I've had an up and down day as I chase my artwork and it has been relatively successful mainly due to the last 5 minutes. I've been running really poorly in 2-4pl omaha and took a couple of painful beats which knocked me back down beneath my goal total for buying stuff, so I decided to play a table of 5-10nl holdem as I was getting concerned that I may not make enough to buy anything.
This goes against my self imposed rules but I've not played for a while and felt quite confident so took a shot playing 3 tables. I chipped up early and then frittered most of it away so I quit to go back to omaha.
There were no 2-4 tables going so I decided to move into unchartered territory and play 10-20 with a minimum buy in looking to push all in at the first available opportunity with good cards. I played 2 tables of this for a $400 buy in. On table one I was in the big blind and had 227Q and the flop came 269 with two clubs so I obviously check raised all in and got action from 2 players making a $1150 pot - luckily the flush didn't hit and my 2's held winning a nice pot.
Then a minute later on the other table I had AA77 and checkraised all in pre flop - board cam with 2 Jacks but I made a flush on the river in a three way pot for a $923 pot. Not bad really I played 30 hands at this level and made a rapid $1300 profit - -wooooohooooooo
Anyway this means that I was able to cash out and now have $950 set aside for buying stuff with which should mean I can buy a couple of items I'm interested in.
Hopefully some good results tomorrow will mean another 500-600 and even more purchasing power.
I'm going to be happy now
Steve
Sunday 30 September 2007
Saturday 29 September 2007
Playing for Art
There are currently some sculptures which I would really like on ebay and they have 4 days remaining on them. They are from Govinder's first collection and are listed at £300 each, I have never seen 2 of them listed before in the last year so don't really want to miss this opportunity to increase my collection. However they are a somewhat extravagant purchase which I currently cannot justify so I have set myself some conditions.
I can splash out on the through poker winnings alone once I have over 4k in my account, any amount over this is free to be spent. I started this at 2.8k and have worked it up to 3.9k so far so it is going ok. I haven't played for anything specific like this for a while and hope that it will motivate me and enable me to win enough to get them as if I fail I am just going to let them go (sob). If I bought all the art on ebay i currently wish to it would cost me around £2k (ouch).
So I have something to shoot for watch it here to see if I manage
Steve
I can splash out on the through poker winnings alone once I have over 4k in my account, any amount over this is free to be spent. I started this at 2.8k and have worked it up to 3.9k so far so it is going ok. I haven't played for anything specific like this for a while and hope that it will motivate me and enable me to win enough to get them as if I fail I am just going to let them go (sob). If I bought all the art on ebay i currently wish to it would cost me around £2k (ouch).
So I have something to shoot for watch it here to see if I manage
Steve
Thursday 27 September 2007
Great start but sadly it's not a sprint
I experienced another evening of large fluctuations in my bankroll as I got ahead by $900 within 20 hands and then spent the rest of the evening giving all that back and lots more besides. Ah well I lost $500 on the evening but feel that my game is fairly solid and I am adapting to the different skills needed within omaha.
I have been on to ebay just now and noticed 4 govinder sculptures which I want from his first collection. I have been after some of these for ages but they are listed at £300 each and I just can't currently justify the expense to myself - however they are listed for the next 6 days and I'm going to make an agreeement with myself on circumstances in which I can buy 1 or all the ones I want. My online bankroll currently stands at a paltry $2,750 but if during this timeframe I can get it above $4k then i can use that money to buy the sculptures. If I fail to hit this target I obviously don't want them all that much!
Along with this I have to make the money playing games of 2-4 and no higher. This really should give me something to aim for and I really hope I make it to 5-6k during this time as then I can buy the 2 which I want the most.
Haven't played specifically for something in a while and this may do me some good
Steve
I have been on to ebay just now and noticed 4 govinder sculptures which I want from his first collection. I have been after some of these for ages but they are listed at £300 each and I just can't currently justify the expense to myself - however they are listed for the next 6 days and I'm going to make an agreeement with myself on circumstances in which I can buy 1 or all the ones I want. My online bankroll currently stands at a paltry $2,750 but if during this timeframe I can get it above $4k then i can use that money to buy the sculptures. If I fail to hit this target I obviously don't want them all that much!
Along with this I have to make the money playing games of 2-4 and no higher. This really should give me something to aim for and I really hope I make it to 5-6k during this time as then I can buy the 2 which I want the most.
Haven't played specifically for something in a while and this may do me some good
Steve
Wednesday 26 September 2007
blah blah blah
I'm far too emotionally involved with my results at the moment, I think this may be down to not getting enough sleep as that does have a tendancy to amp up the importance of things in my head.
I played a reasonable session of 2-4 omaha last night, ran reasonably although it could and maybe should have been better than it was. I managed to hugely irritate myself as I got involved in a big pot, hit top set and went to check raise the original raiser - fine up to here and then when it got checked round I decided not to believe his bet on the turn and moved in despite a 57 giving a straight to beat me - I really shouldn't do this and it was wasteful, I don't mind losing when I have strong draws or get outdrawn but putting all your money in when way behind is just stupid adn not something which I have a massive tendancy to do.
Unfortunately I slipped from a 3k starting balance to under 2k and at this point I started to get irritated, was about to go to bed when I realised that I just needed to concentrate and play the game I intend to when I sit down, plus I was too annoyed to go to bed at that point as I couldn't accept having lost the amount I had.
Anyway things started to pick up and I had a $400 stack with AA and just limped in late position, flop cam AT2 rainbow which was a beautiful sight to my tired eyes, early position bet pot, I flat called as I didn't want to give my hand away and only a JQor K could hurt me. Four people saw the turn which came 8h not filling any potential straights but putting a heart flush draw on the board. Original better bet pot for $100 and I reraised all in for $350. Other opponent folded which was a shame as I'll take as many callers as I can get here (likely to counterfeit each others outs) and the original better called with a very strong draw as he had KQJ5 with 2 hearts giving him 17 outs (40%ish). Board paired on the end and I took a 1k pot. I think I may have cried had this one lost as although these losses will happen it really hurts when it is in the midst of a bad run!
Went to bed shortly after that up about $300 for the day, not bad not great and yet again I alert myself to the dangers which the game has. It won't be a surprise to win or lose 6+ buy ins over a session, just need to build my bankroll back up and then losses will cease to hurt.
I'm currently winning about $50 per 100 hands which is a lovely win rate to have as I multi table and if this is sustainable over the long run it will prove to be a very profitable form of poker for me to play. That said my sample size is tiny so far and last night my overall profitability was as low as 0$ per 100 hands and as high as $85. I need to log at least 20-30 thousand hands before I get a real idea as at the moment a few buy ins will hugely distort my stats.
I need sleep, have gone to bed before coming to work at 4.30am, 1.30am and 2.30am over the last three nights, it's not big it's not clever but I want to be playing and am finding it increasingly difficult to make myself go to be when I don't overly care about work
Steve
I played a reasonable session of 2-4 omaha last night, ran reasonably although it could and maybe should have been better than it was. I managed to hugely irritate myself as I got involved in a big pot, hit top set and went to check raise the original raiser - fine up to here and then when it got checked round I decided not to believe his bet on the turn and moved in despite a 57 giving a straight to beat me - I really shouldn't do this and it was wasteful, I don't mind losing when I have strong draws or get outdrawn but putting all your money in when way behind is just stupid adn not something which I have a massive tendancy to do.
Unfortunately I slipped from a 3k starting balance to under 2k and at this point I started to get irritated, was about to go to bed when I realised that I just needed to concentrate and play the game I intend to when I sit down, plus I was too annoyed to go to bed at that point as I couldn't accept having lost the amount I had.
Anyway things started to pick up and I had a $400 stack with AA and just limped in late position, flop cam AT2 rainbow which was a beautiful sight to my tired eyes, early position bet pot, I flat called as I didn't want to give my hand away and only a JQor K could hurt me. Four people saw the turn which came 8h not filling any potential straights but putting a heart flush draw on the board. Original better bet pot for $100 and I reraised all in for $350. Other opponent folded which was a shame as I'll take as many callers as I can get here (likely to counterfeit each others outs) and the original better called with a very strong draw as he had KQJ5 with 2 hearts giving him 17 outs (40%ish). Board paired on the end and I took a 1k pot. I think I may have cried had this one lost as although these losses will happen it really hurts when it is in the midst of a bad run!
Went to bed shortly after that up about $300 for the day, not bad not great and yet again I alert myself to the dangers which the game has. It won't be a surprise to win or lose 6+ buy ins over a session, just need to build my bankroll back up and then losses will cease to hurt.
I'm currently winning about $50 per 100 hands which is a lovely win rate to have as I multi table and if this is sustainable over the long run it will prove to be a very profitable form of poker for me to play. That said my sample size is tiny so far and last night my overall profitability was as low as 0$ per 100 hands and as high as $85. I need to log at least 20-30 thousand hands before I get a real idea as at the moment a few buy ins will hugely distort my stats.
I need sleep, have gone to bed before coming to work at 4.30am, 1.30am and 2.30am over the last three nights, it's not big it's not clever but I want to be playing and am finding it increasingly difficult to make myself go to be when I don't overly care about work
Steve
Tuesday 25 September 2007
Know your limit
Knowing what limits you are comfortable playing at is a crucial thing in online poker. Too little and you just don't care about the money and are far more likely to make crazy and unprofitable plays. Too much and the money itself will scare you and you'll play tighter than is truly profitable so that when you do get real hands it is far too easy for your opponents to read what you may have.
The limits which you feel comfortable at may change on a daily basis dependent on the opposition, your mood, recent results and many other things which affect the attitude which you take to the poker table. I find that the limits I am comfortable with vary mostly dependent on how I've been doing. When I'm on a hot streak I am comfortable sitting with 1-2k per table and taking the swings as they come, when things have been going less well I am more nervous about losing more and this leads to me not playing my best poker.
The win rate which you can achieve will vary between limits and it is important to maximise your win rate per hour or per hand which may mean playing at a lower level than you could.
I have decided that I am going to grind 2-4pl omaha for the next few weeks to get an idea of my win rate and see if this may be the most profitable game for me at the moment. I have had some major ups and downs at omaha and lost a lot playing 3-6 but I wasn't playing as well as I do now and also played this when it was the highest game available, hence noticably tougher opposition. So far I have been a big winner at 2-4 and hope that this will continue as I think there is potentially a large profit margin to be had at this level.
i won just over 1k last night and was unfortunate not to be further ahead, plus this was done without me feeling any worry about dropping buy-ins because it is lower than I play holdem at. My mentality has been refreshed by a winning session and hopefully I can build further on this over the next few days
Steve
The limits which you feel comfortable at may change on a daily basis dependent on the opposition, your mood, recent results and many other things which affect the attitude which you take to the poker table. I find that the limits I am comfortable with vary mostly dependent on how I've been doing. When I'm on a hot streak I am comfortable sitting with 1-2k per table and taking the swings as they come, when things have been going less well I am more nervous about losing more and this leads to me not playing my best poker.
The win rate which you can achieve will vary between limits and it is important to maximise your win rate per hour or per hand which may mean playing at a lower level than you could.
I have decided that I am going to grind 2-4pl omaha for the next few weeks to get an idea of my win rate and see if this may be the most profitable game for me at the moment. I have had some major ups and downs at omaha and lost a lot playing 3-6 but I wasn't playing as well as I do now and also played this when it was the highest game available, hence noticably tougher opposition. So far I have been a big winner at 2-4 and hope that this will continue as I think there is potentially a large profit margin to be had at this level.
i won just over 1k last night and was unfortunate not to be further ahead, plus this was done without me feeling any worry about dropping buy-ins because it is lower than I play holdem at. My mentality has been refreshed by a winning session and hopefully I can build further on this over the next few days
Steve
Monday 24 September 2007
The Importance of Perspective
I'm not on a particularly good run right now, since Thursday evening I've managed to drop 5.5k which is not overly good. Have dropped the majority of that during a bad run at 3-6 omaha where I ran badly and played badly which managed to make things worse. Sadly this puts me at the stage where I feel I 'need' to win just to get my confidence back and losses start bothering me a lot more than usual. Because of this I have withdrawn down to 2k in my bankroll so that I don't play 5-10nl for a while (depsite the fact this is my best game and that it isn't where I lost most of the money) and I'm going to gring omaha 2-4 and see if I'm going to be profitable. At least this way the individual losses won't hurt too much.
But to put this in perspective I'm actually about level over the last week! However it really doesn't feel like that, all I remember is the losses and the bad bits of play. My concentration is wavering and I've taken to overplaying when I go on bad runs which doesn't help anything at all.
The problem with runs like this is that I start second guessing myself, questionning the way I play, and wondering very seriously whether I am capable of winning enough to make a living (which is ridiculous). I'm not sure what to do to avoid the emotional swings - the monetary ones are ok and this is something I'm going to have to deal with when this is my only source of income.
Although I try not to I think I put a lot of pressure on myself and expect a lot more than is realistic - when I was playing well I was having days where I'd lose 2-3k and then win it back the next, this is part of the game and I need to get back to a point where I can look at things in perspective and realise that I am a very successful winning player, I've made around $35-40k this year (so far) and I love playing poker.
Somehow I need to remind myself of these points and not remain awake when I'm not entirely healthy until 4.30am and then get out of bed for work at 8am - it's just stupid and unecessary and I should know better.
Within a week I'm quite sure I'll be posting all about how well it's going etc but right now I'm over-tired, feel poor and am questionning whether I can make this work - my mind is a stupid place sometimes.
Steve
But to put this in perspective I'm actually about level over the last week! However it really doesn't feel like that, all I remember is the losses and the bad bits of play. My concentration is wavering and I've taken to overplaying when I go on bad runs which doesn't help anything at all.
The problem with runs like this is that I start second guessing myself, questionning the way I play, and wondering very seriously whether I am capable of winning enough to make a living (which is ridiculous). I'm not sure what to do to avoid the emotional swings - the monetary ones are ok and this is something I'm going to have to deal with when this is my only source of income.
Although I try not to I think I put a lot of pressure on myself and expect a lot more than is realistic - when I was playing well I was having days where I'd lose 2-3k and then win it back the next, this is part of the game and I need to get back to a point where I can look at things in perspective and realise that I am a very successful winning player, I've made around $35-40k this year (so far) and I love playing poker.
Somehow I need to remind myself of these points and not remain awake when I'm not entirely healthy until 4.30am and then get out of bed for work at 8am - it's just stupid and unecessary and I should know better.
Within a week I'm quite sure I'll be posting all about how well it's going etc but right now I'm over-tired, feel poor and am questionning whether I can make this work - my mind is a stupid place sometimes.
Steve
Friday 21 September 2007
Down Swing Time
I've been kinda expecting to have a bad evening at some point and it happened last night. Dropped about 3 buy ins at omaha as every single 50/50 60/40 etc went against me, these tended to be for the big pots and it has a big impact when you run badly in omaha.
All the same I was happy with my play and know that my expectation would have been about even across the night but for bad luck, it was by no means my best play but I was unfortunate to have a losing evening. It's something which is going to happen a lot and as long as I can keep a positive mindset about it, everything will be fine. It would be bad news to go on tilt playing omaha as that could get nasty pretty quickly.
Am off from work today so shall play a bit during the day and then its a couple of days off as I'm in newcastle for the weekend.
And it sodding well continues....Have just lost a 1k pot where I had top set my opponent had mid set and he of course hit a runner runner flush - fuck. Next hand after that I lose another one JTT boardand I have AT virtually impossible to drop and of course he has JT, this has hurt a lot. I am steaming right now and am on a horrible 3k downswing eugh
Steve
All the same I was happy with my play and know that my expectation would have been about even across the night but for bad luck, it was by no means my best play but I was unfortunate to have a losing evening. It's something which is going to happen a lot and as long as I can keep a positive mindset about it, everything will be fine. It would be bad news to go on tilt playing omaha as that could get nasty pretty quickly.
Am off from work today so shall play a bit during the day and then its a couple of days off as I'm in newcastle for the weekend.
And it sodding well continues....Have just lost a 1k pot where I had top set my opponent had mid set and he of course hit a runner runner flush - fuck. Next hand after that I lose another one JTT boardand I have AT virtually impossible to drop and of course he has JT, this has hurt a lot. I am steaming right now and am on a horrible 3k downswing eugh
Steve
Wednesday 19 September 2007
Explanation of Omaha
It has been drawn to my attention that many people who may be reading this blog have no idea of what omaha is and how it works, therefore I'm going to attempt to explain the game in simple terms so that future blog posts make more sense to some of my friends.
For the purposes of this I will be assuming that everyone understands how to play texas holdem and compare the two games to try to create understanding.
The principle difference between holdem and omaha is that in omaha you begin with 4 cards in your hand compared to 2 in holdem. The rest of the hand is the same as the flop is dealt (3 cards) then the turn and then the river and players have to make the best 5 card hand.
However, whereas in holdem you can play the board or use only one of the cards in your hand to make the best hand in omaha you HAVE to use two of your own cards, not one, not three, always two. This is something which takes some time to get used to and rookies at the game do make errors like seeing 4 hearts on the board and the Ace of hearts in their hand and make big bets based on their supposed hand. I know people do this as when I first played I made exactly this mistake and was extremely confused when the hand went to someone with 2 pair.
Whereas holdem is mainly played as a no limit game where you can bet as much or as little as you like at any time, omaha is a pot limit game so you can only bet as much as is already in the pot. This does change the complexion of the game and means that building large pots with good drawing hands is important to ensure you get paid off.
Good hands in omaha are similar to those in holdem but as you have four cards it is important that those which you choose to play with are interconnected so JT98 is good especially if it is double suited as it gives flush and straight draws. However hands such as AK88 is a donkey of a hand as it is very hard to hit the best hand as you have very few draws.
Other common mistakes are to play low-mid pairs in an attempt to hit a set, whereas in holdem this would almost always win, in omaha it is extrmely dangerous as the chances of your 77 being ahead on a 7TQ board are very remote if you bet and are then reraised as your opponent either has a big draw or one of the higher sets. Good advice is to only commit strongly to a set if it is the top one eg QQ on a QT7 board is good.
Because of the number of potential draws (cards needed to improve a hand) you see a lot of all in pots with things such as top set against someone with straight and flush draws as both feel like they are ahead. This makes omaha an extremely swingy (up and down) game as even when you get your money in ahead it is rare that you are ever more than a 70% favourite.
Preflop even hands like AAKQ are rarely better than a 65% favourite against one opponent and are often a lot lower than that. It is therefore correct to raise with AA preflop but if you have the chance to reraise against 3-4 opponents and it will only commit a small portion of your stack it is probably advisable not to as it gives away your strength and if the first one calls they will all call and then unless you hit an A you are most likely behind to any random flop.
I hope this helps to explain the game and will make future posts somewhat clearer but please leave comments if you feel that I've missed something or need to explain an area further
Steve
For the purposes of this I will be assuming that everyone understands how to play texas holdem and compare the two games to try to create understanding.
The principle difference between holdem and omaha is that in omaha you begin with 4 cards in your hand compared to 2 in holdem. The rest of the hand is the same as the flop is dealt (3 cards) then the turn and then the river and players have to make the best 5 card hand.
However, whereas in holdem you can play the board or use only one of the cards in your hand to make the best hand in omaha you HAVE to use two of your own cards, not one, not three, always two. This is something which takes some time to get used to and rookies at the game do make errors like seeing 4 hearts on the board and the Ace of hearts in their hand and make big bets based on their supposed hand. I know people do this as when I first played I made exactly this mistake and was extremely confused when the hand went to someone with 2 pair.
Whereas holdem is mainly played as a no limit game where you can bet as much or as little as you like at any time, omaha is a pot limit game so you can only bet as much as is already in the pot. This does change the complexion of the game and means that building large pots with good drawing hands is important to ensure you get paid off.
Good hands in omaha are similar to those in holdem but as you have four cards it is important that those which you choose to play with are interconnected so JT98 is good especially if it is double suited as it gives flush and straight draws. However hands such as AK88 is a donkey of a hand as it is very hard to hit the best hand as you have very few draws.
Other common mistakes are to play low-mid pairs in an attempt to hit a set, whereas in holdem this would almost always win, in omaha it is extrmely dangerous as the chances of your 77 being ahead on a 7TQ board are very remote if you bet and are then reraised as your opponent either has a big draw or one of the higher sets. Good advice is to only commit strongly to a set if it is the top one eg QQ on a QT7 board is good.
Because of the number of potential draws (cards needed to improve a hand) you see a lot of all in pots with things such as top set against someone with straight and flush draws as both feel like they are ahead. This makes omaha an extremely swingy (up and down) game as even when you get your money in ahead it is rare that you are ever more than a 70% favourite.
Preflop even hands like AAKQ are rarely better than a 65% favourite against one opponent and are often a lot lower than that. It is therefore correct to raise with AA preflop but if you have the chance to reraise against 3-4 opponents and it will only commit a small portion of your stack it is probably advisable not to as it gives away your strength and if the first one calls they will all call and then unless you hit an A you are most likely behind to any random flop.
I hope this helps to explain the game and will make future posts somewhat clearer but please leave comments if you feel that I've missed something or need to explain an area further
Steve
Tuesday 18 September 2007
And so it continues...
My run at omaha is going very well, played for 2 hours last night and won about $900 at 2-4pl. I'm certain a downswing must happen at some point due to the nature of the game but for the moment I'm very happy to just keep winning.
Doubled up on my first hand of the night as I had QTT8 double suited and called a raise preflop, flop came J92 giving me any 7,8 or K for the nuts and and 10 or Q for what I thought would be the winner once pre-flop raiser bet pot and everyone folded - with what I assumed to be 16 outs (64% favourite) I reraised and got it all in. Failed to hit my draws and board paired the J on the end so I was very surprised to have the pot pushed my way - opponent had AKQT which meant I was ahead when it went in but not in the way I thought!
I was actually nearly 50/50 pre flop against his hand too and when the flop came down and all the money went in I was 57% to win and only 20% to lose with a split pot a distinct posibility. It's nice that when it does get all in I am ahead over 80% of the time which should mean that long term I win a nice amount.
I've also been trying a few more bluffs when scare cards come in to mid sized pots and it is amazing quite how often a pot bet will take it down. it was a good session and I'm feeling more positive about my chances in the games every time I play.
Because of my current success I have been getting tempted to jump in to the 10-20 game which would involve sitting with $2k in a game well known for being quite swingy - have managed to resist this so far as I really don't have the bankroll or the experience to play this high. However in the next few weeks I may start taking shots at it and playing one table and seeing how I fare. I held my own very comfortably at 5-10 when I played and seem to be a fairly consistent winner at 2-4 so it would make sense to have a go at the higher level.
My online bankroll has been building nicely and is currently at 8k as I've cashed out for 9.5k in the last week. Keeping a smaller amount online is really positive as I like seeing my bank account grow and it prevents me from jumping into the big games sooner than I should. However I do see myself eventually multi-tabling the biggest available games on party which is 10-20 omaha and 25-50 NL holdem, I think that despite my inexperience I am far more likely to end up playing the big omaha games as the stakes are lower and 25-50 is still a long way off for me despite the 3-4 years i've been playing poker.
Only 13.5 (working) days to go until I am playing full time and I cannot wait...
Steve
Doubled up on my first hand of the night as I had QTT8 double suited and called a raise preflop, flop came J92 giving me any 7,8 or K for the nuts and and 10 or Q for what I thought would be the winner once pre-flop raiser bet pot and everyone folded - with what I assumed to be 16 outs (64% favourite) I reraised and got it all in. Failed to hit my draws and board paired the J on the end so I was very surprised to have the pot pushed my way - opponent had AKQT which meant I was ahead when it went in but not in the way I thought!
I was actually nearly 50/50 pre flop against his hand too and when the flop came down and all the money went in I was 57% to win and only 20% to lose with a split pot a distinct posibility. It's nice that when it does get all in I am ahead over 80% of the time which should mean that long term I win a nice amount.
I've also been trying a few more bluffs when scare cards come in to mid sized pots and it is amazing quite how often a pot bet will take it down. it was a good session and I'm feeling more positive about my chances in the games every time I play.
Because of my current success I have been getting tempted to jump in to the 10-20 game which would involve sitting with $2k in a game well known for being quite swingy - have managed to resist this so far as I really don't have the bankroll or the experience to play this high. However in the next few weeks I may start taking shots at it and playing one table and seeing how I fare. I held my own very comfortably at 5-10 when I played and seem to be a fairly consistent winner at 2-4 so it would make sense to have a go at the higher level.
My online bankroll has been building nicely and is currently at 8k as I've cashed out for 9.5k in the last week. Keeping a smaller amount online is really positive as I like seeing my bank account grow and it prevents me from jumping into the big games sooner than I should. However I do see myself eventually multi-tabling the biggest available games on party which is 10-20 omaha and 25-50 NL holdem, I think that despite my inexperience I am far more likely to end up playing the big omaha games as the stakes are lower and 25-50 is still a long way off for me despite the 3-4 years i've been playing poker.
Only 13.5 (working) days to go until I am playing full time and I cannot wait...
Steve
Monday 17 September 2007
Drunken Poker
After the fine weekend I've had I spent Sunday evening in the pub quaffing cider and generally having a good time. We returned home at about 10pm and I decided that I really wanted to play for a bit despite the negative effects which alcohol will undoubtably have on my game. I wouldn't do this at NL holdem because it's far more likely that I'll do something stupid and lose a huge pot.
I seem to be less prone to this at omaha, probably because it is quite easy to lay down none-nut hands. Also omaha is more fun to play, pots are bigger and it is easy to either double up or get stacked at any time. Played a solid session and was still level after 30 minutes only because of a suck out in a pot which would have put me $1200 up!
I ended up ending my session all in pre flop with 889T double suited in a five way all in (I felt like gambling) and turned $333 into $1200 as I rivered the nut straight. I wouldn't normally get involved in abig flop with this hand but I was going to bed and decided to go for it - not exactly optimum stategy but the hand winning feels damn good.
Although I'm winning my understanding of the game still has a long long way to go and I've invested in a couple of omaha books to see what tips on strategy I can pick up, I don't think there will be that much but some confirmation of odds, win percentages and things will be very helpful. I've always learnt most through playing as you define your own strategy and create a way of playing which you are comfortable with. That said it is extremely useful to get an insight into how others may play and the reasons behind them and then the trick is to adjust my game accordingly.
I feel really positive at the moment and am enjoying this new challenge a lot, I had felt like my NL game had become uninspired and I wasn't enjoying it as much as I usually do. If i concentrate on omaha for a bit hopefuly that will also fuel my desire to play holdem more and worry less about losses when they happen. I also think my decision to go back to cashing out every week regardless of results is a good one as I seem to focus better with a smaller bankroll and it also means that if i do take a series of beat I can drop stakes happy in the knowledge that I'm £xxxx up and have already cashed.
Steve
I seem to be less prone to this at omaha, probably because it is quite easy to lay down none-nut hands. Also omaha is more fun to play, pots are bigger and it is easy to either double up or get stacked at any time. Played a solid session and was still level after 30 minutes only because of a suck out in a pot which would have put me $1200 up!
I ended up ending my session all in pre flop with 889T double suited in a five way all in (I felt like gambling) and turned $333 into $1200 as I rivered the nut straight. I wouldn't normally get involved in abig flop with this hand but I was going to bed and decided to go for it - not exactly optimum stategy but the hand winning feels damn good.
Although I'm winning my understanding of the game still has a long long way to go and I've invested in a couple of omaha books to see what tips on strategy I can pick up, I don't think there will be that much but some confirmation of odds, win percentages and things will be very helpful. I've always learnt most through playing as you define your own strategy and create a way of playing which you are comfortable with. That said it is extremely useful to get an insight into how others may play and the reasons behind them and then the trick is to adjust my game accordingly.
I feel really positive at the moment and am enjoying this new challenge a lot, I had felt like my NL game had become uninspired and I wasn't enjoying it as much as I usually do. If i concentrate on omaha for a bit hopefuly that will also fuel my desire to play holdem more and worry less about losses when they happen. I also think my decision to go back to cashing out every week regardless of results is a good one as I seem to focus better with a smaller bankroll and it also means that if i do take a series of beat I can drop stakes happy in the knowledge that I'm £xxxx up and have already cashed.
Steve
Sunday 16 September 2007
Omaha Odds
Now that I am more awake I've been looking at the odds on the huge hand from last night and I was a 41.85% chance to win - it's about what I thought but it just shows how swingy this game will be if you get it all in pre-flop, any four cards can win quite easily and however good the hand you hold it is hard to be more than a 50% favourite against 2 random hands.
My omaha strategy needs to ensure that I take information like this on board - non suited A'a with no straight draws won't flop very well and I need to remember this pre-flop and not get over comitted. That said I'll still very happily get it all in pre-flop when I have AA as I will be ahead it's just not advisable to get 1/4 of a stack in as you can get stuck for a lot.
Omaha is very much a game where all the real decisions come on the flop, selection is important pre-flop but crucial once you know what draws you have. I think I'm pretty good at this and get my money in ahead most of the time but I obviously have a lot to learn at the game.
It's really interesting looking at the pot odds for individual hands - top set on the flop is always going to be at least 45% if no draws have made it yet and is likely to be ahead by a reasonable amount. This is good as it's certainly a hand I play to hit and then commit too, nice to know that my thoughts were right about the strength of this hand.
I may concentrate on omaha and play no holdem for a while - I find the game more interesting and think i have an edge which is larger than in other games, this may prove an unfounded believe but so far I think I've run neither good nor bad and am consistently winning!
Steve
My omaha strategy needs to ensure that I take information like this on board - non suited A'a with no straight draws won't flop very well and I need to remember this pre-flop and not get over comitted. That said I'll still very happily get it all in pre-flop when I have AA as I will be ahead it's just not advisable to get 1/4 of a stack in as you can get stuck for a lot.
Omaha is very much a game where all the real decisions come on the flop, selection is important pre-flop but crucial once you know what draws you have. I think I'm pretty good at this and get my money in ahead most of the time but I obviously have a lot to learn at the game.
It's really interesting looking at the pot odds for individual hands - top set on the flop is always going to be at least 45% if no draws have made it yet and is likely to be ahead by a reasonable amount. This is good as it's certainly a hand I play to hit and then commit too, nice to know that my thoughts were right about the strength of this hand.
I may concentrate on omaha and play no holdem for a while - I find the game more interesting and think i have an edge which is larger than in other games, this may prove an unfounded believe but so far I think I've run neither good nor bad and am consistently winning!
Steve
Saturday 15 September 2007
Omaha Odyssey - Read, this one's exciting
Well I am at home for the weekend and have spent the vast majority of my time playing poker, it is currently 5.30am and I am shaking however I just have to post this hand from omaha, bear in mind I've been playing this game for only a few days and I think I may be reasonable at it.
To set the scene, I have been hugely frustrated, playing crap at nl holdem and getting repeatedly outdrawn at omaha, I decided in what may have been an unwise decision to play 5-10 omaha, despite being about 2.5k down for the day I have been playing really well at omaha almost always getting my money in ahead. Anyway I'd built up to 2k on the table with two huge stacks sat to my right when I get AAKQ with 2 card suited and well it plays out as below. To put this in context although I have a huge hand I am not that huge a favourite in this one, read below to see the craziness, I think I said a little prayer before the flop came and hoped that this was not going to be an unlucky hand
***** Hand History for Game 6330630349 *****
$1,000 USD PL Omaha - Sunday, September 16, 00:11:50 ET 2007
Table Table 126859 (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 7: TiltyMonkey ( $1,982.94 USD )
Seat 6: Mog_Ur ( $5,417.97 USD )
Seat 2: kadaver ( $295 USD )
Seat 4: nicousina ( $2,354.03 USD )
Seat 3: Bwana ( $687.90 USD )
Seat 5: manuelbilgic ( $1,681 USD )
Seat 8: Mikimak ( $1,183 USD )
Seat 9: blackjack21j ( $430 USD )
Seat 1: Baileywho ( $911.50 USD )
Seat 10: fares555 ( $607 USD )
kadaver posts small blind [$5 USD].
Bwana posts big blind [$10 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to TiltyMonkey [ Ad Kh Qs As ]
>You have options at Table 126660 (No DP) Table!.
nicousina calls [$10 USD]
manuelbilgic folds
Mog_Ur calls [$10 USD]
TiltyMonkey raises [$54.99 USD]
Mikimak folds
blackjack21j folds
fares555 calls [$54.99 USD]
Baileywho calls [$54.99 USD]
kadaver folds
Bwana folds
nicousina raises [$289.95 USD]
Mog_Ur calls [$289.95 USD]
TiltyMonkey raises [$1,269.79 USD]
fares555 folds
Baileywho folds
>You have options at Table 126660 (No DP) Table!.
nicousina is all-In [$2,054.08 USD]
Mog_Ur calls [$2,054.08 USD]
TiltyMonkey is all-In [$658.16 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 2s, 5c, Jd ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 7d ]
** Dealing River ** [ 5s ]
>You have options at Table 126660 (No DP) Table!.
TiltyMonkey shows [ Ad, Kh, Qs, As ]two pairs, Aces and Fives.
nicousina shows [ Jh, Td, 9h, 7s ]two pairs, Jacks and Sevens.
Mog_Ur shows [ 7c, 4c, 9s, 6h ]two pairs, Sevens and Fives.
nicousina wins $742.18 USD from side pot #1 with two pairs, Jacks and Sevens.
TiltyMonkey wins $6,070.80 USD from the main pot with two pairs, Aces and Fives.
The river 5 saved me and as I realise I'd won the pot I quite literally jumped for joy, don't think I have ever done that before in my life, 4.1K of pure profit on one hand - I haven't stopped shaking and cannot believe I've just been involved in a hand like that, the table is still running and I may go back and continue but then again.....
I LOVE OMAHA...
at least when I win.
Steve
To set the scene, I have been hugely frustrated, playing crap at nl holdem and getting repeatedly outdrawn at omaha, I decided in what may have been an unwise decision to play 5-10 omaha, despite being about 2.5k down for the day I have been playing really well at omaha almost always getting my money in ahead. Anyway I'd built up to 2k on the table with two huge stacks sat to my right when I get AAKQ with 2 card suited and well it plays out as below. To put this in context although I have a huge hand I am not that huge a favourite in this one, read below to see the craziness, I think I said a little prayer before the flop came and hoped that this was not going to be an unlucky hand
***** Hand History for Game 6330630349 *****
$1,000 USD PL Omaha - Sunday, September 16, 00:11:50 ET 2007
Table Table 126859 (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 7: TiltyMonkey ( $1,982.94 USD )
Seat 6: Mog_Ur ( $5,417.97 USD )
Seat 2: kadaver ( $295 USD )
Seat 4: nicousina ( $2,354.03 USD )
Seat 3: Bwana ( $687.90 USD )
Seat 5: manuelbilgic ( $1,681 USD )
Seat 8: Mikimak ( $1,183 USD )
Seat 9: blackjack21j ( $430 USD )
Seat 1: Baileywho ( $911.50 USD )
Seat 10: fares555 ( $607 USD )
kadaver posts small blind [$5 USD].
Bwana posts big blind [$10 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to TiltyMonkey [ Ad Kh Qs As ]
>You have options at Table 126660 (No DP) Table!.
nicousina calls [$10 USD]
manuelbilgic folds
Mog_Ur calls [$10 USD]
TiltyMonkey raises [$54.99 USD]
Mikimak folds
blackjack21j folds
fares555 calls [$54.99 USD]
Baileywho calls [$54.99 USD]
kadaver folds
Bwana folds
nicousina raises [$289.95 USD]
Mog_Ur calls [$289.95 USD]
TiltyMonkey raises [$1,269.79 USD]
fares555 folds
Baileywho folds
>You have options at Table 126660 (No DP) Table!.
nicousina is all-In [$2,054.08 USD]
Mog_Ur calls [$2,054.08 USD]
TiltyMonkey is all-In [$658.16 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 2s, 5c, Jd ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 7d ]
** Dealing River ** [ 5s ]
>You have options at Table 126660 (No DP) Table!.
TiltyMonkey shows [ Ad, Kh, Qs, As ]two pairs, Aces and Fives.
nicousina shows [ Jh, Td, 9h, 7s ]two pairs, Jacks and Sevens.
Mog_Ur shows [ 7c, 4c, 9s, 6h ]two pairs, Sevens and Fives.
nicousina wins $742.18 USD from side pot #1 with two pairs, Jacks and Sevens.
TiltyMonkey wins $6,070.80 USD from the main pot with two pairs, Aces and Fives.
The river 5 saved me and as I realise I'd won the pot I quite literally jumped for joy, don't think I have ever done that before in my life, 4.1K of pure profit on one hand - I haven't stopped shaking and cannot believe I've just been involved in a hand like that, the table is still running and I may go back and continue but then again.....
I LOVE OMAHA...
at least when I win.
Steve
Thursday 13 September 2007
Not at my best..
Having had a couple of days off I resumed play last night and managed to make another idiot play where I called of $650 when I knew my opponent had AA or KK and therefore was beating my full house - really annoys me when I do this and I start questionning lots of aspects of my game. I know I'm a winning player and I'd win a damn side more if I stopped doing stupid things.
Anyway as a result of this I have decided to withdraw much of my bankroll and start paying myself weekly regardless of results again, this way even when I go on a bad run I'll know that my bank account is in good shape and I am making money from poker. I seem to find a large bankroll more of a hinderence than a help - dunno why and I've decided that $2000 a week is coming out until I'm down to $4000 in my account as that is when I drop to lower tables. Hopefully I'll start winning at a better rate than this again and build my bankroll anyway but it means that I can't go on a horrible run and tilt of 5-10k of profit. I'm also going to return to playing a maximum of 4 tables as the swings will be lower and I may find it easier to manage.
Along with this I am really enjoying playing omaha and seem to be ok at it. My understanding is improving each time I play and I had a venture to 2-4 and 3-6 omaha yesterday with reasonable success. It is definitely a game where you can win or lose a number of buy ins in quick succession and even if you play tight you see a lot more flops. I think the overall standard is terrible and but for a couple of really nasty suckouts - 2-4 outs I'd be up well over 1k. People get their money in with poor poor hands and call pot sized bets with only a flush draw on the turn for most of their stack. I think if I can master this game it'll be by far my most profitable, although the thought of playing at 5-10 buy in is somewhat worrying at the moment. I intend to stick to 2-4 and see how it goes and whether I am a profitable player. At the moment all the signs are good as I rarely get the money in when behind.
I need to be doing this full time now, work is a burden and I can't wait until I can concentrate purely on poker.
16.5 days to go
Steve
Anyway as a result of this I have decided to withdraw much of my bankroll and start paying myself weekly regardless of results again, this way even when I go on a bad run I'll know that my bank account is in good shape and I am making money from poker. I seem to find a large bankroll more of a hinderence than a help - dunno why and I've decided that $2000 a week is coming out until I'm down to $4000 in my account as that is when I drop to lower tables. Hopefully I'll start winning at a better rate than this again and build my bankroll anyway but it means that I can't go on a horrible run and tilt of 5-10k of profit. I'm also going to return to playing a maximum of 4 tables as the swings will be lower and I may find it easier to manage.
Along with this I am really enjoying playing omaha and seem to be ok at it. My understanding is improving each time I play and I had a venture to 2-4 and 3-6 omaha yesterday with reasonable success. It is definitely a game where you can win or lose a number of buy ins in quick succession and even if you play tight you see a lot more flops. I think the overall standard is terrible and but for a couple of really nasty suckouts - 2-4 outs I'd be up well over 1k. People get their money in with poor poor hands and call pot sized bets with only a flush draw on the turn for most of their stack. I think if I can master this game it'll be by far my most profitable, although the thought of playing at 5-10 buy in is somewhat worrying at the moment. I intend to stick to 2-4 and see how it goes and whether I am a profitable player. At the moment all the signs are good as I rarely get the money in when behind.
I need to be doing this full time now, work is a burden and I can't wait until I can concentrate purely on poker.
16.5 days to go
Steve
Tuesday 11 September 2007
BIIIIIIIGGGGG Purchase
Well the poker has been going poorly over the past few days, some tired play has seen me slip back a little. It is soooo annoying to sit at a table, know your opponent has AA to your KK and still put the money in - rare that I do it but it irritated me so much I've frozen my account for a couple of days.
Anyway away from poker I've done something which I always intended to do and bought a property for letting purposes. It's a 1 bed flat in Chorley bought off plan for 15% below list price - hopefully this is a good move as it's a good area, lots of jobs and stuff moving that way but it's still little more than a suck it and see move. I've realised that I am largely clueless so my knowledge wasn't going to grow any more, I liked the opportunity, and am in a position to do this so I've just gone for it. The flat gets finished in February so hopefully I'll have a tennant not long after that.
It does mean that In order to buy the place without resorting to a mortgage I need to find (win) about £10k over the next few months, shouldn't be a problem and if necessary I can always raid my mortgage for the extra.
It's fairly exciting and probably quite risky too but whatever happens as long as I keep it for 5-10 years and have it rented out there is no way I can lose out long-term as house prices, even if they crash will recover and I'm not going to be liable for mortgage payments. Only problem comes if I can't let it which doesn't seem to be likely but then what do I know.
First tentative steps into the world I intend to be frequenting more in the future and if things go as planned and this is successful I intend to buy another by the end of next year - obviously this very much depend on how things go poker wise and the success of the purchase. The way to do things like this is to invest in a number and have mortgages on them all but that is a little much for me to contemplate as yet, I'v esaid for ages I never want to be in debt for more than 100k and I intend to stick to that.
26, almost retired, 2 properties - it's not bad really is it!
Steve
Anyway away from poker I've done something which I always intended to do and bought a property for letting purposes. It's a 1 bed flat in Chorley bought off plan for 15% below list price - hopefully this is a good move as it's a good area, lots of jobs and stuff moving that way but it's still little more than a suck it and see move. I've realised that I am largely clueless so my knowledge wasn't going to grow any more, I liked the opportunity, and am in a position to do this so I've just gone for it. The flat gets finished in February so hopefully I'll have a tennant not long after that.
It does mean that In order to buy the place without resorting to a mortgage I need to find (win) about £10k over the next few months, shouldn't be a problem and if necessary I can always raid my mortgage for the extra.
It's fairly exciting and probably quite risky too but whatever happens as long as I keep it for 5-10 years and have it rented out there is no way I can lose out long-term as house prices, even if they crash will recover and I'm not going to be liable for mortgage payments. Only problem comes if I can't let it which doesn't seem to be likely but then what do I know.
First tentative steps into the world I intend to be frequenting more in the future and if things go as planned and this is successful I intend to buy another by the end of next year - obviously this very much depend on how things go poker wise and the success of the purchase. The way to do things like this is to invest in a number and have mortgages on them all but that is a little much for me to contemplate as yet, I'v esaid for ages I never want to be in debt for more than 100k and I intend to stick to that.
26, almost retired, 2 properties - it's not bad really is it!
Steve
Saturday 8 September 2007
Learning New Games
In an attempt to add some variety into my play and my options I have started learning Omaha which is, in essence, Texas holdem played with 4 cards dealt to each person. I have a reasonable understanding of the game and am holding my own at 1-2 pot limit games. I am slightly down but that is due to people with very very weak draws getting lucky twice in a row, had this not happened I'd be about $500 up from the game.
Omaha is going to see a lot more occasions where I get stacked as it is a much more swingy game and pots build up to multiway all in's on a semi-regular basis. It's quite fun to play and I'm going to read up a bit on it and see what else I can add to my arsenal. I have a reasonable understanding of starting hand requirements and manage to avoid trouble a lot, I'll have to download a tracker for omaha so I can see my results in a database and analyse how I'm playing.
At the moment it's more for entertainment than for profit but I'd quite like to get good at it and from what I've seen there are a lot of weak players willing to call pot sized all ins on the turn with only a flush draw so there seems to be a lot of margin to exploit. I'll improve my game quite rapidly until I am regularly profitable at the lower stakes. I reckon within a month I should be a regular winner and then we'll see what I can do in terms of moving up stakes.
Aside from this poker has been going well - it should be going better but I've had a couple of expensive lapses. I'm now about $8k up in the last 4 weeks which is ok, not as good as I would like by any means but I've been busy, away at weekends and I'm pretty satisfied with where my bankroll is. I'm up to almost where I want to be in tems of money online and after that I'll cash out everything over this amount. Haven't cashed out since my holiday as I'm building the roll ready for when I'm playing full time - I'm more prone to getting anxious and irritated when I have less in my account so this should hopefully prevent that.
Steve
September Profit $3300
Omaha is going to see a lot more occasions where I get stacked as it is a much more swingy game and pots build up to multiway all in's on a semi-regular basis. It's quite fun to play and I'm going to read up a bit on it and see what else I can add to my arsenal. I have a reasonable understanding of starting hand requirements and manage to avoid trouble a lot, I'll have to download a tracker for omaha so I can see my results in a database and analyse how I'm playing.
At the moment it's more for entertainment than for profit but I'd quite like to get good at it and from what I've seen there are a lot of weak players willing to call pot sized all ins on the turn with only a flush draw so there seems to be a lot of margin to exploit. I'll improve my game quite rapidly until I am regularly profitable at the lower stakes. I reckon within a month I should be a regular winner and then we'll see what I can do in terms of moving up stakes.
Aside from this poker has been going well - it should be going better but I've had a couple of expensive lapses. I'm now about $8k up in the last 4 weeks which is ok, not as good as I would like by any means but I've been busy, away at weekends and I'm pretty satisfied with where my bankroll is. I'm up to almost where I want to be in tems of money online and after that I'll cash out everything over this amount. Haven't cashed out since my holiday as I'm building the roll ready for when I'm playing full time - I'm more prone to getting anxious and irritated when I have less in my account so this should hopefully prevent that.
Steve
September Profit $3300
Wednesday 5 September 2007
Poor night
Didn't run well last night at all, logged just over 1000 hands and got destroyed for 1.7k. I made one or two questionable plays as I was admittedly tired but overall I think I played ok and just kept running into monsters. I can't get away from QQ+ against a shortstack of $200 when board shows no overs and often I shove pre - every time (4 or 5 occasions) I ran these hands into AA which is just ridiculously unlucky. Any time I had a hand I faced monster reraises and when I continuation bet with nothing I got called/raised. This will happen every so often and I don't expect to win all the time - bit of luck I finish working my bonus off tonight and put in a solid 1k+ session of wins. Then I shall have an enjoyable evening off on Thursday and then I am away for the weekend so I have no idea how much I'll get to play, ideally I get my bankroll to 15k and then start withdrawing anything over that on a weekly basis.
Am well rested today too having gone to bed at 10.30pm so I should be playing at the height of my powers
Steve
Am well rested today too having gone to bed at 10.30pm so I should be playing at the height of my powers
Steve
Tuesday 4 September 2007
Bonus Whoring
It appears to be going somewhat better recently as my bankroll has increased from a low of $5,500 up to $14,000 in just over a week. It's nice to have a cushion with which to play as my attitude has improved markedly with each win. That said it's still nowhere near enough but I doubt I'll ever feel satisfied with how things have gone as I am constantly striving for more.
I have a $500 bonus from party to work off and have played for about 11 hours over the last two days in an effort to do so, am still over 1000 points off so probably somewhere around 6-7 hours play across 4-6 tables. I have to clear this by wednesday night so I have to play a lot for two days more. I've enjoyed the last two nights as I've settled in and played more than I usually would alongside work whilst maintaining a relaxed attitude. I should be able to clear my bonus (largest one party have ever given me) and then I'll have a day or two off to get my brain back to normal.
It is difficult to get enough play in due to work and it means that I'll do little else aside from work, eat, poker until wednesday but I just can't pass up a $500 bonus - it's probably doubling the amount I'm playing but as long as my sessions are still profitable and I'm playing well it's all good.
I've also been thinking about the home improvements which are still outstanding - despite great intentions we've still not fitted new doors but I think I'll get this done this month as I can get everything delivered and then I just need someone to come fit them and ensure I have nothing to do with any manual labour - a disaster waiting to happen!
Once those are done we have outside gates and a couple of other small amendments to make, I am actually going to get this done, no excuses this time and I'll chat to Nat about it later on so she can make all the important decisions such as what we actually buy, what we need, how it'll look etc.
Still 2 more days of wrecking my body through working 13 hours+ to go
Steve
I have a $500 bonus from party to work off and have played for about 11 hours over the last two days in an effort to do so, am still over 1000 points off so probably somewhere around 6-7 hours play across 4-6 tables. I have to clear this by wednesday night so I have to play a lot for two days more. I've enjoyed the last two nights as I've settled in and played more than I usually would alongside work whilst maintaining a relaxed attitude. I should be able to clear my bonus (largest one party have ever given me) and then I'll have a day or two off to get my brain back to normal.
It is difficult to get enough play in due to work and it means that I'll do little else aside from work, eat, poker until wednesday but I just can't pass up a $500 bonus - it's probably doubling the amount I'm playing but as long as my sessions are still profitable and I'm playing well it's all good.
I've also been thinking about the home improvements which are still outstanding - despite great intentions we've still not fitted new doors but I think I'll get this done this month as I can get everything delivered and then I just need someone to come fit them and ensure I have nothing to do with any manual labour - a disaster waiting to happen!
Once those are done we have outside gates and a couple of other small amendments to make, I am actually going to get this done, no excuses this time and I'll chat to Nat about it later on so she can make all the important decisions such as what we actually buy, what we need, how it'll look etc.
Still 2 more days of wrecking my body through working 13 hours+ to go
Steve
Monday 3 September 2007
Weekend of poker
This weekend saw the meeting of some fine poker minds as my friends from uni met up and had a £10 tournament - To breakdown the players, I am turning pro, 2-3 of them play semi-regularly or occasionally online 2 have played these sorts of things a few times before and 1 was a novice.
Now I was quite realistic going into this and fully expected not to win and probably crash out in less than heroic style, unfortunately all of my suspicions turned out to be true. It was a very aggressive game with large pots flying back and forth and some huge bluffs being attempted and picked off. Euan, who plays a fair bit online was first to go as he failed to believe mike 'lunatic' moore as he pushed all in and Euan called him down with second pair only to be shown that Mike had limped with AK and had top two pair.
I was sadly next to crash as I realised what Mike had made a correct call and then got rivered, I was only a 60-40 favourite in the hand and my pre-match predictions came true as Mike crushed me hitting trips on the river. I've been to Vegas with Mike, seen him play a lot and I think this may have been the first time ever I have actually managed to put him on a hand. Didn't do me any good though as I proved that although I may be profitable online and in live cash games, I suck in tournaments.
The game then continued onwards with the final two being Mike and Simon (who played about 3 hands all night) unsurprisingly the tight style Simon adopted proved victorious but me and Euan feel that we have the moral victory in the game as we provided more action and entertainment.
I really enjoyed the game and it's nice to adopt a completely different style than I usually play and see most flops, bluff a bit, talk a lot and generally play quite loose poker.
Anyway after this devastating defeat I decided some poker for Sunday evening was the way forward, so I crashed out of the $300k and then focussed on cash games - made about 2.5k over 6 hours and played mostly very solid poker - not as much fun though!
My bankroll is currently looking healthy and hopefully I'll be nicely set by the end of the month and ready to roll as a full time pro.
Steve
Now I was quite realistic going into this and fully expected not to win and probably crash out in less than heroic style, unfortunately all of my suspicions turned out to be true. It was a very aggressive game with large pots flying back and forth and some huge bluffs being attempted and picked off. Euan, who plays a fair bit online was first to go as he failed to believe mike 'lunatic' moore as he pushed all in and Euan called him down with second pair only to be shown that Mike had limped with AK and had top two pair.
I was sadly next to crash as I realised what Mike had made a correct call and then got rivered, I was only a 60-40 favourite in the hand and my pre-match predictions came true as Mike crushed me hitting trips on the river. I've been to Vegas with Mike, seen him play a lot and I think this may have been the first time ever I have actually managed to put him on a hand. Didn't do me any good though as I proved that although I may be profitable online and in live cash games, I suck in tournaments.
The game then continued onwards with the final two being Mike and Simon (who played about 3 hands all night) unsurprisingly the tight style Simon adopted proved victorious but me and Euan feel that we have the moral victory in the game as we provided more action and entertainment.
I really enjoyed the game and it's nice to adopt a completely different style than I usually play and see most flops, bluff a bit, talk a lot and generally play quite loose poker.
Anyway after this devastating defeat I decided some poker for Sunday evening was the way forward, so I crashed out of the $300k and then focussed on cash games - made about 2.5k over 6 hours and played mostly very solid poker - not as much fun though!
My bankroll is currently looking healthy and hopefully I'll be nicely set by the end of the month and ready to roll as a full time pro.
Steve
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