In Response to Re: Markycash diary - Looking forward to the SPT : Hi Marky I was there and am through to Day 2 as well but the only person I knew was Darkangel but hope to see you later Sid V79 (Andy- I'll be wearing the NME t-shirt with Ramones on) Posted by SidV79
Hey Andy, sorry I missed you on day 2. I only hung around for 4 levels unfortunately, hopefully you fared better and managed a foray into the payouts!
Maybe see you at one of the upcoming live events. Will you be trying to make the Brighton leg of the SPT? Hope you had a great weekend in Manchester.
All the best,
Marky
Little update detailing some of the Weekend events incoming...
Well firstly it was a very enjoyable weekend overall. About as enjoyable as it could have been without actually making the payouts. The Sky promotions team have done a really great job bringing the SPT events back, providing such quality updates and organising the event so well.
Also many thanks to those taking the time to wish me luck!
Day 1 update:
Well we all know I have a tendancy to ramble on so I will split the updates into day 1 and day 2 so I have the excuse to ramble on even more. Got to do my bit for the readers needing this material to fend off their insomnia afflictions.
I have a fair amount on my plate at the moment (even forgetting the fry up)... My son will be moving out in the coming weeks to go to Dundee Uni, my student funding has stopped (quite understandably I guess as I am no longer a student), I am trying to secure some form of employment and the Viva Las Vegas exploits were only a few weeks ago. I fully appreciate other people have much greater things to worry about but the finances are somewhat stretched. Due to all this I would have had to give the SPT Manchester event a swerve if it were not for Sky generously donating me a seat for my attempts at helping out with the WSOP updates in Vegas.
As this was the case I wasn't in a position to fire multiple bullets at the event and would have to make the best use I could of the 1 bullet. I may have opened my game up a bit to go for a bigger stack otherwise but I decided to be more selective and use a steady lower variance approach to chipping up on day 1. I guess that made table draws rather important and I was about to be dealt a proverbial kick in the cojones in this respect...
I bumped into recent plopper convert Essexphil on my way to my starting seat. It was nice to see him as he is a cracking bloke and we spent some time together in Vegas. It was however less nice when he informed me he was sat directly on my left and had position on me. Cracking bloke as mentioned but I would put Phil in the aggressive bracket and having him on my left could make things rather difficult. To make the seat draw even more problematic PompeyNic was sat 1 place more to the left. Another top bloke but Nic was already through to day 2 and was playing this day 1 to try and get a better stack for day 2 so he was there to mix things up too...
The seat draw run good continued with Boggo who ran the deepest of the Sky players in the recent WSOP main event sat on Nic's left. Boggo knows his stuff and I was begging to wonder if I should try and slip the tourney director a few quid and enquire about the possibility of a table change lol. Then another chap is sat on my right... Yup things were getting worse still and the chap on my right was TommyD. The poker gods did relent and took a small amount of pity on me by moving Tommy elsewhere after just a couple of hands.
Cards were in the air and I tried to be active early and attempt to dictate the pace with some small ball poker. This worked and I got the starting 25k stack up to 27k. Then after the other players had acclimatised pots became a little more juicy and I started to be dealt a procession Razz hands and dribbled back to 25k but then found QQ in the BB. There were 4 limpers at 150/300 and I made it 2k to see a flop and 2 players obliged. The dealer chucks out a TT3 flop and the player first to act moves all in for 13k into a 6.5kish pot. I want to snap him as he was capable of bluffs and I don't think he open jams this flop with the 10 but I also have the most 'creative' player at the table to act behind me. With only 2k invested I fold to fight another day. The guy behind me also folds and the original flop jammer shows the 69o bluff.
I toddle along for several hours and am sitting with 16k going into the last level with blinds around 800/1600 and get A9o UTG. I move all in and it folds around to the BB who snap calls with K3o. I hold and with blinds and antes I am now on around 35k. I then find AK of diamonds in the BB and 3bet shove on a cut off opener who had around 28k. He quickly calls and flips over AKo. One diamond on the flop, one on the turn and the river gives me the flush and I luckbox it up to 66k. I dribble away 6k on the last orbit and finish with 60k.
The 60k is not great but not terrible and the average was around 95k. Chip and a chair for day 2 and all that. The dream was still alive at least.
I had nMongoose sat on my left for the last few hours and he was thoroughly enjoying the game, having a chat (and understanding me with no problem lol) and playing the game in a really great spirit. We had a few laughs and he helped make it an enjoyable evening. Nice to see he finished 2nd for £9k+, well done that man!
In Response to Re: Markycash diary - Looking forward to the SPT : Over under on how many words? Let's set the line at 1,000 words. I'll take the overs. Posted by Tikay10
Over/under at 1000 words? You should try 'stand up' lol
I didn't really have a plan going into day 2 as obviously this would depend on the table draw and cards I am dealt. I had a nice stack for 3 bet shoving in favourable spots but this would depend on the circumstances.
87 players had made day 2 and the average stack was around 95k with 36 players to be paid. I was sitting around 60th so had a lot of work to do.
I had Sky Sam sat with around 180k a few to my left and Mr Ambo Neil Channing with 90k sat a few to my right. Both had 'Golden Envelopes' with mystery bounty prizes if you managed to knock them out. Blinds started at 1200/2400 with I think a 300 ante.
The very first hand I was in the BB with pocket 6's and it folded to Neil in the cut off who opened on my BB for 5k. I could peel here and try to find a set in position but I seen a whole host of reasons not to do this. I wanted to let the table know that with my vulnerable stack I wasn't there to try and crawl into the money and my BB wasn't for sale. From the cut off Neil is obviously opening a reasonable amount of hands so doesn't need to have much of a hand here. If I flat call I may hit a set and get paid off but most of the time I would be folding to a cbet from Neil on a problematic flop and throwing him some extra chips. This obviously would not help me in any attempt to get the 'Golden Envelope' off him. As there are many more combos of hands I would be flipping with than crushed by I decide to try and chip a few off his stack and just move all in. Neil folds and I am now on just under 70k.
I decide to continue with the aggressive approach with marginal holdings as the table obviously now knows I am prepared to play for stacks. This works and I quickly move up to 97k when I get A7o in the SB and the BTN makes it 6k to go. I could do a few things here but decide to keep it small ball and flat call. The flop is ace high with 3 spades. My opponent says "let me check for a spade" (I have no spade) and there are a few chuckles and the guy on my left who is a very strong player clearly doesn't think he has a spade. Opponent checks and I check behind and we see a 4th spade hit the board. My opponent bets 15k and I think he is posturing at the pot so I turn my hand into a bluff and bet 32k which I may do with a big hand and hope it looks strong enough that my opponent has to fold anything but a spade and maybe some small spades. He calls and we both check the river and he shows the Js for the 2nd nuts. Back down to around 55k...
At this point UTG opens at 2000/4000 (400 ante) to 9k. He has 75k and I am in mid position. The UTG player has not been over aggro or tight but has made a couple of big laydowns. I have A9o and feel my stack is the perfect size to put a player capable of making laydowns to the test effectively for his tourney life and add 35% to my stack. I am a bit worried about the players to act behind me but feel the 3 bet looks strong here and gets rid of a lot of hands which beat me so I shove for 55k. Opponent asks if I will show if he folds and I agree, he folds AJo face up. I didn't want to rub salt in the wounds but didn't want to break my word so asked if he still wanted to see, he did so I showed the A9o.
Soon after I pick up ATo in mid position and opened on Neil's BB, he calls and the flop is QKT. I cbet, Neil calls and the turn is the 9 putting a straight out there. Neil didn't seem overly enamoured so I bet around 30% of the pot on the turn and tried to size it so it looked more like a value bet than a steal attempt and luckily got the fold.
After the setback I now had a little traction going again and 3 bet shoved TT on an early position raiser who had around 55k. I had been active so wasn't surprised when he called and he flipped over AK. We went to the races and a hold here would put me on around 150k and into contention but an ace on the turn sent the pot to him. Now with 42k just 2 hands later and Neil in the BB on 17k I had decided I was shoving any 2 from mid position if folded to me to try and bag the mystery prize as Neil would be rather pot committed. It did fold to me and I looked down and a3o and shoved. I sat back and looked at my phone in an attempt to feign confidence and hide my inner prayers for the rest of the players to fold around to Neil. It did fold around and my A3o held versus Neil's TJo and I very happily bagged the mystery prize which was a 49" LG 4K TV.
After falling back to 41k it folded to me in the cut off with 57o at 3000/6000 (600) blinds. I shoved on Sky Sam's BB (he had around 85k) and hoped to pad 15k to my stack but the SB called with A6. I hit the 7 on the flop but the river ace sent me to the rail. Speculative shove by me for sure. The shove seems 'okay' though given the dynamics, I could have waited but the blinds were obviously pinching and it was one of the few pots it had folded around to me.
All in all an excellent weekend and a nice TV on top. Maybe the cash will come in Brighton.
Thanks to Sky and all the players for a memorable weekend.
Hope to see you all at the next SPT event and thanks for reading.
If anyone is happy to share their thoughts on any of the hands then as always this is very welcome.
Apologies for the update being so 'hand history' heavy but I have only included a fraction, there were so many interesting situations. As a player sat to my left said, I cartainly 'got bang for my buck' in respect to the buy in.
The most fun I have had playing poker in respect to interesting situations for quite some time.
In Response to Re: Markycash diary - Looking forward to the SPT : Hey Andy, sorry I missed you on day 2. I only hung around for 4 levels unfortunately, hopefully you fared better and managed a foray into the payouts! Maybe see you at one of the upcoming live events. Will you be trying to make the Brighton leg of the SPT? Hope you had a great weekend in Manchester. All the best, Marky Little update detailing some of the Weekend events incoming... Posted by markycash
Hi Marky, sorry you missed the cash (& me lol) and thanks as I did cash, 21st for £650 going out with my pocket 3's v (table)CL who had ATos hitting Txx flop, T turn & blanking the river but all in all it was a great weekend whether I cashed or not. Btw hotel in Brighton is already booked to answer your question so hopefully will see you there. Run golden at the tables
Day 2 update : . This works and I quickly move up to 97k when I get A7o in the BB and the SB makes it 6k to go. I could do a few things here but decide to keep it small ball and flat call. The flop is ace high with 3 spades. My opponent says "let me check for a spade" (I have no spade) and there are a few chuckles and the guy on my left who is a very strong player clearly doesn't think he has a spade. Opponent checks and I check behind and we see a 4th spade hit the board. My opponent bets 15k and I think he is posturing at the pot so I turn my hand into a bluff and bet 32k which I may do with a big hand and hope it looks strong enough that my opponent has to fold anything but a spade and maybe some small spades. He calls and we both check the river and he shows the Js for the 2nd nuts. Back down to around 55k... Posted by markycash
Hi Marky I'm pretty sure I missed value by not betting on the river with 2nd nuts. Think if the bubble had burst I'm firing again for sure but at that stage I was probably too conservatively focused on making the min cash. Re "the guy on my left who is a very strong player clearly doesn't think he has a spade" - I'm curious how you came to that conclusion?
In Response to Re: Markycash diary - SPT review : Hi Marky I'm pretty sure I missed value by not betting on the river with 2nd nuts. Think if the bubble had burst I'm firing again for sure but at that stage I was probably too conservatively focused on making the min cash. Re "the guy on my left who is a very strong player clearly doesn't think he has a spade" - I'm curious how you came to that conclusion? Posted by TheSaw
Hey Mark,
Congrats on your result. Was it 7th you finished in the end?
You definitely didn't miss value by not betting the river. I didn't have a spade and wasn't calling after your turn call. Had my stab at it on the turn
Regarding the spade thing... It was the way the guy on my left laughed when you light heartedly said "let me see if I have a spade". I took this to mean he didn't think you had a spade. He did confirm this after the hand and said to you or just out loud to the table "I really didn't think you had a spade there". So well played you in that hand and the tourney overall!
P.S. definitely no complaints from me on that hand or any hand for that matter. You took me for a good few chips and played the hand very well.
In hindsight I probably had the aggression levels dialed up too high after playing so tight during day 1. Thoroughly enjoyed the game on day 2 though there were several intriguing mini battles developing.
In Response to Re: Markycash diary - SPT review : Hey Mark, Congrats on your result. Was it 7th you finished in the end? You definitely didn't miss value by not betting the river. I didn't have a spade and wasn't calling after your turn call. Had my stab at it on the turn Regarding the spade thing... It was the way the guy on my left laughed when you light heartedly said "let me see if I have a spade". I took this to mean he didn't think you had a spade. He did confirm this after the hand and said to you or just out loud to the table "I really didn't think you had a spade there". So well played you in that hand and the tourney overall! Posted by markycash
Thanks for the reply Marky. Yes. I came 7th. I didn't pick up at all on the comment from the guy to your left after the hand. I must have zoned out. Think at the time I was just happy not to have to call a river shove, especially after you'd re-raised my turn bet.
Well I feel like a late night ramble so thought my diary may be the place for it.
In general I am feeling very optimistic for the future...
Hopefully one of the many many job applications I have spent countless hours on will come through soon; I have just had a nice weekend in Manchester; My son and daughter are doing great in their studies and progressing well; I have no more studying to do and am moving onto a new chapter in life; my partner's studies are progressing nicely; we are all relatively healthy at the moment; I have a lovely family and am looking forward to the Brighton SPT and hopefully many other poker adventures in the future. I have lots to be grateful for, I really do! At this exact moment in time though... Life is thoroughly chaotic and rather messy! Hopefully one of the jobs will materialise in the near future and I can kick start onto adventures new and reap the rewards of 4 years studying. As of yet though this has not happened and unfortunately the bills we all face in life do not take a break when we are in a transitional period. Needless to say the magic money tree will need to be shaken rather vigorously until this is resolved With the job dilemma weighing heavily on mind I don't feel in a great place mentally for pokering so have and will continue to play infrequently until that part of the jigsaw falls into place, hopefully soon. I did take a brief break from this line and donked a win in one of last night's PLO8 BHs.
Usually when I don't feel particularly jived for playing poker I have a little break and read some poker stuff, watch Vlogs or old episodes of WSOP EPT stuff etc etc. This usually rekindles my interest, however it is not my interest in poker that is waning currently, I just have other irons in the fire. So this time I am trying something new...
I decided a few nights ago to write a little book on OH8. I don't have visions of Benny Glaser reading the book and being blown away or it helping Phil Hellmuth to bag that 15th bracelet. It will be aimed more at beginner to intermediate players and hopefully give a decent overview of the game for people thinking of playing OH8. I am up 6 figures+ across all sites I have played solely at OH8 via SNGs, MTTs and promos and managed to hold the #1 spot for 2 years on Sharkscope for $2-$5 SNGs on my stars alias (traffic was poor above those stakes). Comparatively small beans I know, but hopefully I can write coherently enough to produce something of use to beginner/intermediate players.
I am hoping I can give an interesting history of the game, an introduction to the basics, go into some of the psychological aspects and provide lots of practical hand examples and analysis. Maybe I can persuade a few of you to proof read it when it is done? first draft in September and final draft in October all being well.
Well that will do for my overly philosophical reflections and ramblings for 1 night.
Hope you are all doing well on and off the tables and thanks for reading!
You won't make any money from it of course (& I doubt you want to) as the market is so small, but there is definitely a lack of good reading material on PLO8.
There's a Poker "stand" every year in the Rio Corridor in Las Vegas, & each year I scan their shelves looking for reading material on O8. There IS some, but its very poor quality in my opinion.
Comments
Maybe see you at one of the upcoming live events. Will you be trying to make the Brighton leg of the SPT? Hope you had a great weekend in Manchester.
All the best,
Marky
Little update detailing some of the Weekend events incoming...
Also many thanks to those taking the time to wish me luck!
Day 1 update:
Well we all know I have a tendancy to ramble on so I will split the updates into day 1 and day 2 so I have the excuse to ramble on even more. Got to do my bit for the readers needing this material to fend off their insomnia afflictions.
I have a fair amount on my plate at the moment (even forgetting the fry up)... My son will be moving out in the coming weeks to go to Dundee Uni, my student funding has stopped (quite understandably I guess as I am no longer a student), I am trying to secure some form of employment and the Viva Las Vegas exploits were only a few weeks ago. I fully appreciate other people have much greater things to worry about but the finances are somewhat stretched. Due to all this I would have had to give the SPT Manchester event a swerve if it were not for Sky generously donating me a seat for my attempts at helping out with the WSOP updates in Vegas.
As this was the case I wasn't in a position to fire multiple bullets at the event and would have to make the best use I could of the 1 bullet. I may have opened my game up a bit to go for a bigger stack otherwise but I decided to be more selective and use a steady lower variance approach to chipping up on day 1. I guess that made table draws rather important and I was about to be dealt a proverbial kick in the cojones in this respect...
I bumped into recent plopper convert Essexphil on my way to my starting seat. It was nice to see him as he is a cracking bloke and we spent some time together in Vegas. It was however less nice when he informed me he was sat directly on my left and had position on me. Cracking bloke as mentioned but I would put Phil in the aggressive bracket and having him on my left could make things rather difficult. To make the seat draw even more problematic PompeyNic was sat 1 place more to the left. Another top bloke but Nic was already through to day 2 and was playing this day 1 to try and get a better stack for day 2 so he was there to mix things up too...
The seat draw run good continued with Boggo who ran the deepest of the Sky players in the recent WSOP main event sat on Nic's left. Boggo knows his stuff and I was begging to wonder if I should try and slip the tourney director a few quid and enquire about the possibility of a table change lol. Then another chap is sat on my right... Yup things were getting worse still and the chap on my right was TommyD. The poker gods did relent and took a small amount of pity on me by moving Tommy elsewhere after just a couple of hands.
Cards were in the air and I tried to be active early and attempt to dictate the pace with some small ball poker. This worked and I got the starting 25k stack up to 27k. Then after the other players had acclimatised pots became a little more juicy and I started to be dealt a procession Razz hands and dribbled back to 25k but then found QQ in the BB. There were 4 limpers at 150/300 and I made it 2k to see a flop and 2 players obliged. The dealer chucks out a TT3 flop and the player first to act moves all in for 13k into a 6.5kish pot. I want to snap him as he was capable of bluffs and I don't think he open jams this flop with the 10 but I also have the most 'creative' player at the table to act behind me. With only 2k invested I fold to fight another day. The guy behind me also folds and the original flop jammer shows the 69o bluff.
I toddle along for several hours and am sitting with 16k going into the last level with blinds around 800/1600 and get A9o UTG. I move all in and it folds around to the BB who snap calls with K3o. I hold and with blinds and antes I am now on around 35k. I then find AK of diamonds in the BB and 3bet shove on a cut off opener who had around 28k. He quickly calls and flips over AKo. One diamond on the flop, one on the turn and the river gives me the flush and I luckbox it up to 66k. I dribble away 6k on the last orbit and finish with 60k.
The 60k is not great but not terrible and the average was around 95k. Chip and a chair for day 2 and all that. The dream was still alive at least.
I had nMongoose sat on my left for the last few hours and he was thoroughly enjoying the game, having a chat (and understanding me with no problem lol) and playing the game in a really great spirit. We had a few laughs and he helped make it an enjoyable evening. Nice to see he finished 2nd for £9k+, well done that man!
Day 2 shenanigans incoming...
I didn't really have a plan going into day 2 as obviously this would depend on the table draw and cards I am dealt. I had a nice stack for 3 bet shoving in favourable spots but this would depend on the circumstances.
87 players had made day 2 and the average stack was around 95k with 36 players to be paid. I was sitting around 60th so had a lot of work to do.
I had Sky Sam sat with around 180k a few to my left and Mr Ambo Neil Channing with 90k sat a few to my right. Both had 'Golden Envelopes' with mystery bounty prizes if you managed to knock them out. Blinds started at 1200/2400 with I think a 300 ante.
The very first hand I was in the BB with pocket 6's and it folded to Neil in the cut off who opened on my BB for 5k. I could peel here and try to find a set in position but I seen a whole host of reasons not to do this. I wanted to let the table know that with my vulnerable stack I wasn't there to try and crawl into the money and my BB wasn't for sale. From the cut off Neil is obviously opening a reasonable amount of hands so doesn't need to have much of a hand here. If I flat call I may hit a set and get paid off but most of the time I would be folding to a cbet from Neil on a problematic flop and throwing him some extra chips. This obviously would not help me in any attempt to get the 'Golden Envelope' off him. As there are many more combos of hands I would be flipping with than crushed by I decide to try and chip a few off his stack and just move all in. Neil folds and I am now on just under 70k.
I decide to continue with the aggressive approach with marginal holdings as the table obviously now knows I am prepared to play for stacks. This works and I quickly move up to 97k when I get A7o in the SB and the BTN makes it 6k to go. I could do a few things here but decide to keep it small ball and flat call. The flop is ace high with 3 spades. My opponent says "let me check for a spade" (I have no spade) and there are a few chuckles and the guy on my left who is a very strong player clearly doesn't think he has a spade. Opponent checks and I check behind and we see a 4th spade hit the board. My opponent bets 15k and I think he is posturing at the pot so I turn my hand into a bluff and bet 32k which I may do with a big hand and hope it looks strong enough that my opponent has to fold anything but a spade and maybe some small spades. He calls and we both check the river and he shows the Js for the 2nd nuts. Back down to around 55k...
At this point UTG opens at 2000/4000 (400 ante) to 9k. He has 75k and I am in mid position. The UTG player has not been over aggro or tight but has made a couple of big laydowns. I have A9o and feel my stack is the perfect size to put a player capable of making laydowns to the test effectively for his tourney life and add 35% to my stack. I am a bit worried about the players to act behind me but feel the 3 bet looks strong here and gets rid of a lot of hands which beat me so I shove for 55k. Opponent asks if I will show if he folds and I agree, he folds AJo face up. I didn't want to rub salt in the wounds but didn't want to break my word so asked if he still wanted to see, he did so I showed the A9o.
Soon after I pick up ATo in mid position and opened on Neil's BB, he calls and the flop is QKT. I cbet, Neil calls and the turn is the 9 putting a straight out there. Neil didn't seem overly enamoured so I bet around 30% of the pot on the turn and tried to size it so it looked more like a value bet than a steal attempt and luckily got the fold.
After the setback I now had a little traction going again and 3 bet shoved TT on an early position raiser who had around 55k. I had been active so wasn't surprised when he called and he flipped over AK. We went to the races and a hold here would put me on around 150k and into contention but an ace on the turn sent the pot to him. Now with 42k just 2 hands later and Neil in the BB on 17k I had decided I was shoving any 2 from mid position if folded to me to try and bag the mystery prize as Neil would be rather pot committed. It did fold to me and I looked down and a3o and shoved. I sat back and looked at my phone in an attempt to feign confidence and hide my inner prayers for the rest of the players to fold around to Neil. It did fold around and my A3o held versus Neil's TJo and I very happily bagged the mystery prize which was a 49" LG 4K TV.
After falling back to 41k it folded to me in the cut off with 57o at 3000/6000 (600) blinds. I shoved on Sky Sam's BB (he had around 85k) and hoped to pad 15k to my stack but the SB called with A6. I hit the 7 on the flop but the river ace sent me to the rail. Speculative shove by me for sure. The shove seems 'okay' though given the dynamics, I could have waited but the blinds were obviously pinching and it was one of the few pots it had folded around to me.
All in all an excellent weekend and a nice TV on top. Maybe the cash will come in Brighton.
Thanks to Sky and all the players for a memorable weekend.
Hope to see you all at the next SPT event and thanks for reading.
If anyone is happy to share their thoughts on any of the hands then as always this is very welcome.
Apologies for the update being so 'hand history' heavy but I have only included a fraction, there were so many interesting situations. As a player sat to my left said, I cartainly 'got bang for my buck' in respect to the buy in.
The most fun I have had playing poker in respect to interesting situations for quite some time.
That's an unusual "TV table"
I'm pretty sure I missed value by not betting on the river with 2nd nuts.
Think if the bubble had burst I'm firing again for sure but at that stage I was probably too conservatively focused on making the min cash.
Re "the guy on my left who is a very strong player clearly doesn't think he has a spade" - I'm curious how you came to that conclusion?
Congrats on your result. Was it 7th you finished in the end?
You definitely didn't miss value by not betting the river. I didn't have a spade and wasn't calling after your turn call. Had my stab at it on the turn
Regarding the spade thing... It was the way the guy on my left laughed when you light heartedly said "let me see if I have a spade". I took this to mean he didn't think you had a spade. He did confirm this after the hand and said to you or just out loud to the table "I really didn't think you had a spade there". So well played you in that hand and the tourney overall!
Was a great weekend.
Roll on Brighton!
I didn't pick up at all on the comment from the guy to your left after the hand.
I must have zoned out. Think at the time I was just happy not to have to call a river shove, especially after you'd re-raised my turn bet.
Ha sorry RogueCell, my bad!
It was a pleasure to meet you.
I don't think we played a single hand together though but you certainly did get the chat going at the table.
Hopefully get to actually play a few pots with you at one of the future SPT events
In general I am feeling very optimistic for the future...
Hopefully one of the many many job applications I have spent countless hours on will come through soon; I have just had a nice weekend in Manchester; My son and daughter are doing great in their studies and progressing well; I have no more studying to do and am moving onto a new chapter in life; my partner's studies are progressing nicely; we are all relatively healthy at the moment; I have a lovely family and am looking forward to the Brighton SPT and hopefully many other poker adventures in the future. I have lots to be grateful for, I really do!
At this exact moment in time though...
Life is thoroughly chaotic and rather messy!
Hopefully one of the jobs will materialise in the near future and I can kick start onto adventures new and reap the rewards of 4 years studying. As of yet though this has not happened and unfortunately the bills we all face in life do not take a break when we are in a transitional period. Needless to say the magic money tree will need to be shaken rather vigorously until this is resolved
With the job dilemma weighing heavily on mind I don't feel in a great place mentally for pokering so have and will continue to play infrequently until that part of the jigsaw falls into place, hopefully soon. I did take a brief break from this line and donked a win in one of last night's PLO8 BHs.
Usually when I don't feel particularly jived for playing poker I have a little break and read some poker stuff, watch Vlogs or old episodes of WSOP EPT stuff etc etc. This usually rekindles my interest, however it is not my interest in poker that is waning currently, I just have other irons in the fire. So this time I am trying something new...
I decided a few nights ago to write a little book on OH8. I don't have visions of Benny Glaser reading the book and being blown away or it helping Phil Hellmuth to bag that 15th bracelet. It will be aimed more at beginner to intermediate players and hopefully give a decent overview of the game for people thinking of playing OH8. I am up 6 figures+ across all sites I have played solely at OH8 via SNGs, MTTs and promos and managed to hold the #1 spot for 2 years on Sharkscope for $2-$5 SNGs on my stars alias (traffic was poor above those stakes). Comparatively small beans I know, but hopefully I can write coherently enough to produce something of use to beginner/intermediate players.
I am hoping I can give an interesting history of the game, an introduction to the basics, go into some of the psychological aspects and provide lots of practical hand examples and analysis. Maybe I can persuade a few of you to proof read it when it is done? first draft in September and final draft in October all being well.
Well that will do for my overly philosophical reflections and ramblings for 1 night.
Hope you are all doing well on and off the tables and thanks for reading!
Love the idea of the book on PLO8.
You won't make any money from it of course (& I doubt you want to) as the market is so small, but there is definitely a lack of good reading material on PLO8.
There's a Poker "stand" every year in the Rio Corridor in Las Vegas, & each year I scan their shelves looking for reading material on O8. There IS some, but its very poor quality in my opinion.