Mike's Blog: 2013

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Poker: Financial results for December 2013

Plan
My monthly targets were to:
- Play 200 hands of cash on NLHE $0.10 6-max (1 table Speed) with target of breaking even (Pokerstars)
- Play 200 cash hands on PLO $0.10 6-max (1 table speed) with target of breaking even (Pokerstars)
- Play 2 sessions of 8 Game cash with target of breaking even (Pokerstars)
- Play 3 MTT/STT with target of breaking even (BBP)

Monitor
Overall results for the month:-

Pokerstars      : +$   11.31
Black Belt Poker: -$   10.41 (-£6.29)
Live play       : +£    0.00

Pokerstars results break down as follows:

Cash results (+$ 11.31 overall)
NLHE Zoom        ($0.10)   101 hands +$ 8.92
NLHE Mobile Zoom ($0.10)   214 hands +$ 3.74
PLO Zoom         ($0.02)   104 hands +$ 1.86
NLO8 Mobile Zoom ($0.02)   319 hands -$ 3.21

Tournament Results ($-0.00 overall)

8 Game wins/losses by game type for this month: None

BBP results break down as follows:

Cash results (£-0.00 overall)

Tournament Results (-£ 6.29 overall)
3x MTT -£ 6.29

Reflect
I knew December was going to be a tricky month to get any volume in, and so it turned out. I didn't make the live game, as wasn't feeling 100% which was a shame as I have been doing OK in my live games recently.

For Pokerstars, I managed to get the volume in that I expected... making a small loss only in the NLO8 Mobile Zoom. My play has been better this month, but still finding I get a bit impatient when I've only got a short amount of time to fiddle about.

BBP I managed only the 3 MTT and didn't manage to get any cashes.

January 2014 Targets
With the new year I'm hoping to get back into a more normal routine again, although will still likely be a lower volume than previous months.

My targets are therefore:
- Play 300 hands of cash on NLHE $0.10 6-max (1 table Speed) with target of breaking even (Pokerstars)
- Play 300 cash hands on PLO $0.10 6-max (1 table speed) with target of breaking even (Pokerstars)
- Play 2 sessions of 8 Game cash with target of breaking even (Pokerstars)
- Play 12 MTT/STT with target of breaking even (BBP)

Strategic Objectives for 2014
* Break even on all cash games
* Try to get back into MTT more regularly

Wednesday, December 04, 2013

Poker: Financial results for November 2013

Plan
My monthly targets for November were:
- Have at least 4 study sessions
- Play 400 hands of cash on NLHE $0.10 6-max (1 table Speed) with target of breaking even (Pokerstars)
- Play 400 cash hands on PLO $0.10 6-max (1 table speed) with target of breaking even (Pokerstars)
- Play 2 sessions of 8 Game cash with target of breaking even (Pokerstars)
- Play specific MicroMillions MTT, ideally qualifying for FPP (Pokerstars)
- Play 3 MTT/STT with target of breaking even (BBP)

Monitor
Overall results for the month:-

Pokerstars      : -$   37.81
Black Belt Poker: -$   18.43 (-£11.27)
Live play       : +£   72.00

Pokerstars results break down as follows:

Cash results ($-24.56 overall)
8 Game           ($0.40)              +$ 7.47
NLHE Zoom        ($0.10)   147 hands +$ 1.37
PLO Zoom         ($0.10)    91 hands -$13.89
NLO8 Mobile Zoom ($0.02)   562 hands -$11.02
NLO8 Zoom        ($0.02)   313 hands -$ 8.49

Tournament Results ($-13.25 overall)
2x STT sats to Micromillions -$ 2.25
4x MTT Micromillions -$11

8 Game wins/losses by game type for this month: None
2-7        + 4.36
Limit HE   + 0.85
Omaha HL   + 0.07
Razz       - 1.95
Stud       - 0.58
Stud HL    + 6.71
NL HE      - 2.85
PLO        + 0.85

BBP results break down as follows:

Cash results (£-0.00 overall)

Tournament Results (-£11.27 overall)
8x MTT -£ 11.27

Reflect
The live game was a better results for me this month, making the final table and cashing in 6th (going out on a flip). Alex also had a good run and split 1st place so got a percentage of that as well :)

I didn't play very much BBP at all.... 3 league games and 5x 12 seat Jackpot SNG ,coming 4th twice in the SNG so although not very large sample size, not quite the results I am hoping for. I think I'm possibly playing a bit too aggressively early on and if I get a big stack, then play too aggresively on and just past the bubble.

The Pokerstars Micromillions was a little bit of a distraction this month, but didn't play as many sats or events as I had expected. I did manage to sat into one main event at least, and although had a lot of fun sadly didn't convert my efforts to a cash. The cash results for my Omaha is with a smaller sample than normal, but still a little bit disappointing. I'm managing to keep my Mobile Zoom sessions to be just "fun" sessions when I'm away from home, but still not adjusting/learning so will need to spend more time thinking about these games.

December Targets
I managed to finish the Tournament Cash Machine training! I will re-read the notes this month, as need to make sure it's sunk in, but other than that will take a break from so much studying this month..

Being Xmas this month, it's quite likely I won't get to play so much as normal.... I'm already missing some "Poker nights" due to Xmas shopping and other bits and pieces, but will play when I can.

My targets are therefore reduced:
- Play 200 hands of cash on NLHE $0.10 6-max (1 table Speed) with target of breaking even (Pokerstars)
- Play 200 cash hands on PLO $0.10 6-max (1 table speed) with target of breaking even (Pokerstars)
- Play 2 sessions of 8 Game cash with target of breaking even (Pokerstars)
- Play 3 MTT/STT with target of breaking even (BBP)

Strategic Objectives
* Keep to Poker Plan
OK this month
* Focus on less variants of cash games
So far, so good.
* Break even on all cash games
PLO went a bit wrong this month (again!! Must do better....)
* Fiddle around less with MTT/STT variants, concentrate on NLHE and 8 Game
OK this month

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Poker: Financial results for October 2013

Plan
My monthly targets for October were:
- Have at least 4 study sessions
- Play 400 hands of cash on NLHE $0.10 6-max (1 table Speed) with target of breaking even (Pokerstars)
- Play 400 cash hands on PLO $0.10 6-max (1 table speed) with target of breaking even (Pokerstars)
- Play 2 sessions of 8 Game cash with target of breaking even (Pokerstars)
- Play 5 MTT/STT with target of breaking even (BBP)

Monitor
Overall results for the month:-

Pokerstars      : -$   54.20
Black Belt Poker: +$    2.33 (+£1.45)
Live play       : -£   40.00

Pokerstars results break down as follows:

Cash results ($-54.20 overall)
NLHE Zoom ($0.10)         1191 hands +$12.83
PLO Zoom ($0.10)         1563 hands -$67.02
Mobile NLO8 Zoom ($0.02)   404 hands -$ 0.01

Tournament Results ($-0.00 overall)
None

8 Game wins/losses by game type for this month: None
2-7        + 0.00
Limit HE   - 0.00
Omaha HL   + 0.00
Razz       + 0.00
Stud       - 0.00
Stud HL    - 0.00
NL HE      + 0.00
PLO        + 0.00

BBP results break down as follows:

Cash results (£-0.00 overall)

Tournament Results (+£1.45 overall)
13x MTT -£ 0.49
1x STT (9 seat) +£ 1.94

Reflect
Overall this month, have had nightmare workwise due to short staff, etc so haven't felt much like playing. Also had a spot of "man flu" the last week and a half of October, so again dented my enthusiasm to play.... but managed to get some sessions in.

My live game this month was another decent run, but finished 12th (7 paid) out of about 40 odd runners. Went out with KK vs AQ (all in preflop) so a bit disappointing, but got it in ahead at least. My £20 win on blackjack softened the blow a little :)

Pokerstars was a few sessions of Zoom and am fairly happy overall with the results. My PLO for some reason has gone to pot, with my playing like a pansy to lose a number of big pots. It all went downhill this last week, so probably due to the man-flu clogging up my Poker senses. Just shows you shouldn't play when feeling poorly !!

Blackbelt was mostly 12 seat Jackpot SNG and returned a small profit with those, but very low volume and meaningless overall (but better than a loss)

November Targets
The first week is written off for Poker, so will be likely even less Poker than October. Pokerstars have announced MicroMillions so might also get a bit sidetracked by that :) I am still reviewing Nick Wealthall's "Tournament Cash Machine" program (http://transformmypoker.com/) so want to get some time to finish that off

My targets are therefore:

- Have at least 4 study sessions
- Play 400 hands of cash on NLHE $0.10 6-max (1 table Speed) with target of breaking even (Pokerstars)
- Play 400 cash hands on PLO $0.10 6-max (1 table speed) with target of breaking even (Pokerstars)
- Play 2 sessions of 8 Game cash with target of breaking even (Pokerstars)
- Play specific MicroMillions MTT, ideally qualifying for FPP (Pokerstars)
- Play 3 MTT/STT with target of breaking even (BBP)

Strategic Objectives
* Keep to Poker Plan
OK this month
* Focus on less variants of cash games
So far, so good.
* Break even on all cash games
PLO went a bit wrong this month
* Fiddle around less with MTT/STT variants, concentrate on NLHE and 8 Game
OK this month

Friday, September 27, 2013

Poker: Financial results for September 2013

Plan
My monthly targets for August were:
- Have at least 4 study sessions
- Play 800 hands of cash on NLHE $0.20 6-max (1 table Speed) with target of breaking even (BBP)
- Play 350 cash hands on PLO $0.20 6-max (1 table) with target of breaking even (BBP)
- Play 4 sessions of 8 Game cash with target of breaking even (Pokerstars)
- Play 16 MTT/STT with target of breaking even (BBP)
- Have one more try at EPT sat, using FPPs to buy-in
- Play some WCOOP sats (if available and depending on the final schedule for the Main Events)

Monitor
Overall results for the month:-

Pokerstars      : -$ 233.28
Black Belt Poker: -$    5.53 (-£3.43)
Live play       : -£   40.00

Pokerstars results break down as follows:

Cash results ($+31.85 overall)
8 Game    ($0.40)                   $ +0.46
PLO Zoom ($0.10)         362 hands $ +10.29
Mobile NLO8 Zoom ($0.10) 237 hands $ +0.83
NLO8 Zoom ($0.10)        819 hands $ +20.27

Tournament Results ($-265.13 overall)
1x UKIPT sat MTT           $ -12.73
8x WCOOP sat MTT           $ -245.40
2x NLHE MTT                $   -7.00

8 Game wins/losses by game type for this month (1 session):
2-7        + 1.64
Limit HE   - 0.80
Omaha HL   + 2.39
Razz       + 2.48
Stud       - 2.34
Stud HL    - 4.76
NL HE      + 1.43
PLO        + 0.42

BBP results break down as follows:

Cash results (£-0.00 overall)

Tournament Results (-£ overall)
7x MTT -£ 3.43

Reflect
My main focus this month was the WCOOP sats and everything else was pushed aside. I also ran out of Poker bankroll 3/4 way through the month (hence my early post for end of month results) so my playing is now curtailed until next month.

My live game was a bit frustrating, as managed to get to the final table but finished as the money bubble boy. Did feel I played well overall though, so cannot complain.....

I have done my study sessions as targeted, watching Nick's Tournament videos. I've still got a few video's to watch, so will need to continue with my studying, but have got spare time at the moment (as I have no Poker bankroll left) so shouldn't be a problem to get through them

Pokerstars cash results were pretty good (by my recent standards :) ) so was happy just to post a plus result in all categories. The WCOOP sats were the main expenditure for me. I posted a blog about this already (http://sceaga.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/poker-wcoop-2013-summary.html) so won't dwell on my lack of results here. I wasn't intending to play a UKIPT London sat, but saw it listed when I was browsing so just jumped in. Obviously was a waste of time and money :)

I didn't play much on BBP, just three league games and four other NLHE MTTs I did cash one MTT (4th from 12 players) but nothing special to mention

My cash results were better than expected, and my tournament results are about on par with expectation. Shame I didn't get anywhere with WCOOP, but it was always a bit of a long shot anyways.

October Targets
I am still going through Nick Wealthall's "Tournament Cash Machine" program (http://transformmypoker.com/) so October will also need to be about training for and playing in MTTs. My bankroll is precarious, so will have to drop right down in stakes to stay within my BRM My targets are therefore:

Strategic Objectives
* Keep to Poker Plan
Went out the window a bit this month due to WCOOP and Bankroll
* Focus on less variants of cash games
So far, so good.
* Break even on all cash games
Needs more studying
* Fiddle around less with MTT/STT variants, concentrate on NLHE and 8 Game
OK this month

References
January 2013 http://sceaga.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/poker-financial-results-for-january-2013.html
February 2013 http://sceaga.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/poker-financial-results-for-february.html
March 2013 http://sceaga.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/poker-financial-results-for-march-2013.html
April 2013 Cash Challenge http://www.blackbeltpoker.com/blogs/read/4020786/sceaga/First-month-results/
April 2013 http://sceaga.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/poker-financial-results-for-april-2013.html
May 2013 http://sceaga.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/poker-financial-results-for-may-2013.html
June 2013 http://sceaga.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/poker-financial-results-for-june-2013.html
July 2013 http://sceaga.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/poker-financial-results-for-july-2013.html
August 2013 Plan
My monthly targets for August were:
- Have at least 4 study sessions
- Play 800 hands of cash on NLHE $0.20 6-max (1 table Speed) with target of breaking even (BBP)
- Play 350 cash hands on PLO $0.20 6-max (1 table) with target of breaking even (BBP)
- Play 4 sessions of 8 Game cash with target of breaking even (Pokerstars)
- Play 16 MTT/STT with target of breaking even (BBP)
- Have one more try at EPT sat, using FPPs to buy-in
- Play some WCOOP sats (if available and depending on the final schedule for the Main Events)

Monitor
Overall results for the month:-

Pokerstars      : -$ 233.28
Black Belt Poker: -$    5.53 (-£3.43)
Live play       : -£   40.00

Pokerstars results break down as follows:

Tournament Results ($-265.13 overall)
1x UKIPT sat MTT           $ -12.73
8x WCOOP sat MTT           $ -245.40
2x NLHE MTT                $   -7.00

BBP results break down as follows:

Cash results (£-0.00 overall)

Tournament Results (-£ overall)
7x MTT -£ 3.43

Reflect
My main focus this month was the WCOOP sats and everything else was pushed aside. I also ran out of Poker bankroll 3/4 way through the month (hence my early post for end of month results) so my playing is now curtailed until next month.

My live game was a bit frustrating, as managed to get to the final table but finished as the money bubble boy. Did feel I played well overall though, so cannot complain.....

I didn't play much on BBP, just three league games and four other NLHE MTTs I did cash one MTT (4th from 12 players) but nothing special to mention

My cash results were better than expected, and my tournament results are about on par with expectation. Shame I didn't get anywhere with WCOOP, but it was always a bit of a long shot anyways.

October Targets
I am still going through Nick Wealthall's "Tournament Cash Machine" program (http://transformmypoker.com/) so October will also need to be about training for and playing in MTTs. My bankroll is precarious, so will have to drop right down in stakes to stay within my BRM My targets are therefore:

Strategic Objectives
* Keep to Poker Plan
Went out the window a bit this month due to WCOOP and Bankroll
* Focus on less variants of cash games
So far, so good.
* Break even on all cash games
Needs more studying
* Fiddle around less with MTT/STT variants, concentrate on NLHE and 8 Game
OK this month

Saturday, September 21, 2013

General: Day trip to Hinton Ampner (National Trust)

We’ve previously planned trips this year to the National Trust house Hinton Ampner, but for various reasons didn’t make it….. so was pleased me actually managed to get there today to take a look around !

I must admit the Tea Shop featured heavily in our visit Smile as we got there about lunch time, so had a nice sandwich and sausage roll there before strolling round the main house.

It’s not a huge house, but was a fair amount of interest inside, but were soon outside in the grounds taking a look around. The views from the south terrace were spectacular, despite the slightly grey, cloudy day.

The church in the grounds was also interesting looking and has lovely stained glass windows (looking best from the inside of course..)

After trekking round the remaining ground, we ended back at the tea shop for our mid afternoon snack Smile

On the way home, we stopped at Petersfield, mainly because we’d never been there before. Was OK for a small town, but nothing special there to take the interest really.

Despite the dull day, we had a nice trip out and came back feeling like we’d eaten well and had a nice walk about.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Poker: WCOOP 2013 summary

I have been working hard to try and satellite into some WCOOP events, but sadly my efforts to just qualify have not been realised

The plan for this year was to try for 10 events, which in itself was quite ambitious (perhaps too ambitious as it turned out)

Over the course of the last few weeks I have been furiously finding satellites I can play in and then trying to get through to the event itself. In most cases I tried at least twice, but one event I gave up on because of real world commitment, then the last event had to be abandoned as I’ve done my bankroll Sad smile

Here are my results for this years series:

Event	Attempts	Cost	Notes
05 NL Hold'em	2	$63.00
10 PL Omaha	2	$36.00
12 NL Hold'em [Heads-Up]	2	$18.60
16 PL Omaha	2	$12.40
33 8-Game	3	$82.40
34 NL Hold'em	2	$89.40
42 HORSE	1	$40.80	Date clash so can’t play event
49 Mixed NL Hold'em/PL Omaha	2	$32.80
55 NL Hold'em	0	$0	Abandoned due to lack of bankroll
66 NL Hold'em Main Event	12	$0	Used FPP’s only
TOTAL		$375.40

Compared to last years result, it’s certainly a bit disappointing, but having said that I have enjoyed the cut and trust of playing the satellites and got close a few times to getting through.

In hindsight, I could have probably saved some money by being a bit more selective/patient and picking some less expensive satellites. I paid out $61 in one case and $41 a couple of times, whereas there may have been better ones to go for.

Sadly I don't have the bankroll (now don’t have *any* bankroll !) to buy-in directly, so that is it for me this year. Will have to wait until SCOOP 2014 now Smile

Sunday, September 01, 2013

Poker: Financial results for August 2013

Monitor
Overall results for the month:-

Pokerstars : -$ 200.89
Black Belt Poker: -$ 159.71 (-£103.06)
Live play : -£ 40.00

Pokerstars results break down as follows:

Cash results ($-62.09 overall)
8 Game    ($1.00)              $ -44.95
Mobile NLO8 Zoom ($0.10)       $ -20.20
NLO8 Zoom ($0.10)              $ +3.06

Tournament Results ($-138.80 overall)
1x EPT sat MTT (FPP)       $    0.00
8x WCOOP sat MTT           $ -130.00
1x NLHE MTT                $   -4.40
1x PLO MTT                $   -4.40

8 Game wins/losses by game type for this month (1 session):
2-7        + 3.62
Limit HE   -15.33
Omaha HL   - 1.88
Razz       - 2.77
Stud       +15.69
Stud HL    -15.30
NL HE      -20.45
PLO        - 8.53

BBP results break down as follows:

Cash results (£-70.66 overall)
NLHE Speed ($0.20) 714 hands -£60.17
PLO ($0.20) 36 hands -£10.49

Tournament Results (-£32.40 overall)
14x MTT            -£ 7.19
4x   10 seat STT    -£ 15.55 Maui Jackpot
2x   10 seat STT    -£ 7.84
3x    6 seat STT    -£ 4.88
1x    2 seat STT    +£ 3.06

Reflect
I have done my study sessions as targeted, watching Nick's Tournament videos. I'm not sure I'm applying all the techniques as yet, so need more reviewing of the previous materials as well as going through the next module.

Pokerstars was about as expected, in that I played several WCOOP satalites, and although had some good runs, didn't win any seats yet. The cash side was a little disappointing but not outside acceptable limits

Black Belt cash was a little low on volume and also disappointing. I think focussing on tournaments may be messing up my cash game! The Tournaments were also a bit disappointing but with the low volume, difficult to make any firm judgements.... other than that I am still no good at Maui Jackpot tables and should probably give them up!!

September Targets
I am still going through Nick Wealthall's "Tournament Cash Machine" program (http://transformmypoker.com/) so September will also need to be about training for and playing in MTTs. I'm also still got some WCOOP satallites to play. My targets are therefore:

- Have at least 4 study sessions
- Play 400 hands of cash on NLHE $0.20 6-max (1 table Speed) with target of breaking even (BBP)
- Play 150 cash hands on PLO $0.20 6-max (1 table) with target of breaking even (BBP)
- Play 2 sessions of 8 Game cash with target of breaking even (Pokerstars)
- Play 10 MTT/STT with target of breaking even (BBP)
- Play some WCOOP sats

Strategic Objectives
* Keep to Poker Plan
Achieved all this month, except 8 Game cash sessions
* Focus on less variants of cash games
So far, so good.
* Break even on all cash games
Needs more studying
* Fiddle around less with MTT/STT variants, concentrate on NLHE and 8 Game
OK this month

Thursday, August 08, 2013

Poker: WCOOP 2013

Hoorah, Pokerstars have released the WCOOP 2013 schedule and started up some satellites….

As last year, I will be trying to satellite into certain events. Last year I planned to enter 6 events, but ended up only trying for 3 in the end... although in the end, last years results were pretty pleasing Smile

This year, I have picked out 10 events I would like to play in !! Realistically I have to satellite into them, so will probably only have a couple of goes for some of the least desirable events and a few more goes for the ones I really want to play

Date	Name	Buy-In	Guarantee
09 Sep	NL Hold'em [6-Max, Shootout]	$320	$250’000
11 Sep	PL Omaha [Knockout]	$215	$150’000
11 Sep	NL Hold'em [Heads-Up]	$215	$250’000
13 Sep	PL Omaha [6-Max]	$215	$250’000
18 Sep	8-Game	$320	$150’000
19 Sep	NL Hold'em [6-Max]	$320	$350’000
21 Sep	HORSE	$320	$100’000
24 Sep	Mixed NL Hold'em/PL Omaha	$320	$200’000
26 Sep	NL Hold'em	$320	$300’000
29 Sep	NL Hold'em Main Event [$1.25M Gtd to 1st]	$5200	$8’000’000

Just need to be sure I don't spend to much on the satellites, as can get a bit carried away sometimes !!

Thursday, August 01, 2013

Poker: Financial results for July 2013

Plan
My monthly targets for July were:
- Have at least 4 study sessions
- Play 800 hands of cash on NLHE $0.20 6-max (1 table Speed) with target of breaking even (BBP)
- Play 350 cash hands on PLO $0.20 6-max (1 table) with target of breaking even (BBP)
- Play 4 sessions of 8 Game cash with target of breaking even (Pokerstars)
- Play 16 MTT

Monitor
Overall results for the month:-

Pokerstars      : -$ 291.47
Black Belt Poker: +$   45.08 (+£29.65)
Live play       : -£ 170.00

Pokerstars results break down as follows:

Cash results ($-195.32 overall)
8 Game ($4.00) $ -100.00
Mobile NLO8 Zoom ($0.10) $ - 95.32

Tournament Results ($-96.15 overall)
3x EPT sat MTT (FPP)       $    0.00
2x EPT sat STT             $ - 85.15
1x MTT (Passport)          $ - 11.00

8 Game wins/losses by game type for this month (1 session):
2-7        - 62.00
Limit HE   - 35.06
Omaha HL   - 39.85
Razz       - 13.56
Stud       + 2.23
Stud HL    + 32.59
NL HE      + 13.03
PLO        + 2.62

BBP results break down as follows:

Cash results (£+34.48 overall)
NLHE Speed ($0.20) 915 hands +£62.29
PLO ($0.20) 390 hands -£27.81

Tournament Results (-£4.83 overall)
18x MTT            -£ 6.25
6x   10 seat STT    -£ 23.82 Maui Jackpot
7x    6 seat STT    +£ 32.08
2x    2 seat STT    -£ 6.84

Reflect
I have done my study sessions as targeted, watching Nick's Tournament videos. What can I say, it's Nick... so albeit rather long winded at times, he does get some good points across. Some stuff I know, but has made me think a bit more about how I'm playing already, and only halfway through ! Need to keep going through the remaining sections and make sure I absorb the lessons and apply them to my game.

Now to talk about my Live results ! I'd decided to go for the trickier Sovereign Poker Club in Farnborough for a change this month (http://www.sovereignsnooker.co.uk/) for the £40+£5 (with re-entry) I played OK, but my AA got out flopped by TT and lost a chunk, then an Ax hand got mullered by 84s on river and I decided to go for a second bullet. Luckily this one lasted a bit longer, but another bad hand saw me reduced to shove/fold and my 22 didn't stand a chance in the end against KQ and JJ when I finally pushed 10bb. I like going to Farnborough as the Cash tables are always lively and had decided to give it a go if I got the chance... As it turned out, there was only one table running and it was short handed, although this suited me to a degree as I've only got 40bb to play with. I held my own, but being the short stack had to pick my spots against the loose passive style most the other players were using. After drizzling down to about 15bb, managed to get all-in pre with 77 vs 65ss which I was happy with, until he flopped flush and turned the straight flush, so it was time to go home.....

On Pokerstars, didn't actually play all that much.... but I've been trying to qualify into EPT Barcelona again, so far to no avail. I did get tempted into playing a couple of sats which I had to buy into (rather than using FPP) which was perhaps a little optimistic. I was also still trying out the Mobile Zoom cash, but still not managing to adjust to that so have definitely abandoned that medium for playing Poker ! :) I also played one session of my normally reliable 8 Game cash, but this time managed to drop half a buy-in so was a bit disappointing overall. Having dropped my complete balance in Pokerstars, decided not to reload this month as I'm at a low ebb for my Bankroll Management.

Thank goodness for Black Belt Poker (BBP).... it's the only bright spot in the numbers !! I managed my targets and more or less broke even, so kind of OK results for this month at least. I am playing the $0.20 level now in Cash, due to dropping most of my bankroll, so am having to adjust slightly to the players at this level. My NLHE approach seems about right, but probably need to play less hands in my PLO and concentrate more on the players weaknesses. My MTT and STT results are OK, but never seem to do well with the 10 seat Maui for some reason. I always think it should suit my style as it gets short stacked quite quickly, but I always seem to bust out early on.... something I need to review and understand more about. The 6 seat STT tend to be Turbo's like the Maui, and mostly do OK in those.

August Targets
I am still going through Nick Wealthall's "Tournament Cash Machine" program (http://transformmypoker.com/) so August will also need to be about training for and playing in MTTs. My targets are therefore:

- Have at least 4 study sessions
- Play 800 hands of cash on NLHE $0.20 6-max (1 table Speed) with target of breaking even (BBP)
- Play 350 cash hands on PLO $0.20 6-max (1 table) with target of breaking even (BBP)
- Play 4 sessions of 8 Game cash with target of breaking even (Pokerstars)
- Play 16 MTT/STT with target of breaking even (BBP)
- Have one more try at EPT sat, using FPPs to buy-in
- Play some WCOOP sats (if available and depending on the final schedule for the Main Events)

Strategic Objectives
* Keep to Poker Plan
Achieved all this month, except 8 Game cash sessions
* Focus on less variants of cash games
Shouldn’t have played the Mobile Zoom, but otherwise OK….
* Break even on all cash games
Needs more studying on PLO for sure
* Fiddle around less with MTT/STT variants, concentrate on NLHE and 8 Game
OK this month

Monday, July 22, 2013

HOLIDAY: Bexhill–July 2013

Decided to go to Bexhill for our main summer holiday, in July so hopefully the weather will be kind to us !

Found lovely looking apartment online, right on the sea front so went for it….

Saturday 13^th July

Left home at 10.30am but stopped at Lynn’s mum to drop her birthday present off. Left around midday and had traffic on the M3/M25 then again M25/M26 junction. Stopped at 1.00pm just past Gatwick for lunch. Got to Bexhill after clear run around 2.45pm. Only trouble was trying to park as everywhere packed!

Got stuff into flat and unpacked and acclimatised. All settled in and ready to explore by 4.30pm. Went for walk along promenade, and around town. Decided to have chips for dinner. Had to wait ½ hour! But was worth the wait. Then went to ‘Coast’ for a drink and booked our carvery for tomorrow. Back to flat to have a rest!

Views from our flat, and view of the flat from the beach (It’s the top floor where the scaffolding is!)

Sunday 14^th July

Seagulls – 3.00am – uggh. Breakfast 9.00am so earlier than normal. Bright but a bit cloudy outside but forecast good so put sun lotion on and plan for day on the beach. Got couple of hours in the sun then went to ‘Coast’ bar and grill for our carvery Sunday lunch.

Came out feeling full, so had walk along promenade before laying on beach. Was getting a bit windy so went back to car to get windbreaker. Managed to sit for another couple of hours watching the yachts racing before getting hot and fidgety, so went for a walk to get our ice cream. Back to flat for light tea before heading out for a walk and beer. Still got back in time to watch Top Gear and have another beer.

Monday 15^th July

Woke just before 9.00am so lovely sleep  On beach by 10.15am and it’s hot already. Sat near the refreshment kiosk, so not much bother to get a nice cup of tea after we’ve set up ‘base camp’. By Midday Lynn is overheating, so back to flat for lunch.

Refreshments are never far away

After lunch had nice walk and went up on top of pavilion before heading back to the beach for the afternoon session. Had couple of swims, ice cream and cup of tea, so busy afternoon.

Back to flat for shower and change to prepare for our evening expedition for food. Aimed for particular pub, but was too far, so diverted to nearer pub where we had a decent enough meal. Walked back and was looking forward to our cup of tea on our return after the distance we’d travelled.

Our second choice of dinner venue worked out OK in the end

Tuesday 16^th July

Curses to you seagulls at 3.00am again and the workmen with a noisy hammer at 8.00am, don’t you know I’m trying to sleep  Breakfast at 9.00am and it’s the cloudy morning that was forecast. We are planning a day around town today, which is a relief from the blazing sun for a day at least.

Although we had known about the scaffolding on the outside of the flat, it was nice to see it had been removed by the time we’d got out of bed…

Started by walking to the Retail Park. Fairly standard shops there, but after hour walk was nice to go into Tesco café for our elevenses. Also looked in Next and Poundland but, didn’t buy anything. Walked back a short cut route via the promenade, which was a bit more scenic and had lunch in the flat.

Went out for walk around town. Found nice place for tea and cake, went round park, then sit on seafront to recover before back to flat for change and decide on dinner.

This was our one and only dull day

Went to Bistro45 which was Mussels speciality restaurant but we didn’t have them…  Was nice meal anyway.

Wednesday 17^th July

Day starts with familiar pattern, wake up early, listen to seagulls for a while, back to sleep until 9.00am and have breakfast in bed. Could get used to this 

On beach in the sunshine at 10.00am. Lovely morning lazing on beach, then back to flat for lunch and cool down. After lunch back onto beach. By the time we paddled, had ice cream, tea and swim, it was time already to go back to flat to shower and get ready for dinner.

Base camp!

Had a nice Italian meal, had a walk back to watch Apprentice Final!! Very burnt shoulders, chest and tummy despite applying liberally sun lotion. Checked and 3 year shelf life… ours is about 6 years old!

Thursday 18^th July

After buying more sun lotion (!!), went to Pavillion for elevenses. Getting bit later for museum tour this morning, so just had walk along promenade in baking heat… bit windy but is refreshing.

Back to flat for lunch, planning to go to museum this afternoon, as ran out of time this morning. Managed to get to museum and was quite interesting. After a walk had to stop for Ice Cream. Had another walk and had to have a cup of tea and rest. After another walk in the heat went into pub for cold drink (only soda water and lime) then had short walk to beach for a nice rest in the windy sunshine. The day had flown by and already time to go back to flat!!

Friday 19^th July

Lynn woke early today (8.15am!!) Beach at 9.45am… slightly truncated morning session as Lynn overheating. Back to flat at midday for lunch. Bit windy, but gloriously sunny

Another day, another base camp to setup on the beach..

After lunch, back to beach for some laziness Had Ice Cream and a cup of tea and cake (as it’s our last day). Back to flat a little earlier as we’re both hot and sunned out after a tough week on the beach!!

Got ready, then out for short walk to find our dinner. Had nice meal in pub ‘New Town’ which was pretty decent for the price, then had stroll along promenade for last time this holiday 

Summary

The flat was in the perfect location and had everything we needed (including TV in every room and Internet connection)

Bexhill itself could have done with a few more restaurants that were open in the evenings (there were millions open during the day) but in the end we didn’t really need anything more.

As the weather was so hot and sunny, we just wanted to relax and enjoy it. Lazing on the beach and then finding something to eat in the evenings was all we did, but all we wanted to do !

All in all a fantastic relaxing holiday

Monday, July 01, 2013

Poker: Financial results for June 2013

Plan
My monthly targets for June were:
- Play 800 hands of cash on NLHE $0.50 6-max (2 table Speed) with target of breaking even
- Play 6400 cash hands on PLO $0.50 6-max (2 table Zoom) with target of breaking even
- Play 20 NLHE STT hoping for +10% ROI

Monitor
Overall results for the month:-

Pokerstars : -$ 239.93
Black Belt Poker: -$ 642.84 (-£421.88)
Live play : -£ 40.00

Pokerstars results break down as follows:

Cash results ($-192.36 overall)
8 Game    ($2.00)              $ + 89.17
8 Game    ($4.00)              $ + 32.48
PLO Zoom ($0.50) 2077 hands $ -251.05
PLO Zoom ($0.25)   610 hands $ + 6.16
NLHE Zoom ($0.10) 108 hands $ - 13.45
NLHE Zoom ($0.25)    3 hands $ - 0.02
Mobile NLHE Zoom ($0.10)       $ - 49.78
Mobile NLO8 Zoom ($0.10)       $ - 5.87

Tournament Results ($-47.57 overall)
2x 8 Game STT              $ + 5.45
4x EPT sat MTT (FPP)       $    0.00
1x EPT sat STT             $ - 42.91
3x MTT (Passport)          $ - 33.00
1x 8 Game MTT             $ + 34.40
1x PLO8 MTT               $ - 2.20
3x NLHE MTT               $ - 9.31

8 Game wins/losses by game type for this month (2 of 3 sessions):
2-7        + 26.96
Limit HE   + 1.51
Omaha HL   + 16.93
Razz       + 14.61
Stud       - 0.75
Stud HL    + 80.19
NL HE      - 52.73
PLO        + 4.85

BBP results break down as follows:

Cash results (£-204.65 overall)
NLHE Speed ($0.50) 305 hands -£152.96
NLHE Speed ($0.20) 466 hands +£ 1.34
PLO ($0.20) 105 hands -£53.03

Tournament Results (-£217.23 overall)
9x   MTT            +£ 24.83
5x   10 seat STT    -£ 19.49 Maui Jackpot
8x    6 seat STT    -£ 99.31 Rio Jackpot
4x   10 seat STT    -£ 35.77
14x   6 seat STT    -£ 87.49

Reflect
June has been a funny old month..... I dropped a lot of buy-ins on both PLO and NLHE cash games at $0.50 so with my bankroll in tatters, had to drop down to $0.20 halfway through the month. In the main, my game in NLHE and PLO is not too bad. I still make a couple of mistakes each session, which I still need to work on... but overall isn't all that bad. Problem is even though I'm happy overall, my bankroll couldn't stand the losses. It's not a big deal for me to play at $0.20 so will stick to that level until I can sort out my game and my bankroll has recovered. With a new smart phone, I also decided to install and "test" the Android client. It works very well actually, but without any HUD and the distractions when playing on the mobile have proved so far that I should use it for emergency Poker fix only, and definatly only at very low stakes !

The only bright point on my cash results this month is my continued good fortune with 8 Game. It's a game I really enjoy playing (more than NLHE and PLO) and find a lot of players at all levels that don't seem to understand at least some parts of the games. Interestingly enough, my results in the 8 games show losses in PLO and NLHE for the year to date.... so shows I must do more to fix my leaks in these areas.

The tournaments in Pokerstars were mainly messing around, but had a few serious goes at getting into an EPT, via the satelites (EPT Barcellona and also the EPT Passport) I did get through into a 220 Euro 2nd stage once, and had a decent run, but so far no joy.

The tournament results in Black Belt this month have been attrocious. I don't really understand why, but in 31 STT only cashed in 2 !

July Targets
I have decided to invest in Nick Wealthall's "Tournament Cash Machine" program (http://transformmypoker.com/) so July will more about training for and playing in MTTs. I also want to re-focus my cash games on BBP if possible, and try to study more rather than just play, so my adjusted targets are therefore:

Strategic Objectives
* Keep to Poker Plan
Fiddled around due to bankroll issues
* Focus on less variants of cash games
So far, so good.
* Break even on all cash games
Needs more studying
* Fiddle around less with MTT/STT variants, concentrate on NLHE and 8 Game
OK this month

Mike's Blog

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Poker: Financial results for December 2013

Wednesday, December 04, 2013

Poker: Financial results for November 2013

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Poker: Financial results for October 2013

Friday, September 27, 2013

Poker: Financial results for September 2013

Saturday, September 21, 2013

General: Day trip to Hinton Ampner (National Trust)

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Poker: WCOOP 2013 summary

Sunday, September 01, 2013

Poker: Financial results for August 2013

Thursday, August 08, 2013

Poker: WCOOP 2013

Thursday, August 01, 2013

Poker: Financial results for July 2013

Monday, July 22, 2013

HOLIDAY: Bexhill–July 2013

Monday, July 01, 2013

Poker: Financial results for June 2013

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