Just put in my 1st 1/2 Cash session on the new software. Painful is the only way to describe this. Multitabled on 4 shorthanded tables for 2 hours for a small loss.The betting is very awkward. The slide bar doesnt allow you to make a 3*BB bet. So you have to manually type 6 in order to make an opening bet. Same for future bets as the slide bar doesnt allow enough finesse for making proper bets. Is this purely to generate more rake? Probably.

Players. Standard on my tables was pretty high tbh. Making notes is slower and tricky, also, i didnt see anyone i have notes on and the notes are supposedly held on an internal server.......i guess ill have to wait and see before judging this.

Speed. The action moves along relatively fast, but i timed out countless times due to overlapping audio-cues that meant i was constantly re-pressing the auto-post blinds button. Ended up going down to 3 tables because of this.

But here is my main gripe that has fucked me off no end. I finished the session earning just under 2000 action points. All action point movements have been reduced by 4/5ths. I was told this was to standardise the points allocation system and keep them in line with existing playtech users. I had over 2 million, now i have about 600k.

So effectively they are telling me that to get 600k AP's all i need to put in is 30 2 hour sessions 4-tabling 1/2NL to make the same action points i made in 1.5 years on Tribeca playing A LOT. This is bollocks. We have been totally screwed over here. Whoever was fighting VC's corner for the exchange deal did a shite job. I dont see me playing cash on the new software unless it gets a few improvements.

Anyone know of a good alternative site for playing cash games? I play low limits 1/2 + 2/4 and need a site with relatively good all round traffic. Stars is too tricky and Party is no good for me either. LONG LIVE TRIBECA!

Off to The Gym in a minute, its 6.40am :). Then im going to go and shoot a few pidgeons on a mates farm and have a couple of pints in a proper country pub. This evening its Luton baby for the (effectively) £100 DC FO. Luton could well be where i might end up playing all my cash games for the next month or so, after all, my edge is good, the players are shite, and i have more cash game experience (hands wise) than (probably) the rest of the table put together. I might get a trombone that i can blow with my trumpet ;)

Tip of the day. Drink beer when playing live poker. It will give you the impression of an obnoxious, loud, lagered up know it all, which is conducive to getting people to bluff/pay you off. Maybe. I'll let you know how it goes.

Ok so i visited the new Luton G casino last night. WOW. This place is sweet. Disgustingly well-fitted cardroom with the nicest playing tables and chairs iv seen.
I played the £50 rebuy and got off to a good start, amassing 14k by the break. I then lost a big pot with AQ v AQh. Down to 5k i won a race v 55 and got back to 9k.
Then i got moved to a horrendous table. Paul Alterman on my left, Ray Brown and Steve Vladar on my right. Great. Then a key hand, holding QJ i call preflop on the button along with 3 others. Flop comes 33Q with 2 spades. All checked to Ray who goes all-in. I figure he doesnt have AQ/KQ so im tying at worst. Call. Then Paul Alterman calls from the SB and i realise the horror of my situation. HE shows 63 and Ray has A4 spades. No problem as i get the poker gods aid with a sexy QJ turn and river. LOL.
I then got moved again. Down to 20 players i have 24k with average at 18k. I then get pushed off a preflop raise twice. Great. Then we have the break, im down to 22k and average is 27k, i make up my mind to make lots of chips now before the final where i can bully all the rocks into submission. Money is at 18 so now is get busy time i tell myself. Anyone who makes a 25% of their stack raise is going to get put to the test. Danny (young local loose/solid? player) raises on the button to 7k. We have equal stacks. In retrospect the raise was slightly more than he normally makes. I look down and see 34s. Definitely not dominated :) All-in. Call. Ooops he ahs QQ. The entire table looks on in disbelief at what i have just done. I can see each and every one of them thinking......mug. Such is my game, ill live and die by the sword.
Turns out it was a good move. I played cash instead and cleared £1100 in 4 hours work. Ship it. Some of the worst players i have ever seen donated thousands. Looks like the new G casino is attracting some numpties. Eventual winners were Jim and Ambrose, with danny coming third i think. On a side note, Jim (uses a porcelain cat as a card protector) won the lottery last weekend. Shame he had to split it with 8 others so ONLY win £500k. Bad beat? Bollocks. He can buy me a beer.

Also, massive shoutout to RookieITB who just took down the 100k on Mansion. WP lad, massive rail had fun too.

Failed the challenge. By 1. Such is life. On the plus side i have a newfound love of MTT's. Played 26 tournaments in all. 5 Final tables. Won 2, Third twice, 8th once. In the money in 1 other.
Add to that a few major suckouts and it was a good nights work. Im thinking of doing this on a weekly basis.
The problem with the challenge is that the comps where i was fresh (12.00- 8am) never filled up to over 100. The small stakes comps (.50c-$12 rebuys/speed rebuys) had excessive fields and the daily speed comps are a farce. These speed events made up over 1/2 the comps i played and being new to them i didnt know what to expect. A total crapshoot was the reality but i thought i might rule. 1 In the money finish in a 5k speed event was all i could muster. The last comp of the night, the $10k $00 rebuy cost me $400 and i only came 14th. There were only 75 runners so i should deffo not have bothered.
My play definitely deteriorated as the night/day wore on, trying too many bluffs/moves than optimal strategy would advise.
The best moment was taking down the $7k $36r GTD and the 2.6k was warmly welcomed. Another in a $3.5k GTD was sweet too.
After everything was added up i made just over £2k so im chuffed to bits. A little bit more planning would have been great as i missed a few due to desperately needing a power nap.
One note of worth. VC and indeed Tribeca changed the rules halfway through. They made it so you had to finish in the top 18 in 3 consecutive comps. I didnt like this move the goalposts bollocks one bit and was gutted. But i made a decision. I know VC value my custom so i stuck with it. I spoke to management and they advised me to ring them early morning when the cardroom manager would be back (alan i think from memory). So i sent him an e-mail and carried on. While this was going on i was going nuts on the blonde forum illustrating this. Plenty of players were pissed off but some just accepted it as "its their rules, they amend the right to change it when they feel". I spoke to Jamie from BlueSQ and he said he would be sorting out any blueSQ customers that complained/completed the task. Nice guy i thought. He then advised me that my nikinblinds account should not be used from then on............doh!

So the debate raged until the morning when i anticipated VC managers response.
He replied early morning and we spoke on the phone. What a gent. He said he agreed it was a cockup and i had been treated unfairly. He made me a fantastic offer. He also agreed to give me a payout as i felt so cheesed. I didnt know it but im a VC VIP.
This is in addition to the $550 payout i was given as part of their customer appreciation week. Sweet.
Lesson learned. If you think somethings unfair and you dont agree, complain. If no one listens, go higher. You might just get more than you were looking for.

Right, im off to the gym and then to play cash at Luton new G-casino. Apparently there were 850 ppl at the casino tonight. Thats a lot of money that needs somewhere to go................

OK, so VC are offering a $10k bonus to anyone who makes the top 18 in any 3 scheduled rebuy events between midnight tonight and tomorrow. As there are 26 NLHE rebuys, i figured this was achievable and could just be the kick start the doctor ordered. So im playing. In all of them.
24 hours of solid tournament poker. I know James "Royal Flush" Dempsey is also having a go so here's hoping i can make it. A couple of terms and conditions. Must be over 100 runners, must be a rebuy comp. This all sounds fine to me. I reckon ill invest about $1k (excluding rebuys in events over $100 to buy-in) and would guess i have a 30% chance of pulling this off.
So here's looking forward to a long long night where i try to get back on track with a nice bonus payday.
Shiiiiiipppp Itttttttttttttttttttttttt.

Had a fun week so far. Back to winning ways in the live cash and my confidence is high in live MTT's. Im developing a lovely sense of where i am in a hand. The £50 FO was a bit sick as i lost a massive pot to a flush draw on the river when holding the nuts. I think the average was 7k and the pot was 35k. Marvellous.
In the £100 FO last night i got a stack then donked a stack through fancy play syndrome. Im still learning.
Had 2 nice cash sessions back to back making a sweet call with a str8 on a flushing/housing board when i didnt believe a guys massive river bet. The table was suprised at the speed of the call but it felt like one of those " i am the man moments". Only realised after the call that it was way over the £90 i had estimated it to be. Played dealers choice on Monday night too. I really want to learn the game as so many mug's play it at Luton im pretty sure i can kill it if i learn them all.

Much of this week has been about turning corners. I (sadly) didnt get the job, but im torn between sadness and relief. I can now reveal that it was for BlueSQ working alongside Jamie managing the online cardroom. Although without doubt it would have been fantastic, i dont really see myself as a 9-5 kinda guy and the fact i wouldnt be able to play @ Luton means the relief is probably outweighing the sadness.
New Casino in Luton now which i see myself as a real regular at. Hopefully the shiny new place will be a magnet for all those rich folk having a James Bond moment. Opening night is tomorrow so ill be there i guess.
Im setting myself a target for the month from live poker. A bit risky but i like to have goals. £3k a month form live games. That should be achievable if put in 10-15 sessions in the cash game.
Only problem is i dont really have the roll others would advocate i need for the game. Ill be playing a LOT over the next couple of months, trying to top the leaderboards and get some free seats to the Springfest.
On the online front im getting back into the MTT's again. Im just finding that the games are very soft at the moment.

Looking forward to Friday on VC. If you come in the top 18 in any 3 scheduled rebuy events with over 100 runners they are giving you $10000. Seriously. Im gonna get a good nights kip then play the whole day through. Im getting this 10k baby.

If i win a comp in the next couple of weeks im gonna buy in directly to Cardiff too.
So all in all, not earning tonnes of money, but having a lot of fun and doing what i want to do, whenever i want to bloody do it. Lets just hope i dont go broke. But even if i do, iv got a good education and a good degree to fall back on...........so the gamble goes on.

Oh, i forgot to mention. I know a lot about Holdem. But now im learning Omaha/Omaha high low (which i already have a clue about), 7 Card Stud High low, Razz, and also (shock horror) some Irish strategy. Its like iv found a whole new sweet shop.
Loving it.

Reasonable weekend. Got sloshed on Saturday night and woke up with a stinker this morning. Sunday tournies went ok, 2 played, 1 minor cash. Cash games were uneventful and i dropped about $200.
This week im gonna play Luton monday and Tuesday and if i luckbox my way to a win in either im going to shoot off down South to play in the Brighton festival.
Been doing a bit of homework this evening and searching through all the drivel i found this little gem on bodogari's site.
I liked it so much i cut and pasted it here. Enjoy.

Creating Fold Equity
More and more, I'm realizing the importance of this. Ok lets say you're sitting in the BB, and your stack size is 8 BB's. If it gets folded to the button, he's likely to make it 3BB to go with a wide variety of hands. Of course, if you push all in there, he's obviously gonna call, getting greats odds even if his hole cards are very weak. However, if you just flat call, the pot will now contain 7BB's. Now on the flop, you can push all in (regardless of what comes out) for 5 BB's, and he can only call if he hit something. We all know that the majority of times, 2 cards will miss the flop. He'll be very hardpressed to call with the random 2 cards we put him on, and sometimes given the right flop, he'll even lay down the winner. (Imagine he raised with q9- and the flop comes a105- you're 67 will take it down with the push all in).

Problem is you need to have a tight opponent (as with all moves) and they need to be clever enough to know what ur doing, but not have the balls to call you.

A nice week on the online cash tables culminated in a nice 4-way chop at Luton last night. Small money but the £75 FO is relatively tough so im happy. CL had 80k and i had 50k with blinds at 2k/4k so not really enough play left for the comp to continue.
Off to watch Arsenal then play a 5-a-side comp with my old firm. The suns shining too. Marvellous.

I only sing when im winning, sing when im winning..........................

IT.

Im pretty sure this is what running well feels like. As i posted previously i was running so bad online and had spent so much outside of poker (holidays) that i had to withdraw about 3 grand to get me back in the black. I left about $500 in the account so that i could maybe spin it back up. Well, iv logged 18 hours of 4 tabling 1/2 NL and am back up to the sexy heights of $3.8k. I KNOW that this is a bad advert for BR management but im coming round to the (probably misguided) opinion that i need to be under pressure to play my best poker. Plenty of pro's think along similar lines.....Benyamine, Negreanu, Gordon etc.....not that im comparing mt abilities to theirs but, you know.......

So im sort of back in business. However, i am fully aware that the real reason i am doing well this week is that its half term. Yep, i wont be misguided enough to think that iv suddenly become a massively winning player, its just that the fish are outnumbering the sharks for once. Pretty sure that this is because some younguns have nicked their parents CCds or some student bums are having a dabble after watching ESPN and having a toke on some dehydrated sticks and seeds.

But I wont be complaining in a hurry. In fact me and my younger brother have just decided on a skiing trip. Not sure where yet but hell, if i dont get offered this job it can be anytime. The only problem is that Europe has shit snow at the mo, but America's drinking age is 21, and JJ looks about 12 (he's 18). So maybe we will do a last minute jobby as soon as we see a French resort has had a dump. It should be awesome as we will bring the lappies along. Schedule will be, wake up, ski all day till 4pm. Play poker till 6 (he's in training- simply means he ignores whatever i tell him, but he's getting better) then go and get absolutely plastered from 7-2. Rinse in the morning and repeat.

Had a reasonable evening last night. Played the 60k on Tribeca and came a frustrating 72nd after making a massive power play with AK after a button raiser. We both had 50k when average was 35k so i thought he would fold all marginal holdings for al his chips. Alas he called with pocket nines which held. I dont blame him, but its not a great place to call for all ur chips, even if he thinks iv got AK.
I made the FT of the 15k and then got involved with a KQ of all hands that sent me packing. Paul M3BOY was short stacked on 30k and went ai utg + 1. Im next to act. I opt to call reasoning that he knows he has to take the blinds in a minute and could well be using his minimal fold equity with any 2 cards. Blinds are 10k/5k and i have 150k. Average is 170k. The BB (who looked like an exceptionally weak player earlier) comes along for the ride. Flop comes K104 and the BB leads out with a small bet, i jam, he calls with AK, all over. Paul even had QQ so my outs were somewhat restricted, damn card rack. Bit frustrating as i should never have got involved in the hand in the 1st place. So i cam a weak 6th when i should have been looking at a podium at the very least. I have to stop these sudden and violent bursts of brain flatulence that cost me $ every fricking time.
I actually think my key hand was earlier on. Holding AA there is a limp UTG, then a substantial raise from the cutoff, im on the button with AA and elect to jam. I ONLY did this because i thought utg had a strong hand. I was torn between flat calling in the hope that UTG then goes AI, forcing cutoff to jam, and me to get the big (cutoff) stack in with me. But i decided that was too finicky and 25k for my 90k stack was fine. On another note, player FATTERMARRA is a fantastic player. Scares the living shit out of the table with totally fearless aggression tempered with rapid downshifting of gears. One of the scariest players on Tribeca imo.

A funny bit of side action occured when the bubble approached too. Artist was also playing and we decided to swap 10% for shits and giggles. About 3 hands later i catch him re-re-raising with 4c2c after the button plays back at his button steal. In it all goes and of course his kings hold up. UL Dave, bad beat.

So tonight its the Luton £50 FO then tomorrow night the £100 FO with £1k added. Deffo playing to win as always and going to go absolutely nuts near the bubble (assuming i luckbox my way that far). If i win one i might go down to Walsall, i just want to play a ME so badly!!!!!!!

Thanks amatay, kind words.
Worst night of poker tonight. One of those sickening ones. I make the FT of the super, 3 seats up for grabs. Im average stack then get a kind double up from Joe Grech who needlessly irons out his massive stack. We get down to 5 when my image is bust. Admittedly Jeff Rogers to my left and Dick "i dont have a fricking clue i have paint cards so ill call" to my right made me less likely to get away with moves. Jeff made a big fold to me on day 2 of the Southern masters last year and i showed him the bluff..................doh, and dick will call with anything.
I get blinded to 14k with blinds at 1/2k when dick limps on the button. I find A10soooooted and shove, he insta calls for 1/2 his stack with Q10. 2 spades on the flop means he now has only 2 outs, turn x, drumroll please as Raj the cow deals him a Q on the end.
Marvellous. Can i ever get a hand in a big pot to hold up, erm, no.

In the cash i did my absolute bollocks. Biggest ever loss iv ever had. So i have withdrawn nearly all of my online funds to cover it and give me a nice cash injection. I think its fair to say that in the past few months iv had my chances to make this thing work but for whatever reason, it hasnt.
Im not too depressed, i gave playing poker full time a shot, but i have to face up to the fact i just aint good enough. Poker from now on will be a hobby and if i dont get the job i went for i will probably rejoin the environment agency and do something i enjoy. Still kind of gutting when i think about it, i had some big chances, mainly coming close in the UB $500 FO in the UBOC event (losing a big pot with AK v AJ for top 5 chip leaders) and a couple of needless 4th and 5th places in the Tribeca 20k/15k comps has just been enough to put me out of business. Sad as i was looking forward to Walsall and rate my live poker as up in the top 10% of players. Thats not being big-headed, but honest.
Talking about great poker i must mention a guy called Joe form tonight. A great guy with a nice attitude and a strong game. He called a £200 river bet on a board of Q57810 with AK on the end and won. Great call (i said id mention it to him). Everyone at the table is saying what a mug he was, i told them to fuck off. You play this game of decisions by sometimes using gut instinct. Well done lad.

So online poker pro Strongbad99 is dead in the water and as many people said to me, its a hard game to win at consistently. I agree.
Ah well, i guess there's a whole lot more to life than poker and when i look back 5 years later i can honestly say to myself i gave it the best shot i could.
Now wheres that number for jobseekers...............................



p.s. DONT BLUFF CALLING STATIONS.

It has come to my attention (from the program Gatsby gave me (cheers Paul)) that i have 18 regular daily readers. The aim of this blog was never to turn it into a massive website, but merely to try and give a little insight into my perspective on online poker and maybe give a few tips no wand then. I just wanted to say thanks to those regular readers, it gives me a tiny boost to see my hit total has gone up overnight after losing 8 buy-ins on the tables.

I have also decided to revamp my link lists. There are some people on there who i have never had any correspondance with but linked purely because (when starting out) i liked their material. This is going to change, only freindly bloggers are gonna be on there from now on.

Had the job interview yesterday and it went OK i hope. I think my online poker knowledge is pretty solid but whon knows. As with all 9-5's there are positives and negatives but ill have to wait till next week to see if i got it. GL me.

Fking shitting bollocking fucking Tribeca.
14 left. I am 3rd in chips. In the BB im dealt QQ. SB (CL, little more than me) is playing uber aggy. He has been overbetting the pot postflop when he takes the lead preflop, going all-in instantly. He bets 5k, my stack 50k, i call. Flop comes Jxx and he shoves, i insta, he has J4, turn 4.
ALL THE FKING TIME. 110k pot when average is 28k and i bet the mug still donks it off.

Oh yeah, car broke down too. Fking marvellous. Mechanic reckons its nackered. I might bite the bullit and buy a bicycle. Winters coming to an end and the planet is totally fucked. I cant really preach to others about global warming when i drive and running a car is quite frankly, expensive.

And marvellous i just got my ass handed to me on a plate in the 15k. Super duper.

Ah well, might go to Gutshot tomorrow evening as ill be in town, or maybe even the Vic for some frivolities. Thursday and Friday @ Luton should be funny.

Been playing sparingly lately due to manfluenza. Played the £75 FO on Friday night at Luton, played nicely the whole way through, a few bad moves but id rather have chips than grind. Made the final table with an average stack. Second hand, button (CL) raises, i glance down and see bullets, in it all goes, he has 88, 8 on flop, all she wrote. Thats poker.
Played at a £3 rebuy game in St.Albans on Thursday night for shits and giggles with Dave "i cant handle my drink" "artist" Halfacree. Was good fun and after spanking him 4-0 HU i then won a HUGE side bet off him later. :) Ship it.

Played the $36 Rebuy 50k on Tribeca last night, played like a donkey to get chips early as you need them to progress through a minefield. A particularly sexy example was setting 2 ppl all-in with 64s only to be called by AA and KK, flop 664. Had the table gambling like nutters but sadly ran QQ into KK twice in one orbit to end my chances.

Will be playing the £50 supersat to Walsall and the £75 FO on Friday. I am coming round to loving live poker, so much more fun.

Job interview tomorrow, probably the most interesting brief iv ever had

Me, "should i bring anything along, like my CV"?
Him, "just urself and ur brain", so i guess im screwed.

Interesting week. Iv witnessed the good the bad and the downright ugly and we are only on Thursday.

Monday night played the £50 FO at Luton. Things were going well when i was gifted the most weak passive table on the planet. Starting stack went from 5k to 9k with no troubles at all. Then i got moved to a trickier table. On my left Richard Prue (pru) (who i normally never clash with, ever) and a young chelsea fan on my right. Of course i immediately pegged him as an intellectually challenged minor who probably used a fake ID to get in the building. He made a small raise on Tightend's big blind on the second orbit i was at the table. Maybe he knows more than i thought i said to meself. I called with KQc in the SB and (scarily) so did Richard. On a flop of 994 i thought id represent a medium pp with a 1/2 pot bet. Richard folds, Chelsea fan calls. Alarm bells ringing, but what hand does he have that calls here. I tell myself JJ+ for an overpair. Turn comes a 10, no good to me, I check. River comes another 4. I make a milky-lookalike bet of about 1/2 the pot. He calls, his hand, 84o. N1 lad ;)

After the hand i found out who the young gun was, no less than RookieITB from Blonde. Well played m8. After speaking with him later and playing a little cash i have to say he's a very nice lad witha sharp sense of humour. Ill get you next time gadget.

Unfortunately my image had just been smashed. I managed to represent Aces when limping under the gun. 1 call, 1 raise i shoved from UTG and the caller started having a go at the raiser saying (he limped under the gun, why did you raise). They all folded, love it. My hand 89 sooooted, ship it.

A little later and my BB is attacked again by a solid player. This time we both have even stacks and he has commited a motal sin by allowing me to have maximum fold equity. I have 74s, plenty gd enough for the job. If he holds AQ/AJ/A10 and folds 25% of the time its a winning play. He goes into the tank, finally says i dont believe you and makes a good call with AJ. GG me. Nice read.

Then played cash after for a small profit. Basically because i wanted to clean Lionel out who had about £1.5k infront of him. Sadly i didnt.

Played again on Tuesday, shit in the comp, ran into Aces after getting seriously injured with 1010 v A10. Cash game was good though, got very lucky versus monkey when i flopped a set and housed up on the river to beat his flopped nut flush. Won a nice pot later when Simon paid me off to the max when whilst holding 47 on a board of 2356k i shoved all-in on the river. Poor guy had a 4 of course. I LOVE that bet (but dont tell ppl about it, its been my only good move in about 3 months). So £700 up on the night and i played Silly money (as in fag packet's) Superstud with John Vacharelli who hustled me out of £40. Cheeky git. I even had Dina playing my hands. Useless mare.

One interesting point of note from the night was how shit Helen is at governing rulings. She just deviated to the opinion of the most experienced player at the tables. Basically i spoke to the guy on blonde later concerning the matter and this is the gist of it.

"Hi there Bravo, was it you i was playing cash with later on? If you were you let Monkey get away very easy and i was seriously impressed with your gentlemanly conduct (even though the wrong decision was made by management). Listen to this all budding cardroom managers............3 players preflop, 1 raise, 2 callers. Action on flop goes, check, all-in, then monkey says "Call". When player 1 (young scottish guy from Glasgow i believe(very amiable) ) who checked then goes all-in monkey realises he isnt getting a very good price for a gutshot str8 draw anymore. He only called as all-in player had only a little bit of cash. Helen is called over, Scottish chap says he doesnt mind if Monkey didnt mean to call and can take back his money. One (experienced, regular) player says that no money has crossed the line so "does the bet stand?". Helen says yes thats fine.I dont have massive amounts of experience with live cash but im pretty sure when you say "call" thats verbally binding isnt it??"


Now that is a shocking ruling. Basically im going to use this if i ever make a mistake at the tables. Also, i might shout all-in to see my opponents reaction, after all no chips have crossed the line. Absolute tosh.

On another seperate issue i have been kind of pointed towards a job in the poker community. I wont say anymore as ill only box my chances but suffice to say im VERY excited. Wish me luck.


Also, anyone who fancies giving me money come along to Luton this Friday for their £75 deepstack comp. Im winning this one, for certain.