Horrible. Thats how it feels when you continue doing everything right and every little thing goes against you. I made about £200 in my 1st week. Sunday tournies i went deep in all. UB 200 started well, knocking out "rizen" which felt fantastic elastic. Then a minor argument with the GF convinces me a solid/tight player is making a moves on me when down to 200 players and i CALL FOR ALL MY CHIPS WITH AQ. Disgusting. 100k i go deep into, then walk into a set in a situation i cannot get out of. 20k I reraise a donkey and A9 does the spike ace jobby on the river v QQ. But i was HAPPY WITH MY PLAY.

Last night however was a debacle. 13 players left in a live satellite and i have 25k in play when ave is about 15k. 7 people get tickets, and one gets a bit of cash. I play this hand, tell me where i go wrong. Iv recently (last 2 orbits) been nicking the blinds when the SB limps on my BB. SB has about 2/3 of my stack. This time he limps and i "know" something's up. I have 93s and check. Flop comes 9A5. He checks and i do likewise. Turn displays a Q which also gives me a flush draw. He bets small, i call. River is a 3. He bets small again, i go all-in????!?!?!?!?!?!!?
FFS i must learn to flat call here, its sick that i dont. He has trip aces and im down to the felt. I then grind back up and get to the Final table with 8k. Blinds 1/2k. 1st hand i get QJs UTG+3 an have to shove. The Big stacked BB DOESNT CALL ME :)
then Get A9UTG +1 and elect to go all-in. why why why? I get called by AQ and thats that. Marvellous. Tonight has been more of the same, in the 15k 40 players left i get AJ and elect to raise. Caller, strong tight player, im in the process of shutting down when the flop comes JJK. Yummy. He checks, i bet big, he calls, turn comes a 10. He checks, i bet all-in he calls with AQ. Marvellous. WP young man.

Same old shit, different day. Glad im going away soon, need a break from poker, its consumed me entirely. My brain just never fking shuts down form inventing scenarios. eg-"How would you play 88 in the SB versus a loose aggy maniac with a bigger stack when he raises your BB from the SB and you are short stacked". Its not nice when you cant think about a whole lot else.

Ah well, on the plus side im looking forward to a couple of £200 freezeouts next week. At least i can see who's rivering me there.

Invested a lot of time and energy last night with no reward. Sometimes happens like that. Dropped £100 overall. Im optimistic about the majors tonight, hopefully i can squeeze a result out. Determined to go deep in the UB 200k. Its a tournament that really suits my patient style and i should do better.

Twat.

Bit annoying this, i had a big cash afternoon lined up but the electrician came round and apparently he used to have a big gambling problem so i'm going to have to keep a lid on the poker as i think playing under his nose might rekindle old memories. So i thought id blog instead. Arsenal playing @ 5.15 and this is exactly the kind of fixture we used to get turned over in, away in the North to a bunch of bungling hard lardasses who slip the ref a brown paper bag.
Footy tomorrow and my body is still racked from the gym 2 days ago so it should be fun watching my hearty mate Paul try and kick me from pillar to post :)

Tonight im going to put my money into the game where i (think i have) have my biggest edge, Luton. Ill play the PL comp just to get some more PL practice in, in preparation for the Christmas Cracker where a couple of PL events might have to be played. But im really looking forward to the cash, my reads were excellent last time, and i picked off a monster bluff on a horrible board which really gave me a confidence lift. When you go with your gut time and again, you get better :)

I have a hectic Schedule for December. Just look at this- its like a baby scaled down version of a pro's.

Dec 1st Ultimate Bet Online Championship $200 FO 125k GTD.
Dec 3rd Ultimate Bet Online Championship $200 FO 250k GTD.
Dec 4th- Luton Christmas Cracker £200 NLHE FO.
Dec 5th Luton Christmas Cracker £200 PLHE FO or VC 50k Grand Slam Depending on how im running.
Dec 6th - Amsterdam with the missus.
7th- Latte
6th- Expresso
8th- Sober up.
Dec 9th Luton Christmas Cracker £750 NLHE ME.
Dec 10th Lutojn Xmas Cracker £100 PLHE FO or VC 60k Grand Slam.
Dec 11th through 15th Massive Cash sessions online to take advantage of the weaker players who will flock to the online sites whilst tucked up at home.

Dec 16th. EFOP Championship events @ Aviation Club, Paris. 1000 Euro Gold Chamiopnship NLHE FO.

Dec 17th 500 Euro NLHE FO Silver Championship or VC Grand Slam 75k (If you achieve 2 final tables sponsorship deal is on offer, so it might be worth a squirt given the amount of dead money in any holiday event). I predict this will hit 110k in prize money.

Dec 18th 250 Euro NLHE FO Bronze Event.
Dec19th through 22nd Game shooting in Hertfordshire. Im going to meet up with a couple of freinds, shoot enough for my mates mum to make us a game pie (absolutely the bollocks for winter eating), then retire to the pub to watch the footy/rugby while drinking real ales. :)
Dec 24th VC Grand Slam Final 100k gtd. (This will hit 200k easy i reckon).

So a hectic December that will cost me in the region of 5 grand. Luckily im flush at the moment but assuming i can keep my online form going with a couple of decent live results i should be having the best December iv ever had. No often you can do this in life so i reckon i might as well whilst im young and have few responsibilities.

Bah, frustrating evening. 9 tournies, 0 cashes. Ah well, same old. Just to cap it off in the Aussie millions Sat, 35 players left get AA in the BB when Short stacked. Every single round the scandies have been at it, yet this round im left well alone. I get a walk, great. In the 15k i run AK into AA. Thats poker.
Looking forward to a day @ luton/Gutshot tomorrow before a hectic sunday. Finally got Poker Tracker as i just found out its compatible with VC cash games, which im going to dip into.

Hmmmm....made a few mistakes tonigth, and got unlucky a few times. Re-raised a serial blind thief and unfortunately he had the goods in the 20k, 80 players left. In the 5k i was on the bubble with AK when the button, then the SB went all-in. Hmmmmmm. I had AK and figured that SB knows Button is short and desperate, so AK is prolly winning. Also, if i win i have 45k with average 18k, so a good shot @ poduim. I call and get beat by A10 and A4. Never mind. A good mate of mine suggested i should be playing more @ Luton cash games. So with that in mind ill be playing there tomorrow and also next week a few times. So im still in the 15k and 3.5k gtd, so we shall see how it goes before whining too bad.
On a seperate note, get onto suffolkpunchpokers site and check out the Tony G grilling. Im sorry but what a grade A cock. Someone @ Luton last night informed me of how rude he was to Surinder Sunar at a big event- i would love someone to deck him in full flow.

gl all.

Jesus, i keep getting educated at the tables tonight. Iv just been told AJ v QQ is a 50/50. Amazing what you can learn if you really concentrate....

Since Broadband still isn't up and running I played the Luton £20 Rebuy last night. Only 30 runners, i invested £20 and made the FT (but with a bowl of rice). I made a move with 82 in the BB after 4 limpers when the blinds were 600/1200 and i had 10k. I was called by 33 and a few of the older boys were very patronising. Fuck em. I'd still make the move again.
Anyways, came 9th in the end, ces't la vie.
Cash game was excellent. Cleared £850 profit, but had to stay up till 4.30am.
Big night online tonight, little sat to Aussie Millions, 20k, 40k, 15k, 10k, and both 5k tournies.

Hopefuly i can log a result, or even better, get a ticket for Aussieville.

Gl all.

On Tuesday night i went to Luton to play the rookie tournament and the cash game. Tournie was no good, but cash game was lovely. Left with £600 profit. It should have been £1200 but the artist rivered me, coudnt have happened to a nicer guy.

I told him if i won the hand id go and play the ME @ Walsall this weekend, but alas, it wasnt to be.
Broadband still isnt up and running, so it looks like ill have to have another venture to Luton this evening.

Tip of the day.

Just spent the day reading forum posts on 2+2 MTT threads. My god i love American poker players. To many players, cEV -where dead money in the pot from blinds/antes creates coinflip situations where the 1st to push is making the positive +$EV play is THE ONLY way they can play poker. This approach is very useful for repetitive games where edges can be ground out over the long term, like for example if you are a heavy multi-tabler of SnG's around the bubble.

BUT, this approach ignores the other fundamentals that make using FE to your advantage sometimes a disadvantage. Good players understand when another good player is short he will be shoving with any 2 UTG. Its common knowledge. Also, its common knowledge that uber-aggy scandies push any 2 from the SB in a SB/BB confrontation late on in MTT's. So quality players change their calling ranges appropriately. KQo, A9s+ and 77+ become hands that you should call with if a chappie does this a couple of times.

Other skills at the poker table, like stack management, psychology, table evaluation.....these are the skills that turn you from a player that can play a short-stack well and get to final tables, to a player that WINS. Great players such as Jonny Bax/Leggggy/Bodogari have hinted that for the vast majority of the time, their style of play is influenced by their chips stack. Short stack at bubble time with an M of at least 7, all-in every round if short handed and bubble payoff is big enough. Same if they have a monster stack. Largeish stack, but not a monster, selective aggression. Medioum stack where a raise preflop DOESNT commit you to the pot means aggy re-raises over blind thiefs calling despo shorties with 77+.
Dont just be a dumb yank and think that you can push all-in every time its your button on the bubble like i see time and time again.

So this is it, my last day of "proper" work. Am i nervous, yes. Very. Poker is a fickle beast and i know that there's a fair chance im going to find it very tough going. However, if i aim to practice good game selection, play games where i have my greatest edge for the biggest risk/reward ratio....ill "be alright".
The main format for me is going to be the $50 SnG's. My starting bankroll is $10k- all other funds (there wasnt a lot) have been cashed in. Ill try and play 10 $50 SnG's a day, before getting stuck into the majors. Ill be playing on Tribeca mainly, UB for the bigger buy-in tournies ($200 Freezeouts plus) and on Full Tilt in a little while. Ill only play MTT's of $100 or higher if i satellite in.
I wont be playing cash games unless i feel extremely focused or its peak time and im looking good. The swings can be enormous and while if i run bad in a SnG fest it might cost me $300. In a Cash game that figure could easily treble. Im going to play really safe for the 1st couple of months. I really want to have a great run early to set myself up.
Wages shouldnt be a concern of mine for a while. I have few outgoings and over 6 months living expenses catered for without hitting my savings.

Here's hoping i get off to a winning week.

Bah, i came 2nd. What did i say about monster draws not hitting for me. Holding 83d 2nd hand HU flop comes 245with the 45d. Blinds 20k/40k. I have 600k, he has 1mil. He acts 1st and puts me ai. Try putting him on a hand. He is a nutter, he plays really strangely all the fking time. I came up with A5 or 45 (no diamond) 52 or 42.
I think i should have folded, but me and str8/flush draws are hard to seperate. Still, musnt grumble, 3k suits me fine, although 6k would have been better.

Nice to get a result before Tuesday though, when the real work begins.

Its ok, i worked up a massive stack in the 15k. Up to 350k at one stage with 2 tables left. Then i went into overdrive, thinking if i could get to 500k i would be unstoppable. Wel, AQ into AK and KK into AA smashed my stack apart, but im still alive. We just hit the Final table and im gonna work my nuts off to win this thing. $5.8k to the winner, $2.8k to second.......can you guess how ill be playing?

ArGHhhhhh, SO FUCKING FRUSTRATING

OK, so in the 15k im 3rd in chips with 50k, Ave 22k. I join a new table and a player goes all-in 2 orbits in a row. So the third time i find KK, i shove and a big stack calls with.....AK.

A on flop and im crippled. Iv just fought back to 35k however, as they foced me to unleash "the Whacker".
Not happy when i have to make moves for chips rather than just get them legitimately. If donkeyface doesnt think AK is gold dust for all his chips im up to 70k and a major threat. If donkeyface doesnt hit his Ace, im up to 120k and you might as well write me the check.

Ah well, im up to 40k now, so drama over. Would be nice to start this week with a win however.

Sunday 19th November 75k Guaranteed $54 rebuy comp. And other after i get knocked out the other comps too :)

Hand by hand guide as im a tad bored.

1st hand I play. A6d in the SB. I complete. Flop comes 356 with 2 spades, I bet 2/3 pot, 1 loose player calls. I put him on a draw obv. Jc on the turn. No reason to slow down, 2/3 pot again. He calls. River 9c. I intend to check/call hoping he bets a missed flush draw. Also if I bet he only calls if he beats me. He checks too, stack up to 4.5k.

Will be playing ABC and trying to get a good angle on the table. I’m noting how many times ppl enter pots, from what position etc...

Get dealt Aqc in the BB. 4 limpers, blinds 50/100 so I elevate to 400 to play. 2 callers. Flop comes ugly, QJ9. I bet 2/3 pot, both players fold. Up to 5300.

As a side note same guy keeps getting exceedingly lucky in the 5k rebuy. AA v 79 on a 785 board, all-in he hits a 9. I win a big pot and get the same stack as him then I get QQ. I raise preflop, board comes J97. Awesome, hopefully some donk has AJ. I raise, donk puts me all-in I call, he has AJ but he seems to know a J is coming on the turn. L

Dropped to 4900 in the 75k.

Just donked away all my chips, table needed loosening up. I had a hand!! Well, 77 after a raise prolly all-in aint a good idea.
He had JJ and another mate boy had 99. 9 on flop.
Prolly happened as a result of tilt on other table. Never mind, iv spent $150 on an image, that will hopefully set me up to win a lot of chips in a minute. Erm, or not, as iv just been moved. Awesome.
Going to play ABC now till I get chips, my brain isn’t working well enough for “moves” poker.
Well ABC with a huge portion of luck is working. In the 75k i just went AI with Aq on a Axx board and matey had AK. Q on the river was nice though.
In the 5k iv managed to get lucky a few times and then found KK, which earnt me a double up.
In the $25 fo I’m working 5k.

In the 75k im up to 17k. Average is 12k and apparently im in 61st place.

Just got a handy double up in the 5k event. I pushed 44 form the button after 1 limper and that was that. Flop of 3 diamonds game matey a flush, but i knew id house up, which i did.

I lost a few chippies in the $25 FO, but im still alive. Problem is, the $36 FO and the $15k rebuy are about to start L

Hurrah im a lucky fish. I just split with A9 v Aq pre when we both made a house, then i beat AA with 33, 3 on river was wonderful.

Just lost out in the 75k, tried to get some chips, 2 limpers, i make a power play with AK and bet the pot. Flop comes low hearts, i have A hearts, i shove. He insta-calls with 99. Gg me.

In the 5k i make the last 2 tables, then lose a monster pot (for 10% of chips in play) with AQ v donkeys Q10, with me all-in preflop. Ah well.

I’m playing ok, not quite got back my A game, but that involves me focusing 100% on 1 game.

I would be interested in the game theory behind multi-tabling MTT’s at the same time. Basically, i know im going to get bad beat/ out flopped a large % of the time. Bearing that in mind and given that i value my time online quite highly, i have always multi-tabled tournaments. That was my equity is spread over more games and my variance on any 1 night is reduced. It prevents me from playing for 7 hours in a major tournament, focusing 100% on the game, playing my A game, but ultimately getting donked out just before the FT by a moron.

Hurrah, i focused and then it becomes easy. I won the UB tournie for a handsome little profit and played one of the best HU sessions iv ever had, hurrah for focus.

Its that time of year again it appears. Iv caught a virus, some say its fancy play syndrome.
Going well in the 20k and 5k on TBA when in the 20k i pretty well commit suicide with 80 players left. In the 5k i get donked out on a 3 outer. Really have to stop the lemming mentality when deep in a tournie. RIGHT, im CL in a UB tournie, 23 players left. IM NOT GONNA DONK OFF.

I was playing the 15k gtd last night and had a massive hand trhat im not sure if a i misplayed.
I am 2nd in chips with 40 left. Holding 97 spades in the SB v the BB the flop comes 8s10s4h. IE oo str8 flush draw with 1 overcard. My stack is 100k, his 45k. Blinds 600/1200. Average 30k.
I bet 3/4 pot, he raises to 8k to play. I shove? He insta calls with Q9. I made the move as i thought he would pass, and i dont even mind if he has a set, infact im still 45% if he calls with a set.
After that i nicked my way back up and then had a moment of madeness on the bubble where i went ai with K8 when my BB was nicked. Really stupid as although $200 doesnt mean the world to me, it does cover the buy-ins.

Ah well, live and learn. But i might stop playing my monster draws quite so fast.

Rofl, iv offended the middle aged UK pro's. And apologies mean nothing nowadays so i guess im stuck with it. Fuck em. I believe i'm now being referred to as "The Whacker".

Full story time i guess. Whilst reading the blonde updates of the masters classics of poker a hand came up regarding Keith "the camel" Hawkins. Basically a guy made a call with QQQ on a board of KQJ deep in the tournie and the camel asked "why did you call?" implying that the guy that went all-in had to have a bigger set or straight ( he didnt he had a flush draw but well..). From the update i got the wrong end of the stick and assumed that Camel was having a pop at the chappie, which he wasnt. I took the statement back once i understood. I said sorry.
A day after i joked with other players on the forum during the 15k event on Tribeca that despite being in a precarious chip position i had a certain "Portfolio" to my left and could nick his blind at will. Said tongue in cheek as he's a phenomenal talent and, i thought, a mate.
Anyways, a little later and much to my suprise a player known to me has a pop at me- basically a poorly disguised jibe and after i pop back he comments "who next- Devilfish, Ram, Doyle?" So basically he has had a chat with Camel and wanted to take a shot at me for being outspoken. Fine.

So i think its all over when i read this today, a post regarding the Luton Xmas Cracker by Richard "Tightend" Prue, a really smashing chap and someone i respect as a player and a person, but who could do more to encourage younger players @ Luton (aka- poker police chief constable ;) ).

It read "Well the schedule needs altering (as a players forum rep I am part of this discussion). At the moment the schedule is mostly small rebuys getting 30-40 players ( including nowadays our mutual friend The Whacker, Thats me! Keith) The rookie nights can get 70-80....

Now i just think thats funny. Somehow, you offend a guy just after he wins a small fortune and EVERYONE is nailing me for it, strange world huh? I wonder whether that qualifies as my 15 minutes Mr.Warhol.
Gl all, see you @ "small stakes rebuy event at Luton" on Wednesday mr Halfacree

Running better. Approaching my a-game lately. If any of you read October's (i think) issues of pokerplayer you will know that on the final page, Grub Smith talked about why poker should be called "decision". Because thats what you are trying to do every time you play. This may sound a bit self-defeating but one sure fire way iv found of determining if you are playing great poker is that a couple of times a session, you will LAY DOWN the winning hand. Always notice that when im playing well (althought obv i would like to play perfect and call).
Last week was ok. Came second in the $200 FO on TBA for $1900, and had a couple of smaler cashes. Last night played all the tournies, went deep in most, got donked in 2.
Who ever knew that AJ was a hand with which you want to call for 1/2 ur stack preflop with??
Not me but it works for the fish. Seriously though, my MTT game has come a long way lately, pretty much by playing ABC until my stack gets big enough to run the table over.
Then we have fun :)

Need to start getting some results though, $400 of tournie buyins every night stings.

gl all, Alex

Hurrah, iv just had my 1000th visitor. From now on i can go from strength to strength, slowly taking over the internet and using this site as an outlet for radical politics- bring on Bird Flu, there are too many humans!!

As Mr.Brownlow recommended, whoever says they were my 1000th visitor can play me HU for $50. You win, you keep- you lose, you suck. Be honest, no lying shmucks , i demand honesty.

Big weekend of poker lined up, muhahahahahhhaha

Tonight its a choice between going to a new venue, the equal chance club in Walthamstow for a £75 FO, or going to my regular Luton haunt, where i can pick up all the poker mags for free ;). Yip im a tightass.
Tomorrow im playing the rookie £10 rb @ Luton, trying to scrape together lost of live cash to play the festival events coming up and pay for a series of short breaks iv got lined up.
Saturday night, online, Sunday morning, teach my boys how to kick a football, Sunday......going to gutshot to play lots and lots of online tournies. This is conditional however, the last time i went there was a disconnection and i had pocket AA deep in a tournie. I want a verbal agreement that they will refund me if problems occur again.

Well done to Camel, who is currently owning the Masters Classic in Dam. Also want to clear up a comment i said on blondepoker.com.

I got the wrong end of the stick from snoopy's update (no fault of the Beagle) and i prolly came across as an arrogant cunt, which im not. Apologies.

Gl all. Remember, if you were no.1000 (ie it said visitors 999) when you loked at this, hit me up in the comments page and ill arrange a game.

I know i said i would stop playing cash games and i have stopped playing NL cash, but i have recently taken up 3/6 and some 5/10 limit games.
I know that soon ill get annoyed with the monotony of letting some donkey hit a back door flush against my top set, but at the moment its really enjoyable.

Played a little bit the past couple of days. Been running ok. Won the $5k FO on TBA on Tuesday night for $2k and (sadly) bubbled the FT in the 15k last night. Other than that had a small win in a UB tournie for $600 and have managed to qualify for a few of their UBOC events in December- which will be awesome.
I continue to be amazed of the power of the re-raise deep in online MTT's. IMO the biggest edge the "pro's" have in these field is their ability to get their chips in without a showdown using fold equity. Very often late on when someone tries to nick my blind from the button/cutoff (unless they are pot commited/shot stacked) i will stick em all-in with any 2 live cards. As long as they dont have real premium, they will fold. Indeed, i suspect that this is the primary reason top pro's gain significant chunks of $ in major events- fearlessness whilst the rest of the field is looking for a $xxxxx payday, which doesnt mean shit to Lindgren and co.

Whilst on the subject of large amounts of cash. I was watching Ben Grundy last night in the $500/$1000 Limit OHL on Full Tilt last night. Richard Ashby and Mafews were also online, playing against Ivey and Hansen. Truly disgusting amounts of cash being involved.
Mafews had $460k infront of him at one point. Must be nice to leave the table after stacking Ivey.

A big shout out must also go to the Tribeca lad LuckyCU (aka Mr. Nightingale) .He won the 1st event in Amsterdam (Limit HE) - which is good for 60 large. Nice work.
Also must mention Flush Royal (Royal Flush on Blondepoker) who plays a fantastic game of poker on tinternet and (only when short stacked you hear) is a master of winning weighted coinflips. When he has a big stack, truly frightening play. He finished 2nd in the 15k last night, but it should of been 1st against the muppet he was playing against.

Got my eye on a few festivals coming up, namely the Northern Lights and the Luton Xmas cracker. Ill be satelliting my way in to a few of these, and when i finally go full time in 2 weeks its gonna be a ball.

Gl all, play good.

Just been peeking at the hendon mob site and there's an interesting link to a gaurdian columnist's archives. In one she talks about Bots. Computer players out there working 24/7 on the cash tables. If you delve deeper and ask sites about what protection they have against bots it gets worse. A lot of them dont. Iv seen it before when after a marathon session iv got up the next morning and the same player is still at the same table, with even more money, but never really considered it until today. There should be some sort of every 10 minute direct interation to stop these internet-wizards killing games. Im also using it as semi- justification for my recent lack of form in the cash games. Some players just dont make ANY mistakes online it appears. Even the best players make some mistakes.

Just something to bear in mind when h3p0-877g doesnt respond to you when you say NH the 8th time in a session.

Running like a ferrari with 3 wheels. I know i can play good poker, i know i can make laydowns and calls that 99% of othetr players cant make. But at the moment, im playing like a tosser. Went deep in 3 of the 5 comps i played last night. The 200k on UB, the 50k on Tribeca (TBA), the 5k on tribeca, the 5K FO on TBA and the 20k on tba. I got a mahusive stack in the 10k early on (30k in the rebuy period) only to have it severed by a badly timed bluff by myself. Why? Because it was at a habitual calling station, in the rebuy period, on Tribeca. Im holding 86s in the BB. 2 limpers, flop comes Ks7c5s. I bet, 1 player (16k) raises, i call. Turn comes Ac, check, check. River comes 3c (imo a scary card as it fils the 46 str8 draw). I check-raise all-in and he calls in the blink of an eye with K9. I despair at times. Good call, nh.

In the UB i made a bad play after i was cruising. LAG donkey raises in EP. I find AA and naturally re-raise, he goes all-in i call faster than a 17 year old girl climaxes during sex. I double to 5k early on (which is suprisingly difficult on here). Next hand i get A4. Flop comes A45 rainbow. I make a weak lead, 1 caller, and the button raises, i re-raise. HE CALLS. Now at this point i have to "know" he had me beat, with either A5, AA, A9, or 55/99. Mosyt likely hands imo are 555,444,or A9. Turn comes a 7. I check raise all-in and he has A5. Big call from him, WP.

In the 100k i donkey off chips. Solid/strong aggy player limps UTG. I find AQs and with 130 players left and having a slightly short stack they get shovelled in. Of course he has KK and i dont get lucky.

In the others i just played like a total donkey, pulling moves too early, unluckly had a underset/overset scenario and got KK busted by some AJ filth deep in the 5k.

Thats poker. Having a break for a week. Going to read Fischmans book and read a lot on 2+2.

Cash games have been put on hold, the bankroll cannot supply the required % at risk amount, so i wont play (2.5%)- the lower limits dont really interest me.

gl all. It will come good eventually.

Absolutely sick. I dont know quite how but after a marathon session last night i dropped $2k.
4 Tabling i was getting screwed left right and centre, my aggresive style of picking up all the small pots didnt work @ all. On one table (blinds 1/2) i had to make my opening raise $15 as otherwise i was getting 3 callers (on a freaking 6-seater table).
Towards the end i had a big stack ($1200) on a table which got ironed out in 2 massive pots. 1 where i flopped middle set against nut set for $400. Then (same guy very next hand) I call a re-raise with KK and the flop comes KJ9. All the money goes in and it turns out the guys wants to re-raise to $60 to play with Q10. Thanks Pokah.

Steering well clear of cash tables for a long long time. The variance is huge (which many people have told me, but which i never truly accepted). Im going back to SnG's and MTT's - my real love.

Gl all. Oh, and Gatsby, i feel truly honoured.....Although it was $17k US and not UK ;)

Where to start, having been off with the flu lately iv let my blog run away.
1s port of call, the Southern Masters. Arrived early after a cracking nights sleep and even did the artist out of £150 notes on the train journey down :)
A bit of a disappointment as only 75 odd runners so the 1st prize of 13.5k wasnt huge.
My starting table had 2 internet qualifiers, plus some Soton regulars, also Marc Greco fresh from the EPT dublin. Early on and it appears there is one loose cannon, the blind strucutre has been altered and now we have a 10k starting stack and 1hour clock. I rock up.
Early on a i get dealt JJ on the button. 4 limpers, i elect to play a small pot PF and limp. Flop comes magic 6s7s Jh. Aggro player bets ful pot. 1 Caller. Board is way too connected to let another card peel off so i raise and aggro goes all-in. I call and dodge his 12 outs for my 1st big pot. Next big pot. Greco at blinds 100/200 has got into the habit of nicking my BB. I hold 55 and acter he raises to 600 i flat call. Flop comes JJ9. I check, he checks, turn comes a 5. I bet 2/3 pot. He calls. River comes a K. Now my play was to check raise on the river as he has shown aggression whenever checked to, so i check and he bets 3k into a 3k pot. My stack is 18k and his is 20k. I Call???!?!?!?!?!? That was a costly mistake, i should have fucked him as he made his str8 on the river.

A little later and im dealt AA in the BB. Folded round to me :)
No more hands till just before dinner. I get QJclubs and raise to 1000 to play. 1 caller. Flop comes Ad10d4 no clubs. I bet 2/3 pot. 1 caller. Turn comes 8. I check, solid player bets.....I have a brain fart and go all-in!!, he folds and shows QJd. So i (yip im a donkey) showed mine. Got a few gasps there. So with my new found cracking image i get......moved. Fking A.
New table, new ppl, new stacks. Iv got 2 UK pro's at my table and a couple of younger guys including Flush Royal a blonde poker chappie. A few hands in and its a battle of the blinds, me big, him small. Holding 77 flop comes J97. He bets pot nto me, i raise, he thinks for a bit then moves in. Double up and now have chips. I try a couple of ill-advised nicks and get snapped off. I then find out that the 2 players in the blinds when im in the Cutoff are weak. Lady goes all-in with AQ (she has a big stack :) ) against pro's KK. I dont think she even realised she was behind ;)

I then played this hand against Jeff Rogers, who imo is a cracking player. He raises pf, i call with 88. Flop comes J79. He bets big, i re-raise (ill be honest with you, im not sure why, just felt like the right move) he thinks for eternity, pretending to fold and generally making me sweat. He finally passes AJ.....so i show him too ;) I HAVE to stop showing my bluffs, its like an ego trip, but iv got tells and its.
Nice lady though. I then play a big pot with 99, not sure why but i doubted a solid players all-in raise and double him up (relatively small % of my chips). Then this hand against CL to my left. I limp PF with 44. Flop comes 4J9 rainbow. I bet 2/3 pot and get a buyer. Turn comes with an Ace. .....surely the money card if he has AJ. I check, he bets, i call. River, a 10. I check he bets small. Now i know he doesnt have a str8, he's looked too solid to call a bet with a gutshot, so i think im winning. But i rmeembered iv just shown a big bluff, I also saw the chap i bluffed early on talking about me to this guy so figure an all-in move has a high % chance of working and getting me to a 70k stack (average is 25k), assuming he has AJ/J10/J9/A9. I move in, he goes into the tank, he looks like he's going to fold and then does. He folded J9. Nice pass sir.

So im up to 45k and swimming nicely. I then get handed 88 in the BB. Donkey woman raises 3*BB and i call. Flop comes JJ7. I check, she moves all-in!!!!!! Iv seen her do this twice already with random (seriously) hands. 87o preflop early on and JK on a flop of AK7. Im not sure where the fuck i am here. I elect to call (coz it was 4am and i was knackered- dumb call) and she shows KK. That hurt and was the last hand i played before day 2. ended on 30kish.
I started in 9th/18 and with such a top heavy structure i wanted to amass chips . I stole my way to 45k and then had a nightmare hand. Holding K9 i try and nick the blinds. CL calls behind me. Flop comes KQJ. I bet. He calls. Turn comes a 7, i bet again (surely if he had a made hand he raises there to freeze out the srt8/flush opportunities. This time he raises me, and i have to fold.
Not sure but i stil think i was bluffed. Back to work.
Nick back up to 40k and i get Q2d. I raise the BB in a SB/BB confrontation, he goes all-in and im pot commmited and embarassingly show my hand. He has A6 and a flop of A66 wrapped it up for him. Now im short-stacked with 26k and blinds of 2/4. Im looking for a player who is good enough to fold, with a stack that my stack cna hurt and im going to re-raise all-in if i think they are weak. Player to my right raises, J9spades looks like AA and i shove. He thinks for a min or 2 then calls with AJ. No miracles and im out. :(
Im happy with my 1 major live and congrats to the winner, Huss who played v.well and got exceedingly lucky (which is what you need).
Afterwards met the BluSQ operations Manager (very nice chap) and me, Seb and Artist got drinking. We hooked up with some of the high rollers on Tribeca and went out on the tiles. VV messy and there was a fight at the end of the night between mates ( i think). All got a bit freaking stupid and i left em to it.

Since then iv been running really fking bad online, had a horrible cold which has turned to flu and been getting annoyed. New Comp has arrived and i get Broadband next week so im anticipating results in December.

Iv lost a lot of stamina lately and think ill have a break from poker next week. My play has been weak/passive at best and im running real cold.

GL all.