2009 Review + 2010 Goals

Hey all! Not blogged for a while as I have been super busy with family stuff. Had an awesome Xmas Eve night out, a fun Xmas Day, and lots of cool days since with various family members and family friends. I did squeeze in a tiny session but it was a losing one unfortunately. That leaves my December results as:

Tournaments Played: 66
December Profit: £565.27

However, I started December with make-up of £479.44 so my profit over November and December is £85.83. Obviously this isn't too great for two months grinding, but it was looking very bleak indeed a couple of weeks ago, so I am pleased to pull it around and net myself £40ish.

I started this staking deal with Ben in September and in those four months I have achieved a profit of £1300.32. My ROI in this period is 30.82%. I believe I can at least double this ROI in the next few months so that is an immediate goal of mine!

2009 started off really well for me on the poker front. I achieved a $1950 score on Stars in Feburary and notched up a few $100 scores in other tournaments in the coming months. Unfortunately, I withdrew over £1000 for a holiday and a laptop, and the rest was often blown on cash tables, nights out, takeaways etc. I am really grateful to Ben for the opportunity he offered me, and it has really helped me on the discipline front especially.

The three sites I have played poker on in 2009 predominantly are Stars/DTD/Bwin. OPR tells me that on Stars tournaments (45man+) in 2009 alone (using the filter), I have earnt a total of $1378. That equates to £853 profit.

My excel spreadsheets tell me I earnt £1042 on DTD and £258 on bwin. Therefore, my total profit in online poker tournaments in 2009 is approximately £2150. Obviously Ben will have taken some of this, as did the cash tables, but it is still a statistic I am proud of.

The above brings me to my first 2010 goal: DO NOT PLAY CASH GAMES.

Unless I am rolled for cash games, I am going to steer clear of them completely, all they have ever done is hurt my profits from the game and it must be time for me to realise I am -EV in them.

Infact, here are my 2010 Poker Goals in full:

- Do not play one session of live cash until I have at least 20 buyins put away for it.

- Play the UK Student Poker Championship.

- Other than the above, do not play a tournament with a buyin above £25 unless I have at least 50 buyins for it or have sold action. More than £25 is no longer ‘entertainment’.

- Continue to be active on the 2+2 forums and continue to blog.

- Profit £7,500.



I believe I can reach all these goals and I look forward to blogging about them in one years time. In some respects it is harder for me to plan ahead than for other players who are not backed, for example Ben will decide when I move up stakes. This makes monetary goals harder to set, so the final goal of £7,500 profit may be inaccurate.

I have set other goals in my life, such as academic ones and fitness ones, but I won't bore you with the details of those!

I am going to send myself a delayed email now. It has all the 2010 goals on it, and it will arrive in my inbox in exactly one years time.

Good luck to all, and happy new year!

Out of Make-up!

Hey all, put in my first proper session tonight since Sunday! On Monday I played a small one that didn't go great, and on Tuesday I was just relaxing and ended up seeing Steph, an old friend. Today went well though, I ran hot and ended up cashing in 5 of 8 tournaments, final tabling two of them! Unfortunately, like I said on a previous post, unless you win that crucial flip when on the final table, it may count for very little!

The five tournaments I cashed in were:

Ongame $11r - I min cashed this for $68
Ongame $22 6max - Came 13th in this for $69.
Boss €22 deep - Came 20th in this for €35.
Boss €27.50 - Came 7th for €174.
Boss €11 - Came 10th for €60.

So as you can see, four finishes between 7th-20th, enough to make anybody tilt surely? Maybe not! I enjoyed tonight a lot. It was pretty fun turning my attention from one deep run to the next with Ben sweating me on most of them! Just a bit unfortunate that I couldn't get the break to hit a big top three finish. Ah well, always another day!

The good news is that all those little cashes have pushed me out of make-up and I am now over £100 in profit for Nov/Dec combined. Woo! 8 days ago I was in £700 worth of make-up so it feels good to get out of it!

I won't be playing for a few days now for obvious reasons. I hope everyone has a great Xmas! I will try squeeze one more session in before the end of the year, and then I will do a 2009 review post with my goals for 2010!

Happy Christmas!

(also congrats to Breesy who got himself out of a downswing today, check out his blog named 'Poker and Me' on the right).

Breaking Even..

Hey all! Didn't grind on Friday night as I was out with my friends Sam and Phil. The drinking games are getting pretty intense now and it ended up in me and Sam getting pretty battered. Was a fun night though! My brother came home yesterday, so the day was spent chilling with him, playing Modern Warfare 2, and watching a film.

Anyway today was back to the grind! I ran pretty hot in all fairness, winning one hell of a lot of flips and coming from behind frequently. Unfortunately, unless these things happen on the final two tables, you still won't win much. Its funny really, I came 14th and 21st on DTD tonight and 37th in the huge $11r on Bwin, after running very hot, but only broke even for the night. However on other nights when I would assume I was running bad, I may win a few flips late on and get a $500+ cash and end up having a profitable night. I suppose they are the nights you are running nicely, even if they dont appear to be?!

Anyway enough of that rant which probably doesn't make sense and isn't at all interesting! The biggest score tonight was $129.60 in the $11rebuy, and I just love rebuys lately. Its incredible how many people play with just one bullet and the field always loses about 1/5th before the rebuy period ends. Thats so much dead money! They also have pretty deep structures which is always a positive. In the DTD rebuy my ROI is 116% while in the Bwin rebuy my ROI is 81%.

Anyway tonight I won £5, thats less than 1/3rd of an average buyin, so I can safely call tonight my first ever break-even session! Nothing to brag about though I guess, although they are more fun than losing sessions most definately!

Don't know whether I will put in volume tomorrow, I am going christmas shopping in the afternoon so it depends how I feel in the evening.

Goodnight!

Three tournaments. Two final tables!

Last night before bed I read a post by bond18 about how you should always play a tournament if you can, as long as it doesn't affect your EV in other tournaments. Its pretty obvious isn't it, just 'play when you can', but I rarely take the opportunity to fill all my free time with poker. So last night I checked what tournaments run from 10am-Midday and set my alarm to wake up accordingly. When I woke up I had to do a few things but managed to play three tournaments. I ran pretty well in general and managed to final table two of them. Unfortunately they were very small fields so when I came 10th in one it wasn't a huge score ($140). Luckily, I won a couple of races on the other final table and found myself pretty even stacked going into heads up.

All I could think about was how I am yet to win a tournament and how coming first would clear me out of make-up. Unfortunately, in a pot for 90% of chips in play, my A6 couldn't hold vs KQs and I came second for $550.

Still, this was a pleasing result and it shows that putting in the volume does really pay off. I am still in make-up of about £80 but this can be turned around pretty easily (I hope).

I am heading into town tonight for a few drinks with my friends, while my brother comes back tomorrow so I may end up not playing until Sunday, which is a definate grinding day.

Ben (f3nix35) is currently playing the Monte Carlo event at DTD so good luck to him, it would be sweet to see him ship the £93000 first prize.

Off to eat now. Bye!

Heater around the corner? Maybe not :p

Had a day off yesterday to chill out and spend some time with my Mum. Today I was feeling pumped to play and instantly kicked off a session. I was feeling good after my $858 score on Tuesday and was feeling confident a heater was on its way. Unfortunately my afternoon tournaments went awfully, and I was beginning to question this heater. I then chilled out some more, and came back for my evening tournaments with a clear head. Again, they went awfully. I ran pretty horribly but did manage a min cash for €30, yay! Unfortunately that huge score didn't help much and I am down about £150 for the day.

Anyway, I am now back to £400 make-up and feeling pretty far away from any sort of profits. It kind of sucks that this week I have dedicated SO much time to poker and I just can't seem to get anything going at all. There won't be many weeks available to me like this one so it really sucks that it can't go well. Ah well, tomorrow I am going to play like a king and run like god and ship many $$$, I hope :p

I am already preparing my '2010 Goals' post and can't wait to get it up here.

Off to watch Gran Torino now, I hope its worth it.

Bye bye!

My first ever bwin final table..finally!

Woke up today desperate to play so played a few afternoon tournaments where I had no success. I was now on £700 worth of make-up, needing a reload from Ben again, and pretty downbeat, so I headed into the cold for a run to clear my head. It seemed to help as when I got back to the tables for my evening session I was feeling pretty good.

Ran pretty hot early on in a lot of tournaments, but as soon as my Dad remembered Utd were playing Wolves, he rushed onto his computer to start streaming it live, meaning my internet slowed down and I was timing out of a load of decisions on bwin. I have to admit, this was tilting me pretty hard and I wanted to dropkick my Dad but he seemed pretty keen to watch united pass it around with 15 minutes to go already 3-0 up.

Anyway, the game soon ended and I got back to it, and it was looking pretty good as I was averagely stacked in three tournaments on bwin with about 90 left in each. I bubbled one, min cashed the other, then final tabled the $22! Sweet, I had never hit a final table on bwin and I think my ROI on that site was about -653210%. I won a few 60/40s, then lost AJ to AQ and finished 3rd for $858. Not the greatest cash, but trust me, I really needed it.

I am still in make-up of around £250, but maybe tonight was the sign of a heater? Lets hope so.

Bye all!

Another frustrating night..

Super frustrating night once again. Was doing soo well in my tournaments and was 8-tabling at one point because I just wasn't busting at all. Then the inevitable busts came thick and fast and before I could shout 'FML' I was one tabling the crappy $5 with no cashes. Now this $5 is a huge ongame field with about 1750 runners so its worth final tabling. Unfortunately on my two previous runs in this tournament I came 30th and 65th. Today I thought that might change, but nah, 40th. Oh well!

Enjoying being home a lot. Its ultra relaxing and the food is ace. Seeing a couple of friends tomorrow I think but I should still be able to get some volume in. I love poker at the moment as I am learning so much, but I am downswinging pretty hard (over £600 make-up) so it's hard to stay motivated. The way I am keeping motivation levels up is by setting targets and trying to plan/structure my days.

Fun little prop bet I did earlier with Ant Gaughan who can be found at

http://ant040689.blogspot.com/

He was to my left in the €20 deepstack on boss so we did a last longer which I ended up winning when he ran QQ into my KK.

Hoping to update this blog daily as I will be putting in volume (hopefully) every day.

Goodnight!

Update!

Long time without a post! Its been a crazy period for me with the amount of work thats been going on. But it's finally done now and I can relax and put in some serious volume.

Went to London the other day to see Breesy, it was a pretty fun few days but the inevitable session on live cash didn't go well, oops. Ministry of Sound was awesome though.

Put in a session tonight and guess what? Another deep run where I avoid the big score! Got to say it's starting to get me down a little. I am trying to be super calm about downswings these days but I do find it frustrating when I come back to the tables with a clear head, only to come somewhere like 14th yet again after losing AK to JQ bvb or whatever. But hey, this happens to everyone, and it could be a lot worse for me, I could have not cashed at all! This won't affect my play the next time I sit down, as I have good control now and I know I will have a fresh head.

I head home tomorrow for xmas, and plan on doing lots of these things:

- exercise
- eating out with friends
- drinking with friends
- enjoying time with family
- POKER

I will try and structure my days well so that I can do the fun things and have time for high levels of poker volume.

I better start packing now anyway. Bye all!

End of November - Summary

So November has come to a close for me as I won't be playing this evening due to coursework commitments. Lets wrap it up!

DTD - My aim at the start of the month was to completely avoid DTD as I seem to burn money there and it doesnt seem like a sensible idea for me to go there when I could be putting in a good amount of hours online. When I start to get more free time and have a bit more £ then I will start going there again. But for November I planned not to, and I stuck to this target and passed it. Sweet.

Volume - I wanted to put in the same amount of volume in November as I did in October. Unfortunately I had twice as much coursework and other things on my mind which meant the volume dropped in the middle of the month but I did pick it up in the last week to come close enough to passing this target.

Results - A pretty poor month results wise. I came 7th-20th in all my deep runs meaning that I ended up losing pretty heavily. We all know the money is in the top few spots so it sucks not hitting these once this month, but I can't complain after my last two months of profit :). Here is the breakdown:

Tournaments Played (November) = 63
Profit (November) = -£479.44

Profit (Overall) = £735.05
ROI (Overall) = 22.25%

Breesy - Finally got him back in the game this month. Good thing I did! He deposited £300 and on his first night of getting back into it, he took down a $5 mtt for $1525. Deserved it after his many final table bubbles in these big fields. On the plus side for me, I seem to view him as a some competition as he plays similar stakes to me. The competition is healthy and can only benefit my game as I look to push on.

Hand Histories - This month I have been consistently going over hands after sessions and posting on 2p2 etc. Its a great way to improve your game and I advise it to all. Check out the 'Smokin Hot Girls' thread in Student Life for a break as well ;)

Other Stuff - Think I am through the worst of it when it comes to coursework now (for this term anyway), so that means I can start enjoying myself a bit more. I have my final appointment (I hope) with the hospital tomorrow about my knee, I really hope I don't have to have surgery. Funnily enough I was actually wincing in pain on Friday night on the Ocean dancefloor because it was starting to play up, I truly felt like an old man right then! Oh and I have developed a passion for everything on the National Lottery website today as I got a £20 bonus. Pretty crazy how bad I run on 'Plucking Ducks' :P

December Targets - I really want to put in my highest ever month volume wise next month and I think it is achievable once I get back to Newport. Being in make up isn't the best way to start a month but hopefully that changes sharpish. I have really developed my attitude for the game and I have completely eliminated tilt and anger from my play. This is a massive positive as it means I am going into December with a clear head, ready to play the best poker I can and make the right decisions.

Wish me luck, peace.

End of the month run good?

Hey all, long time since my last update. Been super busy with coursework lately, probably the most busy I have ever been so far at uni. Understandably the amount of volume has dropped but the past few nights I have put in some volume with varying results. On Tuesday I went 0/7 in what ended up being a short session filled with run bad. However tonight went slightly better. I entered 5 tournaments and managed to cash in one for a measly $11.73, and final table the €27.50 on DTD. I came into the final table pretty short and ended up walking away with €160 for 7th. Funnily enough this was my first final table of November. It has been a pretty poor month really!

Maybe that final table was the sign for my run good at the end of the month. I don't have many days left to turn around my £400 deficit for the month, but in both October and September I was heavily down before my last sessions of the month and ended up winning nicely. Hopefully the same is true for November!

My life has been pretty uneventful lately. Chilling with housemates, doing cwrk, playing poker when I get the time. Fortunately I hand in some courseworks tomorrow so a night out in Ocean should be a pretty good way to celebrate the end of a tough week.

Will post again on 30th Nov/1st Dec to go over my results for the month and whether I passed my targets or not...

Wish me luck, bye all!

A weekend full of volume..

This weekend I put in a fair bit of volume to catch up on some missed nights previously. Unfortunately the increased volume did not result in increased profits. I actually only cashed 3 times in all the tournaments I played. Two were FT bubbles while the other was a measly min cash.

Felt I played pretty well though, I just had the uglier side of variance accompanying me. It seems I start every month losing pretty drastically...I am wondering if there is any reason behind that or if it is just a coincedence?! Hopefully I stick to form and pull out a sick result in the second half of the month!

I am really enjoying poker atm and this has resulted in me posting more and more on 2+2 and I feel like this is benefiting my game massively. I also sweated Breesy today as he got deep in a $11 f/o on stars. Unfortunately the standard cooler came that busted him a couple of tables shy of the FT.

Off to York tomorrow to see a mate, hopefully will be worth it. Next session probably Wednesday or Thursday.

Gdnite!

Slow Start to November..

Pretty slow start to November it seems. My volume isn't where it should be and there are no profits to speak of. Why is this?

Lately I have had bucket loads of coursework and its taking up a lot of my time in the evenings meaning my level of volume has suffered. I normally finish my coursework late in the evening and there are no tournaments left to play. I have found myself filling a lot of spare time with reading 2+2 and commenting on hands as this is a way to keep my poker mind working.

The volume I have put in has been relatively unsuccessful. I have played 20 tournaments this month now with a few cashes but no final tables. The $22 6max on bwin I consistently cash in but NEVER final table. I must be due a massive score in that! I feel my play is a lot better than it was two months ago, and shove/fold decisions preflop are becoming more automatic.

This weekend I hope to put in a good amount of volume as none of my housemates will be here. Lets hope I run good and get myself into positive figures for the month!

Bye all!

Up and down night!

The other night I played a big session and failed to cash in any tournaments, putting me 0/11 in November. Tonight I booted up two tournaments as I finished my coursework late, but just two tabling seemed to work out. I ran well, and managed to find myself in the money in both of them. The tournaments were the $22 6max on bwin and the €27.50 on DTD.

Just when I was thinking it was possible I could final table 2 out of 2 tournaments on the same night, disaster struck. With 11 left, the final table bubble on DTD, I shoved AKss into 99 and missed to bust. Then with the tournament chip lead with 22 left in the $22 on bwin, I found myself all in with KK against AA preflop, missed, then bust the next hand with KQss on a J53sss flop when the Jc fell on the river to give the villain a boat with his 55. Oops. That all happened within 2 minutes of each other! (I hope this doesnt come across bad beaty, I just thought it was pretty interesting how quickly things can change/end!)

One thing the past few months have taught me is not to tilt. I have played without tilt on all occasions and this can only benefit my play. I played really well tonight, and ran well also, a pretty good combination! If that continues for the rest of November, I can expect big wins!

Hoping Akenhead or Ivey win the FT this weekend! Can't wait to watch the action on pokertube on Wednesday!

Bye all!

November Start..

Just a quick update from me. Only played 5 tournaments the past two days, with no cashes to show for my efforts! Unfortunately courseworks just keep piling up, meaning volume is a struggle. However, I aim to continue the same level of volume as I kept up in October and I think this is achievable.

The five tournaments I played were pretty uneventful, couldn't get anything going in them apart from one where I managed to bubble, oops.

Anyway, back to the coursework for me!

Bye all!

October Round Up

Unfortunately no more poker since that good night on Tuesday! I had courseworks in for yesterday which meant long days/nights working on them. Last night I went out for my first night at Ocean this year. Aside from the repetivive music, it was a great night!

As it is the 31st October and now the end of the month, here are the stats;

October:

Tournaments Played - 71
Profit - £702.48

Overall:

Tournaments Played - 122
Profit - £1214.49
ROI - 52%

Obviously pretty happy with these results, in regards to both volume and profit!

In November I aim to continue this good start of making monthly profits. I also plan on taking less trips to DTD as it seems to burn money for me. Maybe a few more good months online and I can start taking a few shots there again.

Tomorrow I will go through the accounts with Ben and we will get ready for November, with my first session being tomorrow night.

In other news, my MRI scan wasn't the most pleasant experience, but I expect to get my results for it soon. I have also started getting through season one of Prison Break. Good friend Phil suggested it to me and I am thoroughly enjoying it so far.

Good luck to all in November!

Bye!

Biggest Ever Cash!

Bad times followed by good times! The DTD £100 did not go well, as I busted in the 3rd level on a hand that I could have played better, maybe the occasion got to me! Anyway, that day went from bad to worse as I dropped a smallish buyin on £1/£2 cash then bubbled a £20 tournament. oops. Online grinding wasnt going great either, but volume was the answer it seemed! Many hours ago went round Bens flat with Andi to grind together and it was pretty awesome. I found it really useful getting both their opinions on hands and watching how they played.

I only played four tournaments but ended up coming 2nd in the €10r on DTD for €1550 which is my biggest cash to date. I had a lot of run good when I needed it and it felt good to get out of make-up for October! Have to say a massive thank you to Ben and Andi who helped me out loads though.

Pretty tired as it is 6.20am so going to end the post here. But all in all, a bloody good evening!

My October Downswing + Twenty20 Weekend

Played a session on Monday night which consisted of seven tournaments that I failed to cash in. Some of the beats I took were horrible and it's now safe to say that I am on a pretty bad downswing. The problem in October has been that all my deep runs have ended up with either a bubble, or with a 9th-15th finishing position, and that just spells disaster really because there is no money in these slots. I am close now to breaking even over September and October as a whole which is pretty annoying because I felt like September went really well and I would build on it this month. I guess there is still time to turn this around!

Went to DTD one night with close friend Dawesy, and busted earlyish in the £25. A couple of £10 sngs followed which are always a laugh but I failed to cash in either. Congrats to Dawesy though who took down on of these for £50.

The first ever Twenty20 weekend starts on Saturday with a £112 buyin. I was really keen to play so have sold action to Ben and Andi to help me fund it. I'm looking forward to it massively, and hopefully I run good and take it down!

Found out last night that I have my MRI scan on my knee next week. Hopefully that goes well...

Bye all!

Oh and I saw Forest vs Barnsley last night. Boring game but a last minute forest goal made it worth it. 1-0.

Overdue Update...

Last time I updated was Sunday. Oops. Hospital on Monday was not fun at all. 2 hours behind schedule, I finally got in to see the doctor, who explained I have torn cartilage and need an MRI scan in a few weeks. I think I played a couple of lunchtime tournaments when I got home and failed to cash in either of them. That night I saw Up at the cinema in 3D which was pretty cool as it's the first 3D movie I've seen.

Tuesday night I grinded hard and from what I can remember, I got one mincash, then a final table where I came 9th after shoving 99 into AA. Unfortunately that meant a loss for the day. I played another few tournaments the past few days but the same sort of luck, losing flips when playing for huge pots.

Hit DTD on Thursday evening with a lad who has never played in a casino before. That meant playing the beginners tournament which is a massive joke really. The structure is terrible but I did manage to work up a stack when I shoved 4 or 5 hands in my first orbit on a new table to steal plenty of blinds and antes. It makes me laugh how abused I get when this sort of thing happens, apparently I am ruining the game, hmm. Anyway, nearing the bubble I lost 99 to AT, meh.

Came home to Shropshire last night and after a huge sleep this morning, I booted up a couple of tournaments and ended up final tabling the €33 on DTD. Lost A8 to AK to bust in 9th for a small profit for the day.

I have now already put in the same amount of tournaments in October as I did in September, unfortunately the results are a lot worse. It seems when I do final table this month, I always bust pretty quickly in 8th-10th. This obviously sucks due to the steep payout structures. But the increased volume I am putting in means I will soon push through this downswing and start hitting ££.

Anyway, time to chill with the family. Bye all!

-------------

EDIT: Many hours later...

So while chilling with family/watching X-factor, I decided to boot up four tournaments. Busted 2 quickly, bubbled one, and found myself with a mssive stack in the $11 on bwin. This tournament had around 700 runners which is much larger than the fields I get on dtd. Anyway, with 12 left I found myself AIPF with A7 vs KQ. Q on the flop seals my fate and I stare at my cash of $55. It doesn't take long to sink in that the $55 cash I get for coming 12th/700 only just covers the buyin for the €27.50 on DTD that I played, which I imagine equates to roughly $50. That means I am down for the night.

It is quickly sinking in just how ridiculous the variance is in these MTTs because today I have broken even roughly, after coming 9th and 12th in two tournaments. If I won the A7 vs KQ I could have gone on to win $1600 and that would change everything for October. I am trying to stay positive though, so here are a list of positives at the moment to make me feel better:

- I am learning a tonne about tournament poker and am enjoying reading 2+2 atm.
- I am consistently hitting final tables/final table bubbles, which means a big score is on its way soon!
- X-Factor is now on both Saturday and Sunday meaning I get to see Cheryl Cole TWO NIGHTS A WEEK. RESULT.

Ah the joys of blogging, I am in a cracking mood now. Goodnight!

Fun @ Squash..

Had a night off last night to chill out with housemates, but did discuss my schedule with Ben and I should now be playing a few lunchtime tournaments, which will help me continue to put in volume as the workload at uni increases.

Went to play Squash today at the sports centre, it was really good fun but unfortunately it didn't end too well as I twisted my knee and ended up in A+E. After a pretty long time waiting and hobbling round the hospital, they think I tore some cartilage. Got to go back in again tomorrow to make sure...fun times!

Put in a tiny session tonight, consisting of three tournaments. It ended up with me on the final table of the €27.50 on DTD with a nice stack. However, I busted 9th after a couple of all ins that I couldn't avoid. Still, it was good for €107 which put me in profit for the night. I am still down about £250 for October but I am determined to claw this back.

Going to get an early night now as I have to be up early tomorrow for the hospital.

Gdnite!

Ongame Troubles..

Last night I played a mini session and didnt fare too well, but did get another deep run in the 6max on bwin. However, tonight, I put in a full session, and my laptop wasnt happy about it! I started off really well, was running amazingly and had a few nice stacks, but as more tables were added on bwin (Ongame), it was becoming increasingly difficult to play as tables kept freezing left, right and centre.

It became too much for me when I folded AA UTG because the raise button just wouldnt react as I was jamming it.

On DTD however, I was doing pretty well! I approached the bubble in all four tournaments there, and managed to work it into a 10th, an 18th, and two bubbles. I booked a small win there tonight, but the night was a loss once again after the Ongame struggles!

I am going to fiddle around on play money tables on bwin tomorrow and see how many the laptop can handle. If it is only two/three then Ben and I will have to discuss a few changes to the schedule.

Really want to start turning this mini-downswing around! I am working pretty hard on my game; discussing hands with Ben/Andi, and posting on 2+2. This should transform into positive results, and it will! Just got to keep putting in that volume!

Gdnite!

Bad start to the month..

Another full session last night that didn't go well. So far I am down about £210 in October and I am rushing to find an answer to why I am not winning. But its only been 18 tournaments over two nights, so its hardly anything to go on. In September I was down a greater amount than this and still pulled out a nice profit for the month, so thats the aim this time as well!

I am a little worried about my schedule, but I want to play it a couple times more before I start thinking of possible changes with Ben. I'm not sure if I am as good at multi-tabling as I thought I was :p

So last night I was doing pretty well, but my internet disconnected for 15 minutes and I came back to some damaged stacks. This did annoy me, but there is nothing I can do and its a rare occurence. I ended up cashing fairly deep in my smallest tournament of the night, and then doing well in the $22 6max yet again. Its such a brilliant tournament. Unfortunately last night I lost AQ to A4 AIPF to bust out about 12th for $75ish. I will win that tournament soon!

Sweated Andi on a final table for a while last night, he managed to get HU and win €1000 so that was sweet. At the moment I am enjoying learning about the game so I try and sweat people as often as I can. We went over a few hands after he busted which was pretty interesting as well.

Breesy got back in the game last night, and I think he is finally going to start obeying bankroll management, so GL to him.

Going to GO APE later today. Think its a case of me and my housemates running around trees and doing other cool things. Should be fun!

Bye all!

First session of October!

Hey all! Was pretty happy to end September on a high, and had a few days off to chill out. Went to the cinema on Thursday night to see Inglorious Bastards which has been out for a while now, it was a pretty sweet film which made me laugh in a lot of spots. Friday night I went to a comedy club for a mates bday, I've never done anything like that before but I wish I had! It was an awesome night and I was laughing uncontrollably at some of the acts. Last night I went to DTD and played the first ever £15 tournament (not very glamorous eh?). Managed to make it down to about 15, but lost a big flip to bust..was good fun though!

So after a day of chilling with my housemate Andy, who was 21 today, I decided to get back on the online grind.

First thing to do was sort out the accounts! To my surprise, I actually won £512 in September. Boss Media doesnt pay you your cash until a tournament is over and I had a crappy mincash in the €10 freezeout that was added to my roll after I had shutdown the site. Sweet.

That was £256 for my profit, which I am pretty happy with. Bens share of the profit (also £256) went onto an Ongame skin (bwin) so I could start grinding five nightly tournaments there.

7.20 - $11 rebuy
8.15 - $22
8.30 - $11
9.00 - $5.50
9.15 - $22 6max

With £400 left on DTD, and £256 on bwin, I got started on the grind and ran pretty terribly to start, busting the first 7 of 9 tournaments without any cashes, oops. Luckily I cashed in the final two tournaments of the night, but unfortunately they were both min cashes, leaving me down £100+ for night #1 of October.

One of these min cashes was in the $22 6max on bwin. I really loved this tournament, I felt I had a massive edge as people were playing way too tight for 6max. I was winning so much without showdown and thats what carried me to the cash. I'm looking forward to playing more of this tournament in the future.

Running out of things to say now! Night out tomorrow for Andys birthday celebrations, then back on the grind Tuesday hopefully! Lets hope I hit a big final table!

Bye!

September - Results!

Last session of September tonight and after busting two tournaments pretty quickly, and scraping a min cash in the €10 freezeout, I soon found myself on the final table of the €25. Was short stacked for a long way, but after KK vs QQ vs JJ, where my kings held, I was chip leader with 3 left. It did enter my mind that I havent won a tournament for about 18 months now, always finding myself coming 3rd-6th, but I genuinely thought I had the better of my opponents and the €1000 first prize was coming my way. Unfortunately that wasnt the case, I was getting bullied on all my button raises and having to fold frequently. Soon I looked down at KTs and made the same button raise, only to get re-raised by the active BB for a small amount. I smooth called (mistake?). Flop came down an exciting 3QJ rainbow and after he mashed the half pot button, I decided to shove and put the pressure back on him (mistake again?). Unfortunately he snapped with KQ and after missing the A and 9, I stared long at hard at another 1st place gone missing.

Still, a 3rd place for €500+ isnt too shabby, and it means I end September nicely in profit. Here are the numbers:

Tournaments Played : 51
ROI : 43.86%
Profit : £498.72

Sweet comeback at the end of the month imo!

Next month I think I will be adding a few Ongame tournaments onto the schedule, which hopefully means more profit :)

Goodnight all!

Finally, the €10r final table!

Ok quite a while since my last update! Went to DTD on Saturday with an old mate Phil to play the £10 beginners comp. Was quite a laugh looking at the bad plays, but I still busted nowhere near the cash :p. So we played a few of the £10 sngs agreeing to split any profits/cashes and had a laugh, managing to walk away with not too great a loss!

Chilled out Sunday, and went out last night, so I felt eager to get on the grind tonight. I started off well, getting deep in the €20 deepstack, but making a poor shove to come 11th and final table bubble for a small profit. That annoyed me a little, especially when I busted out the €10 and the €25 in unavoidable situations. But the rebuy was still open and although I was short almost all the way, I managed to double up on the bubble and things went well from then in. With some help from Ben and Dawesy I managed to final table and scrape a 6th place for €430ish. Felt like I learned a lot tonight, and I am back in the profit on DTD. So all in all, a good night!

Pretty shattered now so going to bed, but will be back on the grind tomorrow/tonight! Hopefully off to DTD soon with Dawesy as well, which is always fun!

Bye all!

Agh so tough to take..

Had another session tonight and after running pretty bad in the first 3 tournaments I was hardly looking forward to the rebuy. Rebuy didnt go too well either, losing a couple of big races to spank a few rebuys. But the luck changed! With 50 left (in the cash), I find myself with a huge tournament chiplead. Was running good and it felt great! With 40 left I run into another huge stack with AK vs AQ all in pre flop. An unfortunate Q kind of crushed my spirits a little, and when I ran into kings not long after to bust I was pretty pissed.

But I do take some positives. On the bubble I really did abuse it, and this is one of the reasons I found myself with the chiplead when the bubble burst. I was 3betting a lot more also, and they seemed to be pulling off. So I feel like my tournament game is coming together. I really just wish I could run good when deep to get a big result to show my backer and myself that this is worthwhile.

Anyway, sorry to moan about luck, I promised not to do it but I'm just a little annoyed right now. No grinding tomorrow, going to be chilling with an old mate. Bye all!

More updates..

Had an awesome night out on Monday, was great to see everyone again and get back into uni life. Last night was chilling with mates but got back early enough to play 2 tournaments, missing the cash in both. Booted up again for another session tonight but it went poorly. Was average stacked in three tournaments before busting out of all three in less than five minutes. Not fun, especially when I am 99.9% sure I couldnt play them differently!

So, a little break before the rebuy started to clear my head, and off I go again, building a nice stack early on only to struggle at the bubble with my lack of cards, creep into the money, then bust instantly after a cruel river to send me to bed with a mincash. Ah well! No moaning from me, just got to keep playing when I have the time!

One concern is whether I am actually playing badly or if this is the negative side of variance. I have only played 39 tournaments which is nothing much to go on at all. I want to start reading more about variance and sample sizes etc. Only playing 4 tournaments a night means that downswings/upswings will last for a lot longer time-wise I imagine? The only way to truly find my ROI is to keep playing so I guess thats the aim. Just got to keep making sure I am finding the correct balance between work/socialising/poker, as all three are very important to me right now!

Bye all!

Plowing On!

Not a good night last night, cashing in 0/4. Cards didnt really go my well at all but thats fine, just got to keep pushing on! Going to try and start increasing my participation on 2+2 in the next few weeks as there is just bundles of experience and knowledge on offer if you get involved.

Going out tonight so won't be grinding. Gl to those that will be!

Bubbles..

Tonight was all about bubbles. Played all four tournaments again tonight and made three of the cash bubbles. Came 21st in a tournament where 15 cashed, and 26th in a tournament where 20 cashed. I did squeeze into the money in the rebuy tournament for the first time but once the bubble was over I had a measly 10BB stack that managed to get me 20th position and a €60 cash. A €30 loss for the night isnt damaging, but I feel pretty down about how the bubble is always a stage where I am losing chips and not gaining them.

Time to work on this! Tomorrow I am going to read some strategy on bubble play and analyse my hands from tonight. Ben said he might send me some HH's from his big win where he really abused the bubble, so this would clearly be beneficial to me as I feel it is me getting abused on most occasions :P

Other than this bubble leak, I feel a much stronger tournament player than I did a month ago. Playing so few tables is really making me more focused on my decisions and on the other players at the table. I feel positive about my profit making ability in this staking deal, just got to keep plugging those leaks!

Gdnite!

A profitable night!

Played the 4 tournaments on boss again tonight and missed the money in 3 of the 4 tournaments but did manage a €231 score for a 6th place in the €25 freezeout. Previous notes really helped me tonight so I was pleased about that and it will keep me motivated to continue to make notes!

The cash tonight put me back in the profit, but I am unsure how much as the Boss software doesnt pay you until the entire tournament is over, which is very annoying! It won't be a huge amount because I keep bubbling the rebuy which is the most expensive tournament. Maybe I should be dropping this from my lineup? I dont know. It doesnt seem a harder standard than the other tournaments so maybe its just the wrong side of variance in this particular tournament. It will even itself out I am sure!

Not much else to say really. One of my housemates moves in tomorrow so I am looking forward to that as I have been a tad bored the last couple of days.

Time for 24, then bed. Gdnite all!

New blog..

Hey all, I did have a blog up and running but since my poker has taken a different direction, I thought I would start a new one!

I have been playing around two years. Unfortunately my bankroll management has been pretty poor. I have had some wins, the biggest being a $1950 cash on stars. But my bankroll has never really grown due to awful management, and the temptation to withdraw frequently for other fun stuff!

Best way to cure bankroll management? Get staked!

Luckily for me a friend of mine Ben Dobson (f3nix35 listed on the right) offered me a staking deal and I was happy to accept. I won't go into the details of the deal but it's been running a week or so now and I have had mixed fortunes.

The four tournaments I play on the boss network are a €20, €10, €25 and €10r. I have played 21 tournaments and only cashed in two. One was a crappy mincash, so I was definately happy to come 3rd in the €20 for a €437.50 score. Unfortunately the fact I keep missing the money in the rebuy means I am down so far. But my spirits are pretty high and I am eager to carry on with this venture.

The players on boss seem pretty crazy and I am starting to get a good collection of notes on the regs there. Although I have seen more than my fair share of bad beats so far, I will be trying to keep this a positive blog as I have previously been in a habit of ranting about beats to others which is no fun for anyone. So from this post onwards, I will be cutting down on the use of phrases such as 'bad beat', 'running horribly' and 'dsahbfladshfDSLAH FKIN DONKEY'

Gdnite all!