Keep at it Gary, you will soon get over that half way mark. Or is it all in the head and you have unconsciously stopped half way as you are remembering your walk, where half way was aprox Langtrys Pub!
Keep at it Gary, you will soon get over that half way mark. Or is it all in the head and you have unconsciously stopped half way as you are remembering your walk, where half way was aprox Langtrys Pub! Posted by MAXALLY
Haha, progress in both that walk and this BR challenge do have a spooky resemblance to a pub crawl
In my first afternoon MTT today, a £5.75 BH, I suffered a frustrating bust when my AJ was unable to hold against an OOP calling station prepared to play for stacks holding 93s on an AJx flop with only a 9-high flush draw. It was a great opportunity for me to double-up to a top five a few spots from the money, however the flush got there and it wasn’t to be.
Second up was a speed £5.75 BH. I busted in the mid-stages, unable to improve when I got my stack in with a suited ace as a 32/68 underdog against a pair. It was a standard spot with effective stacks only 18BB deep.
My third tourney, another standard £5.75 BH, saw my only cash of the day. Solid tight/aggressive poker and some decent hands to play with saw me make it to the money with relative ease. Exits were slow once the bubble had burst, so the final table was mainly a pre-flop game right from the start with the average stack at only just over 20BB. The first exit came at my hands when my call with AQ held over a 10BB open-shove with AJ. Unfortunately I lost a huge pot just two hands later when I 3-bet shoved 99 on the button over a short-stacks jam and ran into JJ in the blinds. The shortie trebled-up with K6o and the JJ won the much bigger side-pot. With just 8BB left I only had one play available. I jammed Q7 from the SB and was busted by a button limp/caller with QT for a disappointing fourth place finish. I’m happy with my play. The 99 < JJ hand was just one of those unavoidable coolers with a short-stack already all-in and all stacks shallow. I’d jam in the same spot every single time, raise/folding a big part of my stack being unthinkable.
In the evening I returned just in time for the Mini and enjoyed a flying start. I picked up AK on the SB in the very first hand and decided I wasn’t in the mood for either folding or flatting. Three of us ended up aipf, I spiked an ace to treble-up and bust unknown opponents holding 66 and QJ! Obviously I’d have looked like a total idiot had I run into kings and aces, but you see so much wild play at the weekend that I considered it worth a gamble. It was a high variance play, but it worked out this time. I’d have got it in without hesitation had I known their hole-cards considering the bounty format, though I wouldn’t have in a freezeout. An orbit later I took my third head with AA > QQ aipf. With only 6 hands played I was already on a freeroll courtesy of the head-prizes. This is one of the fascinating quirks offered by Bounty Hunters, my favourite MTT format.
However as we all know the early leaders almost never win big-field tournaments, in fact they usually don't cash either and this was no different. In level 6 I lost a massive 7K pot after getting my stack in with 96 against 98 on a 976 flop. It was close to a flip with my hand a slight favourite but the straight got there on the river. After that nothing went my way and I exited with 88 < JJ aipf well short of the money. It was fun while it lasted.
A case of ‘what might have been’. After a flying start this was the beginning of the end for me in the Mini. The villain was playing a very loose/aggressive style and was applying a lot of post flop pressure. I considered my two pairs to be ahead of his shoving range. If I win I take out a tough opponent and have the luxury of a top five stack. I play for first place in MTTs and have no qualms about taking spots like this. Whoever wins tonight will have to get lucky in a similar situations several times on the way.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalancechipsink Small blind 50.00 50.00 4240.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 100.00 150.00 10160.00 Your hole cards 6 9 blu6 Fold n Raise 200.00 350.00 3160.00 Silvafox Fold ALLIN55555 Fold chipsink Fold GaryQQQ Call 100.00 450.00 10060.00 Flop 6 7 9 GaryQQQ Check nBet 450.00 900.00 2710.00 GaryQQQ Raise 1095.00 1995.00 8965.00 n All-in 2710.00 4705.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Call 2065.00 6770.00 6900.00 GaryQQQ Show 6 9 nShow 8 9 Turn 3 River 5 nWin Straight to the 9 6770.00 6770.00
No joy today, I entered three afternoon bounty tournaments but left empty handed. I didn’t get many cards to play with and never really got anything going. All four times I was all-in and called for my tournament life I lost (3 MTTs, 1 STT).
I have no problem with any of my exit hands. I was coolered with a flopped nut straight into a flopped flush in a £2.30. In my first £5.75 when I’d fallen below average I squeeze/shoved A7s from the SB over a serial limper who called and held with ATo. In the second £5.75 I was the wrong side of a pair < pair button vs BB aipf clash.
I rarely buy into £10.50 HU STTs, but I couldn’t resist it when I saw a below average player waiting for a game whose game I know well. I was defeated in the first hand with AA < 74s. All the chips went in on the flop, his 7-high flush draw with a gut-shot got there on the river. Ouch!
I only entered two tournaments today. In the first, the 10-45am £3.30 Bounty Hunter, I was knocked out by a beat in a great spot. I’d been drawn at a wild bingo table which meant there had been rapid eliminations. With a massive 9.2K pot in the middle, worth the chiplead with blinds at 30/60, my maniac opponent got there to bust me when he check/shove bluffed on the flop with an open-ended straight draw that gave him less than 30% equity against my made hand and re-draw to the nut-flush.
Maybe the deck did me a favour, I jumped straight from there into the 11-30am £5.75 Bounty Hunter which went much better.
This time I was a drawn at a more sensible table with decent opponents playing good poker. After a fairly quiet first half during which I chipped up slowly playing small-ball pots I ran really well from the mid-stages onwards, picking up more than my usual share of decent hole-cards and connecting well with many flops. On my way to the final table I somehow won 3/3 flips and got lucky to bust short stacks with A7>A8 and 44>TT, both aipf. It felt **** good to take my turn as the guy who couldn’t lose all-ins, it was long overdue.
At final table it was a bit of a yoyo job for me from three left. There were no soft spots and all three of us were playing aggressive poker. After starting adrift in 3rd/3 I won yet another flip to take the chip lead briefly, though my flipping skills finally deserted me when I lost one with 88<AK aipf for a pot that would have got me HU with a 3/1 chip lead when a king landed on the river (it’s always the river!). However I kept my calm and fought back, regaining the lead again when my SB 3-bet shove with A9 held against the button’s somewhat loose raise/call with KJ.
Going into heads-up play I was slightly behind, however I felt I was favourite as a Sharkscope search told me that my opponent, while being a winning MTT player, has never played any HU STTs here on Sky. I recommend that all MTT players play occasional HU STT sessions to hone their HU skills After all the HU battle is the most important stage of the entire tournament, more money is on the line that at any other time.
To my surprise it was all over very quickly, essentially settled in the eighth hand. By setting myself an aggro image in early skirmishes I successfully induced a massive bluff when I’d turned quads to leave my opponent’s stack on life support. He doubled three times from there and I began to sweat. But there was to be no miracle, I finally killed him off at the fourth attempt for a very pleasing win.
This was my second £5.75 BH victory of this challenge so far coming after a few near misses earlier in the month. It feels great to finally break the magical half-way mark. I’m confident the second half of this challenge will take less than 200 days.
Flipping well on my way to the £5.75 BH win. This is the hand that broke the final table bubble. The villain is a skilled regular with a 5-figure profit to his name from Sky Poker MTTs. Being in urgent need of a double I expect him to correctly be shoving a very wide range when folded to when down to 7BB. In his seat I'm shoving almost any two cards. So when you factor in his head-prize too my K9 becomes a very easy call. This was one of 4/5 coin-flips I won on my way to victory. Often whoever comes out on top in these 'standard' spots is the player who goes on to win, I was that lucky guy this time. If you have better pushing and calling ranges than the field in these late shallow-stacked situations success will eventually come your way.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalance* Small blind 400.00 400.00 5915.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 800.00 1200.00 21510.00 Your hole cards 9 K tinytellah Fold makapaka Fold * All-in 5915.00 7115.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Call 5515.00 12630.00 15995.00 * Show 4 4 GaryQQQ Show 9 K Flop 8 K 8 Turn 10 River 7 GaryQQQ Win Two Pairs, Kings and 8s 12630.00 28625.00
The hand that essentially sealed victory. It’s not easy getting paid when you’re holding quads, so I was delighted when my opponent made this massive bluff to rep a seven or better at the worst possible time.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalance* Small blind 800.00 800.00 77417.50 GaryQQQ Big blind 1600.00 2400.00 74182.50 Your hole cards 7 7 * Call 800.00 3200.00 76617.50 GaryQQQ Raise 3395.00 6595.00 70787.50 * Call 3395.00 9990.00 73222.50 Flop 4 2 7 GaryQQQ Bet 1750.00 11740.00 69037.50 * Call 1750.00 13490.00 71472.50 Turn 7 GaryQQQ Check * All-in 71472.50 84962.50 0.00 GaryQQQ All-in 69037.50 154000.00 0.00 * Unmatched bet 2435.00 151565.00 2435.00 * Show 2 J GaryQQQ Show 7 7 River 4 GaryQQQ Win Four 7s 151565.00 151565.00
Some of those days where you seem to go backwords would be very frustrating for some and they would probably lose sight of their goals, but it's great to see a player with so much focus and knowing realistically we will have these type of downswingy thingy days.
It certainly looks like you have the mentality & patients to succeed where others would probably fail and it's always an inspiration to read your diary.
fantastic effort gary. i'm a new player and diaries like this are such a help when it comes to negotiating a low stakes minefield with a small banklroll.
Thanks Geldy, Maxally, PokerTrev and TeddyBloat for your kind comments. It's very easy to write up a daily entry when I've just binked a tournament. Not so easy when little of interest has happened for a month!
Knowing that players like Teddy are helped by this diary is my biggest motivator to see this challenge through to the end. It's particularly pleasing when a player unknown to me mentions this thread in the chatbox. It reminds me that a lot of lurkers who never post on the forum do follow some of the diaries and find them a good source of inspiration.
Due to a busy morning I didn’t get online until later than usual. I registered in the first game going, a small £2.20 Rebuy. With only 9 entrants and 2 places paid it was essentially a sit-n-go. I was pleased to win it for £14.20 profit on my £6.60 invested.
These small rebuys are very soft in my experience, it’s just a shame there isn’t more money on the line. As usual about half the entrants weren’t taking rebuys and only two of my four opponents still alive took the add-on when available. I got to heads-up by playing solid tight/aggressive poker and cashing in when my opponents made mistakes. My HU opponent was competent, though perhaps a little on the tight side. The hand that all-but clinched victory was my A9 clashing with AT on an A98 flop, all the chips went in and I managed to fade the turn and river. My only suck-out of the game came in the very final hand. I open jammed K7s and cracked pocket 99. However my opponent was down to only 4BB at the time and still would have needed to double twice more to regain the lead.
After that I was tired and short on time, so I called it a day.
Thanks Geldy, Maxally, PokerTrev and TeddyBloat for your kind comments. It's very easy to write up a daily entry when I've just binked a tournament. Not so easy when little of interest has happened for a month! Knowing that players like Teddy are helped by this diary is my biggest motivator to see this challenge through to the end. It's particularly pleasing when a player unknown to me mentions this thread in the chatbox. It reminds me that a lot of lurkers who never post on the forum do follow some of the diaries and find them a good source of inspiration. Posted by GaryQQQ
i read this diary before playing a 'real' money hand of poker. thought id have a really good go at learning the game / building a bankroll for a cheaply as possible by using the free tournie tokens and freerolls at the micro stakes. the aim is to get above a newbie level without depositting. your stuff on bankroll managment and discipline has been really helpful, as has the fact that you've had downswings along the way - i like the way you evaluate your sessions and handle the luck in the game. i'm playing hu sitngos, and occassional mtt atm. ran into my first real extended losing streak today [won 3 from 10hu].
ejoying the learning curve though, and probably learnt more from today's horror session than when the draws came in /opponent meekly tilts his stack off on a winning day.
Wow, aint dropped in to say hello in this thread for ages and unsuprisingly you're still smashing it. I'm sure you've had your share of runbad and rough patches but it was only the start of this year when you literally had zero pence!
Great work Gary, a testiment to what a solid player you are and how good BRM can get you there in the end if you stay focussed, disciplined, play well and put the time in.
Hey Gary just got back from holiday so havn't been around the forum for a bit thought i'd drop in and say nice work good to see you are still progressing, will be a great feeling when you get there good luck with the rest of the challenge and credit for posting so consistently whatever the result.
A decent run in my only tournament today ended up as a very near miss with a runner-up finish in the 10-45AM £3.30 Bounty Hunter.
I was fortunate to be drawn at fairly soft tables, tight/aggressive ABC tournament poker and a few big holds saw me through to the late stages with relative comfort. With five players left on the final table the eventual winner had blinded down to only 1BB when he jammed ace-rag from the button and trebled-up. The table maniac then doubled him up several more times to give the guy an unlikely chiplead before I busted the maniac in fourth place. I took out a shortie who finished third a few hands later.
I gave heads-up play my best shot after starting with a 1/2 chip deficit. My opponent turned-out to be a strong HU player and chips were traded back and forward for a while. The game was settled by the first all-in and call. I jammed 18BB with pocket 66 over the villains open limp. He called my shove with JTo, a J landed on the river. Had I faded that river I’d have taken the 2/1 advantage and given myself a good shot at victory. But it wasn’t to be, it was a spot I had to take if I wanted to get first place, therefore I can live with the result good or bad.
The tournament had taken three hours to play out and with other stuff to do I decided to call it a day. As is usual for me at the moment Friday will be a day off from poker.
Incredibly the player on the button in this hand came back to win the tournament despite letting his stack blind down to only one big blind at the final table!
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalancebrian4628 Small blind 600.00 600.00 43374.50 GaryQQQ Big blind 1200.00 1800.00 51976.50 Your hole cards 7 3 joecole Fold PEACEPAW Fold * All-in 1369.00 3169.00 0.00 brian4628 Call 769.00 3938.00 42605.50 GaryQQQ Call 169.00 4107.00 51807.50 Flop 4 9 10 brian4628 Check GaryQQQ Check Turn J brian4628 Check GaryQQQ Check River J brian4628 Check GaryQQQ Check * Show A 2 brian4628 Muck 6 2 GaryQQQ Show 7 3 * Win Pair of Jacks 4107.00 4107.00
I’m enjoying a nice little heater at the moment. My account at the time of writing;
There was a high proportion of wild gamblers in the tournaments I entered today, as is often the case at the weekend. It’s somewhat frustrating when the tables are playing like that when you’re looking for a decent game of poker, however it doesn’t mean the games aren’t still profitable. The best strategy in my experience is to tighten up considerably and hope to get paid when you pick up a premium pair or smash a flop.
However it never really felt like it was going to be my day and I never got a decent run going, not that I’m complaining after enjoying a sweet heater midweek. I picked few playable hands and didn’t run too well in all-in situations. My only MTT cash came in a Speed Rebuy in which I got 8th/82 after buying in 20 seconds before the end of late registration.
Still, I had fun and enjoyed several hours of play at a cost of only a fiver. Great value for money if you think about it; a couple of pints down the pub would have cost more and been over a lot quicker.
Sometimes it’s just not your day. I’m happy I played my pocket kings correctly in this hand taken from tonight’s Mini Bounty Hunter. Obviously my opponent is never folding his/her nut-flush draw and overcards on that flop. I’m not folding my overpair either. When the stacks go in my hand is a slight favourite, though at 56/44 it’s pretty much a flip. To win tournaments you have to have no fear of taking these spots, the day the stars align and you manage to win several confrontations like this is the day you’ll enjoy a juicy bink.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalancesmiffy88 Small blind 40.00 40.00 1825.00 barcombe Big blind 80.00 120.00 4515.00 Your hole cards K K d Raise 320.00 440.00 2060.00 Gullyman Fold CSCS Fold GaryQQQ Raise 795.00 1235.00 2855.00 smiffy88 Fold barcombe Fold d Call 475.00 1710.00 1585.00 Flop 5 7 6 d Check GaryQQQ Bet 950.00 2660.00 1905.00 d All-in 1585.00 4245.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Call 635.00 4880.00 1270.00 d Show J A GaryQQQ Show K K Turn 8 River K d Win Flush to the Ace 4880.00 4880.00
Comments
Didn’t play
Day 197
Closing Balance £465.11
Up £13.89 today
In my first afternoon MTT today, a £5.75 BH, I suffered a frustrating bust when my AJ was unable to hold against an OOP calling station prepared to play for stacks holding 93s on an AJx flop with only a 9-high flush draw. It was a great opportunity for me to double-up to a top five a few spots from the money, however the flush got there and it wasn’t to be.
Second up was a speed £5.75 BH. I busted in the mid-stages, unable to improve when I got my stack in with a suited ace as a 32/68 underdog against a pair. It was a standard spot with effective stacks only 18BB deep.
My third tourney, another standard £5.75 BH, saw my only cash of the day. Solid tight/aggressive poker and some decent hands to play with saw me make it to the money with relative ease. Exits were slow once the bubble had burst, so the final table was mainly a pre-flop game right from the start with the average stack at only just over 20BB. The first exit came at my hands when my call with AQ held over a 10BB open-shove with AJ. Unfortunately I lost a huge pot just two hands later when I 3-bet shoved 99 on the button over a short-stacks jam and ran into JJ in the blinds. The shortie trebled-up with K6o and the JJ won the much bigger side-pot. With just 8BB left I only had one play available. I jammed Q7 from the SB and was busted by a button limp/caller with QT for a disappointing fourth place finish. I’m happy with my play. The 99 < JJ hand was just one of those unavoidable coolers with a short-stack already all-in and all stacks shallow. I’d jam in the same spot every single time, raise/folding a big part of my stack being unthinkable.
In the evening I returned just in time for the Mini and enjoyed a flying start. I picked up AK on the SB in the very first hand and decided I wasn’t in the mood for either folding or flatting. Three of us ended up aipf, I spiked an ace to treble-up and bust unknown opponents holding 66 and QJ! Obviously I’d have looked like a total idiot had I run into kings and aces, but you see so much wild play at the weekend that I considered it worth a gamble. It was a high variance play, but it worked out this time. I’d have got it in without hesitation had I known their hole-cards considering the bounty format, though I wouldn’t have in a freezeout. An orbit later I took my third head with AA > QQ aipf. With only 6 hands played I was already on a freeroll courtesy of the head-prizes. This is one of the fascinating quirks offered by Bounty Hunters, my favourite MTT format.
However as we all know the early leaders almost never win big-field tournaments, in fact they usually don't cash either and this was no different. In level 6 I lost a massive 7K pot after getting my stack in with 96 against 98 on a 976 flop. It was close to a flip with my hand a slight favourite but the straight got there on the river. After that nothing went my way and I exited with 88 < JJ aipf well short of the money. It was fun while it lasted.
July Poker Points 294 (£2.94)
Today’s results;
8165951HNLB0.5GBPSkyPoker20/07/2013 20:15NL Hold'em £5 + £0.5163/468£0.148166178HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker20/07/2013 15:30NL Hold'em £5 + £0.754/82£27.358167310HNLT,HU0.1GBPSkyPoker20/07/2013 15:03NL Hold'em £2 + £0.12/2-£2.18166060HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker20/07/2013 14:45NL Hold'em £5 + £0.759/23-£5.758165155HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker20/07/2013 13:30NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7517/74-£5.75
A case of ‘what might have been’. After a flying start this was the beginning of the end for me in the Mini. The villain was playing a very loose/aggressive style and was applying a lot of post flop pressure. I considered my two pairs to be ahead of his shoving range. If I win I take out a tough opponent and have the luxury of a top five stack. I play for first place in MTTs and have no qualms about taking spots like this. Whoever wins tonight will have to get lucky in a similar situations several times on the way.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalancechipsink Small blind 50.00 50.00 4240.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 100.00 150.00 10160.00 Your hole cards 6 9 blu6 Fold n Raise 200.00 350.00 3160.00 Silvafox Fold ALLIN55555 Fold chipsink Fold GaryQQQ Call 100.00 450.00 10060.00 Flop 6 7 9 GaryQQQ Check nBet 450.00 900.00 2710.00 GaryQQQ Raise 1095.00 1995.00 8965.00 n All-in 2710.00 4705.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Call 2065.00 6770.00 6900.00 GaryQQQ Show 6 9 nShow 8 9 Turn 3 River 5 nWin Straight to the 9 6770.00 6770.00
Didn’t play
Day 199
Closing Balance £440.71
Down £24.40 today
No joy today, I entered three afternoon bounty tournaments but left empty handed. I didn’t get many cards to play with and never really got anything going. All four times I was all-in and called for my tournament life I lost (3 MTTs, 1 STT).
I have no problem with any of my exit hands. I was coolered with a flopped nut straight into a flopped flush in a £2.30. In my first £5.75 when I’d fallen below average I squeeze/shoved A7s from the SB over a serial limper who called and held with ATo. In the second £5.75 I was the wrong side of a pair < pair button vs BB aipf clash.
I rarely buy into £10.50 HU STTs, but I couldn’t resist it when I saw a below average player waiting for a game whose game I know well. I was defeated in the first hand with AA < 74s. All the chips went in on the flop, his 7-high flush draw with a gut-shot got there on the river. Ouch!
July Poker Points 320 (£3.20)
Today’s results;
8173599HNLST,HU0.5GBPSkyPoker22/07/2013 16:27NL Hold'em £10 + £0.52/2-£10.58173610HNLST,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker22/07/2013 16:05NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.058172480HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker22/07/2013 14:30NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7536/89-£5.758173382HNLST,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker22/07/2013 14:17NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.958172017HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker22/07/2013 14:15NL Hold'em £2 + £0.315/16-£2.3
Not my day. My only pocket aces of the session fail to hold in a £10.50 HU STT.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalance Small blind 10.00 10.00 490.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 20.00 30.00 480.00 Your hole cards A A Call 10.00 40.00 480.00 GaryQQQ Raise 48.00 88.00 432.00 Call 48.00 136.00 432.00 Flop 8 6 J GaryQQQ Bet 85.00 221.00 347.00 Raise 170.00 391.00 262.00 GaryQQQ All-in 347.00 738.00 0.00 All-in 262.00 1000.00 0.00 Show 7 4 GaryQQQ Show A A Turn 8 River 9 Win Flush to the 9 1000.00 1000.00
Closing Balance £524.87
Up £84.16 today
I only entered two tournaments today. In the first, the 10-45am £3.30 Bounty Hunter, I was knocked out by a beat in a great spot. I’d been drawn at a wild bingo table which meant there had been rapid eliminations. With a massive 9.2K pot in the middle, worth the chiplead with blinds at 30/60, my maniac opponent got there to bust me when he check/shove bluffed on the flop with an open-ended straight draw that gave him less than 30% equity against my made hand and re-draw to the nut-flush.
Maybe the deck did me a favour, I jumped straight from there into the 11-30am £5.75 Bounty Hunter which went much better.
This time I was a drawn at a more sensible table with decent opponents playing good poker. After a fairly quiet first half during which I chipped up slowly playing small-ball pots I ran really well from the mid-stages onwards, picking up more than my usual share of decent hole-cards and connecting well with many flops. On my way to the final table I somehow won 3/3 flips and got lucky to bust short stacks with A7>A8 and 44>TT, both aipf. It felt **** good to take my turn as the guy who couldn’t lose all-ins, it was long overdue.
At final table it was a bit of a yoyo job for me from three left. There were no soft spots and all three of us were playing aggressive poker. After starting adrift in 3rd/3 I won yet another flip to take the chip lead briefly, though my flipping skills finally deserted me when I lost one with 88<AK aipf for a pot that would have got me HU with a 3/1 chip lead when a king landed on the river (it’s always the river!). However I kept my calm and fought back, regaining the lead again when my SB 3-bet shove with A9 held against the button’s somewhat loose raise/call with KJ.
Going into heads-up play I was slightly behind, however I felt I was favourite as a Sharkscope search told me that my opponent, while being a winning MTT player, has never played any HU STTs here on Sky. I recommend that all MTT players play occasional HU STT sessions to hone their HU skills After all the HU battle is the most important stage of the entire tournament, more money is on the line that at any other time.
To my surprise it was all over very quickly, essentially settled in the eighth hand. By setting myself an aggro image in early skirmishes I successfully induced a massive bluff when I’d turned quads to leave my opponent’s stack on life support. He doubled three times from there and I began to sweat. But there was to be no miracle, I finally killed him off at the fourth attempt for a very pleasing win.
This was my second £5.75 BH victory of this challenge so far coming after a few near misses earlier in the month. It feels great to finally break the magical half-way mark. I’m confident the second half of this challenge will take less than 200 days.
July Poker Points 331 (£3.31)
Today’s results;
8174205HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker23/07/2013 11:30NL Hold'em £5 + £0.751/77£87.468174532HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker23/07/2013 10:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.354/97-£3.3
Flipping well on my way to the £5.75 BH win. This is the hand that broke the final table bubble. The villain is a skilled regular with a 5-figure profit to his name from Sky Poker MTTs. Being in urgent need of a double I expect him to correctly be shoving a very wide range when folded to when down to 7BB. In his seat I'm shoving almost any two cards. So when you factor in his head-prize too my K9 becomes a very easy call. This was one of 4/5 coin-flips I won on my way to victory. Often whoever comes out on top in these 'standard' spots is the player who goes on to win, I was that lucky guy this time. If you have better pushing and calling ranges than the field in these late shallow-stacked situations success will eventually come your way.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalance* Small blind 400.00 400.00 5915.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 800.00 1200.00 21510.00 Your hole cards 9 K tinytellah Fold makapaka Fold * All-in 5915.00 7115.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Call 5515.00 12630.00 15995.00 * Show 4 4 GaryQQQ Show 9 K Flop 8 K 8 Turn 10 River 7 GaryQQQ Win Two Pairs, Kings and 8s 12630.00 28625.00
The hand that essentially sealed victory. It’s not easy getting paid when you’re holding quads, so I was delighted when my opponent made this massive bluff to rep a seven or better at the worst possible time.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalance* Small blind 800.00 800.00 77417.50 GaryQQQ Big blind 1600.00 2400.00 74182.50 Your hole cards 7 7 * Call 800.00 3200.00 76617.50 GaryQQQ Raise 3395.00 6595.00 70787.50 * Call 3395.00 9990.00 73222.50 Flop 4 2 7 GaryQQQ Bet 1750.00 11740.00 69037.50 * Call 1750.00 13490.00 71472.50 Turn 7 GaryQQQ Check * All-in 71472.50 84962.50 0.00 GaryQQQ All-in 69037.50 154000.00 0.00 * Unmatched bet 2435.00 151565.00 2435.00 * Show 2 J GaryQQQ Show 7 7 River 4 GaryQQQ Win Four 7s 151565.00 151565.00
Some of those days where you seem to go backwords would be very frustrating for some and they would probably lose sight of their goals, but it's great to see a player with so much focus and knowing realistically we will have these type of downswingy thingy days.
It certainly looks like you have the mentality & patients to succeed where others would probably fail and it's always an inspiration to read your diary.
Keep up the good work m8 and best of luck.
cheers,
TEDDY
Knowing that players like Teddy are helped by this diary is my biggest motivator to see this challenge through to the end. It's particularly pleasing when a player unknown to me mentions this thread in the chatbox. It reminds me that a lot of lurkers who never post on the forum do follow some of the diaries and find them a good source of inspiration.
Closing Balance £539.07
Up £14.20 today
Due to a busy morning I didn’t get online until later than usual. I registered in the first game going, a small £2.20 Rebuy. With only 9 entrants and 2 places paid it was essentially a sit-n-go. I was pleased to win it for £14.20 profit on my £6.60 invested.
These small rebuys are very soft in my experience, it’s just a shame there isn’t more money on the line. As usual about half the entrants weren’t taking rebuys and only two of my four opponents still alive took the add-on when available. I got to heads-up by playing solid tight/aggressive poker and cashing in when my opponents made mistakes. My HU opponent was competent, though perhaps a little on the tight side. The hand that all-but clinched victory was my A9 clashing with AT on an A98 flop, all the chips went in and I managed to fade the turn and river. My only suck-out of the game came in the very final hand. I open jammed K7s and cracked pocket 99. However my opponent was down to only 4BB at the time and still would have needed to double twice more to regain the lead.
After that I was tired and short on time, so I called it a day.
July Poker Points 337 (£3.37)
Today’s results;
8178739HNLR0.2GBPSkyPoker24/07/2013 12:00NL Hold'em £2R + £0.21/9£14.20
Progress so far;
http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/6398/vmzp.jpg
ejoying the learning curve though, and probably learnt more from today's horror session than when the draws came in /opponent meekly tilts his stack off on a winning day.
cheers,
TEDDY
Great work Gary, a testiment to what a solid player you are and how good BRM can get you there in the end if you stay focussed, disciplined, play well and put the time in.
I'm not sure I'd say I'd describe myself as 'smashing it' having just spent over a month going nowhere fast up until a couple of days ago.
I must admit I'm enjoying the current mini-heater, I hope it lasts.
Closing Balance £565.86
Up £26.79 today
A decent run in my only tournament today ended up as a very near miss with a runner-up finish in the 10-45AM £3.30 Bounty Hunter.
I was fortunate to be drawn at fairly soft tables, tight/aggressive ABC tournament poker and a few big holds saw me through to the late stages with relative comfort. With five players left on the final table the eventual winner had blinded down to only 1BB when he jammed ace-rag from the button and trebled-up. The table maniac then doubled him up several more times to give the guy an unlikely chiplead before I busted the maniac in fourth place. I took out a shortie who finished third a few hands later.
I gave heads-up play my best shot after starting with a 1/2 chip deficit. My opponent turned-out to be a strong HU player and chips were traded back and forward for a while. The game was settled by the first all-in and call. I jammed 18BB with pocket 66 over the villains open limp. He called my shove with JTo, a J landed on the river. Had I faded that river I’d have taken the 2/1 advantage and given myself a good shot at victory. But it wasn’t to be, it was a spot I had to take if I wanted to get first place, therefore I can live with the result good or bad.
The tournament had taken three hours to play out and with other stuff to do I decided to call it a day. As is usual for me at the moment Friday will be a day off from poker.
July Poker Points 340 (£3.40)
Today’s results;
8180762HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker25/07/2013 10:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.32/68£26.79
Incredibly the player on the button in this hand came back to win the tournament despite letting his stack blind down to only one big blind at the final table!
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalancebrian4628 Small blind 600.00 600.00 43374.50 GaryQQQ Big blind 1200.00 1800.00 51976.50 Your hole cards 7 3 joecole Fold PEACEPAW Fold * All-in 1369.00 3169.00 0.00 brian4628 Call 769.00 3938.00 42605.50 GaryQQQ Call 169.00 4107.00 51807.50 Flop 4 9 10 brian4628 Check GaryQQQ Check Turn J brian4628 Check GaryQQQ Check River J brian4628 Check GaryQQQ Check * Show A 2 brian4628 Muck 6 2 GaryQQQ Show 7 3 * Win Pair of Jacks 4107.00 4107.00
I’m enjoying a nice little heater at the moment. My account at the time of writing;
http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/7342/7lgh.jpg
(click pic below to enlarge)
Didn’t play
Day 204
Closing Balance £560.85
Down £5.01 today
There was a high proportion of wild gamblers in the tournaments I entered today, as is often the case at the weekend. It’s somewhat frustrating when the tables are playing like that when you’re looking for a decent game of poker, however it doesn’t mean the games aren’t still profitable. The best strategy in my experience is to tighten up considerably and hope to get paid when you pick up a premium pair or smash a flop.
However it never really felt like it was going to be my day and I never got a decent run going, not that I’m complaining after enjoying a sweet heater midweek. I picked few playable hands and didn’t run too well in all-in situations. My only MTT cash came in a Speed Rebuy in which I got 8th/82 after buying in 20 seconds before the end of late registration.
Still, I had fun and enjoyed several hours of play at a cost of only a fiver. Great value for money if you think about it; a couple of pints down the pub would have cost more and been over a lot quicker.
July Poker Points 368 (£3.68)
Today’s results;
8187874HNLB0.5GBPSkyPoker27/07/2013 20:15NL Hold'em £5 + £0.5217/487-£5.58188209HNLR0.2GBPSkyPoker27/07/2013 18:30NL Hold'em £2R + £0.28/82£10.098189713HNL6MX,DN0.3GBPSkyPoker27/07/2013 18:07NL Hold'em £3 + £0.31/6£2.78187875HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker27/07/2013 16:15NL Hold'em £2 + £0.316/30-£1.558188650HNLSAT0.3GBPSkyPoker27/07/2013 15:45NL Hold'em £3.3 + £0.38/19-£3.68189334HNLST,HU0.15GBPSkyPoker27/07/2013 15:44NL Hold'em £3 + £0.152/2-£3.158187942HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker27/07/2013 14:30NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7545/120-£3.87
Sometimes it’s just not your day. I’m happy I played my pocket kings correctly in this hand taken from tonight’s Mini Bounty Hunter. Obviously my opponent is never folding his/her nut-flush draw and overcards on that flop. I’m not folding my overpair either. When the stacks go in my hand is a slight favourite, though at 56/44 it’s pretty much a flip. To win tournaments you have to have no fear of taking these spots, the day the stars align and you manage to win several confrontations like this is the day you’ll enjoy a juicy bink.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalancesmiffy88 Small blind 40.00 40.00 1825.00 barcombe Big blind 80.00 120.00 4515.00 Your hole cards K K d Raise 320.00 440.00 2060.00 Gullyman Fold CSCS Fold GaryQQQ Raise 795.00 1235.00 2855.00 smiffy88 Fold barcombe Fold d Call 475.00 1710.00 1585.00 Flop 5 7 6 d Check GaryQQQ Bet 950.00 2660.00 1905.00 d All-in 1585.00 4245.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Call 635.00 4880.00 1270.00 d Show J A GaryQQQ Show K K Turn 8 River K d Win Flush to the Ace 4880.00 4880.00
best wishes
(* *)
^
dev
They're a friendly bunch Vespa, the town is nice and lively and it's good to see them here.