I admit it has been quite a while since my last update, but believe me, you aren't missing much.
So what has happened me poker wise since my last brief update? Not much really. I returned from Vegas with less money than I went (not a huge amount in the scheme of things however), ran well after I came back for a couple of weeks, then started losing. I think I have only played 3 times in the last 6 weeks, I haven't played online in several months, and I have not been enjoying the game lately.
I know I have had some fatalistic updates on this wristslitfest of a blog, but I have not enjoyed poker in the last 3-4 months in all fairness, probably starting before I went to Vegas at all. I have noticeably been playing terribly and making terrible decisions borne out of some ill conceived notion that I conconcted from nowhere at the time to justify my decision to myself. It has at times felt like I was literally burning money, especially in Omaha cash games where I have made some ridiculously stupid moves lately.
It is hard to admit at times, but I am playing such a weak tight game lately that it depresses me. Knowing this is probably the first step to addressing it, but knowing it is also the easy part. Fixing it is the difficult bit. I know people go through phases like this all the time, but it is the first time in a long time that I have not wanted to play much at all, and the last 6 weeks are easily the least poker I have played in the last 4 1/2 years.
It is with all this in mind that I have decided not to go to Killarney to play in the event that I have been looking forward to for ages. I think it will be a great weekend with loads of good people there, so a good time in that respect will be nearly guaranteed. However, I think it would be a guaranteed loss of money so I cannot justify it in my current humour with the game, especially if it were to turn out like my experience in Tramore when I got frustrated with my play that I left a day early with a hotel room paid for and all. Killarney is just too far to do that. I really do wish I was going, but I don't hate money that much.
I will also not be playing the IPO, but this is for a different reason as I have a stag to attend that weekend in Galway. I would have played this otherwise but not to be.
I have not tried to qualify for the Winter Festival in Citywest on the bank holiday weekend yet and I really should as I would love to play that and I am certainly not forking out entry money for that as it is way above my budget but it should be an excellent event as well. I think I will try to go back to basics somewhat in poker terms and play some more tournaments and cut back on the cash games somewhat. Who knows though, a couple of decent nights and this will all be forgotten I guess.
On other fronts, I have just returned from a 2 week break in the states, with a week of it spent in Florida. This included 2 nights spent in Key West which was surreal due to the number of bikers in the place. It was Bikers Week there, and there must have been 2 thousand of them, mostly on Harleys, quite a few with their 'bitches', and the average age being close to 50 I would guess, no joke. The women with them were often quite scary (although there were a few exceptions of course) with scantily clad, leathery skinned, pot bellied, 50 year old women being typical fare there. I still have some mental scars. Other memorable parts of the trip included a visit to Ocracoke Island in North Carolina, home of the best beach in the US 2007, and a trip to Busch Gardens for some high octane rollercaoster action. Relaxation was probably the key point of this trip and I am deighted to report that this objective was achieved in full, and considering the content of the first few articles in this entry, it couldn't have come at a better time.
That's me for now. I shall be back some time between tomorrow and the end of the year for another update I'm sure.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Quick update
Don't have time now to post a proper update, but needless to say I finished about 62nd in a 565 runner event wit47k for first. That is my only tourney so far. Cash going great though. AA cracked, KK into AA. Sets cracked etc etc. So far so standard etc. I plan to do more drinking from now on though. :)
Ran into a few lads so far out here, trying to stay outof the sun etc etc as I hear it is bad for a pale mofo like me. Was going to play the 540 Omaha in the Venetian today, but stayed in be to watch the ftball instead (11.45 am kickoff).
I'll probably post news of my second level bustout in th next tourney I play sometime soon.
Cheers.
Ran into a few lads so far out here, trying to stay outof the sun etc etc as I hear it is bad for a pale mofo like me. Was going to play the 540 Omaha in the Venetian today, but stayed in be to watch the ftball instead (11.45 am kickoff).
I'll probably post news of my second level bustout in th next tourney I play sometime soon.
Cheers.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Leaving on a jetplane....
In 36 hours I should be on the plane on the way to LA from where it is a short hop to vegas. Bad time then to be sick of poker, but as of last weekend that is officially where I stood.
On consecutive weekends I played in €500 buy in tournies. First was the Fitz 500 that attracted 65 runners. I was a fairly early casualty from this having done ok at the start, then lost over half my stack when the action went like this:
UTG limp for 150, folded to me I raise to 600 with AKo, next to act flat calls, then UTG goes all in for 3200. I check out the stack of the other guy and see he has just over 6k, so I raise enough to put him all in and hew instantly calls with AJs!!!! UTG shorty had TT, and the board came a spiffing QJ5JQ to see the fella to my left scoop with his AJ which was worth 40+ BB's preflop against someone who had raised twice. Way to go. After that I was struggling and eventually lost a race with AK vs 99. Ah well.
Then last weekend I was in Tramore for the Big Slick 500 game which had 142 runners. I never really got going in this tbh, and a couple of ill timed plays seen me knocked out just at the end of the first days play. I played the side event the next day and bluffed off a few chips in the first round, before getting KK all in preflop vs AA. Goodnight, and only 20 mins in.
Cash games are going just as bad for me to be honest. I knew something like this run would happen at some point after my decent start to the year, but to happen just before Vegas isn't the best of timing. I haven't played since last Sunday night which for me is a huge stretch to not play for, and I won't play til I get to Vegas.
I am looking forward to it though, even if only because I won't be in work for 2 weeks. I remember thinking last year that I wouldn't go back to Vegas this year, but my weakness shone through in the end and hopefully I won't feel the same at the end of this trip. I am bringing just under $6k with me, and I would be annoyed if that doesn't last me my trip. Ideally of course I want to come back in profit, and that will be my goal of course, but I will take things as they come. If it starts badly I might have to reassess some of the plans for tournies that I had and just stick to the cash games which judging by the standard last year should be a source of some profit at least.
I will be bringing my laptop with me, so I may update this during my trip if anything interesting happens. I'm sure my avid readers will be pressing refresh every 5 seconds in anticipation of that one!!!!
Vegas will be a trip of cards and nights out, but like last year I don't intend to mix the two or go mad before I play any tournies.
It's good to see some of the Irish lads out there get a bit of success early on with Gavin Kelly having cashed in a WSOP event and chopped a Venetian event, and John O'Shea having finished 5th in a WSOP event for almost $100k. I don't know the lads very well (talked to Gavin once last year in Vegas, and John a couple of times in the Fitz), but all the same it is nice to see local lads doing well. Also, a mention to honourary Paddy, Lawrence Cowsar who came close in the $1500 PLO event, coming 20th when a big score was so close. Pair the board dammit!!!!!
OK, that's it from me for now, hopefully I will come back from Vegas in one piece to update this again.......
On consecutive weekends I played in €500 buy in tournies. First was the Fitz 500 that attracted 65 runners. I was a fairly early casualty from this having done ok at the start, then lost over half my stack when the action went like this:
UTG limp for 150, folded to me I raise to 600 with AKo, next to act flat calls, then UTG goes all in for 3200. I check out the stack of the other guy and see he has just over 6k, so I raise enough to put him all in and hew instantly calls with AJs!!!! UTG shorty had TT, and the board came a spiffing QJ5JQ to see the fella to my left scoop with his AJ which was worth 40+ BB's preflop against someone who had raised twice. Way to go. After that I was struggling and eventually lost a race with AK vs 99. Ah well.
Then last weekend I was in Tramore for the Big Slick 500 game which had 142 runners. I never really got going in this tbh, and a couple of ill timed plays seen me knocked out just at the end of the first days play. I played the side event the next day and bluffed off a few chips in the first round, before getting KK all in preflop vs AA. Goodnight, and only 20 mins in.
Cash games are going just as bad for me to be honest. I knew something like this run would happen at some point after my decent start to the year, but to happen just before Vegas isn't the best of timing. I haven't played since last Sunday night which for me is a huge stretch to not play for, and I won't play til I get to Vegas.
I am looking forward to it though, even if only because I won't be in work for 2 weeks. I remember thinking last year that I wouldn't go back to Vegas this year, but my weakness shone through in the end and hopefully I won't feel the same at the end of this trip. I am bringing just under $6k with me, and I would be annoyed if that doesn't last me my trip. Ideally of course I want to come back in profit, and that will be my goal of course, but I will take things as they come. If it starts badly I might have to reassess some of the plans for tournies that I had and just stick to the cash games which judging by the standard last year should be a source of some profit at least.
I will be bringing my laptop with me, so I may update this during my trip if anything interesting happens. I'm sure my avid readers will be pressing refresh every 5 seconds in anticipation of that one!!!!
Vegas will be a trip of cards and nights out, but like last year I don't intend to mix the two or go mad before I play any tournies.
It's good to see some of the Irish lads out there get a bit of success early on with Gavin Kelly having cashed in a WSOP event and chopped a Venetian event, and John O'Shea having finished 5th in a WSOP event for almost $100k. I don't know the lads very well (talked to Gavin once last year in Vegas, and John a couple of times in the Fitz), but all the same it is nice to see local lads doing well. Also, a mention to honourary Paddy, Lawrence Cowsar who came close in the $1500 PLO event, coming 20th when a big score was so close. Pair the board dammit!!!!!
OK, that's it from me for now, hopefully I will come back from Vegas in one piece to update this again.......
Monday, May 12, 2008
50th Post
I noticed as I was starting this, that I had 49 previous posts. Not that I am going to do a review of the last 25 months of my blog or anything, that would be just pointless.
I am getting suspicious of this poker lark now tbh. Something terrible is waiting around the corner for me. don't get me wrong, I still have losing nights, such as last night when I did 700 in the 2/5 Omaha in the Fitz. It wasn't that mad a game really, I've played madder 1/2 games tbh, but still didn't get the luck I needed in the game. Was up 400 at one stage, then got 3 outered for a 750+ pot and it kept going down from there.
However, that is a relatively rare blackspot the last while. I split the Fitz EOM for 3k, got 2k from the cash league in the Fitz, won a ticket for the 500 tourney in June, and had my biggest ever nightly cash win last Saturday night (1800). I played several of the events at JP's festival on the bank holiday weekend as well with absolutely no success. There was the usual mixed standard in both players and dealers (some of whom made me want to scream at them), but overall it was a very well run festival from what I saw and I am delighted that there were decent numbers in (most) events, as JP/Christine are lovely people from my experiences.
What is coming up for me? WEll in the next couple of months I have a few things in particular that I hope prove fruitful.
1. Fitz 500 on June 7th. Won a ticket for this. Probably not a huge number of runners, but I would hope for a good showing in this.
2. Waterford Festival, June 13-15. Playing the main event in this (550) in Tramore, and I believe there will be approx 200 entries in this, so a nice touch would prove very fruitful. Again, the standard will quite likely be very mixed, but I am looking forward to this as I hear Neill Kelly runs a good show although I have never played one of his events before.
3. Vegas, 21/6 - 5/7. Looking forward to this. Flying Dub - LA - Vegas and reverse on the way back. This is the same route I went last year and it was grand. I'm looking forward to this now, as I haven't had a real break from work (except Christmas which is stressful enough anyways) since Vegas last year, so I need some time off. I haven't even had a sick day in 16 months. I'm not 100% what I am going to play over there, but I intend to be a bit more adventurous than last year.
Last year in Vegas I was running and playing terribly coming up to it for a few months, as opposed to when I booked it. This year it is the other way around. When I booked it I was starting to run and play well, but coming off a long downswing. It has sustained itself since and by my standards have made a very healthy profit so far this year. Unless I get some large stroke of fortune and win something like the Waterford Open etc, I am never going to have a stellar year, but if the yearly average win out at current trends then I will be extremely happy with my lot in poker. That is getting a bit carried away though at this point. There are lots of potential positives, but plenty of possible pitfalls as well.
Ok, for the laugh, here is an ultra quick review of my 4 and a bit poker playing years so far.
Year 1 - Learning. Didn't keep any records. Almost certainly lost, not that much though as I was very careful about it.
Year 2 - Started keeping records halfway into this year. I think I broke even on the year. My records show profit, but I know I lost in the months before. Stakes starting to get bigger.
Year 3 - I thought this was my breakthrough year. 5 figure profit, first big tourney, first TV appearance. Things can only get better surely.
Year 4 - *BANG, *CRASH*, *WALLOP*, *KABLAMMO*. Batman didn't take as much of a hammering as my confidence, ego and results took. Not a disastrous year financially, but nearly every month was a losing one. Wiped out previous years profit. What happened? Did manage to play in the Irish Open though which was a goal of mine.
Year 5 - So far so good. Cash in the Irish Open, final tabled 50% of the tournies I have played, won or split 25% of them so far including sats for tickets. Slightly down in cash, but not that much. Regained all my previous years losses and some more on top. So far.
That is me for now.
Caio
I am getting suspicious of this poker lark now tbh. Something terrible is waiting around the corner for me. don't get me wrong, I still have losing nights, such as last night when I did 700 in the 2/5 Omaha in the Fitz. It wasn't that mad a game really, I've played madder 1/2 games tbh, but still didn't get the luck I needed in the game. Was up 400 at one stage, then got 3 outered for a 750+ pot and it kept going down from there.
However, that is a relatively rare blackspot the last while. I split the Fitz EOM for 3k, got 2k from the cash league in the Fitz, won a ticket for the 500 tourney in June, and had my biggest ever nightly cash win last Saturday night (1800). I played several of the events at JP's festival on the bank holiday weekend as well with absolutely no success. There was the usual mixed standard in both players and dealers (some of whom made me want to scream at them), but overall it was a very well run festival from what I saw and I am delighted that there were decent numbers in (most) events, as JP/Christine are lovely people from my experiences.
What is coming up for me? WEll in the next couple of months I have a few things in particular that I hope prove fruitful.
1. Fitz 500 on June 7th. Won a ticket for this. Probably not a huge number of runners, but I would hope for a good showing in this.
2. Waterford Festival, June 13-15. Playing the main event in this (550) in Tramore, and I believe there will be approx 200 entries in this, so a nice touch would prove very fruitful. Again, the standard will quite likely be very mixed, but I am looking forward to this as I hear Neill Kelly runs a good show although I have never played one of his events before.
3. Vegas, 21/6 - 5/7. Looking forward to this. Flying Dub - LA - Vegas and reverse on the way back. This is the same route I went last year and it was grand. I'm looking forward to this now, as I haven't had a real break from work (except Christmas which is stressful enough anyways) since Vegas last year, so I need some time off. I haven't even had a sick day in 16 months. I'm not 100% what I am going to play over there, but I intend to be a bit more adventurous than last year.
Last year in Vegas I was running and playing terribly coming up to it for a few months, as opposed to when I booked it. This year it is the other way around. When I booked it I was starting to run and play well, but coming off a long downswing. It has sustained itself since and by my standards have made a very healthy profit so far this year. Unless I get some large stroke of fortune and win something like the Waterford Open etc, I am never going to have a stellar year, but if the yearly average win out at current trends then I will be extremely happy with my lot in poker. That is getting a bit carried away though at this point. There are lots of potential positives, but plenty of possible pitfalls as well.
Ok, for the laugh, here is an ultra quick review of my 4 and a bit poker playing years so far.
Year 1 - Learning. Didn't keep any records. Almost certainly lost, not that much though as I was very careful about it.
Year 2 - Started keeping records halfway into this year. I think I broke even on the year. My records show profit, but I know I lost in the months before. Stakes starting to get bigger.
Year 3 - I thought this was my breakthrough year. 5 figure profit, first big tourney, first TV appearance. Things can only get better surely.
Year 4 - *BANG, *CRASH*, *WALLOP*, *KABLAMMO*. Batman didn't take as much of a hammering as my confidence, ego and results took. Not a disastrous year financially, but nearly every month was a losing one. Wiped out previous years profit. What happened? Did manage to play in the Irish Open though which was a goal of mine.
Year 5 - So far so good. Cash in the Irish Open, final tabled 50% of the tournies I have played, won or split 25% of them so far including sats for tickets. Slightly down in cash, but not that much. Regained all my previous years losses and some more on top. So far.
That is me for now.
Caio
Monday, April 21, 2008
Random Post
I have feck all specific to write about, so I'll just see where this goes.
I hate work.
Not much has happened me pokerwise in the last while so not much point talking about it really.
I hate work.
I booked my flights to Vegas for the summer last week though. I think the pain of sitting here in work drove me to do it as otherwise I would have no holiday plans until September, with my last trip away being last July to Vegas as well. I'm fairly sure that last year I said iw ouldn't bother going this year unless I won a main event seat, but typically I did a full 360 turnaround, going over now, but not being there to play the main event even in the unlikely circumstances that I won a ticket. I doubt I will even play a satellite though, so that is an unlikely outcome.
I hate work.
Instead I plan on playing some smaller events in the Venetian, cash games, and possibly a $2k event in the WSOP, finances permitting, but that is certainly not a priority. Other things I plan on doing when there include Buying plenty of discounted stuff since it is just so cheap, and getting drunk several times. I was planning on pushing the boat out and staying in the Venetian for my trip, but then rethought it and I am now thinking more about staying somewhere like "Bills Gamblin' Hall and Saloon". The name alone is great. It is cheap, gets good reviews on trip advisor, and is damn central, being across the road from Ceasers and Ballys, and next door to the Flamingo.
I hate work.
The subtle them of this seems to be developing into the fact that I am not overenamoured by my job currently. The fact that I am consistent loser in my 8 entered draws per year in the lotto is not helping me gain an escape route, and I believe I am way too cynical towards all the bullshit and rubbish that goes on in these places to think that a change of job (but in the same area) would help me get my work mojo back, if indeed I was ever in possession of said mojo in the first place. The natural escape route for someone of my persuasion might be to see if I can make enough money playing online to escape, but even if I was able to I would be fairly reluctant to do more than take a 6-12 month career break to restore my sanity. However, the fact that I cannot motivate myself to play online to get a bankroll to play at stakes that would be meaningful enough to hurt/reward says that it is 100% fiction to think I will ever be an online 'pro'. For this to happen I would need a couple of years consistency at decent stakes with decent winnings, but that isn't likely.
I hate work.
Ideally I would be able to change career to something less soul destroying but there are a couple of holes in that theory such as (1) I don't want to take a drop in pay that would accompany a career change. (2) I don't want to retrain. (3) I can't think of anything that I would like to change to realistically. I think I may be stuck where I am.
I hate work.
On a different note, bug week in sport coming up now with the Champions league and the Heineken cup semi finals over the next week and a bit. Liverpool, Barcelona and Munster are the teams I will be actively cheering for, with obviously Liverpool being foremost among them. Hopefully they can see of Chelsea, but it will be far from easy. This year for some reason, there seems to be more expectation on Liverpool to actually beat Chelsea, whereas the last two times they played them in this competition Chelsea were healthy favourites. I really hope that Liverpool keep a clean sheet in the first leg. My ideal scenario involves 3 Chelsea red cards and a 5-0 win for Liverpool in the first leg, but I'm sure I'd be only too delighted with a 2-0 home win in the first leg and 1-1 away from home. I doubt it will be easy though and could go either way. Ok, I got interrupted here so lost my stream of whatever thought may have existing, although I'm not sure any coherent sentences were contained in this post at all.
Oh, I nearly forgot. I hate work.
That is all.
I hate work.
Not much has happened me pokerwise in the last while so not much point talking about it really.
I hate work.
I booked my flights to Vegas for the summer last week though. I think the pain of sitting here in work drove me to do it as otherwise I would have no holiday plans until September, with my last trip away being last July to Vegas as well. I'm fairly sure that last year I said iw ouldn't bother going this year unless I won a main event seat, but typically I did a full 360 turnaround, going over now, but not being there to play the main event even in the unlikely circumstances that I won a ticket. I doubt I will even play a satellite though, so that is an unlikely outcome.
I hate work.
Instead I plan on playing some smaller events in the Venetian, cash games, and possibly a $2k event in the WSOP, finances permitting, but that is certainly not a priority. Other things I plan on doing when there include Buying plenty of discounted stuff since it is just so cheap, and getting drunk several times. I was planning on pushing the boat out and staying in the Venetian for my trip, but then rethought it and I am now thinking more about staying somewhere like "Bills Gamblin' Hall and Saloon". The name alone is great. It is cheap, gets good reviews on trip advisor, and is damn central, being across the road from Ceasers and Ballys, and next door to the Flamingo.
I hate work.
The subtle them of this seems to be developing into the fact that I am not overenamoured by my job currently. The fact that I am consistent loser in my 8 entered draws per year in the lotto is not helping me gain an escape route, and I believe I am way too cynical towards all the bullshit and rubbish that goes on in these places to think that a change of job (but in the same area) would help me get my work mojo back, if indeed I was ever in possession of said mojo in the first place. The natural escape route for someone of my persuasion might be to see if I can make enough money playing online to escape, but even if I was able to I would be fairly reluctant to do more than take a 6-12 month career break to restore my sanity. However, the fact that I cannot motivate myself to play online to get a bankroll to play at stakes that would be meaningful enough to hurt/reward says that it is 100% fiction to think I will ever be an online 'pro'. For this to happen I would need a couple of years consistency at decent stakes with decent winnings, but that isn't likely.
I hate work.
Ideally I would be able to change career to something less soul destroying but there are a couple of holes in that theory such as (1) I don't want to take a drop in pay that would accompany a career change. (2) I don't want to retrain. (3) I can't think of anything that I would like to change to realistically. I think I may be stuck where I am.
I hate work.
On a different note, bug week in sport coming up now with the Champions league and the Heineken cup semi finals over the next week and a bit. Liverpool, Barcelona and Munster are the teams I will be actively cheering for, with obviously Liverpool being foremost among them. Hopefully they can see of Chelsea, but it will be far from easy. This year for some reason, there seems to be more expectation on Liverpool to actually beat Chelsea, whereas the last two times they played them in this competition Chelsea were healthy favourites. I really hope that Liverpool keep a clean sheet in the first leg. My ideal scenario involves 3 Chelsea red cards and a 5-0 win for Liverpool in the first leg, but I'm sure I'd be only too delighted with a 2-0 home win in the first leg and 1-1 away from home. I doubt it will be easy though and could go either way. Ok, I got interrupted here so lost my stream of whatever thought may have existing, although I'm not sure any coherent sentences were contained in this post at all.
Oh, I nearly forgot. I hate work.
That is all.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Irish Open mostly
I decided to play the second start day at the Irish Open for a few reasons, none of which are really interesting enough to put in print, but that was indeed the day I started. We kicked off knowing there was a big overlay of around €200k, so that was a bit of a boost to start with. My start table was badly designed for me, with two of the most competent players at it directly to my left, including Derek Murray who amassed a big stack early through some nice presents. I also had Thomas Dunwoody, the guy who finished 3rd at my start table as well.
It started off quite well, and within 30 mins I had my 10k stack up to 11.5k, and would have been over 13k had my KJ on a flop of KKJ not lost to A6, and my AQ not lost to 9T (of Dunwoody) when I raised preflop, checked behind on a flop of J96 turned an A and bet it to get called, and checked behind on a river T. After that I was stuck near starting stack for an age. In the first level or two I got AQ about 4 times, JJ about 3 times and TT, 99 a couple of times as well, and I got AK once in this time. The last couple of hours at this table were very card dead, and then I got a bad beat by being moved to one of the later eating tables instead of the early eating tables - I was starved.
Our table got broke just before lunch as I mentioned above, with no real drama involving me, and my new table looked an altogether tougher proposition. I recognised a few faces at it, Namir from the Fitz, Paul Leckey, Runit Somiaya and Fran Egan was there as well. Not long afterwards, Julian Thew got moved there as well, as did Sylvester Geoghgan (sp?). I was extremeyl card dead here as well (a theme throughout) and I doubt I showed down more than a couple of checked BB or SB hands before my brief burst of action. I was staying just below average most of the time and in no real rush as blinds were still low. I raised with 88 on this occasion to 1900 (300/600/50), and the BB pushed for just under 6k. Getting just over 2/1, and sick of folding, I made a reluctant call and was shown QQ. No miracle and I was down to just over 8k. Next hand I make the same opening raise with 99 this time, and get reraised by Rumit Somiaya. At this point I am certainly not laying it down and it's either double up or bust, being in the last level of the day. I won a race against AQ and got back to average nearly.
Then I stole a few k in a battle of the blinds. On a 984 flop, holding 95 I bet out 1000 and got raised to 2600 (I think). I call. Turn comes an 8, and despite it being a fairly risky strategy, I think this is a good card for me so I bet 4k, knowing this guy is a reasonable player and shouldn't make a call without an 8 (or better), and I had 10k behind in case of a disaster push from him which I couldn't call. He folded saying he had J9, and I duly told him I had K9, so nh etc etc. I ended up the day within touching distance of average and was delighted with the end of days play as I had manufactured a reasonable stack from no cards and very little showdown poker, which I couldn't play as I had no cards to do so with. It was incredible how bad the cards were, and surely couldn't be that bad on day two I told myself.
So I thought!!!! My redraw had Glen McCabe (northern guy, good player) and Neil Channing (eventual winner) directly to my left. Also at the table was the well dressed Norwegian who was one of the chip leaders after day 1 with 90k. I started off patiently, bleeding blinds and then I stole a couple of blinds, careful never to go after the same blinds too often (this is something I am paranoid about as I know it irks me when it happens to me until I play back). I definitely did not want to get played back at with the cards I had. A couple of moves went wrong and suddenly I was down to 10000 ish with blinds at 500/100 and about to go up. I played a few hands differently, seeing flops out of position, and stop and going when uncoordinated flops came up, and also by stealing a bit more, and by the time this table broke 30 mins later, I was up to 30k without showing down a hand.
My new table was a lot more unfamiliar to me in terms of faces, but there were aggressive young American players either side of me. I was quite active at this table getting some reasonable raising hands in position, but between one thing and another lost 6k in the first 30 mins or so there when this happened. Early position raise to 4500 (800/1500/100). This guy had lost the last pot after being bluffed out of it, and he also wore a PPP qualifier shirt and seemed unfamiliar with a poker table. this combination, allied to the fact that we now had a similar number of chips, led me to push for 24kish with AQ from the SB. 24k was an awkward stack size there as I couldn't raise without committing more than half my stack, plus I would have been happy taking it there. Surpisingly though, after a think, he called with AJ and when no miracle happened I had doubled up to 51k (almost average again which was 53k). Happy days. A while later I am back to around 35k after a few misadventures, when the TD comes over and says next BB, moving to the TV table, and lo and behold, who should that be but myself.
After about a 15 minute delay for form filling, getting mic'ed up, and waiting til a break in play, I got to sit down. There were a few familiar faces there in Smurph, Padraig Parkinson and Conor Tait, and most of the table besides a short stack Smurph, had me covered. I get a raise with 88 UTG through, and then Padraig sweats me down after I reraise his raise from the button. He thinks for ages, asks how much I have left, counts out a raise, talks some more, then eventually folds. He had 72o I saw later. Tbh, although I wanted him to fold, it was hardly the most nerve wracking experience of my life - I am used to being given the big think at poker tables at this point. My defining point at this table though was when I called an all in for half my stack with AQ, only for Conor Tait to think and fold showing 99. The flop came A94 and would have killed me stone dead, but as it was I knocked out shortie with QT, so happy days. After this point things went wrong for me. Here is an update I put on boards at the time, which also includes some issues I had away from cards.
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Oh god I'm drained. 16 hours of poker, and I have not seen AA, KK or QQ, and AK only once. I was down to 11k at one point, got it up to 30k without a showdown (would have been behind if called nearly every time). I am so card dead it is siiiick, but still in (just).
I got AQ a few times today (as you may have seen) and doubled up and knocked someone out with it. I was up to near 90k with the average at 65k or so, but the blinds were 2k/4k at that stage. I got a few raises snapped off and the blinds took their toll.
Lol, 13.5k left with blinds at 4/8/1k tomorrow. Two all in wins needed to be respectable. Turning into an awful crapshoot though. I have a couple of complaints. Firstly, we were playing 6 handed on the feature table for about 20 mins despite repeated requests for players, we were playing 7 handed most of the rest of the time, and I was there for over 2 hours (including nearly an hour after they stopped filming). Play was stopped several times, once for well over 5 mins, clock running all the time. On the bubble they were playing hand for hand on 9 tables, but the clock was still running. It took 20 mins for 2 hands to be played at one point when I think the clock should be stopped, and the blinds went up during this point. We were ready to go at 2k/4k (I was sb) with 3 mins left in the level, but didn't start until 3 mins into the next level when we had to put in the extra for the new level and ante.
This is the worst bit. At one point during this delay I stood up and moved about 3 feet from my table, no action at surrounding tables, all waiting. I was told by one of the staff (blonde woman with no sense of humour at all I learned a few times over the weekend) to sit in my seat or I would get a time penalty. I asked was she serious and she said "that's the rules".
All in all though, considering the cards I got, and the fact that I escaped the noose at the feature table when Conor Tate laid down 99, I am delighted. I am the shortest of the shortstacks left I'd imagine.Also, heard some of Ciaran O'Learys commentary. I won't comment any further.
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I had made the money, and considering I was in for €205 in total including tip at the satellite, I was at least making a decent return on my money. At the end of play I was the shortest stack left, partially due to a brain freeze trying to move up the money ladder at that point (I was tired, etc etc), but I don't want to go into details really.
Day 3 lasted all of one hand when my J2 was no match for Surindar Sunar's AJ. Ah well, €6500 was better than a kick in the teeth, but I didn't want to only limp into the prize money. Sadly though, I didn't really get a spot with the rubbish I was getting dealt. In theory I could have won with rubbish at some point in a lucky double up, but no point thinking about that now. I never got a spot to put my money in good or push in a reasonable spot, so that is that.
Aside from the Irish Open, I played in the €500+50 game in the SE the day I got knocked out of the IO, but it was a bad idea. I didn't play terribly, but I certainly was not in the right frame of mind to play my best and it didn't go particularly well.
Cash games are going ok for me recently after a terrible start to the year in them, and I am nearly back to even for the year in them, so allied with a healty profit from tournies, this year is a hell of a lot rosier so far than last year was.
Online is kind of in a stopped state for me now, despite me getting my online bankroll to a new level (for me, but still severly underrolled for the games I play). If I do get a bit of conviction to do this and it keeps running as well as it has for the last 3k hands, then it wouldn't be long before I was rolled properly for it. Considering how much work depresses me, and how much I hate getting up early in the mornings (although most people consider my rising time as late), you would think I might put a bit more effort into online poker.
However, there is a large part of me that would not like to play online poker for a living either, despite the fact that I have in no way ever proved I would be able to. In theory it is a brilliant idea, but in reality I tihnk I might be unsuited to it, as I like live play far too much. Ideally what I would have loved was a bigger score in the IO and take 3 or 6 months off work to do some travel, and some relaxation and destress from work, but sadly I fell about 20k short of the target I needed to follow through on that.
I'll keep plugging away though I'm sure, there are always more opportunities around the corner.
That't my lot for now, good luck.
It started off quite well, and within 30 mins I had my 10k stack up to 11.5k, and would have been over 13k had my KJ on a flop of KKJ not lost to A6, and my AQ not lost to 9T (of Dunwoody) when I raised preflop, checked behind on a flop of J96 turned an A and bet it to get called, and checked behind on a river T. After that I was stuck near starting stack for an age. In the first level or two I got AQ about 4 times, JJ about 3 times and TT, 99 a couple of times as well, and I got AK once in this time. The last couple of hours at this table were very card dead, and then I got a bad beat by being moved to one of the later eating tables instead of the early eating tables - I was starved.
Our table got broke just before lunch as I mentioned above, with no real drama involving me, and my new table looked an altogether tougher proposition. I recognised a few faces at it, Namir from the Fitz, Paul Leckey, Runit Somiaya and Fran Egan was there as well. Not long afterwards, Julian Thew got moved there as well, as did Sylvester Geoghgan (sp?). I was extremeyl card dead here as well (a theme throughout) and I doubt I showed down more than a couple of checked BB or SB hands before my brief burst of action. I was staying just below average most of the time and in no real rush as blinds were still low. I raised with 88 on this occasion to 1900 (300/600/50), and the BB pushed for just under 6k. Getting just over 2/1, and sick of folding, I made a reluctant call and was shown QQ. No miracle and I was down to just over 8k. Next hand I make the same opening raise with 99 this time, and get reraised by Rumit Somiaya. At this point I am certainly not laying it down and it's either double up or bust, being in the last level of the day. I won a race against AQ and got back to average nearly.
Then I stole a few k in a battle of the blinds. On a 984 flop, holding 95 I bet out 1000 and got raised to 2600 (I think). I call. Turn comes an 8, and despite it being a fairly risky strategy, I think this is a good card for me so I bet 4k, knowing this guy is a reasonable player and shouldn't make a call without an 8 (or better), and I had 10k behind in case of a disaster push from him which I couldn't call. He folded saying he had J9, and I duly told him I had K9, so nh etc etc. I ended up the day within touching distance of average and was delighted with the end of days play as I had manufactured a reasonable stack from no cards and very little showdown poker, which I couldn't play as I had no cards to do so with. It was incredible how bad the cards were, and surely couldn't be that bad on day two I told myself.
So I thought!!!! My redraw had Glen McCabe (northern guy, good player) and Neil Channing (eventual winner) directly to my left. Also at the table was the well dressed Norwegian who was one of the chip leaders after day 1 with 90k. I started off patiently, bleeding blinds and then I stole a couple of blinds, careful never to go after the same blinds too often (this is something I am paranoid about as I know it irks me when it happens to me until I play back). I definitely did not want to get played back at with the cards I had. A couple of moves went wrong and suddenly I was down to 10000 ish with blinds at 500/100 and about to go up. I played a few hands differently, seeing flops out of position, and stop and going when uncoordinated flops came up, and also by stealing a bit more, and by the time this table broke 30 mins later, I was up to 30k without showing down a hand.
My new table was a lot more unfamiliar to me in terms of faces, but there were aggressive young American players either side of me. I was quite active at this table getting some reasonable raising hands in position, but between one thing and another lost 6k in the first 30 mins or so there when this happened. Early position raise to 4500 (800/1500/100). This guy had lost the last pot after being bluffed out of it, and he also wore a PPP qualifier shirt and seemed unfamiliar with a poker table. this combination, allied to the fact that we now had a similar number of chips, led me to push for 24kish with AQ from the SB. 24k was an awkward stack size there as I couldn't raise without committing more than half my stack, plus I would have been happy taking it there. Surpisingly though, after a think, he called with AJ and when no miracle happened I had doubled up to 51k (almost average again which was 53k). Happy days. A while later I am back to around 35k after a few misadventures, when the TD comes over and says next BB, moving to the TV table, and lo and behold, who should that be but myself.
After about a 15 minute delay for form filling, getting mic'ed up, and waiting til a break in play, I got to sit down. There were a few familiar faces there in Smurph, Padraig Parkinson and Conor Tait, and most of the table besides a short stack Smurph, had me covered. I get a raise with 88 UTG through, and then Padraig sweats me down after I reraise his raise from the button. He thinks for ages, asks how much I have left, counts out a raise, talks some more, then eventually folds. He had 72o I saw later. Tbh, although I wanted him to fold, it was hardly the most nerve wracking experience of my life - I am used to being given the big think at poker tables at this point. My defining point at this table though was when I called an all in for half my stack with AQ, only for Conor Tait to think and fold showing 99. The flop came A94 and would have killed me stone dead, but as it was I knocked out shortie with QT, so happy days. After this point things went wrong for me. Here is an update I put on boards at the time, which also includes some issues I had away from cards.
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Oh god I'm drained. 16 hours of poker, and I have not seen AA, KK or QQ, and AK only once. I was down to 11k at one point, got it up to 30k without a showdown (would have been behind if called nearly every time). I am so card dead it is siiiick, but still in (just).
I got AQ a few times today (as you may have seen) and doubled up and knocked someone out with it. I was up to near 90k with the average at 65k or so, but the blinds were 2k/4k at that stage. I got a few raises snapped off and the blinds took their toll.
Lol, 13.5k left with blinds at 4/8/1k tomorrow. Two all in wins needed to be respectable. Turning into an awful crapshoot though. I have a couple of complaints. Firstly, we were playing 6 handed on the feature table for about 20 mins despite repeated requests for players, we were playing 7 handed most of the rest of the time, and I was there for over 2 hours (including nearly an hour after they stopped filming). Play was stopped several times, once for well over 5 mins, clock running all the time. On the bubble they were playing hand for hand on 9 tables, but the clock was still running. It took 20 mins for 2 hands to be played at one point when I think the clock should be stopped, and the blinds went up during this point. We were ready to go at 2k/4k (I was sb) with 3 mins left in the level, but didn't start until 3 mins into the next level when we had to put in the extra for the new level and ante.
This is the worst bit. At one point during this delay I stood up and moved about 3 feet from my table, no action at surrounding tables, all waiting. I was told by one of the staff (blonde woman with no sense of humour at all I learned a few times over the weekend) to sit in my seat or I would get a time penalty. I asked was she serious and she said "that's the rules".
All in all though, considering the cards I got, and the fact that I escaped the noose at the feature table when Conor Tate laid down 99, I am delighted. I am the shortest of the shortstacks left I'd imagine.Also, heard some of Ciaran O'Learys commentary. I won't comment any further.
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I had made the money, and considering I was in for €205 in total including tip at the satellite, I was at least making a decent return on my money. At the end of play I was the shortest stack left, partially due to a brain freeze trying to move up the money ladder at that point (I was tired, etc etc), but I don't want to go into details really.
Day 3 lasted all of one hand when my J2 was no match for Surindar Sunar's AJ. Ah well, €6500 was better than a kick in the teeth, but I didn't want to only limp into the prize money. Sadly though, I didn't really get a spot with the rubbish I was getting dealt. In theory I could have won with rubbish at some point in a lucky double up, but no point thinking about that now. I never got a spot to put my money in good or push in a reasonable spot, so that is that.
Aside from the Irish Open, I played in the €500+50 game in the SE the day I got knocked out of the IO, but it was a bad idea. I didn't play terribly, but I certainly was not in the right frame of mind to play my best and it didn't go particularly well.
Cash games are going ok for me recently after a terrible start to the year in them, and I am nearly back to even for the year in them, so allied with a healty profit from tournies, this year is a hell of a lot rosier so far than last year was.
Online is kind of in a stopped state for me now, despite me getting my online bankroll to a new level (for me, but still severly underrolled for the games I play). If I do get a bit of conviction to do this and it keeps running as well as it has for the last 3k hands, then it wouldn't be long before I was rolled properly for it. Considering how much work depresses me, and how much I hate getting up early in the mornings (although most people consider my rising time as late), you would think I might put a bit more effort into online poker.
However, there is a large part of me that would not like to play online poker for a living either, despite the fact that I have in no way ever proved I would be able to. In theory it is a brilliant idea, but in reality I tihnk I might be unsuited to it, as I like live play far too much. Ideally what I would have loved was a bigger score in the IO and take 3 or 6 months off work to do some travel, and some relaxation and destress from work, but sadly I fell about 20k short of the target I needed to follow through on that.
I'll keep plugging away though I'm sure, there are always more opportunities around the corner.
That't my lot for now, good luck.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Pre Irish Open Update
This is a quick gap update to fill in between my last update and my Irish Open tales. I haven't played that much relative to my normal schedule, truth be told, but it has been a quite profitable few weeks.
A couple of days after my last update I played in the Sporting Emporium €220 game, fresh from my ticket success in the same venue. There were 49 runners, and I got off to a great start with a couple of big hands that had me one of the chip leaders early on. After the first break though I stayed practically level for an age though after a card dead spell, and only when I got moved to balance the tables at 6 and 6 did things pick up for me. The pivotal pot probably was a bluff that I got through against an aggressive players, although he played this hand less aggressively that I expected upon hearing what he said his holding was afterwards.
I raise UTG, UTG+1 calls, all else folds. I have ATo. Flop is QJxr, and I lead out. Called instantly. Turn is a blank and I shove for a pot size bet. A big dwell up has me worried, but as he is counting his chips I am aware that a call would cripple him at this point if he lost. He eventually folded. I showed, he said he had KQ (didn't show) and tbh this surprised me that he folded, although as far as he was concerned, I had been playing quite tight throughout, so that probably coloured his decision somewhat.
A couple of hands later I get QQ and get it all in against Oz and his AK. My QQ holds up and I double up. then I knock Oz out a couple of hands later with QQ again against his Q7. Some rush and I was clear chip leader. The final table started and it was an interesting one with Liam Flood in fine flow. I never really lost any chips at the final table, and slowly amassed more. I must say though that I was certainly getting better than average cards whch at this point in the game is always a plus. I can't really be arsed to bore either myself or anyone else with more details, but eventually I split it with another guy for just under 3k each after the tip. I should really have played on since I am failry sure I would have won (as sure as you can be in poker really, which is not very) but for several reasons I didn't.
Cash games have been up and down again, but I seem to have stopped bleeding money, which is nice, and I even had one excellent night (1230 profit). My biggest hand that night was 6678ds, fiver preflop. Flcop comes 459 with 2 spades (I had spades). I just called a bet of 20 along with another player. Turn comes a magical 6. Bet of 75, fold, then I make it 300, called. River is a 4. Checked to me, and I shove for 375 more. Once he thinks for more than 2 seconds I know I am good and will him to call, which he does after about 3 minutes of thinking, and my house was good. Why don't pots like those come along more often? Usually I am the one on the other side it seems. Ah well. Things are ok at the moment, so I won't ruin it by complaining too much.
Anyways, the Irish Open started today, and I play on day 1B tomorrow. Numbers are certainly not as was hoped. Only 316 players turned up for day 1A, and 400 need to play tomorrow to exceed the guarantee, although I am sure they will as second days usually get bigger numbers. A second supersatellite has been announced for tonight as well, which is unusual and shows how desperate they really are to get the numbers in. I went out last night for a look, and the room looked very well, kind of like a 1/4 model of the WSOP room. I probably won't go out tonight again though, I might just prepare by playing some Omaha in the Fitz, we'll see. One way or another, I am looking forward to it, so I hope it isn't a huge anticlimax that ends with me getting shafted, or blinded out. Any other exit type and it will be fine. Either way I am nearly on a freeroll to it anyhow so I'm going to give it my best shot. I feel I am on a good run of form and confidence, so let's see how the luck holds in a big one.
I really hope local players I know and like do well in this, and if I don't win it (gotta be optimistic) then I hope some local does.
A couple of days after my last update I played in the Sporting Emporium €220 game, fresh from my ticket success in the same venue. There were 49 runners, and I got off to a great start with a couple of big hands that had me one of the chip leaders early on. After the first break though I stayed practically level for an age though after a card dead spell, and only when I got moved to balance the tables at 6 and 6 did things pick up for me. The pivotal pot probably was a bluff that I got through against an aggressive players, although he played this hand less aggressively that I expected upon hearing what he said his holding was afterwards.
I raise UTG, UTG+1 calls, all else folds. I have ATo. Flop is QJxr, and I lead out. Called instantly. Turn is a blank and I shove for a pot size bet. A big dwell up has me worried, but as he is counting his chips I am aware that a call would cripple him at this point if he lost. He eventually folded. I showed, he said he had KQ (didn't show) and tbh this surprised me that he folded, although as far as he was concerned, I had been playing quite tight throughout, so that probably coloured his decision somewhat.
A couple of hands later I get QQ and get it all in against Oz and his AK. My QQ holds up and I double up. then I knock Oz out a couple of hands later with QQ again against his Q7. Some rush and I was clear chip leader. The final table started and it was an interesting one with Liam Flood in fine flow. I never really lost any chips at the final table, and slowly amassed more. I must say though that I was certainly getting better than average cards whch at this point in the game is always a plus. I can't really be arsed to bore either myself or anyone else with more details, but eventually I split it with another guy for just under 3k each after the tip. I should really have played on since I am failry sure I would have won (as sure as you can be in poker really, which is not very) but for several reasons I didn't.
Cash games have been up and down again, but I seem to have stopped bleeding money, which is nice, and I even had one excellent night (1230 profit). My biggest hand that night was 6678ds, fiver preflop. Flcop comes 459 with 2 spades (I had spades). I just called a bet of 20 along with another player. Turn comes a magical 6. Bet of 75, fold, then I make it 300, called. River is a 4. Checked to me, and I shove for 375 more. Once he thinks for more than 2 seconds I know I am good and will him to call, which he does after about 3 minutes of thinking, and my house was good. Why don't pots like those come along more often? Usually I am the one on the other side it seems. Ah well. Things are ok at the moment, so I won't ruin it by complaining too much.
Anyways, the Irish Open started today, and I play on day 1B tomorrow. Numbers are certainly not as was hoped. Only 316 players turned up for day 1A, and 400 need to play tomorrow to exceed the guarantee, although I am sure they will as second days usually get bigger numbers. A second supersatellite has been announced for tonight as well, which is unusual and shows how desperate they really are to get the numbers in. I went out last night for a look, and the room looked very well, kind of like a 1/4 model of the WSOP room. I probably won't go out tonight again though, I might just prepare by playing some Omaha in the Fitz, we'll see. One way or another, I am looking forward to it, so I hope it isn't a huge anticlimax that ends with me getting shafted, or blinded out. Any other exit type and it will be fine. Either way I am nearly on a freeroll to it anyhow so I'm going to give it my best shot. I feel I am on a good run of form and confidence, so let's see how the luck holds in a big one.
I really hope local players I know and like do well in this, and if I don't win it (gotta be optimistic) then I hope some local does.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Yay Me!!!!
OK, let's get the downbeat stuff out of the way first.
Since my last update I have lost every cash session and got raped in the process. How many 2 outers must a man endure in big pots? Also, I had the chip lead in the Fitz 125 FO but donked it away stupidly to finish 7th. This is the type of thing I have been trying to get rid of from my game. Losing chips on a bluff is one thing, but bad play that causes me to lose chips is another. I still managed another final table though although only 24 runners. Good tourney though.
On to the good news which I'm sure most of my few visitors are already aware of - I have won my ticket to the Irish Open in Citywest on Easter weekend. I went to the Sporting Emporium (and had the usual frustration trying to park remotely close to it, grrrr) where they had a €150+15 with 1 rebuy or topup for €150. I expected a good few runners to turn up, but in the end 130 had paid in to this with 112 of them either rebuying or topping up, to generate 8 tickets. A lot of work to get through it seemed.
The night started badly for me. I only recognised a few of my starting table, not that it mattered, with the chief to my right. I yoyoed a lot with my first lot of chips when I shoved for 2975 after a limper at 100/200 and a raise to 600. The limper instashipped for just less than I had, and the raiser called after a think. I had AKo, raiser has JJ, limp/shover had 5c3c. Genius. 3 on the flop, and 3 on the river sealed that deal. Made no difference to me as i was behind to JJ anyhow, but JJ man was not happy. Standard in general with one or 2 exceptions was terrible. Rebuy just before the break it is then!
After the break I got a nice donation when I raised with KQ suited, got called by one of the blinds. Flop K85r, check I bet 1k, call. Turn is a T, check, I go all in for my last 2k, he calls and tables J5o. WTF? No help for him and I double up. Then I get 55 UTG, make a bit of a mess of the hand I think, but I do one thing right when I make a call of an allin on the turn on a 7664 board with 55 which is good against KTo who had raised preflop and bet flop and turn. I am not particularly happy with my play in the hand, but I made the right call in the end anyhow. I lose a few chips before this happens........
Table breaks and I am moved to a table with a hyper aggressive guy and a few randomers and Vera. I got a near double up from hyper aggressive guy when I call one of his frequent preflop overraises, and check flop and turn hoping he will commit himself as I have enough of it to be confident I am well ahead a lot against him and know he won't resist a double check. He bets 4k on turn into a 7k pot, I go all in for 8k and he folds quickly. Not much drama for a while before the SB to my BB loses a few chips and has been quite active at the table. There is one limper for 1200 and SB shoves into my BB for just over 12k. The original limper has about 16k or so and is a poor player, and I have about 32k at this stage. I look down at ATo and think the SB's range here is big enough to justify getting involved. I call and the limper folds after a think (said he had J9). SB tables AK and it is an oops for me, but a T99xx board sees me get lucky. I still think it was a standard enough call really, but he did get unlucky.
I was not getting much cards to play with so any time I entered a pot and met with resistance or a reraise I generally lost chips on. I was dwindling from my comfortable position however and blinds were starting to bite. I'm not sure an awful lot of drama outside the standard happened me for quite a while, and real cards were a rarity. I was getting a lot of A rag hands, but almost always UTG or after a raise, so hard to play and I decided to bide my time. After a while it looked like my time had come when I got AsJs and shoved for 35k (3k/6k) but the BB looked at his cards and uttered 'Ah sure I guess I might as well' this made me fell that I was well ahead when he pushed for about 20k total, but was a bit puzzled and annoyed (by the fact that I was dominated) when he tabled AKo. Not to worry, a nice J on the turn came to the rescue, and I was beginning to see how easy this dogging thing actually was, no wonder so many other poeple are at it constantly!!!! Hard luck sir.
At this point we were down to about 12 or so and it was very nervy with 1 big stack on each table and the rest floating between medium and tiny. I was towards the smaller end of that scale sadly until the following happened when we were 5 handed (4k/8k). Pat Storan pushed for 60k, and I looked down at KK. As soon as I saw them I immediately thought, this is it, I am going to go out on a real hand, a bad beat story for my blog. Woe is me. After I had finished scorching the felt and waiting for Eshan to decide if he would put some of his multitude of chips into the pot blind, then deciding not to, I turned my KK over, to be greeted by AK. Every card kept appearing to be an A on the flop, turn and river, but thankfully, none of them were and I had doubled up to over 100k. Phew. I felt sorry for Pat to run into a cooler like that at such a critical time 2 away from the tickets, but delighted for myself for doubling up. Pat never got going again and went out a couple of hands later so we formed a final table of 9 with 1 unlucky soul going away with nothing and 8 happy punters.
It only lasted a couple of hands, and at 5.40am we were finally done and I had got my ticket at the 3rd time of asking
1st time - Spent €210, returns €180
2nd time - Spent €210, returns €500
3rd time - Spent €315, returns ticket
So if you include the €150 tip I left (I had to borrow cash for that even), I got my ticket for €205. Not too shabby. I won't be playing another one of those this year despite the fact that I have a good record in them, especially in the Emporium where I have qualified for 3 major tourneys from 4 (maybe 5) attempts.
I told Alex to submit me for day 1B as I probably would not be able to get the Thursday off work due to ongoing crap that bores me, so I am certainly not going to enlighten anyone else that doesn't need to know about it. I am looking forward to this now, and hoping for a few breaks along the way as I know that if a few things go my way I am capable of going deep in this. I am not really the 4 bet bluff soul reading type player that garners a lot of attention, but I have enough to my game, despite several shortcomings (including not being able to pull of the 4 bet bluff soul reading moves), to look forward to this with hope.
Now to win the Fitz end of month, CHL's end of month and the SE start of month in the next few days. Now that would be a story, and I'd love for you to be reading about it, but holding ones breath might involve a very long wait. I'm not greedy, winning one will do me :)
For now, adios.
Since my last update I have lost every cash session and got raped in the process. How many 2 outers must a man endure in big pots? Also, I had the chip lead in the Fitz 125 FO but donked it away stupidly to finish 7th. This is the type of thing I have been trying to get rid of from my game. Losing chips on a bluff is one thing, but bad play that causes me to lose chips is another. I still managed another final table though although only 24 runners. Good tourney though.
On to the good news which I'm sure most of my few visitors are already aware of - I have won my ticket to the Irish Open in Citywest on Easter weekend. I went to the Sporting Emporium (and had the usual frustration trying to park remotely close to it, grrrr) where they had a €150+15 with 1 rebuy or topup for €150. I expected a good few runners to turn up, but in the end 130 had paid in to this with 112 of them either rebuying or topping up, to generate 8 tickets. A lot of work to get through it seemed.
The night started badly for me. I only recognised a few of my starting table, not that it mattered, with the chief to my right. I yoyoed a lot with my first lot of chips when I shoved for 2975 after a limper at 100/200 and a raise to 600. The limper instashipped for just less than I had, and the raiser called after a think. I had AKo, raiser has JJ, limp/shover had 5c3c. Genius. 3 on the flop, and 3 on the river sealed that deal. Made no difference to me as i was behind to JJ anyhow, but JJ man was not happy. Standard in general with one or 2 exceptions was terrible. Rebuy just before the break it is then!
After the break I got a nice donation when I raised with KQ suited, got called by one of the blinds. Flop K85r, check I bet 1k, call. Turn is a T, check, I go all in for my last 2k, he calls and tables J5o. WTF? No help for him and I double up. Then I get 55 UTG, make a bit of a mess of the hand I think, but I do one thing right when I make a call of an allin on the turn on a 7664 board with 55 which is good against KTo who had raised preflop and bet flop and turn. I am not particularly happy with my play in the hand, but I made the right call in the end anyhow. I lose a few chips before this happens........
Table breaks and I am moved to a table with a hyper aggressive guy and a few randomers and Vera. I got a near double up from hyper aggressive guy when I call one of his frequent preflop overraises, and check flop and turn hoping he will commit himself as I have enough of it to be confident I am well ahead a lot against him and know he won't resist a double check. He bets 4k on turn into a 7k pot, I go all in for 8k and he folds quickly. Not much drama for a while before the SB to my BB loses a few chips and has been quite active at the table. There is one limper for 1200 and SB shoves into my BB for just over 12k. The original limper has about 16k or so and is a poor player, and I have about 32k at this stage. I look down at ATo and think the SB's range here is big enough to justify getting involved. I call and the limper folds after a think (said he had J9). SB tables AK and it is an oops for me, but a T99xx board sees me get lucky. I still think it was a standard enough call really, but he did get unlucky.
I was not getting much cards to play with so any time I entered a pot and met with resistance or a reraise I generally lost chips on. I was dwindling from my comfortable position however and blinds were starting to bite. I'm not sure an awful lot of drama outside the standard happened me for quite a while, and real cards were a rarity. I was getting a lot of A rag hands, but almost always UTG or after a raise, so hard to play and I decided to bide my time. After a while it looked like my time had come when I got AsJs and shoved for 35k (3k/6k) but the BB looked at his cards and uttered 'Ah sure I guess I might as well' this made me fell that I was well ahead when he pushed for about 20k total, but was a bit puzzled and annoyed (by the fact that I was dominated) when he tabled AKo. Not to worry, a nice J on the turn came to the rescue, and I was beginning to see how easy this dogging thing actually was, no wonder so many other poeple are at it constantly!!!! Hard luck sir.
At this point we were down to about 12 or so and it was very nervy with 1 big stack on each table and the rest floating between medium and tiny. I was towards the smaller end of that scale sadly until the following happened when we were 5 handed (4k/8k). Pat Storan pushed for 60k, and I looked down at KK. As soon as I saw them I immediately thought, this is it, I am going to go out on a real hand, a bad beat story for my blog. Woe is me. After I had finished scorching the felt and waiting for Eshan to decide if he would put some of his multitude of chips into the pot blind, then deciding not to, I turned my KK over, to be greeted by AK. Every card kept appearing to be an A on the flop, turn and river, but thankfully, none of them were and I had doubled up to over 100k. Phew. I felt sorry for Pat to run into a cooler like that at such a critical time 2 away from the tickets, but delighted for myself for doubling up. Pat never got going again and went out a couple of hands later so we formed a final table of 9 with 1 unlucky soul going away with nothing and 8 happy punters.
It only lasted a couple of hands, and at 5.40am we were finally done and I had got my ticket at the 3rd time of asking
1st time - Spent €210, returns €180
2nd time - Spent €210, returns €500
3rd time - Spent €315, returns ticket
So if you include the €150 tip I left (I had to borrow cash for that even), I got my ticket for €205. Not too shabby. I won't be playing another one of those this year despite the fact that I have a good record in them, especially in the Emporium where I have qualified for 3 major tourneys from 4 (maybe 5) attempts.
I told Alex to submit me for day 1B as I probably would not be able to get the Thursday off work due to ongoing crap that bores me, so I am certainly not going to enlighten anyone else that doesn't need to know about it. I am looking forward to this now, and hoping for a few breaks along the way as I know that if a few things go my way I am capable of going deep in this. I am not really the 4 bet bluff soul reading type player that garners a lot of attention, but I have enough to my game, despite several shortcomings (including not being able to pull of the 4 bet bluff soul reading moves), to look forward to this with hope.
Now to win the Fitz end of month, CHL's end of month and the SE start of month in the next few days. Now that would be a story, and I'd love for you to be reading about it, but holding ones breath might involve a very long wait. I'm not greedy, winning one will do me :)
For now, adios.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Tourneys.........
Since my last post I have played 7 tournies. Nothing unusual there you might say, I am a poker player after all, but I will provide a brief synopsis for you on them. All of these were played in the Fitz
Tourney 1: €125 Freeze out.
Only 16 runners for this, the first running of this event. However I get an early double up when I raise KQs, and take a free turn card which hits my middle pin for the straight against a flopped set. From there on I was consistent but by the time I got to heads up I was outchipped by 5-1. However, there was still plenty of play left in this tourney, and 90 minuntes later I emerged victorous after a swinging battle which saw me draw level, then go 10-1 up, then go back to behind again, then finally win it. Very enjoyable.
Tourney 2: IO sat, €110, with 1 rebuy or topup.
29 runners in this, 1 ticket and some cash for next two, but eventually 3rd and 4th got 180 each instead of 360 for 3rd, just to get money back. I had an early rebuy in thhis, but then played a good game to get to a tough final table. The final 5 were myself, Denis Reyes, Ronan Ryan, Paul Cryan and Thomas "Bomber" Nolan. It was a very tough lineup aand I never really got to where I wanted to be with this and finished 4th. Ah well, mney back sort of.
Tourney 3: League final, freeroll.
This is a bit of a crapshoot with the structure in place, but I started with plenty of chips. Never got going really sadly and exited around 4 from the money for the second time in a row in this. Ah well.
Tourney 4: Monday Freezeout, €80.
35 runners or so, and a very enjoyable game. I got lucky once when I called a preflop raise with QJ from the button. It was checked to me on a flop of Kxx and I shoved. I was well goosed when called by KT, or so I though, but a T on the turn and an A on the river saw broadway materialise from nowhere. Then I cruised to the final table where I made a big/marginal/bad play 4 handed when I shoved all in after a raise and a smaller allin with AQ, and the original raiser shoved after a big think. I was up against KK and TT, and lost both pots to be down to 4k utg with blinds of 1500/3k. I doubled up and a bit more 3 times in 10 minutes, taking out another player in the process, so then we were 3 handed, and one of them was the guy I was headsup with in tourney 1 above, and he had a big chip lead, so some sort of deja vu developing. Sadly it didn't work out as I finally made a stand with AT and ran into the CL's JJ. gg, wp.
Tourney 5: Tuesday €55 DC.
65 runners in this and the usual poor standard. I received a few nice donations and was comfortable until I tangled with a very aggerssive Dutch player who was just to my right the entire tournament. He raised for the umpteenth time (to 8k) and I shoved over the top for 34k with AQ. He instacalled with KK, and oops. Maybe I should have played it differently, but I have seen him make big calls with less than premium hands, so maye it wasn't that bad a play. Hindsight is great it seems. I finished 12th in this when another FT seemed inevitable.
Tourney 6: IO sat, €110 with 1 rebuy or topup.
Same structure as the above one, but 37 runners for this with 1 ticket and 2k in cash spread 2nd - 4th. I played some good stuff in this tournament I thought, and there were some very aggressive players at my table all night so patience and picking spots paid off a few times, and I was comfortable in this all night pretty much with an excellent, almost too good for Thursday night, structure. Got to the final table of this again at 1.30 and there were a couple of good players, a couple of bad aggressive players, a couple of poor players, and one or 2 that I didn't know much about. There was a good bit of cagey play in this as there was still loads of play left. After a while though we were down to 4 again with one good, one bad, and one aggressively bad player left with me. the aggressive player eventually committed hari kari, and we were down to three. I was second in chips at this point, and a couple fo key ahnds happened against the bad shortstack. I get QQ in the small blind, and after the button folds I call only. The BB has only 33k left after an 8k BB. Flop comes JcJd5c, and I check again hoping he will shove, and he duly does. I call quickly and he turns Tc6c for the flush draw. no messing about and both turn and river are clubs, and I have none. Damn. Five minutes later I raise from the button to 22k with Kh6s. SB calls, and BB folds after a big think. Flop comes Ks8h7h. SB checks and I shove for more than he has. He thinks and calls with Jd9d. WTF? The inevitable T for the middle pin only out fell on the river. Next hand I have 1/4 of my stack in on the BB so I get the rest in and lose. FFS. Ticket there for the taking and I get done twice to got out 3rd for €500 at 5.30 am and work in the morning. I was so gutted.
Tourney 7: €60 with 1 rebuy for €50. Scalps.
I decided to get back on the horse and play another tourney straight away as cash games were very up and down for me with no consistency. I used all my patience in this game and once I got a couple of double ups from an aggressive player I was flying. I got to the final table with no real drama, and was about 5thin chips with a big chip leader, Dave Finnegan. I mad one 'leave my blinds alone' play with A4o which I checked , but bet a flop of 833. Button, who had limped, minraised to 6k. I instantly shoved when it got back to me, and he folded after a think. I showed (a rarity) and he quieted down a bit after that it seemed, but considering that everyone else at the table (bar one) fell to Daves monster stack within half an hour, it was hard to tell anything really. I got headsup somehow with 31k vs around 350k, so slightly outchipped. Dave seemed reluctant to double me up so it was cagey for a few minutes but then I did double up. I snapped off a few raises and bet flops a few times, and then got up to around 100k, when I got lucky to double up again with T8 vs K3 on a KT6 flop. a T on the turn sealed that deal. At this point we decided to chop it for a few reasons. It may not have been in my best interests but I was happy enough at that point with 1300 and we played a blind Omaha hand for the end of moneth ticket included in the prize. I of course won that as well, so not a bad night all in all. I only got 2 scalps though including one in the first 5 mins from someone who didn't rebuy, so a strange tourney really.
It has been an unusual run for me with some very consistent results, punctuated by some erratic cash results. I will try another couple of times to qualify for the IO, and I have no other real plans for the near future at this point, I guess I will just see what happens.
A very serious update for you there I know, but listening to commentary of the Liverpool FA cup match, it is hard to be lighthearted.
Tourney 1: €125 Freeze out.
Only 16 runners for this, the first running of this event. However I get an early double up when I raise KQs, and take a free turn card which hits my middle pin for the straight against a flopped set. From there on I was consistent but by the time I got to heads up I was outchipped by 5-1. However, there was still plenty of play left in this tourney, and 90 minuntes later I emerged victorous after a swinging battle which saw me draw level, then go 10-1 up, then go back to behind again, then finally win it. Very enjoyable.
Tourney 2: IO sat, €110, with 1 rebuy or topup.
29 runners in this, 1 ticket and some cash for next two, but eventually 3rd and 4th got 180 each instead of 360 for 3rd, just to get money back. I had an early rebuy in thhis, but then played a good game to get to a tough final table. The final 5 were myself, Denis Reyes, Ronan Ryan, Paul Cryan and Thomas "Bomber" Nolan. It was a very tough lineup aand I never really got to where I wanted to be with this and finished 4th. Ah well, mney back sort of.
Tourney 3: League final, freeroll.
This is a bit of a crapshoot with the structure in place, but I started with plenty of chips. Never got going really sadly and exited around 4 from the money for the second time in a row in this. Ah well.
Tourney 4: Monday Freezeout, €80.
35 runners or so, and a very enjoyable game. I got lucky once when I called a preflop raise with QJ from the button. It was checked to me on a flop of Kxx and I shoved. I was well goosed when called by KT, or so I though, but a T on the turn and an A on the river saw broadway materialise from nowhere. Then I cruised to the final table where I made a big/marginal/bad play 4 handed when I shoved all in after a raise and a smaller allin with AQ, and the original raiser shoved after a big think. I was up against KK and TT, and lost both pots to be down to 4k utg with blinds of 1500/3k. I doubled up and a bit more 3 times in 10 minutes, taking out another player in the process, so then we were 3 handed, and one of them was the guy I was headsup with in tourney 1 above, and he had a big chip lead, so some sort of deja vu developing. Sadly it didn't work out as I finally made a stand with AT and ran into the CL's JJ. gg, wp.
Tourney 5: Tuesday €55 DC.
65 runners in this and the usual poor standard. I received a few nice donations and was comfortable until I tangled with a very aggerssive Dutch player who was just to my right the entire tournament. He raised for the umpteenth time (to 8k) and I shoved over the top for 34k with AQ. He instacalled with KK, and oops. Maybe I should have played it differently, but I have seen him make big calls with less than premium hands, so maye it wasn't that bad a play. Hindsight is great it seems. I finished 12th in this when another FT seemed inevitable.
Tourney 6: IO sat, €110 with 1 rebuy or topup.
Same structure as the above one, but 37 runners for this with 1 ticket and 2k in cash spread 2nd - 4th. I played some good stuff in this tournament I thought, and there were some very aggressive players at my table all night so patience and picking spots paid off a few times, and I was comfortable in this all night pretty much with an excellent, almost too good for Thursday night, structure. Got to the final table of this again at 1.30 and there were a couple of good players, a couple of bad aggressive players, a couple of poor players, and one or 2 that I didn't know much about. There was a good bit of cagey play in this as there was still loads of play left. After a while though we were down to 4 again with one good, one bad, and one aggressively bad player left with me. the aggressive player eventually committed hari kari, and we were down to three. I was second in chips at this point, and a couple fo key ahnds happened against the bad shortstack. I get QQ in the small blind, and after the button folds I call only. The BB has only 33k left after an 8k BB. Flop comes JcJd5c, and I check again hoping he will shove, and he duly does. I call quickly and he turns Tc6c for the flush draw. no messing about and both turn and river are clubs, and I have none. Damn. Five minutes later I raise from the button to 22k with Kh6s. SB calls, and BB folds after a big think. Flop comes Ks8h7h. SB checks and I shove for more than he has. He thinks and calls with Jd9d. WTF? The inevitable T for the middle pin only out fell on the river. Next hand I have 1/4 of my stack in on the BB so I get the rest in and lose. FFS. Ticket there for the taking and I get done twice to got out 3rd for €500 at 5.30 am and work in the morning. I was so gutted.
Tourney 7: €60 with 1 rebuy for €50. Scalps.
I decided to get back on the horse and play another tourney straight away as cash games were very up and down for me with no consistency. I used all my patience in this game and once I got a couple of double ups from an aggressive player I was flying. I got to the final table with no real drama, and was about 5thin chips with a big chip leader, Dave Finnegan. I mad one 'leave my blinds alone' play with A4o which I checked , but bet a flop of 833. Button, who had limped, minraised to 6k. I instantly shoved when it got back to me, and he folded after a think. I showed (a rarity) and he quieted down a bit after that it seemed, but considering that everyone else at the table (bar one) fell to Daves monster stack within half an hour, it was hard to tell anything really. I got headsup somehow with 31k vs around 350k, so slightly outchipped. Dave seemed reluctant to double me up so it was cagey for a few minutes but then I did double up. I snapped off a few raises and bet flops a few times, and then got up to around 100k, when I got lucky to double up again with T8 vs K3 on a KT6 flop. a T on the turn sealed that deal. At this point we decided to chop it for a few reasons. It may not have been in my best interests but I was happy enough at that point with 1300 and we played a blind Omaha hand for the end of moneth ticket included in the prize. I of course won that as well, so not a bad night all in all. I only got 2 scalps though including one in the first 5 mins from someone who didn't rebuy, so a strange tourney really.
It has been an unusual run for me with some very consistent results, punctuated by some erratic cash results. I will try another couple of times to qualify for the IO, and I have no other real plans for the near future at this point, I guess I will just see what happens.
A very serious update for you there I know, but listening to commentary of the Liverpool FA cup match, it is hard to be lighthearted.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Realisation!!!!!
I have just realised something I should have known for a long time.
Poker for me is like football for Liverpool.
Pretty bold statement you might say, but I'll explain. It is very frustrating being a Liverpool fan, but I persevere. It is very frustrating playing poker, but I persevere. False hope is another thing in common. Just when I think things are going to turn around, and this could be my year, I have a disastrous sequence of events. This is a familiar scenario to any Liverpool fan as well. I regularly play against opponents I deem to be inferior to myself in the poker department (call it false conceitedness if you will) but I consistently struggle. Liverpool are the epitomy of struggling against so called inferior opponents. I regularly struggle against opponents I deem to be fairly equal or superior to myself, and that compares similarly to Liverpools record against the Utd's, Arsenals and Chelseas of the world.
Sadly though I don't have a good European record to console myself with.
OK, enough of that. Time for a mini review of 2007.
Tournaments - terrible. In the latter part of the year I played less and less of them but overall I had a dismal record for 2007.
Cash - Mixed. I had some good days and some bad days, and had a relatively small profit in these over the year, but not near as much as I would have liked. Still not good enough.
Online - Not worth mentioning. Terrible effort to start playing regularly online and a dismal failure in terms of hands played and effort expended.
Overall I had a loss than was nearly as big as my profit for 2006 so I was very underwhelmed overall with my year pokerwise.
2008
I am not going to make any brash predictions for 2008. If I happen to qualify for any big events then great, but I am probably not going to put a huge amount of effort into qualifying as they will mostly just cost me money that would be better spent elsewhere. I intend to play very few of the regular weekly tournies around Dublin, but will hopefully play one or 2 events a month on average around the 200-300 mark. This is obviously dependent on how my cash games are running, but I hope that overall I can be less reckless than I have been in the past in certain regards. I am going to try to concentrate on playing smarter, not more often. I have also had an encouraging start to the year online, but since I am currently playing mostly 1/2 PLO underrolled, it could go pear shaped soon and pretty much kill my online interest.
The pipedream as regards online would be to keep plugging away for a few months, get to a point where I am bankrolled for 2/4 and be able to play there and withdraw any winnings above a certain level. However, since I am quite severly underrolled for the game the likelyhood of a few bad sessions, which is extremely possible, mean that it could be squashed fairly quickly. There are early encouraging early signs though. Over the first 1000 hands on my new db (yes, I know, very few) I am running at just over 28ptbb/100 at a combination of 1/2 and .50/1 on UltimateBet. If I could keep that up it would be a doddle, but somehow I can't imagine it will be anything like this over even the first 5k hands, never mind anything serious. I am also only playing about 8 or 9 hours a week at this point an 2/3 tables at a time, far from serious and dedicated as you can see, but it is a start.
If this starts to take off or fails dismally or even just peters out, I will say it here. One thing I can guarantee though is that it will be underwhelming.
Poker for me is like football for Liverpool.
Pretty bold statement you might say, but I'll explain. It is very frustrating being a Liverpool fan, but I persevere. It is very frustrating playing poker, but I persevere. False hope is another thing in common. Just when I think things are going to turn around, and this could be my year, I have a disastrous sequence of events. This is a familiar scenario to any Liverpool fan as well. I regularly play against opponents I deem to be inferior to myself in the poker department (call it false conceitedness if you will) but I consistently struggle. Liverpool are the epitomy of struggling against so called inferior opponents. I regularly struggle against opponents I deem to be fairly equal or superior to myself, and that compares similarly to Liverpools record against the Utd's, Arsenals and Chelseas of the world.
Sadly though I don't have a good European record to console myself with.
OK, enough of that. Time for a mini review of 2007.
Tournaments - terrible. In the latter part of the year I played less and less of them but overall I had a dismal record for 2007.
Cash - Mixed. I had some good days and some bad days, and had a relatively small profit in these over the year, but not near as much as I would have liked. Still not good enough.
Online - Not worth mentioning. Terrible effort to start playing regularly online and a dismal failure in terms of hands played and effort expended.
Overall I had a loss than was nearly as big as my profit for 2006 so I was very underwhelmed overall with my year pokerwise.
2008
I am not going to make any brash predictions for 2008. If I happen to qualify for any big events then great, but I am probably not going to put a huge amount of effort into qualifying as they will mostly just cost me money that would be better spent elsewhere. I intend to play very few of the regular weekly tournies around Dublin, but will hopefully play one or 2 events a month on average around the 200-300 mark. This is obviously dependent on how my cash games are running, but I hope that overall I can be less reckless than I have been in the past in certain regards. I am going to try to concentrate on playing smarter, not more often. I have also had an encouraging start to the year online, but since I am currently playing mostly 1/2 PLO underrolled, it could go pear shaped soon and pretty much kill my online interest.
The pipedream as regards online would be to keep plugging away for a few months, get to a point where I am bankrolled for 2/4 and be able to play there and withdraw any winnings above a certain level. However, since I am quite severly underrolled for the game the likelyhood of a few bad sessions, which is extremely possible, mean that it could be squashed fairly quickly. There are early encouraging early signs though. Over the first 1000 hands on my new db (yes, I know, very few) I am running at just over 28ptbb/100 at a combination of 1/2 and .50/1 on UltimateBet. If I could keep that up it would be a doddle, but somehow I can't imagine it will be anything like this over even the first 5k hands, never mind anything serious. I am also only playing about 8 or 9 hours a week at this point an 2/3 tables at a time, far from serious and dedicated as you can see, but it is a start.
If this starts to take off or fails dismally or even just peters out, I will say it here. One thing I can guarantee though is that it will be underwhelming.
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