Sunday, September 20, 2009

Cars: Bentley Drivers club at Brooklands

It’s been a while since we went to Brooklands Motor Museum, March last year being the last time I blogged about it, but sure we have been since then !

Anyways, yesterday was the Bentley Drivers Club day at Brooklands so we went…. no, I don’t have a Bentley but do like the majesty of the old ones and the looks and sounds of the new ones :-)

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It was a lovely day and a good turnout, with plenty of cars on show, Bentleys of all shapes sizes and ages

It is amazing how much they have changed over the years

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Both old and new still set the pulses racing, particularly when tacking the Test Hill

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In the end, for me it is the old Bentleys which are the most romantic and beautiful

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They just don’t make ‘em like they used to ….. :-)

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Poker : Mansion Poker challenge – final analysis

mansionPoker

Today was my last Mansion Poker session for two main reasons… firstly I am expecting to exchange contracts on my house move this week but perhaps more importantly I want to crack on with my BlackBeltPoker project (although if I get a positive response from Bankroll Supply then everything will change :-) )

BankRollSupply

My original intention for Mansion Poker was simply to try out for Bankroll Supply.  In the end, it turned into a challenge to see if I can really get in the hours of playing needed every week, and of course get the results needed, in order to move my game to the next level.  

I have no idea what ROI Bankroll Supply would be looking for but here are my final Sharkscope figures (which show a 9% ROI)Sharkscope_banner_top

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The previous ramblings summarised the figures from 10 days ago, but the final analysis from my own manual records show:-

From 4th August to 16th September I managed to play 25 days.   In that time I have played 153 STT games, either 10 or 6 seat (all except 4 games were at the $20 level)    It has taken me 63 hours of playing time and have made profit of £251.03 (which includes £36.38 bonuses)

These results can be broken down as :-

Ten seat table results

For 62 games played:

1st:   8
2nd: 11
3rd: 3
4th: 7
5th: 4
6th: 1
7th: 7
8th: 10
9th: 8
10th:3

Profit : £128.56

Six seat table results

For 91 games played:

1st: 17
2nd: 19
3rd: 13
4th: 18
5th: 13
6th:11

Profit : £86.09

OK, so a profit of £250 for a month doesn’t mean I am ready to turn professional yet, but am happy with any profit in the end :-)

Now I have set myself a nice benchmark, I will just have to try and improve month on month… but nothing will be happening until around mid-October now

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Poker : Been working hard

I have been working hard this evenings session… managed 18 STT games !  (playing 2 at a time)

My results are a bit mixed….

10 seat table.   1 first, 1 second, 1 third, 2 eight and 3 ninth places

6 seat table.   1 first, 3 second, 2 third, 3 fourth and 1 sixth places

Total profit for the day…  £2.47 loss !

Wow…. lot of work for no gain…. but am sure the results tell me something about my game….. just not sure what right now as my brain is stewed from playing intensive poker for 4 hours or so…

Maybe I should play 6 seat games more… or maybe I should be less aggressive on the 10 seat games :-)

Sunday, September 06, 2009

Poker : WCOOP Event 6 write up

pstars_wcoop 

Since registering just over a week ago, I have been looking forward to playing my first PokerStars WCOOP event

Having played the SCOOP in April, I had some inkling as to what to expect so had prepared myself and the wife for a long session.  It started at a very reasonable 5:45pm on Saturday so very easy time for me.   

When registering there were over 2000 players so was expecting at least 6000 to be playing.... so was slightly shocked when we started with 12'754 players.... and due to registration not being closed down until an hour of play, there were a total of 15'675 entrants !

The starting stack is only 3000 chips and the levels increase every 10 minutes so the first few levels sees a lot of uncalled for aggression, so I am sitting back waiting for hands and taking it easy.      The end of Level 3 (L3) sees me with 2690 chips when the average stack is 3156 (2690/3156) and am 10'815th place out of 14'004 players who are still left playing 10815/14004)

During level 4 I get my first big hand which is pocket Jacks (J-J)  My raise is called by one player and the flop is a great flop for me, being 9 high.  The other player bets out and I am a bit nervous so just call, he also bets the turn which I call and checks the river   I do think about re-raising as there are no scare cards, but have no read on the player so check behind.  I am pleased to see he has T-T which hadn't improved so I win my first pot !   The end of L4 sees me with 4100/3333 chips and 2672/13561 players

I am playing very steady although have the odd go at the blinds when I have enough information about the other players, but it's tricky as I end up moving tables 4 times so have to keep re-assessing my opponents from scratch.  

L7 sees me having made good progress with 5850/4817 chips and 2729/9823 place.     During this level a key hand develops where I get dealt Q-Q and raise.  A short stack goes all-in and another player calls, which is a bit concerning, but the 9 high flop looks good for my hand and bet out, then call the re-raise all-in.  Luckily for me.. BOTH the other players have T-T and I take out two players and now have a significant amount of chips (12'175)

L9 sees me with 11400/7841 chips and 1139/6072 place and is quite eventful.  I get involved with A-T against Q-Q but luckily hit my A on the flop to take the pot.  Then I get dealt A-A (actually the third time during the game) and get it in against Q-Q and take another big pot, so   L10 sees me with 25499/10426 chips and 138/4604

  L12 was a bad level for me as there is starting to be a lot more aggression and end up dropping significant chips, but getting K-K against Q-Q restores some of my fortune and am back to 20'000 odd chips

L13 has me at 20437/19399 chips and 874/2435   The blinds are now 1600/800 with 160 ante so are starting to hurt all but the big stacks.   It is also interesting as 2250 places are paid, so we are all near the bubble !

I am starting to play more tightly now and people seem to be all0in more or less every hand, so L14  has me pegged back to 16127/20825 chips and 1199/2258 place.  with only 8 people to drop out we play one hand "hand for hand" and the bubble has burst.   This is at 8:30pm so only 2 hours 45mins of play !

After that things go mental and lots of people start getting really aggressive and the number of players is plummeting all the time

L15 sees me at 12567/24277 chips and 1387/1963 place but then get lucky with A-8 against 9-8 and double up

L16 sees me back to a respectable 22324/34859 chips and 593/1355 but by now any hand you play will pretty much guarantee someone being all-in, so end up being blinded away until L17 I am down to 3 big blinds and toss in my chips just before the BB reaches me with 4-3 !  (hoping to have 2 live cards) but get called by T-T and am out !

I have ended up in 959th place at 8:55pm receiving $329.17 for just over three hours of play.

Whilst I am delighted to get a payout, it was a little disappointing not to get a bit further.   It seemed to all slip away in L16 and feel I should have probably pushed a bit earlier rather than hang on waiting for a hand.   

My dilemma is now what to do next... I am very tempted by Event #25, the $320 HORSE, next Saturday :-)

Poker : BlackBelt Poker

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In my previous discussion about bankroll/sponsorship, I mentioned that Blackbeltpoker had not got up and running yet, but at last they have opened up their iPoker client by which you can gain points to earn your “belts” and go up the rankings.   The ultimate aim is to get to “Blue Belt” status which gives you a bankroll to play live tournaments !

As I am currently  embroiled in the MansionPoker challenge, I am not going to be able to do anything more than open an account and make a deposit (which takes me up to Orange Belt already :-) ) but hopefully (unless I get a deal with Mansion) will get cracking on this new ”project” in October

The group discussion forums are pretty active and I do join in with those, which will continue to do of course as I intend this to be my primary (and likely only) online Poker community that I actively participate in….!

Will keep you updated, let me know if you also join up and we can be “buddies” :-)

Poker : Mansion Poker challenge - update

mansionPoker

My previous update was after only a few days, but have now been going for one month, albeit less one week as we had a well earned holiday.   In that time I have managed to play 105 STT games, either 10 or 6 seater (all except 4 games at the $20 level)

It has taken me 42 hours of playing time and have made profit of £133.20 (which includes £24 bonuses)

As my sharkscope stats shows, there have been good sessions and bad sessions

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I have cashed 39 times out of 105 (37%) but my ROI is only 5% (according to sharkscope anyway)  I have also had 14 finishes on the bubble (13%)

Whilst I am not exactly “crushing” the game, I do feel comfortable at these stack levels and overall believe my game is fundamentally sound…. but do need to work a bit more to improve my results.   I just need that bit more focus, which should come by getting more time to play, and perhaps re-visit some of the strategy books and online articles to refresh my thinking… hopefully these steps will improve my overall Poker game

So what's next ?   Well, I will certainly continue with my challenge but may only have one or two more weeks of play before having to shutdown for a couple of weeks (due to the impending house move)  The good news is that Lynn is starting her college course at the end of September, so should be able to find more time to play generally :-)

Friday, September 04, 2009

Poker: Home Tournament – September 2009

There are 12 players for the £10 special tonight, but that doesn’t mean the action is any less frantic !

My game got off to a frustrating start… during the first level I got dealt K-2o twice and both times folded (as you would!) but then the flop brought not only a K but also a 2 !!   In the end I was a bit up and down, but by the break was still around the starting stack.  Andy was the only one on my table who needed his extra chips before the break, but otherwise everyone was fairly even on chips

After the break was when things got interesting , as with the blinds going up the pots were more hotly contested.    I had some good fortune when I got 6-8h and flopped a straight draw.   The straight came on the turn with a second heart and Lee was betting out.   The river gave me the straight draw (to the 8) but Lee checked… so was surprised and delighted when he called my pot sized bet and all of a sudden was table chip leader !!   

Later on, Lee flat called my BB and SB folded… but the flop was a load of old rubbish.   I had something like K-4s and there was one of my suit on the flop.   The two of us checked and the turn came another of my suit, but was checked again.  The river gave me the flush so bet out and Lee called – showing pocket A but loosing to my flush !    That’s the trouble with slow playing I guess :-)  

Lee was in trouble now and got down to 400 chips with the blinds at 300   He hung on to the BB but won that to give a bit of a breather.    Lucky for him, Jon got busted on the other table at the same time I busted Steve W so he sneaked into the top 7 !

The final table did see Lee bust out first quite quickly but the blinds are up so its starting to hurt the short stacks   

There was quite a long time before we saw another casualty and it was when I got dealt pocket A in the BB.  Alex flat called, then it folded round to Karen in the SB who called and I raised.   I was a little surprised when both Alex and Karen called.    The flop came something like K-8-4 and Karen led the betting with 1000 bet.  Despite being a little nervous, I went all-in for about 10’000 chips, but Alex insta-called   Whilst Karen contemplated, I was wondering if Alex had woken up with K-K … but my misery was soon dispelled when Karen folded and Alex showed K-Q !   My A’s held up taking Alex out and giving me a huge amount of chips (probably around half the chips in play!)

By now Darren was low in chips so went up against Bill but Bill took his chips and we are suddenly down to 4 players.

Karen is the short stack and is a little unlucky to push all in when I had A-9   I was always ahead but my 9 came on the flop to take Karen out.

We are now in the last blind levels so the chips are moving around the table very easily now !     I raise from the button with A-7 but Steve re-raises all-in with 4-4  Neither of us improve, but gives Steve the chips lead with around 24’0000 and I’m down to around 10’000 with Bill on around 15’000

Down to the last three hands and I get all in against Bill and double up.    For the very last hand, Steve has around 21’000 and I have about the same, so with Steve folding from the button, if I fold I come second but if I play and double up Bill I still come second, but if I play and take the blinds (or more) then win, so I play :-)    My K-T looks good against Bill’s 7-5 and I hit my K on the flop.  Bill then hits a 7 then 5 to double up and prevent my win, but I still take the 2nd place

Phew what a game…. it seemed quite tight and tense early on but then there was action all the way after the break.  There were several key hands and chips going everywhere so very exciting and several people had places where they can say “if only…”  That's why we love Poker :-)

See you next time