Setting the tone.....

Well everyone else is at it, so why not me? I have been playing poker since around September 2003 when I got invited to a home game by a colleague. Who knew where it would lead?

My current poker profile is something like the following:

Play online now and then, mostly PLO at .5/1 on PokerStars, and play some tournies too. I don't play online regularly enough to take it as seriously as I should. I have played 4000 PLO hands in about 10 weeks, and a few SNG's and a couple of tournies so that shows my 'level of commitment'.

My main poker playing is done in the Fitzwilliam Card Club in Dublin, hereafter known as 'The Fitz'. I play around 3/4 times a week which usually consists of a tournament followed by an Omaha cash game.

Things I would like this blog to achieve:
- Show off loads of bigs wins (I can dream)
- Open my general play to scrutiny by posting key hands/moves
- International superstardom

My 2006 so far has been characterised by a middling January, terrible February, stablising March, and good start to April. I have given myself a good talking to recently over my Omaha cash play in particular, and things I hope to eliminate from my game include:
- Betting single draw hands on the flop from EP
- Going mad with AAds hands preflop
- Drawing to non nut flush unless that is a back door hand
- Calling when I know in my heart of hearts that I am behind
- Bluffing most of the Fitz players. There are some that this work with, but too many are willing to call with 3rd nut hands. This is where money can be won and lost.

Hold'em tournament play improvement:
- I am probably regarded as a 'solid' player. Long term if I can get regarded as a 'good' player then this is my goal.
- Open up my range more in LP. I have been doing this lately with mixed success.
- Be less timid in higher buyin events. Fitz end of month game is a good example. I find myself quite passive during these games and this is not good.
- Think. Often the most obvious answer is the correct answer. Don't overthink gut instinct decisions. They can be right quite a lot of the time. This is often a result of some subconscious thing that you notice through time with players, not just a random 'feeling'. Don't trust this implicitly though.
- Improve shorthanded play late in tournaments.
- Confidence. I like to think that I am quite confident at the poker table. In most events that I play at I know most of the others at the table, and this helps in this respect. I find random players are more reluctant to take on a confident player who knows how to play.

There is a lot of bullshit in the above probably, and there will be more to follow in the posts that follow this. I will try to report on as many of the tournies/cash games I play that I can, at least until laziness overtakes me.