Well, another week...

Another $280 profit! :-)

The profit may be a little artificially inflated at the moment, as $215 of it is in the form of a Step 4 ticket... won as a result of using 500 fpp's to enter a Step 1 STT. I won't be continuing on the 'steps' route, instead I shall use the Step 4 ticket to take part in the $200 + $15 Sunday Warm-Up next Sunday evening.

I haven't played a whole lot of poker this week, when I have played I've stuck pretty much to STTs... a mix of $11 regular, $6.50 turbos and $16 turbos. A total of 62 tournaments, average buy-in $9.10, ITM 40.3% and ROI 9.9%... a profit of just $55.75. Getting ITM often enough, just not converting it into enough 1st places.

I decided to stick with STTs in preparation for tonight's 'big game' at The Pigeons... I now have it totally ingrained into my subconcious; Fold everything except QQ+ and AKs, anytime I'm down to 10BBs or less - Push with any two cards.

Seemplez!

Current Profit	$506.05
Bonuses	$ 35.00
FPP conversion	$ 1.50
Starting Roll	$162.51
Total	$705.06

The End Of An Era...

It may have have been just 6 weeks, but an era none the less... I have brought to an end my 45-man SnG grind. Following a [msn] conversation with Rich yesterday afternoon, I did some sums and realised that, with the combination of; a) best likely return; and b) reduced volume, due to work picking up, it was highly unlikely that I could even get to a proper bankroll level to play exclusively $6.50 (or higher), never mind win the $1000 WSOP buy-in that had become the target of my online pokering.

So... I decided, "Bollocks to proper bankroll management!" and set forth on a [disastrous] session of solely $6.50's... and followed that with a "bankroll management is for wimps" session of $22 STTs. I somehow managed to win 2 of these and end the day back over $200 profit. I'm still wondering if I should have left it a little longer after a four-guinness lunchtime before making these sort of decisions? But, hey-ho!!

Anyway, there we are then, onwards and, hopefully, upwards.

The state of play at the end of the 'MTT Era' yesterday

On waking this morning I realised that continuing with $22 STTs, six at a time, probably isn't a good idea and have settled on $11 as a compramise. The unbelievable run continued however and now have a total of 7 first places and a third from 19 tournaments.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

Current Profit	$235.30
Re-Load Bonus	$ 25.00
FPP conversion	$ 1.50
Starting Roll	$162.51
Total	$424.31

Down, Down, Deeper And Down...

A couple of hours of jubilation yesterday morning, after breaking through the $200 profit barrier at the third attempt... then, it all went tits-up in the next two sessions.

Lunchtime yesterday

End of play yesterday

Movin' On Up, Movin' On Up...

Just one 11 game session yesterday, for an $11 profit, so I'll lump that in with today's summary.

I've continued with a mix of $3.25 and $6.50 tournaments, with TableNinja set-up to keep me in 4 x $3.25's and 2 x $6.50's at a time, for 60 mins... sessions are ranging from 9-12 tournaments.

Combined Wed & Thu Summary ($6.50's in brackets) -
Tournaments 45 (14)
1sts 0 (0)
2nds 3 (1)
3rds 3 (1)
4ths 1 (1)
5ths 2 (1)
6ths 1 (0)
7ths 3 (3)
Bubbles 1 (1)
Profit/Loss +$87.25

Total Profit/Loss +$181.80 (807 Tournaments)

Charity Tin £4

I fear 'The Mob' may be breaking up...

I understand Paul is drafting his visa application as I write... SEE HERE

No poker today.

I see my blog is growing in popularity, even two visits today from the far east. Wait a minute!! Paul... Paul...

Oh dear, I think he's already gone?

"Outside of a dog, a book is your best friend...

and inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
- Groucho Marx

Daily Summary ($6.50s in brackets) -
Tournaments 35 (24)
1sts 1 (0)
2nds 0
3rds 2 (1)
4ths 0
5ths 1 (1)
6ths 0
7ths 3 (3)
Bubbles 0 (0)
Profit/Loss -$26.75

Total Profit/Loss +$94.55 (762 Tournaments)

Charity Tin £3

"You see me here, you [poker] gods...

a poor old man, As full of grief as age; wretched in both."
- King Lear, Act II, scene iv

More proof, if proof were needed, that The Bard was a regular player on PokerStars.

A poor 9 game session early today prompted me to throw good bankroll management out of the window and have a go at the $6.50s. A set of 6 x $6.50s resulted in a win and a third place... that's more like it. Unfortunately, the good fortune didn't last, the third session of the day was 0 for 7.

Daily Summary ($6.50s in brackets) -
Tournaments 22 (13)
1sts 1 (1)
2nds 0
3rds 1 (1)
4ths 0
5ths 1
6ths 0
7ths 1
Bubbles 2 (2)
Profit/Loss +$30.25

Total Profit/Loss +$121.30 (727 Tournaments)

Charity Tin £3

"Peace comes from within...

Do not seek it on PokerStars."
- Buddha (possibly mis-heard?)

Note To Self: Do not play soon after returning from the pub!!

Daily Summary -
Tournaments 36
1sts 0
2nds 0
3rds 2
4ths 0
5ths 0
6ths 1
7ths 1
Bubbles 1
Profit/Loss -$53.50

Total Profit/Loss +$91.05 (705 Tournaments)

Charity Tin £3

"First ask yourself:...

What is the worst that can happen? Then prepare to accept it. Then proceed to improve on the worst."
- Dale Carnegie, after playing a SnG session on PokerStars

Daily Summary -
Tournaments 36
1sts 3
2nds 0
3rds 1
4ths 2
5ths 1
6ths 0
7ths 0
Bubbles 1
Profit/Loss +$72.00

Total Profit/Loss +$144.55

Charity Tin £2


Hopefully it is just a matter of time before variance swings in my direction and we can push on out of the foothills and scale Everest... onwards and upwards!

"Lord, What fools these mortals be!"

- A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act III, scene ii

Clearly Shakespeare had also played against the $3 SnG players on PokerStars!

Daily Summary -
Tournaments 23
1sts 0
2nds 0
3rds 0
Minor Cashes 2
Profit/Loss -$47.75

500 FPP Step 1 - 4th for $1.50

Total Profit/Loss +$72.55

Charity Tin £2

Ice Road Trucker...

I had three jobs booked in to do yesterday... I got all three jobs done, driving over 200 miles in the process... and then got the van stuck in the road trying to reverse back into my own driveway!!

Cancelled today's jobs and re-booked them for next Tuesday.

Thank God for global warming, that's what I say... where would we be without it, Eh? We'd all freeze in our beds, that's where we'd be without it!!

No poker played Wednesday.

Black Toosday...

Just two sessions today, a single first place finish in this morning's 11 game set ensured a small profit but that soon evaporated in a brutal evening session.

Some good news though, played the front nine at Witney today... 40 shots through holes 1 to 8 and confident of pretty good score [for me], only to hit the tee shot out of bounds, at the 9th, another into the trees, resulting in a very ugly 9 to finish and spoil an otherwise fairly good looking card.

Daily Summary -
Tournaments 26
1sts 1
2nds 0
3rds 0
Minor Cashes 1
Profit/Loss -$30.50

Total Profit/Loss +$118.80

Charity Tin £2

Gave A Bit Back Today...

Not much to say about it really, decent session early, so so session this afternoon and an 0 for 12 session tonight! :-(

On Saturday, I used 500 FPPs for a Step 1 SnG... won a $27 Step 2 ticket. Played the Step 2 earlier and lost that also (8th place).

Daily Summary -
Tournaments 32
1sts 0
2nds 1
3rds 1
Minor Cashes 3
Profit/Loss -$29.00

Total Profit/Loss +$149.30

Charity Tin £2

Nothing To See Here...

No poker today.

Breathe In The Through The Nose....

breathe out through the mouth.....

Ommmmmmmmmmmmmm......

Just 21 tournaments today in two sessions, 14 this morning with just one 7th place for a $30'something loss. But an altogether much better 7 game session this evening, albeit with a certain amount of 'tongue biting' required, a first and a second place 'greening up' the day's proceedings.

Daily Summary -
Tournaments 21
1sts 1
2nds 1
3rds 0
Minor Cashes 1
Profit/Loss +$25.75

Total Profit/Loss +$178.30

Charity Tin £1

All In The Garden Is Rosy...

My new found outlook on the trials and tribulations of online poker (aided by a mega-strength dose of Valium), has already begun to pay dividends. After the first two sessions of the day had resulted in two small losses, totaling -$13.50... a much calmer evening session, sans bad-beat rants, provided 4 cashes from 10 tournaments and a return of $73.75.

Daily Summary -
Tournaments 35
1sts 1
2nds 1
3rds 0
Minor Cashes 10
Profit/Loss +$60.25

Total Profit/Loss +$152.55

Charity Tin £1*

*Note: I feel I was tricked here and reluctantly agreed to put this £1 in... I was simply suffering in silence, shaking my head after running JJ into QQ, when shorthanded at a final table. When Teresa asked what was wrong I did allow a small expletive to enter my description. It wasn't a rant, it was explained in a calm , collected manner, but I did agree not to swear while playing.

January Charity Prop Bet [of sorts]...

So, here's the thing; I have come to the conclusion that if my heart and sanity are to last long enough for me to spend any winnings I might have by the time we get to Vegas, I need to stop getting so stressed by the bad beats... stop swearing at bad players making bad calls - they can't hear me!! And maybe stop making those bad decisions in the middle of a session that have probably been costing 2 or 3 buy-ins each session.

The terms and conditions (these will apply to live poker also)...

For the remainder of the month of January;
- I will not shout and swear during the course of a session.
- I will not moan about, or post any more bad beats.
- I will not moan about bad players making bad calls.
- I will not moan about the PokerStars RNG.
- I will not threaten to throw the laptop across the room.

Teresa will police the online sessions and the penalty will be £1.00 in a tin for each offence.

At the end of January any money collected will be handed over to Joy, at the Pigeons, to donate to one of their [UK] charities.

If their is less than £20, I will double it and if the tin is bare (ha ha, yes, some chance!!) I will donate £10 anyway... I guess that gives me 5 free lapses of concentration? :-)


There it is then, bring it on PokerStars... do your worst, I shall remain calm and collected at all times... playing my A-Game and making only correct decisions.

Deep breaths....

Ommmmmmmmmm....

And A New One's Just Begun...

unfortunately it's started much the same as the last one ended. :-(

This just about sums up the last week or so; Final table of $3.25 45-Man SnG, it folds to the Button who limps, SB folds, I push and get insta-called by button...


Then a few hands later, I've stolen some blinds and got back to reasonable stack, UTG folds, I push again, fold fold, same guy snap calls in the BB, with pocket 3s!


This same sort of thing has been occurring relentlessly for days... I fear that my sanity may break before my bankroll.

A PokerStars regular yesterday

Another year over...

So, I guess it's an appropriate time for a progress report on the quest to win some money to take to Vegas in June. The quest started on December 3rd, so not quite a full month, however I haven't had much [any] work so I have been able to put in a decent volume.

I've played 502 tournaments, all but one were 45-man SnGs (I somehow entered a $2.20 180-man SnG by mistake!)... 492 at $3.25 and 9 @ $6.50.

Out of 22557 hands I've had pocket Aces 97 times and lost with them 13 times.

At one stage I was +$200, but subsequently I've had very frustrating spell of winning a bit but then losing a bit more and I've finished the month with just a $92.30 profit... still a profit, very dissappointing none the less.

I have to find some way to turn this downward trend around!