10 Years

I just realised how to get my blog working again. Can't believe i started it 10 years ago, how time flies.

New Blog finally

So I’m back, it’s been a while but with all the time and energy spent on my house there’s been little time for playing. I’ve been managing the build of my new house which should be ready by Christmas, and I can’t wait to get in there, it’s been a long 15 months. It’s meant that I actually took a prolonged period off over the summer months. I’ve started on a new venture with Sharkstaking.com. I’m going to be lead trainer and ambassador for the site, helping them with every aspect of the staking business.

We’re looking for players all the time so make sure you sign up if you’re interested in a stake. One of the perks is that you may get me as a mentor.

Also been back at the tables for just over 2 weeks now and it’s been going well. I’ve been mainly playing iPoker and there’s been some big games running. This is my graph since I’ve been back, small heater…

Even better news is that I’ve managed to get some money onto Stars seeing as the games have been so good lately. It’s weird, I’ve never played much on there and Stars always made it so hard for me to deposit on there but I’m planning on making a run at it, and plan to take on Blom in the Isildur Challenge within the next couple of months if I can play PLO only. We had some epic run-ins on iPoker if the rumours of his IDs are true before, so it should be a fun match. I’ll be playing a few WCOOP tourneys and putting in some decent volume at in the big PLO games before Christmas, so hopefully I can run good and win a chunk before the end of 2011.

I promise to keep this blog updated, also I’m now on Twitter so I’ll try to share some interesting hands and situations with you as they arise.

Also, another thread has come up on 2+2, with some people challenging the validity of my lifetime results at PLO. Its just become boring now, so i've issued the following bet.

Terms of the bet if anyone wants it:

- If i can't prove beyond doubt that i've won at least $5,000,000 I'll pay out $60,000
- If i can prove beyond doubt that i've won at least $5,000,000 I win only $30,000

To motivate me to get closer to the $8 million in winnings, i'd like a bonus of $20,000 for each addition million proved.

So if i prove $5,100,000 for example i win $30,000. I win $50,000 if i prove between $6,000,000 and $7,000,000 etc

Gl at the tables,
Ben

Twitter

I signed up for Twitter, haven't got a clue what i'm doing yet......

http://twitter.com/#!/milkybarkiid

Stuff

Had a quietish April on the poker front. I tilt self excluded from Full Tilt for 28 days after i had a chunky loss at the end of May, so have only been playing the Euro sites. It was a winning month but nothing exciting, i only played 7,000 hands so i need to put in more hands i guess.

It will be interesting to see how Black Friday affects the games. I think on the Euro sites the games will carry on and probably be even busier. I also think the games at $25/$50 and $50/$100 will be easier on the US sites, lots of the biggest winners in the last few years are Americans, so it may be an opportunity we shall see...... i'm sure most of them will move or find some other way of playing again.

Not long till the WSOP kicks off as well. I'll be donating my usual buy ins to 4/5 PLO events i think, only planning a two week visit in the middle.....

Strangely Tilted

Was waiting for my heater to end before i posted again.... it was due.

Played really bad in the last 3-5 days and dropped around $100k. Not sure why i let it bother me when i lose at poker, but i still feel mega tilted every time it happens. I should just take it in my stride after doing this for so long.

Anyway, i tilt self excluded from Full Tilt for a week. The site generally tilts me anyway. Every time i look at the 25/50 PLO list its the same names who sit out. I think like at least 15 of them have never even played a hand against me. I've never sat out to any player on any site.... only short stacks and button limpers.

My graph since the last one. I was winning almost every day until the recent downsing. I've played 36k ish hands so far this year which is more than normal.

Probably run bad after this

Poker has been going alot better this year, think i sorted my head out after my downswing last year.... and haven't tilted too much at all this year. I'm happy with my graph for the year so far, these things always say i run above EV. I doubt i can keep up the results of the last six weeks, but its fun while it lasts.

I haven't played any live tournaments for ages. Hopefully i'll make it to EPT San Remo and Madrid. If not, i'm definitely going to Vegas for about 18 days in the summer.

Jan Update

Not much happening on the poker front. I quickly went up $75k on the year, only to give the same amount back mostly to the same fish. I always beat the good players and lose to the fish (I know he is a big fish as all the nitty regulars play him)

I've been really busy working on choosing everything for my new house, its still not going to be done for another 8 months though. The refurb/extension is also costing double what i budgeted... FML

I'm also training to run the London marathon for Wellchild, only done a few weeks training, and i'm going to have to do some serious work to break the four hour mark.

If anyone is feeling generous, and wants to sponsor a good cause, my sponsorship page is here.

New Year

Had a long break without hardly any playing. Time to get motoring again in the New Year :-)

Also, i changed the format of my blog, and lost my links doh!

Busy

I've probably played less poker in the last few months than at any point since i started playing for serious money online. This is mainly due to my bad run in August wiping out a big part of my available bankroll, and I currently have a huge project going on on the house i bought in London which is taking up alot of time, and much more money than i had originally planned. Plus my current place isn't selling which is very tilting, as i have way to much of my bankroll tied up to have $50k daily swings.

Anyway this year hasn't gone to plan. Jan-July were good, August - Now wiped out most of what i won in the first half of the year. I played bad, ran worse and lost amounts way bigger than my stop loss. So my bad second half of the year is mainly my fault, i should have lost about 40% of what i actually lost, the rest was just stupid.

I'm off travelling to South Africa till Xmas which i'm looking forward to then i'll be hitting the tables again in January. If i could have one wish for the new year it would be that sites (especially Full Tilt), found a way of fining the bumhunters that never play a single hand against a player that isn't a drooling moron (Googie Mon A, Cocomiel etc)

GL all

Some action

I played the WSOPE £2500 shorthanded and £5000 PLO... no good. Ran up decent stacks then lost flips.. pretty standard. I skipped the £10k WSOPE main and the EPT schedule. I've been grinding online, and only want to play NL tournaments when i'm super motivated, otherwise i don't really stand a chance.

I've just about recovered mentally from my sick August where i lost my record number of buy ins. What it made me realise is that keeping the money i've already won, is way more important than chasing alot more money. So i've generally been playing only $25/$50, rather then $50/$100 and bigger. I definitely miss the old Betfair site. I won probably 50-60% of my lifetime winning on there, and there hasn't been much action on the new site except for ring games. I hate sitting round waiting for HU games.

An update at last

Its been ages since my last update. Poker went well in April and May online, then i had a month off during Vegas. The last 4-6 weeks have been pretty bad. I'm sure i've been on the positive side of variance for most of the time i've played online, but i've run terrible recently. I've become obsessed my Poker Tracker 3 and it just tilts me so much now when i play a session where i run $50k below EV.

I'm at a weird stage with poker really. I can't be bothered to play small, as grinding doesn't really change my financial position at all. With all my money i've tied up in a couple of houses, i can't afford to play big and lose. Bleh... so if someone out there wants to bankroll me for $100/$200+ action on Full Tilt i'm open to offers :-).

I've also lost my Poker Tracker and the 300,000 odd hands i had on my computer. I had a major problem with it and had to restore it to its original state to fix the problems. I thought i'd saved the hands on an external disk drive, but obviously not. I'm pretty gutted about that. Someone also just keyed my Audi R8 as well for the second time this year - arrrrrrggggghhhh

Not sure when i'll next update the blog. I'm in two minds about retiring it. If i start playing big i'll update again.....

Veeeegas

Only a few weeks now before i fly to Vegas. I'm staying at Encore and plan playing 5 or 6 of the bigger buy in events, not staying for the main, so i'll have to buy some percentages in some friends.

Hardly been playing at all online. Its been going well when i have, and i've been playing smaller (25/50 down to 10/20), as the games are so much easier than even 50/100. I've been running at about 25 big blinds/100 HU in the last six weeks, which pretty unsustainable, but very enjoyable while it lasts.

I've put/am putting a huge chunk of my bankroll into a house in London that i'm doing a full refurb on (basement, gym, cinema room, bar etc). That money will never be going back into the poker communuty :-) ... organising the work that needs doing is far more stressful than poker has ever been. Its a pretty steep learning curve, and i hope the place will be awsome when its finished in around a year. So many decisions to make......

I really now can't afford to go on a high six figure downswing now, but i think its refocused me and i'm playing good at the moment. A big tournament score would be amazing at the moment. Fingers crossed.....

Random Stuff

This post may be a bit waffly.....

I played the SCOOP $5k PLO... no good. I got it all in on the turn with top two and open ender, against middle two and two flush draws, river a flush... pretty standard really. I skipped the $10k main, the time zone for Euro players is terrible unless you get into a rhythm of staying up all night, and i would have begun to tire only 5 hours into the tourney, which would have made it extremely tough to do well.

Getting into the zone. For me anyway, there is such a difference in how i play after i've had a shower, gone to the gym and eaten before i even consider playing. Often my worst days are when i roll out of bed and start playing before i've even grabbed a glass of water. I'd love to see the actual stats, but the difference it makes is huge.

I read the poker forums a bit, but thats about the only poker stuff i ever read. I don't have a HUD (i think thats the term)... don't even know what it is really. I've never read a poker strategy book, i've never studied statistics on my opponents, and never sat out/quit a player even when they have beaten me over a decent sample. I'm a pretty competitive person, and i hate to lose so much at anything, that sitting out against someone just seams so weak so i never do it. I wander if i'd be a much better player if i spent hours studying hand histories, had a HUD running etc. I don't really get how all the big game selectors expect to get any better if they never even play anyone competant.

Durrrr challenge. I've actually considered giving this a go.... the offer of $1.5 million if i beat him, compared to paying out $500,000 is really appealing. I'd definitely do it if i could sell a big enough percentage. I'd guess the worse case scenario would be losing $2 million ish, then having to pay up $500k. I'm way to much of a bankroll nit to take the chance of that kind of loss. It would be interesting, i'm not ruling it out under the right circumstances.

An Upswing

Online poker has been going much better in the last month. Below is the graph of my year so far. I had a really frustrating first 10,000 hands this year, but its been going alot better since that. I've been sticking to a stringent $40k a day stop loss in the last month, which i think has helped my results and sanity alot....

Monte Carlo

Got back from Monte Carlo a couple of days ago...

Played the main event. Had the best starting table anyone could imagine in a 10k euro buy in event. Finished Day 1 with 58k ish chips. There were three terrible players on the table. Limp calling 3 bets with Q6 off, and crazy stuff like that. It was a race to get their chips.

Second day i busted level 2 all in pre with KK v TT. T was the door card and that was that. You can't push on and do well in these big events if you can't win those.

Other than that, Monte Carlo was great. Weather for once was amazing throughout. Had some good meals. Lost credit card roulette for 3 meals with 6 people, 5 people and 5 people. 150/1 to lose all three FML. Needless to say everyone enjoyed me losing them all immensely.

Vegas is only 6 or so weeks away, and i'll be playing about 8 events there i guess....

Everything changes

There were times many times over the last five years of playing online PLO, that i felt unbeatable. I never played nosebleeds, apart from the odd tilt shot, and was happy getting the lot at $50/$100. I used to win maybe 7/10 days, and i once remember a streak of 28 winning days. The easy days seem over for the time being.

There are many problems with the games at the moment. Online HU PLO has become full of "game selectors", basically nits that sit around all day waiting for one or two super fish. They don't even play the bad regulars....

The games are dry on the Euro sites, and most of the players on Full Tilt who will play me HU $50/$100 or higher are at least competent. I don't have the patience to sit around for 8 hours waiting for a fish to arrive.... so often end up playing big winners.

This is a bit of a rambling post. Anyway, i'm not losing this year, but my goals have drastically changed. I'll be ecstatic if i make $1 million this year in online poker, i have very little chance of the $10 million online poker graph i was aiming for by the end of 2010. I will get there before i retire though.....

Just kinda bored of poker at the moment, though i am looking forward to Monte Carlo and Vegas. Maybe i'll luckbox some tournament and love poker again

Tech Help

I need some computer advice.

Basically i have a decent set up. Computer/two giant monitors. I have major problems with my connection. It lags all the time/often disconnects. My main computer is wireless through a Belkin dongle. I have two wireless providers BT and Sky.... whichever i'm connected to i get the same issues.

Anyone recommend a company that can give me a 100% reliable connection? Even if it means getting my set up wired in/paying alot of money. Disconnections cost me a fortune.

February Update

February has been a bit better than January, at least i'm up for the year now. I seem to have slipped into winning and losing on alternate days which is very frustrating, as its hard to get a run going. Every time i win $100k i seem to lose it the next day, i'm sure the run good will return sometime soon.

Some of the hands that tilted me lately....

Must be nice to run like Cole South

Well played Durrrr

Hmmmmmm

I'm off skiing next week, then Berlin for the EPT.... after that San Remo and Monte Carlo, and even the WSOP in Vegas doesn't seem that far away.

New Year

Haven't posted for about six weeks or so, i pretty much took most of December off apart from a profitable drunken session at midnight on Xmas Eve when i didn't remember any hands....

I'm slowly getting back into playing. I find the desire/motivation you need to win at high stakes in this game burns a little less than it did a few years ago, after five years of doing any job i guess thats inevitable.

I've been having $50-$100k swings at 25/50 and 50/100 PLO games which is pretty standard for me. I've made a sluggish start to 2010 running about $150,000 below EV. I had two disasterous sessions where i won a total of 7/40 odd all ins, when i should have won around 22/23... hopefully i'll save my run good for when i start hitting 100/200 again.

A few people suggested my $7.8 million PLO graph was fake. Of course, yes its possible to purge sessions on Poker Tracker, but to this day i've never purged a single session. Below is a screenshot of my worst 11 sessions which total about $800k is losses... with my profit still at $7,695,980






















I've been looking at the various EPT's coming up and have decided to play Berlin and Monte Carlo. I've already booked my room for the WSOP, and always look forward to the annual trip to Vegas in the summer.

My next blog i promise to analyse some hands because i haven't done that for ages.....

End of year stuff

I played the $25000 HU PLO Championship on Full Tilt. I was on tilt before i even played it, because i was in a $500 satelite for a free seat, which i made the final of, and got all in on a coin flip when i had a 3.8k/2.2k chip lead, and didn't end up getting the seat. This happened less than 5 minutes before the start of the tournament, which wasn't good timing.

I then played Harrington25. He played like a super nit, limping every button etc. Plus he showed every bluff, and i admit, i was tilted. I ended up going out with two pair v bottom set. People can play how they want i guess, but i was looking forward to some fun matches, which wasn't what i got....

I know its a bit early to early to do my end of year review, but i'm taking the rest of the year off, so i may as well. My aims at the start of the year were:

- 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+

I only managed the two aims i highlighted. I kind of feel like i've had a bad year at poker, but i had a really good first seven months, followed by a very bad few months in September and October, which i had my worst downswing, which i since just about recovered. The highlight of the year was getting 3rd in the WSOP $2500 event for $150,000.

Time for some graphs.

50/100 Lifetime

Total Lifetime Omaha

I'm pretty shocked by my lifetime Omaha graph shows me $7.8 million up. I added a bunch of aliases from old Crypto days like 4 years ago, which i hadn't used in my results before, which put about $500k on to the total. I must also be around a $500k loser on various laptops when away on poker trips and holidays. It's pretty sick because i'm wandering where all my money has gone......

Time for some aims for next year.

- Update my blog more
- Reach $10 million in lifetime winnings
- Win a WSOP or EPT event
- Play more on Full Tilt

- Try and not play so badly so often

- Not lose over $100k in a day (unless playing 200/400+)