Shit at poker as always but better at life

Well a week makes a bit of a difference.. I had a great talk with my best mate and it really helped me to talk to someone. I haven't played poker in a while and to be honest i don't think i will to the new year. I think i've hit a plateau with the games i'm playing and will not get better. I need to evaluate my game as i play the heads up games in autopilot now which is bad.

I will go over my goals for 2007 that i posted in January so we can all have a laugh!! My life has turned upside down since then so it'll be funny to see what i was projecting to win!!

Still Shit at Poker... and Life

I always seem to do well playing $20 heads up on stars, won $60 tonight in about an hour.. My problem is i haven't been playing very much. Since splitting up with the ex in January i have lived on my own. I'm not very good at that so stay away at mates, or away with work or in Banbury where my office is based and this girl i am kind of seeing (not that she knows this i think lol)

I'm in a bad place in my life at the moment.. I have a few minor problems and 1 super huge massive problem that has huge problems attached to it. I think it is now at the stage where i am going to need some professional help, and i need to tell my mum which i am dreading, but it's one of those problems that is so seriuos you dread telling but they'll really help you. That doesn't stop me not wanting to tell her though.

I like this blog, it is a good way to write the things i think, no close friends read this or aliases so i can air my issues, in a way it's like text councelling...

I'll keep posting when i'm home, am now off to Big Macs anonymous...

Come on ricky hatton...

I'm shit at poker....

i get dillusions of grandure at poker and win a few quid and suddenly think i'm Phil Ivey and play £7 million billion pound limits and get stuffed... I have no money at the moment so am playing $20 heads up STT on stars and grinding out a $200 a month profit :-)

This time next year rodney...

I'd Cry if i want laughing so much.........

Just had the worst game i think of ALL TIME!!!! $50 turbo heads up on Pokerstars.. ALL of these are from the same game.. honestly.. how many times...

PokerStars Game #12993180709: Tournament #65940131, $55.00+$2.50 Hold'em No Limit - Match Round I, Level IV (50/100) - 2007/11/02 - 11:00:20 (ET)Table '65940131 1' 2-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: United113 (2560 in chips)
Seat 2: Kip1972 (440 in chips)
United113: posts small blind 50
Kip1972: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to United113 [Ah 6h]
United113: raises 400 to 500
Kip1972: calls 340 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [2h As 8h]
*** TURN *** [2h As 8h] [Js]
*** RIVER *** [2h As 8h Js] [Ks]
*** SHOW DOWN ***Kip1972: shows [Qc Th] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
United113: shows [Ah 6h] (a pair of Aces)
Kip1972 collected 880 from pot*** SUMMARY ***Total pot 880
Rake 0 Board [2h As 8h Js Ks]
Seat 1: United113 (button) (small blind) showed [Ah 6h] and lost with a pair of AcesSeat 2: Kip1972 (big blind) showed [Qc Th] and won (880) with a straight, Ten to Ace

Honestly?!?!?!?!?!

PokerStars Game #12993192705: Tournament #65940131, $55.00+$2.50 Hold'em No Limit - Match Round I, Level IV (50/100) - 2007/11/02 - 11:01:19 (ET)Table '65940131 1' 2-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: United113 (1970 in chips)
Seat 2: Kip1972 (1030 in chips)
Kip1972: posts small blind 50
United113: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to United113 [Ad 9d]
Kip1972: calls 50
United113: raises 1870 to 1970 and is all-in
Kip1972: calls 930 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [Ts Jc Th]
*** TURN *** [Ts Jc Th] [9c]
*** RIVER *** [Ts Jc Th 9c] [Qd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
United113: shows [Ad 9d] (two pair, Tens and Nines)
Kip1972: shows [4d Kd] (a straight, Nine to King)
Kip1972 collected 2060 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***Total pot 2060 Rake 0
Board [Ts Jc Th 9c Qd]
Seat 1: United113 (big blind) showed [Ad 9d] and lost with two pair, Tens and NinesSeat 2: Kip1972 (button) (small blind) showed [4d Kd] and won (2060) with a straight, Nine to King

WWWWWHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTT????????????????????????

PokerStars Game #12993208479: Tournament #65940131, $55.00+$2.50 Hold'em No Limit - Match Round I, Level V (75/150) - 2007/11/02 - 11:02:35 (ET)Table '65940131 1' 2-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: United113 (765 in chips)
Seat 2: Kip1972 (2235 in chips)
United113: posts small blind 75Kip1972: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to United113 [5c Ah]
United113: raises 615 to 765 and is all-in
Kip1972: calls 615
*** FLOP *** [Qd Ks 7s]
*** TURN *** [Qd Ks 7s] [Qs]
*** RIVER *** [Qd Ks 7s Qs] [2s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Kip1972: shows [Jc Qc] (three of a kind, Queens)
United113: shows [5c Ah] (a pair of Queens)
Kip1972 collected 1530 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***Total pot 1530 Rake 0 Board [Qd Ks 7s Qs 2s]Seat 1: United113 (button) (small blind) showed [5c Ah] and lost with a pair of QueensSeat 2: Kip1972 (big blind) showed [Jc Qc] and won (1530) with three of a kind, Queens

UNBELIEVABLEEEEELELELELELELELELELE

Blogger Tournament on Stars

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 9324684

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 9324684

Not so good

Well i've not updated for a while so here goes and i could really do with your help and comments. This post is going to be like councilling for me, I don't know you reader, i may have had blog conversations but i am going to lay out, completely honestly, my life and any comments would be good.... This may be a long one....

If you have read my blog then you will know that me and my long term girlfriend split up in january. Even though we were having issues, i think one of the reasons was my poker play. She went to New York for 3 months august 2006 and the month before she went Virgin Poker were running one of their STT challenges to win en EPT copenhagen seat. Virgin had run one of these before with 2 WSOP side event seats as prizes along with flights and accomodation etc and, as a poker player, would have loved to have gone. Now i don't see myself as a great player that could win a big satellite to win a seat, but the system Virgin were running (STT results: 10 player STT win 5 points, 5 player STT win 3 points and heads up STT win 1 point meant that by just amount of play you could win) i felt that i could win. It just so happened that during the first challenge which I had started ok, myself and my now ex misses had a 2 week holiday to the bahamas booked. Now i don't like sitting on the beach all day every day, so some days i would go and sit in their internet room and play poker. It was a windowless room where i couldn't concentrate properley and realising my misses was getting pissed off by this I stopped playing. this however made me annoyed slightly as i really really wanted to go to the WSOP. Next time Virgin ran this tournament i thought THIS TIME!!!... So the month before she was going I was playing all the time and, ven though this will sound selfish, it was HER leaving for 3 months not me and she commented later on that i was more interested in the poker then her. I ended up splitting the prize with m3monster http://m3monster.blogspot.com/ and was told by Virgin that i could go to the WSOP 2007 and play a side event. My misses came back and we eventually split up and i don't know whether this was a reason, but at the time all i wanted was to be a pro poker player.

I started playing more when she left, all the time playing only $20 heads up sit and go tournaments on Pokerstars and was constantly winning. Once i tried moving up to $50 and lost a bit so moved straight back. I was winning a bit, but nowhere near enough to live on, around $400 a month every month. I don't know why but i always thought that to be a pro and good poker player you had to play cash games so i started playing cash on Full Tilt (to get rakeback) and Virgin. I would win a lot and then lose it all and more with hands i couldn't get away with. I would hold AA for example, the flop would come K 6 9 rainbow, all would go in with me thinking AK and my opponant would hold KK. Another point was when i had AK and the flop came A K 7 rainbow, i raise guy goes all in, how do i get away??? I call and he holds 77. The biggest pot i lost which was really bad was holding jack 10 suited. No raise before the flop and i'm in the big blind, the flop comes J 10 10, i bet, guy raises, i re raise and he pushes, i call turn 8 river K. No i know i did the right thing and was outdrawn but when you win those hands and win $50 and i lost $500 to a $1000 pot on this hand it's difficult to get back.

I bought poker tracker and linked it to Full tilt and played cash on there. I have been playing a while so played $0.25 - $50 and $1-$2 and was up for a bit but now after around 3,000 hands am $1000 down. I played $2 - $4 once and in the first hand lost the buy in when my AA was beaten by KK. My problem seems to be winning not a lot with premium hands and either being outdrawn or not being able to get away winning hands. I cashed high in a MTT on Pokerstars and started being stupid and playing $50, $110 and $220 heads up STT on Pokerstars and was doing ok but that was way out of my bankroll. What do i do? Can i be succesfull playing heads up STT or do i play that just to win $400 a month?? How do i get away from big hands like listed above???

I recently haven't played much at all, i met another girl who i have just split up with yesterday. She kept telling stories that i believed were not true, culminating in her telling me last night she was pregnant as i was walking out. She called later and i told her i was going to go round there in the morning with a pregnancy test, and half an hour later she was on the phone with her neighbour telling me she was having a miscarriage....

With everything thats happened in my personell life i haven't played that much and i think i got disallusioned with the cash game defeats. One thing that poker traker did highlight was the amout of rake you actually pay playing cash games... Fuck me... You don't miss it when they take it but it does accumalte a LOT.. I did have a thought though.. Would you like it if the poker room took DOUBLE rake as you don't miss it when they take it, but give you half of it back every month??? That would give you a nice bonus from money you don't miss when they take??

Anyway my head is fucked from everything that has happened, but please comment on anything that i have said, poker related or not, as any support would be greatly appreciated.

Also i have been out with a girl from my work. nothing happened but we got on really well and i really like her (she'll probably turn out to be a mentalist knowing my past history..). The issue is, is that i am 28 and she is 18 but an old 18 if that makes sense. Now if i was 40 ans she was 30 or 35 and 25 then i have no problem with that.. To be honest i don't have a problem with her being 18 but some people I have mentioned it to do.. What do you all think??? Is 18 to young as they are still not classed as an adult till 21??? She is an old 18 though so mature, funny and we get on well??? What do you all think????

She's also unbelievably attactive which helps...

Rant over

Matt

Feeling good and need help with figures!!!

Well i've finally started doing things a bit more correctly. By this i mean i have finally set up a poker tracker system (poker tracker) and have started playing at a site that gives me rakeback and started playing there. It's funny how i seem to play more sensibly when i keep looking at my tracker!!!

So far i have played 1154 hands at $1 - $2 short handed and have won $606.70 with a 13.14 BB/100 hands.

I realise thats not brilliant but it's a profit!! I never realised how much you actually paid in rake.. $223 so far... That to me shows that a $600 profit isn't great. I will receive my rakeback on that though.

I know it is a very very low sample size i have, how many hands do you need to play before you have a good sample size??

What is a good BB/100 Hand rate???

When will it change........

Do you know what, it's so difficult to win a poker tournament. You think your luck must change but it never does.

180 seat $20 Tournament on Pokerstars

7 Left

1st - $1080
7th - $126

Observe....:

PokerStars Game #11341788614: Tournament #57513295, $20+$2 Hold'em No Limit - Level XI (500/1000) - 2007/08/06 - 13:59:19 (ET)Table '57513295 9' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: United113 (25881 in chips)
Seat 2: SyraDKE (35252 in chips)
Seat 3: POMatty (18393 in chips)
Seat 6: Sgt Mjr BJL (34777 in chips)
Seat 7: tschaessman (40648 in chips)
Seat 8: cantseeme1 (72843 in chips)
Seat 9: Henchen (42206 in chips)
United113: posts the ante 100
SyraDKE: posts the ante 100
POMatty: posts the ante 100
Sgt Mjr BJL: posts the ante 100
tschaessman: posts the ante 100
cantseeme1: posts the ante 100
Henchen: posts the ante 100
POMatty: posts small blind 500
Sgt Mjr BJL: posts big blind 1000
*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to United113 [Js Ad]
tschaessman: calls 1000
cantseeme1: folds
Henchen: folds
United113: raises 4000 to 5000
SyraDKE: folds
POMatty: folds
Sgt Mjr BJL: folds
tschaessman: calls 4000
*** FLOP *** [Th 3c Ac]
tschaessman: checks United113: bets 8000
tschaessman: raises 27548 to 35548 and is all-in
United113: calls 12781 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [Th 3c Ac] [Jh]
*** RIVER *** [Th 3c Ac Jh] [Qh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***tschaessman: shows [8h Ah] (a flush, Ace high)
United113: shows [Js Ad] (two pair, Aces and Jacks)
United113 said, "for ****s sake"
tschaessman collected 53762 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***Total pot 53762 Rake 0 Board [Th 3c Ac Jh Qh]
Seat 1: United113 showed [Js Ad] and lost with two pair, Aces and Jacks
Seat 2: SyraDKE (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: POMatty (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: Sgt Mjr BJL (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: tschaessman showed [8h Ah] and won (53762) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 8: cantseeme1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Henchen folded before Flop (didn't bet)

For fucks sake indeed

how did he think he was ahead... Out in 7th

Now have a $3000 Free role to play for the top 30 players during july on Virgin..

Need to relax for the next 30 mins..lol

Blog Idea

Now i have had my blog for a while and i read other peoples. I have had an idea today and wondered if anyone was interested in it.

I update my blog as often as i can, normally once or twice a week. There are some hardcore bloggers who update their blogs more often however normally people don't so you check for updates and it's the same post you read before. On these blogs, unless it's a mental scary blog like Ed Hollis's (88% concentration) then you get the same type of reports from the same people all the time, how much they have won, bad beats etc.

What my idea is is to get 4 or 5 bloggers who update about as often as i do, and actually have the SAME blog. This way we can create something more interesting with more frequent posts about different games and the different levels the bloggers play at.

Surely this will be more interesting to people???

If anyone is interested in this (you don't have to cancel your own blog if you don't want to, just update every so often on another) please post a message and i'll see what responce i get.

How do you get away????

Well the cash games have been getting me down a bit. I always get caught out in the same way. I build nicely and profit well then get stung for everything...

Example:

Dealt AsKs

Flop comes Ac Kh 9d

All the chips go in and he has a set of nines.

This keeps happening, i really can't see how you can get away from it?

Dealt QQ

Flop 4 7 10

you raise someone re raises, what do you do??? I really can't get away from these?

So i think i'm about even for the month now, played a few MTT and got busted, it beggers belief the calls some people make... $5000 gtd rebuy on boss, 223 entries 50 left, dealt KQ flop K Q 9, relatively short stacked (5000) blinds 300 600, 2400 in the pot so it was a large all in move.. Guy calls with 7 7 and hit a 7 on the river.. How can you think you are ahead in that situation?? Is it the limits i play?? $10 rebuy...

Going to take a break, find myself playing to often and it is starting to get me down, i might take up something i may enjoy more and start punching myself repeatadly in the head...

Update 5

Taken some really bad beats and lost the bankroll!!

Am still up about $300 for the month with the money i withdrew. Will take a couple of days break and try again

Update 4

Money removed!! Whats the point of making money if i don't use it?? I'd probably lose it all anyway!!

Tickets bought for The Twang, Ash, Editors and the Stereophonics

BANKROLL - $686

REMOVED - $509

Update 3

Well i've not played for the weekend as i was in Portugal. I played this morning and couldn't really get into it. I shouldn't play when i'm like this...



Lost a bit! still up for month..



BANKROLL - $542

Update again - Got my head together and started playing again. It's funny how I don't seem to know when i'm in the wrong frame of mind to be playing and when i'm in the right frame... Played some $2-$4 and am up to over what i was on last update but not by much. It's funny though, when i was down to $500 i thought "you've lost $600 (£300) you could have done loads with that and should of taken it out.. Now i am back up to that do i take it out or keep it in??

BANKROLL - $1235

Update 2

Only played for an hour or so today. Started off on $1-$2 and dropped half a buy in.. i really hate that game!! Moved to $2 - $4 and won a few big hands. Noticably there was a raise and re raise and i has aces so i pushed all in, one fold and a guy called for about $450 and had 10 10.. Decided to quit whilst i was way ahead!!

BANKROLL - $1192

Update 1

Played some $0.50 - $1 on Virgin first and took the $200 down to $55. I don't know what it is with the lower levels, the calls people make are unbelievable. You can't over bet the pot to get people off draws and ace rag seems to be everyone's favourite hand.

Stupidly (even though it worked) i took the last $50 and moved to a $1 - $2 table and stuck in on there and within about half an hour i had built it up to around $350. Am going to quit soon after a relatively succesful first day, almost doubling my initial bankroll

BANKROLL - $394

UPDATE --- PLAYED A BIT MORE AT $2 - $4 WHICH I REALLY LIKE AND BOOSTED UP AGAIN.

BANKROLL - $791

Variance and Bank Roll Challenge

Well i cleared all my bankroll as i needed the money. Playing the Cash games i was playing was fine but the variance was huge... I was up a lot then level and ended up down slightly after i lost a big pot with aces.

So i have left $200 in my Virgin account and i am going to build up gradually and see where i can end up at the end of July.

Will post regulaly and let you know

BANKROLL - $200

Virgin $2-$4

Well i was up about $1000 yesterday on Virgin $2-$4 cash. I have stopped playing today about $250 up.

I was doing much better and was about $850 up when i got dealt ace 3.. I i raised from the small blind and the big blind called..

Flop 33 A..

basically all the chips went in and he spiked a king on the river to make a bigger full house.. That was a $900 pot so if i win that i'm well up but these things happen..

A $250 profit for the day is fine by me...

I seem to find the $2-$4 tables easier to play then the lower limts as there are less idiots and everything seems to be going well at the moment...

UPDATE - JUST AFTER WRITING THIS WON A BIG POT WITH TRIP 3'S NOW $527 UP FOR THE DAY!!

Up.. and Down...

Well i have started playing cash games for the last few days...

On Pokerstars yesterday i played a variety of $1-$2 up to $2-$4. No when you play heads up sit and go's there isn't much variety in winnings. I win constantly just not a lot...

Yesterday i managed to blow $900 on stars so i fired up Virgin today and played some $2-$4 and $3-$6 and am $950 up for the day..

All this really shows me is that i need to find a site that offer a good rakeback deal now i am playing cash at these limits... Stars don't, boss might if i push them but i will have a scout around for the best deals..

Any ideas?? Do they automatically transfer the rakeback into your account??

Glastonbury and Vegas

Well i've not played too much poker since my last post as i've been at Glastonbury, so as i write this i am still trying to de mud myself...

It was ok and Pete Docherty is a fucking idiot...

I am supposed to going to Vegas this week but after checking flights they are now stupidly expensive. If virgin had given me the money in time they were £500 are now well over a grand so i'm not sure if i'm going to go or not...

I'd like to go but it'll mean forking out my own pocket which is bad at this precise moment...

Pokerstars $2-$4

Well i was getting a bit bored playing heads up all the time so i decided to play some cash games on pokerstars.

I sat at a 6 seater $2-$4 table and bought in for the maximum of $400. I had this up quite quickly to around $660 when this hand happened...

PokerStars Game #10510420812: Hold'em No Limit ($2/$4) - 2007/06/19 - 06:54:48 (ET)Table 'Dejanira' 6-max
Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: poonjockey ($499.30 in chips)
Seat 2: OZlander ($102.20 in chips)
Seat 3: SFCellman ($794.60 in chips)
Seat 4: tom90cu ($128 in chips)
Seat 5: capaneo ($407.20 in chips)
Seat 6: United113 ($664.10 in chips)
tom90cu: posts small blind $2
capaneo: posts big blind $4
OZlander: posts small & big blinds $6
*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to United113 [Jc Js]
United113: raises $12 to $16
poonjockey: folds OZlander: folds
SFCellman: calls $16tom90cu: calls $14
capaneo: folds
*** FLOP *** [Ac Tc Jd]
tom90cu: checks
United113: bets $44
SFCellman: calls $44
tom90cu: folds
*** TURN *** [Ac Tc Jd] [Qd]
United113: checks SFCellman: bets $134.60
United113: calls $134.60
*** RIVER *** [Ac Tc Jd Qd] [Qh]
United113: bets $469.50 and is all-in
SFCellman: calls $469.50
*** SHOW DOWN ***United113: shows [Jc Js] (a full house, Jacks full of Queens)
SFCellman: mucks hand
United113 collected $1351.20 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***Total pot $1354.20 Rake $3 Board [Ac Tc Jd Qd Qh]
Seat 1: poonjockey folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: OZlander folded before Flop
Seat 3: SFCellman (button) mucked [Kc 6c]
Seat 4: tom90cu (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 5: capaneo (big blind) folded before FlopSeat 6: United113 showed [Jc Js] and won ($1351.20) with a full house, Jacks full of Queens

Now the call on the turn was a bit loose as i put a king in his hand for the straight but figured if the board paired i'd clean him out which is what happened so i had huge implied odds...

I think this is actually the biggest amount i have won from a single hand

FOR FUCKS SAKE!!!!!!!!!!

This is getting beyond a joke

$100 5 seater STT. 1st prize $350 2nd $150

3 Left i'm on big blind

Dealt KcQc

Guy has same chips as me and moves in, i call

He has Queen 7

flop 7 k 7

Honestly everytime at higher stakes

It really can't be right.........

I give up...

For fucks sake.. honestly

I give up at the moment, i really do...

Why is it that every big pot i play i just get completely sucked out, it's unbelivable

Was about level for the day playing $50 Heads up sit and go's and $110 heads up turbo sit and go's and decided to play some $1 - $2 cash on poker stars. Was playing about $215 when i get dealt Ks Jh in the big blind. 1 player minimum raises so i call and 2 see the flop which comes Kd 4h jd. I bet guy re raises and i push all in, turn 7d river 10 d. He shows king jack with the fucking king of diamonds so i lose wto the flush ith the same fucking hand.. Minus $200.

Honestly why does this happen everytime i play higher limits or for the big pots???

It's really starting to fuck me off

Play More!!!!

Morning...

I have finally worked out how i am going to win more money at poker!!! and that is to play more...

I'm still playing $20 heads up games on pokerstars, after the email conversations i had with the poker room manager at Virgin there still has been no change in the heads up games there. I know this is going to make me sound really big headed but i am so confident at them moment playing these games on pokerstars and i feel i am better than anyone i play. I'll list my sharkscope stats below which i think are ok but please feel free to rip them apart and let me know what you think of them.. Should i move up limits? Are they good or average or poor??

Games played Av Profit Av Stake Av R.O.I Total profit

501 $3 $21 17% $1,632

Heads up games played 486
Won 295 lost 191

I'm also playing 5 seater SNG on Virgin and profiting on that, my last 8 results on sharkscope are:

5 seater $20 SNG, Profit $48
5 seater $20 SNG, Profit -$22
5 seater $20 SNG, Profit $48
5 seater $20 SNG, Profit -$22
5 seater $20 SNG, Profit $48
5 seater $20 SNG, Profit -$22
5 seater $20 SNG, Profit -$22
5 seater $20 SNG, Profit $48

So $104 profit

I have finally heard from Virgin last Friday. They said they will transfer $4000 into my virgin account to pay for thge WSOP vegas trip. I plan to play at event 49 a NLHE 3 day event but that stars in a couple of weeks and i still have nothing booked and they money hasn't been transferred so virgin and me better pull our fingers out quickly...

Update - WSOP still not getting anywhere...

Well i haven't been playing an awful lot in the last couple of weeks. What i have been doing when i have been playing is either playing 5 handed $20 STT for an hour on Virgin and see how much i am up or down in that time frame. I have been up every session but should have really won more. When i get down to 3 left (2 paid) i find myself being too aggressive, should i get into the money first and then try to win or is it right trying to win all the way through even if it means going out on the bubble???

I have also been playing $20 heads up games on Full tilt and Pokerstars and been doing ok.

I still haven't had confirmation from Virgin about the WSOP side event. This has been going on for a while now and the tournament is approaching rapidly...

Virgin Poker STT Challenge and South Africa

Well they posted the results for the 3rd week of the STT challenge and i came 4th with 100 points... I only played for a day and a half and thought i'd walk it... whoopsssss. I can't play next week so i'll give it a good push on the final week, not that i'm too bothered as the prize is entry to a WSOP event i'm already going to be in, i just figured i could swap one for something else!!.

I deposited some money into full tilt recently to see what it was like and to be honest, i now find all these sites to be much of a muchness... i have double my initial deposit of $100 in a couple of days so thats not bad. I have started playing short handed single table tournaments as the heads up was doing my head in a bit...

Anyway on to the holiday... I had a great time!! I started off in Cape Town for 3 days and did all the usual tourist stuff such as table mountain and Robben Island where Mandela was in prison. I met some cool people from Bristol who were over there scuba diving so spent the evenings with them. I also did the great white shark cage diving which is a must for anyone who goes to south africa, it was superb!!



After being in Cape Town i drove up the garden route to Knysna where i stayed with some friends. From there i went to a few wildlife places where i also did a cage dive with crocodiles and stroked some pussies (cheethas and lions...!!!) and also did the bungee jump off Bloukrans Bridge.. 216 metres and fucking shite myself.... If you want to see the video (from a distance it is me..honest!) please click here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmXXlgju4TA

i also did the skydive over Plettenburg Bay which was really good fun but not quite as scary as the bungee....

I then drove 8 and 1/2 hours to Bloemfontein to stay with friends of a friend i have never met... These two girls opened the door and i thought "Thank you god"". Was expecting two mingers and well see below...

Would you look at those puppies.....

Safe to say my next trip is being planned as i write this....

Virgin STT Challenge

Virgin are doing their STT challenge with 2 WSOP trips available as prizes.

The structure is slightly different to last time, there are 5 weekly winners who then play an final STT. I wasn't going to bother but then realisedi could hit the type of points needed to reach the final playing madly for only a couple of days.. i had to play non stop for a month last time...

So i am currently playing 2 5 seater STT and a heads up whilst trying to write this so i'll update later and let you know how i get on...

I'm Back

Well i'm back from south africa and had a great time.... There was loads to do and i met a load of really nice people, i'll post some videos and photos when i get myself sorted out.

I didn't play poker once whilst i was there, i have come back and got no further really with Virgin and the WSOP... I did have some communication with the poker room manager about certain games but he has not spoken to me since i told him what limits i play!!!

Virgin are running their STT tournament again until the end of may, slightly different to last time but i think i'll give it a pop anyway...

Holiday!!

Well i'm off on holiday today, i fly to Cape Town in about 6 hours and arrive early tommorrow morning.

I am spending a few days in Cape Town then going up to Knysna to stay with friends!

I've been looking at what to do and there are a few things i have booked/will book.

1. Great White Shark cage diving (might have to think about this one as my macho image just went out the window with a girlie scream and random flapping when a wasp flew in through my window...
2. Robben Island
3. Table Mountain
4. Sky dive at Plattenburg bay
5. Visit game parks
6. Visit vineyards

I'm taking my laptop so i will try and play some poker while i am away. I have had email conversations recently with the new poker room manager at Virgin. I was asked why i haven't been playing regulaly there and i explained that i didnt like the structure of their heads up games as the starting blinds were high and the levels too short. Even though i play low limits they have been really helpful in arranging this so i might give that a pop while i am away and see how i get on

Thank you Virgin Poker....

I received an email from Virgin Poker today about the prize i won to the WSOP.

I should be flying out on the 28th June to Vegas and i plan to stay for a week, probably in the Stratosphere Tower and playing in the $1500 NLHE tournament, event 49 of the WSOP.

If any of you are going to be about at the same time, please email me or post so we can maybe meet up and have a few drinks!! Also if anyone knows which casinos offer nightly good NLHE tournaments with quite low buy ins that would also be good!.

I expect i will end up getting wasted most nights when i am there as i expect to be in the tournament for about 79 seconds before being knocked out... I will probably either hire a car of fly to the grand canyon and do the Hoover Dam and all the touristy shite...

I just hope i don't get drunk and end up marrying some dodgy ugly american tart in one of the local chapels, but saying that, i think Brittany Spears will still be in rehab...

Lets take a break from Poker!

NO Francesco... I believe it was seven ONE.....

Rakeback

I'm not sure what to do...

I keep thinking that i need to play at a site that offers me a good rakeback deal.. however...

At the moment i am only playing $20 + $1 heads up sit and go's on Pokerstars. I really like this game on Pokerstars and do much better than playing the same stakes on boss, mainly due to the structure i think..

Now Pokerstars don't offer rakeback bu i can get for example 33% on other sites. I play on average 120 games or so a month so that works out at $40 or so that i could get in rakeback. I make around $300 - $400 a month playing on Pokerstars at $20 heads up sit and go's.

Is it worth changing Poker sites and risk not winning as much just to get the 33% rakeback of $40????

Things people say playing poker that i hate number 1

"Yes but they were suited"

Aaaaarrrrrrgggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Wembley

We went to the new Wembley Stadium on saturday to watch the england under 21's play Italy under 21's. I was disappointed by it to be honest... Now not to be bigheaded, i go to Old Trafford every other week and even though they cram you in like sardines, it is a nice stadium with good concession stands, TV's all over the place etc etc. We walked into Wembley and, even though the concourse was big, there wasn't anything there really. I was expecting state of the art surroundings with escalators etc and there was none of that, or just not where i was. The concession stands where staffed by idiots (as in every stadium) We went down for a pint at half time (well 42 minutes into the 1st half), were 3rd in the queue and got served as the teams were coming back out, and missed 3 goals.... From the outside the stadium looks nice, pretty boring neutral coulours, and you do have a lot of space in your seat.. Could i see where 750 Million went?? No... They will soon get that all back though, especially charging £5.60 for a hot dog...

On to Poker!!

Well i've decided to stop playing today, am only $50 down but seem to having one of those days where you get outdrawn every hand. AK v AQ etc etc...

I am having quite a good month, am now $415 up in March. In a previous post i spoke about when it all became real money.. I have now started using the profits i win to buy stuff i like rather than have it sitting in my poker account!!

I pulled out £200 the other week to buy a TV stand for the 32" LCD i won on Virgin, me and my mum have decided to go to Moscow in October to watch the Russia v England Euro2008 qualifier (might change my mind after saturday) and have paid for the £150 return flight (bargain!) with Poker winnings. I am also going to use my free flight with Virgin Poker to go to Shanghai in August, i only need to pay the taxes which is about £125 which i will pay for from my winnings..

So poker is good for me at the moment, flights paid to Moscow and Shanghai by the fish on Pokerstars, and free trip to the WSOP in June with Virgin!!

Poker Profit....

I've been playing poker for a couple of years now. Even from the start i have been a bit of a cautious player. Not in the games themselves but more in the stakes i play.

I started playing STT which i still play, At first it was $3 games then $5 then $10 and now i play $20 games (I did have a pop at $50 games and got a pasting so moved back down!!). Since finding the sharkscope website it has amazed me the amount people LOSE playing poker? When i moved up limits i lost about a third of my bankroll and immediately dropped levels. It amazes me the people that play limits and lose and keep playing higher limits. Now i fully understand that for me to WIN i need these players playing and if everyone won then nobody would ever win if that makes sense...

Looking at the players i have played today at heads up $20 STT here are the stats:

Games played Total Profit

169 $349
92 -$263
37 -$45
5234 -$28,871 (i mean come on....)
94 - $209
275 - $5,320
755 - $2,013
42 $188
796 -$1,987

I always argue with people about poker saying it is different to other forms of gambling sue to the skill levels involved and that you can't really lose if you manage your bankroll accurately..

This does actually make me feel good about my Poker, i profit, not huge amounts but i know exactly how much and know to adjust if things go wrong.

Flopping a Straight Flush....

I was playing earlier and the following hand occured...

PokerStars Game #8899057663:
Tournament #45257507, $20+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Match Round I, Level I (10/20) - 2007/03/14 - 13:35:03
(ET)Table '45257507 1' 2-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: englishgc (1600 in chips)
Seat 2: United113 (1400 in chips)
United113: posts small blind 10
englishgc: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to United113 [8c Tc]
United113: calls 10englishgc: checks *** FLOP *** [9d Td 7d]
englishgc: checks
United113: bets 60englishgc: calls 60
*** TURN *** [9d Td 7d] [3s]englishgc: checks
United113: bets 100englishgc: calls 100
*** RIVER *** [9d Td 7d 3s] [2s]
englishgc: bets 180
United113: calls 180
*** SHOW DOWN ***englishgc: shows [8d Jd] (a straight flush, Seven to Jack)

Now apart from the bad call by me on the river (this guy had been putting loads of river bluffs all game though and i had top pair!!) I have never seen it before when someone had hit a straight flush on the flop..

He was holding Jack Eight of diamonds

Flop 9 10 7 diamonds...

Now i am NOT great at working out probabilities.. but he could only hit 9 10 7 diamonds or 9 10 queen of diamonds to make this... 48 cards in the deck and to hit the exact THREE cards you need????

Does anyone have a clue of the odds of this?? Has anyone seen this before???

Poker, it's a funny old game...

I've been thinking lately about Poker and how it's a funny game...

I was watching Ben Grundy on Sky Sports last night playing against Ram Vaswani, Antonio Esfandiari and some others at the William Hill poker open. Now i'm not going to say i know ben at all, but I read his blog ( http://milkybarkids.blogspot.com/ )and check for updates every day, and have posted comments on their and have had replies back. Also Matt Broughton http://thewasterblog.blogspot.com/ who is the editor of flush magazine and presenter on Poker Night Live, again i have had blog conversations with him both on blogger and on the Virgin Poker blog. Both are level headed and down to earth and both, especially Ben have great results at Poker. Ben finalled tables at the EPT final in Monte Carlo, i saw him on TV playing at the WSOP on the same table as Mike Matusow and he makes loads of money playing both holdem and omaha on the internet, i believe he is also sponsored by betfair or was. Which other sports with people at the same level as this, would bother to write a blog and respond to comments left by others???? Can you see Wayne Rooney writing er..well anything.. sorry bad example.... Can you see Steven gerrard writing a blog every few days about how he is doing at football? and respond back to comments people make? I doubt it..

There is also the money aspect. Recently in the Carlinbg Cup final, arseholes and chelski players kicked off at the end of the game in a pretty worthless cup competition (only worthless if united DON''T win it..!!) and then the reserves of the same two teams kicked off again the other night. Now thses players get paid well and are playing a game of football. In Poker, someone might bust you out of tournament say at the WSOP Main event final table heads up, $12 million 1st prize and say $6 Million second prize, if one guy gets a really bad beat and loses, he would get up and shake his opponents hand (apart from Mike Matusow and Phil Hellmuth that is) Now even though he has won a load in theory he lost a load as well.

I have a plan... Get Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba, Ricardo Carvalho, Arjen Robben, Michael Ballack, Emmanuele Addebayor, Robin van Persie, Gilberto Silva, Kolo Toure and Jens Lehman round a poker table and wait for the sparks to fly...

Virgin Poker V Points

It's all daft really....

Virgin Poker offer V points for every raked hand or tournament entry on Virgin Poker. V Points can be transferred for all sorts including Virgin Atlantic flying club miles.

I had earned a few thousand V Points then entered a V point free role and won 5,000. I was then issued 5,000 V points after the delivery of a 32" LCD TV i had won was delayed!! So i had about 16,000 Points. Virgin Poker than offered a promotion that you received double Virgin Atlantic flying club miles if you transferred the V points in December... 32,000 Flying Club miles. I then finished 14th in a huge freerole and won 14,000 V points so i had 51,000 Virgin Atlantic flying club miles.

I then checked the Virgin Website and they are offering a 20% discount to use your miles!!!!!

So for 48,000 Miles i can get free return flights to Tokyo, Shanghai or Delhi and for around 40,000 i can get free return flights to the carribean, anywhere in the US and to many other places!!

Not bad for a free offer!!!

I also have found a website called sharkscope that lets you see the total results on certain sites(pokerstars etc). I have been quite surprised with the results people have. I have always thought that everyone would move up and down limits depending on profit. I play $20 heads up sit and go's which isn't high limits at all but there are also $10, $5 and $3 games. So many people have lost loads of money and still play $20 games.. It makes no sense to me? At least it seems that i do quite well.

My sharkscope stats show:

Games Played - 290
Average Profit - $2
Average Stake - $21
Average ROI - 14%
Total Profit - $610

It's the ROI i like though. I have checked alot of the pro's and my ROI is the highest i have seen (even though the pros make more money, the stakes are higher)

Here are the stats for Greg Raymer

Games Played - 110
Average Profit - $9
Average Stake - $635
Average ROI - 3%
Total Profit - $1035

And Chris Moneymaker

Games Played - 345
Average Profit - $13
Average Stake - $395
Average ROI - 3%
Total Profit - $1035

Interesting!!!