Playing Cash!

Oddly, I now find myself playing cash.

I've been 3-tabling (more recently 4-tabling) full-ring $25NL tables, and doing OK. I'm up about 8 buyins, having become more aggressive than I was.

I became aware that I was playing drawing hands passively and if I ever hit I wasn't getting paid off - so I realised that if I was playing aggresively I could make money just playing small-ball poker. So I did.

At least that was for the last couple of nights. Last night thought I signed on during FTP's happy hour (double FTP points) and the tables were both much fuller, and much tougher. Not really tough or anything, but I needed to be more patient rather than just try and run over the tables. That took me a while to adjust to. I played OK though although I was down - until the last hand where I misplayed a draw.

I called a min-raise with T9o from the BB and 3 players saw the flop. The flop was 87x rainbow. I checked, the original raiser bet about 1.25, the second player called and I raised to $7.5. Call/fold. The turn was a T, which gives me a few more outs if villain has an over-pair, and I push the last of my chips in (about a pot-sized bet) and am called by QQ. I river the straight of course which meant I had made a small profit from the session, but not by playing well.

I'm still struggling to figure out how to play draws (its always been a weakness of mine). Variables include:

My number of outs
Number of villains
Villain's tendencies
Position
Stack sizes

I think in the case of the hand above I need to play it more passively on the assumption I'm better off taking villain to value-town if I hit, and I'm unlikely to have any fold equity with my aggresion.

Good fun at the moment though. I'm winning at ~10BB/100 over about 4k hands. No sample size of course - I really need to get to 10k before the numbers mean anything, and then much higher before they mean a lot.

Other things I'll need to consider if I continue playing cash is:
1) Move up in limits (I'm pretty sure I can beat $25NL, so having a crack at $50NL seems an obvious target)
2) Play more tables - currently I'm playing 4. I'll do this for a bit and consider adding more.
3) Move to 6max. I've always preferred FR though, but there must be many reasons why people play 6max. The win-rate is higher I hear, which is compensated slightly by people playing more tables at FR - but I've never been a great multi-tabler.

I'm also now using PokerTracker properly, and starting to explore some of the more advanced features which is proving interesting too.

Maybe a change is proving as good as a rest (and the potential for reduced variance can only be a good thing as I try and build my roll for LV).

Splutter splutter ...

Picture a drowning man at sea who swims to land and with his last ounce of strength hauls himself out of the sea and walks onto the sandy shore.

Thats me, and my downswing. I'm basically hoping that I'm now at the end of it, because I've finally managed a "substantial" cash again. Its only $170, for winning one of the $11/45s but it makes a reasonable difference to my bankroll.

I had about $1880 last night, but I'm not prepared to dip under $1500 as that is going to Vegas with me, so realistically my bankroll was under $400. Briefly.

I played reasonably and then had the kind of luck you need to win one of these things, in fairly quick order had AKs>TT to double up when 3-handed, KQ>A8 to knock shorty out and then AKs>KQo heads up. Its precisely this kind of luck - especially when you need it - that has been deserting me.

I know I'm not going to win a lot of flips late - but recently I couldn't win ANY after it got down to 2 or (especially) 1 table. Anyway I must try and continue to rebuild now.

Moving back down - and an interesting live game

My now really quite large downswing continues. My BR is around $1950 now, and I'm playing the 11/45s - still no luck though. Sigh.

Anyway I went to Luton last week to play in the usual £75+11 tourny. The feel of the tournament was very different this time - there were no good players there. Woo-hoo! It seems that the blind structure was changed to make the tournament a bit faster and all the good players left as their edge was too small. Now they've reverted the structure back but they haven't returned yet. Lovely.

Anyway my first table was very weak with loads of pre-flop limping and family pots. It took me a while to realise that nobody was going to attack, so I did a bit, although belatedly.

I misplayed one hand hilariously when I had Q9 from the SB and saw a 5-way hand. The flop came 9-high so I bet out fully expecting to take the pot down. 3 callers. OK. The turn was a blank, putting 2 diamonds on the board. Checked round. The river was another non-descript card - but was a diamond. I think somebody has the flush. I check, 2 more checks and the last player to act (who was actually capable of playing well) put a big bet in. I ummed-and-ahhed for a while before pretty much deciding to fold my top pair (a call would have been terrible) and looked at my cards (which I only ever do when preparing to fold) to see both my cards were diamonds and I had made the flush! I then had to decide whether to raise or not, but having thought for so long over a dodgy call I felt I had to move quickly so just called. The table were staggered when I turned my cards over (as was villain who had a straight and would have certainly called a raise).

Other than that brain-fart I played pretty well - one flip helped -until with about 24 left I was probably in the top 2/3 chip stacks. I had about 28k chips with blinds at 400/800/75a. Then there was a strange moment where a fairly aggressive player raises to 3.2k UTG, I'm on the button with AKs and wondering how I'm going to play this and the chap to my right pushes his short-ish stack of 11k. UTG has about 19k and after a lot of though I iso-shove, but UTG has QQ and CO has AKs, so I'm drawing very thin indeed.

UTG felt I could have got away from this hand as its a lot of my stack to commit on at best a flip - and I could be a long way behind. Plus I have a large stack and a weak table. I'm still not sure what was right.

The trip to Luton was very encouraging though - there was a terribly weak cash game going too (1/1 - low buy-ins) that I was rolled to play - but I didn't bust out of the tourny till about 2 and was pretty shattered.

The late running of the tourny is a problem actually. Firstly if I run deep I doubt I will be playing my A-game as its so late - and the drive back may be a bit hairy. I took the wrong route twice!

Nevertheless the astonishing quality of the players makes me itch for a repeat journey.

Onwards and further downwards

I'm still running badly, and am down about 50 buy-ins now.

Its time to reconsider things.

At the start of this run I was running gruesomely badly, with a terrible run of bad beats. That's poker, I'm not ususual. I then started playing worse, but I think I've got my head on straight again now, and I'm OK with hopw I'm playing. I'm still losing though.

Its struck me that the final tables I'm reaching these days are pretty tough. There usually are few players who are donking lots of chips off, and they are all pretty shallow by the time of the money bubble so the variance is pretty large. That said if threre is a coin-flip to be played on the FT you can be pretty sure I'm on the wrong side of it.

Anyway I'm going to have to make a decision pretty soon on whether to move down or not. I've taken money out of my roll to pay for the Vegas flights, so I now "only" need money for a bankroll while I am there and some money to keep online.

I'd be happy taking $3k with me, and leaving $500 online, but I've only got $2k online at the moment - after my terrible run - and if I move down it will take me a *long* time to build it up.

That said, if the fields are that bit easier it may be worth it. We'll see how I fell when I next play.

Down down down ...

OK I'm losing. Quite consistently at the moment. There are three possibilities.

One: Bad run, variance, it'll happen, keep playing you'll get out of it.
Two: I'm not playing as well as I was and I've moved from being a winning player to being a losing one.
Three: I never was a winning player (at the $26s). My sample size was too small to be able to meaningfully estimate my ROI and I'm just returning to my normal level.


There is some element of them all going on. I am running badly. I'm getting sucked out on too much, and critically at the wrong times. Also I'm sucking out on opponents much less often than I should be.

While I am generally happy with my play its not perfect. I think I am slightly too loose in the early game, but my post-flop play has improved in terms of putting opponents on hands. I am definitely floating too much though.

Finally, my ROI was definitely unsustainable, so it will drift down over time. You never expect 30 buy-in downswings to happen, but you do know they will do. Its quite possible I'm only 1/2 way through it.

There are a couple of good things about this happening now.
1) Its not when I'm in Vegas. I'd hate to run ice-cold there.
2) There is time for me to get the money back.

If things carry on though I'll either have to have a break and study some of my games (which I should do more than I do anyway) or move down in an effort to regroup.

I don't know exactly how many buy-ins I'm down. I thought I was down about $1k, but it may "only" be about $750. After a while you don't want to count. Its straight down at the moment. I've had 2 min-cashes in this time and nothing else.

The trick (I hope) is just to keep playing well and wait for the luck to turn.

Multitabling again

No sooner do I post about playing 2 final tables at one time, than I repeat the feat. This time (last night) I played two games and ended up coming in second in them both. This time though I felt I played the latter stages of the two games much better, with 2-tabling not being a huge disadvantage.

In the first tournament to finish players busted very quickly so the latter stages of the tournament were played with pretty deep stacks. At least 30BBs, probably deeper (40BBs initially IIRC). This led to some interesting play. My opponent though wanted to play for big pots - regularly pushing both pre and post-flop. I didn't get enough of any hands early to want to commit all my chips when I might be a long way behind (although I did consider it with A8o. Early he raised from the button, I re-raised and he shoved all-in. I folded, thinking I could probably find a better spot). I continued my strategy of trying to win lots of small pots, and it was marginally succesful. The chips stacks swung between roughly even, to him having a near 2/1 chip lead. I didn't have many hands at this stage to be fair.

I kept trying to limp the button, and he kept shoving over me. When a player does this (and we're deep enough) I'll limp with a strong hand intending to trap. My guess is that he was shoving either any 2, or any reasonably strong hand (and ace, pair, 2 broadway) so repeated this when I was finally dealt AQo - he pushed and turned over TT, winning the race. It was interesting.

The other table was more shallow and over in 2 or 3 hands. Villain min-raised pre, and I called in the BB with QT. Flop comes Q-high and I CRAI - he has AQ and I lose that one too.

I still think I'm a pretty good heads-up player, but the last few times I've made the last two I didn't think I had an edge, probably the reverse.

My bankroll is now $4150, approaching the $5k I need/want for Vegas. I've made $1100 this month, and I made $1400 in Feb (March being a tiny loss of around $2). Getting there.

Multitabling

I am really bad at multitabling.

Currently I'm playing 2 tournaments at a time or 3 (occasionally 4) cash games.

I normally sign up for 2 45-man tournies at once, so I'm roughly the same way through them both, and then when they are both done I will consider signing up for 2 more. I still make too many mistakes though. I've occasionally found myself not factoring in the stack sizes of the people behind me enough when evaluating my raising ranges, and finding myself open to potential problems should one of them re-shove on me. The early stage play has generally been fine.

Last night I reached two final tables, eventually finishing 4th and 2nd. I've got a pretty good record heads-up, but I don't think I played that well, and I put much of this down to being 4-handed at the other table for a while. I'm probably at me weakest at 3 and 4 handed tables (too tight, not restealing enough, not situationally aware etc) and so I was at the most important time on one table whilst I was having to concentrate elsewhere.

I had spent some time recently (since my last post saying I was only going to 2-table) considering 3 or 4 tabling, but I really mustn't as it would be too much of a -ev move if my cashes all happened at the same time. If I was 1 tabling I could win 4 games in a row (unlikely, but possible). I can't imagine I could do that 4 tabling as I can't conceive of playing 4 FTs simultaneously.

Anyway, about the HU play, last night:
I started with a 3:1 chip lead, and managed to get reasonably close to winning - but not close enough, and I ended up getting my chips in behind a couple of times to let my opponent double up twice. Annoying.

I've also found myself laying elaborate traps. I limp/folded a couple of hands pre, with the specific intention of limp/shoving a strong hand later - and although I was dealt 88 and TT (and A9 IIRC) and limped villain didn't oblige annoyingly. After that I reverted back to opening with a raise and had much more success. I don't think villain was re-stealing enough so I should probably have just played like this more.

Part of the consideration is how best to play heads-up. If villain is super-aggro then a passive game can work quite well, but this guy had reached heads-up quite quietly (I hadn't really noticed him, weirdly - maybe we ended up both playing pots against the other players) so I didn't really have enough of a read to divert from a sensibly aggressive strategy.

I OPR'ed him today and discovered he was very high in their rankings (top ~0.1%) so he must have been better than I thought.

I'm still just on the fringes of the top 1%. My 2 cashes last night pushed me to 99.06% for the year.

BR is $3750 I think.

Cash, surprisingly

I've been carrying on reading Harrington on Cash games, and its been a real eye-opener. It teaches a very sound strategy for full ring cash games, so I've been strudying it quite a lot, and have improved my game so much.

I've spend a couple of sessions donking around on the $25NL tables on FTP, and have made a reasonable return so far. I've always said I'm pretty good at knowing how good a player I am in a given game and for the first time ever really I feel comfortable at a NL cash game - all be it very low stakes. I think at the moment that its worthwhile seeing a lot of flops in position cheaply at these levels as people are stacking off so light - so my stats show a much more passive approach than is recommended. I'm not quite sure how much this needs to change to be close to optimal at these stakes, but it certainly will if I ever move up.

1 hand sticks in my mind which I'm not sure about. I see a flop from LP with KQs, having called a min-raise. 3 to the flop which comes JTT. The first player to act bets about 2/3 the pot, the other player calls and so do I. The turn is an Ace, and I'm facing a larger bet from the initial player. I have to decide whether he has a boat or not. I discount JT from his range as I don't think he's going to bet a full-house, but I think he'll stack off with any other T. As it is all the money goes in and he turn over AJ for 2-pair losing to my straight or any T.


I've been doing OK at the 45/SnGs too, so my BR is now up to $3600, heading towards the 5k I need for Vegas. I've got enough now that I'm keeping a closer eye on the exchange rate. The pound seems to be going up at the moment, which isn't fantastic for me.

I've been running some maths on the 45-man games and the variance of them (and posted them on 2+2) and its really interesting to see what the gearing is between ROI and possible downswings. Consequently I'm definitely going to continue just 2-tabling for the time being. This is possibly a -ev cash move, but it will maximise my ROI (currently huge from a small volume) so reducing the chances of an extended downswing. My occasional cash diversions will help with this too, if I keep them up.

I also played in the TITN freeroll, and cashed in a quite a tough field, which was pleasing. Particularly impressively I managed to laydown QQ preflop - and it turned up I was against AA and KK. This is a move I rarely make, but it felt right - and I was deep enough to be able to do it.

Finally I've been keeping an eye on my OPR rankings, and currently I am (just) in the top 1% of players on Full Tilt, which is pretty pleasing. This is for 2009. For the last 120 days (and I haven't been playing regularly on FTP for that long) I'm 98.99%

I'll have to get a bit more live action in before I go to Vegas, but I'm not planning anything for a few weeks at least, I just want to keep grinding away online for a while.

Off to Vegas, slowing down at the tables, Harrinton on cash games

My big news is I've booked a trip to Vegas in October. Its the same deal as last time - direct Virgin flight, staying at the IP - only for a day longer. I'm really looking forward to it. The only downside is it is *so* far away. Why did I book it so late? Well a few reasons.

I wanted to miss the peak summer heat
I wanted it to be a bit quieter
I wanted to miss the WSOP, and the Venetian deep-stack events
I wanted the flights to be cheap.

Researching further though, I discover I could have gone at the end of May for the same price. No difference - just sooner.

One other reason I wanted to delay the holiday was to be able to earn some money playing poker to pay for it! I've got ~$3k online at the moment, but I really need another 2k - one to pay for the hol itself, and one to leave behind as a new roll. This will necessitate moving back down stakes when I withdraw, but I can live with that. I may actually pay for the holiday with "real" money, just financing the bankroll with my winning, we'll see.

Anyway, unsurprisingly FTP has disabled my BOOM switch, and so I'm running cooler at the moment. I'm not getting many good hands (although I'm not being sucked out on that often). I've barely been close to a cash recently until last night I completely misplayed a bubble hand where villain open-completed in the SB with AJ and I completely discounted the possibility of him having an A. The flop came A4x, and I had a 4 (46o, or possibly 42o). He made a small bet and I pushed which was really bad. If I read him right I could have got him off the hand with a small raise which I was just deep enough to get away from. Annoying.

I'm also reading Harrington on Cash games at the moment. I always knew I was bad at cash games, without quite knowing why. I do now. I've read the first 1/4 of volume 1, and I'm astonished at how little I understood, and how badly I was playing. The book says things like "tournament players often make this mistake ..." and I was doing all those things.

Anyway the hope now is I can improve my cash play without hopelessly compromising my tournament game.

Things I have to get better at

I need to be better at putting opponents on hands.
I need to revise the hand range I am putting them on after the flop, turn and river action
If the action on a particular hand raises very strongly the probability I am behind, I have to be able to fold good hands. I'm currently paying people off too much with TPTK type hands.
I need to think of a better strategy for playing draws in and out of position.

There's probably loads more.

Running *so* hot

Things are going very well now. I've been tracking my results on OPR, and I'm now in the top 2% of players on FTP. My recent results in the 10/45 and 24/45s are:

1n1nn5nnnnnnn11nnnnnnn1nnn | nnnnn2nnnn1nn1

Where a number is the position finish, and an 'n' is a non-cash. So I've won 7 of the last forty tournaments. Weird. I've been playing pretty well - but I've just been running so hot on the final tables its untrue.

Results to the left of the '|' are at $10, to the right at $24


This performance is of course entirely unsustainable, so I'll just keep playing at this level for a while and see what happens.

BR a healthy $2750.

I've moved up!

I've finally moved up and am playing the 45-man $24+2 games on FTP. Pleasingly the play at this level seems almost as bad as at the $10+1 games I've come from. I've made two final tables coming in 9th and 2nd - so I've made a little profit already.

Its hard to see me moving back down now. I'm certain I've got a good edge at this level and it would take a spectacularly bad run for me to move back. I initially allowed myself a 10 buy-in loss before I moved down, but I'd make that 20 now.

I've also only been 1-tabling while I figured the game out - but I'll 2-table from tomorrow.

Its been a pleasing few months at the tables.

What is the next stage?

Well I've (virtually) made my first milestone.

I've been donking around the $11/45s with a view to rebuilding my bankroll to a more sensible level ($2k). And I've done it - well, almost. Is $1991 or thereabouts. I'll clear the 2k barrier (no doubt this will take a while now I've said it!) and I'll have to think about where I am going to go.

I've rebuilt the roll by playing the $11/45s on FTP, and I've been doing pretty well - especially lately. My ROI is ~100% this year.

Options include
1) Staying where I am. Its a surprising move but I'm considering giving it another couple of months at this level. The reason being is that I would be very interested to get a more accurate ROI figure for me in these games. Whilst I clearly have a good edge I've been running very well the last few weeks, and so it would be interesting to see what a longer-term average is.

2) Add more tables. I only 2-table ATM. I could probably add 1 or maybe even 2 more tables. The games fill up quite quickly, so I could probably get 3/4 games started reasonably quickly and I'd be in roughly the same stage in all of them. How this would effect my play is anyone's guess. Its worth noting that even when 2-tabling I usually end up doing something else at the same time (messing around with my mp3s on iTunes, or reading bulletin boards somewhere). That would have to go, but thats not a bad thing, and probably indicates my play on the two existing tables wouldn't suffer that much.

3) Move up. Most obviously I could have a crack at the $24/45s (or maybe FTP has $26/45s, anyway ...) and this is what I always assumed I'd do when my roll reached back to these giddy heights.

I'm not sure what I'll do. Firstly I'll get that extra $9 (why?) but after that
I've a decision to make.

Rebuilding the roll

About time for an update.

I've been playing on the $10/45s on FTP for a few weeks - and doing quite well.
The play is pretty bad, but I seem to have adjusted fairly well to people's ranges and am playing pretty solidly. Consequently my bankroll is now swelled to around 1700.

Which is better. I'm certainly ready to have a crack at the $24/45s now which seem to fill up quite quickly, but I won't immediately. I'll probably let the bankroll cross $2k first. Which is daft really - I'm such a bankroll nit, especially as I'd move back down pretty quickly if I ran into a bad patch.

I'll probably move up when I hit $2k, and allow myself to lose 10 buyins before moving back down.


On a separate note I've become a poker mentor! I was looking around on 2+2 for a 'poker buddy' someone to chat about hands and maybe review sessions with - when
I stumbled across the MTT thread where they are pairing mentors with mentees.

I've got paired with 2. One of whom is based in London and is playing poker full-time at higher stakes than me! He's a pretty good player - probably better than me - but there is an element of our skills being complimentary and we may get something out of talking over hands. We've had one sweat session, and may have another tonight.

The other player is an American who is a much weaker player than me. He's doing OK at the 4/180s, but having reviewed his hand histories I hope to be able to make him a better post-flop player. We'll see how that goes - we haven't been able to arrange a sweat session yet. In fact he sent me a HH which I read through, and I should probably comment on it for him.


Anyway, I'm pleased with how things are going on the tables at the moment.

Dreaming of Vegas

Its that time again. Suddenly without me being aware of it happening, I'm dreaming of Vegas. Not going and playing the WSoP - so I'll probably not be playing any satellites or anything daft, but I am aware that its coming up for a year since I went over there last time, and I want to go again.

As things stand though, its just not going to happen. I can't pay for it out of my poker bankroll, especially after withdrawing £1200 or so when the banks were looking really dodgy, and that money has now been sat in my bank account no so long that its no longer reasonable to consider it part of my bankroll.

I've got a bankroll of about $1100 now - and I need to have about $5k to be able to afford it. About 3k as a bankroll and about 1k for the flight+hotel, leaving (just) 1k as my roll back home.

Realistically I don't need that much - I'm very unlikely to come back entirely potless (in fact if I came back with less than 1k I'd be exceedingly annoyed), so that amount could come down a little.

Nevertheless though with the credit crunch so severe, and the risks for employment to all who work so high it would just be a stupid waste of money, at precisely the wrong time.

Doesn't stop me dreaming though. And hoping that I might find my way over there in 2010.

So Caesars, or the Imperial Palace.

Status Update

I've been doing a little better on the tables recently. I've been playing pretty well all in all (admittedly at stupidly low stakes). I'm still donking around at the $11/45s on Stars, which I'm actually quite liking. The play is generally really bad - and I'm sure I make mistakes early by folding too much. Evidence for this is one hand - one of the first played

9 handed.

Hero is in MP holding AQo
Blinds 10/20
2 folds, Hero(1500) raises to 60, CO calls, SB and BB call.
Flop Q52
Hero bets 140, CO raises to 320, 2 folds, Hero pushes ....

And CO calls with Q9o. I'm possibly walking into a set or a slow-played over
pair - but at these levels I'm not sure that its profitable to fold TPTK against
an unknown. Especially as most are re-raising AA and KK here, and calling behind with
a flopped set. Most, but not all.

Anyway, I ran really bad for a while (down 15 or so buy-ins), but I'm back in profit now having won a couple of tournaments in quick succession.

I downloaded the really quite good pokertracker add-on Tourney Luck (search in the 2+2 s/w forums) which confirmed I was running really badly, and generally getting it in ahead. My luck seems to have turned now - as my bankroll confirms.

I'm still a bit short-stacked, but I don't want to carry on playing at the $11s for much longer. I'd hope to be able to have a crack back at the $22 games fairly soon, but I'm not at all sure where. I'm not aware of a tournament at the right time, with the right number of runners in it.

Most obviously would be the $22/45s, but I'm not sure how often they run. Oddly there seem to be more 11/45s running on Full Tilt, so I could have a look over there. Otherwise I'll have to look at a regular tourny somewhere, rather than playing the SnG MTTs.

It is perhaps worth mentioning that my upswing has coincided with me playing just 1 table at a time. There is probably a lesson hidden in there somewhere. Not too well hidden.

A tale of three hands

Nearly a week ago I was playing with my younger brother in the usual Friday tournament at the Casino in Luton.

Unfortunately (for me) I busted before the first break, while he ran deep so I spent some time sat on my backside thinking about how I'd played. There wasn't a cheap cash game going, so I had my thoughts for company.

I didn't play too badly despite busting early.

At my first table there were a few solid but tight players to my right, and two absolute maniacs to my left. The guy immediately to my right seemed pretty bad, and the fellow to his left much better.

I'd seen one hand where the idiot had made a big bet (much larger than the pot) with TPTK (AK) when I called his UTG raise with KJo in the BB. The flop came J9x and I checked. He this time bet quite small (500 into a pot of ~1000) and I raised to 1500. He called. At this point I was sure he didn't have a monster. He had bet hard with a big hand before, and having check-raised him he's going to 3-bet the flop I'm sure. The turn was an 8. He had about 2.5k left. I also guessed (I think correctly) that he's much more likely to call with very litle than he is to bluff, so I pushed. He though for a while and called with KQ - needing a Q or a T on the river to stay in, and rivers a T.

I was criticised by one player for getting it all in so light, but I'm not doing that against anybody decent.

Anyway I took it fairly well, and didn't have any cards until Tony "TK" Kendall sits at my table. He's a serious player, doesn't know who I am so will try and push me around.

I'm dealt QQ from MP and raise and its called in 2 spots, including TK. The flop comes QJ3 or similar, and I'm last to act. Its checked to me, and I wait a little longer than usual before betting (a bit small). 1 fold, and TK raises me. I push the last of my chips, and he umms and aaahs before calling and turning over 44. He said that he thought I was weak when I bet so slow, and I said that was the plan - which was foolish. He won't make that mistake against me again.

I'm still below water though, and am soon moved table - which is a real pain, because I don't get to see how anyone else is playing at the new table. As the blinds increase I'm dealt QQ in the BB and the CO raises. I don't always raise here, and I think if I do I'm not getting called by much that beats me. I check-raise the 987r flop and he calls with 99 so I'm toast. If he misses I'm sure he C-betting so the plan was solid - but he hit.

What can you do?

My brother played a short-stack for a long time and busted in about 15/16th which matches my best position.

Think man, think!

The trouble with tournament poker is one hand and you are gone. I don't often misplay hands terribly, but I have twice recently.

At Luton on Friday I'd made a good start - chipping up nicely and managing to nearly double my starting stack without going to showdown. I had the goods once, 33 on a board of K73ss. I bet into about 5 players and they all folded! They'd all called a big raise preflop as well. I got unlucky when I isolated a short-stack push with ATs, and he had K9 or something - and hit and then I was tilting a bit. I became aware during the break that I was getting a bit restless so and things were going to go wrong.

They did. Sitting to my left was Mr Nemesis - the older pundit from Sky Poker. Not TK, the other one. He's very good company so I didn't mind being sat by him - but wished he was on the other side.

Anyway I'm dealt K9 on the CO, and open-limp. Ghastly. I think I was worried about stealing incase I was reraised. Mr Nemesis on the button calls and there is a flop of A23. I bet out into it, and he raises me about 1/2 my stack (I'm playing ~4k, I bet 500 into a 700 pot and he makes it 2k). Unthinkingly I push over the top and he of course calls, showing 45 for the flopped straight. The turn is a 4, giving me a 5 for a chop, and a spade for a flush, but I get what I deserved. Nothing. He didn't have enough chips to raise/fold and I should be more patient than to try that sort of nonsense with K-high.

It was a bit frustrating, as the table seemed terrible. There was one lad who lasted a short period of time on my right who was clearly pretty good - on the circuit and a high stakes online players ($100R+) but he arrived late and busted quickly. Other than that 1 player managed (impressively) to fold AQ on a QQxxx board when he correctly read his opponent for a rivered flush.

Good fun, and I'll try and repeat it next month.

Last night after being booted out of 1 tourny having played a short-stack really well - eventually getting it in ahead (just) with ATvKJs and losing, I donked out of the other tourny holding A4 on the button. I raise and the SB calls, then bets into an A23 board. I raise, he pushed and I call. Of course he's got a better Ace and I'm done for. What was I doing? What else could he have?

Anyway, it reminded me why I hate rag-aces, and reminded me that I can still play like a moron should the mood grab me.

Bankroll and plans

Turns out the bankroll is higher than I though - $3.2k

Which is nice.

I'm still playing at the $11 45 man games on Stars, which is fun, but the play is so terrible I'm going to have to adjust again as and when I go back up.

I think I'll keep going at these stakes for a bit more - my initial target is to make another $400 - and then I'll step up. These smaller SnGs are quite enjoyable and can be played sensibly on a school night. Maybe I can have a crack at the 180s on the weekends.

LOL donkaments

I'm having great fun at the lower levels. I'm playing the slightly smaller - but much longer $11 45-man SnGs, still on Stars. 2 tabling. I'm not really able to concentrate on more than 1 table at a time though - but on that table I'm getting more disciplined at taking notes, and spotting leaks. The problem is the leaks are huge and hard to miss - I'll need to up my game when it comes to higher stakes (again).

Last night I had the first time in ages when I sucked out a few times. I'd been a bit unlucky making good calls with A-high against short-stacked pushes and lost a couple of 60/40s, but then I proceeded to suck out a few times - including a glorious runner-runner straight against top-set. Ho ho. I did play well otherwise though.

I'm currently thinking a lot more about post-flop play, in particular making thin-value bets on the river. I missed one last night, which was annoying, but I've done well generally.

Anyway I'm now above water on Stars (finally!) and have got my poker hat back on (again, finally), and have a very good feel for these limits -which I should have really. So in Stars, I've got ~$630. I need to work to get my BR above $3k (I'm not certain what it is now ~$2.5k??).

Anyway, I'm off to Luton tonight. It'll be interesting to see how many entrants that attracts in these times of economic hardship.

Down and up at the micros

Since my last post my poor run continued for a while and I moved down stakes. I'm certainly playing worse now than I have, not least because I'm out of practise. Additionally the fields have shrunk so low on the Crypto 10pm tourny that they are not really worth entering.

So, I deposited $600 on Stars, and had a crack at the $12 45 man SnGs. These are turbos, and it took me a while to adjust to the speed of them, so lost a bit. They I got unlucky a bit - and lost a bit more, and then started playing badly - and lost some more. Eventually I got my game head back on and am now back up to even. Tonight helped - I played two tournies simultaneously, and came in 1st and 4th. Which helped. I've had 1 other win, and a minor cash in that time.

Its quite fun, swimming in such shallow pools. The play can be shocking, but the games are so fast that you don't get much edge, and if you don't have any cards you are toast anyway.

I've also been setting up a private tourny for a bunch of guys on a bulletin board I frequent. Here the format is much slower - and so you end up playing deep-stacked short handed poker. Which is quite strange. There's 1 guy there who seems pretty good - but OPR doesn't show any real record for him on Stars, so he's no regular.

I'm also trying to negotiate a trip to Luton next month. Possibly in 3 weeks time. Depending upon the availability of a wing-man.

Anyway, the interesting thing is I'm now not playing on the XBOX, and am playing poker regularly - although it is clowning around at the small stakes. If I move up on Stars I'm gonna have to invest in PokerTrackerv2 or something.

Back in the game

Its been a funny few months. For a while I stopped playing poker all together.

It started with a combination of a bad run at the tables, and the purchase of an XBOX 360. Sadly I haven't got time in the evenings to play lots of XBOX games AND play poker and for a good while I didn't play any online poker at all. This just sort of crept up on me and amazed me. I used to play at virtually every opportunity I got.

Anyway I've played once more at Luton with much more success, finishing 14th out of 60-odd, which was respectable. It was pushing 2 when I busted, defending my blinds with JTo in a very ill-advised move. The play before that was interesting - with one fellow pushing all in, a couple of people folding to me - and him turning his hand up not noticing I was still in the hand. I hope to go down there in future - maybe every couple of months. We'll see how it goes.

The other night I played in the Crypto 10pm $55 tourny - which is now down to a 3.5k guarantee, and game in 9th, making about $50 profit. I'd played pretty well all the way through, basically just chipping up from the initial 2k, and getting it all in with AA v AK once. On the FT I made an amazingly wild UTG raise with JTs, and UTG+1 flat calls. The flop comes Txx all clubs - I push and he calls with Aces. Having played really well for so long I get impatient at the end. Daft.

Anyway I'm feeling like I might get back into the poker more seriously - trying to finance a trip to Vegas next July (guess why!). I'd need quite a bit of money to finance the tournments I'd want to buy into (~$2k for flights/hotel,~$4-5k bankroll). I've got about 3k online at the moment, but I can't use that so I've got a long way to go. Additionally I'd need to book it all up in Feb/March at the latest so I haven't got that long.

Hopefully I'll find myself back at the tables before too long.

Another FT

Fifth this time, in the Crypto 10pm tourny, which now has a guarantee of $4k rather then the $4.5k. One assumes it used to he $5k, and will be less again in the future.

In the meantime I got a satisfactory fifth last night, but it wasn't a brilliant performance. I played OK - but I never really felt in control of the table as I sometimes do.

I've got this funny habit of taking on the strong players. There were a couple of weak fairly short stacks to my left, but I insisted on playing back at two stronger players on my right. One was daddy_g - who is always on the leaderboards and seemed a pretty good player. He check raised me all in with a flush draw and I called with KJ on a K-high board and he went bananas in the chat window - then had a go at some others.

I assume he's some young lad somewhere who is a good player but was somewhat lacking in manners. Gosh I sound old.

Anyway, I'm not sure attacking the strong players early on a FT is smart but thats what I did last night.

As I'm doing well again I might have another crack at the $109 tournies on Pokerroom. I'm not sure why I stopped playing on them now. It may have been a bankroll thing after paying for the Vegas trip. Playing on FTP is OK - but the satellites are something of a grind, and when your volume are as low as mine (probably a tournament every 2 days) its all a bit dull.

And now I've won the £1.5k

2 victories in 3 nights! And another £450 to take my bankroll to a much more respectable $4200.

I played pretty well in this one again, I'm on my game at the moment.

I played a hand perfectly early on against an opponent who was on a FD against my top pair, betting the flop and turn and checking the river to induce a bluff, and I didn't make any huge errors all tourny really. I played the end really nicely, in particular a call of a fellow's check-raise AI with second pair on a 742 board. I had Q4 he had A2, and then calling the same fellows push with AT (overcards to a rag board - he had Q-high).

I had a couple of moment of luck, but no really big hands. Most fortunate was the last hand where my KQ rivered my opponents AK. I've thought quite hard about whether I played this right - he raised pre and I re-raised, as I had done on more than 1 occasion. He pushed and I called. It may be bad.

I think I'm getting a little impatient heads-up. They rarely last long at the moment when I reach them, but other than that my deep stack play is still solid and my shorter stack play is good when I concentrate. I picked some lovely spots to resteal, and just once or twice I was very creative (with position I min-bet the flop (with air) to invite a raise which I then came over the top of).

Really pleased.

Having stayed up till the early hours so much though I'm shattered and need a night off. Just when things are going so well ...

Oh, and I saw again one of Crypto's finest - UltGamb. He's always on top of the MTT leaderboards, although I understand he does this through playing volume as much as having a huge ROI. He was clearly a good player, but not as stella as I was expecting. Having said that I wasn't at the same table as him for very long so I'll keep my eyes out.

I won the $4.5k!!

Having been playing in this tournament for ages now, and final-tabling probably 15 times (and being runner up at least 3 times) I finally won the tournament last night. There were only 79 entrants, so it missed the guarantee (not for the first time, I suspect it won't last as a 4.5k for much longer) and I was chuffed and relieved to finish in first.

I haven't been playing much poker recently, and when I have I've been playing well up until 1 stupidly played hand (the downsides of playing tournaments). My new XBOX360 is taking up much of my evening times. Last night I decided to play at the last minute and here is the story:

After about 4 orbits I'm dealt AJo in the CO, and call a MP raise to 90. I'm almost certainly behind here, as I put him on 77+,AT+ possibly KJ/KQ. I'm looking to look at the board and see what happens. Flop JJK. He bets 90 into the pot of 300. This weak bet smells to me of a king, or possibly AA/QQ. I think I can get him to laydown QQ, KQ possibly AK but maybe not AA. I raise to 270, representing a Jack and hoping a Q hits. He hasn't got me beat because he's never betting a Jack there. He calls, and checks the turn of 6. I think he's going to fold to a bet here, so I bet 420 - half the pot - which he calls. Hmmm. The river is a Q, giving me the straight. He checks - and again he hasn't got a full house now, as there is no way he'd check. I push, he calls and has AK for 1 pair. Its a bad call from him on the end but I did get lucky to river the Q. Anyway up to 4440.

I go card dead for a while and go down to 3800, which reduces to 3300 when my MP raise to 500 with 66 (my standard 2.5x) is min-reraised to 1k.

I'm down to 3015 when I see a "cheap" 3-way flop (200) from the button with KTs and my bet with a flush draw takes it. I steal the blinds next hand with 45s (unusual for me to raise light so much, but I'm using my image) and I've a little breathing room.

I play a hand dubiously in a bit. I raise with AKs over a limper, he calls and checks the 778 flop. I push 2.8k into the 1.9k pot and take it down, but I don't like the ratios there. Feels messy. Up to 4.7k

I raise UTG with 66 to take the blinds (I'm experimenting with UTG raises as they look so strong) and I am finding a lot of FE in these spots.

Next hand I've got A9 in the BB. The button limps (300) I raise to 1200, the button calls and SB folds having completed earlier. Pot 2700, stack 3800, board 855 two diamonds. I push, he calls with KdQd. He's a favourite, but I hold up. He claims later it was a bad call from him - but it wasn't if he can seem my hand. Up to 10k, which goes to 11k when I flop 2 pair from the SB next hand. Nice run.

The blinds are 150/300 and UTG pushes - so he's got an M of 4. I've got 99 in the CO, and call which may be a bit loose. Anyway I win the coinflip and I've got 13.9k in front of me - enough for the chip lead. ClintonO is at my table so naturally I'm wary. I fold my AJ to his UTG raise (he had AK) and then he busts - his opponent hitting a 1-outer on the river. I want to take him on as I've hardly been at the same table, but at the same time I'm pleased to see him go.

Last two tables.

A drift down to 11k, but resteal from the SB with AJs to go back to 14k (blinds 200/400/50a). I make a complete bluff with T2o having seen a free flop (the A-high monochrome board is checked round, and I check-raise a small turn bet). I was timing my moves well throughout this tourny. Up to 15k

I play quite actively, and am raising light on occasions and I'm one of the few who re-raise at all (let alone restealing light). Another light UTG raise (KJs) get round . I'm also playing well in the blinds, taking on the people either side and I often get my BB folded round to me. The whole tourny just went well really.

Shorty in the SB pushes his K8 into my AK and I'm up to 19k. Again I'm leading the tourny at this stage. 12/13 left now. People are playing so weakly. I open limp with 89s from the button (mixing it up) and the SB bets small into the 346r flop. The BB call and I raise and take it down.

I reraise from the Button with QQ and take the pot down, and then defend my blind with 92o against one player who I think is weak. He lays it down. We're both playing sufficiently deep that he's raising 2.4k out of 20k and I'm reraising it to 6k out of my 25k. Next orbit I repeat the trick against the same player - this time holding AJs. I call the SBs push to 6.5k with A8 and beat his KQ to move to 41.5k as we hit the FT.

Stacks are: 41k (me) then 30/19/16/15/11/7/7/4/4

2 of the players know each other and are posting on the betfair forum in-game. They clearly are decent, but not necessarily great.

For the third time I resteal from Karnold. He think I'm restealing light, and I know he thinks I'm restealing light (and he knows I know ...). This time he raises UTG and I've got QQ in the SB. Alas he has KK which holds up. The lesson though is that I've got such a chip advantage over him (45k v 14k) I can afford to lose the hand and still be right at the top of the tree. The advantage of previous aggression ...

I move into a dominant position again when I check the option with A2 against the SB who completed. The flop is AQJ. I'm sure he hasn't got a sole Ace or he would have raised (AA is actually a slim possibility here) and I call his bets and stack him off when he holds Q8.

Down to 7. 42k (me)/35/28/21/208/2.

3 hands later I resteal (from the fellow in second place. He's in the CO - I'm on the button) holding T5s. I'm sure no one else is trying this stuff.

A while later and I'm holding A9s in the SB and try a move which comes off (just). The button (who has virtually the same number of chips as me - we are at the top, both playing 42k) raises the 1600 BB to 4800. I call. The flop is 223. Not a raisers flop. I check, he bets 8k into the 12k pot and I push over the top. He thinks and folds. He puts in the chat box that he has 55. Ooops - nearly got called there I think. Stacks are not 58(me)/29/28/23/18.

I get KK and raise and take the pot down, followed by AK when shorty (one of the betfair people) gets fed up and takes a stand with KQ. She said I'd been raising a lot - but my preflop raising standards were definitley tighter than she expected (although I was re-raising light, and playing post-flop as aggressively as she probably guessed).

4 left. 83k(me)/30/24/20. I've got more than half the chips. Anything less than second is a disaster.

I lose one pot when I see a free flop with 74 and the SB had KT. Board QQ4T8. I bet the flop, the turn is checked and I call a 2/3 pot bet on the end with bottom pair. I lost so few pots like this ...

I resteal (with AA) to keep my position. I raise on the button with KJ and the BB (shorty) pushes with QT. I decide that my image is sufficiently bad that I may be ahead enough and make the call. I hold up. 3 left. We actually are 4 handed after 244 hands. After 258 I've won. Its a swift end. The stacks are 98k/34/26. If I keep attacking the other two will play for second - which I do winning 4 of the next 6 pots (actually with strong hands for 3-way).

I knock the last of the betfair couple out (I wonder if they play softly against each other ...) when my 99 > KTs and I've got 141k v 14k. I can't lose (surely). I split one pot when my A2=A6 and after a small amount of back and forth I call his push with 66. He has 95. The board is Q63 all spades - and the turn isn't a spade so he can't split it.

Lovely. I played well all through the tourny. I hit hands at good times, and was aggressive throughout. People played back at me when I did have hands, and folded when I didn't. That was why I was in such a strong position from 4-players left, but I was pleased to close it out so well.

I won $1350 which takes my bankroll to a healthy $3400.

So near and yet so far

So near to playing well actually, not so near to making lots of money.

I've had a poor-ish run at the tables, not cashing in much (a couple of FT sats only). I've also had a reasonably quiet run with both cards and luck, so tonight's run to the FT of the $4.5k was welcome - but I still didn't play very well. Well thats not entirely true. I played well for maybe 95% of the time - but made at least 1 glaring mistake.

I got a few cards early, but didn't get paid off really. I had 1 set which did get paid - but my AA only got the blinds and my KK was cracked by AJo. Anyway, I had enough chips to make some moves and did until I managed to get in all in with JJ against AA. Comically I sucked out which was embarrassing, but gave me enough ammo to play properly afterwards. Thinking about the hand, I think I'm happy enough with the move, as I think my opponent is raising light enough for me to get it in - I'll did the HH out later.

I then played well until towards the bubble. One fellow who had hit a run of bad beats was down to 1300 or so and pushed from UTG (having lost a lot the hand before) with blinds at I think 600 (possibly 400). I've got AJs in MP and am WAY ahead of his range. I should have raised to isolate - didn't - the BB came along with 68s and rivered me for a 5k pot.

I played the bubble reasonably well, and hit the FT in about 7th or 8 position. I'd restolen well and played fairly solidly. Early on the FT I'm dealt JJ in LP. Blinds are 400/800. UTG raises to 2.4k - and MP min-re-raises to 4.8k. This looks like what it was - a weakly played AA. I don't go by my read and push over the top with JJ and I'm toast. I really should be laying that down there.

So, I doubled my money - but should have done better.

In my defence it was a tough table. UltGamb had a huge chip stack, jose_pipe was there and one fellow from StIves was there - who I suspected was a alias for ClintonO until I remembered his comment on his blog about not playing under aliases, and the fact this fellow didn't seem as good a player - and chatted a lot more.

If I'm going to play these events I can't play badly on even these small number of hands.


I've played 2 more tournies recently and busted in similarly daft fashion.

I'm feeling better poker-wise after tonight - close, but no cigar though.

Playing and dreaming

The funny thing about any decent run of cards with me, is that it sets my mind off. I get lucky a bit, and make some moves at the right time, and suddenly I'm thinking I'm a much better player than I actually am.

Part of this new-found optimism resulted in 3 cashes in satellites on my new FTP account. I'm not quite sure why I've signed up there - but I have, and suddenly half my bankroll is over there. Well slightly less than half, as they have this limit on initial deposits of $1000. Which for most purposes is fine, but I wanted to deposit $1200, so I'll have to do it in two goes. I can't believe I'm such a high-roller than I can't get my money into a poker site. LOL.

Anyway, I've always liked multi-seat satellites, and I discover there are loads on FTP, so yesterday I played a $24+2 to a $150 tourny, and "bubbled" winning $70, but just missing out on a seat. I was the second shortest stack at the end, and shorty won a coin-flop the hand before I busted.

I then entered 2 $12+1 tournies to a $55 event which ran at the same time! There were a small number of people playing both, so I did. I cashed in both, fairly easily, and there was the usual amount of laughable bubble play. So I had $110 in $T and $70 in cash from 3 attempts and suddenly I am calculating how much money I could make if I went pro. Pathetic really. I'm a little worried about my job at the moment as my company is not doing great, so there's a possibility (denied of course) that numbers will have to shrink. I've been consoling myself with the thought that it would give me the chance to see how much money I could make if I sat at this computer more and played poker more seriously.

The answer of course is nothing, as I'm sure I wouldn't be cut out for hour after hour of tournament after tournament.

Tonight is something of a case in point. I played a $24+2 satellite for a $215 seat somewhere, and the play of most people was solid. I'm beginning to overthink things though and see plays (squeeze plays to be exact) where they don't exist. I'm getting a bit short and rauise from MP with 99. The CO calls and the SB pushes over the top. So typically I put him on just the kind of hand I can beat (not much) and walk into his JJ. This happens.

At the same time though I play in the Crypto $13K at 9:00 and for the first time in absolutely ages feel partly out of my depth at the table. I'm not sure I am, but its like I was playing with my cards face up. I didn't hit much, but every continuation bet was attacked when they missed (they all did) I got it all in pre with AK against a hand that was 99, but was played much more strongly, and ended up making a hero/idiot call with AK on a QQ6 board. I've raised from EP pre, and villain flat calls. I check the flop and he shoves for about the value of the pot. I read him (correctly) for not having a Q, but he actually has JJ, so I'm out of that one, and my wining from yesterday have gone.

I've now signed up for the $55 at 10:00pm and managed to lose 300 early with AK - missing the flop AGAIN. Of course my positional raise with 55 sees a flop of AKx, and I check/fold having had too many C-bets go wrong for one night.

Still plenty of play left ...

Update: Carried on playing pretty badly and ended up going bust with KJ. I lead into the J54 flop, an EP player flat calls and a LP player raises. I just don't believe the raiser so I push, but alas the original caller has a set, and I'm toast. The raiser claims to have QJ, so I was half right.

I've not hit many cards, and picked exactly the wrond spots for my moves.

Have I got one more FTP satellite in me this evening?

Unintended Enforced break from the poker

I've been poorly recently so I haven't played a single hand in at least 1 week, probably 2 weeks. Nothing serious - just a nasty cold - but its really knocked my out. I've had 3 days off work, which is almost unheard of for me.

Anyway I've been thinking about the game a bit, and reading kill everyone (excellent BTW) and am itching to get back in the game when I am fully up to speed.

I also fancy railing some of the higher buyin games as they progress. I might watch some of the bigger tournies on FTP. As I get increasingly confident in my play at the $55 level, I could/should consider having the odd crack at a big tournament and it would be fun to watch one.

I've currently 'only' got about $2800 online, which isn't enough for me to have a serious stab at the larger games yet, so I'll continue where I am for the time being.

As things stand though I need to get well again before I can consider any poker at all.

Vegas Summary

A fantastic time all in all. I think I lost about $70 on the NL tables, but more than made that back at the tournaments.

I reckon I bought into the following:

Weds - Mirage - $125
Thurs - Caesars - $200
Thurs - Caesars - $65
Fri - Caesars - $65
Fri - Sahara - $62
Fri - PH - $70
Sat - PH - $70

Total buy-ins = $657
Total winning = $1123

Which is about right. I set off with $3000, returned with $2865 and I reckon with taxis, food, tips, presents and the small loss on the cash tables I got through the difference.


I've played one tourny online since I returned the 4.5k yesterday where I finished 6th. I started the FT as the chip leader and was dealt AA three times on the FT, but although I won three times I didn't make much with them. I then chose the odd bad spot for my aggression, and then re-raised a MP limper only to have the button wake up with 99. I can't believe I still haven't won this tournament. It was another weak FT as well ...

Vegas Day 4 - A win!

No, honestly.

I only played in 1 tournament today the 2pm $70 tourny at Planet Hollywood, where me and this woman made the last 2 and chopped it when we were virtually dead even in chips (she had a tiny amount more). I made 1123, and gave the dealers $100, which I think is a reasonable tip. Fantastic. I'm chuffed to bits. I can't remember how many runners there were, but there was an alternate list and some people rebought in. I guess 100 runners.

I started off well, winning a couple of small pots but doubled up when my 55 hit a board of QJ5 (or something - I find it really hard to remember details of the tourny even though it only started 5 hours ago). I slow played it. There was a pre-flop raiser and I called his raise and he had position. I hollywooded it, shaking my head and checking, pondering long and hard about calling his bets, and I think I check-raised the turn all-in which he calls with top pair.

After that I made some nice moves and bluffs until we reach crap-shoot time with about 30 of the runners remaining. The blinds are reasonable for a while (20 minute levels - 400 starting chips) and the BB goes 50-100-200-300-600-1000-2000-3000-4000-5000-6000-8000. Which is OK apart from the 600-1000-2000 jump which is a killer. I was lucky through this stage hitting cards when I needed to, not being called when I made a move and getting out of trouble with marginal hands when the action was steep before me. Particularly useful was seeing a free flop with QTs and flopping a straight against one player, who I busted.

I was really concentrating at this stage on the blinds, when they went up and my chip stack (which I had to keep recounting because it never seemed to stick in my mind). If you can get through this middle stage with a reasonable stack you are not doing so badly.

The play from my opponents was generally pretty bad, and the few decent players were eliminated early. I was definitely the best player at the FT (much better than the woman I chopped with) and possibly the best at the last 2.

As things got down I was judging my raising ranges well, and the couple of times I was re-raised I generally got out of the way as I don't think those players were playing back at me too light.

I really can't remember too much about the FT now. I was helped by my blinds not often being attacked, and the woman in my SB (who I split with) playing absolutely predictably. If it was folded round to us (which it was surprisingly often) she'd complete and I could usually take it away when I bet after the flop. If she bet post (which was rarely) I knew she had something.

I had a little run of luck in the final table to knock players out - I think I nearly always got my money in ahead and the hands held up.

As the FT progressed a handful of people started watching it, presumably friends of the participants - but there were a couple of people who had busted and were staying to watch. It was a bit strange playing poker with people watching, but I felt entirely comfortable.

If I played on I would probably have won, but I didn't because although the blinds were reasonably small there is still a reasonable amount of luck involved. Actually the motivation was also the fact that the winnings were more than $1k if I split, and I also felt a bit bad for the dealer dealing what could (unlikely) have been a long session with just the two of us. Anyway, we had an even chip stack and it just seemed right. I think the split would have been 1400 for first, 800 for second. I was surprised noone suggested a split earlier.

The dealers and poker room manager were very friendly and I asked how much they thought I should tip. He said "entirely up to you sir" (fair enough) I had a little chat and initially thought about giving them the 23, but a ton seemed fairer - these guys make a lot more money from the cash games. The dealer said we appreciate it, and the manager told the guy who gave me the money (I was paid in casino chip at the end) that I'd sorted out the dealers, so I feel happy with that.

I think I'm in profit for the tournies now (I'll do the maths later). I'm also marginally up for the cash games too. I won about $6 at the IP yesterday (terribly - I pushed with AQ over a rag board and was called my KK and turned an A), won about 25 at Paris at an immensely tough table (I was fortunate enough to double up with KKvQQ and its the only way I got out of there with much money - there were 3, possibly 4 players who were very very strong), and then before the tournament today I won about $70 at PH. I sat down as they were starting a new table, and one fellow cam over from the limit game with about $80. First hand I'm dealt AA from EP. I raise, and there are 2 caller. I bet $20 into the pot, this fellow raises to $40, and I don't like the idea of him holding QJ, but go over the top and he calls with AQ. Poor guy - been playing for ages at limit and then busted first hand.

An amazing day. Its now 7:40pm, and I haven't eaten a mouthful since my Caesars breakfast buffet this morning (very good BTW). So as the adrenaline wears off and I calm down I feel very hungry. I may well not play any more poker now. I'm kinda zonked and I don't want to lose my winnings at the cash game.

Frankly I just feel like getting drunk, but I won't. I might have a beer with my meal this evening though!

For the record my best recollection of the tournaments I played in is:
Yesterday [Friday]
Caesars 9am $70
Sahara 11am $62
PH 3pm $70

Today [Saturday]
PH 2pm $70

So thinking about it I should be comfortably in profit for the trip. We'll see when I add all my money up! A fantastic day though. My first live cash, and live win at the same time.

Vegas day 3

Well I had a session at the Excalibur playing 1/2 NL which ended pretty badly. When I arrived I took the seat of someone who was requesting a table change - which was probably a bad sign - so I played pretty tight early.

There were a couple of people who knew what they were doing - and about 5 Brits at the table but there was a few donkeys, as you'd expect. I bought in for $200 and was soon up to somewhere between $270 and $210 as my stack jumped around. I was getting tired when some new guy sat in on my left and immediately (apparently) started attacking my raises. It was very strange, much more like a tournament. I never saw what he had, so he may have had the goods. Anyway on the penultimate hand of the evening for me I see a call a LP raise with with 44, and the flop comes 762. Its checked around. The turn is a 4.

The BB bets $50 into a pot of about $40 and I'm stumped. This guy has played really badly since he's been at the table. He could be bluffing but I've got a feeling he's got 58 for the straight. He seems the only person who would call a raise with that.

I think for ages and flat call, only for the fellow to my left (who has been picking on me) to come over the top all in for another $65. The BB folds and I'm now sure I'm ahead and insta-call. Unfortunately its this idiot who called a raise with 85o and has the straight and I need the board to pair on the river - which it doesn't. I fold the next hand and leave $70 down. I was gutted at the time, and still am really, but it was only £35 in real money.

Today I've played a couple of tournaments, cheap ones. Again buying in for the $65 at Caesars, and then playing at the Sahara.

At Caesars you have to make moves early to stay ahead of the game, and I did, really well. One of the things I'm best at at poker is knowing where I am in a game and I'm sure I'm the best player at that table by some way. Anyway I nearly doubles my starting stack to 4000, possibly without showing a hand down. In one move there was a free flop to 4 players and the button bet into a 852r flop. I've got nothing, but I don't think he has much and so I decide to call and bluff the turn. The turn is a T, again I've got nothing and I bet and he folds, showing the 8. Really, really good play. Very happy.

There was one fellow who was startlingly terrrible calling with bottom pair, and hitting cards who called my pfr. I held AT. The board comes A87 and he bets the flop, turn and river. I call each time and he turns over A7 for 2 pair. Its a tough way to lose chips, but I think he's betting A2 there also and I'm not raising with one pair.

That lost me most of my chips and then I push JT when the blinds go up, and am called by the button with AKs. The flop comes Jxx, the turn T, but the river is a Q. The fellow apologised and said he had to call (durr).

After that I hot footed it over to the Sahara where there were a few decent players in a much tougher field. I can't think of a single occasion where the blinds were taken by one raise - although there were a few re-raises.

I had two very laggy players to my right, and managed to get plenty of the chips from one player who called a raise from me, and a flop bet only to fold to my turn bet. He's obviously not got much and is planning a river bluff if I don't bet. As it was I had nothing but an OESD, but I'd committed enough to call if he comes over the top of me.

My luck runs out after a while though, and I chop a couple of pots and bleed chips with a couple of loose calls. I end up open limping from MP with KJo (debatable - I rarely do this) and the flop comes KTT. I bet and am check-min-raised by the SB, who clearly had a K. I pushed over him and of course he calls, and I'm dead. Its poor play all round really. If I raise pf I've got a chance of him folding his hand which wasn't great and I should probably have checked the flop, aiming to play a small flop.

I'm enjoying these cheap tournaments though. I think I'll play in a few more of these rather than buying into the bigger tournies. The Caesars one is something of a crap-shoot, but the play is so bad I've still got a decent edge.

Vegas Day 2 - A Final Table!!

I made a final table (but didn't cash).

Two tournaments today. I bought into the "big" $200 game at Caesars at noon, which gives you 7500 chips and blinds start at 25/50. There's loads of play here, and the first time I've played anything approaching a deep-stack tournament. Unfortunately I hit nothing early and had no hands. I lost a fair chunk of my chips when I see a free flop with 82 and the flop comes A8x. Checked round. The turn is a 2 and I bet out and am raised. I call and check-call on the river and the fellow has A8 for a higher 2-pair.
After that it doesn't get much better and although I win a couple of very small pots I'm in trouble. My last hand I ended up bluffing (I had second pair - but I new that wasn't good) against a player who had turned a straight and it was good night.

I was a bit annoyed so bought in fairly quickly to the 3pm tournament for $65. Only 50 runners allowed. This you only get 2000 chips, so I knew I had to get aggressive - and did! I really played well early bluffing quite a bit and taking down a lot of pots uncontested. I did have a nice hand where my 55 saw a flop of AQ5 and I busted a fellow with AQ. After that I did pretty well until we were down to 2 tables. Unfortunately I was moved from the table where I was at when we were about 12 handed. I knew pretty much where I stood with those players so I was at a disadvantage. I quickly figured out the fellow to my right, so was able to steal off him when he completed his SB - but I hit no hands.

I was short stacked when the tables broke for the final table and was probably in 6th or 7th of the 9 of us who started. Unfortunately having just posted my BB on the table that broke, I walked into the BB on the final table. 5 hands later I have the first playable hand - 88 in MP. A lady min-raised UTG and it was folded around to me. I'm playing 5100, she's raised the 1200 BB to 2400. I haven't seen much of her play to know how light she is raising UTG. My guess was she wasn't that strong a player and she had certainly hit cards. She had had aces 3 times - each time they stood up - and cracked AA herself holding QJ. Anyway I pushed and she turns over A9. I'm ahead until the river which was a 9.

I was pleased with how I played. I thought I'd probably go out before the final table defending my blinds with air - but I was actually picking up the odd physical tell on people and so ended up folding the few opportunities I had - and then it was too late because I didn't have enough chips.

I like this tournament, and I think I'll play at Caesars a fair bit more over the course of the holiday.

Anyway, I'm using this time away from the table to calm down - but I'll play some cash this evening, probably on the South end of the strip in the MGM or the Excalibur.

Tournament = -$395
Cash = -$126