Came back from skiing yesterday with a skinking cold and feeling miserable. The skiing was great however, we had a two foot dump on Tuesday night and the powder on wednesday was phenomenal. I did the most off-pisting iv ever done this holiday, nailing really tricky and hard to get to bowls and some nasty tree runs. I also think the six-pack challenge is in the bag. Ship-it artist.

Bought and read a few books. Phil Gordons Little Green Book is good. 8/10. His Blue book is a little weaker and i wouldnt advise buying it IMHO. Same with "How to win the World Series (or not)". What a piece of shit. I considered ripping it up when we ran out of bog roll one night.

I do have a few problems with Gordons reasoning on a few issues however. When talking about liming in early position on page 30 he says....

"I have found limping to be most effective when i do it with a marginal hand about 4 times more than i do it with big hands. Why is that? Mathematics [1].
Assume my opponents are likely to raise 5 times the big blind when i limp, in an effort to get me to fold [2]. If i follow the four to one ratio [3] above then 4 out of the 5 times i will have a mediocre hand that i will have to fold after my opponents raise. Over the course of those hands i will lose the equivalent of 4 big blinds. On the 5th time, however i will have a strong hand, re-raise the raiser, and (hopefully) [4] win the pot right there. I will win the money they have raised- about 5 times the size of the big blind- and cover the 4 times that i lost, leaving me with a net gain equivalent to one big blind [5]."

Now to me this is a pure example of someone twisting mathematics to suit their own example. I appreciate that you need to vary your plays to keep good players guessing, but there are so many faults with this advice (obv Phil Gordon is a proven poker player and legend. I am a wannabe so healthy dollop of salt involved here).

1. Are you serious? Ok ill agree with you for the moment phil.

2. Standard escalation of initial raise is to increase by 1 big blind the raise you should make if there are limpers in the pot. Most intermediate players would make a raise of 4*BB if there is already a limper in the pot, trying to get the pot HU or end it.

3. So should i really follow a 4-1 ratio. I mean, note down "limped with 33 UTG, folded. limped with 56s, folded. limped with a10s, folded. limped with QJo, folded. woke up with AK, re-raised raiser all-in, won blinds" just to make sure my ratio is correct. Because by deviating EVEN REMOTELY from his ratio, i lose money.

4. Of course when i re-raise all-in he could well think it was a move and call with 88. oops.

5. Net gain equivalent of 1 BB you say. Nice. I'v got a better idea. Ill limp at a ratio of 3-1 instead. That way ill make 2BB as a net gain. Great. Oh wait. Iv just had a brainwave. Ill limp at a a 50/50 ratio. That way i make 4 big blinds!!! WOOHOO. What a great idea. Now THATS a +EV play wouldnt you all agree. Erm, no sir, i wouldnt

But the rest of his book is good with some insightful examples of clever plays, plus using pot odds to govern 90% of your decisions is what was reinforced to me in my mind.




So on Sunday afternoon i watched the Arsenal play. Why why why does it take us to go a goal down before we actually start playing. Getting tiresome.

I probably should have had a rest before playing the Sunday comps but ah well.

The lineup and results went as follows.

8pm. 20k on Tribeca. Didnt pull the trigger when i had the chance. Let a guy hit his str8 on the river. Lesson learned. Dont fear slow-played big hands so much. 140/850.

8.45pm $200 FO $200k GTD on Tribeca. Moves are naughty. Big moves are far naughtier. Went card dead half way through. Then had the entire table limp on my BB. Blinds were 200/400 and my stack was 6k. Can you guess what i did yet? Sadly J7o (although in remarkable good shape) was killed by a hero who called for his stack with 33. WP that man, go win........sweet FA. 350/1000

10pm. $27 RB 15k GTD Tribeca, no good. Table was full of good players who were never going to give me a stack. Didnt even bother rebuying. 200/240

10pm $200 UB FO. Had an ok tournament befroe serial button thief woke up with a hand when i thought A10sooooted was goood for a resteal from the BB. Wasnt, he had AQ, no miracles. 200/900 odd. On the plus side i did extract the MAXIMUM with quads. Called a preflop raise with 1010. Flop comes 1010A. I bet full pot, he comes OTT for the lot. I call, he has AK. HOHOHOHO you'll be alright.

11pm $600 FO Pokerface GF Satellite. Was looking forward to this as i thought it was my best opportunity for a seat this spring to a major comp. Ducked and dived early on, taking a lot of chips that were not mine by right as i (correctly) assumed that all of these satellite players would play ultra tight. Got a loverly double up later with K6o all-in from the BB v 88. Then listened to the whole table say what a donkey i was. eyyyyyawwww i replied, but donkeys get paid. KK next hand, AQ no good sunshine, ship-it, go play with ur PSP.
Then the weak players dried up, to be replaced with a whole different kettle of chips. Nightmar31 on Tribeca is a GREAT MTT player. only played with him twice but he is horrible. Just outplayed me big time. Pretty sure i got bluffed off a flop of JJ8 with the best hand. I had 1010. This makes 10 9 unlikely so i didnt think he was semi-bluffing with a str8 draw. Damnnit i wish id called after that i made a shocking error. Tried a re-steal with AJ (now THATS a donkey play) and got called by AQ. Great. Came 19th out of 100 or so but with 5 seat i should have done better.

$36 FO 5k GTD. Must stop playing this late on, got tired and donated my chips to a guy who played Aces really badly. Was fun really, i bet he thinks he played them superbly, in reality i just wanted to focus on the Ricky Hatton fight.

So for the month of Feb i am not going to play ANY tournaments. Only cash games for 1 month.
I have scraped my account down to 5k again (only $500 less than it was when i came back) and i shall be grinding 1/2 NL like a bot every night until i get 16k and then shall be moving up to 2/4 where i would LOVE to be playing again. In fact i really miss it, but thats life, we dont alwasy get what we want.

Going to Luton tonight for their £50 FO. Im hoping the cash game is soft afterwards so i can dip in.


On a totally seperate isssue a big congratufuckinglations to Julian Thew who has just had a baby. Well done that man.

out.

Well last night was fun. Opening table i thought id take my time to get a feel for the table and suss out where the chips were going ot come from. Second hand in i find AK. With 5k in chips and 45 minute blind levels combined with proper levels meant there was plenty of play for a £200 comp. I decided i was going to keep the pots small preflop and outplay my opponents postflop. I raised to 125 preflop and both the blinds came along. Board came 664 and i was out of there after a bet and a call from the other 2.
Second hand came 10 minutes in. Holding AQ i again raised to 125 preflop. Flop came AQQ. I checked the flop as did the other 2. The turn came another (J) diamond so i thought i should charga anyone drawing now and bet 2/3 pot. 1 caller who appeared to be a solid player. On the river a 10 diamonds came so i check with the intention of check raising. He bet 500 into an 800 pot. I min raised to 1000. He thought for a bit (i was hoping he had Q10/QJ) before going all-in. Now im scared as he could easily have aces. I call, he too has AQ.

Next hand of note was interesting. Holding Q9 in the SB i see a flop with 4 others for the minimum. Flop comes 952. I lead out as any 9 out there is most likely being played with an 8 or a 10. 2 callers. Turn comes a 3. I bet as this shouldnt have helped any reasonable holdings. 1 caller. River is a Queen. Im marginally scared of a set now but surely it would bet on the turn owing to the str8 possibilites opening up. I check and call a 200 bet into a 1500 pot. He has 53 for a turned 2 pair. Scary.


Then just as im starting to enjoy myself they move me. Great. Thanks for that, all my hard work focusing rendered useless.
Next hand of note was a hand against Ray from Luton, not a bad player by any means. I call a raise with A9h on my BB primarily to send a message to the other players that i will defend. Flop comes Q49 with 1 heart. I check, Ray makes a strange bet into the 1400 pot that i read for weakness. I call, turn comes an Ace. I check, Ray smiles and bets 1000. I raised now- which in hindsight was a crap move. He thinks about it, says he's sure i have AQ and folds.

My new table was a lot tougher, with a hell of a lot of strong aggressive players. My exit hand was a bit of a joke really. Some old boy raises in middle position the minimum amount. I read this for weakness and elect to take the pot down now or at least define myself as holding a big hand. With blinds at 150/300 i re-raise to 1800 to play, my stack is 6.5k. He calls. Im still certain im winning and put him on KQ/KJ. Flop comes 10,4,7 with 2 clubs. He checks, i go all-in--WHY WHY WHY>??? the pot was only 4k. He thinks about it then call with A7, which holds. Great. Not sure what i did wrong as the pot was already large enough to be critical to my stack but all-in was not the best move and probably looked desperate.

Played cash afterwards and have moderate success. Met James from poker night live who seems a nice enough guy and he's going to email me regarding a new site linking Doyles room and Negreanus site which should be interesting. On the second hand at this new table i hold 33 and see a multiway pot on my button for £21 (stacks £250+ deep). Flop comes 368 with 2 hearts. The action goes bet, raise, all-in, i call all-in and original raiser folds. Im up against AA and A8 which holds and i get a £900 pot shipped to me very quickly. Yum Yum.

Late on i lose a big pot to James when he makes a big overbet on the river that i make a crying call at when i know im beaten and should fold. It happens. Finished £200 up after the game turned a little sour with 1 guy getting fairly drunk and being a bit of a twat.

Saw a seriously funny pot. Resident fish who only turns up for the big comps sits down and tilts away about a grand before this pot. He has about £500 infront of him and calls a bet of £200 on the end on a board of 885J9 with, wait for it, QJ. He says he misread his hand and thought he had J10. LOL.

So got home about 7am this morning, read some hilarious stuff on the "shippit-holla crews website" christ i hate Americans but this is so funny i was almost in tears. Ill get the link for you, hold on. http://www.shipitholla.com/. Almost like a bad nightmare but good luck to them.

Tonight on the 15k and 10k i literally pissed away a big stack in the 15k when whilst trying to outplay a weak player with a big stack i forgot rule number 1. They always call.

Oh well, thats life and i can have a well earned break for a while.

GL to all of you grinding it out, ill report back in a week.

Another night of mild frustration with limited success. Played all the majors (including the 5k's) on Tribeca. Went out with the missus shopping earlier and got a real telling off "Alex i think you should stop being so cocky and play like you used to. Stop trying to outthink your opponents and be patient." I was so gobsmacked (Suzanne doesnt play poker) that i literally froze.

So after thinking about it long and hard i decided i'd have a night of real back to basics stuff. No continuation betting, no semi-bluffs, no stealing, no re-stealing, no squeeze plays and definitely no stop and go's. Just get your hands and get paid. Made 2 finals last night in the 15k and a minor 5k event. Sadly came 8th and 9th respectively.

There are just so many reasons why abc poker doesnt work. Against observant opponents you simply dont get paid. They fold all but premium to you.
You simply have to get paid when you get a monster. If you flop trips on a flushing board in a hu or 3 way pot, somethimes you have to give a free card to let someone catch a little something. I know that Stu Ungar was famous for slow-playing vulnerable hands in risky situations but im coming round to the idea. Ill probably start to play my monsters a little slower from now on, especially against known opponents.

The re-steal is the most powerful weapon in end game MTT poker. When in the blinds against noted blind thiefs, aggressive re-steals from the blinds are hugely worthwhile. At a rough guess from my own experience, id say 20% of re-steals get called. Obviously if you do get called ur in sh it creek as mateyboy found out last night when he tried it against me with 68s v KK but i commend his effort. So if you have one of those awkward middling stacks and cant find a hand, the re-steal is your ticket to a couple more orbits.
When we use 20% as a guideline we can draft a specific strategy for re-steal play. Id say that ideally you want to increase your stack by 30% minimum with a re-steal (to combat the fact that your tournament life is on the line in 1 single hand).
Given that only 20% of the time you will be called (up that to 30% if your image aint all that) and that even if you get called you have a chance of winning then the re-steal is a marvellous play.
So what hands should you be re-stealing with? Well now it gets a little more interesting. Given that it only really matters if you get called you want hands that have the best overall chance against the original raisers range. Obviously all premium hands are re-steal hands, although AA and KK should be flat called to allow the raiser to hang himself postflop. In a tough tournament KK flat calling is nice as it turns you from a 67% favourite over a hand like AJ preflop to an 87% favourite post flop if your opponent is one of those who uses massive continuation bets when he doesnt hit.
Other hands that are useful for re-steals are not ones that immediately come to mind. If you get called then original raiser has AJ+ or (normally) 88+. At a totally random guess id say ur up against a big ace 50% of the time, medium pp 25% and premium 25%. Against this range the best hands for your purposes are ones that dont contain face cards. Domination is what you want to avoid here. Ace rag is EXACTLY the hand you dont want to re-steal with. Same with KQ/QJ/KJ/A9. Hands like 10s9s 78o and the medium pockets are all likely candidates. Interestingly have a guess what the odds or AQoffsuit beating 78sooooted at showdown are*.

Also im becoming less inclined to try and outthink opponents in MTT play. So many players never even stop and think about what your hole cards might be that it is slightly obsolete.
In a cash game you get respect for hands you represent, in big field MTT's, people want to keep you squeeky clean. Previously whilst holding a hand like QJo on a flop Kh, 10c, 4h i would (depending on opponents raise) play with him. Say he raised 3/4 of the pot id put him on a made hand such as KQ/KJ and call with the intention of winning a big pot if i complete my hand or taking it off him if a scare card (in this case any ace or heart) fell on the turn/ maybe river (if he downscaled his flop bet). Lately iv found this just aint working. Too many players adopt a calling station mentality and wont say fold.

Ah well, night off the comp tonight to have a giggle in Luton and see if i can survive (ahem) the night. Not really, in reality im going to play a lot of pots preflop, outplay every mother fucking last one of them and take the £12k home tonight, who needs day 2 when the field is gone in 3 hours?? ;) confidence and the fun of dreaming about winning is half the fun.

GL all, ill report in tomorrow.

* AQo v 78s. 58% favourite. Bear that in mind.

Could be a bit of an upswing emerging. Played a couple of little $100 SnG's, won 2 out of 2.
Played the 10k gtd $100 Rebuy which was an awesome tournament. Got a lot of chips, then lost a couple of big pots which i should have got out the way of. I had a healthy stack and got re-raised all-in holding AK when down to 6 on the final table. Should i pass? I didnt, but only because i had a bit of history with the raiser. He has QQ, which holds and i get crippled.

In the 15 i was creeping towards the bubble with a healthy stack when i find KK in the BB and a big stack (slightly smaller than mine) open raises 5*BB. I shove. Hero insta calls with AK. You know the rest.
But i rebuilt with some aggressive bubble play and reforged an 80k stack when the average was 40k. Then lost a huge pot with 1010 v's Cutoffs all-in raise with A8. So I build back again and make the worst play of the night. I re-raise a cutoff with AJ and he shoves. I call with AJ now as the pot has got too big and dont get lucky. It was a tilt play as i'd just lost the huge pot on the 10k.

But i got cards and played well so im hopeful.

Tomorrow il be playing the 20k,15k,10k and 5k FO. Wednesday ill be off to Luton for their £200 Freeze, then Thursday for my last night of online poker before skiing.

Ok so im going through something a little more serious than a dry patch. Another fruitless evening where nothing really happened. Lost a 4 way pot for the chip lead in the 60k gtd for a stupid amount of chips. 45k of something, average at the time was 6. Not a lot i could do really, didnt think i was beat and wasnt, till the turn.

Holding 44 i limp with 4 others for 200 in MP. Flop comes 456. I dont pass sets in the rebuy period. Ever. So the SB goes checks, BB bets pot, UTG+1 calls, i go all-in for 8k into a 7k pot, Button calls, SB RE-RAISES ALL-IN (about now i think i might be behind) and the BB folds whilst UTG calls. Im up against some really super hands. The SB has A6. Well played. UTG+1 has AA. Well, thats how NOT to play aces. Button has, wait for it, J7. Q drumroll with a pathetic fking 3 on the river. Marvellous.

Other comps went shit, i didnt feel up to the challenge of the UB 200 or donating in the stars marathon. In the 20k i tried a bluff. But on weekends bluffs dont work. Too many numpties will call you down with ANYTHING.

Then in the Irish open satellite i made a re-steal with 56sooooted on my BB. My stack 4k , Buttons 5k. I know he's got fa. Seems he knows i have too and thinks for an age before calling me with K10 for 80% of his chips.

At least i learnt something this weekend. On Sunday comps play ABC till the donkeys have been eliminated and actually respect things like all-in and raise.

Booked 2 weeks in Thailand with the missus today. That will be the best part of 2 grand. Great.

So the bankroll has now dropped to $6k and an MTT win is needed if i am to continuae this. Otherwise, job hunting in Marxh/April looks likely.

At least i gave it a shot.

Just played the most technically perfect tournament iv ever donated in. Only came 19th but in the 15k gtd tonight i played really well. Re-stealing with the right regularity, only playing 2 tables at once enabling me to focus on the weak players, closely srutinising betting patterns, players i have notes on. Made it a lot easier and is probably why i find live poker so relaxing. The stress of mathematical knife edge calculations on 6 tables can be a real headache.

Exit hand was a fucker. Holding 89d i call a minimum raise on my BB from an active blind thief, my stack is 60k, blinds 3k,6k. Flop arrives 8h4s9h. I bet 12k into a 24k pot, hoping he puts me on a semibluff flush draw and raises to protect his hand (or what he thinks i think his hand is). He duly obliges, i re-raise all-in, he insta calls with A9. River A.
130k pot puts me second in chips and in a great position to get my 1st decent cash of 2007. As usual, suckout occurs and im history.
Just pokerstoved it and im an 80% fav.

So basically im grinding and i cant win a tournament for love nor money.

Big congratulations to Andy Ward for winning a cool $60k in the US and a WPT seat. Nice.

Hope Sunday is better. Must be great to be lucky.

Learnt that my favoured style of tournament play late on is controlled aggression. Tomorrow im going to play a $3 rebuy comp as an ultra-aggressor. Should be fun.

Just come back from a heavy drinking binge with some old mates. Was nice to catch up. Donked out of the 20k when AK met AQ on a J103 board and i was kinda pot commited after a shortie called all-in preflop.
Left my kid brother in chare of my other minor comps and he did well, winning me two chips and being unlucky late on in the 5k gtd. As i was getting changed i saw him get turned over with KK v's 2 mugs with A10, seeing the flop come A1010 was kinda emphatic. Later on he told me he got turned over in a AK v AJ fiasco. Beginning to think variance doesnt like my isdn number alot.

Next week got the £100 FO at the Vic on Monday and a £200 freezeout at Luton on Wednesday. After those donations ill be having a well earned break from poker in the alps.

But 1st, the small matter of the Sunday biggies. The $200 UB Sunday major will get played, along with the 60k gtd, i might play the party million but ill see how im feeling. The field is MAHUSIVE and it really is a test of stamina as much as anything else.

Good to see James "flushy" Dempsey is still in in the Bolton GUKPT and i hope the lad does well.

Hard graft. Been playing a lot of tournaments lately but have little/no form. Unsure why but pretty certain that its just a poor run at the moment. Obvously variance is huge in MTT's but i would have liked a win by now.

Played the Luton £10 PL game on Tuesday night. Really just a chance to let my hair down. Dave knocked me out fairly early doors after i made a bad call. Luckily for me, the welshmans form continues and he kindly offered to swap 20% with me before chopping it with Alan Geddis, a fine player. So that combined with a little profit from the cash game had me in a bouyant mood.

Beginning to think that maybe poker isnt for me long term. I'v made a few quid in the couple of months iv been playing, but the going is tough. The mental strain of winning and losing quite large amounts of money is taking a heavy toll on someone who is generally easy-going.

The good news is that next friday i go skiing- woohoo. Should be fantastic. Also, was planning to tak e me lady away to the maldives this easter for a couple of weeks. Seeing as that looks like cotsing about 3 grand, those plans are probably going to change. Egypt or Thailand look likely.
As i write im just approaching the 15k bubble, but with a shortish stack. Lets see if i can luckbox my way to a win. Seems to be what everyone else does.

Sunday's Session

Warning, serious bad beat stories. Bugger off now if you dont want to listen.
Ok, now this was another sickeningly frustrating evening where i coulnt get going in most of my tournies.

In the Tribeca $20k gtd. This was the only comp where i was legitimately eliminated. 1010 v KK was no good when i was short stacked, fair enough.

Tribeca $50k. 43/818. Made the money (like that matters). Lost a biggish pot with J10 v Q4 on a board of 4J8. In a BB v SB confontation he makes a move, i call, he rivers a Q.
Then later on i make a move with 92s and beat a guys A8 (only bit of fortune the entire night), but i was a full 40% so who gives a shit.
I get 0 hands for forever, then i get KK and get to 100k with average 60k. Table is absolutely loopy and i cant steal. I then find QJs and face a button raise form a player on 70k. He raises to 20k, i reraise all-in. He insta calls with K9 and i get no help. Not sure if his play is genius but i think its toss. He is ONLY beating a bluff and calling for his last chips. He is getting a price but he stil has a stack if he folds. Maybe im wrong.
So im down to 25k blinds go to 5/10k with 45 left i decide to shove with KQ. Guy re-raises to protect with 55? Great play, champion worthy. 5 on flop and im out. Really annoyed as i felt it was my night.

$5k $12 rebuy. 1010 v K9 on a 9 high flop for the chip lead. K on river. Great.

$24 FO. Holding 99 i cal a raise from early position raiser. Flop comes 678. He bets (looks like a weak continuation bet) i raise, he goes all-in. I think about it and make the call. He has AKo, turn A. Then he tells me im a fish for calling with nines. I ask him where he lives.

$15k GTD. 2 shockers. I get CL early on. Up to 20k average is 5k. Then i raise with AA. 1 caller on 10k. Flop comes AKJ. He check raises me all-in. I think about it, but i dont think he has Q10. I call, he has K10, and duly hits a Q on the turn.
Later on i get AA again (hate this fking hand). I raise big preflop. Same caller. Flop comes KJ9. He checks, i overbet the pot by *2 for 15k into 9k pot. He waits, then calls with AJ. Turn J.

Irish open Supersatellite. $200 rebuy. Get a really nice stack of 14k. 70 players left and 8 $6500seats. Im in 8th position so feeling happy. Steal a few blinds here and there. Then i get 88 and raise from the hijack 3*BB. BB goes all-in for 7k more. I think about it for a long time. Im getting an ok price and i think he thinks iv been at it. I call. He has 77, flops a 7. 20k pot goes his way. From here i think im on my way to ireland as would have been CL.

On nights like this i feel so sapped. How can i continue to get the money in as a fav then consistenly get beaten by TOTAL mugs. 77 guy immediately says i shouldnt call. Fuck off, give me a 18.8% luckbox outdraw then the rub down.

On the plus side i am outplaying 95% of the players in these comps now. And my feel is really good. Laid down Queens after a re--raise form a good player and he showed me AA.

Got check raised by a strong tight player and laid down 1010 on a bord of 892.

Sooner or late rim gonna get going.

But for now ill have to keep grinding like a mug. Sundays are always so toss.

Iv got this pokerface satelite coming up soon but need a win this week if im going to make it to Bolton for the GUKPT. Really want to play the Main event as im feeling really strong.

Just been reading rick trigg aka Claimers blog and a neat little article to anyone who struggles with short stack play. Also go and have a look at Andy Ward's very very good articles.

So here it is, mercilessly cut and pasted..

"Invariably at some stage of an mtt, be-it online or in a brick and mortar casino, you will have to deal with short stack play.
.
This may be due to a bad beat or a series of which or just a bad play on your behalf.
When short stacked the number one priority is not to panic. About 70% of online players will panic when short stacked and shove their chips in on the next hand or with any ace. Many authors like TJ cloutier and Doyle Brunson will talk about ten big blinds being a danger level, of course it depends on the magnitude of the tournament and of course the individuals aspirations in said tournament. If a player wants to just sneak into the money then 99 times out of 100 that is what they will do and will often be all in on their bb.
For players who like myself always set out with the objective of winning a tournament I would say that 5 BB is panic station!.
This however depends on the table you are sitting at. If it is possible to push all in and the bb pass to your raise then that is only a good thing, otherwise you are forced to find hands. My advice is try to avoid pushing with rag aces unless in late position, if a move is needed, say in the next 4 hands before the Blinds come round then I would find a hand like JT suited sufficient. This is because if you are called by a small pair you are slight favourite and with a rag ace its near enough even money.
If your preferred tactic when ss is to push all in a few times to pick up the blinds then make sure you have at least suited cards (if rags) or some sort of connectors to open up the straight possibility.
A move of mine sometimes when ss is to push all-in blind in 1st position.
This may seem like a very kamikaze move however there is a little bit of method behind it. A fist position move often indicates a strong hand and if you pick up a caller often the blinds will pass giving you extra value in the pot. This move however should only be used when you have made a conscious decision to not allow the blinds to pass through you again.
Often when ss you are going to have to gamble, but make sure you have been concentrating on the table to see who are the more passive players and who are the more aggressive, I.e. who is likely to call your raise and who is not. Another very important thing is to try and push your chips in against one opponent. It is much better to get your chips in with 7 2 vs. one opponent than JJ against 5,
So The next time you are ss in a tournament try and figure out a way to get yourself out of it. Look round the table and pick targets to steal blinds and avoid raising loose players blinds with garbage. If you pick up a big hand deliberate for a few seconds and shove in, often you will be called by a hand which you are dominating."


As a side note im really enjoying 4-tabling cash at the $1/2 NL levels. The play is softer, the swings more bearable and the income steadier. Big night tomorrow with the $50 on Tribeca and also the Irish open supersat.
On a side note i wanted to share a gem i used the other night on the final table of the 15k.
I limped after an UTG limper with 44. Another limper (get a lot of play at these final tables now) and 5 of us see a sexy flop of 3c4d10c. BB bets 50k into a 80ish pot. I raise all-in another 200k hoping that he thinks im making a move. Then as luck would have it Kev-Colch from Blondepoker who has been trying to guess my hands all night types "what you got strong?". So i type fd hoping mateyboy will have just enough intelligence to read that as flush draw. He duly does and calls with Q8. Shiiiipppppp-iiiiitttttt.

Footy tomorrow night, ill be getting fit beofre skiing. Also recently spoken to a mate of mine and thinking of taking the missus to the maldives for a couple of weeks. Ill see how this week goes, should be a biggun.

Had a fun night last night. Won approx $500 on the 1/2 NL tables. Then won a $600 seat to the end of the month pokerface ssatellite.
The played the 15k gtd, came 4th for $1300 but should have won it. Disappointed as the money is in 1st place.

Ah well.

Ok so its 5.38am uk time and im getting up for a spot of hard graft today ripping out a bathroom. Should be fun.
On the poker front i went to bed last night thinking deeply about the long-term profitability of cash games.....and the fact that i think my game is unsustainable from time to time. My best results come when i sit down ready for a very long session. My worst come after a long night of tournament poker (session 2 of a normal night). It really is sad that some nights i go to bed wondering how i literally bled money.
So for the next 2 weeks im gonna drop a level on the cash to 1/2NL and play a whole heap more MTT's/SnG's.
MTT's have always been my first love and im going to get back into them with a vengeance. Ill be withdawing a bit today to fund a couple of live satellites to the GUKPT and we shall see how it goes.

I instantly feel happier.

Going to play Luton this Saturday for their £10 rookie night and try to rekindle the "fun" element of poker whilst introducing a young gun who has caught the bug to the game.

Always the way. Followed up a good session with 2 shockers that have left me speechless. No outdraws, just my own poor play. Got fked for 2 buy-ins with set over set in about 20 minutes. Then on the 1 table i had a big stack on i get KK preflop. A player with $800 infront of him (which means he's prolly good as max buy-in is 400) limps, i raise to $20 on the button, he re-pops it 60. I call telling myself i need a king on the flop. Flop comes junk. He bets 1/2 the pot, i go all-in, he types "have you got a set". I now realise i really really am fked here and that he has AA. So i type "call and find out" hoping to put him off. He calls after a few more moments, i dont get uber lucky and thats that. Run the second nuts into the nuts a couple of times more and that'll be £2k gone in 2 days. Marvellous.
Its at times like this i think i really have no real edge in these fking games at all. Seriously considering going back to the SnG's. Trouble is the $200 take ages to fill on VC and even the $100's take a lifetime. Does this mean i might be leaving for Pokerstars. Maybe.

So now iv got a weekend lined up that involves being a total ass and set-mining my bankroll back up before the Sunday mojors and a satellite to the Irish Open. Might go to luton this Saturday, i think i could lay down KK preflop v the right player live.

So, all in all, downbeat, downcast and needing a lift. Would be nice to win an MTT.

Great start to 2007.

WOW. Just played a superlative cash session. One of the nicest iv ever had. Played ABC poker and good god i got paid. I guess all the time i spend fking about donating has its positives.

Trying to improve long-term focus lately, i'v found through mapping profits that the 1st hour i play is always good, then it drops off a little through the middle stage, before peaking at the end.

So iv started appliying a few tips Snoopy gave a while back, namely, much more regular breaks and no TV.

Went deep in the 20k last night but no good. I tried the right play on the wrong guy (he had a big stack and could "afford" to keep me honest). Have learnt form the mistake.

So so. Came second in the $200 FO on Tribeca the other night for $2k, and won a couple of little feeder comps whilst watching match otd last night (Irish open super, got my ticket fot the 50k on sunday for $3 ;).

Cash game form has dropped heavily but in a game with such massive variance i cannot complain. This pot hurt me however. Im going to start copying the hand histories so you can see just how loco some of these players are. Friday night (i think) and im at a $2/$4 NL game with about $800 in front of me. Guy to my right has just quadrupled up with AA after a major mistake by his part (not betting preflop) and him sucking out. He has about $1000. In the BB with KK and i face a raise up to $20. I call, partly for deceptive purposes and partly as im out of position. Flop comes magical- KJ9. Dont like the connected nture of the board (ie Q10 has me rogered) but these are the flops where you make money. I check, he bets pot, i call. Turn comes an 8, ie a brick unless he has the unlikely holding of 107. I check, he goes all-in for his stack and the pot is only $150. Im trying to find a fold as i hate the massive overbet with nuts type players and this could be one of them. I eventually call and am shown AA. He spikes another on river. Ouch.

Similarly im upping the frequency of my raises and also raising a lot more with premium hands that (although i know i shouldnt) i sometimes marry. I typically like to raise enough so that smalled pp's (the hands i fear most) are not getting the 7 1/2 - 1 odds to hit.

Not really in the mood to type anything interesting and been on a roof all day long helping my Missus Father take a wall down so im gonna sign out before i write any more boring shite.

As a side note i have a couple of links added and you might want to check out 2 of the best MTT players iv seen in the form of Claimer and Royal Flush.

Just to cheer everybody up i thought id post some eye candy, enjoy.