Clawed my way back into profit

Hey ppls

I managed to win the Festive freeroll "Turkey Curry" tournament for $1000, there were 800+ runners and i was getting hands at the right time coupled with good play and poor opposition play. But i would have to admit that my heads up opponent was a good short handed player and at time i thought i was coming second Geordigaz is his name if i can recall. I managed to outplay him on one occasion and this proved costly for him as after this i was dominating in chips

Game #6790440393: Turkey Curry (ID8822026) 400MPP+0MPP - Hold'em NL (20000/40000) - 2008/12/29 - 00:01:10 (UK)
Table "8822026 - 1" Seat 3 is the button.
Seat 3: Geordigaz (673378 in chips)
Seat 10: Ant040689 (625622 in chips)
Geordigaz: posts the ante 5000
Ant040689: posts the ante 5000
Geordigaz: posts small blind 20000
Ant040689: posts big blind 40000
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Ant040689 [9d 9c]
Geordigaz: calls 20000
Ant040689: raises to 120000
Geordigaz: calls 80000
----- FLOP ----- [6c 2d Jh]
Ant040689: bets 120000
Geordigaz: calls 120000
----- TURN ----- [6c 2d Jh][Jd]
Ant040689: checks
Geordigaz: bets 210000
Ant040689: raises to 380622 and is all-in
Geordigaz: folds
Returned uncalled bets 170,622 to Ant040689
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Ant040689: shows [9d 9c] (Two Pairs, Jacks and Nines, Six high)
Ant040689 collected 910000 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot 910000 Main pot 910000 Rake 0
Board [6c 2d Jh Jd]
Seat 3: Geordigaz (small blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 10: Ant040689 (big blind) showed [9d 9c] and won (910000) with Two Pairs, Jacks and Nines, Six high

This win is lovely and has broke me even for the torrid last day or two i have had and it means i can look forward to the week coming knowing the rakeback i receive will be as profit instead of wiping out debts.

I will hit this blog again tomorrow but until then may your cards be live and your pots be monsters!

Jynx of the highest degree

hey

after making my bankroll plan i don't even have a bankroll left hardly! I have lost a lot on the £50 max cash games. Playing quite stupidly to be fair reacting childishly when i have raised nearly all of my stack by the river, then getting it in on the river even know i know they have caught their card to beat me. Also betting when checking would have been the better option. I wasn't at the top of my game and that was because of the way i reacted to the bad luck i was getting. So i know that i need to better my temperament.

I am currently now £532 away from the withdrawal target number i set which is a travesty. My rakeback is coming in on monday which i think will cover it but i am really annoyed about losing 10 and a bit buy ins through bad play mostly. It's a lesson learned in composure and i want it learned before thursday as i would like to start the year on a high and relatively in the know about how to react to any situation cash and tourney poker throw at you so i cannot spew any chips through bad play. And i won't let bad luck make me play any worse as if i want to be a pro at this i just can't let that happen. Will just have to have breaks when i am on the verge of steaming and spend longer hours at the games when i am earning most profit. Quite simple really in theory but practically it is very hard.

Try keeping your cool after you lose 4 buy ins in 10 mins after you were convincing favourite in each of the 4 hands or you got extremely coolered. I will make sure next year i am robotic in mentality towards poker and make sure all emotionality is away from the game, well, the negative emotions anyway. They can be embraced and nurtured. The negative ones can't be avoided in essence because i am a human being but the trick is not to be experiencing these feeling while at a poker table. This can be done so i think i will be savouring some good fortune in the next day of play knowing i am approaching the game more positively.

The list i mentioned in the prior post was nothing that big, but i will tell you the contents of what i want to buy with the profits i will make next year.

Top notch Mobile Phone
Road Racer Bicycle
Gym set
Driving lessons
Car with insurance
Pay off student debt

I leave this post now confident of my revival from bad form just waiting for the prmoised land of regular profitability and some sort of security in it but besides from that comment to me about other things i should get up on this list along with anything else you want to say :)

Cheers.

YES! Demised a bankroll plan!

Hey guys,

Sort of a eureka moment for me today. I was wondering before in what way i would build my bankroll but still be able to withdraw funds at the same time, but now i have a solution that smacked me around the face just now! I will set a target for each day, say £100, and if i make any more than that, all excess funds get banked. So if i won £144 in a day, i would bank £44. This leaves me with an increasing bankroll and a happy bank manager. Obviously the downside is how to react to the bad days, but you see i have a solution for that as well. Just don't have them!

Well seriously, if i have a bad day the £100 target remains the target to aim for even if i lose money. So lets say my account is at £1800 and my target for the day is £1900. But i lose £100 so i am currently on £1700. I will still have to pursue the £1900 target and only when i get over it will i be able to withdraw funds.

I think this is ingenius and sort of adds a structure to my game whereas before i was sort of playing with no organisation and was in the ballpark of thinking why am i doing this, what am i striving for here? But now there is structure and i will be longing to see the words from william hill saying "your withdrawal has been processed successfully". That will keep me going.

Along with this structure i have summised a wishlist of which i need to save money to get. The money i withdraw will be going straight towards these things. Shortly i will give u the list. I want to keep u in suspense before i do however so i will tell you guys tomorrow.

Cya Laters

New year plan

Hello,



In retaliation to the ridiculous tilt i had earlier in playing a limit way above my bankroll i have taken a measure that is not often associated with online poker. Something that i feel has liberated me from ever making a tilty all in bluff knowing he's probably going to call, or by being illogical in any shape or form at any time, and this was by sending an online prayer. Yeh i know what your thinking, i might be a bit loony. But you should hear me out here.



You often hear of the poker Gods that give you look at the tables and ultimately decide whether or not you are going to win or lose. So if you were going to send a prayer to them than why not through the same forum they operate on, that being the Internet? As i am a catholic (sort of non-practising) i felt i should act at this holy time of year, to avoid ever having to be gutted at a rush to the head moment that discards hours upon hours of hard grafted work. The content of the prayer was simple, asking for better self control, with this i feel like i can go far.



To veer back on track now, i am starting to think loosely about what i want my annual profit to be in 2009. What would be realistic? What should i be aiming for? How should i go about it (sngs, cash, Multis)? How will i manage the bankroll in terms of taking money out and banking it? How many buy ins should i have for each limit? What websites will i use? How many tables will i play on?



Answers to these questions now can only be provisional but i will give you them anyway. I would like an annual profit of £50,000. I am aiming for £100,000, this being attained in how my bankroll will be increasing and therefore hopefully my profitability as well. Im thinking that big multi table tournaments in the form of sit and gos or normal ones are what i am strongest at playing. Ones with a relatively slow structure so i can pick my spots. I will also play cash a lot as well. Bankroll management is a tricky one because i want my gambling money to be ever increasing but would also like to have a system in place to bank my money every so often. Perhaps banking half my tourney profits and leaving the cash game profits in or something like that. In terms of buy ins i will only use 40 if i am comfortable at the limits i am playing, if i would like to rise into another limit i would like to have 60 buy ins or above prepared because i would have to expect a bit of a downswing at first to get used to the style of play. The websites that i will use is a mystery for now. I am soon going to be scouting every website going for the softest games and the best bonuses, and may give them all a trial month or something. I will be looking to play on 12 tables at a time, perhaps getting a little more adventorous if i am able to hook up two screens at the same time.



I will need to be more organised in 2009 also. I have to make sure that my university work is prepared and completed a week in advance of the deadline so as to alleviate pressure. I also have to set up a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet recording my daily profits/losses so i can study them and also try and make predictions on what i should be expecting to earn.



Also i need to organise my life in general. I have been a little to inclined to play poker and have been making no real efforts to get out too often or live an exciting life per se. You're only young once after all. Wouldn't mind a girlfriend actually, i have a bit of money to impress one anyway. Might not tell em about that. They will need to pay for their own way around me :) Aside from the girlfirend i need a car and a gym set for my room. Otherwise its earning money to pay off the student debt. Then the leftover will be to broaden my bankroll then skim off it whenever i need it. Perhaps if they profits are coming in regularly i may rent out a place and enjoy a little independence but i will need to be loaded for that because to give up a living at your parents house with all the comforts of having most things paid for really doesn't put much on the expenditure list. So yeh i need to be rolling in it for that.

Anyway, i hope that my self control parayer will be answered because i don't want to be a ticking timebomb, waiting to explode and tarnish all previous quality work. I hope to be wealthy, healthy and living life to the fullest next year and will make sure that no time is wasted.

I wish you all a merry christmas and i will write another post in 6 days time(*touches wood*) to wish you all a happy new year as well.

Cheers.

DAMN!

Hey

I thought i was better than this but i sat down at a 2/5 euros heads up tables 10 mins agao and lost a buy in and a half which i can't really afford to let happen to me. I lost with pocket kings to a 10J for the straight for a lot of it and then i just tilted the rest of the money away like a complete idiot. I sort of only sat down there as it was one of the only games available. I really feel like an idiot. Im feeling relatively ok now though because i know i have to accept it and move on and in the wider frame of things over the next week or so i can make that money back up and this shouldn't be such a big deal. But i am aggreived at myself for being this silly. Clearly haven't yet matured to know what my boundaries are. I feel really annoyed right now and just want to rewind back about 30 mins throught time and smack myself around the face to say what are you doing!

I suppose you could call it a relapse into the gambling nature i had promised not to do. But it wasn't because this was quite innocent i never expected to have all of the 500 euros i sat down with to be at risk i was planning for small pots then all of a sudden i get KK and he gets lucky to make a straight. Its annoying. It's nothing to be worried about because i still have a big bankroll and will stay at the lower limits from now on. Will take a while to get over that monstrosity but i have got over worse in the past so i am just thinking now by this tuesday coming i should have made up for this little hiccup today and i am just going to wait until then to celebrate some sort of liberation from any more wrong doing like this in the future. This won't happen again as i will be more careful and less stupid.

Thank fuck i have this blog to let some steam off!

cheers.

BOOYAH! King of the late night tournies!

Hey guys.

I had a pretty immense night at the tourney tables despite crashing out of the two biggies which were the £9K GTD and the £6K GTD. I final tabled 4/5 other tournies tonight and most noticeably i attempted to go for the late night triple crown of the 11pm £2.5K GTD the NTX 12pm £1500 GTD and the 1pm £1K GTD where i came 3rd 2nd and 1st respectively, for a total of £700 profit for the day, which is marvellous!

I was very annoyed with how i went out of the £2.5K GTD though, i got a little too frisky with A10 3 handed.....


Game #6757302483: £2.5K GTD WED (ID8786221) £15+£1.50 - Hold'em NL (3000/6000) - 2008/12/25 - 03:34:56 (UK)
Table "8786221 - 1" Seat 8 is the button.
Seat 8: kojak (82549 in chips)
Seat 9: Ant040689 (90264 in chips)
Seat 10: 1eyemacka (141187 in chips)
Ant040689: posts the ante 750
1eyemacka: posts the ante 750
kojak: posts the ante 750
Ant040689: posts small blind 3000
1eyemacka: posts big blind 6000
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Ant040689 [Ts Ad]
kojak: raises to 18000
Ant040689: raises to 89514 and is all-in
1eyemacka: folds
kojak: is all-in 63799
Returned uncalled bets 7,715 to Ant040689
----- FLOP ----- [Ks Qc As]
----- TURN ----- [Ks Qc As][4h]
----- RIVER ----- [Ks Qc As 4h][2d]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Ant040689: shows [Ts Ad] (A Pair of Aces, King high)
kojak: shows [Kh Kc] (Three of a kind, Kings, Ace high)
kojak collected 171848 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot 171848 Main pot 171848 Rake 0
Board [Ks Qc As 4h 2d]
Seat 8: kojak (button) showed [Kh Kc] and won (171848) with Three of a kind, Kings, Ace high
Seat 9: Ant040689 (small blind) showed [Ts Ad] and lost with A Pair of Aces, King high
Seat 10: 1eyemacka (big blind) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

It was a sort of auto push when really i should have called and looked to outplay him or fold if i thought he was good. Instead i just gave him my chips and let him face the other guy who was a weak short handed player and would be lovely to face heads up. That mistake effectively cost me £500 because that was the difference between 1st and 3rd (where i came) but you live and you learn.

The NTX £1500 GTD hoever i had no complaints about, i felt that the opponent i was facing was very weak heads up as she would look to get it all in, to avoid playing with me. Starting the battle with her i was extremely short stacked....


Game #6757177633: NTX £1500 Special (ID8828649) £22+£2 - Hold'em NL (600/1200) - 2008/12/25 - 03:02:44 (UK)
Table "8828649 - 1" Seat 5 is the button.
Seat 5: Ant040689 (14230 in chips)
Seat 6: Shar20121 (123770 in chips)
Ant040689: posts the ante 150
Shar20121: posts the ante 150
Ant040689: posts small blind 600
Shar20121: posts big blind 1200
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Ant040689 [Jh 2h]
Ant040689: calls 600
Shar20121: checks
----- FLOP ----- [Js Jc 4c]
Shar20121: checks
Ant040689: checks
----- TURN ----- [Js Jc 4c][3h]
Shar20121: bets 122420 and is all-in
Ant040689: is all-in 12880
Returned uncalled bets 109,540 to Shar20121
----- RIVER ----- [Js Jc 4c 3h][8s]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Shar20121: shows [9d 4h] (Two Pairs, Jacks and Fours, Nine high)
Ant040689: shows [Jh 2h] (Three of a kind, Jacks, Eight high)
Ant040689 collected 28460 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot 28460 Main pot 28460 Rake 0
Board [Js Jc 4c 3h 8s]
Seat 5: Ant040689 (small blind) showed [Jh 2h] and won (28460) with Three of a kind, Jacks, Eight high
Seat 6: Shar20121 (big blind) showed [9d 4h] and lost with Two Pairs, Jacks and Fours, Nine high

Really poor play by her and after this pot i was tasting the victory but it just wasn't to be as i couldn't get her off QJ pre flop the next hand......


Game #6757177813: NTX £1500 Special (ID8828649) £22+£2 - Hold'em NL (600/1200) - 2008/12/25 - 03:03:46 (UK)
Table "8828649 - 1" Seat 6 is the button.
Seat 5: Ant040689 (25760 in chips)
Seat 6: Shar20121 (112240 in chips)
Shar20121: posts the ante 150
Ant040689: posts the ante 150
Shar20121: posts small blind 600
Ant040689: posts big blind 1200
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Ant040689 [7s Ad]
Shar20121: calls 600
Ant040689: raises to 25610 and is all-in
Shar20121: calls 24410
----- FLOP ----- [4c 3h 7h]
----- TURN ----- [4c 3h 7h][Kh]
----- RIVER ----- [4c 3h 7h Kh][Js]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Ant040689: shows [7s Ad] (A Pair of Sevens, Ace high)
Shar20121: shows [Jh Qs] (A Pair of Jacks, King high)
Shar20121 collected 51520 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot 51520 Main pot 51520 Rake 0
Board [4c 3h 7h Kh Js]
Seat 5: Ant040689 (big blind) showed [7s Ad] and lost with A Pair of Sevens, Ace high
Seat 6: Shar20121 (small blind) showed [Jh Qs] and won (51520) with A Pair of Jacks, King high

No complaints about how i did in this tourney, i battled well to get to that position and found that i was maturing throughout, and had no maniac tendencies.

The third tourney was the one i won :) Obviously as my luck goes it was the cheapest one of the three but i will take it :) It was the £1K GTD and i was a dominating force throughout. I am not going to disclose all the hands i played as i don't want to show you really shit hot techniques about how to win these so i will give you the straightforward hand histories lol.


Game #6757055283: £1K GTD WEDNESDAY (ID8786406) £10+£1 - Hold'em NL (400/800) - 2008/12/25 - 03:16:10 (UK)
Table "8786406 - 1" Seat 7 is the button.
Seat 1: October (24420 in chips)
Seat 2: Kit0710 (2697 in chips)
Seat 5: Wildthyng (31800 in chips)
Seat 6: Leegam (16244 in chips)
Seat 7: OMGSUCK (26035 in chips)
Seat 8: Ant040689 (42104 in chips)
Seat 9: Hairydude (21700 in chips)
Ant040689: posts the ante 100
Hairydude: posts the ante 100
October: posts the ante 100
Kit0710: posts the ante 100
Wildthyng: posts the ante 100
Leegam: posts the ante 100
OMGSUCK: posts the ante 100
Ant040689: posts small blind 400
Hairydude: posts big blind 800
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Ant040689 [Ac As]
October: folds
Kit0710: folds
Wildthyng: folds
Leegam: folds
OMGSUCK: folds
Ant040689: raises to 1600
Hairydude: calls 800
----- FLOP ----- [4s 9c Qs]
Ant040689: checks
Hairydude: bets 1600
Ant040689: calls 1600
----- TURN ----- [4s 9c Qs][7c]
Ant040689: checks
Hairydude: bets 3200
Ant040689: raises to 7000
Hairydude: raises to 18400 and is all-in
Ant040689: calls 11400
----- RIVER ----- [4s 9c Qs 7c][9h]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Hairydude: shows [Qc 5d] (Two Pairs, Queens and Nines, Seven high)
Ant040689: shows [Ac As] (Two Pairs, Aces and Nines, Queen high)
Ant040689 collected 43900 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot 43900 Main pot 43900 Rake 0
Board [4s 9c Qs 7c 9h]
Seat 1: October folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Kit0710 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Wildthyng folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Leegam folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: OMGSUCK (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Ant040689 (small blind) showed [Ac As] and won (43900) with Two Pairs, Aces and Nines, Queen high
Seat 9: Hairydude (big blind) showed [Qc 5d] and lost with Two Pairs, Queens and Nines, Seven high

I enticed him with the aces all the way through the hand and i was very happy with the result. done him good and proper.


Game #6757215903: £1K GTD WEDNESDAY (ID8786406) £10+£1 - Hold'em NL (800/1600) - 2008/12/25 - 03:45:25 (UK)
Table "8786406 - 1" Seat 6 is the button.
Seat 6: Leegam (87822 in chips)
Seat 8: Ant040689 (77178 in chips)
Leegam: posts the ante 200
Ant040689: posts the ante 200
Leegam: posts small blind 800
Ant040689: posts big blind 1600
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Ant040689 [Ad Tc]
Leegam: raises to 4800
Ant040689: calls 3200
----- FLOP ----- [Js Ah Th]
Ant040689: checks
Leegam: bets 82822 and is all-in
Ant040689: is all-in 72178
Returned uncalled bets 10,644 to Leegam
----- TURN ----- [Js Ah Th][4h]
----- RIVER ----- [Js Ah Th 4h][4d]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Leegam: shows [As 5c] (Two Pairs, Aces and Fours, Jack high)
Ant040689: shows [Ad Tc] (Two Pairs, Aces and Tens, Jack high)
Ant040689 collected 154356 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot 154356 Main pot 154356 Rake 0
Board [Js Ah Th 4h 4d]
Seat 6: Leegam (small blind) showed [As 5c] and lost with Two Pairs, Aces and Fours, Jack high
Seat 8: Ant040689 (big blind) showed [Ad Tc] and won (154356) with Two Pairs, Aces and Tens, Jack high

This was the hand that basically ended proceedings, i check the flop to entice his raise, cannot believe my luck when he pushes all in, i insta called and took it down. Was nice to see he was drawing pretty thin as well. So that was that and i took the tournament down a few hands later.

I am really getting happy about how i am playing these tournaments now, i feel i am really perceptive to how the other player feels about the pot, and if i get a good read i act upon it, almost as if my two cards are irrelevant. I dread to think how i am going to react when my luck dries up and the variance rears its ugly head, but until then i am going to appreciate how good it feels to be 19 and have loadsa money! lol

For all those interested on how i am getting on in the cash games you would be pleased to hear i am grinding quite smoothly on them, 12 tables still to help with the bonuses and i am keeping a cool head while playing them. My perceptiveness is high in these games also and i see myself reacting well to how other players themselves react. I am playing a lot less cash than i would like because of the tournaments but as i have a lot of spare time on my hands as there is no university, i can stay up until the early hours playing these tournies because i feel there is more of a profit to be made.

Plz Plz Plz comment on these posts guys as it would seem i am doing all this writing for nothing otherwise. Cheers!

poor play here

Game #6754984483: £9K GTD WED (ID8785478) £50+£5 - Hold'em NL (150/300) - 2008/12/24 - 21:56:14 (UK)
Table "8785478 - 5" Seat 8 is the button.
Seat 1: Ronannvpj (16571 in chips)
Seat 2: Mat080748 (5160 in chips)
Seat 3: ronnidk (10989 in chips)
Seat 4: Chopp11 (6828 in chips)
Seat 5: Mistro1 (12235 in chips)
Seat 6: Callum_00 (6100 in chips)
Seat 7: Ant040689 (5700 in chips)
Seat 8: ELZ0RR0 (12849 in chips)
Seat 9: Dlukyboat (9626 in chips)
Seat 10: _himmler_ (3595 in chips)
Dlukyboat: posts the ante 25
_himmler_: posts the ante 25
Ronannvpj: posts the ante 25
Mat080748: posts the ante 25
ronnidk: posts the ante 25
Chopp11: posts the ante 25
Mistro1: posts the ante 25
Callum_00: posts the ante 25
Ant040689: posts the ante 25
ELZ0RR0: posts the ante 25
Dlukyboat: posts small blind 150
_himmler_: posts big blind 300
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Ant040689 [Qh Ks]
Ronannvpj: folds
Mat080748: folds
ronnidk: raises to 777
Chopp11: folds
Mistro1: folds
Callum_00: folds
Ant040689: calls 777
ELZ0RR0: folds
Dlukyboat: folds
_himmler_: folds
----- FLOP ----- [8c Qd Td]
ronnidk: bets 1234
Ant040689: raises to 4898 and is all-in
ronnidk: calls 3664
----- TURN ----- [8c Qd Td][6h]
----- RIVER ----- [8c Qd Td 6h][4d]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Ant040689: shows [Qh Ks] (A Pair of Queens, King high)
ronnidk: shows [Ad Ah] (A Pair of Aces, Queen high)
ronnidk collected 12050 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot 12050 Main pot 12050 Rake 0
Board [8c Qd Td 6h 4d]
Seat 1: Ronannvpj folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Mat080748 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: ronnidk showed [Ad Ah] and won (12050) with A Pair of Aces, Queen high
Seat 4: Chopp11 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Mistro1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Callum_00 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Ant040689 showed [Qh Ks] and lost with A Pair of Queens, King high
Seat 8: ELZ0RR0 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Dlukyboat (small blind) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 10: _himmler_ (big blind) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

I got blind sighted by the top pair and high kicker that i ignored the obvious strength he was showing. Notice the pre flop raise which is small to entice the call and then the less than pot size raise to entice the re raise all in. I am unhappy with this but hey ho, im still in the £6K rebuy and hoping to do well in that. Will kepp you update thru the night.

Mourning Monday

Hey

Poor day today. Having lost £180 playing cash with no sleep first thing in the morning i manage to lose an extra £50 by playing tournaments 8 hours straight to no avail. However i have learned loads today.

Namely that i need to calm down near the end of the tournaments and notice how other people perceive me. If i am seen to be a little too aggressive in raising to stealy blinds too much i will get re raised all in with Ace high more often to which i may fold. If i notice this beforehand i can only raise with good hands to get re popped and then call down their inferior hand.

I seem to play really well up until the final table of tournies on will hill then i spaz out and get maniac by raising with anything to reclaim chips lost on a previous bluff. By no means is this the proper way but would rather this than waiting all day for those aces. I just need to get smart about my moves and look to become the table captain. With this i would then be able to bully everyone by picking up on any weakness and exploiting it. Most of the time when you raise pre flop and get called by a blind they will miss the flop and check to you, you can have absolutely nothing and just continuation bet and take it down. By doing this you are playing the maths. Only a third of the time will one other opponent have paired one of their two live cards against you, so they normally will be weak on any flop. Even if they do pair if its the bottom one u can still push them off.

What i also like about the above situation is that the position you have over your opponent is integral, by acting last you can guage whether or not he is weak or strong and you don't even need to see your cards. If you do murder your flop of course you will have to slow play. So if he checks to you you would bet real small to entice a re raise or just check again enticing him to bet out on the turn. If he does this a flat call would suffice, then maybe by the river you will see an all in bluff attempt you you to call and be happy about.

I do get aggressive in the latter stages of tournies and i think that it is integral to play like this because you would be surprised how many people will put up no fight to defend their blinds making it easy for me to raise 3XBB and steal. Even when they do call i am in control as i have position and can quickly fold if they are obviously strong. I do get caught out often by doing this but the times i get away with it outweights the times i don't in terms of chips accumulated so i will continue this. Also the beauty behind this is that if you bet so often when you do finally get a hand they will pay you off as they don't believe you.

Sometimes though i have garnered massive respect even though i raised most pots and i do this by showing only the good hands i had raised with perhaps A8 and above to show i am not taking liberties when really i am most of the time.

You also have to look out for the short stacks as raising against them means you will be committed to call any re raise they make, so i make sure that i am raisng with at least King High before i do this so most of the time i am favourite to beat their random hand. The trouble with this also is that when your inclined to call with crap after you have been re raised for only a little more you will show to everyone what you have been up to which is damaging to your blind stealing capabilities meaning you will then have to tighten up incredibly but by doing this you will get payed off for your big hands.

Another basic principle is to play the opposite of the table. If it is playing really tight you need to go ahead and steal those blindes, however if you get maniacs on there you are biding your time for that spot to get all your ships in as favourite.

My game seems to have become a lot better ever since i realised that more often than not the other player is not prepared to call a raise in a lot of situations which makes the value of your hand irrelevant if you think you can get another player off the pot.

I think i have revealed a little too much about how i play tournament poker successfully and may well keep my mouth shut from now on because you guys may be privy to me on the tables and stop me from making as easy money as i was previousuly. But hey ho it feels good to let some of my knowledge out. There are far better players out there than me but i feel that i have what it takes to iron out the flaws in my game (which is mainly keeping my head and to not get too aggressive) and become one of the best tourney players online. I think i may be getting ahead of myself with that statement as i only play small tournies on crypto but i have a good feeling that when i do spread my wings and move onto different sites, that i will be making some good money. But for the moment i like using crypto as my training ground and i hope that from boxing day onwards i will be able to implement qulaity strategy with good luck and take down as many tournies as i can.

I won't be playing much on tuesday as i am playing footie during the day and getting pissed at night but from wednesday onwards i am looking to take down some serious cash and make a real big name for myself on the tournament scene!

Cheers guys and plz comment!

AHHH lost £180 this morning on the back of no sleep playing like a numpty. I will go to bed shortly disheartened about donking it up for the amusement of sharks to jst kill me. It's taken the shine off the streak and i still find it hard to deal with a losing session. Suggestions would be nice on how to deal with them, but at the moment i find that it is taking a long break does you good along with perhaps changing the format of game to make you feel like its a fresh start, like playing an sng instead of cash or a multi table tourney perhaps. Although i feel the no.1 ticket to beat a little downswing is to collect some of your winnings cash in hand from the shop and smell the money you have made from hard graft, then take the short walk to bank it. That will make me feel better and after that i will collapse onto my bed for sleep and then to awake to some more tourney poker accompanied by several cash games :) This is the life for a poker junkie :)

Balance at start of day £3494, balance at end of first session £3328, Balance after withdrawal £2528

BOOM WHAT A STREAK!

hey guys

i have had a mad few days. The same day i had a brush with the casino i entered the £6K GTD at 21.10 on crypto and came first. I played solidly and fully deserved the win in my opinion. A win of this nature was long in coming and i was in a relative shock when i tucked away my heads up oppopnent by slow playing aces to earn myself £1780. The win obviously marred by the £800 i had lost earlier in the day but i'm not complaining. It was as if God himself saw the terrible casion mistake i made and granted me a massive win to recouperate and say to me that's your last chance! Im bloody grateful for it too!

But it didnt stop there.

Over the next two days i was stomping it in the cash rooms and earning myself around £300 in one day coupled with another modest tourney win ($1300 GTD for $396) so i was flying. Then to today i entered 6 tournies today i think and final tabled 3. One of which was the £20k big freeze one off tourney on will hill where i came 9th for £400. Really annoying. I played 23 offsuit all in on a button steal and was called by 55. Was an absolute nightmare. I played so well up until that point than that moment of idiocy costs me a serious amount of money. But not to fret i came 3rd in the Ntx £1500 for £180 and 6th in the £1000 GTD for £80. So over the past few days i have done well. So well in fact im wondering if it would be possible to keep this sort of form up?

Cash games have taken a back burner recently as i have grinded any tourney going on crypto instead with good success. What i will do now with more frequency is get some cash tables up while i don't have many tourneys to concentrate on while will only increase profitibality. But what i often find happen is i leave the cash games so i can concentrate harder on the tournies i am involved in so as to progress in it further. I feel that there is more variety in a tournament than in a cash game as there are so many more different spots and more leeway to manoevre. This gets limited, of course, when the blinds are too high, but often this in itself gives one the chance to steal the blinds from somebody trying to beat the bubble or one that you know will fold their blind without AA KK AQ AK AJ, meaning a high success rate when raising him.

My balance stands currently at £3494 which is lovely compared to what it was a short while ago and will keep you guys updated with more balance updates and more regular posts with Hand histories as well.

Also, please leave comments! Wanna know what you guys think.

Peace.

Brush with the casino!

hey

Been an absolute idiot today. I had £2050 in my account at the end of a session earlier only to start playing on roulette. I won't go into detail but i lost £900 oh so quickly! I would like to say now that that is my final ever Casino pure chance game and that i am disgusted with myself. I was tempted to put £1000 on the line so that i could double through and act like nothing happened but this way i am safe in the knowledge i can build my roll up assuringly and also this is only a weeks worth that i have lost and i will be getting back over a grand within two weeks at the very most. I am happy this has happened as this serves as another relapse into the clutches of the casino. Forever has been the way that i make loadsa money playing poker only for it to be squandered on the pure chance games of the casino. The draw in for me has always been the swiftness of the amount of money u can make so quickly and that there is no skill involved. Also, its the rush of not being in control of your outcome that gives you a rush. But i want to be a pro poker player and can say now that i am no longer being a fool, instead a model pro. I need to maintain a level head so i can buy myself nice things and tick off the magical wishlist that i have created. You guys need to hold tight on that list, because i haven't finished it yet but i think it will be amazing lol.

Lesson learned today is never to play casino pure chance games again for as long as i live. Poker it is, only.

Be warned!

Good Tourney Results

Hello ppls

I have been playing a lot more tournaments recently and i am enjoying them a lot more than the cash because it is a welcome alternative to the usual grind and seemingly easier. I have been finding it quite hard to re adjust because the calls and plays are noticeably looser on multis than in cash and you see yourself being shocked that your bluff didn't work and you have been called down with second pair or whatever.

I went deep in most of the tournaments i entered on cryptologic, which was everyone available they had over £10 and i am in just under £200 profit. Namely it was the win in the $1300 GTD that contributed to the majority of the profits as it was $396 which isn't too shabby! I noticed that i had the ability to dominate the tables i was playing near the closing stages and was feeling very comfortable. I feel i just need to fully click back into place for myself to be fully functional in the tournaments again, because i know i have the ability to be amazing. Perhaps i need to spread my wings into different sites as well as i have heard there are some fishier tourneys about namely on Ladbrokes' network because my friend Steve, better known as "Ultgamb", had suggested this to me as he is clearing up there.

I think i will be looking to make money in the upcoming weeks solely so that i can create bankrolls on every other network going so i can see how to dismantle the clientelle on each and everyone of them and see my BR rise :) I think it will be a little adventure also and will add some spark to my game because i will be having to re adjust to the different skins and different styles of play, but i am up for the challenge.

My Bankroll on william hill currently is £1986 by next tuesday i hope to have £2500 in my account, but i am not sure if that will be possible as i think i am going to treat myself to a xmas present out of this account. And that is in purchasing a road bicycle for my trips to and from school, will need to get the helmet and attire also but i am looking forward to getting one. Will clear the mind through exercise when i need it and can only improve my game as well as my fitness, so purchasing a Bike can only be a positive. Well unless i have no road sense while on one, then it could be blooming dangerous! I hope i am fine and i think i am going to splash £250 towards the bike and helmet with locks as well.

Prediciment also in the fact i don't know whether or not to get xmas pressies for anyone because i am tempted not to bother and instead buy things only for myself and may perhaps, if i feel kind, make out the pressies i get for myself were bought by family members for me. I did tht last year in a different sort of way when my parents didn't have much spare change to spend on a good pressie for my bro and as he's still a teen i thought he was getting hard done by. So i went on a mammoth poker session and was up £250 in one night and put all of that towards getting a playstation 3 for him but said it was from my parents. They were grateful, and my gosh, he was.

Forecast for myself is play tournaments from now on between the hours of 18.30-01.00 on will hill and if i am out of a lot of them, i will play cash instead/as well. I'm feeling good about my poker prospects and can only stress to all of you reading this how much mentality matters towards playing a winning game. So stay happy and focussed ppl, wait a sec i don't want that, i want easy money from you guys! Play 27 as you would AA and direct those funds in my direction!

Cya laters

Been on some bad form of late with the cash tables which has me more inclined to play tournies especially knowing that i have talent in them, and coupled with the decent luck i have been having recently i am getting disillusioned with cash. I think it has got a lot to do with playing 12 tables at a time and i have been slowly losing money because of it recently. Playing on 4 tables i am much more comfortable and seemingly don't lose always reading the player well taking pots away from those scared of them and folding when i know i am beat and whatever bet i make will just be given straight to them.

I think i have devised a plan to solve this and if it works then may i cause havoc. It is to only play 4 tables at first and then slowly add one more table every 10-15 mins to get accustomed to the increasing amount of table, easing em in so by the time i play on 12 it would be as it i am on 4 (i wish!) but you get the idea anyway.

i will let you know my balance after the bonus i will be receiving later and i then will be updating you on this as a closing point to each of my posts.

Thanks ppl

Hit Some Luck!!

Thank you lady luck, i came second in the £2500 GTD on Crypto hours ago losing as i was holding out for second at the expense of keeping in touch with the runaway leader this is because the payouts were 3rd-£250 2nd-£500 1st-£750 so there was a massive jump, and as i had a better chance of making second i made sure i was playing tight to do so. Turns out i had to get lucky with QK suited against soon to be 3rd places A3 to snatch 2nd. The heads up game wasn't really a fair one with the chip division. I thought i was a better than the other guy as i had him down as quite loose, but that style made him win the thing so i should criticise. Im just happy to have won the £500 to sort of bounceback from my horrendous week of last and to be only £125 away from hitting my weekly target lol

Afterwards i had a 12 table sesh on any game going between £0.15/0.25-$0.50/1. Playing for 2 hours for £20 profit so not too bad and not too good. I feel that i have regained my rhythm for the cash games which should come as bad news for any of my opponents because i am raring to go. On top form i can also play 12 tables as if i was only playing 1 so with this much confidence i want to see one hell of a week.

I have one intriguing hand here to show you all. I thought i would get inventive. And you should know when i did this i was playing 12 tables

Game #6669263353: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2008/12/15 - 03:27:35 (UK)
Table "Mersper" Seat 6 is the button.
Seat 1: AcesSarah ($50.93 in chips)
Seat 2: Stan25101 ($12.75 in chips)
Seat 3: Jam4Juna ($75.17 in chips)
Seat 4: Ant040689 ($45.93 in chips)
Seat 6: Miocene ($82.72 in chips)
AcesSarah: posts small blind $0.25
Stan25101: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Ant040689 [Ac Kc]
Jam4Juna: folds
Ant040689: raises to $1.50
Miocene: raises to $4.50
AcesSarah: folds
Stan25101: folds
Ant040689: calls $3
----- FLOP ----- [2h Qd 3s]
Ant040689: checks
Miocene: bets $7
Ant040689: raises to $17
Jam4Juna sits out
Miocene: folds
Returned uncalled bets $10 to Ant040689
Ant040689: doesn't show hand
Ant040689 collected $22.57 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot $23.75 Main pot $22.57 Rake $1.18
Board [2h Qd 3s]
Seat 1: AcesSarah (small blind) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Stan25101 (big blind) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Jam4Juna folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Ant040689 collected $22.57
Seat 6: Miocene (button) folded on the Flop

I had him on a certain range. As i had AK i knew it was unlikely he had KK or AA because there were only 3 of each left. As a Q hit the board i didn't have him on QQ as this was also unlikely. So from him re raising to 4 pre flop i have him on 99, 1010, JJ, AQ or AK. The latter two less so, so i had him on the underpair to the Queen. This read heightened by the $7 raise on the flop into a pot of 9. He sensed my weakness with my check and pounced with a menacing bet of $7
which looks like he means business but i know it can mean weakness. My re pop to $17 looks very strong as its only a little over a minimum raise and is saying to miocene that i want him to remain in the pot, when i obviously don't in reality! He then folds to my happiness :)

I found this to be the most poignant hand of the night and i will continue to pick the creme of the crop after every session to keep my descriptive skills flowing and have myself always examining my game.

Bring on some sleep and bring on the thousands of hands tomoz!!!

First Blog!

Hey peoples this is my first blog and i guess i shall let u in on a few things about myself. I'm 19 and live in london i am a student studying history and i absolutely love football and my team crystal palace fc.

I am a cash game player and a tourney player to a lesser extent. I play the £0.25/0.50 - $0.50/1 limits on cryptologic playing up to 12 tables a time and would like to talk about this in detail in my blogs.

Last week i ranked in the top 50 most raked players on Crypto which i was pleased with, and also won £850 in profit which was lovely. But i hit a ridiculous slump recently spurred on by my sideways venture into the double your money sit and gos. Bad beat after bad beat made sure i lost £400 within 3 hours and completely put me off my game on the cash tables. So at the end of week two i am actually breaking even would you believe so an annoying two weeks one would have to say.

I have recently set my goals up for what i would like to earn on a weekly basis and thought that £600 was a reachable target. That is from a 40 hour week, on 12 tables at a time. I should be making more than this possibly with the amount of hands i am playing but i need to get used to so many tables before i can start thinking of bigger monies.

Strategy to do with how i play my cash games might be a touch shady in case i get my opponents coming in to see how i play but i will divulge on hands and express praise on those i feel are amazing players on the site. To name some from the top of my head i would have to say Chopp11 (top bloke!) Gede31121 (tricky opponent), Balti (bloody machine!), Gambleag (very solid player), sundance (ridiculously solid), Ward84 and Slam_dunk to name a few.

I will be giving you balance updates every time i post and i am going to be using this as a sort of therapy also, if everything is seemingly going against me. What i hope will happen is that i achieve my target of £600 a week (or surpass it!) and play some top notch poker. I also want to be earning at least 3000mpps a week which if you aren't familiar with cryptologic means a hell of a load of points! I would be the most raked player at these limits if i maintain that and from past leaderboards that would put me around 40th every week.

Apart from the cash games i will be playing two tournies daily and these will be the 11pm and 1am GTD's which are full of fish and will be confidence boosters, especially if i get some big scores in them.

That's your lot for now but i will be updating this at a ridiculous rate as a pummel the tables. Next post will be my starting balance and how my first session went with all my thoughts and would love to hear feedback

CHEERS!