Been following your progress on this mission gary very impressive thus far, gary BRM is key i might go and try a challenge myself just if nothing else to give myself a goal to aim at + teach myself better BRM. Hopefully the heater is only round the corner to lift you of this ledge you have been stuck on for a few weeks good luck mate..... Posted by neil1970
Cheers Neil, thanks for your support. I wish you the very best of luck if you decide to give it a go too.
After three days away from the tables I didn’t exactly get the warmest welcome back. In the very first hand of the first tournament I went with my notes and 4-bet shoved on a 3-betting maniac with AhKh. My notes were correct; he made the call for his stack with A7o. Unfortunately the deck had other ideas; my opponent won the hand and I waved goodbye to my £5.75 buy-in.
Next up I entered a £2.30 Bounty Hunter, I came eighth for a min-cash after losing a standard late stages flip.
My third game was a £3 speed rebuy. It nearly got wrecked by another AhKh bad-beat. Two hands after the add-on period closed I 3-bet shoved it over ATo, got called and managed to lose again to leave me in ninth place of the nine left. However, all’s well that ends well in poker. I fought back and went on to take a pleasing victory. In a speed tournament it’s mainly a preflop game in the late stages, you need to run well in all-in situations and I did. I picked up strong hole cards several times and made big holds in a couple of cooler situations; AK holding over AQ aipf for example. The only time I got lucky from behind was when I open jammed 98o on the button during 3-handed play. I was down to 12BB at the time and was looking for an urgent double after losing an AJ<66 flip. The SB called with AJ, I spiked one of my cards to beat his overcards and scoop the pot.
In the evening I returned to have a go at the Mini Bounty Hunter. It started well including two head prizes and a double-up with a straight flush in the first hour, but my luck wasn’t to last. A big aipf pot saw my 88 lose to ace-rag. Then I lost two flips for bounties. My bust-out came with AA<QT against a maniac with a monster stack, he was very good at calling everything and getting there. I found myself unable to fade his flush draw with one card to come.
So I had some bad runnage today, but I don’t mind whatsoever as it was more than made up for by the bink in the rebuy. It’s pleasing to return after a short break and report a profitable day.
As usual on a Sunday I entered the two morning £3.30 Bounty Hunters. In the 9-45 I ran deep but went out on the final table bubble after jamming my KQ on the SB into AK on the BB. With stacks getting very shallow it was an unavoidable cooler.
In the 10-45 AhKh came back to spoil the party again (see yesterday), after 90 minutes of play I picked it up in a perfect SB squeeze-shove spot and found myself two callers with TT and 66. Unfortunately I couldn’t improve for a treble-up and busted out just short of the money. Apart from a HU game and a couple of freerolls that was it for the day.
I entered five micro/low stakes MTTs today, making small cashes in two to finish slightly up on the day.
My best chance of a decent score came in a £3.30 freezeout in which I finished third. I felt I was the best player left with three remaining, but I was destined to fall victim to a nasty cooler when defending my big blind to a button min-raise with 8s6s. The flop came down 88J, obviously I’m never folding my hand with stacks fairly shallow, unfortunately my aggressive opponent held pocket jacks and I was drawing to only one out.
For the second time in a row I busted a £5.75 Bounty Hunter in the very first hand. After late registering in the 1-30 I picking up AK suited which I 3-bet shoved on the BB to a 5x raise from the SB. In these Bounty Hunters you have to be prepared to get all your chips in with AKs 100BB deep without reads. There are so many loose gamblers in the field that AKs is comfortably ahead of a random player’s pre-flop raise/call range. This time I was racing against pocket tens and didn’t improve. The £5.75 Bounty Hunters continue to be the Achilles heel of this quest, no matter how hard I try I still haven’t managed to take one down after more than 100 attempts.
My other cash was a min-cash in a small £2.30 Bounty Hunter. With only 15BB left at final table I snap called with pocket nines on the BB when the SB open-shoved, I lost the race against his KTo.
The first game for me today was the 10-45 Bounty Hunter. It was great to see it attract a bumper field of 99 runners, the new late registration option undoubtedly being a factor. Unfortunately I bubbled the event in 12th/99, however I made a small profit on my buy-in thanks to head prizes.
Next I entered the 1-30pm Bounty Hunter, annoyingly I bubbled again, this time 12th/83 in another bigger than average field boosted by late registrations. My exit hand was TT<KQ aipf, I flipped badly today, in both of my tournaments those key late flips just didn’t want to go my way.
I got home in time to get the two morning £3.30 Bounty Hunters today. In the 9-45 I finished in 3rd/84, though my prize was relatively small as I failed to win any head-prizes. It may have been better if my 98 had held in a 3-way all-in on a 98x flop on the final table bubble; annoyingly a straight ran-out on the board chop the bumper pot 3 ways and deny me a head-prize. At the final table I was very short and 5th/6 when a massive 4-way all-in pot saw quad eights eliminate 3 players and ladder me up to third place. In the 10-45 I didn’t get anywhere, exiting with a flopped nut-flush draw and overcard that failed to improve when a hit would have seen me treble-up.
In the afternoon I tried a small £1 rebuy, though at least 75% of my attention was focussed on the Olympics and less than 25% on the poker. I busted after 2 hours of play when my nut-flush draw and two overcards were unable to improve against a maniac with flopped top pair. In the middle was a pot worth the chip lead, my hand was 54/46 favourite when the chips went in but I was unable to improve. No regrets, I’d play the hand exactly the same way again.
After a lengthy downswing I’m relieved to see my balance is slowly climbing again, in fact nine of my last eleven playing days have returned a profit. Upwards progress is very welcome of course, though it’s going a bit slower that I’d like. I feel I’m playing well, it would be nice if a bink or two came my way to speed things up a little.
I came close to breaking my £5.75 Bounty Hunter jinx this morning but had to settle for another third place after a ding-dong final table battle. It started badly; in level 1 I found myself down to only 600 chips after my AK met the Q8o of a bingo player on an AQ8 flop. I fought all the way back and was up to second in chips before taking a vicious beat with 8 players left; my flopped set of aces losing to Ks9s on a QdAsJh flop. That left put me back below average, but I fought back again. All three stacks were level at one point during 3-handed play, chips were traded back and forth, but with stacks getting increasingly shallow the inevitable all-in pre-flop confrontation didn’t go my way when my A9 lost to JJ blind vs blind. I’d have been heads-up and chip leader had I won that pot. Losing left me half a big blind and condemned to finishing third. On such things poker tournaments are decided.
In the afternoon I entered a cheapie, just a £1 freezeout, only paying minimal attention to the poker while I watched the Olympics. I had a fun run in a weak field but found myself struck down once again by a case of late stages run-bad. At the final table with 4 left from 73 entrants I 3-bet shoved AK from the SB over a button open. The button made what I consider to be a terrible call with A3o, a hold would have seen him eliminated and given me 60% of the chips in play. However, he got there and I found myself down to fourth of four with only 15BB. I went out in the next orbit when I open shoved 55 from the button and lost the flip against KJ.
Most of my attention is being focussed on the Olympics coverage at the moment, so I’m sticking to low/micro stakes poker games for the time being.
My only run of note today came in an evening £5.75 Bounty Hunter. It was another near miss as I came 2nd from 64 runners. I don't mind admitting I ran super well to get deep by making two big suckouts on the way; QQ>AA and 88>99, both aipf, and both times I spiked my 3-outer on the river. I feel no guilt whatsoever for dishing out the suck-outs as I've seen so many go against me lately, including beats I took in other tournaments today.
When heads-up I held the lead a couple of times, but I have to admit I was out-played by the winner, he was very strong and made life ****. For that reason I didn’t feel too bad being runner-up this time because the best man won, it was more annoying when I finished second in other £5.75s earlier in this quest due to bad beats.
While it’s frustrating that I still haven’t managed to break my £5.75 quest duck despite another good opportunity, it certainly is pleasing to see my balance go past the £700 mark again. My pre-downswing peak balance of £708.33 is now firmly in my sights.
No luck in my morning tournaments today. Fields were bigger than average and as usual on a Sunday there were plenty of bad players at the tables. However I couldn’t make enough big hands or big holds to get me past the massed ranks of bingo gamblers and calling stations.
In the afternoon I had a near miss in a £3 freezeout coming 3rd/66. I spent most of the tournament as a short stack before going on a hot streak and moving up to chipleader when we went to final table.When we got down to 4-handed things started to go pear-shaped; my strong hole-cards dried up and I couldn’t connect with flops. Meanwhile forum reg Maxally was doing an incredible laddering job, he’d spent the entire time at the final table to that point in the 2 to 5 big blind range, somehow doubling once every couple of orbits to survive. A spot of bad luck was the beginning of the end for me; Maxally, who'd started to build a workable stack by then, open shoved K8 from the button and managed to outdraw the pocket jacks I held on the big blind.It doubled him up and put me down to fourth of four. I tried to fight back but hit the rail when I jammed my KQ into Maxally’s A5 and failed improve.
The best news of the day is that I'm at a new highest balance. I'm very happy to at long last surpass the £708.33 I posted way back on June 15th.
Cheers Gary for the mention and vul on your exit but I had that easy short stack decision....shove or fold. I built my stack up and I honestly thought I had won the tourney on this hand.....lol...I was happy to get runners up though!
Cheers Gary for the mention and vul on your exit but I had that easy short stack decision....shove or fold. I built my stack up and I honestly thought I had won the tourney on this hand.....lol... Posted by MAXALLY
No worries Alan, that hand played itself, I'd jam K8 in that spot too. Congrats on getting second place, your patient approach was a great success and almost brought you the win..
Nothing went my way in the first few games. I saw it all; set under set coolers, runner-runner beats, two outers hitting on the river, etc. Pick of the annoyances was losing a £5.25 HU STT after getting it in good only to outdrawn in comedy fashion three times in a row. After a run of small successes over the last couple of weeks I’d have no right to complain about a losing day and was resigned to drawing a complete blank.
However, the last game, just a small £1 rebuy, was a surprise day-saver and cancelled out the losses. For the first ninety minutes I was flying and always in the top two.Then things went downhill and I found myself eighth of eight and seemingly doomed to another blank. However I managed to work the short-stack all the way to a second place finish. Amazing I was only all-in and called once in that time (from eight left to two left), winning an 22>AQ flip. Meanwhile others kept falling around me as all the chips all gravitated to a runaway chipleader and laddering me to the last two. I went into HU with only 8BB and busted in the second hand with KT<A2 aipf.
I was in home in time for both of the morning £3.30 Bounty Hunters today. Fields were surprisingly big for a weekday, but also like minefields again with plenty of poor players making questionable plays. I made big holds with premium pairs to start well in both games. In the 9-45 I couldn’t maintain the momentum quite long enough. I bubbled in 14th/96 when a very aggressive player with a monster stack open shoved from the SB onto my BB. He was ruthlessly using the bubble to run over the rest of the table, fair enough, I would too in his position. I had only 11BB behind and knew his range was any two cards so I made the call with A4. I was ahead but my overcard was unable to make a hold against his 65o.
The 10-45 went a little better; my tight/aggressive approach taking me all the way to the final table. Unfortunately a pretty harsh late stages cooler busted me in fourth place. While in 2nd/4 from 82 starters I 4-bet shoved my QQ from the button into the chipleader’s KK on the big blind. With stacks fairly shallow at the time, mine was 19BB, I’m never folding pocket QQ in that spot.
When I logged back on to Sky in the afternoon the only MTT due off (apart from a whole load of satellites to evening tournaments in which I’m unable to play) was a £2.30 Bounty Hunter. This time I couldn’t find my way past the calling stations. In level 2 I lost more than half of my stack with AJ to a player holding 24o who called my 3x open and flop c-bet OOP, even though he’d completely missed the flop. The 2 on the turn and 4 on the river won him the pot. From there I couldn’t find a way back and eventually busted to the 24o guy with AK<44 aipf.
I’ve mixed feelings about my recent results. It’s pleasing to note that I haven’t had a losing day for two weeks, and obviously I can’t complain about another new highest balance. But it’s been a slow climb fuelled by a whole load of near-misses. Making frequent final tables for a small profit is all well and good, but I’d prefer to see some first place finishes mixed in there too to really get things moving.
My July Cash for Points bonus of £4.10 was credited to my account today.
I tried my luck in 3 Bounty Hunter tournaments this morning; my usual two £3.30s and a £5.75.
In the 9-45 after finding myself a bit short after early skirmishes I went out quite early in an AJ<AQ button vs big blind cooler.
Next up was the £5.75 game in which I found myself at a wild bingo table. I doubled early, missing a head-prize by only 15 chips, though after that not much went my way. I ran fairly deep but eventually busted with TT<AQ aipf in a blind v blind flip. The SB limp/called his AQ, slowrolling me in the process by running his timebar all the way down to the last second before calling.
The 10-45 started well, after 30 minutes I was chipleader with a head-prize, but a card-dead spell followed by failing to fade a two-outer with two to come put me down below average after an hour. I fought back and was 4th/11 approaching the bubble. When 3 of us saw a KTJ flop I was loving life with my AQ being the nuts. All three stacks went in on the flop making for a massive pot in the middle. It was the ultimate ‘action flop’; I was up against KJ, and K3 with a flush-draw. Although my hand was favourite I needed to fade a whole load of outs for a treble-up. Unfortunately the flush draw got there on the turn to take two of us out. A hold would have given me my third bounty prize, the chiplead, and a great chance to go on and win the tournament, it just wasn’t meant to be this time.
In the afternoon I returned to play a £2.30 Bounty Hunter that was an event in the Forum Team Olympics Competition. This made for an unusual dynamic as outlasting my opponents from rival teams was more important that playing for the win. My starting table was very awkward with an ‘any two will do’ maniac who raced into a big chiplead by somehow busting other players with K5>KK aipf, 87>KQ>99 3-ways aipf, and QT>QQ all-in on the flop with a draw. Hence I kept it very tight, but managed a crucial early double with JJ>KT aipf to give me breathing room. In the mid-stages I won a big flip with my AK outdrawing TT with 60% of my stack in the middle.
Eventually there were only two of us left from the forum competition and we were both playing uber-tight as we desperately tryied to outlast each other. I never stall usually, but I had to do what I had to do today with team honour being at stake! We both made it to final table as the shortest two stacks, which was also the bubble with 5 to be paid. My forum rival was to my left, we were both short and I twice managed to get open shoves through against him to edge ahead. My shoved hole cards were 25o then A7s (yes, 25o, he could only call with a premium for his tournament life on the bubble and with the gold medal on the line, I had now become the 'any two will do' player!).
Eventually, when getting increasing short, my Olympics rival busted in a flip against another player. That meant the ‘gold medal’ was mine! My nitty play to that point had left me short in fifth of five, I soon found what seemed a good shove spot with 55 on the SB and three limpers in the pot. Unfortunately one of the limpers was trapping with KK and that was me out. At least I’d made a min-cash as well as the medal.
So my long-overdue losing day has finally arrived. I don’t mind at all to be honest, I’ve had a good run over the last fortnight. It's only a small dent and I’m very pleased to have won the gold medal for Team51.
Day 213 August 8th 2012 Closing balance £729.99 (down £6.33 today) I tried my luck in 3 Bounty Hunter tournaments this morning; my usual two £3.30s and a £5.75. In the 9-45 after finding myself a bit short after early skirmishes I went out quite early in an AJ<AQ button vs big blind cooler. Next up was the £5.75 game in which I found myself at a wild bingo table. I doubled early, missing a head-prize by only 15 chips, though after that not much went my way. I ran fairly deep but eventually busted with TT<AQ aipf in a blind v blind flip. The SB limp/called his AQ, slowrolling me in the process by running his timebar all the way down to the last second before calling. The 10-45 started well, after 30 minutes I was chipleader with a head-prize, but a card-dead spell followed by failing to fade a two-outer with two to come put me down below average after an hour. I fought back and was 4 th /11 approaching the bubble. When 3 of us saw a KTJ flop I was loving life with my AQ being the nuts. All three stacks went in on the flop making for a massive pot in the middle. It was the ultimate ‘action flop’; I was up against KJ, and K3 with a flush-draw. Although my hand was favourite I needed to fade a whole load of outs for a treble-up. Unfortunately the flush draw got there on the turn to take two of us out. A hold would have given me my third bounty prize, the chiplead, and a great chance to go on and win the tournament, it just wasn’t meant to be this time. In the afternoon I returned to play a £2.30 Bounty Hunter that was an event in the Forum Team Olympics Competition. This made for an unusual dynamic as outlasting my opponents from rival teams was more important that playing for the win. My starting table was very awkward with an ‘any two will do’ maniac who raced into a big chiplead by somehow busting other players with K5 />KK aipf, 87>KQ>99 3-ways aipf, and QT>QQ all-in on the flop with a draw. Hence I kept it very tight, but managed a crucial early double with JJ>KT aipf to give me breathing room. In the mid-stages I won a big flip with my AK outdrawing TT with 60% of my stack in the middle. Eventually there were only two of us left from the forum competition and we were both playing uber-tight as we desperately tryied to outlast each other. I never stall usually, but I had to do what I had to do today with team honour being at stake! We both made it to final table as the shortest two stacks, which was also the bubble with 5 to be paid. My forum rival was to my left, we were both short and I twice managed to get open shoves through against him to edge ahead. My shoved hole cards were 25o then A7s (yes, 25o, he could only call with a premium for his tournament life on the bubble and with the gold medal on the line). Eventually, when getting increasing short, my Olympics rival busted in a flip against another player. That meant the ‘gold medal’ was mine! My nitty play to that point had left me short in fifth of five, I soon found what seemed a good shove spot with 55 on the SB and three limpers in the pot. Unfortunately one of the limpers was trapping with KK and that was me out. At least I’d made a min-cash as well as the medal. So my long-overdue losing day has finally arrived. I don’t mind at all to be honest, I’ve had a good run over the last fortnight. It's only a small dent and I’m very pleased to have won the gold medal for Team51. ‘On wards and upwards!’ August poker points 99 (results to follow) Posted by GaryQQQ
Nice post Gary, and a well deserved Gold for you.
Now does anyone know the Exeter National Anthem????
Comments
July 26th/27th 2012
Didn’t play, decided to enjoy some outside activities in the sunny weather and take a short break from poker.
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Day 202 July 28th 2012
Closing balance £636.93
(up £39.52 today)
After three days away from the tables I didn’t exactly get the warmest welcome back. In the very first hand of the first tournament I went with my notes and 4-bet shoved on a 3-betting maniac with AhKh. My notes were correct; he made the call for his stack with A7o. Unfortunately the deck had other ideas; my opponent won the hand and I waved goodbye to my £5.75 buy-in.
Next up I entered a £2.30 Bounty Hunter, I came eighth for a min-cash after losing a standard late stages flip.
My third game was a £3 speed rebuy. It nearly got wrecked by another AhKh bad-beat. Two hands after the add-on period closed I 3-bet shoved it over ATo, got called and managed to lose again to leave me in ninth place of the nine left. However, all’s well that ends well in poker. I fought back and went on to take a pleasing victory. In a speed tournament it’s mainly a preflop game in the late stages, you need to run well in all-in situations and I did. I picked up strong hole cards several times and made big holds in a couple of cooler situations; AK holding over AQ aipf for example. The only time I got lucky from behind was when I open jammed 98o on the button during 3-handed play. I was down to 12BB at the time and was looking for an urgent double after losing an AJ<66 flip. The SB called with AJ, I spiked one of my cards to beat his overcards and scoop the pot.
In the evening I returned to have a go at the Mini Bounty Hunter. It started well including two head prizes and a double-up with a straight flush in the first hour, but my luck wasn’t to last. A big aipf pot saw my 88 lose to ace-rag. Then I lost two flips for bounties. My bust-out came with AA<QT against a maniac with a monster stack, he was very good at calling everything and getting there. I found myself unable to fade his flush draw with one card to come.
So I had some bad runnage today, but I don’t mind whatsoever as it was more than made up for by the bink in the rebuy. It’s pleasing to return after a short break and report a profitable day.
July poker points 474
6666037HNL0.3GBPSkyPoker29/07/2012 00:11NL Hold'em £3 + £0.3164/413-£1.046665888HNLT0.3GBPSkyPoker28/07/2012 17:27NL Hold'em £3 + £0.31/15£53.76665155HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker28/07/2012 16:20NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7562/63-£5.756665225HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker28/07/2012 16:16NL Hold'em £2 + £0.38/54£2.51
nice 2 see ur back to winning ways.
keep going m8,
not too far 2go now.
dev
Closing balance £637.09
(up 16p today)
As usual on a Sunday I entered the two morning £3.30 Bounty Hunters. In the 9-45 I ran deep but went out on the final table bubble after jamming my KQ on the SB into AK on the BB. With stacks getting very shallow it was an unavoidable cooler.
In the 10-45 AhKh came back to spoil the party again (see yesterday), after 90 minutes of play I picked it up in a perfect SB squeeze-shove spot and found myself two callers with TT and 66. Unfortunately I couldn’t improve for a treble-up and busted out just short of the money. Apart from a HU game and a couple of freerolls that was it for the day.
July poker points 481
6669126HNL0.0GBPSkyPoker29/07/2012 21:32NL Hold'em £0 + £0187/478£06667808OPL0.0GBPSkyPoker29/07/2012 16:11PL Omaha Hi £0 + £0159/380£06673066HNLT,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker29/07/2012 16:03NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.956669690HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker29/07/2012 13:29NL Hold'em £3 + £0.310/46-£2.176669374HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker29/07/2012 12:03NL Hold'em £3 + £0.37/52£1.38
Closing balance £642.34
(up £5.25 today)
I entered five micro/low stakes MTTs today, making small cashes in two to finish slightly up on the day.
My best chance of a decent score came in a £3.30 freezeout in which I finished third. I felt I was the best player left with three remaining, but I was destined to fall victim to a nasty cooler when defending my big blind to a button min-raise with 8s6s. The flop came down 88J, obviously I’m never folding my hand with stacks fairly shallow, unfortunately my aggressive opponent held pocket jacks and I was drawing to only one out.
For the second time in a row I busted a £5.75 Bounty Hunter in the very first hand. After late registering in the 1-30 I picking up AK suited which I 3-bet shoved on the BB to a 5x raise from the SB. In these Bounty Hunters you have to be prepared to get all your chips in with AKs 100BB deep without reads. There are so many loose gamblers in the field that AKs is comfortably ahead of a random player’s pre-flop raise/call range. This time I was racing against pocket tens and didn’t improve. The £5.75 Bounty Hunters continue to be the Achilles heel of this quest, no matter how hard I try I still haven’t managed to take one down after more than 100 attempts.
My other cash was a min-cash in a small £2.30 Bounty Hunter. With only 15BB left at final table I snap called with pocket nines on the BB when the SB open-shoved, I lost the race against his KTo.
July poker points 501 (£4.01)
6675368HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker30/07/2012 17:30NL Hold'em £2 + £0.35/30£1.156674754HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker30/07/2012 16:42NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7576/78-£5.756676170HNL0.3GBPSkyPoker30/07/2012 16:20NL Hold'em £3 + £0.33/34£126674871HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker30/07/2012 15:33NL Hold'em £2 + £0.37/17-£1.556674315HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker30/07/2012 14:34NL Hold'em £2 + £0.310/20-£1.556677149HNLT,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker30/07/2012 13:46NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.95
Closing balance £643.72
(up £1.38 today)
The first game for me today was the 10-45 Bounty Hunter. It was great to see it attract a bumper field of 99 runners, the new late registration option undoubtedly being a factor. Unfortunately I bubbled the event in 12th/99, however I made a small profit on my buy-in thanks to head prizes.
Next I entered the 1-30pm Bounty Hunter, annoyingly I bubbled again, this time 12th/83 in another bigger than average field boosted by late registrations. My exit hand was TT<KQ aipf, I flipped badly today, in both of my tournaments those key late flips just didn’t want to go my way.
July poker points 512 (£4.10)
6679341HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker31/07/2012 16:28NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7512/83-£0.116679080HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker31/07/2012 13:46NL Hold'em £3 + £0.312/99£1.49
Flippin’ awful. I just couldn’t win those late stages races today, one of my two bubble exits;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceKerrnal Small blind 300.00 300.00 22245.00 drareging Big blind 600.00 900.00 18632.50 Your hole cards 10 10 sowden03 Fold littlewo03 Fold GaryQQQ All-in 7915.00 8815.00 0.00 RIVERACE0 Fold Kerrnal Fold drareging Call 7315.00 16130.00 11317.50 drareging Show Q K GaryQQQ Show 10 10 Flop Q K 2 Turn 5 River J drareging Win Two Pairs, Kings and Queens 16130.00 27447.50
Closing balance £648.94
(up £5.22 today)
I got home in time to get the two morning £3.30 Bounty Hunters today. In the 9-45 I finished in 3rd/84, though my prize was relatively small as I failed to win any head-prizes. It may have been better if my 98 had held in a 3-way all-in on a 98x flop on the final table bubble; annoyingly a straight ran-out on the board chop the bumper pot 3 ways and deny me a head-prize. At the final table I was very short and 5th/6 when a massive 4-way all-in pot saw quad eights eliminate 3 players and ladder me up to third place. In the 10-45 I didn’t get anywhere, exiting with a flopped nut-flush draw and overcard that failed to improve when a hit would have seen me treble-up.
In the afternoon I tried a small £1 rebuy, though at least 75% of my attention was focussed on the Olympics and less than 25% on the poker. I busted after 2 hours of play when my nut-flush draw and two overcards were unable to improve against a maniac with flopped top pair. In the middle was a pot worth the chip lead, my hand was 54/46 favourite when the chips went in but I was unable to improve. No regrets, I’d play the hand exactly the same way again.
After a lengthy downswing I’m relieved to see my balance is slowly climbing again, in fact nine of my last eleven playing days have returned a profit. Upwards progress is very welcome of course, though it’s going a bit slower that I’d like. I feel I’m playing well, it would be nice if a bink or two came my way to speed things up a little.
August poker points 9
6685788HNL0.1GBPSkyPoker01/08/2012 16:43NL Hold'em £1 + £0.18/16-£1.16683959HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker01/08/2012 13:30NL Hold'em £3 + £0.354/81-£3.36683637HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker01/08/2012 12:22NL Hold'em £3 + £0.33/84£11.82
Closing balance £670.76
(up £21.82 today)
I came close to breaking my £5.75 Bounty Hunter jinx this morning but had to settle for another third place after a ding-dong final table battle. It started badly; in level 1 I found myself down to only 600 chips after my AK met the Q8o of a bingo player on an AQ8 flop. I fought all the way back and was up to second in chips before taking a vicious beat with 8 players left; my flopped set of aces losing to Ks9s on a QdAsJh flop. That left put me back below average, but I fought back again. All three stacks were level at one point during 3-handed play, chips were traded back and forth, but with stacks getting increasingly shallow the inevitable all-in pre-flop confrontation didn’t go my way when my A9 lost to JJ blind vs blind. I’d have been heads-up and chip leader had I won that pot. Losing left me half a big blind and condemned to finishing third. On such things poker tournaments are decided.
In the afternoon I entered a cheapie, just a £1 freezeout, only paying minimal attention to the poker while I watched the Olympics. I had a fun run in a weak field but found myself struck down once again by a case of late stages run-bad. At the final table with 4 left from 73 entrants I 3-bet shoved AK from the SB over a button open. The button made what I consider to be a terrible call with A3o, a hold would have seen him eliminated and given me 60% of the chips in play. However, he got there and I found myself down to fourth of four with only 15BB. I went out in the next orbit when I open shoved 55 from the button and lost the flip against KJ.
August poker points 18
6689992HNL 0.1GBPSkyPoker02/08/2012 17:19NL Hold'em £1 + £0.14/73£6.26688840HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker02/08/2012 14:05NL Hold'em £5 + £0.753/46£15.62
Closing balance £670.76
Didn’t play
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day 209 August 4th 2012
Closing balance £702.49
(up £31.73 today)
Most of my attention is being focussed on the Olympics coverage at the moment, so I’m sticking to low/micro stakes poker games for the time being.
My only run of note today came in an evening £5.75 Bounty Hunter. It was another near miss as I came 2nd from 64 runners. I don't mind admitting I ran super well to get deep by making two big suckouts on the way; QQ>AA and 88>99, both aipf, and both times I spiked my 3-outer on the river. I feel no guilt whatsoever for dishing out the suck-outs as I've seen so many go against me lately, including beats I took in other tournaments today.
When heads-up I held the lead a couple of times, but I have to admit I was out-played by the winner, he was very strong and made life ****. For that reason I didn’t feel too bad being runner-up this time because the best man won, it was more annoying when I finished second in other £5.75s earlier in this quest due to bad beats.
While it’s frustrating that I still haven’t managed to break my £5.75 quest duck despite another good opportunity, it certainly is pleasing to see my balance go past the £700 mark again. My pre-downswing peak balance of £708.33 is now firmly in my sights.
August poker points 46
6697909HNL0.3GBPSkyPoker05/08/2012 00:32NL Hold'em £3 + £0.3208/392-£3.36698595HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker04/08/2012 21:36NL Hold'em £5 + £0.752/64£44.26698435HNL0.3GBPSkyPoker04/08/2012 18:06NL Hold'em £3 + £0.334/56-£3.36700385HNLT,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker04/08/2012 18:06NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.956700358HNLT,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker04/08/2012 18:01NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.056700224HNLT,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker04/08/2012 17:27NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.956698590HNL0.1GBPSkyPoker04/08/2012 17:12NL Hold'em £1 + £0.17/28-£1.16696956HNL0.2GBPSkyPoker04/08/2012 16:56NL Hold'em £2 + £0.246/79-£2.26700020HNLT,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker04/08/2012 16:43NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.956696696HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker04/08/2012 15:14NL Hold'em £2 + £0.39/42-£1.55
keep it going m8,
best wishes
dev
Gary, so you & Dev do have separate Mojos.
Week long heater - long may it continue.
Very magnaminous with your comments on the hu - clearly you are a true gent too.
GELDY
Closing balance £716.94
(up £14.45 today)
No luck in my morning tournaments today. Fields were bigger than average and as usual on a Sunday there were plenty of bad players at the tables. However I couldn’t make enough big hands or big holds to get me past the massed ranks of bingo gamblers and calling stations.
In the afternoon I had a near miss in a £3 freezeout coming 3rd/66. I spent most of the tournament as a short stack before going on a hot streak and moving up to chipleader when we went to final table. When we got down to 4-handed things started to go pear-shaped; my strong hole-cards dried up and I couldn’t connect with flops. Meanwhile forum reg Maxally was doing an incredible laddering job, he’d spent the entire time at the final table to that point in the 2 to 5 big blind range, somehow doubling once every couple of orbits to survive. A spot of bad luck was the beginning of the end for me; Maxally, who'd started to build a workable stack by then, open shoved K8 from the button and managed to outdraw the pocket jacks I held on the big blind. It doubled him up and put me down to fourth of four. I tried to fight back but hit the rail when I jammed my KQ into Maxally’s A5 and failed improve.
The best news of the day is that I'm at a new highest balance. I'm very happy to at long last surpass the £708.33 I posted way back on June 15th.
August poker points 59
6702235HNL0.3GBPSkyPoker05/08/2012 17:01NL Hold'em £3 + £0.33/66£24.426698422HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker05/08/2012 16:15NL Hold'em £2 + £0.319/168-£0.626699406OPL0.0GBPSkyPoker05/08/2012 16:13PL Omaha Hi £0 + £0202/354£06700860HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker05/08/2012 14:34NL Hold'em £2 + £0.316/35-£2.36700974HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker05/08/2012 14:04NL Hold'em £3 + £0.325/95-£2.176700748HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker05/08/2012 12:50NL Hold'em £3 + £0.332/100-£3.36700171HNL0.2GBPSkyPoker05/08/2012 12:26NL Hold'em £2 + £0.249/74-£2.2
Closing balance £717.79
(up 85p today)
Nothing went my way in the first few games. I saw it all; set under set coolers, runner-runner beats, two outers hitting on the river, etc. Pick of the annoyances was losing a £5.25 HU STT after getting it in good only to outdrawn in comedy fashion three times in a row. After a run of small successes over the last couple of weeks I’d have no right to complain about a losing day and was resigned to drawing a complete blank.
However, the last game, just a small £1 rebuy, was a surprise day-saver and cancelled out the losses. For the first ninety minutes I was flying and always in the top two. Then things went downhill and I found myself eighth of eight and seemingly doomed to another blank. However I managed to work the short-stack all the way to a second place finish. Amazing I was only all-in and called once in that time (from eight left to two left), winning an 22>AQ flip. Meanwhile others kept falling around me as all the chips all gravitated to a runaway chipleader and laddering me to the last two. I went into HU with only 8BB and busted in the second hand with KT<A2 aipf.
August poker points 73
6706902HNL 0.1GBPSkyPoker06/08/2012 17:09NL Hold'em £1 + £0.12/24£136705579HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker06/08/2012 15:28NL Hold'em £2 + £0.317/30-£2.36704972HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker06/08/2012 14:32NL Hold'em £2 + £0.316/25-£2.36707729HNLT,HU0.25GBPSkyPoker06/08/2012 14:30NL Hold'em £5 + £0.252/2-£5.256707771HNLT,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker06/08/2012 14:04NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.956707737HNLT,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker06/08/2012 13:59NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.05
Closing balance £736.32
(up £14.43 today, exc. C4P)
I was in home in time for both of the morning £3.30 Bounty Hunters today. Fields were surprisingly big for a weekday, but also like minefields again with plenty of poor players making questionable plays. I made big holds with premium pairs to start well in both games. In the 9-45 I couldn’t maintain the momentum quite long enough. I bubbled in 14th/96 when a very aggressive player with a monster stack open shoved from the SB onto my BB. He was ruthlessly using the bubble to run over the rest of the table, fair enough, I would too in his position. I had only 11BB behind and knew his range was any two cards so I made the call with A4. I was ahead but my overcard was unable to make a hold against his 65o.
The 10-45 went a little better; my tight/aggressive approach taking me all the way to the final table. Unfortunately a pretty harsh late stages cooler busted me in fourth place. While in 2nd/4 from 82 starters I 4-bet shoved my QQ from the button into the chipleader’s KK on the big blind. With stacks fairly shallow at the time, mine was 19BB, I’m never folding pocket QQ in that spot.
When I logged back on to Sky in the afternoon the only MTT due off (apart from a whole load of satellites to evening tournaments in which I’m unable to play) was a £2.30 Bounty Hunter. This time I couldn’t find my way past the calling stations. In level 2 I lost more than half of my stack with AJ to a player holding 24o who called my 3x open and flop c-bet OOP, even though he’d completely missed the flop. The 2 on the turn and 4 on the river won him the pot. From there I couldn’t find a way back and eventually busted to the 24o guy with AK<44 aipf.
I’ve mixed feelings about my recent results. It’s pleasing to note that I haven’t had a losing day for two weeks, and obviously I can’t complain about another new highest balance. But it’s been a slow climb fuelled by a whole load of near-misses. Making frequent final tables for a small profit is all well and good, but I’d prefer to see some first place finishes mixed in there too to really get things moving.
My July Cash for Points bonus of £4.10 was credited to my account today.
August poker points 82
(results to follow)
keep going m8,
every little cash takes you that little bit closer.
keep doing the right things & i'm sure the "big cash"will still come.
dev
Closing balance £729.99
(down £6.33 today)
I tried my luck in 3 Bounty Hunter tournaments this morning; my usual two £3.30s and a £5.75.
In the 9-45 after finding myself a bit short after early skirmishes I went out quite early in an AJ<AQ button vs big blind cooler.
Next up was the £5.75 game in which I found myself at a wild bingo table. I doubled early, missing a head-prize by only 15 chips, though after that not much went my way. I ran fairly deep but eventually busted with TT<AQ aipf in a blind v blind flip. The SB limp/called his AQ, slowrolling me in the process by running his timebar all the way down to the last second before calling.
The 10-45 started well, after 30 minutes I was chipleader with a head-prize, but a card-dead spell followed by failing to fade a two-outer with two to come put me down below average after an hour. I fought back and was 4th/11 approaching the bubble. When 3 of us saw a KTJ flop I was loving life with my AQ being the nuts. All three stacks went in on the flop making for a massive pot in the middle. It was the ultimate ‘action flop’; I was up against KJ, and K3 with a flush-draw. Although my hand was favourite I needed to fade a whole load of outs for a treble-up. Unfortunately the flush draw got there on the turn to take two of us out. A hold would have given me my third bounty prize, the chiplead, and a great chance to go on and win the tournament, it just wasn’t meant to be this time.
In the afternoon I returned to play a £2.30 Bounty Hunter that was an event in the Forum Team Olympics Competition. This made for an unusual dynamic as outlasting my opponents from rival teams was more important that playing for the win. My starting table was very awkward with an ‘any two will do’ maniac who raced into a big chiplead by somehow busting other players with K5>KK aipf, 87>KQ>99 3-ways aipf, and QT>QQ all-in on the flop with a draw. Hence I kept it very tight, but managed a crucial early double with JJ>KT aipf to give me breathing room. In the mid-stages I won a big flip with my AK outdrawing TT with 60% of my stack in the middle.
Eventually there were only two of us left from the forum competition and we were both playing uber-tight as we desperately tryied to outlast each other. I never stall usually, but I had to do what I had to do today with team honour being at stake!
We both made it to final table as the shortest two stacks, which was also the bubble with 5 to be paid. My forum rival was to my left, we were both short and I twice managed to get open shoves through against him to edge ahead. My shoved hole cards were 25o then A7s (yes, 25o, he could only call with a premium for his tournament life on the bubble and with the gold medal on the line, I had now become the 'any two will do' player!).
Eventually, when getting increasing short, my Olympics rival busted in a flip against another player. That meant the ‘gold medal’ was mine! My nitty play to that point had left me short in fifth of five, I soon found what seemed a good shove spot with 55 on the SB and three limpers in the pot. Unfortunately one of the limpers was trapping with KK and that was me out. At least I’d made a min-cash as well as the medal.
So my long-overdue losing day has finally arrived. I don’t mind at all to be honest, I’ve had a good run over the last fortnight. It's only a small dent and I’m very pleased to have won the gold medal for Team51.
‘On wards and upwards!’
August poker points 99
6714367HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker08/08/2012 16:33NL Hold'em £2 + £0.35/46£3.766713981HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker08/08/2012 13:15NL Hold'em £3 + £0.310/60-£1.046713882HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker08/08/2012 13:04NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7514/42-£5.756713629HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker08/08/2012 13:02NL Hold'em £3 + £0.345/76-£3.3