WCOAP Updates...

Wed... WCOAP Pot-Limit Omaha - Hopeless (but +£215 playing cash)
Thu... WCOAP Razz - Not so hopeless, but not good
Fri... WCOAP Stud - Lasted a little longer, 'til Rich 'one-outered' me on the river!!

OK, today is the NLHE main event, 10k chips and a 40 min clock. If I've got this right you should be able to keep track of my chip count in the graph below. I'll probably only update it at the end of each level and you will probably have to refresh your browser to display any updates, but we'll give it a go.

If it doesn't seem to be working it can be viewed at chipgraph.com

A mid-week update...

Wow... it's been a pretty decent start to the week in this rodent's burrow! Three winning days out of four thus far playing online, showing a profit of about $136. And there's more...


Bank Holiday Monday, and two-thirds of the Mob re-enter that ripple in the [poker] time and space continuum that is the Three Pigeons £10 freezeout... and who was it that stood proud at the end of the night and spit in the eye of the Poker Gods? None other that yours truly, that's who! Get in there!! And there's more...

Last night was the first of the new monthly €25k Freerolls on Virgin Poker... Teresa had entered a few days ago when there were just a couple of hundred entries, by the time it started, at 7.00pm, she was in a field of 2795. She made the final table of 10 as one of three short stacks and finally busted out in 10th, at 1.43am, when one of the other shortys open raised from the CO, Button and SB fold, Teresa has A7 off in the BB and pushes it in... the raiser thinks for a few seconds and then calls with TcJc... She got it in ahead but with a flop of 789 (2 clubs), alas the 1st prize eluded her on this occasion... but hey, €300 added to the bankroll is not to be sneezed at!



- Sunday 24/08
Party, 2 tables, 50NL, 86 mins... -$69.55

- Monday 25/08
Party, 2 tables, 50NL, 121 mins... +$42.43
The Pigeons £10 Freezeout, 1st Place for £90... +£79.00

- Tuesday 26/08
Party, 1 table, 50NL, 56 mins... +$62.77

- Wednesday 27/08
Party, 2 tables, 50NL, 40 mins... +$101.29

This should be a witty title... but I couldn't think of one!

As can be seen below, it has been a 'reasonable' week of poker... spoilt by a 'tilt' session on Tuesday. Having got back to winning ways playing on Party, the lure of the 30% rakeback called me back to Eurolinx on Sunday.

It started well enough with $133 profit over the first two days, for just over an hour each day. And then - Black Tuesday! Whatever I did, I couldn't win a pot. At about $150 down, instead of packing up and taking the loss (as I knew I should have done), I then buy-in for $100 on a $1/$2 NL table. After just 3 hands I run KK into AA... now it's -$250! :-(

Well I went back 50NL, tail between my legs, and foolishly said, "That's it, I'm sitting here 'til I've won it all back... or this account is empty!"

The Eurolinx pot is now empty... fortunately I only had $400 in there.

So back to Party for the rest of the week and until another bad session on Saturday it looked like I was going get out the week about even... aided by a welcome 3rd place in a $22 MTT, only 70 players but a decent profit of $128 for a little over two hours toil.

Played golf at Faringdon again on Friday, but only managed 9 holes due to my left knee giving me a bit of grief... seems OK now though, so hopefully nothing serious! It had all the makings of being a good round until the dreaded 7th hole, but it was still my best score for the front nine so far, so I'm happy with that. And, and... I finished with the same number of balls that I started with... not the same balls, but the same number! (1 lost / 1 found)

(Numbers are Strokes/Putts)

- Sunday 17/08
Eurolinx, 2 tables, 50NL, 70 mins... +$61.23

Unfortunately, our man in the Welsh mountains didn't cash in the $300k on Party... but astonishingly I managed 3rd place at the Pigeons, for the princely sum of £20 (£9 profit!).

- Monday 18/08
Eurolinx, 2 tables, 50NL, 62 mins... +$72.13
Party, $6 7-Stud MTT, 38th of 61... -$6.00

- Tuesday 19/08
Eurolinx, 3 tables, 50NL, 292 mins... -$312.12
Eurolinx, 1 table, 200NL, 3 mins... -$100.00

- Wednesday 20/08
Party, 2 tables, 50NL, 146 mins... +$2.10

- Thursday 21/08
Party, 1 table, 50NL, 117 mins... +$74.94
Party, $22 MTT, 139 mins, 3rd of 50... $150.00
Party, $6 Shootout MTT, Unplaced... -$6.00
Party, $22 SnG, 2nd... +$38.00

- Friday 22/08
Party, 3 tables, 50NL, 71 mins... +$64.63
Party, $22 MTT (LHE! doh!!), unplaced... -$22

- Saturday 23/08
Party, 2 tables, 50NL, 171 mins... -$101.10
Party, $22 MTT, Unplaced... -$22.00

Weekly Total... -$128.19

Let's have a graph anyway...

Hopefully the next step won't be up!!

Seconds out, Round 3... and an update on the poker!

I know, I know... another week and no updates, what can I say? There really aren't enough hours in the day, how I used to manage doing a full time job, I really don't know!

I have run into a bit of problem on the graph front... I have started using PokerTracker v3, but unfortunately it doesn't yet support Prima/Microgaming sites so I can't combine my old PT v2 database at the moment. Anyway here's what's happened this week...

Monday -
Party, 2 tables of 50NL for 59 mins... +$137.27

Tuesday -
Party, 3 tables of 50NL for 95 mins... -$79.30
Party, 2 tables of 50NL for 96 mins... -$24.73

Wednesday -
Party, 3 tables of 50NL for 55 mins... +$68.91

Thursday -
Party, 3 tables of 50NL for 100 mins... -$290.96
Party, 1 tables of 200NL for 77 mins... +$141.25
Party, 1 tables of 200NL for 75 mins... +$99.22
Party, 4 x $22 SnGs, 1 x 1st, 1 x 3rd... +$52.00

Friday -
Party, 2 tables of 100NL for 83 mins... +$122.06
Party, 1 x $22 SnG, unplaced... -$22.00

Saturday -
Party, 1 table of 200NL for 19 mins... +$91.56
Party, 1 x $22 SnG, unplaced... -$22.00
Party, $3 rebuy MTT, satellite to $300k gtd... (+$207.20)
BlueSq, APAT Dutch Open, unplaced... -$11.00
BlueSq, 1 x $22 SnG, 2nd place... +$38.00

Total for week... +$300.28 (+$207.20) = +$507.48

So, another rollercoaster ride this week, but showing a profit at the end of it. I won't claim the full $507 as profit though, since $207 is in the form of a $215 seat in the $300 gtd, on Party at 7.45pm tonight...

I was bored on Saturday afternoon and entered a $3 rebuy, without realising that it was a satellite. Well I played it real tight, had one rebuy ($2.40) and the add-on ($2.40) and started the freezeout stage without 12.5k chips (CL had 69k!!). It paid 7 seats and with 2.1m chips in play I had 500k going into the final table, easily enough to just sit-out and fold into the money.


Unfortunately, it clashes with the big £10 freezeout at the Pigeons tonight so I have had to bring in a more than capable reserve to play the Party tournament for me, on a straight 50/50 split... Get it won Dewi!!! $30k or $40k each will buy a few Guinesses in Brighton. :-)

As for strict bankroll management, well, that has taken a bit of a back seat again!!

In other news... On Friday, I set two new PBs for 18 holes at Faringdon. 'Out' in 41 and 'home' in 48, for a total of 89 (previous best 102) and only 2 lost** balls (previous best 5). Unable to get anyone to play with I decided to go over on my own and then, on the first tee, I met up another old Rowing Machine ex-regular, Pete and his lad Franky... so I went around them.


** I say 'lost'... well, one went in the water at the twelfth, but the other one??? All I'll say is, Pete is a scouser!! I'll say no more, I don't want to get banned from Liverpool or any pubs!!!

Oh dear... woe is me...

TODAY'S THOUGHT - Some days you will be the pigeon... other days, you just have to accept that you will be the statue.

---+++---

Oh dear, Friday afternoon I had one of those 'Rush of Blood' moments that I know 'thegame' will relate to! I had been playing for about 30 mins, on Party Poker, 2 tables of 50NL and a $22 SnG... $65 and $55 on the cash tables, around starting chips in the SnG. In one hand after the other I busted in the SnG, with KK v AA all-in PF; lost the $55 on one cash table, with TT v JJ all-in on a T5J flop; I then actually got in good with AK vs KQs on an AKx flop, matey's flush got there and I was down to $15 on that table!!

I carried on playing the cash tables for another few minutes but the two people I'd doubled up left - bastards! - and were replaced by SSSs (Short-Stack Shithouses)... for the first time in 4 months of cash play, I completey turned my back on all common sense and bankroll management and went looking for a 200NL seat!

There was no seat available, but I put my name on the list for a table where one guy only had about $20, I figured he wouldn't be around too long. I watched while I was waiting... it was two full orbits before shorty busted and I took my seat and bought in for $150. Now while I was watching there was one guy sat out the whole time, I am now sat on his right. I didn't get a hand to play for 1 1/2 orbits... matey still sat out.

So, it's my button... matey sits back in and posts both blinds out of position - this is usually a sign of a bad player! - the cards are dealt and I have AdKd. It is folded to matey in the CO, who raises to $6... now this could simply be a position raise; or it could be another trait of the bad player who posts out of turn, and that is deciding to defend his SB+BB investment, with any two cards; or he could actually have a hand!

Well this clown isn't stealing my button and I don't want to price in the blinds, so I ship the rest of it in... Blinds Fold - Fold, matey calls immediately... Shit! So, there we have it, this guy has been sitting out for at least four orbits of the table and first hand back he gets KK and manages to find someone who is steaming a little to get it all-in with... some people are just soooooo lucky!

On a brighter note... could it get any worse?? I have persevered on Party, albeit at 25NL for the moment, and in two sessions yesterday and one this morning I have recovered about $150 of Friday's losses. Hopefully it was a lesson learned that I'll not be repeating.

Also I have been asked to take on the role of 'Non-Playing Captain' and selector of the England team for the upcoming European Amateur Poker Team Championships. The event is being organised by APAT and will take place at the Grosvenor Brighton on Nov 1st & 2nd.

Hot buttered charcoal...

TODAY'S THOUGHT - Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp that no one would ever eat?

---+++---

OK, back to Monday... I didn't get around to any online poker on Monday. After my last post 'er indoors wanted a ride into town to do some shopping, this was followed by a trip to the driving range to spray 50 golf balls around a field and then a spot of lunch. Lunch taken and digested, I was just psyching myself up for a couple hours of poker when I recieved a text from Neal (The Gambler) asking if I fancied a round of golf... so that was the rest of the afternoon taken up.

Well, what can I say about the golf? Now, Neal is a pretty good player, but my practice has certainly started to pay off. Astonishingly, I was leading by one hole... as we teed off on the second! We actually halved the second, but from then in Neal's superior fitness (and better golf) started to kick in. However, the final score of my 2nd ever round of golf was 9 shots less than my 1st round... if I can keep up this rate of improvement, well you never know, it's still 11 months 'til the Open???


I did make it to The Fox for the £5 re-buy, which I can quickly sum-up as... 7 re-buys and 1 add-on (£40 - bad)... 10k chips at the break (not too bad)... mis-timed, mis-read not long after the break (v. bad)... that's all I have to say about that!

On to Tuesday, and not too much to report... in the afternoon I played about 2 hours, 2 tabling 50NL on Prima for a profit of a little over a buy-in ($51.77 to be exact). I the evening I fancied having a go at a tournament and ended up putting some money in Party Poker and playing a $33 MTT freezeout and a couple of $22 STTs. I was tickling along quite nicely in the MTT until my AsKs fell foul of an AhQh, all the money went in on an AcKh7h flop, you know the rest! I finished 50 of 168 and quite enjoyed it, I managed to hold my concentration quite well considering my recent tournament play. The STTs were a win and a 3rd, so my $77 in buy-ins showed a $140 return... not brilliant, but another $63 in the pot and a winning day.

Yesterday I continued playing on Party, for a change... 2 hours of 50NL, 2 tables for most of the time but 3 for a while... net profit $0.68!! And what makes this even more frustrating is, there is no rakeback on Party. There is some loyalty scheme whereby you can get some cashback in return for points, but how much you have to play and how it relates to a percentage rakeback I have no idea. I played 4 more $22 STTs, in the evening, finishing 1 8 1 5 for a net profit of $112.

Right, that's it up to date... just time to take the dogs for a walk and have 50 balls at the driving range before lunch. I don't know, there's just not enough hours in the day! :-)

Well that didn't last long...

TODAY'S THOUGHT - Why are they called stairs inside but steps outside?

---+++---

I'm sorry to say, neither the winning sessions nor the alcohol ban lasted more than one day!!

In a 3 hour session yesterday afternoon I managed to give back pretty much all of the profit from the last two days... bollocks! I had pocket Aces four times... and won the blinds each time; I had pocket Kings three times... lost twp buy-ins, and won a small pot... ffs.

I wish I could say it was all bad luck, but unfortunately there is still a sprinkling of bad play mixed in... why is it that when you make those 'bad calls' you get it right just often enough to keep you coming back for more? Or maybe it's just me?? :-(

And as if that wasn't enough... we had some new blood in the Pigeons game last night! Well if I say he made Joy look like Annie Duke and Steve v2.0 look like Phil Helmuth, you'll get the idea!!

Is it any wonder I ended up having a couple of pints???

Anyway, it's back on the wagon and a tilt at The August Cup, at the Fox tonight. This is the annual end of season tournament in their league, it is usually well attended and has a pretty decent prize pool for a £5 re-buy.

No beer Saturday and a winning session...

TODAY'S THOUGHT - Why is it called Alcoholics Anonymous when the first thing you do is stand up and say, 'My name is Bob, and I am an alcoholic'?

---+++---

Inspired by 'The Mob's' northern correspondent, I broke with a 25 year old tradition yesterday and didn't go for my usual 3-4 pints and a few games of pool at lunchtime. Indeed I shall be abstaining from alcohol consumption at least until the end of the month. This is part of the 'Get a bit fitter, you fat bastard' program that I am currently embarking upon.

It had always been my intention to try and get a bit more excersise when I stopped working and try and lose a bit of weight... but the decision to accompany Paul and Neal for a round of golf, a couple of weeks ago, made me realise that I need to step things up a bit, especially as I intend to give this golf mularkey a bit of a go!

Now this 'round' of golf was actually twice round the 9-hole, all par 3 course at Faringdon... and very pleasant it is too... but by about half-way round the second time I was knackered! When the game was arranged I had assumed it just a bit of mess about on a pitch 'n putt, where you borrow a 9-iron and a putter and chase a ball round a field. So when Paul asked if I had any clubs, well I was a little taken aback.

As it happens I had the notion to take up golf about 20 years ago (although nothing came of it) and aquired an old bag and a couple of clubs from various sources... which, since moving house 6 years ago, had been up in the roof of the garage, gathering dust and an assortment of spiders.

Well my first ever round of golf was a bit of a mixture, as should probably be expected I guess. Now I knew I wouldn't loose any balls by hitting them out of sight but I hadn't reckoned on two (make that 4 in two rounds) of the holes being over water... a good job I had also got a decent stock of 20 year old golf balls!! A total score of 111 on a par 54 course leaves plenty of room for improvement.

Don't tell Paul and Neal but I have now bought a set of clubs and will be having a few trips to the driving range before our next outong to Faringdon... remember what Phil Ivey did to Marc Goodwin and Ram Vaswani... watch this space!

And so on to poker... I played for about an hour yesterday afternoon, two tables of 50NL (25c/50c) and made a profit of $127, after going one buy-in down as usual!! Here's the updated graph, it doesn't look pretty, nor does that nasty red stain on the monthly summary. :-(

They're not all locked up yet...

I just had to reproduce this, for benefit of any of my readers who may not frequent the APAT forums on a regular basis. It is part of a discussion, prompted by the question - who has to show first, at showdown. The second paragraph is just a gem!

Re: Showing Cards!
« Reply #15 on: Yesterday at 08:43:53 pm » Quote

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totally agree Dan, I too think and insist both cards are shown to take a pot down, I just don't get involved if I'm not in the hand on a cash table. To reenforce it, it is called a SHOWDOWN for a reason

John I think collusion is the main reason. I wonder if by luck, it also prevents too much bluffing, and force a more correct line of play, otherwise i suppose every game may turn into a crap shoot when we may as well then play 3 card brag or another game of just balls and gambling.

The full thread can be found - HERE

A new dawn... and a thought for today...

TODAY'S THOUGHT - Why can't a woman put on mascara with her mouth closed?

I guess, since the hit counter has kept ticking over during the last month, that someone is still checking here occiasionally? So I suppose I had better write something?

So, what has happened, well not a lot poker-wise. I had a couple of horrendous losing days following my last post and decided to have a break for a couple of days... During which time my dad was taken into hospital, where he sadly passed away a few days later. He had played a lot of cards in his youth and whenever I went to see him, his first question was always, "How's the poker going?"

For the next couple of weeks I had no interest in getting back to the grind of online poker. However, I did make it to couple of live games at the Fox, taking 2nd place in a £50 freezeout... a couple of games at the Pigeons, the less said about those the better! And, if you read Paul & Rich's blogs you will already know, the Witney (inc. Carterton) Mob took 2nd place in the quiz night at the Pigeons.

My next session of online poker was a couple days before the end of July, the result - minus $100'ish... when will it end? I played one more day in July and showed a bit of a profit, after being $250 in the hole at one point, most of the money clawed back came from one player - thankyou MyButterfly (Prima) whoever you are.

Anyway, mainly due to one or two really bad days and not playing enough to get it back, July has finished as my first losing month since starting this attack on the cash games, in the middle of March... not happy!!!

And so to the present, I played a bit more yesterday and picked up nearly $80... not a fortune, but a solid profit to start the month.

No graph to post this time, not because it doesn't look very pretty but I play on two different computers and haven't got around to copying all the hand histories over for the last few sessions... when I've done so then I'll stick it up.