After taking a rare afternoon nap to compensate for a lack of sleep last night I didn’t get online until late, so didn’t play much poker today. I jumped in a £2.30 Bounty Hunter first, busting after about an hour when I ran my pocket JJ into a slowplayed pocket KK on a low flop.
Then I tried a few HU matches only to run terribly and lose all three games. The best comedy defeat was getting AhAs all-in against Js5s on a Qh5h9h flop for all the chips, my overpair and nut-flush draw somehow still managing to lose to bottom pair.
Final game of the day was the Mini Super Bounty Hunter. After a steady start I busted a player and doubled in level 3. In level 4 I was unfortunate not to double again when playing for stacks with AQ v AT on an A88 flop, another 8 was dealt on the river meaning the pot was chopped. A second head prize came in level 6 when I raised from UTG with JJ. I found three flat callers and a dream J44 flop. An opponent with pocket 66 got a bit carried away and donated his stack by bluffing at flop and turn. Soon after my third bounty came with TT>99, the chips going in when we both held an overpair to a low flop. At that point I was about 30/170 and well above average.
Unfortunately when the bubble was approaching and the blinds were getting large my luck took a turn for the worse. Firstly I got rivered to lose half my stack with J5<J2 on a xJxx2 board. Soon after, with only 9BB left I open jammed AT from the button with a 1.5BB shortie on the SB. The player on the big blind (the same guy who got lucky with the J2) woke up with AQ which held to knock us both out. So no joy for me today, though at least my head prizes covered the cost of the buy-in in the mini.
Well done on your progress Gary! Think it is credit to your temperament. Hope u have a holiday lined up over the summer, as think u could beat the 15th of Sept date I predicted!
I've enjoyed a bit of a heater over the last couple of weeks and my balance has grown nicely..........and about time time too, I've been waiting for this heater since January!
However there's still a long way to go and the very nature of MTTs means it might be several weeks before I can pull out another decent result out of the bag. I won't be celebrating until I reach that magic £1,051 number, at the moment I'm still only about 2/3rds of the way there.
A bad start to the day when I busted from the 9-45 Bounty Hunter in only the third hand. My suited connectors were the nuts on the turn with a made straight, however on the river I was outdrawn by a player who successfully chased a gutshot to complete his higher straight. The rest of the morning followed a similar pattern; my made hands couldn’t fade those pesky draws and I drew a blank in 3 out of 3 MTTs.
Returning to the tables after lunch I bought into a £5.75 Bounty Hunter. It was a soft field and play was wild. I kept it tight and aggressive and got to the final table bubble in a promising 2/7 from 33. Unfortunately my eventual fate was to be bubble boy; I ran AK into KK at final table to finish sixth, an unavoidable and frustrating cooler with stacks getting short.
After that I didn’t have time for any more MTTs and enjoyed a few fast HU matches, roughly breaking even.
Things didn’t go my way today. Coolers and beats denied me any success in MTTs (apart from a small profit in a £2.20 timed tournament). The HU STTs didn’t go much better.
Particularly frustrating was the final table of a £3 speed rebuy at which I ran as about as badly as is humanly possible. With 5 players left and 3 to be paid I got my chips in good four times, each time to eliminate an opponent and increase my already significant chip lead, but I just could not find a hold. My bust out came when I open-jammed pocket TT from the cut-off, a crazy player on big blind the made the call for half of his stack with 84o. The board ran out KK448, I was out and he went from there to win the tournament.
While it was pretty annoying at the time I have to remember that runs of luck like that are what keep the weaker players coming back for more. I’d be delighted to have the same player on my table again in the future; I know I’ll get the better of him in the long run and there’s no way you’d ever see me berating his play in the chatbox.
The current 3 day mini-downswing comes as no surprise after a succesful couple of weeks. It’s the nature of all types of poker, particularly MTTs. All I can do is keep my cool, continue to play my A-game and wait for the good results to return.
First game today was the 10-30am £5.75 Bounty Hunter. I came second from the 31 entrants, helped on the way by an early stages AA>Q4s aipf hold over a maniac for a monster 200BB pot. My prize money didn’t come to much as I failed to win any head-prizes, though it was a pleasing finishing position after a series of poor MTT results over the last three days. Heads-up play was one-sided and over in only three hands. The winner had busted the rest of the final table in quick succession and faced me with a huge lead. I had a shove or fold stack which I jammed when I picked up KTo on the SB, I couldn’t improve against his A4o.
In the second MTT of the day, another £5.75, I found myself languishing in 22nd of 22 from 52 after a card-dead first hour. Then out of the blue a rare pocket KK hold (against A7s and 33 aipf) gave me a treble-up and some hope. A while after that, at a very tricky 5-handed table shared with the 4 biggest stacks left in the tournament, I snapped off a 3-bet shove after opening with AQs and held up against A8o to put myself above average and into contention.
Unfortunately a cruel JJ<66 aipf beat deprived me of a top 4 stack and my first head prize as the bubble approached (11 left at the time, 8 paid) and I found myself in big trouble. An orbit later a 99>A8 aipf hold doubled me and took my stack off life-support, then in the very next hand a QQ>KK>33 aipf hand between other players at my table burst the bubble. I made it to final table, though as a 12BB shortie and with only move left. Uncalled shoves maintained my stack as a dangerous weapon for quite a while until I lost the inevitable flip with 88<A9 aipf while 4th/5, another bounty eluding me. I went out next hand in fifth place after my rollercoaster ride with only a small cash and no head prizes to show for my efforts.
That was me done for the day, needing to get some rest. Despite the lack of a decent cash I’m pleased to break the sequence of 3 consecutive losing days.
Thanks for the congrats, have been following your efforts & success quite closely and as I was a milkman for about 8 years a long time ago as I believe you are. I haven't a clue how you find the time to play as much, let alone do the reports & results updates!!
When you are playing do you make notes or can you just remember all the events during an mtt? Keep it going m8.
Hi Gary, Thanks for the congrats, have been following your efforts & success quite closely and as I was a milkman for about 8 years a long time ago as I believe you are. I haven't a clue how you find the time to play as much, let alone do the reports & results updates!! When you are playing do you make notes or can you just remember all the events during an mtt? Keep it going m8. Mike Posted by Woogie8688
Hi Mike, Yep, I'm a milkman. I get leisure time just like anybody else who works, the only difference is that for me it's during the day rather than during the evening (which is when I'm asleep). That's why I'm usually seen on the poker tables late mornings/afternoons only.
I write up each days entry for this thread in bits and pieces into a word processor while I'm playing. So when I finish the last game it's pretty much ready to copy/paste/post straight away. As for the results thread; that doesn't take much time either. I also get that ready while I'm playing, it then takes just a few minutes to finish off over breakfast.
There was no joy in the two early £3.30 Bounty Hunters today; in the 9-45 I got donked in level 1 and was down to 700 chips. I worked my stack back up to 3000 but busted in level 5 when my overpair to the flop failed to hold against a flush draw. In the 10-45 I lost a standard mid-stages flip.
Next MTT was the 2-00pm £11 Bounty hunter. You know it’s not going to be your day when get rivered twice with 24<A7 on an A24 flop (safe turn, 7 on river), then J9<A7 on a 9JK flop (turn A, river 7) and find yourself down to 400 chips halfway through level 1. I managed to recover to starting stack during level 2 but my demise came with when I check/shoved my AsJs on a 9d4s2s flop in a 3-way pot. An opponent made a loose call with T9o and held. My stack went in as a slight favourite with loads of dead chips in the pot. When you also factor in the head-prize (I had him covered) it was a profitable move and I’d play it exactly the same way in the future.
Next up was a £5.75 Bounty Hunter. I enjoyed a promising start with an early head-prize, but a cruel beat when my flopped nut-flush failed to hold, doubling up a very fortunate opponent and denting my chances (not for the squeamish http://youtu.be/UabSCvAV8AY). I managed to fight back and take 2 further bounties on my way to final table, but another cruel beat knocked me out. With all stacks short I squeeze-shoved my pocket JJ over an open limp. He made the call with KT and spiked a K on the turn. Sigh; a hold there would have put me in the lead with 4 left.
So my ongoing failure to win a £5.75 Bounty Hunter during this quest continues. From 67 games to date I have these results; 13 final tables, 0x first, 4x second, 3x third, 3x fourth, 1x fifth and 2x sixth. Surely that first win must come sooner or later? Sort it out Sky!
I also played a few HU matches, losing more than I won. I can confirm Lambert180’s run-bad in the hypers (see his diary); I beat him in our one game when I 3-bet shoved my T8s, he made a good call but I outdrew his QJs.
No success today from five Bounty Hunter tournaments.
First game was a £2.30, my exit came with AK<pocket pair in a standard late flip. Next up was a £5.75 from which I busted with AQ<QQ on a Q-high flop. The player who busted me with pocket QQ runs so hot it’s unbelievable. A few hands earlier he’d busted another player with AT />AK aipf. He’s also been mentioned in this diary a couple of times before, most notably when he beat me with A2 />AT aipf during heads-up play with all the chips in the middle to win a £5.75 Bounty Hunter back on day 140.
Next I tried the £11 Bounty Hunter at 2-00pm. I busted in level 1 when my AK lost to AJs that made a nut-flush. My check/shove on the river is a strong move that gets loads of folds, though this time it backfired in embarrassing fashion when the villain in the hand held the stone-cold nuts.
I tried another £2.30 and £5.75 in the afternoon without success. My bust from the £5.75 was in a particularly spectacular hand. I jammed 22 big blinds with AQs from the button with over two limpers. When both of the blinds and one of the limpers made the call I thought I’d be up against at least one dominating hand (AA,KK,QQ or AK). My chances were a little better than I’d expected when they flipped over 66,99 and TT. The limper held the pocket 99 which he'd deemed strong enough to call three shoves when last to act. It worked this time; he made a set to scoop a massive pot and take three bounties.
I was too busy to register for any MTTs until 2-15pm this afternoon. So I jumped into the first two games going; a £2.30 and £5.75 Bounty Hunter. I couldn’t get anything going in the £5.75 and went out in a standard mid-stages flip.
The £2.30 was only a small affair with 28 entrants, but I was very pleased to go on and take it down. I played well, flopped well and got some important bluffs through. I also got paid-off several times by opponents who didn’t believe me when I really did have a hand.
The boot was on the other foot for once with pocket KK. During the mid-stages a shortish-stack open-limped when I held T9o on the big blind. The flop was perfect for me; 678 rainbow. All I had to do was check/call all three streets to bust his KK and take an easy bounty. When we were down to 7 players there was an opponent at my 4-handed table who I’d singled out as the most skilled player left and my biggest threat. Twice when he was short we flipped and he won each time to survive, the second of those putting me down to 7th/7 for a while. I managed to fight back and unsurprisingly it was he who ended-up facing me heads-up. It was a tough HU battle, the crunch came when I defended with JhTh on the big blind and the flop came down JsTs7h to give me top two pairs. I checked, my opponent bet pot, I shoved. When he made a snap call I was worried, obviously I would have hated to see 89 or 77 (or the far less likely TT,JJ), so it was a relief to be up against Qd9h and an open-ended straight draw. I faded his outs and even rivered a full-house just to make sure. That left my opponent with only 9 big blinds, next hand I open-jammed A4s from the small blind and binked a 4 to crack his AT for the win.
It was only a small win today, but as a recreational player the thrill of an MTT win is the best greatest feeling in poker to me, so I was very happy.
I entered quite a few games this afternoon but results were awful. The deck just wasn’t being my friend at all as I fell foul of a series of coolers and beats. I played my normal game but as hard I tried I just couldn’t make anything go my way. Lowlights included AK<Q6 aipf for all the chips in a £10 turbo HU match and A5<KJ on a 55JA board in a crucial late stages £5.75 Bounty Hunter hand.
An early evening £4.40 Bounty HU Shuffle tournament saved the day from being a total disaster when I finished as runner-up to recoup most of my earlier losses. The final hand was my A4<66 aipf, with only 10BB each it was a standard shove and call.
The run-bad quickly returned in level 1 of the Mini Super BH when I was unable to fade a flush draw and busted with A6<QJs following a 662 flop, I couldn't find a fold when I knew I was almost certainly beat and paid off a river shove. Too tired to play anymore I didn't bother rebuying and that was me done for the day.
The weekend bingo players were out in force again today. I knew it was going to be one of those days when I saw T6o call a 100BB open-shove pre-flop in the very first hand of the day (the T6o lost to AKs).
I had a fun ride in a £2.30 game when KK was both my friend and my enemy; in the early stages it made quads to win a 4-way aipf hand to take 2 bingo bounties, the other 3 all-in players were all holding ace-rag, then on the final table bubble KK busted me in an amazing AA v KK v AQ aipf hand with 50% of the chips in play in the middle. The action went; AA on button min-raise, AQ on SB shove, KK on BB call, AA call (and hold).
In the 10-45am £3.30 Bounty Hunter I finished as runner-up with a healthy 8 head prizes. None of the bingo players survived the early minefield so the late stages became a proper game of poker. I was helped on the way by a tough (but correct) river hero call, the hand has been posted in the Poker Clinic. It all came down to a big flip heads-up. With blinds at 4K/2K I open jammed 77 on the SB and came second place in the race against AQ. Well played to the winner, he deserved it after a long tough final table. With that game lasting nearly 4 hours it was to be my last hand of the day.
Comments
Closing balance £701.14
After taking a rare afternoon nap to compensate for a lack of sleep last night I didn’t get online until late, so didn’t play much poker today. I jumped in a £2.30 Bounty Hunter first, busting after about an hour when I ran my pocket JJ into a slowplayed pocket KK on a low flop.
Then I tried a few HU matches only to run terribly and lose all three games. The best comedy defeat was getting AhAs all-in against Js5s on a Qh5h9h flop for all the chips, my overpair and nut-flush draw somehow still managing to lose to bottom pair.
Final game of the day was the Mini Super Bounty Hunter. After a steady start I busted a player and doubled in level 3. In level 4 I was unfortunate not to double again when playing for stacks with AQ v AT on an A88 flop, another 8 was dealt on the river meaning the pot was chopped. A second head prize came in level 6 when I raised from UTG with JJ. I found three flat callers and a dream J44 flop. An opponent with pocket 66 got a bit carried away and donated his stack by bluffing at flop and turn. Soon after my third bounty came with TT>99, the chips going in when we both held an overpair to a low flop. At that point I was about 30/170 and well above average.
Unfortunately when the bubble was approaching and the blinds were getting large my luck took a turn for the worse. Firstly I got rivered to lose half my stack with J5<J2 on a xJxx2 board. Soon after, with only 9BB left I open jammed AT from the button with a 1.5BB shortie on the SB. The player on the big blind (the same guy who got lucky with the J2) woke up with AQ which held to knock us both out. So no joy for me today, though at least my head prizes covered the cost of the buy-in in the mini.
June poker points 355
6478529 17-Jun-12 01:10 NL Holdem £374/375£0.366478864 16-Jun-12 20:37 NL Holdem £229/79-£2.306481645 16-Jun-12 20:07 NL Holdem £12/2-£1.056481635 16-Jun-12 19:55 NL Holdem £22/2-£2.106481589 16-Jun-12 19:49 NL Holdem £22/2-£2.10
Thanks anyway
Slowly and surely ftw.
Very well done on what i am certain will be you reaching you final target.
Daz.
GL
I've enjoyed a bit of a heater over the last couple of weeks and my balance has grown nicely..........and about time time too, I've been waiting for this heater since January!
However there's still a long way to go and the very nature of MTTs means it might be several weeks before I can pull out another decent result out of the bag. I won't be celebrating until I reach that magic £1,051 number, at the moment I'm still only about 2/3rds of the way there.
Closing balance £693.42
A bad start to the day when I busted from the 9-45 Bounty Hunter in only the third hand. My suited connectors were the nuts on the turn with a made straight, however on the river I was outdrawn by a player who successfully chased a gutshot to complete his higher straight. The rest of the morning followed a similar pattern; my made hands couldn’t fade those pesky draws and I drew a blank in 3 out of 3 MTTs.
Returning to the tables after lunch I bought into a £5.75 Bounty Hunter. It was a soft field and play was wild. I kept it tight and aggressive and got to the final table bubble in a promising 2/7 from 33. Unfortunately my eventual fate was to be bubble boy; I ran AK into KK at final table to finish sixth, an unavoidable and frustrating cooler with stacks getting short.
After that I didn’t have time for any more MTTs and enjoyed a few fast HU matches, roughly breaking even.
June poker points 395
6486071 17-Jun-12 19:28 NL Holdem £21/2£1.906486015 17-Jun-12 19:10 NL Holdem £22/2-£2.106485389 17-Jun-12 16:47 NL Holdem £21/2£1.906485361 17-Jun-12 16:46 NL Holdem £11/2£0.956480084 17-Jun-12 16:15 PL Omaha £0207/396£06485057 17-Jun-12 15:23 NL Holdem £51/2£4.756485024 17-Jun-12 15:18 NL Holdem £52/2-£5.256484910 17-Jun-12 14:52 NL Holdem £21/2£1.906484736 17-Jun-12 14:48 NL Holdem £11/2£0.956482807 17-Jun-12 14:42 NL Holdem £56/33-£3.876481913 17-Jun-12 14:07 NL Holdem £337/63-£3.306481218 17-Jun-12 12:35 NL Holdem £212/25-£2.306479445 17-Jun-12 12:23 NL Holdem £0148/156£06484381 17-Jun-12 12:21 NL Holdem £11/2£0.956484299 17-Jun-12 12:03 NL Holdem £51/2£4.756481619 17-Jun-12 12:01 NL Holdem £347/50-£3.306483684 17-Jun-12 11:55 NL Holdem £52/2-£5.25
Things didn’t go my way today. Coolers and beats denied me any success in MTTs (apart from a small profit in a £2.20 timed tournament). The HU STTs didn’t go much better.
Particularly frustrating was the final table of a £3 speed rebuy at which I ran as about as badly as is humanly possible. With 5 players left and 3 to be paid I got my chips in good four times, each time to eliminate an opponent and increase my already significant chip lead, but I just could not find a hold. My bust out came when I open-jammed pocket TT from the cut-off, a crazy player on big blind the made the call for half of his stack with 84o. The board ran out KK448, I was out and he went from there to win the tournament.
While it was pretty annoying at the time I have to remember that runs of luck like that are what keep the weaker players coming back for more. I’d be delighted to have the same player on my table again in the future; I know I’ll get the better of him in the long run and there’s no way you’d ever see me berating his play in the chatbox.
The current 3 day mini-downswing comes as no surprise after a succesful couple of weeks. It’s the nature of all types of poker, particularly MTTs. All I can do is keep my cool, continue to play my A-game and wait for the good results to return.
June poker points 429
6489939 18-Jun-12 18:18 NL Holdem £51/2£4.756489880 18-Jun-12 18:11 NL Holdem £12/2-£1.056489714 18-Jun-12 17:36 NL Holdem £22/2-£2.106487360 18-Jun-12 17:27 NL Holdem £216/30-£1.556489742 18-Jun-12 17:27 NL Holdem £11/2£0.956489741 18-Jun-12 17:24 NL Holdem £12/2-£1.056487703 18-Jun-12 17:12 NL Holdem £35/11-£3.306487275 18-Jun-12 16:54 NL Holdem £513/34-£5.756487172 18-Jun-12 16:24 NL Holdem £224/41-£2.306486638 18-Jun-12 15:56 NL Holdem £215/74£2.206489160 18-Jun-12 14:15 NL Holdem £22/2-£2.106489146 18-Jun-12 14:07 NL Holdem £22/2-£2.10
Closing balance £692.55
First game today was the 10-30am £5.75 Bounty Hunter. I came second from the 31 entrants, helped on the way by an early stages AA>Q4s aipf hold over a maniac for a monster 200BB pot. My prize money didn’t come to much as I failed to win any head-prizes, though it was a pleasing finishing position after a series of poor MTT results over the last three days. Heads-up play was one-sided and over in only three hands. The winner had busted the rest of the final table in quick succession and faced me with a huge lead. I had a shove or fold stack which I jammed when I picked up KTo on the SB, I couldn’t improve against his A4o.
In the second MTT of the day, another £5.75, I found myself languishing in 22nd of 22 from 52 after a card-dead first hour. Then out of the blue a rare pocket KK hold (against A7s and 33 aipf) gave me a treble-up and some hope. A while after that, at a very tricky 5-handed table shared with the 4 biggest stacks left in the tournament, I snapped off a 3-bet shove after opening with AQs and held up against A8o to put myself above average and into contention.
Unfortunately a cruel JJ<66 aipf beat deprived me of a top 4 stack and my first head prize as the bubble approached (11 left at the time, 8 paid) and I found myself in big trouble. An orbit later a 99>A8 aipf hold doubled me and took my stack off life-support, then in the very next hand a QQ>KK>33 aipf hand between other players at my table burst the bubble. I made it to final table, though as a 12BB shortie and with only move left. Uncalled shoves maintained my stack as a dangerous weapon for quite a while until I lost the inevitable flip with 88<A9 aipf while 4th/5, another bounty eluding me. I went out next hand in fifth place after my rollercoaster ride with only a small cash and no head prizes to show for my efforts.
That was me done for the day, needing to get some rest. Despite the lack of a decent cash I’m pleased to break the sequence of 3 consecutive losing days.
June poker points 448
6490946 19-Jun-12 15:47 NL Holdem £55/52£4.656493021 19-Jun-12 13:28 NL Holdem £12/2-£1.056493010 19-Jun-12 13:21 NL Holdem £11/2£0.956492968 19-Jun-12 13:17 NL Holdem £11/2£0.956490615 19-Jun-12 12:29 NL Holdem £52/31£13.63
I write up each days entry for this thread in bits and pieces into a word processor while I'm playing. So when I finish the last game it's pretty much ready to copy/paste/post straight away. As for the results thread; that doesn't take much time either. I also get that ready while I'm playing, it then takes just a few minutes to finish off over breakfast.
Closing balance £682.89
Not a good day in the office.
There was no joy in the two early £3.30 Bounty Hunters today; in the 9-45 I got donked in level 1 and was down to 700 chips. I worked my stack back up to 3000 but busted in level 5 when my overpair to the flop failed to hold against a flush draw. In the 10-45 I lost a standard mid-stages flip.
Next MTT was the 2-00pm £11 Bounty hunter. You know it’s not going to be your day when get rivered twice with 24<A7 on an A24 flop (safe turn, 7 on river), then J9<A7 on a 9JK flop (turn A, river 7) and find yourself down to 400 chips halfway through level 1. I managed to recover to starting stack during level 2 but my demise came with when I check/shoved my AsJs on a 9d4s2s flop in a 3-way pot. An opponent made a loose call with T9o and held. My stack went in as a slight favourite with loads of dead chips in the pot. When you also factor in the head-prize (I had him covered) it was a profitable move and I’d play it exactly the same way in the future.
Next up was a £5.75 Bounty Hunter. I enjoyed a promising start with an early head-prize, but a cruel beat when my flopped nut-flush failed to hold, doubling up a very fortunate opponent and denting my chances (not for the squeamish
So my ongoing failure to win a £5.75 Bounty Hunter during this quest continues. From 67 games to date I have these results; 13 final tables, 0x first, 4x second, 3x third, 3x fourth, 1x fifth and 2x sixth. Surely that first win must come sooner or later? Sort it out Sky!
I also played a few HU matches, losing more than I won. I can confirm Lambert180’s run-bad in the hypers (see his diary); I beat him in our one game when I 3-bet shoved my T8s, he made a good call but I outdrew his QJs.
June poker points 481
6497253 20-Jun-12 17:32 NL Holdem £11/2£0.956497318 20-Jun-12 17:21 NL Holdem £31/2£2.856494872 20-Jun-12 16:44 NL Holdem £54/34£12.546494679 20-Jun-12 16:41 NL Holdem £1039/58-£116496743 20-Jun-12 13:55 NL Holdem £12/2-£1.056496707 20-Jun-12 13:47 NL Holdem £52/2-£5.256496731 20-Jun-12 13:40 NL Holdem £12/2-£1.056494378 20-Jun-12 13:05 NL Holdem £320/48-£3.306496523 20-Jun-12 12:14 NL Holdem £12/2-£1.056494176 20-Jun-12 12:12 NL Holdem £331/60-£3.30
Closing balance £657.67
No success today from five Bounty Hunter tournaments.
First game was a £2.30, my exit came with AK<pocket pair in a standard late flip. Next up was a £5.75 from which I busted with AQ<QQ on a Q-high flop. The player who busted me with pocket QQ runs so hot it’s unbelievable. A few hands earlier he’d busted another player with AT />AK aipf. He’s also been mentioned in this diary a couple of times before, most notably when he beat me with A2 />AT aipf during heads-up play with all the chips in the middle to win a £5.75 Bounty Hunter back on day 140.
Next I tried the £11 Bounty Hunter at 2-00pm. I busted in level 1 when my AK lost to AJs that made a nut-flush. My check/shove on the river is a strong move that gets loads of folds, though this time it backfired in embarrassing fashion when the villain in the hand held the stone-cold nuts.
I tried another £2.30 and £5.75 in the afternoon without success. My bust from the £5.75 was in a particularly spectacular hand. I jammed 22 big blinds with AQs from the button with over two limpers. When both of the blinds and one of the limpers made the call I thought I’d be up against at least one dominating hand (AA,KK,QQ or AK). My chances were a little better than I’d expected when they flipped over 66,99 and TT. The limper held the pocket 99 which he'd deemed strong enough to call three shoves when last to act. It worked this time; he made a set to scoop a massive pot and take three bounties.
June poker points 513 (£4.10)
6498925HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker21/06/2012 17:13NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7515/49-£3.876498841HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker21/06/2012 16:47NL Hold'em £2 + £0.38/36-£2.36498751HNLB1.0GBPSkyPoker21/06/2012 16:32NL Hold'em £10 + £173/75-£116498555HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker21/06/2012 16:23NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7530/48-£5.756498114HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker21/06/2012 14:51NL Hold'em £2 + £0.311/36-£2.3
Closing balance £672.19
Yay, I won a small one!
I was too busy to register for any MTTs until 2-15pm this afternoon. So I jumped into the first two games going; a £2.30 and £5.75 Bounty Hunter. I couldn’t get anything going in the £5.75 and went out in a standard mid-stages flip.
The £2.30 was only a small affair with 28 entrants, but I was very pleased to go on and take it down. I played well, flopped well and got some important bluffs through. I also got paid-off several times by opponents who didn’t believe me when I really did have a hand.
The boot was on the other foot for once with pocket KK. During the mid-stages a shortish-stack open-limped when I held T9o on the big blind. The flop was perfect for me; 678 rainbow. All I had to do was check/call all three streets to bust his KK and take an easy bounty.
When we were down to 7 players there was an opponent at my 4-handed table who I’d singled out as the most skilled player left and my biggest threat. Twice when he was short we flipped and he won each time to survive, the second of those putting me down to 7th/7 for a while. I managed to fight back and unsurprisingly it was he who ended-up facing me heads-up. It was a tough HU battle, the crunch came when I defended with JhTh on the big blind and the flop came down JsTs7h to give me top two pairs. I checked, my opponent bet pot, I shoved. When he made a snap call I was worried, obviously I would have hated to see 89 or 77 (or the far less likely TT,JJ), so it was a relief to be up against Qd9h and an open-ended straight draw. I faded his outs and even rivered a full-house just to make sure. That left my opponent with only 9 big blinds, next hand I open-jammed A4s from the small blind and binked a 4 to crack his AT for the win.
It was only a small win today, but as a recreational player the thrill of an MTT win is the best greatest feeling in poker to me, so I was very happy.
June poker points 527 (£4.22)
6503374HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker22/06/2012 17:01NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7526/49-£5.756503271HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker22/06/2012 16:48NL Hold'em £2 + £0.31/28£19.976505204HNLT0.1GBPSkyPoker22/06/2012 12:22NL Hold'em £1 + £0.12/6£0.46505278HNLT,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker22/06/2012 12:06NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.956505203HNLT,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker22/06/2012 11:52NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.05
6503374HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker22/06/2012 17:01NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7526/49-£5.756503271HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker22/06/2012 16:48NL Hold'em £2 + £0.31/28£19.976505204HNLT0.1GBPSkyPoker22/06/2012 12:22NL Hold'em £1 + £0.12/6£0.46505278HNLT,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker22/06/2012 12:06NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.956505203HNLT,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker22/06/2012 11:52NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.05
Do you play everyday?
6503374
Closing balance £666.51
I entered quite a few games this afternoon but results were awful. The deck just wasn’t being my friend at all as I fell foul of a series of coolers and beats. I played my normal game but as hard I tried I just couldn’t make anything go my way. Lowlights included AK<Q6 aipf for all the chips in a £10 turbo HU match and A5<KJ on a 55JA board in a crucial late stages £5.75 Bounty Hunter hand.
An early evening £4.40 Bounty HU Shuffle tournament saved the day from being a total disaster when I finished as runner-up to recoup most of my earlier losses. The final hand was my A4<66 aipf, with only 10BB each it was a standard shove and call.
The run-bad quickly returned in level 1 of the Mini Super BH when I was unable to fade a flush draw and busted with A6<QJs following a 662 flop, I couldn't find a fold when I knew I was almost certainly beat and paid off a river shove. Too tired to play anymore I didn't bother rebuying and that was me done for the day.
June poker points 582 (£4.66)
6508968HNL0.3GBPSkyPoker24/06/2012 01:10NL Hold'em £3 + £0.3332/356-£3.36509296HNL0.4GBPSkyPoker23/06/2012 20:12NL Hold'em £4 + £0.42/23£19.376509064HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker23/06/2012 19:12NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7512/64-£0.486512075HNLT0.05GBPSkyPoker23/06/2012 19:05NL Hold'em £0.5 + £0.052/6£0.26512150HNLT,HU0.25GBPSkyPoker23/06/2012 18:32NL Hold'em £5 + £0.251/2£4.756511961HNLT,HU0.5GBPSkyPoker23/06/2012 18:25NL Hold'em £10 + £0.52/2-£10.56508397HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker23/06/2012 17:38NL Hold'em £2 + £0.321/63-£0.056510181HNLSAT0.15GBPSkyPoker23/06/2012 17:24NL Hold'em £1.1 + £0.1516/16-£1.256510172HNLSAT0.09GBPSkyPoker23/06/2012 17:11NL Hold'em £0.96 + £0.0930/41-£1.056508285HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker23/06/2012 16:35NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7521/51-£3.876507842HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker23/06/2012 16:29NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7529/58-£5.756507631HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker23/06/2012 15:05NL Hold'em £2 + £0.323/41-£2.36511030HNLT,HU0.15GBPSkyPoker23/06/2012 14:33NL Hold'em £3 + £0.151/2£2.856511013HNLT,HU0.15GBPSkyPoker23/06/2012 14:25NL Hold'em £3 + £0.152/2-£3.156510835HNLT,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker23/06/2012 13:34NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.956510658HNLT,HU0.1GBPSkyPoker23/06/2012 12:45NL Hold'em £2 + £0.12/2-£2.1
chin up m8,
you are still doing well.
have you noticed your balance btw.
dev
Closing balance £691.67
The weekend bingo players were out in force again today. I knew it was going to be one of those days when I saw T6o call a 100BB open-shove pre-flop in the very first hand of the day (the T6o lost to AKs).
I had a fun ride in a £2.30 game when KK was both my friend and my enemy; in the early stages it made quads to win a 4-way aipf hand to take 2 bingo bounties, the other 3 all-in players were all holding ace-rag, then on the final table bubble KK busted me in an amazing AA v KK v AQ aipf hand with 50% of the chips in play in the middle. The action went; AA on button min-raise, AQ on SB shove, KK on BB call, AA call (and hold).
In the 10-45am £3.30 Bounty Hunter I finished as runner-up with a healthy 8 head prizes. None of the bingo players survived the early minefield so the late stages became a proper game of poker. I was helped on the way by a tough (but correct) river hero call, the hand has been posted in the Poker Clinic. It all came down to a big flip heads-up. With blinds at 4K/2K I open jammed 77 on the SB and came second place in the race against AQ. Well played to the winner, he deserved it after a long tough final table. With that game lasting nearly 4 hours it was to be my last hand of the day.
June poker points 591 (£4.73)
6512819HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker24/06/2012 14:13NL Hold'em £3 + £0.32/79£28.516512090HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker24/06/2012 12:35NL Hold'em £2 + £0.36/38-£0.056512547HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker24/06/2012 12:21NL Hold'em £3 + £0.344/60-£3.30