Poker: BBP catch up

Has it really been over two weeks since the grading finished !   I have certainly been enjoying the sheer luxury of being able to play what games I like, when I like and stop playing when I want :-)

Since the grading has finished I have only been "fiddling about" and not really playing anything too serious in order to rest and recuperate.   My main aim after the grading is to try and build up my bankroll and also reacquaint myself with some of the non-Holdem games that I hadn't touched for the last two months ! 

Unfortunately BBP only offer Hold' em tournaments so have been playing some cash games for Omaha and 7 card stud.  Will carry on with BBP until I either blow all my remaining balance or earn enough to reload my PokerStars account

I haven't been doing too badly so far...

Game	Minutes	Profit/Loss (GBP)
Hold’em Cash	152	-3.54
Hold’em (23x) Tournaments	1312	16.19
Omaha Cash	83	-6.79
Omaha HiLo Cash	298	9.26
Stud Cash	626	-4.22

so I have a total profit of £10.90 since grading finished.... not a huge comeback but certainly better than losing money !!   My Hold' em tournament results are a little disappointing, but am sure I will be able to turn that around over a bigger sample size.   My Hold' em cash results started out pretty well then slipped back on my last session with a big loss, but obviously have only spent a very small amount of time playing so far.  

All in all, I am pretty content with my play so far and am enjoying the game a lot more now I can suit myself on when to play and how much to risk.   April will see me take advantage of my Green belt status and will be able to take a shot once a month in a higher stakes tournament, so looking forward to that immensely

Poker: BBP League – Leg 2

This week there are 69 entrants.    The top 10 get points, but only the  top 8 get paid, so a fair bit of work to do tonight to repeat last weeks success !

At the start, my table has three fellow graders, one chap who finished third in last weeks league and a young lady who just won a WSOP package from an online satellite … so nice and easy then !!

Incredibly, my first hand was Q-Q again… seems to be a pattern emerging :-)   I make a standard raise after one UTG limper and only he called.   The 866 rainbow flop seemed good for me, so bet out after UTG checked.  He flat called which made me wonder about his range… I was thinking small/mid PP or AT+    The 9 turn didn’t seem to trouble me, but when the UTG check/called again I am concerned he has made trips     The K river really prevented me from doing anything stupid as if he was chasing with A-K then he’s just hit… so although did consider all my options, decided to fold to his half pot bet.   He showed pocket 6’s so was relieved to only loose 1/3 my stack !

After such a tricky start I was on the back foot, but kept plodding away.   I had another lucky escape when there was a raise ahead of me… I considered calling or raising with A-9 clubs but as the raiser was already all-in there didn’t seem to be enough value so folded.  There was a re-raise and call behind me so was fairly relieved but then the AsJs9s flop seemed an ideal position for me to get my chips all-in and probably take the pot down !   It was a lucky escape however, as my nemesis showed Q-Q and hit another Q on the river !

I needed some luck as my stack was pretty short, and it came when I decided to raise with K-Qs from late position after UTG had limped.   As it happened, all folded then UTG went all-in… I decided it was now or never, and was fairly OK with him showing J-J, especially when my Q hit on the flop, so doubled up.

With the blinds increasing I raised Q-J hearts and got re-raised all-in by a loose, aggro player.  Everyone folded so I called all-in and was pleased to see the villain had 7-6 clubs.  Although he hit his 7 on the flop, my flush came on the river so doubled up again !

At the 1st break:-
  17th of 37 players
  2815 chips, against 2797 average

After that it was steady as she goes, as was able to wait for hands.  I had good wins with J-J, A-J then A-Q… then A-4 !  (Blind v’s Blind managed to get all-in on Q84 flop against 4-3)  The very next had got A-A and had someone go all-in ahead of me so got some more chips.

By the 2nd break:-
1st from 12 remaining players!
19046 chips / 8625 average   (average for 10 players is 10350 so in great shape to make the money)

It was not long before we had our Final table:-
2nd of 10 players
19796 chips with 10350 average

The play got very tough and tense, but managed to maintain my momentum.  A-4 was very kind to me as had UTG limp so I completed in the SB and saw a flop of K44 !  We all checked and the turn came 3 but made a flush possible.   We got to the showdown with min bets on the turn and river, so I won a nice pot but should’ve attacked the flop !

We are down to 5 players and the blinds are biting, although am fairly comfortable in 2nd place.  Owen has been very aggressive , especially when he took the chip lead a while back.  He raised my BB and there was a caller, so when I looked at my 5-5 decided it was a fold or shove moment.  I decided to shove but unfortunately my timing was out and Owen showed pocket A’s taking me out !

5th place gave me $25.87, but more importantly the second point finish in two weeks, so am league leader at the moment :-)

The league positions are at http://www.blackbeltpoker.com/groups/league/

General: The Hogget Pub/Restaurant

Following on from our trip out for Saturday lunch last week, we went to The Hogget pub this week.

The ambiance  was very nice and were immediately welcomed in by the staff.    There was a slightly dodgy start when the waitress got our drinks order a bit wrong then didn’t know what came with the Burger I was considering to order.   After that thought things improved considerably, as the food and service were both excellent.   I did go for the Burger and chips in the end, Lynn having the Chicken Caesar Salad   Both portions were good sized and bloated us out, but I still managed to find room to squeeze in a small Sticky Toffee pudding with Ice Cream.

The pricing was fair enough, although the £5 for a pudding seemed a bit excessive to me (didn’t worry me enough to stop me eating one though :-) )

Again an excellent pub to go to eat, and with a more careful selection from the menu doesn’t have to necessarily be an expensive lunch out either    The dinner menu also looks very nice and certainly will try it out again in future

General: The Anchor Inn pub/restaurant

We recently bought the Michelin “Eating out in Pubs – 2010” book so decided to make use of it last Saturday.  As we were thinking of going to Farnham, we decided to go to The anchor Inn at Lower Froyle.

 

Although the lunchtime menu seemed more restricted than the full evening menu, it was certainly a reasonable choice.  There was a lot of “posh food”…. i.e. slightly odd sounding combinations and using words you never heard of !    This is certainly not the pub to come to for Pie and Chips or a sandwich, but the food was nicely prepared and very tasty !   

Lynn decided to go for BLT with chips !  (there were a couple of “traditional” dishes) but I had stuffed Pork Shoulder with some potato thing that tasted better than it looked and some veggys

Even quite early on Saturday lunchtime they were fairly busy, but even so the service was prompt, friendly and efficient.

The only slight downside was the prices are pretty hefty, but as it was our main meal of the day wasn’t all that bad considering. 

All in all, was worth the visit and would certainly go back there for a main meal again.

Poker: Grading official results

Yes, the results are in…. see http://www.blackbeltpoker.com/articles/read/Grading-II-Winners-Announced

I wasn’t picked for the Dublin trip and didn’t get mentioned in despatches…. but that is as expected :-)

Hope to take advantage of my green belt status and get funding to go to the Sovereign Club in April (really needs to be a freezeout which Reading casino don’t do….) so watch this space :-)

Poker: Black Belt Poker League

 
I decided to have a go at the Black Belt Poker (BBP) League this time round.  This "season" (Season IV) is 7 games and the top ten get points. (Editor correction) with all players getting points in reverse of the number of players who entered (1st player out gets 1 point, and so on..).    At the end of the season there are prizes for the players top of the league table

It runs on a Tuesday night at 7:30pm and is only $5 to enter (which is spot on for me!)

Last night was leg 1 of 7 and had 71 players.  

I had a bit of a roller coaster ride, although was mainly upwards :-)

Hand 1 : Dealt QQ in mid position, made standard raise and got reraised all-in.   Decided to call and doubled against JJ

Then got moved to another table where I recognised three other players as fellow graders, so this table may be pretty tough !  First hand on this table got dealt KK so made standard raise.  This time everyone folded

Next hand I folded K2 which is fair enough, but the flop came K72 !   Maybe I should play every hand !!

Later in the session I raised AK after one limper  Everyone folded to the limper who then reraised all-in.   After my timer got down to the last second, I decided to call and was very relieved to see he had AQo so took another big pot and was chip leader.  In fact I ended up being in the top 5 pretty much throughout the game which was pretty pleasing as it allowed me to be my natural bullying self :-)

I did get lucky on occasions.... for example had ATo on SB  Player raised from late position after everyone else folded.  I decided he was having a go at the blinds so reraised but had to call his all-in re-raise   He showed AKs and was in trouble on KJ9 flop but then Q came on turn to give me the str8 and another big pot !

At the 1st break, I am 2nd of 43 players with 7515 chips (average 2476)

It wasn't all luck for me though, a tight player raised UTG and decided to re-raise with AKo  He reraised all-in but I was willing to go with it   Unfortunately he showed KK and I was down to 6330 (av 3042) 3rd from 35

More good fortune when had A9o in SB against a short stack who had raised... decided to raise and he showed ATo  But I hit 9 on flop and took him out !

2nd break I am 5th of 15 players and 10550 chips with avg 7100

1st hand get TT and to my dismay table chip leader bets out.  I re-raise get called.  Not pleased to see J32 flop but when checked to, have to bet all-in and am happy to take down the pot, giving me chip lead again (14800) !!

Final table - 1st with 18550 chips, avg 10650

aggressive player pushed from button with K9o and I called with QQ in the SB   He hit K on turn which was gutting and am now down to 5th place with 11542 chips (avg 10650)

Went a bit card dead and took a risk one to many times, committing myself BvB with T6 in SB against AT so lost that.   Got a bit lucky going all-in when desperate with K4 against JJ and pushed with 88 next hand to build up my stack.   In the end button raised JJ against my BB so pushed with 77 and didn't get lucky so out in 7th place and took $17.75 prize money

Phew, what a game.   OK I was a bit fortunate at times but in the main had a good reason for my various plays.   The early double up really made my game, allowing me to relax into it and pick favourable spots on my own terms which really helped my result.   The standard of play was very high for a $5 game and there was plenty of table banter for additional interest.... even Neil Channing joining in the chat on the final table !   

The ongoing league positions can be tracked at http://www.blackbeltpoker.com/groups/league/

Poker: Black Belt Poker – the final reckoning

OK so I’ve done my summary in the Black Belt Poker (BBP) blog but how did I actually fare in pounds and pence  ?  

The simple answer is not great :-)  

The 6 weeks of grading cost me around £800 and added to the pre-grading selection week cost of £250, it has been quite an expensive education.   Having said that, I was always handicapped by not being a cash player and not having done any significant multi-tabling before entering this process so in reality it was never going to be pretty…..

I don’t regret taking this challenge and firmly believe my poker game has significantly improved and definitely think about the game at a higher level than before.  The odd tournament I have played over the last six weeks has generally ended with me cashing so can see myself recouping the cost by better play.  I also get benefits from achieving the Green belt status with BBP

My Green Belt becomes effective in April so will keep you up to date on what I’m up to, however will be having a few days well deserved break from Poker over this weekend, then back to a more normal schedule of playing time from next week !

Cars: goodbye Lotus…..

It is sooner than I wished, but the time has come to say goodbye to my Lotus Elise R :-(

Unfortunately Lynn can’t really get in and out the car anymore and even when in it seems more sensitive to the “bumps”   The only time I get to drive it alone is going to and from work, so faced with the prospect of driving Lynn’s Fiesta weekends, holidays and whenever we go out together, the sensible option is to change it.  OK so when it comes to cars…. me and “sensible” don’t always go together, but the time really has come… in fact the car has already gone… it was picked up last Thursday.

The better news is that I have ordered my Jaguar XF 3.0 S (Diesel) http://www.jaguar.com/  It’s 0-60 is only 5.9 secs, but that’s not bad for a 2 ton of car :-)

Poker : Black Belt Grading – week 6 (final week!)

Couple of blog articles published…

Week 6 summary at http://www.blackbeltpoker.com/blogs/read/23228/sceaga/Mixed-Feelings/

and final thoughts at http://www.blackbeltpoker.com/blogs/read/23227/sceaga/Final-Thoughts/

Poker : Black Belt Grading – week 5

Update for week 5 in two parts.

http://www.blackbeltpoker.com/blogs/read/22943/sceaga/Moving-on-Up/

http://www.blackbeltpoker.com/blogs/read/22945/sceaga/Black-Wednesday/

Poker: Home Tournament – March 2010

I have no idea what happened as I wasn’t there :-)

Hopefully someone will email me an update or add comments to this post ?

Poker: Black Belt Poker grading – week 4

Week four summary at http://www.blackbeltpoker.com/Community/Blogs/blogPost.aspx?id=22510

Also contributed to an article you can read at http://www.blackbeltpoker.com/articles/read/Hand-Exchange-Shaw-Roberts not quite certain about the intro I’m given (which I had no input on) but the hand analysis itself may be interesting for you to read through….

Update : 5th March – the second part of the article is at http://www.blackbeltpoker.com/articles/read/Hand-Exchange-Roberts-Shaw