New Plan

Hey

Just a quick note to say that my last few days of online grinding haven't gone well. Mainly to do with the nonchalant attitude i have towards playing across 6 or more tables for a long period of time. Finding it hard to keep concentration and this may be to do with not having a good routine going. Probably should go to the gym before grinding online to help mellow me out and increase the focus necessary to play for such a long time without fidgeting. So i have decided to give up the grind online for the forseeable future (hehe probs will only be a week!)

Instead i am going to fill up my days with three things. Gym in the morning, Uni during the day (need to study for retakes) and jump on the train from uni to play at the empire casino to hopefully destroy what i hope will be fishy games. That is going to be the routine from wednesday onwards and will end as my retakes are sorted at uni. Then i will keep the morning gym thing going, then try and do summin of interest during the day (involving me getting out of my room) then hit the online grind from 5-7pm onwards until about say 3.00am that will mean i will be in bed my 3.30am and can wake up around 11.30am get brekkie in and then leave for the gym at 12pm. That seems like a solid play on life really. And btw yes i do realise it wouldn't be a morning gym session if i leave my house at 12pm but at least its in keeping with my body clock anyway!

Apart from that piece of boring information i have nothing really else to say except a big congratulations to Ben for winning the 1000 euros ladbrokes package to Killarney with a seat for the 550 main event. Really envious of this as i am going to be trying hard to win the same trip and perhaps another festival in Ireland through qualifying on Ipoker. The latter event being called the Irish Winter festival and is held in Dublin i believe.

I hope to get back on Grind with success when i do start to play online, but that will only come with a focus, and that focus will only come with a strict life regime which involves regular exercise and as much time as possible away from my room of work. Good luck people.

Laters.

$12kGTD Win

Hey

Just took down the $12K GTD on party poker. The 109$ entry one. Cards went my may royally throughout this but i can't remember putting a foot wrong tbh. Very happy with the $3360 prize money considering i had a 0 balance during this tourney as this was my last punt before i sorta gave up on the software for ipn and ipoker but now i might look to develop that roll and look not to take a lot of it out. Just skimming profits off the top.

I had two other final tables tonight in a $12.5K gtd on ipoker and the $7500 GTD double stack on ipoker as well. The former i played very tight and eventually had to push with 97 in the cut off with 7 big blinds left, got called by Ace rag and lost getting out in 10th for $250+ ($109 entry). In the latter i went out in 5th when i found A9 on the big blind with 10 big blinds left. The cut off raised all in for 8 big blinds and on previous history with him i knew he had less, or was likely to anyway so i called. He showed 10K and binked a 10 on the river. Annoying because first in this tourney was paying $2000+ . With the pot won i would have been second and comfortable in chips. Probs would have weaved some magic to win the whole thing but will never know now! I won $600 in the tourney. This only had me at just above even on ipoker because i played a lot of tournies on there inc. trying to qualify for the irish winter festival in the $50r tourney ipoker had running. Misplayed 99 in early position and got my just deserts in that one.

In the 20K 30r on ipoker i went out as a 30/70 favourite for a pot but lost with about 40 left i believe. Lost some coin flips in that that were pivotal also. Came 17the 10r $10000 GTD as well getting a little too aggro pre flop and getting caught out. That was especially annoying because i only play that tourney to final table as all other prize monies are rubbish in comparison, but it weren't to be this time.

Before the party poker win, which was the last tourney of the night, i was bemoaning the nature of tournament poker and thinking i wasn't cut out for the game because its not a reliable income and can make u feel like shit if you keep losing money without winning. After the win i still have that taste of loathing for tournies, but my love for them can be described as bittersweet. Winning one is an amazing feeling, especially for the amount i won tonight. I guess i just need to keep records of how much i win over a certain period to see if i shud continue with it.

But back to win, what was best about it was that i didn't really get overly excited by it. Just sort of closed the room and looked to surf online as if nothing happened lol. I think this is a great mentality because i use it across the board even when i get the worst of beats.

Like the one i got late on in the 10000 10r on boss today when i get it all in for 20 big blinds with KK against 1010 and the opponents hand makes quads by the end and after hours of playing im sent crashing out. I just shrugged it off, but i have to be forgiven for exclaiming a "fuck off" to myself lol. I then carried on with the other 8 or so tournies i was still in making sure my temperament remained.

It would be fair to say that the win has been a confidence booster and has shown me i still got game, something i was questioning during the drought of wins before this. I hope this is the start of some nice wins to come but also hope these aren;t the last words of a fool who has just jynxed himself. :)

Gl people.

Taking a break-Gym membership

only played around 7 tournaments tonight many of which were on average around the 100 dollars mark to play and i didn't cash in any. This has pissed me off. Mainly because i don't really know what my whole bankroll is at now and am scared i could be getting close to not being fully rolled for 100 tournies. I am going to add up all my monies and then plan from there. I also don't want to continue playing because i feel i have a massive leak in my game and that is i don't play enough hands when i have 30 big blinds or more in a tourney i normally keep waiting for a hand, and if it doesn't come i am forced to push all in as a short stack.

So after my break tomoz i am going to come back on friday trying to vary my game and see whats what. Even though i am a profitable player i still think that this flaw in my game is hindering me from making more. That and the bad luck i get sometimes!

So yeh i am just gonna leave you with that and that i have joined a gym for 6 months in an effort to get fit and perhaps take my football slightly more seriously. Perhaps semi pro level stuff might result but we will see!

GL

Willie Tann the Man?

Hey

Decided to travel up to the Grosvenor Victoria casino London to try my hand at the £330 NLHE freezeout with 100ish runners. Found myself seated at a table with 2 familiar faces and one other that i knew as Willie Tann. His record speaks for itself and he is a great player but boy does he get hands at the right time!

Started my onslaught when Tann raises from mid position to 300 (blinds 50/100, 6000 starting stacks) i get QQ in the Cut off and re pop to 800, folds round to him and he calls.

Flop A Q 9 two hearts, one spade

He checks to me and into the pot of 1750 i bet 400, to emit weakness, of which he re pops to 1500, and i flat call to try and induce a bet out from Tann on the Turn.

Turn - 8 Spades

He checks to me and i bet 2000 into him scared of the possible 10 or J river or perhaps a possible flush. In hindsight i probably should have checked behind because betting 2000 here is just showing raw strength, but at the time i was so scared of the 6 outer 4 to a straight coming on the river that i felt obliged to bet at it. If the turn brought a 2 i would have checked behind all day long. 8 spades was one of the worst cards i could have seen imo, that or the 8 of hearts, but others cards could have scared me like a K J or a 10 which could have made him a straight. He folds to the 2000 raise. This ends the first of three meetings with the Tann-Meister.

Soon after this hand i get AJ os in mid position and raise to 1000 with a stack of about 9000, blinds at 200/400 with a running ante of 50 i believe. Folds all the way round to the BB who pushes all in for around 5000 total. I dwell and make the hero call in the knowledge that i saw the same guy bet all in with K9 when he was short stacked from the dealer button into the blinds when he had 15 big blinds remaining. Gave me the impression that he was an impatient mofo. One that would perhaps get the same impatience when one attacks his blind with a seemingly weak bet of 2.5 bbs. i believed his range included A7-AK, 66-JJ, with QQ-AA i would think he would get slightly more tricky. anyways with the edge in my mind tht there is enough value in the call as i believe i could be a 70-30 against an ace with a lower kicker, i call and he has A10. I take the pot and his chips. Willie Tann comments on what an exceptional call it was and by his expression and everybody elses at the table they wouldn't have had the balls/stupidity to make the same call. I was slightly taken aback by this from Tann, to have impressed a wiley pro like him i must be doing summin right. He would soon teach me a lesson anyway.

Soon after i misplayed AQ by flatting a raise pre, where i should have taken the initiative by re raising or folding.

Soon after tht i find willie tann raising 3 x BB in mid pos, i have AJ on the dealer button and flat his call, everyone else folds. Flop

10 5 5 Two Hearts

I think he has missed and he checks to me, i check behind thinking my Ace high Jack kicker is good. Turn

7 Hearts

He half pot bets me and still thinking i am in the lead i flat call. River

2 hearts

4 to a straight out there and he tank checks to me and knowing now hes unlikey to have a high heart if any i steal the pot away from him with a 3/4 pot size raise.

Change tables soon after and find my first hand is JJ. UTG+1 raises 3x BB i re raise to 1200 blinds at 300/600, i re raise to 4100 with a stack of about 17000 and it folds around to the dealer button who goes all in for 13000. UTG +1 folds and i go into the tank. He must have QQ KK AA here right if he so confidently put all his chips in after a raise and a re raise? But i eventually call and gobsmacked but equally relieved he hasn't got me crushed by holding KQ. He misses when the community cards fall and i get a comfortable stack.

The next hour and a bit involved me stealing pre flop uncontested now and again getting re raised once when i open raised with A7, the guy was a rock so an easy fold to his all in. Eventually i have around 23000 blinds at 1000/2000 ante of 200.

I have QKsuited on the dealer button everyone folds around to me and i make a standard 5500 raise to hopefully take the blinds uncontested. I am immediately met with Wille Tann in the small blind pushing all in for his last 20000. Now before this spot i had see Tann go all in pre holding JJ JJ 1010 AK. And nothing less than those bad boys. But for some reason i felt that he can't always be blessed with premium hands and this does look slightly suspect that he is re raising a dealer button raise, which he can rightly presume is relatively weak so could, in essence be re raising with a lot less than QK suited. But it wasn't to be. For some reason i felt inclined to call 14500 to win a pot of 10000 to leave me with a little over 2000 if i lost the pot. If i decided not to call i would have had around 8 bbs and a decent enough stack to get fold equity pre flop if i wanted to open shove with any two to receive the blinds and antes.

He has AK suited hearts i have KQ suited spades and the board comes A J 3 5 7 was hoping a 10 would come to save the day but wasn't to be.

I utterly misplayed this hand but it taught me a valuable lesson to take a breather and properly evaluate tough decisions in live and online poker, and to take my time to avoid spazzy calls like this, and not to let my aggro side reign, the one that allowed me to call with QK suited becos "i am just not gonna take that sorta shit from Willie Tann" you know. It was a definate call against this player as he exhibited tight as fuck poker in terms of re raising so strong pre flop and i think he was raising equally as strong open raising, because the deck was hitting the man in the face!

Oh well i am happy with my performance. I think i did very well except for three glaring mistakes that i can remember that will now be mended for the next time i play a high limit live tourney. Really enjoyed it despite the fact i played 5 hours to get 16th, when top 10 pays and first was a cool £10000+. In many ways i am happy i didn't win the money because invaluable lessons were learnt tonight by me losing my chips, but ofc i would like to have thought that i was gonna learn those lessons even if i took down the £10000 but it wasn't meant to be!

Now it is to the online grind and to make some real money so i can hit the live circuit with a vengence properly bankrolled. Loving life at the moment and loving the way i am reacting to a mistake that could have effectively cost me £10000, well one thing is for sure anyway it cost me the £330 buy in!

Big respect for the Tann meister as well, he was getting it in good constantly tonight and hunted me down as if i was a fishy gasping for air. Gl to him tonight. Hope he doesn't win it though, give it to someone less rich than him!

Gl at the tables.

Multitabling

Hey

Just a quick update to say i am getting some good results in with a 3rd place in a 10K GTD for over $1000 and some other lower ones, that i am quite pleased with. The big wins are, however, tarnished by the buy ins of the tournies i enter and don't cash in. I can't expect to cash in them all by the age old problem with me is that i play too many tables and don't seem to concentrate well enough on each of the tables to play as well as i could. I got up to around 10 tables today and i have to admit i was really uncomfortable there. I am lowering the amount of tables i play to 8 now and will lower it again if there is still no improvement.

Sorry about the ridiculously boring post but for now i really can't be arsed talking any more so until next time laters.

GL.

update

Hey

Haven't been playing well and been getting unlucky in spots to prevent me from deeper runs in tournaments. I notice more and more now how tournaments hinge on coin flip situations. I think my style of play has it that i am so tight pre that i eventually dwindle down to 10bb or around that and i have to push all in to make a coin flip or worse happen. My mid-tourney game has to improve. I need to open up more without being too loose to make my card holdings less important if i abuse position. This said every time i try to do this i get into awkward situations and find myself thinking why the fuck have i done that. I just need to develop a flair instead of the robotic pre flop stance i currently hold.

However the very tight strategy does work on some sites, boss media for example, the play is so bad on there that you just need to wait for a semi decent one to get all your chips in good. This being said i could still open up a bit more on there as well

Looking forward to the next few days of poker online because i will be experimenting a bit more with plays, but i will need to make sure i can hold my patience throughout the massive slog because i am yet to record one night where i haven't made at least 3 glaring mistakes in a session. That needs to be reduced to zero.

Gl.