Poker : May summary

So how did my game selection decision earlier in the month help my game ? 

Playing Pokerstars, I managed to play 24 Single table Tournaments (STT) games since 23rd May, playing mostly “8 game” low stakes and cashed in 9 of them after playing a total of 15 hours.     I did make an overall loss of  $8.95 but am actually quite happy about my playing at the moment.  I lost a total of $16.40 playing HORSE, so need to work on that format some more to improve my results (or just play 8 game all the time) !

For BBP, I played a total of 60 STT and 15 MTT games over 54 hours, cashing in 26 times and made a profit of £219.   Of course my £75 loss on my cash games in May dragged me down a bit, but still very happy with my months results.    Interestingly, only £12 profit came from MTT, which came from one cash out of the 15 games, so shows how tricky it is to make a living from playing MTT all the time !     For my STT, I cashed in half my 6 seat games (12 wins and 4 second places) and a third of my 10 seat games (won 7 and got 2 third places)

So May was a successful month (in the end) and am glad I decided to avoid the Cash tables ! 

My lifetime sharkscope results for BBP STT is not 100% accurate, but seems to be roughly correct:

Looking ahead to June, I hope to be able to consistently replicate my form from May, so will continue to play $10 STT Hold’em with BBP and $3 or $6 8 game/HORSE with Pokerstars.     I will also get the opportunity to play a couple of sponsored MTT with BBP and hope to improve my results there as well.

Poker: Game selection review

After my end of April review, I knew I wasn’t doing well on Cash games again in May… so did a quick analysis.   Sure enough the stats don’t look great for May….

Cash Games
Hold’em  -41.08
Omaha    -43.74
Omaha HiLo  11.79
7 card Stud  -2.95

So a total loss of -£75.98

Luckily for me, my tournament results are a lot better, being £116.31 up at the moment

I’ve therefore decided to have a sabbatical on Cash games for the moment as I am clearly not in the right mind set, nor got the bankroll to sustain my losses.

I am therefore playing $10 STT and various MTT on Black Belt Poker, plus HORSE and 8 game STT on Pokerstars.   This should keep me amused and entertained until I can build up my bankroll again, then will take another view on whether to go for it on the cash games again or not.

Poker: Green belt update

With my early exit from the BBP League game, it has given me time to reflect a bit on what I have achieved as Green Belt and what I want to do in the next few months, whilst still at this level…..

Since achieving my Green Belt status with BBP, I have been enjoying some of the rewards, namely the three sponsored tournaments played (so far)  and the subscription (although haven’t had all that much time to review the huge amount of training videos available there yet!)

Although I haven’t really been hitting the tables all that much, I think I will still be able to eek out my Green Belt status for another three months.   

I am planning to enter the $250k Sunday tournament this weekend, then have enough points available for one big tournament per month for the three months following.   After that,  I will be flung back into the hordes at Yellow Belt level sadly (unless I get a big cash in one of my tournaments :-) ), but will face that when I come to it……

It’s a shame I didn’t (and won’t) get to play in any live tournament as a sponsored player, but certainly are enough online tournaments to keep me amused :-)

Poker: BBP League V : Leg 1 of 7

Whey hey here we go again, its time for the BBP League V at last !

There's a good crowd starting off, being 78 runners. Of course it wouldn't be the same without a fellow grader on my table so "happy" to see Jamie Burland three seats to my right.

I get one of those silly starts I sometimes do.... despite wanting to play tight/solid, I find myself calling K-Jo from late and folding on a low flop, calling raise with A-To and folding flop, calling raise with J-Ts and calling pot sized bet on flop with flush draw (then folding to rover bet when I miss) then raising with T-9s from early and calling a re-raise (then check/folding flop) All this stupidity left me with about half my stack and only played 10 minutes !

Once I got myself in the right mind set... I settled down for a long hard slog..... 5 minutes later I get K-K so raise and get one caller behind. Safe looking flop of 9-4-2 so bet half pot and get called. Q turn so put in most of my remaining stack and get re-raised all-in which I duly call. Great he's got 4-4 so I'm out in 75th place after 15 minutes of play and on the 13th hand of the tournament !!

It was fun whilst it lasted but not quite the great start to my Poker League title challenge I had envisaged :-) 

The details of the league tables, etc are available from the new Poker League Group Page

Oh well, at least I have another 6 goes to try and make an impact…..

Poker: Home Tournament – May 2010

Yes there was a May game on the first Thursday, and yes I did get there in the end…. but can’t remember much about it !

I was visiting Lynn in Hospital and dashed to the game straight after, getting there about 8:30pm.  I still had a fair number of chips but seem to remember having a reasonable stack at the break (at least average)  I also remember giving them to Daniel when he did a beat on me, so only played about an hour or so….

Poker: Third sponsored tournament

Following on from last weeks Mini ECOOP VI #3 efforts, I decided to take another shot at the Mini ECOOP as a sponsored BBP player.  This time it's the Mini ECOOP VI Main Event, being No Limit Hold' em freeze out with $300'000 Guaranteed prize pool and $75+7.50 buy in

Starting at a slightly odd time of 6pm on Sunday it's great value as it starts with 2’073 players, has 5000 starting stack, 20 minute blind levels and top 200 get paid.

Started out playing the first few hands cheaply with 5-4s, 7-7 and a slightly dodgy J-3 from the SB and Q-9s from button, but then sat back and waited for a decent hand.... and waited....  got A-9o on SB and table chip leader raised (Stats were 48/38/43) Decided to re-raise but he called.   He bet out T-5-3 flop and called my re-raise.... both checked the A, then 3 river came.  I was sure he had an A but what kicker, so check/called to see his A-To   Right idea, but wrong time :-)

Naturally I fold my A-7o a couple of hands later and am sick to see 7-5-3 flop checked round, then 7 turn with some action and 7 river just to top it off !

At the end of level 1 I am not particularly happy with my performance so far, but am currently still in good shape, having 3490 chips against 5105 average, and 1944th place out of 2030 remaining players:-

L1 : 3490/5105   1944/2030

At last get first decent hand of the game so far being Q-Q but am UTG   Decided to limp and am happy to see loose/aggro mid player raise but not so happy with late position caller so have to re-raise and take the pot uncontested.

L2: 3310/5224   1848/1948

My nemesis seems to be the loose aggro table chip lead.  Decide to raise A-9o from late and get called by nemesis who's in the BB.   Flop comes 9-8-6 hearts and I have Ah so bet pot on his check which he calls.   He check/calls the 5 turn, then checks the 8 river which I check behind.  His 7-2o takes the pot :-(

Just before end of L3, decide to raise A-3s and just get called by my nemesis in SB   He checked A-9-8 flop so bet pot and get called, he checks J turn and called pot bet... then pushes all-in on 5 river  I am committed now so call for my last 1200 and he naturally has Q-To so hit his gutshot on the turn !

Ended up very disappointed 1’858th place.  

I don't think I really played all that well in truth.   The moves I was making were probably too early on, ill timed and not followed through properly.   I was rightly folded some dodgy hands, but then would've hit big time which is a bit frustrating but part of the game, but I probably let it get to me...  The one decent hand I got was played over-anxiously..... and my nemesis seemed to be the luckiest fish around (not just against me either)   All in all a poor showing by my standards and slightly embarrassing, considering I was being funded by BBP !   Must do better next time... luckily the ECOOP itself kicks off next week, so plenty of opportunities to redeem myself.

Poker: Second sponsored tournament

For my second sponsored tournament for Black belt Poker I decided to enter the Mini ECOOP VI #3  No Limit Hold' em freeze out with $175'000 Guaranteed prize pool and $50+5 buy in

In my first sponsored event  I didn't do great partly due to my over aggression, but was good fun and did go quite deep, but hope to better that this time round.

Starting at a reasonable 8pm on Sunday it promises to be an interesting game, especially as it starts with 1730 players, has 5000 starting stack and 20 minute blind levels.....and top 200 get paid!

Start steady, have a few goes at the pot but don't get too heavily involved, so at the end of the first level, I am around 5120 chips with 5209 average and 619th out of 1644 players remaining

L2 got a bit over aggro in the SB v's BB but luckily he folded to my turn bet after calling preflop and flop   Also raised 99 and got called by two tight players, and faced a nervy wait after they both checked to me on 7 high flop but was happy enough when they both folded.

End L2 : 6030/5300  311/1616

Thought about making a move with K5s but decided not to.... Flop came K85, turn was 5 and river a 2... AQ beat AJ in this hand !! Oh well... never mind

Get AA and raise, get called by loose/aggro player to my left.  Bet 3/4 pot on KT2 all diamonds flop (I have Ad) and get called, bet out on T turn and get re-raised, then check/call 2 river... of course he had ATo.... ho hum, should have thought on the turn he had hit something... but it's tricky to lay down AA

Left with 1605 and blinds about to go to 100/50 so when get dealt 44 on BB on the last hand before the break and see a late position raise and button call, decide to shove... hoping to get lucky on a coin flip.  As it turned out, both callers folded so end up in not great shape, but at least with a fighting chance, albeit with the blinds now going up next hand

L3: 1985/5732  1470/1494

I'm really looking for a good spot to double up asap.  Although have got 20 BB it's only 20 minutes before the blinds go up to 150/75 and need to get some chips to play with....

What do you know... first hand at the new level get 44 again... and UTG just raised.  Lump all-in and get called but he has 88 and hits 984 flop !  That's the way it goes I guess

Finished 1471st place so a very poor show, but at least I can get a decent nights sleep as it's only just gone 9pm

Poker: my Poker year so far

Has a third of a year already gone !by, wow how did that happen ? -

Poker wise, my year has been all about Black Belt Poker and the grading process so just a brief overview of where I’m at.

January was down around £600 due to the Grading Selection week, Feb was down about £300 and March down £400 due to the Grading process itself… so only being down £12 for April is actually a big bonus for me :-)

I haven’t been able to play so much in April as normal, as Lynn has been in an out of hospital the last few weeks, but still managed 26 hours of play.  It was a relief to get back to my natural habitat of Single Table Tournaments (STT) where I actually made £50 in April, but still dropped £62 in cash games (£50 Hold’em, £11 on Omaha Hi-Low and £1 on 7 card stud)   I tend to play cash games when I don’t know I’ll have an uninterrupted hour needed to play the tourneys, as have been on standby, looking after Lynn…. so will probably keep playing cash games a bit during May, but hopefully will be able to get back to my STT and the occasional big MTT shot

Unless I get a big result in a MTT, this will likely be my biggest year’s loss since I started playing, but is also likely to be my most memorable Poker year and the year where I learned most as well :-)

As far as Live play goes, it will be tricky just getting to my monthly Camberley League games (CamberleyBoyz), so not likely to see much Live play this year… just have to keep my fingers crossed on that one… especially as I am still the league leader :-)

Poker: my first sponsored tournament

I have been waiting for what seems an age to take advantage of my Green belt status from my Grading, but at last I get my first shot as a sponsored player for Black Belt Poker :-)

 

At last I am playing in the $300 +$20, $250'000 Guaranteed No Limit Hold' em Sunday tournament... and is not costing me a cent :-)

Due to various reasons, despite getting the tournament ticket early April have only just found an opportunity to play. 

The game started at 7pm with 839 players registered and the top 100 players get paid.

We start with 5000 in chips and 30/15 blinds (blinds go up every 15 mins) am set for a long night (hopefully!!)

Hand 7 I got dealt JJ in the BB and re-raised a late position raised.  He flat called my flop bet on 322 flop, flat called the K on the turn and then checked behind with an 8 on the river and I was happy to see he had AT, just a shame I was so nervous about the K hitting his hand else I could have probably got some more out of him :-)   That settled my nerves a bit and tried to focus on the game...

The end of level 1 saw me with 6911 chips with 5109 being the average and 47th of 821 players remaining, so a nice steady start...  abbreviated to:
L1: 6911/5109   47/821

L2: 7655/5364   71/782

Called raise with 44 against tight player, then stupidly got creative on A93 flop and re-raised him, only to face a 3 bet.   Had gone through something similar with him in the last level so folded (as I did before)  At least I have setup a scenario where I can stack him now!

L3: 5935/5556  126/755

Phew, against my potential nemesis, he raised and I decided to call with AJo... immediately thinking I was a bit silly... but the flop came a kind JT2.  He bet out and called my re-raise then check/re-raised all-in on 2 turn... but I decided he was playing me rather than his cards and sure enough he had AQ and I doubled up!  

L4: 12982/6070    23/691

Raised against blinds from button with 98o   Flopped an up and down str8 draw so when short stacked SB check/raised all-in I was calling.... unfortunately his A5o held up against all my outs :-)

L5: 10250/6648   145/631
L6: 10850/7641    95/549

PLayer seemed to be targeting my blinds so decided to flat call a min-raise with A8o from SB after another player had called.  I bet out on J87 flop and he flat called    I decided to check/re-raise all-in on 6 turn and of course he had JJ !   

L7: 5055/8323  380/504

Bit of aggressive play with no cards saw me slowly build up again.

L8: 10585/9917   158/423

So after 2 hours playing, we are near enough with half the starting players..... hopefully plenty of play left in me yet... but need to calm it all down and get selectively aggressive.  Just got some more caffeine and chocolate, that should mellow me out :-)   Blinds are now 400/200 with ante of 40 as well, so short stacks will likely be getting more aggressive now I guess, so need to pick my spots carefully...

L9: 9785/11652   184/360

Made it into the top half of starting numbers, but not yet ahead of the player who sat out all game (he has 400 chips left!)   My M is 7 so starting to look for good spots to get it all-in

aggressive player raises as I get TT from button... its folded to me and I push all-in and only the raised calls.  He shows AKo so a nervous wait but my TT holds up so I double up and am now the tables chip lead !

L11: 22740/18811    67/223  ( I missed a level change somewhere along the way!)

Aaarghhh, my frequent re-raising friend to my right obligingly raised when I had AKo in the cut off, so I re-raised the pot.  To my dismay, the table chip lead on the button called my re-raise and the others folded.   The pot was around 20'000 and I had 16000 left, so the flop of QT2 (2 diamonds) wasn't too good for me, giving me a middle pin str8 draw and backdoor flush, as well as the possibility that A or K would be good.   The villain had been calling/raising fairly liberally as has mostly been table chip leader since joining the table... so I decided this was a push or check/fold situation.  After a brief pause I pushed... and he sat for a few seconds before calling with his JJ   I didn't improve so was out in 189th place.... at around 10:30pm (not to late a night for me :-) )

It was fun whilst it lasted.  In the main feel I played reasonably well, maybe being too aggressive here and there, but overall the aggression paid off.   In my exit hand, the villain could so easily have missed the flop and been behind, my only regret was not pushing pre-flop to give a harder decision for his Jacks to call (although I’m sure he would have done) and getting my chips in as a coin flip.   It was certainly a great game and have the funding to play at least one more big game this month (if I can find the time) so will be looking out for a suitable opportunity ASAP !