Poker: July summary

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Poker: Black Belt Poker – First cash as sponsored player

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

Poker: Late Night Poker – the one that got away

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Poker: Another sponsored tournament, at last !

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

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

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

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

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

End L1:  4268/5105   641/709

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

End L2:  4148/5269   571/687

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

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

End L3:  4948/5543   352/653

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

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

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

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

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

End L5: 9947/6522  84/555

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

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

End L6: 5127/7448   311/486

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

End L7: 9665/8360   138/433

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Poker : Home Tournament – July 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Poker : June summary

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

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

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

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

My sharpscope stats look like this for end June:

 

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

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

Music: Marina & the diamonds album

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

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

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

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

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

General: Holiday

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

General: The Inn @ West End pub/restaurant

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

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

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

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

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

Definitely a place to come again

General: The Bee pub/restaurant

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

General: The Angel pub/restaurant

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

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

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

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

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

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

General: Mid Year fitness update

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

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

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

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

Heart rate peak at 159 bpm and average 151

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

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

Heart rate peak at 159 bpm and average 143

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

Then do one cycle of weights

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

Heart rate peak at 138 bpm and average 113

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

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

Heart rate peak at 156 bpm and average 141

Slightly better than last time, but nothing significant really

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

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

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

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

Poker: $2500 GTD $10 MTT

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Poker : Black Belt Poker League V - Leg 3

I'm really hoping to do better than the last couple of weeks, last longer than 15 minutes and get some decent points this time!

With 52 runners it's not a bad crowd so plenty of oppertunity to get some decent points this week, just need to keep focus and discipline.... and maybe get a beer :-)

First hand on SB with 7-3s and make up blind after one limper.   SebastianKat to my left raises so I fold.

Second hand I get Q-Js on button and make 4x raise after one limper.  SebastianKat reraises another 200, so decided to fold.  So far so good for my new attitude, managing to keep out of trouble early on !

Sit tight waiting for a hand, then on tenth hand get T-T on the button and re-raise, but SebastianKat in SB re-raised (again... stats for first 10 hands are VP:60 PR:50 AFq:75 at this point so been very aggro) so decided to launch one and go all-in.  He called with J-J and I am out in 52nd place after 10 minutes.... ho hum, so much for my new attitude :-)

The details of my miserable performance in the league tables, etc are available from the Poker League Group Page

Poker: Home Tournament – June 2010

I was feeling relaxed and confident this month and especially looking forward to the No Limit 2nd Chance format.

It was a surprise and pleasure that Martin turned up for the first time in about a year and he was also the kind enough to be first one out to save anyone else from that embarrassment :-)

My table was quite loose/passive (despite Bill being on my table!)   My game was quite low key to begin with.  I got involved in a couple of pots that I took down on the flop, then got ATo in against Bill’s 4-4 but spiked an A on the turn.   At the break I was exactly on average chips, being 6’000

Went a bit downhill after that… had a couple of stabs at the pot but missed the flop and had to fold.   Then got into a pot with Bill (I think) where he called with something like Q-9 against my A-T and hit 9-9-7 flop.  This left me with 3 big blinds and with time running out I shoved Q-8s and got called by Steve W with A-Q and was second man out !

Actually it wasn’t long before Simon and Lee were also out so we got a cash game going !  (soon followed by Bill and Roger)    The rest carried on playing and although I wasn’t paying much attention, it did seem to be quite a tense affair with 4 players left for the last three hands.  Andy managed to get knocked out in 4th again on the second last hand and the remaining three players were all within a couple of thousand of each other for the final hand.   Jock was small chip lead but dipped out the final hand and ended up being relegated to a respectable 2nd when Steve W had to play his 5-2 against Darren’s A-Q  The Q on the flop gave Darren his first cash of the year

Well done to all, look forward to seeing most next time

Poker: ECOOP VI $300+20 tournament

Tonight I'm playing the ECOOP VI () #10 $250'000 Guaranteed No Limit Hold' em Freezeout tournament on behalf of BBP.  It has 6 player tables, 3000 starting chips and 20 minute levels.

We are starting with only 640 players, so down on the 833 needed to make up the guaranteed prize pool (paid out to the top 80 finishers)... so plenty to play for then !!

Had player to my left who was always aggro when I raised BvB  If I raised he re-raised, if I 3 bet, he 4 bet all-in....  luckily was able to restrain myself but dropped about a third of my stack.  Managed to recoup some of my losses with Q-Q against one of the other players though!

Quite relieved to see more than 20 hands and get to the end of the level for a change ....

L1 : 536 place / out of 617 remaining   2390 chips / 3111 average
L2 : 485/552   1803/3478

Raise from early fairly loose player, re-raise with 9-9 and get 4 bet all-in.  I am pretty sure his range is AJ+ or 66+ so decide to go with the call.  Sure enough he has A-Ko but the K comes on the flop.   To add insult to injury an A comes on the turn also giving him a flush draw which he doesn't need as I miss my 2 remaining outs on the river and am out in 541st place

Damn, didn't even get to the first break and go out on a coin flip with 9's (again!)

I’ll have the opportunity to play another couple of big tournaments as a sponsored player, but really need to get my act together to go deep !

Poker: BBP League V – Leg 2

Poker League V time again (Leg 2)  I am determined to play tight/aggro and have a steady start this time...

First hand I get A9o and limp UTG, then call smallish raise from SB   Hit 932 flop and bet out but bottle out when K hits then a T on river, so just loose 1/3 of my stack, so much for my strategy  :-)

Get TT next hand so call raise and bet out J84 flop.... then bet the 9 turn and take the pot down - phew

Missing flops with AQs and A9s soon see me down to 800 after 7 hands and am 55th from 58 remaining after 10 minutes

Andy took me out after raising AJo and called my allin reraise with 99  The flop of J64 put paid to my chances so finished 56th after 19 minutes on the 13th hand

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

Poker : May summary

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

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

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

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

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

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

Poker: Game selection review

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

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

So a total loss of -£75.98

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

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

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

Poker: Green belt update

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

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

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

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

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

Poker: BBP League V : Leg 1 of 7

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Poker: Home Tournament – May 2010

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

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

Poker: Third sponsored tournament

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

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

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

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

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

L1 : 3490/5105   1944/2030

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

L2: 3310/5224   1848/1948

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

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

Ended up very disappointed 1’858th place.  

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

Poker: Second sponsored tournament

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

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

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

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

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

End L2 : 6030/5300  311/1616

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

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

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

L3: 1985/5732  1470/1494

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

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

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

Poker: my Poker year so far

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

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

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

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

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

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

Poker: my first sponsored tournament

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

L2: 7655/5364   71/782

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

L3: 5935/5556  126/755

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

L4: 12982/6070    23/691

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

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

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

L7: 5055/8323  380/504

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

L8: 10585/9917   158/423

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

L9: 9785/11652   184/360

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

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

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

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

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

Poker: BBP league – Leg 3

Leg 3 of the league and am looking forward to it immensely.

My bad luck started when I missed the first 25 mins due to mother in law deciding to visit !  Looking back through the hands, the only good hand was A-Qo from SB on the 1st hand so haven't missed much !!

When I finally did get to the game and got settled, got KQs from late and raised, got called by two limpers and 4-4-2 flop which all three of us checked, T came on the turn and first to act bets 3/4 pot.  Not fancying my chances, had to fold

Next couple of card dead levels later, only got around 12 BB left and decide to make a move with 8-7s from late.  Get called and flop comes Q-J-8 so shove just over pot.... just a shame villain had A-Q and insta-called and I'm out in 47th place

Oh well, can't win them all.... at least there's always next week

Poker: Home Tournament – April 2010

Doubtless due to the Easter weekend, turnout was lower than normal  and only 9 players this month.   (will pay more attention to the calendar next year!)  

That doesn’t mean the game was any less exciting than with more players

Alex made a good start by flopping trips and having pocket A’s in the first few hands so took the early lead.  After that things were quite steady with a lot of un-raised multi-player pots.   My main opportunity was flopping a nut flush draw and four people getting all-in.  Jock was ahead with top pair (of 8’s) but Alex and Jon (I think) having straight draws.   Jon hit the str8 to take a good pot.  

After the break there was more action as the blinds started to put pressure on the short stacks.   Jock was the bubble boy when he got all-in with Andy with the same chips stack, so we knew one of them was likely to be first out  !

My memory is a bit vague (as normal) but remember being fairly low chipped until I saw A-To and raised.  Alex who was probably chip lead at the time called my raise.  When he checked the 8xx flop (2 diamonds) I went all-in and he called with Ad-9d  leaving me holding my breath and not wanting to see any more diamonds.  Luckily my A-T held up and I doubled up giving me a fair number of chips.

As the blinds increased the play got more interesting and I was able to maintain around average stack as the number of players decreased.   Another key hand came after I had taken a good stack of chips and Bill had just busted Darren out in 4th place.  I was on SB with Jon short stacked on the BB with blinds at 800/100 by now.  As Bill folded, I decided to steal Jon’s blind with my 8-7o and raised to 4000.  Jon thought for a while then shoved all-in, but I was getting over 3:1 so had committed myself to put him all-in if he called anyway.  Jon showed A-A (80% chance to win) however the 7-7-4 flop destroyed his chances and I took Jon out on a lucky flop

I had a good lead over Bill and managed to whittle him down but then he staged a come back and doubled up a couple of times to take the chip lead.   I was soon down to 10’000 chips to Bill’s 40’000 (blinds up to 1200 by now) so had to start shoving.  Incredibly, Bill kept folding and I soon got my stack up again.   Bill then fought back and it was very to and fro.      In the end I had slightly more chips than Bill and shoved all-in with K-6   Bill called with K-4 and it looked all over…. until a 4 came on the flop… but in a cruel twist of fate my 6 came on the turn and I had won the tournament !!

The heads up in particular was very exciting for me, but the whole game had a very interesting dynamic and everyone was up for a good gamble, so was another great game. 

Looking forward to next month already !

Poker: BBP catch up

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Poker: BBP League – Leg 2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

General: The Hogget Pub/Restaurant

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

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

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

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

General: The Anchor Inn pub/restaurant

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

Poker: Grading official results

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

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

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

Poker: Black Belt Poker League

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Final table - 1st with 18550 chips, avg 10650

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

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

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

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

Poker: Black Belt Poker – the final reckoning

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

The simple answer is not great :-)  

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

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

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

Cars: goodbye Lotus…..

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

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

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

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

Couple of blog articles published…

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

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

Poker : Black Belt Grading – week 5

Update for week 5 in two parts.

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

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

Poker: Home Tournament – March 2010

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

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

Poker: Black Belt Poker grading – week 4

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

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

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