My freeroll table was a little jerky and slow to react. You could tell the site was under some strain, though to be fair it stayed playable and I didn't time-out or anything like that.
This afternoon I tried my luck in three £2.30 Bounty Hunters without any return. I saw plenty of wild players getting their stacks in light, unfortunately I was unable to benefit, no premium pairs came my way and I was missing all flops seen. I had a go at the super-fast structured Eliminator trial courtesy of a free seat awarded in the forum. With blinds rising very rapidly due to 1 minute levels I was coolered when I jammed ATs from the button into AA in the blinds.
In HU STTs the deck was much kinder to me, particularly in post-flop play where I seemed to complete more drawing hands than usual. Two of the matches were against forum regular CraigSG1 who was playing HU STTs for the first ever time. Despite that Craig’s play was very impressive, I found him to be a much tougher opponent than most who turn up at the lower buy-ins.
I’ll have a crack at the £1,000 freeroll this evening. If you’re drawn at my table I’ll be gambling early, happy to double or bust at the first opportunity. Edit; early casualty in the freeroll, my Q9 no good vs K4o on a QK9r flop.
It wasn’t the best of days for me poker-wise, particularly in MTTs in which I seem to have embarked on a bit of a downswing. I’ve now failed to cash in anything since Wednesday.
Quite early into the session I had a sign it wasn’t going to be my day. While well above average in a £2.30 Bounty Hunter I was a bit unlucky in a hand that could have given me a runaway chip lead. My pocket 44 turned a set with AT74 on the board against AT and a nut-flush draw. The Tc was the ultimate 'action river' as all three of us improved; I filled up to a full-house, the nut-flush got there too, though unfortunately the guy with two pairs completed a higher full-house to bust both of us and scoop a monster pot.
In a £2.20 Scary there was a near miss. I bubbled (came fourth with three places paid) soon after doubling a shortie with KJ<K7 aipf at the final table. Had I held I’d have been chipleader with five left. As it was the shortie went on to win £15.60 for second place. Such is the nature of fast structured tournament poker.
In another Bounty Hunter I managed to bust myself after making an embarrassing blunder. While opening the betting with KJs in mid-position I accidentally mistyped my bet, the addition of an extra digit made it 25BB to go and committed me to the pot. I got shoved on………by pocket AA of course.
In the afternoon I late registered into a £1.60 micro satellite to the £10K Bounty Hunter on the spur of the moment. Had I looked at the structure first I wouldn’t have bothered; it was a hyper shove-fest with little skill involved. I’m not a big fan of satellites in general, micro-satellites in particular. Obviously they’re good business for the site, though in my opinion that they represent poor value for the players compared to direct buy-ins. It’s unlikely I’ll enter any more satellites for now, particularly while my balance is still this low.
My results in HU STTs were erratic. Some of the bad players I encountered got lucky to beat me, yet when I was sat opposite a tough opponent it was my turn to win by getting it in 30/70 behind and binking.
I had to check the hand history to make sure I didn't imagine this. Yesterday's weirdest call, the villain is playing the board, the best he can hope for is a chop if I'm doing the same with two cards 6 or lower. I still couldn't beat this guy, he came back to win the match;
My downswing continues. I ran terribly in just about everything I entered today. Finding myself the wrong side of coolers, losing all-ins no matter what my equity and getting rivered by opponents who’ve made unwise calls are the sort of things that are plaguing me at the moment. Runs like this are no fun, though completely standard, particularly when it comes to MTTs. I'm sure all of you who play poker regularly will know exactly how it feels.
My nearest tournament miss came in the 9-45am Bounty Hunter. After outplaying my table for an hour and a half I quickly went from a position of strength to busting in 18th/79. First off I lost a flip when I jammed pocket 88 from the button over a serial limper. He made the call for his last 13BB with AJo and hit to double-up. A few orbits later the same guy busted me. With a level jump imminent I open jammed my last 16BB with AKs from the cut-off. He had me covered by only 16 chips and considered his QTo good enough to call on the big blind. It’s a call I want, I’m a 2/1 favourite and I’ll find myself back up to fifth place if I win. The times I lose, like today, all I can do is take it on the chin and move onto the next game.
In HU STTs I played several weekend ‘bingo’ players but couldn’t make the holds necessary to beat them.
My balance has fallen into dangerous territory again. I can’t continue to allow my hard earned cash to bleed away in MTTs any longer. For now I’m going to switch back to focussing on micro-stakes STTs where the variance is lower and do my best to rebuild.
What more can I do? These two hands from my final game today, a HU STT, sum up my day pretty well;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceb Small blind 10.00 10.00 1070.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 20.00 30.00 1900.00 Your hole cards A K b All-in 1070.00 1100.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Call 1060.00 2160.00 840.00 b Show K 9 GaryQQQ Show A K Flop A 2 K Turn 3 River 6 b Win Flush to the Ace 2160.00 2160.00
I think your discipline to do this is really impressive and i don't think it's in any doubt that you will get there. Question for you though. Are you not costing yourself money doing this? As a winning player, are you not lowering your earnings from the game by not playing your normal stakes? I guess if you're playing other sites as well it's no problem. Good luck
Hi Gary I think your discipline to do this is really impressive and i don't think it's in any doubt that you will get there. Question for you though. Are you not costing yourself money doing this? As a winning player, are you not lowering your earnings from the game by not playing your normal stakes? I guess if you're playing other sites as well it's no problem. Good luck Posted by Jac35
Hi Jac, thank-you.
The answer to your question is; maybe a little bit, but I really don't mind.
Yes, I do play on other sites, I always have, though Sky remains my poker home and favourite site. In January when I had no money here and was restricted to freerolls on Sky I was also busy grinding out the sign-up bonus on a well known .fr site.
For most of this challenge I'll be playing my normal games anyway. Because my playing hours are restricted to late morning and afternoons I'm normally found playing in low stakes tournaments, there's simply not much else running.
My main motivation for playing poker is because I enjoy it, not because I want to make money playing it. You could say I'm a typical recreational player. The satisfaction of completing this challenge will be worth far more to me than a small decrease in my normal profits during the early stages.
In Response to Re: 1,000 Poker Points ----- /> £1,000 Can it be done? Latest balance £56.30 : Hi Jac, thank-you. The answer to your question is; maybe a little bit, but I really don't mind. Yes, I do play on other sites, I always have, though Sky remains my poker home and favourite site. In January when I had no money here and was restricted to freerolls on Sky I was also busy grinding out the sign-up bonus on a well known .fr site. For most of this challenge I'll be playing my normal games anyway. Because my playing hours are restricted to late morning and afternoons I'm normally found playing in low stakes tournaments, there's simply not much else running. My main motivation for playing poker is because I enjoy it, not because I want to make money playing it. You could say I'm a typical recreational player. The satisfaction of completing this challenge will be worth far more to me than a small decrease in my normal profits during the early stages. Posted by GaryQQQ
In Response to Re: 1,000 Poker Points ----- /> £1,000 Can it be done? Latest balance £56.30 : Hi Jac, thank-you. The answer to your question is; maybe a little bit, but I really don't mind. Yes, I do play on other sites, I always have, though Sky remains my poker home and favourite site. In January when I had no money here and was restricted to freerolls on Sky I was also busy grinding out the sign-up bonus on a well known .fr site. For most of this challenge I'll be playing my normal games anyway. Because my playing hours are restricted to late morning and afternoons I'm normally found playing in low stakes tournaments, there's simply not much else running. My main motivation for playing poker is because I enjoy it, not because I want to make money playing it. You could say I'm a typical recreational player. The satisfaction of completing this challenge will be worth far more to me than a small decrease in my normal profits during the early stages. Posted by GaryQQQ
Vespa is right Gary that is a great post.
Pretty much what I thought and love of the game is what it should be all about.
Always nice to make a profit at the same time but if we don't enjoy what we're doing we may as well just be at work doing overtime as playing poker. ( I'm sure there should be a comma in the last sentence )
I'm sure you don't need to be told this as you are like the wiseman of poker on the forum, but keep your head up Gary and keep doing the right things and i'm sure you will ride out the downswing and carry on with the great progress you have shown to get to the point you are at so far.
To my relief my decision to temporarily ditch MTTs bore fruit. I only had time for five heads-up matches today though results were pleasing, I won four and chalked-up my first profitable day since Wednesday.
It was also good to get back to enjoying some proper games of poker against competent players after facing the weekend maniacs. Only one of my opponents today adopted the level one all-in bingo tactics that were being used by the majority yesterday.
Slow speed HU matches have been a great bankroll builder for me so far. A couple of people have suggested I use them to go all the way to £1K, gradually upping the stakes as I go. However there’s absolutely no way I’ll be doing that. For a start I’d find it too boring, secondly I’d be facing much tougher opponents on average at the higher buy-ins and my ROI would fall accordingly. MTTs are my game of choice and by far the most profitable form of poker for me. I still expect them to generate at least £800 of the £1,000 profit required. Once my balance is comfortable I’ll switch back to playing mainly MTTs. I’ll still mix in some STTs when I need an extra push to help me reach the 500 point C4P threshold, or when I simply don’t have time for anything else.
I played a mix of STTs, finishing slightly up at the end of my session.
Results were a bit all over the place. I was beaten by some terrible players, including one guy who defeated me HU by winning from behind three times, including calling my re-shove for his stack after completing from the small blind with J4o. In contrast when I played my toughest HU opponent, someone I felt was better than me, I won soon after binking a 27/73 aipf pot with an outkicked ace to survive.
This unpredictability is one of the things that makes poker such a great game. Anybody can win on their day, regardless of their skill and experience compared to their opponent.If you put a chess novice up against a Grandmaster it would be a pointless exercise, he would have absolutely no chance of winning. If you put a poker novice up against Phil Ivey and gave them a shallow stack each the novice is in with a reasonable chance.
Over the next few days my volume will be even lower than usual. I’m going to be quite busy with non-poker stuff as I need to tie-up loose ends ahead of my imminent holiday. Today’s job was catching-up on business paperwork, though with it being me I couldn’t resist having a few mixed STTs going on the side.
Initially results were frustrating. I struggled to get past some calling stations in HU matches. One guy in particular was almost unbeatable today. This hand pretty much sums our matches; in level 1 he decided to open limp 83o on the SB and call my re-raise to 4BB. The flop comes down AK8, I have AK so I’m pretty happy at this point. He opted to call my c-bet, also my turn bet, then caught his two-outer on the river. I smelt a rat and checked the river back, probably losing the minimum under the circumstances.
The session ended better than it started. With the paperwork finished I gave the poker my full focus for a while and results improved. I particularly enjoyed a Scary 6-max STT win after using bubble-bully tactics to totally run over my opponents during three-handed play.
All things considered I’m pleased with results over the last three days. Switching back to STTs seems to have stopped the downswing in its tracks and I’m happy to be heading the right way again. While using the aggressive 20 buy-in rule I knew I was putting my balance in peril. I’m rethinking my BRM strategy at the moment. I now feel a 30 buy-in rule might be more prudent. That will require a balance of £69.00+ before I start buying into £2.30 Bounty Hunters again.
gary i have been reading your diary for the last week,and im truly amazed at your progress,and how patiently you have approached it.
Last year i turned 0,into £300 in 1 day only to lose the lot the next,i won a freeroll and then cash gmes,until my luck,and some serious bad play cost me the whole lot.
so i wish you all the best with your challenge,
it can be done,just have to be patient,and good bankroll management
Thanks very much judge and Daz for your words of encouragement.
Day 56
Closing Balance £52.21
Didn't play, no change
I was too busy with non poker stuff to play today. Tomorrow I have less lined up, so I'm hoping to get at least a couple of hours worth of STTs in.
In February I only earned 262 Poker Points so I won't be receiving a C4P payment any time soon. It's hardly surprising, I only played a low volume and all of that was at micro-stakes. I won't be earning C4P in March either as I'll be taking a two week break. Hopefully come April my volume will increase to the point where I start exceeding the monthly 500 point threshold.
February had many highs, and a few lows, but overall I consider the month to be a big success. Here's why;
Opening balances 1/2/13; Cash £11.52, Poker Points 223
Closing balances 28/2/13; Cash £52.21, Poker Points 350
So my cash balance increased by a massive 353%. I couldn't ask for more, in fact it's unlikely I'll see such a huge percentage increase again in any future month on the road to £1K. If I can even get close I'll be delighted.
It wasn’t easy to get a game today. Apart from a couple of regs multi-tabling DYMs there wasn’t much traffic in the micro STT lobby during my session. At one point I even resorted to joining Moonlit81’s turbo HU table for a quick match. Moonlit81 is probably the strongest opponent regularly playing HU at the same level as me right now so I usually prefer to give him/her a wide berth.
A poor player who caught some lucky cards beat me in my first HU match, though things improved after that and I went on to win 6/8 games. I came away empty handed from a £1.15 SnG Bounty Hunter, my pocket 88 failing to hold against a limp/caller with AJo when I found a great squeeze/shove spot for a pot worth the chiplead at a soft table.
This week’s £1,000 Freerolls look very attractive. I can’t play this evening because it runs at a very awkward time for me (alarm set for 12-20am tonight). However after tomorrow I have a fortnight off work, so I’ll be entering the freerolls on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Starting Tuesday I’ll be taking a break from online poker for around two weeks.
I don't post hands here too often, but I was pleased with this one today, I believe it's the first straight flush I've made since starting this diary. Come the river I was hoping my opponent held the nut-flush or 7d for a lower straight flush, in which I almost certainly win a full double. My river bet size was carefully chosen to get crying calls from weaker flushes, as turned out to be the case, also to give the illusion of fold equity to nut/second nut flushes that might decide to re-shove.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalancex Small blind 20.00 20.00 1706.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 40.00 60.00 1234.00 Your hole cards 7 Q x Raise 60.00 120.00 1646.00 GaryQQQ Call 40.00 160.00 1194.00 Flop 9 J 5 GaryQQQ Check x Bet 40.00 200.00 1606.00 GaryQQQ Call 40.00 240.00 1154.00 Turn 10 GaryQQQ Check x Bet 40.00 280.00 1566.00 GaryQQQ Raise 120.00 400.00 1034.00 x Call 80.00 480.00 1486.00 River 8 GaryQQQ Bet 200.00 680.00 834.00 xCall 200.00 880.00 1286.00 GaryQQQ Show 7 Q x Muck 3 2 GaryQQQ Win Straight Flush to the Queen 880.00 1714.00
Comments
My freeroll table was a little jerky and slow to react. You could tell the site was under some strain, though to be fair it stayed playable and I didn't time-out or anything like that.
Closing Balance £71.15
Down £3.10 today
This afternoon I tried my luck in three £2.30 Bounty Hunters without any return. I saw plenty of wild players getting their stacks in light, unfortunately I was unable to benefit, no premium pairs came my way and I was missing all flops seen. I had a go at the super-fast structured Eliminator trial courtesy of a free seat awarded in the forum. With blinds rising very rapidly due to 1 minute levels I was coolered when I jammed ATs from the button into AA in the blinds.
In HU STTs the deck was much kinder to me, particularly in post-flop play where I seemed to complete more drawing hands than usual. Two of the matches were against forum regular CraigSG1 who was playing HU STTs for the first ever time. Despite that Craig’s play was very impressive, I found him to be a much tougher opponent than most who turn up at the lower buy-ins.
I’ll have a crack at the £1,000 freeroll this evening. If you’re drawn at my table I’ll be gambling early, happy to double or bust at the first opportunity. Edit; early casualty in the freeroll, my Q9 no good vs K4o on a QK9r flop.
Today’s results;
7607833HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker22/02/2013 16:20NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957607481HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker22/02/2013 15:46NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957607487HNLT,SAT0.05GBPSkyPoker22/02/2013 15:00NL Hold'em £0.55 + £0.0543/48-£0.67605753HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker22/02/2013 14:45NL Hold'em £2 + £0.36/15-£2.37607416HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker22/02/2013 13:52NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957605371HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker22/02/2013 13:45NL Hold'em £2 + £0.315/27-£2.37607190HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker22/02/2013 13:34NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957605029HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker22/02/2013 12:45NL Hold'em £2 + £0.329/41-£2.3
Closing Balance £56.30
Down £14.85 today
It wasn’t the best of days for me poker-wise, particularly in MTTs in which I seem to have embarked on a bit of a downswing. I’ve now failed to cash in anything since Wednesday.
Quite early into the session I had a sign it wasn’t going to be my day. While well above average in a £2.30 Bounty Hunter I was a bit unlucky in a hand that could have given me a runaway chip lead. My pocket 44 turned a set with AT74 on the board against AT and a nut-flush draw. The Tc was the ultimate 'action river' as all three of us improved; I filled up to a full-house, the nut-flush got there too, though unfortunately the guy with two pairs completed a higher full-house to bust both of us and scoop a monster pot.
In a £2.20 Scary there was a near miss. I bubbled (came fourth with three places paid) soon after doubling a shortie with KJ<K7 aipf at the final table. Had I held I’d have been chipleader with five left. As it was the shortie went on to win £15.60 for second place. Such is the nature of fast structured tournament poker.
In another Bounty Hunter I managed to bust myself after making an embarrassing blunder. While opening the betting with KJs in mid-position I accidentally mistyped my bet, the addition of an extra digit made it 25BB to go and committed me to the pot. I got shoved on………by pocket AA of course.
In the afternoon I late registered into a £1.60 micro satellite to the £10K Bounty Hunter on the spur of the moment. Had I looked at the structure first I wouldn’t have bothered; it was a hyper shove-fest with little skill involved. I’m not a big fan of satellites in general, micro-satellites in particular. Obviously they’re good business for the site, though in my opinion that they represent poor value for the players compared to direct buy-ins. It’s unlikely I’ll enter any more satellites for now, particularly while my balance is still this low.
My results in HU STTs were erratic. Some of the bad players I encountered got lucky to beat me, yet when I was sat opposite a tough opponent it was my turn to win by getting it in 30/70 behind and binking.
Today’s results;
7614288HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker23/02/2013 21:54NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057614089HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker23/02/2013 21:26NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957611305HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker23/02/2013 20:05NL Hold'em £2 + £0.3153/355-£2.37613662HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker23/02/2013 19:57NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957613429HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker23/02/2013 19:34NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057613347HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker23/02/2013 18:46NL Hold'em £0.5 + £0.051/2£0.457613088HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker23/02/2013 18:23NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057611069HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker23/02/2013 18:00NL Hold'em £2 + £0.3187/201-£2.37612668HNLST,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker23/02/2013 17:24NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057612936HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker23/02/2013 17:18NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057612838HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker23/02/2013 17:11NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957610531HNLST0.2GBPSkyPoker23/02/2013 15:55NL Hold'em £2 + £0.24/26-£2.27612633HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker23/02/2013 15:53NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057612500HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker23/02/2013 15:36NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957611586HNLSAT0.16GBPSkyPoker23/02/2013 15:10NL Hold'em £1.44 + £0.1626/40-£1.67612364HNLT,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker23/02/2013 14:45NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957610095HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker23/02/2013 14:45NL Hold'em £2 + £0.327/42-£1.557609902HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker23/02/2013 14:15NL Hold'em £2 + £0.329/35-£2.37612249HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker23/02/2013 14:01NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957609702HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker23/02/2013 13:45NL Hold'em £2 + £0.351/54-£2.37612022HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker23/02/2013 13:38NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.95
Oooops! What went up is now coming back down.
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/7866/graphday52.jpg
Closing Balance £43.41
Down £12.89 today
My downswing continues. I ran terribly in just about everything I entered today. Finding myself the wrong side of coolers, losing all-ins no matter what my equity and getting rivered by opponents who’ve made unwise calls are the sort of things that are plaguing me at the moment. Runs like this are no fun, though completely standard, particularly when it comes to MTTs. I'm sure all of you who play poker regularly will know exactly how it feels.
My nearest tournament miss came in the 9-45am Bounty Hunter. After outplaying my table for an hour and a half I quickly went from a position of strength to busting in 18th/79. First off I lost a flip when I jammed pocket 88 from the button over a serial limper. He made the call for his last 13BB with AJo and hit to double-up. A few orbits later the same guy busted me. With a level jump imminent I open jammed my last 16BB with AKs from the cut-off. He had me covered by only 16 chips and considered his QTo good enough to call on the big blind. It’s a call I want, I’m a 2/1 favourite and I’ll find myself back up to fifth place if I win. The times I lose, like today, all I can do is take it on the chin and move onto the next game.
In HU STTs I played several weekend ‘bingo’ players but couldn’t make the holds necessary to beat them.
My balance has fallen into dangerous territory again. I can’t continue to allow my hard earned cash to bleed away in MTTs any longer. For now I’m going to switch back to focussing on micro-stakes STTs where the variance is lower and do my best to rebuild.
Today’s results;
7617432HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker24/02/2013 17:33NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057617423HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker24/02/2013 17:24NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057617075HNLST,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker24/02/2013 16:25NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957617181HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker24/02/2013 16:18NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057617094HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker24/02/2013 16:12NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057617062HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker24/02/2013 16:02NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057614568HNL 0.2GBPSkyPoker24/02/2013 14:20NL Hold'em £2 + £0.227/36-£2.27614542HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker24/02/2013 14:15NL Hold'em £2 + £0.313/33-£2.37616154HNL6MX,ST0.05GBPSkyPoker24/02/2013 12:43NL Hold'em £0.5 + £0.055/6-£0.557613916HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker24/02/2013 12:15NL Hold'em £2 + £0.316/25-£2.37616229HNL6MX,DN0.15GBPSkyPoker24/02/2013 12:12NL Hold'em £1 + £0.155/6-£1.157616228HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker24/02/2013 11:55NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957613731HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker24/02/2013 09:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.318/79-£1.04
What more can I do? These two hands from my final game today, a HU STT, sum up my day pretty well;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceb Small blind 10.00 10.00 1070.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 20.00 30.00 1900.00 Your hole cards A K b All-in 1070.00 1100.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Call 1060.00 2160.00 840.00 b Show K 9 GaryQQQ Show A K Flop A 2 K Turn 3 River 6 b Win Flush to the Ace 2160.00 2160.00
I think your discipline to do this is really impressive and i don't think it's in any doubt that you will get there.
Question for you though. Are you not costing yourself money doing this?
As a winning player, are you not lowering your earnings from the game by not playing your normal stakes?
I guess if you're playing other sites as well it's no problem.
Good luck
The answer to your question is; maybe a little bit, but I really don't mind.
Yes, I do play on other sites, I always have, though Sky remains my poker home and favourite site. In January when I had no money here and was restricted to freerolls on Sky I was also busy grinding out the sign-up bonus on a well known .fr site.
For most of this challenge I'll be playing my normal games anyway. Because my playing hours are restricted to late morning and afternoons I'm normally found playing in low stakes tournaments, there's simply not much else running.
My main motivation for playing poker is because I enjoy it, not because I want to make money playing it. You could say I'm a typical recreational player. The satisfaction of completing this challenge will be worth far more to me than a small decrease in my normal profits during the early stages.
Total respect Gary and carry on enjoying it :-)
Closing Balance £46.16
Up £2.75 today
To my relief my decision to temporarily ditch MTTs bore fruit. I only had time for five heads-up matches today though results were pleasing, I won four and chalked-up my first profitable day since Wednesday.
It was also good to get back to enjoying some proper games of poker against competent players after facing the weekend maniacs. Only one of my opponents today adopted the level one all-in bingo tactics that were being used by the majority yesterday.
Slow speed HU matches have been a great bankroll builder for me so far. A couple of people have suggested I use them to go all the way to £1K, gradually upping the stakes as I go. However there’s absolutely no way I’ll be doing that. For a start I’d find it too boring, secondly I’d be facing much tougher opponents on average at the higher buy-ins and my ROI would fall accordingly. MTTs are my game of choice and by far the most profitable form of poker for me. I still expect them to generate at least £800 of the £1,000 profit required. Once my balance is comfortable I’ll switch back to playing mainly MTTs. I’ll still mix in some STTs when I need an extra push to help me reach the 500 point C4P threshold, or when I simply don’t have time for anything else.
Today’s results;
7620749HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker25/02/2013 14:43NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957620744HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker25/02/2013 13:52NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957620659HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker25/02/2013 13:23NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957620615HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker25/02/2013 13:16NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057620426HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker25/02/2013 12:49NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.95
http://img547.imageshack.us/img547/651/graphday54.jpg
Closing Balance £48.41
Up £2.25 today
I played a mix of STTs, finishing slightly up at the end of my session.
Results were a bit all over the place. I was beaten by some terrible players, including one guy who defeated me HU by winning from behind three times, including calling my re-shove for his stack after completing from the small blind with J4o. In contrast when I played my toughest HU opponent, someone I felt was better than me, I won soon after binking a 27/73 aipf pot with an outkicked ace to survive.
This unpredictability is one of the things that makes poker such a great game. Anybody can win on their day, regardless of their skill and experience compared to their opponent. If you put a chess novice up against a Grandmaster it would be a pointless exercise, he would have absolutely no chance of winning. If you put a poker novice up against Phil Ivey and gave them a shallow stack each the novice is in with a reasonable chance.
Today’s results;
7625048HNLB0.15GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 16:28NL Hold'em £1 + £0.1510/10-£1.157625340HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 16:27NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957625228HNL6MX,DN0.15GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 16:27NL Hold'em £1 + £0.155/6-£1.157625318HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 16:21NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957625262HNLT,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 16:19NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057625239HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 16:01NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957625211HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 15:53NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957624989HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 15:00NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957625015HNLT,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 14:50NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957624877HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 14:44NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057624871HNL6MX,DN0.15GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 14:22NL Hold'em £1 + £0.155/6-£1.157624948HNLST,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 14:21NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957624865HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 13:49NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957624665HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 13:39NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057624687HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 13:20NL Hold'em £0.5 + £0.052/2-£0.557624312HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 12:36NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957624472HNL6MX,DN0.15GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 11:29NL Hold'em £1 + £0.151/6£0.85
Closing Balance £52.21
Up £3.80 today
Over the next few days my volume will be even lower than usual. I’m going to be quite busy with non-poker stuff as I need to tie-up loose ends ahead of my imminent holiday. Today’s job was catching-up on business paperwork, though with it being me I couldn’t resist having a few mixed STTs going on the side.
Initially results were frustrating. I struggled to get past some calling stations in HU matches. One guy in particular was almost unbeatable today. This hand pretty much sums our matches; in level 1 he decided to open limp 83o on the SB and call my re-raise to 4BB. The flop comes down AK8, I have AK so I’m pretty happy at this point. He opted to call my c-bet, also my turn bet, then caught his two-outer on the river. I smelt a rat and checked the river back, probably losing the minimum under the circumstances.
The session ended better than it started. With the paperwork finished I gave the poker my full focus for a while and results improved. I particularly enjoyed a Scary 6-max STT win after using bubble-bully tactics to totally run over my opponents during three-handed play.
All things considered I’m pleased with results over the last three days. Switching back to STTs seems to have stopped the downswing in its tracks and I’m happy to be heading the right way again. While using the aggressive 20 buy-in rule I knew I was putting my balance in peril. I’m rethinking my BRM strategy at the moment. I now feel a 30 buy-in rule might be more prudent. That will require a balance of £69.00+ before I start buying into £2.30 Bounty Hunters again.
Todays results;
7629320HNLT,6MX0.1GBPSkyPoker27/02/2013 15:54NL Hold'em £1 + £0.11/6£2.87628953HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker27/02/2013 15:49NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957629279HNLT,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker27/02/2013 15:05NL Hold'em £0.5 + £0.051/2£0.457628979HNL6MX,DN0.15GBPSkyPoker27/02/2013 13:48NL Hold'em £1 + £0.151/6£0.857628936HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker27/02/2013 13:04NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057628911HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker27/02/2013 12:33NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957628884HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker27/02/2013 12:26NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957628870HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker27/02/2013 12:19NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057628843HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker27/02/2013 12:01NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.05
Already done a awesome job making something from nothing.
Will follow this with interest.
GL
Daz
Day 56
Closing Balance £52.21
Didn't play, no change
I was too busy with non poker stuff to play today. Tomorrow I have less lined up, so I'm hoping to get at least a couple of hours worth of STTs in.
In February I only earned 262 Poker Points so I won't be receiving a C4P payment any time soon. It's hardly surprising, I only played a low volume and all of that was at micro-stakes. I won't be earning C4P in March either as I'll be taking a two week break. Hopefully come April my volume will increase to the point where I start exceeding the monthly 500 point threshold.
February had many highs, and a few lows, but overall I consider the month to be a big success. Here's why;
Opening balances 1/2/13; Cash £11.52, Poker Points 223
Closing balances 28/2/13; Cash £52.21, Poker Points 350
So my cash balance increased by a massive 353%. I couldn't ask for more, in fact it's unlikely I'll see such a huge percentage increase again in any future month on the road to £1K. If I can even get close I'll be delighted.
Closing Balance £54.66
Up £2.45 today
It wasn’t easy to get a game today. Apart from a couple of regs multi-tabling DYMs there wasn’t much traffic in the micro STT lobby during my session. At one point I even resorted to joining Moonlit81’s turbo HU table for a quick match. Moonlit81 is probably the strongest opponent regularly playing HU at the same level as me right now so I usually prefer to give him/her a wide berth.
A poor player who caught some lucky cards beat me in my first HU match, though things improved after that and I went on to win 6/8 games. I came away empty handed from a £1.15 SnG Bounty Hunter, my pocket 88 failing to hold against a limp/caller with AJo when I found a great squeeze/shove spot for a pot worth the chiplead at a soft table.
This week’s £1,000 Freerolls look very attractive. I can’t play this evening because it runs at a very awkward time for me (alarm set for 12-20am tonight). However after tomorrow I have a fortnight off work, so I’ll be entering the freerolls on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Starting Tuesday I’ll be taking a break from online poker for around two weeks.
Todays results;
7638097HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker01/03/2013 15:44NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957637965HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker01/03/2013 14:43NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957637631HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker01/03/2013 14:20NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957637667HNLB0.15GBPSkyPoker01/03/2013 14:02NL Hold'em £1 + £0.157/10-£1.157637467HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker01/03/2013 12:28NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957637526HNLT,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker01/03/2013 11:34NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957637357HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker01/03/2013 11:29NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057637281HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker01/03/2013 10:57NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957637008HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker01/03/2013 10:33NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.05
I don't post hands here too often, but I was pleased with this one today, I believe it's the first straight flush I've made since starting this diary. Come the river I was hoping my opponent held the nut-flush or 7d for a lower straight flush, in which I almost certainly win a full double. My river bet size was carefully chosen to get crying calls from weaker flushes, as turned out to be the case, also to give the illusion of fold equity to nut/second nut flushes that might decide to re-shove.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalancex Small blind 20.00 20.00 1706.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 40.00 60.00 1234.00 Your hole cards 7 Q x Raise 60.00 120.00 1646.00 GaryQQQ Call 40.00 160.00 1194.00 Flop 9 J 5 GaryQQQ Check x Bet 40.00 200.00 1606.00 GaryQQQ Call 40.00 240.00 1154.00 Turn 10 GaryQQQ Check x Bet 40.00 280.00 1566.00 GaryQQQ Raise 120.00 400.00 1034.00 x Call 80.00 480.00 1486.00 River 8 GaryQQQ Bet 200.00 680.00 834.00 xCall 200.00 880.00 1286.00 GaryQQQ Show 7 Q x Muck 3 2 GaryQQQ Win Straight Flush to the Queen 880.00 1714.00
best wishes
dev