Christ its hard work. Im trying very hard to make the most of the limited funds i have online, some of my own and some from trading schemes. But every time i stack someone i run into a big hand or some donk i cant lose, regardless of my betting pattern. Im finding it difficult to identify the idiots, as the smarter players who i know try pulling all sorts of shit, also have their choice moments.

I really enjoyed putting a pretty sick beat on a guy today, made me feel like i was one of their own. I am quietly confident a parcel-force van is going to arrive tomorrow with a t-shirt for me. It will read, "Congratulations, ur a grade A moron, honoury member, pleased to have you in our club".

Typical hand from this evening. Holding AK on the button i get the standard 5 limpers. I make it $8, 1 caller. Flop comes A52. My notes say this guy raises with any pair so set is unlikely. He bets, i raise, he goes all-in i give it the mementary fuckit i dont care anymore. He has 52 but running 66 saves the day, oh how we laughed.

Interestingly, and i know how periodically i have moments of clarity but a lot of the time its just a big blurr, im not sure if im actually any good anymore. Theres a big part of my brain that "knows" i never was. Theres so much luck, outdrawing, donkeys, rake, better players raping you...............that these low stakes cash games feel like a real grind. Im not going to get into an online poker is rigged debate but sometimes, just sometimes, you think ur playing an odd game. What level of thinking should you apply to low stakes cash games?

Do our opponents give scant regard to the holdings you could have? Erm, well, some of them do and some of them dont. Ok, so pay more attention to the tables and identify the mugs quicker. But at these stakes thats time consuming and difficult. Mugs dont hang about very long anyhow. Oh how John Vorghaus's Killer Poker Online needs updating. It really is like reading the magna carta. He advises looking for players who are playing on 2 or more tables, then nicking their blinds. ROFL. Sorry mate, most of my opponents are playing on 4-6 tables and nicking my blinds with disgusting regularity. Does their being involved in a big pot on their other table make it less likely they will call down my big bluffs. Does it fuck. A2 on an AKQ89 4 flush board for $25, no problem, they call.

So if our opponents do think about our holdings, should we bluff them more often? Obviously yes. But even opponents that think about your holdings call you thin a lot of the time. Construct ur lie better, make your bets make "sense". Ok, tried that tonight to no avail. Picking on the players who have it in them to fold i hunt with scare cards and position. Doesnt work. Some of these cunts semi-bluff you know. Then, after they have fired 2 cont bet bullets with sweet fa they check their made nut flush on the end praying some utter moron with 3rd pair will bet big ;so they can move OTT in an "good god im good at this" kinda way. Im that moron.

So if our opponents dont care about our holdings, how should that affect our game. Tighten up, play abc, value bet, slowplay, use tried and tested tournament techniques for cash game utility. Bollocks to that. You see, im finding most of the winning players iv got book on are actually weak passive. Seriously, weak passive is a winning form of poker, which must mean that i am using such mindless aggression that they are secretly forming a conglomerate aimed at buying Japan with my losses. Not that my losses are great, but its a far flung cry from my 2/4 heyday where the money would just (literally) roll in. Do these fucks just not care about spunking a £50 or £100 on a Sunday night? It certainly seems so.

This week im setting myself a target, accomplishable and testing. Im going to make £400 from poker this week. Purely from online cash games and im only going to log 15 table hours. Im going to multi-table 4 as iv decided thats my optimum outlay. Im going to play scientific poker, thats my new style. Ill have Dan Harrington on my shoulder and my Maths tutor on my right. Trying my best to make the best decision. Being streamlined and making efficient bets. Im feeling better already. Its remarkable how therapeutic this blog is, i remember when flopping 2 pair against Seb in the 10p/20p game round Oli's work was cause for celebration, you were getting paid baby :) Nowadays i love poker, but i think possibly for the wrong reasons. Unfortunately im stubborn and addictive in nature and have invested massive amounts of time, money and energy into this game. Im just not sure im progressing. Ah well, nothing worth celebrating is ever easy to achieve right? The rough journey makes the bed feel softer? I sure hope so, everywhere i look some 22 year old online pro has made another 40 grand here, 100 grand there. So, ABC poker with some mild brain power, it cant be that hard can it. I think im going mad.