No discipline

Havent played for nearly 2 weeks so was gagging for a game on Friday night, managed again to play allsorts of stakes, starting at NL100 right up to NL1000 (all $). Really swingy, was £1.1k down at worste point and ended up about £200 down. When your playing different stakes really hard to judge how you play but just looked back at hold em manager at big pots and seemes I did ok. 5 bigget posts I won, was huge favourite in all of them and 5 biggest post I lost , 3 of them I was racing (slight underdog each time)

About $1k under ev for the session, mainly due to those races.

It was in smaller, not all in pots where I leaked some cash and played worse. Love to say back to grinding but its just far more exciting higher up ;-)

Heads up

After the epic session on Friday I have just had 2 smaller sessions. Rather than ring games I played some heads up but at NL50, didnt want too big swings after my mentality on friday (I really wanted to play at least NL400 again!). So I brought myself back to earth with NL50 HU

Won a few buy ins and roll now sitting at a healthy £2100

Reviewed my hands from friday, was pleasantly suprised that in most big pots I played it ok, and that was with calm eye looking at it next day. However the jumping around stakes still looked stoopid, esp on my holdem stats!

Anyhow my NL100 stats still good and all over higher levels around break even which doesnt give justice to the huge swings on them on Friday, but also shows how crazy it was to risk big chunks of my roll.

Am off to Cincinatti with work on wednesday for a week, have to stay the weekend so no poker for me for a while. Got a meeting in new york on thu but couldnt manage to hang on there till weekend as need to be in Cinci on Friday so its the weekend there rather than big apple ;-(

Jackal...... we have a problem

I wasnt going to post this, I thought maybe I could do with just not posting last nights update and no one would be any the wiser. However it would be wrong to just pretend I had managed to keep the discipline ive had since Nov

Last night I logged on at 11ish to will hill, just too see who was on. To my delight a couple of my fish list were on same table with seat available. So sat down to play NL100 (ps Ben, I know you asked if id be moving up but I already did at end of Dec, see prev post)

Anyway they were as bad as normal but I didnt get any action from them, they busted out pretty quick and other players were quite solid so I was planning to log off. However saw one of them went to a NL200 table (he was in a particular loose mood) so I followed. Then the other fish also sat at a different NL200 table so I followed him too. Obviously this would be a good plan if I could guarantee not mixing with other players on the table but we all know the cards might not let that happen

Anyhows, at this point im 3 tabling, 1 NL100 and 2 NL200 (all $). And my expected/due bad patch hits (not all bad beats as 50% of big pots I was already behind and run into bigger hand). Cant moan at this as it was due. I start flopping set under higher set, nut flush draws vs sets, where my flush hits but pairs the board to house up. These were all vs the better players and not the fish. Looking back at HH some big pots-

My AA looses to QQ, all in pre - $400 pot
My 88 flops 8 j 2 vs JJ- $340 Pot
My AKd, hits flush on 6 9 2 2 board vs 66, $300 pot
My 22 flops 2 5 8 Vs 55, $350 pot
My KK looses to QQ all in pre when he hits 4 to a flush- $320 pot

During all of this the fish had been getting killed also and was playing very bad. However he gets lucky vs a couple of ppl and builds a stack, he leaves and goes onto NL400 table. At this point I know I shouldnt risk big chunks of my roll, but I follow him! Nice logic jackal.

1st hand at NL400 I lose about $300 when I pick up AK raise, guy 3 bets I 4 bet and he pushes, he had A10 and board runs out Q J 2 2 K. At this point I am definitely feel tilt kick in, I reload and fe hands later makes me realise I need a break (well I should have had it about 2hrs ago). I had 3 5d and raise in early possy and get 3 bet by the Fish, 1 caller and I call (the tilt mist was starting at this point). Flop 5 8 10 (2d, gives me pr anf fl draw). The 3 better bets big, other fold, I decide im going for this even before he has bet. I think a big raise will push AK etc out and even if he has a over pair im still 50 50ish, plus he has been playing all sorts and could just have any 2. He pushes and I have to call. He has K10 and im 55% but miss. I dont mind my play after flop but I shouldnt have been in that pot as my strategy was play strong hands vs him only.

Anyhow been playing for about 4 hrs at this point and obviously had won some pots aswell but am about $1000 down. Nice going for my normal $100 roll strategy. I have a break, then go back on and decide Im sticking to NL400, I couldn't face grinding again at NL100 and felt like luck me change. I still have a up and down time but start to pick up some good spots, like 66 vs KK on 6 flop, a Flopped straight vs flush draw that I make him pay big and misses. Still continue to lose some big pots, I was playing how I hav been on NL100, very agressive, example when I try a big squeeze play that I thought would get through with Q5s, however initial raiser call and I flop fl draw, proceed to miss vs his overpair etc etc. However this agro style did get me paid off a few times

Played for 6 hrs in total, ended about $100 down. Once again showing I can grind for 2/3 months and win but always reach a time when I lose the plot and play bigger, and am often outclassed

For once it wasnt going up the stakes to chase loss but rather to chase fish, however cant moan that a had a bad spell at this point as it was definitely due, the jump to NL400 although at the time was to follow the bad player was mainly driven by chasing losses

There you go, I have shown again that long term discipline isnt there. Im lucky however to not have lost big, but tbh Id accepted that I might loose a chunk once I went up to NL400, Id atleast been clever enough to withdraw £1K of my roll but who knows if id have reversed the withdrawal if id continued to loose! Plus staying up till 5:30am not good prep for baby waking up!


Sorry long post and ps roll now stands at £1945

Rolled up

My roll hit £2k tonight, very satisfied to build that just from profit, all from a £150 deposit in Nov which ive since taken out. Reason £2k is significant is the last time I played with a proper roll was summer last year when I managed to bust a £2k roll in one day. Happy that I built it back up rather than dipping into savings taken from previous years profit

Anyway hoping this doesnt affect my focus as even since I got up to about £500 Ive had the £2k mark in my mind

Better

Played much better tonight, came on for a quickish session but stayed on for 2.5hrs as two big fish on one of my tables. I focused on isolating them and playing as many flops as I could as they were very poor post flop. Was frustrated early on as I couldnt get a read and leaked chips to them but once I did it was easy, made easier as they kept showing thier hands.

Managed to get away from KK and QQ post flop vs them on raggy boards after big 3 bet by me pre flop, when thier betting pattern strongly suggested they hit more than a pair (and they were showing all the time, love that). Was happy that I managed to fold overpair as always tempting to play them for full buy ins vs bad players on mid range flop, but folded and waited to keep taking medium size pots from them and wait for spots I knew I was way ahead to play big pots

Also played a solid player to my left well, he was also trying to isolate them so just kept squeezing him and he folded more often than not

It worked well, ended up $250 up after initially being a bit down while I figured it out.

Nearly made a big miclick in one pot with 7 5 sooted, hadnt realised there had been a 3 bet, and $70 4 bet, I was chatting to brennan on facebook and screen popped up and nearly hit call. Could have been disastrous as we were both quite deep and If id hit flop or fancied a flop that hed missed I may have gone for it chasing the misclick money! Lesson learnt, close facebook down while playing!

Roll now £1950

Maniac

Continued with high varience poker tonight, raising lots and pushing all my draws. Mixed in there were a few awful hero calls where I just didnt believe the person (when in hindsight it was v obvious they had hit). You know the type, when your on a run of winning session, feel invincible and feel anyone betting into you is weak and your bottom pair is good, I did a few of them and looked foolish

Again quite a few swings and 150bb-200bb pots. Hit a few hands late on when my reputation was very fishy, including flopping a straight flush with 23h on A45 flop, the person with 45 paid me off till river for full buy in even though 4th heart hit on turn,

Looking back at session I played awful, made some good moves in spells but mainly awful. Definitely worse session since Nov, even though still ended up in profit. Wont have much time in next few days which is probably good thing as feel myself getting looser!. However, defintely a few positives

- I was atleast an agressive loose (in past ive played loose limp/caller style in patches
- Still havent ventured up the stakes and today was very tempted when a few hundred down
- Im not getting angry when loosing big pots, think 2night I was definitely tilty but it wasnt my full blown angry tilt it was just im bored of grinding lets gamble and push the action a bit tilt, a fun tilt ;-)
- If id just grinded like normal, I wouldnt have lost the big pots but wouldnt have won the big pots late on either, so atleast it was a fun session that balanced out

Awful poker mind, think I was lucky not to have a big downswing in roll last 2 nights

Swings

Felt like tonight passed my first major test since restarting in Nov. Had a high varience session and a few patches where big pots went against me. One particular sick patch saw me loose 2 150BB pots within 3 mins

1) I raised with 99 and was 3 bet, called and flop was 9 10 2 (with 2 spades). The guy bet pot and im sure he has overpair. We get it all in and he has 10 10

2) I 3 bet big with KK vs the weak player at table who is a caller. Flop K J 2. I bet pot on flop and 3/4 pot on blank turn, only for 10 to hit on riv and he has AQ

At this stage I was $350 down for the night. Felt myself get a bit worked up but comforted self in the fact there was not much I could have done. Grinded on ready to accept my first loosing session for Jan then won a 160BB pot, I raised with 44, 2 callers, flop 4 10 10. I bet out and guy called, 2 clubs on board so im hoping he has draw that'll get there. Blank 3 on turn and he starts raising me. He has A10. So that was a fortunate situation in my favour

Was up and down all night and ended up in small profit. Thought I might get big payday on my last hand. Id left other tables and unticked auto post and was my last hand when dealt 99. I raised and got 3 callers. Flop 9 8 8. I bet out half pot, 1 caller. He has $360 I have $320. I'm hoping he catches something to pay me off. Turn 5 putting 2 hearts on board and he calls me again. River a blank 2 and I check as put him on draw and think he may have a pop at a bluff, he checks, with 10Jh. He had a lot of draw outs to hit and get in trouble. Never mind, cant complain after run ive had recently and even tonight the poker gods somehow found a way for me to come from quite a bit down.

Busted set of kings= Tilt

After winning about £100 in this afternoons session I had a few hours on tonight. First 90 mins wasn't great, I had a couple of guys river me in near full buy in pots, which has not happened much recently so was definitely due. To try and combat tilt lately I have prepared ared myself for these pots and promised myself I would a) take a deep breaths and b) immediately fold next hand unless it was premium (as in the past my tilt is usually to raise the next 10 pots regardless which starts a spiral). Did both of these but to be honest never felt to flustered as realise been on a good run lately

Anyway was able to stay focused as there were a couple of genuine fish around, especially a couple who played 90% of pots but never raised, I love those type! Another fault of mine in the past has been a refusal to stop a session down and playing on until im atleast even. Again that wasn't really top of mind tonight as had set myself a end time of about 1am. In the next hour grinded back to even, helped by fact hit a couple of sets, They never won as much as they could as boards got scary but still decent size. One was my own fault as should have got more chips in on flop but decided to let a turn come off and just call a flop bet (he was v aggressive), turn was a scare card for him when he actually had top pair on flop, my mistake

Late on I got ahead with a full buy in pot, 67s I raised in cut off and button 3 bet (not a big reraise and he 3 bet in position alot). BB (was a big fish) called so I decided to see a flop, came down k 5 9, the k and 9 are my suit. Gives me a fl draw and gut shot. The fish bet $1! (thats how he was all night). I just called as had a plan for button guy.

I'd played with the button guy all night and felt he would raise regardless of his cards in this spot. After 3 betting and the ridiculous $1 bet and my simple call there was no way he wasnt betting at this flop. His 3 bet range was actually quite wide from what id seen (hed 3 bet with things like 9 7, q 10). My plan was for him to raise and i'd re-pop it, thinking i may take it down there and then and if not (if he had AK AA etc) I was prepared to gamble. He duly raised, the BB fish folded, so I re-raised. He then went all in, doesn't take a genius to know 7 high is behind but I call the last $30 or so to try and win the $230 pot. He has the nuts, KK, I hit flush on river. Harsh for him, but he goes berserk at me, very foul mouthed chat abuse. He then proceeds to reload $100 and go all in pre flop every hand strategy, unfortunately I picked up a load of trash but he manages to loose 4 more buy ins in next 12 mins (after grinding for 3 hrs). YES the tilt meltdown wasnt me! thats no real tilt blow outs since start of Nov, amazing what a string of wins does for your mentality ;-)

Anyway won a couple more pots after this and ended session £100 up, £200 for the day

Roll now up to £1700

Holmes style

By that I mean I havent played many hands lately. Got Modern Warfare 2 on PS3 and found myself playing that in spare time, even though i'm really shit and just get murdered on-line. A group of lads from darlo play, they let me in thier team but I hear the occasional "For fuck sake Jackal" over thier bluetooth head sets. I have no idea how some people get so good, they can pick me out anywhere and put one in my forehead over and over again. Im not really a gamer so think that fas will pass in a week or so just like it did last year when I actually bouth the PS3

Have played a couple of sessions, still steadily growing the BR which now stands at £1.6k. Would love it to be £2k by end of Jan but am due a bad run so when that happens main focus will be no tilt

55 48

Just got round to re uploading holdem manager and imported my HH from last 2 months. Was intersted to see my stats from winning the £1400 since Nov. NL$50 was where big base of hands and £1k profit was from. My VPIP and PRF were 55 48! I knew id been agressive while winning over 30 buy ins at that level but didnt realise I had been that high over 2 months. No wonder I was getting paid when I hit

I also thought I must be running golden but still was running behind ev (I know I promised myself in Oct that I'd never look at that stat again but I couldnt help self!)

My stats were a bit lower on NL100 but not by much, around 45 41. Obviously over time the good players who were using trackers would suss me out I think and start reraising, 3 bet more etc (already feel people doing it at NL100 vs 50 so will have to adapt) but no wonder Ive been having fun!

Not going to make any aims for 2010, life with a young baby means poker will always be down the list, so going to do what I did from Nov onwards and play when I can and for fun and see how high I can build the role