Back in London

After another 28 hour journey i got home yesterday. Feeling a bit jetlagged and woke up at 4am today. I should be able to sort out my sleeping pattern soon enough though being a poker player.

I really enjoyed Australia. I mostly had a relaxing time, and only played about 10 hours live and about the same amoubt online during the trip. I've had decent results online so far this year, but in the next 4/5 weeks i'll be playing alot more so i expect the swings to return!

The next few weeks i'm going to be playing $25/50 and $50/100 NL Holdem and PL Omaha. I really want to step up and play higher but just hate the $100k losing days too much to take the risk. I want to get back in the $200/400 PL Omaha at some stage this year. Maybe if i buy in for $20000 a go and don't multitable, then that could be something i can do in a few weeks.

I've added a few more blogs and links on the right hand side as well. People need to update their blogs more often :-)

Oz Update 3

I busted out of the main event on Day 1. I'm reasonably happy with most of the decisions i made, i get much more annoyed when i play badly.

The only real hands of note were these:

- I had AK 4 times and lost each of them. Twice i gave them up after missing flop, twice i continuation bet them, and gave up on the turn. So i decided i was going to play them like Aces or Kings if i missed the flop. Blinds 100/200. I made it 650 UTG. Button only caller. He hasn't been too busy so far. Flop J45. I bet 700 he calls. Turn a 5. I fire the second bullet of 2100. He thinks for a while and calls. River a 9. Now more often than not i will check here, but i fired the third bullet of 5500 and again after a dwell i got called. He had TT. Fair enough good call but i am beating him like 80% of the time given the action. That put me down to 12000 (we started with 20000)

- I limp in mid position with QT suited. Another limper and BB raises to 500 to play. Aggressive player so i see a flop. Flop 55T. He bets 1100. I call. Turn a 6. He checks and i bet 1700. He called. River a Queen and i bet 2700. He called and mucked. Difficult to put him on a hand there.

- The exit hand. I had dribbled down to about 10800 chips. Mid position made it 600 to play. Two callers so i call with JsQs. Flop 3d8s9s. This was the second flop i liked all day. I checked. Preflop raiser checked. Tight player bet 800 into a 2400 pot and the an aggressive Scandie made it 2400 on the button. I thought his range was big, and i could get him to fold if i pushed so i did. I also didn't want to just call 25% of my chips. He had a good hand though a set of threes and i couldn't catch any of my outs.

Hate busting out of tournaments but a few hours later it doesn't seem like the end of the world anymore. Had a good 6 hour session online so all is good with the world :-)

Fly home on Saturday and will be playing alot in the next 5 or 6 weeks online, as there is a break in tournaments before the EPT resumes.

Oz Update 2

Haven't played live since my last post... unless you count Chinese poker :-) Not much online either... just enough wins to cover my spending!

This is definitely the best poker trip in my opinion factoring in everything that makes a poker trip good. Weather, hotel, restaurants, price, bars, gym, spa, tournaments etc. It scores highly on all those. Only downside is the gruelling journey over here. They need the net on these long haul flights. I saw EPT Deauville got cancelled. Not too bothered about that... too boring there. Plus its also a pain to get too. At least there are a couple of other EPT events in Dortmund and EPT Warsaw that i'll be going to.

You get to meet some sick gamblers in this poker world. I was chatting to a couple of Scandi players that i know. One of them had a $2 million roll in December. He lost it all in two weeks. Was down to $10000 and now has $1 million again. The other one once lost $380000 in one night over 50% of his bankroll playing drunk a week or so ago.

Ali Masterman won the $1500 side event. Played very good. Loose aggressive to the extreme. He was like calling raises with 72 off to make a move on any flop. A nice cash at around £80000 i think.

I see the schedule for the WSOP 2007 is out. Its not to long till it starts. Very excited about it this year. They have added a bunch of $5000 tournaments and less NL Hold'em events which is a good move.....

I play Day one flight two on Monday. I've have tweaked my strategy a bit for multi tournaments so i'll see how that goes.

Oz Update 1

Its good to be back at the Crown in Melbourne. I've been to loads of hotels around the world, but this remains my favourite hotel that hosts a poker event. Great restaurants/spa/gym etc and you don't have to walk past the people gambling to move around like in Vegas.

Played the PL Omaha event yesterday - no good. Only had one rebuy and a top up which was a result condsidering that it was $3000 a pop (£1200 ish). Field was hard... guess not many people who play an Omaha rebuy that high are going to be fish. My table was incredibly tight so it wasn't too much fun. I eventually busted in a big pot when i ran 69TJ into 97JQ on a 997 board. One day i will stop donating in PL Omaha tournaments. I am a lifetime loser of about £20000 in them.....

Trying to have as much fun as possible this year, because last year i was in my room most of the time watching my bankroll slide away. I didn't even make it to the beach! The Omaha cash games are going and they are pretty big. $600/$1200 limit high Omaha was going, and a $100/$200 PL game as well. Will play one of those before the main event which starts for me on Monday which is flight two. Think there is going to be around 600 players and we get 20000 chips to start so it should be a good tournament.

Hong Kong

Just stopped off en route to Melbourne for the Aussie Millions. I haven't played a hand of poker in about two weeks so looking forward to playing again. My first tourney is a $3000 rebuy Omaha in a couple of days, so i will be donating a few rebuys to that i reckon.

I'll do some more updates when i actually get around to playing some poker :-)

Two years +

I just realised this blog has been going for over two years now! I read back over some old posts the other day and its been quite a rollercoaster. I never thought when i started out i would have played some of the sick limits i have recently.

Earlier in the week i played in the big Dealers choice game at the Western. Its a £10 running ante and a mandatory £50 blind from the button and often people go £100 and occasionally £200 blind. The games are Pot Limit Superstud, Omaha Hi/Lo, double or single flop Omaha, Irish and Hold'em (though no-one ever picks that). Well i had fun despite my biggest ever loss live, a juicy five figure sum. I did run bad though, and was mostly happy with my decisions.

I've got a new computer set up with a couple of nice Sony monitors. I've been 4-6 tabling $25/$50 Omaha mainly and things have been going fairly well. I'm going to not play much between now and the New year... its good to have a break sometimes. I'm going skiing over the New Year and then straight to Australia for the Aussie Millions. I must play more tournaments next year. This year i played less than 20 tournaments.

There was a double whammy of me playing on Challenge last night... EPT Monte Carlo 2006 and WSOP Main Event 2006. God i am tilted by watching how bad i played to come 9th in Monte Carlo. I must not play today!!

Some Strategy

I don't write that much strategy on my blog, but i've started writing for Cardplayer, so i thought i may as well put it on my blog as well.

In a series of articles about bluffing in Omaha, I am going to look at situations where bluffing in Pot Limit Omaha very profitable. Many players follow a successful tight-aggressive strategy in Omaha, but the very best players I have faced bluff in more situations than you might think. I don't mean bluffing with the bare Ace when there is a flush on the board, because many people do that, but rather representing hands when you are able to put opponents on a range of potential holdings.

Sometimes the board will pair on the flop. In this article I will look at how bluffing in this situation can be very profitable. If you are able accurately to assess the situation, and to take advantage of it, you can take down some very big pots. The reason why bluffing on a paired board is often successful, is that most players will often not want to commit most or all of their stack with a high pair such as Aces or Kings.

For the purposes of this example, you are playing in a $10/$20 Pot Limit game with 5 opponents. Each opponent is playing $3000. One player limps in under the gun, you limp in the cut off with 889T double suited. The button makes it $100 to play. Both blinds fold. The limper and you both call. The flop comes 33J with no flush draw. It is unlikely, given the pre-flop raise, that any opponent has a 3 or JJ. So you can make a move on this kind of paired board. It is more risky to try and represent a good hand on a high paired board as it becomes more likely that one of your opponents will have made three of a kind or a full house.

There is now $330 in the pot. If your first opponent checks, and you bet, it's possible you could pick up the pot right away with a $230 profit. In fact, there are several ways in which you can win this pot. For instance, if everyone checks the flop, you could make a bet on the turn and probably win it then.

But one of the best ways to maximise your profit is to check to the original preflop raiser. They are more than likely to make a continuation bet on the flop with any high pair, or even on a complete bluff. Once your other opponent has folded, you can now make your move. If the button has bet $300, you could re-raise and probably win the pot there and then, or call (indicating strength) and make a move on the turn or the river.

Suppose you check to the button and he bets $300, I would recommend minimum raising him another $300. The purpose of this bet is to tempt him to call - he will often do this as he won't want to give away the pot on the cheap. You are also manipulating the pot and representing a big hand, to then bluff him out on the turn. But if he passes immediately to your minimum raise, you will have made a $530 profit.

Let's look at what happens if he calls. The pot would now be $1530. You and your opponent have each committed $700 out of your $3000 stack, so neither player is over-committed to the hand. Say the turn comes a 6. I would now recommend betting between 40-70% of the pot on the turn. If you bet the pot your opponent would pass more often. But, at the same time, it increases how often you need to win the pot to over 80%. In this example, I think you should bet around $750 into the pot. If you have assessed the situation and your opponent correctly, they will pass often enough for the play to be profitable in the long run.

You have committed $600 bluffing before your $750 bet on the turn. So you will have committed $1350 in total on the bluff. You do not include the $100 you put in before the flop because you would normally have given up on this hand when you missed the flop completely. There is $830 profit to be made if your opponent passes to your turn bet. Exactly how often your opponent would have to pass for this play to be profitable can be calculated as follows:

Total amount committed to pot on a bluff/potential profit = x x/x+1 x 100 = break even percentage

So for the example I have used so 1350/830 = 1.63 1.63/2.63 x 100 = 62%

So if the hand reached the turn, and it played out how I have described, you would need to win more than 62% of the time for it to worth making this kind of bluff. From my own experience, players will fold approximately 75% of the time on the turn if you have also taken account of the following factors:

- The size of your opponent's stack. It's no use trying this move if your opponent is short-stacked, or pot-committed.
- You must know that your opponent is capable of passing AA or KK in this situation. Some players will simply call you down.
- Don't try it if your opponent is on tilt. They will call you too often.
- Don't use the move too often. Players will start to catch on to what you are doing.

The last thing to look at is what you should do if your opponent calls your turn bet. The pot would now be $3030 and you would have $1550 left. Unless the miracle 8 comes on the river to give you a full house, I would normally give up the hand and check the river. If your opponent called on the turn in this kind of situation, they would probably also call your bet on the river.

Other Stuff

Rob Yong asked me to put in a link to join his new poker club in Nottingham. They need people to to prove demand to get a license from the magistrates court. It will be the most impressive poker club in Europe, and will stage big festivals. So even if you are based outside the UK its worth joining which you can do by clicking here.

I also played the biggest game i have ever played in last week. The $250/$500 NL Hold'em game on Betfair. I managed to have a couple of wins... but the size is just scary. Heads up (both have $25000) i make it $1750 with AQ and my opponent makes it $7000.. what to do now? The money involved is just too big so no more of that game for a while.

Betfair's Asian Poker Tour

Lots to update about. I played the main event in Singapore of Betfair's tournament. The venue is great, and more importantly the buffet has been awsome! I set out to play aggressive but not go out in level one again so i was tight by my standards.. folding Js9s under the gun!! I went up and down playing alot of pots. I was actually as low as 1300 at one point but actually felt ok for some reason. I managed to double up twice... once being very lucky. I then moved table with 7000 chips.

Blinds were 200/400 in level 6 so i was still in ok shape. I hit a nice card rush and nearly trebled up... after and all in and a button raise, i found JJ in the BB and called. Was against 44 and AJ and hit the case Jack for good measure. I then found Aces and raised in early position. Button called. Flop 872 and i bet 1000. He made it 2000. I called. Turn an Ace and he pushed with AQ. I think he was setting up to push any card with his minimum raise on the flop, so the ace probably gave him an extra incentive he needed.

I then started picking up quite a few small pots and my chip count was 35000... average about 18000. I find KK :-). Other guy at my table with a good stack around 30000 opens for 1200 quite early, one caller, i make it 4000 and original raiser goes all in. I call and he has the old A2 off. Two people passed an Ace, but there is still one on the turn. I would have been the chip leader if i won that, and he made the final. Though it seems like a dumb play by him, i guess i probably fold around 70% of hands i am reraising preflop there.

Other than that poker has been very up and down. These big stakes are all very well when things are going well, but when you hit a bad run of cards then it is very expensive and stressful, even in just a couple of days. Its tough to go back to playing alot lower than i have been though, and i tend not to play my A game... have to think about my strategy game wise for the next few months!

200/400 PLO

Well i decided to give it a crack which you may have seen if you read the comments in the last blog. I had manage to spin my roll on full tilt up to a six figure sum so decided to give it a go. So far after 3 sessions and 1353 hands i am $129000 up. In a game that size its not a significant win, but as i decided to have a shot with a limited bankroll i'm happy to have made a good start. If i lose what i have on full tilt i'll go back to my normal games.

I actually think i have been running badly as well. Especially against David Benjamine. I have been playing the capped pot limit Omaha 200/400 as well, and in one session last night i played 6 capped pots against him (cap is set at $16000 so $32000 in every pot). In each of them when the money went in i was at least a 38% up to 71% chance to win and lost all 6. My tracker says i am down $150000 to Benjamine so far... and $40000 to Ivey (see hand below)

Played a huge amount of big pots here are a few of them!!

lol at the railbirds!!

FullTiltPoker Game #1215891375: Table Pantheon (6 max) - $200/$400 - Pot Limit Omaha - 19:21:03 ET - 2006/11/08
Seat 1: Phil Ivey ($19,792), is sitting out
Seat 2: Susisisu ($30,196)
Seat 3: David Benyamine ($58,481.50)
Seat 4: Ben Grundy ($31,596)
Seat 6: CrazyZachary ($28,493)
David Benyamine posts the small blind of $200
Ben Grundy posts the big blind of $400
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Ben Grundy [Jc Kh Ah 5s]
CrazyZachary folds
Susisisu calls $400
David Benyamine raises to $1,600
Ben Grundy calls $1,200
Susisisu calls $1,200
*** FLOP *** [Ac Jh Th]
David Benyamine bets $2,400
Ben Grundy raises to $12,000
Susisisu calls $12,000
David Benyamine folds
*** TURN *** [Ac Jh Th] [4h]
Roland de Wolfe (Observer): who is best tournament player in europe
okstate345 (Observer): not u
Ben Grundy has 15 seconds left to act
Ben Grundy checks
Susisisu bets $16,596, and is all in
Ben Grundy calls $16,596
Susisisu shows [Kc 2h Qd 2c]
Ben Grundy shows [Jc Kh Ah 5s]
*** RIVER *** [Ac Jh Th 4h] [6d]
Susisisu shows a straight, Ace high
Ben Grundy shows a flush, Ace high
Ben Grundy wins the pot ($64,390) with a flush, Ace high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $64,392 Rake $2
Board: [Ac Jh Th 4h 6d]
Seat 1: Phil Ivey is sitting out
Seat 2: Susisisu (button) showed [Kc 2h Qd 2c] and lost with a straight, Ace high
Seat 3: David Benyamine (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: Ben Grundy (big blind) showed [Jc Kh Ah 5s] and won ($64,390) with a flush, Ace high

A tilt call on the turn maybe!

FullTiltPoker Game #1216056784: Table Pantheon (6 max) - $200/$400 - Pot Limit Omaha - 19:51:55 ET - 2006/11/08
Seat 1: Phil Ivey ($35,782)
Seat 2: Susisisu ($24,694)
Seat 3: David Benyamine ($70,661.50)
Seat 4: Ben Grundy ($74,173)
Seat 6: CrazyZachary ($23,189), is sitting out
Phil Ivey posts the small blind of $200
Susisisu posts the big blind of $400
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Ben Grundy [Qh As 2d Ts]
David Benyamine folds
Ben Grundy has 15 seconds left to act
Ben Grundy raises to $1,400
Phil Ivey folds
Susisisu calls $1,000
*** FLOP *** [3c 7d Qs]
Susisisu bets $3,000
Ben Grundy calls $3,000
*** TURN *** [3c 7d Qs] [5s]
Susisisu bets $9,000
det3313 (Observer): no
Ben Grundy calls $9,000
*** RIVER *** [3c 7d Qs 5s] [4d]
Susisisu bets $11,294, and is all in
Ben Grundy calls $11,294
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Susisisu shows [4h Kd Ah 5c] (two pair, Fives and Fours)
Ben Grundy shows [Qh As 2d Ts] (a straight, Five high)
Ben Grundy wins the pot ($49,586) with a straight, Five high
Susisisu is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $49,588 Rake $2
Board: [3c 7d Qs 5s 4d]
Seat 1: Phil Ivey (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Susisisu (big blind) showed [4h Kd Ah 5c] and lost with two pair, Fives and Fours
Seat 3: David Benyamine didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: Ben Grundy (button) showed [Qh As 2d Ts] and won ($49,586) with a straight, Five high
Seat 6: CrazyZachary is sitting out

My two biggest PL Omaha pots i have lost have been when i can only lose to a king on the river!!

FullTiltPoker Game #1211386837: Table Pantheon (6 max) - $200/$400 - Pot Limit Omaha - 21:04:52 ET - 2006/11/07
Seat 1: Phil Ivey ($33,986)
Seat 2: Gus Hansen ($18,016)
Seat 3: CrazyZachary ($40,295)
Seat 4: CHUFTY ($34,175)
Seat 5: Ben Grundy ($48,800)
Seat 6: David Benyamine ($21,597)
David Benyamine posts the small blind of $200
Phil Ivey posts the big blind of $400
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Ben Grundy [Jd Ts 9h 5s]
Gus Hansen raises to $1,400
CrazyZachary calls $1,400
CHUFTY folds
Ben Grundy calls $1,400
David Benyamine calls $1,200
Phil Ivey calls $1,000
*** FLOP *** [Td Th 6d]
David Benyamine checks
Phil Ivey checks
Gus Hansen has 15 seconds left to act
Gus Hansen checks
CrazyZachary checks
Ben Grundy bets $3,600
David Benyamine folds
Phil Ivey raises to $13,200
Gus Hansen folds
CrazyZachary folds
Ben Grundy has 15 seconds left to act
Ben Grundy calls $9,600
*** TURN *** [Td Th 6d] [9s]
Phil Ivey bets $19,386, and is all in
Ben Grundy calls $19,386
Phil Ivey shows [5d Tc Ks Jc]
Ben Grundy shows [Jd Ts 9h 5s]
*** RIVER *** [Td Th 6d 9s] [Kh]
Phil Ivey shows a full house, Tens full of Kings
Ben Grundy shows a full house, Tens full of Nines
Phil Ivey wins the pot ($72,169) with a full house, Tens full of Kings
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $72,172 Rake $3
Board: [Td Th 6d 9s Kh]
Seat 1: Phil Ivey (big blind) showed [5d Tc Ks Jc] and won ($72,169) with a full house, Tens full of Kings
Seat 2: Gus Hansen folded on the Flop
Seat 3: CrazyZachary folded on the Flop
Seat 4: CHUFTY didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: Ben Grundy (button) showed [Jd Ts 9h 5s] and lost with a full house, Tens full of Nines
Seat 6: David Benyamine (small blind) folded on the Flop

Aces are sometimes good :-D

FullTiltPoker Game #1210761286: Table Compton (6 max) - $200/$400 - $16,000 Cap Pot Limit Omaha - 19:12:35 ET - 2006/11/07
Seat 1: profbackwards ($50,798), is sitting out
Seat 3: Mr Poker KDH ($25,779)
Seat 4: Ben Grundy ($17,199.50)
Seat 6: LFISGD ($245,686.50)
Ben Grundy posts the small blind of $200
LFISGD posts the big blind of $400
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Ben Grundy [Jd 2s Ad As]
Mr Poker KDH raises to $1,400
Ben Grundy calls $1,200
LFISGD raises to $5,600
Mr Poker KDH raises to $16,000, and is capped
Ben Grundy calls $14,600, and is capped
LFISGD calls $10,400, and is capped
Mr Poker KDH shows [4h Ks Kh 3s]
Ben Grundy shows [Jd 2s Ad As]
LFISGD shows [8s Jh Kd 4s]
*** FLOP *** [2c Qs 2d]
*** TURN *** [2c Qs 2d] [3c]
profbackwards has returned
*** RIVER *** [2c Qs 2d 3c] [Ac]
Mr Poker KDH shows two pair, Kings and Twos
Ben Grundy shows a full house, Aces full of Twos
LFISGD shows a pair of Twos
Ben Grundy wins the pot ($47,999) with a full house, Aces full of Twos
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $48,000 Rake $1
Board: [2c Qs 2d 3c Ac]
Seat 1: profbackwards is sitting out
Seat 3: Mr Poker KDH (button) showed [4h Ks Kh 3s] and lost with two pair, Kings and Twos
Seat 4: Ben Grundy (small blind) showed [Jd 2s Ad As] and won ($47,999) with a full house, Aces full of Twos
Seat 6: LFISGD (big blind) showed [8s Jh Kd 4s] and lost with a pair of Twos

A hand from the capped game!

FullTiltPoker Game #1213567973: Table Gumwood (6 max) - $200/$400 - $16,000 Cap Pot Limit Omaha - 6:40:26 ET - 2006/11/08
Seat 1: profbackwards ($56,196)
Seat 2: Ben Grundy ($15,000)
Seat 3: David Benyamine ($137,970.50)
Seat 4: cmynuts ($41,691)
Seat 6: Gus Hansen ($58,177)
Gus Hansen posts the small blind of $200
profbackwards posts the big blind of $400
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Ben Grundy [9s 3s As Ah]
Ben Grundy calls $400
David Benyamine raises to $1,800
cmynuts calls $1,800
Gus Hansen calls $1,600
profbackwards folds
Ben Grundy raises to $9,400
David Benyamine calls $7,600
cmynuts folds
Gus Hansen calls $7,600
*** FLOP *** [5h 4h 2s]
Gus Hansen has 15 seconds left to act
Gus Hansen bets $6,600, and is capped
Ben Grundy calls $5,600, and is all in
David Benyamine calls $6,600, and is capped
Gus Hansen shows [Jc 7s 9h 6h]
Ben Grundy shows [9s 3s As Ah]
David Benyamine shows [Qd Js 8s Qh]
*** TURN *** [5h 4h 2s] [3c]
*** RIVER *** [5h 4h 2s 3c] [Td]
Gus Hansen shows a straight, Seven high
David Benyamine shows a pair of Queens
Gus Hansen wins the side pot ($2,000) with a straight, Seven high
Ben Grundy shows a straight, Five high
Gus Hansen wins the main pot ($47,198) with a straight, Seven high
Ben Grundy is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $49,200 Main pot $47,200. Side pot $2,000. Rake $2
Board: [5h 4h 2s 3c Td]
Seat 1: profbackwards (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Ben Grundy showed [9s 3s As Ah] and lost with a straight, Five high
Seat 3: David Benyamine showed [Qd Js 8s Qh] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 4: cmynuts (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: Gus Hansen (small blind) showed [Jc 7s 9h 6h] and won ($49,198) with a straight, Seven high

and another

FullTiltPoker Game #1213800454: Table Gumwood (6 max) - $200/$400 - $16,000 Cap Pot Limit Omaha - 9:34:37 ET - 2006/11/08
Seat 2: Ben Grundy ($80,510)
Seat 3: David Benyamine ($99,180.50)
Seat 4: profbackwards ($16,000)
David Benyamine posts the small blind of $200
profbackwards posts the big blind of $400
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Ben Grundy [7c Qh Tc Ts]
Ben Grundy calls $400
David Benyamine calls $200
profbackwards raises to $1,200
Ben Grundy calls $800
David Benyamine calls $800
*** FLOP *** [Td Jc 4s]
David Benyamine bets $3,600
profbackwards calls $3,600
Ben Grundy raises to $14,800, and is capped
David Benyamine calls $11,200, and is capped
profbackwards calls $11,200, and is capped
Ben Grundy shows [7c Qh Tc Ts]
David Benyamine shows [9s 8s Qd 9h]
profbackwards shows [Kc Kd 3c 4d]
*** TURN *** [Td Jc 4s] [2s]
*** RIVER *** [Td Jc 4s 2s] [7h]
Ben Grundy shows three of a kind, Tens
David Benyamine shows a straight, Jack high
profbackwards shows a pair of Kings
David Benyamine wins the pot ($47,999) with a straight, Jack high
profbackwards is sitting out
profbackwards adds $32,000
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $48,000 Rake $1
Board: [Td Jc 4s 2s 7h]
Seat 2: Ben Grundy (button) showed [7c Qh Tc Ts] and lost with three of a kind, Tens
Seat 3: David Benyamine (small blind) showed [9s 8s Qd 9h] and won ($47,999) with a straight, Jack high
Seat 4: profbackwards (big blind) showed [Kc Kd 3c 4d] and lost with a pair of Kings

**** bokked myself by updating*******

You aren't going to win if you lose thse kind of hands. Dusted off $100000 yuck!

FullTiltPoker Game #1218933975: Table Compton (6 max) - $200/$400 - $16,000 Cap Pot Limit Omaha - 9:59:57 ET - 2006/11/09
Seat 3: Ben Grundy ($20,995)
Seat 4: durrrr ($16,000)
Seat 6: steaming ($19,594)
Ben Grundy posts the small blind of $200
hillbilly226 (Observer): yes
durrrr posts the big blind of $400
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Ben Grundy [Td Qh Qc 3c]
steaming raises to $1,400
Ben Grundy calls $1,200
durrrr calls $1,000
*** FLOP *** [3h Qs 7c]
Ben Grundy checks
durrrr bets $3,000
steaming raises to $13,200
Ben Grundy raises to $14,600, and is capped
durrrr folds
steaming calls $1,400, and is capped
Ben Grundy shows [Td Qh Qc 3c]
steaming shows [Ac Ad 8s Kd]
hillbilly226 (Observer): wow
*** TURN *** [3h Qs 7c] [7h]
*** RIVER *** [3h Qs 7c 7h] [Ah]
Ben Grundy shows a full house, Queens full of Sevens
steaming shows a full house, Aces full of Sevens
steaming wins the pot ($36,399) with a full house, Aces full of Sevens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $36,400 Rake $1
Board: [3h Qs 7c 7h Ah]
Seat 3: Ben Grundy (small blind) showed [Td Qh Qc 3c] and lost with a full house, Queens full of Sevens
Seat 4: durrrr (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 6: steaming (button) showed [Ac Ad 8s Kd] and won ($36,399) with a full house, Aces full of Sevens

FullTiltPoker Game #1219148124: Table Gumwood (6 max) - $200/$400 - $16,000 Cap Pot Limit Omaha - 11:39:50 ET - 2006/11/09
Seat 1: steaming ($25,399)
Seat 4: Ben Grundy ($16,793.50)
Seat 6: durrrr ($67,739.50)
Ben Grundy posts the small blind of $200
durrrr posts the big blind of $400
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Ben Grundy [2c As Ad Jd]
steaming folds
Ben Grundy raises to $1,200
durrrr raises to $3,600
Ben Grundy raises to $10,800
durrrr raises to $16,000, and is capped
Ben Grundy calls $5,200, and is capped
durrrr shows [Kd 9s Kc Ac]
Ben Grundy shows [2c As Ad Jd]
*** FLOP *** [4d 9d 4c]
*** TURN *** [4d 9d 4c] [6h]
*** RIVER *** [4d 9d 4c 6h] [Kh]
durrrr shows a full house, Kings full of Fours
Ben Grundy shows two pair, Aces and Fours
durrrr wins the pot ($31,999) with a full house, Kings full of Fours
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $32,000 Rake $1
Board: [4d 9d 4c 6h Kh]
Seat 1: steaming (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: Ben Grundy (small blind) showed [2c As Ad Jd] and lost with two pair, Aces and Fours
Seat 6: durrrr (big blind) showed [Kd 9s Kc Ac] and won ($31,999) with a full house, Kings full of Fours

Running hot

I've been concentrating almost 100% on PL Omaha for the last couple of weeks, and have stepped up and started playing $50/$100 and $100/$200 PL Omaha on Betfair and Full Tilt. Luckily i've been running very good, and given the size of the games the wins have been very good for the bankroll. I played Ted Forrest and Erik Lindgren Heads Up a couple of times and was ahead against Forrest, but a bit down to Lindgren.

A few hands i have played in these bigger games.

- $100/$200 PLO. Heads Up. We both have $16000. I raise the button to $600 with AdQdJdTc. Opponent calls. Flop 7d8dQh. He checks to me. I bet $1000. He makes it $3500. I call. Turn As. He bets $4500 and i push all in. He calls with QQxx and the river pairs the Ace to give me a better full house. Was quite lucky.... but don't see how the money wasn't going to all go in on that hand.

- $100/$200 PLO. 3 handed. I have $12000 both opponents have $18000. I call a button raise in the BB with 3s4s5h6h. Flop 2h5h8c giving me a wrap and a small flush draw. I check. button bets $1500. I reraise the pot and he puts me all in. I call. He has 28KK and no flush draw. Which i was happy to see. Turn was a 3 and he missed his 4 cards on the river.

- $50/$100 PLO. 5 handed. I have $19500. Opponent in this hand $12000. I reraised pre to $1500 with JJQQ ds. Flop AK4 with no flush draw. I bet $2000. Opponent called. Turn the dream card, the T bringing a club flush draw. I bet $4000 and he moved all in the TJQK with the flush draw which came on the river.

I am playing a bit tighter in these games as opposed to my normal games. The size of the preflop raises are so big, that to put a reraise in is often over $2000 preflop. Not sure how long i will stay at these levels. If i start running or playing bad then i'll drop back down to my normal games.

Decided against going to Amsterdam for the Masterclassics. I've had such a good couple of weeks that i'm happy to stay home, and also i go to Singapore next Monday for the Betfair Asian Poker Tour which now has well over 300 confirmed entries.

New Betfair and some other stuff

Betfair poker has now left Cryptologic. So if you want to try out the new poker site which is no longer linked to William Hill, Littlewoods etc then you can download it using this link

If you use that link you will automatically be on 30% rakeback. There is also an exclusive $1000 bonus if you download it using the link above, which you can see details of here. If you could email your username to bengrundy@hotmail.com just so i can confirm your rakeback and bonus.

In the next few months there will be a load of improvements and the STT structure is possibly the best of all the poker sites. Also, you can chase after Bennyboi who everyone enjoys playing :-)

I played bad in Dublin. Not exactly sure why but i will not be donating my chips so early in a big tournament for a while. In fact, if i go out in level 1 of a tournament with a buy in over $5000 before March then i will give £500 to charity each time. Congrats to Mr De Wolfe who won it. He's had a pretty good last 18 months to say the least.

Also, i just got sent a link of me playing in this year's WSOP on you tube. Click here to see it.

a) I am not 30.
b) I was NOT playing tight!

Dublin

Just got to my hotel.... playing EPT tournament today at 2pm!

I finally managed to get my desktop up and running again so i could import all my hands to poker tracker for the last couple of months... eek!

I realised that night i lost the £40000 pot i actually lost £75000 on the £25/£50 Omaha that night. I can't remember buying in that many times. Yuck. The problem with playing higher stakes is that when i have been playing smaller stakes i have been donating. It must stop, particularly on the $10/$20 PL Omaha which i normally do so well at, i've been donating. So i am not going to play there unless i concentrate properly.

On the plus side i have done much better than i thought in the £40/£80 NL Hold'em game. I'm actually over £100000 up for the last month so that experiment will continue. However, in the £25/£50 NL game i am almost £100000 down. So i wish i had ignored that table.

Tournament wise... my form is good at the moment. Hopefully i can pick up another good result before the end of the year.

Such a siiiiiiiiiiiiiiick game

Well it is!! Had a horrific day yesterday... someone asked for some Omaha hands so here goes... including the biggest pot i have ever won followed by the biggest i have lost.

Omaha PL (£25/£50)
Table "Sweetheart"
Seat 4 is the button.
Seat 2: Criminal1 (£22490.28 in chips)
Seat 4: Bennyboi (£14128.28 in chips)
Seat 6: Duhfin (£32200 in chips)
Duhfin: posts small blind £25
Criminal1: posts big blind £50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Bennyboi [8s Tc 6s Ah]
Bennyboi: raises to £175
Duhfin: raises to £575
Criminal1: folds
Bennyboi: calls £400
----- FLOP ----- [5d Qh 7s]
Duhfin: bets £950
Bennyboi: raises to £3200
Duhfin: calls £2250
----- TURN ----- [5d Qh 7s][4h]
Duhfin: checks
Bennyboi: bets £5050
Duhfin: calls £5050
----- RIVER ----- [5d Qh 7s 4h][Kc]
Duhfin: checks
Bennyboi: bets £5303.28 and is all-in
Duhfin: calls £5303.28
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Bennyboi: shows [8s Tc 6s Ah] (A Straight, Eight high)
Duhfin: shows [5h Qc Kh As] (Two Pairs, Kings and Queens, Seven high)
Bennyboi collects £28304.56 from Main pot

Omaha PL (£25/£50)
(GMT)Table "Sweetheart"
Seat 5 is the button.
Seat 2: Criminal1 (£19826.28 in chips)
Seat 4: Bennyboi (£30212.56 in chips)
Seat 5: ashdogs (£4795 in chips)
Seat 6: Duhfin (£18836.72 in chips)
Seat 7: TSTS (£5095 in chips)
Duhfin: posts small blind £25
TSTS: posts big blind £50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Bennyboi [2h 5c 4h Qs]
Criminal1: raises to £175
Bennyboi: calls £175
ashdogs: folds
Duhfin: raises to £750
TSTS: folds
Criminal1: calls £575
Bennyboi: calls £575
----- FLOP ----- [3d 6s Qh]
Duhfin: checks
Criminal1: checks
Bennyboi: bets £2300
Duhfin: calls £2300
Criminal1: folds
----- TURN ----- [3d 6s Qh][5d]
Duhfin: checks
Bennyboi: bets £6900
Duhfin: raises to £15786.72 and is all-in
Bennyboi: calls £8886.72
----- RIVER ----- [3d 6s Qh 5d][3c]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Duhfin: shows [Kc 5h Qd Ac] (Two Pairs, Queens and Fives, Six high)
Bennyboi: shows [2h 5c 4h Qs] (A Straight, Six high)
Bennyboi collects £38468.44 from Main pot

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

kjbdkbdbwedlbedwlbwlbedwlbfwjefewljbfewlkbflkbewffewlknbfewn is what i think i typed after that hand!

Two outered in the biggest pot i have ever played... so brutal.

Luckily today i recovered everything i lost yesterday.

Playing the William Hill Grand Prix on Thursday. My heat looks like this:

HEAT D Thur 19th
1 Antonio Esfandiari USA
2 Ram Vaswani GB
3 Keith Hawkins GB
4 JP Kelly GB
5 Sean Murphy IRE
6 Ben Grundy GB
7 Shelley Mullett GB Qual
8 Sami Yusuf GB Qual

Looks like it could be a fun heat with serial bluffers Ram, JP, Camel and Antonio in the heat.

Strange Week

Since i made the final of the WCOOP i have had a very strange poker week!

I had a few days off then started playing the £40/£80 NL Hold'em on Betfair. Hmmmm horrendous luck, and probably some tilt play led to a £30000 loss. Yuck... how i hate losing that much. Next day not much better another £15000 loss. Amongst those fun two days came the biggest pot i have ever lost in a cash game....

- Heads Up. I am playing £15500. My opponent over double that. I get TT. He makes it £240. I make it £800. He calls. Flop T42. I lead out for £900. He calls. Turn K. no flush draws. I bet £1500. He makes it £3600. I call. River a 3. I bet £2000 and he pushes all in. I call. He has the old KK of course. That was a cold deck.

Flew to Baden on Friday. Decided i just couldn't bare to leave that much money behind online and as i wasn't playing till Sunday. I played from 10pm till 7pm the following day with only a few minutes break. I was treading water for most of it but the last hour was quite a rush, and i ended up winning £32000 for the session. Think thats the longest i have ever played without a proper break.

There was on absolute lunatic playing and he was all in at least once every round. One hand against him shows just how crazy he was for me to call all the way.

Game #2588165463: Hold'em NL (£40/£80) - 2006/10/07 - 14:24:38 (GMT)
Table "Swedeslove"
Seat 2 is the button.
Seat 1: Bennyboi (£9599 in chips)
Seat 2: DEBIDAX (£7760 in chips)
Seat 3: PokaHunta (£6584 in chips)
Seat 6: FOE (£10335 in chips)
Seat 7: TheSlayer (£9189 in chips)
Seat 8: dazzer1 (£13902 in chips)
PokaHunta: posts small blind £40
FOE: posts big blind £80
----- HOLE CARDS ----
dealt to Bennyboi [Kc Qs]
TheSlayer: folds
dazzer1: calls £80
Bennyboi: calls £80
DEBIDAX: folds
PokaHunta: calls £40
FOE: raises to £450
dazzer1: folds
Bennyboi: calls £370
PokaHunta: folds
----- FLOP ----- [Qd 4h 8h]
FOE: bets £888
Bennyboi: calls £888
----- TURN ----- [Qd 4h 8h][9c]
FOE: bets £2444
Bennyboi: calls £2444
----- RIVER ----- [Qd 4h 8h 9c][6d]
FOE: bets £6553 and is all-in
Bennyboi: is all-in £5817
Returned uncalled bets £736 to FOE
----- SHOW DOWN -----
FOE: shows [Td 8d] (A Pair of Eights, Queen high)
Bennyboi: shows [Kc Qs] (A Pair of Queens, King high)
Bennyboi collects £19353 from Main pot

So on to the EPT event in Baden! Well I busted in level one. Hmmm only really played two hands of note.

- AA in the BB. Everyone folds to SB who calls. I make it 100 more. Flop 247. He checks. I bet 150. He calls. Turn a Q. He checks. I bet 450. He calls. River a 2. He checks. I bet 1000. He makes it 2000. I call. He has 23!

- Down to 6500. I raise to 200 with JJ. Late position makes it 500. I call. Flop 27T. I check. He bets 900. I call. Turn 8. I check. He bets 1200. I call. River 2. I check. He bets 1200 again. I call. To be fair i knew i was beat and should have folded on the turn or maybe even the flop.

Then i donated my last 2000. Not really happy with that performance. I rarely bust early in big events. Its a long way to travel to play for an hour.

Got back online later in the day and was down £20000 again. Then played another all nighter and was winning £30000. I actually had £60000 on 3 No Limit tables at one point. Then i lost a big pot to a bad beat so decided to stop winning just short of £20000.

Not sure how long i will carry on playing these stakes. Its easy to lose £100000 playing well and just getting unlucky in less than a week.

On another note. My Omaha table image is now so bad that i get called down by two pair on boards with a flush and a straight. Ok so its good against me sometimes but come on. I managed a to go 3 hours 6 handed and raise every hand preflop. I will be continuing with that strategy for a while to see how my results are after a few weeks.

WCOOP

I should have kept some hand histories as i can only remember about 7/8 hands from the whole tournament. I won a big coin flip with a flush draw v two pair after a few hours to put me in the top 100 in chips. From about level 6/7 i was in the top 30 in chips for the rest of the tournament. I won a massive pot to make me chip leader in this hand.

- Blinds were 5000/10000. Mid position made it 35000. I reraised with 55 to 100000. I had about 800000 and him 600000. We were both in the top 20 in chips. It flop J95. He checked, i bet 100000 into a pot of 220000 and he pushed in for his stack. I called of course and he had KK. That put me on $1.4 million in chips and the next highest was $1.1 million at the time and there were about 60 left.

I stayed in the top 3/4 all the way until we were down to two tables. I won another big pot with 99 v AQ when i called a reraise all in for about 900,000 chips. Then i lost about the same amount when the button pushed for 20bb an i called in the bb with 99 and he had TT.

Someone on my last entry asked me to comment about this hand here.

The last two orbits it had folded around the me in the small blind and each time i made up the SB he put in a big raise and i folded. So K9 was a tricky hand when they folded again. I decided to raise as obviously K9 is probably ahead against one random hand. With his stack being close to 1 million... i also didn't want to raise to 240000 and give him the chance to resteal or reraise me out of the pot with a genuine hand, which his stack size would have been perfect to do. So i opted to raise 5 big blinds to 400000. When he pushed in for another 590000... i obviously didn't like it very much. I had to call 590000 chips to potentially win $2 million.... so i needed to be over 30% for it to be the correct maths call. There was a chance he could have a smaller pair than 99 and it be a coin flip. Even AQ, AJ, AT would have been ok for me to call in this spot. As it happened he did a hand that dominated me with AK and i hit two nines on the flop. That was my luckiest hand in the tournament.... i can't remember another one anywhere near like that.

I made the final being only all in once with the worst hand... the flush draw against two pair that i mentioned earlier...

One guy busted and we were down to eight which is where i finished. The following hands sealed my exit.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?536961

This is how the action went.

PokerStars Game #6496413628: Tournament #40000018 $2500+$100 Hold'em No Limit - Level XXIII (50000/100000) - 2006/10/02 - 04:53:50 (ET)
Table '40000018 24' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: area23JC (4799937 in chips)
Seat 2: GODFATHER 72 (3639424 in chips)
Seat 3: Numie2 (2314416 in chips)
Seat 4: Annette_15 (1746499 in chips)
Seat 5: DEEZZZ_NUTS (1356882 in chips)
Seat 6: hannibalrex (6646227 in chips)
Seat 8: milkybarkid (2188523 in chips)
Seat 9: Lefort (2408092 in chips)
area23JC: posts the ante 10000
GODFATHER 72: posts the ante 10000
Numie2: posts the ante 10000
Annette_15: posts the ante 10000
DEEZZZ_NUTS: posts the ante 10000
hannibalrex: posts the ante 10000
milkybarkid: posts the ante 10000
Lefort: posts the ante 10000
hannibalrex: posts small blind 50000
milkybarkid: posts big blind 100000

Holecards:
FOLD Lefort
FOLD area23JC
FOLD GODFATHER 72
RAISE Numie2, 150000 to 250000
FOLD Annette_15
RAISE DEEZZZ_NUTS, 1096882 to 1346882 and is all-in
FOLD hannibalrex
CALL milkybarkid, 1246882
FOLD Numie2

Basically Numie2 had raised the last two pots so it was likely he could have any hand especially as he is raising in mid/late position. DEEZZZ_NUTS reraise on the button could be a resteal, or he could have a good, but not great hand like a small pair or weaker Ace. I thought his range was far too big for me to pass AK. Ideally i wanted him to turn over a weaker Ace. He had KK unfortunately and i didn't hit the Ace. No regrets over the call though. I wanted to win.

I can't find the link for the hand i busted on. It was one or two hands later. I had about 750,000 and was dealt TT. Facing another raise and reraise, i could have gone back over $2 million if my hand was good. My opponent had QQ though and i missed. Busted!

The guy who won it JC Tran played so well throughout. I was in his table for ages and i couldn't win a pot against him, luckily the rest of the table couldn't win a pot against me.

I am obviously happy to have had such a good cash. It was only my second online multi this year. Its actually just a bit higher than any live tournament cash that i have had. I really felt like i was going to come in the top 3 when we got down to the last 40.... so was gutted when i busted out. I am sure if i keep putting myself in these positions the really big result i want won't be too far away!

Next stop Baden on Friday for the next EPT event. I would settle for accumulating over 3 million chips again in that!

WCOOP Main Event

PokerStars Tournament #40000018, No Limit Hold'emBuy-In: $2500.00/$100.00

2510 playersTotal Prize Pool: $6275000.00
Tournament started - 2006/10/01 - 16:30:00 (ET)

Dear milkybarkid, You finished the tournament in 8th place. A $119,225.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

Sooooooo close to winning the thing! Feel gutted again at the moment. Was 3/4th going into the final and walked AK into KK and TT into QQ. I was only all in with the worst hand on the final table. Feel like i want to sleep for a whole week!

Betfair Plug

There are some really good promotions for the Betfair Asian Poker Tour this weekend. Rather than type them out here is the link. Remember to download using this link if you want rakeback.

This is a very good one... there are loads more.

WINNING STREAKS
Win 5 Stts (6 or 10 handed) in a row at any stake during the weekend and you win a full package worth $8,000! Unlimited packages available to be won!
Just win five STTs in a row between 1800 (UK Time) on Friday 29th September 2006 and 0600 (UK Time) on Monday 2nd October and we'll be seeing you in Singapore!

Now all i need is a winning streak at the Omaha tables :-D

Big Stakes

The last few days i have been playing some £40/£80 No Limit Hold'em on Betfair with mixed results. The minimum buy in is £1600 and i have been sitting down with between that amount and £3500. I had a couple of winning days but yesterday was brutal. A £17000 down swing that i managed to claw back in the evening. Bad beat time now.... i had spun £1600 into £10000 when this happened.

- £40/£80 NL Hold'em. I limped in on the button with AA. SB calls and BB makes it £320. I call and the SB passes. Flop 227. He bets out £600. I call. Turn Q. He bets £1600. I min raise to £3200 and he pushes all in. I call and he shows Q7. River Q. That was a sick way to lose a £18000 pot.

The biggest pot i won was quite golden.

- £40/£80 NL Hold'em. I had 9dJd in the big blind and called a £240 raise from the small blind. Flop 6d7d8c. He bet £480. I made it £1200. He called. Turn Ts giving me the nuts :-). He moves all in for £3500 and is drawing dead with KT.

I also played the $1000 tourney on Stars. Busted with around half the field left with i had AQ on a AT2 flop. My opponent had AA lol.

If anyone is interested in going to Singapore for the Asian Poker Classic 12-17 November... i can offer you a discount on your accommodation at the 5* Meritus Mandarin Singapore. Drop me and email: bengrundy@hotmail.com

EPT Season 3 - London

Hmmmm

Got up to 27000 after 3 levels playing pretty good. Then i lost a few coin flips aganst shorter stacks and had a bad level and was down to 15000....

Card dead and everytime i raised, someone reraised big and i couldn't call.

The end was interesting though. I had 8700. Blinds 200/400. Running 25 ante.

I had just moved to a new table. Middle position opened for 1500 and i pushed all in for my stack with AQ. My opponent casually counted the extra chips which was a about half his stack and called. I feared i was dominated and he turned over K8 off. The King rivered in a pot just short of 20k which would have put me back in it. Sick.

EPT Season 3 - Barcelona Update 2

I busted in level 11.

Blinds 600/1200 with a running 100 ante. JP Kelly raised mid position to 5000 and i pushed my last 15000 in with AQ on the button.... he turned the nut flush! Given his range of hands he could be raising with... no regrets!

London in just a few days, and i am getting the long way back in my car on the ferry from Santander.