Have a great time in Wales Gary. Oh and when you're walking/struggling up Snowdon, try & remember, one of my Irish running buddies, Robbie Bryson, holds (still I think?) the record for the ascent of Snowdon in a mind-boggling 39 mins & 47 secs! 1985 iirc.
Did Snowdon a couple of months back, still had snow at tops but views were unbelievable. Sure you will find it as invigorating as I did. Moving to Exmouth in about 5 years time so will defo be looking you and devonfish up when I get there. Love having a pint in The Grove and The Beach when I'm down that way. Posted by 68Trebor
deffo up 4 that trebor. yes,i like The Beach too...had my mum's 50th party(I think) there,well upstairs in the Beachcomber Bar. my mum and 2 of her friends dressed up as The Bee Gees with the white suits & wigs and false teeth,and did a great dance routine to a few songs...it was so funny,and as they kept it as a surprise to everone,we all fell about laughing.think they were introduced as The Bees Knee's or The Knock Knee's,or something. lol
yeah me & Gary live down the colony,in town, just a few roads away from each other. small world,isn't it.
When I returned home this evening after my 8 day break I was itching to pay some poker, so bought myself into the Mini and late registered for the Orfordable.
In the Orfordable after barely playing a hand for 45 minutes due to a dearth of playable cards I busted when my 3-bet with QQ on the BB was flatted by a late position opener with A4s. The villain got there after calling my flop check/shove with his flush draw and overcard. The chips I put in post-flop went in as 55/45 favourite for a very useful 77BB pot. I’m fully prepared to play for my stack in such spots and I leave the tournament with no regrets when it leads to my exit.
I was blessed with a soft starting table in the Mini, though for 50 minutes very little went my way and I was down to less than half of average. Things then sprung into life when in a hot 5 minute spell during which I took out two short stacks and came within 5 chips of my third head-prize in the hand below. My third, fourth and fifth heads followed and for quite a while I was a top 20 stack.
The wheels came off when I lost a 3-way all-in with TT<66 aipf for a 14K pot plus another two head-prizes and a place in the top five with around 120 ofthe 529 entrants still alive. The same player busted me less than an orbit later with A7o>QQ aipf. What more can you do? I won’t deny it was a sickening way to bust, but I leave the tournament happy in the knowledge that I outplayed my opponents and it was only the run of the deck that deprived me a deep run.
While I was away a £3.73 Rewards bonus was credited to my account.
For the record I've had 30 days off so far during this challenge. So 133 of the 163 days so far were playing days, most of those, today for example, being at a very low volume.
I experienced both the highs and lows of tournament poker in tonight’s Mini. In the first hand it’s pretty much the dream run-out for my full house. While I’m aware I don’t hold the nuts I know I’vea great chance of getting paid in full by either an ace or a big flush. Note I miss my opponents head-prize by 1/16th of a big blind!
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalancetweedie10 Small blind 40.00 40.00 3475.00 shawsok Big blind 80.00 120.00 2640.00 Your hole cards 9 9 mAcstAr777 Fold GaryQQQ Raise 195.00 315.00 3345.00 L Call 195.00 510.00 3350.00 mjh171727 Call 195.00 705.00 1645.00 tweedie10 Fold shawsok Fold Flop J A 9 GaryQQQ Bet 495.00 1200.00 2850.00 L Call 495.00 1695.00 2855.00 mjh171727 Fold Turn A GaryQQQ Bet 595.00 2290.00 2255.00 L Call 595.00 2885.00 2260.00 River 10 GaryQQQ All-in 2255.00 5140.00 0.00 L Call 2255.00 7395.00 5.00 GaryQQQ Show 9 9 L Show J K GaryQQQ Win Full House, 9s and Aces 7395.00 7395.00
The villain in my exit hand was leading a very charmed life; he’d doubled off me with 66>TT aipf just three hands earlier.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalancewiggywoo11 Small blind 200.00 200.00 9060.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 400.00 600.00 7480.84 Your hole cards Q Q STUD3NT Fold marrington Fold dog8dog Fold t Raise 2000.00 2600.00 11905.82 wiggywoo11 Fold GaryQQQ All-in 7480.84 10080.84 0.00 t Call 5880.84 15961.68 6024.98 GaryQQQ Show Q Q t Show 7 A Flop 9 K 2 Turn A River 7 t Win Two Pairs, Aces and 7s 15961.68 21986.66
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
We took exactly the same route in the end; up Miners, down Pyg.
I thoroughly enjoyed it. We were walking by 7-30am, so we had the trail to ourselves on the way up, it was a clear day too so the views were superb. When got the summit the cafe was still shut and the first train wasn't in, so we could spend as much time at the at the very top as we liked. The Miners Trail seemed pretty easy for the first couple of miles, then there's that very tough mile during which you climb about 500m before you meet the rail line near the top and it gets a bit easier again.
Have a great time in Wales Gary. Oh and when you're walking/struggling up Snowdon, try & remember, one of my Irish running buddies, Robbie Bryson, holds (still I think?) the record for the ascent of Snowdon in a mind-boggling 39 mins & 47 secs! 1985 iirc. pad Posted by Glenelg
Wow, incredible, that must have been in the annual Snowdon Race, I heard about it while we were there.
Been away from Sky for a while, recently started grinding here again.
Remeber noticing your thread before and pleased to see youve came on really well.
I highly recomend when you do hit the 1k target (as im sure you will) to start having a good crack at the higher stakes MTTS, like ur £11Bh, £22BH, the odd main event and ur mini main events.
Im sure you can have similar results in these fields as the standards dont get that much harder (the monthly super roller is possibly the best value £110 tournament online).
No joy in the two morning £3.30s for me today, I went nowhere fast in both and they're best forgotten.
In the afternoon I returned to the tables and registered for a £2.30 and £5.75 Bounty Hunters which were destined to go much better.
The smaller tournament was the £2.30 which attracted only 21 runners. I was delighted to bink first place, as I am in any MTT I enter.Regardless of buy-in or field size taking down an MTT is the best feeling in poker for me. I feel I played well and deserved the victory, though admittedly I was helped by a slice of luck at the final table. While second in chips I 3-bet jammed KQ from the button over a min-raise and scarily got cold called by the chipleader on the BB. I was relieved to find myself holding two live cards when he showed AJo for a fairly loose call (the opener folded). I binked a queen on the turn to take a significant lead which I then maintained all the way until the end, making the most of my stack to bully others, particularly on the bubble. So many big all-ins have gone against me that I feel absolutely no guilt whatsoever on the seemingly rare occasions when I win one from behind, I always do my best to make the most of it when the good fortune comes my way.
The £5.75 went pretty well too; I took first place in that one too from a field of 95 for a total return of £125.38.........get in!!!!
Again I feel I played well and had nobody to fear in the field. Two big flip wins with the bubble looming when my pairs beat AK each time propelled me into the top three where I stayed almost all the way to the end. During 8-handed play while chipleader a vicious beat put me down to 6th/8 when I got my stack in holding AT v QT with TTxx on the board for a massive pot. The villain spiked a very lucky queen with one card to come and I thought my £5.75 BH jinx had returned to haunt me. However I kept my cool, fought back, and got sweet revenge by busting both the QT guy and an inexperienced player who’d been trash-talking my game in the same hand on the final table bubble. From there I held my lead all the way to the end, closing out victory with a 77>A3s aipf hold after a 30 minute HU battle during which I led throughout.
To say I am pleased about this afternoon’s results is a massive understatement; I am in fact ecstatic, and will be opening a bottle of sparkling wine later to celebrate. I’m particularly pleased to kill the £5.75 jinx which has now written-off as just a figment of my imagination. The monkey is off my back and I can now enter these games brimming with confidence.
After expending so much mental energy in the afternoon games I decided to take the evening off poker, very happy to report a new highest balance by a country mile and with the half-way point looming.
Never give up! Keep calm, it pays if you don't tilt and stick to your A-game when things like this happen. £5.75 Bounty Hunter 8-handed play at 4-38PM;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceGaryQQQ Small blind 400.00 400.00 38557.52 XXKIPXX Big blind 800.00 1200.00 19005.00 Your hole cards A 10 trash talk guy Fold S Call 800.00 2000.00 22008.12 GaryQQQ Call 400.00 2400.00 38157.52 XXKIPXX Check Flop 10 10 4 GaryQQQ Check XXKIPXX Check S Check Turn 9 GaryQQQ Bet 1295.00 3695.00 36862.52 XXKIPXX Fold S Raise 4800.00 8495.00 17208.12 GaryQQQ All-in 36862.52 45357.52 0.00 S All-in 17208.12 62565.64 0.00 GaryQQQ Unmatched bet 16149.40 46416.24 16149.40 GaryQQQ Show A 10 S Show 10 Q River Q S Win Full House, 10s and Queens 46416.24 46416.24
15 minutes later, 4-53PM final table bubble;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceS Small blind 600.00 600.00 30771.26 GaryQQQ Big blind 1200.00 1800.00 43213.17 Your hole cards A Q XXKIPXX Fold trash talk guy All-in 3311.82 5111.82 0.00 S Call 2711.82 7823.64 28059.44 GaryQQQ All-in 43213.17 51036.81 0.00 S All-in 28059.44 79096.25 0.00 GaryQQQ Unmatched bet 13041.91 66054.34 13041.91 S Show Q 8 GaryQQQ Show A Q trash talk guy Show K 4 Flop 10 K 5 Turn J River 10 GaryQQQ Win Straight to the Ace 66054.34 79096.25
WOW Gary! The break has obvs done your "run-good" a power of good!!! oh and yes it was the Snowdon race. Incidentally, Robbie was overtaken on the way down and came second. :-(
Well done gary. Made up for you to be (almost) half way there. I wish I had that feeling, ive been going through an horendous spell lately, my confidence is shot and I cant get anything going. Ive run KK into AA 7 times in a week or so, run into AA so many times and having my nut hands cracked with one card to come and cooler after cooler.
Does this open up you for £11 BH now? One bink there and you'll go a long way to making that target!
Been away from Sky for a while, recently started grinding here again. Remeber noticing your thread before and pleased to see youve came on really well. I highly recomend when you do hit the 1k target (as im sure you will) to start having a good crack at the higher stakes MTTS, like ur £11Bh, £22BH, the odd main event and ur mini main events. Im sure you can have similar results in these fields as the standards dont get that much harder (the monthly super roller is possibly the best value £110 tournament online). Good Luck Posted by bolly580
Thanks for your kind words bolly, good luck to you at the tables.
The games you describe sound great, though as explained in the OP for various reasons I am, and will be staying, a daytime only recreational player. Unlike many other diary authors here I have absolutely no aspirations of climbing the levels and playing at the highest-stakes. I thoroughly enjoy playing poker, and it's even more fun when I win, but unless something dramatic changes in my life I'll be remaining a low-volume recreational player for the foreseeable future.
WOW Gary! The break has obvs done your "run-good" a power of good!!! oh and yes it was the Snowdon race. Incidentally, Robbie was overtaken on the way down and came second. :-( Posted by Glenelg
Thanks Pad. It's amazing what a short poker break can do for you, I often recommend it to players stuck in a rut.
I googled your mate last night. It took a course record to beat him. Both that 1985 course record and Robbie's summit record still stand to this very day.
Well done gary. Made up for you to be (almost) half way there. I wish I had that feeling, ive been going through an horendous spell lately, my confidence is shot and I cant get anything going. Ive run KK into AA 7 times in a week or so, run into AA so many times and having my nut hands cracked with one card to come and cooler after cooler. Does this open up you for £11 BH now? One bink there and you'll go a long way to making that target! Posted by CraigSG1
Thank-you very much Craig, yep, it feels sweet.
I'm now rolled for £11 games without breaking my 40 buy-in rule and I will be playing them when I can. In my experience the fields are pretty much the same as in the £5.75s, so I have nothing to fear. They don't start at a time that fits in well with my session too often, so I won't be in seen in them regularly.
These downswings feel terrible but they can't last forever, hang on in there. Running KK into AA is an unavoidable cooler, just remember it always evens out over time and you'll find yourself on the right side of them sooner or later. I took a couple of vicious beats in the Mini last night, then look what happened today. Your next big win might be just around the corner. Try to avoid tilting, continue to play your very best and success will follow sooner or later. I have no magic secrets, I just try to make the best decisions in every hand and eventually it gets rewarded.
Comments
Tomorrow morning I'm off on holiday and will be taking a short break from playing poker. This challenge will resume in a week or so. Good luck all.
have a nice time Gary,Lea too,obviously.
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dev
ps;been reading 'mental poker'..well bits really,as not playing due to cash promo atm. lol
yes,i like The Beach too...had my mum's 50th party(I think) there,well upstairs in the Beachcomber Bar.
my mum and 2 of her friends dressed up as The Bee Gees with the white suits & wigs and false teeth,and did a great dance routine to a few songs...it was so funny,and as they kept it as a surprise to everone,we all fell about laughing.think they were introduced as The Bees Knee's or The Knock Knee's,or something. lol
yeah me & Gary live down the colony,in town, just a few roads away from each other.
small world,isn't it.
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dev
Didn’t play
Day 163
Closing Balance £369.54
Up £2.21 today
When I returned home this evening after my 8 day break I was itching to pay some poker, so bought myself into the Mini and late registered for the Orfordable.
In the Orfordable after barely playing a hand for 45 minutes due to a dearth of playable cards I busted when my 3-bet with QQ on the BB was flatted by a late position opener with A4s. The villain got there after calling my flop check/shove with his flush draw and overcard. The chips I put in post-flop went in as 55/45 favourite for a very useful 77BB pot. I’m fully prepared to play for my stack in such spots and I leave the tournament with no regrets when it leads to my exit.
I was blessed with a soft starting table in the Mini, though for 50 minutes very little went my way and I was down to less than half of average. Things then sprung into life when in a hot 5 minute spell during which I took out two short stacks and came within 5 chips of my third head-prize in the hand below. My third, fourth and fifth heads followed and for quite a while I was a top 20 stack.
The wheels came off when I lost a 3-way all-in with TT<66 aipf for a 14K pot plus another two head-prizes and a place in the top five with around 120 of the 529 entrants still alive. The same player busted me less than an orbit later with A7o>QQ aipf. What more can you do? I won’t deny it was a sickening way to bust, but I leave the tournament happy in the knowledge that I outplayed my opponents and it was only the run of the deck that deprived me a deep run.
While I was away a £3.73 Rewards bonus was credited to my account.
For the record I've had 30 days off so far during this challenge. So 133 of the 163 days so far were playing days, most of those, today for example, being at a very low volume.
June Poker Points 87
Today’s results;
8048425HNLB0.5GBPSkyPoker14/06/2013 20:15NL Hold'em £5 + £0.5119/529£5.518048901HNL 0.3GBPSkyPoker14/06/2013 19:10NL Hold'em £3 + £0.363/96-£3.3
I experienced both the highs and lows of tournament poker in tonight’s Mini. In the first hand it’s pretty much the dream run-out for my full house. While I’m aware I don’t hold the nuts I know I’ve a great chance of getting paid in full by either an ace or a big flush. Note I miss my opponents head-prize by 1/16th of a big blind!
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalancetweedie10 Small blind 40.00 40.00 3475.00 shawsok Big blind 80.00 120.00 2640.00 Your hole cards 9 9 mAcstAr777 Fold GaryQQQ Raise 195.00 315.00 3345.00 L Call 195.00 510.00 3350.00 mjh171727 Call 195.00 705.00 1645.00 tweedie10 Fold shawsok Fold Flop J A 9 GaryQQQ Bet 495.00 1200.00 2850.00 L Call 495.00 1695.00 2855.00 mjh171727 Fold Turn A GaryQQQ Bet 595.00 2290.00 2255.00 L Call 595.00 2885.00 2260.00 River 10 GaryQQQ All-in 2255.00 5140.00 0.00 L Call 2255.00 7395.00 5.00 GaryQQQ Show 9 9 L Show J K GaryQQQ Win Full House, 9s and Aces 7395.00 7395.00
The villain in my exit hand was leading a very charmed life; he’d doubled off me with 66>TT aipf just three hands earlier.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalancewiggywoo11 Small blind 200.00 200.00 9060.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 400.00 600.00 7480.84 Your hole cards Q Q STUD3NT Fold marrington Fold dog8dog Fold t Raise 2000.00 2600.00 11905.82 wiggywoo11 Fold GaryQQQ All-in 7480.84 10080.84 0.00 t Call 5880.84 15961.68 6024.98 GaryQQQ Show Q Q t Show 7 A Flop 9 K 2 Turn A River 7 t Win Two Pairs, Aces and 7s 15961.68 21986.66
I thoroughly enjoyed it. We were walking by 7-30am, so we had the trail to ourselves on the way up, it was a clear day too so the views were superb. When got the summit the cafe was still shut and the first train wasn't in, so we could spend as much time at the at the very top as we liked. The Miners Trail seemed pretty easy for the first couple of miles, then there's that very tough mile during which you climb about 500m before you meet the rail line near the top and it gets a bit easier again.
Closing Balance £497.51
Up £127.97 today
Binkety Bink!
No joy in the two morning £3.30s for me today, I went nowhere fast in both and they're best forgotten.
In the afternoon I returned to the tables and registered for a £2.30 and £5.75 Bounty Hunters which were destined to go much better.
The smaller tournament was the £2.30 which attracted only 21 runners. I was delighted to bink first place, as I am in any MTT I enter. Regardless of buy-in or field size taking down an MTT is the best feeling in poker for me. I feel I played well and deserved the victory, though admittedly I was helped by a slice of luck at the final table. While second in chips I 3-bet jammed KQ from the button over a min-raise and scarily got cold called by the chipleader on the BB. I was relieved to find myself holding two live cards when he showed AJo for a fairly loose call (the opener folded). I binked a queen on the turn to take a significant lead which I then maintained all the way until the end, making the most of my stack to bully others, particularly on the bubble. So many big all-ins have gone against me that I feel absolutely no guilt whatsoever on the seemingly rare occasions when I win one from behind, I always do my best to make the most of it when the good fortune comes my way.
The £5.75 went pretty well too; I took first place in that one too from a field of 95 for a total return of £125.38.........get in!!!!
Again I feel I played well and had nobody to fear in the field. Two big flip wins with the bubble looming when my pairs beat AK each time propelled me into the top three where I stayed almost all the way to the end. During 8-handed play while chipleader a vicious beat put me down to 6th/8 when I got my stack in holding AT v QT with TTxx on the board for a massive pot. The villain spiked a very lucky queen with one card to come and I thought my £5.75 BH jinx had returned to haunt me. However I kept my cool, fought back, and got sweet revenge by busting both the QT guy and an inexperienced player who’d been trash-talking my game in the same hand on the final table bubble. From there I held my lead all the way to the end, closing out victory with a 77>A3s aipf hold after a 30 minute HU battle during which I led throughout.
To say I am pleased about this afternoon’s results is a massive understatement; I am in fact ecstatic, and will be opening a bottle of sparkling wine later to celebrate. I’m particularly pleased to kill the £5.75 jinx which has now written-off as just a figment of my imagination. The monkey is off my back and I can now enter these games brimming with confidence.
After expending so much mental energy in the afternoon games I decided to take the evening off poker, very happy to report a new highest balance by a country mile and with the half-way point looming.
June Poker Points 107 (£1.07)
Today’s results;
8052341HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker15/06/2013 14:30NL Hold'em £5 + £0.751/95£1208051468HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker15/06/2013 13:45NL Hold'em £2 + £0.31/21£14.948051126HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker15/06/2013 10:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.396/96-£3.38050819HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker15/06/2013 09:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.339/78-£3.3
Never give up! Keep calm, it pays if you don't tilt and stick to your A-game when things like this happen. £5.75 Bounty Hunter 8-handed play at 4-38PM;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceGaryQQQ Small blind 400.00 400.00 38557.52 XXKIPXX Big blind 800.00 1200.00 19005.00 Your hole cards A 10 trash talk guy Fold S Call 800.00 2000.00 22008.12 GaryQQQ Call 400.00 2400.00 38157.52 XXKIPXX Check Flop 10 10 4 GaryQQQ Check XXKIPXX Check S Check Turn 9 GaryQQQ Bet 1295.00 3695.00 36862.52 XXKIPXX Fold S Raise 4800.00 8495.00 17208.12 GaryQQQ All-in 36862.52 45357.52 0.00 S All-in 17208.12 62565.64 0.00 GaryQQQ Unmatched bet 16149.40 46416.24 16149.40 GaryQQQ Show A 10 S Show 10 Q River Q S Win Full House, 10s and Queens 46416.24 46416.24
15 minutes later, 4-53PM final table bubble;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceS Small blind 600.00 600.00 30771.26 GaryQQQ Big blind 1200.00 1800.00 43213.17 Your hole cards A Q XXKIPXX Fold trash talk guy All-in 3311.82 5111.82 0.00 S Call 2711.82 7823.64 28059.44 GaryQQQ All-in 43213.17 51036.81 0.00 S All-in 28059.44 79096.25 0.00 GaryQQQ Unmatched bet 13041.91 66054.34 13041.91 S Show Q 8 GaryQQQ Show A Q trash talk guy Show K 4 Flop 10 K 5 Turn J River 10 GaryQQQ Win Straight to the Ace 66054.34 79096.25
The games you describe sound great, though as explained in the OP for various reasons I am, and will be staying, a daytime only recreational player. Unlike many other diary authors here I have absolutely no aspirations of climbing the levels and playing at the highest-stakes. I thoroughly enjoy playing poker, and it's even more fun when I win, but unless something dramatic changes in my life I'll be remaining a low-volume recreational player for the foreseeable future.
I googled your mate last night. It took a course record to beat him. Both that 1985 course record and Robbie's summit record still stand to this very day.
Hopefully the second £500 will come even quicker than the first.
I'm now rolled for £11 games without breaking my 40 buy-in rule and I will be playing them when I can. In my experience the fields are pretty much the same as in the £5.75s, so I have nothing to fear. They don't start at a time that fits in well with my session too often, so I won't be in seen in them regularly.
These downswings feel terrible but they can't last forever, hang on in there. Running KK into AA is an unavoidable cooler, just remember it always evens out over time and you'll find yourself on the right side of them sooner or later. I took a couple of vicious beats in the Mini last night, then look what happened today. Your next big win might be just around the corner. Try to avoid tilting, continue to play your very best and success will follow sooner or later. I have no magic secrets, I just try to make the best decisions in every hand and eventually it gets rewarded.
well played Gary
"Thinking about the next challenge yet?" lol
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dev