I've been thoroughly enjoying our ridiculous levelling wars of late. Hero calling you down with Ace high can get expensive sometimes but it sure is fun. Good luck to you too buddy.
Sorry to take a while replying. Binksy has had me hard at work below deck on his new super-yacht. He likes his solid gold toilet seat to be extra shiny and keeping his all white wardrobe clean is quite a task too (he's dressing like a successful rapper these days ).
Poker has been very much break-even these last few days so I haven't really felt compelled to write a 'nothing happening' update. Will do a proper round up soon though.
@MynaFrett, it sounds like you're stuck in a bit of a poker limbo at the moment. MTT variance can be pretty brutal and knowing that you're not a super high volume player means that can equate to a long time period of frustration. Playing 10nl cash is also not really going to replace the buzz of a few tourney scores (or the boost to the finances), so I can understand if that is leaving you a little cold too. If you're still a bit fed up with MTT's, I'd suggest giving yourself a little bankroll challenge in cash games with the aim of moving up a couple of stake levels asap. If you could successfully transition up to 50nl then your good nights will be giving you returns akin to taking down some of the smaller MTT events on Sky, which may ultimately rekindle your overall poker enthusiasm levels. Whatever you do, it can help to put some specific goals in place for cash poker as reaching specific targets helps break up the monotony of grinding in my opinion - hence me starting this diary. Good luck with it either way .
I'm clueless... any chance of outlining a little challenge with targets for me?
Sorry to take a while replying. Binksy has had me hard at work below deck on his new super-yacht. He likes his solid gold toilet seat to be extra shiny and keeping his all white wardrobe clean is quite a task too (he's dressing like a successful rapper these days ).
Poker has been very much break-even these last few days so I haven't really felt compelled to write a 'nothing happening' update. Will do a proper round up soon though.
@MynaFrett, it sounds like you're stuck in a bit of a poker limbo at the moment. MTT variance can be pretty brutal and knowing that you're not a super high volume player means that can equate to a long time period of frustration. Playing 10nl cash is also not really going to replace the buzz of a few tourney scores (or the boost to the finances), so I can understand if that is leaving you a little cold too. If you're still a bit fed up with MTT's, I'd suggest giving yourself a little bankroll challenge in cash games with the aim of moving up a couple of stake levels asap. If you could successfully transition up to 50nl then your good nights will be giving you returns akin to taking down some of the smaller MTT events on Sky, which may ultimately rekindle your overall poker enthusiasm levels. Whatever you do, it can help to put some specific goals in place for cash poker as reaching specific targets helps break up the monotony of grinding in my opinion - hence me starting this diary. Good luck with it either way .
I'm clueless... any chance of outlining a little challenge with targets for me?
Hi bud
I'm slighty struggling to gauge the tone of your post so apologies if I was a little patronising
Sorry to take a while replying. Binksy has had me hard at work below deck on his new super-yacht. He likes his solid gold toilet seat to be extra shiny and keeping his all white wardrobe clean is quite a task too (he's dressing like a successful rapper these days ).
Poker has been very much break-even these last few days so I haven't really felt compelled to write a 'nothing happening' update. Will do a proper round up soon though.
@MynaFrett, it sounds like you're stuck in a bit of a poker limbo at the moment. MTT variance can be pretty brutal and knowing that you're not a super high volume player means that can equate to a long time period of frustration. Playing 10nl cash is also not really going to replace the buzz of a few tourney scores (or the boost to the finances), so I can understand if that is leaving you a little cold too. If you're still a bit fed up with MTT's, I'd suggest giving yourself a little bankroll challenge in cash games with the aim of moving up a couple of stake levels asap. If you could successfully transition up to 50nl then your good nights will be giving you returns akin to taking down some of the smaller MTT events on Sky, which may ultimately rekindle your overall poker enthusiasm levels. Whatever you do, it can help to put some specific goals in place for cash poker as reaching specific targets helps break up the monotony of grinding in my opinion - hence me starting this diary. Good luck with it either way .
I'm clueless... any chance of outlining a little challenge with targets for me?
Hi bud
I'm slighty struggling to gauge the tone of your post so apologies if I was a little patronising
The clueless part does sound about right though
I read it as challenge ideas, for example starting with a £50 bankroll and trying to build it up playing low stakes cash to £500 for example. Then diarying the progress?
I'm clueless... any chance of outlining a little challenge with targets for me?
Hi bud
I'm slighty struggling to gauge the tone of your post so apologies if I was a little patronising
The clueless part does sound about right though
I read it as challenge ideas, for example starting with a £50 bankroll and trying to build it up playing low stakes cash to £500 for example. Then diarying the progress? ;
Don't worry about it, I've decided to give MTT's another chance...
I'm clueless... any chance of outlining a little challenge with targets for me?
Hi bud
I'm slighty struggling to gauge the tone of your post so apologies if I was a little patronising
The clueless part does sound about right though
I read it as challenge ideas, for example starting with a £50 bankroll and trying to build it up playing low stakes cash to £500 for example. Then diarying the progress? ;
Don't worry about it, I've decided to give MTT's another chance...
Nice work mega stack champ. Gives the rest of us Nemo's some hope
It's been another fairly long while between updates which has once more been down to having little to report. Cash games have seen the bulk of my volume and it's felt like wading through treacle. There haven't been any great swings but just one long dull stretch of virtually break-even poker. I don't necessarily think I've been running all that great, but not badly enough to send the diary down the moaning route again either. It's coming up to a year since I first started playing cash games on Sky and I don't know if other regs would agree, but it certainly feels to me that the games have gotten a bit tougher over that period. It could also just be that I'm now much more familiar with the regular names at the tables and so can spot the unappealing line-ups more readily. Ignorance really is bliss isn't it? With an hourly rate that would disgust even the lowliest of far-eastern sweat shop workers, total cash games profits came to +£53.73.
Tournaments have again been taking a back seat with just 9 total MTT's entered over the last week. It's all been low buy-in stuff as these are now becoming a sort of relaxation tool for me for when I'm not at the cash tables - I've been doing naughty things like watching Netflix whilst playing them. It does make me feel rather old when I consider what passes as deviant in my book these days! The biggest success came in last Saturdays mega stack where, for the second week on the trot, I came in 4th place. There was one other tiny min cash and a bounty or two along the way but everything else resulted in an early bath. I just about sneaked into the green for a profit of +£11.20
Finally I have Mondays rakeback to add. The previous week saw me earn 2,039 points for £40.78 in rewards payments. As it stands I may end up missing priority by an annoyingly small amount. I'm currently sitting on 7,600 points in total for the month but there are a few real world things that need my attention over the next few days. I'm still going to give it my best shot but hopes are not high for hitting the 10k mark in time.
Having resigned myself to not making priority this month, I really rather took my foot off the gas for the last few days of February. Whilst it is somewhat illogical, I guess I was going to end up feeling far happier missing out on priority by a couple of thousand points than by a few hundred. Fortunately though, what little volume I did put in at the cash tables went pretty well and I managed to book a profit of +£209.18.
There was a smidgen of MTT action too. Sadly my run of Saturday mega stack final tables came to an unceremonious end and Mondays Triple Takedown series pulled in just the one min cash. However, I did find a bit of joy in the Road to Manchester freeroll by coming in 5th for £62. It's a little frustrating to get so close (but yet so far) to such an awesome opportunity, but I guess one should always feel like a job well done if final tabling a tourney with 600+ runners. Total tournament profits came to +£54.67.
Monday saw the final bit of rakeback for the month with 2,319 points equating to £46.38 in rewards payments.
At the start of the month I put five specific goals/targets in place so I guess it makes sense to go back through them in order.
1) Make £1k in total profits. Of all the monthly targets, this was one I was most keen to achieve. As it happens, it was the only target I hit, but I'm still more than happy with that. February's total take came to £1,107.11
2) Have a top 10 finish in the Triple Takedown monthly league (I came 12th in January). Not an epic fail here but I did go backwards slightly by finishing the month in 16th place. It could well be the case that the best approach to these (in terms of league placings at least) is to play like an uber nit. However, the most value to be had is still by actually winning the odd won here and there, so I'll continue to play for wins rather than trying to just ladder up for the sake of league places.
3) Win a Mini. Not even close. I didn't fully keep track but I'd be surprised if I ended up playing as many a 10 mini's over the course of the month. I think this is probably down to the fact that the majority of the nightly mini's are my least favourite structure - relatively shallow and fast bounty hunters. It would be so much better if the mini's actually mirrored the structures of their main event counterparts, but I guess the powers at be want them to run a little quicker due to the larger field sizes and the lower total rewards on offer. Ho hum.
4) Make Priority (very unlikely given recent volume levels). Nope. It was looking possible for a time but it didn't quite happen in the end (the month finished up on a little over 8k points). On the plus side, February still showed a huge improvement volume wise compared to the previous few months, and the diary definitely seems to be doing its job in getting me into the action more frequently.
5) Eat more fresh vegetables (I like them but I'm a lazy cook). Erm... do extra mushrooms with a full english breakfast count?!
Moving on to March, most of the goals will be similar to February but with some greater hopes of actually achieving them. Goals are as follows:
1) Make £1,500 in total profits. 2) Make priority status. 3) A top 10 finish in the Triple Takedown league (without resorting to uber nit tactics!). 4) Keep fully focused whilst playing and less auto-piloting (web browsing and watching Netflix is not conducive to bringing my A-game to the tables!) 5) Go on some long walks - I'm surrounded by really beautiful countryside but have only seen a fraction of it.
Update + February overview. It could well be the case that the best approach to these (in terms of league placings at least) is to play like an uber nit. However, the most value to be had is still by actually winning the odd won here and there, so I'll continue to play for wins rather than trying to just ladder up for the sake of league places.
Nice job on hitting the primary objective Dues, that's the one that matters right - as long as that's in the bag each month the rest is just for fun/a bonus essentially.
And your profit from MTT (considering the miniscule volume you've played) is not too shabby at all - your final table hit rate from MTT played really is stellar.
I was considering adding an extra MTT element to March's goals (I've certainly performed above expectation in these over my tiny sample size), but ultimately wanted to make as much of a push as possible towards knocking some pounds off of the £10k target and also making priority - both of which will more likely be achieved through a primary focus on cash games. However, if I can hit both my cash and points targets with a few days to spare then I might put in a concerted MTT grind for whatever remains of the month*.
However, if I can hit both my cash and points targets with a few days to spare then I might put in a concerted MTT grind for whatever remains of the month*.
Dues why don't you enter the main event freerolls which start at 6:30. them tournaments need very little focus at all, I play them every night and put them in the corner or even put a cash table over them because the only action likely to be done is a shove pre. They might need alot of luck to actually get past the bubble but it's a free seat into a main event.
Dues why don't you enter the main event freerolls which start at 6:30. them tournaments need very little focus at all, I play them every night and put them in the corner or even put a cash table over them because the only action likely to be done is a shove pre. They might need alot of luck to actually get past the bubble but it's a free seat into a main event.
Thanks for the tip Craig. I do actually play a few of these from time to time (even binked a seat to a Super Sunday main event once ). I'd actually prefer it if they put these on slightly later though - it's too often right at the time I want to be cooking/eating.
The cash games are tougher partially due to spin ups. The rake is insane and the weaker players go busto in an instant reducing player longevity.
That would certainly make a lot of sense.
Out of curiosity, does anybody know when Sky introduced spin ups? I've been grinding here for about a year now and they were definitely up and running by then.
Comments
I've been thoroughly enjoying our ridiculous levelling wars of late. Hero calling you down with Ace high can get expensive sometimes but it sure is fun. Good luck to you too buddy.
I'm clueless... any chance of outlining a little challenge with targets for me?
I'm slighty struggling to gauge the tone of your post so apologies if I was a little patronising
The clueless part does sound about right though
I'm slighty struggling to gauge the tone of your post so apologies if I was a little patronising
The clueless part does sound about right though
I read it as challenge ideas, for example starting with a £50 bankroll and trying to build it up playing low stakes cash to £500 for example. Then diarying the progress? ;
Don't worry about it, I've decided to give MTT's another chance...
Don't worry about it, I've decided to give MTT's another chance...
Nice work mega stack champ. Gives the rest of us Nemo's some hope
It's been another fairly long while between updates which has once more been down to having little to report. Cash games have seen the bulk of my volume and it's felt like wading through treacle. There haven't been any great swings but just one long dull stretch of virtually break-even poker. I don't necessarily think I've been running all that great, but not badly enough to send the diary down the moaning route again either. It's coming up to a year since I first started playing cash games on Sky and I don't know if other regs would agree, but it certainly feels to me that the games have gotten a bit tougher over that period. It could also just be that I'm now much more familiar with the regular names at the tables and so can spot the unappealing line-ups more readily. Ignorance really is bliss isn't it? With an hourly rate that would disgust even the lowliest of far-eastern sweat shop workers, total cash games profits came to +£53.73.
Tournaments have again been taking a back seat with just 9 total MTT's entered over the last week. It's all been low buy-in stuff as these are now becoming a sort of relaxation tool for me for when I'm not at the cash tables - I've been doing naughty things like watching Netflix whilst playing them. It does make me feel rather old when I consider what passes as deviant in my book these days! The biggest success came in last Saturdays mega stack where, for the second week on the trot, I came in 4th place. There was one other tiny min cash and a bounty or two along the way but everything else resulted in an early bath. I just about sneaked into the green for a profit of +£11.20
Finally I have Mondays rakeback to add. The previous week saw me earn 2,039 points for £40.78 in rewards payments. As it stands I may end up missing priority by an annoyingly small amount. I'm currently sitting on 7,600 points in total for the month but there are a few real world things that need my attention over the next few days. I'm still going to give it my best shot but hopes are not high for hitting the 10k mark in time.
Progress so far:
Cash: +£948.69
MTT's: +£193.17
Rakeback: +£197.28
Total: +£1,339.12
Having resigned myself to not making priority this month, I really rather took my foot off the gas for the last few days of February. Whilst it is somewhat illogical, I guess I was going to end up feeling far happier missing out on priority by a couple of thousand points than by a few hundred. Fortunately though, what little volume I did put in at the cash tables went pretty well and I managed to book a profit of +£209.18.
There was a smidgen of MTT action too. Sadly my run of Saturday mega stack final tables came to an unceremonious end and Mondays Triple Takedown series pulled in just the one min cash. However, I did find a bit of joy in the Road to Manchester freeroll by coming in 5th for £62. It's a little frustrating to get so close (but yet so far) to such an awesome opportunity, but I guess one should always feel like a job well done if final tabling a tourney with 600+ runners. Total tournament profits came to +£54.67.
Monday saw the final bit of rakeback for the month with 2,319 points equating to £46.38 in rewards payments.
At the start of the month I put five specific goals/targets in place so I guess it makes sense to go back through them in order.
1) Make £1k in total profits.
Of all the monthly targets, this was one I was most keen to achieve. As it happens, it was the only target I hit, but I'm still more than happy with that. February's total take came to £1,107.11
2) Have a top 10 finish in the Triple Takedown monthly league (I came 12th in January).
Not an epic fail here but I did go backwards slightly by finishing the month in 16th place. It could well be the case that the best approach to these (in terms of league placings at least) is to play like an uber nit. However, the most value to be had is still by actually winning the odd won here and there, so I'll continue to play for wins rather than trying to just ladder up for the sake of league places.
3) Win a Mini.
Not even close. I didn't fully keep track but I'd be surprised if I ended up playing as many a 10 mini's over the course of the month. I think this is probably down to the fact that the majority of the nightly mini's are my least favourite structure - relatively shallow and fast bounty hunters. It would be so much better if the mini's actually mirrored the structures of their main event counterparts, but I guess the powers at be want them to run a little quicker due to the larger field sizes and the lower total rewards on offer. Ho hum.
4) Make Priority (very unlikely given recent volume levels).
Nope. It was looking possible for a time but it didn't quite happen in the end (the month finished up on a little over 8k points). On the plus side, February still showed a huge improvement volume wise compared to the previous few months, and the diary definitely seems to be doing its job in getting me into the action more frequently.
5) Eat more fresh vegetables (I like them but I'm a lazy cook).
Erm... do extra mushrooms with a full english breakfast count?!
Moving on to March, most of the goals will be similar to February but with some greater hopes of actually achieving them. Goals are as follows:
1) Make £1,500 in total profits.
2) Make priority status.
3) A top 10 finish in the Triple Takedown league (without resorting to uber nit tactics!).
4) Keep fully focused whilst playing and less auto-piloting (web browsing and watching Netflix is not conducive to bringing my A-game to the tables!)
5) Go on some long walks - I'm surrounded by really beautiful countryside but have only seen a fraction of it.
Best of luck to you all for March
Progress so far:
Cash: +£1,157.87
MTT's: +£247.84
Rakeback: +£243.66
Total: +£1,649.37
How dare you... I resent the implication.
And your profit from MTT (considering the miniscule volume you've played) is not too shabby at all - your final table hit rate from MTT played really is stellar.
gl for March.
Good report, Dues, & a very solid month.
Good luck with the March targets.
I was considering adding an extra MTT element to March's goals (I've certainly performed above expectation in these over my tiny sample size), but ultimately wanted to make as much of a push as possible towards knocking some pounds off of the £10k target and also making priority - both of which will more likely be achieved through a primary focus on cash games. However, if I can hit both my cash and points targets with a few days to spare then I might put in a concerted MTT grind for whatever remains of the month*.
*Oh the joys of start of the month optimism
Any sign of your well overdue heater arriving yet?
Out of curiosity, does anybody know when Sky introduced spin ups? I've been grinding here for about a year now and they were definitely up and running by then.