Sunday, November 27, 2005

Caribbean Update 1

I arrived a couple of days ago in St Kitts. Had a grim week online before arriving that was so sick that i am not going to go into it in great detail. If there was a form barometer though online at the moment i think i about a 1.5/10. I was about a 2/10 until my KK couldn't beat 45 off all in preflop in a £5000 pot.

Played some live cash last night. Interesting line up at different times. Me, Jamie Posner, Tony Cascarino, Sonny nijran, Kabbaj, Polish Willie, Willie Tann, Rafi Amit, Robin Keston.

I did $6000 to Polish willie... two big hands when i was a big favourite and lost...

Hand 1 - I have TJKA ds. Blinds $10/$25 and i raise preflop. Tony Cascarino reraise. Willie calls. I call. Flop JQ4. Willie checks. I bet the pot which was $1300. Cascarino passes. Willie calls. Turn the worst card in the pack the queen and he bets $1000. I pass. He shows Q789. Wow.

Hand 2 - I had 5567. Blinds $10/$25. Flop 52K. Polish Willie bets $300. I call with the intention of reraising a blank on the turn. Turn a T bring back door heart flush draw. He bets $900. I reraise it to $2300. He calls. River a heart. He shows the flush and two pair.

I hate losing at live cash and i couldn't have not lost the way the cards were running. I got it back online to end the day break even.

I haven't played any tournaments as yet. Trying to spend as much time enjoying myself and not stuck at a poker table.

Hopefully my next update may include some winning hands.

Sunday, November 20, 2005

Looking forward

I finished up the week a little over £5000 up, so for the last two weeks i have broken about even. Considering how bad my luck has been during that time it feels like i have actually won alot.

I definitely tilted badly in a couple of the sessions. These are expensive lessons now... because just thirty minutes of tilt can cost me £5000. Sure i may get lucky sometimes... but my game isn't about getting lucky.

I am really enjoying playing the £10/£20 NL Holdem cash tables at the moment. I had only ever dabbled a bit playing NL Holdem cash in the past, but its something i want to get much better at. I have already added a few things to my game that are proving profitable. I actually worked out a mathematical formula for one of them when i was on the train.. and although its in its early stages as far as the idea goes, its profitable at the moment. I think playing so many hands can only help me even more when i am playing Holdem tournaments.

I really wish i had gone to play in the Monte Carlo Millions. I am not sure why i didn't get round to scheduling it in. Its a huge buy in but i can take the odd shot at these things at the moment.

Only a few days before i leave for the Caribbean Poker Classics in St Kitts. I really can't wait and the main event is a $6000 entry so it should be a decent prize pool.

I may go and play the WPT event in Vegas a few days after St Kitts. I have wanted to go and play in a WPT event all, year and its about time i had a crack at one.

I have to buy a new monitor asap. I have been playing 4/5 tables at a time on my rubbish one, and i have misclicked costing me money on a couple of occasions. This happened last week... i misclicked and calmly moved in under the gun all in for £5293 with blinds of £10/£20 with 93 off. The worst thing was the the players i was sat with know me and they realised it was a misclick. Any decent hand and i am pretty sure i get called.

Thursday, November 17, 2005

It got sicker

After what happened last week i thought my luck couldn't get any worse but it did. It doesn't matter how well you play when, you lose the massive hands you are it will be a losing session as simple as that.

Mon/Tue were just horrific. I actually hadn't felt so low about poker in a long, long time. Not that i want to have a bad beat catalogue, but the BIG important pots were brutal.

£10/£20 NL Holdem 6 handed. I have £7000. Dealt 8s9s on the button. 3 limpers. I call. SB makes it £100. 2 callers. I call. Flop 88A with a flush draw. Original raiser bets £300. Passed to me. I make it £600 hoping he will think i am flushing and reraise with a big ace. He shoves a whopping £3200 in the middle. I call. He turns over AK. Turn an A and its all over...... I win that hand i am up £4000 for the day instead i was down £2000.

PL Omaha is where i have really been harmed recently....

£10/£20 PL Omaha six handed. I have £4500. Dealt 9TJQ no suits. I call a raise preflop and it comes 78K with a flush draw. Early position bets £300. I call as does the guy on the button. Turn a 6 to give me the nuts. First guy checks. I check (I know the player behind is likely to bet in this situation). He bets £1200. I reraise it to £3600. He calls with 99KA and the Ace flush draw which pops in perfectly on the river in a near £10000 pot.

I then lost with top set v bottom set and was all in with an Ace flush v a Queen flush, which made a straight flush on the river after the money was in.

It was all a bit of a blur but i was down £10000 for the two days play. Sick....

I decided one more shot this week and played today for 10 hours or so. I won £12500 at NL Holdem and broke even at Omaha. Hit some big hands at times and got paid. 73 suited won me two pots over £3000... so its rivalling 34 off as my new lucky hand. One hand was bizarre. I called £60 with 3h7h... flop 4h5h6s. Thats more like it :-). He bets £100... i make it £200. He makes it £300. I make it £400. He whacks £2800 in the middle with AK.... more play against me like that please.

To be up for the week after how i felt Tuesday evening feels damn good. Looking forward to my trip to St Kitts next week.

My Omaha/NL Holdem figures for the last two weeks are:

PL Omaha -£30000
NL Holdem +£26100

Thank god i starting playing cash holdem!

Monday, November 14, 2005

It was mad

I never got chance to update my blog with what happened for the rest of last week as i went away for the weekend. It was toughest week online i have ever had. As ridiculous as it is, i hadn't had a losing week online for about six months and last week could have been alot worse than it ended. These are the figures.

Monday -£6000
Tuesday +£1000
Wednesday +£100 (Though i was down £17000 at one point)
Thursday -£15000 (sigh)
Friday +£13500

Overall -£6400

I really lost my mind on Thursday. After what happened Wednesday when i was down £17000 and recovered after playing for 18 hours, i sat down Thursday and the same player who won the £10000 pot against me got me playing like a maniac again.

I lost one 55% hand for my first buy in of £2000. Then i lost another £2000 when i was all in with bottom set v top two pair and the board paired.

Then this hand.

£10/£20 PL Omaha Three handed. I had built back up to £5000 and was £1000 down for the day. Dealt QQA4. £100 in before the flop. Flop Q67 with two hearts (giving me the Ace flush draw) He bet out as he always did. I reraised. he reraised and i was looking at another £10000 pot. He turned over the only hand that i didn't want to see. 89Tx. So i was looking at another huge pot when i was a 75%+ favourite. Of course i lost it, was £6000 down instead of being £4000 up.

I then lost another £2000 when i had the nuts again on fourth street and a flush draw and he had just up and down and hit again. I was officially steaming. Then another £2000 when another player had top set v my middle set. £10000 down :-(

Time for a confession. I had had enough of Omaha... so what did i go and play? £100/£200 Limit. Remarkably, i managed to go on a rush and win £7000 in about 10 minutes... then i lost the £7000 in the next 10 minutes, and luckily came to my senses and left. I hopped back on the the Omaha but my mind was never right and i lost another £5000.

I actually felt ok the next day when i woke up, and decided to play some NL Holdem. I was in for £3000 on one table and £4000 on the other, but amassed £10000 stacks on both tables at different points over a period of about 10 hours. I did lose another few grand at Omaha.

I was laughing when i looked a bit further into where my profit/loss came from last week.

PL Omaha -£21500
NL Holdem +£15100

It seems that i can't play two games. I amassed £10000 stacks from £2000 at Holdem four times last week, at times i was really dominating the tables and feel good about my Holdem cash at the moment. I never thought i would say this but the reason i am liking NL Holdem cash so much at the moment, is often players are drawing practically dead against me in £2000+ pots which rarely happens at Omaha. Maybe i should give up Omaha?

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Sick

Not just was i too ill to go to Amsterdam the title has been very apt, considering the last few days of poker online.

The last three days i have played 40 hours and overall its been brutal. So many hands. These are the ones i remember from yesterday when i played for 18 hours.

I was playing three tables. Two £10/£20 NL Holdem and one £10/£20 PL Omaha. I had £7000 on one Holdem table, and £5000 on the other two. I was up £5000 when i had what must count as the worst twenty minutes of my life online. These were the fun hands

- £10/£20 NL Holdem. 6 handed. I get dealt 88 in the cut off. I make it £80 to play and the button with £3400 in front of him makes it £160. BB calls. I call. Flop K82 rainbow. BB checks. I have stopped slowplaying sets as i lost two huge pots the day before, so even though the board looked safe i bet £400 hoping the button or BB had AK. Button called. BB passed. Turn Q. I bet £675. He moves all in for £2800. Is it possible to pass there? He had QQ and i lost a £7000 pot.

- £10/£20 PL Omaha. 5 handed. There was a new player who is one of the biggest maniacs i had ever seen but had been hitting everything. Reraising all in with bad draws and hitting and was up to £10000. I had £5000. This player bet every time if i checked. I was dealt 6JQK and this player made it £100 to play. 3 callers. Flop 8d9dTh. I was first to speak so checked. Round to the maniac who bet £400. He could have absolutely nothing at this point so i decide to just call and hope for a safe card knowing he will bet again. The others pass. Turn 2c. Bingo. I check. He bets £1200. I make it £3600. He calls. River pairs the ten. I have to put my last £1000 in the middle and hope he hasn't made a full house. He turns over T822. So he had bottom set and two pairs on the turn when he called another £2400. Sigh. A £10000 pot where i had at least 80% on the turn.

- £10/£20 NL Holdem. Like i wasn't steaming enough when this happened. I was dealt KK in the BB. I limped and there was no raise. Five of us saw a wonderful looking K45 rainbow. I bet out £100. Late position min raised it to £200. He had £2800 in front of him. I min raised it back to £400 hoping he had a set. He shoved the whole lot in. I called of course. He showed Ad5d. lol. Turn and river diamonds to give him a back door flush to give him a £5700 pot.

Over £20000 worth of pots lost in twenty minutes does not go down well. I steamed off £5000 terribly in the PL Omaha. I was like a man possessed. Suddenly J327 was looking worthy of £500 preflop. Within an hour i had gone from being £5000 up to £15000 down. Time for a break for an hour or so.

The first session was 6 hours and the second would double that Despite being £15000 down i was just not ready to give up. So i decided to four table. Two £10/£20 NL Holdem, one $10/$20 PL Omaha and one £10/£20 PL Omaha.

I was still a bit on edge but determined just to make good decisions. It started of terribly again on the $10/$20 PL Omaha and i lost $4000 on there in two hands both when i was a nice favourite. I still wasn't tilting though and a few big hands occurred.

$10/$20 PL Omaha. 3 handed. I had $2500. Dealt QQK4 ds and i made it $100 preflop. Two callers. Flop Q89 with two hearts (I had king flush draw). Checked to me and i bet $300. First player check raised it to $900 and the other player called. I decided to move all in hoping to get a three way pot. They both called. Cards on there backs and they both had the straight and no improvements. Turn paired the board and i scooped a $7500 pot. Phew.

Nothing that remarkable happened after that. I played heads up and got someone on tilt who decided to put $3000 in against me preflop with KKA2 when i had AAKK. I ended up with $14000 on that table.

The real fun and games were to occur on the NL Holdem tables. I was running over both tables at one point. Everyone was playing very tight and in three hours i was hardly ever played back at. I had £5500 on both tables and was in for £2000 on one and £3000 on the other. Some big pots i remember.

I have been playing all sorts of hands, especially when i have a big stack. I just love the implied odds of them.

Some trash that i won huge pots with.

£10/£20 - NL Holdem. 6 handed. I limped with 79 off suit. Flop 68T. I bet £60. opponent bet £200. I called. Turn J. I check. He bet £400. I moved all in. He called with 66. No pair up and i won a £4000 pot.

These were my two favourite hands of the session.

- £10/£20 NL Holdem. 6 handed. I called a raise of £100 with 34 off. Its my new lucky hand :-). I called as 3 others had already. Flop A57. A deceptive double belly buster straight draw. I check. Original raiser bets £200. Button makes it £500. I am amost certain knowing the button he has a set. He has £2700 in front of him. I know i will get paid if i hit so am effectively calling £500, with the potential to win £6800. I call. Turn a 2 to give me the nuts. I go with my read of him having a set and bet £700. He goes all in with 77. I call. No pair up and i win a massive pot. He was irritated to say the least. Two words. Implied odds.

- £10/£20 - NL Holdem. I am dealt 6h8h. I am in the SB. Button makes it £80. I call. BB calls. Flop 4h5h2s. I bet £100. BB calls. Button makes it £300. I call. BB calls. Turn a 2c. Not a good card. I decide to bet £450 to see where i am. Maybe even win it there. BB calls. Button passes. River a Qc. I have 7 high. Hmmm. There is £2000 in the middle. Bet? Check/fold? Check/raise if he bets? I had trouble putting him on a hand. For some reason i kept thinking he had a better flush draw than me. I checked figuring if he bet big he wanted a call. He would check down a marginal hand fearing i already had a full house. He bet £300. No way was i giving up a pot of £2000 to a £300 bet. I quickly made it £1300 and he mucked equally as fast.

I managed to get up over £10000 on both tables at one point. I dropped a few big pots and finished with £9000 on one and £6500 on the other.

I did my calculations and worked out that i was £100 up for the day. God that was hard work. Felt like one of my best ever wins though. I am £5000 down for the week but considering it could quite easily be £25000, i am not too disappointed.

Monday, November 07, 2005

Amsterdam

I finally got tempted to go and play in the Masterclassics... so am flying tomorrow morning in time for the PL Omaha. I will perform my usual trick no doubt, and build up a big stack and be chip leader with 30 left, and not make the money.

Really looking forward to the trip. Especially the 5000 euro main event. Everyone raves about these particular tournaments, and i have never been to Amsterdam either. The laptop is staying at home so by the time i return it will be at least ten days since i played online.

I am in two minds at the moment about how much i should play online. I keep doing very well on Monday and Tuesday, then not playing the rest of the week. Maybe i should play all the time given the rush that i am on... but equally i don't want to push my luck.

Hopefully, i will be able to report back on some interesting hands in the tournaments and cash games that i play!

Thursday, November 03, 2005

Too much poker

I must have spent about 25 hours on Monday and Tuesday this week playing online. I really have to be more disciplined when i get back from playing festival main events, as i usually hit the tables the next day when my head just isn't right.

Monday was a very strange day. For the majority i wasn't concentrating properly and at one point i was down £7000. I stuck at it though and as always seems to happen at the moment, i got out of it and won a few hundred quid. I was very happy considering some of the plays i made.

This one was one that cost me $4000.

Six handed. I have 2567 (a monster i know). Was still in the hand with two others despite a raise and a reraise. I was hoping both had high cards. We all had approximately $4000. Well it flopped 334 rainbow. Not great of course, first guy checked and as expected the guy with obvious Aces bet $1000. I decided to reraise the pot figuring i would probably win it then. If not, i still had plenty of cards for a straight. An ok move except when the guy who first checked the flop, wakes up with 34xx and i am drawing dead in a $10000 pot.

I bought in a ridiculous number of times. The big hand that was the turning point was this one. Four handed and i had $5200. I had JJK9 ds and raised to $70. One caller and a guy reraised it to $250. Two of us called. Flop JQQ. I checked. Other guy checked. Original raiser bet $800. I reraised it the pot figuring i was up against a Queen and kickers. He moved all in and i called. $10000 pot. He had QAA2 so i was actually in great shape. My hand stood up... if i had lost that one i probably would have lost £10000 for the day.

On to Tuesday. I spent so much time wishing i had quit after just five hands. Sat down at the £10/£20 table against two players and wiped them both out almost straight away. A flush v king flush and trips v a wrap and i was £3500 up. I so should have stopped.

I moved on to the $10/$20 table and think i must have hit my head against a brick wall for about 5 hours and bought in 8 or 9 times. Was playing very badly at times but also getting ridiculously unlucky. By about 8.30pm i was very annoyed and also down £5000 for the day. I really needed a break and headed down to the pub for a few drinks.

I came back in and decided to give it one more shot. I fired up a £10/£20 NL Holdem and two $10/$20 PL Omaha tables.

I really thought i was playing well on the NL Holdem. I kept managing to make the most of the good hands i got and was making some good moves with next to nothing. I got up to £4700 at one point from £1500 then i got tangled in a very big pot.

6 handed. A few limpers and the button made it £100 to play. It could quite easily be a move to pick up the blinds so i called with JdQd from the big blind. One of the other limpers called as well. Flop 2dJhKd. A great flop for me. I checked, limper checked and the button made it £300. I decided to just take a card as he had £3000 in front of him. The other guy passed. Turn a Qs. I now had two pair so decided the check raise was the move to make. I checked. he bet £800 and i put him all in for about another £1800. Unsurprisingly he called with KK. I don't think i could really have got away from that hand without it costing me alot. So i ended the Holdem about even.

I went on a great rush in the two Omaha tables i was playing, getting up to over $20000 on one of them which was the second biggest stack i have ever accumulated. I also got up to $7000 on the other one. Just to add something new into the mix i also won a £300 six pack.

It was nearly a five figure win for the day, a victory for perseverence rather than great play.

I am undecided about Amsterdam next week. Think its likely i will just go over for the main event, as i decided i would if i had a winning week online.