General : Fitness Review

What with one thing and another, it's been a tough year this year.   My exercising regime has been a bit sporadic and also had problems with my left shoulder which scuppered some of my exercises and meant I had to change my regime to protect the shoulder a bit.    It will be difficult to do direct comparison against last year, but at least I have a new benchmark against which I can hopefully improve against in 2011

Monday (Running)

Run at 6.5mph for 25 minutes, then 8mph for 5 mins, plus 5 minutes cool down.

My heart rate peak at 178 bpm and average 157

Tuesday (Rowing and Weights)

My rowing target is 20 minutes at 28 strokes per minute plus 2 minutes cool down

Heart rate peak at 150 bpm and average 142

It is always tough to get through the rowing but hope to get back to 30 minutes eventually....

Then do one cycle of weights (about 5 mins)

15 x 2 reps of Chest Fly (1 weight)
15 x 2 Chest Press (2)
15 x 2 Lat Pull Down (3)

Heart rate peak at 130 bpm and average 114

I am not sure if it was the rowing or the weights that messed up my shoulder, so will probably increase the reps rather than the weights over time

Wednesday (Cycling)

Pedal at around 14mph at level 11 resistance for 20 minutes, then 10 minutes at 16mph at level 13.   Then do 5 minutes cool down. Cover 7.5 miles

Heart rate peak at 171 bpm and average 153

Thursday (Cross Trainer and Weights)

6 minutes on the Cross Trainer at level 2 plus 3 minutes backward peddling (or whatever it is you do on a Cross Trainer!)  Then 9 mins at level 4 plus 3 minutes backwards.   21 minutes in total, covering 1.8 miles

Heart rate peak at 168 bpm and average 151

Then do one cycle of weights (same as Tuesday)

15 x 2 reps of Chest Fly (1 weight)
15 x 2 Chest Press (2)
15 x 2 Lat Pull Down (3)

Heart rate peak at 133 bpm and average 123

Friday (Running)

Same as Monday

My current body weight is 73kg (11 stone 6 pounds) so spot on what I consider normal, although this is just before my excessive Christmas feasting so who knows what it'll be in January :-)

I have been pretty good at maintaining my no cakes, chocolate or biscuits from Monday-Thursday, but want to try and reduce the gluttony on Friday-Sunday (when I seem to eat more than a weeks worth of cakes, chocolate and biscuits to make up for it !)    I think the only real answer is simply to not have any in the house !! 

All things considered, I don’t think my fitness levels are bad, but are a little below 2009 levels.   I intend for 2011 to see me back to “normal” fitness levels and then possibly increase the rowing and/or the weights a little.

General: Decided to setup Twitter account

After years of thinking I would never use it, I finally succumbed to setup myself with a Twitter account !

http://www.twitter.com/mikeshawuk

I was a bit upset my normal username was not available, nor the obvious name based ones, but in the end plumped for “mzshawuk” as I’m likely to remember it and hopefully so will other people !

For anyone redirected here from Twitter who doesn’t already know me, then “Hello” to you    This blog is mainly for my Poker related activities, but also put in a few other bits and pieces from time to time.  My main interests are Poker, (of course!) Technology( in general), Photography, Games and Cars.   My profile photo is from when I did Locost racing (http://www.750mc.co.uk/F-locost.php) for a couple of seasons, although that was back in 2004/2005 so becoming a distant memory now….

Anyways, will be seeing how often I use Twitter and if it is really useful to me, so hope to see tweet with you soon…

Poker: Live tournament–Reading 16th Dec 2010

I didn’t do great on my last trip to the Casino tournament so was looking forward to this months journey.   This time, Myself, Andy and Alex were the representatives from the CamberleyBoyz out of the 39 runners

Including the bonus chips, I’m starting with stack of 11’500 and with the blinds starting at 100/50 there is plenty of time to ease into the game.   Although I made a few rough notes, my memory is fading fast for the key hands, so hope I have remembered enough to give a flavour of the game!

In the BB with T-2s I obviously just check to see a flop with three others.  The Txx flop seems about the best I can hope for, and call the min bet from the SB.   I pick up a flush draw on the turn and again call a min bet from SB, but everyone else folds.   The river brings my flush so I bet out the pot when checked to and get called.   The SB had QTo and seemed a little disappointed not to have taken the pot down   but gave me a nice boost to my stack early on.

I also get lucky to win a decent pot with QQ and AKo early so am in decent position at the first break with 27’500 chips.   Andy has 8300 and Alex 10’500

Having Alex on my table is a mixed blessing, on the one hand I know his play, on the other he knows my play     When he limped UTG it didn’t seem he would be particularly strong, so decided to raise Q-To    The QJ9 flop seemed pretty reasonable, so re-raised Alex’s lead bet but when he re-shoved it seemed I was in trouble, but had to call.  Sure enough his J-9 was ahead (so I was right in my estimation pre-flop ), leaving me needing to hit my draw, but it didn’t come and Alex has half my chips !  (I’m down to about 12’000 now)   It looks like it could be Alex’s night, as he gets his J-J in against K-9 and 9-9 when another J came on the turn

The second break sees me with a small recovery to 14’000 chips, Alex on 29’000 and Andy doing well on 20’000 (the average is reported as 23’400 but would be more like 26k)   We are already down to 15 players so over half the original number have gone !

With the blinds up, I’m now in survival mode with around 10 blinds left.   When I see K-9s on the button decide to shove into two tight blinds, but horrified when BB calls with QQ.   Although it looks grim (I’m about 30% to win) the 9 on the flop leaves me 25% to win, but the 9 on the turn seals the deal for me and I’m lucky to have doubled up to around 25’000

Not long after sees Alex shoving all-in from early position and I have an easy call with my A-A    Alex’s A-J shows a bit of promise when a J comes on the flop, but that’s all the help that comes and I’ve got my chips back from him and am around 48’000 now. 

Alex is down to around 10’000 so shoves all-in next hand UTG.  The BB calls and shows A-A and that is Alex’s night over.  Talk about unlucky !

This gives us a final table of 7 players.   Andy’s table had a double bust out just before, so Andy finished a credible 9th place, with Alex in 8th.   Officially Alex made the final table, as there was a place marker out for him, just he had no chips to take to the table !

With the top 5 paying out, I will need to take it steady to ensure I don’t crash out on the bubble.  There are a couple of big stacks, about 3 of us with similar chips and two shortish stacks.

The first hand on the final table sees a short stack shove all-in, the big stack call and the other short stack also call !   The short stacks show 7-7, J-J but the big stack has K-K… the the rest of the table all thank him when he busts both players out and everyone is in the money already !!  I was expecting it to be a tense drawn out affair to get into the money, but the cards dictated otherwise… phew!

I decide to not sit back and blind away into 4th or 5th place, so when I am BB against the big stack’s SB I decide to lead out with my K-8 when a K comes on the turn (we had both checked the raggy flop) I am not too worried about the call, as the Big Stack is a bit loose and happy to try and hit cards on the river.   He checks the blank river and so I push all-in , getting called !   Despite thinking I am out the tournament to 2 rags, he shows K-6 and I’ve got a lot of chips to play with now.,  (still in 3rd place out of 5 left)

Things do then get quite tight and tense.  I try a couple of moves, but seem to always get re-raised, or see a short stack go all-in on the flop, so my stack is a bit up and down.   Eventually though, the shortest two stacks get each other all-in so we’re down to  4 players, but I am now lowest chip stack.

I get a bit of a boost soon after though, when our former big stack (who has managed to fritter away a lot of chips) get’s all-in against the really tight former short stack and he is out the tournament and I have crept into 3rd place

Being the short stack and with large blinds, I have got about 5 BB left and decide to shove into the other two players from the button with 6-3o   As they have both been tight/passive, I expected to take the blinds, but to my horror they both call !   They also check it down to the river so all three see the showdown.  They show 8-8 and A-K which are both decent hands, but (again) lucky for me the board came Q46,6,9 tripling up with my trips     I have around 115’000 chips now and am second in chips.  

Luck comes around but also goes around, so when I flopped a straight and got all-in against the small stacks flush draw I couldn’t really moan when he hit his flush on the river, but put me back to lowest stack again.   

My notes (and memory) get very vague now as it’s getting late, but seems my A-J tripled me up somewhere along the line.   I also think I made a move against the tight playing SB with 7-6s but he pushed all-in with A-4 and I had to call.    I got lucky again and took him out so we are now heads up !

The chip counts are 230’000 against my 190’000 stack, so actually pretty evenly matched.   I did consider suggesting an equal split of 1st/2nd at this stage, but decided against as was feeling OK, albeit a little tired by now.  

The heads up went on for a while, as the other fellow was playing very tight/passive and was folding to my raises/bets I was being pretty liberal with.   When he shoved all-in from the button I judged he would have a big Ace rather than a big pair, so called with my 4-4 (being about 2:30am may also have influenced my decision though….)    As luck would have it, he did have A-K and the first card on the flop was a 4, which saw me safely through to take him out and WIN the tournament !

I ended up winning £445.  Luckily for Andy, we swapped 10% of each other (as we went in the same car) so he ended up £5 up on the night as well

It was an exciting game and actually think I played pretty well.   Even though I got lucky in a couple of key places, I think my decision making was still correct and played the percentages right.

It’s always nice to win , especially as it’ll give me bragging rights over Christmas

Have a nice one and see you in 2011

Poker: Home tournament–December 2010

Due to work commitments, family occasions, sickness, the weather, etc it ended up with there being only 6 players for the final game of the season.   Whilst it was a little disappointing not to have more players for the grand finale, it did at least guarantee my third league championship in a row

Despite the reduction in numbers, there was no reduction in the quality or enjoyment of the Poker.   Early on in the session I got AKo in the Big Blind and re-raised Andy’s initial raise    With a raggidy flop, we both checked so I decided to bet the blank turn as well, which Andy called again.   The A on the river almost certainly assured me of winning the hand so pushed all-in and Andy called me with his A-T and I took a big pot

Karen and Sean were having one of their ding-dong battles, this time Karen had the advantage when the Sean got all-in with pocket 6’s with three tens on the board (for a full house) but Karen showed the remaining ten in her hand for quads ! 

The good hands kept coming, as my unpromising looking 5-4 in the big blind looked a bit more interesting on the A-7-6 flop.  Karen bet out small and myself and Darren both called.   The 6 turn wasn’t helpful but Karen was only betting  small still, and again myself and Darren called.   The 8 river was a great card for me, but as I was wary about a higher str8 or full house, decided to just call Karen’s bet , with Darren also calling.   As Karen and Darren both just had Ax  I took down another big pot and am clear chip leader.

At the break, myself and Karen have most of the chips, Andy, Darren and Sean are all fairly low.

It didn’t take long for Sean to get his chips into the middle on a K-9-5 flop and was in serious trouble when Jock called with K-x against Sean’s 6-5 (or similar)   Sean got no help and was the first out, but at least he got 3 points !

It was a tough battle after that, although having around 11’000 chips (average 7200) it wasn’t to bad for me    I had a bit of bad luck against Daren, when with K-3 in the blind saw a K-K-6 flop   It was too good to bet, and Andy, Jock and Darren also checked.   The turn was something like a 5 and again I checked but this time Darren put in a small bet which only I called.  The river was something like a 8 and decided to bet out 1000 into the 2500 odd pot, hoping Darren would shove his remaining 3000 chips… as it turned out he flat called, worrying I had hit str8 but his K-Q out kickered my hand.   

With the blinds at 600/300 my crucial hand of the night came.   I was sitting UTG with 3-3 wondering whether to fold, call or raise… this time decided to play as a draw and just call, hoping to get a good flop.  Jock plus Darren and Karen in the blinds saw the flop with me which came 7-7-3 !  can’t hope for a much better flop than that.   I was also gob smacked that Karen came out betting 200 into the 2400 pot, so was clear she had something she liked.   I was certain I was ahead (as didn’t think Karen would get quads twice in a night, and 7-3 was also unlikely) Deciding I was way ahead, and wanting to try and keep the others in, decided to flat call (with plan to shove to a re-raise or on the turn)…. sadly Jock and Darren folded.     The T on the turn wasn’t scary so was delighted to call Karen’s all-in of around 5000 chips, however was a  little saddened to see Karen’s T-T for a higher full house.   My one remaining 3 didn’t come to save me, so am now lowest chip stack at around 2000 chips

Couple of hands later I’m in the big blind so when Jock flat calls and Karen makes up the small blind, I shove all-in.  Turns out Jock was being a bit sneaky with A-A and the K-4-2 flop didn’t help my J-T and I’m out in 5th place !

Couple of hands later Andy is also out by Jock and we’re down to three players

The chip stacks are roughly equal and so it’s a tense tough game, with chips moving around from player to player.  

It took until the last round of play before Jock finally succumbed to Karen who had a commanding lead.   After a couple of tense hands, and with time getting short, Darren shoves with something like A-5o and Karen called with K-9s but Darren held on and doubled up.   

The stacks were very close and although Darren had more chips, the blinds were high enough that Darren had to win at least one out of the last three hands.  He picked the first hand to shove, Darren had something like K-9o against Karen’s Q-8s.    This time Karen hits a str8 draw on the flop and makes a flush by the river leaving Darren running on fumes.   The formality of the remaining hands was cut short when Karen won the next hand as well, knocking out Darren for the extra point

Wow, despite the low numbers it was certainly a tense, tough and exciting game… so well done to all

This games results didn’t change much on the league table, as Andy and I already had qst and 2nd sewn up.  Karen’s win and 2 knock outs took her to within 2 points of Steve W’s third place so was close call.

Hope everyone enjoyed the 2010 season and I for one am certainly looking forward to wiping the slate and starting afresh in 2011

Poker: BBP league heat 7

I haven’t posted my previous results since my Heat 2 win, mainly as I had complete rubbish finishes:

Leg 2: 1st from 112 players
Leg 3: 18th from 99
Leg 4: 47th of 94
Leg 5: 74th of 82
Leg 6: 74th of 84
leg 7: 1st of 76

By contrast (hinted at by the fact I am posting this article ) …. last nights Leg 7 BBP League heat was a great game and thoroughly enjoyed it.  OK winning made it *very* enjoyable, but just taking part (as it looked like for a long time) was great anyway.   There is always a nice amount of banter going on and it's a nice atmosphere

Although it is my second win this season, this one is the more satisfying in many ways, as really felt I had to work for it, and needed my 'A' game to end up on the final table.   Unlike last time, I only saw AA once and KK three times, so wasn't exactly running hot this time.

Early on I was playing my normal tight game and picked up a couple of hundred from starting stack, then really went to town and won a good size pot by blind aggression alone (as well as holding my breath and crossing my fingers).   It was just as well as although I won a few small pots, nothing much was happening for me for another couple of hours ! 

The mid part of the game was hovering around 10-15 BB most of the time so was in shove/fold mode really, but again the aggression paid off and was able to maintain station.  The key hand for me was with blinds 600/300/100 I decided to make a loose call with Q9o in BB.  With Qxx flop I shoved for about a pot size bet and was called by JJ.  The Q's held up and at last I had some chips to play with !

KK came not long after that at a good time for me, and put me well into the table chip lead, so could me a bit more creative, but had the chips to be patient and made it to the final table !

My initial patience on the final table was paid off again when early position pushed with JJ and I woke up with KK again, which held up again !   This put me in clear 2nd place so could afford to kick back and relax.

Things got a bit frantic as blinds went up and players went down.   By the time we got to top three the stacks of the remaining players was about even, so it was now very tense and interesting match.   I dropped a load of chips and had to go to shove mode, but was able to claw back to average, when my AT blind was raised... so shoved and found myself against QT.  I didn't really need to nut flush draw on the flop, as my AT held anyway and I'm chip leader.

At last we get down to heads up, with myself playing “blackbeltninja”.  We were about even in chips, so the tussle lasted about 20 mins.  The chips were flying around both ways, but think I was probably the more aggressive of the two of us.  The killer blow came when I raised (as normal) from button and got called.  The 977 rainbow flop looked safe for my AA :-)  so decided to re-raise the half pot bet and was delighted to call the shove on seeing J9o 

It really was a tough heat and “blackbeltninja” was a constant thorn in my side once we were down to 3 players.  The whole heat was very well played by all and really felt I worked hard for my win

Despite 2 wins from the 7 games so far, I am only 21st in the league tables and have no real chance of finishing in the top 10, but overall am pretty pleased with my performance in these games.

Interestingly, Steve W was on my table most of the game and also made the final table, finishing 5th.  He is 48th overall in the league which is no small achievement, so well done Steve!

Nice announcement on BBP Web Site as well

Poker: Live tournament–Reading 18th Nov 2010

Here’s a 10 minute video report on the Poker Tournament I played in last Thursday

Hope you enjoy the experience

General: first test of publishing a video

Decided to try out creating and publishing a video.  This is my first test, so decided to test out the embedded link as well  

OK Cool – it works !

I created the original video in CamStudio 2.0 then edited it in Windows Live Movie Maker 2011 (as I’m using Windows 7)  I also used Audacity 1.3 Beta  although in the final edit I just added some music and deleted the original video, so just left with a picture and a couple of bits added by Live Music Maker

All in all, it didn’t cost me a penny and have now got the tools sorted out to do some proper video, etc now (hopefully I’ll get some ideas and some time!)

Poker : Home tourney–November 2010

I was happy to be playing live tournament again, it certainly has a different feel to playing online and is a nice change !

With Andy and Sean on my table they were seeing a lot of flops, which seemed to encourage Lee and Steve W to limp as well.  I tended to pick my spots a little more but often was worth seeing a flop with two connected cards.   My luck came when I managed to persuade Andy I had best hand with K-9 on a A-9-x flop.  I was certain he didn’t have the A and seemed to be in his normal mood to chase draws, but my all-in on the river saw him manage to find a fold !   a few hands later and Steve raised it up before me, so I re-raised my A-A and was delighted to see Steve call.  The flop was inconsequential so I launched all-in and Steve called with his 7-7   No help came so I was a good chip leader on our table.  

Sadly for me, this meant I was a little over average chips, as the other table included Bill who seemed to be making up for the previously missed games and was “stoking the pot” more than normal !

I played pretty solidly after that, making a few stabs at the pot here and there.  On the break I was again just over average and about even in chips with Steve on my table

It was inevitable that Bill was first to fall and just as predictable that Andy and Sean got each other all-in, with Andy being the victor this time, talking out Sean.   It seemed to come round quick but we were soon on the final table

Derek had amassed a huge chip lead on the other table, with Jon and Jock both very short stacked against the increasing blinds

A few hands in and Jock was all-in against Steve, but couldn’t hold on and got taken out.   Jon soon followed when my A-Qo hit an A-x-x flop.   Karen had seen the flop with her K-K but found the fold to my Check/raise

Steve’s form and aggression  has picked up in the last few games (must be coz of the practise he’s getting on BBP ) and was able to stand up to Andy’s all-in.  Andy had limped K-K but Steve hit the flop well and took him out !

Soon after, Lee made a brave attempt to bluff Derek off a huge pot on the river, but sadly Derek had the hand to withstand the attempt and Lee went out in 5th

With only 4 players my A-J on the SB looked in good shape when two players folded, so raised it up against Derek in the BB.   He called and we saw a Q-6-3 flop.   I did wonder if he’d hit the Q but felt it more probably he’d missed the flop or had a medium pair, so shoved all-in which was about a pot sized bet.   Of course Derek had A-Q so took me out on the money bubble.

The final three played a tight, tense game.   Karen let herself get too low on chips and got blinded out in 3rd.  Steve made a good attempt to make up the huge chip deficit but had too little time to have a realistic chance of success, so Derek deservedly took the win (first time this year!) and Steve took (another) 2nd place

Great game and still all to play for.     Andy has a Jenson Button type chance to snatch the League Title away from me  and there are three people in serious contention for 2nd place

See you for the exciting finale to the season !

Poker: Lets forget about October, shall we ?

Uggghhhhh, what can I say about my Poker results for October that won’t make me depressed

The ugly number is the $1350 loss  (£860) which is the worse month I have ever had.

The root cause was my ambition to undertake the Black Belt Poker Grading again. My first Grading attempt in January wasn’t great for me financially either, but in the end felt I got a good return on my investment as I got various training days and sponsorship into various tournaments (plus all the experience and on-going mentoring).    This time however, I blew up on the Pre-Grading, I don’t even get the benefit of any of that

Breaking down my figures a little, it is easy to see where it all went wrong…

• Cash : NL Holdem = £857.38 loss
• Cash : PL Omaha HL (Dont ask!)  = £12.51 loss
• Tournaments : NL Holdem  = £9.20 profit (hoorah )

For the tournaments I only managed to get time for 9 tournaments (winning two) so was pretty content with that

On the cash, I played 187 table hours of cash in 21 sessions, of which only 4 were winning ones.    The worse session was dropping £240 in a 5 table hour session (just over 1 hour elapsed time!)  Obviously not sustainable results and poor by any standard.

On the positive side, I still have some money in my “Poker fund” so have not had to re-mortgage the house or anything (the old adage of “if you can’t afford to loose it, then don’t risk it” firmly applies for me all the time in my gambling of course) and have a plan to recover my confidence and improve my cash game, whilst also trying to recover my bankroll to a reasonable level.  More on that in a future post.

For now, I have firmly closed the door on October and have just had a nice boost with my BBP League win, so normal service is resumed

Poker: BBP League

I managed to win heat 2 of the BBP League  last night !   Sadly I had missed last weeks kick off heat, so despite the win am only 41st place in the rankings !!

It's certainly nice to win anything, but there are a lot of pro or semi-pro players in the league and is a tough game (especially considering the $5 buyin), which makes it all the more sweet to win :-)

Hopefully my form will continue to the Thursday night Camberley Boyz league game as well

Poker: BBP Grading III

I was quite excited to hear about another “Grading” at Black Belt Poker.   This is the process I went through earlier in the year and was very worthwhile (if slightly expensive) education into Poker and all it’s doings.

The timing seemed right as everything has settled down, and had money in my “Poker Fund” to “spend” and Lynn was happy for me to take the time to play the 4 hours a night required !

I have just finished the Pre-Grading stage, where I needed to play 10’000 cash game hands within 10 days.   Although I managed to finish in 7 days, the last three days were very poor for me and dropped over £700 in total !    Whilst this is a small fortune, it was money set aside for Poker but I never really thought  I would have to spend it !     Having spent a week playing cash games, I decided to have a couple of Single Table Tournaments as a welcome change.   Something must’ve helped me as I won both games…

It seems my destiny is not following the Cash game path, so will not be taking up the full Grading, even if it were offered to me.  

So, it’s back to my natural hunting ground of STT and MTT tournaments.   I do want to ensure I keep improving my game so will be putting together a cunning plan as to how I will approach my game going forward…..

Poker: Home Tournament – October 2010

I missed last month’s game so was pleased to be going again this month to try and maintain my league lead.  There were only 9 players this time, but everyone seems up for the challenge !

Things started out pretty normal enough, lots of people limping, raises being called by 2 or three players and generally misbehaving during the rebuy period. 

Alex was going a bit wild, with three double buy ins in quick succession, so was some excitement

I was basically keeping my nose clean and not getting too involved, until one hand in the second level against Andy where I raised A-7o from BB when he limped the button and we ended up heads up on a A-Q-x flop (2 spades)  I bet out and Andy called.  The turn was a blank so I bet again, thinking Andy probably had flush draw, so called his all-in reraise.  As expected he just had the flush draw, but he hit the flush on the river so I was needing a double buying in as well !

After that I had a torrid time, having another two double buy-ins myself to the break, where I took the final add-on as well.  At this stage I had around 3000 chips and the average was 6000.

After the break, I sat there for ages with no hands and no opportunities, until I saw K-To in early position and decided to push all-in and steal the blinds, but  Derek called on the button.   To my surprise Derek showed K-6, but the first card on the flop was a 6 !   Lucky for me I hit my T on the turn and doubled up….!!

Couple of hands later, I’m on the button with AKs and am happy for Jock to limp.  I raise it up but Alex on the BB shoves all-in, Jock calls and I call as well.   Alex showed A-Q and Jock A-9s   Luckily for me, no-one hit anything so I got a huge stack and busted two players out for good measure.  My luck had certainly changed now..

There were a couple of those annoying moments where I would've won big pots had I followed through, but was generally playing solid poker now I had the chip lead.  

Steve W had a double up against Andy and leaves Andy with 400 chips… the blinds are now 600/1200 so he shoves it in the next hand and I raise my A-7 and am happy to see the blinds fold.   My hand is good enough and  I get the point for taking Andy out, even though Steve W did all the hard work :-)

The blinds are hurting now, and Jon is moaning every time I raise his Blinds but is generally folding  :-) 

We’re down to four when Lee get taken out by Darren and there is not much in it between the four of us.   I am small chip leader with around 13’000 but the average is around 11’000 so it’s pretty tense and tight.   Time is running short though and we’re soon into the last level.

Darren takes a chance against Steve W but is taken out on the money bubble.   Jon is Steve’s next victim so with only a couple of hands to play we are down to two players and have almost exactly the same chip count.

Steve folds the next hand, but leaves me in a position where I can fold to win on the last hand, which I duly do (with T-5o)  I won by less than one Big Blind, so was very close

We really must try and get a longer game sometime as the play was finely poised for a long time and the chips were moving around well, which made for an interesting and exciting game.

I’m not sure how I managed to win it, but am pleased to be back with a bang ! :-)

Roll on next month…. see you then…..

General: King William IV pub /restaurant

Monday lunch was a nice drive out to the surrey hills and a trip to The King William IV pub.

The pub itself you would never find by accident as it’s tucked well out of the way up a steep gravel drive.    I struggled a bit to get up the rickety huge steps, so certainly not a good place to go if you have mobility issues !   Luckily Lynn is not very heavy so managed to get her inside….

The menu is a bit more like “normal” pub food, but with a twist.   Lucky for all involved, Lynn was able to have her chicken dish :-) albeit a Thai Chicken.  I went for the Beefburger which was slightly spiced up as well but both dishes were nice.    The treacle tart was again slightly different to normal, not sure it was my favorite version but certainly was nice for a change

The total bill was pretty reasonable as well, so overall a very nice lunch out

If we were in the area, would certainly not be adverse to going back for another meal, particularly on a warm sunny day when sitting out in the garden would be a good option.   Not special enough to make the trip just to go to the pub though.

General: The Royal Oak (Paley Street) Pub and restaurant

Decided to go out to lunch today and went to The Royal Oak pub at Paley Street chosen at random from the Michelin Guide “Eating out in pubs”, partly due to wanting to go to Ascot on the way there and this seemed closest.

The outside was ordinary looking, but was warmly greeted as soon as we walked in.  The inside was quite small (being an old building I suppose) but nicely laid out. 

The service was excellent and certainly felt welcomed and looked after.   The choice from the daily changing menu was pretty good for me, even with the large choice of fish (which I don’t like much!)  The menu was a bit limited for Lynn, as there wasn’t any chicken on the menu :-)    In the end we decided to go for the beef, but on ordering were told it would take 90 minutes, so we changed our minds !     I ended up going for (in effect) Cod and Chips with Lynn having the Grouse.   Both dishes were excellent (although I was disappointed by the chips) and the two deserts were also very tasty.     I didn’t know the restaurant had a Michelin star, else I probably would have expected the eye watering prices (£30 for a main course and £7.50 for a pud…. plus 12.5% service charge on top!)  

At that price, as you would expect, even the toilets were nice and felt “posh” with the individual towels to wipe your hands…. but not sure it represented value for money compared to other gastro pubs we’ve been to.

In the end, it was a nice meal in pleasant surroundings and we felt well attended to, so have no complaints.  It is the most expensive of all the gastro pubs we’ve been to though, so doubt we will go back as there are other gastro pubs that give the same level of excellence but at a more reasonable cost.

Poker: another go as a sponsored player for $200K

See article at http://www.blackbeltpoker.com/blogs/read/48554/sceaga/Pressures-of-playing-as-a-sponsored-player/

Holiday: Week off in August

You would think that having a week off in August would guarantee you the opportunity to get sunburnt, but in England that is obviously not the case :-)

As it happened we weren't that fussed as we are just doing whatever we fancy from day to day.

The first “official” day of our holiday was the Saturday 7th August, but was a normal day for us in that we had to go to Tesco for our weekly food shop…. but in the afternoon decided to go to the Subaru Dealer and look at some cars (as we need a bigger boot than the Fiesta offers).  We saw a great value Impresa WRX which we would’ve ordered there and then, had it not been for insurance complications….  We then popped into Guildford for a quick walk around, then Lynn’s mums and finally the Audi dealer to quickly look at the A3 Fastback and the A4 Avant.   Needed a rest that evening after all that excitement!

Sunday we went into Camberley for a spot of lunch, but also had a good walk around the shops.  Ended up in Bella Italia to eat, which was nice enough food as normal.

Monday we went to Basingstoke to buy me an office chair, then went to The Pot Kiln pub for lunch, then had a quick walk round Newbury before going on to Corinne & Mia’s for tea.  Another hectic day and were both worn out by the time we got home !

Tuesday was a “rest day” so just went M&S for a walk but otherwise had a lazy day

Wednesday was our 20th Wedding Anniversary and went to Chichester for an afternoon’s shopping and site seeing, then onto The Royal Oak Inn for dinner and stayed in the guest accommodation there.

As we were in the area, on Thursday went to Bognor Regis on a lovely sunny morning.   Of course it soon clouded over but was warm enough.   Had a nice walk about and a Fish & Chip lunch, before heading for home via a stop in Midhurst to get ourselves an Ice Cream !

Friday had another “rest day” so had a late breakfast and decided to go out for lunch at the Swan Inn.   We then went into Camberley Vue to see Knight and Day.  I thought the film was really good, with the action keeping you amused and entertained, with plenty of comic moments to remind you it’s not a serious film.  Lynn said she enjoyed it as well, so seems to appear to boys and girls.

Has it been a week already !   With work looming, we’ll have a “normal” weekend so nothing special planned.

General : The Swan Inn pub and restaurant

For our last official day of our holiday, we decided to go to the Swan Inn.   The interior was a little surprising as it’s very modern,clean and stylish.    The seats were a little un-comfy after an hour or so, but not too bad overall.  Service was efficient but a little to quick at times…although this may be due to the pub being pretty quiet whilst we were there.

The menu was a little restricted but was quickly served and very well cooked and presented.   Certainly was very filling as well !    The deserts were definitely a disappointment…. to be honest I nearly didn’t bother, but did end up choosing a desert but in the end wished I’d just had a coffee instead.

Overall, we probably wouldn’t bother to go there specially for a meal again, but would go in again if we was already in the area.

General: The Royal Oak Inn pub, restaurant and hotel

For our wedding anniversary, we decided to push the boat put and stay in a “posh” hotel, but also wanted some decent grub…. so in the end picked The Royal Oak Inn

Whilst not an immediately obvious choice, through their web site found they rented out some cottages right by the pub, as well as having rooms in the pub itself…. so thought having a cottage would suit us better.

As it turned out, the cottage we had was fantastic.  It was a two bet cottage, with fully kitted out kitchen, dining room and lounge… including a wine fridge (although you had to pay for any wine you drank!) Flat screen TV in lounge and bedroom, both with DVD players, also a CD player as well as things like games, magazines and books.    They also provided milk, tea, coffee machine, biscuits and even a chocolate bar for guests to tuck into!    I also hadn’t realized that breakfast was included so that was a bit of a bonus.  The only slight downside for us (which I hadn’t thought to check) was the stairs to the bedrooms were very steep, but as we only went up and down them a few times it wasn’t a bit issue.   Lynn also struggled to get in and out the shower (as it was over the bath) but again managed OK as it was only for one morning.

Having settled into the cottage, we took the short walk to the pub for dinner.  There was a wide selection on the normal menu, plus a couple of extra choices on the specials board.   Lynn went for the corn fed chicken but I went for the Pork on the specials board…. both were superb.   Both of us ended up having three courses which was a bit of a stretch (for our stomach’s :-) ) but thoroughly enjoyed our meals.

The next morning we took the short walk again and had a huge breakfast so was stuffed up for the day !

The meal itself was pretty reasonably priced and although the cottage was pretty expensive, I certainly felt it was a luxurious stay and seemed everything had been provided that you would expect and more.

General: The Pot Kiln pub & restaurant

Finding the Pot Kiln pub is a feat in itself, being out in the middle of nowhere and having to traverse into a maze of single track roads…. but the effort was worth it in the end.

It was beautifully warm and sunny day, so was able to sit outside to enjoy the view of the fields and trees, plus the general ambiance.  Inside was quite small in the bar area and no-one was in the dining area, so being outside was probably the more pleasurable experience anyway.  We were also joined by the owners dog, who sat under our table as good as gold all the time we were eating, but he was disappointed as we didn’t give him any scraps :-)

Although the lunchtime a la carte menu was available, we chose from the normal bar menu, both ending up picking the Ploughmans.  It was huge and each had a lump of cheese that would ordinarily last us a week at home !  There was also Ham and Pate to go with the home made pickle and coleslaw plus a massive Ciabatta bread.    As with most Michelin rates pubs, it was a little pricier than average, but certainly was fantastic food and in this case a huge portion !

Poker: Black Belt Poker – League VI : week 1

At last the Black Belt Poker League has started up again

Being on holiday, was not sure if I would get the opportunity to play or not, but as luck would have it, did manage to fire up and get involved !

Sadly, despite playing solid and boring, my AA got cracked by QQ on a cruel turn and ended up 83rd from a very healthy 95 starters after just 26 minutes of play.

At least I have a few points to kick off my new season’s campaign, although not as many as I would have hoped for.  Will be able to review my miserable haul of points in the Leaderboard

Roll on next week !

Poker: Late Night Poker Freeroll - Round 2

I have been eagerly looking forward to round 2, but realise it is a long shot still.

It kicks off at 8:35pm with 315 runners
1-12th get through
13-16th get Points as consolation prize

Fairly steady in the first 20 minutes so at the break am doing OKish…

Break 1: 1900/2413   152 /261

First hand after the break I get AT and manage to find myself allin on the K77 flop against AA !   Kindof lost the plot there I think, and am down to around 140 chips !

Next hand see TT so get allin but against AKo and QQ !! but hit T on river and triple up to 565 chips

Still not playing well and make a stab at an unraised pot when I hit 2nd pair but get found out by to pair…. so finished 225th at around 9:15 pm

I really didn’t play well at all, which is disappointing.   Really I should have not played, as it wasn’t really very convenient, so had to play in front of the TV and was also feeling tired.   As it was a free-roll and wanted time to take another pop at qualifying before the 15th August final I went ahead anyway… but wish I hadn’t now….

Will have to go back to the grinding through round 1 again now.

Poker: Home Tournament – August 2010

It seemed we would only have one table of 8 players… right up until Lee, Mick and Roger turned up , so not a bad turn out in the end !

I was on the table of 6 players, being  Jock, Roger, Darren, Daniel, Simon and myself.    To start with it seemed Daniel was getting all the cards as he seemed to be winning every hand and building up his stack.   I have a bit of a go at his BB with rubbish hand but he hit the flop and called my bet, so I slowed down and didn’t improve so he took a reasonable size pot.    He did get stung a bit later when heads up with Roger he folded A-x with A7744 board… Roger showed a small pocket pair and this threw Daniel off his stride for ages after, as he kept thinking about his fold !   Even getting quad 4’s didn’t help his mood as he only took a small pot.

A few hands later I was on BB with rubbish, but picked up a straight draw on the flop.  Roger bet small and Daniel called, so gave me the odds to go for it.  In the end I hit my straight on the river, but Roger led out with a sizeable bet, Daniel called and I raised all-in.  Despite correctly deducing I must have a straight, Roger decided to call and so did Daniel, which tripled me up and gave me the chips to sit back and relax.

I was able to pick my spots and play mostly good cards…. sometimes taking advantage if it folded to me on the blinds, but in the main keeping it solid.     

Darren couldn’t get to see a flop as every time he raised, even min-raised, everyone folded :-)    On the one occasion (before the break) I remember he limped to see a flop, he min-bet and everyone folded.   His reputation for being tight seemed the opposite to my loose aggressive reputation !

At the break I was up to around 6500 chips and one of the chip leaders.      On the other table, Andy had just fleeced Karen the hand before the break leaving her without chips, so she was starting with 3000 chips at this point, but this wasn’t much below the average as there had been few buy-in’s all night. 

Despite his earlier good fortune, Andy was the first out and immediately bolted for the door – heading for his fishing

There was a lot of to-ing and fro-ing, but we then hit a run of knock-outs.   Daniel got busted by me whilst Jock was being busted by Mick on the other table so all of a sudden we are down to the final table.

The first hand on the final table seem myself in SB and Roger to my left in the BB.   I think Mick called but everyone else folded, so I had something like 4-4 so put in a raise.  Roger called but Mick folded.  Roger had a 50-50 with his Kh-9h but failed to hit so I took him out in 8th

Soon after Darren managed to get some action and also managed to knock out Simon !

After a lull in the action and with the blinds increasing, I somehow managed to knock out Mick and Sean in the same hand…which really set me up as big chip lead so just had to keep focused to take another win as we’re down to 4 players

I got a bit over anxious in the BB when Karen limped and Lee called in the SB.  With 1800 now in the pot, Lee had about 1200 and Karen around 1600 left behind.  Although my Jc-7c wasn’t a great hand, decided that if I wanted to see the flop, might as well get all the chips in anyway :-)   Both Karen and Lee called, Karen showing Ac-Tc and can’t remember Lee’s hand now…   an a came on the flop, but Lee hit 2 pair on the turn and took the main pot.  Karen was left with the consolation of 400 chips and the BB fast approaching…..

With Karen all-in on the BB I decided to call with Td-7d and Darren didn’t take the option to raise from SB.  The flop was all low, then hit T on the turn, so bet out and Darren folded.   Karen has 7-3 but had nothing, the 7 on the river no consolation and is out on the money bubble, but put up a good fight from low chips at the break

Lee doubled up against Darren which helped me out a bit, especially when I managed to get all-in against Darren with Q-Q to his A-T (I think)  The flop and turn were blank and didn't need the Q on the river to take out Darren in 3rd

Heads up I folded the first hand, the second hand I don't remember, but the third hand Lee flat called the SB, I raised all-in and Lee called with 3s-2s.. ! but I had As-Js and it was all over as I hit my J on the flop and that was it… another victory to me !!!

I really am running hot at the moment and am enjoying every minute of it whilst it lasts !   Great game obviously, winning always make’s it sweeter but always enjoy the game itself of course…  I did make a couple of mistakes, but overall felt I played pretty well.

I’m pleased to be back at the top of the league, but it’s still pretty tight at the top so all to play for !

See you next time….

Poker: July summary

Compared to an exciting June, July was a quiet month for me

On Black Belt Poker (BBP) only playing for 16 hours, being 22 Hold’em STT and 1 MTT, but still somehow also managed 1 Omaha HL MTT !   

The results are accordingly dull, being a total month profit of £42, not that I am complaining… any profit is a profit and much better than a loss !! 

Interestingly my 12x 6 seater STT netted me a loss of £7 (2 wins and 1 second) and my 10x 10 seater STT had a profit of £57 (2 wins and 5 third places!)  which is the opposite to my June results… still I suppose the sample is very small.    I also had one sponsored MTT but didn’t do well, and the Omaha HL was a £7 loss.

Did also play for 7 hours on Pokerstars, 1x HORSE and 10x 8 Game STT netting me a loss of $12 (about £8)

Looking forward, I have a week off in August and other things probably kicking off which will likely also restrict my Poker hours, but am still Green Belt on BBP for August and have enough points to play two more sponsored tournaments.   

Am also trying to get onto Late Night Poker via Full Tilt which looks like it will eat a load of my playing time in August as well, but sometimes you just got to put in the hours….  :-)

Poker: Late Night Poker – off the ground, just two more huge mountains to climb

Seems I'm on fire at the moment !   After my cash in last nights tournament I was feeling a bit tired, but decided to register for the two Round 1 freerolls for Late Night Poker, continuing my quest to get on the show again !

I played the 7:15pm game and had a slow plodding session… I don’t have any recollections of any huge good or bad fortune swings and just made steady progress through the 750 odd players and kept it steady.   

By the time the second qualifier started at 9:15pm I was about 20th out of 40 remaining players and still feeling in control, so with A-9s UTG decided to just stick all my chips in (on the second game) so I could just focus on the first game…. but got a caller and won the hand, doubling up.  

Over the next half hour I played both games and was staying slow but steady on the first game, but was being wild and stupid on the second game (wanting to bust out really…) but ended up chip leader in the second game !   I had to then sit out the second game as the first game was at that crucial stage….

After all the wild swings and excitement of the second game, I really had to calm and focus on the first….. I was now around 12th out of 35 left (27 go through)   Kept it nice and steady, don’t get involved, be passive, concentrate on survival…. but as we got to 30 players left, although I was still around 12/13th it was very slow going.   With about 6 players less than 10 BB stacks, seemed I would cruise through if only I can restrain myself… so went back to the second game :-)

Although I could use two tickets to the 2nd round,  I was really starting to feel tired by around 10pm and didn’t want to play another couple of hours, so was incredibly loose and aggressive but was around 3rd place from 600 odd remaining (900 odd started)  It was so much fun to play with idiotic abandon, going in with any two after a raise and re-raise, to see them fold :-)   Then get called when I got a decent hand and take out another player.  In the end, probability was always going to catch up with my stupid play and lost a couple of big pots, then doubled up with rubbish, but then the table chip lead ended up taking me out (he would probably be able to cruise through, so hope he appreciated my generosity ;-) )

This had been a welcome diversion from the slow, tense pace of the first game so was a relief when at 10:30pm, after 3.25 hours the final 27 were rewarded with their tickets to Saturdays Round 2… and I was one of the lucky few :-)

Of course there will likely be around 3oo-400 players in the next round with only about 10 tickets to the final round so will be tricky to get through.   Even then, the final round will only have one seat in the LNP televised finals…. It really is a slog, but I’m going to give it my best and see where I end up.   

Poker: Black Belt Poker – First cash as sponsored player

Weeeee, made it in one… . read all about it at http://www.blackbeltpoker.com/blogs/read/31208/sceaga/Another-go-at-a-sponsored-tournament----300-20-with--200k-Guarantee/

Poker: Late Night Poker – the one that got away

Every since I found out about the Late Night Poker qualifiers on Full Tilt, I have been having a go !

Tonight I had a go on the 7:15pm and was doing well, then it all blew up after ab0ut 90 minutes with some poor play from my opponents being rewarded with some sick suck outs.   The 9:15pm game I did a bit better and was even up to about 20th out of 84 players left (both games had about 850 runners) but then two big hands went against me, again sick suck outs.  Even my exit hand I had T-9 against 5-4 and he hit his 5 on the flop !    Ended up 46th (with top 27 going through to the 2nd round)  after about 90 minutes play (the second game has quicker blinds levels)

Bit annoyed I got so close, but still so far…. at least I will be able to try again next week !  (if I can summon up the patience that is, as it is quite soul destroying to have so many bad beats in one night!)

Poker: Late Night Poker is on it’s way !

And to think I nearly missed it !   Qualification for Late Night Poker (LNP) is back !!

Full Tilt are running freerolls to qualify for the televised finals, see http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/late-night-poker for details

Seems to be a bit of a daunting mountain to climb, but as it’s a freeroll should be good for a laugh and definitely worth it for the prize… got until September as well so plenty of time :-)

Poker: Another sponsored tournament, at last !

It has been ages since my last sponsored game for Black Belt Poker (BBP) (see http://sceaga.blogspot.com/2010/06/poker-ecoop-vi-30020-tournament.html for write up) and have been chomping at the bit to have another crack at the $250k weekly tournament.  My first (and only previous attempt) was back in May (http://sceaga.blogspot.com/2010/05/poker-my-first-sponsored-tournament.html) but this has been suspended during June due to the WSOP so tonight is my first opportunity to get another sponsored game as a BBP Green Belter , so have been getting excited and really looking forward to it.

So here I am again, playing in the $300 +$20, $250'000 Guaranteed No Limit Hold' em Sunday tournament, starting at 7pm.

There are 724 players registered and the top 80 players get paid.   We start with 5000 in chips and 30/15 blinds (blinds go up every 15 mins)

First hand I get 99 in button and call a raise from mid position player, then get re-raised from SB   The Q74 (2 spades) flop doesn't suit me all that well, specially when the SB bets out 3/4 pot.... so decide to let it go.   In the next couple of hands I get 44, then 33 but don't get any joy on the flop.   AJo raise it up from late and see Kxx flop in position but get resistance on flop and bet into on the river, so let it go again (having seen 4 out of 5 flops I guess I don't have much respect :-) )

The end of level 1 saw me with 4268 chips with 5105 being the average and 641st of 709 remaining players, abbreviated to:

End L1:  4268/5105   641/709

Table is quite aggressive and not getting any decent cards, so fairly quiet level for me

End L2:  4148/5269   571/687

At last get decent hand with AKo on SB   One raiser from button and BB folds leaving us heads up.   The K84 flop looks safe for me, so checked and got the bet I was hoping for.  Decided to raise as not sure about the player and he folded, which I kindof expected.

Then I get moved to different table, which is always annoying, so have to start building up my knowledge from scratch

End L3:  4948/5543   352/653

First hand this level and on BB with ATd   get raise from button and re-raise from SB so decide to dip out.   K63 flop comes with 2 diamonds.   SB bets 1000 and called by button, then of course the 9d comes  then the button bet pot to SB check (who then folds) so would've got some action as well !  Very annoying :-)

End L4 (first break): 4748/6063   367/597

Phew, made it to the first break....at least I'm making a game of it, even if I can't get above my starting stack !

First hand on new level... get AA on button.... make std raise and blinds folded.  Typical !!

few hands later, get ATd again, this time from mid position so was able to be first in and raised.  Get called from late but all else fold.  The J88 flop comes with 2 diamonds, so decide to cBet but get called.   T comes on the turn so bet out again and get called.  The A on turn improves my hand, and fairly sure I'm ahead but would be happy to check down to showdown, however the other player goes all-in so have a decision.  Luckily I make the right decision and call as he has only 99 and I take a huge pot !

End L5: 9947/6522  84/555

First hand get AJo UTG and decide to limp   Several limpers to the SB who raises, but call.   783 doesn't help but SB checks so lead out and he calls.   2 comes on the turn and SB checks.  Decide to bet out again but get re-raised all-in so end up folding having stuck in a load of my newly won chips and am back down below starting stack again !  

Get AA again on BB this time... get min raise from mid player so re-raise and he folds... oh well, maybe next time.

End L6: 5127/7448   311/486

Get AKs from late.   Get min raiser UTG, who I'd raised before, so decide to raise again.  This time he calls.   Flop comes AA3 and am happy to see him bet out half pot.  Min re-raise and get put all-in so of course call and happy to see him with 77 so I double up !   Phew, nice that being so patient has paid off... will try to hold on to these chips this time !

End L7: 9665/8360   138/433

Raised AQo after limper, who then calls   He bets out pot on 644 flop making it difficult to continue so have to fold

End L8 (2nd break): 7135/10402  225/348

Blinds are now 400/200 with 40 ante so starting to hurt with my stack size !

ATs and raise... get one caller.   Nut flush draw on flop, so bet out and take the pot, which I'm happy enough with

Been quite aggressive table with lots of raising, so when see KQo in mid decide to have a go while I can.  Typically the shorty on the table all-in calls me with 43s and I think ooohhh ohh, but luckily my K high holds up and I take a small pot.   Probably hasn't done my table image any good as my raise was effectively a steal ;-)

Couple of hands later I have AJo in BB and aggressive player with large stack on button raises.  The SB folds, but I decide to re-raise and test him out, but he calls.   The A54 diamonds flop isn't fantastic for me, but with 5700 in the pot and I've 6000 behind can't let him have a go at a free card and am probably ahead so decide to push all-in.   He insta calls with 9-6 diamonds (of course) and the A on the turn proves to be a false hope with a blank on the river sending me out in 292nd place.

I was a bit gutted and although was disappointed, overall did think I was playing OK and was in control (well, as much as you can be in this game!) until it all blew up in my face :-) 

August will be my last month as Green belt (for a while anyways) and have enough points to play just two more big tournaments…. just gotta decide whether to play two Sunday $250k GTD and have  a few points left over, or blow it all on one Sunday $250K GTD and a Monthly Mega $1 million GTD !!

Poker : Home Tournament – July 2010

At first it seemed we might be light on numbers this month, due to holidays etc.  but as it turned out we had 15 players in the end!  

The game kicked off fairly OK for me, I was steady and taking it easy.    Got pocket 4’s in late position and decided to launch one all all.  Bill called and his two overcards didn’t improve so was happy to get a reasonable stack.   It was a while before I got another reasonable hand of A-To and decided to raise.  Only Janice called, which didn’t worry me unduly, especially when the flop can T-x-x  I went all-in and confidently turned over my top pair, top kicker hand, only to be stunned to see Janice with T-T !!   Oh well, double rebuy time already……

After that it was back to steady and solid…. with only the occasional foray into wild re-raising (which I only did once against Martin, but luckily he folded :-) )

Then it was a case of bumbling along, and at the break  was fairly low stacked at around 3000 chips.  

I was a bit up and down after that, and felt lucky to make it to the final table, albeit with still around 3000 chips (one of the shorter stacks)  I drew the Small Blind, which was 400 by now, so when I looked down at AKo  I pushed all-in as Alex and Jock had both limped.  Martin in the BB folded, but both Alex and Jock called.   The A-3-4 flop looked good for me, but when Alex check/folded and Jock showed his A-4 I was in bad shape.   I got lucky though as the turn came a 2 and the river 5 for us to split the pot !

I could sit back for a few hands and watched Alex get taken out by Martin, then a few hands later with the blinds going up again I looked down at A-8 and decided I had to go for it and shoved.  Roger in the BB decided to call with KQs so wasn’t in bad shape…. but the K on the flop was enough for Roger to take me out!

Martin followed me out the next hand and joined the cash table, but after that it settled down a bit, until there was a huge hand with Andy raising to 6000, Roger called then Jock went all-in for a total of 14’900    Andy also went all-in for a total of 15’900 and Roger decided to call, also with 15’900 chips !    Andy had T-T, Roger A-9 and Jock A-6 (I think)  but with no-one improving Andy became a huge chip leader and took out 2 players at once !

After that time was getting short and it was quite tense for 2nd place with nothing much between Karen and Simon.   In the end it came down to the final hand, with the pot making the difference between the two of them.   Simon went all-in on the flop and Karen called.  Simon had something like K-x but Karen was ahead with A-x   Only a K or heart could save Simon, but a heart duly came on the river to give Simon 2nd and Karen an unlucky 3rd place

As always a lively and enjoyable game, with plenty of tales to tell (I can’t remember them all, but feel free to relate your own in the comments)   Can’t wait until next time…….

Poker : June summary

I wasn't intending to do a summary every month, but as June was another good month wanted to brag a bit about it :-)    Luckily for me, June has built on my success in May which is fantastic.

My Pokerstars form wasn’t all that great and dropped $82 in the month.  Not sure how it happened but managed to play Omaha HL cash (dropped $13) and 2 Omaha tourneys (dropped $30) so it seems diversity is costing me money at the moment !   My sole HORSE tourney  I managed to bubble out so lost my $6 and the remaining $30 loss came from playing 21 x 8 Game tourneys as I only cashed in 4 of them.     I was particularly pleased to come 7th from 110 players but as the entry was only $2, I only won $5 :-) 

June also encompassed a weeks holiday during which I didn’t play any Poker, so only played 54 tournaments.  I snuck in 1 Pot Limit Omaha HL game, in which I came 57th from 81, so lost my £7.61 entry fee, but the rest were all No limit Holdem.

Total playing time was 40 hours and cashed in 18 of the 53 Hold’em games.   In 18 x 6 seater STT made a profit of £19, 21 x 10 seater STT lost £50, 2 x 20 seater STT won £12, 4 x 30 seater STT won £20 and larger MTT won £255  (came 2nd in 235 player tourney)

My sharpscope stats look like this for end June:

 

So my total profit in US dollars for June was $243 compared to $205 in May (leaving me only $1600 down for the year to date !)

For July I hope to carry on doing the same (but forgoing the Omaha cash games and tournaments !) and still have around 3 sponsored tournaments to enter (when they restart these tournaments after the WSOP has finished)

Music: Marina & the diamonds album

I haven’t bought any music for a while, so took the opportunity of receiving a HMV gift voucher to take a serious look around and buy something.

In the end I spotted the Marina & the diamonds (myspace) album “The family Jewels” for a bargain price.   I had seen and heard a couple of Marina tracks before and quite liked them, so took a chance.  

The most recent time I’d seen her was the Isle Of Wight gig, covered by ITV 2   The coverage itself was very poor, but the tracks they showed were at least pretty good generally.   Marina herself put in a reasonable performance so thought I’d buy her album :-)

I’ve only heard it through once so far, but was a little disappointed that all the tracks seem to sound very similar vocally as she uses the same tone/tricks on every track (so it seems) but there is certainly nothing wrong with the album overall and hopefully it will be a “grower” as I get more into the lyrics, etc…

Certainly don’t regret buying the album and if you like her “famous” songs (“I am not a robot” and Hollywood”) then you should also like the album as well.

General: Holiday

Not so much as a holiday as just taking a week off work !    As it turned out, the week  I picked had hot, sunny weather and the football was on :-)

We decided to just mooch about doing whatever we wanted, so the week started with us going to Basingstoke shopping on Saturday, the highlight being having lunch out in Italian Restaurant Ask which was very nice and relaxed

Sunday saw us out at the Ely having a nice carvery with Steve and Mandy who had come over for the afternoon

Monday we went to take my Mum & Dad out as a Fathers Day treat, ending up at the Beefeater at Tattenham Corner, Epson.  Actually, it was nice grub with reasonable service, all at pretty decent price as well.

Tuesday was a bit of a change, in that we had a Pizza at home lunchtime as we went to Corinne's for tea later in the day.   We took lots of cakes with us just in case, but wouldn’t have needed them (better safe than sorry when it comes to having enough cakes ;-) )

Wednesday saw us back to our normal lunchtime trip out and went to The Bee which I blogged about earlier   We also squeezed in a trip to Lynn’s Mum before getting home in time for the footy.  

Thursday we went to The Inn @ West End which was superb, described in another earlier post after which we needed a bit of exercise so had a walk up and down Ascot high street

Friday was another potential going to the coast day, but in the end just went to Camberley for a bit of shopping, then off to The Carpenters Arms pub for lunch.   Having had lots of “posh nosh” it was actually refreshing to have the more traditional “pub grub”   I really was fancying my Steam & Ale pie with chips :-)

The end of the week has come already, so took it easy over the last weekend.   Saturday watched the F1 Valencia qualifying and ordered take away Pizza for the evening !    We watched one of the DVD’s I’d bought, Iron Man (which was great film)

Sunday was a busy day, with an early lunch at home, followed by the European GP which was a great race, followed immediately by the debacle that was the England/Germany game !     After relaxing in the sun in the garden, we spent the evening watching another DVD bought yesterday which was HellBoy II : The Golden Army  Unfortunately, for me, it was another sequel that failed to live up to the original film.   Was overlong, lazy, unbelievable (compared to the original anyway) and sentimental.   Overall very disappointing.  At least the return of Top Gear did not disappoint :-)

All-in all a very relaxing week off work, so should be fit, refreshed and ready to dive back into the normal routine…. why is it that Monday morning always feels depressing and a huge effort to do anything ;-)

General: The Inn @ West End pub/restaurant

Being on a main road, The Inn @ West End is one of those pubs you can drive by many times without thinking to go in

If you are after great food, in lovely surroundings and excellent service, then it is a mistake to drive by !

It was a warm, sunny day so sat out in the covered patio, but the inside looked just as inviting.  The service was excellent and they really paid attention and judged the timing very well    We had a long leisurely lunch and thoroughly enjoyed all courses

The menu was extensive and had additional specials to choose from, so was spoilt for choice.   The portions were generous and was overall a fantastic experience.

The only down side was that it is pretty expensive, but for that you certainly get great quality and value for money

Definitely a place to come again

General: The Bee pub/restaurant

We’ve been wanting to go to The Bee for a while now, but have never quite got the chance until now…

We went Wednesday lunchtime so was not very busy.   Despite being a hot day, it was a pleasant temperature inside.   Service was adequate, given the ratio of staff to customers, with a small hiccup being that the drinks order was slightly incorrect (Lynn got a pint rather than a half)

The menu was a little limited and this seems to be a key feature of this venue… i.e. the menu changes daily so you are kind of taking pot luck on what choice of food you will get.   None of the starters appealed to either of us, so went straight to the main course. 

The food arrived in reasonable time and was very well presented and certainly tasted good. 

The limitations of the menu scuppered our enjoyment again as none of the deserts appealed either, so that was the end of our lunch !

I was a little disappointed by our experience, due to the limited menu choice.     It also seems if you really enjoy something you stand little chance of being able to order it next time either.    I guess if you were a regular visitor you would find the changing menu a good thing, but for me it just meant I wasn’t able to have a complete meal !

Overall, there was nothing to really complain about as such, but not sure I would risk going there again in case there is nothing on the menu I like!  

General: The Angel pub/restaurant

On Sunday lunchtime we went to The Angel at Woolhampton with Simon and Lil.  It’s easy enough to find as it’s on the A4 !

On arrival at the car park, with boarded up windows and doors, we wondered if it was open !  but as it turned out it was.     Although we had booked a table, it was pretty quiet so were plenty to choose from, both inside and out.   The outside area looked pretty good and also had the function room setup for watching the footy, but we sat in the main restaurant area.  The decor could be described as “rustic” or perhaps “rundown” and had noticed they were advertising for a new chef, so wondered what we had let ourselves in for !

We needn’t have worried, as the food choice on the main menu, bar menu and Sunday roasts gave plenty of choice and were exquisite when they turned up.   The service was a little on the slow side, but wasn’t an issue for us

The tomato soup was fantastic, then the Roast Pork was great… most of us squeezed in a pudding as well, which left us full but wanting to eat more….. couldn’t fault the food at all  (well, other than Lil was a little disappointed she didn’t get a Yorkshire pub with her lamb roast)

The prices reflected the quality of the food, so is not a place to come for a cheap meal but was certainly happy with the choice available, quality and quantity of food.

Well worth a visit if you’re passing and you fancy some posh nosh

General: Mid Year fitness update

It’s been a tough 6 months since my last fitness update but think I have managed to keep up my fitness levels pretty well.

Monday (Running)
Run at 6.5mph for 25 minutes, then 8mph for 5 mins, plus 5 minutes cool down.

Heart rate peak at 169 bpm and average 144 which is pretty much exactly the same as always

Tuesday (Rowing)
My target is 30 minutes at 30 spm plus 2 minutes cool down.   Cover 4.5 miles

Heart rate peak at 159 bpm and average 151

Slightly up since last time, but this is likely due to the increased target 

Wednesday (Cross Trainer and Weights)
6 minutes at level 2 plus 3 minutes backward peddling (or whatever it is you do on a Cross Trainer!)  Then 9 mins at level 4 plus 3 minutes backwards.   21 minutes in total, covering 1.8 miles

Heart rate peak at 159 bpm and average 143

This is better than last time, probably due to my having got used to this machine at last !

Then do one cycle of weights

15 x 2 reps of Chest Fly (2 weights)
15 x 2 Chest Press (3)
15 x 2 Lat Pull Down (5)

Heart rate peak at 138 bpm and average 113

This varies though, depending on how quickly I do the reps and how much rest I have in-between

Thursday (Cycling)
Pedal at around 14mph at level 11 resistance for 20 minutes, then 10 minutes at 16mph at level 13.   Then do 5 minutes cool down. Cover 7.5 miles

Heart rate peak at 156 bpm and average 141

Slightly better than last time, but nothing significant really

Friday (Running and Weights)
Same running as Monday, then the same weights as Wednesday

Unsurprising that my heart rate is the same as Monday and Wednesday respectively

My weight seems steady at 73kg (11st 6oz) so am a lean mean fitness machine :-)

Overall I am happy with my fitness however am starting to suffer a little from my left knee again (when running) and had to see the Physio last week about my left shoulder who has told me to lay off the rowing and weights for the next 5-6 weeks !     Lets hope my poor old body can stand the pummelling it’s getting !

Poker: $2500 GTD $10 MTT

Having come 52nd from 52 runners in last nights league game and lasting less than an hour in the $250’000 GTD tournament last week…  didn’t have much expectation for the $2500 tournament, but it’s quite fun and have done well in this weekly tournament before…

I didn’t make a lot of notes during the game, but was fairly uneventful and easily had my first objective which is to make the top 50%.   There were 235 runners so still quite some way to go !

In the mid game period I did get lucky when I shove A-Q into A-K but hit my Q to double up, but other than that my luck was up and down in equal measures !

I was always struggling to stay in the top 50% of runners, but as the numbers dwindled towards the 30 who get paid, I was just about maintaining mid table.

As we got to the bubble I was able to play very tight and got into the money at around 12th place of 30 remaining.   I was tight/aggressive in this phase and was very happy to be still around 12th when we got down to 20 players.   I got a good run of cards and managed to get into the top 3 before having a couple of hands with poor luck and ended up in 8th of 10 remaining when we got to the final table.

I had already decided I really wanted to get to at least 7th place ($100 prize) and with everyone playing tight was able to work my way up to around 6th without seeing a showdown.  I did get some good cards but also let the other players knock other players out so without even realizing found myself 4th from 6 remaining players all of a sudden !

It got very tough but another run of good cards and good flops saw me get to 2nd chip stack with around 3x the 3rd players chips.   With two huge stacks against two short stacks it wasn’t long before another player went out and another…. so we’re heads up and I am slight chip lead.

The other player is very tight/solid and I can steal some blinds but they’re insignificant compared to our stacks right now (8’000 big blind against 200’000 stack)   I slowly chip away and make some wild lunges here and there, and get a good chip lead.  I then get a little unlucky when I get a load of chips in with A-J on AKQ flop, to see my opponent with A-K !    I then manage to get allin with Q-Q against A-K on a 8xx flop but the A on the turn see’s me crash out in 2nd place

Felt a bit annoyed and deflated for a while, but consoled myself with the $387 prize for 2nd place (was about $625 for 1st though….) and the knowledge that I am able to go deep in a MTT :-)