Strange kind of evening, i could do no wrong till some idiot managed to get me to focus all my attention on our "converstation" in the chat box after i busted him. I was CL in the 20k for a bit, with 130k with 50 left. Podium, podium i hear you cry. Well, no. I screwed up a big stack through piss poor stack management and a bad laydown against and Uber-aggressive player. Made the second bubble, but unless its podium, who really gives a fuck. Played some 1/2NL and made a nice sum. Then lost a $600 pot when i flopped the nut str8 against 2 players, both with set's and the board paired.

Played a $200 satellite for the Holland EPT and couldnt really get started. Finally gifted a double up (some twat re-raises me all-in after im pot-commited with A10 v AK) and get up to 5k, which is really workable. I then execute another masterful display of fancy play syndrome and re-re-raise who i thought was a blind thief and a habitual calling station with A9 soooooted. QQ has a think aned then calls, and so does AA. Hows this for form, a lucky hit of 2 pair keeps me in the side pot (oh yeah, did i mention i went all-in!) and i get some chips, like 2k. Next hand, with my image just about to fall off a tree (ie ripe) i get AKs. An all-in bets gets insta-called by QJ for 1/2 his stakc. Q on river, gg alex, holland will have to wait.

In the 15k i got chips again before some eeeyaaawww calls an all-in re-raise with A9 v my ladies and gets duly whacked by a flop of AAA. At least i was spared the agony of a river suckout.

In the $25 $3500gtd i was doing fine, too fine. Got a heck of a lot of chips, bubble approaches and i make a tactical re-raise against a tight known player with the nut flush draw and 2 overs. He has a set and aint going no-where, but i have no problems with how i played the hand. He would lay down a lot of hands to me at that stage. After that im tired and do and Ivey, all-in every hand. Actually have some fine form, cracking JJ with 45o and another big hand with some junk. Then get JJ on the button and run into AA in the BB. Not bothered, need a lot of chips to podium these events, solid poker just doesnt get the "jerry mcguire esque..COIN" very often with 8 minute blind intervals and reasonable competition. You have to bully them into submission and let them realise you are gonna hurt them if they mess.

Going out with the lady tommorrow. Playing All of Sunday and i might even....cant believe im saying it...re-open an account on Party. Just think i should be getting my money onto the softest tables around and with the pending US shutdown of online poker, i reckon the gamblers will be out in force.
Going out in London on Sunday eve. Playing @ Gutshot with dave in the 50k gtd and then gonna go to a cool club.....if i can find one open @ 3am.

Tip of the Day. With a rolled up full house flopped (77 on a board of 733 seb ;) ) you should bet on the turn IF a draw becomes available in a multiway pot. IE board is 7s3c3h 4s. This way you get the drawing folks to pay for a card and also build the pot. If the river comes another flush/str8ing card that you think your opponent had hit, ALWAYS bet pot-sized (or more if he's shite) into him on the river (assuming you can). For some reason when ppl are drawing to a hand and then hit it on the river, esp if the pot is large, they go fukit all-in). Worked twice this evening, both pots $250+.

I would advise infact that you lead out with all your sets/nut str8's etc on the flop if there has been no preflop raise. Its when they play back at you with an overpair- THATS when you make your money and earn your crust. Not the little 2/3 pot continuation bets with AK on a flop of Q47r. IMO maximising the winnings you make from your bigbig hands is the art to cash games. Bluffing (on the internet) should be forgotten entirely unless the turn and river really make a dangerous board and your opponent shows weakness. Inducing the bluff is another matter and is highly profitable at .50/1 and 1/2 NL.
Also, the power of simply calling is underrated. Just be certain you flat call with a good but non-nut hand on the river. Time and again i see ppl check/raising on the river with hands that are strong, but non-nut. The only hand that calls you losing will be in nevernever land if your opponent has an inkling. Induce the bluff, then CALL.

GL all and i should warn you im about to do a Gatsby and pimp my blog out to a whole ton of sites. Im working on the SnG pdf file, gonna get an old uni mate to help me, i aint that technical.

Really enjoying writing this, that Snoopy from Blondpoker has a wicked job!!

GL all, and Congrats to Vicky Coren...but really, how did they let a woman win?

The 1/2 games a re bit loco on Tribeca tbh. the swings have been hard to stomach this evening but im going good now.
Played the $200 buy-in Tribeca tournie and came a credible 6th. With 0 cards.
Was going well in the 15k $27 rebuy also until this poxy hand. My KK all-in v 66 and 88. An 8 on the river sealed my fate :(
Woulda had 40k in chips if my hand holds true and prolly Final tabled and maybe podium.

The cash games at this level seem to have a lot more gambler types. My bets are getting nearer pot than 2/3 pot as i need to protect my hands against these chasing fuckers. An ultra-tight strategy seeing me nut-peddling on 4 tables is doing nice. As i say this i flop the nut str8 and ome guy check raises me for $250 with top 2 pair and fills up on the river. Arghhhh

Also had the displeasure of losing a $500 pot to a twat on a flush draw. And it seems a gutshot is a strong hand too FFS.

will try to keep sane, pot odds mean diddly squat to this lot

After the weekend i have decided to get a brand new desktop and high speed internet connection. Also gonna buy a bike and try and do my bit for the environment- these women driving big Range rovers as sole passengers should be shot imo, might as well say " I dont give a fuck about the future of our planet, or the state i leave it in when im gone". As sick as set over set.
Played some $1/$2 NL tonight and had a rough ride. Basically i got rivered in a $350 pot and was fuming. Then i lost with AK to a shorties AA. Then (same player) KK to AA all-in preflop. Was down about $300 at this stage when i get KK again. It all goes in on a table whe i have $250 infront of me(tilting a bit, ill fold KK if the other guy has a lot of chips a lot of the time now) and the other guy has AA. I hit :)

Felt really nice delivering a beat for once. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHH

What a night. Just played really solid aggressive poker all of last night and changed gears when needed. Had an above average stack after the rebuy period and went into the chip leaders when there were about 400 left. From there we maintained a big stack by constant nicking and playing a helluva lot of small pots. Aces saw us catapulted into the top 10 with about 100 left after 2 all-ins. On the bubble we forced ourselves to steal 1/3 pots and every pot that was folded round to us in late position. We folded to the large re-raises all of the time, never really threatening our stack till we had burst the 27man bubble. At the next bubble we upped the gear again and got a truly large stack, 2nd in chips. From there we went up and down a big and had the pleasure of sitting on a table full of total and utter thieving bastards. The steal re-raise form the blinds effectively sealed us the podium when we reached the final table. A habitual stealer (pgslegs) went for our BB and we thought he would fold to a re-raise. We had 400k, he had 600k. He bet 120k (blinds 20k/40k) and we had a long hard look at the merits or 56o. Decided he would fold and he duly did. Very next time he tries to nick our BB from the button again and we have KJs. A large re-raise folds him up. From 7 players left the game got a bit tricks, but getting doubled up with AK v the Chip Leaders CL AQ helped. From there we decided to cruise as the table was playing too aggressively given the blind levels. Got down to 3.pgs tried another steal and we found AK. A large re-raise was called and it all went in AK v QJ. He later typed that he had a brain fart and imo thats a digusting call to make for most of ur chips on the FT. I reckon 85% of the time ur dominated.
A little after that we got HU. Plackers played really well and given i have played MASSIVE amounts of poker HU this guy was in the top 5% of ppl i have had the displeasure of playing. He had a 2:1 chip lead and on a flop of 2h4h9d with us holding 3h6h we re-raised him all-in. He was slowplaying AA and none of our 13 outs hit. Against other players waiting for a better opportunity would be viable but we felt he was playing superb and its hard to fold given the odds we were getting.

Ah well, cant complain. Proper bankroll sorted at last :)

"Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it"

gl all.

Very late, very tired.
Me and artist just came back from Gutshot Farringdon. Played the 100k $54 rebuy with 850 runners. Came 2nd for $17k. Knew it was coming :)

gn all, full report in the next day or 2. Team re-raise OWNZ!!!!!

Took a hit, a big hit last night.

Somehow convinced myself after winning a speed tournament and having a good cash session that i was ready for $1/$2 NL. I was, the standard was poor. Problem was i hit a downswing where they kept catching up and i kept getting rivered. 1 maniac in particular hit middle a middle pin gutshot on the river for $90 and i dont know why but that tilted me massively. Next hand i have Q10s. He raises from EP (he has been raising every hand 5/6* BB) and i call to see a flop of Qh10h6s. Stacks are fairly deep (300) and he overbets the pot, like 3* the pot. I now think he has a legit hand like a AQ,KK,AA. I saw him check raise with a set a little while earlier so i dont put him on it. I maniacally decide to go all-in and he has a set of sixes. Fuckit. I then went and tilted away another $400 on the cash before stemming the flow with a pizza and a beer. rgghhh.

Ben playing today and made little headway but did have the pleasure of watching rob carve open a small MTT field only for some idioot to call for all his chips with 1010 after a brilliantly masterminded re-raise from Rob with AQ. Ah well, play for 1st as ever.

Tonight is the night. The 20k and 100k tournies have weak fields, big prize money and bubble money big enough to make daylight robbery legal. Im playing to win and goddamnit im gonna do it soon.

Big big weekend of poker starts today. Didnt play last night as i thought id rest up. Gonna go for a long country walk this morning then hit the gym before a hearty lunch. Then im on it. Gonna be playing every major on Tribeca this weekend and a couple of the UB tournies if i can qualify via satellite (the prize moneys are huge but the competition is very very good).

Wont be playing any live poker, but might play the Sunday majors at gutshot.

Arghhhh!!!!

Just played the 20k and 5k tournies. Made some nice moves in both and got chips the naughty way by incessant re-raising late on. Get 2 big stacks, add confidence...and proceed to donk off.
In the 20k i have 50k in chips, average 35k with 47 left out of 420 odd. A solid, tight player raises in EP to 12k. He has me slightly covered. Now i dont know why but i figure my AKs is beating a lot of his hands and go all-in, like "call that if you wanna go out". He thinks for eternity before calling with QQ. No help and im out. Because fo my nice stack i think i should either flat call and fold on a flop i dont hit, or fold. Folding is nice because then i can just keep stealing small pots whilst waiting for a big hand. fuckit.

Then the 5k. I get AA late around the bubble and my image is immense. I recently re-stole the last 2 pots (with 88 and KQs respectively) just because i knew the players would fold. I then get AA, re-raise a raiser and say i have aces dont call. He calls wiht K10 and i get to 100k. Thats chips leader. I go into thief mode and get to 120k with 24 left. Then i get AQ in EP. I raise to 3*BB. He flat calls. Flop comes AK7. I bet 2/3 pot, he goes all-in. I have to call at this stage as the pot is laying me like 7-1 and i will have a monster stack if i win. He has KKK. I lost focus for like 2 minutes and didnt play the player and the stack size. Really frustrating, did all the hard work then donked it off late on.

dont know how how ill cope, oh yeah, there is tomorrow. ;)

gl all

Tring something new this Sunday. Inviting the Artist over to help me with the major Sunday tourneis, specifically the 100k gtd tournie and the satellite to pokerface. Im hoping that 2 heads will be better than 1, also, our combined poker is much more aggressive as dave is Ungar-like and oi err on the tighter side.

Should be fun. Iv already qualified for both which is nice. A major result is coming this weekend- i can feel it.

Check out this old Boy. Caption competition. Ill start it. "Biofuel reaches retirement homes across America".

Indifferent form over the weekend. WSO Uckfield never really took off due to copious consumption. Indifferent form on Sunday evening, never really got going in and of the majors and dropped a significant sum in the process. I got re-raised every time i tried to nick late on and ended up making a stand with AQ only for villain to have AK.

Last night was equally dire, cash games was the worst session ever and quickly dropped $250 in about 1 hour. 1-outered in a $300 pot doesnt help and neither does AA v QQ losing all-in preflop.
Thats poker. Bankroll can sustain off days like that.

Tournaments were also dire and despite making last 40 in the 20k and last 30 in the 15k my gear change from solid to uber-aggressive faltered due to large re-raises and a superb bluff by a player i admire- MTurk.
Havent played on UB in a bit, might play there on the weekend for he dead money that our fishie freinds from across the pond always provide.

Tip of the day. Dont call for all ur chips with AQ. Or A6 for that matter artist ;) (who had another result at Luton).

Hurrah! MTT form has finally come back to me. I entered 5, final tabled 3, won 1 and came 2nd and 7th respecitively in the others. All told, good for a little over $1600. :)

I shoulda won the 2nd one too, I got him all-in twice where i had a bigger ace and he hit. The final hand he has 2/3 of the chips and i raise 7*BB with A10s. He calls with K8 and hits on the river. I found it hard to remain sad though.

Cash games didnt go so well for some reason, i have to be in a very patient mind to play em. Also, iv read all about changing gears, but when multi-tabling Cash games, my advice to you is simply nut-peddle. Its easy on the brain and saves decision making for more important things, like Tournies!!!


Bankroll is going in the right direction.

I just read an article by snoopy on http://blondepoker.com and it was superb.
Really good article regarding healthy attitude to poker and balancing work/poker/life. What i found really stuck out was his critical evaluation of playing live games. Really, there isnt much point unless the value there is higher than your EV playing online. I wont be playing any more live poker unless the buyin is £100 or higher. It simply isnt worth my while to drive all that way, win a smallish amount once in a while and then get home at 4am.....THEN have to go to work the next day. Add the risk of accident (driving late), smoky environment that encourages smoking and drinking and all round idiotic gambling nature of Casinos and i think ill be playing from home more.

Lost a little last night and got beaten by Dave in a HU £50 freezeout. I was insanely annoyed. He got me all in drawing to 2 outs.
Well played.

Why didnt i play like this years ago?

Cash games are proving immensely profitable, but i keep spunking money on biggish buy-in tournies where i cannot keep focus partly due to family disturbances in the heat of battle. I have decided to invest in a new PC (i live with parents still :( ) and have it in my room with a high-speed internet connection. Any computer buffs that know their shit please point me in the direction of the best deals available please.

Unless my contract is extended i will be having a winter of poker. I have a biggish bankroll now and can afford to take a chance and see if i can make it. Living expenses can be catered for by a few days work each week (2 of 3 max ;) ) and i should hopefuly be able to finally start killing online poker. Its taken 6 years of online plus a further 3 years of live (and over 30 poker books and countless hours of internet cruising) to make mid- stakes poker properly beatable on a daily basis for me. Im there..AT LAST.

gl all

1st full time player log will be on 27th November unless the stupid Environment Agency realises i am gold dust (secre3tly, im hoping they let me go ;)

Recharged and ready. Prague was awesome, had one of the best nights of my life on Saturday. An awesome meal, overlooking the Charles' Bridge with my cracking lass. Then halfway through the superb Beef Mignon we witnessed a private fireworks display (lol @ private). Cracking.
Read 2 new poker books, one an online guide for beginners * and the other Aces and Kings, a player by player breakdown. Neither was brilliant- save the trees. Re-read Miko Caro's book of tells in preparation for next weekend where im going down to Uckfield to stay at a mates house and play a ton of poker/drink beer.

Came home yesterday and predictably didnt have an MTT result online. Really shocking. Played, wait for it.....the $12 rebuy 5k gtd, $27 rebuy 15k gtd, $18 rebuy 20k gtd, £36 rebuy, 60k gtd.

60k i played 3 hands voluntarily, lol. I get 33 in the rebuy period, and get trebled up on a 3J10 board agaisnt AJ and J10 which both fail to improve. I then see nothing till AKs on the button, 1 late position raise already of 4*BB, i try a power play, he has the nice decision of ...should i call with aces.
Down to 5k. I get 1010 and fold to a re-raise- woulda been up against AQ and AK but woulda lost. Then i get KK and decide to get 1/2 in now and the other on any flop. Punk calls me. I tilt and go all-in on an Ace high flop- what am i thinking? Q tilt.

20k gtd was a fiasco, hit middle set which got fucked by a str8, hit 2nd nut flush in the BB only for the SB to have the nut flush IN AN UNRAISED POT PREFLOP. fuckit. 27k i thought someone was making a move, they werent. 5k, some donk sucked out.

Cash games covered my loss, ces't la vie.

Might play the £30 freezeout tonight at Luton, i really want to work on my game psychology and tells (both giving and recieving). Its much more profitable for me to play online, but its fun and im playing a few qualifiers (well, 1 hopefully ;) ) there and i need to know the players like family.

gl all as ever

tip of the day, always leads out on the flop if you have a set on an Ace high board (esp draw heavy) and there was a lot of preflop activity. The big aces will usually raise you, you can then re-raise and they will (hopefuly) be pot-commited. Thats juicy that, you heard it here 1st.


* - Im thinking of writing a beginners guide and linking it as a pdf. It will be aimed at beginner cash game players, depending on how it goes (ie how much you lot slate me) i might write all i know about SnG's too. Even the "good" stuff, fuckit- im different gravy baby.

Massive congratulations to the artist who recorded his 1st live MTT win at Luton on Saturday in the £10 rebuy comp. Not bad for what i reckon is only his 8th tournament there. He was telling me he had just finished Ungars autobiography (a must-read for all gamblers with a "leak") and mimicked his style throughout. Re-raising with trash, making people lay down hands with bluffs, contant aggression- the guy has all the hallmarks of a chip-getter. Heres hoping he sits to my right in the next major tournie we play together in ;)

I played the £30 freezeout at Luton on Monday and had no cards whatsoever throughout the tounament. Finally got KK at bubble time and it was folded to me in the Big blind. :(
Went crazy with all-in moves against a noted good/tight player who was in my big blind - Andy. He folded all the time correctly and i made it to the final table 4th shortest in chips. As it was getting late and i only wanted a 1st or 2nd place i decided to get busy. Unfortunately the 1st time i go all-in (UTG+1) with KQ and an M of 6 i got looked up by an asian chappy who had JJ. No improvement for me, bye.

Im still unsure that it was a good move. Maybe u should wait for a better situation given the stack sizes/ my table image (loose). I thought they looked like AA at the time though- thats how bad the drought was.

Im playing OK online despite dropping $400 in the past week. Its getting quite cyclical, win about $300 during the week in cash games sporadically, then lose that in the Sunday Multi's when im playing either tired or in a loose/weak style near the money that is costing me money.
Im having fun around the bubble now though. I delived a truly shocking beat to JJ the other night in a $20 freezeout multi with 43 soooooted on the bubble. As chips leader, i dont mind re-re-raising a medium stack at this point in the game. I think he made an error not passing his hand, logically he was racing for all his chips at best. ;)

Anyways im off to Prague this weekend with the missus for some r+r. Should be good fun. Im gonna try a few qualifiers to the Grand Prix festival coming up. Surely there will be dead money all over the shop, especially if a lot of the William Hill crapshoot artists qualify.

gl all. Ill check in next week. Im off to rob yanks of their hard earned cash. PS The standard on UB cash games post-WSOP has dropped massively.

Its 12.30 on Friday night and i'v just finished my session. Did OK in the cash games, flopping quads and getting paid in full by an overplayed AA helped what would otherwise have been a poor session. In the 20k gtd i made the last 70/400 players when i got into trouble :(
Holding 9Qspades in the SB i call a min raise preflop from the BB. Now any time someone min raises me in these events i automatically think AA. I dont mind calling still as they often overplay them for a lot of chips IF you can outflop them. The guy had me well covered so my implied odds were huge. On a flop of QQA i opt to check/raise (normally i lead out here, especially in a cash game or SnG, but he was an aggressive fucker and i wanted to give him enough rope to hang himself). Unfortunately he checks also. Alarm Bells are ringing. Turn comes a 9. Now i decide to bet, hoping he has a big ace like AK or AJ/A10. He raises me all-in. Now this is interesting. I have a mediumish stack and he is big. I can afford to fold here, steal my way to the money and then have a go at the final table with extreme aggression. What hands re-raise here. My thinking goes, he cant have AA/AQ as his hand would be a virtual lock and most of these players like waiting till the river to bet their nut hands (wrongly). He could have AK, but then the re-raise is unlikely given the board. I finally decide that he has the other Queen, probably with a King or (less likely) a Jack. I call for all my chips (sob sob) and he has AA for the flopped house. Argghhhhhh. Well played young man, although i doubt he even considered my hand in his thought process.

I made a spectacular play (in my modest opinion) however in the middle stages of the tournie. Holding 33 on the button the flop comes KK3 in a multiway pot. 2 limpers plus me see the flop. All check to me, i overbet massively hoping someone is slow-playing trips and they cant find a fold and hurrah, i catch not one, but 2 people with kings. Sadly one of them caught his other card and made a bigger house, but alas, my play was awesome and im going to recommend it to my good chums Daniel Negreanu and Gus Hansen (between me and you, they aint all that, Dan tends to overplay hands and Gus, well, his starting hand selection isnt great- might see them at the Luton £5 tournie on Sunday, Ill mention it then).

In the 5k gauranteed i played well and reached the FT with chips. That was well, until some donkey with an M of roughly 11 decided to re-re-raise me afer i made it totally obvious i was pot-commited with AKs preflop and the donkeys 109s hit a flush on the river after a promising AK7flop. Dont worry, i sent the Fisheries Bureau of Investigation to arrest him. Donkey play like that will not be tolerated by the Chief constable of the bad beat police ( hereby referred to as CCOTBBP). What a twat. If the gods smile at that point in time i have 350,000 chips which is nearly as much as the rest of the table combined. The guy should be giving kids rides up and down the seaside, the infertile eeeeeyyyyaaaaawwwwwwing twat. Whats more annoying is he donked off the chips later with an ill-concieved moment of Darwinian Brilliance involving re-raising the Chips leaded, then folding to an all-in bet.

After that i am ashamed to say i played meekly but there was little i could do and i came a pathetic 9th. Sigh.

Anyhow, its getting late and if it aint pissing down tomorrow i will be blasting pidgeons out of the sky all day long with a couple of herberts i congenially refer to as "mates".

gl all. Im gonna be rich 1 day, i tell ya.

Gave the artist a hu spanking last night. We played 3 £25 HU matches and i won 2 before a cruel outdraw (as ever) in the third match lost me the chance to tease the fella all the way to football practice. I even won a side bet as we were playing. How many world cup finals have England played in? Answer in the comments tomorrow. If you think you know (no "googling" allowed) stick ur answer in the comments.

A biggish weekend for me. Was going to go out on the lash tonight but instead im gonna play either online or the Vic cash. Tomorrow im shooting/pokering/ out celebrating a mates birthday in that order. On Sunday the missus wants to do some shooting so ill oblige (what a girl) and on Sunday evening ill be trying to play al the "majors" i can afford.

Cash is good at the moment, infact, i havent had a losing session in 10 days......im on a run and it would be nice to polish is off by winning the 100k.

gl all