Championi

Ok so I might have lost a huge chunk of my roll Friday on-line but forget all that as managed to win the Azz invitational home game on Sunday. Althought when taking into account rebuys (and there were a few!) I probably only made £20, however it was the presige that counts

Was a fun few hrs, the re buy period I think would have been even messier but Brennan managed to only re-buy once before then building a massive stack, after that it was left to me to be the donk re buying every few hands. Ben managed to only play 2 hands in the first hr, first of all spiking a set vs brennans top pair plus flush draw, then getting it all in vs me pre flop in another set up spot....... when I say set up he did have JJ and I did have J4d, I just wanted to be all in vs him, thinking id be live, I did hit a flush draw though but missed, hes such a luck box.

Brennan managed to take the biggest pot of rebuy period vs me (after id just doubled up), my AK no good vs his 10 6, it was a big pot pre flop then on a k 9 q flop it was all in, j on river, which I couldn't moan about the junk I was playing in rebuys. Think I re bought 5 times, all with junk. Anyway re buys went, Ben lost all his chips in one of the last hands of re buy period, only the 3rd hand he had played, but did have a straight flush draw, vs brennans top pair plus ace high flush draw.

After the rebuys it all tightened up, Azz went out early doors after Briggsy had took most of his chips calling down his bluff. I managed to knock ben out with 87 vs his 64 when he was short. Ian was knocked out 4th I think. Me Briggsy and Brennan then played for ages 3 handed. Lots of smaller pots, Briggsy definitely played the best, making some great lay downs and good calls. I managed not to go broke with AA vs Brennans 6 rag on 10 6 6 board but only as tyhe board ran out 4 to a straight at the end. Briggsy ended up short after about an hr and went out to me in a race.

Therefore left to me and Brennan heads up, pro vs amateur. Both had a mountain of chips and promised to be a long hu battle. First hand I pick up A3d and limp knowing he'd pop it up which he did. I then push all in and he calls...ooops, he had A10. However 2 4 5 board gives me the nuts. Hes down to hardly any chips and next few hands are all in blind pretty much.

Was a fun day, I know nobody cares about this long winded write up but I wanted to do it anyway to remind myself of a time I won at poker. Think Brigsy or Brennan may have deserved to win, it was probably the fact id spent a load in rebuys that made me determined to hang around at the end

Where is my higher stake get out of jail card?

Done a load tonight, didn't really run bad either, think its been coming all week as been loosing at NL100 popping up the stakes and winning it back. Same thing happened tonight except when I popped up the stakes the cards didn't save me this time.

Lost just over a few buy ins at NL100 over a couple of hrs, main big pots were with QQ which lost a couple of all in pre flop races vs AK, plus another QQ which i bet3 bet pf, then bet on a 2 5 8 two heart flop, ace on turn which I ended up all in v's AKhearts, I could have got out on turn but carried on betting into him and shouldn't really have lost a full buy in. There were other pots but nothing I can moan about as it was all just standard stuff

Ventured up and played bits of NL200 and 400. This time I got what I deserved and cards never fell in my favour, couple of bigger pots I lost had Q10h vs A2h on a 3 heart board which also went 4 to a straight, also another decent size pot where had 810c on 9732 (2 clubs board) vs 99. Definitely cant moan when you get your money in vs the nuts!

Was also in a $20 $20k GTD rebuy that I went quite deep in, card hit me towards end of rebuy period, had my AA vs AK and a KK vs AK and had decent stack. However when blinds went up 3hrs in I didn't really step up at all just made school boy error of sitting and waited, eventually did try a 3 bet big raise with J10d vs a guy who'd been raising a folding to reraises but this time repopped and I was commited, he had QQ, I did hit a J plus flush draw on flop but failed to improve, so there was no recue act there either ;-)

Had some fun playing but expensive night of about £750, puts me a few hundred £ down for month but to be honest way ive been playing this year I'm suprised its not alot more! Never mind sun is shining its a long weekend and an exciting day of football tommorow, adios

Brennan, all is forgiven

I used to wind Brennan up about going on about his knee all the time, what a short memory I had as when I was 18 I had misfortunate of having a pretty bad knee injury which ended up requiring surgery to fix cartlidge and ligaments. From then although it was better it used to reguarly "go" evvery 6 months or so, used to be so frustrating. Anyway had last 5 years of no breakdowns but on Monday night it went again playing 5 a side. Havent been able to see my kneecap since which is hidden under the mass of swelling. Brought back the frustration of years ago and now feel a connection to Brennan and his "knee updates" posts that we all like to mock!! Its nothing serious, just used to do this all the time, swell up, out of action until get get it down again then hopefully back into it. Im not going to go into any huge detail, its just fucked at the minute, thats the technical term!

Not played much poker this week so thought perfect time to post my one and only, no more from now, knee updates

Hoping our mate Azz has his home game as planned on Sunday, fancy throwing a few rebuys around and raising Benny boy at any opportunity, he'll fold everytime!

A win but not with style

A winning session is a winning session I suppose, just logged a small profit but at one point was £300 down. The pathetic part is I was down at NL100 over 3hrs so moved up to NL200 and won £300+ in 30 mins. I haven't been beating NL100 at all this month, was just about breaking even on it before tonight (months profit came when upping the stakes last Thursday)

I think when I look back over last couple of yrs, its whenever I play more than 3 tables, I just don't have game for it, as soon as card run bad across a few tables my games goes really bad

Tonight I kept missing draws, getting check raised when I had nowt and people folding when I hit. It shouldn't wind me up but it did. Didn't really get any huge beats, ran KK into AA twice for full buy ins,

Mr Ben Holmes took just over a full buy in off me with 66 vs my 22 on 2 3 6 3 J (3 diamond board), although it was a cooler I even wasted $30 on this hand when pushing to his $35 river bet rather than just calling, was 90% certain he must have bigger house but the fact the 3rd diamond hit the river and he had just called me down all the way convinced me put him all in and thus donate another $30 to Benny boys roll, NH sir ;-)

Recovery and Responsible Gambling

Over the weekend won most of the £350 I lost in my donk session on Thu. Stuck to NL100 and some NL50 HU + PLO. While it wasn't exciting at least it was profitable. Still didnt play that well to be honest just hit some hands that held and kept discipline when I did get some beats. Not rocket science, I think the problem with grinding is it seems so mechanical. Im 99% sure I know the right grinding strategy in terms of what hands and when to raise c bet etc, however I dont have discipline to do it over a session. So after a short while I start limping into more pots, min raising in some etc just to get a bit more exciting. They are definitely leaks and less profitable than standard grinding play but hey I get too see some flops and fold ;-).

Thats why I couldnt do it pro, you need that mental discipline, the likes of Brennan and my bro in law Richard have, to have a strategy and stick to it. I'm sure if you looked at all my stats via hold em manager and took each table/session seperately my game would be completely different on each depending on my mood/mind set that day, Id love to say it was dependant on the other players and sound like a genius but im afraid it differs depending on how I feel and has 0% to do with table selevtion, player observing etc!

If I had bigger cahooners I'd play higher and just see where it took me, im positive id be a long term looser on the cash tables NL600 and above but at the min the only time I venture up is when tilting so at an even bigger disadvantage. That logic is just twisted, only play higher when your playing really bad! Would be interesting to do it when in positive mindset, did a few times last year and made decent profit. Reason I don't......due to risk of running bad and blowing roll and not being able to play at all (=pathetically soft, just go for it you girl!)

For now i'll be sensible as a few hundred £ up for month (not spectacular at all) but also got decent rake to come. It all comes in handy as just bought big TV today, plus want loft conversion done and baby on way (which will be here inside 4 weeks definitely one way or another), therefore I should really gamble responsible (its not gambling its a skill game so just do it!)

Its official I am a Donk

Strange but not unheard of night, played poor in a lot of parts, was grinding along on NL100 up and down but quite steeady, not playing great but then lost a few big buy in pots across 4 tables

AJ on j 2 5 j board all in turn full buy in vs j10 river hits 10

99 all in on 9 high flop Vs AA who hits A

AK all in vs AQ on AKQ flop, runner runner diamonds to mmake him flush

45 on k367 board, all in turn for 1.5 buy in pot, guy has kk hits 7

Then the normal happens, red mist, chasing, playing loose and moving up stakes. Always happens if im grinding and get a run of big pot bad beats quickly. Went to a NL200 HU table where was completely outclassed by a HU regular, lost 1.5 buy ins there. Won some back on NL200 6 seater.

Somehow ended up on NL600 and at one point was £700 down for night and had my current roll on one table. Lost a couple of pots but then doubled up all in pre flop with AK vs a blank j high board, thought that was me done but he had AQ.

Then moved down to NL400 and played for 90 mins or so,

Ended the night £350 down, could have been bust again. One of these nights happens every couple of months, I clearly cant grind over a long period, but hey its fun and exciting and I live to fight another day

All in all played crap, tilted, chased, went to high, complete donk!

Set up City

Put in alot of hrs this weekend, definitely the most in 1 weekend session since I was playing big volumes in 2008. Was inconsistent in my play, in patches good in patches awful. Finished the weekend a little down but genuinely ran bad in parts, not all down to that though as definitely donated quite a bit playing loosely at times.

Tonights session was going great as I hit some big flops early. Looked like I was going to finish weekend on a high but just had KK run into AA 3 times inside 35 mins, pretty brutal, twice AI pre flop and once I saw a 226 flop and then pushed. Pretty sick as all either full buy ins or slightly more. Was logging off and unticked Post BB box on last two tables, last hands on both ended up with some action

1- Me Q10 clubs, raise pre on button, bb calls, flop 3 clubs, he bets, I raise he pushes, I call, him pair plus ace clubs and hits

this point Im fuming as on back of KK vs AA hands, then other table cheers me up with full buy in

me KK (scared at this point), I raise, 1 caller, flop k 2 6, I bet he calls, turn 9, we end up all in, him 99

Seemed like a good spot to log off

A lot of effort this weekend for no profit, Im not as good at grinding as I was in the past, but felt good to put alot of hrs in without risking my roll at any point!!! I tilted a couple of times but nothing major

Trying to tighten up my leaks, I know what the big ones are and suprisingly never tilted in tonights session, was also 4 tabling comfortably (in past when ive 4 tables it has often lead to meltdown when quick sussesion pot got against me) so some positives, also must have racked up some rake!

Pap

Poker can be so frustrating!, came on for a shortish session at 7:30pm tonight, just logged off at 2:40am, only leaving desk for a couple of toilet breaks, I finished £10 up and it was the only time in the entire 7hrs that I was up, had been down from very first hand.

During the session I;

- Played pish poor in long spells, embarrisingly bad in periods

- Ran terribly in short bursts- I dont have EV tracker but I lost so many all ins when miles ahead

- Tilted after running badly in short burst (although never jumped the stakes like in the past.......slight lie as I did venture to NL200 for a bit but not like NL1000 in bankroll busting days)

- Played well in patches after calming down

- Reconfirmed I have a mental problem in stopping while loosing, cant seem to shake that habit. Meant to play for 2hrs max!


£10 for 7hrs! but like a few of the lads say......think of the rake!

Could do better

Havent been able to play for a week or so but got in a couple of hrs today. Am back up to NL100 since my good run a couple of weeks ago boosted my roll. My criminal error is to still not have the tracking software on since deleting pokertracker last year in a tilt induced strop. Keep meaning to register hold em manager.

My mate Ben spotted huge leaks in my game when I was sat at his table last week, he confirmed what I sort of knew but hadn't admitted to myself yet, I was playing CACK! Its been good enough to beat NL50 but will definitely loose on NL100. Basically since going busto my game has gone to pot, limping in too many pots, giving up on flop and generally too loose-weak.

Therefore as of 10 days ago I decided to try and get back to basics, back to tight aggressive old ways. Last session last week id ran really hot so couldn't judge if I was playing better as everything played itself. Today was pretty similar, I hit alot of good hands. My main test will come in normal sessions, however at the moment enjoying boosting roll a bit more.

Today hit a run of hands early, think I played some of them badly and didnt get as much as I should have, I should have bet out a couple of times when hit sets but didn't. Main pot I won I wasnt even sure I was winning, had JJ, vs a guy who's 3 bet pre, flop was 9 high 2 spades, he bet 3/4 pot and I pushed all in, no insight to why, it was just a AI or fold move, luckily he had 10 10 and doubled me up. Wasn't happy with how id played it but happy with pot that got me going

Biggest pot of the day I lost but got lucky to win small side pot, unfortunally 3rd best hand (when all in) won main pot. Basically sat with $110, AA, one guy bets $4, 1 caller, I pop it to $14. Flop 2 3 8 two diamonds. First guy bets 3/4 pot, other calls. I just push, bigger stack pushes all in (ooops) and other guy calls (he has $85), turn ace (wohoo), river diamond (boo), big stack has 88 so I robbed him for side but, smaller stack 6 9d takes the $250ish main pot. Cant moan but a blank river would have put cherry on a good session.

So NL100 has started well, but think ive ran real good, still think my game isnt great. Ben outplayed me on one table today, kept 3 betting me and I kept folding! Although I did play a little better and limped into fewer pots, in the main when I was VPIP I was raising, more like the good old days! Although still a load of leaks to fill.