Tenbobs Poker Blog

Off the cigarettes.

2012-02-24T11:45:00.000Z

I'm off them 8 days, 1 hour and 19 minutes, and I still want one. The €75 euro I've saved helps though, and the cough thats been tormenting me at night for the last few months is finally on the way out. Lets hope I can stick at it.

Poker has been quiet enough, online has been a bit all over the place, been messing with O8, nlhe, plo and not really putting much effort into any of them. Chopped the €5 rebuy in the castle card club last night for a ton, but thats about it.

UKIPT Galway 2012

2012-02-12T23:36:00.002Z

I should have just done a direct buyin to this, and hearing of almost everyone I know winning packages/seats etc etc dosnt help. Should have just bought into the bloody thing.

So got through a €33 to a €200 with this drooler on my right for the lot, he didnt fold to a single raise/shove, so I duly oblige. FML :/ I really rarely post beats but I'm just fustrated.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, €200 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds
MP1 (t4795)
MP2 (t5267)
CO (t5095)
Button (t4903)
Hero (SB) (t4385)
BB (t5040)
UTG (t5075)

[b]Preflop[/b]: Hero is SB with AdKs
CO bets t200
Hero raises to t4385 (All-In), CO calls t4185

Flop 10s5sKh

Turn 8d

River 10d

Total pot: t8820

OBV vs A10o

The Western Open 2012.

2012-02-10T14:31:00.003Z

I missed this last year due to a wedding (was a great pissup though) this year all going well I'll be updating my final table progresss on twitter :)

(Hopefully, I havnt just doomswitched myself)

Update

2012-02-09T14:16:00.010Z

Sorry about the long waits for updates. But when you have a crazy 13month old running havoc around the house, having time to both play and blog is pretty much impossible.

Since the last time I posted my results have been pretty varied. I still think that the online games have been getting tougher and tougher, and for a change of pace just before Christmas I decided to have a go at the relatively new 50/50's on stars, starting at the lowest level, just for fun. The graph is below, and whilst the $1.50's were pretty much fish filled, from the $3.50's up seemed to be pretty much reg filled, making beating the rake and having a long term ROI of over 5% pretty much in the hands of the best out there (My winrate is coming from the lowest buyins) . I'm not one of them, but meh ill take my experience as a success.

For January I played some omaha, pl$10 on stars, and the results are below. I'm still way overvaluing non-nut hands on the river, and calling way too loose, but its fun, and different. Even though my graph looks like it had a heart attack mid month the win rate is still 13bb/100, and if i can sustain anything like it ill be a happy camper. Notice the shiny new HEM2 graph.

The live scene has been pretty mixed. I had a terrible day at the fitz a few weeks back, posted about it once on CC, . Had a pretty major decision go against me deep in an MTT at the Fitz http://www.cardschat.com/f59/live-game-floor-ruling-situation-thoughts-206596/.

Apart from that though, my results at the local Castle Card Club have been pretty decent in the last few weeks. Numbers are small, but 7 cashes and 4 wins in a row makes up for all the other messing.

~Laterz.

$100 Freeze Out at the Fitz

2011-12-06T03:17:00.004Z

Jessz I run hotter than the sun in that place. The last time I played there I chopped a rebuy. Just back from tonights adventure, 2nd time in an age since i played there.

Tonight was a $100 freezout (€80) and kicked off with 65 or so runners. 10K starting stack and a 20 minute clock, and usual structure for an evening MTT, you need some run good to do well.

Things started great, I chipped up to 20K without being alllin, with a run of AK's and QQ + AA with me nailing flops. The QQ hand was especially nice, with the blinds at 50/100 I raise to 400 UTG and get 6 callers, and the all fold to my c-bet on a 922 flop.

I lost half of that stack the very following hand, with a decent read that I was bang on with. I check my option in the bb with J10s, and see a flop 3 handed J 10 3 rainbow. The sb was active as hell, and bets the flop, I call. He bets the 5 turn, I call, and the 7 river, I flat again (usually terribad, but he had been betting all streets in limped pots all night) He flips 46o and gets a few sighs from the regs, he is obv a drooler,and at least now I know it and I have position.

An hour of carddeadness follows, and eventually i get into a pot with Mr Drooler, he limps the CO and I raise on the button with AQs, and fire on a QQ2 flop, he thinks his 66 is golden and shoves into me, tyvm, and im back to 18K.

The next big hand happens an hour or so later, I get moved tables and with the blinds at 200/400 my 16 stack needs a helping hand. I get put into the button and a reg (I remember this guy from the previous tourney) argues that I have to sit out a hand and calls the floor. Floor rules for me, as its a new table, and he raises from the CO. I shove 88 and he snaps with Q9 stating I deserve to lose (WTF) I bink on the flop and make 40K (tyvm to the limpers).

Few steals, and before i know it im moving tables again, 18 left. FFS chip leader on my right, and he is playing like a maniac. I fold like it was going out of fashion for 3 orbits. So when I get KJo in the sb it looks like the immortal nuts, and its folded to me. I limp and shove when the inevitable raise come's. He tanks until one of the shortstacks calls the clock, he calls and im against A4o. Flop is KK2 and it holds. 65K.

The 65k holds steady until we are 10 handed and make the final table, top 7 get paid and there seems to be lots of shorties, and im only a little ahead of them. I steal the blinds to keep ahead, and the bubble bursts when the chip leader from earlier calls a shove with Kx to try to burst it. We get to 5 handed very quickly, when my paydirt hand hits. Blinds are 2/4K im on 60K, UTG minraises, I min-raise back with AA (risky but meh) and the button snap shoves, utg calls and i obv snap. Its KQ/JJ vs my AA and my hand holds. We are 4 handed, with one player crippled, and he is taken out very next hand.

Chip leader then asks us for a deal (he wasnt "that" far ahead) and I accept, €1k each on the condition that I forfeit league points (HA HA !!!! sound).

I'll post my online results soon. Bet my 2 readers cannot wait :)

August 2011

2011-09-03T10:16:00.000Z

Apart from my few tourney cashes that I've blogged about already, my cash game play in July has been very very limited. Having a young baby in the house really changes what you do with your spare time. Getting the young lad to bed at 8, after a days work, and without a doubt at least a 7AM start the following morning, isnt the best movitation to either go out to the casino at 11PM for a cash game, or grind lots of tables on stars. This is why I found rush poker on Full Tilt so appealing, you could easily play for 5 mins or 5 hours and sit in/out at will without missing blinds, waiting lists, selecting tables, at everything else that go's with getting onto 8 tables.As for tourneys, well I can forget about that, maybe when he is a little older. Shame really, online MTT's were always where the nice money came from, it takes a long time on nl$50 to grind up a few grand, binking a tourney can easily dwarf that.Small small volume this month, I was getting this volume in a good day on the rush tables, nice win rate for nl$25 though, should be back at nl$50 next month.Graphz..

Blog roll.

2011-08-26T12:45:00.000Z

I have deleted inactive blogs from by blogroll, If you want a link back leave a comment here.

~TB

€25 rebuy at the Fitz, a win of sorts.....

2011-08-26T12:10:00.009Z

Well its been a while, and since black Friday I hav'nt really been playing all that much. I have well over 2 grand stuck at Full Tilt, and after having trusted the online poker sites for many years, it has come as a bit of a blow to me. I will probably play a bit over the next few days to get platinum star on PokerStars though, considering its only 750 VPP's this year.

I have been having some nice results in my live games over the last few weeks though, with 6 out of 7 cashes in the last few tourneys, most of them were pretty small fields though, a few nights ago though, on a last minute decision I entered the Wednesday €25 rebuy at the Fitz in Dublin, that kicked off with 66 entrants.

The initial starting stacks were short as hell, 2K with blinds at 25/50, and a 20 minute clock made for an agressive first 90 mins (rebuy period), and after a quick double on the second hand A2>KQ on a K22 flop, I have no real hands of note until the last rebuy hand. I limp 88 UTG, MP1 raise, 4 calls, and I shove. I get called by AK,AK,KQ and QJ and its looking good with everyone holding each others outs, my 8's hold and I get into the break on a stack of ~20K after the 4k addon.

Live players are sooooo bad, with only around half the field taking the 4K addon, immediately after the break it was evident that we were going to have a quick bit of a shove fest. It works out well for me, and I wipe out several shorties and get my way up to the leaders on 60K, with 30 players remaining.

Then it went badly for me, I lose 3 race's and I am almost crippled with the last 2 tables forming. I go shove happy, much to the distane of the limpers that seemed content to call off their stacks pre. Back to 12 big's, when i min raise 10's, and get shoved on by the big blind with 2 unders on an ill timed bluff and im back in the hunt with the final table forming.

Final table consisted of a massive stack, me, some polish dude and 6 shorties, so a nice cash was on the cards, and we have 3 quick exits, as the big stack is raising every hand. I shove over him a few times, and get into a comfortable 2nd. AA hit at a great time as the 3rd stack reshoved A10s into me, and I am right up there with 5 left. We quickly get down to 3, with very even stacks, talk of a deal was shot down immediately by the previous big stack.

Blinds it 10-20K and again it becomes a preflop shove fest. Eventually I shove A2s OTB and get called by MR No Deal, with AK and I get no help on the flop, or the turn. As usual when a player stands up the river binks, I win a massive pot and its heads up. First hand heads up, I raise 89s, and raise a donk bet with a flush draw, he flats, and we check a brick on the turn, he shoves the river and we are back to even steven. We chop.

€900 profit out of a €45 investment. €2,200 over the last 7 tourneys, happy days.

I will update soon.

2010-12-09T17:21:00.001Z

Really I will. I have a lot going on at the moment, and had a pretty interesting year on the tables. Hopefully I'll get a chance early next week.

~TB

ISOP Waterford.

2010-07-16T21:03:00.003Z

Last weekend was one I was waiting for, for quite a while. Myself and Irexes headed to Waterford Ireland for a €500 buy-in 3 day MTT. My biggest buy-in ever.

I missed out on the sat on Thursday because I had to re-sit a driving test (another story), and arrived on Friday just shy of two hours before the main event was due to start. I met up with Irexes in the bar of the hotel and went in to reg, immediately it was evident that the ~200 pre-reg'd people were not going to show. Small turnout of 70 in total. Got my table draw and hit the table at 4PM, 20K starting stack, blinds at 25-50 and a 1 hour clock for day 1 (changing to a 90min clock on day 2) and away we went. To be honest, maybe the weekend that was in it, maybe that the WSOP is in full swing, but I did'nt find any of the players at my table intimidating at all. I have a great start, chipping up to 28K over the first 3 hours. Hands of note was a 3bet pot with QQ and villian folding a rag flop to small bet, flopped a set of 3's and get some small flop action with everyone shutting down on the turn. Get to the first break after treading water for the next few hours. Break with 30K or so. Irexes is in a similar position.

I get a lovely run of cards after the break. Shame the flop's were not so good to me. I have an orbit of JJ/JJ/KK/AK, I get to 3-bet everyone pre, and I get to see an ace on every flop apart from the AK hand. I'm down to 20K. Again its tread water for a while, then I get the table move. The new table is fun, loud and loose :) Then the hand that basically finished me off, with the blinds at 300/600, UTG (laggy enough) raises from UTG+1 to 1800, he manages to get 3 calls and I squeeze AKs for 7K and get one overcall. The board runs A 8 2 rainbow, and it gets checked to me, meh pot is massive and betting commits me, I shove and find myself almost drawing dead against 88. Down to 2.5K when I shove into aces from the button a few hands later. Busto.......time for a change of tactic.

The cash game looked pretty juicy with 2 tables of €1/€2 running, so I get myself TWO pints and grab a seat buying in for €200. These tables were just pure crazy and fantastic fun, I'm seeing EP x4 raises getting 5-6 calls on a pretty regular basis, and everyone seemed to be bringing any piece of a flop to showdown regardless of action. I get stuck in. My first big hand was flopping the nut flush in a raised pot with A9s, I overbet twice the pot and shove the turn to get called by the naked J for a J-high flush draw (WTF), and im over €400. A few medium pots and I get allin pre with QQ vs A6 (or something equally silly) to bring me to €600, I cash out and relax............ Irexes just made day 2 at this stage with the ME wrapping up for the day, I think he was just over the average stack.

Day 2 was weird, I meet Irexes at breakfast after a pretty full on night, and we end up in a bar with an un-named poker pro, for what probably go's down as the single craziest conversation I have ever had, head back for a snooze and reg for the €250 side event. Another great structure with a 15k stack and 45 min blinds.

5 hours in and I have played a grand total of 2 hands, and I'm sitting on the starting stack with by pure luck was a perfect stack to 3bet shove. I get AQs OTB and 3-bet shove. My new friend for the weekend asks straight out if I want a call (even saying he should fold), so discounting the big 3 hands I say yes, he tables A8 (wtf) and I double, and go an a big of a rampage, and for somereason never get to showdown until the final table. We do a quick bubble deal for 7th, Im sitting in 2nd and make a comment on how I havn't had Aces for the full tournament. I get AA in the bb the very next hand, and a pretty solid player shoves a 15bb stack into me :) I snap and he tables Q2, the K 5 9 flop has me smiling, the 2 on the turn was worrying, the fucking queen on the river was pretty sick. 2 hands later I get AA on the button, and shove my ~12bb stack. BB tanks for a bit and eventually decides to call with KJ, he flops 2 pair and I'm out for a mincash......... Should have won it.

Irexes walks over, hes out after making the last 2 tables, KK
Day 3............ Wow this is getting long.

Myself and Irexes decide to hit up the cash game as soon as it opens at 1PM, its great fun, I set about going about creating a crazy image for later, raising with 10 2o "cause its doyles hand", and the like, I get to €400, dude wins 2 flips against me, and decides to bring me out for lunch, (sound.....). I leave my chips on the table, comeback 1 hour later, to see AKs UTG, I raise to €10 get 5 calls, my new friend 3bets to €25, I shove, he snaps and I win a stack with ace high. Time for event 2 the €120 buyin.

I have great fun in the $120,Im very active and donk off half my stack over the first 3 hours, then go on a mini run to get back to above average. Hand of note busting my new friend with AK again....... I make the last 2 tables by literally just being a pure aggressive maniac, then double when I play AA just like, well AA. No one gives me credit and I get shoved on for my trouble, and I'm 2nd in chips on the final table. The chip leader had probably half the chips in play and I make a dubious call against him after he shoves on my button raise, I table 88 he has A5 and I double, I take him out a few hands later when the roles are reversed I shove 77 on his raise he snaps with AK and I win the flip. 3 handed with Mrs Nit, Mr Maniac and myself. I get involved in a pot for 90% of the chips in play with my JJ vs Maniac's A2 (wtf again) he turns an ace and I get 3rd for €600.

I sit on the cash table, buyin for 200 again, immediately shove aces and get called by one of the guys from the earlier session and leave a few minutes later with €300 profit to get pissed.

Great weekend, I ship a lovely profit, do well in all the MTT's apart from the big one, was great catching up with Irexes again. I will definately be doing it again.

I have played a grand total of 50 hands online over the last month so no graph, did'nt bring the camera so no pics......... I may be able to get some linkage from the great crew that ran the show.

April 2010.

2010-05-12T20:42:00.003Z

Weird month, started off great. Shipped a small $50 buyin live MTT for around $450 in the first week, and did'nt play much live after that. Really I should have blogged about that MTT before this, but tbh I cannot really remember the high's and low's of it now, so I wont bother, suffice to say a win is a win.

The ISOP (Irish Series of Poker) is in July, and that is the game that I won the €500 buyin for, and after much debate with myself I have decided rather than sell the ticket for €350 I'll play. I have booked myself 4 nights down there, and hell or high water I am going to be playing like hell, MTT or no MTT, I know for a fact that the cash game action there will be insane, so expect some fun hands from that weekend in a couple of months, really looking forward to it tbh.

Online was a little strange this month, nothing much of note happening until my last session of the month, I find a random fish shoving every hand on a nl$50 table, search him, and find him on 3 other tables doing the same. The rest, is on the graph.

Not a very uplifting or interesting update tbh.

March review. Lots of moniez.......

2010-03-29T15:07:00.005Z

Well March was very mixed for me, I stuck at nl$50 6 max for the month, table selected like hell again, won some money, but holy variance batman !!! 8 buyins below EV, highlights include losing with AA to 88 on a A84 board, and running AK into aces what felt like every time I had it. Just enough hands to make goldstar. Graph.... (Image wont upload for some reason but its 12K hands just under $300 profit)

The highlight of the month though was the Mayo Poker Open, ran by Ladbrooks, a two day €150 buyin MTT. 87 runners and the best structure that I've ever seen in a tourney. 15K starting stacks, 40 minute blinds and action starting at 25/50 blinds.

Day 1 was like you'd expect. I played the nuts or close to it every time, well that was the plan at least. Second hand in I 3 bet kings, and end up calling down on a 99Q42 board. I lose to A9, and I have 11.5K. Next orbit I double up with 44 vs A7 on a 477 flop. Some small pots brings me up to ~30K.

I call min-raise with J10s from the bb and flop quads. Flop is 4 handed and check call, here is where it gets good. One of the cold callers had a lovely habit of check raising turns, so again checked to the raiser who bets 3/4 of the pot, my lovely friend is already eying his chips so I cut out what I think is a call. Dealer announces raise, and I see there is a few 5K chips mixed in with the 500's. I call for the floor, and was told the raise stands. I get shoved on for my mistake. Stack is 55K, and my image is rock solid.

Last hand I play at 4AM or so, I call from the sb with 84o. Flop is 5 handed, I check and I see lots of action and noone overly happy on a 992 flop, I raise committing most medium stacks and everyone folds. Day 1 over I have 70K.

Day 2 : 17 players left, 9 getting paid and I have above the average, table draw gives me the big stack on my right. I had chatted to him a bit the previous day and he felt that his stack allowed him to steal blinds almost at will. Well damn, looks like I have to set down a marker here. 2'nd hand of the day, he raises from the sb into my BB for x6 times the blind. Before I even look at my cards I'd decided to bluff shove, so JQs was fine by me, he snaps, I stand up and pray for tens, he has 99 I bink on the flop and double. Next orbit he shoves my blind, I wake up with KK, his A8 is no-good and I'm the table captain with 180K.

No other real action of note, until the final table. I lose 60K with on a flip with AQ vs 33, lose a few blinds and with the blinds hitting 5K/10K all of a sudden I'm looking in danger. I start 3 bet shoving, lots. Then it happens, 14 hours of poker, waiting for aces. I raise 2.5, the small blind shoves, the bb calls, I fistpump and call for half the chips in play. Its A10 vs 88 vs AA, the small blind hits his 8 on the river and I'm crippled 4 handed less than 2 blinds, and im UTG.

I shove 68s, win, shove J10o, win, shove AQ, win, shove 10 10 win, call an allin with AK win, all of a sudden its headup and I have most of the chips in play. I havnt even had a chance to stack the chips when the second hand HU my opponent shoves into my Aces. They hold and I book my first win in a while.

€3,200 + a €500 ticket for a freezout in July + €150 on Ladbrooks. €3,850.

Yea March owns.

The start of my shiny new 6 max experience.

2010-03-08T15:32:00.002Z

Not a lot of hands, thats a given. The one thing that I have been doing is table selecting like hell. I've also basically stopped playing 6 tables, at least until i get used to the new format. So playing 4 tables, and selecting like hell, it takes time. So far I'm happy with the result.

Graph.

What was 2009 ? 2010 hell

2010-02-13T00:35:00.005Z

Posting after 8 of the finest pints of guineess that youll ever have, so forgive any spelling/grammer mistakes.

2009 was weird, and tbh im not going to post a graph. I played less than 100K hands and broke even, at the same time bonus whoring made me over 3K. Not really that much fun. However I did cash pretty major (for me anyway) in a few live MTT's netting me well over $5K, for a ~$7K year.

Now however PTR will easily track my return to pokerstars, and this year started very similar to last year, with a major cash at the end of December combined with a savage downswing in January. Difference being both were bigger and better. Late December I cashed for over 2K in the $8r, $500 in the 30K GTD and $900 in an I-Poker donkament.

YSY ~ Rexy.

January was pure puke. TBH anyone on the forums that gives hand ranges are 6 max players, there ranges are all over the place. Seriously.

Any hand I posted on P5's, Cardschat and *** (not UPC for anyone wondering) I played it correctly but my God. Just look. TBH I can give around 5 buyins at nl$100 to pure insane tilt.

Graphz..............

Yea, so after a heater on the MTT's I go on the biggest downswing of my life. And I hated it.

I have never, and I think ever experienced anything like it, seeing people hit top of their range every time, and watching 6max player act like it was cooler was making me think that i didnt realise what the game was about.

So, I move down, I switch to 6 max, even though im still up well over a grand in the space of a few weeks. Then I realise that the kiddie game is well loose and juicy, and full of fish.

Feb so far has been well decent, $150 deposit bonus, $60 in stellar rewards and ~15 buyins on nl$50 6-max. ~£300 for a Sunday millon cash from FPP's. Im running at 26bb/100 and raping the games for a change, no graph until the end of the month, but tbh a ~$1K 10 days feels a little bit like the old days.

Fuck this blogging shit.......................

Oh, hello there.

2009-12-08T13:00:00.002Z

Well its been a while since I updated here. No real reason for it, mainly I've been using facebook as my method of keeping people updated as to what I've been doing online. Since I've updated poker if I'm honest has not been top of my agenda. Summer was great, I think I played ~5K hands in total online and spent most of my free time surfing, hiking and generally being less of a degen than spending hours online grinding the tables.

I have however kept up my live games, nl$200 on Wednesdays, and a $50 freezout on Fridays. My results have been great tbh, with a total profit of ~$3.5K for the summer months. The Friday freezout has probably some of the worst players that I've ever had the pleasure to meet. A nice example was from last weeks game, when I get allin preflop with AK, a nice man called from UTG declaring that "he was sure that I was behind", before the cards were tabled. I show my big slick, he smiles "Told you, MINE ARE CLUBS", and proudly tables K 10s. SHIP IT......

I've been playing a bit online for the last 6 weeks or so, mainly on nl$50 on Stars, with very breakeven results, I've been winning at .8bb/100, and it seems that the games are even nittier than I remember. A few small MTT cashes are propping me up, screenshot is from a UB $11 donkament from last night, I only joined it because I figured that it was going to be kicking off overlayed, it didnt, and I don't mind.

Wanna do a deal ? (lol live games)

2009-05-16T11:45:00.002Z

Poker is such a game of mixed fortunes, it can feel slightly surresl sometimes. Thurdsay night was the usual €25 freezout that I play and low and behold I last 2 hands. TBH I was a little stunned with the hand, with an 11K starting stack, 3 players call my shove when I flopped bottom set, only to see top set, middle set, and an osed, obv the oesd wins. Anyway I can live with that, at least it wasnt hours of poker to bubble.

Last night in the TF, Bruce Poker ran a 10KGTD event, hoping for 200 runners, the €120 (with one additional top up or add on) got off with 83 entrants, and whilst initially I was a little pissed with the turn out, I rekon that I'd still be playing 2 days later if the full amount of people showed up. 11K starting stack, 30 min blinds, a nice slow structure and a 15K rebuy amount, let to a nice structure with lots of chips in play. First hand of note I get is AKs, raise over a limper who I have a history with, and he limp-raises. Now realising that I can rebuy for 15K this one is a no-brainer and the guy should have known that, I shove, he tanks and calls with a mid pair, I hit and double. The next 6 hours go down as the most card dead, boring, hair pull out of your head boredom getting repeated 64o,72o, occasional A9 type hands with lots of action ahead. At least online when you go card dead in an MTT there is lots to do.

Anyway eventually I get moved tables, get AA,AK,and KK all back to back, and won all 3 medium pots to get back to the average, on taken with a c-bet, one uncontested and one 3/bet pot taken with a c-bet. At this stage my image is rock solid, and the table generally leaves my LP steals of the blinds and antes alone. I start to chip up. I have shown down nothing apart from a top 3 hand, and we hit the last 2 tables. Then it almost go's belly up, AKs loses to A4s, for 30% of my stack, then KQs vs 7 9o (wtf) and I am back to 8 big blinds. Table image solidifies again. I get a shortie in with AA vs rags, and once there was 13 players left, I go on the rampage with my 15bb stack moving in twice/three times per orbit, bringing me back to a 20bb stack. Bubble time.

This is when the game started to get weird, the bubble last's 2 hours, with just the final table getting paid and an extremly top heavy prize pool. Eventually someone suggests taking €200 from 1st and paying 11th, just to burst it, a welcome relief at 5AM, when no-one really looks in mortal danger. Bubble bursts immediately :) We get a 5 minute smoke break. Now its unusual in itself for all 10 of us to be smokers, and when its suggested that we take the remaining 12K, give 1K to everyone, and play for the remaining 2 it was a glited chance for me, with my 15bb stack, and prob sitting 7th in chips. Everyone agrees. Unusual to see the usual stress accioated with a final table gone, everyone was delighted with the deal. Table goes maniac almost immediately, K4s vs AJ for massive stacks, then the two chip leaders collide, on a 10 high flop with AJ running a massive bluff and getting snapped by K10, for well over a million chips of the 1.8M in play. I double with 88 vs two overs after I flop a set. We get 3 handed.

3 handed was fun, but it was a matter of raising the button every hand, and noone perpared to take a chance, I have 350K vs 350K vs 1.1M (or something similar) with blinds at 12K/24K. We get the clock stopped for a smoke. More dealage. To be honest I was joking when I asked the chippie if he was interested in re-dealage. He offers a 1500/1500/2K split. WTF, I wouldnt mind if he was a donk, but I have played this guy before and he is a very solid player, even if the AJ bluff was a little insane. TBH I rekon he wanted the tacky piece of shit trophy, anyway we finish at 7AM, after 3 deals. I don't thing I put a foot wrong the entire time.

Lovely tourney, great structure, great tables, dealers on them all, and a decent payday.

I think this month I have played 3000 hands online, so I'm not even going to bother with a graph.

April Results.

2009-05-03T16:48:00.003Z

April went ok tbh. Most of my money came from bonus's and my volume wasnt great. Mainly due to the fact that most of my poker time this month consisted of live games.

My main cash this month was from a €50 double chance (I thought it was a rebuy tbh when I reg'd) and lost my first stack within the first 20 mins or so, overplaying top 2 in a multiway pot when the turn fills lots of obvious draws. I rebuy, then discover that there is a top up option available for €30, and decide to play the rest of the game like a freezout. Next hand is AJs, and I raise from MP, get one caller in the BB, flop is A J 2, and we go to war, thankfully he has only ~half my stack size, and I get in vs AQ. Turn and river both bring kings and my 2 pair is countered. Break, top up. I have 15K with the blinds at 250/500.

Next hour or so is totally card dead, and then I get moved to a table full of massive stacks. The button is constantly stealing my blind, and I am looking for an oppertunity to 3bet shove when I see A8s and decide its enough and shove. He calls with QQ, and I discover to my delight that I actually cover by 1bb, with most of his big stack consisting of small chips. I lose. Next hand is KJ, I quadruple up, next one is K8, I shove without looking and triple. Back in the game.

Over the next 3 hours of so I built a stack of 400K or so, just pounding on blinds, raise, c-bet, and dont see a single showdown. We reach the final table bubble at 4AM or so, with top 9 progressing and getting paid. I am sitting evenly with the other 2 table big stacks when I pick up KK in the bb. UTG pissed drunk raises an amount only known to him splashing the pot with a 140K raise pre (5K/10K blinds), the button other big stack flats, and I tank and shove. Both call, im against A9s and JJ, my kings hold and I take out both, heading to the final table as a massive chip leader.

Final table was pretty sick, first hand I lose 20% of my stack calling an allin shove with QQ, he has A4 and hits the flop. My 77 vs 55 a few hands later against another shortie sees me fall back to average after he flops a set. I almost tilt but, meh, I just tighten up, probably too much. We get 3 handed with even stacks at 6.30AM when I 3bet shove JJ and run into AKs in the bb. He improves and Im on the rail in 3rd and €1,000 richer. Great result considering at one stage I had 1bb left.

Anyway graph of my limited online play. Notice all the bonus money :)

A week of live games.

2009-04-11T11:55:00.002Z

Well being fed up with staring onto a computer screen for hours on end kinda got me off my ass and into the local poker scene again, well for a week at least.

The Tuesday night cash game is back up again, this time the buyin is €100 playing 100bb deep (better than the €100 buyin playing 50bb deep imo), with a max loss allowed of €300, which is kinda what killed off the last effort. This time we go 8 handed with 2 full time tourney pro's (playing a cash game lolz), 4 decent players and 2 droolers. I get a stack early with my AKs spikes tptk+the flush draw in a 3 bet pot. I get in vs the queen high flush draw and hold. Lots of small pots and im sitting on €600 when I flop top 2 with AK and one of the droolers shoves. I tank and eventually call, he flips a worse two pair and spikes the river (ffs), and I come out of the game break even.

Thursday was a €22 freezout. With Good Friday hitting at 12, we had to be out of the bar earlier than usual, so its was played very like an online turbo. So I make it my primary goal just to stay ahead of the blinds and to pick on limpers. So when I see 2 limps into my 10bb stack I shove from the bb blind, and get snap called by K10o. I flip 62o and proceed to flop a straight, he he. 2 tables left and I get berated by both tables for the play, so with a semi-decent stack I decide to hold a bit for some cards. I did'nt have to wait too long, picking up Aces in the bb the very next orbit, and again I shove over 3 limpers, picking up 2 calls with 66/77 and I take out both players. A cruise home from there, and with no-one adjusting to the turbo structure most of them end up allin on the big blind. Cash for €200.

Friday was the €22 one rebuy/one addon. Lovely stucture playing very deep, get to the addon after winning a few small pots, the hit paydirt with a flopped set vs an overpair, so I'm sitting on a 30K stack when the hand of the night hits. With the blinds at 150/300 I raise over a limper with 109s otb. Limpers flats and we have a 10 5 6 flop with 2 of my suit, and we have a bet/raise/call. Turn is a great card for me (well I thought it at the time) with the 7 falling completing my flush and filling most of the straight draws. He check/shoves and I call, he has A10 with the ace of hearts, and hits the river. Still though very nice guy, first ever live MTT and he shows up with his sunglasses/hat and i-pod, must have felt like the WSOP to him considering his bread and butter games are 25c MTT's on Stars.

Easter Weekend now looming, and looks like there will be a few games over the weekend.

~Enjoy.

March review, and YSY ! An Irish Grand Slam.

2009-04-06T13:51:00.007Z

March kinda flew by in a haze for me. I really did'nt get in the volume that I would have liked, but then again most people in Ireland had other things on their minds. As far a skint nation goes a little good news and a life of spirits was well needed for everyone. We went into the last game of the 6 nations against Wales needing a win againt the favourites for a first grand slam win in over 60 years. Hollywood could'nt have written the story of this game much better, there was to be no run away victory, and the game goes right down to the last 2 kicks of the game. Fortunately it was us that came away with a victory and for me at least a taste of what has been just out of reach for all these years. A national side actually winning something. Great, probably one of the best nights out I have ever had.

Poker was kinda meh, still grinding away on i-poker and its been slow progress, but none the less progress. I have been starting to add in some nl$100 tables again. +$800 including bonus's for March and the first few days of April. May will likely see me move sites again, once this bonus is cleared, and its almost done. I have been playing lots of live poker again as well, which is a great thing against some very very poor players. Unfortunately I still havn't cashed in any tourneys this year but I have been beating up on the cash games.

My favourite hand for the month below, this is against a reg that I have massive history with.

Value town vs a 78/2/0 Fish.

Against a usually tight reg, I really don't know what he thinks he is ahead of here.

x20, seriously AK has been one of the biggest losers for me this month.

I-Donker, and some sun.

2009-03-06T00:42:00.003Z

Well after Januarys total disaster of a month, the first month I have ever lost money playing ring games (wtf, but true), I was in a bit of a spot. I was almost convinced that stars had it out for me, but the thing was after an awesome December MTT cash I was in almost in exactly the same postition that I was in on Dec 28th. It did'nt feel like it. So with some gusto and bravado I decided to deposit on I-Poker(paddy power) for a change of pace, and for once play on a site that actually rewards a relatively small volume player. So max deposit was $400 and I got a $600 deposit bonus for my efforts.

So far its been going well, I have stuck exclusively to playing nl$50, and apart from the insane problem with the massive infestation of shortstackers that they in mid-feb tbh its been a nice change. (The SS problem seems to be solved with full buyin tables and 50bb min tables all over the place now though). The reg's are terrible, and I mean terrible, and coming from a few months playing nl$100 reg's on Stars, I've been handing out a little pwnage to them, and I'm looking forward to moving up there. I still have 4K or so sitting on Stars for some reason thats beyond me, maybe I am in love or something, dunno. Graphz.

The auld junket trips that our business got in droves is drying up rapidly, and a trip that used to get over 100 had thanks to recession under 40 this year. Only Lanzorite (spelling lol) but 5* all the way, and beautiful weather is a nice break from the pure hell that is the first week in Feb in retail. No pics, cause really we did'nt take any. Highlights were losing a couple of ton in the casino, lots of swimming, and beating England by 1 (ONE lol) point in the 6 nations.

Google still has me banned from searches unless its very very very specific. Assholes.

Downswong.

2009-01-19T14:19:00.002Z

So far January has been a depressing month for me. Super-coolers and a few nasty beats so far this month. KK < AA 3 times, top set into quads twice, flopped sets this month are costing me a bloody fortune. No fun hands this time because it will depress me too much.

I did however deposit on Paddy Power poker and got a $600 sign up bonus, so im gonna spend the next few weeks away from stars and just gonna work on clearing that. Gonna head off to the sun for a week in Feb I rekon.

Graph. !!!

Sorry about the lack of content.

2008 in review, some goals for next year.

2008-12-29T19:23:00.003Z

Really a year of two small sections of poker. Jan-April and cashed out back to 2K, then Oct-Dec rebuilding. Got married and shit inbetween, moved house, went on a kickass honeymoon. If I'm totally honest with myself I was all to happy to have a total break from the tables.

Since October things have really gone well, ~$1,500 added to the roll in MTT hits, best one being 13th out of 8K or so player in the DD on Full Tilt for a $1,200 score, and the rest coming from the odd small cash and some of the forum games.

Graph of my year on the ring tables. (Massive drunken nl$200 heater on Titan before I cashed out excluded so add on a grand for that).

For 2009 I don't really know what I'll do. My roll online is sitting at around $6K, and I'm actually really enjoying the game at the low stakes at the moment, I will have to put some serious thought into withir I want to move up to nl$200. Gah, dunno what Ill do, but as long as I'm enjoying it ill stay where I'm comfortable.

~Happy new year folks.

Quadrigea with bacon.

2008-12-21T11:16:00.006Z

I am really posting this because of a really really strange thing that happened today. These hands happened within 20 minutes of each other, and only playing 6 tables I really feel its blog worthy. Just a few fun hands :)

This one is against a reg. TBH I play this very slow pre, and it is for meta game more than anything else, mainly because I show up with 33-88 here so often. My line makes no sense, or does it.

This one is a little different, its against a fish, and its value town, I really considered shoving the flop.

WTF, at this stage I am considering posting about rigged action sites.

Weak sauce.

Well once again the government here makes a massive fuck up. Last week ALL bacon products were recalled. WTF no rashers !!! But meh it was unfit to eat, everything containing pork had to be binned. BUT WAIT, lol, sorry, we may have cost a few thousand jobs but its really safe. Come on.

Just in case you havnt heard it.

The breakfast roll song. Be warned its bad. But fun. ~ Enjoy

How the hell you you put a you-tube vid in a blog post ?

No tags anymore because google hates me, and delisted me.

Update.

2008-12-10T22:02:00.003Z

My month is going great, apart from the fact that the live cash game has gotten killed off. Shame, the rule was always a 2buyin max rule to stop the game getting too big, but unfortunately last week that rule was thrown out the window, and a few of the fish lost big, two of them over 6 $200 buy-ins, and another lost $400. I missed it, but these guys have now said that they will never play again, and last night they were true to their word and did'nt show up. Shame, looks like we will have to go back to a sit and go format.

The month is going grand, up a little bit, and happy out just playing at my own pace and not having to log a certain amount of hands per day. Getting the bonus FPP's is also a nice boost, but as I've said before I think ill be happy making gold this month. You'd never know, stars might offer me another level up bonus in the new year.

Some fun hands.

This one was strange, I think shoving pre fold out a lot of the hands I crush, even though there is a lot of action killing flops, villian is a fairly tight reg, and I'm happy with the way this goes down.

This one was pure tilt, I was just after getting stacked with a set on another table, and was a little tipsy :) Beautiful flop, better turn, and he is always going broke here.

Nasty, nasty hand against a total fish playing 78/20/8, he has been stacked already with a pair of 4's unimproved on an ace high board. Of course he spikes the river, did'nt win a thing of this guy for the 200 or so hands i played against him.

Meh, one of these against a fish that insta leaves the table. At least it was on one of the $50 tables.

November report. Lots of pokery.

2008-12-01T13:34:00.004Z

I posted my results already over on cardschat, so this may be a little mute. I spammed a lot of hands this month and for the first time ever got to the platinum star VIP level. It took a lot, and i mean a lot of poker. I did'nt really enjoy to "Have to" play poker, but I did, and got a $250 bonus from Stars for my efforts.

This month I think I might go back to nl$50, mainly because I am crushing it, nl$100 seems to be populated to an extent with FPP pro's, I mean some of these guys seem to be playing every single time I sit, the fish are sparser, and the reg's better. Have a look at my monthly graphs below to see the difference between my month on both levels.

So

+ $200ish from donkaments.
+ $250 stars bonus for getting platinum.
+ $280ish worth of fpp's

Total ~$1,400 for the month, ill take.

nl$50 Graph

nl$100 Graph !!!

December is going to consist of chilling out, playing when I want to play, not going to have any major goals apart from turn a profit.

Mid-month update.

2008-11-16T23:51:00.007Z

Well this has been one of the most fustrating weeks of poker i have ever played. I just could'nt win, it was annoying as hell, getting oversetted running kings into aces a few times, and generally simply not getting paid off on my own monsters.

My run at platinum star is going ok though, and as long as I keep at it I should make it with a few days to spare. December is a site move, and what looks like a pretty easy bonus to clear on Eurolinx. The $750 should be easy enough to clear on nl$50 in well under 20K hands..

Some fun hands.

A strange bluff from a usually nitty reg today.

A nice hand against a total fish.

Story of my week.

Week 1 of my platinum run.

2008-11-08T14:44:00.003Z

I see now how I'd never be able to play this game full time. As you have probably guessed I've decided to have a run at platinum star for that $250 bonus that Stars has offered. Its a LOT of poker, basically every spare second is taken up with it, I've even skipped a juicy live cash game in favour of grinding the tables.

On the good side though, things are going well, and I'm well on the way back to nl$100 full time, I'm now playing 3xnl$50 tables and 3xnl$100 tables. Hopefully another week like this and a full move to nl$100 will make grinding out my goal a hell of a lot easier. I really don't want to have to go playing 16 tables for the last few days just for vpp's.

A handy win in the $2+$100 added over at Cardschat, and its a $900 week.

No hands this time, mainly because they are all of me winning stacks :) I promise a few for next weeks report. Now I'm off for the weekend with the lovely wife.

OMG I feel like going for platinum.

2008-11-02T16:28:00.002Z

So I log into Stars yesterday and see that IF I make platinum then I get a $250 bonus. Nothing to sneeze at. But the thing is if I hit platinum I can also get the $650 bonus from the VIP store, so there is a massive incentive for me to have a go at least. $900 is a nice hit for a nl$50 player.

Yesterday was swong city, got in around 2.5K hands, most on nl$50 and a bit of a break-even stint on nl$100 to finish off.

Hand convertor test.

October Update.

2008-10-30T22:48:00.003Z

Yea yea, I know this blog has been massively neglected over the last few months. Its going to be one of my November goals to update it at least weekly. Still no honeymoon report, gotta get the new wife to sit down and pen it with me, God forbid I make a mistake :)

As far as the poker this month went, my new monitor has opened up a whole new dimension for me, for the first time I can play several tables without any overlap (9 YAY) on tile, and I've done a little expermenting with using stacks, 2 sessions of 16-18 tables and I managed it fairly ok. Anything over 6 and I am losing a lot of value on hands, and making some mistakes though. Even so the difference between 9 and 16 is not that great. nl$50 this month has been a grind if im honest, I played a few forum games to break the boredom, and the play of some of the cardschat regular players still shocks me, how some people can still be so bad at poker after all these years boggles the mind.

Graph. YSY !

Almost 21K hands, Goldstar, and the biggest amount of hands Ive ever logged in a month.

Quick update.

2008-09-20T18:28:00.003Z

Got my shiny new Dell during the week, and I still really have to try it out. Its a seriously powerful machine, complete with a nice wall mounted 24" monkier :)

I hav'nt forgotten about my honeymoon report (with pics), its just it will take a bit to do it, and work is pure stress at the moment.

Good luck on the tables folks.

Suggg,,,,,,, I'm married.

2008-09-07T19:09:00.004Z

Dunno how to go about this blog post to be honest, its not like things "really" have changed in my life, considering that I have been going out with Tracy for well over 6 years, but ill give it a go. They say that every bloke get a little nervous on the wedding day, that you don't have time to drink, and that the day goes by too fast without remembering much, all lies.

I was'nt nervous, I was excited.

I had loads of time to drink, even though I did'nt go over the top.

I did'nt forget a thing, I remember the lot and I'll cherish lots of the memories of the day.

Anyway, things started off grand at my Mothers house, nice and chilled out, ready in lots of time, headed off to the pub with 45 mins to spare (Irish tradition), and was installed in the church to meet and greet with 20 mins to spare. Disaster hit, the priest asked for the wedding document (to make it all official), and lo and behold the best man did'nt have it, so off he goes home looking for it. 40 mins later, the priest gives me the go ahead without it, Tracys group was sitting in a lay-by 5 mins down the road and for once it was the grooms fault that the bride was late. :) Fun times though.

The priest was nice and quick with the ceromeny, it was over and done in under an hour and before we know that was happening we were in the nice shiny merc on the way to the reception. A few pics on the beach (lovely sea view outside the hotel) and the second we walk in the rain comes down, and for once a little luck. For the reception we had in or around 200 guests, and the dinner was pure fantastic food,spiced chicken salad/ leek and potatoe soup/ seabass or fillet steak/ selection of deserts/ tea coffee. Then it was on to the first dance and the band.

The thing about the band we had picked was that first off Tracy hates the traditional Irish wedding bands, (im not a big fan either) so we went all out and booked a "Big Band", you know "Old blue eyes", there was 18 of them, they done all the music live, and it was pure brilliant. It went down a treat, a pure mental DJ after that and the music and dancing went on till well after 2AM, we headed up to be at 5AM leaving behind a group of around 60 (!!!). God know what time they finished up.

Anyway im keeping this relatively quick and fast because I know you guys find this relatively boring, but it was a great day, and I had the best day of my life, Tracy looked like a million dollers and looking back I am so lucky to have her.

Well hello there folks.

2008-09-04T13:35:00.002Z

I'm (hic) almost back to normality. AT LAST I have my internet back up at home, still can't figure out this new wireless router so its only on the stairs, but better than nothing.

4 (thought it was five tbh) months without playing a hand of poker online, but I have had some nice additions to the live roll, with a few MTT wins and a nice run in the nl$200 live game I play.

Expect some pics of the wedding/honeymoon within a few days.

Its dosn't rain, it pours.

2008-07-01T11:48:00.003Z

Sorry about the lack of updates. As you know I've been moving house, which means renovating both the place I was in and the new house. Unfortunately things never go according to plan, and whilst almost finished my new place, the tenants in one of my investment properties decided in their wisdom to have a party. It must have been some party tbh, because they totally trashed the place. I mean TRASHED, doors kicked in, holes in walls, rails on the stairs all broken, most of the furniture ruined, bah. Anyway I evicted the tenants and I'm now working on house number 3. This feels like its never ending.

I also have no internet.

I have no spare time, so no pokery.

Mid-Month update.

2008-06-16T19:29:00.002Z

Well after that time I got haxored I decided to cash out a considerable portion of my roll and leave myself with 2K, and move down to nl$50 again. TBH since then I have had very little moviation to play, until this weekend really. I logged a bucket load of hands on the $50 tables, not massive by any standards but massive to me. I hit a nice downswing to start and a nice upswing to finish with a small profit. Yesterday I done my usual insane MTT the uber donkfest on Stars that is the Sunday Hundred Grand. It was the first time in what felt like ages that I went relatively deep in an MTT, and when my roll now feels so small a $180 cash for an $11 investment was well needed. Couple this with $1K freeroll I won at the start of the month on Titan, I'm actually having a pretty decent month for someone that isnt playing all that much, tagging on in the region of $500 to my new roll :)

The house is coming along nicely, its a lot of work (A LOT), combine this with the fact that most of my living room roof caved in over the weekend its been slow. My first ever effort at plastering is not all that bad and you would have to look for the hole now that its painted. (it was a big hole). So got the bedrooms finished, the kitchen finished, the sitting room almost finished, so with a bit of luck I'll be in by the middle of next week at the latest.

Graph of my month, and hopefully next time I'll have a photo or two of my new house.

I should become a painter, oh i had my stag night.

2008-06-10T19:57:00.003Z

Seriously, every day for the last few weeks, its been work, eat, paint, sleep, repeat. I'm actually getting quite good at it, the first room I attempted was the guest room, which in fairness I made a total balls of, but I've been getting progressively better, with the last few rooms being flawless. The 3 bedrooms are now finished, complete with furniture, and its about time to hit into fitting the wooden floors downstairs. So all going well I should be back on the tables by early next month.

8 or so of us headed away last weekend on my stag, and if I'm honest, I don't think that I've ever consumed as much booze within 3 days in my life, and not get kicked out of anywhere. I could'nt say the same for the rest of the lads though, with the late comers last Sunday night being the worst. The funny part was that I was still on it from the night before, they started playing the catch-up game at 9PM, but a few of them overtook the drunken level very very quickly. That's all I'm telling ye about it, you'd never know who reads this :)...........

Poker has really been a non-event for me (obv). I played the last few Tuesday evenings which is now playing akin to a nl€200 game, with quite a bit of success, with the pre-flop play being tough but the post flop being quite abysmal. So playing SC's and small pairs were proving quite profitable and I'm starting to show quite a handy profit from this game, especially as my reads on the other players improves. Online, I've been tipping away at a small few nl$50 tables, and losing heavily. Nothing much wrong per-say, I've just been getting some terrible luck, and any time I get a big hand myself I get no action. Then again the sample is tiny.

Upwards an onwards (downwards as well)

2008-05-28T11:26:00.002Z

WHOHOO ! It's been a long time coming, but at long last I get to move house. It's going to be a very welcome relief after spending over 3 years in a one bedroom apartment, to actually live in a house again. I can actually invite guests around again, I'm really looking forward to it. At the same time though, the whole place has to be done up, and that job starts today. So with painting, fitting new floors, and without doubt a host of "female" things that I would never dream of doing, it looks like ill be very busy over the next few weeks.

Poker has been quiet, and this month has continued in the same vein at the last graph you seen, I managed to have a great weekend last weekend only to lose the vast majority of it again, a hand of note was flopping top set, and managing to get a 350bb pot in on the flop against 2 over and a flush draw and an open ender straight flush draw, only to lose it on the river. Still the OESFD played it correctly. I've also made a decision to move back down to nl$50 for a while, and I cashed out the grand total of $6,000 yesterday leaving me "techicnally" still rolled for nl$100 but meh, Ill make a grand or so on the 50 tables before I move up again. To be honest I feel great about cashing out such a large amount of money, how I feel about moving back down a level will remain to be seen in the coming weeks.

The last few live games I've played have gone ok as well. Last night, the hands of note was getting stacked with Aces on the first hands, and then quadrupling up on my 5th hand with top set vs a big range of combo draws. I called a raise from the button with 77 and the flop goes five handed (YAY LIVE GAMES), and the flop was 7h 6h 2d. I get in vs KK, 89o and Ah2h and the board pairs the turn giving me a lock on the pot. I sat card dead for the rest of the night winning the odd small pot and losing the odd small pot. Wow though, the play there is just horrendous, and while it's just a matter of waiting for some big hands, it can be tedious.

No graph this time, and expect some pics of my house as soon as its presentable.

BOO !! Breakeven poker, and oh I get Haxored....

2008-05-14T18:43:00.004Z

Sorry about the decided lack of posts, but in fairness there was nothing to post about. All my action has well been a non-event really. My month to date is break even, even though its a very small number of hands for me. Its not that the competition is tough its just well, mixed fortunes, I've been at the right end and wrong end of AA vs KK exactly the same number of times this month :) At least I'm getting some FPP's which can't be a bad thing.

On Sunday I managed to get into the million on Stars for an investment of around $70, managed 2nd in the cardschat $200 added game for $110, and lost around $50 on the rings for well, a break even day. The million was incredibly fustrating, once again the hand that knocks me out is KK this time its 4 spots from the money against QQ, with a Q hitting the river sending me to the rail. Pure fustration.

Both times I've played my live cash game this month I've bought in for €50 and left with €50.......

Exciting blog worthy stuff indeed.

Last night however was likely a little more blog worthy, with me getting a shiny new funky mobile that can connect to wireless Internet connection points. So yesterday I sign into MSN to see if it will work, and hand over the phone to a family member to check it out. They in-advertently give out some small personal details to a contact, and when I get home from work I find that I can't sign in. I check my emails, and see several attempts have been made to log into my poker accounts followed up by an email demanding money for my MSN account back. At least I had the common sense to have an alternate email address and different passwords for the poker sites. Still though it didn't stop said scammer managing to convince some of the cardschat folk to part with a few hundred of hard grinded out money. I managed to get the account back pretty fast when he realised that it wasn't worth much to me, still though its fustrating, and a full evenings work wasted changing all my passwords again, just in case.

Mid-month break even graph...........

April update and some fun in London

2008-04-30T18:58:00.004Z

April was kinda one of them months that I just played, well for the sake of playing. I did however show a profit even if it is a small one, and I still have a way to go to negate that nl$200 shot I took in March. Once again I failed to make Goldstar, only by around 800FPPs, and it may be something that will prove costly if the rumours are true about a double points promotion in May, last year I think it ran for 10 days. But meh, I couldn't really be too arsed about that at the moment.

After a 2 week wait, my Harrington on Cash games books finally arrived, and after skimming the first few chapters last night it looks like these books may get me fully motivated again and back on track. Lots of basic concepts, that on the outside look totally standard to me, but if I can pick up even one new weapon to add to my game then I will be happy about it.

I hit up live game last night, and to be honest I still totally sick about the beat I took on the last hand of the session. The thing with a live game is that the pace is soooo much slower than playing 4-6 online tables, and in a 3 hour session I get one pair (44 set mined and folded), I get AK once, and that was really it. Still though some good strong positional play seen me take more than my fair share of pots and I had my €50 stack sitting at €120 when the hand of the night hit. The C/O limped, I raised KJs on the button and the BB and C/O call. The flop is an action one with AJJ with 2 diamonds, and the BB bet (usually an ace) and the C/O raises. With these two players it was a great position to be in considering that the cutoff raises any ace, and the BB is a maniac and would never flat AJ or AA leaving me with what was likely the best hand. I raise committing myself, and the bb tanks and folds his flush draw and the cutoff shoves J10 covering me. A ten on the river sees me losing the biggest pot of the night, and the only pot I'd played for stacks.

We were over in London last weekend, and met up with a handful of people from the forums, trip report is over there, and after last nights beat I savoured a decent sized glass of the fine whiskey that Dakota-xx brought from my birthday. Pic attached of the pps we met up with, and another trip report over on the cardschat blog.

Oh graph..........

At last, some live action.

2008-04-18T18:13:00.003Z

Wow, I didn't realise just how long it was since I played a live game. Anyway I got a call yesterday evening about a "new" pub game starting, and these guys wanted a few regular players to play every week. So when I heard that the format was supposed to be a full ring cash game, you can imagine my glee :-).

So after the initial debate on how it was going to work, we settled on 2 max buy-ins of €50, with blinds at .50c/€1. Not ideal, but it wasn't the initial idea of extremly shallow €1/€2, making the game shallower than I'm used to, but still semi-optimal to nut mine if I can win even one pot. The other players lined up to be some fairly strong but most of them with leaks that I felt that I could easily exploit.

So, we get going 8 handed, and the game proved very tight. I won a small pot early with 67s from the BB, when I call a river bet for information with middle pair, beating a total bluff. My first big hand came around an hour in, and I 3-bet the table LAG with KK, and we go a flop 3 handed after the worst player on the table over-called. Flop was 224 and our LAG leads for a pot sized bet, leaving me no other option than to get the rest of my stack in. He folds, and I'm up to almost €100. This is where the good stuff ends though.

The game got progressively looser as the night went on, and I have to fold AKs unimproved in a 3 bet pot after I get 3 calls and lots of action on a rag flop. At this stage the game had become great, lots of limping, lots of 3xbb raises and lots of calling. Most pots had become quite large, even by the time we got to a flop. My fun hand of the night was an UTG limp with A10, utg+1 raised x3 and against 5 calls, I shove in a massive show of strength. The pre-flop raiser snap calls with AK and I flop a 10 for a nice pot.

Then it all goes wrong, a new "drunk" player sits and on his first hand cold calls a €14 raise with 62o, and progresss to win a nice pot. The next hand I pick up AKs (again) and raise to €7 isolating the donk in the bb who instantly calls. The king high flop is looking good, and the ace on the river nails his gutshot and I get stacked............ So I rebuy and spend the rest of the night breakeven for a fifty loss.

Still though, it was fun, great fun in fact and its a game that I will certainly frequent more over the next few months.

Mid month update.

2008-04-14T21:12:00.002Z

What is it on Stars with the open shoves on the nl$100 tables at the moment ? Now don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining at all, but lets get one thing quite clear, I'm never folding KK to an open shove. So I did'nt........... twice. First time was against A3 for 60bb, second time was against AA for 120bb. Then I get over-setted, 99 on a Q92 board, and again I'm not folding, ever. That is how my 1,300 session today played out, and a small recovery for a stack at the end was of little consolation. But on the upside, my month is still in profit, and I have a $120 bonus almost cleared thanks to a Stars reload bonus.

The brigade orienteering was somewhat insane. The senior course was 9K, (as the crow flies) so around 12K of running, its not good for someone when your decidedly unfit. So today I could'nt really move my legs very much, these are the days it suits to play poker. We did after all the sweat get 2nd place and a qualification to the Irish All Army orienteering championship in a month or so. Now I actually have to do some training, but they say fitness is good for the mind and soul and all that, so hopefully it will sharpen me up a little. My God my legs hurt though.

Over on the forums things are a little dead for some reason. There are lots of added money games, lots of bad beat posts, but very very little strategy or hand analysis. I have an topic of discussion formulating in my mind, so I might start a little debate once I get the OP hammered down without too many spelling mistakes. YES I will cross-post it here as well.

As always graph.

Back in the saddle, so to speak.

2008-04-08T22:39:00.004Z

Since my horrible downswing last month I decided to take a small break from the tables and just re-focus a little on some other things that I like doing. So this week.

I played golf, very well to be honest and suprised. Considering that golf is a game that you need a lot of practice at, my game was as good as it ever was. I can still hit a ball over 300yds, and the people I play with still look in awe as I make a fuck up of a silly chip to turn an easy par into a bogie. Fun stuff.

I went orienteering. Yep running through a forest soaking wet, in the west of Ireland on a miserable Sunday morning is still fun. The adreneline rush when you hit that final control after 8 miles of misery is still worth it.

Today I climbed a mountain. My day off and I didnt spent it grinding out the hands on Stars. Had a sleep in and Tracy asked if we could go on an adventure. I reply with "What, wanna climb a mountain". She thought that that sounded like fun, so we headed off and did it. I feel great, I have lots of training in mountaineering so it was all good. Not a major trek, still took well over three hours.

So when I get back at six I fire up stars feeling all awake and ready for some poker. Yep a 20% reload offer. So I whack on another $600 get my $120 bonus and hit the grind. GRIND, poker now owns again. I played 650 hands, and ran at an incredible 25ptbb/100 for the duration.

Hence the fitness regime is now out the window......................

Heads up for dinnerz.

2008-04-01T20:14:00.004Z

The challenge : Heads up for dinner on Thursday.

The prize : A home-cooked meal of the winners choice.

The challenger : My beautiful bride to be, Tracy.

Rules : Best of three heads-up games.

The results ........... I get to cook Tracy pan fried sea-bass with a salsa sause, baby boiled potatoes, par-boiled home-made chips. A starter and desert of my own choosing.

PWNED. I wish we just played for some money :(

YAY, my blog is a year old. (March update)

2008-03-31T13:06:00.002Z

Well its been a year. Have I learned much ? Sometimes I think so, and other times I feel like I have taken 10 steps backwards. These are feelings that come naturally once you've had a losing month, seriously though I did'nt think that I'd be playing nl$100 on a regular basis at all, ever, let alone blowing my first decent attempt at nl$200. Back to the drawing board for a while on that one.

I did'nt really play much at all over the last 2 weeks, I did'nt post on the forums, I did'nt even think much about poker when I was away from the tables, and that in itself is very refreshing. I can at least take a nice step back from things and have a reasonable neutral look at my game. I had a look at my DB for this month, and there isnt really much that could be done, my EV graph shows a small profit, but don't we all wish we ran to expectation.

I spend a week away with the Irish Reserve Defence Forces last week. Got to do some shooting with some big guns, and more of that to come in the next few weeks. Orienteering championships are coming up in the next few weeks so Ive got to concentrate on that a little. Wedding is rapidly approaching, house move is coming up, so I'm going to be playing less, much less in fact over the next few months.

Anyway that's enough rambling, graph of the month. :(

We had eight million bails of old nanny goats' tails

2008-03-18T17:39:00.002Z

Oh God above Irish pub's on St Patrick's day (note weekend) can be a bit head wreaking sometimes. I think I heard the Irish Rover played at least 50 times, couple that with very drunken, and badly sang version's of "The Field's of Athenry" with some impromptu 'RA, reference's thrown in to rattle any English tourists that happened to wander any where near the vicinity, you get the idea.

Friday, I went to the pub and got hammered. A few sing-song's, some drunken darts for a score a game and suprisingly I managed to hold my own for a break-even night. If I'm honest I likely lost some playing darts, but I did find 50c on the floor and threw it in the Fruit Machine in the corner and took the jack-pot :)

Saturday I was at work, not good, and gave up at 4ish to go to the pub and get in the second half of a pityful Irish display vs our friendly neighbours in the six nations. Stayed out until all hours until I got up again. Played some pool this time, very badly but considering there was no money on the games I did'nt care.

Sunday, started at 5PM and looking on Cardschat, it looks like I posted at noon on Monday, serious stuff, and a very very hazy memory of things.

Monday, I was a semi-drunken steward for the parade, I did fit right in though, and I headed to the pub for the rest of the evening/night. It was hell, I can never understand why people decide to fill the pubs with their kids whilst the parents make idiots of themselves for the day. Annoying little shits spilling their red lemonade all over people.

Today I'm green, literally. I never want to drink again. Oh I'm also several hundred euro's lighter.

The poker front has been non-existant over the last few days, I played a small bit over the weekend, I think it was 57 hands or something. But its nice to get a break for a bit. So no graphs, no hands, I did'nt even have a second thought about it.

A massive losing session, and taking a small break.

2008-03-11T22:22:00.004Z

Well my move to nl$200 is well and truly over, for the time being at least. Losing 5 stacks in a session shouldn't be a massive big deal, its happened to me before, a few times. Its never happened on nl$100 though, and you can imagine that the worst time for it to happen to me would be my on one of my first session of nl$200. Losing a grand for a part-time player like myself is a major set-back. If im honest, I was sick to my stomach for a full day after it. Playing with amounts and losing amounts is by no means a big financial hit to me (but it could be) its still a lot of money. Looking back, I had less online only 18 months ago.

Anyway, I had a look back through the session today, and in fairness, given the players, the cards, and the situations, I go broke on all but one of these hands, and I felt that I played them well. Hands of note were flopping broadway in a 3-bet pot with AK and getting in on the flop vs a set of 10's. Flopping top set and getting it in vs a combo-draw, and the last one was flopping top set and getting in vs Ace high (why did he have to runner-runner me Holy Shit). The questionable one was getting in vs the ace high dude an orbit later when I flop bottom 2-pair from the BB, even then vs the player in question it was likely a winning play in the long run. Looking at my PokerEV graph over the last two thousand hands, I certainly don't deserve to be this far in the hole for the month.

I've been looking at a few box-set's over the last few months, and "Hero's" was one that I'd wanted to watch for a while now, so I bought that, and plan on watching that over the next week or so. Then I full plan on going on an almighty piss-up for Paddy's Day, and making sure that I'm self excluded from Stars and Full Tilt for the full weekend. Then its a week in the Reserve Defence Force's is just what I need for a break from the tables and a chance to re-focus.

So expect some fun, non-poker related blogging over the next few weeks. Maybe some vague RDF stuff considering we are no longer allowed post what we do on the inter-tubes. I'll leave ye with 2 graphs, the first one is my monthly graph, notice the end, and the next one is the PokerEV one for the last 2K hands. Enjoy............

Fifty thousand nl$100 Full Ring hands.

2008-03-05T21:32:00.002Z

I'm tired now, off to bed. (hic)

Now, this might not be a big deal to a lot of you, but I have a full time job, a wedding coming up, and I don't play 10gazillion tables. So this is a lot of poker for me. Looking back through my blog , at the start I killed nl$5/10/25 in under ten thousand hands. This has taken longer. Ohhhh almost 8bb/100 :)

Add in the other 50K hands or so that I have got and I'm extremely well rolled for nl$200 now. There is a little problem though. I have a mental block about my stars balance. I can't get it over $3K for very long, either I lose my nerve and cash out, or go on a nice losing streak, its at 3.5K now, and I think I have to get it to over 4K before I take the plunge properly. Weird I know, considering I have a few grand in Neteller, a few on I-Poker and a few on Full Tilt, it should'nt be that big of a deal. Im a bankroll nit, what can I say.

I think I've stolen Chuckts luck.

2008-03-04T00:54:00.005Z

Check out his blog..... http://chucktscanadiandream.blogspot.com/
Whilst some people are on a cooler, I firmly believe that I've stolen Chucks luck and gone on an insane heater. Ive had a dream start to this month, and running at an insane win rate, and if im honest, I havnt changed much. Its just good to have a good start to the month. No graph, mainly because I couldnt be arsed cranking up pokerpatterns again. Suffice to say Im running at 24/bb per 100 for the last few thousand hands. Ive also clicked some nice cashes in the cardschat added money games on stars.

As far as heaters go, at least I know that I'm not the only one that plays insanely drunk, on limits that I usually don't touch........... www.smartpoker.blogspot.com Oh, If your Irish, trust me you drink more, much more.

The team event on Cardschat is over, thankfully, and my team finished in a pityful last place out of 8. Over the last few weeks this event sucked out all the bad luck out of me, roll on the next one, and I should take some more $5 events more seriously if thats the way its going to work. Well done Team-XX on the win.

Starting the move up, and an early monthly update.

2008-02-26T22:02:00.003Z

Been a little on the blogging front this month, and really its because the level of concentration going into my game has been very high this month. After my super-tilt session a few weeks back, I really scaled back on the number of tables and number of hands. I compensated for this by doing what I've been saying I was going to do for months. I took the plunge and moved up, NO LIMIT TWO HUNDRED. A level that I looked at with insane fear as little as six months ago, and now I'm playing it on a regular basis. Only 2K or so hands, but its a big move for me.

This month was my best month on the rings to date, and I've seen a side to this poker-malarkey that both like and dislike. I've discovered whilst Stars is the best site its certainly not the most profitable, with a huge slice and some nice play with the fishies on I-Poker, (Titan) and the nl$200 tables there plays akin to the Stars nl$50 (or even $25 tables), with even the regs stacking so light I had to rub my eyes in delight at some of the plays there. Im gonna stick with Stars for the time being, and hitting Goldstar again this month helped lots.

I'm gonna spend the rest of the month firmly away from the grind, and play for some fun, I might even play a few sit and go's, deposit $50 on a random donk site and try to play it up (shortstacking fun), challenge a few of the forum donks to some heads up matches. Whatever, as long as it isnt grinding full ring.

Graph (click to enlarge)

Mid-Month Update.

2008-02-17T18:05:00.003Z

Well so far this month has been a little crazy for me at the tables, but in the end its all evened up on the good side of things, and unless I get doomswitched, (omg I really am asking for it now) Feb will be one of my best months ever on the rings.

Had a +$463 session last night, mainly thanks on one poor guy who won $500 in a $1 MTT and progressed to lose it ALL in under 150 hands. The thing is he wasnt terrible, and was actually playing ok apart from the fact he could'nt lay down an overpair regardless of the board. I got a stack early on off him when I flopped a straight vs his QQ. He spewed $300 more and was on his last buyin when I called one of his raises with 99, and flopped a gutshot. The obvious small bet on the flop telegraphed his hand, and a smaller one on the turn, the river was another beautiful 9 and i'd hit one of my six outs. He was still 160bb deep, I shove, he snap instacalls with AA and is busto again. Made another set about 5 hands later, and once again stack AA. I was hitting hands with great timing, and didnt lose any sort of decent pot all night. Its actually great to see sets getting paid off for a change.

Anyway graph from Feb1 attached, taking a break from the rings for a few hours today to play a few MTTs, if i have any luck ill post results tomorrow.

Back to the grind and the swings continue.

2008-02-12T17:43:00.000Z

Well decided that last night was as good a time as any to hit up a few tables. Only played a few hundread hands but hit a nice score. Managed lost most of it today though. The month continues in the same vain, unreal swings. I suppose at the same time I did manage to scrape out a decent win rate at the end of the 1K hands Id decided to get in after sitting last night. I see one of my fellow bloggers has seen the light at last and decided to hit up the rings in a more serious way. Enjoy your new adventures Irexes...........

Anyway, apart from the poker side of things not much is happening. My knee is still in a pretty bad shape and 2 weeks after I hurt it I'm still on crutches with the healing process being incredibly slow. I can't tell you how annoying it is not being able to drive when you live in a back-water in the West of Ireland. At least we got the honeymoon booked (at last) and everything confirmed. I'm REALLY looking forward to this trip, and even though I been to lots of places all over the world, this trip should be something special.

Oh graph of my last 1K hands, and my biggest net win on a single hand on nl$100.

PokerStars Game #15223436923: Hold'em No Limit ($0.50/$1.00) - 2008/02/11 - 20:23:45 (ET)
Table 'Cosette II' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: bc2625 ($43.75 in chips)
Seat 2: drdanbury ($6.25 in chips)
Seat 3: DavidM36 ($86.80 in chips)
Seat 4: MoGriz ($93.85 in chips)
Seat 5: all_in_4tw ($107.65 in chips)
Seat 6: steelesutter ($52.05 in chips)
Seat 7: tenbob ($199.70 in chips)
Seat 8: P-Tius ($31.40 in chips)
Seat 9: SeKeR~DMoN ($174.80 in chips)
bc2625 said, "LOL"
P-Tius: posts small blind $0.50
SeKeR~DMoN: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to tenbob [Kd Kc]
bc2625: calls $1
drdanbury: folds
DavidM36: folds
MoGriz: folds
all_in_4tw: folds
steelesutter: folds
tenbob: raises $4 to $5
P-Tius: folds
SeKeR~DMoN: calls $4
steelesutter said, "what did you have bc"
bc2625: calls $4
*** FLOP *** [Jc Qc 4d]
SeKeR~DMoN: bets $11
bc2625: calls $11
tenbob: calls $11
*** TURN *** [Jc Qc 4d] K♠
SeKeR~DMoN: bets $32
bc2625: calls $27.75 and is all-in
tenbob: raises $151.70 to $183.70 and is all-in
SeKeR~DMoN: calls $126.80 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [Jc Qc 4d Ks] 4♠
*** SHOW DOWN ***
SeKeR~DMoN: shows [Js Qs] (two pair, Queens and Jacks)
tenbob: shows [Kd Kc] (a full house, Kings full of Fours)
tenbob collected $262.10 from side pot
bc2625: mucks hand
bc2625 said, "LOL"
tenbob collected $128.75 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $393.85 Main pot $128.75. Side pot $262.10. | Rake $3
Board [Jc Qc 4d Ks 4s]
Seat 1: bc2625 mucked [9c Td]
Seat 2: drdanbury folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: DavidM36 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: MoGriz folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: all_in_4tw folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: steelesutter folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: tenbob (button) showed [Kd Kc] and won ($390.85) with a full house, Kings full of Fours
Seat 8: P-Tius (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: SeKeR~DMoN (big blind) showed [Js Qs] and lost with two pair, Queens and Jacks

Not really playing that much, and misreading the board for stacks.

2008-02-10T13:34:00.000Z

Quite week on this blog. Nothing major happening and Id say ive played less than 1000 hands this week in total. Not good for maintaining Gold Star on Stars but after last weekends crazyness I felt that stepping back for a week or so from the tables was wise. So apart from a few forum games there has'nt been much happening.

I did manage to play for stacks with an unimproved 33 because for some reason I thought I had a set............

No I dont have a set of fours. I have a pair of threes This is what you get for 4 tabling and posting on the forum. I even fistpumped when I seen his hand, and actually had to look at the Hand History to figure out why I did'nt win.

PokerStars Game #15125517807: Hold'em No Limit ($0.50/$1.00) - 2008/02/07 - 14:49:10 (ET)
Table 'Asios V' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: kwllrr ($96 in chips)
Seat 2: potbob ($52 in chips)
Seat 3: tenbob ($148.90 in chips)
Seat 4: ON EMPTY ($98.05 in chips)
Seat 5: Millwood24 ($117.75 in chips)
Seat 6: EnAmZgYnE1 ($111.90 in chips)
Seat 7: fabianTo ($100.90 in chips)
Seat 8: eunhobae ($98.50 in chips)
Seat 9: MaKiaVeli ($114.10 in chips)
kwllrr: posts small blind $0.50
potbob: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to tenbob [3h 3d]
tenbob: calls $1
ON EMPTY: folds
Millwood24: folds
EnAmZgYnE1: folds
fabianTo: folds
eunhobae: folds
MaKiaVeli: raises $4 to $5
kwllrr: folds
potbob: folds
tenbob: calls $4
*** FLOP *** [2h 6h 4s]
tenbob: checks
MaKiaVeli: checks
*** TURN *** [2h 6h 4s] 7♣
tenbob: bets $9
MaKiaVeli: raises $15 to $24
tenbob: raises $119.90 to $143.90 and is all-in
MaKiaVeli: calls $85.10 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [2h 6h 4s 7c] J♠
*** SHOW DOWN ***
tenbob: shows [3h 3d] (a pair of Threes)
MaKiaVeli: shows [2d 2c] (three of a kind, Deuces)
MaKiaVeli collected $226.70 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $229.70 | Rake $3
Board [2h 6h 4s 7c Js]
Seat 1: kwllrr (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: potbob (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: tenbob showed [3h 3d] and lost with a pair of Threes
Seat 4: ON EMPTY folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Millwood24 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: EnAmZgYnE1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: fabianTo folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: eunhobae folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: MaKiaVeli (button) showed [2d 2c] and won ($226.70) with three of a kind, Deuces

Crazy few days.

2008-02-04T18:39:00.000Z

Well to say the least. The last few days have been pretty intense for me at the tables, I came out on the good side of variance last night, and now I've hit my nl$200 goal. I'm going to leave it another few months before I fully move up even though I have a well protected roll now for nl$200.

Today I was going through my poker accounts clearing up small balances. YAY CASINO GAMES !!! Bust out of Laddies yesterday quite fast, took out $110 out of UB and uninstalled. The doozey though today was Titan, on the i-poker network. I had a grand total of $30 there mainly for the occasional Cardschat buyin. Then I won $300 in a Cardschat freeroll that went off with 53 entrants with a $2K prizepool last Thurdsay. So I decide to practice my shortstack game for fun, after losing $200 of it on donkey tilt last night and recovering to +$200. I run g00d.......................... Hot as the sun actually.

PRO TILT...................... Monizzz chasing

2008-02-04T04:20:00.001Z

NOT the best thing to recommend, But pwning NL$400 on stars AND NL$200 on TITAN on monkey tilt pays off...............sometimes......................

I feel like singing a song................... Can;nt get my mic to work tho,

PokerStars Game #15043587521: Hold'em No Limit ($2/$4) - 2008/02/03 - 22:20:08 (ET)
Table 'Wodan' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: snohobo ($212.30 in chips)
Seat 2: mza33 ($74 in chips)
Seat 3: tenbob ($595.50 in chips)
Seat 4: Terget ($105.50 in chips)
Seat 6: Kelisitaan ($400 in chips)
Seat 7: MagicWindow ($683.75 in chips)
Seat 8: sharp65 ($55.65 in chips)
Seat 9: flyingfrog59 ($310.40 in chips)
sharp65: posts small blind $2
flyingfrog59: posts big blind $4
ryanj9352: sits out
Kelisitaan: posts big blind $4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to tenbob [Kd 3h]
snohobo: folds
mza33: folds
tenbob: raises $12 to $16
snohobo leaves the table
Terget: folds
Kelisitaan: raises $24 to $40
MagicWindow: folds
sharp65: folds
flyingfrog59: folds
moses39 joins the table at seat #1
tenbob: calls $24
*** FLOP *** [Jh 8s 3s]
tenbob: checks
Kelisitaan: bets $20
tenbob: raises $40 to $60
Kelisitaan: raises $40 to $100
tenbob: calls $40
*** TURN *** [Jh 8s 3s] 3♣
tenbob: checks
Kelisitaan: checks
*** RIVER *** [Jh 8s 3s 3c] 9♦
tenbob: bets $455.50 and is all-in
Kelisitaan: calls $260 and is all-in
*** SHOW DOWN ***
tenbob: shows [Kd 3h] (three of a kind, Threes)
Kelisitaan: mucks hand
tenbob collected $803 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $806 | Rake $3
Board [Jh 8s 3s 3c 9d]
Seat 1: snohobo folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: mza33 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: tenbob showed [Kd 3h] and won ($803) with three of a kind, Threes
Seat 4: Terget folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Kelisitaan mucked [Qc Qs]
Seat 7: MagicWindow (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: sharp65 (small blind) folded before Flop

Play against Tenbob for free moniez...........

2008-02-03T03:48:00.000Z

Shit, fuck, bollox. Running top boat into quads, running nut straight into a boat, and getting slowrolled both times isnt nice. THEN i semi bluffed an oesd into JQ on a K hi flop, oh God.

Anyhow, at least one of the pricks that slowrolled me is a reg, enjoy my full time bank the next time I nut you mother-fucker.

January report, pulling the cat out of the hat.

2008-01-30T23:48:00.000Z

Well at last I can bend my knee, with a nice bit of pain but I can do it. So a swift import of my last few sessions and a graph for the month. Just shy of $700 profit and another nice month, as you can see my last few sessions were pure ownage. I sat to play this evening, even though I was'nt really in the mood for it, and I managed to click one of the best tables I'd EVER seen on Stars. Within one orbit we had a grand total of 10 on the waiting list and an average pot of $110 WHEEEE !!!!

I catch a straight for a nice $100 pot, then flop a set only to see a reg donkshoveomgtptk into me, and I' m left sitting with $250 on the table. The action died as soon as it started and with 8 ppl after stacking in 3 orbits I find myself sitting on a table full of reg's with full buyins. So considering I was'nt in the mood, it was time to leave. Anyhoo ! Combined with last nights recovery, and a small session today, I finish the month with a nice win rate of 6.5bb/100, and I'm a happy goldstar camper for the month.

Anyway graph..................

Quick update, good news/bad news..............

2008-01-30T10:52:00.000Z

I suppose I better start with the bad news and things can only get better. I managed to take a nice tumble at work on Monday, falling over 15feet from a shelf at work (don't ask what I was doing) and took an awkard fall, and managed to royally fuck up my knee. So while I can still hobble on crutches around work, and play some poker on the laptop, I feel pretty bad. I'm down to playing on 2 tables, without my PT database. Sometimes however this can be a good thing. I rallied from -$190 to + $100 ish last night, which was a nice feat. Retained goldstar on Stars fairly easily this month, no graph yet, still can't sit down.

Good news. Got the honeymoon sorted out and booked for the month of August. Heading to South Africa, first. Getting in 4 nights in Cape Town, followed by a tour down the "Garden Route" in a nice car for 6 days. We are going to freelance that part of things, and do the ~1,000KM streach at our own pace. Then its off for a mini 3 day safari, followed my a one night stay in Port Elizabeth, flying out the next morning to Mauritus for some pure relaxation. Seven days of all inclusive relaxing and drinking. OMG I can't wait.

Update time. A home game and a little upswing.

2008-01-21T15:49:00.000Z

After BOLLPOKER put that beat on me in the Sunday Million last week, I actually felt like quitting the game for the foreseeable future. My keyboard had a very lucky escape and combined with some sick suckouts it helped totally wipe out any winnings I had in January. Monday morning I decided to sharkscope the dude, and in fairness it made me feel much much better. Have a look, its actually very refreshing to know that there is still guys that lose this much out there.

The ring games have beeen a little kinder to me this week. Last night's 650 or so hands netted me a nice day, and kicked my month back into profit. My KK sucked out on AA all-in pre-flop, only with effective 60bb stacks, but it was a nice start. As I said to Chuckt's on MSN, I fucking deserved it. The other big hand of note was AK in a 3-bet pot, I flop TPTK, and get called down to the river, when a relatively loose reg shoved on me. I called, mainly because the pot was massive and was relieved/shocked when he shows JJ for second pair. Still though its nice winning one of these for a change. Anyway, here is a new graph from PokerEV, showing both my monthly winnings and my Slansky Buck's graph. I'm not sure if I like it yet, let me know what ye think.

Saturday night though was great fun. I hosted a home game for about 8 of my friends, and it was great. We got in 3 games, the first being a $20 freezout 5 handed which I won for a nice start to the evening for $80 profit. Game 2 was a nice format, with a turbo structure and $20 buyin we allowed unlimited re-buys for the first hour for $10. It made an interesting game, and scope for lots of drunken shoving/calling etc. I took second for $150, and my n00b brother won it, much to his delight. Game 3 was the same format, this time however Tracy and Susan arrived home from the pub pissed as you like and determined to play. Unfortunately for us it helped the game degenerate into a farce, with mis-deals, the girls dancing when it was their turn and several spilled beers on my nice poker table most of the rest of us got a little fed up. I ended calling one of Tracy's many shoves with 77, only to run into her K9SOOTTTEEEDDDd, and sent me to the rail for a side game of 110 that was starting to become the game of choice in the corner. The biggest losers of the night ended up taking first and second, thank God, otherwise like has happened to many of my schools before this, it would have been a while before we got it going again. As it happens, they are now hosting the next game in 2 weeks.

All in all a great night, nothing like a homegame and a case of beer on a Saturday night.

Just fucking typical.

2008-01-14T00:19:00.001Z

PokerStars Game #14538491660: Tournament #72644820, $200+$15 Hold'em No Limit - Level X (600/1200) - 2008/01/13 - 19:14:38 (ET)
Table '72644820 815' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: Jeffray73 (23675 in chips)
Seat 2: runner85 (38531 in chips)
Seat 3: Gracie85 (34521 in chips)
Seat 4: erica s (30475 in chips)
Seat 5: stingray2307 (25599 in chips)
Seat 6: isotee (13400 in chips)
Seat 7: pkt pr boy (56667 in chips)
Seat 8: BOLLPOKER (80688 in chips)
Seat 9: tenbob (36439 in chips)
Jeffray73: posts the ante 100
runner85: posts the ante 100
Gracie85: posts the ante 100
erica s: posts the ante 100
stingray2307: posts the ante 100
isotee: posts the ante 100
pkt pr boy: posts the ante 100
BOLLPOKER: posts the ante 100
tenbob: posts the ante 100
pkt pr boy: posts small blind 600
BOLLPOKER: posts big blind 1200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to tenbob [Kh Ks]
tenbob: raises 2400 to 3600
Jeffray73: folds
runner85: folds
Gracie85: folds
erica s: folds
stingray2307: folds
isotee: folds
pkt pr boy: folds
BOLLPOKER: calls 2400
*** FLOP *** [Qs Tc 8c]
BOLLPOKER: checks
tenbob: bets 7200
BOLLPOKER: raises 7200 to 14400
tenbob: raises 18339 to 32739 and is all-in
BOLLPOKER: calls 18339
*** TURN *** [Qs Tc 8c] [6c]
*** RIVER *** [Qs Tc 8c 6c] [Kc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BOLLPOKER: shows [Ac Qd] (a flush, Ace high)
tenbob: shows [Kh Ks] (three of a kind, Kings)
BOLLPOKER collected 74178 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 74178 | Rake 0
Board [Qs Tc 8c 6c Kc]
Seat 1: Jeffray73 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: runner85 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Gracie85 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: erica s folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: stingray2307 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: isotee (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: pkt pr boy (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: BOLLPOKER (big blind) showed [Ac Qd] and won (74178) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 9: tenbob showed [Kh Ks] and lost with three of a kind, Kings

Update time.

2008-01-13T16:11:00.000Z

Well, I've decided never to post any brag threads here again, ever. Every time I do withir its a mental thing or just the poker Gods punishing me, I tend to hit a massive downswing. Have a look at my graph, and youll see. At least on the positive im not in the negative.

On the upside of things I did manage to stack Four Dogs the last evening on a $50 game on Stars when he decided to fight back at me with middle pair. I kept 3 betting him light and he decided to take a stand, this time however I had a pig pair. Oh I managed to qualify for the Sunday Million last night in a $3 rebuy, getting in for $15 even after losing my entire 10K stack just before the break, rebuying at that stage probably isnt the best idea considering a double rebuy and add-on leaves me well behind the average. But meh, it worked out for the best.

Here hoping there will be a nice post about the Sunday Million tomorrow :)

Quick brag post.

2008-01-08T22:44:00.000Z

This was my first evening 6 tabling nl$100. I actually found it easier than expected, I didnt make any massive mistakes, got KK allin against AA on the first hand of the session, and lucked out though. Apart from that almost perfect session. Yep you can say it, pretty sick graph :))

Welcome to another blogger on my ever growing list on the right. Xife, another excellent NL ring player, with a pretty sick graph of his play to date posted on his first post, check it out.

A Rebuyament, some new blog links, and OMG a cooler :(

2008-01-07T22:02:00.000Z

Yesterday myself and Irexes organised an event over on cardschat based around one of their $3 rebuy tourneys. We had lots of small prizes for high hands, biggest pot won etc, with the last longer being the biggest prize of $40. The first 55 mins for me was a total disaster, I was 6 double buyins in the hole with nothing to show for it, until a 20K pot on the last hand propelled me to a decent stack. It still paled in comparison to JuiceeQ's massive 27K pot about 20 mins in though. I still won the highest VP$ for the first hour, mainly due to the fact that Irexes could'nt play due to a power cut. I spend the 2nd hour card dead, and the third hour with my stack holding at around the 20K mark. Things changed around though and before I knew it the chat box was full of CC railers, I had won the last longer, and hit a respectable 85th for $80, plus the $40 last longer, plue the $5 prize gave me a nice win, even if i did donate $25 to getting the event running. Great fun.

I hit up the rings after that, knowing that the Sunday million donks would be around looking for action. I just got coolered 3 times for stacks, running KK into AA, and QQ into KK twice. The same donk got all 3 stacks, he was running at 77/25/25 or something. Sick.............

Anyway a few more links has been added to my blog list, check them out, Gordo962 who I promised a link months ago and forgot about, Munchers also has a new blog with an hilarious video of some drunk dudes playing MASSIVE stakes on Full Tilt. "Smart Poker", its another gem, and a blog I won't likely get a link back from but I'm putting it there just to remind myself just how much money can be made playing mid stakes full ring. He 16 tables nl$200 on Full Tilt and is up a serious amount of money, I mean $300K ++.

Snow ! A live game and OMG a heater !

2008-01-06T15:18:00.000Z

Yesterday was frantic in the west of Ireland. You see we are used to rain, lots of rain, so when it snows it really messes everything up, especially when its un-expected. Weather said rain as usual, and lots of it, instead we get over 6inches of snow within an hour, and all of a sudden almost every road is blocked with car crashes. Combine this with a family wedding, lack of a priest, a 3 hour delay and only around half the expected turnout led to a very shaky bride. The pictures will surely turn out fantastic though and the night was great craic.

Wednesday night seen me up in Dublin for a bit of business on Thursday, and i was staying fairly close to the Fitzwilliam Card Club so I swing in for a look, and there is a €30 rebuy starting. Three rebuys max but the strange part of it was you got more chips each time you rebought. I stack off on hand 2 with QQ vs AA and 44, then I triple up with AKs. I went card dead for about 2 hours, and eventually when we are down to 3 tables I get moved and get up to 20K with AA vs AQ. Then bust out with a KK vs K8 all in preflop when the drunk big stack idiot flops massive.

Online has been flat enough for the last few days, then WHAM ! I get an overset and win a massive pot, my 2 pair sucks out on a set, I get AA in against KK and im up $400 in less than an hour. Nice to have the odd heater.

POKERSTARS GAME #14354641159: HOLD'EM NO LIMIT ($0.50/$1.00) - 2008/01/05 - 22:49:29 (ET)
Table 'Tucana V' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: the dudester ($98.85 in chips)
Seat 2: artman ($54.45 in chips)
Seat 3: alzkabob ($145.75 in chips)
Seat 4: Checkmater ($94.35 in chips)
Seat 5: rudieman ($60.40 in chips)
Seat 6: tenbob ($170.45 in chips)
Seat 7: rocman154 ($95 in chips)
Seat 8: phillyjk1999 ($112.55 in chips)
Seat 9: ZepHendrix ($110.35 in chips)
Checkmater: posts small blind $0.50
rudieman: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to tenbob [Th Td]
tenbob: raises $2 to $3
rocman154: folds
phillyjk1999: folds
ZepHendrix: folds
the dudester: calls $3
artman: raises $7 to $10
alzkabob: folds
Checkmater: folds
rudieman: folds
tenbob: calls $7
the dudester: calls $7
*** FLOP *** [4h Ts 8h]
tenbob: checks
the dudester: checks
artman: bets $19
tenbob: calls $19
the dudester: raises $29 to $48
artman: calls $25.45 and is all-in
tenbob: raises $112.45 to $160.45 and is all-in
the dudester: calls $40.85 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [4h Ts 8h] [2d]
*** RIVER *** [4h Ts 8h 2d] [3d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
tenbob: shows [Th Td] (three of a kind, Tens)
the dudester: mucks hand
tenbob collected $88.80 from side pot
artman: mucks hand
tenbob collected $161.85 from main pot
phillyjk1999 said, "nh"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $253.65 Main pot $161.85. Side pot $88.80. | Rake $3
Board [4h Ts 8h 2d 3d]
Seat 1: the dudester mucked [8c 8s]
Seat 2: artman mucked [As Ad]
Seat 3: alzkabob (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Checkmater (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: rudieman (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: tenbob showed [Th Td] and won ($250.65) with three of a kind, Tens
Seat 7: rocman154 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: phillyjk1999 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: ZepHendrix folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Good news, bad news.

2008-01-01T17:43:00.000Z

The good news for Irish poker players is that the Government has announced advanced plans to regulate the Casino and gaming business in Ireland. They intend to bring out strict guidelines and introduce a "Casino Licence". This has to be good news for the punter, and get us out of dodgy bars and shit hole "Private Members Clubs".

Bad news for the shit-hole "Private Members Clubs" though, with only one in the country currently meeting the high standards being set out. YAY !

Happy New Year and some results.

2007-12-27T16:25:00.000Z

Just wishing the small few that read this blog a happy new year, I missed the Happy Christmas one so the New Year will have to do.

December went well for me, got in about 10K hands on the nl$100 tables, and it was just enough to get me one of my 2007 goals of getting Gold Star. Im dead chuffed with this, and this month for a change I didnt get doomswitched. So here is the graph for one of my best months of the year, things went very well for the first half, got a boring for the last half very break even, but hey thems the breaks and at least I didnt lose

2007 as a whole was great for me on the poker front, got in about 75K hands for a nice tidy profit, and im very well rolled now for a move up to the nl$200 tables. Thats gonna be one of my main goals for 2008, and the one and only thing I want to achieve before I even consider the lofty heights of nl$400. Get my online roll up to 10K, quad table nl$200 effectively and withdraw 50% of any winnings. So it will go like this, get to 12K, cash out 1K, etc etc. That would be nice. Anyway here it is, my 2007 graph in all its glory. Enjoy..........

A day on the rings.

2007-12-21T16:20:00.000Z

Well I was off work yesterday, and instead of my usual sleepy morning I decided to treat the day as a days work on the tables, breaks and all. So from 9AM to 6PM I played NL$100. Morning results were great, the afternoon wasnt great. I still managed to grind a profit. I posted results as I went along on Cardschat as I went along.

http://www.cardschat.com/f11/day-rings-100541/#post676177

My hand hurts............

2007-12-16T19:12:00.000Z

My head hurts, my fist hurts (a lot less than some of the rest of the lads faces though) and I feel sick. Christmas parties are dramatic every year, this time was no exception. Chat log from MSN with me explaining to Chuck/Rex and Debi of what went on........... I like the easy life.

Tenbob says: was in a fight last night
dakota-xxx says: a fistfight?
Tenbob says: yea
Tenbob says: my fist hurts
Irexes says: good sign
dakota-xxx says: hope his nose hurts lol
Tenbob says: my brothers face is bust
Tenbob says: so is a few of my staff
ChuckT says: what happened
Tenbob says: ah nightclub
Tenbob says: some fucker bumped into me
Tenbob says: I said sorry
dakota-xxx says: xmas party
Tenbob says: he said it wasnt good enough
ChuckT says: grr
Tenbob says: i made my excuses and left
Tenbob says: then he decided to make a joke out of how big a pussy i was
ChuckT says: tell me you got him good? :/
Tenbob says: unfortunately 10 of my staff/family was sitting on a table beside him
Tenbob says: mini riot ensues
ChuckT says: :)
Tenbob says: i get collered in the jacks by the bouncers
Tenbob says: and lifted
Tenbob says: idiot follows me
Tenbob says: and is outside trash talking
Tenbob says: i igore it for 10 mins
Tenbob says: then he called my mother a whore
Tenbob says: so i knocked him out
Irexes says: wp
ChuckT says: hahahahh
dakota-xxx says: lol
Tenbob says: my hand is omg fucking sore
ChuckT says: man i miss fights...

The 25K GTD $3 rebuy on Stars.

2007-12-11T01:25:00.000Z

HO HO HO !! Such a donk fest, Rex is busy trying to win it at the moment so I decided to give it a shot with him tonight. Wish I hadnt bothered to be honest. Almost 6 hours to go out in a massive preflop pot with my KK vs QQ and AK, only to see the AK win and bust me in 40th.

These close finishes in MTT are annoying as hell, considering in a ring game Ill just reload and bust the donks. Anyway I got just over $100 for my efforts and hopefully Irexes will talk sense into me the next time I go to play one.

Thanks to all my railers by the way, <3...................

Playing lots at the moment :)

2007-12-10T14:26:00.000Z

I wasnt going to mention running for Gold Star VIP on Stars, because every time I mention it in this blog I seem to hit a brick wall and start losing (oops guess I just did :p ). Things seem to be going nicely though I'm already halfway there, and with Christmas coming up I should be able to get in some extra hours play time. I running nicely on nl$100 as well up over $600 at the time of posting this, and I managed to play some nl$200 last night, totally fearless I may add. I managed to get a $250 stack all in preflop against KK, only to lose the majority of it a few hands later when I flopped a straight against the table donks nut flush draw.

I managed to play the 20K VIP freeroll on Saturday night on Stars, with almost 3,500 entrants I managed a very respectable 35th for the measly sum of $32, I was somewhat unlucky not to go deeper and I was disappointed not to final table this. I also hit up the 17KGTD over on Full Tilt, and after a nice AA hand, quadrupled up with 99 against AK and AQ on a A9x board. Nothing else of note happened, apart from every time I tried to make any sort of move I was hit by re-raises. I made the money only to see my button shove with JJ run into the big blinds Kings. Still though a cash is a cash.

~TB

Poker blogging.

2007-12-10T00:47:00.000Z

If your winning you dont have time to post, playing is more profitable.

If your losing you dont want to post.

Why oh why ?

November Results.

2007-12-03T17:42:00.000Z

Ive posted this over on Cardschat already, but I suppose I better put it up here as well. The month was strange, I ran hot as hell for the first two weeks, then just got hammered, and got stacked lots. As soon as I mentioned the dreaded "Gold Star"....... at least I got silver star status, and a nice 80GB I-Pod out of it. About $500 in the hole playing MTT's after failing to make any substantial cashes.

December has started in the same very same vein as November, and I'm up about $500 on the ring so far, it was much better but I got a little over confident last night and ran a massive semi-bluff that failed, and I lost a $350 pot. On the upside I won the cardschat $11 turbo with $100 added yesterday for $148, got a nice run of cards in what was esentially a push bot game, with the 27 entrants producing a winner in 53 mins. :) Great fun.

Anyway graph, enjoy...................

DOOMSWITCHED..............

2007-11-28T17:15:00.000Z

Utterly, truly, and totally doomswitched. Im a grand in the hole over the space of 9 days, between an insane downswing that wiped my profit on the ring tables, and some totally insane MTT beats, I lost out on my last 6 MTT's with flopped sets.

Sunday 100K GTD on Stars. 99 on a Q 9 2 board, busto to QQ.
Sunday 750K GTD on FT . 10 10 on a 10 high board, busto to a turned flush.
Sunday 180 player s&g on Stars. 22 on a A 2 6 board, busto to 66.
Sunday 180 player s&g on Stars. AA to AQ allin pre-flop.

Monday 9K GTD : 1010 on a 10 A 6 board, busto to A2, runner-runner this time, and I was deep with a good above average stack.
Monday 17.5K GTD on FT ..... Tilt......Its a bitch really.

So I dunno what going on, looks like the managment of the various poker sites have decided that Ive won enough for a while, and want to share the wealth. Look like they decided Irexes was the one to get it on Sunday as he took down a $33 MTT on party for a nice payday.

Oh well, the thoughts of goldstar on Stars is fading rapidly at the moment, even though its still achievable I dont have the confidence to run 4 ring tables at the moment. Every time I flop a set an insane fear of getting stacked starts to creep in.

Set over set, and no more casino.

2007-11-23T10:46:00.000Z

The odds of being dealt a pair in holdem pre-flop is 16/1, and the odds of flopping a set with that pair is approx 7.5/1. So we are going to get dealt a set once in every 120 hands on average, and we have to assume that when we do flop our set then we have a winner. BUT WAIT, approx once in every 98 hands someone else flops a set, with is once in every 11,760 hands, and assuming we are going to come out on the better side of this 50% of the time, we will lose to an overset once in every 23,500 hands. Not bad. So to lose this match up 5 times we will have played almost one hundred and twenty thousand hands of holdem.

Ive been stacked by oversets SIX FUCKING TIMES THIS MONTH. I havnt even come anywhere near playing 120K hands for the year.

In other bad news Castlebar Town Council have in their infinate wisdom closed down the Castle Casino, the card room youve read lots about in this blog. It seems that they violated some planning law. In fairness the place was great, nice staff, comfortable, no drunks, outside town and most of all no trouble there whatsoever. Looks like they perfer a cardroom in the middle of town, beside all the pubs with no parking.... Go figure.

Two live tournaments and a little upswing online.

2007-11-17T16:36:00.000Z

Howdy there readers, well after my awesome display a few days ago, and feeling on serious tilt, I decided to limit the amount I play online this week and decided to have a bash at a few live MTTs in the "Castle Casino" my new local. Admid rumours that the council was about to close the place, I decided that I needed to use up a few of the free entry vouchers that I had lying around. The first one was on Wednesday night, a $45 freeze-out with about 20 runners. Two tables of ten, a deep starting stack and 20 minute blinds.

Up to the break it was fairly poor, I got no hands, apart from losing half my 6K starting stack with a flopped set there was no action, and in fairness I played very nitty. After the break with the blinds starting at 200/400 and me looking a little shortstacked, I take a free flop after 5 limpers in the BB with Q10. Only to flop top 2 on an all club board, and shove, I get called by the naked ace of clubs, and a Q on the turn fills me and triples me up. Really that was all until we reach the final table of 9. Three early blow-ups and its 6 handed when I double up with aces, then with 22, and then bust someone when I flop a full house in the bb with 24o and bust a slow played KK.

So I sitting on 45K, guy across from me on 44K and a small stack of 10K when it gets three handed. Im in the BB with J10s when the other big stack overbets pre-flop, and I decide that hes playing a scared AK/AQ and that if I stop and go here then hell fold. So I call, flop is low, and I shove. He tanks for literally 10 mins and calls off his stack with Ace high, much to my dismay. I spike a J on the river tho, and he goes to the rail. Not before calling me a "Stupid fucking idiot that would'nt know how to play poker in a million years". Not really the time to explain to him what a stop and go was me thinks. So I get HU with a 10/1 chip advantage and cruise home for a $350 win, and another free ticket.

All good, so I decide that Fridays $150 freezout was looking appealing, so I head down with $120 worth of tickets and get in for $30, this time we go off with 17 players, and a much deeper stack of 8K. Again the first few hours were pure torture, getting repeated 23o and sitting on a very aggressive table there isnt much I can do until the break.

First hand after the break with the blinds at 200/400 I get once again Q10o in the bb and flop an open ended straight draw. With one aggressive limper I decide to CR him all in, he obliges my check with a bet and calls my shove with top 2 pair. I hit the turn and he fails to improve, and my stack hits 12K after playing only one hand for the last 2 and a half hours. Some nice three betting with position and some steals sees me hit the final table with a 20K stack and the blinds at 500/1000.

It started to come then though, I hit a nice pot on the first hand with AA, after lots of preflop action and I manage to fold out 2 players on the turn. So Im sitting level with the chip leader on 40K when I hit the hand of the night. I check in the bb with J10. Flop is 10 10 x with 2 clubs and I check-call the chippies min-bet. Turn improves my hand with the beautiful J peeling off, and I check again, he min-bets I call. The river brings the third club and I put on a woeful display of "shite, Im fucked now" before I put out what looks like a block bet of 3K, he obliges by shoving into my full-house, and I insta call. I have a 3/1 chip lead. Soon to be 5/1 when the next biggest stack goes to war pre-flop against my KK with his AK.

So we reach the bubble 4 handed and im raising almost every hand pre-flop, and im seeing a massive amount of folds. This goes on for another hour until we reach the second break, and whilst outside smoking I hear the 3 lads taking about how "devestating" it would be to bubble this. HA ! IDIOTS :)

So we hit the table again, I do my best to perserve this situation, and fold to their shoves, whilst picking their bones dry like a starved vulture. Then the point of no return hits, I have 2 tiny stacks on 2xbb, and one on 7xbb, and when the larger of the 3 shoves, I call with my A10 only to see AK, and i almost choke, a K on the flop almost seals his double up, I runner runner him to bust him on the bubble, and I have a 30/1 advantage over the other 2. Easy win for $1,500.

So $1,800 added to the live roll, a small recovery today and yesterday on the rings, with $100 recovered from my downswing. Things are looking good.

There is a $75 freezout on tomorrow in the casino, or a $350 one on about half an hours drive away, might hit up one of them. As for tonight, im forgetting about poker and going to the pub.

What goes up...........

2007-11-14T11:10:00.000Z

Must come down. My upswing this month is well and truely over after dropping 2 buy-ins in just over 500 hands last night. Lucky for me the start to this month padded the losses nicely and still leaves me showing a profit.

The dreaded tilt started to creap in, so I posted this thread over on cardschat, http://www.cardschat.com/f46/a-98137/ youll see the graph for the session there. A hand of note was a 5-bet all-in pre-flop hand holding AA vs a LAG reg's 99, which seen him hit a nine on the turn. Then I ran AA/KK/KK into short-stackers playing QQ,QJ and 55 respectively, I lost them all as a heavy favourite. Now when I calling them short-stackers Im talking about guys that are buying in for $40-$50, which makes playing against them a pain in the arse.

Anyway, as I say this im wondering if my run for goldstar VIP level will take a premeture end this month, the last time I made a go for it, I hit a brick wall mid way through the month as well. I just might hit the casino tonight for their MTT and go back to the grind tomorrow.

Running good makes a man think !

2007-11-08T14:01:00.000Z

Running good is great, not just great in fact its nothing short of fantastic. Over the last few days I've managed to knock out $370 over what in fairness is not a lot of hands. (just less than 1K) This has me re-moviated to play more, has me thinking about moving up again, and wondering where this whole poker thing will eventually lead. I have $900left to make before any sort of semi-permenant move up in stakes, and a decent few weeks at the tables should see me be able to do this at Christmas. (*Pukes at the thought of moving up again*)

From what I've heard and seen the donks still are prevalant on nl$200 but they disappear somewhat after that. That means if I do ever reach nl$400 then I'll be playing a swingy game against good aggressive players where my edge will be significantly reduced. Do I really want to go there ? Or will I be happy beating up on the nl$200 players for the rest of my poker career.

Managed to get 24th in the 9K GTD on Full Tilt Poker last night, for a fairly disappointing result, even though going deep is nice, I still havnt won one of these since my first ever effort, but I think it will come at some stage, soon !

Later folks.

October Results

2007-11-05T19:49:00.001Z

Ok I know its November, but still only early. October was probably the month I played the least in the last 18 months or so. Ive moved up to quad tabling nl$100 which im feeling comfortable doing at last. Missed out on any sort of VIP status again. Hopefully this month things will change.

The graph is lolswingy.

Quick shout out to Philthy, another addition to my blog list, check it out if you get a chance.

Reserve Defence Forces

2007-11-03T16:35:00.000Z

Just back from a week playing soldiers, hence the lack of an October progress graph. I have to bring Tracy out tonight, and hopefully Ill have an hour or so to get a post done. Unfortunately we are no longer allowed to post any details or photos of what we do, and yes its a charageable offence. So tough :)

Havnt played much poker over the last few weeks, and again failed to reach any VIP level on Stars, this month however I'm gonna get motivated again. Cr

Holiday Report and a little rambling.

2007-10-22T22:45:00.000Z

Just arrived back from the Algarve today, and I have to say I really enjoyed the trip. It was only 5 days and my brother and his wife joined myself and Tracy for the short five day trip. The first day was a quiet enough affair, we arrived in the afternoon and ended up having lots of drinks and the evening ending up with myself and Tracy heading down to the casino for some drunk gambling. Id been in this casino several times before, and to be honest its quite dated, but with the older and richer crowd the money was flowing, shame they didnt spread any poker. We hit up the roulette, and the blackjack tables for an hour and decided to call it a day when we were €200 down.

Day 2 saw us head off to the golf club for some golf and no-doubt a lot of craic. We had a side bet of a tenner in for the best card, which my brother won even though he hadnt played golf in over a year for €100, I managed a very respectable 3rd for €50 which recouped some of the previous nights losses, with some very good golf, suprised I didnt win on what was a bitch of a course. So we get back to the hotel at around 5, meet up with the rest of the group and head out for some eats. Had some beautiful food in a local owned restaurant, so nice in fact that the group of usually mental Irish folks sat in silence and just savoured the experience. Drank a lot of brandy for desert, and myself and Tracy joined a few of the lads in the nightclub, after the pubs closed at 3AM for a very late night.

Day 3 = Beach and relaxing. That is until about 9ish when we went for more food, and this time decided to have more sense, and we chilled out in the hotel for most of the evening. Then my brother decided that he wanted to see the casino as hed never even been in one. So we head over next door again passport in hand. Wow he loved it, well mainly because he was winning with the numbers his wife gave him before we left. I lost another ton, and he managed to turn €50 into €300 betting corners over the space of an hour.

Day 4= Golf again, the Portugal Masters had started just down the road so the golf club was quiet, but this one was much more difficult, conditions were worse (heat and wind) and it didnt help that I hacked my way around. So no prizes for me this time, the girls arrived in the club once we arrived in and we had some quick food and headed out to watch the rugby world cup in an Irish bar that was full of English. The game was total horse shite and in fairness the best team won, even though I would have perfered to see England be given that second half try, it would likely have opened up the game a little. After that we head down to the casino again only to discover that Everest Poker had a major European event being played there. So we blagged our way into the room and almost manage to knock over a TV camera on the way to the feature table. I didnt meet anyone that I recgonised but it was fun to watch the whole set up for a while, boring as hell though, so we headed to the gaming room. This time there WAS a poker table, they were playing 5/10 NL and I figured that this would be fun, the floor manager wouldnt even entertain the notion of placing me on a waiting list, and wouldnt open a second table even though there was over 10 people hanging around waiting for a game. So roulette it was again. This time however they had upped the limits, the cheapest chip being €10 on the board and €30 on the sides. Errrr wow. I buy in for €50 hit a corner and leave with the profit. The brother hits his first number makes almost €400 and also leaves. So night-club it was again.

Day 5- Sleep, hangover, and late flights, and a bed in Dublin. Great trip over all and a great group of 50 people. Enjoyed it.

Played 150 hands of poker this evening, still totally unmovitated though, although I did stick to a single table that was playing fairly big for nl$100 with the average pot at aroung €35 for the full time I was there. Made a tidy €50 but failed to hit a single set in any of the big pots. Im gonna have to do something about my game, im not enjoying it at the moment.

Shout out to Chuck and VQ's both who started new blogs, have a look in my link list and go have a read, both are excellent players and ill look forward to reading their thoughts about their progress in the game.

Holidays, golf and some pokers.

2007-10-15T18:59:00.000Z

Going to Portugal on Wednesday for a few days (5) for lots of golf and drinks. Im really looking forward to it, its a great time of year to head away, especially with a good group of people. Tracy, my brother and his wife, and another 50 lunatics are all going on the same trip, and to top it all off, its not costing me a penny. Free holidays are the best sort !!!!

On the poker front I decided to quad table nl$100 for the first time a few days ago. I found that while I lots a little value in some hands, generally I didnt make that many mistakes, (one tbh) and I ended the session running at around 5bb per 100, fairly ok. Hopefully Ill built up to this properly over the next few weeks.

I managed a final table in the new Casino last Friday, it was only a €30buy in, but I got 4th after 4 hours of play. I should have done better considering when it went 4 handed I had almost 70% of the chips in play. I simply couldnt win any sort of race, my overcards losing to mid-pairs, and my mid-pairs losing to overcards. One of them things.

Ill post a bit when I get back from the hols.

Lots of MTT action.

2007-10-09T14:47:00.000Z

Ive really stayed away from the ring games for the last few weeks. I dont know why, but I had the feeling I needed some of the excitement of tournament action, and after some very poor play on my part in a live MTT a fortnight or so ago I felt that I needed the practice.

Last Monday I played 3 MTTs, $50 buyin on FT, got to the last 2 tables, and $11 buyin on Stars, got to the last 2 tabes, and a $22buy in on Stars, out early. Fustrating to say the least, going deep in 2 games and failing to make the final table. Sunday I decided to attempt to satelleite into the Sunday Million on Pokerstars, and made it with a lot of luck in an $8rebuy at the last attempt. Irexes also managed to make it in the same sat and I was playing the Sunday Million again.

The tourney was just blighted from the start, I simply couldnt progress or built at all, eventually I won a race with AKs vs JJ and hit into the second hour with just over the average stack. Then came a JJ hand that was really a bit of a cooler/overplayed on my part dunno yet really. I raised it up 4xbb and get 4 callers, which bloated the pot immediately. Im out of position on a rag flop and have to assume that my overpair is good, I lead for 3/4 of the pot, and 2 short-stacks get all in, leaving me 8K to call in a 60K pot, which I do. Only to see QQ and another player with JJ, and im essentially dead.

Yesterday I played a $22 deep-stacked MTT on PokerStars, and happened to run OMG hot as hell for hours on end. I make the last 2 tables as chip leader, and make the final table in the top 3. I get AA on the first hand and get all-in pre-flop only to lose to A-10. About 30mins later, I 3-bet AKs against a player who was playing 2 many hands, and decided to shove any flop. I do and he flip over A-9, leaving him 4 outs for his gutshot, and 3 outs for his live kicker. He promptly hits his gutshot on the river and sends me to the rail in 8th for $140ish. Annoying after almost 9 hours of poker.

The one thing that I gained was some confidence in my MTT game again, especially after that marathon deep stacked game, and Ill hit up the casino later on this week with a new found confidence.

September Results, a new casino and lack of motivation.

2007-09-30T20:26:00.000Z

This month was a little swingy, as you can see from my graph below. I have a total lack of motivation to play online at the moment, I lost my VIP status on Stars for the first time this year, and played like an idiot in every MTT that I played. I just dunno why, just a little burned out with the game I think, and I think ill play a little less online this month and hit up the live games a bit more.

One of the main reasons Im gonna play a bit more live, is that a shiny new private members club opened up literally a 1 minute drive from my house. I played their opening tournament on Friday, a €25 buy-in freezout, and the format was great. Lots of play in the stack size and a very very comfortable reclining leather chair for every poker player. This place can cater for 60 players at a time, and I actually really enjoyed just relaxing, having a coke or two and a bit of craic with a few of the players. I can see myself going back there lots. I managed to make the final 2 tables of the MTT, and lost a race with JJ vs AQ to send me to the rail in a battle of the blinds. They had a €1/€3 NL cash game running and I sat into that, buying in to cover the tables big stack with a little under €300, and pick up AA on my first hand, value bet the big stack out of €150. Played a little more, really to observe the quality of play, and if im honest it was playing like a nl$10 ring game on-line. Ohhhh boy, theres monies to be made there.

Anyway, graph.

From the poker weekend.

2007-09-26T19:26:00.000Z

Found a picture of the winner of that first tournament run by RB sports on their website. Well done again Susan.

Not really playing.

2007-09-24T10:58:00.000Z

And when I am. Its a donation. So the motivation for blogging about poker simply isnt there at the moment. Im not really posting on the forums at the moment either. I just coulndt be arsed. There is a live game on tonight that I might hit up, if I feel motivated.

~Later.

A long weekend of poker.

2007-09-13T19:23:00.000Z

Well as some of ye know Grumbledook had planed to hot-tail it over to Ireland, Castlebar namely, for a weekend of drink and poker, and boy it didnt disappoint, we played lots, and I mean lots.

He arrived on Thursday night, and first on the agenda was a €15 rebuy, i've won this before and got lots of final tables, but the structure after the rebuys ends really sucks, and after warning Grum about this we head down to the game. I get piss poor cards for the duration and go out fairly quickly after the break trying to steal the substantial blinds with junk and get called by better junk, meanwhile Grum blinded out............ Played 2 side games after that and faired slightly better, winning one and getting third in the other, Grum gets a second and a third.

Friday and Saturday night was the main organised tournaments for the weekend. Well it was a €25+5 the first night with one rebuy and the same on the Saturday night with unlimited rebuys. Not alone was the rake harsh in the first place, but they also raked the rebuys, skimmed money from the final prize pool, didnt provide tables or dealers, had a stupid idiotic structure, and to top it off there was a band playing in the same room. Gotta hand it to RB sports ye guys suck, and from what ive seen on the forums ye guys have a history of ripping people off, Ill never ever play and game organised by these guys again. Anyhow, back to the poker. Friday night I took a nice 5th place out of 83, Grum didnt cash, and a good friend of mine won it. After that it was back to my tiny apartment for a home game, busted out of the first game very quickly and passed out, so your gonna have to ask Grum how that went. Saturday night, I get some fantastic cards early and go out in 5th with top pair against a combo draw in a raised pot. Grum faired much much better and managed to get head up against darts pro Peter Manley, he got in with the best hand while shortstacked to get back in the game and got outflopped. So after that we all head to "Crispys" house for a home game, and again I have to go home early to help Tracy carry home my future sis-in-law (2.30AM) !!!!! So I let Grum play my chip stack for me, and he promplty wins !!!! Cheers Jon. He arrived home after 7AM again gonna have to ask him how it went..........

Sunday was more chilled, we had organised a game for after the Ireland rugby game, and understandably we only got 2 more, so we played some shorthanded sit and go's. €20 buyin with the first out getting a rebuy option, Grum gets 2nd in the first game, I win the 2nd, and the third was a €50 game at the instance of the biggest loser of the night, which Grum promply wins with a lovely suckout HU. Afterwards, declining an invite to another home game, we head to Castlebars local cattle mart for a few drinks, and maybe a dance (lol), and got home at around 3am, and I head onto stars and mananage to donk off loads playing nl$200 until I realise that I have to work the next morning and play poker Monday evening.

Monday at work was hell.

Monday evening we head to another game, this one is a €50+5 weekly league game, great structure, lots of play in your stack. Again I manage to go out early, as does Tracy, Grum manages to hit the final table and another cash...... Myself and Tracy in the meantime manage to play 2 side games with one of us winning each.

All in all it was a fun weekend, the play was omg brutal, with the bad players outnumbering the good players 10:1, one guy lost almost €500 in the same games that we played, I mean the play was as bad or worse than any $1 MTT that youll see online.

Forgot to bring out my camera so this time, no pics.

Cooler, bad beat, whatever but it still stings.

2007-09-05T21:11:00.000Z

PokerStars Game #11873092143: Hold'em No Limit ($0.50/$1.00) - 2007/09/04 - 18:04:50 (ET)Table 'Polyhymnia' 9-max

Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: LDT21 ($209.60 in chips)
Seat 3: esquirot ($60 in chips)
Seat 4: Quince ($106.10 in chips)
Seat 5: Rongrong ($116.45 in chips)
Seat 6: generalpoker ($109.70 in chips)
Seat 7: ch0per01 ($37.75 in chips)
Seat 9: tenbob ($105.50 in chips)
generalpoker: posts small blind $0.50 ch0per01: posts big blind $1

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to tenbob [9d 9c]
tenbob: calls $1
LDT21: folds
esquirot: folds
Quince: calls $1
Rongrong: raises $3 to $4
generalpoker: folds
ch0per01: calls $3
tenbob: calls $3
Quince: calls $3
*** FLOP ***
[6s Jc 9s] : OH snap !!!
ch0per01: bets $3
tenbob: raises $7 to $10
Quince: raises $14 to $24
Rongrong: folds ch0per01: folds
tenbob: raises $63 to $87
Quince: raises $15.10 to $102.10 and is all
tenbob: calls $14.50 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [6s Jc 9s] J♥
*** RIVER *** [6s Jc 9s Jh] 6♦
*** SHOW DOWN ***tenbob: shows [9d 9c] (a full house, Nines full of Jacks)
Quince: shows [6c 6h] (four of a kind, Sixes)
Quince collected $219.50 from pot

Such a fuck of a river. Can we say stacked ???? Well yes.

lol my usual start to the month.

2007-09-03T20:56:00.000Z

I dont know what it is, maybe its in my mind, but the start to EVERY month since I started this blog has been one downswing. If i only played the first week in every month and quit, Id be several thousand in the hole. A lot of it happened on a nl$200 table that I spotted over on Full Tilt. Nothing major happening for a few orbits I was actually holding my own nicely, I get QQ in the small blind and its folded around to me. I raise, the BB calls. Flop is a nice looking J 2 5 rainbow and I go to value town, betting 3/4 pot on the flop and again when a turn 6 shows. BB is flat calling and I have him on a hand like A9. The turn was a worrying looking 2, but countering and rag 2 pair hands he might have I bet the river, and was quite shocked when he flips KK for a pot of $240.

On the upside I did qualify for the Sunday million, then played a cardschat loyal sat to the Sunday million and won that. So I decided to play for the cardschat folks with a few of them owning a nice percentage, so that was $200(ish) profit. I played the Sunday Warm up, and spent 90 mins sitting card dead. One hand of note was when a short stack went all in, and gets several callers, and I overshove to get HU with the dead money, only for the BB to wake up with KK. I got out soon after that when I run into the BB again holding KK. I think ill leave nl$200 for a bit yet and concentrate on my 3-betting ranges a little more on nl$100.

For all the folks over on Charged Grumbledook is heading over my way, and staying on my sofa no less, next weekend, for lots of poker, knowing Grum lots of JD and coke, and knowing me lots of JD and coke :) Actually might just hit up the Southern Comfort. Anyway Ill post some pics next week.

Later folks.

August results and a general update.

2007-08-27T12:13:00.000Z

It great, fantastic in fact, since ive started this blog I hav'nt had a losing month, and August has been no different. Sundays night has been the most profitable for me by a long way, and last night I managed to win my biggest ever pot on NL$100. When AA and KK managed to let me see a cheap flop with pocket fives, and let me stack them both on a rag flop, when I flopped a very well disguised set. As far as the MTTs go, things were slower, I cashed in a $75 buyin for the mininum over on Full Tilt Poker last week. Ive qualified for the next weeks Sunday Million for $12, so all going well Ill be playing that.

The Rolling Stones at Slane Castle was great fun. The only thing that was disappointing was a poor support line up, and with it pissing rain, about 50thousand people had the same idea as the rest of us and decided to leave it late to head out. While getting there wasnt a big a problem as anticipated the crowd simply wasnt warmed up by the time the wrinkly rockers took to the stage. Having said that I enjoyed it. Apart from being up to my next in muck it was great....

Stepping away from nl$50 at last.

2007-08-14T18:52:00.000Z

Well the last 2 weeks or so have been interesting. After a nice cash in the Sunday Million on Stars, my confidence was up a nice bit, so I though it was about time to play 2 full ring $100 max tables at a time on a regular basis. I lose 2 buyins almost straight off the bat, and shot my confidence again. So I took a few days out to read TAP, re-read some of the more interesting hands on the forums, and have a look at some of the new videos that Dbitel posted over on www.cardschat.com and try to get my game back on track.

Sunday arrived and Tracy went out with some friends, so in anticipation of lots of dead money flying around in the wake of the early exiters from the Sunday Million and the FTSOP I hit up a $100 table on both sites and within a few hours i was sitting with $600(ish) between both tables without having to reload. Nice run for just over 550 hands. :) One of the big changes i made was I raised WAYYYYY more than usual. Im not going to post my graph for the month yet, it looks hilarious at the moment, still showing a profit which is always nice. Im also getting a free coaching session next week, Ill post on the progress there.

Just so ye know what I look like.

2007-08-10T19:25:00.000Z

Tracy on the left, future sis in law my right, and a good friend.

Sunday million.

2007-08-06T01:25:00.000Z

Played this tonight, 2nd time ever. To be honest I played like a total nit, and went out in 400th place with a semi-silly raise with KJ and ran into AA. Considering I got in for $9 in a three doller rebuy sat, I happy with my $650 :)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 309 hands and saw flop:
- 7 out of 36 times while in big blind (19%) -
1 out of 35 times while in small blind (2%) -
6 out of 238 times in other positions (2%) -
a total of 14 out of 309 (4%)

Pots won at showdown - 2 of 2 (100%) Pots won without showdown - 27

Negates my ring losses for the week, I was down $200 on nl $100, so all is good. Really enjoyed it, and for anyone considering playing, the players totally suck.

MTT evening.

2007-07-30T02:29:00.000Z

Well I got back from Galway at 6 or so, with the Sunday million in my mind. $530 was a little steep for me though for 1 MTT so I decided to multi-table it a bit. Results.

$26 MTT on Full Tilt- 9th for $457
$3 rebuy on Stars - Zip
$10 rebuy on Stars - Zip
$5 Cardschat game - 2nd for $37
$3rebuy to the Sunday Million - $215
$8 Tier 1 sit and go on FT- $26 token x 3

Oh I almost forgot, I played the $100K GTD on Stars, and managed to get dead last place, out of twenty thousand players !!!!

Played some nl$50 and made $50(ish) all in all a nice evening at the tables. Still sick about final tabling another big MTT on FT and going out in the bottom half of procedings, still ill always take a final table showing, even a short one.

Nice progress in July.

2007-07-25T17:51:00.000Z

Ive just retained my Silverstar VIP status on Pokerstars, with exactly 1,500VPPs, and Ive decided to stop playing ring games for the rest of the month. I had a great month, dropping from 4 tables to 2, i've drastically improved my win rate. I've also been playing 1 session in 5 on nl$100 with some great results, and I now have a 10 buy-in cushion for that level. Ive got the feeling ill be playing at this level more next month. I'm considering having a session on nl$200, for a look at the play to expect when im looking at moving up in a few months.

For the next few evenings I intend to maybe play a few Sunday Million Sats, post a bit on the forums and do a strategy blog or two. Still crazy at work, and I really should spend my extra time in the office, but the thought of this makes me puke.

Live MTT win, some $100 cash games, and losing online.

2007-07-11T23:39:00.001Z

Been a while since I posted a blog and I apolgise for not posting for a while. For the first time in a nice few months ive had the oppertunity to get in a little bit of live play. Last Thursday was the first one.

MTT. 15euro rebuy, 10K starting chips, and the blinds starting at 25/50. Rebuys for the first 2 levels. Now Ive played this game before, but the format has changed, and been make effectively a turbo. The amount of players also increased, so with instead the usual field of 20 players, we were looking at almost 50. I went into this game with the idea that Id be happy going to the freezout stage with 30K chips, and that happened easily, 88 holding up against AK on the first hand, and then my AQ on an AA2 flop busted a terribly slowplayed KK.

The the freezout stage was just terrible, I went card dead for around 30 mins, and watched some totally horrific pre-flop play, it reinforced what id been thinking about the online players getting stronger, these guys just loved limping.

After some nice steals from the limpers in position, with the blinds at 5K, 10K, I pick up AKs in the BB, and with a 120K stack watch in amusement as I see 6 limpers, so looking at an easy double up without showdown I shove. I get 3 callers, with KQ, KQ, and KJ respectively, and im looking sweet to hit a big pot, and the Ace on the turn seals the deal, so I go to the final table as chipleader.

Not much happened at the final table, apart from me raising every hand preflop with the blinds at 15/30K when I get shoved on after raising with K8s. I make the pot odds call and and 8 on the flop and another 8 on the river and we get 3 handed with a 5/1 advantage. I win. 500euro thanks very much.

Anyway, on to Saturday night, I get a call that there is a home game going. I arrive and its decided its a 100euro max no limit game. I find that once again the players are terrible apart from 1 guy. Hes playing total TAG and 8 hours in hes the only one at the table that has my 700euro stack covered.

I call from the button in a limped pot with J10. The flop was sweet, J 10 10 , and our TAG bets out for 10. He get a call, I decide to raise it to 40 and our TAG calls quickly. The turn is a Q, and hoping he was on an oesd, felt my prayers were anwered when he shoves his stack in a massive overbet. I pause for about 30 seconds before incorrectly dismissing QQ as an option, and the game finishes up with me losing a 1450 pot with the underfull. Sick.

The online game hasnt been all that good to me either, although not totally bad, the $50 rings have been killing me, and Im smack bang in the middle of a move up by playing 1 in 5 session on $100NL, which Im doing well on. So only down $150ish so far for the month.

Looks like Ill be hitting up that MTT again tomorrow night, and hopefully they wont have learned how to bet by then :)

Ranty post, forgive the spelling/grammer. Just a small addemdum, a friend of mine, "Quids80" a pokerstars qualifer just made it though day one of the WSOP main event with a 70K stack. Good luck Shane.

~TB

OMG, Im turning into an accountant.

2007-07-04T17:39:00.000Z

About 4 weeks ago I lost a key member of staff, my office adminastrator. So being the great business man I am, I decided once that I could'nt find a suitable applicant, that I'd do the job myself for a while.

Big mistake, while I can do the job, its very slow. Payroll, tax returns, balancing books, invoicing, paying suppliers, organising sales refunds, etc etc, and making sure that everything is balanced at the end of the month is extremly tiring stuff, and my game is suffering as a result. Stress headaches are becoming the norm, and sitting in front of a computer screen for poker when I get home is my idea of hell.

Im gonna throw out a few new recruitment advertisments early next week, I never want to see an invoice again (unless that is i'm complaining about the cost of stock)

2007-07-02T02:57:00.000Z

Not as many hands as last month, and not nearly as big a win rate, but hey turning a profit is always good. Retained silver star on Pokerstars.

Making the transition to N/L Ring. Part 2.

2007-06-26T13:03:00.000Z

First off I have to apologise to my readers for a negelect in my blog recently. Work has been an absolute nightmare for the last few weeks, and I have very little time for poker. I still managed to squeeze in a silver star VIP level on Stars for the month, so now Ive decided a blog update is in order.

In the previous post we had a small look at implied odds, and we seen how is rarely correct to play for your full stack with an un-improved over-pair. This was something that I had some difficulty with earlier on. Folding AA on a K-2-4 rainbow flop just because we get check-raised is not something that I will do on a regular basis, and folding is just plain weak. We need some tools at our disposal in order to deny implied odds. We need to control the size of pots, we need to be prepared to be able to call down light, and we need to be aware to get out when we are beaten.

So we raise preflop in a $100nl game with effective stacks of 100bb to $4 with AA on the button, and we get one caller. To deny our opposition the implied odds he needs to call profitably we need to keep the pot under $64 to make his pre-flop call with a small pair unprofitable, and in reality this is very possible, unless we decide to go to war on the flop. If our opposition has a stack of $32 or under we should rarely if ever fold. So in the above example, our opponent check to us, and we bet out $6, and get check-raised to $12. Now he more than likely has a hand like KQ, but he could have a hand like 44. So we call, re-assess the turn and we likely are finished in the hand if a K turns, but with the pot now standing at $32, we can safely call another $12 bet on the turn and river, without being overly spewey.

On the flip side of this arguement, if we have the 44, we need to get our opposition to call a $12 bet on the turn, and a larger river bet, id be inclined to bet $15 on the turn, and $25 on the river, in order to make my pre-flop call profitable.

We can make the same assumptions with suited connectors as we can with small pairs. If we realise that our hand is not going to win the pot unimproved, we need to flop a big combo draw or 2 pair or give up on the hand. The main difference with playing suited connectors is that table position is more important, because where as with small pairs the flop is obvious to you, with suited connectors we are more likely to flop a drawing hand than a made hand, so having a look at the action before it arrives to you more important.

Thats it for this week.

Making the switch from MTT/STT to NL Ring. Part 1.

2007-06-11T20:50:00.000Z

As requested from some of the good folks over at www.chargedcards.com.

Making the switch from MTT/STT to NL Ring. Part 1.

Obviously the game is still a no limit Texas holdem game, but the differences in play can be immense and your goals very different. In a tournament you goal is quite simple, to win all the chips in play, your maximum loss is your entry fee. The blinds increase rapidly making for a lot of late stage game effective short stack poker in an effort to stay ahead of the blinds/antes. You will find yourself in situations lots where you have 10 big blinds or less and are playing to steal blinds from position lots.

NL Ring is vastly different in this respect. You will have a stack of 100BB or over almost all the time, the blinds don’t increase, you can lose much more than a buyin, and whilst it’s nice to win all the chips in play in reality it never happens. So in essence the main difference is that we are playing very deep stacked all the time. This can make for some nice changes we can make in our game. A bad beat won’t put us in a push fold zone at any stage, we can simply reload at any time.

In an STT for example in the mid stages and stacked at 2000chips with the blinds at 150/300 it is never correct to call a raise with a hand like 22, we can only really continue in the hand if we hit our set, and the odds of that are 8/1, so to make this profitable we need to be making 8 times our investment of our preflop call, so even calling a min raise means we need to win 2,400 or a pot of 4,800 and that’s just to break even. Now increase our stack sizes dramatically then it becomes correct to call this bet when we know for a fact the preflop raiser has AA.

So if we are playing a $100NL game and UTG (who we have a solid read on) raises only AA and KK from his position we can profitably call on the button with a wide range of hands. It’s actually incorrect to fold a hand like all pairs and suited connectors here if we feel we can win a large pot post flop. This for anyone that doesn’t know of the terminology is called implied odds. When we flop massive hands like this we need to strive to get all our chips in the middle.

This also has another impact for our game when WE hold the big preflop hands, AA or KK we should strive to deny our opponents implied odds by attempting to get as much money into the pot preflop as possibly, while post flop we should be looking to reach showdown relatively cheaply if we don’t improve. Against a strong opponent, you should almost never play for you stack with an unproved overpair, where as in a tournament we usually have denied our opponents the implied odds anyway so playing all in on random flops should be expected.

Ill do another post later in the week on this, but bear in mind there is full books on this stuff. One word of caution though, NL ring can be a tough game and you really need to be cut out for it, and have an adequate bankroll for the limits you decide to play.

My own game so far this month is running nicely, ill post my graph so far in a few days.

Quick update.

2007-06-09T14:49:00.000Z

Been a very busy month for me so far. I had 2 weddings last weekend, took some video clips and ill upload them over the weekend for ye to have a look. Got a wedding in Dublin next weekend, and a wedding in Westport the following weekend. Phew, what is it with people getting married :)

As you can imagine the poker is suffering, the first hand I played this month I managed to get stacked with 55 on a A5J board vs AA. Apart from that Ive had a few very nice sessions, and i've recovered quickly finishing 2 sessions with over 3 buy-ins.

Great weekend in Ireland, so gonna crack open some beers and chill for the weekend.

~TB

My NL Ring Graph for May.

2007-05-31T22:43:00.000Z

Great start, poor middle, fantastic finish. Well here it is in all its glory. Over 8K hands on Stars and still didnt make Gold Star.c $316 total winnings.

Good weekend on the tables.

2007-05-28T16:05:00.000Z

For some reason i rarely play poker on the weekend, save the cardschat added money games on Fridays. The main resason being me having a social life, and my bride to be, is never too happy ignoring our friends in favour of sitting in front of a screen all weekend. This weekend however, I decided to hit the weekend donks up on Stars, and see how things would go.

I'd actually forgotten how many donks come out to play on Saturday and Sunday nights, I played numerious sites, mainly Stars, but hit up Titan, Full Tilt and UB as well, and over the space of 20 sessions, I came out of every single one up. A win of almost 900 big blinds has totally wiped out all my previous downswings. I also had a shot at qualifing for the WSSOF main event on Sunday, and got in first go. On top of that clearing my $150 deposit bonus on Stars, it was a great weekend on the tables.

Now as to what im going to do in June, its anyones guess. I think ill stick to playing $50NL for the time being, and ill have a look at moving up towards the end of the month if im still running good.

For anyone thats interested Mischman is running a WSOP competition, have a look in his blog if your interested.

-TB