
JustRiveredU raises to $25
PheeRage folds
Fuldtit calls $18
*** FLOP *** [3c 3d 9d]
JustRiveredU bets $36
Fuldtit raises to $160
JustRiveredU raises to $176, and is all in
Fuldtit calls $16
JustRiveredU shows [Ad Td]
Fuldtit shows [Kd Kh]
*** TURN *** [3c 3d 9d] [5c]
*** RIVER *** [3c 3d 9d 5c] [9s]
JustRiveredU shows two pair, Nines and Threes
Fuldtit shows two pair, Kings and Nines
Fuldtit wins the pot ($401) with two pair, Kings and Nines
JustRiveredU is sitting out

Hate this spot, but again villain was a fish and NONFATMILK was playing back at me in like every hand.

FullTiltPoker Game #2371115602: Table Lynnwood (6 max) - $1/$2 - No Limit Hold'em - 6:38:28 ET - 2007/05/07
Seat 1: bonehead1979 ($216.75)
Seat 2: Fuldtit ($873.25)
Seat 3: JustRiveredU ($216.95)
Seat 4: PheeRage ($215.30)
Seat 5: feelingit ($187), is sitting out
Seat 6: NoNFAtMiLk ($200)
JustRiveredU posts the small blind of $1
PheeRage posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to JustRiveredU [Qd Qh]
NoNFAtMiLk raises to $7
bonehead1979 folds
Fuldtit calls $7
JustRiveredU raises to $30
PheeRage folds
NoNFAtMiLk calls $23
Fuldtit calls $23
*** FLOP *** [8d 4s 3s]
JustRiveredU bets $70
NoNFAtMiLk raises to $170, and is all in
Fuldtit calls $170
JustRiveredU raises to $186.95, and is all in
Fuldtit calls $16.95
JustRiveredU shows [Qd Qh]
NoNFAtMiLk shows [Ks Kd]
Fuldtit shows [8s 7s]
*** TURN *** [8d 4s 3s] [Js]
*** RIVER *** [8d 4s 3s Js] [8h]
JustRiveredU shows two pair, Queens and Eights
Fuldtit shows a flush, Jack high
Fuldtit wins the side pot ($33.90) with a flush, Jack high
NoNFAtMiLk shows two pair, Kings and Eights
Fuldtit wins the main pot ($599) with a flush, Jack high
JustRiveredU is sitting out
NoNFAtMiLk adds $200

FullTiltPoker Game #2371095140: Table Bonanza (6 max) - $1/$2 - No Limit Hold'em - 6:27:38 ET - 2007/05/07
Seat 1: plzlemmewin ($402.55)
Seat 2: MyEntourage ($175.25)
Seat 3: JustRiveredU ($207.25)
Seat 5: vanjoelz ($308.70)
Seat 6: NoNFAtMiLk ($218)
plzlemmewin posts the small blind of $1
MyEntourage posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to JustRiveredU [Ad Ac]
JustRiveredU raises to $7
vanjoelz calls $7
NoNFAtMiLk folds
plzlemmewin folds
MyEntourage calls $5
*** FLOP *** [2d 8d Jd]
Parcesros sits down
MyEntourage checks
JustRiveredU bets $16
Parcesros adds $78.15
vanjoelz raises to $32
MyEntourage folds
JustRiveredU raises to $200.25, and is all in
vanjoelz calls $168.25
JustRiveredU shows [Ad Ac]
vanjoelz shows [7d Td]
*** TURN *** [2d 8d Jd] [9d]
*** RIVER *** [2d 8d Jd 9d] [Tc]
JustRiveredU shows a flush, Ace high
vanjoelz shows a straight flush, Jack high
vanjoelz wins the pot ($419.50) with a straight flush, Jack high
JustRiveredU is sitting out

FullTiltPoker Game #2371124962: Table Lynnwood (6 max) - $1/$2 - No Limit Hold'em - 6:43:32 ET - 2007/05/07
Seat 1: bonehead1979 ($202)
Seat 2: Fuldtit ($1,270.20)
Seat 3: JustRiveredU ($200)
Seat 4: PheeRage ($198)
Seat 5: feelingit ($187), is sitting out
Seat 6: NoNFAtMiLk ($247)
PheeRage posts the small blind of $1
NoNFAtMiLk posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to JustRiveredU [Td Qd]
bonehead1979 folds
Fuldtit calls $2
JustRiveredU raises to $9
PheeRage adds $3
PheeRage folds
NoNFAtMiLk folds
Fuldtit calls $7
*** FLOP *** [Jd Ts Th]
Fuldtit checks
JustRiveredU bets $16
Fuldtit calls $16
*** TURN *** [Jd Ts Th] [Ac]
Fuldtit checks
JustRiveredU bets $34
Fuldtit calls $34
*** RIVER *** [Jd Ts Th Ac] [8d]
Fuldtit bets $92
JustRiveredU: omg
JustRiveredU has 15 seconds left to act
JustRiveredU: if you have outdrawn again this is sick
JustRiveredU calls $92
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Fuldtit shows [Tc Js] (a full house, Tens full of Jacks)
JustRiveredU mucks
Fuldtit wins the pot ($302) with a full house, Tens full of Jacks

FullTiltPoker Game #2371064196: Table Newburg (6 max) - $1/$2 - No Limit Hold'em - 6:11:48 ET - 2007/05/07
Seat 1: TakeUrCheese ($197)
Seat 2: theWILLofD ($174.85)
Seat 3: batmonster ($133.70)
Seat 4: 79 HAMMER ($200)
Seat 5: phaldamir ($31.75)
Seat 6: JustRiveredU ($217)
batmonster posts the small blind of $1
79 HAMMER posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to JustRiveredU [Jd Ah]
phaldamir folds
JustRiveredU raises to $7
TakeUrCheese folds
theWILLofD folds
batmonster calls $6
79 HAMMER folds
*** FLOP *** [Kd 2h 3h]
batmonster checks
JustRiveredU bets $12
batmonster calls $12
*** TURN *** [Kd 2h 3h] [5s]
batmonster checks
JustRiveredU checks
*** RIVER *** [Kd 2h 3h 5s] [As]
batmonster bets $38
79 HAMMER: fu-ckin idiot
JustRiveredU calls $38
*** SHOW DOWN ***
batmonster shows [8h 4h] (a straight, Five high)
JustRiveredU mucks
batmonster wins the pot ($113) with a straight, Five high

FullTiltPoker Game #2371064254: Table Briggs (6 max) - $1/$2 - No Limit Hold'em - 6:11:50 ET - 2007/05/07
Seat 1: Anjonez ($710.85)
Seat 2: TakeUrCheese ($304.95)
Seat 3: JustRiveredU ($198)
Seat 4: NoNFAtMiLk ($295.30)
Seat 5: BigPappa882 ($69.75)
Seat 6: MyEntourage ($258)
JustRiveredU posts the small blind of $1
NoNFAtMiLk posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to JustRiveredU [9c 7c]
BigPappa882 raises to $4
MyEntourage folds
Anjonez calls $4
TakeUrCheese folds
JustRiveredU calls $3
NoNFAtMiLk calls $2
*** FLOP *** [Kd 7d 9s]
JustRiveredU has 15 seconds left to act
JustRiveredU bets $12
NoNFAtMiLk calls $12
BigPappa882 calls $12
Anjonez folds
*** TURN *** [Kd 7d 9s] [2h]
JustRiveredU bets $36
NoNFAtMiLk calls $36
BigPappa882 folds
*** RIVER *** [Kd 7d 9s 2h] [2s]
JustRiveredU checks
NoNFAtMiLk bets $72
JustRiveredU has 15 seconds left to act
JustRiveredU folds
Uncalled bet of $72 returned to NoNFAtMiLk
NoNFAtMiLk mucks
NoNFAtMiLk wins the pot ($121)
JustRiveredU adds $54

FullTiltPoker Game #2371069252: Table Kiowa (6 max) - $1/$2 - No Limit Hold'em - 6:14:18 ET - 2007/05/07
Seat 1: SMOKINACESS07 ($171.55)
Seat 2: JustRiveredU ($177.90)
Seat 3: TLC1418 ($95.80)
Seat 4: brendan01 ($187.90)
Seat 5: hairypencil ($183.65)
Seat 6: cobrasu27 ($241.05)
SMOKINACESS07 posts the small blind of $1
JustRiveredU posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to JustRiveredU [Js Ts]
TLC1418 folds
brendan01 folds
hairypencil raises to $4
cobrasu27 folds
SMOKINACESS07 calls $3
JustRiveredU calls $2
*** FLOP *** [3s 8s 5s]
SMOKINACESS07 bets $8
JustRiveredU raises to $24
hairypencil calls $24
SMOKINACESS07 calls $16
*** TURN *** [3s 8s 5s] [Qs]
SMOKINACESS07 checks
JustRiveredU checks
hairypencil checks
*** RIVER *** [3s 8s 5s Qs] [Th]
SMOKINACESS07 checks
JustRiveredU checks
hairypencil bets $28
SMOKINACESS07 calls $28
JustRiveredU folds
JustRiveredU adds $50.10
*** SHOW DOWN ***
hairypencil shows [Qd Ks] (a flush, King high)
SMOKINACESS07 shows [8c 9s] (a flush, Queen high)
hairypencil wins the pot ($137) with a flush, King high

Going to lie in a darkened room for a while now. Can someone answer me this? This guy (28/20) makes a ridiculously light call on the river against a fish, but whenever I do this with better, they have the goods. Explain?

FullTiltPoker Game #2371135811: Table Kiowa (6 max) - $1/$2 - No Limit Hold'em - 6:49:36 ET - 2007/05/07
Seat 1: SMOKINACESS07 ($140.30)
Seat 2: JustRiveredU ($200)
Seat 3: -Brigy- ($0), is sitting out
Seat 4: brendan01 ($514.35)
Seat 5: hairypencil ($238.75)
Seat 6: PheeRage ($208)
hairypencil posts the small blind of $1
PheeRage posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to JustRiveredU [5s 7d]
-Brigy-: A5
SMOKINACESS07 folds
JustRiveredU folds
brendan01 folds
SMOKINACESS07: no1 cares
hairypencil raises to $6
PheeRage raises to $24
hairypencil calls $18
*** FLOP *** [5c Qh Kd]
brendan01: oh thats harsh
hairypencil checks
PheeRage bets $30
hairypencil calls $30
*** TURN *** [5c Qh Kd] [4c]
hairypencil checks
PheeRage checks
*** RIVER *** [5c Qh Kd 4c] [7s]
hairypencil bets $36
-Brigy- adds $40
-Brigy- has returned
PheeRage has 15 seconds left to act
PheeRage calls $36
*** SHOW DOWN ***
hairypencil shows [Ac Th] (Ace King high)
PheeRage shows [6d 6h] (a pair of Sixes)
PheeRage wins the pot ($177) with a pair of Sixes

To All UK Citizens

2007-05-06T10:50:00.001Z

For all UK citizens, here is a link to a petition on the government's website. It is to get Poker recognized as a prescribed game in the UK Gaming act. This will allow it to be played outside of licensed casinos, in other card rooms for example.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Poker-UK/

Please pass this on to other uk players.

A New Beginning

2007-05-04T11:20:00.000Z

After the various posts on CR and the last post on here, I am going back to basics for a bit. I have really worked on my game in the last few days and the things that have inspired me to do this was some comments on the forum/here, and also the SB Rugby HU video, as well as the Hawk51 vid in Member Contributions. IMO this is one of the best videos on CR, he is an excellent LAG player and is well worth watching. If anyone doesnt learn anything from it, then you are either world class or need to give up.

I'm going back to 50NL for 20k hands (should take until Monday or Tuesday) to implement some things I have been thinking about. I'm not mad keen to share them on here as I am sure some of my opponents read this, but its safe to say that I will be much tougher to play as a result if I can get them to work effectively in my game.

I played 1500 hands at 50NL yesterday and picked up 3 buyins making some adjustments. I actually felt the standard, apart from obvious donks, was actually pretty decent. There are definitely some very competent (probably CR) members on there. In fact several started chatting in the chat box to me, so clearly this is true.

This morning I made a NL100 video for CR. It's a 4 tabling one where I focus on determing opponent's ranges based on their preflop stats and postflop actions, and how effective note taking can be a huge boost to your winrate by giving you a great read on an opponent's postflop range. It should be added on Monday.

I've got a couple of lessons this afternoon, so that should be good too - after that I'll probably 8 table for most of the evening, I have no real social plans for tonight. Tomorrow I've got Cricket nets, and a Barbeque at a mates house, so no poker unless I get up early to play, and Sunday I have Soccer in the morning (our game got called off but I'm going to watch a cup final), Cricket (first game for me this season) in the afternoon, and then a football awards drink up in the evening. As manager I have to present awards to our players based on their votes and the marks that me and my mate who is captain have given throughout the season. Should be a grin, even I am getting hammered!

Good luck at the tables,

Dan

Confidence, or lack of it

2007-05-01T22:11:00.000Z

To be honest, I'm not really sure where my game is at at the moment. I'm writing this kinda feeling confused and unsure of where I am in the poker world.

Basically last week I played like 6k hands of 1/2 and picked up about $2,500 which I'm pretty satisfied with. But this is the whole problem. I can carry on repeatedly at 1/2 and make ok monies but I'm not sure I want just that. I don't want to be Mr. Average and be just a solid low stakes player. I want to be a big winner - I mean not in the league of SBRugby obv but it would be nice for me to make a game like 5/10 or 10/20 my regular game so I can start to make big money.

But every time I move up to 2/4 I just get crushed. I think there are various reasons for this.

Firstly the games are somewhat toughter, with far less donks and far more regulars. I mean, a 27% average vpip table seems juicy at 2/4, whereas in all honesty I'd probably pass it up at 1/2 and look for better. When I'm playing 1/2 I do tend to make most of my money from bad players, and obviously at the higher games they are getting spread thinner so its not as easy.

Secondly, I just dont seem to have the confidence to play here either. I'm not really the most confident of people to start with and this I think is part of the problem for me - i.e. its easy for me to get downhearted for various reasons. I'm not sure how to overcome this, that will be tough.

To be honest, I feel quite embarrassed posting this, as well as a similar post on the CR Forum today, but I'm not really sure what to do. At the moment I just keep 40 buyins for 2/4 online and withdraw anything on top of that like twice a month so I'm putting away a decent amount of cash but I'd really like to move up with confidence. I dont see why I have this issue really, I'm running at like 7.5ptbb/100 at 1/2 for the last few months so obviously I have ability. Whenever I play I feel I am amongst the best players at the level, and whilst I have respect for some of the regulars, I never have any fear of them.

This probably sounds like a whining post but I dont intend it to be that. Obviously I have to be grateful that I am earning what is, in all honesty, decent money playing 1/2 compared to most people who work for a living. But I have definitely put more work into being good at poker than I did in 3 years doing my degree, so I think I deserve this relative success. But I want to be able to build on this, and at this point I think I am under achieving and in danger of missing the boat.

On one positive note, I just watched Liverpool beat Chelsea on penalties. A real shame to see Lampard and Ashley Cole on the losing side :-)

Today's Hands

2007-04-26T21:14:00.000Z

I played a couple of hours this morning and this were pretty average, I just couldnt catch anything which was pretty frustrating. I didnt force the action though and just tried to get my money in in good spots.

I played about another 1.5 hours this afternoon and the tables were pretty bad. Many regulars and few fish, so I had to table hop quite a bit.

Overall for the day I played pretty tight due to a lack of cards/situations but managed to still pick up $340 in about 1250 hands. When things dont go for you on the whole, you have to take that for sure.

Here's some hands from today:-

AK has 3 streets of value against a fish.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1038404

Hit a 2 outer with KK v AA :-)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1038407

Opponent's float gets him into trouble against my flopped quads!!!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1038412

Appalling call gets rewarded for the short stack.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1038433

Horrible hand with AA. I'm really not sure of a good flop line here. The guy who lead $20 was very TAG and I thought he was going for a bet/3bet line. Looking at his hand, I think that was definitely the case. Good turn for me so I decided to commit myself, but the river was the worst in the deck so I had to pass.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1038424

And that's about it for today. Gonna play some more tomorrow!

Solid Day At 1/2

2007-04-25T21:28:00.000Z

Well - I havent played that much over the last few days for a few reasons. Firstly after getting broadband back last week I have been doing quite a lot of coaching and that has gone pretty well overall. I always enjoy it when students are very proactive and are asking a lot of questions and trying to pick my brains for good lines in certain spots. The last few sessions have definitely done that.

Also I moved some money to UB to see what the games were like there. Answer is, I really dont know. I datamined for a while (prefetching hands is pretty awesome!) and the games looked kinda softish but PAHUD seems to be very patchy on UB so I decided to sack it off. Also the table selection and the amount of tables is pretty bad. I'm not sure how they get double the amount of players as Cryptologic but have less cash game tables...

So I'm in the process of getting my cash back to FTP. I left some anyway so I could still play 1/2.

Here's some hands from today's session, where I picked up a few buyins and felt happy with my play.

Flop a boat against trips :-)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1034959

Me sucking out against a short stack

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1034962

Rivered the straight, his call is atrocious.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1034964

Pretty decent sized pot with 83o, I would have been happy to get a/i on the flop but it kinda got scary...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1034970

Not that many other hands of note, mainly standard stuff which I won medium sized pots with. I'll be playing a lot tomorrow so hopefully I can post some more. Also, does anyone know how to get the pokerhand links to be clickable again? I seem to have lost that capability...

Gl everyone,

FP

Up and Down Week

2007-04-22T14:35:00.000Z

Well - where to start?

The weekend seems a good point, when I picked up 6.5 buyins in a 24 hour period at 1/2 on FTP. I played about 3.5k hands in this time and things went pretty well. I got my money in good and didnt have any problems and I was pleased overall with how I played.

Monday I played a bit and did ok, and I FINALLY got broadband on Tuesday in my flat. But then, disaster strikes. As soon as I get connected, my Postgre SQL database no longer connects to the server (port blocked). It's blatantly something to do with my connection as its the only thing thats changed, but support from all angles deny it's their problem. It's not a huge issue as I have many many hands on my access db's but just a pain as also I had loads of numbers on people on my PSQL db (like 30k hands on some regulars) and now I dont have that many.

I decided that this was a good point to have a shot at 2/4 again. I did ok on Wednesday but the tables were terrible, full of regulars, so I left after 30mins picking up a tiny bit less than a buyin after stacking someone w/a set against his float which turned top pair :-)

I didn't get any hands in on Thursday, but I did on Friday. I had an awful day at 2/4 on Friday, dropped about $1,500 in total and to be honest there was little I could do on the most part. I think maybe a couple of the hands were marginally questionable but those playing lower limits must remember that the game is hugely aggressive preflop with much light squeezing and 3-betting.

Here's some hands from Friday:-

Probably played this a bit tranparently but I'm not sure what other line to take seeing as I dont think I get that much value from TT if I double barrel a standard player.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1023712

Half stack donation.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1023715

JJ facing a potential squeeze from a regular. Opinion was pretty mixed on the forum as to the optimal line in this spot.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1023718

QQ busted by hugely aggro donk (45/25/5). Obv a different line would have been taken against a more competent player.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1023719

Absolutely ridiculous chase gets rewarded. Nice turn call in particular with one card bottom end of a gutshot for $164.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1023722

Maybe I should have double barrelled the turn but whatever.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1023727

Set loses to 2nd pair which hits runner runner straight.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1023732

And that's about it. Not ideal, but I guess you have to take the rough with the smooth and that certainly was rough.

I went to Spurs V Arsenal yesterday, we outplayed them for the first half and went in fron through Robbie Keane and deserved the lead at half time. But yet again we sit back with a one goal lead against a top 4 team and throw it away. I was so convinced we would not equalise I left with 2 minutes to go. Obviously Jenas scored :-)

Gonna move some money onto another site from FTP and see what that's like at 2/4. At FTP it's just regular city. A good table would be 4 regulars, one 30/10/2 and one donk.

I've got another video coming on CR today, a 2 parter which is about 50mins playing and 25 mins PT analysis. It's pretty decent IMO and hopefully will make up for the one with bad sound.

Cheers,

FP

Getting The Hands In

2007-04-11T16:45:00.000Z

Well - since my last post I have got a good amount of hands in. I've upped my tables to 8 now and this really helps with getting them in, I've been getting in a regular 2k or more a day on 'playing days' now which is great. Finally getting the motivation to play and I'm really feeling confident about my game.

Despite this, I've been running kind of marginal lately. Had a sick beat in a big pot which I'll show later on in the hands, and just haven't been hitting. But I'm still winning and winning when running poorly can't be bad. I did run ok today and picked up 3.5 buyins.

I just got my new monitor delivered so I can pitch the 15" CRT which I was running as my second monitor. Now have 2 x 19" TFT which works well. And further good news on the technology front - should be getting broadband next week in the new flat... I have placed the order now the line seems free of tag so I'm waiting for the box and activation. Will be a huge relief!

I also had to get another 1GB RAM for my PC too because the FTP client seems to be a huge memory resource after their resizeable table update. It was ridiculous, PAHUD stats not showing properly and the cards lagging. Many people have found this too - but the memory upgrade seems to solve the problem. Anyone else having this problem?

Away from the tables, I've got football training in a couple of hours and then the Spurs game is tomorrow against Sevilla. I'll probably play online most of the day though before that. Massive game, would be awesome if we won. Watched the Man United game yesterday, that was amazing. They are the best team in the world at the moment, and despite his faults, Ronaldo is the best player by far.

I wrote an article for CR about PAHUD on tuesday, if you havent read it check it out, I think there's some interesting content on there. I also made my next video the other day and that should be up soon, I think there's some good discussion on there too.

I've also linked a few new blogs, everyone who added theirs on the comments should be added. If I have missed you out, please drop me a reminder.

And some hands from the last few days:-

People love donating:-

http://www.pokerhand.org/?988322

Pretty unlucky against an 80% vpip player

http://www.pokerhand.org/?988326

I'm sure he should not be shoving this turn...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?988329

This was actually a great preflop call seeing as his range was tiny with a 4% pfr - but I felt he'd do this with hands I race with as well as sometimes worse so I called, was right and got punished :-(

http://www.pokerhand.org/?988333

Tough for the other guy to get away from.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?988336

Felt his overbet meant he was on a draw. I was right. He hits anyway.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?988339

Very next hand. I get revenge.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?988343

Fish's call with a gutshot gets him into trouble!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?988346

The amount of players I have made notes on lately for not being able to fold top pair is crazy!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?988350

I insta called this, he was terrible.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?988357

He was a huge fish and insta bet the river, I didnt like his line so I decided to call. Pretty decent call I think, many people get stacked here IMO.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?988362

KK loses to open ender against a terrible, terrible player.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?988367

Just played this hand this afternoon against one of the worst players on FTP

http://www.pokerhand.org/?988370

Probably just had the edge in this one but lose

http://www.pokerhand.org/?988376

I just couldnt put him on a 3.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?988380

Pot which has been discussed on CR - against regular who squeezes light.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?988381

Great flop, obv he was a big, big fish.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?988384

Good old 86 gets the money from an idiot. Check his hand out.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?988386

This guy is another one on my buddy list

http://www.pokerhand.org/?988388

The sick hand I talked about earlier.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?988390

Good luck at the tables,

Fruitypro.

Birthdays, Mobile Phones, Spanish Police and Some Hands :-)

2007-04-07T09:37:00.000Z

First up just wanted to say it was my birthday on Monday - 28 is not a good age to be, getting v close to 30 now! I think this is the age where the novelty of birthdays has finally worn off! I'm buying a new monitor with some money I got and also I got my ticket paid for for my trip to France next month.

To celebrate my birthday, I played poker online. And whilst doing this I dropped my new Nokia N73 onto the floor from a filing cabinet. Onto carpet. And somehow the stupid LCD screen broke inside and now its busto. Its insured, luckily as they gave me £50 in the shop to take out 3 months insurance costing £30 :-) I thought I'd get my old N70 unlocked to vodafone from orange but no, apparently you cant get N70 series Nokia's unlocked. Eventually I get my old old phone unlocked - but its so wierd, you feel totally lost without a mobile phone even for a day even though I actually hate them! And the N70 is going on ebay seeing as its basically no use to me now I am on vodafone.

Other points of interest was the Spurs game in Sevilla on Wednesday. I actually gave serious thought to going to this game but it was probably best in the end. I'm pretty disappointed I havent made it to a European away game so far this season. Looking at the crowd scenes on TV it looked pretty bad but now the truth has come out it seems the police were at fault just like at Man United - apparently they beat up a defenceless guy in a wheelchair pretty bad for no reason and it all kicked off after the worst referee of all time gave a penalty against Robbo and our fans committed the heinous crime of booing the ref. No fan on fan violence and there wouldnt be either. We have got on great with opposing fans in Europe. Club Bruges fans were awesome and we clapped each other at the end of the game at White Hart Lane.

As soon as there is any trouble with English fans we get blamed straight away. Fact is, if we had behaved like Italian, Dutch or Turkish fans over the last few years we would all have been banned from Europe for years. But they can get away with anything they want, and perhaps someone who knows more about life and football than me can explain it. Whilst they are doing that, maybe they can explain how the worst referee in the world took charge of the game. He was worse than the one we had in Sunday League last week who I wrote a report on because he was that bad. And maybe Seville players might actually get punished for diving sometime (or the headbutt on Keane in the last minute) - but no, silence again. We are still well in the tie though with the away goal and have everything to play for at home.

Today we are playing Chelsea - and because they run the league we have to play 36 hours after the game in the UEFA Cup. Back overs in this game because there will be plenty of goals. I think we'll play a weakened team so I think they will get 3 themselves.

I've played quite a lot this week, here's some hands. I've run pretty average - racking up some tough beats as well as inflicting an awesome one too :-) Pretty solid profit though.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?974849

Thanks for the donation

http://www.pokerhand.org/?974852

Very marginal spot - I think this is generally a fold but these guys were total donators (seen by their hands)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?974855

Thought he was squeezing. He wasnt. Still, I won :-)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?974858

I know - I have queens and the board comes with an overcard in a reraised pot. Let's overbet this flop!!! Thanks again for the donation.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?974860

One of the best beats I have ever inflicted on someone. I really felt I was gonna win on the turn too - I felt it coming!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?974862

Another donation

http://www.pokerhand.org/?974865

Does this guy really think his hand is good here?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?974867

I do run into sets too...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?974869

Pretty terrible river call from me

http://www.pokerhand.org/?974871

Ouch. Flop the nuts and lose.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?974874

Another donation from the guy in the first hand. I think he may be 2+2 or even CR as he was calling out Boosted J in the chat and asking him if he was making a vid.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?974876

When will people learn top pair ten kicker is not a good hand !!!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?974879

Set v set against a regular

http://www.pokerhand.org/?974883

I know - I'll call $70 on the river with ace high. Thanks again!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?974884

Nice.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?974887

Another bad river call by me. I just couldnt put him on a hand.

And after going through my PT database, I can firmly say that I am owed some sets from small pairs. Better hit the tables to get them!

GL everyone,

FP

Thought I'd Better Update!

2007-03-29T12:35:00.000Z

Well what's new?

Still haven't got broadband which totally sucks and has kinda put me on a bit of a life tilt. I haven't played that much cos of it but I am gonna make an effort to get a lot of hands in now. I'm so lazy and I don't really know why. Psychological things affect poker players a lot I think, for example if you value money a lot and pick up a few buyins then it can be hard to carry on. That's something I have to get out of my head. At the end of the day profit is only profit when you cash out and not something you should quantify at the tables. If I can get that into my head thats a start :-)

I thought I'd post up some hands. I actually feel I played very well over the last week and am running at >10PTBB/100 hands over that period (only about 6k hands cos I am so lazy...) Something I have focused on more is playing my opponent more than playing standard lines. This has worked pretty well.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?947860
This hand was all about ranges. I felt opponents range (24/20/40% att to steal) was huge for his 3-bet in position, so I decided to call and checkraise allin if I flopped an overpair. I think 4-betting preflop is ok against someone who does it this light but I prefer my line.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?947861
Pretty standard from me. But what he is doing only he knows. Buddy list time :-)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?947865
I think some players need a course on how to play 99!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?947870
Tech house was playing 70/30 and was on monkey tilt. He had open shoved K3o and 94o preflop recently so I'm calling him down pretty light in position. He had felted ace high and bottom pair too. Not necessarily a standard line from me but playing the player and all that!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?947871
Opponents play with air goes badly wrong...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?947873
Nice when you can get AA allin preflop

http://www.pokerhand.org/?947874
Sticky spot with AA overpair and flush draw against top set. Even then I'm not that far behind, sth like 40-60.

I went out to watch the two England games and got bored to tears. We have to get rid of McClown. Oh and Lampard. The only good thing Rooney did over the international break was to hit Lampard's wrist and break it with a shot.

To finish, I just saw Chris Eubank on the news. It reminded me of the Steve Penk prank I found on YouTube the other week when he impersonates him.

Here's the link:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bc_53vaWQ60

Good luck everyone,

Dan

More Live Poker

2007-03-19T16:30:00.000Z

After the relative success on Friday, I decided to play live again last night. I thought I'd pop along to the Full House in Reigate and play the £50 1 rebuy tournament and then a cash game afterwards.

Tournament was actually fairly decent in standard with only several out and out donators/luckboxes.

I didnt have many key hands because I played pretty tight and then used this to my benefit when necessary and pretty much never had a showdown.

Here's a few though:-

Level 2 - 50/100 and I'm playing 4300. I havent taken my rebuy yet. I raise AQ behind 1 limper on the button to 400. BB calls. He seems pretty bad and I've seen him make some terrible calls preflop. Flop TT6 with 2diamonds. I'm happy with this and c-bet for 600. He calls. Turn is a Qc and he instantly lead for 2k. Wtf. I only have 3300 left so its clearly a push/fold decision. I tank it up for ages and I just dont know what to do. He seemed happy to call with marginal hands so it is possible he had Tx. I was listening to drum and bass music throughout and didnt hear them call the clock on me. I saw the dealer say 20 seconds left. Lol. I took my earphones out and quickly asked him how strong he was. He got very flustered immediately and mumbled a load of crap. I said 'There's only 1 way to find out' and shoved. He folded!!! For 1300 into about a 7500 pot. Lol.

I stole my way onto the final table in slightly below average stack. I had no premium hands until then apart from QQ once which flopped ace high and I took the pot down with a c-bet.

A few people knocked themselves out whilst I was just picking my spots. Blinds were worth a lot and most players didnt defend them enough so it was worth picking spots using my tight image. It only paid 5 and I got into the money.

Down to 3 handed and I picked up the chip lead when I shoved AJ and got called with KQ. I held. The only decent player then shoved KK and got called by the fish who held 89s. Seeing as I folded 75s he looked to be in trouble. But runner runner top end straight saw him home, so we didnt get to heads up yet. Then they both got a/i preflop with similar stacks so I thought definitely heads up this time, but no they both held AJ for a chop.

Blinds was an insane 10000/20000 by this point and with chip lead I only had 6 BB. It was actually a fair structured comp but it lasted ages which meant it was a crapshoot. SB (fish) shoved and I held A4c in BB. It was 43k more to me so a pretty mandatory call seeing as he'd been shoving a lot. He held Q2. 4 on the flop was good for me, but Q on turn lucked out for him. I then shoved with QJ to steal the blinds and I was back in it. Next hand, it folded to me in SB and I shoved KQ. BB called with AJ and we both blanked so I was out in 3rd for £350. I was pretty pleased with how I played but you do need luck to close these things out and you cant always get that. By this point it was late, and I didn't fancy the £3/3 cash game so I went home.

Overall, I'm beginning to enjoy this live poker lark.

FP

Big Slick Cash Game

2007-03-17T10:11:00.000Z

Finally got back to the tables on Friday. I felt ready to resume. I played about 1200 hands online and picked up $415 at $1/$2. That was a decent re introduction I guess. I've been thinking about adapting my play a bit and what I implemented worked well, so thats promising.

In the evening I decided to go up to the Big Slick to play the £1/£2 cash game ($2/$4) with no max buyin. The game started at about 11:15pm and I sat down to start. I had decent expectations of how juicy the game was and I wasn't disappointed.

The very first hand, one guy who had a striking resemblance to Richard Bucket (Bouqueeet!) from Keeping Up Appearances had to ask the dealer what to do preflop. He was playing about £200. He open folded the flop. He soon learnt how to play and called every street (and eventual allin) with J3 on a JxxQx board. Not one to bluff then. Every time he called, he'd day 'I got to call'. Lol.

There was another guy who had a real problem with bet sizing. He'd try to bet like £80 into a £20 pot but we were playing pot limit. Dealer kept on having to tell him he could only bet the pot. Then he'd do something crazy like bet £5 into a £70 pot. He soon went busto.

Onto some hands I played. Richard Bucket limped in in EP, bet sizing guy minraised to £4. 2 other callers, I call from BB with Ts7s. Flop is good for me, 8 T Q with 2 spades. I lead for about £12 into the £16 pot. Only Richard Bucket called. He's only playing about £100 before the hand. Turn comes a 7 of clubs to give me 2 pair with the spade redraw. Opponent used to bet every time someone showed weakness so I decided to checkraise allin on the turn. He obliged and said 'I got to call' as usual. He said this when he called £30 river bet with queen high though, so I wasn't exactly concerned. Until he showed Q8. River blanks and I lose the pot.

A few hands later, I get dealt AA in early position. One guy guested for £1 (basically posting out of position) but only seems to cost £1, and I could only make it £10 to go. Richard Bucket (who was playing about 90%+ vpip) called, and the BB who looked pretty bad but probably was in the top 5 at the table, also called. Flop came 3 9 T. I can't remember if it was with a flush draw but I dont think so. I bet like £24 I think. Richard Bucket insta calls obv, and BB tanks for a little while and also calls. Turn J. I'm not liking this card much, now I'm torn between trying to control the size of the pot and protecting my hand. If I was heads up with the massive fish, I'm taking him to value town and he's gonna have to show me better. But I'm pretty concerned about the BB. BB checked, I decided to check and Richard Bucket checked. Which was a first for him. Usually he asked the dealer how much he could bet. Dealer would say 'Any part of £x' He'd bet exactly £x every time. If he had to do if off his own back he'd bet £10 or £15 on every street, regardless of the pot size. Anyway, river is a total blank, a 5. BB bets £50. I decide to call, Richard Bucket folded. BB shows KQ for the gut draw come good. Hmmm.

I then get a couple of good hands with no action, AK flops AKx against the inevitable opponent, he folds saying 'It's not his kind of flop', and J7 which I open raised button flops J7x against him as well, and again he insta folds.

Then, my comeback begins. I get Ks6s in the BB. Bucket is the only limper and SB completed. Flop comes 764. SB checked, I consider betting but realise Bucket will do it for me and check. He checks too. Odd. Turn is a 2. SB checks, I bet £4 into the £6 pot, Bucket raises me to £9 or £10. I have seen him do this with all manner of shit and call. I think I'm about 75% in front here. River is a 6, giving me trips. Immediately, Bucket says allin. Lol. He's playing about £400 at this point having luckboxed a ton of pots. Pot is about £30. Dealer tells him he can only bet £30. It's on me. I go into the tank considering whether I should be raising this. I'm pretty concerned about his insta attempt at allin. He then starts trying to needle me, he had never done this before and that struck me as odd. Telling me to call, saying he has nothing etc... In my experience, these speech plays usually are strength, and he had never done this before which was also a problem for me. Eventually I just call, and he shows Q2o. Lol.

I then get QQ in the blinds. Inevitable limp from villain, several other limpers and I pot it up. He then limp raises me to about £45. He's done this about 5 times but only shown down A9o in these pots. I decide to call but I'm felting any low flop. Flop is good, I think it was 9 6 2. I decide to checkraise allin, but he checks behind. Hmmm. Turn is another 6, I bet £100 and he folds.

A few hands later I get JJ. Ash (another CR member who was the only other decent player there) open raised his button to £9 behind Bucket's inevitable limp. He is playing every hand at this point. SB calls, I make it about £35 to go from BB. Bucket calls, claiming the dealer mislead him about how much it was to him and wouldnt have called if he knew how much it was to him. Everyone else folds. Flop comes 9 5 2 rainbow. I'm felting this against Bucket for about 1.7 buyins. All day long. I bet out £80. He calls pretty quick. Turn is a terrible card for me, the 9 of hearts bringing 2 hearts out there too. It's pretty possible he has the 9. I know I can get a cheap showdown as long as he doesnt ask the dealer how much he can bet. He doesn't. I check, he checks. River is a blank, I think it was a ten. I check (with the intention of calling a decent sized bet) and he checks. He shows 43h. Dodged a few river cards there :-)

I then get dealt KJo in the BB. Inevitable limp from standard guy, Ash completes his SB, I check. Flop comes K32 with 2 spades. Ash bets £5, I decide I'm way ahead/way behind with position and just call. Richard Bucket askes how much he can bet and dealer tells him £28. Ash folds, I call. I'm pretty sure I'm good here. Turn is another spade. I'm not too concerned as I've never seen him raise a draw. I check, he bets £10 (lol). I call. River blanks, and I check to him. He checks behind and shows A3 for 2nd flopped pair. I wish I could play this guy every day.

Final hand was pretty sick as I didn't get value when I thought I would. One limper (probably the inevitable guy), I complete SB with 33. BB (new American guy to the table) checks. He was pretty bad and seemed to be limping pretty much every hand. Flop 348 with 2 suits. I lead for £5 into the £6 pot. He calls. Turn is I think a 6. I'm not too concerned with 57 and bet £12 into £16 I think. He calls. River is an 8 giving me a boat. I'm getting paid off here with any 8 for sure, and there's a decent chance he has one. I bet £25 into the £40 pot and he tanks it up. I'm pretty sure he is gonna raise me, he asks how much is in the pot but after several minutes he folds. Pretty annoying.

Overall I did enjoy playing live cash for the first time in a while. The problem is it takes me about 40 mins to get there each way, and the rake is 5% of the pot uncapped. You also have to tip the dealers. So you need to have a pretty big edge to make it pay. Luckily the players are abysmal. Ash actually told me afterwards that they were better than usual last night. Lol.

Several things I learnt. Firstly, don't play live cash until 3:30 am when you have stuff to do the next day. I have to go to Spurs shortly and I'm gonna be tired. Secondly, I need to pay more attention in the live environment, i.e. focus more and talk to other players less. That's something I'll work on. Another thing was pretty annoying was that getting back late I wasn't able to get a residents parking space and had to park in a 1hr slot which meant I had to get up at 9am to move my car. Not good when you go to bed at 4:30.

I definitely will be trying to go there regularly. If you don't run bad you can make a fortune. I can't remember exactly how much I was in for but I either made £60 or £80. I lost a couple of £150-£200 pots so that's not too bad.

Had to break - tilt warning!

2007-03-14T12:13:00.000Z

Basically, for the last week I have been on total tilt so havent been online. I actually havent played for a week due to this. Obv this is better than playing tilted...

I dropped 5 buyins at 100NL in the Challenge because of a few things. Firstly I can't hit for shit. That makes things difficult as it is. Secondly, about 75% of the time I got checkraised/raised on the flop. Either the deck is smashing my opponents in the face or they are making plays at me. Probably the latter mainly.

Finally, my broadband issue has multiplied this tilt in a big way. Here's an exerpt from my post I made on www.huset.co.uk which is a site devoted to helping people in my spot. Here's the link to it too:-

http://huset.co.uk/2006/07/17/remove-bt-adsl-line-tag-marker/

Here's my story:-

I moved into a new flat 3 weeks ago. It was basically brand new except that my landlord had lived in it for a few weeks. Unfortunately, he had broadband in it through a company called Mistral Internet Group/Utility Warehouse. This is where the fun begins…

I tried to get my existing AOL account to come onto the line. AOL said a ‘tag’ was blocking it and told me to phone Mistral to get it removed. I phoned them, they said they’d get rid of it but it would take a week. They didn’t. I phoned them again. This time they denied it was their responsibility and told me to email to Utility Warehouse about it. I decided to get my landlord to phone them to get the tag removed. He eventually phoned them and cancelled his contract with them. I phoned Utility Warehouse myself and they said they wont remove the tag until his cancellation period (30 days) is over.

This is an absolute joke. This would like buying a brand new car but finding that the garage has put petrol from Shell into it and that means I can only use Shell petrol. But I can’t use Shell until the garage organise with Shell to let me use their petrol, or to get Shell to let me use other brands. Obviously this wouldn’t be in Shells’ interest so they dont bother helping you, and put loads of obstacles in your way. You think this sounds totally crazy, well it is, and that’s what this phone line system is.

When a person moves into accomodation (particularly rented), it should be a given that all phone lines are clean and able to be used for the purpose of why they are there. It is clear to me that phone lines with ‘tags’ on are not fit for purpose and are of little use to anyone, especially in these days where people rarely use phone lines to make conventional calls.

I have contacted 'Watchdog' which is a UK consumer program on BBC. Hopefully they will get back to me as I'll do anything to ruin these companies which are basically, total and utter fuckers.

Back to the tables, challenge resumes with 7 buyins for 200NL. If I can't do this, lol.

FP

Challenge Update

2007-03-04T21:27:00.000Z

Saturday - Played terrible. Dropped 5 buyins, the last of which was tilt when I checkraised the river all in against this guy I thought was floating me. I had 44. The board was 88JKK in that order. He called with T8 :-( I had to stop because I was playing terrible.

Here's my update from today which I just cross posted on the CR Forum.

Sunday - Focused better after a talk to myself (something along the lines of SBRugby's advice of being responsible for your results), and made $328.90 in 1,518 hands. I played much tighter, especially oop where I 3-bet a lot less, that worked very well.

I spent most of the day with my family and watched the best game of football of all time when Spurs basically relegated West Ham with 2 goals in injury time...Ship it!

Today, I hit some big flops and got severe action w/overpairs, which was nice obv, including getting put allin by a donk preflop with 66. I had AA :-) He was sitting with a 4 buyin stack. I relieved him of all of it. I left the table with almost 6 buyin stack...

My PT has been messing me about bigtime, so now I have all my results on different databases. Does anyone know how to amalgamate PostgreSQL databases into one big database?

I know the exact amount in my FTP a/c before the challenge as I withdrew some to make it an even number, so my 'challenge bankroll' now stands at $1529.75. I am gonna take a 3 buyin shot at 100NL tomorrow, the pace needs to be stepped up :-)

Here's some screenshots from today.
The first one is my PT stats for Sunday. The second one is my giant stack after relieving the 70/31 guy of all his money!

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o297/fruitypro/4thmarch.jpg

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o297/fruitypro/massivestack.jpg

Good luck at the tables everyone,

FP.

March 2nd Update

2007-03-03T10:37:00.000Z

This day was not good for me in the challenge, for various reasons.

Firstly, I get up at 9:45 ready to play. Oh no, I can't cos FTP is going down for 'maintenance' shortly. Thanks for the advance email. At 2pm they get back up and running.

I pick up 2 buyins pretty fast and then lose them against short stacks who think they should be playing 65 to a raise with 40% of a buyin, and then flop 55T when I have JJ.

I have to go and pick my parents up from Gatwick at 5:30 so I stop playing and start datamining. I went back to their house and then they decided they were going to the local indian for dinner. Obv I said yes and didn't get home until 10.

Was tired, so wasnt gonna play any more and was just going to play a ridiculous amount Saturday. I look at my screens, and wonder why peoples stats havent been updated. I look at PT - Database Error. Treat. I email Pat, who says I need to repair database. It won't let me. Or convert to PQSL. It took 3 hours for me to download that on my shitty dial up connection. I havent converted it yet, prob will when I am at soccer tomorrow or tonight instead of datamining all night. At the moment I am using a different database as before but hopefully I can get that sorted.

Anyway, before a LONG day of playing today, here's my stats for yesterday, and the second link is overall so far for the challenge:-

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o297/fruitypro/2ndmarch.jpg

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o297/fruitypro/overallat2nd.jpg

I've only done 4.5k hands so far, but I'm aiming to get that up to about 12k by the end of Sunday. One good thing will come from this. When we are all burnt out by the end of the month, we can have next month of courtesy of the sick rakeback we will get :-)

$1k - $50k Challenge - March 1st Report

2007-03-02T00:20:00.000Z

Ok...Here's my summary of the day.

Tight play was in order with an insane amount of pots being opened or a ridiculous amount of limpers. The standard, IMO, was far worse than the last time I played 50NL - highlight was a 94/52 player over 70 hands, seriously - and Gravastar had the cheek to nick his seat :-(

Other highlights included me, grav and sp00n on one table, and then tonight me, grav and olliepower on another table which had the lowest players/flop % and lowest ave pot $ across the whole level. Why the other 3 tight players stayed for so long, I'll never know. Value on that table was like getting blood out of a stone.

Overall I did pretty good, up just over 9 buyins for the day. I ran insane good for the first 30 mins before hitting a bit of a brick wall, but finished strongly to book a solid profit. I'll probably try to win a couple more buyins at 50NL tomorrow before a 3 buyin shot at 100NL.

Link to my stats (cant believe i really played this tight!):-

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o297/fruitypro/1stmarch.jpg

2 hands were the highlights of the day:-

Overbet shove works a treat v guy on tilt who had 3-bet shoved me preflop a few hands before:-

FullTiltPoker Game #1896864286: Table Stardust (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Hold'em - 7:57:01 ET - 2007/03/01
Seat 1: XleprechaunX ($291.15)
Seat 2: scorpioonn ($29.25), is sitting out
Seat 3: schampoo ($49.25)
Seat 4: herrgeneral ($49.70)
Seat 5: JustRiveredU ($72.40)
Seat 6: Rounders121 ($43.70)
JustRiveredU posts the small blind of $0.25
Rounders121 posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to JustRiveredU [Kd Kc]
XleprechaunX folds
schampoo folds
herrgeneral folds
JustRiveredU raises to $2
Rounders121 raises to $5
JustRiveredU raises to $72.40, and is all in
Rounders121 calls $38.70, and is all in
JustRiveredU shows [Kd Kc]
Rounders121 shows [3h 8h]
Uncalled bet of $28.70 returned to JustRiveredU
spwuinmk67 (Observer): wow, lot of action
*** FLOP *** [5d Th Ac]
*** TURN *** [5d Th Ac] [5s]
*** RIVER *** [5d Th Ac 5s] [8c]
JustRiveredU shows two pair, Kings and Fives
Rounders121 shows two pair, Eights and Fives
JustRiveredU wins the pot ($84.40) with two pair, Kings and Fives
Rounders121 is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $87.40 Rake $3
Board: [5d Th Ac 5s 8c]
Seat 1: XleprechaunX didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: scorpioonn is sitting out
Seat 3: schampoo didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: herrgeneral (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: JustRiveredU (small blind) showed [Kd Kc] and won ($84.40) with two pair, Kings and Fives
Seat 6: Rounders121 (big blind) showed [3h 8h] and lost with two pair, Eights and Fives

QQ - Overbet shove preflop v 94/52 player who had just lost a $150 pot with 92o all in preflop v AA :-)

FullTiltPoker Game #1898921590: Table Bamber (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:27:43 ET - 2007/03/01
Seat 1: jevjun ($40.40)
Seat 2: weak_nit ($129.60)
Seat 3: Gajnos ($106.50)
Seat 4: JustRiveredU ($50)
Seat 5: PATN1TROF ($82.25)
Seat 6: TunaLic ($50)
weak_nit posts the small blind of $0.25
Gajnos posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to JustRiveredU [Qs Qh]
JustRiveredU raises to $1.75
PATN1TROF folds
TunaLic folds
jevjun raises to $3
weak_nit calls $2.75
Gajnos folds
JustRiveredU raises to $50, and is all in
jevjun calls $37.40, and is all in
weak_nit folds
JustRiveredU shows [Qs Qh]
jevjun shows [Kh 5c]
Uncalled bet of $9.60 returned to JustRiveredU
*** FLOP *** [3h 6h 9h]
*** TURN *** [3h 6h 9h] [Ac]
*** RIVER *** [3h 6h 9h Ac] [5d]
JustRiveredU shows a pair of Queens
jevjun shows a pair of Fives
JustRiveredU wins the pot ($81.30) with a pair of Queens
jevjun is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $84.30 Rake $3
Board: [3h 6h 9h Ac 5d]
Seat 1: jevjun (button) showed [Kh 5c] and lost with a pair of Fives
Seat 2: weak_nit (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: Gajnos (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: JustRiveredU showed [Qs Qh] and won ($81.30) with a pair of Queens
Seat 5: PATN1TROF didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: TunaLic didn't bet (folded)

Good luck everyone.

Some 1/2 Hands

2007-02-28T18:26:00.000Z

Thought I'd update with some 1/2 hands I've played lately. I'm up 5.5 buyins over 2 days (2416 hands), which is fine by me.

Kinda standard, A2 wtf!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?863774

Luck is on my side again.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?863776

The fish (who I am ridiculously up on over time) did a hit and run on me after this...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?863779

Maximum value obtained from a regular who tried to win every pot. I knew he had nothing so let him do his best to hang himself.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?863783

This guy owes me big time. He was pretty easy to read and I've picked up tons of tells on him. He had a flush here for sure.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?863787

Got my money in as a slight underdog with fold equity but lucked out :-)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?863790

Absolutely terrible river call from opponent.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?863793

The $1k - $50k Cardrunners challenge starts tomorrow. I'll be posting every day in March with PT stats/graphs etc... I'm aiming to play 6-8 tables for 6-10 hours per day. Should be fun!

Dial Up Is The Nuts

2007-02-23T19:48:00.000Z

Well, it is at least for the time being. I moved into my new flat on Tuesday, which took ages, I didn't realise I had so much stuff! Wednesday was spent setting up flat pack furniture, which I did ok but my back was not ok at the end of proceedings. My new computer desk took 3 hours to set up... But it's a good setup and this will def help me having a non cluttered working environment.

I also phoned up AOL to get my broadband transferred to my new number. They said it would take 10-15 days, why I'm not sure, I thought we were in the 21st century but obviously not. They said I could go on dial up for free though which I thought about before realising my new pc doesnt have a modem...

So I went to a coffee shop with internet and forked out £40 for a monthly pass. I messed about with some 50NL but kept getting disconnected before I realised where the best place to sit was. Unfortunately for a coffee shop which advertises itself as very internet orientated, the place has a whole 2 (yes 2) plug sockets. One upstairs, one downstairs. Lol. So basically when you go in there it's like a stealth movement. You first of all get the seat near the power point, and then get the internet best spot. Or vice versa, load of bollocks basically.

Here are my stats for 200NL at the cafe. Please note - I am not a nit. I just play like one. Seriously, every hand had a 3 in it most of the time. Apart from one time when I had 33, and so did the other guy :-) I won't force the action in these instances. I did ok $ wise anyway.

Hands: 640
VPIP: 14.22%
PFR: 12.34%
Profit: $348.45
BB/100: 13.61

Two things I have noticed. Firstly, you dont get many hands in playing 3/4 tables. Secondly, I don't like reeking of smoke each day because even in the 'non smoking area' you still get covered in the stuff.

So I went to PC World this afternoon to buy a dial up external modem. Just to give it a shot. I spent £25 to get it, only to get home and find it had nowhere to connect to on my pc cos my pc is too new for it :-( I went back with my pc and the modem and the guy offered to give me an exchange for one with which has a usb cable instead - even though I didnt have the receipt (tho he did serve me when I went the first time) or a box or half the components! Ship it! I got home. I tried to log on. Couldn't. Ended up on the phone to a call centre for half an hour and finally I am now online, in my flat, but on dialup. Never felt so sweet. It's slow, but I've written this quick enough, been on CR which is bearable speed, and I've datamined 16 tables throughout with no problems. So I can now play in here. Including the £40 fee at the cafe (which I'm gonna go to tomorrow to download all the latest CR vids, some dj mix sessions and maybe watch PB) and the £30 for the new modem, it's cost me £70 to get online. I won about £180 at the cafe so I guess thats ok.

This is also good news because it will allow me to compete to the maximum in the 1k challenge starting next week. I'm buzzing for this.

Good luck at the tables,

FP

Random Stuff!

2007-02-17T20:54:00.000Z

Well firstly I'll start by talking about the new FTP beta. This is pretty sweet, I think resizeable tables + rakeback = the nuts, so I'm in the process of moving my roll back onto there. I think I'll be playing on there solely in the foreseeable future. I spent ages getting my PAHUD sorted for the new resizeable tables, and today I went out and bought a new graphics card so I can use dual monitors. At the moment I've only got my usual 19" TFT and a 17" CRT with it, but it works fine and I'll probably get another 19" TFT and 4 table on each with no overlap.

That will suit me pretty well for the $1k challenge some of us are doing on Cardrunners. Basically what this involves is starting on March 1st with $1k. Using semi-aggro bankroll management, the first to $50k in the month wins. If no one does that (prob likely) then the person who wins the most wins. It looks like it will be a $100 entry fee which goes to the winner's prize, hopefully which will be lessons from a CR Pro. I'm probably gonna be 8 tabling for 6-8 hours a day doing this, I'm hoping this will motivate me to get a lot of hands in. I'll be blogging every day during March and also updating on the forum. Plenty of hands, and plenty of graphs :-)

I just checked the CR Forum, and saw the crazy pictures of Britney Spears. Can't believe she shaved her head, the difference in her from when she first hit the music scene is crazy!

To finish, my brother found this 9min clip on YouTube of a garage MC I haven't heard for a few years. He used to be the best MC on Soundz FM before it got shut down, probably the best pirate about 4-5 years ago IMO. If you like garage music, this is a good taste of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvxRH8eSd1U

Good luck,

FP

Ouch...Bad Run

2007-02-14T22:53:00.000Z

Ok, so my quest to find a decent flat has now finished. Found a sweeeet one yesterday, move in on Tuesday. Will hopefully post some pics when I get everything organised - if anyone can tell me how to do that, it will be muchos appreciated. It's brand new and fitted to a very high standard which obviously is all good.

I've played quite a lot over the last couple of days. I played 2/4 yesterday, and 1/2 today. Had some brutal suckouts, gave myself about 6/10 yesterday, 5/10 this afternoon and 8/10 tonight. After my poor afternoon session, I decided to watch a couple of CR vids and I really picked up a lot. God knows why I don't watch every one of them, every time I do watch them I just learn a ton. I played a lot better in the evening, but the cards just didn't fall in my favour. I was getting my money in in decent spots with solid hands/draws but I just couldn't win the pot. I also made much more use of my HUD as well, that helped a lot. Often it's been the case for me that I just look at stuff like position and my hand rather than my opponent's tendencies. I was focusing on that a lot more and it worked pretty well. I had to deal with a couple of sick 2 outers though. Here's some hands.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?823278

Opponent showed no strength, so I value bet my tptk on the river. He obviously had 2 pair.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?823284

AK allin for 1/2 a buyin. Obviously he has AA. Didn't even realise he limped UTG till just now :-)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?823288

Nice play, buddy. Thanks for the 2 outer.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?823291

I felt this line had the best chance of getting max fold equity against an overpair. He tanked it up big time before shoving. I'd do this again all day.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?823298

Some things do go my way...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?823303

Hmmm... Can I ever win with top set against a flush draw?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?823311

If I could play this hand again, I'd shove the turn. But opponent was over-aggro 2+2er so I figured he'd hang himself on the river.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?823314

Dunno what this guy had. He only raised 3% of the time, as well.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?823319

Cheers Poker Stars

http://www.pokerhand.org/?823322

Merci beaucoup, poisson

http://www.pokerhand.org/?823324

Poor guy. Maybe he can get away from it, but he wasn't very good anyway.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?823328

I'd have put a lot of money on him having AK here :-)

And that's about it basically. I'm gonna go out playing fruits tomorrow and watch a couple of CR vids as well.

I hope everyone is running well, and hopefully I will too :-)

FP.

Finally Get Some Playing Done

2007-02-12T23:18:00.000Z

After about 10 days of barely playing, due to laziness but mainly flat hunting, I resumed playing tonight.

I don't want to over exaggerate, but I felt I played some of the best poker I have ever played. The problem was, the poker gods didn't co-operate, and I dropped about $250 in a couple of hours 6 tabling 2/4. However, I feel very confident about my game, and can take a lot of heart from this session.

Here's some hands from today. I'm really going to try to add a lot of hands here in the future.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?817397

KK < AT all in pre, obv

http://www.pokerhand.org/?817404

Can't work out if I played this one well. I think I did play it ok, and probably lost the minimum on it. No reads on opponent, apart from that he limped too much.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?817419

Top set < Flush draw, obv

http://www.pokerhand.org/?817424

Ok river call, or just spew? I think it's ok cos he could easily have Kx.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?817439

Anyone like a double barrel on the turn to fold out 77/88/TT/JJ, which I put him on (as well as 99)? I think I could have taken that pot away from him. Opponent was about 25/8 and pretty passive.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?817446

Lol @ this hand. He actually tanked the river before calling off the extra $21 into the $850 ish pot. Ship it!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?817451

Was going for a turn checkraise. Ended up giving the fish a free card. Lol @ his river CALL with a flush.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?817458

Finally get a hand to take someone to valuetown on.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?817462

Tough river call with a straight, when he's representing the flush.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?817474

Tough cooler for the other guy, he wasn't too deep though.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?817483

Looks like he got caught floating...

Kind of a tough session, with some ridiculous beats. But on another day I think I could have booked a very solid profit. Hopefully that day will be tomorrow. I'll update again then, gonna play loads tomorrow. Have finally rediscovered my enthusiasm for playing.

Good luck at the tables,

Dan.

Waste of a week

2007-02-10T18:48:00.000Z

Well, since my last post I haven't done much apart from look at other flats. Haven't found much which has impressed me.

To be honest I am amazed at the lack of thought in this market, from both the owners and the estate agents. The estate agents are clueless, have no idea even of rough room measurements, don't have brochures and can spell to the level of a 5 year old. Landlords seem clueless too. I went to view a brand new flat on Friday. It has no wardrobes, and no washing machine. No wonder they are having problems letting it. I'm sure there is a huge opportunity for someone rich enough and relatively knowledgeable to make an absolute fortune in the lettings area.

I've got about 5 more to look at. They actually look very good, well 3 at least look very decent. Question is this: Do I get the top of the range one which is £850 per month, or do I spend like £700ish and get something pretty decent but not totally amazing? Kinda tempted to offer them less on the awesome flat if I like it when I go to see it on Monday. It's been on the market for 2 weeks and was for sale before then, so no doubt they might want to get it sorted asap.

I haven't done much playing because of this, but hopefully that will get itself resolved next week. I've done about ten coaching sessions though this week.

Cardrunners members who like a challenge check out this:-

http://www.cardrunners.com/fusetalk/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=23&threadid=14555&enterthread=y

This should be pretty cool if we get enough people interested.

Good luck everyone.

Screwed Up Society

2007-02-07T20:20:00.000Z

Because it doesn't respect people who try to better themselves off their own back. It's totally ridiculous.

A few years ago I got turned down for a mortgage. Not because I was playing fruit machines for a living (that was ok, apparently, and all they needed was an estimate of my income), but because my credit number was low because I never borrowed. How fucked up is that? I'm like 'Ok I have money in my pocket, savings, why borrow or use a credit card? That's good money management' Society is like 'He must borrow, and use a credit card to see how he reacts to borrowing'. Hmmm. So I just stayed at home and lost £25k in a business instead.

In fact, that was another instance where trying to better myself ran into severe problems. I got screwed by everyone and their mother and got out before I got into even bigger trouble.

And then it comes to a point recently. I decide that it's time to move out of my parents and rent a flat (with a view to buying one in 6-12 months time). I find a nice brand new flat to rent and cos I knew there would be trouble I said I'd pay 6 months up front. That's fine for me and I didn't mind doing that. Now, if I was a landlord, I'd say 'Sweet, this guy is offering me 6 months payment which I can make 5% interest on, with no risk of them defaulting'. They said 'He's a poker player, I don't want him in my flat'. That is serious. I'm like, for fucks sake what can I do? I even proved that I'm covering all my rent and bills in my coaching income, but apparently that didn't help... Lol.

This leads me onto my next point. I never really felt sorry for homeless people before, or people down on their luck. But if it's this hard for me to RENT a flat with plenty of savings etc, how on God's Green Earth do people on the streets or just out of prison sort themselves out? They basically get crushed by society and have little/no chance. A lot of these people are probably decent guys who have had a couple of things go against them and they never get a second chance in society.

I am actually gonna look at a few more flats tomorrow. Hopefully I won't find any more anti-poker landlords...

Shout out to all my poker players still living with their parents!

Jol Out?

2007-02-04T19:52:00.000Z

Well here I am, sitting at my PC after wasting the last 7 hours. I just got back from Tottenham v Man United and it was an utter disgrace.

Firstly, Ronaldo is a cheating f**k who needs someone to put him in the stands, preferably injuring him for a long time.

Secondly, do Scholes and Gary Neville have an amnesty for bookings against them? Scholes commits 3 bookable offences and doesn't get one card.

That's my views on Manchester United over, they played pretty well but my Sunday League team could have done against Spurs today, we were embarrasing.

Firstly - why do we play Gardner at centre back? The guy is terrible. We buy Rocha and don't play him instead of a player who was our fourth choice centre back a couple of months ago.

Next - why didnt we buy a left back or left mid in the transfer window? We have loads of money from the Carrick deal/sponsorship from Mansion/Puma so splash out! Even if it cost £10m, just buy Gareth Barry and/or Gamst Pedersen. They would improve our team SOOOO much.

To finish - why don't we have any fighters in midfield? We are a soft touch and we are getting exposed by teams in this area. Zokora is awful and its a testament to our scouting network that we paid £8m for him. He can't pass, head, tackle or shoot.

Oh yeah, and why didn't we recall Routledge when Lennon is always ill/injured?

An absolute joke, and I'm afraid the responsibility needs to lie with the management.

That is all.

Ship It

2007-01-30T21:30:00.000Z

I played the weekend at 100NL, because I wanted to get back into it at a low stakes before I hit 400NL. I definitely think this was a good idea, even if I didn't make much due to ridiculous setups and beats. I was pretty pleased with how I played, although there was definitely room for improvement in some ways.

Yesterday I was tilting (non poker) because of a couple of things so decided it was best not to play. I did 4 hours of lessons today which was good, and after some dinner I loaded up 6 tables at 2/4. Things went pretty well. The game is definitely different there, much more aggro, players do have a raise/fold mentality although there were some fish on the tables too. I actually enjoyed it a lot and got a bit of a buzz (first time for ages in poker) playing higher stakes against generally better players. After about 20 minutes my brother came into the room and told me to watch the new episode of Prison Break, so as soon as he said that I had to log off and bank the $612 profit. I was pretty tired anyway. Here's two of the pots I won:-

With this hand, I made a standard 4x raise blind on blind after it was folded to me. BB called. It was a good flop for my hand, giving me a flush draw with a gutshot and an overcard which may or may not be live. I make a standard continuation bet and my opponent raises me 3x. I'm happy to play for stacks here so I make a value raise to about $200, basically committing myself to the hand. He calls (wtf?). I hit my money card on the turn and shoved, he called, and he was drawing dead having played KK appallingly.

No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $2/$4
6 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $474
UTG+1: $660.55
CO: $400
Button: $406.20
Hero: $402
BB: $584.15

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is SB with J♣ K♣
4 folds, Hero raises to $16, BB calls.

Flop: 9♣ Q♥ 2♣ ($32, 2 players)
Hero bets $22, BB raises to $64, Hero raises to $200.4, BB calls.

Turn: 7♣ ($432.8, 2 players)
Hero is all-in $185.6, BB calls.

River: J♥ ($804, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $804)

Results:
Final pot: $804
Hero showed Jc Kc
BB mucks Kh Ks

Not much explanation here. Opponent buys in for 1/2 a buyin and posts out of position. He puts me all in on his first hand on the table when I have AA. Sweet.

No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $2/$4
6 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $525.70
UTG+1: $200
Hero: $400
Button: $205.60
SB: $600
BB: $400

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is CO with A♦ A♠
UTG folds, UTG+1 raises to $16, Hero raises to $48, 3 folds, UTG+1 raises all-in $200, Hero calls.

Flop: Q♠ K♣ 9♦ ($406, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $406)

Turn: 5♥ ($406, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $406)

River: 6♥ ($406, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $406)

Results:Final pot: $406
UTG+1 showed Ac Jc
Hero showed Ad As

Gonna hit 2/4 up for most of the day tomorrow, looking forward to it. Good luck to everyone!

Getting Better Hopefully

2007-01-26T09:54:00.001Z

I'm feeling quite a bit better this week which I'm obviously happy about, but I've still got to have a scan in about 10 days and haven't even had my xray results back yet either.

I've started playing, but I'm gonna play 5k hands at 100NL to get back into things before I start playing 2/4. I played 1600 hands yesterday, I thought the standard was appalling. There were two players in that time that I felt had even a decent grasp of preflop concepts (and I knew one of the two guys already!). I picked up $155, should have been about 6 buyins up but got slaughtered by the poker gods with AA losing to KK allin preflop, and also I lost like ridiculous setups to short stacks in 80BB pots such as T3 in a blind battle on an A23T board against his wheel, and AQ on a queen high 3 spade flop against the flopped flush. I also got stacked with AK v A8 after he stacked off with top pair 8 kicker and gutshot on the turn. He hit his gutshot, obv. He was about an 80/9, so I can't ever see myself folding there.

I've linked a ton more blogs on the right, hopefully I've remembered to include everyone that asked - if you'd like to be linked (or if I've forgotten to add you lol!) then please just let me know through the comments.

I'll add some hands from the weekend session over the weekend.

Dan.

No Poker

2007-01-19T15:57:00.000Z

I haven't played since last week as I'm not feeling that well at the moment. I've got something which is causing pain in my stomach and back and the doctor's don't know what's wrong. I've been for some tests which came back ok but I'm waiting for my xray results and I'm getting a scan done too. It's annoying because it's not getting any better and also because if they knew what was wrong they could treat it which would also give me more piece of mind too.

Obviously I haven't felt in the right state to play poker online, which sucks seeing as I was going to give $2/4 a good go. But I think it's important to play when you feel good, and obviously this isn't that time.

If I'm not feeling too tired, I might try to play the £10 rebuy donkfest at the BigSlick with my Dad tonight but I'll see how I feel. If I do go, I'll need to sleep before. Another side problem is that I'm always very tired, which I'm not sure if it's either down to whatever I have, or because I'm not sleeping too well.

Good luck to everyone, and I'll update again soon.

Some Hands

2007-01-10T12:09:00.000Z

No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $1/$2
6 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $77.10
UTG+1: $103.95
Hero: $386.70
Button: $228.85
SB: $123.15
BB: $452.40

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is CO with T♠ A♠

2 folds, Hero raises to $8, 2 folds, BB calls.

Flop: 5♠ Q♠ 9♠ ($17, 2 players)

BB bets $12, Hero raises to $42, BB raises to $134, Hero raises all-in $378.7, BB calls.

Turn: 8♦ ($774.4, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $774.4)

River: A♣ ($774.4, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $774.4)

Results:Final pot: $774.4

Hero showed Ts As
BB showed 8s Ks

Was very suprised at villains' hand, he has <20% vpip!

Villain in this hand was like 54/6 - kinda sick.

No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $1/$2
5 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $187.70
CO: $202.80
Button: $348.35
SB: $234.50
Hero: $259.30

Pre-flop: (5 players) Hero is BB with A♦ A♥

UTG folds, CO raises to $8, Button folds, SB raises to $14, Hero raises to $40, CO folds, SB calls.

Flop: 3♠ Q♣ J♣ ($88, 2 players)

SB bets $44, Hero raises to $130, SB raises all-in $194.5, Hero calls.

Turn: 3♣ ($477, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $477)
River: J♥ ($477, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $477)

SB showed Qd Qs
Hero mucks Ad Ah

This hand I was pretty annoyed about. Villain was over aggro donk obviously, and was ridiculously aggro after this suckout:-

No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $1/$2
5 players
Converter

Stack sizes:

UTG: $137.35
Hero: $284.20
Button: $246.70
SB: $279.70
BB: $114.50

Pre-flop: (5 players) Hero is CO with K♦ K♠

UTG calls, Hero raises to $10, 3 folds, UTG calls.

Flop: 5♣ 4♥ J♠ ($23, 2 players)UTG bets $124, Hero raises all-in $274.2, UTG calls all-in $3.35.
Uncalled bets: $146.85 returned to Hero.

Turn: A♠ ($277.7, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $277.7)
River: J♣ ($277.7, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $277.7)

Results:Final pot: $277.7

UTG showed Qh Jd
Hero mucks Kd Ks

Not much other news, although I did have a chuckle when catching up with the soccer news the other day. Whilst Spurs were busy tying up their young stars Tom Huddlestone and Aaron Lennon to long term contracts, our 'rivals' West Ham were busy buying 'relegation specialist' Nigel Quashie for £1.75m.

Some Questions about this -

Why does every manager of the bottom 5 Premiership teams try to buy Nigel Quashie every transfer window?
Does Quashie ever get pissed off getting relegated every season?
Who has been relegated more, Quashie or MK Dons?

Back To The Grind

2007-01-07T10:27:00.000Z

Well I got back last night from France and I have to admit, the holiday was very relaxing and I definitely benefited from that. Feel totally de stressed now which is awesome.

I'm ready now to make 2007 a big year for me. I'm going to be playing a lot from today, and I'm hoping to move up to 2/4 within the next week or so. I did well on holiday at the tables and really feel that I've improved a ton over the last month through study and deep thought about playing certain hands in certain situations. I know I'm by far a better player than when I started playing 1/2.

I was considering writing some more strategy articles, but I'm a bit stuck on ideas to write about. If you wanted me to write about something, please feel free to add a comment about it and I'll do my best to write my thoughts on it.

I've also added some new blogs on here. They are mostly CR members. Several of them are from members who have had lessons with me (Jeff218 - Cap Anson's Poker Blog and Olliepower - My Poker Journey). Other ones which you may find interesting are H5N1Strain's blog - he is a fellow coach on Cardrunners who is running an Omaha Challenge for 2007 and also another one from a UK player which I found linked from another blog called 88% Concentration by a guy called Blue Scouse. The guy's swings are sick, but you have to admire his heart for a gamble. It's a great read. Another CR member, Syntec, has also started a blog which has a lot of hands from his 1/2 sessions which players of that limit may find interesting. If you want me to link your blog, please add a comment and I'll be happy to do that.

What I thought would also be interesting would be a bit about my favourite things each week, like my most played CD's and books I'm reading.

Here's the last week in that respect:-

CD - Clubland 10. It's a pretty good modern dance compilation.
Favourite Track - Time To Turn Around By Denis The Menace.
Most Recent Book I Read - Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
Books I'm gonna read - Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens, and the Second Life Guide.
Computer Games - Football Manager 2007 on PSP and Canis Canem Edit/Pro Evolution Soccer6 on PS2.

Good luck at the tables,

Dan.

A Small Update

2007-01-04T23:08:00.000Z

I haven't played since my decent session yesterday as I'm still enjoying my holiday mainly. We played Scrabble last night which I won :-) and today we went to Bordeaux for the day which was nice. We had a great meal at lunch for a totally ridiculous 20 Euros (3 courses) which I am amazed that they could make money from. In England it would probably be £40 plus. We went around the town for a while and then headed back. Just chilled this evening and I watched Andrew's new 2/4 video on CR.

I found this to be a pretty solid video which gave me a couple of good line checks so I definitely got something out of it. In fact I don't think I've watched enough videos in the last 3 months. I pretty much stopped watching them and I don't think that's a coincidence that since I've watched a couple of GP vid's and a couple of Stingers, as well as a really good 1/2 one by Lucky Chewy, that my results have picked up again. I'm going to add a 6th new years resolution to watch every NLHE video added by CR onto their site this year. Even if I just pick up one thing from each video it will be worth watching. I've been lazy and just been involved with the forums when I should still be watching the videos as well.

I'm probably going to play a bit tomorrow, before we go out for another meal in the evening, should be good. Gonna have to go on a health kick when I get back to UK, too much good food over here...

Good luck everyone, and I'll update again over the weekend.

Dan.

Hand Of The Month

2007-01-03T14:57:00.000Z

It's the 3rd of January, and if an opponent can play a hand worse for the rest of the month, I'll be shocked.

No Limit Holdem Ring gameBlinds: $1/$2
6 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $127.45
Hero: $320.30
CO: $227.70
Button: $208.65
SB: $169.75
BB: $198

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is UTG+1 with A♣ A♠
UTG folds, Hero raises to $8, 2 folds, SB calls, BB raises to $24, Hero raises to $71, SB folds, BB calls.

Flop: T♦ 6♠ 6♥ ($150, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero is all-in $249.3, BB calls all-in $127.Uncalled bets: $122.3 returned to Hero.

Turn: 9♣ ($404, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $404)
River: 2♦ ($404, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $404)

Results:Final pot: $404
BB showed Kh Ah
Hero showed Ac As

2006 Review And New Years Resolutions!

2006-12-31T17:52:00.000Z

Well, where am I? Well I'm just being stagnant at 1/2 at the moment although I haven't played much over the last two weeks. This is frustrating as I'm feel like I'm not getting anywhere despite playing well. I'm sure this will change (Well I really hope it does!) and I'm annoyed at not reaching my goal of playing 2/4 by the end of the year. But I guess I have to be happy at the progress I have made since April when I joined CR and I suppose I'll take that.

My goals for 2007:-

To be winning at 5/10 by the end of the year. This should be attainable with decent progress and effort. I'm not far off playing 2/4 and I'd like to think I'd do well there.

Following on from this, playing 500k hands for the year. This is just >40k per month and there's no reason why I can't do that.

To play <10 tournaments live, and <5 online. They frustrate me big time, they waste my time and I usually don't enjoy them. I'll only play ones with mates such as small UK festivals or when I go to the poker club on a night out with my Dad occasionally.

Have a good balance in life. What I mean here is have a healthy balance between poker and other things so that I'm not getting totally immersed in the game.

A non-poker goal. To manage my phone bill well and stop getting obscene bills. My contract is up and I'm gonna negotiate a good deal which allows me a good amount of free cross network minutes. And when these are up, don't call people cross network for >1 minute. It's ridiculously expensive and not worth it. Over the last 3 years I've probably spent like a decent car on a phone bill which is just a joke. I also don't even know the number to call to find out how many minutes I have, which is sick.

That's about it, and hopefully I'll be able to manage all 5. I really hope so.

Happy new year to all!

Some Random Thoughts

2006-12-31T00:00:00.000Z

Well I'm currently sitting in my living room in France watching Match of the Day and I've just been knocked out of the $100K MPP bash on crypto where I used my MPPs from months ago to enter.

I'll start with Christmas, which was pretty enjoyable, we went out for a nice meal and each table got entertained by an awesome magician, who played some sick card magic on me. He came over to the table and started doing random tricks on people and then came to me and got his pack of cards out immediately :-)

We went to France on the 27th and the journey was sick. Got to Gatwick Airport to find that the morons running it decided to sack 100 people just before Christmas and only had 2 people operating x-ray machines out of 10 possible ones. We queued for over 2 hours to get our bags xrayed and the plane was forced to wait until we were all done. Now I have a fucking severe backache because I carried my laptop bag which had some other stuff in too on my shoulder for 2 hours plus. I'm probably going to send my bill for physio to them, not that I expect even a letter back.

Got to France, house was so cold. Indoor temperature of 7 degrees. Got the fires on and it warmed up pretty quick. I haven't really done much here yet. My brother is ill so we haven't been out anywhere yet. I played a couple of sessions, standard running bad at the moment lol, dropped a couple of buyins, picked up one buyin, broke even. Can't hit and get walks with AA/KK etc...

I played 3 tournaments on FTP for a laugh last night which reminded me why I hate tournaments. AA<55 allin on 883 flop. AK < AJ all in preflop when he rivers a queen for his gutshot. QQ < AJ allin preflop when he rivers an ace. That was in the 11k guaranteed where if that hand wins I am in top 10 with 75 left. Instead I bubbled lol.

Me, my dad and my brother played a small money rebuy tournament today which I devised the structure for. It was pretty funny, we were actually in tears at some of the stuff, good times. My brother got beat up pretty bad and was in for like 6 rebuys. My Dad was sucking out on him left right and centre. The funniest hand was when my dad limp/shoved on my brother with A6o, my brother called with AQ and obviously got knocked out when the 6 came. I was heads up with my Dad who was chipped up and playing super aggro, I was showing my brother my hands and made some laydowns. Then my brother goes, you'll take a stand and he'll have a big hand like JJ. Sure enough I shoved with 66 with an M of 5 and he insta called with, yeah, JJ. So my dad won the £14 prize lol but we had a great time. Think we're gonna do it again tomorrow.

Tonight after dinner I played the $100K MPP bash on crypto. Came 500th or something. All in with QJ preflop v QT, obviously he rivers a king for his gutshot draw after I flopped a jack. Still in I get dealt AA and triple up. About 3 hands later I shove KK, called by QQ flop Qxx obviously. Dunno why I waste my time playing these luck fests. My brother is still in it I think in the top 200, and with a $20k first prize and the bubble starting with $100 for 110th place, he could get a decent payout. Would make up for his rebuys earlier...

Gonna prob play a bit of cash online tomorrow and hopefully I'll do well. I feel I am playing very well but not getting the breaks. That can't continue for the long term.

I'll post again tomorrow with a kind of yearly review and my goals for 2007.

Good luck everyone.

It's Almost Christmas!

2006-12-22T18:22:00.000Z

Just a short post because for the first time really this year, I feel Christmas is close!

I can remember how excited I was when I was little about Christmas and how it was my favourite time of the year. I think over the years I've become more cynical about things like Christmas and life in general and I don't think this too good. I've become indifferent to a lot of things and I want to stop that. It's about time I started looking forward to stuff, which I often don't any more. I think of a lot of stuff as an obligation when really I should be looking at it as a time of doing something I don't any more.

As far as my Christmas plans are concerned, I went into town today and did all my shopping. I couldn't honestly handle going in more than once because it was SOOOO busy! So what I usually do is try to work out what I'm going to buy in advance before I go so that I can go round and get the stuff. It usually works pretty well. Gonna wrap up the presents in a little while too, which I actually do enjoy!

On Christmas Day, we are all going out to a restaurant for lunch which will be good, whilst on Boxing Day it is Spurs v Aston Villa (lol). If Spurs can have a good Christmas, I can see us breaking into the top 5. We are certainly playing very well at the moment.

To all the poker players reading this, how many of you have this feeling of indifference and obligation to many things? I think this has developed for me over the last few years and is something I'm trying to erradicate from my mindset.

Just over 2 days in advance, Happy Christmas to all!

Back Into The Groove

2006-12-18T15:36:00.000Z

Well - since my last update I'd played pretty much zero hands up until yesterday. Had a situation to sort out away from the poker tables which hopefully should be done now.

I played a fair bit yesterday (win one big pot, lose another one etc...) and just finished a session today. It seems the games are kinda more aggressive on FTP in terms of preflop aggression - tons of 3 bets which I was happy to get involved in too...

Now I've got this other issue out of the way I'm gonna hit the tables hard this week up until Friday at least. Not sure how much I'll be able to play over the Christmas break (but my mate told me last year the games were awesome) and I'm also going on holiday to our house in France until 6th January. But I will have broadband over there which my dad kindly organised for the family all to play poker :-) - my dad plays MTTs about 5 hours a day too! So I'll be able to hit the tables over there (there's not that much else to do apart from eat at restaurants every evening!).

I started my coaching last week and it's gone really well. I've done 7 sessions now and I've enjoyed doing it. I've got some more sessions planned this week too.

Finally, here's some hands I've played over the last 2 days:-

This hand was pretty funny. I pretty much knew he had QT with his flop minraise but I thought I'd call with it being relatively cheap. As soon as the turn came, I knew what a great card it was. Check out the chat, I told him I had AQ after the hand...:-)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?677920

Kinda sick hand. Didn't ever really know where I was in it.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?677924

If there's ever a hand to fold KK preflop, I think this was it. But I still didnt. Nice river:-)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?677926

Nice overbet shove by my 1/2 buyin opponent.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?677928

Kinda sick hand for him, but why didn't he get his last $20 in on the river?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?677931

C-bet with air turns into a backdoor flush.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?677934

Finally get paid with a set.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?677936

Brutal game sometimes.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?677937

Overpair v fish. I had him on KT/AT here, and I knew he couldn't fold it. When he called river, I was very sure my hand was good. But he decided to CALL with a boat. Someone asked him why he called, he said he put me on a bigger boat. Crazy stuff.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?677940

Overpair v fish. Thankfully he wasn't deep.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?677945

Some pretty interesting hands there. I'll try to post some more throughout the week, where I'm aiming for 10k hands Monday-Friday.

Wish me luck!

What's New?

2006-12-11T17:06:00.000Z

Well, I've been pretty busy over the weekend.

I did excellent on the tables Friday. On Saturday, I went to Spurs v Charlton, we won 5-1 which was awesome. Charlton were terrible, esp their defence and Carson in goal who made 3 bad mistakes I'd be embarrased about on a Sunday morning. I messed about playing some low stakes $50 PLO and picked up a couple of buyins in the evening, I've watched a couple of Andrew's videos on CardRunners and I'm interested in learning the game.

On Sunday, I went out for a few hours with my mum and brother to see my grandma, and then had a family meal. After this, I felt pretty tired so I decided not to play my usual game. I decided to make a $50NL video 4-tabling on Stars, which was pretty interesting. I wasn't exactly impressed with the standard on there, very passive on the whole, which is interesting because I've played a fair bit at $50NL on FTP experimenting and the game is somewhat more aggro and higher standard on there.

Last night, Cardrunners added the capability to get coached privately on their site. I've put myself forward to coach up to 100NL. I did very well at these lower stakes games when I was playing them, and in my opinion my style of play (tight/aggressive/position orientated) is perfect to beat these games. If anyone reading this is interested in coaching, please contact me through email (dw25jp@yahoo.co.uk or vampitup25@hotmail.co.uk), or through PM at Cardrunners. I'm probably going to charge in the region of $40-$60 per hour. If you are a Cardrunners member, you can read my bio on the private coaching forum to find out more about me, and what I propose to do to help my students. If you aren't a Cardrunners member, please email me and I'll be happy to provide you with some more information about what I propose to do.

Finally, I'm now going to add a ton of blogs to the links on the right hand side of the screen. They are either UK based players or Cardrunners members generally. I won't single any out apart from CTS's blog, which if you don't read it, should be mandatory reading for any inspiring poker player.

Good luck everyone,

Dan.

Time For A Change Of Fortune

2006-12-08T16:14:00.000Z

Yes, things are going better now. I finished playing a session on Full Tilt earlier and made good profit. I was really pleased with how I played, although I stacked off (whilst winning when most of the money went in) with KK in like the first 2 minutes.

Here's some hands:

AA v overaggro TAG. We were both very active on several tables and I knew we'd clash in the end. Maths wise the flop was pretty even, I held which was nice.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?657561

KK v fish, who lucked out on river. I was pretty certain I was winning on the turn, but he'd bet, so I check raised him. Does anyone like a c/r shove here?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?657562

AQ v shortstack fish. I like calling the other shorties raise preflop rather than 3-betting in this spot. Guy who i stacked should have shoved the flop.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?657564

A2 which held v draw. Nice for these hands to hold for a few times. Preflop is questionable for him IMO.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?657566

There were a few other interesting hands I played but I've added them to the CR forum today so I don't want to post how they went.

That's all folks, good luck!

Waiting For A Break

2006-12-06T22:43:00.000Z

For the vast majority of the time since Friday, I've been in a bit of a transitional period. I've been in a longish breakeven patch, but I'm hoping today has seen me finish that.

Despite all this, I really feel I've taken my game to a new level. I don't want to elaborate hugely on that, as I'm playing on FTP again as well as my new site (the games aren't always great on the other site), but I'm really happy with some adjustments I've made.

I've been playing pretty well recently but haven't had the breaks, but today things went a lot better. I messed about at 50NL trying some stuff which worked awesome, crushed the game and picked up 5 buyins in about 1 1/2 hours. I then played some 1/2 tonight and won 1.5 buyins in an hour, despite a lot of things going against me. I haven't had time to play any more today as I've had some other stuff to do, but I'm going to get a LOT of hands in in the rest of the week.

I went to Spurs v Middlesborough last night, a well deserved win for Spurs. Huddlestone and Zokora controlled the midfield, Huddlestone will be an awesome player, mark my words. He has the potential to be the next Glenn Hoddle. The game was pretty entertaining in the second half with good goals from Berbatov who is now looking a class act, and a typical quick-thinking goal from Robbie Keane. The fight at the end was pretty amusing, and Boro should have been down to 8 men by the end but the ref bottled showing reds after a kick off the ball and an elbow.

To all Cardrunners members - There's a topic on the NL Mid/High Stakes Forum I highly recommend reading. I started the threat called 'Continuation Bets In Reraised Pots - Spew Or a Profitable Play?', and in my opinion, the discussion is excellent and I really learned a lot, and got a lot more confidence after hearing what others had to say.

That's about it for now, good luck everyone.

An Update, And Some Thoughts

2006-12-03T14:52:00.000Z

Well - how has it been going?

The answer so far, is very unspectacular. I've played 5000 ish hands in December so far and have dropped 2 buyins. This, believe it or not, is a huge result IMO. The amount of setup hands that I've ran into has been unbelievable. QQQ was no match for a fish's boat when I have notes on him saying he can't fold basically anything, nut flush in a reraised pot lost against flopped quads (luckily he slow played it lol so I didn't get stacked), you catch my drift.

The sick thing is, I'm playing against people who are basically desperate to give their money away. It's crazy shit, honestly. If I could hit some hands I couldn't help to get paid. I think when this stuff happens, you have to try to minimise your losses and not let them affect you. I haven't always done this - whereas some people tilt off money I tend to get too passive and see monsters and this isn't ideal either, and hence I'm folding the best hand a lot, and also my lines are inducing river 'bluffs' which are tough to call.

Speaking of river bluffs, this is quite an interesting concept. I'm facing them left, right and centre and it's something I'm gonna take a quick look at. If you raise preflop from position, get called by the BB, he check/calls your flop c-bet, and you check behind him on the turn, you are almost going to get bet at on the river, regardless of what your opponent holds. Any hand worthy of his flop call (air/draw/pair/set/completed draw) will bet at you. If you take this line on the turn, you have to be a good judge of whether the guy is bluffing or not. One thing I have done is added to my HUD their river bet %. This is pretty useful, for obvious reasons. I'm much more prone to calling with a hand like second pair, obviously, if a draw hasn't hit. It's wierd, because I never really encountered this much at the low stakes but at 200NL it's very widely used by many of the 'less decent' players.

An illustration of this, is a hand I played yesterday. I open raised A8c from position. BB called. He check called my c-bet on a 28Q flop. Turn was a 4, where he checked and so did I. River was another Q, he bet pot. I called. He showed J9.

Depending on your hand and the board, you could '2nd barrel' the turn with a hand such as top pair or perhaps even second pair top kicker. This play will sort the men out from the boys, so to speak, and establish whether your hand is good. If this gets called, then I'm probably going to check behind on the river unless I improve. I like this play because it makes draws pay, they are making a mathematical mistake by calling, and saves a tough river decision. When I was crushing the game, I used to make a lot of 'information' plays, and plays which generally keep me out of tough spots. I think I've over complicated my decision making lately and this is something I want to address. I know 'information raises' get frowned on by some people, but honestly, I think this does help me a lot, especially as I'm prone to getting bet off a semi-strong hand on a latter street by an aggressive player.

However, on the other hand, you could try to induce a bluff with a check. I've probably done this too much lately, and not always for that reason. I've played too passively on the whole and this needs to be addressed too. My turn and particularly my river AF have dropped somewhat lately and this isn't good. I need to get back to the tough, aggressive player that I was when I was smashing this game for 9ptbb/100 over a good sample at 200NL.

Feeling sorry for myself, I was going to go through PT and list how many times I haven't even seen a flop with AA/KK (honestly, the amount of times I've got walks or everyone has folded is so sick), or how many times I've flopped a set (surely <10/5000 hands) but having got my thoughts down onto 'paper' has really helped and I'm feeling much better already. I need to adopt this frame of mind on the tables and I'll be the better player for it. I think running bad = playing bad to a certain degree, and it's certainly true that it induces passivity and fear of monsters.

After writing this, I feel much more positive already.

One final thing I want to add is this. When watching Green Plastic videos, I never really paid attention to when he talked about timing tells. However, I was reading his 'The Well' thread on 2+2 recently (He should do one on CR too IMO), and one of the things he mentioned was that an instant minimum flop checkraise is a feeler bet, and not a huge hand. I've been paying a lot more attention to things like this over the last couple of days, and this is definitely the case a huge amount of the time.

One hand which illustrates this was one I played yesterday. I had 88 and raised in position. The flop came 2 4 5 rainbow. I bet $12, and I got instantly minimum checkraised to $24. I made it $65 to go. He folded. Now - whilst I fully understand that I'm not getting better hands to fold, this raise is basically all I'm putting in with the hand unimproved. It simplifies my decision making and informs me where I stand. If I call, and he pots the turn (or even a 3/4 pot bet to $48ish), it's going to be tough to call him down possibly two streets (although he may slow down on the river). For me, in any case, simple decision making is something I like.

I said in an earlier post that for those people who haven't read them yet, I highly recommend the strategy posts on the 2+2 SSNL sticky thread. There's some excellent stuff on there.

May I wish everyone good luck at the tables, and no matter what happens, to stay positive and aggressive.

This Is It!

2006-11-29T19:41:00.000Z

A few of you may have noticed I haven't been on Full Tilt over the last couple of weeks. I've withdrawn my roll from there due to several reasons, mainly game selection ones although there are several others.

I've moved my money onto a new site, which I'm much preferring. More fish/less regulars is a good start, plus the software is quicker so I'm probably getting about 70 hands/hr more 6-tabling than at FTP.

I've been running pretty well on this new site and things have gone well so far, even though I've had some pretty sick coolers/beats.

Anyway, I've made a decision for the future. I'm going to take a 6 month period to devote to poker and see what happens. I've also been offered a huge deal bonus-wise which will see me make between £600-£700 per week in bonuses 6-tabling $1/2 for about 6hrs a day. Obviously this is a great cushion because even if I lose about 6 buyins over a week, I'll still break even. As my roll is about $15k now, I may move up pretty soon as well.

This 6 month period is gonna start on Friday (1st December). I actually haven't played since Sunday - I'm taking a few days off in preparation for Friday so that I can hit the ground running and actually look forward to playing some long sessions. My mate Phill gave me this advice and I think it's pretty good advice, so I've been away playing machines for a couple of days, and amongst other things tomorrow I'm tidying my room :-)

Things I'll miss from playing machines:- Guaranteed Income, Little Variance.

Things I won't miss:- Going home stinking of cigarette smoke, Having green hands which smell of metal at the end of the day, Stuck in traffic all day/Driving, Having to go into shitholes just because they have a good machine, Having to buy a new pair of jeans every month due to excessive coinage in my pockets...

Wish me luck!

Almost In Tears

2006-11-24T23:45:00.000Z

This is so funny!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkhMcyuYroA

A Couple Of Crazy Hands!

2006-11-22T09:53:00.000Z

Simply That:-

Probably my greatest hand of all time, even though I lost!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?625797

Why doesn't this ever happen in my favour?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?625798

I'd never usually do this, but I was trying to get in hands against this player (even with only $73 in front) and another player on the table too. The person I stacked was truly, truly terrible. They went from $400, down to $7 and back up again in about 20 minutes.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?625799

Playing Small Pocket Pairs (22-77) in 6 Max Cash Games

2006-11-20T16:56:00.000Z

I see a lot of people posting on the Cardrunners forums about how to play these hands, which are admittedly difficult to play, especially from early position.

Here's my take on how to play them, I'd be interested in your comments as always. One assumption I'm going to make throughout is you are playing in a $1/$2 cash game, using a standard TAG style, e.g. 20/15 and your image is pretty decent but aggressive.

PREFLOP:

UNOPENED POTS:

When playing small pairs, I believe the correct strategy is to raise an unopened pot, regardless of your position. Yes - that does mean raising 22 UTG - which I always do.

This is for several reasons:-

1 - It builds a pot. It's so much easier to stack someone in a raised pot than in an unraised pot.

For example, you raise to $7 with 55 from UTG. BB calls with KQ - obviously his play is questionable but I'm not going to go into that.

Flop comes 5 8 Q rainbow. BB checks, you bet $11 (about a 70% pot continuation bet), he checkraises to $33. You call, wanting him to lead the turn, which is a 2. He leads for $55 into the $81 pot. What you've done is you've got your opponent to put in almost 1/2 a buyin pretty much drawing dead.

It's highly unlikely that if this was an unraised pot (perfectly possible if you have limped), that the betting would escalate as quickly, and you'd probably be looking at no more than winning an $80 pot by the river, when in a raised pot the pot is $136 when it's your turn on the turn.

2 - You often get to see all 5 cards (especially when you have position).

Imagine the flop was now 4 8 Q rainbow, but the BB calls your c-bet instead of checkraising (again possible). He checks a blank turn (2) to you, and you check behind. River is a 5. He bets, figuring his top pair is good, especially as you have shown weakness on the turn. You raise, and he calls. You've just won the pot by hitting on the river.

If you limp, you'd check/fold the flop whether the pot is limped or someone else raises, and you don't win this fair sized pot. I've lost count of the amount of times I've hit a set on the river and stacked someone in this way.

3 - You can win without hitting. I.e. everyone folds to your raise preflop, or to your c-bet.

4 - It keeps up your aggressive image. This enables you to get paid off with your big hands.

5 - It makes you harder to read. For example, if you limp pp's and raise all other good hands, even the less observant players may notice this after a few sessions playing with you. Obviously then, if you limp or limp/call a raise, and you come out betting, you'd be telegraphing your hand somewhat. This makes it easier for them to fold their strong hands. Even @ $1/$2, I play against the same players on a regular basis - and if I did this, I know it would be picked up on.

If your open-raise was 3-bet, I'd call or fold depending on stack sizes and my opponent's tendencies. Is he is willing to stack off with top pair/top kicker or an overpair? Does he have more than 10x the raise in his stack? Obviously then I'm pretty much always playing for set value only.

That summarises with my strategies for unopened pots.

LIMPED POTS:

I tend to give limpers little respect on a general basis. It's a weak play, which is favoured by weak players.

I'd raise a pocket pair behind 1 limper, that's for sure. Behind 2/3 limpers, I might limp. I might raise too, it depends on the table and my image. I think in that situation, both plays are ok. I'd often also do this with suited connectors/gappers though, so I wouldn't be telegraphing my hand in doing so.

In limped pots when I am in the blinds, I'd complete or check. I'd open-raise from the SB if it was folded to me. I'd raise from the BB if it was folded to the SB who completed.

FACING A RAISE:

These kind of scenarios are the most difficult to face in my opinion. This is where your PokerTracker stats can help...

If a 14/11 player raises from EP, you can be sure his range is pretty small, and his range will almost always mean a strong hand. Here I'd just call the raise (with or without position) and hope to hit my set against his tptk or overpair and stack him.

If a 30/22 raises from cutoff/button and you are in the blinds, I'd almost always 3-bet. This scenario was explained in my article 'The Mathematics Behind 3-betting' which you can read on here too.

However, the same player raised from EP, I'd be more inclined to call.

That pretty much summarises how I'd play pocket pairs preflop.

POSTFLOP:

Postflop, apart from in very extreme circumstances (e.g. 66 on a 345 flop), whether I have raised or not preflop, I'm not putting any more money into the pot apart from a c-bet unless I flop a set. Remember if you call a raise with 77 and the flop is 2 4 5, this hand is not a lock and should not be treated as such. Sure, you may put some money in with this hand, but please do not get stacked with it unless you have a huge read on the guy.

If I raised preflop and flopped a set, I'd make my standard c-bet and see what happens after that. I might call a raise for deception purposes, or I may 3-bet the flop. It depends on the board and the opponent, and what I think they have.

If I called a raise, I may lead out, I may check/raise, I may check/call. It depends again.

And that's about it for playing small pocket pairs. I'd be interested as always in any feedback.

Trying To Fit It All In

2006-11-18T18:26:00.000Z

I don't think there's enough hours in a day. Really. I've been trying to play machines and poker, and it's tough cos then I don't have time to do anything else. Machines have been/are so good that it's tough to 'fold' them, poker has been pretty variable and I haven't done a lot else. Doing all this leaves little time for anything else, which kinda sucks.

I've been faced with a ton of tough decisions when I have played. I'll either make a good but not great hand and be faced with a lot of action, or hit a big hand and not get paid at all.

Here's some of the hands I've played:

Tough spot v 14/10 multitabling rock. Thing is, does he 3-bet shove a set here? I honestly don't know.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?619266

This was v a total maniac bluffer. When I flopped a set I thought gg his stack but I just don't know what to do on the turn. A check gives him the green light to bluff, but the turn also hits a huge part of his range.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?619270

Tough cooler for the other guy.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?619271

When someone has a betting pattern like this, they are usually very strong. Or have lost their mind. Luckily for me, this time it was the latter. He was a lunatic, obviously.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?619275

An emotional rollercoaster of a hand. He was a 70/10 btw. He should have c/r flop allin, then he gets dead money of AK etc...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?619280

How not to play top pair, medium kicker

http://www.pokerhand.org/?619285

This guy was an over aggro 21/19 - probably 2+2, I was actually pretty surprised to see him show AA here, as he'd need much less to 3 bet preflop cos he was doing it all the time.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?619286

Not really sure of the best line here...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?619290

I've lost a fair few 1/4-1/3 buyin pots v short stacks which has cost me a fair chunk of money as well, so I haven't done amazingly lately, but I'm feeling a lot more confident again now and feel as if I've improved after putting some work in so hopefully this will pay off for me.

Good luck at the tables everyone, I'm gonna post an article I've written about playing small pocket pairs tomorrow, I was gonna post it tonight but it's very long and I'm really tired. I'll definitely get it on here tomorrow afternoon.

Taking A Back Seat For Some Study

2006-11-11T09:58:00.000Z

I have barely played in the last week. I've been running pretty bad/average/playing pretty bad/average over the last month or so and have pretty much had a break even and swingy last four weeks. After last saturday's session (-4 buyins) - check out the hands at the end, I decided to devote a lot of time this week to thinking/discussing/reading about the game. I've been reading a lot on 2+2, particularly the strategy articles in the master sticky for SSNL which I'd definitely recommend. It's good advice and although it may take a while to plough through it all, it's pretty worthwhile doing so IMO.

I played yesterday, I dropped $70 over 700 hands but felt I played tons better. I ran KK into AA twice for about a $250 loss (where was the King?!!!) and made a questionable shove with an overpair in a multiway reraised pot where I got stacked. I think generally it was an easy fold but against this villain I was in front at least 25% of the time IMO, although his line generally does scream a set.

I'm gonna be trying to play 6-8 hours a day now and I'm gonna be trying to take more of a long term view of the game. No depression after a bad session, no rationalising the real money involved. All my bankroll (where I'm overrolled easily for $1/$2) is pure profit so why do I take this short term approach? It's wrong and if I'm gonna get somewhere in this game I need to be able to not care if I drop money as long as I play well. I'm gonna keep up the study as well, become active on 2+2 as well as CR and I'm hoping all these things will gradually mould me into a player who can play successfully at mid/high stakes.

Here's the 2 brutal hands from last saturday, as well as another one I couldn't get away from, and yesterday's 2 KK hands and the questionable JJ hand.

This was horrible, and probably was a result of my lack of confidence. I've been told I should have shoved the flop but I was seeing monsters with KT. That's why I checked the turn cos I wanted him to lead river with his straight and get pot committed. Brutal game sometimes.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?606488

The next hand was horrid. His play was terrible and he got lucky for a split after I flopped the nuts. Ace on the river and I think I'd have lost it.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?606487

Hard to get away from this one, even after his overbet. He was a huge fish, too.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?606490

KK v AA, for half a buyin.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?606492

KK v AA, for a full buyin, against a 65/20 who limp reraised me when I had QQ on the last hand. I'm never gonna fold this against him.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?606494

JJ very questionable shove. Opponent was 22/14 but was not very good IMO. Completed and called raises with trash particularly suited junk. I felt AT and overs w/FD was in his range but got far too married to my hand and should have folded because his action screams set. I live and learn. Original preflop reraiser was 25/16 I think so his range for reraising an UTG raiser would have been pretty narrow IMO. He almost certainly had AK.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?606497

And that's about it. Good luck at the tables everyone and now I'm gonna be playing a lot more I'll try to update with some hands most days.

Dan.

Flu Sucks

2006-11-02T15:52:00.000Z

I've been struggling with flu since last Friday. It was terrible over the weekend, I could hardly breathe and had a splitting headache. And I had to play football on Sunday because our other goalkeeper was injured. After that I went home and slept all day.

I'm feeling a bit better now but still very blocked up and not anywhere near 100%.

Obviously I didn't play poker over the weekend but I have a bit this week, and the up and down patch just continues. I think I'm actually +2 buyins all week, and have been fairly swingy as usual. I just can't seem to hit flops, and hardly ever get paid when I do hit.

I know there's plenty of areas where I still need to improve, and I actually re-read all of cts' blog yesterday which has given me some ideas and ways to play certain scenarios. It helped me a lot. Yesterday and today I felt I played much better, but the cards haven't generally been on my side.

Here's some interesting hands from the last couple of days:-

Lol

http://www.pokerhand.org/?589157

I didn't really understand his turn lead so I just called him down.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?589159

The old river bluff.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?589160

Sick hand. He was a massive fish, as you can tell.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?589162

I think if I bet the turn he'd call anyway. I checked to try to get him to shove. Smart call on the flop by him. Calling 1/5 of a buyin (almost half of his remaining stack) for a non-nut gutshot.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?589163

Standard race

http://www.pokerhand.org/?589164

This guy obviously liked lighting his money on fire.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?589165

Another guy who lost his mind.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?589169

My flop play was very unorthodox, but I hadn't been paid with a set for ages so I thought I'd mess about! It worked anyway. Surely he must realise QQ isn't good here...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?589170

On another front, I'm pretty addicted to Football Manager 2007 at the moment as well. It's a pretty awesome game, for those US readers, this game is like the most successful football (soccer) management game since 1993, when they have brought out at least one game per season. I'm doing a challenge at the moment from their forum (http://community.sigames.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/521102691/m/3082006462/p/1) where you have to take a brand new conference north or south team to win the Champions League. It's bloody hard and after 2 seasons I'm still stuck in Conference South like most people on the forum. One guy is in the Premier League which is amazing.

I'm going to Tottenham v Club Brugge tonight as well, so I won't be at the tables any more today. Should be able to get a decent session in tomorrow though.

Take it easy everyone.

The Mathematics Behind 3-Betting - Strategy Article

2006-10-26T09:26:00.000Z

One of the things I worked on at my 50NL experiment was becoming far more liberal with my 3-betting preflop, especially when I am out of position against position raises. Not only is this good for getting paid off with your strong hands, and establishing a dominant image on the table, it also has a very sound mathematical basis.

I'm going to discuss several scenarios and the mathematics behind them.

First scenario - you have AQ in the BB, and it's folded to the button (decent-ish 22/16 player). He raises pot, with 55. Standard stuff.

You should always be 3-betting here.

Imagine if you called his raise...The flop comes K 9 6 rainbow - you'd obviously check, and he'd make a standard continuation bet and you'd fold, thinking little more about the hand. This, in effect, has reduced about a 50/50 confrontation to about a 66/33 confrontation in his favour, as this is your approximate chance of hitting the flop. You are out of position, without the betting lead, and need to hit the flop to continue.

However, if you were to 3-bet, he'd be calling only for set value and obviously he'd only hit this about 1/8 and suddenly your hand turns to about an 80/20 favourite because he'd almost always check/fold to your continuation bet if he misses his set.

So by raising you have dramatically turned the tables on your opponent and made yourself a huge favourite mathematically, just by making another raise preflop - plus you give him the chance of folding and taking the pot preflop as well.

Second scenario - you have 22 in the BB, and it's folded to the button (same decent player) who raises with 65s. Standard stuff again.

If you call his raise, he'd continuation bet a Q 8 3 rainbow flop for example, and you'd be folding the best hand. Everything is against you - you are out of position, without the betting lead and missed your 7/1 shot to hit a set. And even if you do hit, would you get paid? Unless your opponent has a big hand himself(or loses his mind in this example) then the answer is firmly no. There is obviously a huge chance that a semi-lag or even TAG player would be open-raising his button with a wide range, so why should you just call with 22?

Turning the tables, if you were to 3-bet with 22, which is what I advocate, then he'd either fold preflop, which is fine, or he'd call, you'd c-bet the same flop and he'd fold. So you are forcing him to hit the flop in order to win the pot, not making you hit a hand so you are winning the pot with the best hand, not losing it with the best hand. Even if he picked up second pair or bottom pair he'd likely not continue with the hand.

Obviously your opponent's tendencies are very important when considering your options - a player who raises less than 5% of hands wouldn't be raising his button light, for example, but a 35/25 or a 20/15 even would be doing this a lot. Against a player who raised rarely, I'd be much more inclined to call and see a flop and hope to flop a set because there's more chance he'd have a geniune hand such as a strong overpair which could pay me off when I hit. As I said, even if you call with a hand like 22 and hit against a semi-lag/lag player then he almost always won't be paying you off anyway because he raised light to start with.

Your own image is also important - if it is one of getting out of line then you may start facing 4-bets a lot more because they too realise you are 3-betting far from premium hands yourself.

I hope you enjoyed reading the article, and as always I'd be grateful for feedback.

Dan.

Solid Profit, Although Running Bad

2006-10-24T10:23:00.000Z

I've played a fair bit recently at 200NL on FTP, the games seem to have improved (and there are a lot more tables too) and there are a few donators I've noticed recently.

The work I did at 50NL experimenting is definitely paying off - I'm playing about a 21/19 game now and not only am I enjoying poker a lot more, I'm also getting more action for my good hands. The only problem is when I get allin on the turn against 10 outs of less I can't get my hands to hold up! I also am not flopping sets :-( But I'm running at 5.5ptbb/100 over the last week which I'm taking as a good victory.

I just shoved the turn here, the pot was about $100 but I really thought he'd call with AQ which I had him on. His call is terrible IMO.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?573434

Pretty standard, I guess. I needed him to believe his overpair was good.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?573435

I think I played this hand really well. I had him squarely on 99-QQ, so I was 100% sure I was ahead when i c/r the turn. Sick river, although he had spade outs.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?573437

Lol...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?573438

This hand was pretty odd. I've experienced this betting pattern a lot lately. Fish will check/call flop and lead turn. It's almost like there's been some strategy article written about it! I must start reading those tips from the pros emails that full tilt sends! I decided to take a fairly passive line because of his odd line anyway, and my hand was good. I like raising the turn here a lot as well, but I just didn't know what on earth he had so I decided to use my position.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?573439

On the same note, I've been lead at a lot lately when I've raised preflop. I just don't get it. This hand was pretty bizarre. I flopped trips and I didn't want to broadcast my hand by raising, plus if I raised then I'm not getting called by worse hands much. I almost raised the turn - perhaps I should have - and I didn't have him on an ace when he overbet the river. I wish I could work out what goes through people's heads sometimes.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?573440

This hand was pretty funny. I had him on JJ/QQ, I knew he didnt have Ax plus I had the nfd.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?573441

Shame he didn't have more money in front of him...Btw I called the 3 bet to trap.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?573442

Lol @ his overbet.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?573443

Tough fold - but I'm pretty sure I was behind.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?573444

Another tough spot. In retrospect I quite like raising on the flop again, as I feel he'd do this with Kc a lot of the time. Can't call the turn though.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?573445

Nice turn for me...I actually thought he had the flush. Just proves you should never open limp!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?573446

Very tough spot. I couldn't see how the K helped him, if he had K9 I was almost certain he'd raise the flop. I'm not convinced my shove is great because I'm hardly ever getting called by a hand I am beating - but if I check I'm going to face a big bet almost always and don't know where I am. A bit of a catch 22 situation. Luckily the mug called me.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?573447

QQ loses to TJ, allin

http://www.pokerhand.org/?573455

KK loses to QQ, allin

http://www.pokerhand.org/?573456

This was highly amusing. Never slow play!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?573448

And the same guy, living up to his name!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?573451

I'll probably add the next strategy article tomorrow - it's about the mathematics behind a preflop 3-bet.

Good luck everyone.

Dan.

The Art Of Continuation Betting - Strategy Article

2006-10-19T17:08:00.000Z

Continuation Betting seems to take a love/hate relationship in no limit holdem. Especially since the popularity of the Harrington series of books, almost all players make continuation bets on a very regular basis. But few players show any thought about both the size of their bets and when they do use this strategy.

When making a continuation bet, I advise that you make a bet of about 70-75% of the pot every single time that you decide one is viable. I like having a standard bet because then it means that your opponents will find it harder to get a good read on your game. You could have 6 high or a set, but if you decide to c-bet with 6 high then you'd bet the same %age of the pot that you would with your set. This is a mistake that i often see - people bet too weak or even too strongly with their c-bets. I really do think that standardising your betting is a very worthwhile thing to do.

As far as making a c-bet is concerned, I think there are three important aspects to consider: These, in no particular order, are board texture, position, and your opponent's propensity to fold.

The first of these which I am going to look at is your opponent's propensity to fold. This is where your Poker Tracker database comes in handy. If you datamine a lot or even just play a lot then you should have a pretty decent database of statistics on your opponents.

The two key statistics in this area are fold to continuation bet % and fold to flop bet %. Check/raise flop% is also fairly significant. If a player's folds to flop bet and fold to c-bet stats are less than 50%, you can be pretty sure he is making some very light calls on the flop. This could be with any pair, or even any draw including a gutshot.

These are players who you often need to take a different approach with - value betting your made hands and bluffing less due to their calling station mentality. I'd only c-bet these sort of players on flops that are very favourable for c-betting.

Anyone who folds to c-bets or flop bets over 70% is a good candidate to c-bet unless the board is very unfavourable to do so. These guys are generally looking for top pair or a decent draw to get further involved in the hand.

Against a player who doesn't fold enough to c-bets and you have position and check behind on the flop, you could try a delayed c-bet on the turn if your opponent checks the turn to you as well. Again make this a 70% of the pot bet. They should fold a lot of marginal hands as well here, they may for example think that you flopped a big hand and gave a free card to let them catch up but you won't give two free cards.

The second category you need to look at is position. It's cliched but position is king in no limit holdem. Blank cards could win a hand if you were a good positional player. It's advantages are also apparent in the art of c-betting. I'd be much more inclined to c-bet if I had position and it was checked to me. If the board was somewhat drawy and I was out of position then this would make it less favourable to c-bet.

Finally, we need to look at board texture. I'm going to assume we have position in all instances against a fairly standard 30/10/2 player - as a good NLHE player you should be playing most of your pots in position. I'm also going to assume you have AKo in all instances unless specified.

Flop 1: JT8 with 2 suits. This would not be a good flop to c-bet generally. There is a big chance that your opponent has hit a piece of this flop or has some sort of draw. You are going to be check/raised a fair amount on this flop if you bet. So I'd usually take the free card and hope to spike a Q for the nuts or even an A/K which could be good enough to win the hand.

Flop 2: 448 rainbow. This is an ideal flop to c-bet. Your opponent should not be loose enough to play 4x, there are no draws and unless he has 8x (which is also unlikely) or a pocket pair he won't usually play back at you.

Flop 3: Q96 all one suit. This is a poor flop to c-bet. If your opponent has a piece of this, whether it's a pair or a face card of the suit on the board then he is not going away. Unless you have a flush draw yourself, I'd advise checking behind here.

Flop 4: A93 rainbow. You have 44 this time. This would be a good flop to c-bet as well. There are no draws and almost always your opponent will fold unless he has an ace or a set. The other benefit here of betting is that if you get called, you may often get to see 5 cards which give you chances to spike a set and win a possible large pot.

So to summarise on board texture, rainbow flops are good, boards without possible open ended straight draws are good. Flops with Ax are good. Paired boards are good. Flops with cards close together (particularly high cards) or with flush draws on are not good.

Finally, you may encounter opponents who don't check the flop to you. They bet minimum instead. I assume this to be a check and proceed with my usual c-bet. Often these players have some sort of weak pair or a draw and don't know how strong their hand is. I'll give them all the encouragement they need that their hand is no good and raise them and fully expect them to fold. If they bet minimum and call, I'd say they are very often on a draw.

And that's pretty much my thoughts on c-betting. I hope you found it useful and as always, I'd be grateful for any feedback.

Prison Break

2006-10-16T15:29:00.000Z

I never thought I'd say this, but Lost has been knocked off the top spot in my favourite TV series charts. At the moment it's pretty dull stuff IMO although obviously still great TV compared to the crap we get generally. But I'm in the process of catching up with Prison Break. Everyone kept going on to me about how good it is, and finally I got the series 1 box set at the weekend. I've watched 7 episodes so far and this is by far the best series I have ever, ever watched. If you haven't seen Prison Break yet, you honestly have to buy this as soon as possible. At least I am never bored at home when I'm not playing online at the moment:-)

I've also bought The Professor, The Banker and The Suicide King and this is looking like a decent book. It's about the real life high stakes poker games between a banker, Andy Beal, and the corporation (High Stakes pros). It's pretty good so far.

Music wise, I'm really into a mix session that I downloaded from www.djrobknagg.co.uk. It's only about 45 minutes long but very good. Anyone who likes piano house, or 90's dance music in general should really like this. I'm also really liking 'I just wanna know' by Taio Cruz at the moment too, which should show how diverse my music tastes area anyway! This song was actually picked up by a record company from his myspace website. Garage music wise, I'm liking 4u4me by Sunship - you can hear a sample of this on their myspace website as well. Sunship have always done great garage tracks.

As far as poker is concerned, I've played 2k hands at 50NL today so far just to finish tweaking a few things in my experiment, and I'm gonna play a bunch more tonight (4k hands for the day hopefully) before I resume back at 200NL tomorrow. The funny thing is, whenever I have played 50NL I've actually made really good money :-)

That's about it for now, I'm gonna put my next strategy article up today or tomorrow about continuation betting, and the impact of your opponent's poker tracker stats on it. I hope you'll like it anyway!

Dan.

Taking A Look At Your Game

2006-10-13T14:39:00.000Z

This is something I really recommend, especially when you are running/playing bad.

Take a step back and really analyse your game. If you are running bad, there are often elements of your play which you can criticise as well. For example, if you got sucked out on because the guy hit the flush on the river, did you bet enough/at all to protect your hand? That sort of thing. I've been doing this a lot recently, and also catching up on some CR videos. It's easy to fall into a rigid routine of only playing x hand in x position and become predictable and easy to read, as well as a bit of a nit.

So I am currently doing an experiment at 50NL - playing much more of a LAG style, bigger preflop raising ranges, more 3-betting preflop etc and generally trying to develop a harder style which will help me at higher stakes. I 6 tabled for about 1500 hands so far today and made about 6.5 buyins lol. I was basically running the tables and people were only playing back at the 'wrong' times which was pretty funny. The flip side of this is that you have to stick with your good overpairs and tptk much more because people will play back at you with less because they have seen you are 'willing to throw some chips around'. It was pretty funny to see how some people regard your play - one guy asked me why i was playing crazy preflop lol. I was like 22/20 on that table...

I'm probably going to stick at 50NL over the weekend, and get a ton of hands in whilst developing and getting confidence with this style before I think about using it at any higher games, but I think this is a very necessary thing to do if I am going to succeed at higher stakes.

I guess the message is - if you are running/playing bad, take a while to analyse your game, look in poker tracker at all the hands you have dropped over 1/2 a buyin with and see if you really are spewing chips and making suboptimal decisions. And don't be scared to drop down to experiment and try some things out which will improve your long run game.

Dan.

Turn Aggression - Strategy Article

2006-10-07T19:34:00.000Z

I've been thinking about turn strategy, when you have position, a lot recently, particularly with marginal hands. Whilst I've been playing 1/2, I've noticed that a lot of players react to their opponent's weakness on the turn with aggression on the river. This was less the case at lower stakes where the players are more worried about their own cards.

I'm going to use some examples here:-

A $1/2 game online.

It's folded round to you in the cutoff, and you raise pot ($7) with JTo. The Big Blind (50/5/2.5) calls. Pretty standard really. Pot is $15 preflop.

The flop comes J 7 3 with 2 suits. He checks and you bet $11, your standard continuation bet into a $15 pot. He calls. Pot is ~ $35.

The turn comes a total blank, an offsuit 2. He checks. This is where the situation gets interesting. A lot of people would advocate checking behind 'for pot control'. This, in my opinion, is a fundamentally wrong strategy for several reasons. What I advocate is a bet, which in effect determines the price of a showdown.

Let's look at the two scenarios in more detail.

First scenario, he checks and you check. Pot would still be ~ $35. No matter what comes on the river, you are gonna be facing a bet with about 90% certainty on the river.

If the river comes an overcard, is your second pair good? If the river comes a low flush card, is your top pair good? If the river comes a straight card, is your top pair good? Was he slowplaying a monster (set?) from the start? All these questions going through your head, because you don't really know where you are.

Now, imagine what is going through your opponent's head at this time. 'Well I called his continuation bet with flush draw/straight draw/second pair/top pair weak kicker and he checked behind on the turn. Looks like he doesn't like his hand too much, probably has AK. I've missed my draw/have a weak hand but I'm gonna bet him off his and not give him the chance to bluff on the river - I've got the lead on this hand now and I'm going to take advantage - betting is probably the only way I am going to win this pot'. And why not? Everything is in his favour for a bet. But he can't bet small - because that would make it easier for you to call. So it's safe to assume he'd be betting 70% pot - pot in almost every instance. So about $30 let's say on average. Could be slightly more, could be a bit less. You then have a very tough call to make with what is, in essence, a marginal hand.

Now let's go back to the turn again. He checks, and you bet. You want to protect your hand against a draw, and you want to find out where you stand more, as well as reducing significantly the chance of you getting bluffed on the river. This is pretty important by the way. It would take a pretty gutsy/stupid opponent to lead out on a total bluff with a big bet on the river when you have shown total strength throughout every street, and your likely holding would be an overpair, AJ for top pair top kicker or a set. Therefore you can assume that it's pretty likely that if you bet the turn, and your opponent calls and then he leads/pushes river, your top pair is no good. This would also be true if he check/raised the turn. In my instance, this is hardly ever a bluff, and almost always a hand which even beats top pair top kicker.

So, you decide to bet $25 into the $35 pot (70%). Your opponent calls with his flush draw/straight draw/weak pair. He is almost always going be checking the river to you, which you should then check behind unless your own hand significantly improves on the river.

You have determined the price of the showdown is $25 via your turn bet, and that you want to be betting instead of calling. This is also obviously good because if you call a bet you can only win if your hand is good. But if you make a bet you can also win by betting. For example if villain had QJ on this hand, maybe he'd fold the turn because it looks like he was beat. You have also managed to save $5 on your marginal hand at showdown.

So to summarise:-

You have got your marginal hand to showdown cheaper by betting.
You have reduced the chances of getting bluffed on the river significantly.
You are charging for draws, thereby protecting your hand.
You have more idea of knowing where you stand in the hand, rather than playing a guessing game.

All pretty good advantages, I'd say.

To finish, I'll quickly refer to some other example boards. Say for example a King comes on the turn instead of the 2. I'd still bet if checked to me. Many people are very fearful of the overcard but why? Why should he have a King? There's no logical reason. Many people would have c/r flop with JK anyway. There's still a good chance you are in front.

Say for example it's the same board J 7 3 2 but the flop was all of one suit. You've bet the flop with top pair (whether your kicker is of the suit or not) and your opponent calls. If he checks the turn, I'd still bet again. There's a good chance he has Q/K/A of the suit of the flop and if you check behind on the turn he'll bet the river regardless of if it comes or not, for the reasons I've already discussed.

A final example is if the flop was QJ7 with 2 suits or similar, so you flop second pair instead of top pair. I'd also often bet the turn given the same betting pattern. There's a good chance your opponent is drawing and you are in front and I also think if you bet the turn he'd definitely fold JT/JK/JA a lot of the time which is obviously a huge advantage. It's also even harder to call a sizeable river bet which could often be a bluff as unless the river is a card lower than 7 you aren't going to be liking the river very often.

There is one final thing to mention - if you have a good hand (perhaps top pair top kicker or higher) you may want to check behind on the turn to induce a bluff on the river. This would be pretty dependent on a lot of things though, such as your hand, what range you put your opponent on, the threatening nature of the board and yours and your opponents image.

I hope you like the article, I'd be grateful for any feedback.

Dan.

Running Badly

2006-10-07T19:22:00.000Z

Well I knew this time would come...

But at the moment I'm running pretty badly. I just can't hit a flop and if I do, disaster strikes. If you hit with AK, the flop comes KJT or something similar, and if I flop a set the turn/river bring the board to 4 to a flush lol.

I guess these times are meant to try us, and I think the key is to minimise your losses in these situations, by either not tilting or not playing. It's hard for these type of things not to affect your confidence but its hard not to put the other guy on a monster every hand when he puts money in when you are constantly getting beaten down.

I'm not hugely down but it's still not pleasant.

Full Tilt have done a reload bonus for $1000 (50% bonus so $500 bonus) and with this and their good statement regarding their stance on poker legislation, I think they could be all set for a big market share increase. I'm already noticing several more thousand players on at peak times. Hopefully this can cover some of my losses :-)

I'm gonna be going away for a few days from Sunday so I won't be updating most of next week, or even playing, and I think a weeks break is necessary. I haven't had my A game mind on for a couple of weeks now and I need a week away from poker to refresh my mind and come back to my best. I want to start 8-tabling soon as I am gonna really have a good go at making a run up to 2/4 pretty quickly when I get back, and I want to get a ton of hands in every day. I'm also hoping the break will help me get properly motivated to play like 8 tables 6ish hours a day. This would be pretty good.

I'm add another strategy article tonight as well - I hope everyone like the one about game selection and I've written another one about playing the turn aggressively. In my opinion it's where a lot of pots get decided and that good turn strategy is something which is very beneficial to a players winrate. It's something I've looked at in great detail recently, and I think it's importance increases as you move up stakes.

Thats it for now, peace everyone.

Game Selection - Strategy Article

2006-10-03T18:59:00.000Z

I once read a phrase in a poker book:-

‘If you were the 6th best poker player in the world, you’d be pretty pleased. Until, you sit at a table with the top 5 players’

Online, there are an abundance of sites, and tables per stake, that you can play at and sit at. So why pick the first table that has an empty seat? That’s lazy, and lazy doesn’t get you the money!

I’d estimate that good game selection can double a player’s winrate. That sounds a lot – but I’d also estimate that 70% at least of my profit comes from fish! If you are on a table with no fish then it follows you have less chance of winning!

So how do you find a good table? Here is my advice.

When I log onto Full Tilt, I get PokerTracker and Poker Ace Hud running immediately. I then scan the tables at my limit, and load up all those that have the majority of players with decent sized stacks at them. This is vital because playing against short stacks destroys the implied odds of hands like pocket pairs and suited connectors, and negates the effect of a LAG or semi LAG style. It also follows that if you consider yourself a winning player, you’d want to sit on a table where there’s more money to win. Thereby, making more of your edge.

I’ll then wait for a couple of minutes for HUD to pick up the tables. Once this is done, I’ll scan each individual table.

I’ll basically ditch any table with an average VPIP of <30%. This would be a tight table generally. One exception to this rule would be if there was one fish on there – I mean a massive donator – with like 2x buyin or more, and there was a seat available on his direct left or two to his left. I’d probably take that seat.

After doing all these processes, I’ll have a shortlist of tables to choose which ones I will play. The next step is to analyse which is the juiciest…Here I’m looking for players who are loose/passive – I’m talking VPIP of >40% with a PFR of <10% - with decent money in front of them. I wouldn’t really tend to avoid a particular regular, but if there are a couple of decent regulars with a fish I may give the table a miss possibly.

After all this, you should be able to compact all the available tables into a group which will be the tables you are going to play at.

If there is a waiting list for a table – join it. Be patient! Don’t be tempted to give up waiting on a table and join a worse one.

When I choose a particular seat on a table, I don’t really want any loose players on my direct left. Basically they are going to be floating you without knowing it, meaning you are playing pots out of position which is obviously not ideal or conducive to winning poker.

You want these loose players to your right – Where you have position on them and you can make them pay for playing pots out of position with substandard hands and suboptimal decision making.

If I was offered a seat on a juicy table with a 60/5 with 1.5x buyin who would be on my direct left, I’d probably turn it down and wait for a better seat. Unless the table was full of players like that, in which case I’d have to take it! But generally, I’d reject the seat and wait to get position on my target(s).

It’s also important to realise when a table has gone bad, and that it’s time to find another one. If table VPIP has gone below 30%, that’s often a pretty good sign. Other factors may be if your main fish leaves the table, meaning you are left with tight regulars. Just walk away and find somewhere better to play!

I’ve been in situations before where there’s been a big fish on a table, and 3 or 4 pretty solid players. I’ve then stacked the fish almost immediately, and he has left the table. As soon as that big blind hits me, I am gone too! It’s not expected of you to stay at the table after you’ve won a big pot. Poker is a ruthless game, and you have to take the decisions which will benefit you the most.

And that is my guide to game selection. As I mentioned earlier, good game selection can really boost your winrate. If you don’t practice it, you really are throwing $ away!

Some Calm After Yesterday

2006-10-03T18:45:00.000Z

I've been reflecting on the situation regarding the US legislation. I've read tons of forums for basically the last few days and I've made a decision that my funds are safe, as a non US player, in Full Tilt Poker.

I know this is a lot different to my comments yesterday, but I actually feel as though Full Tilt is probably the safest site out there (with the majority of US players on it). I would be getting my money out of some other sites though if I had it on them though.

Unless a company goes bankrupt then I don't think non US players have anything to worry about particularly - I don't see Full Tilt going bankrupt, in fact I can actually see growth for them, but I can see certain other ones (no names mentioned) which I would be very scared if I had money in them.

I tested FTP with a withdrawal which got processed (albeit after some time), so I'm gonna place some trust in them at this current time. Obviously things are subject to change though!

I've written a strategy article about Game Selection. I'm going to add it tonight. I think it's a subject which many players under rate as a crucial facet of a big winrate. I know so many players who just sit at a non-full table, and barely look at other tables. As I mentioned yesterday, I am writing some more on other subjects too. The idea is to add one every day or so, I'm planning on writing 6 or 7 which should be pretty good hopefully.

Dan.

What On Earth Does The Future Hold?

2006-10-02T18:36:00.000Z

For those who have been hidden under a rock for the last few days, I'm talking about the impact of the US legislation effectively banning monetary transactions for US citizens to online poker sites.

Living in the UK, it doesn't directly affect me. But, in several indirect ways, it sure does.

How safe is anyone's money? Having money invested in a US site worries me. And obviously i don't want to lose it. Party Poker lost 60% of their value on the UK stock exchange today. Not that I play on there, but it doesn't inspire confidence.

Where are the fish going to go? Many people speculate that there will be ways round this legislation. I am more sceptical. Whilst there may be ways of doing it, who are going to be doing this? Surely the vast majority will be the serious players, whilst the fish will just waste money on something else...

The only ways that the situation will be the same this time next year, or even this time in 5 years is, in my opinion, one of two ways. Firstly the american situation gets resolved and everyone can continue as before. Secondly that there is huge advertising in the far east and we get a load of new players from there. The chinese who i know who play poker are huge gamblers, which could be good for us.

I'm actually seriously considering withdrawing all my online bankroll. Some people may view this as extreme, but surely when you have a decent amount of money in an institution and it's very existence is under threat, even if you have a 5% doubt in your mind that you could lose it then surely withdrawing it is the right option. Obviously I'm not giving up playing poker, far from it in fact, because I fully intend to carry on playing for a living. I'm just probably going to assess the situation over the next few weeks and try to work out if it's safe to redeposit and play, and if so, to decide which sites are safe.

On the poker front I played sparingly in the late stages of last week and picked up just over 4 buyins. I guess I picked a bad week to have most of the week off.

I actually had a good weekend away from poker. I went out into town on Friday night, on Saturday I didn't do too much but made $420 on poker, £60 on a football bet and £190 on machines. On Sunday I played football, we played really well and beat a team who were unbeaten this season 4-2 away. And then a few of us went to Spurs and we beat Portsmouth 2-1. Bit of a dodgy penalty but never mind, we are usually on the receiving end of bad decisions!

I really hope that the situation gets resolved (or even made clearer) regarding the future of online poker, but I have little confidence that it will in the immediate short term. I cannot believe that these huge multi million (billion?) companies have not even had meetings about this matter or drafted some sort of contingency plan or looked into potential implications in advance. But that's what I'm reading - they simply thought it wouldn't happen.

If I do decide to withdraw my roll online today I'll still be very active in the cardrunners forums as usual, and I'm also in the process of writing some strategy articles, so I'll still be involved with the game. I've written an article about table selection which I'll add probably tomorrow. I've got tons of thoughts on some more too. I really hope this isn't the end of poker online as we know it.

Good luck everyone, and if anyone has any thoughts on the matter, please feel free to comment below.

Dan.

Lorry Drivers And Dance Music

2006-09-27T21:08:00.000Z

I haven't been playing much lately. To be honest I haven't wanted to play poker. I don't really know why. I just haven't felt like sitting in front of my pc all day.

It's not like I've run badly, in fact it's been pretty smooth Thursday-Saturday last week, but I haven't played from then until a short session this morning when I picked up 1/2 a buyin in about an hour. I just haven't had the motivation to play, or any possible feeling that I'd be playing good poker if I sat down to play. So I guess it's good that I haven't been playing when I feel like this. I feel quite a bit more like it now, so hopefully I can get all my enthusiasm back as quickly as possible.

So from Sunday to Tuesday I actually went out playing machines, which is the first time for ages. I wasn't even interested in the money (although I made like £350 which was ok for the hours I put in), I just wanted to get out of the house for a few days.

I actually enjoyed going out yesterday, it bought back some good memories.

Apart from driving on the M25, where this lorry which was about as dirty as it gets pulls out in front of me without indicating when I'm doing 90 on the outside lane. I slow down pretty quick and once he goes past the car who he's overtaking pulls over to the lane on the left. I look at him and he's mouthing obscenities and giving me the finger. Is it hardly surprising that the M25 is nothing more than a glorified car park because wankers like this crash their lorries every single day? If I can ever be bothered, I'll write to the powers that be and tell them to ban all lorries from going outside the first lane.

But with this being the exception I really enjoyed driving around. I picked up a couple of pirate radio stations, Freeze Fm (www.freezefm.co.uk) and Subjam (www.subjam.com) and they were playing some class old skool house from like 93-99 which was awesome, stuff I haven't heard for ages like Raze - Break for Love, Kim English - Nitelife and Bizarre Inc - Playing With Knives, all stuff which I grew up listening to. The other day I downloaded all the dj sessions (UK Garage) from www.mrprecordings.com which are all pretty good, but I'd really like to get some old skool house and maybe even some happy hardcore dj sessions which I haven't heard for ages. If anyone knows anywhere you can download some good free dj sessions please let me know!

Hopefully now I've had this short break I can get back to the tables and play some good sessions. I've got loads on tomorrow, I'm taking my car to get valeted in the morning so I can advertise it online tomorrow, and then I'm going to Tottenham v Slavia Prague in the evening. I should be able to get a session in between doing these things.

After feeling pretty burnt out over the last few days, after playing like maybe 2-4 hours each day, I really wonder how some players have the mental stamina and motivation to play like 12 tables 10 hours a day, day in day out. I guess there must be an acquired skill somewhere along the line, or just a sick motivation to make as much $ as is physically possible. Answers on a postcard please!

Rollercoaster Ride

2006-09-21T20:37:00.000Z

I played quite a bit since my last post. I managed to pick up about 3 buyins on Wednesday morning, before losing about 4 in the evening. It was ridiculous. I've never been done by so many 2-5 outers on the river in one day (even the morning was bad). Probably about as many in a day as in a month.

I played this morning and won 3 buyins. It was a great time to play, full of fish. But looking at the tables now, it looks very tight. The games weren't that great in the afternoon either, so I picked up my car from being serviced and now it's ready to sell. I should get about £3,500 for it (2000 BMW 316i Sport but high mileage), and I'm looking to get a new car for about £6,500. Really don't know what to buy...Any ideas?

Here's some pots I played in the last two days.

Smallish pot, but just typical of my day yesterday.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?518107

I played this shit, should have bet turn bigger, but really 8 4, how the fuck can you call the turn?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?518108

Obviously I should have put him on J2...Not.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?518109

And to think I thought I missed a value bet on the river. Lol.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?518110

Set under set is always fun.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?518115

Another 2 outer.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?518118

Set over set, thankfully in my favour.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?518121

And this is my favourite pot, and biggest at 1/2, of all time. Thanks for the donation. Check out the chat of one of the other players after the river. Pretty funny. That is all.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?518123

As you can see if you've looked at the hands, it's been emotional. Despite all this I'm up a couple of buyins over the 2 days which I'll definitely take.

Bankroll wise I'm not a million miles away from $2/4. I've been making regular withdrawals of half my weekly profit and rakeback now I'm playing poker full time and if I hadn't have done that I'd be ready for $2/4 now. The extra experience until I get there will stand me in good stead though. My aim was to be playing $2/4 by the new year, so I've got plenty of time, and there's no rush.

I haven't got much on over the weekend so hopefully I'll be able to put some rare weekend sessions in.

Neil, I haven't really ever read any NL Cash Game Books - I actually don't know of any decent ones. I've read about 15 books though (which is far too many IMO and lead to me playing weak tight previously) and the only ones I really rate are the Harrington ones and I also liked Phil Gordon's Little Green Book. If you want to improve your cash game I'd recommend spending no money on books, just join cardrunners. It's only $20 per month and it's probably the best thing I have ever bought in my entire life. I recommend it highly. It's also good for tournament poker as well. Check out the free sample video on the homepage.

If anyone wants to talk about cash games, or poker in general, feel free to add me to your msn buddy list - my address is vampitup25@hotmail.co.uk.

Take it easy everyone and all the best at the tables.

Not Much To Say

2006-09-20T10:19:00.000Z

I haven't played much over the last few days, I've been pretty busy with sports (Cricket saturday, Football Sunday and watching Spurs' bore draw with Fulham on Sunday), but I've done OK when I have played, only one losing session out of 5, and that was only 1 buyin.

I had a couple of sick pots though.

This one was a good set over set in my favour. I knew he didnt have the straight, so i pushed the turn. Sick river to split the pot.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?515679

I actually burst out laughing when the cards were flipped up on this hand. I was drawing to one out with a flopped straight and gutshot straight flush draw. These two guys were huge donks, and why I was at the table.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?515680

Going to try to get a load of hands in today, hopefully I'll update later.

Still Running Good

2006-09-14T17:15:00.000Z

I've been playing sparingly in the last few days, I'd play more but I'll only play when the game is good. I think the fact I've been getting paid with a lot of hands has a lot to do with that. Full Tilt has been pretty tight this week still so I've been getting up pretty early to get some hands in and then I can chill a bit more for the rest of the day. On Tuesday I picked up 3 buyins in the morning, but dropped most of that in the afternoon. Yesterday I put in a very early 1.5 hour session and won just over 4 buyins which was nice, I didn't play after that as I had cricket all afternoon and was pretty tired in the evening. I played this morning early again and won 2 buyins in an hour. I've just got back home after picking up some friends from the airport and then picking my car up from the repairs it's had done all week (massive dent in the door and wing lol).

Overall I've played a mere 1,949 hands this week, but I'm up $1757.65, a BB/100 of 22.55 (lol). I'm gonna try to ramp up the hands played a bit more, I've been pretty busy this week and the games haven't been good so it's not been that easy doing so.

Here's some hands I played big pots with:-

Pretty standard, glad he didn't pair up! Opponent was very lag.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?505918

This guy was probably the most aggressive player I have played lately. He was 3 betting me so often preflop, as well as others with the likes of K4s and he also pushed 66 for a full buyin after 2 raises. Not sure I'd have got the money in with his hand on the turn though...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?505922

This hand was pretty funny. I didn't know much about villain but I honestly thought we were chopping. After the hand I realised how much of a donator he was. K7 - crazy.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?505928

Pretty standard again.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?505932

Opponent was a bit of a maniac, I really thought my overpair was in front. I put him on a flush draw, we were about 50/50 against each other. He hit, and that's poker.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?505933

I don't like my call here, it's a pretty bad call IMO. Opponent is tight. I've since been told that opponent is a total nit who basically peddles the nuts but I had him down as a typical tag before then. I guess he put me on AK and shoved. Still, we live and learn.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?505937

This hand was pretty amusing, even though I lost. Shows there's still some value on FTP anyway.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?505946

This hand was pretty sick. I've had sets counterfeited a few times lately. Not much you can do. I think villain would have bluffed river regardless so the king was a pretty lucky card for him to get away with it.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?505950

And that's about it for the last few days. I'm gonna watch the Tottenham game now, we are away at Slavia Prague and hopefully we can get a good result. A few of us were considering to go out there for the game but it never happened. So now we have to put up with listening to John Barnes' commentary on channel 5 instead:-(

Oh, and by the way I've been doing a bit of datamining on FTP tonight. Two (2!!!) tables out of 16 have an average vpip of 34%+, with the highest being 38.6% and the lowest 22%. I'd say the average of the tables was about 30%ish. Not too juicy.

Live Tournaments Suck. Online Cash Games Don't.

2006-09-12T12:56:00.000Z

I played the £100 freezeout I was talking about on Friday. It was actually 5000 chips with starting blinds 25/50. 30 minute clock so it was a fair structure.

I've never seen so many donks in one room. It was totally amazing. There was a showdown with a load of limpers in the first hand, hands turned over were J5o, Q4o etc...

The biggest fish of the lot was bleeding chips left right and centre when I finished him off. He had about 2500 left when he and another guy limped as usual. I found QQ in late position and made it 600 to go. They both called. Flop came 983, they both checked, I fired out a bet of 1400. Big stack donk folded, and the short stack fish called (wtf!) leaving himself 475. He pushed the turn which was a 7. I asked him how much it was to me (standard as I've made the mistake insta calling before, and then finding out it was a whole lot more), he said nothing. I asked him again politely, to which he asked me if I was blind. Nice guy. Someone else confirmed it was 475, I called and he showed 36o for bottom pair and turned open ended draw. River blanked and my overpair held.

I then got in a pot with my mate. We are playing 7 handed, I make it 350 to go with AJh in EP. My mate considers things for a while and calls. Flop A72 with no flush draw. I lead out for 650, he thinks and calls. Turn 3. I lead out for 1250, dunno where I stood, and he thought for like 3 minutes and minimum raises me. I fold, don't really see what I'm beating as my mate is very solid usually, he showed QQ and told me he thought he was in front. Hmmm.

Then I make a great laydown. Passive donk makes it 400 to go UTG, woman calls UTG+1 and I have QQ and make it 1400. Donk insta pushes, he didn't even think about it and the woman folds. I think for a while and fold, I still had enough chips and I was sure he had KK or likely AA. I ask him to show me his aces which he kindly does.

It gets to the stage where the blinds are 200/400 and I have about 3800 (M of just over 6), so I'm looking to make a move. Donk who showed AA limps in MP, he has me covered. I check the BB with 98o. Flop comes 4TQ with 2 suits. We both check. Turn J to complete a 2 card bottom end of the straight, where the 2 card top end is AK so somewhat unlikely. I check, he bets, I checkraised and he pushed. Obviously he has K9 for gg me. No way I can fold this.

Sick tournament.

I then played a single table satellite for one of their festival events. We are down to 3 handed, with 1st getting a seat. I'm in push/fold mode with an M of about 5, I push 99, get called by KK. Flop 7 9 (yes!) K (lol). GG me once more. How many big hands can I run into in a day?

On a side note this was the first casino I'd been to since I got back from Vegas. The difference is beyond belief. Vegas is plush with good service. I'd forgotten how bad UK casinos really are. The only free drinks are tea/coffee/coke, you have to pay full price for any alcohol (not that I was drinking), and you are lucky if a waitress comes round once in 2 hours. Oh yeah, and all the games are self dealt by people who can't shuffle, or deal. Give me online poker any day of the week.

On that subject, the online world has been somewhat better to me. I had a couple of days break over the weekend as I went to a wedding on Saturday and was shattered on sunday after 3 late nights. I logged on yesterday, but Full Tilt seems to be rock city these days. It's virtually impossible to find a table where average table vpip is like much more than 30%. It used to be wild on there. A lot of the regular fish dont seem to be playing much also. I'm guessing they have either gone to Party Poker for the monster promotion or have gone busto.

As my game selection is picky, I've only played 775 hands since yesterday. But I'll take the $918.05 profit from those hands. Here's some pots I played over those hands:-

I was pretty sure I was winning here. Opponent was a big donator and a flush draw or A6 was certainly possible. He had 3rd pair, lol.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?501933

How to get your money in whilst drawing dead (not me!). Thanks. Opponent is once again a big donator.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?501934

I was worried about the flush but had to call with pot odds. KK, wtf!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?501936

This was nice. Caught runner runner quads. Opponent played the hand terribly.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?501938

This guy was usually quite solid, but he was on tilt.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?501940

And this was when I finished him off.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?501941

This was before the last two, and before villain was on tilt. A very tough laydown. I made a blocking bet on the river, and when people go over the top of these bets on the river I find it usually indicates a big hand. I thought he had a flush, but I dunno. Difficult. Anyone call here?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?501943

Thanks river.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?501946

Because of the lack of good games on FTP, I'm going to start playing on Party as well. Hopefully once I can get that sorted I'll be on there from tomorrow.

Thats all folks, good luck everyone!

Quantity v Quality?

2006-09-08T10:00:00.000Z

I've had to abandon the challenge, for a few reasons.

Firstly Full Tilt Poker has been down for maintenance in the UK mornings and early afternoons this week which totally sucks, it's my most profitable time by far and also where I usually get a lot of hands in.

Secondly, when the games have been running on Full Tilt, the game selection is not there. All the fish are short stacks or there is one fish who has a stack but there are 5 predators around him!

Finally, I also haven't been feeling great this week and I don't want to play when I'm not feeling my best.

So overall, I haven't played a ton of hands, but when I have played I have felt really pleased with how I have played overall. I'm also now questioning whether I need to start putting in some night shifts to get some juicy games, which is something I have never done much of before.

Here's my stats for September, for when I have played.

Hands: 3,124
Profit: $2449.00
PTBB/100: 19.60

I've stacked tons of people over this time, and I'm getting paid off with my big hands so much its untrue. I've also been stacked a few times when I've flopped a set, any critique gratefully received as ever.

Here's some of the pots...

This hand was crazy. I couldn't literally believe my eyes. I really don't know why the guy with KK flat called my reraise preflop, just shove!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?494646

This guy was getting so frustrated with me. I was constantly raising him and pushing him about. He is also totally attached to top pair, making this an easy call.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?494652

This was another hand against a guy who I was bullying on several tables. I checked the turn with the intention of checkraising allin, but he pushed anyway, a horrible overbet with ace high.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?494655

On the KK theme, here's a solid laydown I did with KK yesterday. He either has AA or a set 100% for sure. I absolutely hated this flop, but felt I had to bet out but if he pushes it's an easy fold. It's pretty rare I fold KK overpair in a reraised pot but surely its toast here...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?494658

Here's a hand where I sucked out on the river. I was getting battered by bad beats on other tables so I guess I was due this good one. Can you lay this down on the turn when you pick up the flush draw? He was a huge fish btw. I was pretty sure the 10h changed nothing straight-wise as well.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?494661

I guess this is pretty standard, at least from my perspective. Opponent is pretty loose, obv.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?494663

This I guess is pretty standard too, opponent is a pretty tight multitabler, I had him on AK.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?494664

This hand was pretty cool. How not to play KQ is the theme here.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?494665

And that's about it. I would log on to FTP to play now, but I can't as it's down. So it looks like I'm going to have to go shopping now, what fun!

I'm playing in a £100 freezeout tonight with my mate which should be a grin, he plays in it every week and has done very well, apparently the structure is very good and deep stacked (8000 chips starting at 25/25) so I'm gonna play my normal cash game to start with as I'd like to think I am a better deep stacked player than a standard player there. As I've been pretty bored not being able to play too much, I've been reading up about tournament theory a lot, both on pocket 5s and particularly cardrunners forums, where I've read most of the last 10 pages of both sit and go and tournament forums trying to get to grips with the hand ranges for push/fold and when to do it. I've read all the Harrington's repeatedly but I feel that there's still a lot more to learn regarding tournaments. I don't think I'll ever stop primarily focusing on cash but I will be playing the odd tournament, usually live, which is good fun. It'd be nice to do well in them too.

Good luck everyone and have a good weekend.

Some Work To Do

2006-09-04T09:21:00.000Z

I knew I'd be behind after the weekend with my challenge, but I'm behind a ton. I barely played all weekend, I had Cricket all afternoon on Saturday, I played a bit in the evening for about an hour, felt tired and left with about a 2.5 buyin profit, which was a good result. Yesterday I had football in the morning and a family lunch afterwards, I was pretty tired in the evening and decided not to play. This has left me a lot behind pace already, but I feel fresh this morning and this week I am gonna get in a load of hands. I'm aiming for 3k hands a day most days this week to make up the backlog. I have no plans all Monday-Friday, so this should be possible.

Here's some hands from my 345 hand session on saturday night:-

This was a tough spot. I didn't expect my reraise preflop to get 2 callers, but it did. I flop an overpair, so I can't really lay this down too easily. I just wondered what JMSOC had, I could only see him do this with AJ (he was pretty loose preflop!) or QQ out of the hands I beat. I didn't have him on AA, but JJ was a real possibility, although maybe with that he'd call to keep the shortstack in. I thought there was a good chance I was winning, and made the call. Fortunately I was good against both of them and I scooped a nice pot.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?487353

Here's one of the greatest hands of all time for me. I flopped bottom 2 pair in an unraised pot and get raised by the table donator, who also has a big stack. I called the reraise with the intention of checkraising the turn, although I didn't really want to play a huge pot with this hand at that point. The turn completed my boat, so I check called him because I was convinced he'd bet the river and I wanted to checkraise him allin on the river. He beat me into the pot with his call, fact is not one hand he beats me with checkraises allin on the river.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?487361

I didn't really play any other great hands, hopefully I will today. Gonna sort some food out and then hit the tables!

Challenge Stats after Day 3:

Hands: 1313
Target: 6000
Pace: -4687

Day 1 - September 1

2006-09-02T09:37:00.000Z

A bad start to the challenge. I played a bit in the morning and then had to go out for several hours twice in the afternoon, so I couldn't get much playing in. I played a shortish session in the evening, but I almost fell asleep so decided it would be pretty smart to log off. I finished the night watching the Green Plastic v Muddywater heads up video on cardrunners, what an awesome idea. I tried watching them both simultaneously, but it was too disjointed so I watched Muddy's first and will watch GP's later. I'll imagine I'll be at least 2k hands behind pace after Sunday, I have cricket all afternoon today, and Sunday football tommorrow morning as well as a family lunch. I'm gonna have to work hard all week to catch up with the hands.

Here's some hands I played yesterday. I picked up just over 4 buyins for the day, which is obviously pretty decent for the amount I played.

Obviously I am liking the flop in this hand. I decided that the best course of action would be to get allin asap. If he has 77, nice hand. I really think that his call of my reraise when he is pretty much getting towards pot committed is terrible. Surely it's push/fold for him?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?484133

This next hand, I don't think I can get away from. It's so rare that I don't reraise preflop with it, but I felt I didn't want to reraise the short stack with AQ as if he calls and I miss, I am playing a guessing game. I checked the flop with the intention of checkraising, unfortunately I didnt get a bite. Turn brings me trips and nut flush draw, I don't think I can fold this. A tough spot, I'd like some opinions on this one.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?484136

The next hand I felt I played perfectly against a regular, solid player. I flopped top set and lured him in with my check on the turn. I really didn't have him on a straight, and I felt a lower set was very possible. I was amazed with what he showed. I don't think you could play QQ much worse. Even if he reraises me preflop, I'll probably still stack him though.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?484140

The guy I am against in this hand is one of the biggest $1/$2 fish on Full Tilt. I love playing with him. He is a total maniac, and was running the table over a bit. I was prepared to wait for a big hand against him, and thankfully it came. I wasn't worried about a flush at all, he pushes top pair to the felt all the time. His allin call is unbelievable.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?484144

This last hand shows the benefit (to me) of getting all in on the turn drawing dead. God knows what was going through this guys mind.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?484148

Overall, I only played 968 hands. I won't take that. I'll take the profit though...

Overall stats, Day 1:

Hands: 968
Total: 968
Pace: -1032

September Challenge

2006-09-01T14:32:00.000Z

I've been running pretty good over the last few days, and I've picked up a load of buyins. I didn't really doubt myself too much when I had a couple of bad -$1k sessions as I was just getting coolered left right and centre, and generally just running bad. I really feel as I am one of the top players at the $1/$2 on Full Tilt, and I have fear of no one.

Over the last few days I've been adding a few plays for deception against the regulars, and addressing a leak of mine, which was being too passive on the turn with a marginal hand. I was getting played back at a lot on the river when I'd check behind on the turn to control the size of the pot with say top pair ok kicker or maybe even something like TT on a one overcard board which may have draws on it. This leads to a lot of second guessing and doubting whether your hand is good. Typically, it also means you are going to have to call a bigger bet on the river than the bet you will make on the turn which will usually be in the 60-75% of pot range. Obviously it's better to be the bettor than the caller as well.

One problem I have had is getting the hands in. I'm incredibly picky when it comes to table selection, I often reject a seat a couple of times on a table until I get position on my target(s) etc... I also have had a problem of trying to 'bank' wins and not playing on after a huge session. If I am going to try to become a top player, this not playing after a good session has got to stop.

So, for the month of September, and hopefully for the future, I am going to try a challenge. It won't be a monetary target at all, as I feel that my personality does not benefit from them, it puts me under too much pressure and won't help me. But it's a hand target, and naturally the money 'should' follow! I'm going to try and play an average of 2,000 hands a day for the month, so 60,000 hands for the month. I'm going to try to make this my target every month, but I want to see how attainable it is first. I don't see why it shouldn't be. I haven't got bundles else to do with my time, I have no work committments either. I'm playing 6 tables at a time, so this would be about 450 hands/hr roughly. 2000 hands daily actually gets me about £17,000 per year just in rakeback, which is obviously an OK tax free wage as it is, without even thinking about the profits. On a loose monetary goal, I'd be very disappointed if I couldn't hit 5ptbb/100 hands over the month period. So this would be a loose target of $12,000.

I'm going to post every day with how I've got on, and hopefully put up some challenging hands for analysis, as well as some of the big pots I've played.

I'd love some comments on the hands - please let me know your opinions.

Good luck at the tables guys!

Swings, Swings, Swings

2006-08-25T23:23:00.000Z

Variance is not my best friend recently. I had made an excellent start at 1/2 on Full Tilt, quickly maintaining my progress from 100NL, running at about 8ptbb/100 hands, and making 9 buyins over a few days. Then disaster struck last Friday when i dropped $1k in 2hrs, losing set v set twice, and AK on a QJT flop, which i enjoyed. Also quite a few 1/2 buyin pots when i generally had the second best great hand.

I took a few days off to recover till Monday, and had made quite a bit back by Tuesday evening, and then deja vu on Wednesday - it happened again - I was 1k down in a session... I made most of it back, including this class hand where I won a $400 pot with king high.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?471929

The other guy in the hand was ridiculously aggressive on the flop, and therefore it was a good spot to reraise with overs and second nut flush draw. He gets allin with a worse draw and all i have to dodge is a 9 or Q. That would have wound me right up if he hit one of those.

Had an ok day yesterday, picking up a couple of buyins, and played a short session today, didn't really get into it as I was tired and didn't really get any situations to play big pots with people, and i left $25 down in an hour.

I'm going to Spurs tomorrow, we are playing Everton at home, we have a really good record against them and Robbie Keane always scores against them, so hopefully we can get the win.

It's also my football team's last preseason friendly on Sunday (I'm player/manager), we have been promoted to Division 2 (out of 6) in the Sunday League, and hopefully we can make a real impact in it as I think we have the squad to do really well.

Good luck at the tables everyone.

PC Problems!

2006-08-10T17:16:00.000Z

Sorry for the lack of updates, I have had massive laptop problems and also severe poker site problems so for the vast majority of the last 3 weeks I haven't played a great deal.

My laptop basically gave up, it was ridiculous. My cards were totally lagging and I kept getting disconnected. It even switched itself off twice during a session, so after trying to fix it I ended up having to buy a new pc, I got a desktop this time with a 19" screen which is better for poker anyway. Then, William Hill was basically semidown for like a week, and at times I couldn't reload or even take vacant/reserved seats! This seems to happen a lot on crypto, and after some thought I decided to withdraw my whole roll and move it to another site. I was considering doing so anyway as there are a lot of decent aggressive regulars at 100NL and the fish were getting few and far between.

It then took me like about a week to move my roll to Full Tilt. The problems I have had doing this were beyond belief. With all these rules about fraud and money laundering it seems the process is nigh on impossible, unless you have the patience of a saint and are prepared to talk to some foreigner you can't understand in a call centre halfway across the world ten times a day.

I finally got my roll over to FTP last thursday. My starting roll when I got there was about $6400, and I was raring to get going. I played a decent amount on thursday and did OK once I got used to the software etc, and did a small losing session on friday morning. I then went away with some friends to Nottingham for a 2 day trip on Friday afternoon, we went out in the city on Friday and then to Alton Towers on the saturday, which was pretty cool apart from the fact I got stung by a wasp when I was queueing for the first ride! I had football on sunday and after this and getting back shattered on saturday night I was too tired to play, which was definitely the right decision.

The ironic thing over this time that I hadn't really been playing was that I was going to give poker a go as my fulltime income source, which made this interruption even more annoying!

But I've definitely made up for lost time this week. So far I have got my roll to $8100 which obviously I am ecstatic about. The cardrunners style seems to have far more effect at FTP which seems to be far more passive than crypto, and I've been killing the games. And only $180 of the profit was from clearing the bonus too, so I've got another $420 of that to get too! I'm running at 11.13 BB/100 Hands over 6500 hands which is just sick, that won't last but if I can keep this above 6 I'll be happy. I'm also moving upto $1/$2 tomorrow, which I'm looking forward to now I have the roll for it! I'm pretty happy to have made over $6k part-time in 4 months, and hopefully continue this progress!

I've been stacked twice in this period, once with KKvAA all in preflop within 2 mins of playing the site for the first time, and within the first 5 mins lost set over a set too for half a buyin (luckily), but since then things have improved dramatically!

Here's a few hands I have played:-

This first hand I got stacked by a gigantic fish. He was basically the main reason why I was at the table. I'm always going to be playing allin with him with tptk, his range is gigantic here. He sucked out on the river, but thats just one of those things.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?449744

This next hand was against an 18/12, very tight player. I flopped a set, I had him on a smallish overpair on the flop, and I checkraised him on the turn (my favourite play nowadays btw), and we got it allin on the river when I hit a boat and he hit a flush. I was amazed to see his hand, as I never had him on a flush draw...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?449745

I then flopped another set this afternoon against a lunatic after I raised preflop. Against a better player, I may smooth call his reraise and checkraise him allin on the turn, but because I thought he may be on a flush draw, and the fact I couldn't see him folding an ace, we got it allin on the flop when he was pretty much drawing dead, nice!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?449747

This next hand, I severely lucked out. I really didn't have him on an overpair after he just called my reraise preflop, and I checked the turn to try to induce him to push. He did just that, and I was drawing to 5 outs. He went absolutely berserk afterwards, I apologised after the hand straight away, he just started laying into me calling me a moron etc... the rest of the table were on my side and we were all giving it back, good times!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?449749

Finally this next hand. It's hard to get paid with sets in unraised pots, but this guy did a decent job. How did he think he was winning? I'll never know! But this is the reason why you want to get all your roll to FTP asap!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?449757

Can I Actually Win 2 Days In A Row?

2006-07-15T22:43:00.000Z

Played for a fair bit over the last 4 days, and did well on wednesday, before losing half of it on thursday, doing well again on friday, got caned on saturday morning and made most of that loss back tonight!

The main problem is that I have been utterly cold decked for the past 4 days, not ideal but I have managed to scrape a profit of about $200 over about a 4-5000 hand sample. Beats working at McDonalds...!

At least i am playing well enough to avoid losing during these periods of negative variance, and there has been a lot I have learnt over these past 4 days - things I have picked up which should stand me in good stead in the future. In some elements, I have totally transformed my game... I got totally owned by this fish on friday morning, but went out for an hour walk afterwards and had a good think about my game and what I need to do to improve it (recommend doing this by the way, really helped) and came back much more refreshed. I made a few general preflop hand/position adjustments and tried to implement some new ideas postflop and between me and this other guy we broke the same fish in the afternoon so happy days - basically he thought he could read me well and he could in the morning, but I just changed the way I played and he started making frustrated, thin calls on me.

This morning, I got stacked twice and lost just over 2 buyins overall. I really think I should have got away from the first one, but I didn't rate him as a player but a check raise into 2 opponents who have indicated a liking to the flop should indicate a massive hand and I really should have folded. It all goes to experience I guess. Here's the hand...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?411913

The next hand should have put me on life tilt... But luckily I don't! This is sick.

I flopped the openended straight draw and queen high flush draw, hit the straight on the turn and lose to runner runner flush who also had the straight. We were both freerolling with the flush draw and sure enough he hits. He was a massive fish too, as you can see from his open limp with 95c.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?411915

The first half an hour of my 2 hour session this morning I played awful, probably the worst for a couple of weeks, but after this I talked to myself and sorted myself out and played good after that, but couldn't hit any cards to get the money back.

I had another good think about a few strategic things whilst I was at cricket this afternoon which we lost btw:-( and put them into play this evening in a quick one hour session. Result, up 2 buyins almost in that time.

So things are looking excellent for the future I hope, it's machines for me from Sunday-Tuesday and back in the grind from Wednesday-Saturday.

Good luck at the tables everyone.

Tres Busy!

2006-07-13T10:01:00.000Z

Sorry for the lack of updates over the last couple of weeks, it's been a pretty busy time for me! Got back from Vegas last sunday (about 10 days ago), it was absolutely amazing out there.

We landed on the Monday afternoon in Vegas and the first thing that hits you isn't the heat, it's the customs controls! We had to queue for ages whilst they get your fingerprints for a database and take photos etc. Whilst I think this is a good thing, they could have a few more people doing it...

We got settled into the Stratosphere where we were staying, and a few of us headed down to the Rio to register for the $1500NLHE WSOP event the next day. The room where they play is absolutely gigantic, but even so we saw some celebs, Greg Raymer who was posing for loads of photos with randoms, Devilfish who was in the queue with us and Jesus Ferguson. Unfortunately the tournament was already full and we didn't want to be alternates so didn't bother. I played a $125 satellite there, the standard was appalling but I exited in 4th where my 77 was no match for K4 (wtf!)!

We got back to our hotel and played the $90 MTT there at midnight. The standard again was diabolical, but the juice they took from this comp was beyond belief ($2600 pot, they took $900 leaving it with $1700 to pay out). Lost a couple of races after getting chipped up and that was that.

The next day, me and my mate Phill decided to play a couple of decent structured comps to try to make up for the disappointment of not playing in the World Series. We got down to the Wynn early doors, and this is one seriously nice hotel. If I can afford it, I'll definitely stay here next time. Had a great breakfast there and played in their midday $300 tournament. The standard was far higher here, without a doubt better than a UK Festival event, where I have yet to be impressed by many of the bigger names. I got down to the last 2 tables, before losing another race in about 17th. Played $1/$3 cash there for a while, no major pots, to be honest it was a bit of a rock garden.

In the evening we went to the Venetian to play their 8pm tournament. A lot of people rave about this cardroom but IMO it was nothing on the Wynn. The tournament was also terribly organised and started 40 minutes late. I was basically shot to pieces by this point in the evening but played it anyway. Despite falling asleep every time I folded a hand, I somehow got chipped up before losing it with 2 squeeze plays, one which went wrong with QT which was the right play v the wrong opponents, and finally with 88 where I looked all set to be doubled up and the chip leader with about 15 left when he called with 77 but he flopped a set and it was gg me.

Managed to sleep ok on the tuesday night and we decided to devote the rest of the holiday to playing cash. I made about $700 on the wednesday at the MGM. This was just getting paid off with solid hands. The standard after 11pm is totally abysmal. In the afternoon it was better, a few more grinders on the tables that's for sure.

For the thursday and friday I split my playing time between the MGM and the Stratosphere. If anyone reading this is going to Vegas and wants to play $1/2 NL, go to the Stratosphere. The standard is a joke. Clueless american/mexican tourists who do not have an idea. A total gold mine if you can hit some cards. I saw two guys fight it out on a 9 8 2 flop. They both had over $500 in front of them. One guy goes all in on the flop with A9. The other guy calls about $400 allin with AK, saying I don't think the flop helped you! He would be losing to 3 2 offsuit lol. Virtually impossible to bluff people there though.

On the saturday we had to leave at lunchtime, and after watching England bomb out of the World Cup on pens it was time to go...

Overall for the trip I covered my expenses playing cards and we ate in some really nice places which weren't cheap at all. The service was great, much better than the UK, and these guys fully deserve tipping unlike the surly people we get over here. The Americans were really friendly as well. I'll definitely be going back next year, only problem is the flight which I totally hate.

Back in England, I've only played cards for 3 days since I got back. Been out working far too much, for far too much stress and for far too little money. It's getting tough to win on the fruits near me and basically I've stopped playing locally. I have found a route about 100 miles away though which is massive so what I may do is do that from Sunday - Tuesday or similar, I should be able to make 500 pounds after expenses doing that, and devote the rest of the week to playing poker. Once I get to the 1/2 level, I'm probably going to give poker a crack as my primary source of income.

I'm halfway to reaching 1/2 now, so hopefully a couple more weeks and I can hit that level!

Swings!

2006-06-25T18:33:00.000Z

I've had a very up and down time in the last week. Some sick, sick swings but I'm glad to say I've come through it now!

It started on Sunday...

I managed to have a good start, winning a quick $150 in about 90 minutes. Then, in the evening I lost $350. I wasn't really getting into setup situations, just that the deck was hitting the rest of the players in the face and missing me totally!

On Monday, I went to France for a few days. My Dad was trying to organise broadband for our house there anyway, but good old French Telecom are so backward they still couldn't be bothered to flick a switch or send the modem, so I had to put up with dial-up. Lovely. Playing 5 tables with PT and PAHUD running was not a pleasure. Imagine being dealt the cards in slow motion about 50% of the time, and then seeing KK folded utg because of the lag. You get the idea!

Anyway, I dropped another $250 on Monday, without making serious errors as well. It was basically deja vu from the day before.

On Tuesday, I recovered it a bit, and made about $170 in a couple of hours. Again, the deck was quite cold but I felt I played really well overall, and ground the money out.

In these three days, I hadn't actually got stacked once, which shows how little I committed big money postflop. I couldn't even flop a draw, let alone sets etc..., and when I did hit the flop it would be in the scariest way possible.

It got worse. On Wednesday, I dropped $375 in 2 hours in the morning. I really felt I played well again, and deserved a lot better. I just kept losing pots of like $100 where I got into situations where I couldn't call after being winning on the card before.

I did get stacked once, with this hand. Steginge was a solid, but aggressive player. In the last couple of orbits, he'd reraised me twice preflop. That's why I went with my read that he was messing me about. Unfortunately he had the goods.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?386082

I went out for something to eat with my dad at lunchtime after this carnage, and came back and fired up 5 tables as usual. I then proceeded to own the people on my tables, and made back $330 in a couple of hours.

On Thursday, I made $375 in about 90 minutes, I actually hit flops and with there being so many nutters on $100 NL I actually got paid! I also got revenge over Steginge by doubling up with AA v his KK.

Played a little bit on Friday and today (Sunday), and won about 2.5 buyins between the 2 sessions, so I'm officially off running bad!

Here's my stats for 100NL since I moved up:

Hands: 11,124
VPIP: 16.99%
PFR: 12.33%
Amount Won: $893.42
BB/100 Hands: 4.02

It's not too bad so far. I ran bad for about a 4500 hand period, so I can't really complain about my stats so far. I've been feeling my way into this level, and made a conscious decision to play tighter until I feel comfortable. I've got a good database of notes and PT stats now, so I feel that maybe I can open up a bit more from now on.

Away from poker, I played Cricket on Saturday, we were bowled out for 112 which was terrible, I have really lost my way batting and I wish I could transfer my gambling discipline to my batting. Last season I hit 54 on debut but haven't got near it this season. I always get out to the shit bowlers after seeing off the decent ones, because I think they are so bad I just try to smash them around. Never works! My wicket keeping was loads better though and I was pleased with how that went, having not done it for about 10 years I was always gonna be rusty, hopefully I can continue improving at that. We managed to bowl them out for 72 though which was an amazing effort and won by 40 runs.

I watched England play Ecuador at a mates house, we had a BBQ which was cool, England were terrible yet again, if we play like that we have no chance against Holland or Portugal.

I'm off to Vegas tomorrow for a week of poker! I'm going with my mate Phill and some of his mates from the Canterbury Poker Club, and I'm playing in the $1500NLHE WSOP event on tuesday, as well as some other tournaments and plenty of cash games!

When I get back, I'm gonna do a trip diary and put it on here and probably cardrunners forum as well. It's gonna be cool!

Good luck everyone!

Going Well So Far @ 100NL

2006-06-15T19:27:00.000Z

I've played 4,000 odd hands at 100NL since I moved up and it's generally gone well so far. I actually think the standard of player is worse than 50NL. At 50, all they seem to want to do is see flops and then let their hand go in the majority of cases when they don't catch their miracle, but at 100NL they seem to be more aggressive and bluff far more...Which I don't mind at all because when I play a big pot, I will have the goods.

I was also watching my mate (who is very underrolled for it) play 1/2 the other day and saw one of my 50NL donators sitting on his table with 300! So good times may be ahead too if I can move up again!

One other thing I picked up over the last few days was in a discussion on Cardrunners, people were discussing customising your PA HUD and adding things in such as % fold to continuation bets and their % raise/call them. I think this is so useful, if you miss the flop against some people you are just throwing money away c-betting as they will float on you with nothing, but you can value bet massively against these guys, and possibly even check raise them on the turn to get even more value, as you can be sure they will bet if you check. And all this info is available at the click of a button, that's so handy.

Here's my stats so far at 100NL. I wouldn't say I was running well (in fact I have had several sessions where I havent hit a card full stop), but there are so many donators on here that even without running particularly well you can maintain a good winrate.

Hands: 4,081
VPIP: 18.03%
PFR: 12.67%
Amount Won: $705.84
BB/100: 8.65

Here's some hands from the last few days - I'm going to use pokerhand.org to host the hands now to reduce the size of the posts and make them easier to read - thanks to CoxhEd, another CR member for telling me about this.

In this hand I thought I hit a dream flop and was begging for the short stack to fire. But on the turn, and especially the river I realised I may be in deep trouble against the deeper stack. This shows the benefit of position being able to control the pot size. I also think that many weaker players get stacked here, I was even debating whether I needed to call the river.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?374808

This next hand I posted on the CR forum for debate. I really thought I was winning on the turn (villain was 44/11 and had shown some very marginal hands down), but on the river I really wasnt sure, but I had to call with decent pot odds. Out of interest, if he check raises me all in on the turn it's a far easier pass as I am not beating anything that does that.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?374814

This next hand I personally feel I played very well. The guy I was playing was very LAG and I felt that I needed to 3bet the flop to see where I really was, without committing myself with a huge bet. I felt that if he pushed, I was surely beat and could fold reluctantly, but if he called, there was a high chance he had KQ/AK (although especially AK could still push but surely it would be the worst hand that would), and I could push the turn with more certainty that I was winning (although a tricky player may play a set like that)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?374822

Here's a hand I got stacked with an overpair. The villain was a fish, very loose. I felt his range was sufficient that I would be a big favourite, which I was. When I pushed, he used all his time up and I knew I was winning. I think his play throughout is appalling, but he does have the right odds to call all-in, and sucked out.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?374824

This next hand has totally, totally shocked me. I'm going to post it anyway, and be honest here. I got it out of my poker tracker library to show how easy it is to fold TPTK against a tight player (he was 23/13). But I just noticed as I scanned the hand history he showed his hand as a total bluff! I didn't even see that at the time and just got on with it as a good fold against a tight player (although I'd probably call against a maniac) - I really thought he had 88.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?374827

I watched England make very hard work of T+T in the world cup earlier, we really need to improve in a big way if we are going to make any significant progress (past the quarter finals). After running them ragged coming on as sub, surely Lennon has to play from the start against Sweden. I may be a touch biased as a Spurs fan but I've never seen a youngster at Spurs who has so much potential to be a world class superstar.

I haven't been able to get the amount of hands in I would like this week, 4000 in a week is not enough, but I have been working hard trying to save for my Vegas trip (I go on 26th June for a week), and I'm also having a break in France with my Dad (a fellow poker addict!) from Monday till Friday staying at my parents house over there, so I am aiming to get 10k hands in over those 5 days as there's not too much to do there with it being in the middle of nowhere!

If I can maintain my win rate over the next couple of weeks I may start to give serious thought to devoting much more time to poker, and severely reducing the amount of time I go out working. For example, someone who can maintain a winrate of 5PTBBs/100 Hands at 2/4 would be earning about $160/hr via 5 tabling (about 400 hands/hr) - so about $5000 a week for 30 hours work. I think that's something to aim for in the longish term.

Good luck at the tables everyone!

A Quick, Very Profitable Session

2006-06-10T21:21:00.001Z

I played $100NL this afternoon and had an amazing session - very quick though. I don't really know why I stopped, I just got a massive buzz out of winning a huge pot and thought I would just bank my profit. I think that's something I need to address, particularly if I move up stakes - the fact that if I do well early I quit and take the money - something psychological there I think.

Here's My Stats for this afternoon:

Hands: 399
VPIP: 18.30%
PFR: 14.29%
Amount Won: $353.48
BB/100 Hands: 44.30

I made a conscious decision to play fairly tight before the session. I managed to win some decent pots before topping it off with a big pot with big stack v big stack.

Here's a couple of hands:

This one, I tried to exercise pot control in position, which I did. A lot of people would be reraising on the turn, but I think you are only getting called if you are beat in that spot. He was a massive donator who lost a nice sized pot to me the hand before too. He had over $250 in front of him and went busto in 15 minutes...

Game #2650724724: Hold'em NL ($0.50/$1) - 2006/06/10 - 17:51:39 (UK)
Table "Toffees" Seat 5 is the button.
Seat 1: cicci99 ($141.44 in chips)
Seat 2: Vegaslou ($17.70 in chips)
Seat 3: glen76 ($181.90 in chips)
Seat 4: richNYC ($86.50 in chips)
Seat 5: Fruitypro ($174 in chips)
Seat 6: Johnp2509 ($55.30 in chips)
Johnp2509: posts small blind $0.50
cicci99: posts big blind $1
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Ah Ks]
Vegaslou: calls $1
glen76: calls $1
richNYC: calls $1
Fruitypro: raises to $8
Johnp2509: folds
cicci99: folds
Vegaslou: folds
glen76: calls $7
richNYC: folds
----- FLOP ----- [5c As 4c]
glen76: checks
Fruitypro: bets $14
glen76: calls $14
----- TURN ----- [5c As 4c][8h]
glen76: bets $19.90
Fruitypro: calls $19.90
----- RIVER ----- [5c As 4c 8h][Js]
glen76: bets $20
Fruitypro: calls $20
----- SHOW DOWN -----
glen76: shows [5d 3d] (A Pair of Fives, Ace high)
Fruitypro: shows [Ah Ks] (A Pair of Aces, King high)
Fruitypro collects $124.30 from Main pot

You can see why I liked playing with him!

I was chipping away, winning some half decent pots before this hand arose.

I had no hesitation in putting him all in on the turn... He was a 69/3 maniac.

Game #2650983104: Hold'em NL ($0.50/$1) - 2006/06/10 - 18:31:05 (UK)
Table "Toffees" Seat 4 is the button.
Seat 1: cicci99 ($162.44 in chips)
Seat 2: Timeless4 ($39 in chips)
Seat 3: Vicman ($155 in chips)
Seat 4: richNYC ($75.05 in chips)
Seat 5: Fruitypro ($298.85 in chips)
Seat 6: rine 21 ($21.51 in chips)
Fruitypro: posts small blind $0.50
rine 21: posts big blind $1
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Ks Kh]
cicci99: raises to $3
Timeless4: folds
Vicman: calls $3
richNYC: folds
Fruitypro: raises to $15
rine 21: folds
cicci99: calls $12
Vicman: calls $12
----- FLOP ----- [Kd Ad Td]
Fruitypro: bets $35
cicci99: folds
Vicman: calls $35
----- TURN ----- [Kd Ad Td][5h]
Fruitypro: bets $105
Vicman: calls $105 and is all-in
----- RIVER ----- [Kd Ad Td 5h][2s]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Fruitypro: shows [Ks Kh] (Three of a kind, Kings, Ace high)
Vicman: shows [Qs Qd] (A Pair of Queens, Ace high)
Fruitypro collects $323 from Main pot

Finally a smallish pot I took down. This shows that with some situations, I will raise with far from premium hands. I had position and betting lead preflop, plus a nice flop to go with it. He went berserk at me in the chat for raising pre flop with this lol! I checked on the river for pot control, I am not sure its a great move though. He wouldnt have called anyhow though.

Game #2650857834: Hold'em NL ($0.50/$1) - 2006/06/10 - 18:08:06 (UK)
Table "Saints" Seat 2 is the button.
Seat 1: keld10 sits out
Seat 2: Ddaaass ($84.62 in chips)
Seat 4: MAN123UTD ($114.50 in chips)
Seat 5: Fruitypro ($109.50 in chips)
Seat 6: Top_dj ($171.75 in chips)
MAN123UTD: posts small blind $0.50
Fruitypro: posts big blind $1
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [5c 3c]
Top_dj: folds
Ddaaass: folds
MAN123UTD: calls $0.50
Fruitypro: raises to $5
MAN123UTD: calls $4
----- FLOP ----- [3d 2d 3h]
MAN123UTD: checks
Fruitypro: bets $7
MAN123UTD: calls $7
----- TURN ----- [3d 2d 3h][Ks]
MAN123UTD: checks
Fruitypro: bets $15
MAN123UTD: calls $15
----- RIVER ----- [3d 2d 3h Ks][7h]
MAN123UTD: checks
Fruitypro: checks
----- SHOW DOWN -----
MAN123UTD: shows [Td 8d] (A Pair of Threes, King high)
Fruitypro: shows [5c 3c] (Three of a kind, Threes, King high)
Fruitypro collects $52 from Main pot

I watched England beat Paraguay 1-0 in the World Cup this afternoon, not too bad a result seeing as it was very hot, not ideal conditions. But a win is a win and a professional performance which didnt give them any chances. Argentina looked a bit good tonight though...

Good luck at the tables everyone!

I did it! First Level Of My Challenge Completed!

2006-06-08T22:16:00.001Z

Today is a momentous moment for me... I managed to move up to $100 NL.

It's taken about 6-7 weeks and 29,095 hands to do it but I feel pretty pleased with my efforts.

Overall my BB/100 Hands was only 5.24 but I feel pretty confident I can at least run at that at $100 NL if not improve on it. Having watched my brother @ $100NL I think there are actually more maniacs on there! I also think I ran bad at $50NL over at least half the hands.

Today, I played very well at $50NL to get to my goal.

Here's my stats:

Hands: 1329
VPIP: 17.23% (Again I got terrible cards)
PFR: 12.64%
Amount Won: $194.59
BB/100 Hands: 14.64

This was despite getting stacked with set v flush draw mid session against a guy who really owes me big time...

Here's some interesting hands.

In the first one, the guy went sick at me in the chat when I called and won, saying how can I call without a club... I told him to write 'maniac' in my notes, lol!

Fact is he must have forgotten I stacked him twice on tuesday when I caught him bluffing both times! I knew he had a flush draw at best. I find people shit themselves when they flop top pair on a 3 flush flop, fact is your opponent is 6% to flop the flush so why do people automatically hate it??? Interestingly, against a tight player this is an easy fold, but against him I couldn't call quick enough...

Game #2626663424: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/06/08 - 10:44:27 (UK)
Table "Lundu" Seat 4 is the button.
Seat 1: droopys ($24.67 in chips)
Seat 2: rAAx ($58.71 in chips)
Seat 3: Nettocs ($24.65 in chips)
Seat 4: Fruitypro ($45.45 in chips)
Seat 5: twista ($10 in chips)
Seat 6: taishan ($113.60 in chips)
taishan: posts small blind $0.25
droopys: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [As Kh]
rAAx: raises to $1.50
Nettocs: folds
Fruitypro: raises to $6
taishan: folds
droopys: folds
rAAx: calls $4.50
----- FLOP ----- [Qc Ac 9c]
rAAx: checks
Fruitypro: bets $8
rAAx: raises to $52.71 and is all-in
Fruitypro: is all-in $31.45
Returned uncalled bets $13.26 to rAAx
----- TURN ----- [Qc Ac 9c][Jc]
----- RIVER ----- [Qc Ac 9c Jc][7s]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
rAAx: shows [7h 6s] (A Pair of Sevens, Ace high)
Fruitypro: shows [As Kh] (A Pair of Aces, King high)
Fruitypro collects $88.65 from Main pot

This second hand is similar to the first, but the player is tight and very aggressive, and always sucks out on me! I knew I was winning on the flop but he got his money in with the worst of it and won. I don't mind that.

Game #2628224684: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/06/08 - 14:53:07 (UK)
Table "Lundu" Seat 3 is the button.
Seat 1: Fruitypro ($48.40 in chips)
Seat 2: mumsingen ($72.82 in chips)
Seat 3: Davegry ($50 in chips)
Seat 4: GAZZA69 ($51.75 in chips)
Seat 5: Pallefar ($14.77 in chips)
Seat 6: Mrteddie ($37.35 in chips)
GAZZA69: posts small blind $0.25
Pallefar: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [6h 6d]
Mrteddie: folds
Fruitypro: raises to $2.50
mumsingen: folds
Davegry: folds
GAZZA69: raises to $4.50
Pallefar: folds
Fruitypro: calls $2
----- FLOP ----- [6s Ts 8s]
GAZZA69: bets $7.50
Fruitypro: raises to $22
GAZZA69: raises to $36.50
Fruitypro: raises to $43.90 and is all-in
GAZZA69: calls $7.40
----- TURN ----- [6s Ts 8s][7s]
----- RIVER ----- [6s Ts 8s 7s][Qh]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Fruitypro: shows [6h 6d] (Three of a kind, Sixes, Queen high)
GAZZA69: shows [Kc As] (A Flush, Ace high)
GAZZA69 collects $94.30 from Main pot

This next hand got me to the next level... Obviously I loved the flop but hated the turn... Any thoughts by anyone on the call of the overbet? I think I am winning about 80% of the time here. I called pretty quickly. I don't see someone playing a boat like this! I had already stacked him on another table with QQ on a low flop v his flush draw after he pushed on the turn. My bro was watching and told me to call which I did at the last second of the QQ hand!!!

Game #2628524124: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/06/08 - 15:28:37 (UK)
Table "Lundu" Seat 6 is the button.
Seat 1: Fruitypro ($75.37 in chips)
Seat 2: mumsingen ($71.32 in chips)
Seat 3: Davegry ($20.74 in chips)
Seat 4: Cucos11 sits out
Seat 5: Pallefar ($42.44 in chips)
Seat 6: drizner ($49.27 in chips)
Fruitypro: posts small blind $0.25
mumsingen: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Qd Ad]
Davegry: folds
Pallefar: foldsd
rizner: folds
Fruitypro: raises to $2.50
mumsingen: calls $2
----- FLOP ----- [Kd 3d 4d]
Fruitypro: bets $3
mumsingen: calls $3
----- TURN ----- [Kd 3d 4d][3c]
Fruitypro: bets $7
mumsingen: raises to $65.82 and is all-in
Fruitypro: calls $58.82
----- RIVER ----- [Kd 3d 4d 3c][8s]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
mumsingen: shows [3s 2d] (Three of a kind, Threes, King high)
Fruitypro: shows [Qd Ad] (A Flush, Ace high)
Fruitypro collects $139.64 from Main pot

I then tonight played some $100 NL. To be honest, I played appallingly. Probably the worst for at least a month. Miraculously I won $18 in 713 hands. I just wasn't paying attention to PT numbers, stacks etc and had no focus. I was tired and I think that was the reason. I really wanted to play $100 NL tonight and probably shouldn't have. I also got my 25 pounds bonus from William Hill from playing $100 NL tonight which was nice.

One thing I did notice is the size of continuation bets you have to put in at this level. Say a player raises to $4 and I am in the BB with AK, I would reraise to $16. If he calls the pot is $32ish and my c-bet will be in the region of $25. If you miss the flop and get your c-bet reraised a few times it could be expensive! Still, that's what your bankroll is for.

I also made the worst call I have done in months. I was fuming with myself after I built up a couple of stacks to lose it making a shocking call all-in.

Here's a nice hand against a maniac. Again, versus a tight player I have to slow down but against someone like him, I get all my money in. After he called on the flop I knew he had a queen with a worse kicker. How he can call all-in is beyond me.

Game #2631561144: Hold'em NL ($0.50/$1) - 2006/06/08 - 20:31:29 (UK)
Table "Random" Seat 4 is the button.
Seat 1: Swanny005 ($123.75 in chips)
Seat 2: Slowbet ($83 in chips)
Seat 3: scritz1 ($114 in chips)
Seat 4: Fruitypro ($118.18 in chips)
Seat 6: Moridin ($66.75 in chips)
Moridin: posts big blind $1
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Ac Qh]
Swanny005: folds
Slowbet: calls $1
scritz1: folds
Fruitypro: raises to $5
Moridin: folds
Slowbet: calls $4
----- FLOP ----- [2c Td Qd]
Slowbet: bets $10
Pokerflj joins the table at seat #5
Fruitypro: raises to $30
Slowbet: calls $20
----- TURN ----- [2c Td Qd][7s]
Slowbet: checks
Fruitypro: bets $48
Slowbet: calls $48 and is all-in
----- RIVER ----- [2c Td Qd 7s][5c]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Fruitypro: shows [Ac Qh] (A Pair of Queens, Ace high)
Slowbet: shows [6s Qs] (A Pair of Queens, Ten high)
Fruitypro collects $164 from Main pot

Finally, here is the hand where I made the terrible call. For some reason, I was obsessed with him being on a flush draw which missed. He was a maniac too. He hit a boat on the river:-(

Game #2631150114: Hold'em NL ($0.50/$1) - 2006/06/08 - 20:02:50 (UK)
Table "Toffees" Seat 4 is the button.
Seat 1: Tez_007 ($48.75 in chips)
Seat 2: scritz1 ($91 in chips)
Seat 3: Frankwood ($99.74 in chips)
Seat 4: Bippbapp ($84.19 in chips)
Seat 5: 4kingace ($47.87 in chips)
Seat 6: Fruitypro ($98.50 in chips)
4kingace: posts small blind $0.50
Fruitypro: posts big blind $1
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Ks Qs]
Tez_007: folds
scritz1: folds
Frankwood: calls $1
Bippbapp: raises to $3
4kingace: folds
Fruitypro: calls $2
Frankwood: calls $2
----- FLOP ----- [Qd 4d 9c]
Fruitypro: bets $7
Frankwood: calls $7
Bippbapp: folds
----- TURN ----- [Qd 4d 9c][3h]
Fruitypro: bets $18
Frankwood: calls $18
----- RIVER ----- [Qd 4d 9c 3h][9s]
Fruitypro: checks
Frankwood: bets $71.74 and is all-in
Fruitypro: is all-in $70.50
Returned uncalled bets $1.24 to Frankwood
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Frankwood: shows [9h Qh] (A Full House, Nines full of Queens)
Fruitypro: shows [Ks Qs] (Two Pairs, Queens and Nines, King high)
Frankwood collects $197.50 from Main pot

Any comments/critique welcome as usual!!!

I'm out playing machines tomorrow, so probably won't be able to get any hands in. If I am not too tired in the evening and don't go out into town I may write a strategy article I have been thinking about regarding table selection.

It's also the World Cup starting tomorrow! Come on England! I think we have a real chance to win the tournament but I think it's between Brazil, Argentina, Italy, France and us. If we can get Rooney fit we have a massive chance. I did all my predictions for a league I am doing with some mates and it worked out that Brazil won in my tournament ladder, with England losing to them in the semis.

The Last Weeks Play

2006-06-08T11:44:00.000Z

I haven't been able to play at lot in the last week, but have had some pretty volatile sessions overall - I have been trying to play a bit more LAG in position but I am not sure that's why, I haven't got into big trouble with that.

Overall I did pretty bad for the time I did play, here's my stats for the week:

Hands: 5139
VPIP: 18.84%
PFR: 13.23%
Amount Won: $70.35
BB/100 Hands: 1.37

Not great numbers I know, but a small profit is better than nothing I guess.

I am also getting done on exchange rate conversions at the moment. Basically I deposit in pounds and play in dollars, consequently my dollar figures are dropping without me even playing at the moment due to the exchange rate! Treat! Still, at least I am very close, maybe 1 or 2 sessions away from moving up levels.

I'm also going to step up my playing activities and try to get minimum of 10,000 hands a week in from now on, and update the blog every day I play. Wish me luck!

An Update

2006-05-30T08:42:00.000Z

I didn't get to play on Thursday or Friday due to work, and Saturday I logged on to play a morning session before Cricket. Unfortunately the William Hill morning game selection is non existent and the 4 $50 NL tables were populated with short stacks, so I didn't bother playing.

I played a quick session on sunday and made decent profit.

Here were the stats:

Hands: 727
VPIP: 16.92%
PFR: 12.10%
Amount Won: $97.35
BB/100 Hands: 13.39

I also played for a short while last night. I didn't want to play that long as I was tired after spending most of the day getting drenched trying to watch Kent v Ireland at Cricket and playing in the nets at the ground during the breaks in play. In both the sunday session and monday's, I moved up to 5 tables playing at a time. It took me about 10 mins to get used to but after a while I found it fine, and if I can find 6 tables worth playing, I will do that in the future too. You can get so many hands in during a short space of time, which obviously is a big advantage if you are a winning player.

My stats for last night:

Hands: 522
VPIP: 17.62%
PFR: 12.64%
Amount Won: $110.43
BB/100 Hands: 21.16

In my opinion, I played my A game last night, I was really pleased with how I played. There were only one or two hands I thought I would have played differently with hindsight, but these were small pots against people who I didn't have PT numbers on yet. I also got stacked with aces when I was 90% odd when the money went in on the turn.

I am several sessions away from moving up to $100 NL using my very strict bankroll conditions. This should happen hopefully some time this week if I can get the hands in, if not early next week when my rakeback should push me over the barrier. I have been watching my brother a lot at $100 NL and he is absolutely killing the game, but plays in a bit of a different style to me and wins some huge pots with marginal starting hands. In my opinion there are more fish there than at $50NL as at $50 NL they want to see flops but not play as many big pots. At $100 NL they seem to want to play a big pot all the time with marginal hands. I am looking forward to it!

Here's some interesting hands from last night:

The first two illustrate the value of raising pre flop with premium hands and not limping in and then betting like crazy when you flop top pair/overpair. It just may be the case that a certain player in the blinds flops a monster on the cheap...

Game #1981291133: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/29 - 20:37:01 (UK)
Table "Katerina" Seat 4 is the button.
Seat 1: hmrl ($40.45 in chips)
Seat 2: Mardell88 ($28.90 in chips)
Seat 3: J____S ($32.55 in chips)
Seat 4: fricken ($29 in chips)
Seat 5: Fruitypro ($58.95 in chips)
Seat 6: Loffman ($41.65 in chips)
Fruitypro: posts small blind $0.25
Loffman: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [7s Qs]
hmrl: calls $0.50
Mardell88: calls $0.50
J____S: folds
fricken: calls $0.50
Fruitypro: calls $0.25
Loffman: checks
----- FLOP ----- [Qh 7c 3c]
Fruitypro: bets $2.50
Loffman: folds
hmrl: folds
Mardell88: raises to $8.40
fricken: folds
Fruitypro: raises to $58.45 and is all-in
Mardell88: is all-in $20
Returned uncalled bets $30.05 to Fruitypro
----- TURN ----- [Qh 7c 3c][7h]
----- RIVER ----- [Qh 7c 3c 7h][4h]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Fruitypro: shows [7s Qs] (A Full House, Sevens full of Queens)
Mardell88: shows [As Qd] (Two Pairs, Queens and Sevens, Ace high)
Fruitypro collects $56.35 from Main pot

Game #1981469173: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/29 - 20:47:33 (UK)
Table "Katerina" Seat 3 is the button.
Seat 1: hmrl ($43.85 in chips)
Seat 3: J____S ($23.30 in chips)
Seat 4: fricken ($38.65 in chips)
Seat 5: Fruitypro ($86.85 in chips)
Seat 6: Loffman sits out
fricken: posts small blind $0.25
Fruitypro: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [6c 6s]
hmrl: folds
BACH joins the table at seat #2
J____S: calls $0.50
fricken: folds
Fruitypro: checks
----- FLOP ----- [7s 3c 6h]
Fruitypro: bets $0.90
J____S: raises to $5
Fruitypro: raises to $86.35 and is all-in
J____S: is all-in $17.80
Returned uncalled bets $63.55 to Fruitypro
----- TURN ----- [7s 3c 6h][9d]
----- RIVER ----- [7s 3c 6h 9d][5d]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Fruitypro: shows [6c 6s] (Three of a kind, Sixes, Nine high)
J____S: shows [Td Th] (A Pair of Tens, Nine high)
Fruitypro collects $44.55 from Main pot

With this hand, I put him on Kx after his actions on the turn. I was correct in that, and he got lucky on the river. If people want to get their money in drawing to 5 outs with one card to come, I am going to be a very rich man. Unfortunately you do get suck outs which happened here. His call on the turn with top pair 7 kicker is atrocious.

Game #1981712343: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/29 - 21:01:24 (UK)
Table "Truffle" Seat 5 is the button.
Seat 1: Persiano ($44.55 in chips)
Seat 2: Wizzy_X ($45.40 in chips)
Seat 3: dwags222 ($123.92 in chips)
Seat 4: Pontan ($49.60 in chips)
Seat 5: Fruitypro ($49.25 in chips)
Seat 6: roadkill ($76.37 in chips)
roadkill: posts small blind $0.25
Persiano: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [As Ad]
Wizzy_X: folds
dwags222: calls $0.50
Pontan: calls $0.50
Wizzy_X leaves the table
Fruitypro: raises to $3.50
roadkill: folds
Persiano: folds
dwags222: folds
Pontan: calls $3
----- FLOP ----- [Ks 2d 6h]
Pontan: bets $4
Fruitypro: raises to $12
Pontan: calls $8
----- TURN ----- [Ks 2d 6h][3c]
Pontan: checks
Fruitypro: bets $33.75 and is all-in
Pontan: calls $33.75
----- RIVER ----- [Ks 2d 6h 3c][Kh]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Fruitypro: shows [As Ad] (Two Pairs, Aces and Kings, Six high)
Pontan: shows [7d Kc] (Three of a kind, Kings, Seven high)
Pontan collects $96.75 from Main pot

Rollercoaster Day

2006-05-24T21:10:00.000Z

After the success of this morning, I played a few other sessions today. I got absolutely shafted in the next one in the early afternoon. I was playing good poker but got some terrible beats, including where I called a guys bluff and he hit runner runner straight, his only outs apart from running 4's. I made it all back tonight and ended up making a small profit over the rest of the day to add onto the good session in the morning.

Stats for the day:

Hands: 2016
VPIP: 16.96%
PFR: 13.34%
Amount Won $142.24
BB/100 Hands: 7.06

Considering the hands I got sucked out on, I am pleased with how things went. I also lost KK v AA for slightly over half a buy in, all in pre flop again.

Here's the two worst offenders. I don't mind the one where I lost with AK as much because at least the guy was making a play on me. But how on god's green earth does the guy think his QT is good on the second one is beyond belief! Still, it's a long run game and these fish are what keeps us in profit. When you get a shocking beat, you have to think that and hope it keeps things in perspective.

Game #2481165914: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/24 - 15:36:20 (UK)
Table "Tombeau" Seat 4 is the button.
Seat 1: smudgeliv ($32.54 in chips)
Seat 2: BYT2005 ($4.80 in chips)
Seat 3: Fruitypro ($71.65 in chips)
Seat 4: Smarter ($43.70 in chips)
Seat 5: veyron ($27.91 in chips)
Seat 6: Jacko120 ($27.35 in chips)
veyron: posts small blind $0.25
Jacko120: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Ks As]
smudgeliv: calls $0.50
BYT2005: calls $0.50
Fruitypro: raises to $3.50
Smarter: folds
veyron: folds
Jacko120: calls $3
smudgeliv: calls $3
BYT2005: folds
----- FLOP ----- [Kh 6d 5c]
Jacko120: checks
smudgeliv: checks
Fruitypro: bets $7
Jacko120: raises to $23.85 and is all-in
smudgeliv: folds
Fruitypro: calls $16.85
----- TURN ----- [Kh 6d 5c][3d]
----- RIVER ----- [Kh 6d 5c 3d][2h]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Jacko120: shows [4h Ah] (A Straight, Six high)
Fruitypro: shows [Ks As] (A Pair of Kings, Ace high)
Jacko120 collects $56.05 from Main pot

Game #2481069554: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/24 - 15:21:19 (UK)
Table "Truffle" Seat 6 is the button.
Seat 1: cjs_99 ($52.85 in chips)
Seat 2: CosmicCat ($29.50 in chips)
Seat 3: Unlikely ($97.05 in chips)
Seat 4: Fruitypro ($49.75 in chips)
Seat 5: 67jayjay ($44.20 in chips)
Seat 6: SlimOdds ($74.65 in chips)
cjs_99: posts small blind $0.25
CosmicCat: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [8c 9c]
Unlikely: calls $0.50
Fruitypro: calls $0.50
67jayjay: calls $0.50
SlimOdds: foldsc
js_99: raises to $2
CosmicCat: folds
Unlikely: calls $1.50
Fruitypro: calls $1.50
67jayjay: calls $1.50
----- FLOP ----- [2c Th 4c]
cjs_99: bets $6
Unlikely: calls $6
Fruitypro: calls $6
67jayjay: calls $6
----- TURN ----- [2c Th 4c][3c]
cjs_99: checks
Unlikely: checks
Fruitypro: bets $25
67jayjay: raises to $36.20 and is all-in
cjs_99: folds
Unlikely: folds
Fruitypro: calls $11.20
----- RIVER ----- [2c Th 4c 3c][Ac]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
67jayjay: shows [Tc Qs] (A Flush, Ace high)
Fruitypro: shows [8c 9c] (A Flush, Ace high)
67jayjay collects $101.90 from Main pot

A Good Start

2006-05-24T10:05:00.000Z

I just finished an hour and a bit session, I like to keep my sessions quite short generally so I can focus maximum attention on them. I am going to have a break for a while and then hit the tables again.

The session went really well... I have been thinking that there are some absolute nutters on in the mornings UK time and this session just proves it!

Here's My Stats:

Hands: 442
VPIP: 17.19% (Didn't really get the cards)
PFR: 12.67
Amount Won: $127.47
BB/100 Hands: 28.84

Some cracking hands from today already!:

This guy was completely drunk. He was typing in all manner of rubbish in the chat box and even admitted he was hammered! He must have thought he was onto a winner in this hand. Shows the danger of giving free/cheap cards! It also shows that min raising out of position is not to be recommended. I called the reraise with position, flop a gutshot, get a free card, get a flush draw as well on the turn and call a small bet, and rivered the nuts.

Game #2479147954: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/24 - 10:44:08 (UK)
Table "Sergio" Seat 4 is the button.
Seat 1: Andyw87 ($29.96 in chips)
Seat 2: Iluv_QQ ($52.70 in chips)
Seat 3: Bocamon ($47.90 in chips)
Seat 4: Fruitypro ($89.65 in chips)
Seat 5: Havsalt ($36.35 in chips)
Seat 6: Tinman004 ($42.17 in chips)
Havsalt: posts small blind $0.25
Tinman004: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Ts Js]
Andyw87: folds
Iluv_QQ: folds
Bocamon: calls $0.50
Fruitypro: raises to $3
Havsalt: raises to $5.50
Tinman004: folds
Bocamon: folds
Fruitypro: calls $2.50
----- FLOP ----- [8c As Kh]
Havsalt: checks
Fruitypro: checks
----- TURN ----- [8c As Kh][6s]
Havsalt: bets $3
Fruitypro: calls $3
----- RIVER ----- [8c As Kh 6s][Qh]
Havsalt: bets $15
Fruitypro: raises to $30
Havsalt: is all-in $12.85
Returned uncalled bets $2.15 to Fruitypro
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Fruitypro: shows [Ts Js] (A Straight, Ace high)
Havsalt: shows [Kc Ks] (Three of a kind, Kings, Ace high)
Fruitypro collects $70.70 from Main pot

Not sure how I get paid more on the next hand... And any ideas on how I should play the flop? It's a nice situation for me!

Game #2478898224: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/24 - 09:45:04 (UK)
Table "Lexicon" Seat 6 is the button.
Seat 1: Fuser74 ($52.90 in chips)
Seat 2: ollning ($11.50 in chips)
Seat 3: Fruitypro ($52.75 in chips)
Seat 4: Rain_man ($21.85 in chips)
Seat 6: scooping ($46 in chips)
Fuser74: posts small blind $0.25
ollning: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Ks Kc]
Fruitypro: raises to $2.50
Rain_man: calls $2.50
scooping: calls $2.50
Fuser74: folds
ollning: calls $2
----- FLOP ----- [8c 8h Kh]
ollning: checks
Fruitypro: checks
Rain_man: checks
scooping: bets $2.50
ollning: folds
Fruitypro: calls $2.50
Rain_man: folds
----- TURN ----- [8c 8h Kh][2d]
Fruitypro: checks
scooping: bets $5.50
Fruitypro: calls $5.50
----- RIVER ----- [8c 8h Kh 2d][9h]
Fruitypro: bets $15
scooping: calls $15
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Fruitypro: shows [Ks Kc] (A Full House, Kings full of Eights)
scooping: mucks hand [5d Kd]
Fruitypro collects $53.45 from Main pot

This next hand was pretty standard. I make a weak lead out of position into the other two players with my flopped set, begging to be reraised. The guy who had KJ was an absolutely terrible player who I have added to my buddy list. To be honest, I am amazed I didn't stack him on the flop with what he had. I gave him some respect and made some good folds before I got his PT stats after 25 hands, I think I folded the best hand several times against him, his stats were 88/16! He had just reloaded after getting stacked before...

Game #2479016744: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/24 - 10:15:31 (UK)
Table "Truffle" Seat 5 is the button.
Seat 1: Fruitypro ($56.55 in chips)
Seat 2: skn1001 ($64.75 in chips)
Seat 3: Siggelito ($59.35 in chips)
Seat 4: badgersru ($50 in chips)
Seat 5: kbohannon ($242.10 in chips)
Seat 6: Treasu001 ($69.95 in chips)
Treasu001: posts small blind $0.25
Fruitypro: posts big blind $0.50
badgersru: posts big blind $0.50 + posts small blind $0.25
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [3d 3s]
skn1001: raises to $2.50
Siggelito: folds
badgersru: calls $2
kbohannon: folds
Treasu001: folds
Fruitypro: calls $2
----- FLOP ----- [3h 7d Jc]
Fruitypro: bets $3.50
skn1001: calls $3.50
badgersru: calls $3.50
----- TURN ----- [3h 7d Jc][5s]
Fruitypro: bets $12
skn1001: folds
badgersru: calls $12
----- RIVER ----- [3h 7d Jc 5s][Ad]
Fruitypro: bets $16
badgersru: calls $16
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Fruitypro: shows [3d 3s] (Three of a kind, Threes, Ace high)
badgersru: mucks hand [Jh Kd]
Fruitypro collects $71.50 from Main pot

And we all like a good bad beat! Here's one I inflicted earlier. The guy went on tilt afterwards, it was highly amusing. When will people learn that QT is not a hand you want to call raises with out of position?! I would probably have folded to a strong turn bet but his bet was so weak, I just thought sod it, lets go for it. Nice river:-)

Game #2478931484: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/24 - 09:57:15 (UK)
Table "Sergio" Seat 5 is the button.
Seat 1: Lurpak ($40.25 in chips)
Seat 2: Cooldog ($6.35 in chips)
Seat 3: Treasu001 ($82.43 in chips)
Seat 4: Fruitypro ($42.75 in chips)
Seat 5: MaoDes ($23.80 in chips)
Seat 6: Tinman004 ($48.80 in chips)
Tinman004: posts small blind $0.25
Lurpak: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [As Qd]
Cooldog: calls $0.50
Treasu001: folds
Fruitypro: raises to $3
MaoDes: calls $3
Tinman004: calls $2.75
Lurpak: folds
Cooldog: folds
----- FLOP ----- [Ts 5h Qs]
Tinman004: checks
Fruitypro: bets $8
MaoDes: folds
Tinman004: raises to $16
Fruitypro: calls $8
----- TURN ----- [Ts 5h Qs][4h]
Tinman004: bets $9
Fruitypro: raises to $23.75 and is all-in
Tinman004: calls $14.75
----- RIVER ----- [Ts 5h Qs 4h][Ah]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Fruitypro: shows [As Qd] (Two Pairs, Aces and Queens, Ten high)
Tinman004: shows [Tc Qc] (Two Pairs, Queens and Tens, Ace high)
Fruitypro collects $86.50 from Main pot

Hopefully the rest of the day will continue like this!

Finding The Time...

2006-05-23T20:25:00.000Z

I haven't been able to play much online over the last few days, I have been working hard on the fruits recently and have been very tired when I get home so I just haven't been mentally ready to hit the tables. I did play two very short sessions and banked about a $70 profit, but it feels I am fitting in poker in between work and a social life.

If I am ever going to achieve my goals, I have to devote more time to poker, and not fit it in as and when it's convenient. The question is, do I keep my life as it is and be comfortably average, or try to live the dream, so to speak. I am sure with a week off and playing full-time, I could get my roll to the $4k level to play $100 NL. But with small sessions I am doing, this would take some time.

It's a tough one for me. I think what I am going to try to do is work the fruits 3-4 days a week and devote the rest of the time to poker. At least I am my own boss and can give myself time off when I want :-)

The thing is, if I have a day off and am running badly at cards, I am tempted to go out and make the money back on machines! I have to be able to differentiate between the two disciplines and keep the days seperate.

I am going to have a 'poker day' tomorrow, and I am aiming to play 2,500 hands at least.

In my short session yesterday, I had a very interesting hand occur. I thought my fold was quite tight, but the general consensus on the cardrunners forum was that it was a good fold. I think I should have raised on the turn but I wanted to keep the pot small with a good hand and position. If the fourth diamond doesn't come on the river, I call the river bet quickly. I think the straight is good without the river diamond.

Game #2455690924: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/22 - 09:34:54 (UK)
Table "Tombeau" Seat 5 is the button.
Seat 1: Ijcspeed ($37.76 in chips)
Seat 2: webbstar ($14.40 in chips)
Seat 3: SlimOdds ($40.65 in chips)
Seat 4: Treasu001 ($65.80 in chips)
Seat 5: Fruitypro ($58.65 in chips)
Seat 6: baltazar ($47.40 in chips)
baltazar: posts small blind $0.25
Ijcspeed: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Kc Qd]
webbstar: folds
SlimOdds: folds
Treasu001: calls $0.50
Fruitypro: raises to $3
baltazar: folds
Ijcspeed: calls $2.50
Treasu001: calls $2.50
----- FLOP ----- [7d Jd Td]
Ijcspeed: bets $3
Treasu001: calls $3
Fruitypro: calls $3
----- TURN ----- [7d Jd Td][9c]
Ijcspeed: checks
Treasu001: bets $4
Fruitypro: calls $4
Ijcspeed: folds
----- RIVER ----- [7d Jd Td 9c][6d]
Treasu001: bets $13.50
Fruitypro: folds
Returned uncalled bets $13.50 to Treasu001
Treasu001: doesn't show hand
Treasu001 collects $24.95 from Main pot

Comments always welcome!

The Recovery Starts Here...

2006-05-20T16:14:00.000Z

Cricket got rained off this afternoon, unfortunately we had almost got to their ground by then, 20 miles away :-(

This gave me the opportunity to try to restore my confidence with a quick session at the tables, which I have just finished. This was a feeler session for me, really just to build confidence and get back into the swing of things. I only played for an hour but felt like I was the best player at the tables, which I was pleased about. No beats or coolers thank god but I lost count of the short stacks I busted! Didn't play any big pots v big stacks - I didn't hit that many flops and only flopped one set in a limped pot. My aggressive pre flop play saw me reraise with AQ an UTG raiser with 30/14 stats. He folded, and said he had AQ, lol!

Here's my stats from this afternoon's quick session:

Hands: 372
VPIP: 20.43%
PFR: 14.52%
Amount Won: $64.68
BB/100 Hands: 17.39

Overall, a good quick session which has helped no end with my confidence after tuesday.

Here's some hands from today. There weren't that many of interest but these I felt were worth commenting on: Critique always welcome!

I was waiting to bust this guy - he overbet all in so many times and I was just looking for a spot. He wasn't that loose pre flop, but volatile is an understatement post flop... Notice how passively I played the streets, that was a conscious decision as I really didn't want him to push and leave me folding K high which may have been the best hand. When the river came giving me top pair on a 3 flush flop, I beat him into the pot calling his all-in overbet. A prime example of playing the player.

Game #2435923054: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/20 - 16:56:37 (UK)
Table "Laptop" Seat 6 is the button.
Seat 1: Javkam07 ($20.03 in chips)
Seat 2: CruS ($64.42 in chips)
Seat 3: jompass ($45.20 in chips)
Seat 4: Birksted ($98.73 in chips)
Seat 5: Guzzin ($10.50 in chips)
Seat 6: Fruitypro ($83.95 in chips)
Javkam07: posts small blind $0.25
CruS: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Qh Kh]
jompass: folds
Birksted: calls $0.50
Guzzin: folds
Fruitypro: raises to $3
Javkam07: calls $2.75
CruS: folds
Birksted: folds
----- FLOP ----- [3d 6d 5d]
Javkam07: bets $0.50
Fruitypro: calls $0.50
----- TURN ----- [3d 6d 5d][6c]
Javkam07: checks
Fruitypro: checks
----- RIVER ----- [3d 6d 5d 6c][Qs]
Javkam07: bets $16.53 and is all-in
Fruitypro: calls $16.53
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Javkam07: shows [Jc Qd] (Two Pairs, Queens and Sixes, Jack high)
Fruitypro: shows [Qh Kh] (Two Pairs, Queens and Sixes, King high)
Fruitypro collects $39.01 from Main pot

This next hand shows the value of being the aggressor pre flop, and taking that approach into the flop as well. I couldn't stand the reraise but everything I did suggested I had a huge hand. I am guessing he had AK, AQ, TT or 88 as he had fairly low PFR stats. So there was a big chance that my aggression won me the hand without the best hand. On a side note, his raise pre flop is far too small with the limpers already in the pot.

Game #2435288704: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/20 - 16:08:51 (UK)
Table "Laptop" Seat 4 is the button.
Seat 1: Javkam07 ($57.35 in chips)
Seat 2: CruS ($54.95 in chips)
Seat 3: Robtovnb ($24.27 in chips)
Seat 4: Birksted ($143.28 in chips)
Seat 5: expired ($48.20 in chips)
Seat 6: Fruitypro ($50 in chips)
expired: posts small blind $0.25
Fruitypro: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Ah Kc]
Javkam07: calls $0.50
CruS: calls $0.50
Robtovnb: calls $0.50
Birksted: folds
expired: raises to $2
Fruitypro: raises to $8
Javkam07: folds
CruS: folds
Robtovnb: folds
expired: calls $6
----- FLOP ----- [Jd 3s 9h]
expired: checks
Fruitypro: bets $12
expired: folds
Returned uncalled bets $12 to Fruitypro
Fruitypro: doesn't show hand
Fruitypro collects $16.65 from Main pot

This last hand shows a leak I have in my game. When I flop middle pair in position when I have raised pre flop in a multiway pot I play it too passively. I really should have fired on the flop, or at least the turn, and I am a bit obsessed with keeping the pot small. I need to find where I am and not pay off people who catch on the river. It was only a small bet but if I bet the flop I probably win.

Game #2436014144: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/20 - 17:03:55 (UK)
Table "Katerina" Seat 4 is the button.
Seat 1: Potbet ($43.55 in chips)
Seat 2: DoctorX2k ($67.85 in chips)
Seat 3: Fruitypro ($55.85 in chips)
Seat 4: jompass ($52.45 in chips)
Seat 5: daiwiza ($48.65 in chips)
daiwiza: posts small blind $0.25
Potbet: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Kh Ts]
DoctorX2k: folds
Fruitypro: raises to $2.50
jompass: folds
daiwiza: calls $2.25
Potbet: calls $2
----- FLOP ----- [4d As Th]
daiwiza: checks
Potbet: checks
Fruitypro: checks
----- TURN ----- [4d As Th][6s]
daiwiza: checks
Potbet: checks
Fruitypro: checks
----- RIVER ----- [4d As Th 6s][9s]
daiwiza: checks
Potbet: bets $2
Fruitypro: calls $2
daiwiza: folds
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Potbet: shows [9h 9d] (Three of a kind, Nines, Ace high)
Fruitypro: mucks hand [Kh Ts]
Potbet collects $10.95 from Main pot

The Fish Get Richer, I Get Poorer...

2006-05-18T20:51:00.000Z

On Tuesday I had the most brutal cash session of my challenge so far. I dropped 5 buy ins over about a 4-5 hour period, which basically came when I got in situations when I had the second best 'great' hand, or got sucked out on. I have to accept this as variance and the reason why we have a bankroll, but it was difficult to take. I did manage to avoid going on tilt however, which at least was one thing...

I had to have a day off yesterday and today to get my head round things, the fact is, in my opinion, I wasn't playing bad poker but I needed a break to recover mentally. I have to keep on playing my aggressive game and to accept that poker is a game of difficult situations.

My stats from tuesday:

Hands: 1801
VPIP: 18.49%
PFR: 14.10%
Amount Won: ($245.21)
BB/100 Hands: (13.62)

Here's a few hands from tuesday, including a hand where I somehow avoided getting stacked due to a mathematically correct fold preflop:

Game #2394521984: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/16 - 22:32:41 (UK)
Table "Laptop" Seat 4 is the button.
Seat 1: bobble2 ($16.25 in chips)
Seat 2: -Rust- ($53.80 in chips)
Seat 3: elmo27 ($110 in chips)
Seat 4: Fruitypro ($48.95 in chips)
Seat 5: Teddy_LV ($53.05 in chips)
Teddy_LV: posts small blind $0.25
bobble2: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Kc Ks]
-Rust-: folds
elmo27: raises to $1.50
Fruitypro: raises to $5
Teddy_LV: folds
bobble2: folds
elmo27: raises to $110 and is all-in
Fruitypro: is all-in $43.95
Returned uncalled bets $61.05 to elmo27
----- FLOP ----- [Tc 6h 2c]
----- TURN ----- [Tc 6h 2c][7d]
----- RIVER ----- [Tc 6h 2c 7d][Th]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
elmo27: shows [As Ad] (Two Pairs, Aces and Tens, Seven high)
Fruitypro: shows [Kc Ks] (Two Pairs, Kings and Tens, Seven high)
elmo27 collects $95.65 from Main pot

Game #2388478554: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/16 - 13:49:03 (UK)
Table "Verdi" Seat 3 is the button.
Seat 1: Stew05022 ($35.85 in chips)
Seat 2: indsdress ($32.10 in chips)
Seat 3: Annez_H ($69.34 in chips)
Seat 4: Fruitypro ($59.30 in chips)
Seat 5: Granvorka ($34.25 in chips)
Seat 6: juand4 ($65.10 in chips)
Fruitypro: posts small blind $0.25
Granvorka: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Kd Kh]
juand4: calls $0.50
Stew05022: calls $0.50
indsdress: folds
Annez_H: raises to $2
Fruitypro: raises to $9
Granvorka: folds
juand4: folds
Stew05022: folds
Annez_H: raises to $25
Fruitypro: raises to $59.30 and is all-in
Annez_H: calls $34.30
----- FLOP ----- [4h 3d 8h]
----- TURN ----- [4h 3d 8h][Th]
----- RIVER ----- [4h 3d 8h Th][9s]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Fruitypro: shows [Kd Kh] (A Pair of Kings, Ten high)
Annez_H: shows [As Ah] (A Pair of Aces, Ten high)
Annez_H collects $117.10 from Main pot

Both situations where I have kings and the other guy has aces - can you really fold kings pre flop? I don't think so... Harrington says anyone who does is a fool and you can't argue with a guy who has achieved so much in the game. And does any lack of fold equity change anything?

I think I played the next hand badly... I had no fold equity and hence maybe a laydown to the all-in on the flop should be considered... However, I am favourite over TPTK, JJ and QQ so it's a tough situation.

Game #2394283884: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/16 - 22:17:44 (UK)
Table "Lundu" Seat 1 is the button.
Seat 1: MAO11 ($69.30 in chips)
Seat 2: Groggen ($60.55 in chips)
Seat 3: Carl022 ($50 in chips)
Seat 4: Fischer18 ($47.95 in chips)
Seat 5: jonasx ($46.75 in chips)
Seat 6: Fruitypro ($50 in chips)
Groggen: posts small blind $0.25
Carl022: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Ad Ks]
Fischer18: folds
Fischer18 sits out
Fischer18 sits back
jonasx: raises to $1.50
Fruitypro: raises to $5
MAO11: folds
Groggen: folds
Carl022: folds
jonasx: calls $3.50
----- FLOP ----- [4d 3d Td]
jonasx: bets $2
Fruitypro: raises to $8
jonasx: raises to $41.75 and is all-in
Fruitypro: calls $33.75
----- TURN ----- [4d 3d Td][Ac]
----- RIVER ----- [4d 3d Td Ac][3h]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
jonasx: shows [4c 4h] (A Full House, Fours full of Threes)
Fruitypro: shows [Ad Ks] (Two Pairs, Aces and Threes, King high)
jonasx collects $91.25 from Main pot

The next hand I got sucked out on, although he did have a lot of outs on the turn. I thought a lot before my turn bet, and decided that I did have the best hand and hence would pot commit myself with this bet.

Game #2388813804: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/16 - 14:36:50 (UK)
Table "Truffle" Seat 6 is the button.
Seat 1: Bedinite7 ($55.38 in chips)
Seat 2: Think2win ($40.50 in chips)
Seat 3: Fruitypro ($53.25 in chips)
Seat 4: Fetern ($59.25 in chips)
Seat 5: victorine ($32.10 in chips)
Seat 6: mrLogan ($71.60 in chips)
Bedinite7: posts small blind $0.25
Think2win: posts big blind $0.50
victorine: posts big blind $0.50 + posts small blind $0.25
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Ac Js]
Fruitypro: raises to $3
Fetern: folds
victorine: folds
mrLogan: folds
Bedinite7: folds
Think2win: calls $2.50
----- FLOP ----- [Jc 6d 9h]
Think2win: bets $3
Fruitypro: raises to $9
Think2win: calls $6
----- TURN ----- [Jc 6d 9h][7h]
Think2win: bets $3
Fruitypro: raises to $15
Think2win: calls $12
----- RIVER ----- [Jc 6d 9h 7h][Tc]
Think2win: bets $13.50 and is all-in
Fruitypro: calls $13.50
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Think2win: shows [8h Jh] (A Straight, Jack high)
Fruitypro: shows [Ac Js] (A Pair of Jacks, Ace high)
Think2win collects $79 from Main pot

The next hand, I think I played it well but was basically put in a situation I can't get out of. I like my reraise pre flop to try to get heads up with the short stack, who could have a wide range of hands. The guy who called $18 pre flop with AJ was a huge fish, had a VPIP of over 60% and was getting very lucky throughout the whole session.

Game #2389175574: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/16 - 15:17:14 (UK)
Table "Verdi" Seat 3 is the button.
Seat 1: Stew05022 ($53.25 in chips)
Seat 2: victorine ($13.13 in chips)
Seat 3: Scaramouc ($64.75 in chips)
Seat 4: Fruitypro ($59.47 in chips)
Seat 5: eAzydaman ($22.95 in chips)
Seat 6: lickME ($53 in chips)
Fruitypro: posts small blind $0.25
eAzydaman: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Qc Ad]
lickME: folds
Stew05022: calls $0.50
victorine: calls $0.50
Scaramouc: folds
Fruitypro: raises to $4
eAzydaman: folds
Stew05022: calls $3.50
victorine: raises to $7.50
Fruitypro: raises to $18
Stew05022: calls $14
victorine: is all-in $5.63
----- FLOP ----- [Ac Jd 2h]
Fruitypro: bets $41.47 and is all-in
Stew05022: is all-in $35.25
Returned uncalled bets $6.22 to Fruitypro
----- TURN ----- [Ac Jd 2h][Qs]
----- RIVER ----- [Ac Jd 2h Qs][Jh]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Fruitypro: shows [Qc Ad] (Two Pairs, Aces and Queens, Jack high)
Stew05022: shows [As Js] (A Full House, Jacks full of Aces)
victorine: shows [Qh Ah] (Two Pairs, Aces and Queens, Jack high)
Stew05022 collects $79.19 from Side pot #1
Stew05022 collects $37.94 from Main pot

This last hand, I folded pre flop due to not having the correct implied odds to flop my set. Because of the nature of the original raiser, I was 90% sure he would reraise all in pre flop. And hence I would have to be calling 1/3 of my stack pre flop to hit a 7.5/1 shot. Thank god I did fold...

Game #2388641374: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/16 - 14:10:27 (UK)
Table "Verdi" Seat 2 is the button.
Seat 1: Stew05022 ($60.50 in chips)
Seat 2: $Rune$ ($18.88 in chips)
Seat 3: Annez_H ($141.94 in chips)
Seat 4: Fruitypro ($57.05 in chips)
Seat 5: Thebish ($50 in chips)
Annez_H: posts small blind $0.25
Fruitypro: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [3c 3s]
Stew05022: folds
$Rune$: raises to $1.60
Annez_H: raises to $5
Fruitypro: folds
$Rune$: calls $3.40
----- FLOP ----- [3h 9s 6c]
Annez_H: checks$
Rune$: checks
----- TURN ----- [3h 9s 6c][Qd]
Annez_H: checks$
Rune$: checks
----- RIVER ----- [3h 9s 6c Qd][2d]
Annez_H: bets $5.50
$Rune$: calls $5.50
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Annez_H: shows [9h 9d] (Three of a kind, Nines, Queen high)
$Rune$: mucks hand [Ad 6s]
Annez_H collects $20.45 from Main pot

Not nice overall, but that's the nature of the game we play. Not sure if I am going to be able to get in a session on Friday or Saturday, have to work all day tomorrow and have Cricket on Saturday and a Football dinner in the evening, but after that I am going to hit the tables, and get back on track. On a side note, I read on the cardrunners forum that a member turned $50 to $100k in 4 months. This is obviously an amazing achievement and really is some inspiration...

A small loss tonight

2006-05-15T21:04:00.000Z

I played for a couple of hours tonight, the first time since Saturday I have played, and recorded a small loss (1/2 a buyin). Got involved in a couple of cooler situations and got played back at a bit more than I would have liked. I also was quite annoyed at what happened when I flopped a set.

Here's my stats:

Hands: 793
VPIP: 18.41%
PFR: 12.86%
Amount Won: ($24.33)
BB/100 Hands: (3.07)
Hourly Rate: ($10.58)
Current Bankroll: $3,409.55

Here's some hands which I found interesting. I don't think I played some of them very well. Feedback would be much appreciated!

Game #2381326024: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/15 - 20:33:54 (UK)
Table "Tombeau" Seat 1 is the button.
Seat 1: Ninealive ($34.98 in chips)
Seat 2: MR.RK ($47.48 in chips)
Seat 3: Fruitypro ($75.40 in chips)
Seat 4: jonasx ($52.75 in chips)
Seat 5: sandman4 sits out
Seat 6: Bakke ($60.35 in chips)
MR.RK: posts small blind $0.25
Fruitypro: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [As Qh]
jonasx: calls $0.50
Bakke: raises to $2
Ninealive: calls $2
MR.RK: folds
Fruitypro: raises to $8.50 - My standard reraise with AQ out of the blinds. Bakke is a tight player but seems to try to stay out of my way as I have stacked him a few times in the past. I have played with him a lot before. The other guy who has just sat down cold calls two raises.
jonasx: folds
Bakke: folds
Ninealive: calls $6.50
----- FLOP ----- [Ac 7d Tc]
Fruitypro: bets $13 - I texture my bet to bet half his stack. I obviously do this with the intention of calling the all-in if he does that. He does push and I call. I am hugely behind but that's poker. I will be in front a lot of the time here in my opinion, and I have fold equity on the original bet. If he was deeper stacked the situation may have been different.
Ninealive: raises to $26.48 and is all-in
Fruitypro: calls $13.48
----- TURN ----- [Ac 7d Tc][4s]
----- RIVER ----- [Ac 7d Tc 4s][Jd]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Ninealive: shows [7h 7s] (Three of a kind, Sevens, Ace high)
Fruitypro: shows [As Qh] (A Pair of Aces, Queen high)
Ninealive collects $69.71 from Main pot

Game #2380211114: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/15 - 19:21:28 (UK)
Table "Persimmon" Seat 2 is the button.
Seat 1: Stacker ($66 in chips)
Seat 2: snemanden ($29.02 in chips)
Seat 3: Bedinite7 ($49.09 in chips)
Seat 4: Mr.B ($49.80 in chips)
Seat 5: Sibiris ($50 in chips)
Seat 6: Fruitypro ($51.50 in chips)
Bedinite7: posts small blind $0.25
Mr.B: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Jd Jh]
Fruitypro: raises to $2.50 - My standard no limper raise.
Stacker: folds
snemanden: raises to $29.02 and is all-in
Bedinite7: folds
Mr.B: folds
Fruitypro: calls $26.52 - Against any normal player I fold. But this guy was an absolute lunatic. 50/25 ish and overbet the pot consistently. I think I have the best hand and I am slight favourite when the cards get turned over.
----- FLOP ----- [5h 8h 9s]
----- TURN ----- [5h 8h 9s][Qh]
----- RIVER ----- [5h 8h 9s Qh][Kd]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
snemanden: shows [Ad Kh] (A Pair of Kings, Ace high)
Fruitypro: shows [Jd Jh] (A Pair of Jacks, King high)
snemanden collects $55.89 from Main pot

I got rivered but that's poker. He did have a flush draw on the turn too.

This next hand I am not convinced about how I played it. I ended up folding the best hand, but I think most of the time I am losing here. I had no reads on either player. Critique would be much appreciated. I am going to post this hand on cardrunners forum later too.

Game #2379904024: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/15 - 18:51:44 (UK)
Table "Katalina" Seat 3 is the button.
Seat 1: Fruitypro ($49.25 in chips)
Seat 2: Hollers79 ($37.04 in chips)
Seat 3: Formand3n ($169.52 in chips)
Seat 4: mijo86 ($37.30 in chips)
Seat 5: polak84 ($41.15 in chips)
Seat 6: Turnip1 ($32.95 in chips)
mijo86: posts small blind $0.25
polak84: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Qd Ad]
Turnip1: calls $0.50
Fruitypro: raises to $3 - Standard 5x plus limper raise pre flop.
Hollers79: folds
Formand3n: calls $3
mijo86: folds
polak84: folds
Turnip1: calls $2.50
----- FLOP ----- [9h Ts Ah]
Turnip1: checks
Fruitypro: bets $6.50 - I hate picking up 2 callers, but I flop top pair and bet 3/4 of the pot.
Formand3n: calls $6.50
Turnip1: calls $6.50
----- TURN ----- [9h Ts Ah][Td]
Turnip1: checks
Fruitypro: checks - I am absolutely hating the ten. I thought there was a good chance one of them had a ten, or even perhaps AT. I am happy to check the hand down now.
Formand3n: checks
----- RIVER ----- [9h Ts Ah Td][Qh]
Turnip1: bets $23.45 and is all-in
Fruitypro: folds - The queen on the river changes little for me. Any ten is still winning and so is JK although I don't give much credence to that. Turnip goes all-in for about pot size and I reluctantly fold.
Formand3n: calls $23.45 - I think this call is very poor.
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Turnip1: shows [8d 7s] (A Pair of Tens, Ace high)
Formand3n: shows [As 9d] (Two Pairs, Aces and Tens, Queen high)
Formand3n collects $73.15 from Main pot

Game #2381280984: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/15 - 20:39:05 (UK)
Table "Katalina" Seat 1 is the button.
Seat 1: Fruitypro ($73.70 in chips)
Seat 2: DaOne sits out
Seat 3: tacopaj ($41.95 in chips)
Seat 4: eddie84 ($48.68 in chips)
Seat 5: Queenlea ($9.78 in chips)
Seat 6: Jaques ($20 in chips)
tacopaj: posts small blind $0.25
eddie84: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Kh Kc]
Queenlea: folds
Fruitypro: raises to $2.50 - Standard
tacopaj: calls $2.25
eddie84: calls $2
----- FLOP ----- [5d 9h Ts]
tacopaj: checks
eddie84: bets $5
Fruitypro: raises to $15 - I still think I have the best hand and re raise to see where I am. Eddie is a bit of a fish. He bought in short and doubled up when he called a big bet to hit runner runner flush and skanked an ace on the river to win the pot anyway.
tacopaj: folds
eddie84: calls $10
----- TURN ----- [5d 9h Ts][As]
eddie84: checks
Fruitypro: checks - I hate the ace here. Only a ten is a worse card for me.
----- RIVER ----- [5d 9h Ts As][Th]
eddie84: bets $31.18 and is all-in
Fruitypro: folds - Horrible river too. He goes all-in for about pot and it's an easy, although annoying fold.
Returned uncalled bets $31.18 to eddie84
eddie84: doesn't show hand
eddie84 collects $35.65 from Main pot

How do I get paid more on this hand? Should I have played it slower? Should I worry about being behind?

Game #2380718534: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/15 - 19:55:52 (UK)
Table "Persimmon" Seat 1 is the button.
Seat 1: supercham ($10 in chips)
Seat 2: metalface ($54.95 in chips)
Seat 3: vinvin ($33 in chips)
Seat 4: Mr.B ($92.94 in chips)
Seat 5: Sibiris ($42.38 in chips)
Seat 6: Fruitypro ($54.17 in chips)
metalface: posts small blind $0.25
vinvin: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Qh Ac]
Mr.B: calls $0.50
Sibiris: folds
Fruitypro: raises to $3
metalface: folds
vinvin: calls $2.50
Mr.B: calls $2.50
----- FLOP ----- [Jc Qd Qc]
vinvin: bets $3.50
Mr.B: raises to $8
Fruitypro: raises to $25 - I flop top trips with an ace kicker. Raise and a reraise in front of me. I triple the reraise and expect to be put all in. If he has QJ that's just unlucky. They both fold. I really cannot work out what Mr.B has.
vinvin: folds
Mr.B: folds
Returned uncalled bets $17 to Fruitypro
Fruitypro: doesn't show hand
Fruitypro collects $27.35 from Main pot

This next hand illustrates the importance of raising pre flop with premium hands. If you limp, you let the blinds get very lucky and get your stack :-)
Game #2380371084: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/15 - 19:31:35 (UK)
Table "Tombeau" Seat 1 is the button.
Seat 1: victorine ($42.25 in chips)
Seat 2: MR.RK ($44 in chips)
Seat 3: Fruitypro ($54.05 in chips)
Seat 4: DaOne ($51 in chips)
Seat 5: pysa ($39.65 in chips)
Seat 6: SPAWNNN ($19.15 in chips)
MR.RK: posts small blind $0.25
Fruitypro: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [4s 8h]
DaOne: folds
pysa: folds
SPAWNNN: calls $0.50
victorine: folds
MR.RK: calls $0.25
Fruitypro: checks - Obviously I check with a garbage hand.
----- FLOP ----- [2c 8d 4d]
MR.RK: checks
Fruitypro: bets $1.50 - Nice flop for me. Top 2 pair. Bet pot.
SPAWNNN: raises to $3
MR.RK: folds
Fruitypro: raises to $9 - Short stack reraises me. I am happy to play an all-in pot with him and triple his reraise. He oddly calls.
SPAWNNN: calls $6
----- TURN ----- [2c 8d 4d][Kc]
Fruitypro: bets $10 - King is a blank to me. I stick him all in and he calls and needs the board to pair on the river. It doesn't and I win a nice pot with rags.
SPAWNNN: is all-in $9.65
Returned uncalled bets $0.35 to Fruitypro
----- RIVER ----- [2c 8d 4d Kc][3h]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Fruitypro: shows [4s 8h] (Two Pairs, Eights and Fours, King high)
SPAWNNN: shows [Ts Th] (A Pair of Tens, King high)
Fruitypro collects $36.90 from Main pot

The final hand is my set hand. I think I could have stacked him on the flop if I lead into him. My intention was to check/call the flop and check/raise the turn, but I slowed down on the flush card. I decided to play a smaller pot with 3 diamonds on the board. I still think I played the hand too cautiously on the turn onwards.

Game #2381231034: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/15 - 20:29:04 (UK)
Table "Tombeau" Seat 2 is the button.
Seat 2: MR.RK ($63.78 in chips)
Seat 3: Fruitypro ($60.95 in chips)
Seat 4: jonasx ($58.75 in chips)
Seat 5: sandman4 ($47.62 in chips)
Seat 6: Bakke ($56.85 in chips)
Fruitypro: posts small blind $0.25
jonasx: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [2s 2h]
sandman4: folds
Bakke: folds
MR.RK: raises to $2
Fruitypro: calls $1.75
jonasx: folds
----- FLOP ----- [Kd 9s 2d]
sandman4 sits out
Fruitypro: checks
MR.RK: bets $1.50
Fruitypro: calls $1.50
----- TURN ----- [Kd 9s 2d][Jd]
Fruitypro: checks
MR.RK: bets $3.50
Fruitypro: calls $3.50
----- RIVER ----- [Kd 9s 2d Jd][3h]
Fruitypro: checks
MR.RK: bets $8.50
Fruitypro: calls $8.50
----- SHOW DOWN -----
MR.RK: shows [Kc Ac] (A Pair of Kings, Ace high)
Fruitypro: shows [2s 2h] (Three of a kind, Twos, King high)
Fruitypro collects $29.95 from Main pot

Nice Quick Profit

2006-05-13T10:27:00.000Z

I thought I would have a quick 90 minute session before I play Cricket this afternoon, but due to a couple of factors the session was cut short. Firstly the big stacks on the tables left and were either replaced by empty seats or short stacks. The game selection on William Hill in the UK mornings isn't amazing, they usually only have between 2000 and 3000 active players on the site and about 4-5 $50NL tables. I also managed to lock in a $105 profit in the 25 minutes I did play so I was happy with that anyway.

My stats for the morning's session:

Hands: 131
VPIP: 18.32%
PFR: 13.74%
Amount Won: $105.03
BB/100 Hands: 80.18
Hourly Rate: $242.38 (!!!)
Current Bankroll: $3433.87

Another $567 and I will have a roll for $0.50/$1 which I will be very happy about. I used to play there a lot (before cardrunners) and the standard is low. Unfortunately I was weak-tight then and couldn't take advantage. I also didn't have a proper roll for it.

A couple of hands where I stacked my opponent... They didnt have full stacks but were still nice enough. It also shows how aggressive my play is pre-flop, particularly out of the blinds where I either want the betting lead or to take the pot down pre-flop. I can't believe that in the past I folded AQ to a button raise! How weak was that! Also, I am not really that superstitious but the Truffle table on Will Hills really seems to like me! The 2 pots from yesterday with AA and 66 were on it as well:-)

Game #2353638014: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/13 - 11:16:21 (UK)
Table "Truffle" Seat 1 is the button.
Seat 1: vragot ($62.15 in chips)
Seat 2: Shouter ($20.81 in chips)
Seat 3: Fruitypro ($48.75 in chips)
Seat 4: ricea ($20.62 in chips)
Seat 5: Gamskjaer ($105.70 in chips)
Seat 6: billly88 ($43.35 in chips)
Shouter: posts small blind $0.25
Fruitypro: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Qc Ah]
ricea: folds
Gamskjaer: folds
billly88: calls $0.50
vragot: calls $0.50
Shouter: raises to $1.50
Fruitypro: raises to $5 - Shouter is very loose, an absolute nutter in fact, VPIP of 60%+. The only worry I had was that he may push to the re raise but his range of hands he would do that with is so large, I have played with him a lot before, so I would only reraise if I would call all-in pre flop, which I decided I would do so. Also the two limpers are very loose and also very volatile players. I decided that I didn't want to see a 4 way flop out of position.
billly88: folds
vragot: folds
Shouter: calls $3.50
----- FLOP ----- [6h 4h 2h]
Shouter: checks
Fruitypro: bets $15.81 - I flop the nut flush draw with 2 overcards, an excellent flop for me. He had $15.81 left and the pot was about $10 - I wasn't really bothered if he called or not, I didn't have a made hand but a ton of outs. When I stick a short stack in I love to type the exact amount they have in - especially when I don't have a great hand. They seem to think you are targeting their stack and often fold. He calls and is drawing to 2 outs, he needs to hit the jack of spades or diamonds to win. My flush comes on the turn and it's game over.
Shouter: calls $15.81 and is all-in
----- TURN ----- [6h 4h 2h][Jh]
----- RIVER ----- [6h 4h 2h Jh][7h]-----
SHOW DOWN -----
Fruitypro: shows [Qc Ah] (A Flush, Ace high)
Shouter: shows [Ac Jc] (A Flush, Jack high)
Fruitypro collects $40.52 from Main pot

The next hand was a nice one. My re raise pre flop didn't have the desired effect though!

Game #2353585004: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/13 - 11:06:35 (UK)
Table "Lundu" Seat 3 is the button.
Seat 1: ebbot007 ($86.40 in chips)
Seat 2: lvernel ($40.17 in chips)
Seat 3: BrorSalsa ($85.57 in chips)
Seat 4: tjoonken ($28.90 in chips)
Seat 5: Fruitypro ($55.80 in chips)
Seat 6: Quantum1 ($36.35 in chips)
tjoonken: posts small blind $0.25
Fruitypro: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Th Ts]
Quantum1: folds
ebbot007: raises to $2
lvernel: calls $2
BrorSalsa: folds
tjoonken: folds
Fruitypro: raises to $8.50 - I haven't played with ebbot or ivernel before, and made my standard reraise with TT out of the blinds as I would always do.
ebbot007: calls $6.50
lvernel: calls $6.50
----- FLOP ----- [6h 8s 9s]
Fruitypro: bets $18 - An OK ish flop for my hand. I flop the smallest overpair and a gutshot draw. I bet about 80% of the pot hoping to take it down. I decided that if ivernel went all in I would call for about $13 more. He oddly called, leaving himself a small amount left.
ebbot007: folds
lvernel: calls $18
----- TURN ----- [6h 8s 9s][Qd]
Fruitypro: bets $29.30 and is all-in - I don't see how the queen would have helped him, plus I now have a double gutshot draw. I put him all in. He calls and flips up K 9 which is purely horrific play throughout on his part. A nice pot against a guy who shouldn't have been in the hand to start with.
lvernel: is all-in $13.67
Returned uncalled bets $15.63 to Fruitypro
----- RIVER ----- [6h 8s 9s Qd][Qs]-----
SHOW DOWN -----
Fruitypro: shows [Th Ts] (Two Pairs, Queens and Tens, Nine high)
lvernel: shows [9d Kh] (Two Pairs, Queens and Nines, King high)
Fruitypro collects $86.09 from Main pot

Hopefully I will be playing a longer session this evening as well. A couple more good ones and it's time for the step up!

From One Extreme To Another

2006-05-12T21:36:00.000Z

My cards tonight that is! I found it tough going trying to play a SLAG style tonight, I was either getting dealt premium hands or absolute garbage. One table I played at my VPIP was only 12%, and another only 13% - nothing I could do. I lost count of the amount of times I got dealt aces though, but got little action on them.

I made just under $50 in about 80 minutes which I still can't complain about as it's above my hourly earning rate at this level, which stands at $19.25/hr.

I didn't stack anyone, or get stacked myself, in fact I didn't really play many hands of interest.

One hand where I tried to keep the pot small, but I wasn't really sure if I had the best hand. I think this shows the danger of playing garbage hands out of the blinds. I was out of position obviously and he was representing a King throughout.

Game #2346742664: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/12 - 20:16:36 (UK)
Table "Atria" Seat 2 is the button.
Seat 1: Wayedinn ($71.68 in chips)
Seat 2: viuf ($98.10 in chips)
Seat 3: taishan ($53.30 in chips)
Seat 4: Fruitypro ($52 in chips)
Seat 5: Rubin1001 ($48.30 in chips)
Seat 6: Zindredin ($28.77 in chips)
taishan: posts small blind $0.25
Fruitypro: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Kd 2s]
Rubin1001: folds
Zindredin: folds
Wayedinn: folds
viuf: calls $0.50
taishan: folds
Fruitypro: checks
----- FLOP ----- [Kh 9h 5d]
Fruitypro: bets $1
viuf: calls $1
----- TURN ----- [Kh 9h 5d][Ks]
Fruitypro: bets $2
viuf: raises to $4
Fruitypro: calls $2
----- RIVER ----- [Kh 9h 5d Ks][4s]
Fruitypro: checks
viuf: bets $5
Fruitypro: calls $5-----
SHOW DOWN -----
viuf: shows [7h 6c] (A Pair of Kings, Nine high)
Fruitypro: shows [Kd 2s] (Three of a kind, Kings, Nine high)
Fruitypro collects $20.20 from Main pot

Here are my overall stats for today's play @ $50 NL:

Hands: 1,020
VPIP: 18.43%
PFR: 12.84%
Amount Won: $112.23
BB/100 Hands: 11.00
Hourly Rate: $32.22
Current Bankroll: $3,316.69

Early Session On 12th May

2006-05-12T14:30:00.000Z

Made $65 this afternoon in about an hour and a half playing 4 tables of $50NL.

I got stacked once, and managed to stack someone twice.

Overall my VPIP (Voluntary put $ in pot%) was around the 21% mark, and my PFR (pre flop raise%) was about 17%. This are stats I am aiming at for this level, I think it's hard to have higher stats than that and be a consistent winning player at the low limits - people just don't give you respect and therefore play back at you more if you get out of line any more than this. Generally there are 3 styles of players at the $50NL level - maniacs who are playing 50%+ of hands, and either raise most of these or hardly at all, weak-tight players who's stats are something like 18/4, or TAG/SLAG with stats of about 25/15. The latter category tend to be the better players overall, although obviously some are better than others post-flop.

Here is the hand I got stacked on - it came early in the session so I was fighting an upward battle from the start:
Game #2342957114: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/12 - 13:43:28 (UK)
Table "Katalina" Seat 1 is the button.
Seat 1: lickME ($54.09 in chips)
Seat 2: McBest ($74.40 in chips)
Seat 3: Maxx101 ($19.67 in chips)
Seat 6: Fruitypro ($50.89 in chips)
McBest: posts small blind $0.25
Maxx101: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Tc Th]
Fruitypro: raises to $2.50 - TT is obviously a raising hand in any position, and so I make my standard 5xBB raise
lickME: calls $2.50
McBest: raises to $7
Maxx101: folds
Fruitypro: calls $4.50 - I get re raised by the small blind, he has a good stack so I am getting good implied odds for hitting my set, plus I have position on him post-flop.
Tere10031 joins the table at seat #4
lickME: folds
----- FLOP ----- [Jd 5s Jh]
McBest: bets $7
Fruitypro: calls $7 - I sort of floated on this flop, basically with position I wanted to see his action on the turn. There was a chance I still had the best hand anyway.
----- TURN ----- [Jd 5s Jh][6s]
McBest: checks
Fruitypro: checks - I thought I was in front here after his check - his play really fits AK so far - but I thought I would check and keep the pot small.
----- RIVER ----- [Jd 5s Jh 6s][Td]
McBest: bets $15
Cabecao joins the table at seat #5
Fruitypro: raises to $36.89 and is all-in - I hit my miracle card, unless he has JT or JJ I am winning, and neither of his plays are consistent with those hands. If he has either I really have to pay them - no getting away from it.
McBest: calls $21.89
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Fruitypro: shows [Tc Th] (A Full House, Tens full of Jacks)
McBest: shows [Js Jc] (Four of a kind, Jacks, Ten high)
McBest collects $101.78 from Main pot

Overall, it was pretty much a cooler situation - there is only one possible other way I play this hand and that is to fold on the flop. I felt that may have been a weak play, plus I have played with McBest before and he is a loose aggressive (38/20) player. He will be betting that flop regardless.

The next hand was easy: I had aces and all the money went in pre-flop, which obviously is ideal when you have AA - as you are at least 80% favourite against any other hand. One of the benefits of playing LAG/SLAG is that you often get paid better on your good hands - the next two illustrate that.

Game #2343384254: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/12 - 14:35:24 (UK)
Table "Truffle" Seat 2 is the button.
Seat 1: 91raver ($62.20 in chips)
Seat 2: Misscash ($41.34 in chips)
Seat 3: Con2512 ($40.50 in chips)
Seat 4: Fruitypro ($45.95 in chips)
Seat 5: Sallyaces ($47.49 in chips)
Seat 6: JTCORK sits out
Con2512: posts small blind $0.25
Fruitypro: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Ad As]
Sallyaces: folds
91raver: folds
Misscash: raises to $2.50
Con2512: calls $2.25
Fruitypro: raises to $15 - I make this raise for several reasons. Obviously I am going to re raise with aces, but I really want one opponent only. I am also out of position against Misscash (although their raise could have been a standard button play) and don't want to play out of position post flop, so I put the other two to the test with a 6x reraise. Misscash comes over the top of me all-in and I have an easy call, and hope they don't spike a jack!
Misscash: raises to $41.34 and is all-in
Con2512: folds
Fruitypro: calls $26.34
----- FLOP ----- [8d 7s 5d]
----- TURN ----- [8d 7s 5d][Td]
----- RIVER ----- [8d 7s 5d Td][Ts]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Misscash: shows [Jc Js] (Two Pairs, Jacks and Tens, Eight high)
Fruitypro: shows [Ad As] (Two Pairs, Aces and Tens, Eight high)
Fruitypro collects $82.18 from Main pot

The last hand was a hand that dreams are made of! It was the very next hand after the last hand I posted where I had AA!

Here it is:

Game #2343384264: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/05/12 - 14:36:14 (UK)
Table "Truffle" Seat 3 is the button.
Seat 1: 91raver ($62.20 in chips)
Seat 2: Misscash sits out
Seat 3: Con2512 ($38 in chips)
Seat 4: Fruitypro ($86.79 in chips)
Seat 5: Sallyaces ($47.49 in chips)
Seat 6: JTCORK sits out
Fruitypro: posts small blind $0.25
Sallyaces: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [6h 6d]
91raver: folds
Con2512: folds
Fruitypro: raises to $2.50 - We are only playing 4 handed after a couple of players got stacked, and it's folded round to me, and I make a standard SB raise with 6 6.
Sallyaces: raises to $4.50
Fruitypro: calls $2 - There are a lot of things to think about here. My opponent was a total fish, VPIP of 60% which obviously is very loose, yet a PFR of 1.3%. This indicated a big hand for them here. However, the minraise is a horrible play as it gives you such good pot odds to call. I have good implied odds and make the call, hoping to flop a set. Otherwise I am gone from the hand.
----- FLOP ----- [6s Tc 6c]
Fruitypro: checks
Sallyaces: bets $4.50
Fruitypro: calls $4.50 - What a flop. Flopping quads is a 0.20% chance to occur, and I hit a pretty much unbeatable hand. It would take an epic beat to lose here. I can't afford to lose my customer so I check/call his continuation bet.
----- TURN ----- [6s Tc 6c][Ks]
Fruitypro: checks
Sallyaces: bets $5.50
Fruitypro: raises to $13 - At this level, players rarely fire 2 bullets without a hand after raising pre-flop. If he had AK, I just got very lucky and hope that he has a big hand capable of paying me.
Sallyaces: raises to $38.49 and is all-in
Fruitypro: calls $25.49 - He reraises me all-in and I have the easiest call of my life.
----- RIVER ----- [6s Tc 6c Ks][Qd]-----
SHOW DOWN -----
Sallyaces: shows [Ac Ah] (Two Pairs, Aces and Sixes, King high)
Fruitypro: shows [6h 6d] (Four of a kind, Sixes, King high)
Fruitypro collects $91.98 from Main pot

He had aces and couldn't let them go - to be fair I don't think many would have, I don't think he could have put me on one 6, let alone 2!

The 2k Challenge

2006-05-12T14:16:00.000Z

A couple of weeks ago, I joined Cardrunners Poker School (see link), which has really opened my eyes to the LAG (Loose Aggressive) style of playing poker. Previously I was a losing weak-tight player who just couldn't understand what was going wrong... Now I do!

After reading the articles and the forum, and learning loads from Green Plastic's and Muddywater's videos, I decided to set myself a challenge. Start with $2,000 and work my way (multi-tabling 4 tables) up the limits, maintaining 40 buy ins for the level I play at. So I am starting at $.25/$.50NL, until I can get to $4,000 where I move up to $.50/$1NL etc. My aim is to get to be a regular at $1/$2 before the end of the year, and this should be a level where I can earn a good income. Once I get up to $2/$4 my aim is to be playing poker for a living.

After a few weeks, my bankroll has grown to slightly over $3,200 (from 15,500 hands), so I have had a decent start.

I thought I would set up a blog so that I can post all the hands that I either stack my opponent or they stack me, as well as some other interesting hands - and to explain my thought processes in the hands. I think analysing hands from myself or other people is probably the best way to improve as a poker player.

Wish me luck with my challenge anyway!