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...

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!