Monday, December 01, 2008

End of Year stuff

I have virtually retired from playing for 2008, so thought i'd do my usual end of year review.

Here were my aims for 2008 that i blogged at the end 2007:

- Number one aim to practice better bankroll management and game selection. I will not allow myself to make the same mistakes that I did this year
- Play some high stakes cash games in Bobby’s room at the Bellagio
- Get luckier in tournaments fail
- Crush the big PL Omaha games online
- Have a winning year at NL Hold’em cash
- Play less poker fail
- Don’t lose over 50% of my bankroll in January as I have for the last two years.

Well 5/7 isn't too bad... Its been a really amazing year overall. I had just one small losing month. I lost over $50k a day 4/5 times this year. Whereas in 2007 it must have been around 10 times.

Tourneys sucked in 2008. I didn’t play many but i ran/played bad for most of the ones i played. Bubbling in the $25k Full Tilt Omaha tournament and coming 3rd in my Poker Million heat were the worst days.

Anyway here are some stats/graphs of my year.

25/50 in 2008


50/100 in 2008
I'm going to set myself some tough targets for 2009:
- Win $2 million+ online
- Win $500k+ in tourneys
- Cash in a WSOP event in Vegas
- Get involved in some 500/1000 action
- Have a winning year staking
- Play 25000 hands minimum at 100/200+

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Meh 200 400

I took a small shot at 200/400. I did four bullets of $20k over the last week or so. I only have two of the hands, as the others were on my laptop but i lose all four of the big pots i played, i was over 40% on three and one cooler. Doh.

Second nuts goes down in flames

Two Pair v Draw

Here is my 200/400 graph for 2008 anyway.



I have virtually quit playing online for the year. I'm just going to enjoy December and Xmas, i'm playing Prague EPT which i'm looking forward too as well....

Saturday, November 15, 2008

A few hands

I haven't posted any for a while so i will post some below. Not much has been happening, i've haven't been playing so much in the last couple of weeks. I did an "In the Well" on 2+2 which can be seen here.

Run good

Running even better

A hand against The_Houdini

Another hand v The_Houdini

A non believer

My 2 was winning

Couldn’t fold here

sbsjqsqjb why the Queen on the turn

Funny one this. I floated the flop, and three bet blockers on the river and got called :-(

I'm also playing my heat of the Ladbrokes Poker Million on Skysports this Tuesday...

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Run

Well my post about being bored and playing bad obviously did the trick. I didn't blog during the run, as i would obvious bok myself, but i managed to play from October 7th - November 3rd without having a losing day. Think i played on 21 of those days, i had a sick run back in 2006 but that must be a new record for me. I won just over $500,000 in the period ($400k at 50/100), i haven't even been at all tempted to play bigger which is good i think.....

I think towards the end of the year i'll set aside a decent amount to have a crack at bigger games, and see if i can have some ridiculous spin up.

Anyway if i break even for the rest of the year thats cool. Next years targets will be weird, as i'd probably settle for winning half what i've won this year. Or i could decide to stop being such a nit and play 200/400 :-)

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Budaaaaa

Well EPT budapest was very short and not so sweet. Busted with AA v a donks AQ on a JKA3 board when the T fell on the river. He did very well getting 100bb in on the flop and turn.....

Wasn't so tilted as usual probably because it was a cheaper buy in than most EPT events, and what else can i do other than get it in as a 91% favourite.

The hotel i stayed in the Four Seasons Gresham Palace is stunning, and i'd recommend it to anyone for a few days break...

Monday, October 27, 2008

Buda

I'm off to Budapest tomorrow for an EPT event. Its the first one to be held in Budapest, and i'm sticking to my rule to only travel to cities to play poker that i really like. The only other tournaments i have planned for the rest of 2008 are the GUKPT final and EPT Prague.

Things have been going well in October so far. I'm up around $250k at 25/50 and 50/100. I don't even think i've played 200/400 this month. Got bored of running bad every time i took a shot. The games are also playing bigger because of the pound crashing against the dollar.

I decided to treat myself to a decent car as well. I bought a Daytona Grey Audi R8. Definitely my best ever purchase :-)


Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Bored

I recovered from my slight downswing i had in August and September. Kind of a bit bored of playing right now. There are quite a few reasons why i've been playing bad lately. After winning so much in June and July, its been really tough to focus on beating my usual games. I've also run really bad at 200/400 in the last month or so. I've lost like the last ten shots i've taken at about $20,000 a time.

Alot of the time i'm just trying to tear apart any player i face at 25/50 and 50/100. I've been making more bad plays than ever. When i was far more focused earlier in the year, i didn't mind playing someone for ages, if it increased the possibility of me beating them. Recently i'm trying to crush people in no time at all, even when i know i'm picking bad spots to play big pots.

Going to have some decent time off poker in Dec/Jan and Feb to party, go to Australia and then skiing!

I'll try and some interesting hands and post them in my next entry!

Monday, October 06, 2008

WSOPE Main

Well i busted late on Day 2. I never once doubled up in the whole tournament, and it was a real grind. I really was card extinct on Day 2, i think i had just one situation where i bet, and actually wanted a caller. I eventually busted shoving the button after i'd squeezed an Ace and only had about 10 big blinds, and lost to AK.

I also, missed the EPT London and High Roller Showdown too because of a wedding! Think i have only on tournament left that i'm going to play this year, EPT Prague.

Had sickest 20 minutes last time i played online. I had 11 all in showdown pots, and lost all 11. I wander what the odds were, don't think thats ever happened to me before. TILT.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

WSOPE - Events 2 + 3

I played event 2 a few days ago, the £5000 PLO. I lasted about four hours or so, i decided to gamble with 66xx on a 642 board in a three way pot when i knew at least one of my opponents had 35xx. I figured i'd have far more chance in the tourney with 45000 chips rather than 15000.

I'm through to Day 2 of the £10000 NL main event. I probably played the tightest i have done for ages in a big tournament, and i was never all in during the day. I'm like 20th in chips of the players that played Day1A, hopefully i can get a decent table draw for day 2, and run good.

Monday, September 22, 2008

WSOPE - Event 1

I was the first person to cash at this year's WSOPE. Well it meant i was first to bust out in the money of the £1500 NL Holdem. Had ok chips going in to day 2, but just couldn't get anything going. I chopped a big pot when i was all in pre with AQ v A4, then i lost a big pot with 44v 66. You need to run good in these fast structured events.

I'll be playing the £5k PL Omaha and the £10k main event in the next week and a half. I also may play the £20k EPT high rollers event, if i am doing ok online. Haven't been playing so much since my last update.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Blog

Just been looking through some stats and my blog has had over 500,000 hits since i started tracking it a few years ago. Thats alot of people that have read bad beat stories :-)

I skipped EPT Barcelona, wasn't feeling so good on the morning of the tourney, so thought i'd chill out and enjoy Barcelona. Its definitely in the top three cities in Europe IMO.

Its the WSOPE starting this Friday. Its good to have some decent tournaments just a few miles from home, and i'm sure its an advantage not living out of a hotel room.

Still running at about break even for 5/6 weeks online. If my running bad means breaking even for a while, thats cool. I'm playing a bit smaller just to take it easy for a while.

I also came across somthing funny from theASHMAN103 blog, to quote:

I continue all through the morning very tired and in the mood to just keep running it up. Unfortunately I get stuck $100k in Omaha for the day and lose a ton to this mega clown named Ben Grundy. This hand tilted me to no end just for the sole fact that he wins my stack for playing the hand how he did. Rare monkey species. A hybrid if you will.

FullTiltPoker Game #7864146346: Table Pantheon (6 max) - $200/$400 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 14:16:07 ET - 2008/08/30
Seat 1: Phil Ivey ($40,000), is sitting out
Seat 2: Urindanger ($19,855.50)
Seat 3: Ben Grundy ($45,927)
Seat 4: theASHMAN103 ($39,984)
Seat 5: Brian Hastings ($67,895)
Seat 6: howisitfeellike ($12,669.50)
Urindanger posts the small blind of $200
Ben Grundy posts the big blind of $400
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to Ben Grundy [5d 7c 6h 8c]
theASHMAN103 raises to $1,400
Brian Hastings folds
howisitfeellike folds
Urindanger has 15 seconds left to act
Urindanger folds
Ben Grundy raises to $2,900
theASHMAN103 has 15 seconds left to act
theASHMAN103 raises to $8,900
Ben Grundy raises to $26,900
theASHMAN103 calls $18,000
*** FLOP *** [As 6d Qs]
Ben Grundy bets $19,027, and is all in
theASHMAN103 calls $13,084, and is all in
Ben Grundy shows [5d 7c 6h 8c]
theASHMAN103 shows [Qh 9d Jc Ac]
Uncalled bet of $5,943 returned to Ben Grundy
*** TURN *** [As 6d Qs] [6c]
*** RIVER *** [As 6d Qs 6c] [8d]
Ben Grundy shows a full house, Sixes full of Eights
theASHMAN103 shows two pair, Aces and Queens
Ben Grundy wins the pot ($80,166) with a full house, Sixes full of Eights

LOL whilst i may have got lucky in the hand, his call preflop is so dumb i can see why he is on a close to $1 million downswing. In a six handed game my four bet preflop is nearly always a hand that totally dominates his like AAxx, AKKQ, AKQJ ... if i four bet preflop his AQJ9 hand is ahead less than 10% of the time, and is often completely dominated. As it happened he caught a rare time when he was a slight favourite, but he would rarely have over 30% chance given the action.

Ashman if you think i'm a clown i will play you any day you like $50/$100 Heads Up PLO....

Saturday, September 06, 2008

Complete tilt

Just lost my third round match of the $25k HU on Full Tilt after beating Ivey and Williamson... had my opponent down to 1k to my 12k. Winning the 3rd match guaranteed minimum $96k payout too.

OMG

IHATE

POKER

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Handssssssss

Haven't posted any hand for a while, so here are a few Omaha hands from the last couple of weeks.

Aces v Kings

This got me steaming

Sick tilt and i get lucky

Winning a flip

Flopped a monster

We both hit this flop

Hit the perfect flop

I've actually been back playing NL Hold'em cash. I'm mainly playing HU, as i think i've more chance at winning at that. So far after 9 sessions of $50/$100 or bigger, i'm up about $110,000. It's good to play something different. Not really sure who the good or bad players are anymore, as its been a while since i played high stakes NL.

I'm not really getting so much Omaha action on Full Tilt and Betfair from the players that i want to play HU. Generally most of the ones that have been playing me are pretty decent. Maybe more fish will be around in the winter months........

The next few weeks are going to be pretty manic. I'll try and post some updates if something interesting happens.

Monday, September 01, 2008

New Month

I'm really glad August is over. It was a strange month. I was about $250,000 down at one point, and managed to get even, only to lose in the last few days and finish about $100,000 down on the month. Its my first losing month since April 2007. I did run bad, but generally i didn't play very good either. I think its because i found it so easy to win this year that i just expected to beat people without putting much thought into the game, hopefully this will be a habit that i can shake off fast.

September is going to be a mega busy month, with loads of live and online tournaments so hopefully i can play alot better.....

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Schedule and stuff

Well i'm back from my holidays. I've been running pretty bad for like my last 10 sessions of poker, luckily i haven't done much damage due to my daily stop loss limit. I'm due to run real bad for a while i think after what's happened this year, so maybe August is the new January (where i normally book a big loss)

I'm pretty excited about the rest of the year. The EPT starts back and i'll be playing Barcelona, Budapest and Prague. Maybe Warsaw as well. I can't play the EPT London event (dammit especially as there is £250k added), so i may play the £20k high roller event, depending on how i'm running online!

Also, i'll be playing all four WSOPE events in September, the Stars WCOOP $5k main event, and the $25k HU PLO event on Full Tilt.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Holiday + Poker Graph

I'm taking a break from poker for a few weeks at least to go on holiday. I've been playing pretty bad in the last 10 days, so i'm sure the break will do me good. Haven't really lost, but not playing anywhere near as well as i had been.....

I've played like 80% of days so far this year, so 2/3 weeks no poker is exactly what i need. I'll update again when i get back playing :-)

I managed to do a poker graph of the year that someone asked for a few months ago as well, which can be seen if you click on it below....


Thursday, July 24, 2008

Some 200 400

Since my last post a week or so ago, i've played a fair few sessions of $200/$400. I've probably won about $150,000 in that time but haven't really been playing good, i seem to tilt worse it that game than my regular stakes. In the last month i won almost exactly $1 million, making me up about $2 million on the year. Its just so sick, at the start of the year my target for what i wanted to win online for 2008 was $750k-$1 million, must make sure i don't give it back!

Here are some of the recent big pots i played...

Antonius makes a good call against me

Antonius gets lucky

Cracking the Aces

Big pot on Betfair

One i lost to ICallSoWhat

600 bb pot that my opponent played like a ******

HU v Durrrr hand 1

HU v Durrrr hand 2

HU v Durrrr hand 3

HU v Durrrr hand 4

I guess the last one is most interesting, especially as its a $143,000 pot. I think his flop call is pretty bad. I'm definitely betting the majority of blank cards. If his plan is to bet out if any AKQ24 no flush/straight cards comes on the turn then i was pushing (as i showed). Maybe he was planning to represent the flush too with the bare king (i guess so). Anyway, i got lucky after he hit his two outer on the turn!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Rush continues

Things have been going good since i last posted. I even won at York horse races... i must run good. My stats at $50/$100 PLO for 2008 are sick.....

Total Hands: 17048

Vol. Put $ in Pot: 78% (13,298 out of 17,048)

Amount Won: $1,317,889.50

Win rate per 100 hands: $7,730.46

Big Bets Won per 100 hands: 38.65

Raised Preflop: 41.98%

I'm still not sure about moving up to play $200/$400 properly, and for long sessions. At the moment i'm mostly setting a target to win $30-$50k with minimal risk in those games. It's kind off annoying because i watch the games all the time and just want to jump in and play deep stacked and especially HU, but i don't want a quick $500k+ downswing, as it takes a long time to get that back if i drop down again! Dilemmas......

Tournament wise... in the next few months i'm playing the Ladbrokes Poker Million, four events at the WSOPE and most of the EPT's. Its always good to have a break from cash games, even as my recent tournament form suggests, its a donation :-)

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Too good

Took this from a thread on 2+2, some seriously good photoshop work!




Friday, July 04, 2008

A few bits

Found myself reading through some old posts from way back in 2004. This post amused me because of the quote below!

My stats below are quite interesting as well. I was the biggest winner on the table and yet probably saw the least flops by a mile. Some of the players must have been up around 60-80% of flops seen. My 12% flops seen statistic is very low but on such a loose aggressive table, pre-flop hand selection is crucial. Most of them were living by the saying, “Any four cards are good.” games played 153 flops seen 12% games won 13% showdowns won 72%

Oh my god i used to see 12% of flops. Its kind of weird how its changed to me being the loosest donk at any table i sit at.....

Someone asked this question in the last post and i'll have a go at answering it.

Be good to see a post from you about money management. When you have a big win do you withdraw and invest it? Property/Shares etc or does it just add to your bankroll.With the number of players that have won a million and then gone bust do you have steps in place to protect yourself from this happening?

To be honest between 2005-2007, my bankroll management was abysmal.

Quote from jan 2006:

Well i have been trying to claw back what was a horrific start to the year online. I had five £10000+ losses in consecutive sessions at the start of the year which wasn't exactly how i was planning my 2006.

I think at the time this was nearly half my bankroll that i lost in a couple of weeks.

I also remember playing this pot which was a sick % of my bankroll at the time!

Omaha PL (£25/£50)
Table "Sweetheart"
Seat 7 is the button.
Seat 1: Mafews (£4400 in chips)
Seat 4: Bennyboi (£20358 in chips)
Seat 6: Duhfin (£67322.06 in chips)
Seat 7: R KESTON (£8570.88 in chips)
Seat 10: ashdogs (£5345 in chips)
ashdogs: posts small blind £25
Mafews: posts big blind £50
----- HOLE CARDS -----dealt to Bennyboi [Js 7h As 7d]
Bennyboi: raises to £175
Duhfin: raises to £600
R KESTON: folds
ashdogs: folds
Mafews: folds
Bennyboi: calls £425
----- FLOP ----- [6s Qs 7c]
Bennyboi: checks
Duhfin: bets £1275
Bennyboi: raises to £3800
Duhfin: raises to £12675
Bennyboi: raises to £19758 and is all-in
Duhfin: calls £7083
----- TURN ----- [6s Qs 7c][8h]
----- RIVER ----- [6s Qs 7c 8h][Kd]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Bennyboi: shows [Js 7h As 7d] (Three of a kind, Sevens, King high)
Duhfin: shows [4h 4s Kh Ks] (Three of a kind, Kings, Queen high)
Duhfin collects £40786 from Main pot

After a massive swingy year last year, when i found myself $400,000 down in April (almost going broke). Most due to playing to big and too much NL Hold'em, i had an amazing second half of the year, winning over $1 million playing PLO, and losing just under half that at NL Hold'em.

At the start of this year i made it my number one priority to practice better bankroll management, and i've stuck to that extremely well. This is down to a few factors. I bought a house at the start of 2008 for cash due to not being able to get a mortgage, money which i am never allowing back into poker. This swallowed up nearly my entire bankroll.

I approached BadBeat at the end of January with a view to them bankrolling me into my regular games, $25/$50 and $50/$100 PLO. So far this has gone extremely well. They manage my bankroll for me, and this year i've never lost more than $50,000 in a day. In comparison to last year, where i must have had at least 10 days when i lost between $75,000 and $150,000. In 5 months i'm up seven figures in dollars, and its definitely down to much better money management, and hardly any NL Hold'em. I've also had no risk, which makes playing far less stressful, plus i don't have to fear the bank account car crash thats happened so many times.

Thursday, July 03, 2008

No Vegas

Well i didn't go back to Vegas for the main event. I'm done with flying across the Atlantic for just one tournament, and because of the timings, its all i could have played if i had gone back. I have purchased a share in a few decent players to funk for.

I feel very pleased that i left Vegas when i did, it a tough place not to crack up if all is not going well. I've also had my best ever run online since i got back, winning $550,000.

A few hands from the last couple of days!

Not sure who plays this hand worse?

Big bluff

How i'm running at the moment

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Omahaaaaaaaaa

Been on a great rush in the last week. I'm up close to $400,000. Mostly at $50/$100 Heads Up PLO on Full Tilt. Definitely my best ever week online.....

Here are a few of the bigger hands that i've played lately!

Set over set in $60k pot

Winning a $110k coinflip

Hand holds up in $36k pot

$30k pot against the same guy

Calling a bluff - $78k pot

Calling a bluff - $30k pot

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Back Home

I left Vegas earlier than i had planned so missed a few of the tournaments i had on my schedule. After the six tournaments, cash games and expenses i lost $1000 on the trip. For me thats a good Vegas result. I was ill for about five of the days i was there, which meant i played less tournaments than i wanted too. On the plus side i discovered the 24 DVD series and i almost watched series one without a break!

Someone posted a bunch of questions on my last post which i'll answer:

Whats the biggest ever pot you have won?

I've had a few around the $150,000 mark. It may actually be this one while i was in Vegas.

Whats the most you have lost/won in a month?

Most won $425,000 in January this year. Most lost $260,000 in March 2007.

Who are your toughest opponents online?

I actually do worst against tight passive players on full tables. I try and run over them way too much, and they pick me off! There are loads of good players, its too difficult to name a few.

What would you do if you didn't play poker?

Hmmm probably some office job i guess. I'd also like to own a bar/restaurant some day!

Would you rather win a bracelet and $200k or no bracelet with a $500k cash?

Its very close. In a few years hopefully i'd say the bracelet, but the extra $300k would buy me the car that i want!

What has happened to Gryko, Pommo and Dubai?

Gryko is a dealer at the new Luton G Casino, Pommo party's for a lving, and Dubai gambles on everything still.

Who is the most overrated player that has a big reputation?

Mostly the players who win one or two tournaments, yet have been losing players except for that for the last five years. There are plenty of them out there......

Are games getting harder online at high stakes every year?

In NL Hold'em the games are on a different level to three years ago. They are very tough to beat. As for PL Omaha, there are still plenty of soft spots especially at the $5-$10-$25-$50 levels....

Do you ever feel guilty about taking peoples money?

Not really. Anyone who plays high stakes online probably is either independently wealthy, or won the money playing poker in the first place.

How important is playing under anonymous IDs online where people don't have a clue that it is you?

It definitely helps especially if you play on sites with a small pool of players. If you have two years experience playing certain opponents, but they don't know it you, then its a massive edge.

Friday, June 13, 2008

WSOP Update 8

Zzzzzzzzzzzz really tilted now. Just busted out of the $5000 NL with about 100/725 left. I had below average as the day started and got off to a great start with a TT v AT double through. I then lost a 75k pot with QQ v AK v A9, which would have put me double the average. Shortly after i had a AQ v AQ v JJ hand, with a decent sidepot between me and the other AQ. I managed lose both pots......

Saturday, June 07, 2008

WSOP Update 7

I played the $5000 shootout yesterday. No good. The structure wasn't the best and i lost 4k of of my 10k starting stack when i reraised preflop with AK to a cutoff raiser, then continuation bet a J24 flop and shut down after i got called. I busted with TT v AA standard.

I decided to play some $100/$200 in Bobby's room last night. The game was a round of each NL Hold'em and PL Omaha, sometimes with a $400 straddle. I'll post some of the more interesting hands. I started with $20000.

- PL Omaha. My stack about $15000. I raised preflopto $700 with Kc8h9dTd after the button limped. It flopped KdAd6d. I checked and the French guy to my left announced pot and bet $2100. Button folded and i called. Turn brought a 8s. I check and he announced pot again. I just didn't believe he had it so took my time and then called. The river was a 4c. I checked and he now put me all in. After calling the turn i'm never passing so i called and he had the bare Qd and i scooped a nice $30000 pot.


- NL Hold'em. My stack $28000 ish. I raised mid position to $900 with QQ. Guy in the cutoff reraised to $3300. I called and we saw a flop of Q5A rainbow. I checked and he checked. Turn brought a 7 and i checked again. He now bet $3000. I made it $12000. He thought then pushed all in, about another $13000. I wanted to puke but don't think i can ever pass in that spot. He had AA of course, so i lost about a $56000 pot.


- NL Hold'em. I reloaded for $20000. UTG made it $900 to play and two callers before it got to me. I called with Ac9c, and so one more player behind me. Seven of us saw a 8cJcQc flop. Checked to me and i didn't want to kill any possible action so i checked as well. Turn was a 6d. Guy in early position now bets $3700. I give it the dwell and call, and everyone else got out of the way. River a 4s. He checked and i quickly bet $11500. He dwelt for about three minutes before making the call and mucking. Guess he had a set or two pair. It would have been tough to pass any decent hand there, as i was obviously tilted from the recent cooler.


- PL Omaha. My stack was about $37000. I raised UTG with 7hTsAsKd and picked up one caller directly to my left and the small blind called. The flop came down Kh8h9s. Small blind checked. I checked and the guy to my left checked. Turn brought a 3c. SB now bet out $3300. I called and the guy to the left called. River was a 9h, pairing the board and bringing the flush. SB now checked, i checked and the guy to my left now bet $11,000. The SB went into the tank for a few minutes and i was running through my mind what hand the bettor could have. He checked behind on the flop last to speak to its pretty unlikely he would do that with two pair, set or nut flush draw. It just didn't make any sense, i also had a very strong feeling it was a total bluff, as he won't be value betting small flushes given the action. The SB eventually passed and i quickly called. After he said two pair i knew my hand was good. That was my favourite pot of the session.


I ended up winning small considering the game size, but i had alot of fun.... didn't recognise that many players in the game except Rafi Amit, Freddy Deeb and Josh Ariah!

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Vegas Update 6

Well i played the $5000 mixed event (half NL/half limit). It went very much like the $10,000 Pot Limit Hold'em. I played pretty good for four hours and had managed to triple my stack to 30,000. Such was the structure of the event the limit was playing alot bigger than the NL part, so essentially it was important not to run bad during the limit section. Well i lost two massive pots with AA v JJ v 77 capped pre, also AK v A5 capped pre. These cost me half my stack and the rest went in a KK v KK coup where i got four flushed.

I'm very much picking and choosing my events at the moment, got a bit of a cold, so taking it easy over the next couple of days. I'll definitely be playing about 6 more events while i'm here. Just need to move on from just making good starts.

Haven't been playing so much online either, after my big win in the first few days i haven't wanted to play so much 200/400 PLO.

Monday, June 02, 2008

Vegas Update 5

I was slightly tempted to play the live 100/200 PLO going in Bobby's room last night. I don't have enough $$ over here to play it properly. If i still have $40-$50k left close to the end of the trip, i'll definitely give it a shot.

I'm going to play the mixed $5000 Limit/NL which kicks of today at 5pm. After seeing the size of the $1500 field, i'll probably skip some of the smaller events. Just because when i look around and see 2000 runners, i feel a bit unmotivated, because i realise you have to be sick lucky to beat that kind of field over a few days......

In other news. I'm no longer sponsored by Betfair Poker. I've had an extremely good relationship with them over the past three years, and we have decided to go our seperate ways. I'd like to thanks them for their support over that period, and wish them and their team (annette, john and sorel) the best of luck in the future.

I have some exciting news that i should be able to announce in a few weeks, probably soon after the WSOP....

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Vegas Update 4

Woooooo just won $150k pot. On a bit of a rush online. Up over $300,000 in the last three days. Live has been going well too. Added to my $22,000 NL cash game win with a $14,000 win yesterday. My biggest pot with me calling a $4000 river bet with 3c5c on a A23TT board. He mucked. Wander if its possible he mucked the best hand 44-99?

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Vegas Update 3

Bleurgh busted out of the $10k PL Hold'em event. I actually played really well for the first 5 levels, steadily chipping up to 60,000 (20k starting stack). Something happened though when i moved table, i started playing really badly and got mad at myself. I finally busted out with 7h8h v AK for David Benjamine, all in preflop for a 40k pot. It rolled out AKxxx lol.

Just got lucky ish (well i was about a 35% shot) in an $80,000 pot on Full Tilt and banked a $65,000 win. Feels like i had a bad day, but its actually been pretty decent.

Got a day off tomorrow, probably head to the pool and relax a bit. Feel knackered after hardly any sleep in the last 48 hours.

Friday, May 30, 2008

Vegas Update 2

I decided to play a cash game at the Bellagio for a few hours last night to try and stay awake, it ended up being a 9 hour session. The biggest NL game that was going when i got to the card room was $25/$50 NL, so i sat with $40,000. Deep stack NL is alot more fun that playing 100 big blinds online! I had a ridiculously loose image, getting involved in at least 70% of hands especially when we moved to 5/6 handed as the night progressed.

The biggest pot i played in the first four hours were prett much coolers.

- I raised UTG +1 after a live straddle to $375 with JsQs. I picked up two callers. The flop came JdQd4s. I fired out $950. First opponent folded, and my second opponent made it $2750. He had a $10,000 stack. As it was such a draw heavy board i decided to call and hope for a non flush card. Turn brought the 3c. I checked. He bet $3200, i moved all in. He called with 44. That put me down to about $28000 at the time.

-Three limpers after the straddle. I looked down at KK. This was after about 3/4 hours of play, and i'd never seen a pair over TT. I raised it up to 800 to play. All folded to the middle limper, who was a pretty tight player. He made it $3500. Given my image, he could be making a move, or obviously have a big pair or AK. He was playing $14,000. I moved all in. He snap called with AA which held up. Cooler. Sigh.

I dribbled down to about $10,000 after that and was steaming! Then a double up came.

- I found AdQd in the small blind after one raise to $300, i made it $1200 to play. The flop came AQJ rainbow. I bet $2000. My opponent called. Turn was a 7. I decided to just move all in. He thought for a while and called. The river paired the J which i hated. He mucked when i showed AQ.

I then made a sick play which ended up winning me a $40,000 pot.

- I called a raise to $300 with T5 off in the SB. I was pretty much playing every hand preflop at this point. Four of us saw a 5d8cJc flop. The original raiser made it $900 to go. Guy on the button called. I raised it up to $3000 to play. The raiser called and the other guy folded. The turn brought the gin card, an offsuit 5. I casually tossed a $5k chip the middle. He quickly called. I was fairly sure now he had QQ-AA type hand. The river was a 6 bringing no flush. I announced all in. It wa about $12000 to call. He called after a good few minutes dwell. I'd been caught bluffing so many times it would have been a tough fold.

- The last big pot i won could have been a $80,000 pot. It was against the same guy that i won the $40,000 pot against. He raised it up five handed $300 to play. I called and it flopped 67A with a flush draw. I checked and he bet $600. I made it $1800 to play. He called. Turn was an offsuit 9 giving me a straight. He led for $1500. I made it $5000. He counted out $15,000 like he was about to raise, and just called. Turn brough the Qd completing the flush. Yuck. He led for $8000. Hmmm. I thought and called and he turned over 77. Wander how the action would have gone on a blank river.

I ended up winning $22,000 which is decent especially as i was stuck $30,000 and steaming at one point. Just off to the Rio now for the first $10k event!

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Vegas Update 1

I arrived a few hours ago. The flight was relatively painless after a few glasses of vino managed to sleep for most of it.

I have a strange desire to play some live cash games on this trip, so am going to head down to the Bellagio to see what 50/100 and 100/200 games are going. I'm sure a nice $50,000 loss on Day 1 is just what i need to get the adrenalin pumping.....

Definitely playing the $10,000 PL Hold'em event tomorrow. Would rather run good than play good :-)

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Few days away

I didn't manage to make the cut to play the $25,000 tournament on Full Tilt, which was a shame as i was all geared up and ready! They capped entry at 64 as they didn't reach 128. So i almost bubbled being 67th in the list.

Flying on Thursday to Vegas which i'm sure will be a plane full of poker players, as its just a day before the WSOP starts. Its almost June and i've played just four live tournaments this year i reckon ... so will be fun to have a bit of a break from online cash games.

Friday, May 23, 2008

More 200 400

I finally managed to win a decent pot for $93000 on Full Tilt. It does help when your opponent is drawing dead by the turn.... not really sure of my opponents river call. It would have been a sick read if i had shown up with total air, the problem is that i may be "bluffing" with 77-KK type hands, which he can't beat.

There has been alot of decent action on the $50/$100 PLO games on Betfair too since my last post. Here are some hands from there as well..

Nut Flush good for $42,000 pot

Rivered full house good for $35,000 pot

Sick sick turn card

Lucky in this $35,000 pot

The best part of the week though was not any of those pots, it was Man Utd beating Chelsea.... i must run good!

**Registered for the $25,000 HU tourney tonight on Full Tilt**

Monday, May 19, 2008

200/400

Hmmm been playing a fair bit of 200/400 PLO in the last week or so. I'm about even but running horribly in all the crucial big pots. I haven't played that many big pots but here are a few of the ones i found!

Outdraw in $58k pot

So many outs miss again

Huge draw gets there on river

Another sick hand i lost

I've only played about 800 hands which is a tiny sample. Hopefully i can get a run together in the game at some point. Without a huge tank on the site it's tough when you don't win the big pots....

Just nine days now till Vegas. I should force myself to have a few days off before i go, so that i'm not tilted before i even start to play tournaments.

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Pre Vegas

Its only like 3 weeks till the WSOP kicks off. I'm as excited as i've ever been about a trip to Vegas. The last three years there has been different reasons why i couldn't play many events/didn't play as well as i should have...

I've only played a handful of tournaments so far this year, so it will be good to have a run of tournaments in a short period. Or it may crack me up we'll see!

I've booked myself into a suite at the Palms as a change from staying at the Bellagio or Wynn. I figure its worth the extra expense, if it makes me play better in the tournaments. I can also walk to the Rio for the tourneys!

I'll try and update as often as possible in the three weeks that i'm there.....

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Poker Tracker Stats

I spent a few hours on Poker Tracker to work out some of the features, and i managed to get all my stats together in NL Hold'em and PL Omaha since January 2007.

I'm quite shocked that i've played half as many Hold'em hands as i have PL Omaha. I thought it was more like 1/4 ....

I'm sure my Hold'em stats show obvious leaks in my cash game play. I call too much pre, and am too much of a station throughout! Think my main surprise about my PL Omaha stats is that i saw only 80% of flops over 115,000 hands. Thought it would be more like 90% :-)

*Had to remove the original photos as they had some kind of virus*

NL Hold'em Stats 2006 onwards

Total Hands: 61,570
Vol. Put $ in Pot: 46.03%
Vol. Put $ in Pot from SB: 59.49%
Saw Flop all Hands: 38.80%
Saw Flop Not A Blind: 33.18%

Amount Won: $85,224.35

Win Rate Per 100 Hands: $138.42
Big Bets Won Per 100 Hands: 0.34

Went to Showdown: 23.58%
Won $ at SD: 48.72%

Raised Pre-flop: 20.70%

Attempted to Steal Blinds: 35.13%

First Action on Flop after a Pre-flop Raise:

Raise: 2.49%
Bet: 46.86%
Call: 3.80%
Check: 40.40%
Check/Raise: 1.34%
Fold: 5.12%
No Flop/No Action: 47.71%

Aggression Factor *

Preflop: 0.70
Flop: 2.80
Turn: 3.57
River: 3.63
Total: 1.22

PL Omaha Stats 2006 onwards

Total Hands: 115,536
Vol. Put $ in Pot: 79.87%
Vol. Put $ in Pot from SB: 89.39%
Saw Flop all Hands: 74.28%
Saw Flop Not A Blind: 75.8%

Amount Won: $1,919,637.33

Win Rate Per 100 Hands: $1,664.24
Big Bets Won Per 100 Hands: 10.48

Went to Showdown: 22.93%
Won $ at SD: 48.48%

Raised Pre-flop: 41.88%

Attempted to Steal Blinds: 62.06%

First Action on Flop after a Pre-flop Raise:

Raise: 1.94%
Bet: 35.81%
Call: 3.79%
Check: 31.41%
Check/Raise: 0.84%
Fold: 6.75%
No Flop/No Action: 19.46%

Aggression Factor *

Preflop: 0.85
Flop: 3.11
Turn: 3.69
River: 4.61
Total: 1.43

* Aggression Factor is calculated as: (Raise % + Bet %) / Call %

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

EPT Monte Carlo

Well it was a washout.

I think the table i was drawn at was probably the softest in the entire room. I only recognised one player (Roland), and at least three of the other players were terrible..... there are so many examples but i won't go into them.

I think i lost about 3000 out of my 15000 starting stack trying to flop something against one of these players, who definitely couldn't fold top pair.

The crucial hand for me was when some guy opened for 500 (blinds 50/100), i looked down at QQ in the SB and made it 2200 (22 big blinds).
The flop came down 279 rainbow, and i led for about half the pot. He called. He didn't appear strong at all. Turn brought an 8. I checked with the plan of check raising all in. He checked behind!

River was an Ace. I checked again to him. He now bet 3000. I could rule out 22, 77, 88, 99 and AA pretty much. I couldn’t really see how the Ace could have improved him. He can’t have called the flop with AT, AJ, AQ or AK. So I called and he showed the good old A7 off for a rivered two pair. Clearly anyone calling 22 big blinds with this hand is clueless, so I was pretty much donked!

I did manage to treble up my short stack with 88 v AQ v AQ, but then busted to AJ with QK…..

Having a tournament break before Vegas in June! It’s always disappointing to go out of such a big event, but there will be plenty more chances to do well during the WSOP.

Thursday, April 03, 2008

WSOP 2008

I'm going to Vegas for the start of the WSOP for the first time. I've booked from May 29th till June 20 which will be my longest stint in Vegas so far. I'll probably come home for a week and then fly back for a few of the final tournaments.... here is my rough schedule!

May 30th - World Championship Pot-Limit Hold'em $10000
June 2nd - Pot-Limit Hold'em $1500
June 3rd - No-Limit Hold'em w/ReBuys $1500
June 4th - No-Limit Hold'em $2000
June 5th - No-Limit Hold'em / Six Handed $2500
June 7th - No-Limit Hold'em $2500
June 10th - Pot-Limit Omaha $1500
June 11th - No-Limit Hold'em $5000
June 12th - Pot-Limit Holdem/Omaha $2500
June 13th - World Championship Heads Up No-Limit Hold'em $10000
June 14th - Pot-Limit Omaha W/Rebuys $5000
June 16th - No-Limit Hold'em / Six Handed $2500
June 18th - Pot-Limit Omaha W/ReBuys $1500
June 29th - World Championship Pot Limit Omaha $10000
July 3rd - World Championship No-Limit Texas Hold'em $10000

I reckon a disasterous trip would set me back around $90000 in buy ins! I also need to take enough money to play cash games too. So it could be a sick month....

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Irish Open

I started pretty well and had the best table ive had for a while at one of these big events....

Level 2 i was cruising with nobody really playing back at me and had built my stack to 14000. 50/100 and a few limpers and i raise it up to 500 with the good old AA on the button. Scandie raises it up to 1400 in the SB. In this spot i just don't like three betting. I don't want to give him any reason to fold AK, smaller pairs or a bluff, so i call. The flop comes K94. He bets 1600. I call. Turn is a 4. He checked and i bet small to look weak. Just 1600. He quickly raises it to 5000. I just can't see how i can fold. Anyway... we get all the chips in and he has KK. Guess its tough not to not lose a chunk there.

I finally went out when all in pre with 88 v A9 v QK to get me back in it!

EPT san Remo is sold out so my next tourney is the happy (ish) hunting ground Monte Carlo....

Monday, March 17, 2008

Bleeeurgh

The rake challenge finished a few days ago!

The winners are as follows:

Punterz08 - 1st Prize - Package to EPT San Remo in Italy - Entry plus £500 spending money. Worth about £4000.

Peego - 2nd Prize - Entry to a GUKPT - Entry into event of your choice in season two. Worth £1000.

I played the GUKPT London leg. Zzzzzz … someone obviously on tilt in Level one decides to call 22bb preflop with 56. Did half my stack on that hand. Just half an hour later I decide to float on a JQ3 flop with AT with the intention of bluffing further on. Turn brought a 9. I bet and got called. River K completing a back door flush of which I had the bare Ace. I shoved and got insta called by the queen flush. GG

Online has been going very good. I’m nearly $500,000 up for the year already and haven’t even been playing nosebleed stakes very much yet!

Been playing a small bit of $200/$400 PLO and am about even. I plan on giving it more of a go soon. Been mainly getting the lot HU at 25/50 and 50/100, long may that continue.

Next few tourneys are the Irish Open, EPT San Remo and EPT Monte Carlo. Hopefully I’ll make a run in one of them!

Friday, February 29, 2008

Chilling

I haven't been playing so much in the last few weeks.... just some 25/50 - 100/200 PLO on Betfair and been doing ok. Been so busy with birthday celebrations and skiing. Looking forward to playing alot more in the next few months.

Been looking at flights for the WSOP. Wow they have hit the roof price wise - sick. Since a few years ago prices have trebled, anyone know how to get discounts? Still haven't decided whether to do one extended stint, or a couple of shorter stints. It's cool they have added a few more $10k events and i'll definitely play the PLO, PL Hold'em and the Main. Its about time i ran good in Vegas after the last couple of visits!

I'll post some hands when i get back from skiing. Got a few interesting PLO ones!

Rake Challenge Leaderboard for 1st March (two weeks left)

Punterz08 £7178.41
Peego £7177.31
Kirdirf £4831.27
Beau777 £3382.07
Speedytom £2721.93

Friday, February 08, 2008

Boom

Rake Challenge Leaderboard (6 weeks to go)

1. Peego £4969
2. Kirdirf £3378
3. Punterz08 £3094

4. benno £2932
5. justagame £2727

6. beau777 £2114
7. LDO £1979

I played the Party Poker TV tournament earlier in the week. It was 6 handed and with 4 left i had 260,000 out of 600,000. Managed to finish 3rd which was a bit disappointing. The blinds shot up and it became a shove fest three handed and i didn't get lucky!

Got a really packed poker schedule for the next few months which is exciting. I also just moved into a house i purchased in London, and tied up alot of money that will not be going back into the poker community :-)

After the horrendous January that i had in 2006 and 2007... i finally managed to have a profitable start to the year, with my third best winning month on record. Been running bad for the last week so i'm glad i started the year well!

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

EPT Dortmund

Bleeeurgh...

Busted level six for a big pot with AJ all in on a JJ8 flop v QQ. Turn 8. River Q. Weird i knew it was coming!!

Ok better go hit the cash games :-)

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Hold'em hands part 2

Ok firstly to the three hands that i posted a few days ago....

The first one i think is a close call between calling the flop raise and shoving most non scare cards on the turn, and folding. I don’t think shoving on the flop is a good option because it’s going to get insta called in this spot by a big draw or a dominating hand. I actually decided to fold, this isn’t a spot where i can have a dominating hand.... and there is also a chance he can have a K8, K9, 88 or 99 hand which almost leaves me drawing dead.

The second hand i really hated. I was expecting that if he was going to bet that it would be about $12000... and considering i had hardly seen this player before, i just had to look him up. Especially as i had checked to induce this sort of move. He showed QA which was quite surprising given the action. I’m still not sure its profitable in the long term to call in that spot, but sometimes you just have to go with the feel you have in the hand.

This hand happened shortly after the previous one. I thought that because of this, it looked to me like he had me beat. I just can’t see him betting JJ and smaller pairs. Often calling the turn, and leading out in this kind of hand means a big hand. So i folded....

I’ll search my poker tracker and post some more interesting hands in the next few weeks.

I’ve been looking at my tournament schedule, and in the next few months i am looking forward to playing four EPTs (Dortmund, Warsaw, San Remo, Monte Carlo).. its also my 30th birthday soon and i’m going skiing to Val D’isere which should be wicked. After all that its the WSOP again... it always seems to come around very quickly.... i’ve done a rough schedule which i’ll post closer to the date!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Some Hold'em hands

I haven’t posted any NL Hold’em hands for a while. I’ve actually been doing pretty good in the last eight weeks or so at NL 50/100 and 100/200, which has improved my confidence after the miserable run I had at the start of 2007.

These three hands are all from a $100/$200 NL games.

- I have $29,000 stack. Game is six handed. I limp UTG with 89. UTG+1 calls. Cut off min raises it to $400 (he does this a lot). The button calls, and both blinds fold. The flop comes 89K. I check UTG+1 checks. Cut off (the min raiser) bets $200. Button folds. I raise the pot to $2500. Now UTG+1 (who I think is Ram Vaswani) makes it $9600 to play. He has me covered. What do you reckon is the best play?

- Heads Up game. I have a $37,000 stack, my opponent has a $34,000 stack. He has the button. He makes it $600. I reraise with QK to $1800. He calls. The flop comes 64Q. I bet $2450. My opponent calls. Turn is the K. I bet $4200. He calls again. River comes a 6.

I considered betting but decided to check to hopefully induce a bluff. The pot is $16900. He jams for $25550. This was the first time I have played this guy Heads Up, and only a couple of times in a ring game. What now?

- Last hand. Same guy on a new table. Both $20,000 stacks. Second hand in I raise with QQ to $750 on the button. He makes it $2200. I called. The flop comes K47. He checked. I checked. Turn K. He checked. I bet $3000. He called. River 4. He bets $10,000. What now?

Friday, January 04, 2008

Loads of hands + Rake challenge leaderboard

I mentioned in a previous blog that on December 30th i was down $180,000 playing two tables of $50/$100. The games were against Emily86 on Betfair, and they play much bigger then a regular 50/100 game. I've included my percentage chance of winning the hand when most of the money went in, and included all the pots over $15,000 we played on the table i was losing the most!

A nice way to get me steaming at the beginning - Ben 80%

Haha make a good read and still lose tilt - Ben 78%

Finally one holds up - Ben 81%

Now i think all is going to go well - Ben 100%

Start of sick run - Ben 65%

Unreal $40,000 pot. I was so tilted after this - Ben 71% (i thought much bigger)

Finally i get it in with the worst hand and lose obviously - Emily 64%

Flop nuts and lose - Ben 65%

Nuts again couldn't lose - Ben 100%

Catching Bare Ace - Ben 100%

Really sick $68,000 pot that pair of fives win. I really shouldn't be gambling here. Emily 57%

Tilted i get all in preflop next hand and get lucky one time - Emily 56%

Hmmm Emily's bluffing range is huge, don't like this one so much - Emily 100%

This sums it up - Ben 55%

Coin flip, Emily wins again - Emily 52%

Facing $113,000 stack, the comeback begins - Ben 80%

We like these odds - Ben 97%

Nice turn - Ben 82%

$37,000 pot. Think i may have stopped if my call was wrong - Ben 100%

$80,000 pot. I wanted to make this pot big preflop as i knew if i hit a set i was likely to get a double up. One time. Ben - 73%

Overall that table i lost $35,000. I won about the same on the second table. Too many hands, so i'll just post the biggest three.

One pair wins $66,000. Ben 70%

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz $54,000 lost. Ben 80%

My play on the turn is fishy here. Ben 67.5%

I think that particular day ending even felt like winning a million!

Rake Challenge Leaderboard

1. peego £2250
2. justagame £1190
3. LDO £1097
4. Punterz08 £1062
5. Beau777 £970

Still two and half months to go to catch up! If you signed up through me and think you should have appeared on the leaderboard, post in the messages...

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

New Year

There is something strange about the start of the New Year when it comes to poker. All profit/losses get reset, and its time to go again. Despite claiming that i am going to take it easy in January, its very unlikely to happen. Think i am playing the best poker online of my life at the moment, so going to keep going. I'm even winning at high stakes NL Hold'em as well..... and when i am feeling less hungover, i'll get round to posting a few hands. I also managed to reverse my biggest ever loss a few days ago. I was $180,000 down playing $50/$100 PL Omaha and got the lot back in the same session.... so sick!

I was really looking forward to playing the Caribbean EPT event then going to the Aussie Millions. Unfortunately, due to a long drawn out house purchase, i can't leave the country for the next few weeks.... so my next tournament is likely to be EPT Dortmund which had a huge field last year.

My blog may well get moved here permanently soon. There is more scope to add stuff and card graphics are coming soon as well.