In Response to Re: 1,000 Poker Points ----- /> £1,000 Can it be done? Latest balance £356.90 : Cheers Paul, thanks very much. If you spoke to me in chat and I ignored you I apologise; I was in mini-view for nearly all of that one. Good luck to you. Posted by GaryQQQ
No sweat man.Went on to take it down#minibrag lol.Pity I couldnt have quit there.Have went on a horrendous run at hu hypers and turbos.Somethin like 8 or 9 losses in a row.C'est la vie eh!!Stil showin a wee profit of 30 notes for today,so not to bad. Be good Paul
In Response to Re: 1,000 Poker Points ----- /> £1,000 Can it be done? Latest balance £356.90 : No sweat man.Went on to take it down#minibrag lol.Pity I couldnt have quit there.Have went on a horrendous run at hu hypers and turbos.Somethin like 8 or 9 losses in a row.C'est la vie eh!!Stil showin a wee profit of 30 notes for today,so not to bad. Be good Paul Posted by bignoise10
Nice one, well played. A good day to win it with more runners than usual on a bank holiday.
First up was two morning £3.30 Bounty Hunters. I went deep in the 9-45 but lost two late-stages flips to bust in 19/91. Had I won either race I’d have been a top 5 stack at the sharp end, so I have absolutely no regrets about taking those spots.
In the 10-45 I flipped better at the sharp end winning two out of three around the bubble. I also won with QJ on the button beating AK in the blinds for a double when I squeeze/shoved over a weak limp a few spots before the money. Just after the bubble burst I got unlucky and lost a huge aipf pot with QQ<66 aipf and looked destined for a min-cash when left in 12/12 with only 6BB. However I picked up some cards and shoved my way back into contention. My demise came on the final table bubble when I ran AJs my on the BB into pocket AA cunningly limped from the SB to trap, a disappointing end albeit an unavoidable cooler with all stacks shallow.
After a trip out at lunchtime I jumped in the first game to run after I returned home which was a small £2.30 Bounty Hunter. I feel I was the best player in the game but I had to make do with second place after a cruel beat when my AJ failed to hold aipf against A8 during heads-up play leaving me on fumes.
Tough spot with pocket jacks on the bubble of the £2.30 Bounty Hunter. The guy who open shoves here is a frequent limper who almost never raises pre-flop, this shove is totally out of character. I’d be very surprised if he plays AA or KK this way. I think his range is only strong hands that he doesn’t want to see a flop with. I feel AK is very likely, perhaps pairs TT to QQ too. At a tough table I may consider calling, however I prefer to take the low variance option and make a reluctant fold here. I feel I have enough of an edge over my opponents that gambling is unnecessary and that my best chance of victory lies in trying to outplay them in less risky spots.
Still not running too good in key late pots. £2.30 Bounty Hunter heads-up play;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalance* Small blind 500.00 500.00 21757.50 GaryQQQ Big blind 1000.00 1500.00 22742.50 Your hole cards J A * Raise 1500.00 3000.00 20257.50 GaryQQQ All-in 22742.50 25742.50 0.00 * All-in 20257.50 46000.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Unmatched bet 1485.00 44515.00 1485.00 * Show A 7 GaryQQQ Show J A Flop A 6 7 Turn 2 River 10 * Win Two Pairs, Aces and 7s 44515.00 44515.00
I got home from work just in time to enter the two £3.30 morning Bounty Hunters. In each I ran deep but came away with very little to show for it. I min-cashed in the 9-45 soon after losing 90% of my stack in a large ‘do or die’ pot on the stone-cold bubble with KQs<ATo aipf. In the 10-45 I exited close to the bubble when my pocket QQ was unable to hold-up against a player who employed an open-limp/call/call/call/call strategy with KJs from UTG to successfully make a flush.
After a couple of hours getting other stuff done I was planning to enter a couple of afternoon MTTs. though when it came down to it I was too tired and couldn’t be bothered. However, I did jump into a couple of HU STTs instead with one goal in mind; to set a new highest balance. I successfully got there to finish the day on happy note.
An early finish at work ensured I was home in time for the two morning £3.30 Bounty Hunters, this being the last chance I’ll get to enter them for several days. In the 9-45 I am happy with my play. I made good decisions but got unlucky in a couple of big all-in spots. I busted close to the money in the 10-45. After making an incorrect call for a huge pot I was coolered with my last 13BB, running my AQs into AK.
In the afternoon I busted a £2.30 when I lost a flip AKs<99.
I was flying in a standard speed £5.75 until an unwelcome dose of run-bad kicked in. First I lost a huge pot to a guy holding 45 who open-limped UTG, called my raise to 5x from the BB, called my big c-bet on a Q63r flop to get there and crack my pocket AA. My exit came a few orbits later when I jammed 18BB with A9 on the BB over the SB’s open-limp. The SB made a bewildering call with the mighty 26. The 8TJ flop looked pretty good for me but I was out when a 2 hit on the river.
Next I tried my luck in a Speed £5.75. Once again I seem to be jinxed at that buy-in. I went from a top 3 stack with 10 left to bust after losing with A7s<89o aipf then KJ<QJ aipf, each for a large pot and a head-prize. I’m getting pretty sick of these £5.75s again. Just like last year I can’t make the big holds when it really matters and they’re damaging my progress. It’ll be a big relief when I get the £5.75 BH monkey off my back.
May Poker Points 365 (£3.65)
Today’s results;
7993726HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker29/05/2013 15:45NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7510/35-£5.757994621HNLST,HU0.1GBPSkyPoker29/05/2013 14:32NL Hold'em £2 + £0.11/2£1.97993579HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker29/05/2013 14:30NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7538/93-£1.997992857HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker29/05/2013 13:45NL Hold'em £2 + £0.318/37-£2.37992571HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker29/05/2013 10:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.316/76£0.727992274HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker29/05/2013 09:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.320/73-£3.3 I always have it. Well, most of the time I have it.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalance* Small blind 40.00 40.00 5540.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 80.00 120.00 2050.00 Your hole cards 3 6 Pintpot Fold bigbird88 Fold IceCool884 Fold graham1965 Fold * Raise 120.00 240.00 5420.00 GaryQQQ Call 80.00 320.00 1970.00 Flop A 10 J * Bet 160.00 480.00 5260.00 GaryQQQ Raise 395.00 875.00 1575.00 *Fold Sigh, standard fare for me in £5.75 games. The villain in this hand went on to win the tournament;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceMsSHAMI Small blind 300.00 300.00 5327.50 * Big blind 600.00 900.00 3120.00 Your hole cards K J pointybird Fold roy4amy Fold GaryQQQ All-in 3790.00 4690.00 0.00 MsSHAMI Fold * All-in 3120.00 7810.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Unmatched bet 70.00 7740.00 70.00 * Show Q J GaryQQQ Show K J Flop 4 3 6 Turn 9 River A * Win Flush to the Jack 7740.00
keep going Gary mate i'm sure the next big cash will be coming very soon. I know exactly how you feel about losing at a certain level mate,as I had similar problems last year trying to beat the £5 dym's. lol it really does become a mental barrier in the end,doesn't it. keep making good decisions as you do,and you'll get there,i'm certain. gl today dev
Impressive diary you've done brilliant to get to the balance your currently at, seems like your running awful atm yet ur still having deep runs. First time Iv read this diary very interesting stuff, all u need to do now is break that 5.75 bh curse, good luck .
Because I’m busy with other stuff my poker volume is even lower than usual at the moment, and it’s going to stay that way the next couple of weeks.
All I had time for today was a £5.75 Bounty Hunter. I’m happy I played well but I didn’t get the cards to work with at the sharp end, twice getting coolered by short stacks with AJs<AKs and 77<JJ both aipf. Another deepish run, I'm making them consistantly still. I feel I just need to marry one one with some late stages luck and a bink will follow.
I'm pleased to note my balance grew from £256.59 to £361.61. That's a very healthy increase of £105.02, or 41.1%. Once again volume was low with only 373 Poker Points earned, so even fewer than the 409 earned in April.
That's much better than I expected to see when I looked back. My overall feeling that I haven't been running too well lately must be misplaced; if I could grow my bankroll by 41% every month I'd be a very rich man in not too much time!
Unfortunately I don't exect to be playing too much again in the first half of June. When I do play I intend to continue to focus mainly on Bounty Hunters at buy-ins of £2.30, £3.30 and £5.75. These tournaments are fairly soft and historically have been very profitable for me. I haven't played a single cash hand in this challenge so far and I don't see that changing any time soon. I may sit in a few HU STTs when I don't have time for a long session, but I expect MTTs to account for nearly all my action.
It would be nice to get the £5.75 monkey off my back sooner or later. The fields are no tougher to beat than at the micro buy-ins. I know I can do it, when the Poker Gods decide it's my turn to enjoy the late stages run-good it'll come.
Apart from banking little more than a min-cash for 15th/305 in the evening £500 gtd @£2.30 Bounty Hunter there was no joy for me at the tables today. I entered several other MTTs but drew a series of blanks. I’m not overly concerned as I feel I’m still playing well. It’s simply a case that the cards aren’t falling my way too often at the moment. It’s all standard MTT stuff; lost flips, coolers and the occasional out-draws.
My only other chance of a decent score came in my first game, an afternoon £5.75 Bounty Hunter. My demise came when set of fours couldn’t hold against pocket nines that called my post-flop bets and caught a two-outer on the river. A hold there would have put me in the top 3 with a big stack and 42 of the 126 entrants still alive.
Things were looking great for a while in the £500 guaranteed BH when I found myself chipleader briefly with only 17 left from 305. However when the average stack is under 20BB things are always very volatile. After a couple of raise/folds my demise came when I jammed AT from the button over a short-stack’s weak open-limp. The shortie folded as expected, but the new chipleader on the SB to my direct left re-shoved with his AKs and I was out. It was a cooler for me in the circumstances and I don’t consider my play a mistake.
Volume remains low for the time being, as does the amount of good fortune coming my way.
After another day off I played three Bounty Hunters this afternoon without any joy, two standard ones then a speed. Not much was happening for me, I didn’t pick up a premium pair once and wasn’t flopping well. I bubbled one of them when I shoved over a open-limp with my pocket 88, the limper called with J7 and got there.
I was hindered for quite a while on my first two tables by an unusual glitch that I haven’t encountered before; on both tables I kept getting hands where I could see my hole cards, but I couldn’t see any of the cards dealt on the board and had to play blind. I eventually solved it by closing the downloadable client and playing via my web browser instead.
Highlight of the day, if you can call it that, was an A9s>K9o hold for a bounty in the speed game. However I went out a few hands later when I lost my only flip of the day to be left on fumes. My squeeze/shove with JT failed to beat an UTG limp/callers pocket 55 with plenty of dead chips in the middle from other limpers and the limp/callers head-prize. It was a great spot, had I binked I’d have been in the top 5 with 2 tables left, but it’s just not happening for me at the moment.
I found myself at some at some great tables today. Unfortunately I didn’t get the cards to capitalise. The hand below was played in a £5.75 Bounty Hunter;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanced Small blind 40.00 40.00 1490.00 m Big blind 80.00 120.00 2960.00 Your hole cards 6 4 Dottle1963 Fold sharonm Fold GaryQQQ Fold d Raise 280.00 400.00 1210.00 m Call 240.00 640.00 2720.00 Flop 2 J K d Check m Bet 640.00 1280.00 2080.00 d All-in 1210.00 2490.00 0.00 m Call 570.00 3060.00 1510.00 d Show A 10 m Show 4 Q Turn 7 River 2 dWin Pair of 2s 3060.00 3060.00
I only had time for two tournaments today. In the 10-45 £3.30 BH after losing half my stack due to a couple of harsh river cards I got my chips in in a great spot with my JJ up against 99 and AKo. Yay, I flopped a set! But hold-on, this is poker we’re talking about; I still managed to get busted when the AK made a runner-runner flush. What can you do?
Next up I bought into the 11-30 £5.75 BH. I played well, made a few big holds and found myself at the final table. However from two tables out I’d to contend with a loose player with a huge stack at my table who was running red-hot and winning nearly every pot. At the final table he was on my direct left with a huge chip lead and not keen on folding, this made life difficult to say the least. Unsurprisingly my demise came at his hands in the space of two hands when we were three-handed. First he hit a gutshot on the river to beat me for a big pot having been behind on the previous three streets. Two hands later he opened to 3BB with KTs on the button, he was opening super-wide so I 3-bet jammed my A9 with my 26BB behind. I'd probably have prefered a fold if the truth be known, but at least my stack went in as a 55/45 favourite when he called. Had I won the pot I’d be chipleader with 54BB and the villain down to 10BB, however I was all but dead on the TT6 flop. A frustrating end, but I couldn’t really have done more. Hopefully some of the run-good I saw the eventual winner enjoy will come my way one day.
After a poor run over a recent days it’s a welcome relief to post a profit. I won’t be playing much over the next couple of days. Then after Thursday I’m away on holiday and will be taking a complete break from poker for a week or so.
In Response to Re: 1,000 Poker Points ----- /> £1,000 Can it be done? Latest balance £353.40 : Cheers Ian. I'll be taking about a week off from Friday, you might as well make the most of it and race ahead! Good luck. Posted by GaryQQQ
not playing atm either with the cash promo on, also resting up my bad arm,which is another reason. might get to read a bit more of your book lol
In Response to Re: 1,000 Poker Points ----- /> £1,000 Can it be done? Latest balance £353.40 : not playing atm either with the cash promo on, also resting up my bad arm,which is another reason. might get to read a bit more of your book lol going on holiday? or just on a poker break? Posted by devonfish5
As soon as I finish work on Friday we'll be on the motormay heading to North Wales for a family party on Saturday. We'll then stay up there for a few days after that visiting people and places. Also I went to spent a day walking up and down Mount Snowdon (fingers crossed this weather holds).
The laptop will be going with us and I'll drop into the forum from time to time, mainly to update results, but I'll be much too busy to play poker tournaments. I'm not sure exactly when we'll get back to Exmouth, maybe on the Thursday, I'll resume play when we do.
I'll also be taking The Mental Game of Poker II with me to read. If you're having a break from playing it's an ideal time to read the first book, it's real eye-opener. Most players get a lot out of it, I did and I'm not the sort of guy who tilts much.
In Response to Re: 1,000 Poker Points ----- /> £1,000 Can it be done? Latest balance £353.40 : As soon as I finish work on Friday we'll be on the motormay heading to North Wales for a family party on Saturday. We'll then stay up there for a few days after that visiting people and places. Also I went to spent a day walking up and down Mount Snowdon (fingers crossed this weather holds). The laptop will be going with us and I'll drop into the forum from time to time, mainly to update results, but I'll be much too busy to play poker tournaments. I'm not sure exactly when we'll get back to Exmouth, maybe on the Thursday, I'll resume play when we do. I'll also be taking The Mental Game of Poker II with me to read. If you're having a break from playing it's an ideal time to read the first book, it's real eye-opener. Most players get a lot out of it, I did and I'm not the sort of guy who tilts much. Posted by GaryQQQ
Have a great trip to Wales. Did Snowdon with my son a couple of years ago, miners trail up and pyg trail down I think. Great experience but knackering, especially when your 12 year old is bounding up like a mountain goat. No doubt you'll come back to the poker reinvigorated and successful.
In Response to Re: 1,000 Poker Points ----- /> £1,000 Can it be done? Latest balance £353.40 : Have a great trip to Wales. Did Snowdon with my son a couple of years ago, miners trail up and pyg trail down I think. Great experience but knackering, especially when your 12 year old is bounding up like a mountain goat. No doubt you'll come back to the poker reinvigorated and successful. Posted by lonesome
I will, thank-you lonesome. Funnily enough I've decided to go up the Pyg Trail and down the Miners. While they're not the easiest path it sounds as though they're among the most scenic. I'm expecting a challenging walk, but I should be able to cope; I've got quite a bit of walking experience behind me including an end-to-end in Autumn 2010. Blog; http://bit.ly/9Emrsk
In September I'm going to start walking the 630 mile South West Coast Path. Unfortunately I'm unable to take a month off work and do it all in one go, so I'm planning to do about a week per year for the next four years.
No luck in the two morning £3.30s. In the 9-45 I was drawn on a wild bingo table. After 35 minutes of folding and blinding down due to a dearth of hole cards worth gambling with I eventually took on one of the maniacs with AT but couldn't beat his pocket 22 aipf. In the 10-45 I ran QQ into AA.
Returning in the afternoon I joined the first tournament going, a small £2.20 rebuy that only attracted 8 runners. I was pleased to bink first place for £23.40 with £6.60 invested (includes one instant rebuy and the add-on). These cheap rebuys are great value because a lot of the runners don’t rebuy or add-on which limits their chances of victory. In this game two of the four runners alive at the hour mark didn’t take the add-on. This is an unwise strategy and unsurprisingly they finished in fourth and third with the top two only paid.
During heads-up play I thought it was going to get away from me when a beat delayed my victory and gave the villain a significant lead; my A6 failing to hold against AQ when all the chips went in on an A67r flop. However I kept my cool and fought back, helped by flopping two pairs twice in close succession to quickly regain the lead. The winning hand was a standard flip, my 55>AK aipf. My opponent was short at this point at around 15BB, so my open-shove and his call were both pretty much automatic. With effective stacks well under 20BB I’m open-shoving any small pair from the SB because I won’t like most flops.
A hand on the way to victory in the £2.20 Rebuy. When everybody checks the flop and another king is dealt on the turn I take the opportunity to lead out representing either an ace or trip kings and steal the pot.
It’s quite possible I had the best hand all the way, however having the confidence to take control post-flop and win occasional pots with unimproved small pairs makes them much more profitable than taking the 'no set, no bet' approach adopted by many.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceGaryQQQ Small blind 30.00 30.00 6377.00 h Big blind 60.00 90.00 2622.50 Your hole cards 3 3 play2win02 Fold d Call 60.00 150.00 6920.00 DEGREEK Fold GaryQQQ Call 30.00 180.00 6347.00 h Check Flop K A 7 GaryQQQ Check h Check d Check Turn K GaryQQQ Bet 95.00 275.00 6252.00 h Fold d Call 95.00 370.00 6825.00 River 8 GaryQQQ Bet 195.00 565.00 6057.00 d Fold GaryQQQ Muck GaryQQQ Win 370.00 6427.00 GaryQQQ Return 195.00 0.00 6622.00
Comments
Be good
Paul
Didn’t play
Day 145
Closing Balance £375.00
Up £18.10 today
First up was two morning £3.30 Bounty Hunters. I went deep in the 9-45 but lost two late-stages flips to bust in 19/91. Had I won either race I’d have been a top 5 stack at the sharp end, so I have absolutely no regrets about taking those spots.
In the 10-45 I flipped better at the sharp end winning two out of three around the bubble. I also won with QJ on the button beating AK in the blinds for a double when I squeeze/shoved over a weak limp a few spots before the money. Just after the bubble burst I got unlucky and lost a huge aipf pot with QQ<66 aipf and looked destined for a min-cash when left in 12/12 with only 6BB. However I picked up some cards and shoved my way back into contention. My demise came on the final table bubble when I ran AJs my on the BB into pocket AA cunningly limped from the SB to trap, a disappointing end albeit an unavoidable cooler with all stacks shallow.
After a trip out at lunchtime I jumped in the first game to run after I returned home which was a small £2.30 Bounty Hunter. I feel I was the best player in the game but I had to make do with second place after a cruel beat when my AJ failed to hold aipf against A8 during heads-up play leaving me on fumes.
May Poker Points 330 (£3.30)
Today’s results;
7986340HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker27/05/2013 15:15NL Hold'em £2 + £0.32/23£10.77985589HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker27/05/2013 10:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.37/92£8.447985293HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker27/05/2013 09:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.319/91-£1.04
Tough spot with pocket jacks on the bubble of the £2.30 Bounty Hunter. The guy who open shoves here is a frequent limper who almost never raises pre-flop, this shove is totally out of character. I’d be very surprised if he plays AA or KK this way. I think his range is only strong hands that he doesn’t want to see a flop with. I feel AK is very likely, perhaps pairs TT to QQ too. At a tough table I may consider calling, however I prefer to take the low variance option and make a reluctant fold here. I feel I have enough of an edge over my opponents that gambling is unnecessary and that my best chance of victory lies in trying to outplay them in less risky spots.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceGaryQQQ Small blind 150.00 150.00 8655.00 B_E_C_K_Y Big blind 300.00 450.00 4675.00 Your hole cards J J * All-in 17275.00 17725.00 0.00 leggie Fold GaryQQQ Fold B_E_C_K_Y Fold * Muck * Win 750.00 750.00 * Return 16975.00 0.00 17725.00
Still not running too good in key late pots. £2.30 Bounty Hunter heads-up play;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalance* Small blind 500.00 500.00 21757.50 GaryQQQ Big blind 1000.00 1500.00 22742.50 Your hole cards J A * Raise 1500.00 3000.00 20257.50 GaryQQQ All-in 22742.50 25742.50 0.00 * All-in 20257.50 46000.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Unmatched bet 1485.00 44515.00 1485.00 * Show A 7 GaryQQQ Show J A Flop A 6 7 Turn 2 River 10 * Win Two Pairs, Aces and 7s 44515.00 44515.00
Closing Balance £378.08
Up £3.08 today
I got home from work just in time to enter the two £3.30 morning Bounty Hunters. In each I ran deep but came away with very little to show for it. I min-cashed in the 9-45 soon after losing 90% of my stack in a large ‘do or die’ pot on the stone-cold bubble with KQs<ATo aipf. In the 10-45 I exited close to the bubble when my pocket QQ was unable to hold-up against a player who employed an open-limp/call/call/call/call strategy with KJs from UTG to successfully make a flush.
After a couple of hours getting other stuff done I was planning to enter a couple of afternoon MTTs. though when it came down to it I was too tired and couldn’t be bothered. However, I did jump into a couple of HU STTs instead with one goal in mind; to set a new highest balance. I successfully got there to finish the day on happy note.
May Poker Points 339 (£3.39)
Today’s results;
7991632HNLST,HU0.15GBPSkyPoker28/05/2013 16:51NL Hold'em £3 + £0.151/2£2.857991515HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker28/05/2013 16:33NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957989286HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker28/05/2013 10:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.314/60-£3.37988988HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker28/05/2013 09:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.39/69£2.58
Closing Balance £367.36
Down £10.72 today
An early finish at work ensured I was home in time for the two morning £3.30 Bounty Hunters, this being the last chance I’ll get to enter them for several days. In the 9-45 I am happy with my play. I made good decisions but got unlucky in a couple of big all-in spots. I busted close to the money in the 10-45. After making an incorrect call for a huge pot I was coolered with my last 13BB, running my AQs into AK.
In the afternoon I busted a £2.30 when I lost a flip AKs<99.
I was flying in a standard speed £5.75 until an unwelcome dose of run-bad kicked in. First I lost a huge pot to a guy holding 45 who open-limped UTG, called my raise to 5x from the BB, called my big c-bet on a Q63r flop to get there and crack my pocket AA. My exit came a few orbits later when I jammed 18BB with A9 on the BB over the SB’s open-limp. The SB made a bewildering call with the mighty 26. The 8TJ flop looked pretty good for me but I was out when a 2 hit on the river.
Next I tried my luck in a Speed £5.75. Once again I seem to be jinxed at that buy-in. I went from a top 3 stack with 10 left to bust after losing with A7s<89o aipf then KJ<QJ aipf, each for a large pot and a head-prize. I’m getting pretty sick of these £5.75s again. Just like last year I can’t make the big holds when it really matters and they’re damaging my progress. It’ll be a big relief when I get the £5.75 BH monkey off my back.
May Poker Points 365 (£3.65)
Today’s results;
7993726HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker29/05/2013 15:45NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7510/35-£5.757994621HNLST,HU0.1GBPSkyPoker29/05/2013 14:32NL Hold'em £2 + £0.11/2£1.97993579HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker29/05/2013 14:30NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7538/93-£1.997992857HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker29/05/2013 13:45NL Hold'em £2 + £0.318/37-£2.37992571HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker29/05/2013 10:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.316/76£0.727992274HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker29/05/2013 09:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.320/73-£3.3
I always have it. Well, most of the time I have it.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalance* Small blind 40.00 40.00 5540.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 80.00 120.00 2050.00 Your hole cards 3 6 Pintpot Fold bigbird88 Fold IceCool884 Fold graham1965 Fold * Raise 120.00 240.00 5420.00 GaryQQQ Call 80.00 320.00 1970.00 Flop A 10 J * Bet 160.00 480.00 5260.00 GaryQQQ Raise 395.00 875.00 1575.00 *Fold
Sigh, standard fare for me in £5.75 games. The villain in this hand went on to win the tournament;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceMsSHAMI Small blind 300.00 300.00 5327.50 * Big blind 600.00 900.00 3120.00 Your hole cards K J pointybird Fold roy4amy Fold GaryQQQ All-in 3790.00 4690.00 0.00 MsSHAMI Fold * All-in 3120.00 7810.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Unmatched bet 70.00 7740.00 70.00 * Show Q J GaryQQQ Show K J Flop 4 3 6 Turn 9 River A * Win Flush to the Jack 7740.00
i'm sure the next big cash will be coming very soon.
I know exactly how you feel about losing at a certain level mate,as I had similar problems last year trying to beat the £5 dym's. lol
it really does become a mental barrier in the end,doesn't it.
keep making good decisions as you do,and you'll get there,i'm certain.
gl today
dev
Didn’t play
Day 148
Closing Balance £361.61
Down £5.75 today
Because I’m busy with other stuff my poker volume is even lower than usual at the moment, and it’s going to stay that way the next couple of weeks.
All I had time for today was a £5.75 Bounty Hunter. I’m happy I played well but I didn’t get the cards to work with at the sharp end, twice getting coolered by short stacks with AJs<AKs and 77<JJ both aipf. Another deepish run, I'm making them consistantly still. I feel I just need to marry one one with some late stages luck and a bink will follow.
May Poker Points 373 (£3.73)
Today’s result;
8000277HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker31/05/2013 14:30NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7519/87-£5.75
May Summary
I'm pleased to note my balance grew from £256.59 to £361.61. That's a very healthy increase of £105.02, or 41.1%. Once again volume was low with only 373 Poker Points earned, so even fewer than the 409 earned in April.
That's much better than I expected to see when I looked back. My overall feeling that I haven't been running too well lately must be misplaced; if I could grow my bankroll by 41% every month I'd be a very rich man in not too much time!
Unfortunately I don't exect to be playing too much again in the first half of June. When I do play I intend to continue to focus mainly on Bounty Hunters at buy-ins of £2.30, £3.30 and £5.75. These tournaments are fairly soft and historically have been very profitable for me. I haven't played a single cash hand in this challenge so far and I don't see that changing any time soon. I may sit in a few HU STTs when I don't have time for a long session, but I expect MTTs to account for nearly all my action.
It would be nice to get the £5.75 monkey off my back sooner or later. The fields are no tougher to beat than at the micro buy-ins. I know I can do it, when the Poker Gods decide it's my turn to enjoy the late stages run-good it'll come.
Monthly results so far;
January...... £0.00.......to....... £11.52
February.... £11.52.....to.......£52.21.......+353% growth
March........£52.21......to.......£87.88.......+68% growth
April.......... £87.88......to......£256.59......+192% growth
May......... £256.59......to......£361.61.....+41% growth
Closing Balance £338.99
Down £22.62 today
Apart from banking little more than a min-cash for 15th/305 in the evening £500 gtd @£2.30 Bounty Hunter there was no joy for me at the tables today. I entered several other MTTs but drew a series of blanks. I’m not overly concerned as I feel I’m still playing well. It’s simply a case that the cards aren’t falling my way too often at the moment. It’s all standard MTT stuff; lost flips, coolers and the occasional out-draws.
My only other chance of a decent score came in my first game, an afternoon £5.75 Bounty Hunter. My demise came when set of fours couldn’t hold against pocket nines that called my post-flop bets and caught a two-outer on the river. A hold there would have put me in the top 3 with a big stack and 42 of the 126 entrants still alive.
Things were looking great for a while in the £500 guaranteed BH when I found myself chipleader briefly with only 17 left from 305. However when the average stack is under 20BB things are always very volatile. After a couple of raise/folds my demise came when I jammed AT from the button over a short-stack’s weak open-limp. The shortie folded as expected, but the new chipleader on the SB to my direct left re-shoved with his AKs and I was out. It was a cooler for me in the circumstances and I don’t consider my play a mistake.
June Poker Points 40
Todays results;
8003792HNLB0.5GBPSkyPoker01/06/2013 20:15NL Hold'em £5 + £0.5299/584-£5.58004327HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker01/06/2013 20:05NL Hold'em £2 + £0.315/305£4.598003966HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker01/06/2013 17:05NL Hold'em £2 + £0.318/24-£2.38003899HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker01/06/2013 16:45NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7537/38-£5.758003793HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker01/06/2013 16:15NL Hold'em £2 + £0.332/44-£2.38003707HNLST0.2GBPSkyPoker01/06/2013 15:55NL Hold'em £2 + £0.225/33-£2.28004078HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker01/06/2013 15:45NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7533/35-£5.758003840HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker01/06/2013 14:30NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7542/126-£3.41
Didn’t play
Day 152
Closing Balance £327.53
Down £11.46 today
Volume remains low for the time being, as does the amount of good fortune coming my way.
After another day off I played three Bounty Hunters this afternoon without any joy, two standard ones then a speed. Not much was happening for me, I didn’t pick up a premium pair once and wasn’t flopping well. I bubbled one of them when I shoved over a open-limp with my pocket 88, the limper called with J7 and got there.
I was hindered for quite a while on my first two tables by an unusual glitch that I haven’t encountered before; on both tables I kept getting hands where I could see my hole cards, but I couldn’t see any of the cards dealt on the board and had to play blind. I eventually solved it by closing the downloadable client and playing via my web browser instead.
Highlight of the day, if you can call it that, was an A9s>K9o hold for a bounty in the speed game. However I went out a few hands later when I lost my only flip of the day to be left on fumes. My squeeze/shove with JT failed to beat an UTG limp/callers pocket 55 with plenty of dead chips in the middle from other limpers and the limp/callers head-prize. It was a great spot, had I binked I’d have been in the top 5 with 2 tables left, but it’s just not happening for me at the moment.
June Poker Points 59
Today’s results;
8011165HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker03/06/2013 15:45NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7510/34-£3.418011003HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker03/06/2013 14:30NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7536/87-£5.758010515HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker03/06/2013 14:15NL Hold'em £2 + £0.34/18-£2.3
I found myself at some at some great tables today. Unfortunately I didn’t get the cards to capitalise. The hand below was played in a £5.75 Bounty Hunter;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanced Small blind 40.00 40.00 1490.00 m Big blind 80.00 120.00 2960.00 Your hole cards 6 4 Dottle1963 Fold sharonm Fold GaryQQQ Fold d Raise 280.00 400.00 1210.00 m Call 240.00 640.00 2720.00 Flop 2 J K d Check m Bet 640.00 1280.00 2080.00 d All-in 1210.00 2490.00 0.00 m Call 570.00 3060.00 1510.00 d Show A 10 m Show 4 Q Turn 7 River 2 dWin Pair of 2s 3060.00 3060.00
Closing Balance £353.40
Up £25.87 today
I only had time for two tournaments today. In the 10-45 £3.30 BH after losing half my stack due to a couple of harsh river cards I got my chips in in a great spot with my JJ up against 99 and AKo. Yay, I flopped a set! But hold-on, this is poker we’re talking about; I still managed to get busted when the AK made a runner-runner flush. What can you do?
Next up I bought into the 11-30 £5.75 BH. I played well, made a few big holds and found myself at the final table. However from two tables out I’d to contend with a loose player with a huge stack at my table who was running red-hot and winning nearly every pot. At the final table he was on my direct left with a huge chip lead and not keen on folding, this made life difficult to say the least. Unsurprisingly my demise came at his hands in the space of two hands when we were three-handed. First he hit a gutshot on the river to beat me for a big pot having been behind on the previous three streets. Two hands later he opened to 3BB with KTs on the button, he was opening super-wide so I 3-bet jammed my A9 with my 26BB behind. I'd probably have prefered a fold if the truth be known, but at least my stack went in as a 55/45 favourite when he called. Had I won the pot I’d be chipleader with 54BB and the villain down to 10BB, however I was all but dead on the TT6 flop. A frustrating end, but I couldn’t really have done more. Hopefully some of the run-good I saw the eventual winner enjoy will come my way one day.
After a poor run over a recent days it’s a welcome relief to post a profit. I won’t be playing much over the next couple of days. Then after Thursday I’m away on holiday and will be taking a complete break from poker for a week or so.
June Poker Points 70
Today’s results;
8012870HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker04/06/2013 11:30NL Hold'em £5 + £0.753/55£29.178013260HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker04/06/2013 10:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.354/69-£3.3
well played mate,...a win at last...
not happy you've just overtaken me though!!! lol
keep it going,
dev
also resting up my bad arm,which is another reason.
might get to read a bit more of your book lol
going on holiday?
or just on a poker break?
The laptop will be going with us and I'll drop into the forum from time to time, mainly to update results, but I'll be much too busy to play poker tournaments. I'm not sure exactly when we'll get back to Exmouth, maybe on the Thursday, I'll resume play when we do.
I'll also be taking The Mental Game of Poker II with me to read. If you're having a break from playing it's an ideal time to read the first book, it's real eye-opener. Most players get a lot out of it, I did and I'm not the sort of guy who tilts much.
No doubt you'll come back to the poker reinvigorated and successful.
In September I'm going to start walking the 630 mile South West Coast Path. Unfortunately I'm unable to take a month off work and do it all in one go, so I'm planning to do about a week per year for the next four years.
Closing Balance £363.60
Up £10.20 today
No luck in the two morning £3.30s. In the 9-45 I was drawn on a wild bingo table. After 35 minutes of folding and blinding down due to a dearth of hole cards worth gambling with I eventually took on one of the maniacs with AT but couldn't beat his pocket 22 aipf. In the 10-45 I ran QQ into AA.
Returning in the afternoon I joined the first tournament going, a small £2.20 rebuy that only attracted 8 runners. I was pleased to bink first place for £23.40 with £6.60 invested (includes one instant rebuy and the add-on). These cheap rebuys are great value because a lot of the runners don’t rebuy or add-on which limits their chances of victory. In this game two of the four runners alive at the hour mark didn’t take the add-on. This is an unwise strategy and unsurprisingly they finished in fourth and third with the top two only paid.
During heads-up play I thought it was going to get away from me when a beat delayed my victory and gave the villain a significant lead; my A6 failing to hold against AQ when all the chips went in on an A67r flop. However I kept my cool and fought back, helped by flopping two pairs twice in close succession to quickly regain the lead. The winning hand was a standard flip, my 55>AK aipf. My opponent was short at this point at around 15BB, so my open-shove and his call were both pretty much automatic. With effective stacks well under 20BB I’m open-shoving any small pair from the SB because I won’t like most flops.
June Poker Points 70
Today’s results;
8017567HNLR0.2GBPSkyPoker05/06/2013 14:00NL Hold'em £2R + £0.21/8£16.808016315HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker05/06/2013 10:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.343/64-£3.38016091HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker05/06/2013 09:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.344/69-£3.3
A hand on the way to victory in the £2.20 Rebuy. When everybody checks the flop and another king is dealt on the turn I take the opportunity to lead out representing either an ace or trip kings and steal the pot.
It’s quite possible I had the best hand all the way, however having the confidence to take control post-flop and win occasional pots with unimproved small pairs makes them much more profitable than taking the 'no set, no bet' approach adopted by many.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceGaryQQQ Small blind 30.00 30.00 6377.00 h Big blind 60.00 90.00 2622.50 Your hole cards 3 3 play2win02 Fold d Call 60.00 150.00 6920.00 DEGREEK Fold GaryQQQ Call 30.00 180.00 6347.00 h Check Flop K A 7 GaryQQQ Check h Check d Check Turn K GaryQQQ Bet 95.00 275.00 6252.00 h Fold d Call 95.00 370.00 6825.00 River 8 GaryQQQ Bet 195.00 565.00 6057.00 d Fold GaryQQQ Muck GaryQQQ Win 370.00 6427.00 GaryQQQ Return 195.00 0.00 6622.00