OK, I nearly kept my promise. I said on Sat 10th, that I would not play til Sat 17th, and the cash league final. However, Friday 16th was payday, and while I did not need payday to have the money to play (I am not that broke yet!!!), it was a good excuse so off to the Omaha I went.
Several hours later, and including losing a €500 pot with AAJ6ss against KKT9ss all in preflop when it was obvious I had AA when the board came KKJA8 - sick - I still won €475 for the night, so not too bad.
On Saturday then, I went down for the league final at 6pm in the Fitz. The prizepool was €32k +€5k added by the club, so with only 97 qualified players, 67 turning up, and 27 paid, it promised to be a lucrative tournament since I was starting with 21,800 chips for my 218 hours.
However, the promise turned to dismay fairly quickly when the structure became obvious. This was put in place apparantly by a lot of the older crowd saying they hoped it didn't go on too late. In my opinion this is a load of bollocks, and if they didn't like a good structure they should stay at home. I am not saying it should be 45 min clock, repeated levels etc by any means, but a 25 min clock with no levelsw skipped would have sufficed, but 20 mins for the first 5 levels, with 2 levels skipped, reduced the level of play quite severly I think. At the break a few of us had a word with Denise who then changed the clock to 30 mins from then on, as opposed to playing 2 more 20 min levels. It helped a bit, but my cards did not, and losing several races later (or same difference, mid pair with 3 overs on the flop, and being shown top pair when I folded and similar) I was out in 30th, only 3 from the money.
Ah well. The Omaha cash games started off a little later, and I spun my initial €200 into €1800 for a very profitable night, and that helped alleviate the disappointment of earlier somewhat. I have played a couple of times since as well with a breakeven night and a -€300 night. So much for taking it easy!!!!
The Waterford Winter Festival was on last weekend as well and I am a bit disappointed I wasn't there, although it was totally my own decision due to running-and-playing-badedness. By all accounts it was a fantastically structured and run tournament, and I really hope to get down to the next one of these in March, just after the Irish Open.
Also, the SE has their €1k event this coming weekend, but unfortunately I will be away. Otherwise I would definitely have played a Satellite or two for this, but sadly, there is not much point as I won't be around to play it. I haven't been to the SE in a while, as I am playing less tournaments than I have done, but I must not leave it too long before the next time.
That's all the non intrigue I have for you this time. Another update will be along no sooner than a week, and no later than 3 months.
Quick Edit: Those of you with eyes at least mouse sharp will have noticed that I have chnged my template and finally added a few links. I intend to find where that mysterious new burst of energy came from, but given the fact that it soon disappeared, I may have a problem locating the energy to perform this investigation. Not quite a catch 22, but it is at leat a catch 18 difficulty. Hmmm, ah well.
Oh, I also got my DVR station for my new toy, my Archos 605, so I must go an play with that. I also got a 500GB external hard drive delivered to me as well. Yes, I am a bit of a geek really, what of it? You got a problem with that, punk?
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Another Moan
Right, I am now officially sick of poker. I am not going to trouble my 5 occasional visitors with bad beat stories or I'll get a new nickname.
This year has been by far my most difficult in poker. The last 12 months has been a constant downswing with only a couple of bright spots in between. Everything I think I know about poker seems to fly in the face of what I constantly see at tables nowadays and to be honest it is really breaking my spirit. I enjoy the banter, competition and thinking that is involved in the game but it is years like this that make me realise what a hard way it is to make a few bucks. I have been playing well in patches, but overall I would rate my play as worse in tourneys especially than last year, although that may be results based thinking.
For the next couple of weeks at least I will be taking it easy pokerwise. I have a few external expenses as well so that doesn't help. Until I have a result of sorts though I will try to be strict enough about how much of my salary I 'invest' in poker. I will still be playing now and then, I am far too ill not to, but apart from the Fitz league final on Nov 17th, where I will start with around a 22k stack (in the top 15 I must admit), I have no plans to play, although I might cave in and play the 100 FO in CHL's on Friday (payday coincidentally).
I even turned down an offer to be sponsored into the 300 Omaha event in the Fitz on Monday, but as I said "I couldn't do that you you". I am generally an amiable, happy enough person who enjoys a good moan (somewhat paradoxically), but this is stretching me in a poker sense. I think a while playing less might do me good. On the upside, I might bother to play a bit more online which I have been neglecting even more than usual despite good intentions.
Ah well. As the chief would say, "That's poker".
This year has been by far my most difficult in poker. The last 12 months has been a constant downswing with only a couple of bright spots in between. Everything I think I know about poker seems to fly in the face of what I constantly see at tables nowadays and to be honest it is really breaking my spirit. I enjoy the banter, competition and thinking that is involved in the game but it is years like this that make me realise what a hard way it is to make a few bucks. I have been playing well in patches, but overall I would rate my play as worse in tourneys especially than last year, although that may be results based thinking.
For the next couple of weeks at least I will be taking it easy pokerwise. I have a few external expenses as well so that doesn't help. Until I have a result of sorts though I will try to be strict enough about how much of my salary I 'invest' in poker. I will still be playing now and then, I am far too ill not to, but apart from the Fitz league final on Nov 17th, where I will start with around a 22k stack (in the top 15 I must admit), I have no plans to play, although I might cave in and play the 100 FO in CHL's on Friday (payday coincidentally).
I even turned down an offer to be sponsored into the 300 Omaha event in the Fitz on Monday, but as I said "I couldn't do that you you". I am generally an amiable, happy enough person who enjoys a good moan (somewhat paradoxically), but this is stretching me in a poker sense. I think a while playing less might do me good. On the upside, I might bother to play a bit more online which I have been neglecting even more than usual despite good intentions.
Ah well. As the chief would say, "That's poker".
Monday, August 13, 2007
More random things
Since my last update there hasn't been a lot of action of note. I was in Vegas the last time I updated so I might as well update the rest of that.
As far as poker went, I played a $500+40 game at the Wynn on the Friday before I left, and it was a very good structure at the start, but once they decided to skip a couple of levels in the mid portion, it became quite crapshooty and despite a triple up at one stage, circumstances conspired to leave me trying to create a stack aggressively rather than being able to play a more patient game. Obviously this didn't work a treat and I finished 21st from 69 runners. I played a few more cash sessions before I left as well in Bally's and finished with a few winning sessions. The last one there was truly remarkable for the presence of one Romanian guy who dropped about $2500 in about 90 mins, and this in a capped game where he bought in for either $200 or $300 each time. I managed to get his stack one of those times, but I wasn't really prepared for his maniacal style so probably didn't get as much value as I should have out of him.
I went shopping as well the last day before I came home and it was really cheap. I am not one for shopping as those of you that know me might have guessed, but I managed to get loads of good stuff for feck all, including a new bag to carry the overflow in.
Back on the wet sod again and hopes were raised with a €1k profit in my first cash session back in the Fitz. Happy days. Overall since then things have been going better, although there were the few inevitable setbacks in there. The last few days though have provided the first time this year I have had 4 winning sessions in a row, and one of them from a hole so that was more satisfying almost. I was even playing the Holdem cash game in the Fitz last night as there was no €50 Omaha game. I know that I knew the standard was horrific in there, but last night was a real eye opener for me. An example of a hand like this is where someone limps for 2 and then calls a second raise to €55 preflop of an all in, and shoves all in for 120 or so on a flop of KJ5 (2 clubs). Turn and river were both Q's including the Q clubs. The all in preflop guy turns over AQ, and the other guy who went all in on the flop? 42c naturally to take it down, down to Chinatown. I admit I caught a few decent hands, but I did get dogged as well as few times. I made €500 profit for about 4 hours play, and this was playing pretty much rock like. I don't know if there is enough there to convince me to play more HE cash games, but you never know. One of the main things stopping me from doing this is the presence of a few particularly annoying people at the tables.
One option to get around this might be to play more in the new casino about to open in the premises of the former Merrion Casino. This is to be called 'Cool Hand Lukes' and the poker side is to be run by Luke Ivory, formerly of the Fitz. It is opening this Friday and looks to have a good tournie schedule, but with a couple of issues that I won't go into here. I will head along on Friday to the opening anyhow, and there should be a big crowd there with plenty of familiar faces from among the staff and customers with at least 9 of the dealers from the Fitz leaving to work in there, and that's only the ones that I know of. I will definitely still frequent the Fitz as well though, and I suppose the balance of custom will ultimately decide where I play the majority of my cash games. The Fitz have a cash league running now since the start of August until the end of September. If you get more than 30 hours accumulated you qualify for the tourney in October sometime with a guaranteed prizepool of €25k. I think I have about 26 hours accumulated already, so at this rate I will have a good starting stack, but sure we'll see.
On another note I have recently been watching Heroes a few episodes at a time and I am at episode 16 now I think, so I'll be finished in a few days. It is a good, compulsive viewing type series. It is obviosuly a bit fantastical, but there are a few good subtle humour moments in it as well, such as the time Goerge Takei (Sulu from the original Star Trek) appears in one episode and drives off in a car with a licence plate of NCC 1701. Yes, I am a nerd, so what. You wanna fight?
I am also trying to decide when I will take a few sickies from work. It will have to be well timed I reckon, as I have no days off to play with before the end of the year. My current thinking is 10-12 Sep, but the last time I planned to take a sickie I got sick, so maybe justice was served. Also, I am a notorious bottler when it comes to taking sickies, and just get up defeated by life and grumble my way through work.
Aaaanyways, back to poker. There are a few things coming up in the next few months, but I am not sure how many of them I will play. I am a bit hacked off by tournament poker lately. There is a mini festival coming up in the SE in a few weeks time, and the main event is a €500 game. I would like to play in this, but I am not forking out €500 quid for it the way I am playing in tournies at the minute. I will play some sats for it though, and might even start tomorrow night when there is a €50 with 1 rebuy game on for it. We'll see. Also in the pipeline is Big Slicks Winter festival. The main event in this is a €500 game with a tasty structure, but again it is one I am unlikely to play in, although of the events slated for the rest of the year in that price bracket, it seems to have the best structure.
The Fitz have also released details on their website of their 17 day festival in November. The timings and some of the events in total don't make sense to me. For example, the main event in this is a €1500 event. However, some genius decided this should take place on a Monday-Wednesday with start times of 6pm, 6pm and 4pm. This is not exactly conducive to local players who want to take part in this. Also, there is a seniors event, a ladies event, and a media event. WTF? I don't know who did up this schedule, but it is a tad ambitious I think, as well as poorly planned, and not just because of the main event issue above. Hopefully there will be change before then. As part of this as well, the World Faceup Holdem Championship takes place. It is an interesting concept I think, but will probably result in lots of coinflips and allins preflop. It will be a bit of fun but at €100 with 1 rebuy it is not something to have no regard for.
Good luck for now.
As far as poker went, I played a $500+40 game at the Wynn on the Friday before I left, and it was a very good structure at the start, but once they decided to skip a couple of levels in the mid portion, it became quite crapshooty and despite a triple up at one stage, circumstances conspired to leave me trying to create a stack aggressively rather than being able to play a more patient game. Obviously this didn't work a treat and I finished 21st from 69 runners. I played a few more cash sessions before I left as well in Bally's and finished with a few winning sessions. The last one there was truly remarkable for the presence of one Romanian guy who dropped about $2500 in about 90 mins, and this in a capped game where he bought in for either $200 or $300 each time. I managed to get his stack one of those times, but I wasn't really prepared for his maniacal style so probably didn't get as much value as I should have out of him.
I went shopping as well the last day before I came home and it was really cheap. I am not one for shopping as those of you that know me might have guessed, but I managed to get loads of good stuff for feck all, including a new bag to carry the overflow in.
Back on the wet sod again and hopes were raised with a €1k profit in my first cash session back in the Fitz. Happy days. Overall since then things have been going better, although there were the few inevitable setbacks in there. The last few days though have provided the first time this year I have had 4 winning sessions in a row, and one of them from a hole so that was more satisfying almost. I was even playing the Holdem cash game in the Fitz last night as there was no €50 Omaha game. I know that I knew the standard was horrific in there, but last night was a real eye opener for me. An example of a hand like this is where someone limps for 2 and then calls a second raise to €55 preflop of an all in, and shoves all in for 120 or so on a flop of KJ5 (2 clubs). Turn and river were both Q's including the Q clubs. The all in preflop guy turns over AQ, and the other guy who went all in on the flop? 42c naturally to take it down, down to Chinatown. I admit I caught a few decent hands, but I did get dogged as well as few times. I made €500 profit for about 4 hours play, and this was playing pretty much rock like. I don't know if there is enough there to convince me to play more HE cash games, but you never know. One of the main things stopping me from doing this is the presence of a few particularly annoying people at the tables.
One option to get around this might be to play more in the new casino about to open in the premises of the former Merrion Casino. This is to be called 'Cool Hand Lukes' and the poker side is to be run by Luke Ivory, formerly of the Fitz. It is opening this Friday and looks to have a good tournie schedule, but with a couple of issues that I won't go into here. I will head along on Friday to the opening anyhow, and there should be a big crowd there with plenty of familiar faces from among the staff and customers with at least 9 of the dealers from the Fitz leaving to work in there, and that's only the ones that I know of. I will definitely still frequent the Fitz as well though, and I suppose the balance of custom will ultimately decide where I play the majority of my cash games. The Fitz have a cash league running now since the start of August until the end of September. If you get more than 30 hours accumulated you qualify for the tourney in October sometime with a guaranteed prizepool of €25k. I think I have about 26 hours accumulated already, so at this rate I will have a good starting stack, but sure we'll see.
On another note I have recently been watching Heroes a few episodes at a time and I am at episode 16 now I think, so I'll be finished in a few days. It is a good, compulsive viewing type series. It is obviosuly a bit fantastical, but there are a few good subtle humour moments in it as well, such as the time Goerge Takei (Sulu from the original Star Trek) appears in one episode and drives off in a car with a licence plate of NCC 1701. Yes, I am a nerd, so what. You wanna fight?
I am also trying to decide when I will take a few sickies from work. It will have to be well timed I reckon, as I have no days off to play with before the end of the year. My current thinking is 10-12 Sep, but the last time I planned to take a sickie I got sick, so maybe justice was served. Also, I am a notorious bottler when it comes to taking sickies, and just get up defeated by life and grumble my way through work.
Aaaanyways, back to poker. There are a few things coming up in the next few months, but I am not sure how many of them I will play. I am a bit hacked off by tournament poker lately. There is a mini festival coming up in the SE in a few weeks time, and the main event is a €500 game. I would like to play in this, but I am not forking out €500 quid for it the way I am playing in tournies at the minute. I will play some sats for it though, and might even start tomorrow night when there is a €50 with 1 rebuy game on for it. We'll see. Also in the pipeline is Big Slicks Winter festival. The main event in this is a €500 game with a tasty structure, but again it is one I am unlikely to play in, although of the events slated for the rest of the year in that price bracket, it seems to have the best structure.
The Fitz have also released details on their website of their 17 day festival in November. The timings and some of the events in total don't make sense to me. For example, the main event in this is a €1500 event. However, some genius decided this should take place on a Monday-Wednesday with start times of 6pm, 6pm and 4pm. This is not exactly conducive to local players who want to take part in this. Also, there is a seniors event, a ladies event, and a media event. WTF? I don't know who did up this schedule, but it is a tad ambitious I think, as well as poorly planned, and not just because of the main event issue above. Hopefully there will be change before then. As part of this as well, the World Faceup Holdem Championship takes place. It is an interesting concept I think, but will probably result in lots of coinflips and allins preflop. It will be a bit of fun but at €100 with 1 rebuy it is not something to have no regard for.
Good luck for now.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Vegas Part 1
OK, Ive been in Vegas for around 9-10 days now so time for an update. I have been playing mostly 1/2 in Bally's where I am staying but have ventured to Ceasers for the 1/3 and played a couple of the 550 supersats for the main event.
After a dodgy first days play that culminated in getting it all in on a J high flop with AA vs a flopped set of 4's things improved. I had 3 winning sessions in a row for a total of around 1100, including flopping a straight flush, and straddling for 4 another time, raising to 24 with AA when there were 6 limpers, 4 of whom called my raise. I bet 100 on a T33 board and got raised by the big tank at the table which I called to ses JJ and I hold up. So far so good.
I played 2 500+50 megasats as well, and they were crapshooty as hell. I last under 3 levels in the first one and TJ Cloutier was at my table for a time in this. In the second one I go deeper and with about 70 players left, 16 tickets the following happens. I am BB with 14k (about avg at the 500/1000/100 level) and with blinds about to go up to 800/1600/200. UTG+1 raises to 3k and it is folded back to me. This guy has just lost the hand before and seemed a bit upset about it. Irrespective of that I think it is fairly standard for me to push here with my TT and he instacalls with AQ. The final board of AA3A8 wasn't really what I was hoping for and that was my main event ambitions gone.
Since then I can't do anything right. Here is what has happened in the 3 sessions since.
1. Ballys
a. I flop a straight with A2 from the blinds. My bet was raised on the flop, and all the money goes in on the J on the turn. Of course the river is also a J and his 55 wins.
b. I raise a straddler with AQd, he calls and board comes JdJxTd. Check check. Turn 6d. He checks, I bet he raises, I call. River is another 6 and he value bets. Horrible card. I fold, he shows J.
c. I complete from SB with 44 with a few limpers and check raise a flop of A54 (2 diamonds). I get reraised by UTG and I set him in. He has limped UTG with 23 and I get no help on turn or river.
2. Ceasers - Game is playing maniacally but with a few shorties.
a. I run KK into AA. 100 gone.
b. I run set into set. 100 gone.
c. I raise call short idiots all in. He has KTo, I have 88 which doesn't hold up.
d. In a raised 3 handed pot I flop top 2 pair on an AdTd9x board. Idiot bets 15, I raise to 45, he calls. Turn is a Qx. He checks, I bet 70, he shoves for 120 whcih I call. River Qx is no help to me as he filled his gutshot on the turn. Nice hand sir. Both main maniacs have left at this point so I leave too.
3. Ballys.
a. I reraise from SB to 45 with QQ. BB shoves for 85 which I have to call and she hits an unnecessary A on the river to trip up.
b. I flop top 2 pair on a JT4 board and money goes in etc etc. He fills up his house on the turn when a 4 hits, so his J4 is good.
I am so pissed off with poker. There are a few hands I haven't played well, probably including a couple of the above, but overall I am playing ok, and considering the monkeys that populate most of the games here I am disgusted that I am down overall even taking out the sats (only about 500, but still).
I haven't played any of the tournies here though apart from the sats, but there is a good one in the Wynn from Tues-Fri which I only found out about last weekend. It is a 300+30 game with an excellent structure so I will play that Friday if I can force myself out of bed for the noon start time. There are also some okish structure ones in Ceasers that I will play before I leave as well, so hopefully I will report on them before too long.
On the non poker side there is not much to report really, and even if there was the juicy bits would be censored. The night of Mike Laceys birthdays was a good one and after a night at the Tilted Kilt, Voodoo and the Hooker Bar in the Rio, part of which was spent blatering to Andy Bloch I managed to get home for around 6.30am, so not that late, even though I did play the 10am sat the morning before so I was well tired. I haven't really ventured out much during the day as it is searingly hot. It reached 120F a couple of days I think so AC is fine with me. I had a couple of other excursions out into the night, but nothing too wild or wonderful. Also, to walk from Ballys down to the MGM, across and into NY,NY, into Bellagio, then Ceasers, down to the Frontier, across to Wynn, up to the Venetian and then back to Ballys takes a surprisingly long time. Three hours to be exact. I know it was 10.30 when I started, but it was still over 100F, so not the brightest idea I have ever had.
Thats the lot for now. One good thing I can report on is that I am getting a good bit of sleep every night, but those damn housekeeping wenches better stop annoying me, and someone stole the do not disturb sign, the bastards, so they do disturb.
After a dodgy first days play that culminated in getting it all in on a J high flop with AA vs a flopped set of 4's things improved. I had 3 winning sessions in a row for a total of around 1100, including flopping a straight flush, and straddling for 4 another time, raising to 24 with AA when there were 6 limpers, 4 of whom called my raise. I bet 100 on a T33 board and got raised by the big tank at the table which I called to ses JJ and I hold up. So far so good.
I played 2 500+50 megasats as well, and they were crapshooty as hell. I last under 3 levels in the first one and TJ Cloutier was at my table for a time in this. In the second one I go deeper and with about 70 players left, 16 tickets the following happens. I am BB with 14k (about avg at the 500/1000/100 level) and with blinds about to go up to 800/1600/200. UTG+1 raises to 3k and it is folded back to me. This guy has just lost the hand before and seemed a bit upset about it. Irrespective of that I think it is fairly standard for me to push here with my TT and he instacalls with AQ. The final board of AA3A8 wasn't really what I was hoping for and that was my main event ambitions gone.
Since then I can't do anything right. Here is what has happened in the 3 sessions since.
1. Ballys
a. I flop a straight with A2 from the blinds. My bet was raised on the flop, and all the money goes in on the J on the turn. Of course the river is also a J and his 55 wins.
b. I raise a straddler with AQd, he calls and board comes JdJxTd. Check check. Turn 6d. He checks, I bet he raises, I call. River is another 6 and he value bets. Horrible card. I fold, he shows J.
c. I complete from SB with 44 with a few limpers and check raise a flop of A54 (2 diamonds). I get reraised by UTG and I set him in. He has limped UTG with 23 and I get no help on turn or river.
2. Ceasers - Game is playing maniacally but with a few shorties.
a. I run KK into AA. 100 gone.
b. I run set into set. 100 gone.
c. I raise call short idiots all in. He has KTo, I have 88 which doesn't hold up.
d. In a raised 3 handed pot I flop top 2 pair on an AdTd9x board. Idiot bets 15, I raise to 45, he calls. Turn is a Qx. He checks, I bet 70, he shoves for 120 whcih I call. River Qx is no help to me as he filled his gutshot on the turn. Nice hand sir. Both main maniacs have left at this point so I leave too.
3. Ballys.
a. I reraise from SB to 45 with QQ. BB shoves for 85 which I have to call and she hits an unnecessary A on the river to trip up.
b. I flop top 2 pair on a JT4 board and money goes in etc etc. He fills up his house on the turn when a 4 hits, so his J4 is good.
I am so pissed off with poker. There are a few hands I haven't played well, probably including a couple of the above, but overall I am playing ok, and considering the monkeys that populate most of the games here I am disgusted that I am down overall even taking out the sats (only about 500, but still).
I haven't played any of the tournies here though apart from the sats, but there is a good one in the Wynn from Tues-Fri which I only found out about last weekend. It is a 300+30 game with an excellent structure so I will play that Friday if I can force myself out of bed for the noon start time. There are also some okish structure ones in Ceasers that I will play before I leave as well, so hopefully I will report on them before too long.
On the non poker side there is not much to report really, and even if there was the juicy bits would be censored. The night of Mike Laceys birthdays was a good one and after a night at the Tilted Kilt, Voodoo and the Hooker Bar in the Rio, part of which was spent blatering to Andy Bloch I managed to get home for around 6.30am, so not that late, even though I did play the 10am sat the morning before so I was well tired. I haven't really ventured out much during the day as it is searingly hot. It reached 120F a couple of days I think so AC is fine with me. I had a couple of other excursions out into the night, but nothing too wild or wonderful. Also, to walk from Ballys down to the MGM, across and into NY,NY, into Bellagio, then Ceasers, down to the Frontier, across to Wynn, up to the Venetian and then back to Ballys takes a surprisingly long time. Three hours to be exact. I know it was 10.30 when I started, but it was still over 100F, so not the brightest idea I have ever had.
Thats the lot for now. One good thing I can report on is that I am getting a good bit of sleep every night, but those damn housekeeping wenches better stop annoying me, and someone stole the do not disturb sign, the bastards, so they do disturb.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Bright Light City
Ok, I am off to Vegas next Monday. I went into the bank today to collect a chunk of $$$, so I have a starting allowance for there anyways and I'll see how that goes.
I am really looking forward to it. I think the change in location if nothing else will do my game the power of good to be honest. I haven't played much since the last entry here, once in the Se in a round of each tournie in which I finished 4th after playing pretty well but it dragged on and the inevitable lack of patience and extra tiredness surfaced around 3.30am. The only other time I have played live was in the Fitz scalps, and I was gone before the break in a dramatic departure from tradition there. I plaed some cash afterwards like a bit of a donkey. I should have stayed in the holdem game but it was boring me somewhat I have to admit. Ah well, never mind.
I have no real plans for what I am going to do in Vegas, I think the best plan is to wing it and see what the guys who have been out there for a while say. Chances are I will paly a supersat for the main event, and assuming failure in that, just stick to cash mostly with a few of the smaller tournies around the place thrown in, all things being equal.
Once this is over, assuming I am still alive and solvent, thoughts will turn to the rest of the year pokerwise. There will be a few festivals later in the year I would like to play, but chances are I will have to restrict myself. I will play in the Poker Ireland event which hopes to get 1000 runners, and hopefully I will be able to play in the Big Slick event in Waterford in November as well. Beyond that I have no real idea what is happening, but I assume there will be some chances to qualify for the Dublin EPT event although the buyin has increased, and I assume GJP will be holding another 1k event. I may have to rob a bank to pay for this I reckon. Then again, I rob a bank every day practically since I get paid by one every month for my daily 'contributions'.
I have played online a wee bit lately as well and have been doing ok on UB Omaha, but I don't really play often enough to see much of a tangible benefit.
On a non poker note, I have been watching the first couple of series of "My Name is Earl" recently, and have to say that I really enjoy it. I only watched the first couple of episodes on a DVD that was there for some reason because I was bored, but I found myself watching 7 or 8 episodes a sitting. I definitely recommend it to anyone who isn't familiar with it. Although my 'cousin' can be slow in getting it to me, it is worth the wait.
Anyhoo, this'll probably be my last update before I post the Disney version of my trip.
Laterzzzz
I am really looking forward to it. I think the change in location if nothing else will do my game the power of good to be honest. I haven't played much since the last entry here, once in the Se in a round of each tournie in which I finished 4th after playing pretty well but it dragged on and the inevitable lack of patience and extra tiredness surfaced around 3.30am. The only other time I have played live was in the Fitz scalps, and I was gone before the break in a dramatic departure from tradition there. I plaed some cash afterwards like a bit of a donkey. I should have stayed in the holdem game but it was boring me somewhat I have to admit. Ah well, never mind.
I have no real plans for what I am going to do in Vegas, I think the best plan is to wing it and see what the guys who have been out there for a while say. Chances are I will paly a supersat for the main event, and assuming failure in that, just stick to cash mostly with a few of the smaller tournies around the place thrown in, all things being equal.
Once this is over, assuming I am still alive and solvent, thoughts will turn to the rest of the year pokerwise. There will be a few festivals later in the year I would like to play, but chances are I will have to restrict myself. I will play in the Poker Ireland event which hopes to get 1000 runners, and hopefully I will be able to play in the Big Slick event in Waterford in November as well. Beyond that I have no real idea what is happening, but I assume there will be some chances to qualify for the Dublin EPT event although the buyin has increased, and I assume GJP will be holding another 1k event. I may have to rob a bank to pay for this I reckon. Then again, I rob a bank every day practically since I get paid by one every month for my daily 'contributions'.
I have played online a wee bit lately as well and have been doing ok on UB Omaha, but I don't really play often enough to see much of a tangible benefit.
On a non poker note, I have been watching the first couple of series of "My Name is Earl" recently, and have to say that I really enjoy it. I only watched the first couple of episodes on a DVD that was there for some reason because I was bored, but I found myself watching 7 or 8 episodes a sitting. I definitely recommend it to anyone who isn't familiar with it. Although my 'cousin' can be slow in getting it to me, it is worth the wait.
Anyhoo, this'll probably be my last update before I post the Disney version of my trip.
Laterzzzz
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Where do we go from here????
OK, some issues are distressing me somewhat.
Firstly, there is the matter of Luke Ivory parting company with the Fitz. I have no idea what happened, and I am not going to speculate about it either, beyond saying that it is not normal for someone to 'decide' to leave their job. Obviously something happened to trigger this and I am sad about this as the Fitz has been for a number of years my club of choice to go to, and one where I felt almost at home. Luke was a big part of that, and I don't think anyone can underestimate the impact of having someone as personable, likeable, and knowledgeable as the front man for your poker operations. It is a big loss for the Fitz, and I don't really know what it is going to look like in a few months without him there.
It doesn't take a genius to work out that it is extremely likely that Luke will be in another club in Dublin at some point in the near future, whether this is a new club or an existing one, and due to the nature of a good few of the old school regulars who seem nearly brand loyal, then it appears to me that their brand is Luke. This could have a big effect on the numbers attending the Fitz, and a further dilution of the alreday strained market is not really what I am hoping for.
The poker scene has developed in the last few years in Dublin, and whereas when I started playing in the Fitz, some 42 months ago, a €100 Freezeout was a big deal, and something to be aspired to almost, but not anymore. People have gotten fussier, more demanding, and expect lots from every tournament they play. If there is a new cardroom to develop out of this, then the 'more of the same' approach is not something that will be good for the game I think. Numbers have fallen off in recent times somewhat with the SE and the Jackpot competing with the Fitz as well as the pub games and home games that some people love to play. Luke is a great TD and a great guy, but from a selfish point of view I hope this doesn't make it more difficult to get a good game. Who knows what will happen to the Fitz's poker room, but I suspect that whoever is put in charge will try to keep things as they are. I hope that this does not affect the current staff too much either, as I don't really like change. One way or another I probably won't be in any time soon anyways, for reasons I will get into now.
Anyways, enough about that. I am off to Vegas on July 2nd, and I am looking forward to that, but there are a few things troubling me.
1. I have not won a seat in the main event of the WSOP.
2. I have not tried to win a seat in the main event of the WSOP.
3. I am on a terrible run lately, so my funds are somewhat dwindling.
4. I may not be able to have as much fun over there as I had hoped.
All in all though I am still going to enjoy it as much as I can, and if things are going badly over there at the start I will just have to be cleverer about it and spend my money in a more targeted fashion.
This is not a fact that I am proud of overall, but I have been keeping detailed records of my live play for 23 months. In the first 16 months I had 12 winning, and 4 losing months. In the last 7 months (including this month) they have all been losing months for me. There have still been a few high points, like qualifying for the Irish Open, and some decent cash results, but almost universally my tournament game sucks (to use an Americanism). I won't embarrass myself with any further stats, but I don't know what way to take this? Is this a downswing? Was I experiencing positive variance before and now it is evening itself out? It is a very depressing issue and one that will be keeping me out of the cardrooms for a few weeks (I might visit once, for a €50 tournie or something though). It is helping that for the next 2 weekends I have to go away, so that temptation is removed, but it won't help me overcome my problems.
Is the game changing and I am not keeping up? Is it just a prolonged spell of bad variance combined with the poorer play that goes along with such runs? I know several others on bad runs as well, and from reading blogs I know it is a common thing. Poker does seem to go on streaks to a certain extent. I do not know why this is, as cards have no memory, and there should be no reasons for clustering like this. The one issue though that does lead to this, and it is often the hardest one to spot, is how you are palying. Even a small change in your game subconsciously can affect the outcome of a couple of key hands, and this may lead to a knock in confidence, which in turn leads to more subconscious errors. However, I am really trying hard to eradicate this type of crap from my game, but it does not seem to be working. What I would like to know though, is why it rarely seems to happen to me that my AA get into a situation where I am up against KK. but the other way around seems to happen with far more regularity?
It is a conspiracy I tells ya.
I really must try though to qualify for the WSOP. What I will do I think is try to play in the Stars, and FT supersatellities where they are guaranteeing 150 and 100 seats respectively. It will be a big ask to get one of these seats as there will likely be around 7000 in the stars one, and around 2500 in the FT game, so plenty of luck and concentration will be needed. the problem with this though is that they are on the 17th of June, and earlier that evening I am coming back from a stag party in Slovakia, so I might not be in tip top shape to be honest. Hopefully I can give it a shot though, and not be lazy about it.
Roll on Vegas.
Firstly, there is the matter of Luke Ivory parting company with the Fitz. I have no idea what happened, and I am not going to speculate about it either, beyond saying that it is not normal for someone to 'decide' to leave their job. Obviously something happened to trigger this and I am sad about this as the Fitz has been for a number of years my club of choice to go to, and one where I felt almost at home. Luke was a big part of that, and I don't think anyone can underestimate the impact of having someone as personable, likeable, and knowledgeable as the front man for your poker operations. It is a big loss for the Fitz, and I don't really know what it is going to look like in a few months without him there.
It doesn't take a genius to work out that it is extremely likely that Luke will be in another club in Dublin at some point in the near future, whether this is a new club or an existing one, and due to the nature of a good few of the old school regulars who seem nearly brand loyal, then it appears to me that their brand is Luke. This could have a big effect on the numbers attending the Fitz, and a further dilution of the alreday strained market is not really what I am hoping for.
The poker scene has developed in the last few years in Dublin, and whereas when I started playing in the Fitz, some 42 months ago, a €100 Freezeout was a big deal, and something to be aspired to almost, but not anymore. People have gotten fussier, more demanding, and expect lots from every tournament they play. If there is a new cardroom to develop out of this, then the 'more of the same' approach is not something that will be good for the game I think. Numbers have fallen off in recent times somewhat with the SE and the Jackpot competing with the Fitz as well as the pub games and home games that some people love to play. Luke is a great TD and a great guy, but from a selfish point of view I hope this doesn't make it more difficult to get a good game. Who knows what will happen to the Fitz's poker room, but I suspect that whoever is put in charge will try to keep things as they are. I hope that this does not affect the current staff too much either, as I don't really like change. One way or another I probably won't be in any time soon anyways, for reasons I will get into now.
Anyways, enough about that. I am off to Vegas on July 2nd, and I am looking forward to that, but there are a few things troubling me.
1. I have not won a seat in the main event of the WSOP.
2. I have not tried to win a seat in the main event of the WSOP.
3. I am on a terrible run lately, so my funds are somewhat dwindling.
4. I may not be able to have as much fun over there as I had hoped.
All in all though I am still going to enjoy it as much as I can, and if things are going badly over there at the start I will just have to be cleverer about it and spend my money in a more targeted fashion.
This is not a fact that I am proud of overall, but I have been keeping detailed records of my live play for 23 months. In the first 16 months I had 12 winning, and 4 losing months. In the last 7 months (including this month) they have all been losing months for me. There have still been a few high points, like qualifying for the Irish Open, and some decent cash results, but almost universally my tournament game sucks (to use an Americanism). I won't embarrass myself with any further stats, but I don't know what way to take this? Is this a downswing? Was I experiencing positive variance before and now it is evening itself out? It is a very depressing issue and one that will be keeping me out of the cardrooms for a few weeks (I might visit once, for a €50 tournie or something though). It is helping that for the next 2 weekends I have to go away, so that temptation is removed, but it won't help me overcome my problems.
Is the game changing and I am not keeping up? Is it just a prolonged spell of bad variance combined with the poorer play that goes along with such runs? I know several others on bad runs as well, and from reading blogs I know it is a common thing. Poker does seem to go on streaks to a certain extent. I do not know why this is, as cards have no memory, and there should be no reasons for clustering like this. The one issue though that does lead to this, and it is often the hardest one to spot, is how you are palying. Even a small change in your game subconsciously can affect the outcome of a couple of key hands, and this may lead to a knock in confidence, which in turn leads to more subconscious errors. However, I am really trying hard to eradicate this type of crap from my game, but it does not seem to be working. What I would like to know though, is why it rarely seems to happen to me that my AA get into a situation where I am up against KK. but the other way around seems to happen with far more regularity?
It is a conspiracy I tells ya.
I really must try though to qualify for the WSOP. What I will do I think is try to play in the Stars, and FT supersatellities where they are guaranteeing 150 and 100 seats respectively. It will be a big ask to get one of these seats as there will likely be around 7000 in the stars one, and around 2500 in the FT game, so plenty of luck and concentration will be needed. the problem with this though is that they are on the 17th of June, and earlier that evening I am coming back from a stag party in Slovakia, so I might not be in tip top shape to be honest. Hopefully I can give it a shot though, and not be lazy about it.
Roll on Vegas.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Oh My!!!
Very exciting times recently, what with the drama of the Champions league and all. I have decided that I am going to have the most expensive week of my life in a few weeks.
1. Go to the Heineken cup final on May 20th. Tickets have been booked for a while so why not. I fly home on Monday, getting to Dublin at 16:45.
2. Go to the Champions league final in Athens. I have booked a package deal to go through Abbey Travel. The pain of the cost hurts, but I don't think I could justify to myself not going after not going last time. Pity it is at the far end of the continent again. Spain, France, Germany, Italy or the likes would have been much easier to access. Fly out at 04:00 on Tuesday (9 hours after landing from London), and back in Dublin at 18:00 on Thursday.
3. Playing the GJP main event in Drogheda on Friday. I have this paid for already, but may have to cancel this if things go badly at some point.
I hadn't played since last Thursday until last night. Last Thursday was a game I shouldn't really have played as I was not in the right frame of mind to be honest, but there you go. I exited early with KK vs AA, and palyed a cash game for a while, in which I had to reload, then was up money, and then left breaking exactly even. Could be worse I guess.
I am starting to fret over my finances for Vegas somewhat with the week detailed above coming in at probably over 4k when spending money is factored in, and since my year hasn't been great, so far at least, poker wise it is a bit of a stretch. Ah well, it's only money.
Adieu.
1. Go to the Heineken cup final on May 20th. Tickets have been booked for a while so why not. I fly home on Monday, getting to Dublin at 16:45.
2. Go to the Champions league final in Athens. I have booked a package deal to go through Abbey Travel. The pain of the cost hurts, but I don't think I could justify to myself not going after not going last time. Pity it is at the far end of the continent again. Spain, France, Germany, Italy or the likes would have been much easier to access. Fly out at 04:00 on Tuesday (9 hours after landing from London), and back in Dublin at 18:00 on Thursday.
3. Playing the GJP main event in Drogheda on Friday. I have this paid for already, but may have to cancel this if things go badly at some point.
I hadn't played since last Thursday until last night. Last Thursday was a game I shouldn't really have played as I was not in the right frame of mind to be honest, but there you go. I exited early with KK vs AA, and palyed a cash game for a while, in which I had to reload, then was up money, and then left breaking exactly even. Could be worse I guess.
I am starting to fret over my finances for Vegas somewhat with the week detailed above coming in at probably over 4k when spending money is factored in, and since my year hasn't been great, so far at least, poker wise it is a bit of a stretch. Ah well, it's only money.
Adieu.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
More Stuff
I nearly had a very good weekend last weekend. But I didn't. It wasn't bad either, but I lost one big flip, and palyed another hand wrongly which led to me losing my €450 profit and €300 buyin in one hand in the 50 Omaha, which I really don't want to go into as I know how I played it wrongly and will learn from it. Damn you Laurence and damn me for my bad play that allowed you into the pot.
The flop I lost was in the scalps game in the Fitz on Friday, when I went out in 8th place in a pot for 1/3 of the chips in play. I had raised to 12k (2k/4k) UTG with AKs and Ronan, who covered, came over the top all in. I had 56k total, and the way this tournie was I didn't really consider folding before I called as the blinds were going up next hand to 2500/5k. Two spades on the flop gave me plenty of hope but I missed. Ah well, at least I made the final table. the cash hand from above happened about an hour later too, so double whammy. I was still only down a little over 200 for the night so not too bad.
Sunday I played in the €40 rebuy game. This hasn't been getting many numbers unfortunately, despite it being a decent enough game with plenty of chips in play, relative to other games anyways. A series of hands being cracked led to me going all in blind UTG the last hand before the break with 700 chips (50/100) which I won, and from there on I didn't look back and finished second. It was only for €500, but important for my tournie confidence, despite that game hardly being populated by world beaters.
I have also decided to play the GJP main event for €1k. I shouldn't really play this, but I have secured backers to the tune of 40%, and I also feel my game is a lot more focused and together than it has been recently, and I am looking forward to this game. I played well for the first half of day one the last time this was on, only to shit away 10k on a bluff soon after, and then find myself under a bit of pressure later, and going out on the second day with QQ vs JJ in a pot to get me back to over average. Hopefully this won't happen again. Also, I have played in 3 tournies that have 3 or more days designed for them and I have at least made day two each time, so I am hopeful of another fairly deep run. This game is on May 25th in Drogheda, and I can't wait now.
On a different note, the Fitz are making changes to their tournies for the better, as the Monday, Tuesday and Friday games are getting more chips and extended blind levels. This can only be good for the games and the Dublin scene as a whole, and bring the Fitz game broadly into line with the structures of the Sporting Emporium, which has had improved games for a while now. There are three main reasons why I don't play more in the Sporting Emporium, and these are:
1. Parking is a nightmare.
2. There is no food menu there.
3. There are rarely any Omaha cash games.
If these things change, or even numbers two and three as number one is unlikely to, then I would definitely consider going there more, as now I rarely go outside of their €200 game and their satellites, which I have a good record in too. Until then though I'll mostly stick with the Fitz, and even though I had decided not to, I will probably play the end of month game tonight. I was planning to get up early tomorrow in order to leave Dublin at 4, but I can delay that by a while and not get into work until 10, and that is sounding like a good idea to me at this point.
The Fitz also have 5 great Ladbrokes packages to give away this year for the WSOP, so I will probably play in a couple of those at least. Hopefully the next few months will be an exciting time, and one way or another I am looking forward to going to Vegas in July.
The flop I lost was in the scalps game in the Fitz on Friday, when I went out in 8th place in a pot for 1/3 of the chips in play. I had raised to 12k (2k/4k) UTG with AKs and Ronan, who covered, came over the top all in. I had 56k total, and the way this tournie was I didn't really consider folding before I called as the blinds were going up next hand to 2500/5k. Two spades on the flop gave me plenty of hope but I missed. Ah well, at least I made the final table. the cash hand from above happened about an hour later too, so double whammy. I was still only down a little over 200 for the night so not too bad.
Sunday I played in the €40 rebuy game. This hasn't been getting many numbers unfortunately, despite it being a decent enough game with plenty of chips in play, relative to other games anyways. A series of hands being cracked led to me going all in blind UTG the last hand before the break with 700 chips (50/100) which I won, and from there on I didn't look back and finished second. It was only for €500, but important for my tournie confidence, despite that game hardly being populated by world beaters.
I have also decided to play the GJP main event for €1k. I shouldn't really play this, but I have secured backers to the tune of 40%, and I also feel my game is a lot more focused and together than it has been recently, and I am looking forward to this game. I played well for the first half of day one the last time this was on, only to shit away 10k on a bluff soon after, and then find myself under a bit of pressure later, and going out on the second day with QQ vs JJ in a pot to get me back to over average. Hopefully this won't happen again. Also, I have played in 3 tournies that have 3 or more days designed for them and I have at least made day two each time, so I am hopeful of another fairly deep run. This game is on May 25th in Drogheda, and I can't wait now.
On a different note, the Fitz are making changes to their tournies for the better, as the Monday, Tuesday and Friday games are getting more chips and extended blind levels. This can only be good for the games and the Dublin scene as a whole, and bring the Fitz game broadly into line with the structures of the Sporting Emporium, which has had improved games for a while now. There are three main reasons why I don't play more in the Sporting Emporium, and these are:
1. Parking is a nightmare.
2. There is no food menu there.
3. There are rarely any Omaha cash games.
If these things change, or even numbers two and three as number one is unlikely to, then I would definitely consider going there more, as now I rarely go outside of their €200 game and their satellites, which I have a good record in too. Until then though I'll mostly stick with the Fitz, and even though I had decided not to, I will probably play the end of month game tonight. I was planning to get up early tomorrow in order to leave Dublin at 4, but I can delay that by a while and not get into work until 10, and that is sounding like a good idea to me at this point.
The Fitz also have 5 great Ladbrokes packages to give away this year for the WSOP, so I will probably play in a couple of those at least. Hopefully the next few months will be an exciting time, and one way or another I am looking forward to going to Vegas in July.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Stuff
I have no idea what this post is going to be about at this point, probably a rant, a bad beat and a few complaints as usual!!!!
These posts are like buses it seems at present, except without the incumbent knackers and the piss of course.
At the moment I am mostly in anticapation of things to come, namely the Champions League semi finals when Liverpool can hopefully recreate what happened a couple of years ago, and also to my Vegas trip at the start of July. I have been playing a good bit more in the way of cash games lately and in general they have been going alright. I haven't had a substantial win but most of my wins have been in the 600-900 profit, so still good, especially since I am not generally the type of player to push it too much after I get into good profit like that.
I nearly had another good night last night in the Fitz €100 game but a 2 outer on a JT2r board when I held TT62, vs JTX2. All the money went in on the flop, so about a €1200 pot went south when one of the remaining two Jacks in the deck hit on fourth street. Ah well, not much can be done about it. And, yes, I know TT62 is a rubbish hand.
This weather is depressing me, not that it takes much to depress me when I am in work. Hot,cold, wet or dry, they all usually make me feel depressed in work. The good thing is that due to me forgetting about this post it is now Friday evening so I get to go in about 30 mins or so.
I will play the Fitz scalps game tonight and probably a cash game after my 14th place finish in that.
Also, I have been thinking about getting an Omaha book and I believe the one by Rolf Sltobloom is the one to read. I might check with my 'cousins' (force of habit) first, might actually resort to buying it!!!!
That's me for now, it helped pass a bit of my day anyways.
Adios.
These posts are like buses it seems at present, except without the incumbent knackers and the piss of course.
At the moment I am mostly in anticapation of things to come, namely the Champions League semi finals when Liverpool can hopefully recreate what happened a couple of years ago, and also to my Vegas trip at the start of July. I have been playing a good bit more in the way of cash games lately and in general they have been going alright. I haven't had a substantial win but most of my wins have been in the 600-900 profit, so still good, especially since I am not generally the type of player to push it too much after I get into good profit like that.
I nearly had another good night last night in the Fitz €100 game but a 2 outer on a JT2r board when I held TT62, vs JTX2. All the money went in on the flop, so about a €1200 pot went south when one of the remaining two Jacks in the deck hit on fourth street. Ah well, not much can be done about it. And, yes, I know TT62 is a rubbish hand.
This weather is depressing me, not that it takes much to depress me when I am in work. Hot,cold, wet or dry, they all usually make me feel depressed in work. The good thing is that due to me forgetting about this post it is now Friday evening so I get to go in about 30 mins or so.
I will play the Fitz scalps game tonight and probably a cash game after my 14th place finish in that.
Also, I have been thinking about getting an Omaha book and I believe the one by Rolf Sltobloom is the one to read. I might check with my 'cousins' (force of habit) first, might actually resort to buying it!!!!
That's me for now, it helped pass a bit of my day anyways.
Adios.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Happy Birthday!!!!
It's been one year (and a few days, but who is counting) since this blog was born and probably serves as a microcosm of my life to date.
Early years: Willing to learn and enthusiastic.
Middle years: Some exciting developments make me optimistic for the future.
Later years: Laziness bites and I settle into a not very good rut.
Since my last post a fair bit has happened me pokerwise, but also very little movement paradoxically. I am generally playing less tournaments that I have been, and they are still not turning into a profitable venture for me. I did however manage to jambag my way into the Irish Open at pretty much the last hurdle in the SE. There were 125 runners and 10 tickets as it turned out. I started off pretty slowly but a few good hands after the break, including one (and only) pivotal dogging of someone when I pot committed myself to a raise with AT, and I pretty much cruised to a ticket in the end. I was really looking forward to this.
My Irish Open day started when I got up around 1pm on Good Friday (early for me on a day off), scraped the dirt off, consumed some nutrition, and drove into town. I got to the Burlington at around 3 o'clock, about an hour before scheduled start. When my seat assignment came up on screen I scanned it for any familiar faces or well known names. Blank on both counts, although I did recognise a couple of names vaguely.
I take my seat anyhow (seat 2) and the table isn't exactly the hardest table I have ever been at to be honest, with a coupld of loose raisers, a couple of absolute calling stations, a couple of donkeys and a couple of good players. All in all not too shabby. However, the 2 calling stations are proving to be problematic as I can't ever get them to move off the hand, and one had a tendency to call flop and turn bets and then hugely overbet the river. Sadly I couldn't catch anything to exploit the situation and the chips went elsewhere. I won a few hands at this table but was between 6k and 11k the whole time I was there. I was briefly moved to another table before that too was broken and not much changed for me there.
On my 3rd table things were a bit more interesting with several faces I knew and a couple I recognised. At this table I got up to my day 1 high of around 13.5k before falling back to an 8k stack overnight. Great. There were only 9 stacks lower than me remaining after day 1, and there were only 2 stacks in total at our table that were above average, so the situation was a bit desperate really.
On day 2 I briefly came back, and in the course of 25 mins I was all in 5 times.
33 vs K8o - 2nd hand of the day, my 33 was too strong for Vincent Melinns K8o.
AA vs 55 - My AA no match for a flopped set all in preflop. Win this I was up to 30k.
A8o vs A4s - Same muppet that had the 55 limp called my allin (next hand after AA) for 2/3rds of his stack. Split pot.
66 vs 44 vs J8s - Win this I am up to 30k also. J8 hits a flush, I win side pot.
J9s vs QQ - First hand I have gone in behind and I stay there. BB was not meant to have a hand that strong. Ah well, at least I went out with a bang.
I also played the Omaha rebuy event (€300) and rebought after the first hand. Action like this.
I am BB (25/50) with 89TT (diamonds). A couple of limpers, MP makes it 325. A couple of callers and I call also as do a couple more. 6 to the flop.
AdTh7d - middle set, open ender, diamonds. Preflop raiser checks, and next to act bets the pot (~2k). I am loving this flop so I move in and he quickly calls with AAxx. I miss and it is rebuy time. Oh well. I don't win a single hand and don't rebuy again, so I am out before the break. Great.
Cash games have been going somewhat better for me recently, with several wins in the region of €700 profit, but I just can't get a breakthrough in a tournament. Even when I am motoring along nicely I lose vital races, or get done in crucial pots. It is very frustrating to be honest.
Last night as well I played online for the first time in a few weeks, and it was all going well until I got stacked on 2 tables simultaneously. AK vs 88 on an AK6 flop when all the money went in. 8 on the turn. KKxx on a KQxr board on a 3 way all in on the flop when one gimp made a runner runner flush to go with his top 2 pair. This is the closest I have been to being on tilt in a long while but I managed to calm myself down a bit. I think I broke even, so with some bonus cleared and rakeback I made a marginal profit. Great. After that session I realised why I don't play NLHE cash games either live or online - I get bored or just play badly sometimes and generally lose. I haven't adapted to them as opposed to tournies.
I don't really have any poker plans for the immediate future to be honest. I would like to play in the GJP main event, but I can't be arsed to deposit money in another site to be honest, especially one with a decent deposit bonus that I know I am not going to clear. Maybe at some point in the future I will be in a better position, or more likely to clear it, but that time is not now. I may play one of the sats in the Jackpot, or maybe the SE or Fitz might have some for it as well.
I should really do what I have been promising myself as well and at least try to qualify for the WSOP in the summer since I am going to be there in 11 weeks. I hope I have enough dosh to be able to enjoy myself properly over there, as there are a few unexpected non poker related things happening now.
Bye for now, hopefully it won't be 2 months before my next update.
Early years: Willing to learn and enthusiastic.
Middle years: Some exciting developments make me optimistic for the future.
Later years: Laziness bites and I settle into a not very good rut.
Since my last post a fair bit has happened me pokerwise, but also very little movement paradoxically. I am generally playing less tournaments that I have been, and they are still not turning into a profitable venture for me. I did however manage to jambag my way into the Irish Open at pretty much the last hurdle in the SE. There were 125 runners and 10 tickets as it turned out. I started off pretty slowly but a few good hands after the break, including one (and only) pivotal dogging of someone when I pot committed myself to a raise with AT, and I pretty much cruised to a ticket in the end. I was really looking forward to this.
My Irish Open day started when I got up around 1pm on Good Friday (early for me on a day off), scraped the dirt off, consumed some nutrition, and drove into town. I got to the Burlington at around 3 o'clock, about an hour before scheduled start. When my seat assignment came up on screen I scanned it for any familiar faces or well known names. Blank on both counts, although I did recognise a couple of names vaguely.
I take my seat anyhow (seat 2) and the table isn't exactly the hardest table I have ever been at to be honest, with a coupld of loose raisers, a couple of absolute calling stations, a couple of donkeys and a couple of good players. All in all not too shabby. However, the 2 calling stations are proving to be problematic as I can't ever get them to move off the hand, and one had a tendency to call flop and turn bets and then hugely overbet the river. Sadly I couldn't catch anything to exploit the situation and the chips went elsewhere. I won a few hands at this table but was between 6k and 11k the whole time I was there. I was briefly moved to another table before that too was broken and not much changed for me there.
On my 3rd table things were a bit more interesting with several faces I knew and a couple I recognised. At this table I got up to my day 1 high of around 13.5k before falling back to an 8k stack overnight. Great. There were only 9 stacks lower than me remaining after day 1, and there were only 2 stacks in total at our table that were above average, so the situation was a bit desperate really.
On day 2 I briefly came back, and in the course of 25 mins I was all in 5 times.
33 vs K8o - 2nd hand of the day, my 33 was too strong for Vincent Melinns K8o.
AA vs 55 - My AA no match for a flopped set all in preflop. Win this I was up to 30k.
A8o vs A4s - Same muppet that had the 55 limp called my allin (next hand after AA) for 2/3rds of his stack. Split pot.
66 vs 44 vs J8s - Win this I am up to 30k also. J8 hits a flush, I win side pot.
J9s vs QQ - First hand I have gone in behind and I stay there. BB was not meant to have a hand that strong. Ah well, at least I went out with a bang.
I also played the Omaha rebuy event (€300) and rebought after the first hand. Action like this.
I am BB (25/50) with 89TT (diamonds). A couple of limpers, MP makes it 325. A couple of callers and I call also as do a couple more. 6 to the flop.
AdTh7d - middle set, open ender, diamonds. Preflop raiser checks, and next to act bets the pot (~2k). I am loving this flop so I move in and he quickly calls with AAxx. I miss and it is rebuy time. Oh well. I don't win a single hand and don't rebuy again, so I am out before the break. Great.
Cash games have been going somewhat better for me recently, with several wins in the region of €700 profit, but I just can't get a breakthrough in a tournament. Even when I am motoring along nicely I lose vital races, or get done in crucial pots. It is very frustrating to be honest.
Last night as well I played online for the first time in a few weeks, and it was all going well until I got stacked on 2 tables simultaneously. AK vs 88 on an AK6 flop when all the money went in. 8 on the turn. KKxx on a KQxr board on a 3 way all in on the flop when one gimp made a runner runner flush to go with his top 2 pair. This is the closest I have been to being on tilt in a long while but I managed to calm myself down a bit. I think I broke even, so with some bonus cleared and rakeback I made a marginal profit. Great. After that session I realised why I don't play NLHE cash games either live or online - I get bored or just play badly sometimes and generally lose. I haven't adapted to them as opposed to tournies.
I don't really have any poker plans for the immediate future to be honest. I would like to play in the GJP main event, but I can't be arsed to deposit money in another site to be honest, especially one with a decent deposit bonus that I know I am not going to clear. Maybe at some point in the future I will be in a better position, or more likely to clear it, but that time is not now. I may play one of the sats in the Jackpot, or maybe the SE or Fitz might have some for it as well.
I should really do what I have been promising myself as well and at least try to qualify for the WSOP in the summer since I am going to be there in 11 weeks. I hope I have enough dosh to be able to enjoy myself properly over there, as there are a few unexpected non poker related things happening now.
Bye for now, hopefully it won't be 2 months before my next update.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Brrrrrrrrrr
I've been running cold lately, so cold in fact that I think I may need a few of my appendages amputated due to frostbite. I wouldn't even think of posting how long it's been since I've had a decent result as that would cause extreme embarrassment.
I have as usual succumbed to my online apathy, and briefly roused myself from it yesterday to play an $80 sat to the Stars $650 sat for the WSOP. I decided that if I could make $80 in Omaha in 15 mins I would play it, otherwise I would leave it. Happily I won $81 after hitting a big flop that held up, and played it. However my reverie was short lived and I got nowhere near the ticket. Plenty of time left though to get into this Sundays game, and I might try to get into Saturdays $325 game before then too.
I am caught in 2 minds about the SE 200 game on Saturday. I really want to play it, but the way I have been running and playing, which probably counts for a good bit of the running bad thing, it would just be a waste of money. I really the thought of being dead money but lately that is all I seem to be. It is just as well that I am playing a lot less than I have been, so the financial impact is lesser than it has been in the past on similar bad runs.
What can I do about this? I know that I should try to concentrate on making as few mistakes as possible and things will come around. However, when I am playing lately I seem to be going against my instincts, playing too tight, and to top it off I am not really getting the cards either.
Yes, I know, that old chestnut. However, I have not been dealt AA in the whole of 2007 in hold'em. Fact. This is obviously not a prerequisite for winning hands, but the amount of sets I have hit are tiny. Even the hands I don't play miss. That is how it is. On the upside though, I get to write another whinge post.
I am going to New York in a couple of weeks so I am looking forward to that too, and until I get back poker will be limited, aside from maybe some WSOP sats. I am also looking forward to when the whole of the Tribeca network is transferred to the Playtech network. Although I have never played on their software, it looks far more like the interfaces that I am used to, and hopefully I will not be repulsed at the thought of using the software like I used to with the old Tribeca software.
Hopefully I will have something better to report in the next edition of "Dom - The Complaints And The Crying".
Bye now.
I have as usual succumbed to my online apathy, and briefly roused myself from it yesterday to play an $80 sat to the Stars $650 sat for the WSOP. I decided that if I could make $80 in Omaha in 15 mins I would play it, otherwise I would leave it. Happily I won $81 after hitting a big flop that held up, and played it. However my reverie was short lived and I got nowhere near the ticket. Plenty of time left though to get into this Sundays game, and I might try to get into Saturdays $325 game before then too.
I am caught in 2 minds about the SE 200 game on Saturday. I really want to play it, but the way I have been running and playing, which probably counts for a good bit of the running bad thing, it would just be a waste of money. I really the thought of being dead money but lately that is all I seem to be. It is just as well that I am playing a lot less than I have been, so the financial impact is lesser than it has been in the past on similar bad runs.
What can I do about this? I know that I should try to concentrate on making as few mistakes as possible and things will come around. However, when I am playing lately I seem to be going against my instincts, playing too tight, and to top it off I am not really getting the cards either.
Yes, I know, that old chestnut. However, I have not been dealt AA in the whole of 2007 in hold'em. Fact. This is obviously not a prerequisite for winning hands, but the amount of sets I have hit are tiny. Even the hands I don't play miss. That is how it is. On the upside though, I get to write another whinge post.
I am going to New York in a couple of weeks so I am looking forward to that too, and until I get back poker will be limited, aside from maybe some WSOP sats. I am also looking forward to when the whole of the Tribeca network is transferred to the Playtech network. Although I have never played on their software, it looks far more like the interfaces that I am used to, and hopefully I will not be repulsed at the thought of using the software like I used to with the old Tribeca software.
Hopefully I will have something better to report in the next edition of "Dom - The Complaints And The Crying".
Bye now.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
New Year Update
It's been very quiet so far for me this year. I have played live only a few times with no effect either way. It's lose a session win a session poker for me, and I have had no results in tournies so far.
I have been playing online somewhat more lately and have even started playing online MTT's a bit more too. I have played 3 and finished 12th out of 1200 in one for $130 profit (great) when $5.5k was for first, and 2 others where I finished about 250th from 1k runners. There is some awful play in these $10-$30 freezeouts, so getting into a decent position is not too hard, but avoiding the inevitable beats that follow is the thing that can make or break one of these games. I have played a decent amount of online Omaha lately too with some success. My PTBB is running at close to 8 now which is ok I think, but since I don't play a great volume of hands in general it is hard to see a tangible benefit from it at the levels I play at.
Part of my motivation for playing online is due to the fact that I have booked flights to go to Vegas during the WSOP this summer. I could not make it last year due to other financial committments so did not even try, and the year before I did not really try wither, whcih in hindsight is probably a good thing. I think however that now is a good time to bite the bullet on this as it is something that I have wanted to do for the last few years. My finances have settled down and even if I have a bad trip financially within the limits I set myself of course, I don't mind too much. Of course I am not going to go not caring if I lose, but if it happens it will not cause any financial difficulties for me. If I go over there and do very badly at the start in whatever I play in, then I will have to concentrate on the drinking and other aspects of Vegas, and wouldn't that be a terrible thing indeed.
Ideally what I would like to see happen is this.
1. Win a seat to the main event in the WSOP.
2. Make a decent return from online and live games over the next 6 months in order to provide myself with a proper bankroll to play some of the secent non WSOP games if I don't qualify for the main event, as well as cash games over there.
I travel on the 2nd July and return on the 17th (day of the final table, so I will probably have to change my plans to play in it.......). After looking at all the various travel options and nearly deciding to go with Virgin Atlantic which would have involved a nightly stay at Gatwick, I have decided togo with Aer Lingus to La, with a transfer a few hours later to LV, and I should arrive in LV around 7.30pm in time for a quick snooze, shower and time for a wander around the srtip. I had submitted my booking for Harrahs for 15 nights, but got an email a few hours later saying "There has been a problem with your booking. Please return to the website and resubmit it". I sent them back an email (no response so far, might have to ring) asking what the problem was, as I think it was probably due to the fact that my card is not US issued, and if so then resubmitting my application is hardly likely to fix that. It didn't seem to be an automated, no response mail, but I think the main thing I want to be sure of is that my credit card did not get charged regardless, although it said it didn't. I do not want to have the cost of 30 nights stay on my card, 15 is more than enough.
Edit: An update to say that I have booked into Bally's for 15 nights. It is a few quid dearer per night than Harrah's, but fuck it, I might as well push the boat out somewhat. I want to stay in as central a location as possible and you don't get much more central than that. It is connected to Paris via a walkway too and I hear there is a great buffet there too. I am so looking forward to this.
Assuming that I do not get that booking sent out I am still inclined to stay at Harrahs, but the Excalibur seems to be a bit cheaper, if a bit further up the strip, and seems to be more of a resort theme hotel, which I am not sure is a good thing or a bad thing. One way or another though, I am really looking forward to this, and hopefully once the big sites start the multi seat qualifiers for the ME I can start getting in amongst them. The big annoyance though is that I'll have to qualify into them too. I know Stars run a lot of double shoot outs, but I have not had much success in the (very) few shootout format tournies I have played. I may try my hand at them though.
So far this year my travel schedule looks something like this.
1. Jan 27th - Austria skiing for a week. Not a lot of snow yet though :(
2. Mar 13th - New York for 8 days.
3. May 19th - London for the weekend to go to the Heineken Cup Final.
4. Jun 22nd - Bratislave for a stag weekend.
5. Jul 2nd - Vegas for 15 days.
It's a hard life. I will probably be near broke come the end of July, but at least I will hopefully enjoy it.
Poker plans for the year include taking it as it comes, and that is pretty much about it. I have no real plans to play in any online qualifiers for the Irish Open as it would involve playing on Tribeca which is anathema (spelling corrected, I should have checked) to me. I may play some live qualifiers if there is likely to be a decent amount of seats up for grabs.
Anyways, that is me for now.
Happy flopping,
Dom
I have been playing online somewhat more lately and have even started playing online MTT's a bit more too. I have played 3 and finished 12th out of 1200 in one for $130 profit (great) when $5.5k was for first, and 2 others where I finished about 250th from 1k runners. There is some awful play in these $10-$30 freezeouts, so getting into a decent position is not too hard, but avoiding the inevitable beats that follow is the thing that can make or break one of these games. I have played a decent amount of online Omaha lately too with some success. My PTBB is running at close to 8 now which is ok I think, but since I don't play a great volume of hands in general it is hard to see a tangible benefit from it at the levels I play at.
Part of my motivation for playing online is due to the fact that I have booked flights to go to Vegas during the WSOP this summer. I could not make it last year due to other financial committments so did not even try, and the year before I did not really try wither, whcih in hindsight is probably a good thing. I think however that now is a good time to bite the bullet on this as it is something that I have wanted to do for the last few years. My finances have settled down and even if I have a bad trip financially within the limits I set myself of course, I don't mind too much. Of course I am not going to go not caring if I lose, but if it happens it will not cause any financial difficulties for me. If I go over there and do very badly at the start in whatever I play in, then I will have to concentrate on the drinking and other aspects of Vegas, and wouldn't that be a terrible thing indeed.
Ideally what I would like to see happen is this.
1. Win a seat to the main event in the WSOP.
2. Make a decent return from online and live games over the next 6 months in order to provide myself with a proper bankroll to play some of the secent non WSOP games if I don't qualify for the main event, as well as cash games over there.
I travel on the 2nd July and return on the 17th (day of the final table, so I will probably have to change my plans to play in it.......). After looking at all the various travel options and nearly deciding to go with Virgin Atlantic which would have involved a nightly stay at Gatwick, I have decided togo with Aer Lingus to La, with a transfer a few hours later to LV, and I should arrive in LV around 7.30pm in time for a quick snooze, shower and time for a wander around the srtip. I had submitted my booking for Harrahs for 15 nights, but got an email a few hours later saying "There has been a problem with your booking. Please return to the website and resubmit it". I sent them back an email (no response so far, might have to ring) asking what the problem was, as I think it was probably due to the fact that my card is not US issued, and if so then resubmitting my application is hardly likely to fix that. It didn't seem to be an automated, no response mail, but I think the main thing I want to be sure of is that my credit card did not get charged regardless, although it said it didn't. I do not want to have the cost of 30 nights stay on my card, 15 is more than enough.
Edit: An update to say that I have booked into Bally's for 15 nights. It is a few quid dearer per night than Harrah's, but fuck it, I might as well push the boat out somewhat. I want to stay in as central a location as possible and you don't get much more central than that. It is connected to Paris via a walkway too and I hear there is a great buffet there too. I am so looking forward to this.
Assuming that I do not get that booking sent out I am still inclined to stay at Harrahs, but the Excalibur seems to be a bit cheaper, if a bit further up the strip, and seems to be more of a resort theme hotel, which I am not sure is a good thing or a bad thing. One way or another though, I am really looking forward to this, and hopefully once the big sites start the multi seat qualifiers for the ME I can start getting in amongst them. The big annoyance though is that I'll have to qualify into them too. I know Stars run a lot of double shoot outs, but I have not had much success in the (very) few shootout format tournies I have played. I may try my hand at them though.
So far this year my travel schedule looks something like this.
1. Jan 27th - Austria skiing for a week. Not a lot of snow yet though :(
2. Mar 13th - New York for 8 days.
3. May 19th - London for the weekend to go to the Heineken Cup Final.
4. Jun 22nd - Bratislave for a stag weekend.
5. Jul 2nd - Vegas for 15 days.
It's a hard life. I will probably be near broke come the end of July, but at least I will hopefully enjoy it.
Poker plans for the year include taking it as it comes, and that is pretty much about it. I have no real plans to play in any online qualifiers for the Irish Open as it would involve playing on Tribeca which is anathema (spelling corrected, I should have checked) to me. I may play some live qualifiers if there is likely to be a decent amount of seats up for grabs.
Anyways, that is me for now.
Happy flopping,
Dom
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