I will be witing a full report of my travails at the Fitz Poker Festival when it is over. I hope ye can all hold ye're breath.
Read the highs, the lows, the boring bits. It'll all be there. Read it here before the making of 'Dom - The Fest' in the Spring - A Jerry Bruckheimer film.
Oh, and I would just like to say thanks to Laurence (hope that is spelt right) for returning 'my' money to me in the Omaha game after all these months. I am not convinced it was the right amount, but we'll call it quits.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Where now?
I am stuck in a poker rut I think. I am doing fine in the last 2 weeks and have practically erased the disatrous September I had. However, this doesn't stop me musing on where my poker is taking me.
What I am doing:
I play about 3 tournaments a week (on average), almost always in the Fitz, and at weekends or occasional weeknights I play Omaha cash games too. This has been my pattern for quite some time, and the big result has not happened.
What I should be doing:
Play less weekly tournaments, play more online and concentrate my live play on specific tournaments such as the plethora of 200-300 games that are monthly affairs in various places. Online I could concentrate on trying to qualify for bigger events as well as having a much bigger game selectionto choose from at any given time.
The problem with me and the above is that I enjoy playing live. I enjoy the banter, the sensory overload that comes from a live game, and also the challenge of primitive mano et mano (or womano) poker action. I don't particularly enjoy online, and don't take it seriously enough to ever be in danger of turning a big profit from it. Usually I only play the games I enjoy online, i.e. Pot Limit Omaha and usually also play above my bankroll as I definitely do not like microlimit playing. I lack discipline at times, but that is due to my lazy streak, which is more than a streak really to be honest.
I am sure I will get to a point where I will either give up the pretence that I am going to change or I actually do change. Another, and perhaps more likely outcome, is that I reach a happy medium. I know I should play more online, and I am in the process of withdrawing money from most of the sites I play in and consolidating it in Neteller, probably moving it to PokerStars where it would become a semblence of a proper bankroll rather than small amounts spread over various places.
To do the above I had to ring Neteller to get them to reactivate my account as it was closed when I logged in to it in work. They asked me did I log in from the UK at one point, and then the penny clicked. Where I work is routed via a UK server as it is a British company that I work for, and this would explain that question. I believe the problem came when a location outside my stated country was seen to try and access my account. They were very helpful and despite being on hold for about 7 minutes at the start due to a queuing system, I had the issue resolved in less than 10 minutes. I was dreading that they were going to ask for passport scan etc, as I never got asked for that information when I linked my bank account to it, but thankfully it was only security questions, which really aren't that secure to anyone that knows anything about me at all.
I am looking forward to the 500 game in the Fitz on Saturday 28th, as I have 475 in credit from recent tournaments, so I will be looking to use that to play in the 500 game. I was hoping to play in it last month, but the way things were running I could not justify it to be honest. it did however look like a good structured game with 8k starting stack and a 45 minute clock. Hopefully it will get 60+ runners, but due to the fact that it is on the same weekend as the EPT events in the Regency I am not sure how numbers will be.
Events I would like to play in the next 6 weeks and likelyhood of playing:
Fitz EOM Oct - 60%. I may have to work that night :-(
Fitz 500 - 80%. I have to dodge part of a birthday celebration weekend (not mine).
Green Joker Poker 250 - 25%. I keep meaning to go but never get round to it.
Green Joker Poker Festival 1000 - <5%. Would love to play but it is too much money to splash.
GJP 300* - 75% - Likely to play in this one I think. Supporting event to the 1k game.
GJP 200* - 25% - Will play in this if I can't play in the 300 game.
EPT - 0.00001% - Will play in this if a miracle happens to give me loads of money.
EPM - 0.0001% - Again, very unlikely. Possibly more qualifiers in the SE for this I might play.
I think I need more money to be honest, but who doesn't. Bye for now, and see you at the tables.
* I think these events are 300 and 200. They may be 400 and 300.
What I am doing:
I play about 3 tournaments a week (on average), almost always in the Fitz, and at weekends or occasional weeknights I play Omaha cash games too. This has been my pattern for quite some time, and the big result has not happened.
What I should be doing:
Play less weekly tournaments, play more online and concentrate my live play on specific tournaments such as the plethora of 200-300 games that are monthly affairs in various places. Online I could concentrate on trying to qualify for bigger events as well as having a much bigger game selectionto choose from at any given time.
The problem with me and the above is that I enjoy playing live. I enjoy the banter, the sensory overload that comes from a live game, and also the challenge of primitive mano et mano (or womano) poker action. I don't particularly enjoy online, and don't take it seriously enough to ever be in danger of turning a big profit from it. Usually I only play the games I enjoy online, i.e. Pot Limit Omaha and usually also play above my bankroll as I definitely do not like microlimit playing. I lack discipline at times, but that is due to my lazy streak, which is more than a streak really to be honest.
I am sure I will get to a point where I will either give up the pretence that I am going to change or I actually do change. Another, and perhaps more likely outcome, is that I reach a happy medium. I know I should play more online, and I am in the process of withdrawing money from most of the sites I play in and consolidating it in Neteller, probably moving it to PokerStars where it would become a semblence of a proper bankroll rather than small amounts spread over various places.
To do the above I had to ring Neteller to get them to reactivate my account as it was closed when I logged in to it in work. They asked me did I log in from the UK at one point, and then the penny clicked. Where I work is routed via a UK server as it is a British company that I work for, and this would explain that question. I believe the problem came when a location outside my stated country was seen to try and access my account. They were very helpful and despite being on hold for about 7 minutes at the start due to a queuing system, I had the issue resolved in less than 10 minutes. I was dreading that they were going to ask for passport scan etc, as I never got asked for that information when I linked my bank account to it, but thankfully it was only security questions, which really aren't that secure to anyone that knows anything about me at all.
I am looking forward to the 500 game in the Fitz on Saturday 28th, as I have 475 in credit from recent tournaments, so I will be looking to use that to play in the 500 game. I was hoping to play in it last month, but the way things were running I could not justify it to be honest. it did however look like a good structured game with 8k starting stack and a 45 minute clock. Hopefully it will get 60+ runners, but due to the fact that it is on the same weekend as the EPT events in the Regency I am not sure how numbers will be.
Events I would like to play in the next 6 weeks and likelyhood of playing:
Fitz EOM Oct - 60%. I may have to work that night :-(
Fitz 500 - 80%. I have to dodge part of a birthday celebration weekend (not mine).
Green Joker Poker 250 - 25%. I keep meaning to go but never get round to it.
Green Joker Poker Festival 1000 - <5%. Would love to play but it is too much money to splash.
GJP 300* - 75% - Likely to play in this one I think. Supporting event to the 1k game.
GJP 200* - 25% - Will play in this if I can't play in the 300 game.
EPT - 0.00001% - Will play in this if a miracle happens to give me loads of money.
EPM - 0.0001% - Again, very unlikely. Possibly more qualifiers in the SE for this I might play.
I think I need more money to be honest, but who doesn't. Bye for now, and see you at the tables.
* I think these events are 300 and 200. They may be 400 and 300.
Friday, October 13, 2006
The world put to rights
Something seems to be up, I am being prepared for a fall I think. Things have been going well lately, without being spectacular. The last 3 tournies I have played in the Fitz have resulted in 2 splits and a 4th place, and add to that a decent, if small by that game standards, profit in the 100 Omaha, and the world is suddenly a less shit place.
I am not suffering bad beats much lately and that is where things are different than last month. One thing I need to start doing though is doing better in bigger fields. Most of the tournies I win or come in the top 3-4 are around the 30-50 entries mark, but where there are 70 or more I don't seem to last the pace which is very frustrating. I think I know what the cause of this in general is but the paradox for me is that I think this aspect is one of the strong points of my game. Confusing isn't it?
Brief explanation about the above is as follows. I am not a loose, gamble type player most of the time. This is not to say I don't mix my game up, but mixing your game up is very different to being a loose player. Everyone knows that I am not a loose player, so I do not get the action I need a lot of the time that I have big hands, and I do not make loose calls that might double me up at important parts of the tournament. Personally I prefer not to take a 40-60 shot unless I am in a shortstack position, but it seems to me that a lot of the types that do well in tournaments are the type that put their money in there and seem to win a far higher percentage than they should. The reason why this is also one of the better aspects of my game is that is means I rarely go into hands unless on a shortstacked steal, as a big dog.
Maybe I will experiment with that a bit at some stage, but unless it is in the rebuy period of a multi-rebuy tournie I can't justify doing that in my head. It is in essence a shit or bust approach to the tournie that produces either a big stack that can be used to bully the table or will ensure you get an early seat at a cash game. Who knows if I will try this soon? I don't think I am giving any trade secrets away when I am saying it goes against my natural game anyhow.
Last weekend I went over with the Fitz crowd to the Gutshot club in London for the twice annual challenge match. Once again we didn't win the team event but we should have. We kept getting outdrawn, their shortstacks kept surviving despite being in as big underdogs several times when getting knocked out would have given us the win. I also played in the £200 Pot Limit Omaha tournament over there with 40 minute blinds, and 6k starting stack. I enjoyed this game up to the point when I got knocked out when the board would not pair up which I thought was very unobliging of it. I finished in 19/57 runners and with £4k as first prize it would have gone down very nicely indeed.
I hada very enjoyable weekend in general though, playing poker on Friday night and saturday afternoon, and drinking on Friday afternoon (a few anyways) and Saturday evening onwards (a lot). I didn't play any cash games at all over there but from what I seen and heard from others, I am glad I didn't. I met a nice bunch of people over there though and I look forward to trying to help take the cup back for the Fitz next time, even though we take it far less seriously than they seem to.
I am not playing online as much as I had hoped I would, mostly due to my short little span of attention (as Paul Simon would say), and partly due to the fact that my PC is playing up on me in a most mystifying way. I am up a few buyins though in the games I have played, but it is still only a very part time thing for me. Also, due to my mystifying experience I cannot access my PokerTracker database anymore and it is really irritating me.
Ah well. Oh, and if anyone is bored play an online game called curveball. I think it is great and very addictive. I can get to level 7 without losing a life nearly all the time. about 50% of the time I get past level 7 (It took me ages to get past it first), and I have only got to level 9 a couple of times. Good hand eye coordination required!!!
See you at the tables.
I am not suffering bad beats much lately and that is where things are different than last month. One thing I need to start doing though is doing better in bigger fields. Most of the tournies I win or come in the top 3-4 are around the 30-50 entries mark, but where there are 70 or more I don't seem to last the pace which is very frustrating. I think I know what the cause of this in general is but the paradox for me is that I think this aspect is one of the strong points of my game. Confusing isn't it?
Brief explanation about the above is as follows. I am not a loose, gamble type player most of the time. This is not to say I don't mix my game up, but mixing your game up is very different to being a loose player. Everyone knows that I am not a loose player, so I do not get the action I need a lot of the time that I have big hands, and I do not make loose calls that might double me up at important parts of the tournament. Personally I prefer not to take a 40-60 shot unless I am in a shortstack position, but it seems to me that a lot of the types that do well in tournaments are the type that put their money in there and seem to win a far higher percentage than they should. The reason why this is also one of the better aspects of my game is that is means I rarely go into hands unless on a shortstacked steal, as a big dog.
Maybe I will experiment with that a bit at some stage, but unless it is in the rebuy period of a multi-rebuy tournie I can't justify doing that in my head. It is in essence a shit or bust approach to the tournie that produces either a big stack that can be used to bully the table or will ensure you get an early seat at a cash game. Who knows if I will try this soon? I don't think I am giving any trade secrets away when I am saying it goes against my natural game anyhow.
Last weekend I went over with the Fitz crowd to the Gutshot club in London for the twice annual challenge match. Once again we didn't win the team event but we should have. We kept getting outdrawn, their shortstacks kept surviving despite being in as big underdogs several times when getting knocked out would have given us the win. I also played in the £200 Pot Limit Omaha tournament over there with 40 minute blinds, and 6k starting stack. I enjoyed this game up to the point when I got knocked out when the board would not pair up which I thought was very unobliging of it. I finished in 19/57 runners and with £4k as first prize it would have gone down very nicely indeed.
I hada very enjoyable weekend in general though, playing poker on Friday night and saturday afternoon, and drinking on Friday afternoon (a few anyways) and Saturday evening onwards (a lot). I didn't play any cash games at all over there but from what I seen and heard from others, I am glad I didn't. I met a nice bunch of people over there though and I look forward to trying to help take the cup back for the Fitz next time, even though we take it far less seriously than they seem to.
I am not playing online as much as I had hoped I would, mostly due to my short little span of attention (as Paul Simon would say), and partly due to the fact that my PC is playing up on me in a most mystifying way. I am up a few buyins though in the games I have played, but it is still only a very part time thing for me. Also, due to my mystifying experience I cannot access my PokerTracker database anymore and it is really irritating me.
Ah well. Oh, and if anyone is bored play an online game called curveball. I think it is great and very addictive. I can get to level 7 without losing a life nearly all the time. about 50% of the time I get past level 7 (It took me ages to get past it first), and I have only got to level 9 a couple of times. Good hand eye coordination required!!!
See you at the tables.
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