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

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.

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......

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!

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.

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....

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?

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.

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!

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 :-)

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.

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**

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.

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.....

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 %

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.

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....

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....

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!

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