Wednessday as all Wednessdays was a day off. I met my uncle Kenny. Back a few years we used to always meet for lunch. For a number of reasons, on both part that ended. Was good to have a proper catch up and we're going to try and make it more of a weekly thing again. We have similar goals in life and always nice to keep up on how to get them. Although we're a long way away yet.
We then had a couple of games of pool before meeting Mel and the weeman. It was from there where we went to get some fish for the new fishtank. Missed the old one that broke in cleaning a few years ago, and just never ever had the funding to get a new one.
heres some pics of it and the 8 fish in there atm.
Also going to add this mornings session into here. Was pretty meh. Not every often you see a very aggro guy at the tables. One reg down like that but this opponent was new. Meant i made a few mistakes. But eventually i adapted well and altho they did stack me in a high variance spot, i feel i ended with the upper hand.
There was also another puke spot where i got stacked. The strange thing is in game i was like thats a cooler, but when i break the hand down, its actually a very simple fold. I wont post the hand, because my HH posting hasnt been great of late unless i use IE which i hate. I can add it later if people want to see properly (778119790)
and in the meantime ill write it out.
4 handed. I open from a 200BB stack UTG with TT. BB whos an unorthadox reg peels. Flop is JJ9 rainbow. He checks and i check back. I actually checked to keep him wide, and let him make mistakes on turns and rivers. I was going for 2 streets of value and felt that was the best way to go for it. Turn is a 2 which brings a second diamond. He leads for 13p (half pot) and i call.
River is an offsuit T. He bombs for £4.03 shove. Nearly 8x pot. In game i tank called, which shows I at least considered the possibility but in game i thought i can beat 99/22 and i look like i have a J some of the time. So i called. In reality I only beat 99 here. Dont think he ever does this with KQ/Q9/78/22/Jx Which means i beat 99, and lose to J9/JT/JJ. Theres obviously not many combos of this but his range is just so nutting to bet 8x pot. Expessially when he only bets half pot on the turn.
Hi Don, I'm back from a 5-6 week lay off. last time I played i was on your table. I expect you remember it. that's better.. can see it now
just wanted to say... you are a good player.. better than nl4. I don't like seeing you at my table either (only joking mate you are a winning player... and that's what matters. if you are on a bad run or whatever.. just not enjoying it maybe... take a break!!! it works for me anyway. if you are playing purely for the money... carry on playing. if it's neither here or there, then what's stopping you.
i'll now play for a few days ...see how it goes. if I win and I'm enjoying it.. great, i'll carry on. if I lose...see ya. if I win and find it a drag..we'll see.
just remember mate... it's only a game... and should be fun.
Momentum is a word used alot in poker and rightfully so. Going into today i was lacking any of it and feeling pretty down about playing. I slept in thus missed the morning session, but decided to play the evening session and since the weeman is away this weekend i had a little beer or 10 too. Just to feel like i was enjoying it.
Anyways first part i played mini. 2 head and a pretty puke blow up from 7/127 to comming 104th. In less than an orbit 3 hands smashed all of the 65BB i had away.
Cash however went well and i made a small profit> mini's two head and cash was +£2 for the first session.
Second session involved one of the most nuts hands ive ever played. I put a guy on literally one hand. Kings. And i went i think he'll fold Kings here. he didnt. I may have hit the river. But i genuinely believe i could have got him off, and id narrowed his range down to the hand he had too.
In the end that bluff gave me an image we're on that table people decided they where gna 3b me every hand. Really it shows that other people on the table had no idea what i tried to achieve in that spot. Which is a good thing. However that also meant more high variance spots for me. I elected to peel a few times and one time i stacked a guy post flop doing so.
In the end +£15 for the day and its been a great wee booster. Weekend off now for 21st and i cant ply sundays anyways. So back on monday.
Also finally over 800 C4P need to start hitting my hours as im well behind where i should be right now. Last month was 1700 and i missed most of a week due to family stuff.
The end of last month since the last update has been pretty brutal. Stuff at home has been pretty tense but i am working on fixing that. Although its not an easy fix.
Poker therefore took a huge backstep. I went back to gaming as a release briefly investing in the lego superhero game. Which i have to say was a huge let down.
Anyways back to the poker for a new month. Sleeping at the momenet is horrible, not sure why. But its grim.
Managed about 90 mins yesterday. Stood tilted as anything expecting so a 4/5 buy in loss. In actual fact i was £1 in profit. Although the only major hand i remember winning i misclick called a river shove with an overpair, where the overpair should never ever be good. But it was good
So TOTP was on today and i decided as a result just to play mtts. Then looked at scheule was abit meh on it, so decided to sell for main, play mini and totp.
This is the first time ive came off a session in a while and been 100% pleased with how i played. Dont think i made a single if any mistake at all today. I counted 2 1 wasnt really a mistake just one slightly better option, outcome would be the same. The other i save 380 chips again was close.
Main i got UL. Never got going. Got AK in pre v AQ. He hit flush. Std stuff.
Totp i got going and was amoungst the chip leaders, before i got house over housed v one of the 2/3 stacks that covered me. The villian went onto win it.
mini went better. Was bit of a grind tho. but managed to cash for about £22 inc heads. Exit was standard shove the button with QT and 10bigs and bb woke up with AK which held.
This was one of those days where i really feel i played the best i could to maximise results.
So the last update was apparently early june. Since the poker wise been on and off. Im not sure why but i can't seem to gather any momentum or confidence. Which in turn effects motovation. I'm not gonna lie that all lies in my park.
Outwith that, I got another fish tank. This time a 80L cold water BiOrb. One thing in life i love is fish. I'd have loads of tanks if Mel let me, she seems to be putting the foot down on the two, but hoping to get a third for one specific type of fish which i can't remember how to spell so i won't but it begins with a C. Anyways at present the tank has two fish in it. We will be getting more in the comming months.
Outwith that the little one is now walking and saying some words. Including his first full sentence the other day - which was love you dada - one proud dad here lol. Its been so rewarding to see him develop and feels like its comming so fast. I could easily right a post on everything he does and the emotions that makes me feel, but i dont think thats something many want to read lol.
I had a brief lads trip out to Fuengirola, Spain for a week. Was good but room sharing and homesickness caused some problems. Also some other minor lads stuff. Also turns out it was town's (is it a town or city, meh either way) festival week, so huge amount of domestic travellers which meant alot of the clubs where closed and next to the main fun fair bit they had a make shift set of night clubs. The only decent one i never got in after getting into an arguement with a bouncer. An arguement which might i add, if we both spoke the same language would never have happened. Thankfully the other bouncer spoke some english and explained the situation but by then an hour had passed and there was a 3 hour long cue - even i wasn't waiting that long - would be sober by the time i got in lol.
Since i got home I've mostly spent time with mel and the weeone. Had my first game of poker in almsot 2 months last night though, a live sat for GPS Edinburgh. Most expected overlay so as a result it got huge numbers. Easily the busyiest ive ever seen in there. As for how i did, well in hindsight i didn't make any mistakes that meant i could have got closer to the seat. Thats not to say i didnt make mistakes by the way. But i came away from the table knowing i got as close as was ever going to be possible with the way the deck fell.
Since returning I've played 2 online sessions. My rolls been small and decided to sell action for standard grinds. Both grind sold out extrmely quickly. Infact in both cases i had to ask people to take less cut becasue they both over sold.#
The first package i played on Tuesday, Total buy ins = £66ish and included Main, mini and almost every bounty hunter(£5-£11) between 5.30 and 9.30. I missed one out, id put the package together on Monday when games where playing and somehow missed the best value £5 game on Sky poker.
Anyways it started poorly and i added in the game i missed and 2x £2 bhs myself. Bust one, 2nd one went much better and the night was very strong. One second played, 2 further cashes and several heads. The second place i even felt ul with because i had 3 major spots, which all went against me despite being in a favorite (see BBV). The rest showed promise for a break and a deep run but nothing came of it. The main was the only one with a reasonably quick exit.
Friday's package didn't include the main or mini, and came to a total entry fee of £56 exactly. It had the bh i missed, so 4x £5 bhs and 3x £11 bhs.
This was a much harder session. I was on the backfoot pretty much the full session and wasn't running great. I don't think i ran brilliant on Tuesday but i had spots where there was clear +EV moves, today there was alot more close calls, and a tonne of all in equity went against me time after time. Thats not a complaint, I've learnt you have to take the bad with the smooth and expessially in higher variance games its going to be tough sometimes. In the end i was down to 1 MTT and i needed 7th to make a small profit (only way i could even get break even) - the table i was on was playing very unorthodox from about 23 down. 17 cashing. It went against my usual style in this spot and i adapted fairly well i think. I had 1 all in where it was close but bang on the bubble i felt shove was right cause he'd fold some hands that beat me. In the end he snapped off with the exact type of hand i thought he'd fold. Meh left with 10 bigs move on and rebuild. Won a flip to get back into it, before losing a 40/60 for the exact same amount. In the end i ended up 9th with no further heads.
Although a £9 loss on a bad day can be considered strong i think.
The future will hold, we im away tomorrow, but Sunday & Wednessdayi have another live sat. Hoping to put a package together for Monday/Tuesday more likely just do Tuesday so i have some time with Mel. Then hopfully if sats go well will have GPS over next weekend.
Already putting together a package for the micro mtt series on another site, which will last for a few weeks and will divert my attention away from these games. But thats that. I also plan on playing the 25/25 in December pending on how results are between now and then. I was certain to play it but the money i was going to use is now going into this Micro Series. Im confident i can do something in those fields, but theyll be alot tougher than the usual games i play at those levels.
Not even sure if people still read this, but update time anyways lol.
I've decided to start increasing my volume again, but 100% avoiding cash like the plague and selling for most mtts i play. Out with the current micro series im in the vast majority of this will come on Sky Bounty hunters. Im still finding good mtts on rival shores though. Although i've now built two stable schedules on sky ill play depending on when im awake.
The micro series has gone ok so far, currently showing a small profit after a deep run yesterday comming 58th in a 6 max non-progressive bounty hunter (head prize was static) with 7 heads to boot. I made very few mistakes in that mtt, unfortunelty the one i made cost me 300k at a time i had just over a 400k stack. I never recovered.
Other mtts have been close. A good few nearly misses, and one lol win - it turns out Knockout Frenzy doesnt mean Turbo Bounty Hunter my last mtt win came in an mtt where 100% of the prizepool was on heads - i got my own and the guy i beat HU - aswell as 2 more, but i wouldn't at all be suprised if the rest of the FT got paid more than me for their efforts.
I'm learning alot at the moment and yesterdays micro series event felt very winable. Given the increased standard i expect in that kind of field due to it being a seires and more regs playing it, but also because its on that site where all the pros play. It felt nice to actually feel like i was on a level playing field with most of those guys, and the last time i played a similar buy in and structure event on that site i felt very out classed. This time i felt i was bossing tables for periods.
I may have got lucky with table draws, time will tell on that. But for now I'm taking only the positives.
This has all came from me sitting down and thinking for a period of time. I thought to myself what got me into poker, why did/do i enjoy it, and what would get me back to that. And i realised the things i enjoyed most in poker. The feeling of deep runs. in mtts. Obviously winning them. But that wasn't the most important thing. I prefer the social side of poker, thats not something you get online very often - you wont believe how good the social side is on sky compared to elsewhere if you don't play elsewhere. The events I enjoy the most by far are the live tours ive played. SPT's and UKIPT's. I dont have the BR to play UKIPTs now and the 1k buy ins kind of priced me out of sats. Next year the price is dropping so hopfully i can get there again. As for the SPTs im still hoping sky will bring them back at £110/£220 - The 6 max (SPT) in Nottingham easily one of my favourite weekends involving poker. This is my beg to Sky Suits to make another one happen please. I know im critical of the UKPC and thats not because i think its a bad idea, im just priced out as im sure many others on Sky are - but this isn't about that.
So then i thought about why did i stop enjoying poker. It became a grind. Unenjoyable. No social life at times. And my pc was out of the way, and made that last aspect even worse.
So i decided, i've moved the pc back downstairs. I want to try and sat into a few live events. And give up cash so i dont feel like its a constant grind, even when mtts feel like a grind, ill still have that odd deep run to pick me back up.
So today is a good day. Today is the day we move forward and CRUSH!
Another avid reader. There is always a bit of trepidation tho when clicking on your thread! ;-)) Glad you're in a better frame of mind & enjoying poker & life a bit more. GL
"....Not even sure if people still read this, but update time anyways lol...."
Pretty sure everyone reads this Diary, Don, so do try & keep it up & Post regularly.
The more regularly you post, the more interaction you will get.
Even if it is only a few lines, & not very interesting, people will still read it - we know that, because they even read & reply on Jac35's Diary.
I tried to Post every day on my little Diary thing, though I've been unwell, & not played for 3 weeks, so it's probably on Page 97 now. That's what happens when we don't post every day.
Cheers guys, may post more since theres an interest On an update mtts today went ok small profit. Decided to TV Tart and show support for the new tv system. May not have gone well. Top 2 pair once, second set twice - lost with all said hands. ah well. Posted by The_Don90
I read your update in the morning (staying away from cash) then sat and watched you get slaughtered in those three big pots in the evening. Cruel. More discipline required for your plan though perhaps?
I woke up at 2am. Micro Series games been on at 3am last few days and body clock well and trully adjusted to that. Yesterdays cash actually felt sorer after a sleep. For a number of reasons, The Q9 i think i can fold in hindsight, but pot was close to that unfoldable status. The 88 is literally the worst hand i call with (i fold 7's ((one set worse)) in that spot) and the 5's v Pingu the very following hand was a cooler.
As a result of all that i debated not playing for a while. But then I thought to myself. If I'm going to get down every time stuff like this happens then i might aswell withdraw from all accounts, uninstall software and do something much less productive.
So i reg'd up for my Micro Series stuff 7am and 9am. And several mtts on a certain site which name is made up of 3 numbers. They try to appeal to the Austrillian market so mtts early morning hours are pretty decent. Not brilliant but far better than sites which have most of their player pool based in Europe and The Americas.
Early on had a Final Table in a $1 event, got a touch ul and got $12. Then in a $4 Static head prize ($1 per head) bh i started badly, doubled up, then broke a record i never thought i'd see. In a single hand i took 4 heads. 56 on 56A v A7, ATand 67. Great shape i thought, turn 7. River the 5 though, . MTT paid for. I took 2 futher heads before losing 2 puke spots on the bubble which left me with 3.5bb on the bubble. BB hit aswell, and that was the hand the bubble burst, all in and call before me meant i folded 3's. One of them had a better pair so it was a good fold - although would have got there. I bust next hand for a cash inc head $12.
2/3 events left on that site as Micro series started. A strange session on them. One i was up and down, before AQ v 33 in a 3b pot flops AA3 - GG Don. The other one i ran grim, nothing more to it than that. JJ v 99 AIP 9 on flop and A9 v TT all in on turn of ATx9 finnished me off.
The big result thought was a $1.50 event. Standard mtt. I was almost always a top 15 stack, before closer to the money pushing to a top 5 stack and later i was never worse than top 2 until the final 3. I bossed early stages of FT busting 2nd in chips with 8 left which gave me a huge chip lead - also bust 9th and 7th. I slowed down till 4 handed which happened quickly and then just tried to pick spots. Was oop to a very unorthodox short stack and had pos on the closest stack to me. 3 handed i was still chip leader and was enforcing it until i hit a flush v 2nd in chips, he rivered his 4 outs for a FH with a pot size bet back. I recovered by winning a flip, and bossed it. Stacked 3rd place quickly after and HU had a 4/1 chip lead over the guy who'd rivered me not long earlier. HU i won by getting lucky but still think its the right call. KT v AT AIP i hit my K. A nice $80 score.
In Response to Re: Every Don has its day : I read your update in the morning (staying away from cash) then sat and watched you get slaughtered in those three big pots in the evening. Cruel. More discipline required for your plan though perhaps? Posted by bbMike
ha as mentioned above i really did want to support the new system. Think its a positive step from Sky.
In Response to Re: Every Don has its day : ha as mentioned above i really did want to support the new system. Think its a positive step from Sky. Posted by The_Don90
Comments
I'm back from a 5-6 week lay off. last time I played i was on your table. I expect you remember it.
that's better.. can see it now
just wanted to say... you are a good player.. better than nl4.
I don't like seeing you at my table either
you are a winning player... and that's what matters.
if you are on a bad run or whatever.. just not enjoying it maybe...
take a break!!!
it works for me anyway.
if you are playing purely for the money... carry on playing.
if it's neither here or there, then what's stopping you.
i'll now play for a few days ...see how it goes.
if I win and I'm enjoying it.. great, i'll carry on.
if I lose...see ya.
if I win and find it a drag..we'll see.
just remember mate... it's only a game... and should be fun.
Also finally over 800 C4P need to start hitting my hours as im well behind where i should be right now. Last month was 1700 and i missed most of a week due to family stuff.
"....Not even sure if people still read this, but update time anyways lol...."
Pretty sure everyone reads this Diary, Don, so do try & keep it up & Post regularly.
The more regularly you post, the more interaction you will get.
Even if it is only a few lines, & not very interesting, people will still read it - we know that, because they even read & reply on Jac35's Diary.
I tried to Post every day on my little Diary thing, though I've been unwell, & not played for 3 weeks, so it's probably on Page 97 now. That's what happens when we don't post every day.
Good luck.