Full Tilt suck!
I tried to transfer some of my tourney winnings out of my account the other day after winning that little $5 turbo but they wouldn't let me! They told me i needed to make a deposit on a bank card and then i could withdraw to that account. No worries i thought, tried to deposit - Unsuccessful. And into the bargain they then freeze my account until i send them proof of ID. I do this and then have to wait 2 days for a generic, copy/pasted reply informing me my photo IDs not valid and nor is my bank statement as its over 60 days old. No response to my comments/questions in my previous email to them!
I replied attaching a choice of 2 different bank statements/utility bills and further explanation as to why i'm not able to meet their photo ID requirements (my passports out of date). I also requested a prompt response seeing as time is dragging on with MY funds frozen in THEIR bank accounts making them money.
3 days later and i'm still waiting for a reply! When they eventually get around to it, no doubt i'll get another copy/pasted response which doesn't directly address any of my previous questions! All i want is my money - i don't care if i can never play there again! In fact, i may even choose not to if this drags on much longer!
sigh :(
I wish more sites had MAC compatible clients so i had more choice of sites!
Rant Over.
Wednesday 22 December 2010
Thursday 16 December 2010
Highs & Lows
After my earlier post talking of my good feelings about December things took a turn for the worse...
Eleven of the last thirteen days have been losing ones which obviously hasn't helped my micro bankroll much! I was getting quite a few deepish runs but kept coming up short all the time - Just the nature of playing MTTs. Despite this and my rapidly shrinking bankroll i still felt positive (ish) and kept on grinding away. I was playing well and knew a big score was just around the corner.
My Pokerstars Cashier was looking extremely unhealthy and i was forced to grind $1 tourneys but to no avail... My current bankroll on Stars stands at $0.04. I was subdued to the fact that i'd have redeposit on there but in an ironic twist, i entered a $5.50 turbo on Full Tilt this evening as it caught my eye during late registration. I like turbos... see myself as a lower volume and micro stakes version of MI_Turtle. haha
Not only did i have another deep run but somehow managed to take it down! Not once do i recall getting my $ in bad either (except against short stacks). Just managed to win my flips when it mattered and pick up the blinds when i got a chance. There was a monster stack at the Final table who did a good job of running hot and basically killed every pot he was in! He made life quite easy for me as i managed to win a few flips and grind my way to HU with him. A few minutes of chipping up a little and i got it in with 6's v his A9 and the 6 on the flop gave me a set and the chip lead, albeit by the equivalent of a SB or something stupid.
At this point he offered a chip EV deal which i happily accepted as the blinds were so big i was happy to take the $815 and the tourney win on paper.
I think i had the advantage over him but with such big blinds and a fragile bankroll i thought it best to just get the $ in the bank so to speak.
SO... Finally i'm back on form with a little MTT win. Not huge by any means but at least i have some $ to work with now and will be able to avoid the embarrassment of having to redeposit if i can find someone to do a Full Tilt to Stars transfer.
In other news, I went to the solicitors last week and signed the papers to my house so all going well i'll be a homeowner as of next week and be £20k richer... well kinda.
I'm buying the house off my parents so i'm getting a decent deal on the place and getting £20k back off them when the mortgage money comes through to spend on doing a load of work on the place. Looks like 2011 could be a busy year development wise.
I could really do with some run good indefinitely now i have a mortgage to cover!
Also... SNOW forecast for Friday and over the weekend... Result.
Eleven of the last thirteen days have been losing ones which obviously hasn't helped my micro bankroll much! I was getting quite a few deepish runs but kept coming up short all the time - Just the nature of playing MTTs. Despite this and my rapidly shrinking bankroll i still felt positive (ish) and kept on grinding away. I was playing well and knew a big score was just around the corner.
My Pokerstars Cashier was looking extremely unhealthy and i was forced to grind $1 tourneys but to no avail... My current bankroll on Stars stands at $0.04. I was subdued to the fact that i'd have redeposit on there but in an ironic twist, i entered a $5.50 turbo on Full Tilt this evening as it caught my eye during late registration. I like turbos... see myself as a lower volume and micro stakes version of MI_Turtle. haha
Not only did i have another deep run but somehow managed to take it down! Not once do i recall getting my $ in bad either (except against short stacks). Just managed to win my flips when it mattered and pick up the blinds when i got a chance. There was a monster stack at the Final table who did a good job of running hot and basically killed every pot he was in! He made life quite easy for me as i managed to win a few flips and grind my way to HU with him. A few minutes of chipping up a little and i got it in with 6's v his A9 and the 6 on the flop gave me a set and the chip lead, albeit by the equivalent of a SB or something stupid.
At this point he offered a chip EV deal which i happily accepted as the blinds were so big i was happy to take the $815 and the tourney win on paper.
I think i had the advantage over him but with such big blinds and a fragile bankroll i thought it best to just get the $ in the bank so to speak.
SO... Finally i'm back on form with a little MTT win. Not huge by any means but at least i have some $ to work with now and will be able to avoid the embarrassment of having to redeposit if i can find someone to do a Full Tilt to Stars transfer.
In other news, I went to the solicitors last week and signed the papers to my house so all going well i'll be a homeowner as of next week and be £20k richer... well kinda.
I'm buying the house off my parents so i'm getting a decent deal on the place and getting £20k back off them when the mortgage money comes through to spend on doing a load of work on the place. Looks like 2011 could be a busy year development wise.
I could really do with some run good indefinitely now i have a mortgage to cover!
Also... SNOW forecast for Friday and over the weekend... Result.
Sunday 5 December 2010
Bench Clearance
Some footage from last nights Nottingham v Coventry hockey match - well worth a watch!
Neither are my team (Cardiff Devils) but they're both top teams in our league.
For anyone not a hockey regular who doesn't understand fighting in the game. Its a good explanation of how a poor refereeing decision is usually the cause of most fights.
Bench clearances are quite rare - maybe one or two per season across the whole league - but are always fun to watch and get the adrenaline flowing both on and off the ice.
One of the things i love about hockey is how it can be so physical on the ice yet the home and away fans all 'get on' reasonably well. You never get fighting or anything and can quite often have a chat in the bar and mingle both pre and post match whereas in football, on the pitch they fall over at the slightest touch and then all the fans try to kill each other after the match....
Hockey FTW imo...
Shattered now and got to be up in 4 hours to get to the rink for Cardiff v Dundee game! - Sleep zzz
EDIT: And there was a bit more of the same after they restarted the game... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmO_kbibz4s
Thursday 2 December 2010
Fallen at the Final Hurdle
November... Kinda glad to see the back of it in poker terms.
I managed to avoid a second losing month but it equally was a struggle make a profit at all, eventually ending the month with just $26.75. Possibly my worst ever profitable month?!
Most of the damage was done at the start of the month with the sngs and i only just managed to rescue it by running above EV in the micro stakes PLO as you can see in the graph below.
On the topic of PLO... Although i'm in profit, even in EV terms, i'm quite frustrated that i'm not killing the game. I see loads of bad play (now i come to think of it... largely by myself! haha) yet am apparently struggling to beat micro stakes even. Not sure what to do with it - I've watched a fair few training videos which all seem to largely state the obvious to me. Why can't i beat $10 PLO? I know i have small volume but i would've thought i'd have seen a more positive graph even over low volume? I have no idea though as am a novice when it comes to cash game stats...
December... I had a good feeling about this month and it almost came true on the first night!
Having struggled with the PLO recently i decided to have a night of mtt grinding seeing as i had a load of free time overnight to kill. It was also inspired by a friends big score yesterday which i'll come onto later. Played a total of 17 mtts, all on Stars, cashed in 5 of them and came very close to a very healthy score in 2 only to fall at the final hurdle (hence my posts title)
Firstly, the $5 rebuy where i finished 18th/960 - Was in the top 10 for most the tourney but went a bit card dead once i was in the $$$. AK < 4s on a A64 flop (i had the nut flush draw too so was never getting away from it)
then... in the $11 Freezeout 11th/2883 Q's < KJ on a 9 high flop... He rivered a J high flush. Frustratingly in this one i was chipped up nicely too... ahh well. Next time :)
On a plus note, tonights results still managed to help increase my current micro bankroll by about 75% so that helps things a bit. I'm actually enjoying playing in general now too which is something i've lacked over the summer.
Winters officially here in UK and its been pretty cold the last few weeks. Night temperatures consistently well below freezing and day time temperatures barely getting over 0c... I LOVE it :)
Had 4 days of snow too which is brill for this time of year although only 1 of the 4 days gave any significant amounts. I live in the South West of the country which is one of the least badly effected areas. Long may this trend continue :) Sure beats the usual wind and rain and +9 degrees conditions we usually get at this point in early winter!
A few pics from my garden.
I managed to avoid a second losing month but it equally was a struggle make a profit at all, eventually ending the month with just $26.75. Possibly my worst ever profitable month?!
Most of the damage was done at the start of the month with the sngs and i only just managed to rescue it by running above EV in the micro stakes PLO as you can see in the graph below.
On the topic of PLO... Although i'm in profit, even in EV terms, i'm quite frustrated that i'm not killing the game. I see loads of bad play (now i come to think of it... largely by myself! haha) yet am apparently struggling to beat micro stakes even. Not sure what to do with it - I've watched a fair few training videos which all seem to largely state the obvious to me. Why can't i beat $10 PLO? I know i have small volume but i would've thought i'd have seen a more positive graph even over low volume? I have no idea though as am a novice when it comes to cash game stats...
December... I had a good feeling about this month and it almost came true on the first night!
Having struggled with the PLO recently i decided to have a night of mtt grinding seeing as i had a load of free time overnight to kill. It was also inspired by a friends big score yesterday which i'll come onto later. Played a total of 17 mtts, all on Stars, cashed in 5 of them and came very close to a very healthy score in 2 only to fall at the final hurdle (hence my posts title)
Firstly, the $5 rebuy where i finished 18th/960 - Was in the top 10 for most the tourney but went a bit card dead once i was in the $$$. AK < 4s on a A64 flop (i had the nut flush draw too so was never getting away from it)
then... in the $11 Freezeout 11th/2883 Q's < KJ on a 9 high flop... He rivered a J high flush. Frustratingly in this one i was chipped up nicely too... ahh well. Next time :)
On a plus note, tonights results still managed to help increase my current micro bankroll by about 75% so that helps things a bit. I'm actually enjoying playing in general now too which is something i've lacked over the summer.
Winters officially here in UK and its been pretty cold the last few weeks. Night temperatures consistently well below freezing and day time temperatures barely getting over 0c... I LOVE it :)
Had 4 days of snow too which is brill for this time of year although only 1 of the 4 days gave any significant amounts. I live in the South West of the country which is one of the least badly effected areas. Long may this trend continue :) Sure beats the usual wind and rain and +9 degrees conditions we usually get at this point in early winter!
A few pics from my garden.
Taken on my iphone so not the best quality but you get the idea... The bottom pic is a horse even if it does look more like a donkey! lol
On a closing note - A HUGE congrats to my good friend Henry 'Swistoni' Griffiths on a huge night yesterday on Stars.
He final tabled 3 big mtts on Stars including beating the huge $3 rebuy field to win it outright making for a +$15,400 payday. All from low stakes mtts. He's always been an excellent player but started out as more of a live player (as i used to like winding him up about - his online record was far from great). He's gradually got better and better over the past couple years and although he's won events online before last nights big run, i think this proves he's eventually surpassed myself & mastered the online game too! :) If thats not going to motivate me to get some big scores in the coming months i don't know what will! haha
WP SIR!
Monday 22 November 2010
Back to school
Although i knew i was running well to start with i hadn't really planned on my graph turning ugly straight after blogging about my plans. Looks like i have plenty of learning left to do... I actually find it quite embarrassing to post my results as i'm running well above EV apparently.
The big difference in EV has come largely from two hands where i've ended up reluctantly getting overly involved pre flop and getting all in against 2 opponents both times. Then getting lucky! Once with 5678 and another pot with double suited K's. Neither pot was hugely -EV but in winning both i ran well above EV in them.
I seem to be mildly obsessed by my EV line. If i'm running below it i get frustrated but as soon as i'm running above EV i feel embarrassed about it! I'm not too sure where i'm going wrong in PLO. so far. I think i'm perhaps getting to the river and then folding too often and maybe not protecting my bigger hands well enough but i'm not too sure. Learning PLO cash is proving quite difficult as not only am i learning the intricacies of PLO but i'm learning to play cash when i'm used to sngs and mtts. I think the latter is the most difficult part to adapt to and possibly my biggest problem at the moment. Perhaps i'm approaching the games in the wrong way?
I would post my positional stats but can't figure out how to export them as an jpeg file on the mac... I really need to find a cheap coach though to offer some advice on where my leaks are as i get the feeling the videos aren't specific enough to help me in the cash games.
Perhaps i'm fussing about nothing and just need to put in more volume. I'm just finding it frustrating that i seemingly can't even beat micro stakes cash games so what hope do i have when i move up - something i want to do asap. I think i just need to get some sleep and i'll hopefully feel more positive again! Could do with winning at this game called poker 1 day soon as i'm fast heading for another losing month which is unheard of in my world of success! :)
The only real plus point of this is that i'm racking up fpps on Stars much quicker and easier in these cash games than the tourney grind and am actually enjoying myself while playing again.
On a slightly different note - I've just bought a small % of MI_Turtle in his USA COOP bid. I think he offers excellent value as he's one of the best players about at the moment in the online game and offer % at cost value and sometimes even less as he throws in extra promos and covers any additional rebuys in tourneys out his own pocket. Hopefully he can have a good series and make me some $$$ as i certainly can't make much myself recently! GL Nick!
The big difference in EV has come largely from two hands where i've ended up reluctantly getting overly involved pre flop and getting all in against 2 opponents both times. Then getting lucky! Once with 5678 and another pot with double suited K's. Neither pot was hugely -EV but in winning both i ran well above EV in them.
I seem to be mildly obsessed by my EV line. If i'm running below it i get frustrated but as soon as i'm running above EV i feel embarrassed about it! I'm not too sure where i'm going wrong in PLO. so far. I think i'm perhaps getting to the river and then folding too often and maybe not protecting my bigger hands well enough but i'm not too sure. Learning PLO cash is proving quite difficult as not only am i learning the intricacies of PLO but i'm learning to play cash when i'm used to sngs and mtts. I think the latter is the most difficult part to adapt to and possibly my biggest problem at the moment. Perhaps i'm approaching the games in the wrong way?
I would post my positional stats but can't figure out how to export them as an jpeg file on the mac... I really need to find a cheap coach though to offer some advice on where my leaks are as i get the feeling the videos aren't specific enough to help me in the cash games.
Perhaps i'm fussing about nothing and just need to put in more volume. I'm just finding it frustrating that i seemingly can't even beat micro stakes cash games so what hope do i have when i move up - something i want to do asap. I think i just need to get some sleep and i'll hopefully feel more positive again! Could do with winning at this game called poker 1 day soon as i'm fast heading for another losing month which is unheard of in my world of success! :)
The only real plus point of this is that i'm racking up fpps on Stars much quicker and easier in these cash games than the tourney grind and am actually enjoying myself while playing again.
On a slightly different note - I've just bought a small % of MI_Turtle in his USA COOP bid. I think he offers excellent value as he's one of the best players about at the moment in the online game and offer % at cost value and sometimes even less as he throws in extra promos and covers any additional rebuys in tourneys out his own pocket. Hopefully he can have a good series and make me some $$$ as i certainly can't make much myself recently! GL Nick!
Thursday 18 November 2010
PLO Learner
The past week has been the final round of the World Rally Championship, conveniently based in my home town of Cardiff. This means i've spent many hours away from the computer in wet Welsh forests!
As a result, i've once again not put many hours in of online pokerz (another convenient excuse i know!)
I've been dabbling in a bit of PLO for a while now, have taken down the a few small tourneys, etc but have never been confident enough with my post flop play to play cash seriously. I've decided i'm going to set out to change that over the coming months!
I seem to be constantly on the look out for sngs which are over in no time at all so i can keep a flexible schedule as i struggle to keep concentration for much over an hour or 2 long sessions. The obvious thing to do would be to play cash games but i've never felt comfortable in them. I think its just as much that i like having a set goal with sngs and mtts (i.e. winning them) whereas cash games just seemed like an endless grind. I've played a few short sessions of micro PLO the past week though and have quite enjoyed the experience so it can't hurt too much to have a crack at them, especially considering how badly the sngs have been going recently. The first few sessions have actually been fairly positive as you can see from the graph below.
Before i get everyone telling me the results mean nothing as my sample size is so small - i'm fully aware of this. Got to start somewhere though and i'd rather be feeling positive with a nice enough looking graph. Only playing $10 plo at the moment but plan on moving up once i've won 30 or so buy ins. I basically want to take my time moving up and learn the game at the low stakes. I know i can be profitable at it but am also aware that i probably have a lot of big leaks in my game at the moment! Would rather lose the minimum while learning and prove to myself that i can beat each level before moving up.
I notice the great Scotsman, Mr Daleroxxu is also in the process of making the transition from sngs to PLO cash, albeit at higher stakes no doubt and probably with more success than myself! I look forward to following his progress. On the topic of Dale - I'd like to extend a big Congrats on getting signed up to Team Pokerstars: online. Best of luck with it Sir!
Knowing me i'll come running back to the sngs in a few weeks time with my tail between my legs but i could do with a change for the time being and if it works out then it'll be great. If it doesn't, it can only serve to improve my all round game! Im not planning on abandoning sngs and mtts altogether. I just want to achieve a healthier all round balance.
Please feel free to offer words of advice if you're familiar with the PLO cash scene and if anyone fancies sharing HH's or discussing the game online let me know. Alternatively, if anyone can suggest a good PLO coach with an affordable hourly rate please point me in their direction! :)
I'll keep everyone updated with progress.
As a result, i've once again not put many hours in of online pokerz (another convenient excuse i know!)
I've been dabbling in a bit of PLO for a while now, have taken down the a few small tourneys, etc but have never been confident enough with my post flop play to play cash seriously. I've decided i'm going to set out to change that over the coming months!
I seem to be constantly on the look out for sngs which are over in no time at all so i can keep a flexible schedule as i struggle to keep concentration for much over an hour or 2 long sessions. The obvious thing to do would be to play cash games but i've never felt comfortable in them. I think its just as much that i like having a set goal with sngs and mtts (i.e. winning them) whereas cash games just seemed like an endless grind. I've played a few short sessions of micro PLO the past week though and have quite enjoyed the experience so it can't hurt too much to have a crack at them, especially considering how badly the sngs have been going recently. The first few sessions have actually been fairly positive as you can see from the graph below.
Before i get everyone telling me the results mean nothing as my sample size is so small - i'm fully aware of this. Got to start somewhere though and i'd rather be feeling positive with a nice enough looking graph. Only playing $10 plo at the moment but plan on moving up once i've won 30 or so buy ins. I basically want to take my time moving up and learn the game at the low stakes. I know i can be profitable at it but am also aware that i probably have a lot of big leaks in my game at the moment! Would rather lose the minimum while learning and prove to myself that i can beat each level before moving up.
I notice the great Scotsman, Mr Daleroxxu is also in the process of making the transition from sngs to PLO cash, albeit at higher stakes no doubt and probably with more success than myself! I look forward to following his progress. On the topic of Dale - I'd like to extend a big Congrats on getting signed up to Team Pokerstars: online. Best of luck with it Sir!
Knowing me i'll come running back to the sngs in a few weeks time with my tail between my legs but i could do with a change for the time being and if it works out then it'll be great. If it doesn't, it can only serve to improve my all round game! Im not planning on abandoning sngs and mtts altogether. I just want to achieve a healthier all round balance.
Please feel free to offer words of advice if you're familiar with the PLO cash scene and if anyone fancies sharing HH's or discussing the game online let me know. Alternatively, if anyone can suggest a good PLO coach with an affordable hourly rate please point me in their direction! :)
I'll keep everyone updated with progress.
Tuesday 9 November 2010
October review, November Plans, etc
As expected, October ended as only my 3rd losing month... Only -$35.64 though so hardly too damaging. Just frustrating more than anything as i seem to be treading water a lot recently. Roll on the upswing :)
November has continued with the same downward trend though. Currently down about $75. I've reverted back to the 45 man sngs on Stars so things can turn around quite quickly in these bigger fields so $75 down is nothing. Just wish i could hurry up and start making some forward progress and build up the bankroll so i can play some bigger stakes than the $6.50s!
I feel like my break even stretch the last couple of months has been largely down to variance and generally running bad however i have no doubt that my 6 months of playing very little has probably left me a bit out of practice. As a result i decided to rejoin a poker training site to rebuild my confidence and hammer home the basics and perhaps even learn a little more.
I've chosen to go with PokerXfactor. I've always been a fan of the site, am a big Johnnybax fan and they've always been very accomodating. I emailed them to ask about rejoining and they kindly waived the signup fee for me as i was an old member so that saved me a few $. Now i've just got to find the time to sit down and watch some videos! I always find them a good thing to watch when i feel too tired or just not feeling up to grinding. Got to spend money to make money!
I'm considering having a look into trying to play some cash PLO and see how that goes. I've been considering it for a while but never stick at it so i won't set any big goals just yet but i plan on having a dabble in some low stakes PLO, watch a few training videos and hopefully give myself a shot at being able to make some $ from cash games for a change. My main reason for this is that i want to have the most flexible schedule i can so cash obviously allows this. I think should help my all round game as well though so it cant hurt!
I'll leave you on a lighter note - Pokerstars banned TV advert. Its hardly surprising why it was banned but it still made me laugh as i didn't see where it was going until the end message
November has continued with the same downward trend though. Currently down about $75. I've reverted back to the 45 man sngs on Stars so things can turn around quite quickly in these bigger fields so $75 down is nothing. Just wish i could hurry up and start making some forward progress and build up the bankroll so i can play some bigger stakes than the $6.50s!
I feel like my break even stretch the last couple of months has been largely down to variance and generally running bad however i have no doubt that my 6 months of playing very little has probably left me a bit out of practice. As a result i decided to rejoin a poker training site to rebuild my confidence and hammer home the basics and perhaps even learn a little more.
I'm considering having a look into trying to play some cash PLO and see how that goes. I've been considering it for a while but never stick at it so i won't set any big goals just yet but i plan on having a dabble in some low stakes PLO, watch a few training videos and hopefully give myself a shot at being able to make some $ from cash games for a change. My main reason for this is that i want to have the most flexible schedule i can so cash obviously allows this. I think should help my all round game as well though so it cant hurt!
I'll leave you on a lighter note - Pokerstars banned TV advert. Its hardly surprising why it was banned but it still made me laugh as i didn't see where it was going until the end message
Sunday 31 October 2010
Bye bye bankroll :(
The last couple days have been pretty vile. Im used to running bad and downswings in poker but this month has been super frustrating and rather depressing! Unless something turns around this afternoon, i look set to be heading for a losing month - only my 2nd or 3rd ever!
I decided to try to grind the Super Turbos on Full Tilt as they looked fun, were flexible which is what i wanted (i seem to suck at cash so this was the next best thing) and i think my short stack ninja play is one of the best parts of my game. They seemed ideal. I never played on Full Tilt really so just transferred $150 across and started out at the $5 level. They proved a bit of a grind and i didn't fly through them as quickly as id expected but i did make steady profit. Once i hit $300 i moved up to the $10 stakes. Equally as bad play everywhere you look yet frustratingly i was struggling to capitalise. I had the odd short upswing but that was regularly followed by a similar size downswing. Just couldn't get anything going but struggled on :) Got up to about $450 bankroll and was feeling semi happy about how things were progressing but then it all went wrong. In the space of about 50 games i barely cashed in any and simply couldn't win regardless how good i got it in. Endless beats and my graph and bankroll both quickly became a write off. Its not losing the $ that hurts - its the time and effort i put in to build it and then the speed and severity it got wiped out! Don't think i've experienced such a violent swing before since i started playing 4 years ago (in severity terms as opposed the $).
I guess i should've quickly moved back to the $5 games but i really couldn't face grinding them again. I was only playing them as i wanted the 'fun' and satisfaction of building my roll up from the bottom (well almost the bottom).
Not sure what to do now though. I don't want to stop playing these super turbos as i'm sure i can beat them for a decent roi (probably about 8% roi at lower limits) but equally don't really feel like it after the last couple days.
Im struggling a little as well with not having Table Ninja on the mac. Im really reluctant to run dual boot and play on windows as i think it defeats the point of having a mac but equally i could really do with having table ninja. I've also got to put up with PT3 which sucks compared to Hold'em Manager. And despite of all of this - i still maintain the macs better :)
Anyway - any words of sympathy and support are much appreciated at this difficult time for me... lol
Lets hope i can turn this around and quickly...
I decided to try to grind the Super Turbos on Full Tilt as they looked fun, were flexible which is what i wanted (i seem to suck at cash so this was the next best thing) and i think my short stack ninja play is one of the best parts of my game. They seemed ideal. I never played on Full Tilt really so just transferred $150 across and started out at the $5 level. They proved a bit of a grind and i didn't fly through them as quickly as id expected but i did make steady profit. Once i hit $300 i moved up to the $10 stakes. Equally as bad play everywhere you look yet frustratingly i was struggling to capitalise. I had the odd short upswing but that was regularly followed by a similar size downswing. Just couldn't get anything going but struggled on :) Got up to about $450 bankroll and was feeling semi happy about how things were progressing but then it all went wrong. In the space of about 50 games i barely cashed in any and simply couldn't win regardless how good i got it in. Endless beats and my graph and bankroll both quickly became a write off. Its not losing the $ that hurts - its the time and effort i put in to build it and then the speed and severity it got wiped out! Don't think i've experienced such a violent swing before since i started playing 4 years ago (in severity terms as opposed the $).
I guess i should've quickly moved back to the $5 games but i really couldn't face grinding them again. I was only playing them as i wanted the 'fun' and satisfaction of building my roll up from the bottom (well almost the bottom).Not sure what to do now though. I don't want to stop playing these super turbos as i'm sure i can beat them for a decent roi (probably about 8% roi at lower limits) but equally don't really feel like it after the last couple days.
Im struggling a little as well with not having Table Ninja on the mac. Im really reluctant to run dual boot and play on windows as i think it defeats the point of having a mac but equally i could really do with having table ninja. I've also got to put up with PT3 which sucks compared to Hold'em Manager. And despite of all of this - i still maintain the macs better :)
Anyway - any words of sympathy and support are much appreciated at this difficult time for me... lol
Lets hope i can turn this around and quickly...
Friday 15 October 2010
New Pc, Ireland, grind time.... Maybe
G'day,
Apologies for my lack of recent updates - I've had nothing to report.
As i may have moaned about previously, My PC has been playing up for the last 3 months! I only bought it in Jan so its still under warranty but they're pretty useless. They tried to blame my dual monitors then blamed the graphics card (so i bought a new one), then blamed my PSU (so i bought a new one... still no success). Most recently they've come out and replaced the Hard drive... I'm waiting on them to send me out some recovery discs now to reboot it. I got fed up of waiting though so decided to go out and buy a new 27" iMac. I'm pretty surprised by how much i like it... It's annoying how programs like Hold'em Manager and Table Ninja aren't compatible but its general efficiency makes up for these not working.
Thanks to this purchase i'm now £1400 lighter and its £1400 i couldn't really afford to spend so now i've got to play some pokerz to make the money back!
This is where i hit my problem - i don't know what to play! I only have a small bankroll now so have to grind it back up again. Im not sure i can face the variance and drag of the mtt grind at the moment but i'm not sure theres enough $ in the super turbos on Full Tilt. They seem like a proper grind with only about 3% roi possible even at low stakes as well as the high variance? hmm. Feel free to offer advice. Im sure ill find my niche again soon though :)
Went to Ireland last weekend on a flat out weekend of Ice hockey and drinking with the lads. Flew out of Bristol at midday on Saturday, landed in Belfast an hour later, checked into the hotel, went for some lunch then walked over to the ice rink/bar and had already had 5 pints before the game and another 2 during (bare in mind i hardly ever drink! lol). Cardiff lost the match to Belfast 5-2 but i was expecting to lose - Id actually bet against Cardiff so made myself some £ while out there too... lol
Then headed into Belfast town for a night out - think we went to the wrong part of town though as it wasn't the best! Wasn't awful either though. Back in the hotel by 2.30am so watched the qualifying for the Japanese gp before catching a few hours sleep. Flew home Sunday at 2pm, back at home by 4 then had to leave an hour later to get down the Ice Rink for Cardiffs home game against Dundee! Flat out weekend, just the way i like it. A few pics below...
Planning on going back for the match in Feb i think.
Think its worth mentioning too - I got a parking ticket a few weeks ago for parking on a cycle path. Id parked in the same place every time i go to hockey for the past 2 years but the council decided to make a point of booking everyone one evening. I wasn't overly impressed so appealed claiming it wasn't clearly signposted (semi true) and requested a copy of the order used giving it legal status.
Got a letter back yesterday saying i was parked illegally but that they're going to let me off (they clearly don't have an order...) which feels like a nice victory. Similar to winning a mtt... :) Result!
Apologies for my lack of recent updates - I've had nothing to report.
As i may have moaned about previously, My PC has been playing up for the last 3 months! I only bought it in Jan so its still under warranty but they're pretty useless. They tried to blame my dual monitors then blamed the graphics card (so i bought a new one), then blamed my PSU (so i bought a new one... still no success). Most recently they've come out and replaced the Hard drive... I'm waiting on them to send me out some recovery discs now to reboot it. I got fed up of waiting though so decided to go out and buy a new 27" iMac. I'm pretty surprised by how much i like it... It's annoying how programs like Hold'em Manager and Table Ninja aren't compatible but its general efficiency makes up for these not working.
Thanks to this purchase i'm now £1400 lighter and its £1400 i couldn't really afford to spend so now i've got to play some pokerz to make the money back!
This is where i hit my problem - i don't know what to play! I only have a small bankroll now so have to grind it back up again. Im not sure i can face the variance and drag of the mtt grind at the moment but i'm not sure theres enough $ in the super turbos on Full Tilt. They seem like a proper grind with only about 3% roi possible even at low stakes as well as the high variance? hmm. Feel free to offer advice. Im sure ill find my niche again soon though :)
Went to Ireland last weekend on a flat out weekend of Ice hockey and drinking with the lads. Flew out of Bristol at midday on Saturday, landed in Belfast an hour later, checked into the hotel, went for some lunch then walked over to the ice rink/bar and had already had 5 pints before the game and another 2 during (bare in mind i hardly ever drink! lol). Cardiff lost the match to Belfast 5-2 but i was expecting to lose - Id actually bet against Cardiff so made myself some £ while out there too... lol
Then headed into Belfast town for a night out - think we went to the wrong part of town though as it wasn't the best! Wasn't awful either though. Back in the hotel by 2.30am so watched the qualifying for the Japanese gp before catching a few hours sleep. Flew home Sunday at 2pm, back at home by 4 then had to leave an hour later to get down the Ice Rink for Cardiffs home game against Dundee! Flat out weekend, just the way i like it. A few pics below...
Planning on going back for the match in Feb i think.
Think its worth mentioning too - I got a parking ticket a few weeks ago for parking on a cycle path. Id parked in the same place every time i go to hockey for the past 2 years but the council decided to make a point of booking everyone one evening. I wasn't overly impressed so appealed claiming it wasn't clearly signposted (semi true) and requested a copy of the order used giving it legal status.
Got a letter back yesterday saying i was parked illegally but that they're going to let me off (they clearly don't have an order...) which feels like a nice victory. Similar to winning a mtt... :) Result!
Saturday 11 September 2010
WCOOP & quick August review.
As far as August went, another very dry month. Finished the month +$164.28. I found myself playing $20 plo8 cash towards the end of the month just for fun. PLO8 seems to be the only form of poker i feel comfortable playing in cash format (except razz... Ive done quite well in the razz games on Full Tilt in the past!). I wont bother going into detail on my games as its not really worth it. Ive literally just had a table or two open while watching tv a few evenings...
So far in September I've played a bit more. Up until today it was just an hour or so each evening for fun. Ive been stuck at home all day today though as my cars having some work done on it so its off the road. I put in almost 6 hours of 'grinding' low stakes sngs/mtts on Pacific.
It went terribly! Ran awfully, unable to win regardless how well i get it in. I'll refrain from moaning too much though :)
Ended the day -$97.70, well below EV. Still up $32 for the month though! That'll buy me lots... lol
Thursday 26 August 2010
Pacific Poker?!
Evening,
I've been continuing my long run of lack of motivation as you've probably guessed from my lack of blog posts. The only play I've been doing is on Pacific Poker building my roll up slowly just for fun. playing no more than 4 tables at a time... mainly 10 man turbo sngs and plo8 cash when it runs! I wish it ran a bit more often!
On that note... Any idea of the best site for plo8? I want somewhere that gets decent amount of games but still fishy. I'm thinking Party poker but the volumes not great there either...
I quite like the new pacific software but holdem manager had an error which meant i had no hud in mtts or sngs. Typically, the same day HM released an upgrade to fix the hud problem but Pacific released a software update which has been a nightmare! every 30 mins or so, usually when a hand shows down, the software suddenly freezes so i have to close it and restart it quickly so as not to time out/miss a hand! Very annoying.
I've emailed support but received no reply other than their automated rubbish.
I also witnessed what i class as obvious collusion against me in a 10 man turbo sng. 3 Argentinian players who i believe were working together. chip dumping and soft playing each other when 3 handed against me (well 2 or them - the other one had been knocked out earlier). I still managed to beat them but still its unacceptable! I emailed Pacific details of the Incident, have twice requested info on their outcome to the investigation without as much as a reply off them! I'm not sure they actually have any support staff!
How can poker sites treat their 'valued' customers this way?
3 card plo8 anyone?
Admittedly it was immediately after the software had crashed and been restarted but still. I was in the hand in time to have an option to raise, fold call etc yet with only 3 cards i feel my account is slightly rigged... lol
Cheers Pacific! Luckily for you I'm stupid enough to keep playing there for the time being although I'm not sure how long ill stick it out!
I'm dreading trying to cash out! They'll no doubt expect me to pass a university level exam paper on astro physic or something before they give me my funds!
At least there are plenty of fish there...
I've been continuing my long run of lack of motivation as you've probably guessed from my lack of blog posts. The only play I've been doing is on Pacific Poker building my roll up slowly just for fun. playing no more than 4 tables at a time... mainly 10 man turbo sngs and plo8 cash when it runs! I wish it ran a bit more often!
On that note... Any idea of the best site for plo8? I want somewhere that gets decent amount of games but still fishy. I'm thinking Party poker but the volumes not great there either...
I quite like the new pacific software but holdem manager had an error which meant i had no hud in mtts or sngs. Typically, the same day HM released an upgrade to fix the hud problem but Pacific released a software update which has been a nightmare! every 30 mins or so, usually when a hand shows down, the software suddenly freezes so i have to close it and restart it quickly so as not to time out/miss a hand! Very annoying.
I've emailed support but received no reply other than their automated rubbish.
I also witnessed what i class as obvious collusion against me in a 10 man turbo sng. 3 Argentinian players who i believe were working together. chip dumping and soft playing each other when 3 handed against me (well 2 or them - the other one had been knocked out earlier). I still managed to beat them but still its unacceptable! I emailed Pacific details of the Incident, have twice requested info on their outcome to the investigation without as much as a reply off them! I'm not sure they actually have any support staff!
How can poker sites treat their 'valued' customers this way?
To top it off...
3 card plo8 anyone?
Admittedly it was immediately after the software had crashed and been restarted but still. I was in the hand in time to have an option to raise, fold call etc yet with only 3 cards i feel my account is slightly rigged... lol
Cheers Pacific! Luckily for you I'm stupid enough to keep playing there for the time being although I'm not sure how long ill stick it out!
I'm dreading trying to cash out! They'll no doubt expect me to pass a university level exam paper on astro physic or something before they give me my funds!
At least there are plenty of fish there...
Friday 23 July 2010
Newport (Ymerodraeth State of Mind)
A remix of Alicia Keys' Empire State of Mind song about my home town - Quite amusing and seems to have caught on around the UK pretty quickly. Unless you're local theres probably bits you won't understand but its very true... lol Enjoy :)
Sunday 18 July 2010
Back due to popular demand
Apologies for the lack of updating the last few weeks. I've had countless requests for me to update my blog (well... one request then :) Thanks Alex) so I've finally caved into the pressure :)
I've really not been in the zone for playing poker this month. Infact, its been my quietest month of the year by far! I've only played 2 days so far and only low volume then! Basically a few mtts and a few 180 mans on the side bringing my total games to a rather laughable 11 games for the month! Managed to continue my hot run even over that low volume with two 180 man FTs making me +$346.75 for the month.
So... time for the excuses i guess! I was ill at the start of the month which took me about a week to shake off and have spent most of the past week down in Cornwall on a mini holiday type trip. It was quite a enjoyable. Just a shame that the British weather had to play up as usual and give me a good drenching! The main reason for the trip was to go to the Minack theatre. I knew someone acting in the play there and it seemed like a novelty to go and see it in an outdoor setting. The pictures really dont do the place justice though. It's basically and old open air theatre build right on the cliffside overlooking the English Channel. Its pretty spectacular and mildly amusing watching the shows when the weather closes in with high winds and torrential rain! lol Pics to follow soon once i get around to uploading them off the iphone.
Ive been playing quite a lot of golf this past month. Had a couple of lessons which have gone well and i've definately felt improvements in my game. Infact... You often hear stories about the big boys of poker (Ivey & co) getting distracted from poker by golf - I can now see how. It does have a strange appeal!
I was meant to play when i went to Cornwall but the weather put a stop to that!
Not sure how much poker i'll play this month. No point in forcing myself to play when i dont really feel like it as it doesn't lead to me playing too well. I think i'll have quite a relaxed month then hopefully get back into it next month... I'll keep you up to date on any interesting developments though :)
Thanks for reading x
I've really not been in the zone for playing poker this month. Infact, its been my quietest month of the year by far! I've only played 2 days so far and only low volume then! Basically a few mtts and a few 180 mans on the side bringing my total games to a rather laughable 11 games for the month! Managed to continue my hot run even over that low volume with two 180 man FTs making me +$346.75 for the month.
So... time for the excuses i guess! I was ill at the start of the month which took me about a week to shake off and have spent most of the past week down in Cornwall on a mini holiday type trip. It was quite a enjoyable. Just a shame that the British weather had to play up as usual and give me a good drenching! The main reason for the trip was to go to the Minack theatre. I knew someone acting in the play there and it seemed like a novelty to go and see it in an outdoor setting. The pictures really dont do the place justice though. It's basically and old open air theatre build right on the cliffside overlooking the English Channel. Its pretty spectacular and mildly amusing watching the shows when the weather closes in with high winds and torrential rain! lol Pics to follow soon once i get around to uploading them off the iphone.
Ive been playing quite a lot of golf this past month. Had a couple of lessons which have gone well and i've definately felt improvements in my game. Infact... You often hear stories about the big boys of poker (Ivey & co) getting distracted from poker by golf - I can now see how. It does have a strange appeal!
I was meant to play when i went to Cornwall but the weather put a stop to that!
Not sure how much poker i'll play this month. No point in forcing myself to play when i dont really feel like it as it doesn't lead to me playing too well. I think i'll have quite a relaxed month then hopefully get back into it next month... I'll keep you up to date on any interesting developments though :)
Thanks for reading x
Friday 25 June 2010
Busy
I've not played for 6 days straight up until this evening. Just haven't been in the house to put any games in.
The next week is looking pretty congested too! Ice hockey (my teams playing in the summer cup), shows at the theatre, gym, tennis lesson, football (even if i do hate it i still watch the England games with my mates - and support whoever the opposition is!) and i have my first ever golf lesson with the local club pro on Tuesday. I'm sure there's plenty more that'll manage to crop up to prevent me playing much!
Despite my very busy social life, i managed to squeeze in a small session tonight which was going truly awfully until i spiked another 180 win! :) I played pretty well most the tourney and got a little help from picking up nice hands at the right time but also played a couple hands very strongly when i had air to win a couple nice pots which always feels nice when your soul read reship works! lol
I will admit i got super lucky HU. I felt like i was totally outplayed to be fair! The player in question was 'MakeMeMaster'. He was probably the best player at the final table but luckily i had position on him so was able to pick my spots well. He did run well HU mind - i got it in twice with weaker A's than him and twice i outdrew him! The second time was for stacks with my A5 suited flopping a flush draw against his AJ. I got there on the turn luckily.
Not to sure if i played badly or was just a bit cold decked once we were HU but i certainly felt like i didn't have any advantage which is quite unfamiliar to me! :)
Other than the win, i managed another 180 Final Table but got a bit unlucky and busted in 9th which was quite frustrating. Also min cashed in an $11 short handed MTT on Poker Idol.
Anyone know if 'MakeMeMaster' keeps a blog? I'd be interested in following his results if he did!
Sure i was going to say something else but I'm too tired to think straight so am going to make my way to bed now! Got an engagement party tomorrow evening. And NO... it's not mine! :) so not sure if I'll get any time to play. Hopefully i can squeeze some games in either before or after if i don't drink too much! I'm not planning on drinking much so it should be OK!
Ciao
The next week is looking pretty congested too! Ice hockey (my teams playing in the summer cup), shows at the theatre, gym, tennis lesson, football (even if i do hate it i still watch the England games with my mates - and support whoever the opposition is!) and i have my first ever golf lesson with the local club pro on Tuesday. I'm sure there's plenty more that'll manage to crop up to prevent me playing much!
Despite my very busy social life, i managed to squeeze in a small session tonight which was going truly awfully until i spiked another 180 win! :) I played pretty well most the tourney and got a little help from picking up nice hands at the right time but also played a couple hands very strongly when i had air to win a couple nice pots which always feels nice when your soul read reship works! lol
I will admit i got super lucky HU. I felt like i was totally outplayed to be fair! The player in question was 'MakeMeMaster'. He was probably the best player at the final table but luckily i had position on him so was able to pick my spots well. He did run well HU mind - i got it in twice with weaker A's than him and twice i outdrew him! The second time was for stacks with my A5 suited flopping a flush draw against his AJ. I got there on the turn luckily.
Not to sure if i played badly or was just a bit cold decked once we were HU but i certainly felt like i didn't have any advantage which is quite unfamiliar to me! :)
Other than the win, i managed another 180 Final Table but got a bit unlucky and busted in 9th which was quite frustrating. Also min cashed in an $11 short handed MTT on Poker Idol.
Anyone know if 'MakeMeMaster' keeps a blog? I'd be interested in following his results if he did!
Sure i was going to say something else but I'm too tired to think straight so am going to make my way to bed now! Got an engagement party tomorrow evening. And NO... it's not mine! :) so not sure if I'll get any time to play. Hopefully i can squeeze some games in either before or after if i don't drink too much! I'm not planning on drinking much so it should be OK!
Ciao
Saturday 19 June 2010
Upswing
I knew it was a mistake to have that hour nap at midnight... Its now 8.15am GMT and im still yet to go to bed. My sleep patterns a nightmare!
Refreshed after my nap last night I set up tableninja to open up the 180 mans on auto and entered a few mtts. Played a 3 and half hour session yet only managed to play 19 tournies in that time (how on earth do people put in the volume they manage - the games dont start up quick enough! lol). They started off pretty poorly with me losing everything. 1st hand of the 1st tourney i run A's into a flopped set of 3's then have a succession of overpairs getting outdrawn by underpairs. All the tournies i entered i quite quickly busted out of well before the cash. Luckily i went deep in 3 $12 180 mans though. One i bubbled the FT when i shoved A9 into KQ sb v bb and the bb spiked a Q to knock me out.
Anyway, I'm without a doubt running hot but going to try to make the most of it!
Refreshed after my nap last night I set up tableninja to open up the 180 mans on auto and entered a few mtts. Played a 3 and half hour session yet only managed to play 19 tournies in that time (how on earth do people put in the volume they manage - the games dont start up quick enough! lol). They started off pretty poorly with me losing everything. 1st hand of the 1st tourney i run A's into a flopped set of 3's then have a succession of overpairs getting outdrawn by underpairs. All the tournies i entered i quite quickly busted out of well before the cash. Luckily i went deep in 3 $12 180 mans though. One i bubbled the FT when i shoved A9 into KQ sb v bb and the bb spiked a Q to knock me out.
Managed to salvage the session with a 180 win though and followed it up with a 2nd place - shouldve been another win expect Q's < JT hu AI pre then nothing else would hold so he managed to make a pretty big comeback to win it as I went into HU as a big chip leader. Certainly cant complain with the win though.
Im wondering if my lower volume in these games is helping me when i get deep in them as i have a pretty good conversion rate once i get in the $ of going pretty deep. I always have had since i began playing suddenly found an extra gear once i make the $. Anyway, I'm without a doubt running hot but going to try to make the most of it!
Sharkscope graph for all my 180s below and a graphic showing this months super high profit for my super low volume :)
Ive got an Av. profit for $15.10 over 378 games... Thats insanely high i know! Compare it to the Sharkscope leaderboard Av profit for the $12 180 mans below. From my calculations I'm pretty much guaranteed a Sharkscope star in 122 games time (unless i fail to cash in a single 180 man game in the next 122 i play) which will be pretty cool. Should easily be there by the end of the month. Hopefully my overdue downswing doesnt kick in now!
Feel free to correct me if im wrongly getting excited about the prospect of picking up a Star! lol
Nearly 9am now so i guess i should get some sleep so im not in bed all day! I'll check this post for spelling errors later - im feeling too tired now!
Saturday 12 June 2010
New Blog set up
Opinions?
In other news, i bought xpadder yesterday and set it up so i could play poker using the controller off my Xbox.
I think i like it but cant really decide. Ive played a couple small sessions of fpp sats (i use them to turn my fpps into T$) and seem to get on ok with it. It certainly takes a bit of getting used to though. I'm a little worried to start a proper session of 180 mans using it as i was making more misclicks - inevitable i guess when learning a new layout.
I'll see what happens and how i feel over the next few days before i decide whether to stick with it or not.
Thanks to James Atkin for his prompt response to my last blog post. Excellent advice and has definately helped me make up mind as to the way forward with the 180 mans. Stacking all the way :)
Sadly, the last few days ive actually been busier than usual with work and generally out of the house so other than messing with Xbox controllers, blogs and the odd fpp sng, ive put in ZERO volume. I really need to find some motivation during the day. I always seem to find it at 3am when its too late to play cos i need to get to bed. I find my volume in the games quite embarrassing to be honest! Ive really got to get something going soon!
In other news, i bought xpadder yesterday and set it up so i could play poker using the controller off my Xbox.
I'll see what happens and how i feel over the next few days before i decide whether to stick with it or not.
Thanks to James Atkin for his prompt response to my last blog post. Excellent advice and has definately helped me make up mind as to the way forward with the 180 mans. Stacking all the way :)
Sadly, the last few days ive actually been busier than usual with work and generally out of the house so other than messing with Xbox controllers, blogs and the odd fpp sng, ive put in ZERO volume. I really need to find some motivation during the day. I always seem to find it at 3am when its too late to play cos i need to get to bed. I find my volume in the games quite embarrassing to be honest! Ive really got to get something going soon!
Thursday 10 June 2010
Grind much?
Another month comes to a close and I've got quite a mixed view on how it went. I managed to win a fairly big field mtt which was definitely a highlight. The rest of the month was something of a non event though! I ended up dabbling in loads of different games on different sites and generally put in some lacklustre volume.
Nothing changes... 324 games to be precise in an entire month! That's 2 days light work for most online pros. Why do I seem incapable of putting volume in?! May graph below.
A question for any sng grinders who read this... How do you put so much volume in?! I understand how you can do it playing super turbos like George 'Jorj95' Lind as they only last a few minutes each but playing the 180 mans on Stars for example? How many tables are people playing at a time in these? Are you stacking or tiling? James Atkin is a 180 man player and seems to be putting in some good volume at the moment in his quest for Supernova so it'd be good to hear off you!
I personally tend to flick between the 2 options. Either tiling 6 tables per screen (I have a dual monitor setup) or stacking them all. I find stacking a lot easier and then pull tables aside if I go deep. I do find that I'm too curious as to the outcome of all ins though with this method so find myself pulling tables to one side far too often!
Looks like I'm getting nowhere with the single table turbos or super turbos. They're definitely profitable but I'm not putting in the volume to see worthwhile results. I've returned to the 180 mans on Stars this evening and played 14 sngs (wow - lots I know!) over 2 hours. Final tabled 2 of them and ended up +$226.02 in profit for the evening so I think it's a no brainer to give them another shot. Just going to have to find a way of forcing myself to do more volume. As soon as I play any volume I seem to end up with big losing sessions though which always knocks my confidence so I'm not really sure what to do for the best! No doubt i'll just end up doing my usual play a few, get bored and give up after 10 sngs or so! lol
We'll see how it goes!
As a closing note; Best of Luck to Jorj95 and Alexander 'msusyr24' Carr in the WSOP and anyone else who's going over who I may know or respect in the poker world!
Maybe one day ill have the roll to be able to join you guys if I ever figure out the meaning of 'Grind'
Monday 17 May 2010
Weeee. Finally back on form
1st/592 runners
+$1420.96
About time i shipped a mtt. I was a shortstack for 95% of the tourney and tried on a few occassions to make a deal, including HU but no one was too interested which im quite glad about in hindsight :) Got quite lucky on a couple of occassions but i guess you have to to win these mtts. long overdue a nice cash though.
On a more negative note - the super turbo sngs really arent going too well still! Proper update to follow soon.
Monday 26 April 2010
Long time no post
Apologies to all my fan boys for the length of time it’s taken me to update this blog - the main reason for the lack of updates is a lack of things to post!
My holiday in the US was awesome - ended up getting an extra 3 days too thanks to BA going on strike and cancelling my flight home! I'll post some pics at the end of the blog if anyone’s interested.
Really couldn’t get back into over when I got home despite my best intentions. I ended up experimenting with different options such as playing plo8 cash, just mtts and am now onto playing super turbos.
Despite my best efforts Full Tilt refuse to give me rake back... I’ve tried everything. Signed up years ago before they even offered it which I find quite unfair but ahh well - their loss as I refuse to play there until they give me it!
Stars don’t run any super turbos and i've been fancying them for a while now so I’ve made the switch to playing all my pokerz at Party. If it goes well, ill make it my permanent home... See how it goes I guess.
It’s started pretty poorly. I’ve only played about 110 6 max super turbos so far but am running well below EV in them. It wasn't bothering me as my EV line was climbing but the last 20 or so my red lines spiralled downwards too. I’ve make some poor plays but on the whole I feel like i'm playing well and just getting super unlucky. Just cold decked galore and if i’m not cold decked I get outdrawn! Not quitting yet though! I know the super turbos can have some mad swings - the games feel really soft and a lot less regs in them than in the Stars sngs so hopefully things will turn around soon!
photo album 1 (theres 4 in total) - should be able to get to the others from there somewhere.
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/album.php?id=507121323&aid=158974
Seeing as i've directed you to my FB page, Feel free to add me as a friend on there and say hi!
My holiday in the US was awesome - ended up getting an extra 3 days too thanks to BA going on strike and cancelling my flight home! I'll post some pics at the end of the blog if anyone’s interested.
Really couldn’t get back into over when I got home despite my best intentions. I ended up experimenting with different options such as playing plo8 cash, just mtts and am now onto playing super turbos.
Despite my best efforts Full Tilt refuse to give me rake back... I’ve tried everything. Signed up years ago before they even offered it which I find quite unfair but ahh well - their loss as I refuse to play there until they give me it!
Stars don’t run any super turbos and i've been fancying them for a while now so I’ve made the switch to playing all my pokerz at Party. If it goes well, ill make it my permanent home... See how it goes I guess.
It’s started pretty poorly. I’ve only played about 110 6 max super turbos so far but am running well below EV in them. It wasn't bothering me as my EV line was climbing but the last 20 or so my red lines spiralled downwards too. I’ve make some poor plays but on the whole I feel like i'm playing well and just getting super unlucky. Just cold decked galore and if i’m not cold decked I get outdrawn! Not quitting yet though! I know the super turbos can have some mad swings - the games feel really soft and a lot less regs in them than in the Stars sngs so hopefully things will turn around soon!
I ended March in profit but only by a few hundred $ but that’s not bad considering how little I played.
Aprils been super scrappy month and i’m only now starting to settle back into playing a bit more but running like death which is annoying. Overall I’m up for the month but only just and all thanks to a 180 man on Stars at the beginning!
Anyway, I'll grind on and hopefully start making some much need $$$ soon!
photo album 1 (theres 4 in total) - should be able to get to the others from there somewhere.
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/album.php?id=507121323&aid=158974
Seeing as i've directed you to my FB page, Feel free to add me as a friend on there and say hi!
Sunday 7 March 2010
Feb review, March plans & Hello USA!
Apologies for my slow updates!
Feb was a really good month but could've been so much better if only id had the discipline to put in more volume. Instead i decided to relax the end of the month and take it easy.
I started a mini plo challenge - nothing official - just grinding my way up from .5/.10c and moving up to the next level whenever i make 20 buy ins... Its just a bit of fun and not too sure how strict im going to be with it yet. Below is a graph of my progress so far... Started well. not too sure what to make of the last few sessions mind! 
As i was saying, Feb wasn't a good month for volume but was pretty good for profit - Almost entirely from the 180 man sngs as i couldn't get anywthing going in the 45s. Think i actually ended the month in the red in them. Anyway, below is my Feb graph for the sngs.
As a result of my awful volume in Feb, i failed to even make Goldstar which is a bit poor really! Im stuck as a Silverstar for March and im not very hopeful of getting much more in March. My volume so far this month is laughable. Ive only played 2 days, both of which have been losing ones and only small sessions on both.
I fly out to San Francisco on Monday for a driving holiday as ive mentioned in an earlier post, driving down the West coast then inland over to Pheonix via Palm Springs, up to the Grand Canyon and then across to Vegas before flying home on March 22nd from LA (provided British Airways dont strike and leave me stranded over there - not that i'd be complaining too much!)
It should be fun but is purely a long overdue relaxing holiday before i get back to the grind end of March and big month in April hopefully! Im taking my laptop with me and have tried to ensure i have internet connection at all our hotels so i can keep in touch with people and no doubt play a few hands of plo or sngs in the nights depending on how good the connections are!
Doubt i'll post now while im away so untill i return... adios amigos!
Thursday 18 February 2010
An odd month
About time i did a quick update on Febs progress...
The month has been quite successful so far but almost solely because of one super day! I haven't played anywhere near as much as i should have done and i have little excuse really - just my usual motivation issues!
Below are my sharkscope stats in the 45s and 180 sngs so far for Feb.
As you can see, almost all my profits this month have come from the 180s and almost all from 1 day.
Last Sunday i decided to play 1 small session of 12 games for fun, a mix of 45s and 180s. I managed to get a 1st and 2nd in two of the 45 seaters and Final tabled 3 of my 180 sngs winning 2 of them and getting third in the other! Made for a +$1446.62 day! very nice indeed.
Overall this month im +$1840.38 so far including rakeback and everything played which is already 3x my Jan total so not bad at all. Im still a little concerned at my poor showings in the 45 mans where i feel like im really struggling to do anything but breakeven in them! Toying with the idea of playing just 180s but i think thats just because im clearly running well in them at the moment so should really just push on with everything for the time being. I'm actually running below EV according to HM at the moment this month by a few hundred $ which is nice but means very little in the mtt sngs...
Im really enjoying the Winter Olympics at the moment! soooooooooo much better than the Summer games but i am quite a fan of the snow and ice :)
We'll close on a recent picture of some British snow
The month has been quite successful so far but almost solely because of one super day! I haven't played anywhere near as much as i should have done and i have little excuse really - just my usual motivation issues!
Below are my sharkscope stats in the 45s and 180 sngs so far for Feb.
As you can see, almost all my profits this month have come from the 180s and almost all from 1 day.
Last Sunday i decided to play 1 small session of 12 games for fun, a mix of 45s and 180s. I managed to get a 1st and 2nd in two of the 45 seaters and Final tabled 3 of my 180 sngs winning 2 of them and getting third in the other! Made for a +$1446.62 day! very nice indeed.
Overall this month im +$1840.38 so far including rakeback and everything played which is already 3x my Jan total so not bad at all. Im still a little concerned at my poor showings in the 45 mans where i feel like im really struggling to do anything but breakeven in them! Toying with the idea of playing just 180s but i think thats just because im clearly running well in them at the moment so should really just push on with everything for the time being. I'm actually running below EV according to HM at the moment this month by a few hundred $ which is nice but means very little in the mtt sngs...
Im really enjoying the Winter Olympics at the moment! soooooooooo much better than the Summer games but i am quite a fan of the snow and ice :)
We'll close on a recent picture of some British snow
Monday 1 February 2010
January Review, WBCOOP update & Feb targets...
January really hasn't gone to plan. I started the month on a bit of a downswing in the $16s so made the move to the$12 mtt sngs. Since making the switch my results have been a lot better and on the up but I've struggled to find the motivation to put in the kind of volume I'd like. I'm feeling more settled in the mtt sngs now though and am planning a much better month in Feb!
I ended Jan +$604.40 for the month which is very substandard but when you take into account the downswing at the start of the month and my lack of volume - it's not actually too bad an outcome...
Below is my Sharkscope graph for 2010. It's actually missing quite a few tourneys though as my monthly total includes a couple of mtt cashes, rakeback and as I've mentioned in earlier posts - quite a few hyper turbos.
I ended Jan +$604.40 for the month which is very substandard but when you take into account the downswing at the start of the month and my lack of volume - it's not actually too bad an outcome...
Below is my Sharkscope graph for 2010. It's actually missing quite a few tourneys though as my monthly total includes a couple of mtt cashes, rakeback and as I've mentioned in earlier posts - quite a few hyper turbos.
WBCOOP
I've only played this half heartedly, when I've been around and missed the grand final all together as i was at an ice hockey match where I'm a season ticket holder. My only cash of the series was ironically in the 8 game where I had to have a quick tutorial on how to play the draw game in it! I was actually feeling quite confident with my play though and managed to go quite deep and pick up a $16.50 ticket. Should've gone deeper but got unlucky when my AK ran into AQ and the Q on the flop spelled the end of my tourney!
Feb targets...
I want to play at least 1000 mtt sngs and earn at least $1500 for the month which should be easily doable if I can find some discipline and motivation to play a bit more!
I also plan to dabble in a few of the higher buy in sngs, mostly the $27 45 and 180 seaters as it should improve my $/hr even if it lowers my roi slightly. I have the bankroll to play them - I just don't quite have the confidence yet! I like to tread very carefully when moving up stakes. I seem to have it in my head that every player will be a pro at the next level up and that I'll lose all my edge at the tables! lol
I also want to at least maintain Goldstar status on Stars and will hopefully be in a position to shoot for Platinum by the end of the month if things go to plan although this isn't a priority for me. I'd just like to have a nice month of earnings as I'm going away touring the West coast of the US in March for 15 days so any extra money I can earn this month will all help toward having some fun in March .
I'll probably mix some multi-table tourneys in again as i've gone deep in some of the one i've played recently and wouldnt mind scoring a nice result in them again!
I'll post again in a few days and let you know how well (or more likely badly) Feb is shaping up!
Until then... Thanks for reading & GL at the tables!
Tuesday 26 January 2010
WBCOOP Event # 1
This one will be a short post as theres not a lot to be said....
I raise AK suited, get flat called by Q9 and lose about 300 chips.
a few hands later...
PokerStars Game #38722848824: Tournament #280000001, Freeroll Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2010/01/25 22:11:47 WET [2010/01/25 17:11:47 ET]
Table '280000001 28' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: Ivydrive (1610 in chips)
Seat 2: dEuCeWilD77 (1925 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 3: ButtonDog (1925 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 4: Cdub512 (1265 in chips)
Seat 5: cctruckee (2585 in chips)
Seat 6: DennisC98 (1940 in chips)
Seat 7: Durrrell (2810 in chips)
Seat 8: mclaughlin04 (760 in chips)
Seat 9: While25 (3180 in chips)
cctruckee: posts small blind 15
DennisC98: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Ivydrive [Jc Js]
Durrrell: folds
mclaughlin04: folds
While25: folds
Ivydrive: raises 60 to 90
dEuCeWilD77: folds
ButtonDog: folds
Cdub512: raises 1175 to 1265 and is all-in
cctruckee: folds
DennisC98: calls 1235
Ivydrive: raises 345 to 1610 and is all-in
DennisC98: calls 345
*** FLOP *** [3s 9c 3c]
*** TURN *** [3s 9c 3c] [Qs]
*** RIVER *** [3s 9c 3c Qs] [4s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DennisC98: shows [Qc 9s] (two pair, Queens and Nines)
Ivydrive: shows [Jc Js] (two pair, Jacks and Threes)
DennisC98 collected 690 from side pot
Cdub512: shows [4h 4d] (a full house, Fours full of Threes)
Cdub512 collected 3810 from main pot
Admittedly... a bit of a loose call however being a freeroll i thought i'd gamble early on given the opportunity to try to build a nice stack to play with.
GG me. Roll on Event #2 tomorrow
I raise AK suited, get flat called by Q9 and lose about 300 chips.
a few hands later...
PokerStars Game #38722848824: Tournament #280000001, Freeroll Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2010/01/25 22:11:47 WET [2010/01/25 17:11:47 ET]
Table '280000001 28' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: Ivydrive (1610 in chips)
Seat 2: dEuCeWilD77 (1925 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 3: ButtonDog (1925 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 4: Cdub512 (1265 in chips)
Seat 5: cctruckee (2585 in chips)
Seat 6: DennisC98 (1940 in chips)
Seat 7: Durrrell (2810 in chips)
Seat 8: mclaughlin04 (760 in chips)
Seat 9: While25 (3180 in chips)
cctruckee: posts small blind 15
DennisC98: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Ivydrive [Jc Js]
Durrrell: folds
mclaughlin04: folds
While25: folds
Ivydrive: raises 60 to 90
dEuCeWilD77: folds
ButtonDog: folds
Cdub512: raises 1175 to 1265 and is all-in
cctruckee: folds
DennisC98: calls 1235
Ivydrive: raises 345 to 1610 and is all-in
DennisC98: calls 345
*** FLOP *** [3s 9c 3c]
*** TURN *** [3s 9c 3c] [Qs]
*** RIVER *** [3s 9c 3c Qs] [4s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DennisC98: shows [Qc 9s] (two pair, Queens and Nines)
Ivydrive: shows [Jc Js] (two pair, Jacks and Threes)
DennisC98 collected 690 from side pot
Cdub512: shows [4h 4d] (a full house, Fours full of Threes)
Cdub512 collected 3810 from main pot
Admittedly... a bit of a loose call however being a freeroll i thought i'd gamble early on given the opportunity to try to build a nice stack to play with.
GG me. Roll on Event #2 tomorrow
Saturday 23 January 2010
Update...
I havent updated for a while so thought i'd pop a few words up on the blog.
2010's been a bit tough so far in general. I hit something of a wall in the 9 man sngs and was getting somewhat disillusioned with my long breakeven stretch followed by a downswing rather than the upswing i was waiting for! As a result i decided to leave the 9 man sngs and make the transition across to the mtt sngs with some success. I've been playing a lot of the $12 45 and 180 seat sngs. I had a few early results in the 45s and then started running bad and the opposites happened in the 180s. I won a $12 180 man sng a couple of days ago which was nice.
I've started throwing in a few mtts as well on the side and went very deep in a $5.50 mtt on Stars the other day. Eventually busting in 23rd out of 5926 players which i was reasonably pleased with. Shame my AK didnt flip a bit better else i felt i could've gone a lot deeper and probably made the final table, or even taken it down... Im currently playing the nightly $70k on stars as i forgot to unregister from it after I satellited in.
It's currently going quite well though. Well above average chips and fast approaching the money... I seem to have found my tourney mojo again that i was moaning about having lost a few posts ago!
As well as playing the mtt sngs, ive found a new love for the 6 max hyper turbos. They're quite fun, push fold poker from the word go and can be reasonably profitable if you put the volume in and do some table selection... It's just a shame Stars don't run them more often or to some set schedule! I've emailed them twice asking for the schedule but they say one doesnt exist (i find this hard to believe though - how can a schedule not exist...) and tell me to just use the search facility - Not quite what i was looking for but oh well.
I've also found a little trick with them to improve me rakeback. Rather than relying on buying the cash bonuses where even the $4k bonus open to just Supernovas works out as $0.016 per fpp, if you play the hyper satellites with your fpps instead, you can achieve in the region of $0.018+ per fpp regardless of your vip status (if you're a reasonable player) then just unregister and have the T$'s instead...
I am slacking a bit when it comes to volume though and changing from the $16 9 mans to the $12 mtt sngs has affected my volume even further as ive been playing lower volume and opting to tile the tables instead of stacking them. I may move back to stacking though and increase my volume in them then unstack them once i make the Final Table. I'll see how things pan out for the rest of the month. The lower volumes really not helping me in chasing Supernova this year though. I'm going to have to rely on moving up stakes later in the year if i want to make it i think. Either that or seriously increase my volume.
I've recently treated myself to a nice new quick PC on Windows 7 with dual screen set up, and moved my old pc upstairs, wired it up to my 42" plasma screen so i have the option to play there now too as a backup option which is nice. I'll try to get some pics of my new set ups in the near future up here along with some graphs and charts. I've just made the money in this $55 mtt so i think i'd better go and concentrate on turning it into a win seeing as its made me stay up all night to play it (05.53am here now in Wales!)
Oh how could I forget... Ive booked some flights over to the US today! Flying into San Francisco on March 8th, driving down the coast through Big Sur, etc then inland across to Scottsdale and Phoenix, up to the Grand Canyon, across to Vegas for a few days and then over to LA to fly home 15 days later. It should be a nice break from the same daily routine and grind i've become stuck in recently. A nice holiday's somewhat overdue! I've been before but my girlfriends never been to the US and it'll be our first proper holiday abroad since being together (over 6 years now!) so she's really excited. It should be a blast :) I'm in Vegas for 3 nights but am undecided as to whether to play poker or not yet. I may try to avoid it as I find live poker a drag and have every intention of going back for just poker in the near future so may keep it to just tourist stuff for the first time... I'll see how i feel.
If anyone has any tips on things to do or places to visit while over there it'd be welcomed. I currently just have my route planned, tickets booked to the Ducks v Avalanche game in LA and a few other things in mind to do so my schedule is open to suggestions :)
Finally, Next week is the WBCOOP so i look forward to seeing all my fellow bloggers grinding it out at the tables. Say hey if you're at my table!
All the best for now!
2010's been a bit tough so far in general. I hit something of a wall in the 9 man sngs and was getting somewhat disillusioned with my long breakeven stretch followed by a downswing rather than the upswing i was waiting for! As a result i decided to leave the 9 man sngs and make the transition across to the mtt sngs with some success. I've been playing a lot of the $12 45 and 180 seat sngs. I had a few early results in the 45s and then started running bad and the opposites happened in the 180s. I won a $12 180 man sng a couple of days ago which was nice.
I've started throwing in a few mtts as well on the side and went very deep in a $5.50 mtt on Stars the other day. Eventually busting in 23rd out of 5926 players which i was reasonably pleased with. Shame my AK didnt flip a bit better else i felt i could've gone a lot deeper and probably made the final table, or even taken it down... Im currently playing the nightly $70k on stars as i forgot to unregister from it after I satellited in.
It's currently going quite well though. Well above average chips and fast approaching the money... I seem to have found my tourney mojo again that i was moaning about having lost a few posts ago!
As well as playing the mtt sngs, ive found a new love for the 6 max hyper turbos. They're quite fun, push fold poker from the word go and can be reasonably profitable if you put the volume in and do some table selection... It's just a shame Stars don't run them more often or to some set schedule! I've emailed them twice asking for the schedule but they say one doesnt exist (i find this hard to believe though - how can a schedule not exist...) and tell me to just use the search facility - Not quite what i was looking for but oh well.
I've also found a little trick with them to improve me rakeback. Rather than relying on buying the cash bonuses where even the $4k bonus open to just Supernovas works out as $0.016 per fpp, if you play the hyper satellites with your fpps instead, you can achieve in the region of $0.018+ per fpp regardless of your vip status (if you're a reasonable player) then just unregister and have the T$'s instead...
I am slacking a bit when it comes to volume though and changing from the $16 9 mans to the $12 mtt sngs has affected my volume even further as ive been playing lower volume and opting to tile the tables instead of stacking them. I may move back to stacking though and increase my volume in them then unstack them once i make the Final Table. I'll see how things pan out for the rest of the month. The lower volumes really not helping me in chasing Supernova this year though. I'm going to have to rely on moving up stakes later in the year if i want to make it i think. Either that or seriously increase my volume.
I've recently treated myself to a nice new quick PC on Windows 7 with dual screen set up, and moved my old pc upstairs, wired it up to my 42" plasma screen so i have the option to play there now too as a backup option which is nice. I'll try to get some pics of my new set ups in the near future up here along with some graphs and charts. I've just made the money in this $55 mtt so i think i'd better go and concentrate on turning it into a win seeing as its made me stay up all night to play it (05.53am here now in Wales!)
Oh how could I forget... Ive booked some flights over to the US today! Flying into San Francisco on March 8th, driving down the coast through Big Sur, etc then inland across to Scottsdale and Phoenix, up to the Grand Canyon, across to Vegas for a few days and then over to LA to fly home 15 days later. It should be a nice break from the same daily routine and grind i've become stuck in recently. A nice holiday's somewhat overdue! I've been before but my girlfriends never been to the US and it'll be our first proper holiday abroad since being together (over 6 years now!) so she's really excited. It should be a blast :) I'm in Vegas for 3 nights but am undecided as to whether to play poker or not yet. I may try to avoid it as I find live poker a drag and have every intention of going back for just poker in the near future so may keep it to just tourist stuff for the first time... I'll see how i feel.
If anyone has any tips on things to do or places to visit while over there it'd be welcomed. I currently just have my route planned, tickets booked to the Ducks v Avalanche game in LA and a few other things in mind to do so my schedule is open to suggestions :)
Finally, Next week is the WBCOOP so i look forward to seeing all my fellow bloggers grinding it out at the tables. Say hey if you're at my table!
All the best for now!
Thursday 7 January 2010
First time for everything...
I have registered to play in the WBCOOP PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! You too can Play Poker Online at PokerStars.com and take part in the WBCOOP which is open to all Bloggers by registering on WBCOOP to play.
Registration code: 427465
Let me know if you're also playing and ill keep an eye out for you. Feel free to follow me at the tables. I'll post updates as the events progress.
I'll make a proper post shortly regarding the sng grind so far in 2010.
Its been quite a nightmare to be fair so far... Info and graphs to follow :)
Thanks to DaleRoxxu and his excellent blog for informing me and encouraging me to sign up for this excellent promotion from Stars... check out his blog if you haven't already! http://daleroxxu.blogspot.com/
Friday 1 January 2010
Goodbye 09, Hello 2010
Happy New Year!
2009... Not my best poker year ever. I've struggled in both finding motivation to play and in running well. The two probably go hand in hand somewhat!
I've always been a tournament player at heart however have for some reason lost the will/ability to play the bigger mtt's. Even now that im back into the swing of playing sngs, i rarely feel like playing mtts. I feel a little lost almost with them and quickly find myself asking why i bothered buying into it as i cant be bothered to play and just donking off my chips, the first reasonable excuse i get to do so... Its quite frustrating as i learned my poker game in the MTT's and have got some reasonable scores over the years. I just cant motivate myself for any length of time.
Ive even dabbled in cash games this year and do for some unknown reason plan to do so again in 2010 at some point... Despite never getting on with them! If i can learn to love them though, i can see an easier and more flexible 'grind' with better long term profits. This won't be till later on in the year i'd imagine though as i need to build up a healthy roll in the sngs first!
Ive played the sngs consistently throughout the year and especially towards the end of the year. Its obviously where ive concentrated all my efforts and can see that being the case for most of 2010. Ive made a reasonable profit in November and a lackluster profit in December but thats down to being pretty lazy and not playing for half the month and also a prelonged breakeven stretch as i'll come onto in a minute...
so to summarise... 2009 was largely a write off play wise apart from a couple of good months in the summer and a reasonable end to the year once i discovered i could multitable sngs profitably so didnt have to play 4 tables max at a time anymore! lol Ive learned a lot in the latter part of the year and i think it sets me up for a good and profitable 2010.
2009 Total Profits: +$4723.71
Hardly anything to write home about but not too shabby considering how much i played for most of the year.
As for December, So much for me making Platinum star... I quickly realised i wasn't putting in enough volume so just had a quietish month and hit goldstar again a few days before christmas and then pretty much took the rest of the month off apart from the odd game here and there for fun. The last few days ive had a nightmare with internet connection. Im only getting speeds of 0.13 mb/s so im waiting for a BT mechanic to come out on Saturday to hopefully put it right! I'm 95% sure its not my pc or router as ive tried a new router, changed every setting and piece of hardware under the sun and checked the speed through various other means with no joy. As a result its meant ive got no confidence in the connection so dont want to do any multitabling which is going to delay my start to 2010 grinding a little!
Once again, i have no Holdem Manager graphs to post as they're split over pcs... Im hoping to upgrade my setup very shortly so if i get around to it in Jan i may end up with split graphs again. Im sure putting them together is possible but it seems like far too much hardwork! lol
December Totals: +$574.55
Although i did lose a $100 in that prop bet with my friend which ive not included which does drag my actual profit for the month down even more which is quite worrying!
so...
Plans for 2010..
With business not going too well in the current climate im not sure what that spells for the future of my company so im kinda expecting to end up taking the plunge into becoming a full time poker player as opposed to just a rec player (even if i do spend more time playing these days than i do working) this year. As a result, im starting 2010 with the mind set that poker is my main source of income. Luckily, my girlfriend of 6 years is fully supportive aslong as i can bring in atleast a couple hundred a week at the moment as her jobs quite well paid so its not as if i starve if i fail. I just have to get a real job. This is not in the plan though as i dont do failing :)
I'm going to play almost exclusively at Pokerstars grinding sngs, as ive been trialing for the past 2 months.
I plan to shoot for Supernova this year. It should be achievable with some commitment... We'll just have to wait and see how that goes at the moment as a year in the poker world is a long time indeed. Many things can happen in the space of 12 months so fingers crossed they'll be of the good variety!
GL in 2010, See you at the tables!
2009... Not my best poker year ever. I've struggled in both finding motivation to play and in running well. The two probably go hand in hand somewhat!
I've always been a tournament player at heart however have for some reason lost the will/ability to play the bigger mtt's. Even now that im back into the swing of playing sngs, i rarely feel like playing mtts. I feel a little lost almost with them and quickly find myself asking why i bothered buying into it as i cant be bothered to play and just donking off my chips, the first reasonable excuse i get to do so... Its quite frustrating as i learned my poker game in the MTT's and have got some reasonable scores over the years. I just cant motivate myself for any length of time.
Ive even dabbled in cash games this year and do for some unknown reason plan to do so again in 2010 at some point... Despite never getting on with them! If i can learn to love them though, i can see an easier and more flexible 'grind' with better long term profits. This won't be till later on in the year i'd imagine though as i need to build up a healthy roll in the sngs first!
Ive played the sngs consistently throughout the year and especially towards the end of the year. Its obviously where ive concentrated all my efforts and can see that being the case for most of 2010. Ive made a reasonable profit in November and a lackluster profit in December but thats down to being pretty lazy and not playing for half the month and also a prelonged breakeven stretch as i'll come onto in a minute...
so to summarise... 2009 was largely a write off play wise apart from a couple of good months in the summer and a reasonable end to the year once i discovered i could multitable sngs profitably so didnt have to play 4 tables max at a time anymore! lol Ive learned a lot in the latter part of the year and i think it sets me up for a good and profitable 2010.
2009 Total Profits: +$4723.71
Hardly anything to write home about but not too shabby considering how much i played for most of the year.
Sharkscope graph - Pokerstars, all games 2009.
Most of the sngs i played on Stars have been from the last 2 months of 2009 and 2 months ago i was actually down $250 for the year!
As for December, So much for me making Platinum star... I quickly realised i wasn't putting in enough volume so just had a quietish month and hit goldstar again a few days before christmas and then pretty much took the rest of the month off apart from the odd game here and there for fun. The last few days ive had a nightmare with internet connection. Im only getting speeds of 0.13 mb/s so im waiting for a BT mechanic to come out on Saturday to hopefully put it right! I'm 95% sure its not my pc or router as ive tried a new router, changed every setting and piece of hardware under the sun and checked the speed through various other means with no joy. As a result its meant ive got no confidence in the connection so dont want to do any multitabling which is going to delay my start to 2010 grinding a little!
Once again, i have no Holdem Manager graphs to post as they're split over pcs... Im hoping to upgrade my setup very shortly so if i get around to it in Jan i may end up with split graphs again. Im sure putting them together is possible but it seems like far too much hardwork! lol
December Totals: +$574.55
Although i did lose a $100 in that prop bet with my friend which ive not included which does drag my actual profit for the month down even more which is quite worrying!
so...
Plans for 2010..
With business not going too well in the current climate im not sure what that spells for the future of my company so im kinda expecting to end up taking the plunge into becoming a full time poker player as opposed to just a rec player (even if i do spend more time playing these days than i do working) this year. As a result, im starting 2010 with the mind set that poker is my main source of income. Luckily, my girlfriend of 6 years is fully supportive aslong as i can bring in atleast a couple hundred a week at the moment as her jobs quite well paid so its not as if i starve if i fail. I just have to get a real job. This is not in the plan though as i dont do failing :)
I'm going to play almost exclusively at Pokerstars grinding sngs, as ive been trialing for the past 2 months.
I plan to shoot for Supernova this year. It should be achievable with some commitment... We'll just have to wait and see how that goes at the moment as a year in the poker world is a long time indeed. Many things can happen in the space of 12 months so fingers crossed they'll be of the good variety!
GL in 2010, See you at the tables!
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