Wish me ( and Arsenal) luck tonight. The Luton Comp kicks off at 8.30pm and the arsenal game kicks off at 7.45 so I had a bitch of a toss-up. Never one for half measures I opted for the compromise. Im going to watch the 1st half from the Luton Bar and then beg the cardroom manager to get a good seat overlooking the widescreen. I may miss out on a little of the information while following the match but its rookie night so for the 1st 45 of the rebuy period that shouldn’t matter.
I played the £20 PL game last Saturday and did OK. 1st main hand I get KK UTG. 1 EP Pot bet, I raise, all folded round to him and he goes AI. Never played with him before and was fully expecting to see the Bullets, but what do you know 66 is an all-in re-raising hand (in his defence it was the re-buy period, but they weren’t even sooted!).
Next hand I get Q4os in the BB. 5 Limpers, I obv limp too. Flop comes AQ4rainbow. Hmmmmmm. Its PL so this is a definite trap-laying flop for me in the re-buy period. 1 EP raise, 1 short-stack all-in, 1 LP caller, I re-raise. 4 ppl in this pot. Only thing im realistically worried about is the A4 that dave could be holding. Alas no, im up against A9, Q,10(Dave),88. A four on the turn seals the deal and makes me feel better.
A couple of positional steals and continuation bets and im looking good for chips. Average is about 3.5k around the rebuy period, I have 11k after the 1k add-on.
I tell myself, sit tight till the blinds get reasonably large. I must have still been deaf from the pigeon shooting earlier as I don’t listen. I find A10s on the Button. A MP raise by a (self-confessed) newbie. I have played with him a few times before and he has done this with raggy aces. I decide to see a flop. Mistake No.1
Flop comes 224, with 1 heart. He goes all-in. I mull. I ask if he has a raggy ace, he says no. His bet is 2.5k and the pot is 3.5k. I somehow convince myself that they are good odds (caused by me calling pre-flop with junk anyway) and call thinking he has at best A, small card. WRONG. He flips AQ and im walking wounded. Problem is, when I play in this conservative style, people notice when I switch gears. I win a few blinds then find JJ on the button. I raise pot, BB thinks then goes All-in. Fuck. Anyone else and this is an instant call. But he is REAL tight and a solid player. Dang. I finally realise he’s short on chips too and call, plus he might think im at-it. I ask him if he thinks im at-it. He doesn’t look like he’s winning. I call he flips KQs and I hate this part. I deal myself a Jack on the flop and its happy days. Back up to 14k.
DON’T EVER MAKE THIS MISTAKE LADS!!!! LISTEN UP
I steal a few blinds then this hand happens. Im in the BB with K3s. 3 Limpers, 1 all-in (tiny stack)…. All limpers call bar 1.
I call.
Flop comes K58 with 2 clubs. Small blind (tiny stack) moves all-in. This pot is mahusive now. MISTAKE!!! I don’t take long enough to assess the situation. EP limper cannot have a monster or even semi-monster, iv seen the hands he RE-RAISES with (Kjo). Late position cannot either, as they were both given the option preflop TWICE to raise. My main fear here is K10 or KJ, hands that some ppl (myself included) limp with.
I make the feeble play of betting 1/3 of my stack. 1 caller. Now with the 2 clubs I wanted to know where I stood and thought this was a good feeler bet. Note to self..don’t think unless you really are going to ENGAGE.
He called ( found out later with Ac5h) and when a 5 came on the turn I thought that was a nice enough card for me, and I didn’t want to let him flush, plus I cannot put him on a king now and think im good. As soon as he calls (which he did instantly, thanks mate) I know im history. He did nothing wrong, I did nothing right.
Finished in about 14th out of 60, so its ok, but I felt good and the hands I played (except 1) I played ok in.
Im playing the £10 re-buy tonight which by all accounts is similar to a crap-shoot in the dark. Just wait 3 hours and see who’s still alive before you actually start playing any "real" poker. I reckon that’s bull-shit and if you can’t beat rookies, you shouldn’t be allowed to whine. Note: statement may be retracted after suffering more runner runner sick outdraws than a flora London marathon attended solely by Paula Radcliffe clones.
Think the Arse should spank these Italian’s, the weather looks quite rainy and a greasy Highbury will work for us. Cant wait for the geriatric brigade to get spanked by our rockets and Terry Henry in the wet is like the Energiser Bunny on Speed.
Love Yall, will blog winning post tomorrow.

Ok theory time. The best hand in holdem……Aces I hear you all say, whatever the nuts is on the river, the hand help by the player who wins the pot…..
They are all correct of course but this isnt some more strategy drivel. Its about the best hand but takes into account the following factors. The pictures, the connotations, the nicknames, the quality of the cards, etc…
My mate Matt said the other day that he just loves black kings. He says he likes the pictures, and the Size of the fuckers. I like them too, also the black ladies look pretty tasty.
As a side note, don’t ever go all-in with a mongrel pair of bullets , ie a red one and a black one. They don’t fight very well and you will get beaten ever time. The black ones are like Iron. It’s the Only hand I play.
Now, in order to make my work more fun I decided to invent a new hand nickname for a hand. This can only be used when the other player doesn’t have the foggiest what ur talking about. A pair of red 10’s. If you flip the second 10 and semi-superimpose it on the 1st 10 you get ….
…..
101.
Now im christening this hand……Homer Simpson.

Having got the online bankroll back to healthy status this weekend.....mainly due to my freind Seb's supremely intelligent decisions (i just made the Tea), i proceeded to take a bit of a hit last night. I played for a bit and got it up to $300. I then decided to enter the 15k gauranteed $18 rebuy tournie. This is a really weak field and i immediately bought in again (starting stack 2k) so i could cover all the fishies at the table. 7th hand in i find AQo in the SB. 4 limpers, i limp too. Flop comes A,K,10 rainbow. Happy days. 2 guys bet this flop for me on the flop. I call. Turn comes (and im praying it doesnt pair the board) a brick and all the chips go in the middle. River comes another King but no-one seems to have a full house and ive tripled up to 14k.

Next key hand i get AA UTG+2. EP raises to 500, i make it 1500. 4 callers. Flop comes down horrible. Coordinated, and coloured. 10,j,4 2 hearts. Bollocks, theres a fair chance one of these buggers has a set. Anyways it all goes in and this pot is HUGE. 23k and i have to dodge nearly every card in the deck, which i dont and the guy to my right gets the nut flush.

Next hand AA in EP again. I opt to limp as its near the end of the rebuy period when sparks start to fly. Late position raises, blinds call, i go all-in 1 caller (A,10) and im back up to 13k.

Next hand, AQs in the BB. EP limper with a healthy stack. Interesting this, normally alarm bells are ringing but iv just seen him limp in EP the hand beofre with q,10 o so he doesnt have to have a hand. 4 limpers and theres 4.5 k in the pot. I go all-in as i think no-one will call, which they dont.

17k.

CRITICAL HAND

I get QQ immediately after aforementioned hand in the SB. Late position raises to 3k. I dwell, but iv seen his hands and he could easily have KJ, A,10 here. I go all-in. He types, "this is a bad call"....and calls with QJs. Fucker hits a flush on turn. He types" ul mate gg" I type "yba gg all, gl".
How he did that illl never know. But im grateful those ppl are out there. Honestly, theres more dead money in these gtd re-buys than a Jewish cemetary.

Must make a fleeting comment to Dave here. Well don last night in the HU challenge sir. The bugger beat me 4-0, which aint al that easy. He says he doesnt have a tell on me but im certain he does, he always lays down his good hands when i have a monster. Excusing his luck, he had AA and had to hit an A on the river.... and he had KJ v my JJ and the flop brought 1 king, and just to be sure the turn brought another; HE OUTPLAYED ME. He kept me guessing by betting out his trips and slow-playing in equal proportion, bluffing 10% of the time and gernerally being annoying. Well done son.


Tip of the Day. AA looks so pretty pre-flop but is sure as hell aint after. Know when ur beaten, if ur getting serious heat in a cash game post flop (even .25/.50 stakes) get out of the fire.

Poker says "thankyou"
Played the Luton £25 re-buy last night.1000 starting chips.Things started promisingly enough, I get AK’s 2nd hand and move em all in. I get called by pocket nines (I raised and though I had a bigger Ace). No help and a cry of "chips please" from my corner.
1 orbit later I get the bullets. I raise small UTG, player to my left puts me all-in and I have the enviable task of calling with aces. No miracles and im doubled up. Very next hand I limp UTG with AQ. Loose/Aggressive player raises large and I think im ahead and go all-in. He calls with K10, hits a K on the flop and im down to 800. A few hands later I get KK UTG and opt to limp/ re-raise when someone bets….which sure enough they do. 4 way pot and my boys hold up against 66, 10,10 and AQ to earn me a few. I go card dead for a bit and finish the re-buy period with 2800 after the add-on.
I get AQ 1st hand in and go all-in from the BB when I sense a little weakness in a late position 5*BB raise. He folds. I get Moved. And Again. 3rd Table I get dealt JJ in the BB. A small raise round the back and I think im good. I slide in and sadly he has KQ so its race time. I win and double up to roughly 7k.
KEY HAND. Folded round to me in the SB with Ac9h. I complete. He checks. I know very little about this player (50+ years, smartly dressed, regular by the looks of things). Flop comes 10,9,3 all clubs. I bet ½ pot. He raises 3*. I look,think…and decide to call. 4h on turn. I check and he says "raise, 1500 and 4k". Not allowed, 1500 is the raise. I call. 10s on the river. Pot is now fa\irly huge, but im not committed. I check. He thinks and goes all-in. I think and think and think. I think he is BB so could have flopped 2 pair and wanted to scare off the flush draw. I don’t see why he bets all-in if he has trips or a boat. Things look better. ?He could have a small flush…
Shit he could have a small flush. BUT he knows that I have something and that river could have filled me up. I look at him. He looks anxious. Fuck. If I call, im dead. But my brain says this guy is squirming. I think the 10 on the river counterfeits his possible 2 pair on the flop, as iv ruled out a full house. I listen to my gut and call. I show the 9 and he folds…..i never got to see his cards as he mucked, but in retrospect I WISH I had asked to see them. After all, I called him. That hand set me up and was the hardest call iv ever had to make. Brain and gut often disagree on the correct decision ;)
From there I stole a few, had a few nice hands and built my stack. I had a huge amount of respect shown to me. A strong player folded KQo 6 handed when I was the button. So I showed him the AQ to make him feel good.
Very next hand I stole with J7s.
Got to final table miraculously and played tight. To my amazement all the big stacks started fighting and soon there were 6. I then saw this hand. Player (huge stack) in EP raises small. BB calls. Flop comes A,7,J. BB checks, EP raises ½ pot. BB calls. Turn, 6. BB checks, EP raises the same amount. BB calls. River, A. BB thinks, and then goes all-in with Trip aces 9 kicker and gets called by a full house held by EP, sixes full of Aces.
I keep plugging away but im getting a shocking run of cards. E get down to 4, then down to 3. Im now seriously short stacked and start to have fun. I tell the guys it’s the 1st time iv ever played live and can I press the "sit out" button. No laughs, these guys want to knock me out. I recover slightly when im forced to go all-in with Q,10o and hit trip 10’s.
A little later I find K9c in the BB and raise all-in to get called by 7,2 o in the SB. A 7 on the river hurts, but its all over.
£580.
Im chuffed. I really feel that this is a deserved result for the amount of time and energy iv dedicated to poker. All those hours reading strategies and playing with the lads came to fruition and im positive about my game. No fireworks yet but for me this is a HUGE result.
TIP of the day. DONT GIVE FREE CARDS WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE POSITION. Ask the guy who walked into a set of sixes on the turn.

Its update time. I played a few freerolls on VC and guess what, I actually won come cash!!
Bang went the idea of not playing for a while. Won about $20 which I took to the micro stakes cash tables and got up to $40 in about 3 hours. Not bad. Played a $10 SnG and placed 1st. Played another and placed 1st. Woohoo, guess who’s BACK!
Played a little more cash and turned $20 into $50 in the very 1st hand I play. I pick up kings and someone sets me in. Naturally I call and he shows QJs. Not this time fucker, as regular readers will know that same hand raped me about 1 week ago for $100 and put me on tilt.
So now, from $20 I had about $130. I decided to continue the run and (stupidly) played a $20 sng and the $18 re-buy. I got outplayed in the SnG by someone who slowplayed the Aces in position behind me and on a flop that looked edible for my Jacks, he gobbled me and my chips up. Nice play sir, you wont catch me complaining about being outplayed. I kept an eye on him and he came second after a gut-wrenching bad beat. Made me feel better that sometimes good players get fucked hard. In the $18 re-buy I did OK. 360 odd runners and a 15k gauranteed prize pool meant for a good tournament. I nailed it down from the off, the rebuy period was manic and I had soon accumulated 10k in chips (starting stack 2k). I then went card dead for an eternity.
I played some chip bleeders out of position (I have finally learnt my lesson). I also had to lay down some horribly marginal hands like 99 and AQ preflop when I was calling for all my chips. I stole my way up to about 20k and then this happened. No cards for 15 minutes with high blinds. I then won a small pot and was back to 20k. By now the blinds were immense and there were only 50 left. 28 get paid and I knew it was time to get busy once we got nearer the bubble. I picked up A5s in the BB and it gets folded round to the SB who sets me all-in. This is an obvious steal, I call and he has 9,6 off. He hits, I don’t and now im a short-stack at this table of monsters. I move around a bit and get back to 16k when this happens. Blinds are 4k, 2k respectively. I find KQs in UTG+2. I don’t know what to do here. In retrospect I do. I decided that once the blinds went through me I was going to get called by the big blind form then on so I made a decision and went with the hand. Yep all-in with KQs. I get called by AQ and its all over. I finished in 40th. Im so annoyed at myself as this is not the right hand to go all-in with in EP. Probability wise t he majority of hands that will call you here are dominating hands like AQ or AK. I would have rather gone AI with J,10os. Another weak finish but im not complaining. If I had beaten that guy who had 9,6 then I could have been more patient or stolen more depending on my feel for the table. Next time gadget, next time…
Tip of the Day. If you have to go all-in try and get all-in with 2 LIVE cards. Something like suited connectors 6,7s or a small pair. Try and avoid being dominated when you are forced to go all-in form an early position.
Im back however and will be playing $10 SnG’s till im healthy again. IE up to $300. Then I might dabble with cash again and if I win reward myself with some MTT’s.
Good luck ladies. Manyana.

So much for a break. Im consumed by poker and its not gonna give. Played footie last night and had a great game. Scored a cracking volley from a corner and played my socks off. My kid bro had a car accident last night but he's fine. So is his mate who is lucky to be alive after committing the schoolboy error of not wearing a seatbelt. He got catapulted about 25ft and has totally smashed up his arm. My bro got some glass in his hand so good luck with the operation Johnny.
Im going to use some of my action points from UB and VC tonight. I have about 40k on VC and that will allow me to play some really nice freerolls.

Good news is a check form UB finally got paid in today. Im taking it real easy at the moment.

Might play tonight if the lads are up for it.

Ok I’m not happy. Poker has slapped me in the face this weekend and has given me a rude awakening. My online Bankroll of about $550 at VC and $100 at UB has gone. I went BROKE. I’m not going to regale bad beat stories to you for 4 pages (which I could do for 5000- words(AK beaten by KQ on K high flop, AA beaten by 99 all in preflop, both pots $140+). I’m going to talk about the much more serious issue of psychological control, which I don’t have. I won a $25 SNG which put my bankroll up to $550 on Friday afternoon. I then decided to play the .25/.50 cash games and found a couple of real juicy ones and got viciously outdrawn. The point is I should have LEFT the tables IMMEDIATELY after 1 outdraw, instead I stayed for a second one which tilted me and left me with $250 which I frittered away by playing shite for about ½ hour. 4 weeks worth of building before 1 hour of bulldozing. I hate myself for the fact I didn’t see the signs and didn’t quit when I started to feel sick. It would be nice for the favourite to hold once. 3 outs seem to hit wayyyyy to often for my liking.
I played at Luton in the £10 and then the £20 rebuys on Saturday. Final tabled the £10 for 7th place and £80. I felt good the whold way through that tournie and played well. Unfortunately I doubled up a short stack who had AA with my A10 when I re-raised to isolate (She had to take the blinds in 1 hand and I figured she might be moving, if I had known the player I would have folded). This made me short stacked and the lady limped in the small blind after it got folded round to my small blind. I of course wasted no time in going all in for 7k (3k in pot) with my K9. She calls and has A9 and im out. Still not bad but I read her as weak and passive and should have known better. She proved to be passive but a bit good at calling when she had the best of it preflop. By no means was she a station mind, she played very well from what I saw.

I then played the £20 rebuy and I think that was a mistake. I was tired and not feeling tip top. I was missing tells and making mistakes galore. 2 rebuys and an add-on later and im kissing goodbye to my profit from earlier (had the best hand going in everytime but it’s the re-buy period and pot-limit so you wont catch me whining). I saw a young guy who must have thought he was Phil Iveys prodigy or summat. He made a couple of nice calls and a couple of shockers. Iv logged his body language for future reference. Anyway I was short stacked and stayed short-stacked. I played survival mode well until with the blinds at 1k/2k I was forced to move my 5.5k stack in with K,10o after an EP limp. He called with A6s and I hit 2 kings to double up.

Down to 14 and 2 hands later I get that HORRIBLE pot-limit hand JJ. Best hand iv seen all night though and after 2 EP limps im all-in with a bish, bash, bosh. HUGE multiway action and I think im infront as the late calls were probably value calls. About a 30k pot and the others have, wait for it…..KQ,77,………79o.
Im thinking ok, if I can dodge a K or Q im gonna win this thing, but alas, the 7,9 makes a str8 on the riv. DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finished 14th for sweet FA. Don’t even get a goodbye from anyone at the table. These people have no manners, I ALWAYS say good game, safe journey….or at least something!

Robby held on and did the justice, taking 7th for a healthy profit. That’s 2 final tables in a row!

Played a Cash game in a Film Studio last night, that was cool. All smokey lights and Cigars, I felt cool. I dropped 4 buy-ins (£5 each ;) ) and then went on a roll winning a few nice pots. Then this hand. I get K,10 in ep and opt to limp in. My stack is about £35. Lenny, a wild Jewish lad ( I know, contradiction of terms) raises to £2. I call. Flop Comes K,6,3. I check, he raises £5. I give him the eyeball and he doesn’t have a King. I decide calling he isnt an option. Its find out where I am time. If he comes OTT of me I can still get away from this hand. I re-raise to £10. He calls?!! Turn comes a 9. Not a particularly scary card so I push in the rest of it (£17). He calls and shows trip nines. HOW THE FUCK can he call my re-raise? Theres only 2 nines left in the pack for fuck sake!!! He did that 3 times while I was there. Called with shit preflop and and on the flop against rob twice and hit a lucky 2-pair. The boys got luck ill say that for him. He’ll be alright ;)

So all in all I havent logged a winning session with the boys in the last 4 attempts and iv lost my entire online bankroll. Im gutted. The only highlight is that my live tournament form is pretty good. I don’t tend to bluff or try anything fancy until I get to the final table and hey presto it kinda works. Another day id have hit a Jack on the flop in the £20 rebuy, have a massive stack and win the whole thing. But never mind, shit happens, ill live. Im having a poker break until a week on Saturday. I need it. My mind is swamped by the whole thing. I re-run strategy after strategy with hand after hand through my brain and dammit that’s sad. Im gonna take this opportunity to smash up the gym, play loads of football ant eat like a king. I going to rest my weary brain cells of their tireless and thankless task of working overtime. Im going go-carting on the weekend which should be good. Last time I finished 3rd but never really got a chance to tangle with the big boys, which I WILL be doing this time. Im going at it hammer and tongs!

Good luck readers, ill be posting in 2 weeks, or sooner if I don’t get offered a renewed contract. Love yall, bb

Tip of the Day. Know the level at which your opponent is operating. Does he have ANY idea what he’s doing? Or is he a Bluefin Tuna like Lenny, aka a BIG FISH!

Wish me luck kids, im gonna win a bundle this weekend.

Im feeling shit hot and gonna sort out this game once and for all. I know MY game, MY style, and MY mentality. If i can beat myself then i know i can win something in one of the biggish buyins happening this weekend. No accidents, Bad Beats or horrible plays on my part should see me well on my way to a big score!!

I had someone question me the other day on the title of this blog. I explained its what it feels like when my aces get cracked DEEP into a tournament. I couldnt give a fuck about it at the start or even in the middle stages. Its the last 2 tables where getting all the money in preflop to get broken by a smaller pair etc REALLY hurts.
Im looking foreward to this weekend, i have lots of time for poker and im probably going to Luton for their £10 and £20 rebuy tournaments. Saw a few characters last time i was there so it would be quite nice to play with em again. And hope my ladies stand up to a bit more than 10,8soooottteeedddd.
Ill check the bank balance later today and see if my check has cleared yet. If it hasnt the £20 rebuy might be dependant on whether i win the buy-in in the £10 rebuy lol. Have i mentioned i live in a caravan and feed my kids pot noodle.......

Tip of the day- Dont take your foot off the throat. When finishing an SnG in heads up play wait for an opportunity to smash your opponents stack. Then, once he has been wounded put your foot on his throat and push down hard. This is your tournament and winning is a vital skill. If he starts to push all-in when short stacked and the blinds are high you can play against him a couple of times wothout risking his stack becoming dangerous. And King or ace should be played
of course but i also like the raggy crap like Q,10;Q,9;J,10 etc. Only because if he is any good he will be pushing with any king or ace. He's not that big a favourite and coupled with the fact that you will
a) lose your blind undefended.
b)If you let him recover he will be much harder to beat as his confidence will be high (as well as his stacks).

KILL THE GUY!!! Steal his blind EVERY round if he's passive, trap him if he's aggressive. ITS EASY!!!!

Fuck it. Last night i lost $180 pot with all the money in pre-flop with KK against AQ. Damn. The plus side is my cash game is bang on at the moment, ppl know i bluff ALOT and have started fighting back with inferior goods when i actually get a hand. My QQ raise to $20 preflop (.25/.50 shorthanded table) got re-raised by 77 last night....YUMMY :)
Im gonna win a ton this weekend and start increasing my bankroll to a more substantial figure. Im going to stop posting my account amounts due to the fact that some uncrcupulous fucker tried to access and remove $ from 1 of my accounts. Not that easy without my say so punk (in reality its only because i check my account daily that i noticed, im changing my passwords monthly from now on).
Im may go luton this saturday, i may not, ill see how i feel. I will only be playing the £20 re-buy if i win cash in the £10 re-buy earlier however. Im going to qualify for a couple of the bigger kiddies this weekend via satellite or TEC. I need a big tournie Cash injection in order to start playing semi-pro. £600 just doesnt cut it lol.

Good luck to all the lads that play poker and read this tripe, Matty brownlo, Rob "aces" apple, Seb Gray.

Tip of the day will be posted later when i get a chance. It will involve bet size...i can hear the excitement over the LAN....

all you fuckers that read this ( i know who you are) start commenting on the strategies or asking questions for christs sake. Its like im 14 and talking to myself all over again. If you do I promise to provide eye candy like Jess Alba.

Im supposed to be playing with this lass later but im afraid ill be watching the arse. She took it well enough.
Damn i hope we kick those greasy spaniards across the4 channel!

Howdie ladies. Im working late at the office (working?...) in preparation for the Arse tonight. We are gonna thump those dirty Spaniards. Hell they dont know what rain looks like do they. I pray we dont sit on the 1-0 win. If we give them something to worry about and more importantly score the 1st goal then we could thump these small-town arrogant twats. I was gonna check what odds id get on 7-1 but decided against it. Theres always a chance we could get the eighth in extra time. Heres something to liven your day up, damn Jessica Alba is Fine.


Im supposed to be playing this lass later heads up for £10 but im afraid the Arse comes first.

Can you tell i havent got the hang of importing photos yet....ha well. May you tilt every fish at ur table and dodge bullets.

Played some .25/.50 cash last night. I love it 6-handed. I call it rock bashing. I routinely get "how can you call a $4 raise pre-flop with that shit"...answer...."because ill break ur ass for $50 when i hit". Had a really nice run on 2 tables last night and it was rapidly developing into my biggest cash win ever. Id tilted up 2 ppl on the table and we were all sitting with about $50-100. I was showing huge bluffs, doing some moves, changing gears and playing my A game. Until this hand. I get AA on the button. EP (good,crazy player) makes a raise to $10. I re-raise to $30. Small blind and original raiser call. Flop comes 4,6,J. SB raises, EP calls, I go all-in for $55 more. They both go all-in. Small blind has J10, EP has 67diamonds, with 1 diamond. Pot is over over $220 and J,10 hits trip Jacks for the main pot ($160) and EP hits runner runner diamond for the flush. Fuckers!!! Never mind, the fact that i get these ppl to play those cards for a $30 raise is testament to my theory of tilting a table. Next time fishies....

Bankroll took a little dip last night (tilty) but i recovered a bit later on. Im gonna rape em after the Arsenal Game tonight. Alas...there has been no room for my political views on this site thanks to the massive numbers of readers and all the people commenting and asking good questions.... ... ..

So iv got ANOTHER blog on its way entitled "rootingforbirdflu.blogspot.com"

Tip of the morning. Try and pick up tells from your freinds when they bet. failing that cheat.

Lo ppl. An eventful weekend. Iv gone back to the grind of cash games in an effort to get back to a respectable level. Combined accounts stand at about $500. I very nearly went broke on one and stupidly decided to spunk my last $50 on a $50 SnG. But I came second so its all ok. Im just annoyed at myself for risking it. Im playing MTTs with Cash game winnings now, same for SnG’s. the $50 SnG’s seem a whole lot weaker than the $20’s where play is good.
Went to Luton on Saturday for their £20 re-buy tournie with my prodigy Rob. 1k starting chips and a slow clock make this a nice evening tournie. Got my stack up to about 4k before this hand. I find 99 and opt to limp UTG+2. Guy to my left raises pot and only I call. Flop comes KK6. He bets pot which is effectively all-in. Iv seen him gamble and I have him on AQ-A10. He went all-in so fast he CANNOT have a king. I call and he shows JJ. Bad play on my part, I should have folded to the raise preflop when he was gonna have position on me. Definitely –EV play I think, id like to hear opinions. Rebuy and add-on just before end of re-buys. Get Pocket queens 3rd hand after re-buy and ram and jam pre-flop. 2 Callers and im all in on a flop of 8,10,6. Im praying for one of them to raise as I know there are a LOT of draws out there. (Table was manic- 1 guy re-bought about 7 times). They clash heads and Turn is a 10 and river a Jack. I think I might be good but alas, some chap wins with 10,8 making a boat o the turn. Feel a little bit sick that iv just blown a days wages but hey NEVERMIND!!! I take the rough with the smooth.
Rob was at the same table with me and had a nice run of cards. He has a pretty aggressive style that worked. Especially when he rivered a 10 to make 2 pair QQ1010 v QK. From there though the boy showed no mercy, crunching out players on his way to the final table (only 34 runners…..a £2500 prize pool!). His final table play was a mixture of aggression and luck. He didn’t get called on a stone cold bluff with A high and a pot of 16k. He bet 1900 on the river and the guy FOLDED!!! We think the A was good anyway. Went to final 3 and on a flop of 9,10,3 with 2 diamonds rob went all in to get called by the nut flush draw. Rob hit King and dodged a Diamond to bust the guy and get heads up.
Im not gonna inflate the guys ego because:-
He said the stuff I write is bullshit- well im still not sure if he can actually read so ill take that with a pinch of salt.
Iv already told him that he played Aces heads up as close to perfect as you can.

He cracked the guy in 4 hands of heads up play and went on to win the whole caboosh for a tidy £1k profit. Nice work lad….he’ll be alright. Not gonna share my secrets with you but watching a guy for 2 hours can do wonders for your counter-strategy.
Played again last night and had great fun. Should of won but broke even. Had my Jacks twisted for a split pot after "the pro" went all in with 9,6 and the board made a straight. Had my J,10 v J,2 on a J high flop beaten by runner runner 2’s and had my top 2 pair on a flush board beaten by the nut flush on the draw. Had fun though and got outplayed on 1 hand..AMAZING. Young lad named Daniel raised preflop I called on the button with KQs and flop came A,10 4 with 1 club. He checked, I Checked. Turn came brick and he bet. I got a wrong tell and went with it and he flipped AQ. Believe me, in the games we play checking ur good ace on the flop ranks as sophisticated. Joker of the night was Mr Oliver Nicholls. A pot of about £10 and he is holding the NUT straight by the river. Young lad (Lenny) puts him al-in with the ignorant end of the straight and Oli folds. Q bursts of laughter from the table.
In fairness he was inebriated.
Tip of the day.
Don’t drink or do drugs before a serious tournament. Saw a couple of older guys at Luton who had had a few jars earlier and they just crumbled at the final table. My mate Dave is like this. Let him have 4 san miguels and he will give you 3-1 on a coin flip, especially if the barmaid has winked at him….
Another + . Looks like I might be staging a home tournament in the coming weeks. I know enough lowlifes now who think they actually have some skill to hold (I think) a 12 person (2 table) £30 buy-in tournie. Im going to wait for feedback but I think ppl will go for it.
Take care, and for christs sake be aggressive around the bubble. J,9 is a re-raising hand if you have chips ;)

Good day all. after a relatively useless 10-day period things are picking back up .. A LITTLE. Made a few $ last night playing .05/.10 NL. Was forced to play like a rock because these games are so loose anyway. I dont mind playing like a rock on multi-tables because:-

a) no-one at these stakes is good enough to bother working out if im multi-tabling (5 tables but i find 3 is optimal if stakes get ANY higher).

b) its AB poker. You have to do nothing. Just wait for a good hand, bet it and let someone pay you off. Im glad i have enough experience online (5 years on and off) at NL cash games that i think i have a life skill in being able to beat these baby games. Bankroll has increased a wee bit. Going to grind again tonight and saturday, i need to get enough. Im going to win a TEC if it kills me tonight as im playing in a big weekend multi on UB this weekend as my reward for being patient, disciplined and rocky. I love the fact i just said that. Its almost as if i look down on all the boring sods that sit there for hours on end like a boulder. Of course some twat always pays them off now and then but ....not me.

Im going to play some $10 SnGs on VC once im back up to $150 on saturday night. Ill play 3, evaluate and either carry on or go back to cash.

TIP of the day. Youve just won a big multi (its only happened to me 3 times in probably WAY more than 1000 attempts) and you want to blow some steam. Say youve won $700 and fance a gamble. Sit down and play $1/2 limit with $100. Thats quite good fun but you wont destroy yourself. If you run good you can treble up ur buy in if its drunk-rolling time.

Another tip. seen a well-monied table with a few tilty players? want to liven it up and get a bit more action? Buy in for the minimum a couple of times on a $1/$2 game. I saw this the other day. Bet really hard with good hands. Position means shit and the good players get frustrated and dont try and play you without monsters. WHY? they are getting 0 implied odds coz uv only got $20 with you and they are not gonna get paid substantially if they hit their baby pair or suited connectors. I know i personally hate it when people buy-in for the minimum amount. Also, been chatting to a very nice chap who's had a few big wins now and has got it together. His blog has been linked.

bollocking fuckbags. Bankrolls gone tits up on both accounts. Played a lot opn Tuesday night at Gutshot. Tournament started badly with JJ beaten by QJ, then JJ beaten by K,9s during the re-buy period. THEN after re-buy i get a split pot with my QQ v KQs (AGAIN) and then get semi-short stacked. 2 Limper in early position (its beginners night) i find A9 and push. I get called by KJ and my hand stands. New guy (lots of chips) sits down to my right and say's i was rooting for your A9 as KJ is such a shit hand. Next hand, UTG (new guy) limps. I find AKs in EP. My stack is 3.5k and blinds are at 100/200. I raise to 600 and get 2 callers (1 guy called all-in for his last 400). UTG (huge stack says all-in). Im looking for tells. He looks fearless and did slam his chips down. I think he's acting strong. I then see his hand shaking as he shields his cards. WARNING!! WARNING!! I now know he has aces. I tell him it stinks of aces. BUT, my left shoulder starts whispering in my ear and i say to myself "its beginners night, he looked nervous" ignoring the tell he has no control of (shaking) and going with my read of him as being very strong and giving off a reverse tell of being weak. I call he flips snake eyes, im out. 1st time iv been outplayed and lost to a legitimate hand by a good player. I tell him i want him to win it now and i think he final tabled. Well done sir.
I then played till about 4am on Tinternet at the gutshot with Dave. We played a few SnG's and got ridiculously unlucky in 2. Then we played good poker and won some before losing some. Logged a small win. Played again on wednesday and lost LOTS. Bankroll in each account has been decimated and both now stand at about $100. Time to grind. Im playing cash for a while now until im back up to $200 on each. My contract expires 1st april and im asking for a big pay-rise. If i dont get it never mind i can get plenty of work. Iv set myself the huge task of building my bankroll to $2k on VC and $1k on UB by this date. If i can do that im gonna give the online thing a go for a month, see how i fare and decide on whether its worthwhile. By then the weather should be pretty nice so ill be looking to work outside, possibly a bit of roofing (manual labour and sunshine is a nice idea). Will also be looking at 3 or 4 night shifts for Science research groups. Money is good but the thought of spending lots of time indoors for another 3 months isnt my idea of living life to the full. Come august im going to Madagascar hopefully for a 6 week expedition on coral reef conservation. Then im going to do a bit of Indonesia (hopefully the missus will come along for the ride). This year is really a year for me to decide what im going to do for the next 3 or 4. Working in an office is not happening. I fully appreciate the need for £ but im not selling my soul and wasting my youth inside pushing paper, id rather risk it all on some insane business idea. Iv got a couple in the pipeline just need to meet the right ppl (indonesia). If (when) i lose it all, fuck it ill max out a few credit cards, stick the money where no one can find it, sell all my wordly possessions and declare myself bankrupt. Unethical? So are the cunts that think up mass mailing people that turn 18 with Gold and Platinum credit cards on 16%apr.

bollocking fuckbags. Bankrolls gone tits up on both accounts. Played a lot opn Tuesday night at Gutshot. Tournament started badly with JJ beaten by QJ, then JJ beaten by K,9s during the re-buy period. THEN after re-buy i get a split pot with my QQ v KQs (AGAIN) and then get semi-short stacked. 2 Limper in early position (its beginners night) i find A9 and push. I get called by KJ and my hand stands. New guy (lots of chips) sits down to my right and say's i was rooting for your A9 as KJ is such a shit hand. Next hand, UTG (new guy) limps. I find AKs in EP. My stack is 3.5k and blinds are at 100/200. I raise to 600 and get 2 callers (1 guy called all-in for his last 400). UTG (huge stack says all-in). Im looking for tells. He looks fearless and did slam his chips down. I think he's acting strong. I then see his hand shaking as he shields his cards. WARNING!! WARNING!! I now know he has aces. I tell him it stinks of aces. BUT, my left shoulder starts whispering in my ear and i say to myself "its beginners night, he looked nervous" ignoring the tell he has no control of (shaking) and going with my read of him as being very strong and giving off a reverse tell of being weak. I call he flips snake eyes, im out. 1st time iv been outplayed and lost to a legitimate hand by a good player. I tell him i want him to win it now and i think he final tabled. Well done sir.
I then played till about 4am on Tinternet at the gutshot with Dave. We played a few SnG's and got ridiculously unlucky in 2. Then we played good poker and won some before losing some. Logged a small win. Played again on wednesday and lost LOTS. Bankroll in each account has been decimated and both now stand at about $100. Time to grind. Im playing cash for a while now until im back up to $200 on each. My contract expires 1st april and im asking for a big pay-rise. If i dont get it never mind i can get plenty of work. Iv set myself the huge task of building my bankroll to $2k on VC and $1k on UB by this date. If i can do that im gonna give the online thing a go for a month, see how i fare and decide on whether its worthwhile. By then the weather should be pretty nice so ill be looking to work outside, possibly a bit of roofing (manual labour and sunshine is a nice idea). Will also be looking at 3 or 4 night shifts for Science research groups. Money is good but the thought of spending lots of time indoors for another 3 months isnt my idea of living life to the full. Come august im going to Madagascar hopefully for a 6 week expedition on coral reef conservation. Then im going to do a bit of Indonesia (hopefully the missus will come along for the ride). This year is really a year for me to decide what im going to do for the next 3 or 4. Working in an office is not happening. I fully appreciate the need for £ but im not selling my soul and wasting my youth inside pushing paper, id rather risk it all on some insane business idea. Iv got a couple in the pipeline just need to meet the right ppl (indonesia). If (when) i lose it all, fuck it ill max out a few credit cards, stick the money where no one can find it, sell all my wordly possessions and declare myself bankrupt. Unethical? So are the cunts that think up mass mailing people that turn 18 with Gold and Platinum credit cards on 16%apr.