The even cooler thing is you can transfer funds from GT3 to your PokerStars account. I cashed out $750,000 last month, that playstation was £200 well spent!

Monk
xxxxx

PS I'll ignore that middle-aged comment....

ricardoon,

Just a thought. I noticed on one of your previous posts you mentioned you didn't "feel like playing." I don't remember what your all out goal is for poker....(to be a pro...if you are a pro...blah blah...) but if you do plan on being a pro...you will have to work these sessions out. Right now I'm at that point where I never feel like playing. Been like that for almost two months. I do have fun at the BTP tourney....but daily online poker is just a grind for me.

I mean does anyone ever wake up in the day and say..."damn! I can't wait to get to work this morning!" ? Of course...i'ts easier when you're on a winning streak.

Well just because I am not playing does not mean I cannot write anything that comes into my head in this journal.

I have just been watching Blackadder on TV (the second if you are interested). Funny, yes it was muchly. I am out tomorrow celebrating St Patricks day, I am not Irish but I have a friend who runs an Irish bar in the City so close enough I reckon. Friday is my return to the poker arena playing a home game. Its shits and giggles with my aim being to pull off as many stone cold bluffs as possible.

Question (especially for someone like TUP):

When playing live I tend to play fast, this coming from my online back ground. I have noticed players doing the whole chip stacking thing and taking a real while. Whats the deal and if other players do this?

I understand the reasons this might be done but I am a little confused by it. Also I am curious as to advantages in doing this and if I do make a point of playing this way what should I be looking for in others.

Hope that was clear. Its very interesting for me in seeing these little mind games take place. I know I screwed up one hand in a tounrament giving away my feelings over an action before a player actually moved. But I am learning fast...

I am happy with my decision to start over again at $2/$4. I have over $2000 at the moment but about $350 is in bonus'. Its nice to play with no BR worries and I know I can bust moves at $2/$4. I also feel I am happy that I am going to go back to basics. I have been reading and thinking about what I have been doing and I reckon I have lost some discipline. Well no longer.

Right, rambling has to stop as Desperate Housewives is on.

Rich

Well finger crossed but it looks like I am back...

I played a £10 freeze out tournament in the home game today. There we 15 players over two tables. The game with NLHE with all players starting with 2500 chips, blinds starting 25/50 and 15 min limits. These games tend to have a good mixture of budding enthusiasts like myself and some real serious players. I had the great fortune to have one of the players I knew to be real good on my outside which I think was a great advantage, I only really mention this as he was also the player who knocked me out last month so revenge was due...

Well to be honest with you I cannot remember much of the hand detail. I know I gained quite a lot betting into my draws, and twice getting paid off when they hit. I managed to build up a big stack quite quickly as I raised and bet with good hands, though I didn't get anything stellar. I made a straight with 98s, also a few flushes and bet well to gain nice pots. We lost a couple of players quickly, interestingly the first being the guy on our table wearing sunglasses.

My first big move was taking a small stack out who raised all in with about 1.8k in chips. I have about 8k now so called from the BB with 88. I had made a point of counting out the chips before the action got to me, one of the things I am learning so everyone else folded knowing I was going to try to take him out. I think this was a good move for me as 88 I fancied in a coin flip but not against another player too. He had AJo, didn't hold up and I gain a nice pot to make myself chip leader. A few hands later I took out another player with 99 by hitting the set. I have called a small raise with this hand so I got to slow play it a little then pounce.

By this time I had a monster stack. I then win a few hands raising and betting the flop. Its not all good. I lost a coin flip with AJo against KQo trying to take out a small stack. Next hand I get KQo, raise from MP and the same player pushes all-in again. He now has about 2.5k and my raise is 800. I decide he has either a stellar hand or at least a high Ax hand so I let this one go. He tells me he has AJo but I am happy with this fold, I think a few months I would have pushed anyway I this would have been a mistake on my part since I would potentially have lost half my stack in 2 hands and I still had more than enough to bide my time.

After this point everything is a big blur. I know I took out maybe another 2 players before we got down to one table. This did include the good player outside me who got me before. I wish I could remember the hand but I cannot. I also took out the AJo guy when I had K5s in the BB and the flop came down AA5. I bet out 1000 as we were three handed and I wanted to see where I might be at. I was more worried about a call than a raise here. Well AJo goes all-in. He had limped from MP so I figure either he has the ace or its a stone cold bluff. The flop was rainbow if I recollect right and I had a huge stack so my bet didn't really mean a whole lot. I decide to call him, sure enough he has something like K2 and there is no help so I take it down.

We then go to the final 10. I am chip leader at this point with something like 10k in chips, prob a little more. There are a few small stakes and then everyone is roughly equal up to me. First 4 pays out. I decided at this point to tighten up a little. I figure I am up against too many good players to spew chips and I am better off picking my moment. I win a few more pots betting hard and winning without showdown. I also bully the blinds when I can. A little later a small stack goes all-in and I have AKo, sweet. Well I do the business though I cannot remember what I was up against.

After a few more go I get heads up against another player I know to be very good. I have him out gunned about 3 to 1 so I decide to make every hand huge if I can since I know he is very tricky. I loose a huge pot which evens up the stacks, I think it was J6 vs K6 or something and we both hit the 6. After some more blind bashing I get 76s and limp. Board I think is 854 with two of my suit. Cool! Well I try to look concerned and bet into the flop as I have been aggressive up to this point and think the check will look odd, my bet is 1000 which by this time is a min bet. He all-ins me, easiest call all night. Turns out he has A6 and misread the board thinking he had the straight. Once the chips are out he has 200 left so we play face up with me winning the second hand to win my first tournament!

I wish I could write this in more detail but I really didn't expect to win so I wasn't paying half as much attention as I should have been. Sorry. My winnings from this are a healthy $68, nice as I am moving house tomorrow and a little extra cash is always nice.

I would like to think Dave and everyone who made this a great night, sorry I couldn't hang around to take some more money off you guys in the cash game. Next time...

Well I need sleep, it whoring at Party and Empire from next week.

Rich

Hi,

Its real late and I am very tired so I will give you a quick run down.

I need 750 hands to work off which I need before the Party Bonus on Wed. I played yesterday night on $2/$4 and won about $20 overall. Not great but in truth I was down for the entire session till I had a big AKs hand where someone tried to bluff me when the flush actually hit!

I was working the hands too slowly so I played about 600 hands playing $1/$2 since I feel I need to get some momentum before playing $3/$6. I played about 500 hands and overall lost the $20 I made the day before.

I am playing very very tight right now and I have to say its good. I am turning down hands I might previously have taken a flyer on and while the results are not showing I feel my play is a lot better. I am not putting myself in so many marginal situations so my course of action is a lot clearer. Also I think I am playing a lot more aggressive post flop which given my lack of hands is getting me a lot more respect in places I don't deserve it.

I will write more tomorrow but I am going to sleep now.

Good luck all.

Rich

Okay, I have been really gay in writing on this site and let it slide a bit, well no more.

Well here are my results since 19th March, when I came back:

$2/$4

Hands: 397
Amount Won: $71.25
BB/100 Hands: 4.49

$1/$2

Hands: 2118
Amount Won: -$154.87
BB/100 Hands: -3.66
Overall:

Hands: 2515
Amount Won: -$83.62
BB/100 Hands: -2.37

On the face of this this sucks bad but in the scheme of things I am not too concerned. For one thing I need only another 600 raked hands and I will have earnt $300 in bonus money. While this isn't really the point in being a winning poker player I am looking at the bigger picture.

The other reason I am cool? I hate $1/$2 and it hates me. In my progression as poker player $1/$2 just isn't my bag. The first time I moved up to it I got whooped so bad I didn't play limit for a month, and this time I played basically three weeks of it before jumping to $2/$4. My only reason for playing it this week has been to get raked hands, fast. I am going to see the folks this weekend so I need to make a real impact in the Party reload and didn't really see $2/$4 doing this.

I am also okay with my losses as I know I have played some monkey hands. This is a little frustrating, I am have not been tilting but pushing too hard and not giving credit that even monkeys can get dealt aces sometimes. This is especially dumb as I have also played some really good stuff, when I have pushed but pushed just right. I am going to have to work a little hard to remove this stupidity as it undermining my good play.

Well once this bonus is off then I am good. I have now $470 something to get off UB, and whatever the Poker Stars bonus was. I have made the executive decision to stick with $2/$4 for a while. I like the limit for reason, it has just the right mix of good players and stupid players.

Okay, here is one thing I have learnt. I like playing good players. I know there is a lot written about stupid players out drawing with chit etc. I can live with this as you can spot them a mile off and play accordingly. I think in limit you can take their money but you have to be a little more caution when a draw is on (especially flush draws) so it take a little longer. Good players on the other hand, I like to pound on big time. My best play seems to come out when I am heads up with a good player.

I guess its just exploiting the fact that a good player will know I am good (or at least slightly selective in how I play) so when I turn it up, if the time is right I can put in their head the worse cards. This is the exciting part of poker I am learning at the moment and really starting to use. When I was playing the low low limits its almost all math in how you play since you know you basically have to show down the best hand. You maximise your good hands, and get out of marginal situations. Well now I am at a level where I can do some "plays". Its fun and seems to suit my game. I am trying to learn to play a little slower, think a little more.

I cannot wait till this month is over, its been total arse. Given the perverse state of internet poker I am down about $400 on the tables, but up $200 overall. Well April is a banner month for me, I am going to win shit loads, and I am in Vegas 25th-2nd May. Anyone want to meet up out there and take money off me is welcome. I really want to play a tournament over there, some middle money freeze out. I hate rebuys. Any suggestions welcome, I think the Luxor has one but otherwise I am in the dark.

Well I will not be about till Monday, when I am finishing the Party bonus then it will prob be onto UB, assuming nothing new pops up.

Rich

I am writing this from a friend's house. We are playing GT4 (yet again) and I decided I would write something here to look important. In truth nothing poker related has happened since I have been home. My mom does frown upon it and it constantly asking my friends what they think if it in a pointed fashion so she can get the "we would never gamble like your son Mrs Simons," reply. Its funny really.

I got the WPT book from Amazon the other day, I haven't really looked at it beyond the nice pictures in the middle so far.

I think I may have a lead on a new Party bonus, so I will chk it out and post if it works. I am going to have to finish the one I am on first, this is insane. I reckon play Party is too much like work as each bonus requires a work scedule to clear blah blah. Well its free money so shouldn't really complain. This month has basically been me losing money and getting bonus's to cover my loss. Well it does at least do much to confirm the profitability in online poker!

Well I am going to go away and be socialble now.

Happy Easter

Rich

Well back in the groove tonight. I am still playing $1/$2 as I am whoring against a time limit. After tonights efforts I only need now about 360 hands by Wednesday, easy.

Right, result:

$1/$2

Hands: 382
Amount Won: $16.75
BB/100: 2.19

This was actually a result. I had one of those sessions where I went down really quickly, won a little back then went all the way to $60 down. I was playing 4 tables as I wanted to basically get some hands it fast tonight, I wasn't in the mood for a long session. I did play some early hands wanky, stupid bluffs etc but that was a good kick up the back side for me to get back good.

I would love to post some hands tonight but nothing interesting happened. I lost with JJ, making a set and some guy with TT hung in there to the end to beat me with a runner runner straight, tit wank.

Oh, here is a good one though I know I had no business being in this hand, its just nice to out monkey someone for once in a while...

Party Poker 1/2 Hold'em (10 handed)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with , . CO posts a blind of $1.
1 fold, Hero calls, 1 fold, MP1 raises, 2 folds, CO (poster) calls, 1 fold, SB 3-bets, BB calls, Hero calls, MP1 caps, CO calls, SB calls, BB calls, Hero calls.

Flop: (20 SB) , , (5 players)
SB checks, BB bets, Hero calls, MP1 calls, CO folds, SB folds.

Turn: (11.50 BB) (3 players)
BB bets, Hero calls, MP1 raises, BB calls, Hero calls.

River: (17.50 BB) (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets, MP1 raises, BB calls, Hero 3-bets, MP1 calls, BB calls.

Final Pot: 26.50 BB

BB has Ah Qs (one pair, queens).
Hero has Jc Kc (flush, king high).
MP1 has Td Ts (three of a kind, tens).
Outcome: Hero wins 26.50 BB.

I was pretty amazed no one had AA, KK or QQ given the preflop play. I only played it as the table had gone pretty tight and passive so I actually didn't figure there would be all the raising. After that I will say I had the outs while it was cheap, I was being stubborn. Its nice to stick it to someone instead of being in the recieving end...

At the moment I am still working off $200 from the Party reload, I am down $45 for it at the moment but I can sleep okay with this. I am down something like $380 right now in table play which is my first ever loss for a month. To be honest I figured this would happen soon so I can deal, and I am technically up for the month given the bonus' situation. I guess I cannot really complain.

Oh, I am on a streak with AA, won 11 times in a row so far. Any takers on how long it lasts?

Rich

Well another tough day at the office. I have now finished off the Party reload so I have made a sweet $200. In the fight to get it off I lost $50 but overall I can happily live with this.

Right, results:

$1/$2

Hands: 543
Amount Won: -$4.75
BB/100: -0.44

Overall a pretty boring day but since I was working the bonus off I can live with this. I had a mixture of big hands winning lots followed by some silly play and general cold cards dragging me back.

All we ever seem to read about are time when the cards go crap, I want to post two hands to remind us of why poker can be so so sweet sometimes. I think Ice will especially like the first as hanging flush chasers rocks...

Party Poker 1/2 Hold'em (10 handed)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with , .
4 folds, Hero raises, 1 fold, CO calls, 1 fold, SB calls, 1 fold.

Flop: (7 SB) , , (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets, CO folds, SB calls.

Turn: (4.50 BB) (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets, SB raises, Hero calls.

River: (8.50 BB) (2 players)
SB bets, Hero raises, SB 3-bets, Hero caps, SB calls $2 (All-In).

Final Pot: 16.50 BB

SB has As 2s (flush, ace high).
Hero has Qd Qc (full house, queens full of eights).
Outcome: Hero wins 16.50 BB.

This is one where everything just goes right, who cares what the others are holding...

Party Poker 1/2 Hold'em (10 handed)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with , .
UTG raises, 3 folds, Hero 3-bets, 1 fold, CO calls, Button caps, 2 folds, UTG calls, Hero calls, CO calls.

Flop: (17.50 SB) , , (4 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets, CO raises, Button 3-bets, UTG folds, Hero caps, CO calls, Button calls.

Turn: (14.75 BB) (3 players)
Hero bets, CO calls, Button raises, Hero 3-bets, CO calls, Button caps, Hero calls, CO calls.

River: (26.75 BB) (3 players)
Hero bets, CO folds, Button raises, Hero 3-bets, Button caps, Hero calls.

Final Pot: 34.75 BB

Hero has Qh Qs (three of a kind, queens).
Button has As Td (high card, ace).
Outcome: Hero wins 34.75 BB.

Looking at this hand I guess I ran into the village idiot on his day out from the hospital. Well at least he wasn't holding 76o which is what they normally have...

I am about to start running another Party reload bonus for $100 but this one has a month to get cleared and is only 500 hands. I will prob run this off before the weekend anyway. I am still going to be real happy when this month is done. I am overall up $225 this month, even with my table losses of $389 at the moment. If I could learn to win a bit I would be leathal!

I read "The Biggest Game In Town" this week. I have to say I thought is was brilliant if terrifying. As an insight into what it takes to be a top top poker player it seems to imply you need a certain financial psychosis to be able to handle the sums involved and still play your best game. I guess I am doomed to be at best a middle of the road gambler, oh well...

I have to confess, I still have not read through SS2, despite having it now about a month. This will have to be sorted before Vegas. I also need to really get some hours in playing NL, after all I want to be a card carrying tough guy like Ice and Kenny (okay maybe just like Ice). I do not really understand my reluctance to get stuck in as I seem to be actually quite good when ever I venture into NL, I guess I feel that starting in the middle a rut isn't the best time to give it my best shot.

I have to say that despite grinding to a $50 loss this week, I feel pretty good. I have made some stupid errors pushing too far but then I know there are other times I have pushed and bluffed nice pots. I guess its the bad bluffs that tend to stick in the mind. I am playing very very tight at the moment, about 8.65 VP$IP since I am qualifying my AXs and mid to low PPs by how many limpers I have got before me. SSH seems to suggest you can play these hands no matter what. In the case of a low to mid PP this isn't really too much of a problem as you are playing set or bust but with the AXs too often in a mutli-way pot I am hitting the ace and getting out kicked. I don't see tightening this up as being a real issue. Other than this I am tightening marginal hands like AJ and KQ.

Post flop I am battling a lot more on the flop, especially with position. I figure with a hand like AK its better to win the flop battle of aggression since I can then choose whether to lead or check the turn and take the free card. Otherwise I have just toned down the river play a little, though I am still firing when I reckon I have it.

I am going to back to $2/$4 this week. I like that limit since I can make moves on people, funnily the good players are the ones I pick on most. I think I can slightly loosen too if the table is right.

Well I am going now as I am going to play some S'n'Gs on Paradise with a mate.

Cheers

Rich

a few things:

Congrats on those QQ hands. Its amazing what the button had in the second one. He could even beat you pushing with AJ or better. Too bad it wasn't a 2/4 or 3/6 hand.

Second, what party $100 reload? There's another one so soon?