Mike's Blog

Poker–Home Tourney January 2012

2012-01-13T12:16:00.000Z

A new year and a new Poker League, so a fresh start for everyone. 11 players shared the excitement of the start of our 2012 league, and there were suitable novice moments to give the air of no-one knowing what they were doing

On my table, Jock when dealing seemed eager to get the hands over as quick as possible, trying to deal out the board before anyone had done anything and was betting out of turn. People kept asking how many chips they needed before being able to buy in and all sorts. Must’ve been the Xmas booze addling everyone’s brain cells

My evening started well enough, with solid play seeing me build up my stack. After a little while, Jock on my left raised UTG and Alex called. Looking down from the BB at my A-A I gleefully raise it up and only Jock calls. The flop comes down something like Q-T-6 diamonds. Six handed, I’m more worried about a flush draw than a made flush in this spot, so decide to shove for just over the pot, but Jock insta-calls with A-K diamonds !! The K turn gives some outs for me, but it wasn’t to be and I’ve given away all my hard earned chips… good job it’s a rebuy tournament.

In the seconds level, there seems to be a lot of limped pots so start getting involved a bit more and manage to get through some dodgy hands, which hit part of the flop and start accumulating some chips. I min raise a K-3 but play it badly on K-x-x flop against Alex, ending up loosing to K-8 by playing passively. When ribbed about the min-raise said something like “well I could have had Aces” and spookily, next hand I got A-A… so min-raised again ! This time the flop was low and my cBet on the flop took down a small pot, but had to show my hand for the comedy value.

At the break I had around 5k with Alex and Darren both on around 9-10k as table chips leaders. Soon after the break Bill gets knocked out on the other table, so I am moved to balance the tables. Derek has around 20K and must be chip leader, Jon and Andy both have around 10k, Lee has 3.5K and I’m still on around 5k.

With the blinds at 400/200 it is starting to get towards shove or fold for me, and Andy is limping most pots so is very tempting to get involved. Couple of hands in, Andy limps so I also limp my 6-4s. Lee on the SB and Derek are in as well. The flop comes something like As-8s-2d and Lee shoves about 2500 into the 1600 pot. Although it’s half my stack, I am seriously thinking of calling, to give me a decent stack to push for a good result, but I guess Lee has at least one pair. In the end, decide even hitting my flush won’t necessarily win it for me, so make what was probably the right choice and fold…

A few hands later see A-x and with Andy limping into the pot, raise it up and take the pot. This is more like what I was hoping to do, but sadly don’t get much oppertunity to exploit Andy’s limping.

Andy’s on BB and I look down at J-J I want Andy to call, so raise it to 1000 My plan goes awry when Derek min-raises and it folds round to me. I’ve only got around 3.5k behind so it’s shove or fold.. and despite my misgivings about Jacks, shove. I’m happy to see Derek with A-Kd but seems I can’t win against it for the second time tonight, as an A comes on the flop and it’s over for me in 9th place… so not even a point on the scoreboard for me

With the final table up and running and the admin done, see that Simon has got knocked out in 8th, so we go and join Bill and Steve W playing Pool for a while. Jon soon joins us, then Jock not long after so go back to find the table down to four players.

Derek has just doubled up Darren, giving Darren chip lead with around 40k, Derek is still on around 25k, Alex has 18k and Lee 12k Blinds are 4k/2k

Alex gains some chips and Derek looses some, as a key hand soon arose where Derek shoves UTG with T-9 and gets called by Alex with K-Q. The board runs out something like 6-5-4-4-T leaving Alex with under one BB and is subsequently knocked out by Darren when the BB comes round.

On the last hand of normal time, Derek shoves, Darren dwells up and calls, and Lee is very short but is also all-in. Darren has A-Qc against Derek with A-4o and Lee had something like T-8 The board runs out and no-one hits anything, so A-Q has won… Darren then notices he hit flush on the river, but didn’t need it and has taken out both the other players so has not only a well earned victory, but takes Derek’s bounty as well!

Very enjoyable evening, just hope I can improve my result next time… see you then…

Poker: 2011 - end of year results

2011-12-30T16:55:00.000Z

It’s funny when you read back your own end of year musings for last year and actually remember what you had set out to achieve for the current year…. maybe this time I’ll print it out so I don’t forget

I have been trying to treat my Poker like a business this year, so have been doing monthly summaries so lets take a look at my overall financial results for 2011…..

Overall results for the year 2011 are:

Pokerstars : -$634.98 (-£411.86)
Black Belt Poker : -$1499.14 (-£972.37)
Live Play : +£2974.67

Total £1590.44 profit for the year :)

The live games were obviously great for me this year. I played 15 tournaments and 3 live cash game session. The tournaments included UKIPT Brighton where I cashed, but also cashed in 4 other events and made profit in all 3 cash sessions. Biggest single cash was winning a £50 rebuy at my local casino.

PokerStars results

Until the last couple of months, Pokerstars was really just being used for "fun" small stakes, mostly 8 game STT. In September I started experimenting with 8 Game cash, but then started taking it seriously from November.

Cash results (-$56.00 overall)

8 Game +$153.30
NL HE -$206.30
Razz -$ 3.00

Tournament Results (-$578.98 loss overall)

5x MTT -$9.80
8x SCOOP events or Satellites -$59.89
58x 8 Game STT +$12.84
18x NL HE STT -$52.67

UKIPT Brighton Satellites -£106.50 loss (-$164.20)
EPT London Satellites -£198.00 loss (-$305.26)

The cash results are pretty pleasing, especially as I'm still a beginner at the 8 Game cash tables... Ignoring the Satellites, my tournament results are pretty OK as well. I managed to cash in one of my SCOOP attempts as well (http://sceaga.blogspot.com/2011/05/poker-scoop-29-8-game-low-stakes-report.html)

Black Belt Poker results

Black Belt Poker has been my main focus this year.

Cash Results (-£1233.75 loss overall)

NLHE ($0.50) 11187 hands (143 hours)      -£331.11
PL HE ($0.50) 283 hands (3 hours)         -£ 37.62
NLHE ($1.00) 867 hands (14 hours)         -£223.48
PL Omaha ($0.20) 5685 hands (95 hours)    -£212.42
PL Omaha ($0.50) 2996 hands (46 hours)    -£ 43.61
PL Omaha HL ($0.20) 1510 hands (25 hours) -£116.34
PL Omaha HL ($0.50) 710 hands (11 hours) -£110.94
PL Omaha HL ($1.00) 304 hands (5 hours)   -£158.23

Compared to last year there is an improvement, albeit with a lot less hours of play and different emphasis this year. In the NLHE 50, I've gone from -£2.75 loss per hour last year to -£2.30 loss per hour this year :)

The cash results are not really a surprise, but do feel my NLHE 50 and PLO 50 are heading in the right direction now. PLO8 definitely needs more work but can accept the losses for longer term enjoyment of the game.

For the last three months, my cash results are:
NLHE 50 +£0.074 per hand
PLO 50 -£0.006 per hand
PLO8 50 -£0.163 per hand

Tournament Results (+£261.36 profit overall)

95x MTT +£277.12
84x 2 seat STT -£88.73
98x 6 seat STT +£60.79
89x 10 seat STT +£51.28
3 x other STT -£39.10

My tournament results are overall pleasing, but slightly surprising as I thought my 2 seat game was about break even. Checking in more detail, I found I had won 43 and lost 42 with the monetary difference being due to the different stakes I've played (i.e. I was losing more games at higher stakes and winning more at lower level) Obviously need to review my 2 seat STT strategies and try to improve my results there.

Its interesting that compared to last year, there is a huge difference in profit for 6 seater STT (was +£314 last year) but 10 seat STT and MTT are comparable to last year.

Here is my Sharkscope chart for BBP STT only.

For the last three months, my tournament ROI results are:
MTT : 45%
2 Seat STT : 72%
6 seat STT : 138%
10 seat STT: 72%

Achieving my goals for this year

My “business” objectives for 2011 were to:
* Keep to my Poker Plan
The plan did change, but have more or less achieved what I set out to do

* Continue with my tournament play as is
More or less did this, although my volume was a little lower than hoped for.

* Play max of two cash tables for NL HE $0.50/0.25 and aim for break even month on month
I am playing 2 tables of NLHE 50 but not yet breaking even month on month. Having said that, the last few months have been OK so hope this is achievable

* Use learning tools and other resources to learn and improve my Omaha and O8 cash games, aiming to break even by end of 2011 at $0.20/0.10 level (also max of two tables)
I am playing 2 tables PLO 50 and one table PLO8 50 as well now. PLO is looking good the last few months, but PLO8 is not there yet.

* Avoid entering any BBP grading process !
It was tempting but managed to avoid the mini-grading this year :)

* Win a BBP league :-)
Came close once, but not done it yet

2012 objectives

Looking forward to Poker in 2012, what do I want to achieve ?
* Keep to my revised Poker Plan
* Play BBP London Live and UKIPT Brighton tournaments
* Aim for break even month on month on all cash tables
* Use learning tools and resources to learn and improve my NLHE, Omaha and PLO8 cash and tournament play
* Avoid entering any BBP grading process !
* Win a BBP league :-)

So that’s it for another Poker year, but I’m keen to get started on the next one. Happy New Year to everyone and hope you have a good 2012.

Poker: Financial Results for December 2011

2011-12-30T16:46:00.000Z

November saw an upturn in results for me which was pleasing, but wanted to continue the good work this month.

Plan

My monthly targets are:
- Play 700 hands of cash on NLHE $0.50 Full Ring, 700 cash hands on PLO $0.50 6-max and 350 hands PLO8 $0.50 6-max, all with profit target of 2 BB per hour.
- Play 20 STT hoping for 10% ROI (around $20 per month)

Monitor

Overall results for the month are:

Pokerstars : -$121.80 (£79.00)
Black Belt Poker : +$31.22 (£20.64)
Live Play : +£570.00

PokerStars I had 4x 8 game cash sessions, winning in two of them, but still posted a loss of -$29.20 I also played 4x 8 Game STT, cashing two of them so ended with profit of +$7.40 The big loss came from a NL HE cash session where I dropped $100. This was a special one-off where I played super aggresively and although I learned a lot, it didn't work out financially for me :)

For Black Belt Poker, the results were:

Cash Results (-£5.33 loss overall)

NLHE ($0.50) 412 hands +£54.12
PL Omaha ($0.50) 199 hands -£51.46
PL Omaha HL ($0.50) 204 hands -£7.99

Tournament Results (+£25.97 profit overall)

4x MTT -£14.09
4x 6 seat STT -£9.38
2x 10 seat STT +£49.44

Reflect

I didn't get that many sessions in December, so the volume is pretty low making it difficult to come to much of a conclusion.

Overall (setting the $100 one off to one side) my Pokerstars and BBP worked out break-even, which is a bit disappointing overall but for a small sample isn't actually a bad result. My live cash was fantastic and obviously very welcome. I am putting most of the winnings to my UKIPT Brighton fund, so will be playing that in 2012 for sure :)

Adjust

December was an OK month, with only small pluses and minuses (apart from my big win) so nothing new to aim for next month. Need to keep up my concentration on NLHE cash, get more consistancy to my PLO cash and simply just improve my PLO8 Cash game.

I need to take stock on my overall 2011 performance and decide where to aim for 2012, so will do a seperate write up about my 2012 direction.

References

Poker: Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure–the conclusion

2011-12-18T18:55:00.001Z

The final 4 rounds of the PCA are running one after the other tonight, so whatever happens will know the outcome of my attempt to qualify for free soon

As with the previous rounds, this is a turbo format – with 5 minute rounds and 1000 chips – so will definitely be getting lucky or knocked out pretty quickly….

Of course each round sends through less and less of a percentage of the players, making it trickier and trickier to get anywhere.

Round 5 is sending through 1 in 3 players to the next round. 736 players started out, so just need to survive to finish in the top 245….

Had a couple of decent hands early on but flops weren’t good enough to continue. Ended up in level 3 finding A-Th in late position and a serial limper calling before me, so shoved and he called with Q-7d The two diamonds on the flop gave me a sense of foreboding, but the black A on the turn gave me hope, only to see my optimism smashed by the 7d river and I’m out in 668th place

Oh well, better than getting through to round 8 and getting knocked out

If was worth a pop as it was a freeroll and was surprised to get as far as I did in many ways, so although I’m not going to the Caribbean to play Poker, had some fun.

General: Fitness Review 2011

2011-12-18T16:56:00.001Z

As with last year’s review, decided to take a look at how I’ve done for the year before the Xmas excesses

I have managed to get back to more regular exercising than last year, but still was a little sporadic and haven’t quite got back to normal. On the other hand, I have managed to slightly increase some of exercises, so am doing a little bit more work when I get into the gym.

Monday (Running)

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

My heart rate peak at 172 bpm and average 146

Tuesday (Rowing and Weights)

My rowing target is 20 minutes at 30 strokes per minute plus 2 minutes cool down

Heart rate peak at 159 bpm and average 147

I still find rowing the toughest discipline and will probably leave it at 20 mins going forward.

Then do one cycle of weights (about 7 mins)

20 x 2 reps of Chest Fly (1 weight)
20 x 2 Chest Press (2)
20 x 2 Lat Pull Down (4)

Heart rate peak at 140 bpm and average 116

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 167 bpm and average 139

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 142

Then do one cycle of weights (same as Tuesday)

Heart rate peak at 134 bpm and average 117

Friday (Running)

Same as Monday. My heart rate peak at 176 bpm and average 152

My current body weight is 75kg (11 stone 8 pounds) so still very consistent

I’m still maintaining my no cakes, chocolate or biscuits from Monday-Thursday, but am still working on reducing my intake Fri-Sun. 2012 may be the year I finally break my biscuit habit but not sure I’ll ever wean of cakes and chocolate

Overall I have been feeling less fit than normal this year, but the results seem to be indicating better than last year and comparable to previous years, so looks like I’m doing OK after all.

Looking forward to 2012, I think I’m likely to keep the same regime as this year, as I am feeling like I am doing all I can in the time available now. I will need to be more disciplined and make sure I do my exercises every day (most days anyway ) as that has been a weakness this year.

Poker–Home Tourney December 2011

2011-12-09T12:14:00.000Z

Earlier in the day it seemed the last game of the season would be 10 players, but in the end 14 turned up and was a riotous occasion, definite “end of term” feel to the game

It was tight in the top 3 spots, but realistically it was Alexs’ to lose. The fickle hand of fate put the top three players on the same table as well (myself, Alex and Derek) so we could all keep a close eye on each other.

The game started quietly enough for me, I didn’t play many hands as wasn’t getting any cards ! Janice seemed to be getting the cards early on, but then Sean gave Derek a load of chips who was then joint table chip lead with Janice.

After the break Sean soon got very short, so when he raised on my SB it was worth taking a gamble with A-2h but with Alex on my left had to raise it up. Luckily Alex folded, but unlucky for me Sean showed A-8. The gods were smiling on me though, as my 2 came on the flop and I took Sean out, putting me back to just over starting stack.

With the blinds increasing, and a couple of big stacks on our table, it seemed our table was doing all the work…

I get T-T and raise it up. Alex 3 bets, then Jock in the BB 4 bets all-in. I dwell up but decide they both will have a legit hand and could easily be facing an over pair so decide to fold. Alex duly calls and shows A-K against Jocks' A-Q The board runs out all low cards, which was a bit annoying for me, but still think I made the right decision… but its worse news for Jock who is out.

Daniel got moved to our table, won the first pot uncontested but then Derek busted him out in a couple of hands soon after !

Seems ages since my last playable hand, but at last I find a good hand with K-Qd, and raise it up but get called by Bill and Derek. The Kxx flop (2 spades) looks a bit iffy for me against two players but Derek checks and I decide to shove my remaining 5k into the 3k pot. Bill thinks for a while but decides to fold, Derek insta folds and I take the pot. Bill rabbit hunts and would’ve hit his flush on the river, so glad I didn’t slow play that one!

A little later Alex is somehow pretty short and shoves, but gets called by both Janice and Derek. Derek manages to take both them out, so Alex gets no points! This is great news for both Derek and me, but more so for Derek who is chip leader now.

I need to get busy but am just not getting the cards nor the opportunity. An opportunity does present itself a couple of hands later, when Bill sees a flop with me. I hit my A-x on A-Q-x flop and Bill decides to call with 5-5 (he knew I had A or Q but felt lucky) Lucky for me Bill’s luck seems to have deserted him and the board runs out safe for me so I take out Bill and we're down to the final table !

The blinds are just going up, but I’m just over average stack but probably 2nd in chips, Derek is quite substantial chip lead, but not big enough to relax just yet. Martin is the short stack, with everyone else had a reasonable amount of chips.

With a cash game up and running, Martin decides to commit with A-6 against Derek’s K-J but Derek hits the flop and Martin is free to join the cash game

I haven’t had any cards again for a long time, so decide to raise my 3-2h (well they are suited ) Andy calls in the SB and we see a flop of K-Q-x (2 hearts) Andy min bets so I min raise and Andy shoves all-in ! I decide the best I can hope for is that my flush draw is good, but even that isn’t sure, so have to fold. This distraction cost about 1/3 my stack although still have a playable stack, but is only 8 blinds. Everyone is shallow (except Derek) at this stage.

Steve W is now the short stack and gets it in with J-J but Andy hits the flop and Steve is also gone to the cash table

The blinds are now up to 2k and I’m looking for a good spot to shove my 7k stack Decide Karen’s big blind is the best spot, so shove Q-4 from middle position. Sadly Andy wakes up with K-K on the button, Derek shows a Q and Andy hit’s another K on the flop… leaving me drawing dead already so I’m out in 6th! It also means I drop to 3rd in the League as Derek will overtake me even with 5th place finish.

From a league perspective, Derek still has to finish first this game, else Alex will take the title. He still has a big chip lead though, so every chance.

Andy is next to fall by Lee, who now has a decent chip stack. He keeps his work rate up though and manages to get in as slight favourite against Karen a couple of times and against Jon once, in quick succession, but got outdrawn each time and so the other three all have similar stacks as we get to the last three hands of the game.

Derek takes a shot against Jon’s short stack, but Jon doubles up. The next hand sees Derek take a small pot, so can afford to fold the last hand to guarantee first place in the game and take the league title. Karen ended up the bubble girl, giving Lee 2nd place, leaving Jon (who would’ve won the last hand had he played it!) in 3rd

Congratulations to Derek for a well fought game under immense pressure. He went for the win and played a blinder to take it down.

The whole season this year has been fantastic and have been some real ding dong battles and interesting games

Well done to everyone, have a lovely Christmas and New Year, then come back refreshed for even more Poker fun and frolics next year

Poker: Financial results for November 2011

2011-12-04T14:31:00.001Z

Last month wasn’t all that great financially, and was hoping for steady progress this month.

Plan

Monitor

Overall results for the month are:

Pokerstars : +$50.99 (£32.46)
Black Belt Poker : +$273.22 (£173.95)
Live Play : -£40.00

PokerStars I had 4x 8 game cash sessions, winning in three of them for profit of $52.85. I also played 6x 8 Game STT, but only cashed two of them so ended with loss of -$1.86

For Black Belt Poker, the results were:

Cash Results (+£160.50 profit overall)

NLHE ($0.50) 619 hands +£104.27
PL Omaha ($0.50) 617 hands +£57.77
PL Omaha HL ($0.50) 236 hands –£1.54

Tournament Results (+£13.45 profit overall)

8x MTT -£37.85
10x 2 seat STT -£10.24
9x 6 seat STT +£137.64
7x 10 seat STT –£76.10

Reflect

My Pokerstars results are pretty solid, so am still content with how I’m going there. It was a shame to post my first 8 game cash session loss in three months but can’t complain overall Having said that, I did have one hand in NLHE cash where there was a +$160 in my favour, having got my stack in bad, but have had my fair share of bad beats in the past!

For BBP, the cash results are fantastic but more importantly I have really felt I have been playing my ‘A’ game for these sessions. I can’t get complacent as I still need to improve and get more consistent, but overall am happy.

The MTT are a little disappointing but are always going to be a bit swingy. The 2 and 6 seat STT are pretty OK but for some reason my 10 seat STT are not all that good. From my notes, I haven't felt like I was playing my best game with these either, so need to re-focus and concentrate this area in particular for next month. I’m not going to beat myself up too much though, as I’m still not getting in much volume to get representative picture.

Adjust

December will be a little interrupted with various events and activities going on, but hope to get a good number of sessions in before Xmas at least. I need to continue my discipline and improvement in my cash games, but also try to make sure I don’t drop the ball on my tournaments either.

References

Poker: Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure–continues

2011-11-20T19:06:00.001Z

After last weeks round 3, today was Round 4 of the Caribbean Adventure

This time there are 383 entries and 142 go through to the next round on December 18th

We start with 1000 chips, but with blind levels of 5 minutes you don’t have time to hang around.

My strategy is basically to play tight the first couple of rounds, then level 3 (with BB of 50 already) looking to shove/fold from there onwards.

In the early rounds, played a couple of hands and won a few chips but nothing dramatic. After than I was soon in trouble with no cards and I’m soon down to waiting for a hand as I’ve no fold equity at all.

In the end, I’m hanging on with about 170 left in. I’m all-in on BB but luckily get my one and only good hand KK The SB calls but hit K on flop to give me enough chips for another circuit. With 10 left to be knocked out, my AKs was tempting to shove but hoped to fold my way to the next round.

Luckily for me, it worked out for me and couple of hands later, I’ve got my seat secured

Phew, that was tough… but still only halfway through. Round 5 is the same structure but only 1 in 3 go through so will be getting tougher each round.

Poker: Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure

2011-11-13T18:05:00.001Z

On a whim, last week decided to have a go at the Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure http://www.pokerstars.co.uk/live-poker/pca/

One of the deciding factors was that it only cost 80 FPP to enter round 1. (Basically, free as far as I’m concerned) and also the rounds are all NLHE freezeouts, so none of this stupid lottery play you get with rebuys.

I breezed through round 1 and go my entry to Round 2 the same evening. This gave entry to Round 3 for the top 50% and was reasonably deep stacked, so was able to get through quite easy.

Today (Sunday 13th) played Round 3 There were 1060 entries, giving 353 tickets to Round 4. With 1000 starting blinds, aggressive blind increases and blinds going up every 5 mins, it was clear I couldn’t sit back and play tight. The avg stack count when the bubble breaks is 3000, so needed to double up a couple of times. Luckily the table was playing tight, so took a couple of risks and accumulated chips, then got it in bad but hit my card to give me a good chance. Tightened up and took smaller risks to get myself over the 3000 chips mark… got AA and took the the blinds/antes and luckily this was enough to get me through the bubble!

So I’ve made round 4, which is next week… again it is a NLHE Turbo with 40% of the field getting tickets to round 5… after which I just need to get lucky in Round 6,7 and 8 to win my way to the Caribbean….

Who says I’m not optimistic

Poker: Home Tourney–November 2011

2011-11-04T12:09:00.000Z

Poker is such a fickle mistress

Twelve players eagerly took their seats, with Alex, Derek and myself having the most interest in doing well this month, to give us the best chance to take down the league title and bizarrely, we all ended up on the same table !

My game started quietly, with no decent hands and lots of aggression. My patience paid off and managed to get a Check/raise all-in called by two players with KK, with Derek and Alex both having trash hands, but the flop was kind and my Kings held up, so off to a flyer.

Both Derek and Alex were both very active, getting it all-in as much as possible it seemed… Andy and Jock were joining in at times as well, so needed to pick my spots. Another spot seemed to come when I picked up A-T and with Alex and Derek all-in again with non-prime hands I was ahead, until the flop at least…. with Alex taking the pot and leaving me with <2000 chips.

I got a bit busier, but my blind shove defending big blind from Derek shove and Jon all-in as well, was perhaps hoping to much. My K-4 was dominated by Jon’s K-Ts which hit flush and I joined Derek in a double buy-in.

Soon after I got lucky when with Derek all-in and Jon calling, decided to shove my A-J on K-4-2 flop. Sadly for me Jon did have the K, but my A turned his hand to dust and I got a huge stack.

Derek was stoking the pot (ending up with 26 buy-in’s which must be a record!) so at the break it was no surprise he was doing the triple buy-in with Alex having chip lead at around 18k chips and the rest of us all with around 10k chips.

On the restart, despite a valiant fight, Derek was first man down, however it was not long after that when Jon got it all-in with his A-T, I had re-shoved my A-K but Alex woke up with A-A He had a sweat with a T on the flop and Q turned, but my miracle card didn’t come and Alex has around 30k in chips and knocks two of us out! I’m out in 9th, so no points for me this month

We also have our final table, as Sean had also been knocked out from the other table. Daniel also has a huge stack, probably around 30k as well, but Karen, Janice and Lee are very short, with no-one else having much more than 10k

It wasn’t long before Alex got busy again, this time taking out Jock. Soon after, with the blinds at 1000/500, both the girls were forced all-in against Daniel, with him taking them both out… (Ooer missus ) leaving only 5 players

Double knock-outs seems to be in fashion, as Alex takes out both Andy and Steve W just before the end of level 7 and we’re down to 3 already.

Alex and Daniel both have around 45-46k, with Lee under 10k. On an innocuous looking K-8-4 flop, it is no surprise to see Lee all-in, but when Alex re-shoves all-in, I was a little surprised to see Daniel insta-shove as well ! Lee has K-8 and took pot 1, but Daniel missed hit flush draw, so was out in third…. giving Alex a huge chip lead over Lee for the battle for victory

The blinds went up to 4000/2000 but Lee doubles up and wins another big pot, so soon are about even in chips. The battle is tense but neither player is prepared to give up and are both giving it some welly ! Someone was always going to be disappointed, so after a bit more toing and froing, all the chips fly in the middle… and Alex emerges from the dust with most of the chips and only three hands left to play. Lee doesn’t really have the chips to do Alex any damage, but they play on… but Alex’s straight finishes off a valiant attempt by Lee to take the game.

It was a very hard fought and fascinating head-up battle, but Alex’s tenacity paid off, giving him a well earned victory. Unlucky to Lee, who also played very well to get back into the game. I’m exhausted just watching

We have one more game for this season, and although Alex is on pole position, he still has work to do… there is some small adjustments due to myself and Alex being effected by the “best 8 results” rule, but in rough terms:

Derek can take the league title if he comes first or second, Alex doesn’t score any points and I don’t finish 4th or better (think I worked that one out right…..)
I can take the title (for the fourth year in a row ) if I score 7 points more than Alex and finish no more than 1 place behind Derek (this is gonna get complicated )
The simplest consideration is for Alex, who simply needs to finish 3rd or better to guarantee the title, or just finish ahead of Derek and me

In any case, next months game will be exciting (it’s a £10 special as well of course, as well as being the first “Xmas” event of the season) but don't forget it will be December 8th (2nd Thursday of the month) this time round…..

Looking forward to it already, hope to see you there

Poker: Financial results for October 2011

2011-11-01T17:10:00.000Z

September was a bit of a wake up call for me, and although variance doubtless plays some role, I really needed to do something to get out of my losing mind set.

October was my fresh start with an updated plan and new optimistic outlook on my Poker life, so how did it turn out ?

Plan

Monitor

Overall results for the month are:

Pokerstars : +$58.40 (£36.42)
Black Belt Poker : –$473.96 (£295.56)
Live Play : +£297.80

Pokerstars was quite interesting, as apart from my normal 6x 8 Game STT games which netted a profit of $12.85, I also started playing $1/$2 8 game cash as part of my normal monthly routine as well. Three cash sessions were all in profit, adding $45.55 to my profit for the month ! I am pretty happy with my 8 game results, so will certainly be continuing STT and Cash sessions going forward.

My live game was my normal monthly visit to the £35+5 NLHE freezeout. It was fairly poor start, but with my luck changing after the first break, played solidly to take the win and get a great return on my investment

Sadly my live win was cancelled out by my poor results with BBP, which break down as:

Cash Results (-£234.50 loss overall)

NLHE ($0.50) 939 hands -£12.93
PL Omaha ($0.50) 858 hands -£16.37
PL Omaha HL ($0.50) 241 hands –£101.41
PL Omaha HL ($1.00) 270 hands -£103.79

Tournament Results (-£61.06 loss overall)

6x MTT +£0.35
10x 2 seat STT -£43.36
11x 6 seat STT +£20.37
13x 10 seat STT –£38.42

Reflect

My NLHE and PLO cash results are fairly pleasing, in that I only dropped about 1/2 of a buy-in for each, which is a definite improvement

The PLO8 cash games have been fairly brutal, in that I was getting rivered, making bad decisions and had a £160 swing in one hand when was all-in with 90% to scoop on the flop and turn! Overall my play was no more than OK and need to improve both my starting hand requirements and also my river play. I have been playing $1 due to lack of games at$0.50 level when I wanted them, but am not sure it’s such a good idea. The level of play is not much different, but making a mistake costs twice as much ! Will try to curtail the $1 games going forward I think…

I’m content with my play in the STT/MTT although did have one off day where I felt I was not playing my best (so had an early finish that night!). I was also a little disappointed to min-cash 8th place out of 51 player MTT, managing to get taken out after defending my BB against aggressive chip leader. In hindsight, I should’ve just shoved my Q-Ts if I was gonna play it, although he might still have called with his K-6o (he flopped 2 pr obv.)

Adjust

For November I will carry on as is with my tournaments and the NLHE and PLO cash games as they seem to be going in roughly the right direction. I will play a bit less PLO8 cash though, and stick to $0.50 level for sure!

There shouldn’t be any distractions during November, so hope I will be reflecting on steady and profitable results at the end of the month

References

Poker: Home Tourney–October 2011

2011-10-07T12:20:00.000+01:00

What a way to come back after missing a month !

The first couple of hands I got good cards so raised it up and took down the pots without showdown. Couple of hands later, I got A-To, raised but Andy had stopped believing me by now and called. I guess we both missed the flop, but Andy decided to take a wild lunge at the pot so let him take it.

Things went a bit downhill for me and ended up having to take a buy-in ! but soon built my stack up again by selective aggression (mostly having a decent hand). The table dynamic was a bit weird, as we were playing 5 handed due to Sean and Karen coming late, so were lots of blinds to be stolen

Sean and Karen arrived halfway through Level 2, having taken their Rabbit to the vet, but both lost no time in making up their stacks back above starting levels. At least we had two more active players and the chips were flying around much more now….

At the break I was just about average chips and feeling comfortable.

Things started getting a bit ugly on the restart, with Darren and Karen going head to head on an A-x-x flop. The turn came 4 and another A on the river. Darren led out for about 1/3 his remaining stack but Karen shoved all-in. After dwelling up, Darren decided to call as the pot was huge, showing A-6 for trips. Sadly this was not enough, as Karen had A-4 for the boat, knocking Darren out and getting a huge pile of chips.

My luck seemed to change for the worse, letting Andy bluff me out a pot (again) and Lee not only bluffed me off a 4 spade board (I had made a str8 but no spade) but later he made a light call on the turn to hit his flush on the river to reduce my stack significantly.

It got to a stage where the blinds were at 400/200 and I was left with only 1000 chips. In the SB, it folded to Sean on the button who limped. I was happy to get my 8-6o all-in with my remaining 800 going into the 1000 pot, expecting Andy and Sean to call. As it turned out, only Sean called and actually had a decent hand of A-J. The flop brought a 6, then another 6 on the turn sealed it and hitting quads on the river just rubbed it in At least Sean lost the minimum.

I was not out the woods yet though, as still only had 2’400, so a couple of hands later, decided to shove into Karen’s big blind (hoping everyone folded behind me) with Q-Jo Karen quickly called, so knew I was in trouble, and sure enough her A-K was well ahead. What she hadn’t factored in to her decision was my hot run, and hit Q on the river to double up again!

Things settled down a bit for a while, but as blinds were increased the action hotted up as well. Despite his earlier good play and run good, Lee was the next one down on our table against Sean.

A few hands later, Sean “accidently” raised by throwing in two chips thinking it was 600, but was actually 1500. With both Andy and Karen calling, Sean was in a bit of a strop, but with K-x-5 flop all three players got all-in and Sean was way ahead with 5-5 and took out both players… so it worked out alright in the end !

We were now down to the final table, although Bill had busted on the last hand as well, so were only 7 sat down.

I was just under average chips at this point, with Sean being chip leader. Trevor and Simon were the short stacks.

It all started out cagey enough, then Derek took out Trevor and Jock in one hand to kick things off. Couple of hands later we saw Sean take out Simon and we are down to four players. Sean is chip lead by some margin, with myself, Alex and Derek all roughly the same.

With the blinds up to 1’000 it gets busy and the chip stacks level up. Can’t remember much about the details as there was so much going on, but when we get to the last blind level (4’000/2’000) I think Sean has lost a fair chunk of chips (possibly to me?), then shoves next hand with 3-2d against Derek who calls and takes Sean out.

The chips stacks are incredibly even now we’re down to the last three. All of us are pushing equally hard, looking to get the chips in but something was always going to go wrong for someone….. lucky for me, I raise A-7 into Derek’s BB who shoves with J-5s The board is no help for Derek and I take 2-1 chip lead over Alex with only 2 hands left to play. Alex decides to keep his £5 bounty rather than go for the win and the last hands are folded.

Woooohoooo, another win for me

With two games left to play, the leader board is incredibly tight at the top, with only 4 points between me, Derek and Alex… and it’s still mathematically possible for Karen, Jock and Simon to catch up and take the league title as well…. so all to play for !!

Can’t wait…..

Poker: Stop the world I want to get off!!

2011-09-30T20:56:00.001+01:00

My September results for cash games were pretty atrocious, but is the culmination of a string of poor cash results throughout the year really

As I am trying to treat my poker like a business, as with any business facing losses in one particular area, I need to take some action to turn the results around and start moving towards making a profit

A quick bit of background. I started playing cash games in November 2009, inspired by the desire to attempt the Grading in January 2010 (http://sceaga.blogspot.com/2010/01/poker-black-belt-poker-grading-week.html) Despite the hiding I got at the cash tables in that process, I persevered with my cash playing and have improved (a little!), moved up a couple of levels and diversified into other games such as PLO & PLO8 and most recently 8 Game (albeit on Stars)

In the end, I don't want (and certainly can't afford) a £125 a month cash game habit, as I have over the last nine months... so what can I do to improve the situation ?

1. Stop playing cash games completely

This is certainly an easy option, but really feel playing cash has helped my general Poker game and it would be a shame to just throw away my time and money investment made so far.

2. Drop down levels

I'm currently playing $0.50 NLHE and PLO. Dropping down to the $0.20 or lower levels would certainly reduce the pain. I'm not entirely convinced playing these levels would help improve my Poker game generally, nor allow me to get into profit, but is certainly something to consider from a financial perspective

3. Play less cash games and use the time for increasing time spent on self-education

At the moment I aim to play cash games two or three sessions a week, for around 3 hours or more each session. I could reduce the number of sessions, number of hours or both and use the time to read articles, watch videos, review hands, general research, etc instead. The idea being that I would try and improve my game with education, whilst continuing to play in order to keep my hand in and hopefully see my results improve.

4. Vary the types of games in a session

I've often struggled with boredom playing cash games, finding myself zoning out/playing automatically at times. At the moment I am focusing on one game in a week, playing NLHE or PLO alternating every other week. One theory of mine is that if play perhaps 1 hour of NLHE, 1 hour of PLO and 1 hour of PLO8 each session, then maybe I would be able to focus more and get better results.

One potential problem with this approach is I also often drop a fair amount early doors then gradually claw some of it back, so only playing one hour will perhaps put undue pressure on me to perform and doesn't allow me to get to know my fellow competitors on my table.

A variation to counter this possibility would be to play one type of game each session, so NLHE first session, then PLO next session and PLO8 the third session in a week.

5, Move up a level

Sounds a bit bizarre but moving up a level would make each pot more significant monetary investment, so should incentives me to play better. Nothing like making something more meaningful to focus the mind! It isn't such an outlandish option, as my current bankroll level would easily allow me to play $1, according to accepted bankroll management constraints. I feel I would probably learn more at this level as most players will be better than me!

6. Specialise in one type of cash game

At the moment I regularly play NLHE 6-max and PLO 6-max, sometimes play PLO8 and occasionally dabble in Stud. This month I also started playing 8 game cash tables as well. Whilst I enjoy the variation in the games, maybe I would be able to become a better player by specialising in one only and really get my teeth into the theory and research. I am a little lax on my deep thought about hands, etc.. mainly restricted to reviewing my cash sessions briefly after each session so to task myself to become a "master" of one, rather than a jack-of-all-trades would perhaps give me a objective to go for, and enthuse me to put in the work of research/reading, etc.

Conclusions

There is lots to think about, but one thing I haven't mentioned is perhaps the most important. What is my long term objective. Well, I don't ever see myself turning Pro, but would certainly want to be making a consistent profit. It is important for me to continue enjoying my Poker, and not feel like its a job/chore. I also need to bear in mind my limited time availability.

So what option(s) best fit my requirements and suits my lifestyle ?

For me, I think I can quickly eliminate options 1,2 and probably 5 for the moment. I'm probably being obstinate/arrogant to discard option 2 so quickly, so hope I don't regret that :) I also enjoy playing a mix of games, so option 6 also doesn't appeal very much either.

This leaves me with options 3 & 4. To be honest, I should probably implement both options. I do skive a bit on my poker education, preferring to spend time playing instead.... Varying the game types will probably also help me to maintain enthusiasm and focus, so will work out a new schedule to incorporate this new regime.

You can all now look forward to reading about my new found success in my October update :)

Update: 2nd October 2011

After re-reading my thoughts, I realized I didn’t document a couple of other significant factors I should be considering.

7. Switch number of seats

I currently play 6-max cash only, having switched from Full Ring (10 seat) a while back. I could consider switching back to Full Ring, which tends to play tighter (more my style) or even think about switching to Heads Up!

8. Don’t multi table

I switched from 4 tables to 2, to try and help my game. Although I think I am making fewer mistakes now, they tend to be more expensive! Maybe switch to single table at a time or going back to 4 tables, in the hope I will be playing more straightforward/tighter

Poker: Financial results for September 2011

2011-09-30T19:09:00.001+01:00

If I thought August was a bad month, then it was nothing compared to September :( Even worse, I was on holiday for the first two weeks so didn’t play !!)

Oh well, writing about it is very therapeutic and hope reviewing the numbers will encourage me to do better next month.

Being quarter end, I will also do a summary of my year to date, after the September numbers....

Plan

My monthly targets are:
- Play 1000 hands of cash on NLHE $0.50 and 1000 cash hands on PLO $0.50 (all 6-max) with profit target of 2 BB per hour. Changed my targets slightly, but this may change again next month!
- Play 20 STT hoping for 10% ROI (around $20 per month)

Monitor

Overall results for the month:-

Pokerstars      :   +58.29 (normal play)
                            : -£66.00 (EPT satellites)
Black Belt Poker : -$727.28 (-£465.08)
Live play       :     0.00

My Pokerstars results consisted of 4x STT of 8 game and with only one win, dropped $25.81. Also played three cash sessions of 8 game, doing a lot better as all three sessions were positive, giving me $84.10 profit. Finally I had two more tries at EPT Satellite for London, getting no-where.

Live play was nothing this month, so that'll count as break even then :)

My BBP results break down as follows:

Cash results (-£366.78 loss overall)

NL Hold' em   ($0.50) 1390 hands   -£ 233.58
PL Omaha    ($0.50)   637 hands   -£ 78.76
PL Omaha HL ($1.00)    34 hands   -£ 54.44

Tournament Results (-£98.30 loss overall)

5x MTT          -£ 31.66
4x 2 seat STT   -£ 21.37
9x 6 seat STT   -£ 10.24
2x 10 seat STT -£ 35.03

Reflect

I have been dropping far too much in NL HE cash than am comfortable with, so something has to change there. Certainly had a couple of session where I played really poorly after getting frustrated/tilted, etc. but actually the recent sessions I am pretty happy with my play! In the main there has been only 1 or 2 really poor reads per session, with the normal amount of bad beats, etc :)

I switched to PLO $0.50 as was similarly frustrated at the poor play at lower levels. Moving up has also made me think more about committing to a pot as it represents a more significant amount of money. At just over two buy-ins, I'm disappointed but not too much with my PLO result. Am sure I can pick up my game (and results) at this level.

The PLO8 $1 session was a mistake really, I was steaming a bit and decided to play something different rather than switch off the laptop!! In two of the 34 hands I made terrible calls and dropped a load, so not very happy with that diversion :( Will simply need to keep discipline to avoid this sort of thing in future.

My tournament play was low volume but overall was pretty happy with my play, if not the results :) Bit frustrated to not get more games in.

Adjust

I used the word "frustrated" a lot in my reflection, which sums up my month and my results. I need to get my head in gear and keep my focus for sure as need to play confidently and with positive attitude. I am wondering what best to do about my cash losses recently, but will do a separate update about my thoughts and decision (as I haven't thought or decided yet :) )

Year to date results for Black Belt Poker

For Jan-Sep 2011, my results are:-

Total loss : -£871.42

Cash results (-£1154.42 loss overall)

NL Hold' em   ($0.50) 9562 hands   -£514.19
NL Hold' em   ($1.00)   867 hands   -£223.48
PL Omaha    ($0.20) 5685 hands   -£212.42
PL Omaha    ($0.50) 1322 hands   -£ 33.55
PL Omaha HL ($0.20) 1510 hands   -£116.34
PL Omaha HL ($1.00)    34 hands   -£ 54.44

Tournament Results (+£283.00 profit overall)

77x MTT          +£328.71
64x 2 seat STT   -£ 35.13
74x 6 seat STT   -£ 87.84
3x other STT    -£ 39.10
67x 10 seat STT +£116.36

So what does this all mean... well it tells me maybe I should stop playing Cash games :) The last couple of months have been exceptionally bad but still do think my cash game is improving, so although I have to do something, just need to decide what to do. My PLO $0.50 is actually a lot better than I thought it was going to be, especially compared to my $0.20 results, so maybe that's something to think about some more.

My MTT and 10 seater STT are my bread and butter, but the higher volume 2 seat and 6 seaters are not that far off the money... couple more cashes would have seen me break even. Overall I am actually pretty content with my tournament play.

I have a few days to plan out what October and beyond will bring, but will certainly be looking for better profitability in the near future

Poker: EPT dream is still (only) a dream

2011-09-16T16:42:00.000+01:00

After my UKIPT cash, I was inspired to invest some of my winnings trying to qualify for the EPT London.

After deciding on a budget of £200 and checking the satellite schedule, the best route for me seemed to be the £33 sat into the weekly £525 satellite.

Whilst I was hoping to get through the first round of sats at least once…. sadly, after playing 6x £33 sats the closest I got was 14th from 48 runners.

The games were pretty tough and didn’t play particularly well in all the games, but was worth a pop I suppose.

I have also decided that due to my other commitments (holidays, etc.) will not be able to focus on the WCOOP this year. I wasn’t able to spend time playing due to hols and even now there are few satellites that suit my budget and availability.

After all that doom and gloom, I will likely be playing the BBP Nottingham Live this November, so am trying various routes to qualify for that…. there is always something to aim for in Poker

Holiday: Bognor Regis

2011-09-10T16:45:00.001+01:00

We decided to go to Bognor on hols for a couple of reasons… partly to have a nice holiday on a South Coast seaside resort, but also to take a look at feasibility of buying and living in a holiday home. We both like Bognor and is close to our current home (and is relatively cheap as well ) so seems a good place to look into.

Saturday 27^th August 2011

Left home at 1pm, stopped at Petworth House for cup of tea and cake. Got to flat around 3.30pm, had a walk – windy but sunny! Flat was nice, good location, tidy and good facilities. It had a large flat screen tv, tv in the bedroom, king size bed, fridge freezer, washing machine and tumble drier etc. Only down side to flat was the shower was pathetic, but small irritation rather than big problem.

Went to Morrisons to get some food which was within walking distance just around the corner. Went and had dinner at The Regis brewers fayne. We waited for half an hour and the food wasn’t great, it wasn’t cheap either, but it did fill us up. Walked to the cinema, there was a queue coming out the door so just got screen times for another day. Went back to the flat and watched tv, we both had a drink. We could hear the pub which is approx. 50yds away but not too bad.

Sunday 28^th August

Had a late breakfast. Walked to Aldwick to look at the outside of some flats. Had a nice cup of tea at the beach cafe. We walked back along the seafront, very black clouds glad to go back to the flat for lunch. Watched Grand Prix, then it came over all sunny so went for another walk. It was very windy along the promenade, hat blew off and not able to get it (see below!)

Walked to Felpham yacht club and had an ice cream, then walked back and discovered that we’d been out 2.5 hours! After a rest we went to Weatherspoons for dinner, waited half an hour for food to turn up ‘roast’, it wasn’t too great but okay. Had another drink and walk along promenade before going to pier to watch parade then fireworks  cup of tea and biscuit in flat at 10.15pm!

Woken at 3am police arresting someone in park outside!

Monday 29^th August

Sunny morning, had a lie-in until 10am! Out at 10.30am after breakfast. Took ‘short walk’ ended up walking for 1 and a half hours to beach. Had 20 minute rest then another hour walk back to cafe for lunch at 1pm, slow meander along front , as it was quite sunny had long rests. Ice cream at 3pm and long sit on promenade, we kept seeing the train go up and down.

After a rest in the flat, wet to see the ‘Inbetweeners’ which was hilarious (hadn’t even had a drink!). It was an old fashioned cinema, only £2.50 each adult! Had a chip supper on seafront then back to flat.

Tuesday 30^th August

Drove to Arundel around 10.30am. Started in Castle Gardens, had a nice cup of tea then went around Keep.

Walked along the river and had our packed lunch.

Walked back and had another cup of tea. Had walk around shops it got to 4pm so we decided to have a cup of tea and cake! Left around 4.30pm. Back at flat feeling worn out!! It was cloudy and warm, not too windy all day. After watching tv managed to mustar ourselves to go out and eat. Went to Aldwick Italian ‘Mama Mia’ which was very nice. Walked back along front, then went to the local pub ‘QEII’ for a quick drink, before going back to the flat for well earned sleep.

Wednesday 31^st August

Up and breakfast by 9am! Expected to be warm and cloudy again so off to Littlehampton for the day. Arrived just before 10am, bit windy/chilly but bright cloud. Walked up promenade, then into town for tea and cake.

Had another walk then had lunch along the river. Had rest on beach then walk into town again for coffee and cake. Final walk along promenade then back to Bognor around 5pm. Small walk along promenade and rest, Morrisons again on the way to flat. Had a rest then went to the ‘Royal Hotel’ for dinner. The receptionist/waiter was a bit harassed, he took us into an empty restaurant/no music! But nice meal and big portion. Then went to the QEII for a drink and back at flat by 9pm! (Work tomorrow!!)

Thursday 1^st September

Awake at 5.30am but dozed until 7.50am, up for work!

Lovely sunny day, went down to promenade for lunch, then busy at work again!

4.30pm Finish work and out for walk and dinner. Ate at Cafe Prom (pizza) was okay but a bit pricey for what you got. Back early as a ‘work night’ to relax.

Friday 2^nd September

Woke around 5am again, dozed until 7.15am. Workmen turned up around 9.30am, clattered around for couple of hours, then disappeared! Lovely sunny morning, went to Gardens outside flat for lunch then sat on beach for half an hour.

After work rang to arrange couple of property viewings for tomorrow (Lynn getting excited!!), then off to Morrisons to stock-up. Went to George & Dragon near Arundel (in Michelin Guide), out in the middle of nowhere nearly ran over a hare getting there but food was superb! Too full for pudding though!! Had a little walk in twilight and sea mist coming in was great. Had a cup of tea and chocolate biscuit back at the flat to finish us off.

Saturday 3^rd September

I woke up at 3am feeling sick and sweaty! After half an hour sitting in the toilet felt okay and went back to bed. Lynn slept right through until the morning. Still feeling bloated at breakfast but otherwise okay. Went out to see cottage at 10am (which was okay) then went round town (shops open for a change). Had cup of tea on beach then onto see ‘our flat’ at 12.30pm (which was very nice) Had lunch then another cuppa in the beach cafe. Walked to Hotham Park but the sun was out so had a nice rest on the beach for a while. The park is quite big, walked down to shops again before ending up along the promenade for another rest on the beach!! Got back to the flat around 5pm, thinking about where to go for dinner. In the end decided to have dinner in (beans on toast) and relax.

Sunday 4^th September

Off to Chichester today. Up and out by 10.15am! Got to Chichester by 10.45 but started to rain so had half hour coffee break

Rain got worse so popped into shop to take shelter and ended up spending £60.00! Then had walk round city wall and went to ‘The Bell Inn’ for a nice Sunday lunch.

After lunch it got sunny as we walked around the city. Needed a rest by 3.30pm so had tea and cake in ‘The Buttery’. After another half an hour we were worn out so got to the flat around 5pm. We had a light tea, a walk along the promenade (bit windy) then back to the flat to relax before work tomorrow.

Monday 5^th September

Back to work today. Busy morning at work then went out to lunch on promenade, very windy but sunny. Ate lunch then the black clouds rolled in and rain/hail by the time we walked back!

4.30pm Finish work and went out about 5pm for dinner. Went to ‘The Waverley’ pub, quite decent pub grub although seemed a bit expensive.

Walked back in the wind and stopped at QE2 for beer. Lynn had a beer but wasn’t that keen (still drank it though). Back to the flat for a nice cup of tea and watched Coronation Street to relax.

Tuesday 6^th September

Woke up at 6.50am so I got out of bed at 7.10am as work day but breakfast in bed for Lynn! Busy morning again and soon lunchtime. Had lunch in today as weather is wet and wild out there. Afternoon also flew by and at 4.28pm Lynn is anxious to get out and buy some milk, apples and ham so we’re off to Morrisons at 4.33pm. Went to ‘Sen’ for dinner, was very nice food and atmosphere.

As is ‘work night’ went back and watched TV. Played Black Belt Poker League game and although started okay, faded quickly so maybe should’ve sat out like last week!

Wednesday 7^th September

Lynn woke up at 3.15pm and 4.30pm so I wasn’t keen to get out of bed for work this morning. Lovely sunny morning, so hope it’s a nicer day today. Had a windy walk along prom. But nice to eat lunch in sheltered spot on seafront with the sun out.

Down tools at 4.30pm and now officially on holiday until Monday . Took long route to ‘Navigator Hotel’ for dinner. Had very nice meal, then windy walk back at least it’s not cold or wet!!

Thursday 8^th September

Had leisurely breakfast in bed at 8.30am! Out the flat at 10.10am for our Day trip to Worthing. Got there in half hour and had coffee and cake in M&S cafe which was full of OAP’s! Walked around shops, not so may OAPs, but still clear why Worthing has reputation for old folk. Lunch in Pizza Hut.

Walked around shops again with sun trying to get out. Made way to promenade, very windy still but managed to eat ice cream on pier.

After long walk had cup of tea and cake in Waitrose as were too worn out to walk further to find coffee shop! After rest we made it back to our car at 5.15pm! and got back to flat at 6pm. Went out for snack and ended up in chippy. Popped into “Cassino“ (Bookies and Amusement Arcade) and won £15.00 on first spin of video roulette so left quickly After small walk Lynn was worn out so back for cup of tea and tv!

Friday 9^th September

Had a bit of a disturbed night so bit dozy when Lynn started to wriggle around 7.30am. Managed to hold off until about 8.30am for breakfast. Cloudy but warm when we got out about 10am for our day around Bognor. Got as far as cafe and had coffee break for half hour.

Then had hour walk around town, then sun came out so walked to ‘Lobster Pot’ for lunch. Had lovely food, will definitely go back next trip for evening meal.

Walked back through town as wind had got up. Ended up at flat for 3pm coffee and choccy to replenish our energy levels. Had another walk the long way to cafe on beach and both needed ice cream by the time we got there. Quick pop in the flat on way to Cinema at 5.50pm for ‘Colombiana’. Good action film along lines of “Nikita” (as written by same bloke). Had chips walking along town and promenade, then back to flat.

Saturday 10^th September

Woke up around 7.45am. Cloudy/warm, breakfast, pack then time to say goodbye to Bognor, but am sure we’ll be back.

Overall it was a great holiday and even on my work days, still seemed more relaxing and interesting. It’s nice to be able to take a walk at lunchtime and straight after work along the prom.

So as a holiday it worked well. As a tester for working from home in a holiday flat, it also showed that kind of life style could work for us, so could be something we invest in in the future!

Cars: New car

2011-08-26T19:30:00.001+01:00

Finally decided to buy a new car.

Of course it is not “new” but is a 2004 (54) BMW Alpina B3s.

I had been looking at all sorts of new cars, including seriously considering Morgan 4/4, Alpina D3, Range Rover Evoque amongst them.

The car was being advertised by Sytner in Nottingham, but they transfered the car to my local dealer Sytner Sunningdale with whom I arranged the test drive. Although being a specialist car and from a main dealer, I liked the car and managed to negotiate a discount to a price I considered fair and reasonable.

Luckily the car includes one year BMW warranty, as having picked it up Thursday, on Sunday the DSC failed !

I always think the measure of a business is when you ring them up with a problem, as they’re always nice to you when they want your money… so was very happy that when I called the salesman on Monday morning and he immediately arranged the service team to call me and book it in for the Tuesday morning. The car was sorted and even valeted for free. I’m so glad I went to a main dealer !!

We’ll be giving the car a good few runs over the next couple of weeks (and maybe even get the roof open if it’s vaguely sunny day) so am looking forward to enjoying the car.

Poker: Financial results for August 2011

2011-08-26T19:08:00.001+01:00

July was a great month for me, but Poker being the cruel mistress then turns the tables on me and August turns out to be one of my worse for a long time!

Yesterday was the last day I am able to play Poker for a couple of weeks, which is why I’m doing my write up now… but probably just as well, so I can have a rest to catch my breath and regroup my thoughts

Plan

My monthly targets are:
- Play 1000 hands of cash on NLHE $0.50, 1000 cash hands on PLO $0.20 and 500 cash hands of PLO8 $0.20 (all 6-max) with profit target of 2 BB per hour. ($16.00 for NLHE, $6.40 for PLO, $3.20 for PLO8 = $25.60 per month)
- Play 20 STT hoping for 10% ROI (around $20 per month)

Monitor

Overall results for the month:-

Pokerstars : +14.38 (normal play)
: -£99.00 (EPT satellites)
Black Belt Poker: -$633.88 (-£395.84)
Live play : -£40.00

My Pokerstars results consisted of 5x STT of 8 game, with one win and one second place, plus three goes at EPT Satellite for London, so not much to say about that really, sa it’s much as expected

Live play was one £35+5 tourney, in which I bubbled in 8th place - so close but no cigar :)

My BBP results break down as follows:

Cash results (-£390.40 loss overall)

NL Holdem ($0.50) 1766 hands   -£364.71
PL Omaha ($0.20)   780 hands   -£ 70.90
PL Omaha ($0.50)   685 hands   +£ 45.21

Tournament Results (-£5.46 loss overall)

5x MTT             -£17.66
5x 2 seat STT   +£9.24
7x 6 seat STT   -£17.75
5x 10 seat STT +£20.71

Reflect

My NL HE cash was obviously where all the money was lost (about 12 buy-ins). There were around 15 hands where I dropped a half buy-in or more... most of which were not played all that great by me. There were several where I got rivered, or just cold decked, but in the main was a lack of concentration in these few hands. Just shows how quickly it can all go south !

I had a similar poor start on my PLO cash at the $0.20 level and got so fed up with the poor play (by my opponents) that seemed to be thwarting me, that having dropped around 3.5 buy-ins decided to move up to $0.50 level. Although I still saw a fair bit of what I considered poor play, my good hands seemed to be holding up a bit better, ending up around 1 buy in up. I was still making a few mistakes but never lost more than half a buy-in on one hand :)

My tournament play was low volume but overall was pretty happy with my results.

Adjust

September will be a slow start for me, as will be away a few days the first couple of weeks. I am also hoping to play some of the SCOOP games, but been able to start my campaign to satellite in yet, due to the lack of satellite games on offer.. so that may be a distraction for me for the third week.

Other than that, will try to get more consistent with my cash game, particularly NLHE of course as can’t afford to sustain the losses from August!

I don't think I need to do much different in my tourney play, except perhaps try and play more STT. For the cash games, I will stay at $0.50 for PLO next month and see how it goes and maybe drop to 2 tabling NLHE (rather than the 4 tabling I do right now) to see if I can get more consistency.

Hopefully the break will see me come back fit and healthy in mind, body and spirit and own the tables on my return

References
January 2011 results http://www.blackbeltpoker.com/blogs/read/259109/sceaga/Financial-results-for-January-2011
February 2011 results http://www.blackbeltpoker.com/blogs/read/294043/sceaga/Financial-Results-for-February-2011
March 2011 results http://sceaga.blogspot.com/2011/04/poker-financial-results-for-march-2011.html
April 2011 results http://sceaga.blogspot.com/2011/04/poker-financial-results-for-april-2011.html
May 2011 results http://sceaga.blogspot.com/2011/06/poker-financial-results-for-may-2011.html
June 2011 results http://sceaga.blogspot.com/2011/06/poker-financial-results-for-june-2011.html
July 2011 results http://sceaga.blogspot.com/2011/07/poker-financial-results-for-july-2011.html

Poker: Home Tourney–August 2011

2011-08-05T12:09:00.000+01:00

It looked for a while like there would only be a few players due to holidays, however Martin, Luke, Daniel and Janice all made a rare but most welcome return

My night started out interesting, and found myself all-in on first hand with flop of J-9-8 with 9-8 against Bill, who turned over J-9 and Darren who turned over Q-T ! As it turned out, Bill hit his J on the river (of course!) and I had my first double buy in of the night. Couple of hands later, half my stack is in pre-flop with T-T after 3 betting Darren. The A-K-6 flop (2 clubs) looks like it’s hit Darren, but decide to shove anyway and Darren calls with A-K (obv!) so it’s my second double buy in in quick succession…. looks like it’s gonna be one of those nights….

As things settled down, my luck changed and won a big pot of around 6000, so now playing with the number of chips I bought in for I build my stack up to around 13’000 and am big chip lead on the table, but still playing pretty solidly.

After the break I have maintained my stack, but decide to raise from the button with 5-4 Bill folds but Karen calls. The flop of A-T-x looks like it may have hit Karen, but she checks to me so I bet out and get called. I’m a bit concerned, but Karen looks a bit nervous and checks again on the K turn. I stick in another 2000 which is around half her stack, so expect her to fold or shove. After tanking for a while, she calls. I’m a bit perplexed and the river has made the flush possible. With Karen checking again, around 6000 in the pot and Karen with only around 2000 behind I’ve gotta fire the third barrel, but sadly for me she has A-Qo She said after she was thinking about re-raising all-in on the turn (so that was why she looked nervous then ) but she got my chips anyway and took the chip lead on the table. I’m down to around 8000 which is average stack

Soon after Karen goes wild and takes out Bill and Daniel in one hand so we’re down to the final table.

With blinds up to 1000/500 I’m not in great shape with only around 6000, but get a nice run of cards and manage to win a couple of pots which put me right back into contention. In the next level I again hit some cards and first take out Lee blind on blind (my A-3 against his 6-3) and take his bounty as well (or Twix as it was) I then get all-in next hand against Alex with my A-A holding against Alex 8-8 so am starting to look very healthy indeed now.

In the last level, blinds are 4000/2000 so no-one can take it easy. Karen has dribbled away her stack, so when she shoves into my BB from the SB it is easy call with A-T. This time Im ahead against Karen (for a change) as she shows Q-T The T on the flop changes nothing but the A on the turn seals her fate, seems I’m on fire tonight.

Luke has been sitting quietly with his short stack, taking the odd pot here and there to survive, but gets in good against Jock who is the other short stack. With neither improving, were down to three players, all with roughly equal chips.

It’s a tough battle, but with all players on around 6 BB it’s not gonna last long. Sure enough Simon is the next man down by me (that’s two twixes… umm, Bounties for me tonight ) and we’re into a heads up battle. We are both playing pretty aggressively so I think we only play around 4 or 5 hands. The last hand sees us both limp into a 6-5-2 flop. I’ve got to believe my 5-2 is way ahead and bet, Luke raises and then calls my shove with 8-6 Neither improve and I end up taking it down and Luke taking 2nd at his first attempt in the league game

It was an exciting game and the different mix of players certainly mixed it up a bit.

Sadly I’ll be missing next month, but gives someone else a chance to catch up

Roll on next time….

Poker: Financial results for July 2011

2011-07-29T16:58:00.001+01:00

July was a bit disjointed due to my Brighton UKIPT trip, but I’m not complaining !

My June results had been a bit disappointing overall but despite my best intentions at the end of June, didn’t really do any catching up on my learning activities that I’d planned in July either !

Plan

Monitor

Overall results for the month:-

Pokerstars : -$3.38 (normal play)
: -£33.00 (EPT satellites)
Black Belt Poker: +$52.04 (+£32.50)
Live play : +£750.00

The live results were a £10 overall profit from Farnborough Club, but most from my UKIPT Brighton trip Obviously can’t rely on a big live tournament cash every month, so although I’m over the moon about my result, it is a rare and lucky big win for me. Hopefully I will be able to have another crack at EPT or UKIPT, although might have to wait until next year!

My Pokerstars results consisted of 7x STT of 8 game, with one win and one second place, plus one try at EPT Satellite for London. I’ve decided to allocate £200 to try and qualify for EPT, so fingers crossed for that attempt

My BBP results break down as follows:

Cash results (+£42.35 profit overall)

NL Holdem ($0.50) 1224 hands +£34.48
PL Omaha ($0.20) 568 hands +£ 7.87

Tournament Results (-£9.85 loss overall)

7x MTT             +£24.93
1x 2 seat STT   -£12.89
2x 6 seat STT   +£ 4.40
8x 10 seat STT -£26.29

Reflect

I am able to hit my NL HE target number of hands in one session, so was able to do that this month and was pretty pleased with my play overall.

Am also pretty happy with my play on PLO but am still having one or two blow-up hands where I do something stupid and drop a buy-in which I then spend the rest of the session trying to recover from . I just need to concentrate more and avoid these silly mistakes.

The tournaments were again pretty low volume, but again am overall happy with my play. As with my cash play however, I also sometimes have the odd blow-up on a hand, especially if the other player is pretty loose. I think it may be something I have to sit and think about more afterwards (if I do it again!)

As with the June, I was again struggling to get a consistent playing routine with everything else going on….

Adjust

August should be a more “normal” month so hope to get back to my normal playing routine for the first four weeks at least. (I know already that September will be hosed)

Having said that, I am going to be trying to qualify for EPT with at least another 5 MTT Satellite games during August/September and also the WCOOP satellites have started so may get distracted there to !

On top of all that, I still need to spend some of my “Poker time” catching up on self-learning as I have put this to one side the last few months !

It’s going to be busy, but hopefully will manage to organise my time to fit it all in.

References

General: Bathroom finished !

2011-07-25T18:29:00.001+01:00

Hoorah, our bathroom is finished

Since last weekend, progress has been swift:

Virtually everything was finished by Friday evening, so we were able to use our nice new shower over the weekend at least. We were only missing a handle off the bathroom cabinet draw and the lights plus the extractor fan and bathroom cabinet power. The only small problem we had was a small leak through the shower screen when we used the shower, but certainly was only a dribble so should be able to solve that one.

The sparky came in on Monday (25th July) and did the power, plus the fitters came back and finished off all the other bits and pieces, so we are now officially finished….

We have to leave some of the bits to dry before using, so will move in properly tomorrow (and test the shower doesn't leak anymore) but are very happy with how things have gone and the look and function of the new bathroom so far.

Overall the project seemed to be managed (and/or hindered ) by Jim from Stone & Chrome but the fitters certainly did a good job and were very helpful, friendly and efficient.

The materials and fittings feel high quality and nice to touch/use so can’t wait to get moved back in and use everything in our normal daily routine.

General: Bathroom progress

2011-07-18T20:04:00.001+01:00

Compared to the new kitchen, the bathroom is relatively straightforward The planning stages were quicker and easier, there are no appliances to buy and being smaller room is only taking 2 weeks to install !

They started last Monday and had more or less stripped it all out by the time we went away Tuesday to miss a lot of the mess.

On our return Sunday were pleased to see a decent amount of progress.

Apparently they are still on schedule for finishing the end of the week, so are keeping fingers crossed as it’s a bit weird not having a bath or shower.

Poker: my first UKIPT trip

2011-07-17T15:37:00.001+01:00

Having just come back from UKIPT in Brighton, which was my first UKIPT, thought I would do a brief summary of my experiences.

The actual detail of the play is pretty much already on my twitter updates so won’t repeat here

The only reason I was able to enter the UKIPT was due to a nice win on a previous Casino trip, so was very much looking at the UKIPT entry as a “once in a lifetime” sort of event as I don’t have the bankroll to buy in at £560 on a regular basis.

Having got my entry funds ready, I decided to research Brighton’s hotels, etc and get something booked early. I know a lot of people wouldn’t bother until nearer the time, but Brighton was very busy with all sorts of events and most B&B I walked past seemed to have “No vacancies” sign out. The Brighton tourist information web site had good research material and googling “brighton hotel reviews” found some useful review sites such as http://www.brightonlife.com/hotels.html

I also need to get the time off work, which as it turned out was quite tricky but managed to sort it out in the end! Finally I had to research car parking ,as it is very expensive to park. as it happens, Lynn’s blue badge came to the rescue and we can park for free on the road in front of our hotel Certainly for those paying for car parking will probably find it a bit trickier to find cheap parking for a few days but the Brighton & Hove Council Parking web site was very useful.

Despite having the buy-in already in the bank, I decided to try and qualify through the Satellite games. The thing I needed to ensure was not to spend more than a buy-in by trying to qualify, so checked the satellite schedules and worked out how many attempts at each level to try. In the end I budgeted £110 although only ended up spending £106.50 (without success) and end up buying in about a week before the event via my Pokerstars account.

At last the big day arrives and I turned up at the Hotel for the game. There was a UKIPT desk in the hotel lobby area so got directed to the correct location for the Poker. There were three desks to register at and quickly found out what was needed and got my registration sorted out. Half hour before the game kicked off, I was able to get my table/seat number so was ready to go. You do need to remember to bring Photo ID with you though, but drivers license is OK so not a big deal. Also need to bring on Day 2 as well…else you don’t get to sit down!

The only slight oddity of the event (which didn’t effect me though) was that there was no facilities for accepting cash or card on site for entry to the side events. You could walk 10 mins up the road to the G Casino and then register for the event, then walk back… but just seemed odd way to have it. If you have funds in your Pokerstars account, then you can use that to buy-in at the venue, so maybe that’s the thing to do…

Back to the main event and was very impressed by the dealers and floor staff. It was very well organized and ran smoothly. Any floor disputes seemed to be resolved well and everyone seemed to be in the right place at the right time.

The structure was pretty good as well…. one hour clock, 15k starting chips and blinds starting at 25/50 there is plenty of play. Around 250 players on Day 1a and about 350 odd on Day 1b so is well attended. 81 places pay out.

You can follow live updates on all the action on the Pokerstars Blog at http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/tournaments/ukipt/season-2-3/brighton-1/ which is pretty cool (esp. when you get some mentions and a piccy http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/ukipt/2011/ukipt-brighton-day-12-level-17-updates-b-085158.html)

At the end of day one, you bag up your chips and leave on the table, so you don’t need to think too much!

Coming back for day two, there were pay-out structures and seat assignments posted to the walls around the room, so was easy to find where you needed to be and how much you were going to be paid (for the lucky few )

The pay out itself is also very efficient, as you get escorted from your table to the pay-out desk, show ID again, fill out a form for you to sign and that’s it! I chose to have the funds put into my Pokerstars account but was other options

I ended up spending £106.50 on satellites, £560 to buy-in but was lucky enough to win £1400. After leaving £100 tip for the dealers, I therefore ended up in profit for the event of £633.50 which is a great result and am well pleased.

In conclusion, I felt the tournament was very well organised, well planned and they made it very easy for the players, even those for whom it was their first event. Overall a great event and am sure would still be saying that even if I hadn’t won any money

Holiday: Una Hotel–Brighton

2011-07-17T13:49:00.001+01:00

For our Brighton holiday, decided to stay at Una Hotel

I picked the hotel as it was right by the Metropole where I was playing Poker, but was also very handy for the town centre and was literally a stones throw from the beach. As we found during the week, the location couldn’t really have been better, being right by the (derelict) West Pier

The staff were very friendly and knowledgeable and were more than happy to help.

The facilities in the hotel are limited to the bar, but is open 24 hours (as is the reception) and the bar staff certainly knew how to mix up the cocktails!

Breakfast was relatively basic, but was very nice and plentiful.

As the hotel is a Georgian terrace house, all the rooms are different. The room we picked was “Maja” which was very comfortable and just about big enough for the two of us and having the King size bed was a nice luxury.

The downsides to the hotel were firstly the tiny shower room, which was really too small to be comfortable in, but just about did the job. There was also a lot of noise at all hours with guests coming up the stairs or lift and/or moving around their room. I guess this is due to the nature of the house and lack on modern sound proofing. The other issue isn’t really the hotels fault, (other than a lack of double glazing) but the seagulls were pretty noisy and seemed to have random screeching competitions at random times during the night and early hours of the morning. I have never heard such a racket at any other coastal location!

Overall, we very much enjoyed our stay and were glad we picked the Una hotel. Would certainly be happy to stay there again.

Holiday: Holiday in Brighton

2011-07-17T13:24:00.001+01:00

Tuesday
On way to Brighton, had great idea to pop into Caterham Cars to take a look. Sadly, Lynn took one look and declared she wasn't going to be able to sit in it...so have crossed Caterham off my car list

We also stopped at National Trust Wakehurst Place and had nice walk around the house & gardens and had lovely picnic sitting at one of the viewpoints. Didn’t realize it was run by Kew Gardens so the gardens were spectacular (if you’re into that sort of thing)

Arrived in Brighton around 2:30pm and found our hotel. Starting to spit as we go out for a walk, but have a nice cup of tea & cake.

Walked up to the pier and back, getting back to the room around 5:30pm with a worn out Lynn! Went out for dinner, ending up at Harry Ramsdens for our Fish & Chips, then back to the smallest pub in Brighton for a drink.

Wednesday

Had a disturbed night due to the “elephants” in the hotel, but mainly the Seagulls screaming at around 3:30am. The awake at 7am when Lynn woke from her deep, uninterrupted sleep (lucky her!) Had a nice breakfast, then out around 9am. It was cloudy but warm, so had a walk around the shops, had a coffee, then wandered around North Laine area, then back down to the beach for a nice rest and ate our lunch there.

We then decided to walk up to the Marina, but is actually quite a long walk, so ended up getting the bus back to the east pier! The approach to the marina itself is pretty grotty and looks like a 1960’s car park, but once inside the boundary is more what you expect.

Having got back from the Marina we needed another sit and rest with a nice cup of tea, before walking along the beach and then back to the hotel. We found the car had a parking ticket, as it seems I parked in a residents bay rather than a pay and display bay, but will appeal that one as it was very confusing signage!

We decided to go see Bridesmaids at the local cinema (just up the road) which was very good… we both enjoyed the film, and is well worth seeing. As we got out late, just had a Burger King for supper (really pushing the culinary boundaries )

Thursday
It’s Poker day 1 today but woke up tired, due to noisy hotel until midnight, then noisy Seagulls at 5am, then Lynn woke up at 7am. We were up and out by 9am again, but this time it’s a lovely sunny day so went down to sit on the beach. Had a small walk, then found lunch in the Italian Kitchen restaurant on the sea front. It was OK, if a little un-imaginative, but wasn’t all that hungry with the pre-game nerves starting to kick in.

Went back to the room and got ready around 1pm and went to play Poker… with Lynn going off into The Lanes for her shopping trip. Lynn didn’t buy anything as she was worn out and ended up sitting on the beach most of the afternoon.

I got back to the room around 2am

Friday
Woken up around 7:30am but managed to get a lie in until 8:30am. Had a nice Full English breakfast and we were off to the beach for 10am to relax. We had taken out full beach regalia with us this time as it was another glorious day, just a bit windy. Luckily we had our chairs and wind break to make ourselves comfy and relax.

Had a small walk around midday to find something for lunch, then went on the open top tour bus. It was very busy, but worth doing as you do get to see a lot of the city quite quickly and easily. The ticket is also valid for 48 hours so you can hop on and off as much as you like.

After all that excitement we needed and Ice Cream and rest on the beach again. It was getting quite windy so got our chairs and windbreak out again and had a nice long rest.

For dinner we ended up in Pizza Hut ! then had a drink in the hotel bar before getting an early night

Saturday
Awake 7am after a lovely long sleep (at last!) although still feeling tired. It’s day 2 for Poker and the weather is very windy and raining hard, so after breakfast go the short distance to the undercover shopping area. It was heaving, so seems everyone had the same idea!

After a good look around we had a quick lunch before heading back to the room to get ready for Poker.

I wasn’t expecting to last very long, so Lynn came in with me and planned to go see Harry Potter film when I busted out.

As it turned out, I lasted until around 1:30am so Lynn had to amuse herself again.

Sunday
Woken up around 7am but don’t want to get out of bed Have another Full English breakfast to build up the energy levels again and are out of the room homeward bound by around 10am.

Although the main reason for the visit to Brighton was the Poker, we certainly both felt we had a nice mini holiday as well… particularly the hot and sunny days we had! It was a lovely break and although I don’t feel rested and refreshed, was glad we went and definitely enjoyed it!

Will do the same thing next year perhaps…

General: The Bull Inn

2011-07-09T09:55:00.001+01:00

On way back from Reading last night, we stopped off at The Bull Inn in Arborfield for our Dinner

We’ve been there for Sunday Lunch a year or so ago, but was obviously under new management as all the staff seemed to be French !

Despite them being fairly well booked, we got a table. The menu was varied and was mostly traditional English dishes, but also had a few specials. The food was excellent and service impeccable, despite the ambiance being like a normal food pub.

It was about £10 for a main course and £5 for pudding, but certainly felt we got value for money and an excellent experience.

Will certainly go there again as there were several dishes and deserts I’d like tot try out!

Cars: Test driving a Morgan

2011-07-09T09:44:00.001+01:00

Went to Richard Thorne Classic Cars to test drive a Morgan 4/4 last night.

I’ve always been intrigued by the Morgan, but always thought of them as a retired gent’s sports car… I’m not retired, but am now an “old git” so feel it might be time to buy one ! Obviously if I was allowed to buy a Lotus, then I’d not likely be looking at Morgan, but hey…

The driving experience is a bit weird, but kindof in a good way. Even at 50mph, it felt like I was doing a 4 wheel drift round some of the corners. I expect you either fall in love with a Morgan or sell it within 12 months !

My main hesitations to buying one are really the price (they are a bit pricey for what you get) and also the weather proofing (as I would be using it all year… and there are lots of holes and flappy bits around the doors and roof)

On the plus side, you can trick them up over time with motorsport bits and bobs.. I saw a full race spec (road legal) equivalent of the model I would buy… with adjustable dampers, tweaks to the engine, exhaust, etc.etc.. and is something you can add on over time (that would be my birthday and Xmas pressies sorted for the foreseeable future)

Overall, I am still looking favourably at the Morgan so is a definite contender. Gonna take a look at Caterham next as it’s a direct competitor (and a bit cheaper)

Poker: Home Tourney–July 2011

2011-07-08T08:00:00.001+01:00

Twelve eager players saw the start of the second half of the season. With only 10 points separating the top 7, the league is still wide open.

Turned out I was on the tight table. During the rebuy period, it took until mid-way through the second level before anyone needed a buy-in, at which point the other table had 18 buy-ins! Whoever got through to the final table was going to have their work cut out to catch up!!

I was playing a fair number of hands in the early stages, and was a bit up and down. I grinded away and built my chips up to around 5k, then dropped a couple of thousand to Steve W when we both made a flush with four clubs on the board, my Qc not good enough to beat his Ac (I knew he had it, just couldn’t get away ) Overall, I generally had something I thought was good enough when betting out, although did take a few liberties as well This set me up nicely for the break, putting me on about average chips

After the break, the cards came for me on the first hand when I raised A-A and Jock re-raised then called my all-in with Q-Q My Aces held up and Jock was out first. Simultaneously, alex was busy on the other table and took out Sean and Bill on the same hand. It wasn’t long before we had our final table, when Derek knocked out Andy…. who was out the door before I had even realised he was out!

I’m UTG with A-Jh on the first hand of the final table, so make a raise Simon on the button and Lee in the SB call. The flop is low and rainbow, but this doesn’t stop me cBetting when Lee checks to me,.. Simon folds, but Lee calls. The turn is also low but another heart, giving me the nut flush draw, but when Lee checks decide to bet out, only for Lee to re-raise all-in. I’m pretty sure I’m behind and not getting odds to draw for the flush, so fold. Lee shows a straight, so had made a poor call on the flop but played the turn well.

Sadly this put’s me under pressure, especially as I can’t play my blinds and am pretty short. I see A-9h and decide to shove (about 12 BB) Steve W calls me and sure enough am way behind to his A-J. Lady luck intervenes though, and I manage to spike a 9 and double up, leaving Steve one of the short stacks.

With the blinds going up, I am soon down to about 15 BB again so make a move with A-2c when Lee limps, raising to 4000. Jon is in the BB with 4'300 chips and shoves all-in, Lee folds so although I’m way behind Jons A-Q I was getting the odds to call. Luckily for me (again!) I spike a 2 and manage to dodge Jon’s outs so take Jon out and get an average chip stack.

It doesn’t all go my way, when down to 5 players, I raise A-3o against Simon’s BB only for him to shove all-in. Despite having put in 1/3 of my stack, I can’t call and he shows A-K to confirm my feeling of being well behind. Simon goes on a bit of a run himself and starts hitting flops and quickly goes from short stack to joint chip lead.

Down to four players and I’m shoving my 3 BB UTG Lee umms and ahhhs but takes a chance to try and win my bounty, showing his 7-5 against my Q-7 What goes around, comes around and the first card that hit’s the flop is a 5 which is good enough to take me out in 4th and Lee gets another bounty (he took out Derek as well)

Derek is down to 1.5 BB but goes on a run and gets it up to about 4 BB before being taken out by Lee, who also takes out Simon the next hand to take a well fought victory and his second cash on two attempts this year!

Well done all, it was a great game and very enjoyable as normal.

Cars: Goodwood Festival of Speed

2011-07-04T18:32:00.001+01:00

Last time we went to Goodwood Festival of Speed was 3 years ago (didn’t know it was that long ago!)

We only decided on the Friday that we were going Sunday, so all a bit rushed. We left home around 8:30am but hit huge traffic jam before Petworth but otherwise was pretty clear. In the end we got there about 10:30am. with Lynn’s blue badge we were luckily able to park in the disabled parking area and got a lift to the gate Sadly we had to queue for about half hour to collect our tickets on the gate but got through eventually.

We had a nice walk about and good look at lots of cars then had lunch, looked at some more cars, had a snack and cup of tea, looked at more cars then had another cup of tea…. so a brilliant day Lynn was worn out by about 3pm, so we ended up leaving early, but we did at least miss the traffic going home.

The only small problem I had was that I recorded some video on my phone of some great sounding sports cars going out to race, but seems I didn’t save it ! Bit annoying but means I’ll have to go again to re-do the recording Got some photos of them though…

We didn’t get time to look at many cars going up the hill itself, so (as every year we go) I think next time we need to go for a weekend, one day walking around and one day watching the hill climb !!

Anyways, here’s a few more random pictures of the event………

Poker: Farnborough club report

2011-07-02T13:40:00.001+01:00

As a warm-up for UKIPT Brighton in couple of weeks, decided to play the £40 tournament last night at Sovereign Poker club in North Camp.

Jon and Jock were able to join me and the 50 odd other people attending.

First hand I’m in the SB and look down at AA ! With 3 limpers decide to raise and 3 of us see the flop of Q92 rainbow. I lead out and three of us see the 8 turn. I lead out with pot size bet and get re-raised all-in, the button gets out the way. I have to fold and villain show’s pocket 2’s so got away cheaply on that one!

I play pretty tight passive as the table is quite loose, so when I get AKo UTG I decide to limp and 5 see the flop of JJJ ! I decide to lead out and two of us see the Q turn. We both check the turn and river of 9 Of course the villian has KT so he takes the pot with a str8 !

On the break :

Mike 11’350
Jon 25’500
Jock 17’600

Later on I do manage to win a small pot when I bet out with a flush draw on the flop, but then get moved to a different table. (hate that!) First hand Im in the BB with rubbish hand, and it folds to SB who raises, so I call. He leads the K-x-x flop and I re-raise and he folds, for which I was eternally grateful, but just felt he was having a go at my blind so seemed a good spot to be aggressive

We get some more players as tables break up and the drunk fellow who was sitting next to me joined my table 4 seats to my left. He was a likable chap and very chatty, but too chatty as he was basically telling everyone what his hand was. When it was his BB decided to have a crack at it with 6-5o so raised. All folded to the drunk guy, but he called. The flop came something like Q-5-2 so when he checked I put in cBet, but he reraised. I was always folding, but then he started telling me he had a good hand… so but I was folding anyway and he shows a Q Next hand he gets it allin on flop A-8-6 with 8-8 but found himself up against A-A which turned Quads, so a good safe source of chips was gone!

With blinds at 600/300 and me down to 7500 I’m looking for a shot to shove. It folds to me in the CO and look down at A-J so decide to shove… sadly the button woke up with A-K and reraised and I was out at around 10:30pm !

As it was early joined the cash table. Jock soon came over to watch but Jon lasted until 14th. Only the top 5 paid out, so we all went home empty handed.

Well, having said that…. on the cash game (£1/£2), I was playing pretty OK. There was 1 loose player seeing 90% flops despite any action and only leading out with top pair or better… but the other 7 players seemed pretty tight/solid. I was a bit up and down before getting a good win and being about £30 up… but few hands later played a hand really stupidly and dropped about £50.. I basically had nothing and should’ve folded flop, but decided to rep the flush draw, but when the draw came on the river, bottled out and checked, so the villain won the hand with one pair! (guess he would’ve folded if I’d bet river as I planned.. really annoyed with myself!)

Later on, I decided to call a really tight player raise (probably the first raise he’d made in an hour) so knew I was well behind with my Q-Td The flop came A-8-4 (2 diamonds) so when villain checks, being pretty sure he is still ahead shoved all-in. He dwells up for a while, so I’m guessing he doesn’t have an A, sure enough he calls and shows Q-Q ! I knew I didn’t really want the call, but luckily hit my flush and took huge pot. Villain was having a bit of a Andy about it (a good moan ) so after another couple of hands decided to leave! As it happens it was gone midnight and I ended up £65 down for the tournament entry, but £75 up on the cash… so £10 profit for the night (it paid for the beers!)

Overall, I was pretty happy with my play in both the Tournament and Cash so was a good practise session for me. I don’t think my hourly win rate will be good enough for a career as Poker Pro, (about £2.50 p/hr, although it is the minimum rate for an apprentice, which seems quite fitting ) so won’t be giving up my day job anytime soon

Poker: Financial results for June 2011 and half year thoughts

2011-06-30T21:49:00.001+01:00

What I forgot to mention in my May 2011 results report was the satellites for the UKIPT in Brighton, so June did end up being a bit disrupted from my normal routine in the end...

Plan

Monitor

Overall results for the month:-

Pokerstars : +$23.11 (normal play)
: -£106.50 (UKIPT satellites)
Black Belt Poker: +$0.28 (£0.17)
Live play : -£40

My Pokerstars results were 4 wins from 6x 8 game STT. The UKIPT results were a little disappointing, having played 7 sats in total I bubbled once but didn't come close the other times. I'm still playing the UKIPT as I have tucked away the buy-in in my piggy bank under the mattress :)

The BBP results break down as follows:

Cash results (-£60.23 loss overall)

NL Holdem ($0.50) 1203 hands -£17.92
PL Omaha ($0.20) 1137 hands -£7.32
PL Omaha HiLo ($0.20) 481 hands -£34.99

Tournament Results (+£60.40 profit overall)

6x MTT +£6.37
1x 2 seat STT -£6.40
3x 6 seat STT -£56.92
8x 10 seat STT +£117.35

Reflect

I managed to play the target number of hands for NL HE and PLO and near enough PLO8 (Hi-low) as well, so was pleased with hitting that target. What wasn't quite so good was the losses incurred, although I'm not too worried by the small losses. The PLO8 was a bit more annoying as I dropped the whole amount of the loss in about 20 hands on one session but otherwise was about breakeven. Overall reasonably content with the cash results but obviously want to get into positive results over the next few months, so some work still to do there.

My STT play suffered this month again, playing only 12 games. My results are pretty OK so just need to get plugging away

I just now need to get more consistent in my playing routine and also do a bit more work on my cash games to make sure I can consistently get into profit.

Adjust

July I will be focussing on preparing for UKIPT, so wont be having a normal first couple of weeks, but in the second two weeks should be able to get some cash games in. I need to spend more time on my learning activities as been a bit lax in catching up with my viewing of the Deuces Cracked videos downloaded.

References

Six month summary

Of course end June marks the end of the first half of this year, so wanted to summarize my half year results for BBP

The six month BBP result is a loss for six months -£42.98

This is broken down as:

Cash results (-£439.59 loss overall)

NL Holdem ($0.50) 5829 hands -£173.86
PL Omaha ($0.20) 3876 hands -£149.39
PL Omaha HiLo ($0.20) 1457 hands -£116.34

Tournament Results (+£396.61 profit overall)

59x MTT           +£365.73
54x   2 seat STT   -£10.11
56x   6 seat STT   -£64.25
3x 7-9 seat STT    -39.10
54x 10 seat STT +£144.34

I was actually quite surprised by my six month figures. I was aware my cash results would be down and tourneys up, but didn't realise it would be more or less breakeven. I also expected my 6 seat STT results to have been better, so just shows how important looking at the financial results are !

Music: latest additions

2011-06-10T12:49:00.001+01:00

After watching them on Jools Holland’s Later, I decided to buy a couple of CD’s

Seasick Steve : You can’t teach an old dog new tricks

It’s a good Seasick Steve album, so if you liked his previous work you will like his latest album. Little bit of everything you would expect, slow tracks, fast tracks and a little chat at the end….

Friendly Fires: Pala

I had the impression the Friendly Fires were kind of soft rocky kindof vibe… but the album is pretty consistently smooth, soulful and pretty laid back. My main criticism is that there is no one standout track, its all pretty similar. I do actually like the whole album, but is more a CD you would play at a family party for background or a bit of jigging about to perhaps. I’ve only listened to it a couple of times, so hopefully it’s a “grower”

Whilst I was in the CD shop, I also came across a couple of CDs in the bargain bins so bought two Scissor Sisters albums as well

Scissor Sisters: Ta-Dah

Bit disappointed with this album. It’s got a couple of the classic tracks, but the rest are OK to mediocre. It was worth the £4 I paid for it though,

Scissor Sisters :Night Work

Again got a couple of classic tracks which are great, but mos tthe other tracks are also pretty decent, so overall of the two Albums, I think this the better one. Also a great bargain at £3

General: New Bathroom–planning stage

2011-06-05T19:29:00.001+01:00

Now the kitchen has been completed, it’s already time for our next project which is to refit the bathroom !

We want the work to commence when we’re away for a few days, so although it’ll take two weeks to do the job, at least we’ll miss most of the hassle and mess.

Our main criteria for the new bathroom is we want to fit in a bath with shower above. Also wanted to make best use of space as the bathroom is pretty small..

So small, that even with wide angle lens, is tricky to get good pictures of what it looks like now!

First thing is to find a supplier, so got three quotes:

1. Oakwood Bespoke

We are happy with the work they did on the Kitchen, so are an obvious choice for doing the bathroom as well

The plan they came up with looked good and quote was just within our budget. Only concern was a small lack of attention to detail and not entirely convinced the layout will work in practise. Obviously can get the plan changed to allay any concerns if we wanted, but also not all that impressed by the showroom facilities, as you can’t really see everything you’re getting “in the flesh” before you commit.

2. Stone & Chrome

We have spoken to them for work on a previous house and were impressed by Jim’s enthusiasm and technical knowledge, so wanted to give them an opportunity again

The plan looked good and the price was bang on budget (with stone rather than ceramic tiles as well!). Visiting the showroom you can see all the bits and pieces in situ and certainly got the impression that all the materials are good quality and will be fitted by appropriately skilled craftsmen.

My only concern was that they do seem very busy (which is probably a good thing overall) and although the original quote turned up within the time Jim indicated (just) I had to chase them up for the re-quote.

3. NPP Installations

We got their details from CheckaTrade.com and they seemed to have a lot of good reviews, so got them in as well.

They seemed to be skilled technicians and am sure any job they do will be well thought out and well fitted. Despite the quote being only about 60% of the other two, it was disappointing that there was no plan, artists impression or scale drawings of any kind… the only thing we got was a list of materials and costs. Also there was no offer to see the materials being proposed, so can’t get a feel for the type of quality being quoted for.

We had this with small one/two man small companies with the kitchen quotes as well…. although you are sure it would all end up OK, all the detail are in the builders head and you have to explicitly trust a stranger with a great deal of responsibility. Employing this kind of company seem to be similar to buying the stuff yourself from Wickes or B&Q and just getting them to fit it. I can understand why they don’t have time to do all the fancy stuff on the quote, so it’s not a criticism as such, but sadly for us means we can’t even consider them for the job.

So our short list was Stone & Chrome or Oakwood. It was a close decision as both had pro’s and con’s, but in the end the enthusiasm and knowledge of Jim and Mel swung it for us, so have placed our order with them. The fitting will commence in July, so will do an update once work has commenced.

General: The Vyne (National Trust)

2011-06-05T18:17:00.001+01:00

Julie and Sean came down to visit today. What with one thing and another, it’s been a long time since we saw each other, so was nice to get together.

We first went out to our local Sunday carvery, The Ely which we’ve been to before (and was nice, albeit standard meal), then onto The Vyne, whch is a National Trust house and gardens.

Despite the weather being intermittent light rain, we managed to dodge the worst of it whilst walking around the walled garden and house, and even managed to squeeze in a cake stop inside the restaurant to escape the drab weather.

Julie got excited to see the chickens and managed to buy some plants in the shop.

It must be a family trait, as Julie also insisted on having an ice cream before we left, as we didn’t have a pudding with lunch (I didn’t object to strongly )

On the way home, the rain started in earnest, so timed it just right !

Next time, we’ll have to make a day of it as didn’t get a chance to go round the gardens very much (and maybe try to go on a sunny day) but in any case a lovely trip out and interesting to see the house and some of the grounds.

General: new kitchen–week 4

2011-06-03T12:39:00.000+01:00

We had obviously expected the job to take three weeks, so is a little frustrating to not have a completed kitchen and go into a fourth week, especially with the end so close and in sight.

We didn’t want to “move in” to the kitchen until it was done, otherwise you get in the way and everything gets messy…. so we were very happy when the fitter came back on Tuesday to complete the cupboards and fir the appliances (at last we have a fridge!!) and then the builder came on Thursday to finish off the radiator, skirting, etc. and we even got the driveway cleared of the rubbish on Thursday as well !

So in the fourth week, I have pleasure in declaring this kitchen now OPEN

Of course it’s one thing getting your kitchen back, but another to actually get everything sorted out! We did start putting stuff back into the cupboards on Wednesday afternoon/evening, then took Lynn all afternoon Thursday to unpack all the pots, pans, crockery, etc and find a home for it. I managed to put the clock up as well !

We have a couple of small things to get sorted, there is a wobbly electric socket (Oakwood are sorting out) and also need to get someone in to put up the blinds (yes I really am that screwdriver phobic ) but otherwise, as at Thursday night, we are fully moved in and using the Kitchen now.

So were there any lessons to be learned ?

I didn't like having to pay the whole balance up front, despite the monies and finished work being guarenteed. At the time it made sense, but made me uneasy throughout the process.
Certainly didn't like having to order all the appliances and radiator myself. In some respects it makes sense as I could order precisely what we wanted and get it cheaper, but added additional areas for mis-understanding or dispute if something is not as expected, and the whole project is not under the installers control (which was one of the things I really wanted and had expected)
Having the rubbish sitting on the drive wasn't ideal, especially as the third week was very windy! I was expecting them to put a skip on the drive, so just leaving it loose on the drive would cause us and the neighbours inconvinience if stuff blew everywhere. I guess this was a cost shaving exercise but seems a false economy to me.
Oakwood Bespoke didn't really seem to be doing any project management. I have no idea what they did behind the scenes, but would have certainly have liked a courtesy call at the end of each week or even an inspection visit to see how things were looking. Perhaps they just trust their sub-contractors that much they don't need to inspect, but seemed it was up to me to keep an eye on things and make sure they were on schedule.

Overall though, everything went pretty smoothly and worked out to give us the end result we were expecting, so have to give Oakwood credit for doing a good job.

In the end we are both very pleased with the result and have got new matching kettle, bread bin, etc to go with the new kitchen so everything is nice, shiny, clean and new.

Of course it's easy to love a brand new kitchen before you've really used it, but first impressions are great and we are really happy with how it's turned out. I guess the real proof of the pudding is in a couple of months time to see how we have adapted to the new layout and new equipment, but for the moment at least we are delighted :)

Poker: Home Tourney–June 2011

2011-06-03T07:51:00.001+01:00

The quarterly £10 special is always an interesting game and one I always make special effort to win. Despite being only 9 players (or perhaps because of it), this time was no exception.

I start off cautiously as normal and the whole table seems to be playing fairly tight, except Sean who needs his 2nd chance within 10 minutes ! His refreshed stack of chips lasts….. less than 10 minutes so Sean is out just on the end of level 1 !!

My stack is going down with no real hands to play. I limp in a couple of times, but not really getting anywhere. I play aggressive against Simon on my right when we are Blind V Blind and my K high manages to win a pot! My good fortune comes on the last hand before the break when I limp in with Q-Ts and see the K-J-9 flop (with two spades) Alex shoves, I call, then Andy shoves behind me… happy days ! Alex has one pair, but Andy’s two pair gives me a sweat and I don’t really need the flush that comes for me on the end, but have won a huge pot and am chip leader going into the break.

After the break, play is a still quite cautious on the whole table so with chips to burn I open up a bit and end up making steady progress.. maintaining my chip lead by hitting cards and taking out Derek and Andy. After that I quieten down a bit as can sit back to wait for a hand.

It’s surprisingly quick when we get down to three players, with two levels left to play. I have about half the chips and Karen and Darren are about even. The chips move around the table a bit, then after Darren folds, I raise Karen with A-Qo and she calls. The A-8-5 flop looks good for me, but with two hearts on the board I bet out, with Karen calling. The heart on the turn makes me nervous so check and get even more nervous when Karen puts in a sizeable bet… so after tanking for a while, decide to fold…. making Karen chip leader!

A few hands later I am short stack with 12’000 chips (blinds 2000/1000) and after Darren folds, I raise my SB against Karen again… this time with 9-6o (hoping to take the blinds) but Karen calls. The K-9-4 flop looks good for me, so bet 3000 but Karen calls. I am ready to give up, but the 6 on the turn makes me think I’m ahead so put in another 3000 with about 4000 behind. After much deliberation Karen calls again. The T on the river doesn’t change my plan of shoving the rest of my chips in, and again Karen calls…… showing Q-T (!!) Phew, thought I might be in trouble, but am now safely chip leader again.

After I can be a bit more aggressive and take a few blinds/small pots (You were right Darren, I was bluffing the 5 on the turn ) and am back up to having half the chips.

In the last level of blinds (4000/2000) no-one can really afford to give away their blind, so Darren and Karen are soon all in against each other, with Darren taking Karen out at the start of the last level.

We both have around 25’000 chips and about 15 mins to go, so a bit of play left in the game… however after a couple of hands Darren raises 10’000 with A-8o and I shove my 4-4 and we have a race for the winner…. luckily for me, my 4-4 holds up and I take it down.

Phew, it was a great game and am very happy to have won it as it was a very tough fight all the way through.

It also makes the league standings very interesting, as with half the season gone, the top 7 players are separated by only 10 points, so all to play for !

Well played all, see you next time…

Poker: Financial results for May 2011

2011-06-01T17:19:00.000+01:00

May was intended to a month where I knuckle down and hit my BBP targets, but also had the distraction of SCOOP games, so how did May fair financially…

Plan

Monitor

Overall results for the month:-

Pokerstars : -$54.89
Black Belt Poker: +$396.83 (£240.57)
Live play : £0

My Pokerstars games were all SCOOP related, bar one 8 game STT. I’ve already talked about my SCOOP results, so nothing more to add really….

The BBP results break down as follows:

Cash results (£145.76 loss overall)

NL Holdem ($0.50) 1095 hands -£64.33
PL Omaha ($0.20) 1025 hands -£68.25
PL Omaha HiLo ($0.20) 170 hands -£13.18

Tournament Results (£386.33 profit overall)

10x MTT +£474.55
10x 2 seat STT -£17.83
3x 6 seat STT -£37.19
4x 10 seat STT -£33.20

Reflect

I managed to play the target number of hands for NL HE and PLO and even made some PLO8 (Hi-low) as well, so the effort was put in. The results were not great, but also not too bad all things considered. The NLHE equates to 2 buy-ins (around $100) and know I am playing fairly steady. The PLO is more like 6 buy-ins but am still learning and analysis of the hands shows I just need to tighten up a little (same as last month!). The PLO8 I haven’t played much recently so was a little rusty, but the whole loss was from one bad table, so again don’t feel I did to badly over such a small number of hands.

Clearly need to work more on my cash game but feels under control and moving in the right direction (although I guess we’ll see whether my feeling is right or not over the next couple of months )

My STT play suffered this month due to time constraints. The 2 seater games are high variance, and can ignore the small loss there, and isn’t enough volume to be worried about the other STT.

Obviously my saviour for this month was my MTT games. I cashed 4 out of the 10 played, winning one for £470 ! Obviously a good result, but not sure I can repeat it every month.

Adjust

June is expected to be a “normal” month, so hope to get the hands/games played during the month, but also hope I get back to better results!

I’m keen to get more STT volume as well as maintain my cash volume, which should be doable as will likely be playing less MTT anyway (BBP league has finished)

I do really need to focus my cash game, PLO in particular, to try and get better/consistent overall results. Although I do analyse my sessions afterwards, probably need to spend more time thinking about the hands and also try to fit in more time for the training videos I have put to one side but not got around to watching yet

References

General: new Kitchen–week 3

2011-05-27T19:19:00.001+01:00

After the hectic activity of the last couple of weeks in the kitchen, this week seemed quite relaxed pace, although it seems they are pulling things apart again!

We had tested out the washing machine thoroughly over the weekend and it definately works :) It is surprising how much we take our modern conviniences for granted these days ! We also noticed one ceiling light wasn't working, so emailed Jonathan who responded within the hour (which was good) to say they thought a bulb had gone so were ordering one and would be in by the end of the week. I thought was just weird, as there is a specialist light shop four doors up from them, or if they were too expenseive they would have to drive past Homebase to get to us and am wondering why they are having to order a light bulb from their supplier! Still, it's not a biggie just seemed a bit odd to me.

We had the tilers turn up on Monday morning, they had a lunch break and left around 5pm, but had completed the wall tiles and grouting and laid most of the floor tiles. They came back Tuesday morning for an hour or so to finish laying the floor tiles, then came back for a couple of hours in the afternoon to do the grouting and they were done already ! We're pleased with the results so far, but now the finish is in sight, starting to get impatient for it to be all done and dusted now.

The tilers were scheduled to take three days, so not expecting anyone in on Wednesday.

Thursday sees the painting get underway and also fitting the radiator. It takes most of the day for the two chaps to cover all the worksurfaces, cupboards, floor, etc but eventually start painting about 3pm. There also seems to be a bit missing from the radiator, but they just asked for the order details and called up the supplier to sort it out. They then went off at 3:45pm after giving ceiling first coat, so they're having an easy day today it seems.

Friday and the painting is underway again. After a solid day’s work the two chaps have managed to finish the painting and we’ve got our kitchen back again

So at the end of week 3, the kitchen is finished on schedule – right ? Errrrr, No !

The fitter needs to come back again to finish off the cupboards and fit the tumble dryer and fridge/freezer, then the builders need to come back to finish off the brickwork, box in the pipes and fit the radiator “widget”

So we are now pretty close to being totally finished, but of course being a bank holiday weekend we have just got to be a bit patient over the three days, then things should be finished off Tuesday afternoon by the fitter and whenever the radiator widget turns up by the builders…… at least we should be able to “move in” again on Wednesday…. fingers crossed !

The good news is that Lynn is pleased with the results and says it looks bigger and brighter

Can start to think about buying the new kettle, toaster, chairs, etc now…..

Poker: SCOOP-37 (6 Max NL Hold’em, low stakes) report

2011-05-22T12:23:00.001+01:00

This is my 4th and final attempt at this years SCOOP events. After last nights failure to make any impact, I’m hopeful a return to No Limit Hold’em will see a bit more of an effort on my part

It’s kicking off at a very reasonable 3pm UK time, so means I can watch the Spanish Grand Prix beforehand

Its $200’000 Guaranteed and with 10’000 chips to start and 15 minute clock, will be a very interesting game and hard slog I’m sure. It’s really galling but there is a 3 hour extended registration, so won’t even know how many players there are until 6pm !! Really don’t like that, but never mind…

On the 3pm kickoff we start with 10’102 players and I suddenly notice it’s a 2 day event ! Oh well, it might not be a problem anyway…

I’ve been a bit up and down, and moved tables 3 times in first 15 mins, but it stabilised out and at the first break there are 12’478 entries and I’m 2078 out of 10’309 remaining, with 15’746 chips against 12’075 average.

Halfway through next session, got K-K on button and raised, SB re-raised and BB called, so 4 bet and only SB called. Flop came 8-4-2 and SB who has about pot left in his stack chk/raised all-in so I called and sure enough he had AA ! I’m down to around 6k now

I didn’t stage an immediate recovery, so on 2nd break, there are15’386 entries and I’m 8889th from 9408 remaining with 4690 chips and 16’307 average. With blinds at 250/125 and 30 ante, my M=8.5 so can’t afford to hang around too long before getting stuck in!

Soon after the break I get 2-2 in BB and see standard raise and a caller, so decide good chance I might get both to fold or if called to be flipping… so shoved. In the end the initial raised folded, but caller had Q-Q The Q on the flop was not really needed so the 2 on the river didn’t help and I’m out in 9’368th place out of 15’673 runners.

I didn’t play too badly, but running my KK into AA really crippled me, so was always struggling after that, needing to double up to get back to a comfortable position.

Overall my SCOOP didn’t go as planned at all, as couldn’t find the satellites into the middle stakes games that I really wanted to play, and with the games themselves being re-buys seemed to be a lot of wilder play than you would expect in freezeouts. I’m quite pleased with my NL HE heads up game, and reasonably contented with the cash in my 8 game effort, just a bit unfortunate I didn’t win more than I laid out…

Hopefully when the WCOOP comes along later in the year (assuming there is one!) things will have settled down and the organizers will be more organized and I’ll be more organized so will be able to satellite into the bigger events as intended this time round. (Last time I played WCOOP was good result, so roll on September )

Poker: SCOOP-36 (HORSE, low stakes) report

2011-05-21T19:00:00.001+01:00

It’s time for another pop at a SCOOP game, this time HORSE. After my 8 Game min-cash, it would be nice to make the money again…

Its $25’000 Guaranteed and starts with with 1247 runners, but again has 2 hours registration after it’s kicked off and again they’re running satellites that kick off up to 1 minute before the official start time….

We have 5’000 chips to start and 8 minute clock, so can sit back, relax, watch Saturday night TV as normal and play Poker… great stuff

First break there are 2277 entrants, and I’m 2073rd of 2239 remaining, with 2581 chips (avg 5075) so not a great start for me. Haven’t been playing all that badly, just not been hitting the cards and there are so many players going to river you need a hand in order to win it ! Hope my cards get better in the next session….

Not long after the break I get a bad run of good cards and end up out in 2337th place with 2412 entrants. Real shame as I didn’t think I was playing poorly, just got a bit unlucky (mind you, I probably would think that even if I played like a pansy ) Oh well, at least I’ve finished early enough to have a few drinks now and relax for the evening.

I’ve got another shot at SCOOP glory tomorrow, so can look forward to that now.

Poker: SCOOP-29 (8 Game, low stakes) report

2011-05-19T16:00:00.001+01:00

My first SCOOP event was nearly a cash for me, but 8 game is a different kettle of fish…. (hopefully there will be a lot of fish )

I tried to satellite in using my points, but with one turbo and 2 hyper turbo attempts was not lucky enough to win my seat, so had to fork out to enter!!

I was a little disappointed to see the event become a 2 hour rebuy, rather than a freeze out, but with $50’000 Guarantee and only 879 players at the allotted kick off time, I can see why they decided to do it…. in fact, so desperate to get players loaded up, they were even kicking off several Satellite games 2 mins before the start time !!

We start with 5’000 chips and 8 minute clock, so no hurry to start with at least..

I take it steady and no big drama’s (apart from moving tables 3 times in about 15 mins!) On the NL Hold’em round I’m in SB and button raises to 250 so I fold my QJo but BB calls. I’m gutted to see K-T-9 flop, then the BB check/raises all-in and the button calls and shows A-A vs A-2 ! Dammit, would’ve nearly tripled up had I called (did think about it, but did make right choice of course….)

At the first break, I’m 158th from 1539 players left (1652 entrants) with 8017 chips and 5355 average, so not too bad so far

Second break I’ve had a reasonable run… so am now 72nd from 1513 runners (2073 entries) and have 14’104 chips against 6844 average.

The buy-ins stopped just after 2nd break and we have total of 2100 runners, giving $63’000 prize pool ($9900 for first place) paying down to 300th place

Playing un-imaginative poker but hitting hands… had great hand in Omaha HiLo and now at third break am 16th from 846 remaining. 32’844 chips against 12’411 average

NL Holdem round, got a bit lucky with 9-9 against J-J, then next hand lost 4-4 vA-Q against shorty stack and then 5-5 vs 7-6 short stack, so back to where I was Blinds going up and had couple of bad hands on 72 triple draw… down to average chips (appx 20k) Have better Omaha HiLo round and so on 4th break am 110th from 423 and 33’998 chips with average 24’822

Doing OK, got up to about 55k but then mistakes and missed draws start getting expensive and am pleased to get into the money with around 48k

5th break sees me 105th out of 250 remaining and 43k chips just above 42k average. $52.92 guaranteed now

On restart I get a run of poor cards in Limit Holdem where my A-K vs 5-3s gets trashed then my A-T vs 9-8s gets rivered and with 4 BB left decide to stick it in with A-4 to find myself against A-6 (which hits trip 6’s on the turn!)

So my run has ended finishing in 216th place and got $61.11 for my trouble.

I’m pleased to have cashed, but a little disappointed to have nose dived so rapidly from an average stack to nothing. Did feel I got a bit unlucky in the end, so will take comfort from feeling I played well as I could.

Will have a bit of a rest tomorrow, then have a pop at the HORSE game Saturday

Music: Katy Perry and Kate Bush

2011-05-19T12:57:00.000+01:00

What do Katy Perry and Kate Bush have in common ?

So far as I know nothing, other than similar first name and that I bought their CDs on Monday (I seem to be buying a lot of Female Solo artists recently… must be my age or something)

Katy Perry : Teenage Dreams

What can I say about Katy Perry’s album ? Well, I was already familiar with 4 of the 12 tracks, so the album was exactly what I had anticipated…. a good pop album with catchy tunes and a little edge to some of the tracks, so happy with this one and if you like Katy Perry then you’ll like the album

Kate Bush: Directors Cut

I like Kate Bush and am old enough to remember seeing her on Top Of The Tops. I knew this album was essentially a remix of some tracks from “The Sensual World” and" “The Red Shoes” albums, but have not previously heard either so was all new to me.

All the tracks are well produced, well played and well sung (as you would expect) but was actually quite disappointed with the album. For me it lacks the drama and sparkle of the songs I remember and the albums I have (The Whole Story and Lionheart)

I’m sure it will be a big hit with Kate die hard fans, but for casual acquaintances like me, I wish I had waited to hear some of the tracks and read reviews before buying it……

Gadgets: new Phone–Samsung Galaxy Ace

2011-05-19T12:41:00.000+01:00

I’ve been thinking about getting a new phone for a while now, so whilst out shopping saw a special offer on the Samsung Galaxy Ace and so went for it !

The main attractions for me where actually to firstly use as a music player… my 20GB iPod is bulky, heavy and no longer enough capacity… plus also really want to get Sat Nav functionality for on foot and in car use. For a very reasonable monthly rate (special deal for existing Virgin Media customers) the Galaxy Ace seems to give me this, as well as basic phone use as well of course (always seems to be forgotten with smart phones these days!)

Like most Techy’s, I got the phone home and downloaded the use manual and quick start guide from the internet, then just sat and fiddled with the phone without reading the instructions As you would expect, everything is simple enough, although did have some weird issue setting up a google account (needed for most of the useful functionality!) but this was solved by a quick visit to google web site from the laptop. I also had problem with installing Blogger App, in that it refuses to install but I’m not too fussed about that at this stage. Otherwise everything else was setup easily and seems to work fine so far.

The syncing between PC and Phone is easy as well, but although the Samsung Kies software used for this is easy enough (being an iTunes clone) it is a bit kluncy and seems to take forever to read my network drives (where all my media is stored) Guess will have to live with that

My only concern is from a security perspective… firstly I disabled the option to backup to Google as it stores not only my data, but also my secure network password, which seems a bit dodgy to me (call me paranoid, but don’t like that idea at all) I also ummed and ahhed about enabling the location tracking option as not sure I want google to track my movements. Was also a bit wary at first about allowing Apps access to my contacts, location information, write permission, system tools, etc… but seems all apps wants these permissions so you gotta go with the flow it seems.

Once I’d got everything installed and running, next thing is to order a 32GB card to store all my music and videos Got a 2GB card with the phone, but that just isn’t big enough!

I’m pretty much there now on the setup and will probably get around to reading the user manual sometime. I’m pretty impressed so far by the mapping and navigation Apps and can’t wait to try them out for real. The media and social networking apps will be useful for when I’m out and about and can even make phone calls as well

Holidays: Day trip to Brighton

2011-05-18T12:31:00.000+01:00

As the forecast was for it to be warm and sunny on Monday, decided to go to Brighton for the day.

It didn’t rain, but was actually quite chilly, especially in the wind when the sun went behind a cloud! Wasn’t warm enough to stay on the beach really, so ended up walking round The Lanes and trying to decide where to go for lunch.

For lunch we ended up at the Twisted Lemon which was quite nice place and nice food, so would certainly say its worth a visit if you fancied Burger, Rib or Chicken for lunch.

After another walk about the shops and on the Pier we came home the pretty route and stopped at Petworth for a nice cup of tea on the way home

Very pleasant day out indeed

General : New Kitchen–week 2

2011-05-18T08:36:00.001+01:00

After week one, we were keen to see something going back into the kitchen to get an idea what it would look like.

The second week saw me with two days holiday so we could get out the way of all the banging and dust. The fitter turned up on time and after we got him a cup of tea we went off to Brighton for the day. The fitter was having a bit of a rest as well as he said he needed to leave at lunchtime

Tuesday we had a shopping day planned in Basingstoke so we (Lynn more than me) were a bit peeved that despite ringing at 9:25am to say he’d be half hour, the fitter didn’t turn up until 11am ! We had a good trip out, walked round all the shops, had a nice Pizza Hut buffet lunch (absolutely stuffed my face with pizza and pasta!) then waddled around a few more shops and signed up to my new mobile phone The kitchen wasn’t looking much more than a building site still

Wednesday the fitter was working hard all day and we can start to see the shape of the kitchen emerging. I was working from home all day and did get a little disturbed by the banging and sawing but not too bad.

Thursday saw a lot of progress and the cooker went in, so starting to get exciting!

Friday we had the Electricians back in the morning, followed by the fitter who worked until 7pm so was doing sterling work and got the sink in place as well now. The exciting news is that the Cooker, Sink and even the Washing Machine are all ready now…. although we’ll probably only be using the washing machine over this weekend!!

Despite best efforts, the fitter is back Saturday to finish off…. although he turned up at 9:30am and didn’t leave until 6pm, so a long day of finishing off for him ! The result is for us to have a kitchen that looks like a kitchen now

We also have the dishwasher ready for use now, so we can start getting back to normal now… although despite being told we can fill the draws and cupboards, we’re going to leave it until the kitchen is finished. We’re kind of used to having our lives disrupted so not really worried by filling the kettle up from outside or the dust, but are glad things are coming together on schedule still and are looking forward to getting back to normal properly, which will hopefully be this time next week.

General: The Bird In Hand pub

2011-05-15T17:27:00.001+01:00

Being forced to eat out more we went to The Bird In Hand pub in Little Sandhurst for lunch today.

Turned up at 12:30ish and found the restaurant area fully booked, but were able to eat in the bar. We both went for the Sunday Turkey Roast. It turned up pretty quick and was very nice and good portion size.

Being in the bar was not ideal but not really a big deal, so taking into account the very reasonable price, was certainly good value for money and definitely worth going again.

Next time will need to book though, as the restaurant area is pretty small.

General: new Kitchen–part 1

2011-05-15T11:52:00.001+01:00

Preparation

You would think buying a new kitchen would be a straightforward process, if you’re prepared to pay someone else to do it all… well it still takes some sweat and hassle, plus definitely a load of upheaval whilst it’s being fitted!

We first decided to get some quotes in November last year and had three kitchen companies come round to give us quotes. Not having any real idea of what we wanted, neither in terms of layout nor colour schemes, make this a bit trickier than imagined… with most of our decisions being made on-the-fly with the designer.

In the end we decided to postpone the fitting until May, so the weather would be nicer, but had basically decided to go with the design from Oakwood Bespoke. One of the attractions was that this company would be doing everything for us, as well as being the best design solution from our vague description of what we wanted!

Come March, we finally ordered our new kitchen for installation commencing 9th May. First problem (once we had signed the order and handed over the deposit) was that Oakwood told us they couldn’t match the internet prices for the appliances we wanted so had to order them ourselves. This was a bit irritating as I didn’t want the hassle/risk and was certainly under the impression Oakwood were going to do the ordering of everything for us.

After a little moan, I ordered everything in plenty of time for the install date, but meant we had to clear out the garage about a month before in order to store everything as it arrived. The only other slight concern pre-installation was having to pay the balance of the order a week before fitting.

For the appliances we need to buy, we ended up ordering:

Rangemaster Classic 90 Dual Fuel Range Cooker and hood from http://www.cookersandovens.co.uk/home.php

Smeg Fridge Freezer which we bought from http://www.appliancecity.co.uk/

Bosch Tumble Drier from http://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/

Ascari Contemporary Radiator from http://www.traderadiators.com/

We didn’t have any issues with any of the company’s products or deliveries (although have only tested the Tumble Dryer so far!) so that worked out OK it seems. We are keeping our existing Bosch Washing Machine and Dishwasher as we only bought them when we moved in 18 months ago.

The schedule of works to do the install is three weeks, week one stripping out and plastering, week two fitting cabinets, week three tiling and painting/finishing. Three weeks of eating microwave meals, takeaways and eating out…. could be worse I suppose…

Week One

The first day of the installation duly arrived and we had cleared out the kitchen the weekend before. We have got some breakfast cereal, bread, milk and fruit on our dinning room table which is now our larder and the kettle/tea/coffee setup on a table in the conservatory, along with as much keep fit gear as we could fit in. The garage is the fitters storage area and the shed is full of our crockery, pot/pans, etc. Washing up is achieved by filling a bowl from the outside tap… which is about the closest we want to get to a camping experience!

The first two days I was working normally in the office upstairs and we were adjusting our normal daily life to fit in with the builders OK, although had to dig out a few things from the boxes in the shed as we found we had been overzealous in packing away

The Wednesday I had taken as holiday and then worked from home at a friends house for the Thursday/Friday to keep away from the mess and noise as much as possible. This worked very well, although was keen to get back that Saturday in some ways to see how the work was progressing. We did get a call from Oakwood on Friday to say they couldn’t get hold of our wall tiles in time, so we would need to go back to Tile Warehouse to pick an alternative!

On getting home on the Saturday, there was no need for worry as the house seemed intact and work looked like it was on track.

There was a lot of dust about though so was nice to get out the house as much as possible over the weekend. We went to the Tile Warehouse and found some identical tiles to the ones we originally ordered and they were in stock, so no real issue there either.

The only other negative experience so far is that they are dumping all the rubbish directly onto our driveway and will not be collected until the Kitchen is finished, so will be there three weeks !

So apart from a few minor niggles, everything seems on schedule and going to plan…. lets hope week two goes as smoothly.

Poker: SCOOP-07 (low stakes) report

2011-05-10T20:36:00.001+01:00

My reduced schedule for Pokerstars SCOOP finally started today, with the No Limit Hold’em Heads Up game

My luck started out well, when at the 2nd attempt to win my seat in a 10 seater freeroll (well it actually cost me 150 FPP, which I don’t use for anything else) I managed to win the STT and therefore win my seat in the Low Stakes SCOOP-07 event, effectively for nothing

It started at 7pm UK time, with 10’695 entrants ! With the $15+1.5 entry fee, this gives $160’000 prize fund, of which £21’000 is for the winner. 1’024 get paid.

The structure is to start with 5000 chips and 50/25 blinds, which increase every 5 mins, so quite a deep stack HU tournament.

At first I wasn’t sure what was happening as I didn't have an opponent to play on my table, then it became clear that I had a bye to the 2nd round in order to get the number of players to a power of 2 (8192) Nice start to the tournament.

Only problem is that I end up waiting until gone 8pm before I actually got to play in round 2! First hand my opponent nearly times out… then he sits out for 10 hands, then seems to be very slow to respond…. great !! Eventually it all settled down, and I managed to run good and overcome my opponent in around 25 mins of play… now just got to sit and wait until we’re down to 4096 players for round 3 to start

At last round 3 starts at 9:07pm. Definitely a pain having to wait so long between rounds!! This time, I get a very aggro opponent and it’s all over in 3 hands… and I’m though to round 4 already Got to watch most of The Apprentice whilst waiting, another result

Round 4 starts at 10:06pm and if I can get through this match, then I’m in the money! All is going pretty good, although is a tough match. Then a key hand occurs when I get A-A in BB and raise after the villain completes the button, but he calls. The flop of 9-5-2 looks fairly safe (but the villain will have a wide range here) so with 2 diamonds on the board decide to lead out and get called. The 8d isn’t a great card, but with 1900 in the pot and the villain only with 2100 left, we’re likely to get all-in one way or another, but would rather see the river first so check. The villain bets half his stack, so it’s going all-in and I shove and sure enough he calls and shows Ad4c making me 70% to win the hand and the match…. sadly the Jd river ruins my night and I’m down to 3750 chips. After that I stay focussed but find myself dribbling my stack away and with the blinds increasing every 5 mins, inevitably I am down to 12 BB and have to shove/fold. After a couple of hands my T-2 shove gets called by Q-J and it’s all over.

Officially I’m out in 1162nd place.

A little disappointing end to what was looking like a reasonable session, but can’t be too unhappy as it was a free shot and felt I played pretty well overall.

Poker: Home Tourney–May 2011

2011-05-06T07:59:00.001+01:00

Its Poker League time again. Seems to have come round quick this time, which is a good thing of course!

The table draw was a bit weird this month, in that I was on the “sensible” solid table with 6 players, and the other table of 7 was wild and raucous ! We had a total of 6 buy-ins on our table, but it was more like 6 buy-ins for everyone on the other table!

I had trouble getting off the ground and remained firmly below starting stack for a long time. As we got towards the end of rebuys I started pushing a bit more and got all-in with a flush draw, but was up against Karen’s pair and Simon with a higher flush draw ! Karen won that one, so both Simon and I had to double rebuy. On the last hand before the rebuy’s ended, I got another flush draw and stuck it all in, to be called by Andy with pocket A’s Unluckily for him, I hit this time and had a nice double up.

I was quite happy to have around average chips on the restart (about 6500) with Karen and Darren both on around 7000 and chip leaders on my table.

With no more rebuys and a few chips behind me, I was able to get a bit more aggressive and take some pots uncontested and eventually got to around 8000 chips and table chip lead.

Towards the end of level 4 the other table had a couple of bust outs, then level 5 saw some of our short stacks getting desperate, so Simon went all-in, Jon shoved and Andy re-shoved. Karen had the decision to make and ended up calling. No-one had a pair so when Karen hit one of her cards on the flop, it ended up being enough to take out 3 players in one hand! Simultaneously Alex was busted on the other table, so we were down to 7 players already and the final table.

On the final table I came in on the Big Blind, which was now 600 and only had around 6600 to start which was the shortest stack. Of course myself, Darren and Karen were relatively short stacked compared to the huge amounts of chips sloshing around the other table, so were always at a disadvantage, so not wishing to hang around, on my SB I make up the blind and see a flop with 3 others. The Qxx flop looks OK for my Q-T so shove my 9 big blinds. Both Roger and Derek call, but then check the turn and river, so am hoping I’m ahead, but Rogers K-Q takes the pot and knocks me out.

A couple of hands later, Darren (who was the other really short stack) got taken out by Jock

With everyone now having a decent amount of chips, it settles down for a while until the next blind levels (2000/1000) and then we see Steve W taken out by Roger and Jock by Derek in quick succession.

The remaining players have all got around the same amount of chips, so it’s game on. In the last level, Roger starts shoving a lot of hands but it takes until the last hand of normal time before Karen gets a better hand to call with and takes out Roger. Karen has a 2:1 chip lead and with Derek shoving each hand Karen has no choice than to fold her was to a well earned victory

Phew, what a game. There was brilliance and madness as well as the normal mix of fun and frivolity, must be the weather patterns or something in the water

Roll on next month!

General: New Inn pub

2011-05-02T14:16:00.001+01:00

One of our local pubs, The New Inn has recently re-opened after a refit and as it was Bank Holiday Monday and the Pub is part of the Hungry Horse chain… so seemed a good idea to take a leisurely stroll down there to see what they had done to it

As it turned out, the decor was pretty OK and the menu was as expected, so had a reasonable meal for a reasonable price.

The walk there and back is mainly busy road, but it’s easy to forget there is some nice scenery right on our doorstep that is often overlooked.

Despite my having had a pudding already, by the time we walked back it was Ice Cream time again

Nice relaxing day to end another long weekend as need to build my energy reserves in order to work a 4 day week

General: Trip out to Polesden Lacey

2011-05-01T17:12:00.001+01:00

Another lovely sunny day on the Bank Holiday weekend (Unheard of!) so we are taking advantage of the weather and using our National Trust membership to go see Polesden Lacey near Dorking

We had a nice walk round the house, then had a roast dinner in the restaurant, then walked round the gardens before the obligatory Tea and slice of cake

Was very pleasant and worthwhile trip so pleased we went.

General: Stephan Langton Inn pub/restaurant

2011-04-30T18:09:00.001+01:00

We decided to go out for lunch today, so aimed for Stephan Langton Inn from the Michelin Guide

It was a lovely warm sunny day and followed the sat nav through the wilds of the Surrey Hills to the destination. We got the lake OK, but missed the sign for the pub, so had a small detour before we came back and found it.

Being sunny day, everyone was eating outside and the pub was quite bust. The standard menu looked OK but was a bit “posh”, but we both fancied the lunch specials on the blackboard, with Lynn ending up with Sausage and Mash, me with the Beefburger. Both were nice enough and portions were decent size, but did seem a little pricey for what was basically normal pub grub. You can’t fault the location though, it was certainly an event to get to the pub and was sat in the middle of nowhere. It was a shame there were no real views to look at from the pub itself, but all in all, definitely worth the effort to get there.

We then stopped off in Dorking on route home as we’d been through it a few times but never really stopped before to look around.

I think you probably don’t need to stop to see the bulk of the town, as it basically sits along the main road and there didn’t seem much else other than houses off the main road.

In fairness, there were some beautiful views to be had just off the main road, and with the lovely sunny weather it was very pleasant stop we had for coffee (if you could ignore the car park in the immediate foreground)

In summary, Dorking is a fairly nice place for a quick pit stop, but not a great place for shopping or a quiet country tea room (Box Hill car park just up the road would be a better place to stop for a cup of coffee really….)

We also stopped at Cobham for our Ice Cream, which had a much nicer feel than Dorking and just as many coffee shops, etc..

Poker: Financial results for April 2011

2011-04-30T17:44:00.002+01:00

April was always going to be an awkward month, but turned out a bit more awkward that I expected!

Plan

Monitor

Overall results for the month :

PokerStars - $114.39
BBP - $432.39 (-£269.54)
Live play -£193.13

Comparing to April 2010, I had only lost $18.76 in total, although I played very little in April last year, so probably not a fair comparison

My live games have already been discussed in previous articles, London Live, Farnborough and Casino trip so won’t dwell on those, but these results fall in line with expectations.

My Pokerstars activities were meant to all be SCOOP related this month, but in the end probably spent more time looking for and waiting on a SCOOP Satellite than actually playing ! In the end only played 2 satellite’s, getting close first time but not getting anywhere in the second. In my frustration ended up deciding to try and spin up my bankroll, but ended up loosing $66 playing NLHE cash, dropping $56 playing 12 STT (with several horrid bad beats!) but my MTT were a little better with a profit of $12 and my normal “8 game” game’s showed a $4 loss over 6 games.

The breakdown of my BBP results for April 2011 :

Cash results (£185.81 loss overall)
NLHE ($0.50) 1054 hands +£10.23
NLHE ($1.00) 107 hands -£142.75
PLO ($0.20) 608 hands -£53.29

Tournaments (£83.73 loss overall)
6x MTT -£ 33.52
13x 2 seat STT +£ 19.09
13x 6 seat STT -£27.45
1x 9 seat STT -£16.64
7x 10 seat STT -£ 25.21

Reflect

I was very ill disciplined on my Pokerstars activities but that was a bit of a one-off so am happy to ignore my poor performance on the NLHE games.

Umm, hold on a moment… where did all those $1 NLHE cash hands come from ? I wasn’t meant to be playing any $1 anymore !! OK so I had a couple of unexpected $1 cash sessions…. so obviously need to plug that leak! The $0.50 was actually break even, which is pretty pleasing so just need to carry on with that as is. The PLO is very patchy still but am feeling quite comfortable with my learning process and just need to tighten up my calling on the river when beat!

Royal Wedding day was my worse single day loss since the last Grading in October last year…. can’t really blame anyone but myself though, as was mostly by playing $1 Cash !

I didn’t play a huge number of tournaments so not a big sample to make any firm conclusions, but pretty comfortable with my performance overall

Adjust

Definitely will be sticking rigidly to 8 game and special events such as SCOOP in the future for Pokerstars. May will obviously be all about SCOOP but will only end up playing 3 or 4 games, due to the change of times making several of my planned games a bit inconvenient.

BBP I need to stick to my plan a bit better…. although May will also be a bit disjointed due to Kitchen being refitted, days off, bank holiday weekends and playing the SCOOP games… but hope it will stay more or less on track in May!

References

January 2011 results
http://www.blackbeltpoker.com/blogs/read/259109/sceaga/Financial-results-for-January-2011/)

February 2011 results http://www.blackbeltpoker.com/blogs/read/294043/sceaga/Financial-Results-for-February-2011/

March 2011 results
http://sceaga.blogspot.com/2011/04/poker-financial-results-for-march-2011.html
** accidently overwrote this posting and had to reconstitute

Poker: Casino Trip

2011-04-22T10:28:00.001+01:00

Decided to get back to Reading Maxims Casino for their £35+5 NL Hold’em tourney, as haven’t been there for this (my “normal” game) since December!…

Being the Thursday night before Good Friday, wasn’t sure what the turnout would be like… and as the roads were the quietest I’ve ever seen them was worrying we might struggle to get 10 players.

As it happened, there were 52 runners, so I needn’t have worried.

By some bizarre fluke, Alex was not only seated on my table again but was on my immediate left! With 11’500 starting stack and 50/100 blinds, we are pretty deep stacked so can sit back and relax…. but no, I get 44 first hand (limp/folded flop) 88 next hand (limp/folded flop) nothing the next hand, then 88 again! Sadly I was missing all the flops but in the first 45 mins level had a huge variety of good starting hands…. but at the end of the level I had dropped to 10’000 chips. Then I went completely card dead and only saw A-Qo UTG for the next 45 mins (which did me no good either) so was still at 10’000 chips the end of that level. The third level saw me with A-T twice, once taking the blinds then second time I raised from late position and was re-raised to 2000 from button. The SB called and I called so we had over 6000 chips in the pot The flop came Txx and SB checked. With only about 8000 behind and the button being aggressive player, I knew he was betting big if I checked… so shoved all-in! After a long dwell and much talking, the button folded and SB folded, giving me a nice pot to add to my stack.… phew!

At the break, I was at 14’900 chips with 44 players left and the average being about 12’000

Sadly Alex had been busted on the last hand before the break when he raised AA and got called by two players… he hit A on the flop and got it all-in against one of the players, but the villain had flopped a straight and Alex didn’t improve so was out in 44th place!

After the break I didn’t get much I could play with and just held station. With the blinds up to 1000 by now I had around 12’500 on the button and look down at 5-5 One of the Lady regulars min-raised from mid position. She had only recently joined the table and had been insisting the dealer kept her cards to show what good hands she was folding to raises (they weren’t always all that good ), but anyway knew she was fairly solid. I guessed she could fold small pairs and weak aces, but would call bigger Aces and pairs, so decided to go for it. She shows A-Jo so we’re racing and the flop and turn comes small cards and gives me a str8 draw as well, but the J on the river cruelly took me out in 27th place

I was actually pretty happy with my play overall… but never really got much over my starting stack so was always going to be one hand I had to commit to in order to double up or get knocked out. Sadly I was knocked out this time…… oh well, there’s always another game round the corner

As it happens there was a £1/£2 cash game running, so decided to join as it was only 11:30pm, so bought in for £100. First hand I got dealt Q-Q and raised and was happy to get a re-raise all-in from a short stack (he had around £15) His K-T didn’t hit so I was up around £15 already, so a good start. My hope was to make back the £40 entry to the tournament, but realistically my target would be to make £8 per hour at this stack levels, so this was certainly the best start I could hope for.

Sadly the next hour saw me hold station between £110-£90 stack size and the player numbers went from 7 to 3 then gradually more players joined, eventually getting up to 8 players by the time I left. A few hands after a new player had joined, I got A-Q and raised, seeing only the new player call. I bet the 8xx flop, checked the low card on the turn, then decided to put him all-in for £25 on another low card river when he checked to me. Despite the possible straights, draws and full houses, he decided his J-8 was good for top pair, which sadly it was! This took me down to about £50 which definitely wasn’t in the plan!

The next hour or so saw me grinding away, playing tight aggressive and managed to get back to a peak of £118 before finally leaving the table around 2am with £116. The £16 profit for 2.5 hours wasn’t too far off my target so pretty pleased on reflection, although slightly disappointing to not have made more (if only I hadn’t made that reckless big bluff on that one hand!)

All in all, an enjoyable and cheap night out , getting in nearly 6 hours of playing Poker which can’t be a bad thing

Poker: trip to Farnborough Poker Club

2011-04-11T12:25:00.000+01:00

Having won my seat in their £100 game in a previous game, it seemed sensible to take the earliest opportunity to play, so went to the Sovereign Poker club in Farnborough last night to play their monthly “Main Event”

There were 65 runners and top 6 pay

On my table I had an old guy who was limp/calling pretty much everything to the river on my immediate left, a younger sunburnt chap three to my right and a foreign guy opposite who between them provided all the action on the table and a heck of a lot of chatter! It did make for an entertaining game though…

I got involved in a pot with T-9s from BB, and the old guy and sunburn saw the flop. I picked up up&down str8 draw on the flop so chk/called sunburn’s bet as did old guy. The turn gave me the str8 so chk/raised Sunburn’s big bet thinking he must have something good, but both fold. Was a nice start.

Later on got K-7s and decided to raise (purely as I hadn’t raised any hand to date) Old guy called (should’ve guessed) but hit my 7 so decided to bet out. Old guy just wasn’t budging and so checked the turn and saw K on the river. I was pretty sure I was likely to be well ahead of his range so bet out and called his min raise… of course he had made runner-runner str8 so I dropped a fair portion of my stack.

In another hand against Sunburn, I raised A-Jh and the flop came AsTs4h and bet out. The turn came 8h so bet out again and Sunburn re-raised so I shoved. He dwelt for a long time then folded, claiming to have folded A-K. He was quite affronted I didn’t show and wouldn’t tell him what I had, even to the extent he even asked me about the hand when we were in the toilet later on! (although he was now claiming he had A-Q, so who knows)

At the first break I had 14’400 (avg 17’105) and there were 55 runners left

On the restart I got moved to another table, but this seemed to immediately change my luck as soon got pocket 8’s and hit 8xx flop. The 9 turn saw my opponents fold to my bet but was up to 16’000 odd

Soon after got J’s and raised it up. Got called by tight blind who chk/called my cBet on Qxx flop and chk/called my bet turn (which I thought by now was a semi-bluff) I was lucky to hit str8 on river so bet out to his third check and he folded, moaning that I must’ve hit the str8

Not long after that I had A-6c on the BB and decided to call short stack small raise from button. The A-8-6 flop looked good so chk/called button, another A came and we both checked, the J on the end could have been a problem, but felt I must be ahead so bet out and got called by A-2o ! I was up to about 35’000 now.

The second break saw me on 47’000 with the average 29’500 and 33 players left, so in good shape.

After the break I had few playable cards and there were a few 20 BB stacks who were getting active so most pots were now being raised by someone. I did manage to win another pot here and there and peak chips were about 55’000, but as the ante’s came in I just wasn’t getting any hands or opportunities to make a move.

With the blinds now 3000/1500/200 I hadn’t played a hand for ages and was down to about 40k, so raised 7.5k with A-6o from mid (hoping to pick up the pot) but got re-raised all-in by tight player to my left so had to fold (he showed K-K)

Soon after I got moved, back to the original seat where I started. I recognised a few faces, old guy was still there and several tight players still plugging away.

After waiting patiently I was down to around 31’000 so when I saw 9-9 from mid position, decided to lay it aggressively and raised to 10’000 (planning to shove any flop) Tight lady called from late position (which was a good thing) but BB re-raised all-in. I didn’t know the BB player but felt there was a good chance I’d be racing, or he might be shoving light on a squeeze play so called hoping to be racing. Sadly for me, he showed K-K and I’m out in 18th place at 11:25pm

Overall I feel I played well and didn’t make any huge errors. I could maybe have got more value on some of my big hands, so need to pay more attention to my bet sizing and value betting.

In the end, it was a freeroll for me, with the chance to made the money so was a worthwhile and enjoyable game.

Poker: Home Tourney - April 2011

2011-04-08T12:11:00.000+01:00

It’s already been a busy Poker month, but am always pleased to be able to enjoy our monthly Poker League game at he club. Despite the friendliness, there is always a keen competitive spirit with everyone always looking for the win.

Both tables started out cautiously with no-one having any rebuys for well over half hour! I started out steady, seeing flops cheap and folding when missing, so was down to about 1500 chips (from 2000 start) then Derek starting getting busy and I managed to out flop him a couple of times and take his stack.

As we got towards the end of rebuys, the action started to pick up as short stacks were trying to accumulate chips before the break. I got some good cards and some good luck and managed to take Sean’s stack two or three times right before the break.

Derek had also picked up some chips and was actually chip leader at the break with around 10’200 to my 10’000 chips

Things got a bit tougher for me and started losing pots and went down to around 7500 before managing to win back a few small pots and built back up to 10’000 by the time we’d got to 5th level. We’d seen a few bust outs, then suddenly Derek busted Darren and Karen in one hand and simultaneously Jon busted Bill on the other table, and all of a sudden we have our final table… pretty early for a change !

With a couple of short stacks, it’s not long before Andy want’s to get off fishing and he shoves with A high and gets taken out by Alex

Sean is soon all-in with his short stack, and I am tempted enough to call with my K-Ts thinking I’m ahead but Jon also calls from the SB. The Q-J-x flop gives me flush and straight draws but Jon Check/calls so have to give him credit for something…. the turn is a 2 and we both check, then the river is also a 2 and Jon checks again. I am sorely tempted to shove my last 4500 here into a huge pot (3000 side pot and around 7000 odd for main pot) but Jon has me covered and am not certain he would fold with likely Q, so check behind. Jon’s A-K takes the side pot and Sean has Q-x to take the main pot ! (Maybe I should’ve shoved after all )

After that I limped along short stacked and although managed to knock out fellow short stacker Roger (and got the £2 bounty) it merely delayed my demise as I didn’t get a spot to shove and the blinds were soon at 1000/500. I ended up calling Derek’s raise from BB with Q-Ts against Derek’s T-T and so went out with a whimper in 5th (again!)

After that the table hotted up, Derek got K-K in against Sean’s A-J and hit K on flop, but Sean hit Straight and took a huge chip lead!

The remaining three were all relatively short, with Alex being taken out by Sean next.

With Derek down to 2x BB and Jon with 1, it looked like it was all over, but both players managed to double up, however with blinds up to 4000/2000 Derek was soon down to 2x BB again and Sean took him out.

Jon clung on to the end and managed to build up to around 34’000 chips but Sean was always managing his stack and deservedly took the victory (despite looking like he might fritter it away for a while)

Great game as always and was exciting to play and watch. Despite my moaning I ended up £0.50 on the night (I didn’t take any rebuys or add-on’s) so not too bad a result for me.

Poker: Financial Results for March 2011

2011-04-03T18:00:00.001+01:00

*** oops, I somehow managed to overwrite my March 2011 results blog with my April report !! Uggghhhh!!!!

Plan

Monitor

Overall results for the month :

PokerStars     - $29.20
BBP                  - $18.46 (-£11.51)
Live play      +£355.00

The breakdown of my BBP results for March 2011 :

Cash results (£27.98 loss overall)
   NLHE ($0.50) 1043 hands +£70.91
   NLHE ($1.00) 760 hands -£80.73
   PLO   ($0.20) 659 hands -£18.16

Tournaments (£16.47 profit overall)
    13x MTT               +£8.02
   23x 2 seat STT -£ 35.24
   11x 6 seat STT +£108.46
     9x 10 seat STT -£64.77

Reflect

Adjust

References

January 2011 results
http://www.blackbeltpoker.com/blogs/read/259109/sceaga/Financial-results-for-January-2011/)

February 2011 results http://www.blackbeltpoker.com/blogs/read/294043/sceaga/Financial-Results-for-February-2011/

Poker: BBP London Live update

2011-04-01T18:52:00.001+01:00

The fact that I’m writing my blog from home at 6pm maybe indicates I didn’t do as well in London Live II as I’d hoped!

The day started with a bit of a shock when I found out that Jake Cody was seated to my immediate right ! Could’ve been worse, I suppose, he could’ve been on my immediate left

We started just after 12pm with 5 players on my table. With so many missing players there was lots of limping and raising when the missing players were in the blinds, but I kept out of it mostly. I did decide to limp T-5s in one case and got four saw the flop, which came 8-6-3 (or something like) with two spades. Three limped to late position player who bet, two called. The turn brought 7 giving me a few more outs, we checked to late position who bet and two of us called. The river brought my ideal card 4 to give me the straight, but we all checked this time. Won a nice pot though and showed I wasn’t afraid to play rubbish

The table was joined by a couple of other players, then Tom Drew also joined the table. He looked a bit tilted already when he sat down, and his mood didn’t improve when he seemed to be calling down pots and lost a fair bit of his stack pretty quickly.

I played a couple of other hands which were insignificant, then woke up with A-Ko and called tight player raise pre-flop. The K-7-2 flop looked good to me, but decided to flat call the pre-flop raiser’s cBet. The K on the turn looked like Xmas for me, so bet out when checked to and got called. The Q on the river looked harmless, but didn’t feel all that comfortable for some reason with the pre-flop raisers check, so checked behind and he showed K-Q to take a sizeable pot!

Played another couple of small hands by which time it was 1st break

There were 212 runners of which 193 were still going. Average stack was 22’000 and I was on 20’600 At this stage I am pretty content with my play so far and chip stack.

On the restart, blinds were 200/100. A few hands in, I got 9-9 on the big blind. A loose aggro player raised from early position and it folded to me. I wasn’t worried by the raise as he’d done this quite a bit to date with some weird holdings… so my decision was call or raise…. duly deciding to call. The flop came J-7-2 with 2 hearts. I was expecting a cBet 100% of the time, so check/called the expected bet, waiting for the hand to develop. The 9 on the turn looked good for me, so check/raised this time. The pot was around 2700 and the villain bet around 1000, so I raised to 4000 which he called. The pot was now 10’700 and another J came on the river. I knew the villain was aggro and not afraid to escalate the pot, so bet out small at 1500 thinking he might call with one pair type hands, but he re-raised all-in. He had me covered, so it was my remaining 15’000 odd to call which was just under 2:1 (but my tournament life if I lost). I guessed he saw me as tight/weak and I was concerned he may have had J-7 or J-2 but more likely a busted flush or A-J perhaps…. it was definitely my perception of his table image that made me decide to call (more or less anyone else on the table I likely would’ve folded!)… and he show’s J-9 !! To be honest I had discounted that specific hand from my calculations so he had to have it obv….

So it’s all over for me and am very disappointed not to have got further. Having thought the hand through (over and over and over ), I am actually still happy with my river call against that particular player so fairly content with my game… just the result is the disappointment.

Decided to go straight home rather than hit the cash tables (I’m certain that decision was the right one!) and got back in time to go to Tesco’s (lucky me ) but at least I didn’t have any problems getting home that time of day on public transport.

Cars: Brooklands Museum–Mini day

2011-03-28T12:56:00.000+01:00

After my build up for my Poker this coming Friday, it was nice to get a trip out to Brooklands Museum and look at some cars for a change

Being a mini day, there were hundreds of Mini’s to look at (what a surprise!) We have been to previous Mini Days at Brooklands so knew what to expect, but this year seemed to be more Mini’s than ever.

Being the first day of British Summer, it was a fantastic warm sunny day (what else do you expect from the British Summer!) so perhaps this explained the huge turnout. We had a nice picnic when we got there, walked around looking at the Mini’s (everywhere you looked!) and then watched some of them go up the test hill

A lovely day out, but we’ll have to go back on a “normal” day to catch up on all the other exhibits as we didn’t get time to look round everything !

Poker: game at Farnborough Poker Club

2011-03-28T12:37:00.000+01:00

I managed to squeeze in another live game before London Live by going back to Sovereign Poker Club in Farnborough for their Friday night game

There were 47 runners and the top 5 pay out.

I decided to play cautious/passive to begin with, especially with a loose aggro player to my immediate right, who seemed to be getting involved with a lot of pots.

My night didn’t start too well though as making top pair on flop with 4 players, played too passively and let a flush draw bet the flop and turn, before hitting their flush on the river. Then my aggro friend to my right raised pre-flop against my big blind so we saw the flop My A-8 hadn't improved so checked behind and just called his turn and flop bets. Turned out I was right that he didn’t have much but sadly his 5-3o had hit trips on the turn ! I guess that’s the problem with playing passively….

I had done half my stack by the middle of the second level, so wanted to bust or double up. My aggro friend again raised by Big Blind so decided to re-raise all-in with A-T spades. Luckily for me, only he called showing a decent hand this time but was K-Q spades making me a decent favourite. The K on the flop saw me needing to buy-in rather than doubling up though

I did have some good fortune though, as just before the break a tight player raised from the button and decided to call from the blind with T-9 hearts. I flopped an up and down straight so called the cBet and got the straight on the turn, phew at last !

The first break saw me on 14’600 chips with the average at 12’368 so not too bad

After the break there are no more re-entries… but my loose aggro nemesis donks off all his chips and is out… sadly not to me though

T-9s seems to be my hand of the night as again in the blind decide to call a raise from tight player with it, but this time hit a flush draw. His cBet scares off two other players who saw the flop, but I call and we both check the blank turn (the board paired) HE put me all-in when I make my flush, and although do agonise for a few minutes, decide I can’t fold and am relieved he mucks his cards (showing A hearts) This puts me to over 30’000 chips and am over double the average

After sitting back and picking my spots, get A-K diamonds UTG and decide to limp, hoping a short stack in late position will shove (he’d been getting more active in the last round) but actually a medium stack in early position shoves. I know he’s quite tight so it might be a race, but have played my hand to call an all-in so do just that and am up against A-Qo so massive favourite. Of course neither improve until the river, when he hit’’s his 3 outer and I’m back down to about 12’ooo chips (about 11 big blinds)

I can’t hang around with this chip stack size, and although make a couple of all-ins over the next couple of rounds and take the blinds, in the end I get A-Jo all-in against K-K and the K on the flop see’s me out in 24th place

Of course you can’t win them all, but if my 94% chance (AK-AQ) had held up then I feel I would have been a big favourite to cash again. Overall I think I played pretty well, although a couple of my early passive hands should’ve been played more aggressively for a better outcome.

London Live is my next live game, so just hope I can maintain focus and not make any stupid mistakes… roll on Friday !!

Music: Adele 21 album

2011-03-20T11:09:00.001Z

I’d previously only really heard the single from this album, but having liked the previous album “19” was relishing my first listen of this new album.

Each track is recognisably “Adele” but there are a good mix of rhythms and styles to make the whole album very listenable. Vocally and musically very good throughout and wasn’t disappointed at all.

Great album and worthy addition to any album collection.

Poker: trip to Casino

2011-03-18T07:58:00.001Z

Following on from my Farnborough Poker Club success, it’s back to Reading Casino this week to get more live practise.

It’s the £35+5 NL Hold’em Freezeout with 11’500 starting chips (incl bonus chips) 32 runners start and we’re playing 6 handed to begin with

I have young loose aggro players to my left and right, plus Alex 2 seats to my left so interesting table! I start out passive and get involved in couple of pots with the young guns which don’t go anywhere for me and I’ve bled off 2’000 chips already… we get another player so are now 7 handed then get into a hand that didn’t please me…..

I raise A-9o and get called by Alex in the SB, tight lady in the BB and very tight lady who had limped UTG. Flop comes a nice 9-5-3 (2 clubs) so I bet out when checked to me. Only the very tight lady calls. The K on the turn is a bit of a concern, but with very tight lady checking think it likely she’s on a draw (probably clubs) so make a near pot size bet. Her call makes me re-evaluate likely holdings, especially as an A comes. Although she checks to me again, I’m wondering what she called with on the turn, and she may have something like flopped trips, so check behind and she shows…… 4-2 for a flopped str8 draw which she hits on the river. This suck out takes me down to about 5000 chips, but was actually pleased how I played the hand as in the past I might be shoving all-in assuming she' was on a busted club draw !

I make a small recovery but am still struggling and with the break coming soon I’m going to be very short so am looking to shove at earliest opportunity. It’s not until the last hand before the break when UTG limps and tight lady shoves her remaining 2000 chips from SB that I decide I can gamble with my Q-Tc so shove for about 6000 chips. UTG calls and shows Q-To ! and the lady had 8-8 Lucky for me I pick up flush draw on turn and hit it on the river and go into the break with 14’200 chips. Alex has 7’300 chips and the average is around 12’500 with most of tht eplayers still in.

On the restart the table breaks which is always annoying and my new table seems tight. I get involved a couple of hands and was quite pleased to loose the minimum with my A-4 on A-K-x board when I put a player on K and folded to another K on the river…. he showed pocket K-K so I was right twice

Alex got knocked out around this time, shame we didn’t have a last longer bet

Soon after my table broke up again and my new table has the young gun who was on my left on the original table now on my right (I think they called him “Titch” ?)

Got involved in couple of hands, loosing 1/4 stack when UTG limps then shoves all-in to my raise. (seen him play previously and thought him tight/solid) so am down to about 10’000 chips with the blinds at 800/400 and looking for spot to shove.

There are three tight short stacks to my left, and the other players seem pretty tight other than Titch to my immediate right. I’m UTG and look at A-3s which seems pretty enough to shove for 11 BB Curly calls with around 1800 chips and Titch decides I’ve bet too much so he’s gonna teach me a lesson by defending his BB with 7-6h Curly shows 7-6s which is a bit of a result for me, despite taking some of my outs. I guessed I was 60% to win overall (just checked and was 59% ) so am pretty happy so far…. the A-K-8 flop still looks good for me, despite the 2 hearts (I’m still 60% to win) but the 2h turn ends it and I’m out in around 26th place

The result wasn’t as I would have hoped, but the main objective was to get deep stack practise and practise evaluating people in a live environment. In that regard I did think I am getting better at reading, was focussing well and overall played pretty good overall so not too disappointed really.

It was only around 11:20pm so decided to put my name down for the cash tables, but was only two of us on the list so decided to hang around to see if the game got going. After a brief relax, decided to have a quick go at Roulette. On the plus side I got about 7 or 8 spins before I lost my £50, but of course I’ve lost more playing Roulette than playing Poker, so decide to cross my name off the cash game list and go home before I make any more poor decisions

Music: Jessie J, “Who you are” album

2011-03-15T13:22:00.001Z

I’ve been looking forward to listening to Jessie J’s “Who you are” album for ages….. first I had to wait for the album to be released, then had to wait nearly a week to get it delivered… but finally I got it into the CD player (bit old school I know but hey… )

Jessie’s singing talent is beyond doubt and certainly her voice sounds excellent on each track. Having seen her on various live shows and really only heard “Do it like a dude” and “Pricetag” singles she seemed to me very much hard core, out there, street type sound and image, so was quite shocked to find that a lot of the album tracks are pretty, flowery, soft R&B style (think Maria Carey)

The tracks are a mixture of different styles, which is a mistake (in my view) as I’m a bit confused what her style really is…. (a mistake Gwen Stefani also made on her solo album) I guess Jessie is trying to be “different” and show how versatile she is, but for me it seemed more like a compilation album of different R&B artists, as sung by JessieJ, rather than the exciting raw sound I expecting.

Don’t get me wrong, overall it is a good album and nicely put together… but just a little disappointing for me.

Poker: trip to Farnborough Poker Club

2011-03-12T10:22:00.001Z

In order to get some deep stack live play practise for my Black Belt Poker London Live II event, decided to go to the Farnborough Poker Club for the Friday night game.

Apart from myself, Jon, Jock and Steve W also attended. There were 54 entrants (although a few of these were “re-entries” which were allowed in the first two levels)

At the first break, we were all doing reasonably well, as with the average stack at 11’739 we had:

Mike : 11’500
Jon : 9’900
Jock : 16’500
Steve W :14’400

I didn’t see Jock out of his seat, but when Jon was knocked out, discovered Jock was out before and was watching the cash games!

Steve moved to my table, on my immediate right! and was a bit short, but in quick succession he doubled up with 6-6 then hit an A on the flop with his A-K. I had gone the other way and was a bit up and down, but at the 2nd break the average stack was around 24’500 and there are 22 players left.

Mike : 24’400
Steve W : 33’500

We get down to 20 players and we move tables, but Steve is still on my table. He gets lucky to double up with K-4d but later on runs his J-J into A-J and A-A and is eliminated in around 18th place (?)

Most of the remaining players have roughly similar stacks, so it’s quite tight/tense, but I manage to maintain average and eventually get some good hands. So eventually we have the last 9 players for the final table and take a break

With 9 players left, average is around 60k and I have 83k There are a couple of similar size stacks, and around 3 short stacks left.

I’ve still got some work to do, as only top 6 get paid. Luckily I manage to pick on and take out a couple of short stacks and with 7 left and chip leader, which maintain more or less all the way to the end. There is a £60 bubble prize for 7th, so we are all now in the money, but I can afford to sit back and wait for hands, picking my spots.

As it turns out, we get down to three players and I’m big chip lead. With my normal blind aggression I get stealing and end up with Q-T all-in against the short stack with K-Q, but I hit a str8 and we’re heads up!

I’ve got about 2:1 chip lead but the blinds are 16k/8k by now, so the short stack has <10 BB left. After a couple of hands, I raise from the button and he shoves and I call with A-2 but he’s got K-K which holds up. As we’ve both got very similar chip stacks, and it’s nearly 2am, we agree to chop the pot 50/50. I’m very happy to have made a profit of around £485 on the nights proceedings

There is a final twist in the tail, which is the winner of the tournament also gets a seat in the £100 Sunday Special (this Sunday!) To determine the winner, they dealt one hand face up to us and I managed to luck a str8 with my 7-3 and have got the seat as well !!

I told them I couldn’t make this Sunday, so will be attending a future Sunday special for free Reeesult !!

I’m also on the Leaderboard (30 pts) for the clubs Vegas Series 4 (whatever that is!)

Whilst the result is fantastic, my main reason for going was actually to get Live practise, so how do I think I did. Well actually, overall I think I played pretty well. I was able to maintain focus and was able to get good impressions of players playing styles fairly quickly which allowed me to make the right choices in the tricky/crucial spots. There were a couple of hands when we were down to the final 3 where I think I should have folded rather than called, but was probably influenced by fatigue and my huge chip lead! In one hand I knew I was behind for sure, but still called with my weak flush (and lost to the inevitable bigger flush) so just need to watch out for that in future.

All in all, am tired but very happy this morning and am looking forward to next weeks trip to Reading Casino

General: The Red House pub/restaurant

2011-03-06T15:38:00.001Z

We met up with Simon and Lil for a lovely Sunday lunch out at The Red House at Marsh Benham (Nr Newbury)

It’s not far off the A4, but you immediately get the “out in the middle of nowhere” feel and inside is the ambience of a traditional olde worlde English Pub (which it is I suppose!) but without being artificially so.

We were immediately welcomed by the staff and made to feel at home. Service throughout was very good, although did get a bit sluggish when they were at their busiest, when every table was full (so make sure you book!)

The menu had a wide choice, and being Sunday had additional choices of Roast Beef, Pork or Chicken. I had the Winter Veg. soup with Roast Pork as my main course and did struggle to get through as the portions were generous. After a short rest, was able to get through my Sticky Toffee Pudding desert surprisingly easy

It’s not a cheap menu, but certainly felt I got good value for money. We were not rushed away as soon as we’d finished, so overall definitely came away with a warm fuzzy feeling about my experience (and a full feeling tummy) so is a place I would recommend and like to go back myself sometime

Poker: Home Tourney–March 2011

2011-03-04T12:16:00.000Z

It was a great turnout for the first £10 “special” of this year, with 14 players vying for the coveted final table seats.

My table started out quite passive, but was soon involved in a big pot with Daniel. Sadly I was bluffing every street and Daniel found an easy call on the river, having hit his A on the flop, so I am already down to around 1200 chips in the first level !

Lucky for me, after I won a couple of small pots, it wasn’t too long before Andy (to my immediate right) come to the rescue and makes a dodgy call to double me up getting me more or less back to my starting stack.. phew!

In another big pot, Jock makes a cheeky raise into me on a dangerous looking turn. With Andy all-in and my chips looking perilous I decided to fold, so Jock won a few chips in the second pot with nothing (A-6o) which I had beat.. but Andy took the main pot and tripled up.

After that things quietened down a bit and got to the break a little above average chips.

Not much happens for me for a while…. mainly folding, but find occasional spots to attack the pot and take a couple of small pots

In another confrontation with Jock, I decide to go for it this time, but this time he has a decent hand and decimates my stack… ho hum, Jock you are a difficult man to read !

Luckily for me, Andy comes to my rescue again and makes a dodgy raise and all-in call with nothing but a middle pin str8 draw on an all clubs flop. I’m way ahead with pair 3’s and flush draw !! The Q comes on the river, but lucky for me makes my flush, so Andy is out ! This gives us out final table and I am a slight chip lead with around 17’000 chips

The blinds have just gone to 1000/500 so am happy to be in late position.

The first hand of the final table, Bill limps and all folds round to me. I think about raising, but decide to be solid and fold my A-5s The 5 on the flop doesn’t change my opinion of my hand, but another 5 on the turn is a bit galling… especially as Bill takes a punt at the pot with his A-4o and I would have won a decent pot.

That was about my best hand of the final table, and just found no good spots to make a move and got no hands. Sean took out Karen, who started up the cash table (being a degen gambler ) although it was only a couple of hands later when Sean had huge re-raise which Bill decided to call with A-7o but was actually ahead of Sean. Neither improved and Sean was out and straight into the cash game!

The blinds have gone to 4’000 and I’ve got around 12’000 and am looking for a good spot to shove, but with no cards, find myself in BB shoving my K-Qd after Bill has limped the button. Of course Bill calls with his A-8o and despite me picking up a str8 draw, don’t improve and am down to 1200 chips !

My all-in SB against Roger gives false hope, as I double up, but get no cards and am soon shoving UTG with T-9 or something and of course Bill has A-x and ends up with a Full House so am out in 5th place

In the final few hands, Bill somehow manages to call off a load of chips to Jock, then fold to his all-in on the River, before then being taken out by Roger (why can Bill never find a fold against me ? )

Jon is short stacked and although the result is already determined, play out the final hand with Roger’s 9-3 beating Jon’s 7-2

Jock wins on chip count, but was actually pretty close in the end to Roger’s stack (around 44k to 40k) but a win that was well deserved

I was a little disappointed with my own result, but overall felt I played pretty well. In any case it was a lot of fun (as normal) and with my previous finishes being 10th and 7th, at least I am moving in the right direction

The standard of play at our game is definitely improving and is always an interesting mix of styles to keep everyone on their toes. It’s just a shame the club shuts at 11pm as it would be fascinating to play to a proper conclusion, which we rarely see.

So, well done to all and hope you all enjoyed it as much as me. (from all the frivolity it seemed like fun was being had )

See you next time…..

Poker: Financial results for February

2011-03-01T07:40:00.001Z

Posted on Black Belt Poker blog at http://www.blackbeltpoker.com/blogs/read/294043/sceaga/Financial-Results-for-February-2011/

Poker: First "big” live tournament

2011-02-23T12:13:00.000Z

I was planning to try and satellite my way into the Black Belt Poker London Live II event anyway, but having got my windfall win thought I would just buy my way in directly.

Having said that, decided would give the satellite one more try. I’d had one “free” go at the satellite (using my BBP points) back in January but hadn’t got around to trying again, so had another go last night. There were 62 players each putting in $44 (or won their seat in the $5 or $1 feeder tournaments) and top 4 win their seat in the London Live event.

In brief, I didn’t start well, then had a run of cards and was in the top 3, then after being very patient and feeling in control, with 6 players left had an incredible run of bad luck, being rivered on two big hands leaving me with about 7 BB. Seeing ATo I decided to shove (as you do) only to be called by KK which took me out. Although I got back $42 in prize money, I felt like I was cheated out of my seat by the Poker gods!

No matter, as I bought directly into Day 1a (Friday 1st January) for $275 (£169) Although I’ve played £200 buy-in before, this will be the biggest tournament I’ve ever played in from a player number and duration perspective. Assuming it sells out (which it should do) there will be a total of 400 players (split over two starting days) then a second day of play on the Sunday for the survivors. The first day is scheduled to run from Midday to Midnight so will be a long day (assuming I get that far!)

Not knowing when I will get knocked out makes the logistics quite tricky. The last train back from Paddington is 10:30pm then the next one is 1:45am but only gets me to Reading (unless I want to wait 90 mins for the connecting train) so if I do well will be tricky to get home! I might drive in, but can only imagine the horrors of finding a car park space, paying for it ! then the ignominy of facing rush hour traffic on a Friday night if I get knocked out in the early afternoon. It’s a small price to pay for being able to play in this tournament though… and will be using the experience as a taster for Brighton UKIPT (Actually the logistics for Brighton are a lot easier as will have to stay in a hotel for sure)

I am looking forward to this tournament very much and now I’ve registered for my seat and got the travel arrangements (kindof) sorted, it can’t come quick enough. Roll on April!