Poker Player Wannabe

Losing Love for the Game?

2012-01-26T12:31:00.004Z

I don't know what it is recently but I can't seem to get myself up to play online poker:

Is it all the downs personal life dealt me last year that got me out of the habit of playing?

Am I just tired of players holding onto J5 on a J high flop until they hit their set on the river to beat my AA?

Have the bonuses dried up that used to turn me from a marginal winning player to a quite profitable player?

Whatever it is Online Poker is just not the same as it was to me over a year ago.

Is OnLine Poker in Trouble?

Daniel Negranaeu, in Poker Player Magazine, spoke about poker being in trouble because there are no real characters coming through the new game.

I think it is in trouble for different reason - a high percentage of players are now better!

Heres my theory:

When a player is far better than their opponents the skill difference is very apparent and the effect of this skills gulf is mostly measurable (probably solely) on their results. Luck does still play a part but overall the difference in skill will win out in the end.

When players' skill levels are more evenly matched the skill level plays less of a role in results and the winning player is more likely going to be the one who is luckiest. To me this doesn't matter if it is equal skill at a low level or at the highest level. At whatever level it becomes more difficult to measure your success because you can't (or don't want to) measure the amount of good or bad luck you have.

My second point here is where I think online poker is at now. At all levels players appear to have a good grasp of the basics of the game and in most cases are educated to the more advanced plays.

How it used to be:

Of course the player holding onto his J5 in my opening to this post is exactly what you want to have happen, but these players are fewer and far between (perhaps one to a table). When there used to be 4 or 5 of these to a table you were likely to get those chips back 3-4 times faster than is likely today.

Consequently you reward to time ratio is watered down and your overall ROI is reduced ... and thats just to the few players you are better than!

Add to this mix the fact that tracker software has levelled the playing field even further and it becomes very difficult to make a meaningful profit.

This is probably the real reason why I have lost the drive for online poker.

So what are my plans for online poker?

Well I think it is going to become mainly recreational whilst I continue to try and make something happen at the live game. I am not going to sit and grind for hours and hours, I am not going to attemp to hit the leaderboards, I am going to play when I feel like it.

So, unless something in my Psyche changes, I am going to try and play the bankroll build game until the end of the year.

I am starting at the lowest SnG, cash and multi tourney buy in levels ...

I am starting my records from $0 dollar ....

I will play freerolls and bonus tournaments ...

and I will see how much I have won or lost by christmas.

When my balance is at at appropriate levels I will be using the following rules for buy ins:

5% of bankroll for SnG

2% of bank roll for cash games

1 % of bank roll for Multi Tournaments

Any profit I have at the end of December will then be spent on live poker for 2013.

If I lose on the year it could well be spelling the end of my online poker exploits.

So until my next update

Keep it Tight!

Harder than it looks

2011-11-23T07:57:00.003Z

A quick post by way of an update.

Well the idea was to build my live bankroll and climb up the qualtiy of tournaments to test out my poker skills and possibly hit a bigger win.

This is proving more difficult than I thought and I still haven't left the tables of my local casino yet.

So far I am only playing live once a week, so I haven't really got a decent sample of results to say whether I am going to fail or succeed.

Here are my results so far:

Multi Tourneys (40 players or more)

Played 7
Final Tabled 4
Cashed 2
Won 0

Buy Ins (incl. rake) £261

Profit / loss -£161

I feel that just one win or high position cash will set me off. It will certainly put me in profit. I like to think I am holding my own, and the fact that I can top up my live balance from other winnings will give me plenty of time.

Whats important is that I am really enjoying live play (albeit sometimes I wish I'd invested in a decent set of headphones to block out distractions).

So until next time

Keep it Tight!

When the odds were not in my cards or in the pot

2011-10-01T08:09:00.012+01:00

Date : 26/9/11

Location : Gala Casino Leicester

Tournament : £10 NLH, 1 rebuy and 1 add on

Situation : Bubble - next prize pays £70

Players : 6

Blinds : 3000/6000 a400

Position : BB

Chips before the hand started : 10,600-

Setup:-

"I post the big blind, 2nd to act calls, Button calls, SB all in for about 20K more. I have 77 ....... after thinking for a while I fold!"-

Thoughts at the time:-

The first thing that happened after I folded was that one of the players who wasn't in the pot berates me for folding stating " you only have 4000 left, you have to call with any 2 cards, you have pot odds"-

That was my initial thought even before I was dealt my cards ... so what changed!-

My thoughts at the time of folding included:-

1. With 2 players to act after me and with my chips added to the pot they will be priced in to call (first to act had approx 50 - 70K in chips and the button had approx 150 - 200K in chips). 77 is not going to perform well in a 4 way pot.-

2. I have sat for over 5 hours and am trying to build a bank roll, there is no cash game to go to, that's it for the night ... any return is better than none.-

3. My chance to win the tournament is not greatly improved, even if I win this pot as I will still only have around 40K with a round of betting costing 11.5K and SB to be posted next.-

4. I think I have a better chance of cashing if one or both of the other players still to act calls the all in and knocks him out than I have playing my hand.-

Post Tournaments Analysis:-

Before I give the outcome of the hand, I have taken a look at my "all in" odds for 77 in this situation given the hands I thought I may be up against (using PokerStove).-

Caller 1 : small pockets and TJ-KQ (15%)-

Caller 2 : AT - A2 and suited/off suit connectors (17%)-

AI Raiser : JJ+ (50%)-

Me : 77 (16%)-

2% a hand tie.-

In fact I only really gave thought to the first two in the pot as to whether they would be likely to call or not, because my main concern was the ALL IN from a tight player in a position where he could let me take on 2 opponents to get him in the money.-

I thought that at least one of the players still to act behind me would call on the hand ranges I had given them at least 50% of the time, better odds than I was likely to be facing if I went all in.

I also figured that if one or both did call then there was at least a 30% that they could win the hand, better than the odds I had heads up.-

Anyway I delayed and tried to get a read as to whether there would be a caller behind and my gut told me there would be so I folded.-

Caller 1 folded and caller 2 debated, asked the ALL IN if he wanted a call ... the answer was yes ... and he called.-

AI shows 99 and Caller 2 Shows ATos.-

An ace and a ten on the flop seal the hand for him and for me to cash in 5th place at the expense of someone else's misfortune.-

I know it is debatable as to whether I should have folded because if the AI hand had held up then I would have been all in next hand anyway. However I was clear before I folded why I was doing it; I was resigned that the tournament was over for me and I wanted to give myself the best chance at cashing. -

I would appreciate any thoughts!-

If this was a 10K buy in event that I had qualified for online and this had happened ... I would be ecstatic with the outcome.-

Anyway my live poker bank roll now sits at £340'ish pounds and stays strong for a few more buy ins to try and hit a bigger cash.-

Until next time-

Keep it Tight!

I really can't believe it!

2011-09-08T23:34:00.005+01:00

I have just finished at the Truro, Victoria Inn Pub Poker League ... and have won again!

I have played 4 times here .. Now won 3 times and 4th in the other, I think thats good stats against anyone holding 2 cards.

I also find out tonight that they have a league yearly winner where the champion gets a nice trophy and the top 6 get to play off for a tournament in France ... unfortunately me playing one week a month cannot ever win that.

Tonight it was a £5 buy in, there were only 17 players and it paid top 3 - £50, £25 and £10

Anyway, as always I was pretty quiet in the early rounds and kept just above average. There was a maniac player with chips who was taking on every raise of mine which made me cautious.

When there were about 10 left I got back to back Aces at blinds of 300 / 600 and only managed to extract about 3K from those hands, mainly because I was playing very fast to deter the maniac from playing any 2 cards and out drawing me.

Anyway the maniac went out on the bubble and I was left the small stack. The player to my left was quite passive but did seem to change gears by raising more, just with the wrong hands at the wrong time. I made most of my comeback chips from him!

My heads up opponent ended up taking him out.

Heads up lasted quite a few hands and we agreed to take £30 each and play for the last £15. With the blinds at 5K/10K -about 107K in chips on the table. The final hand came when I limped in the SB, he raised all in for about 35K total . I could call and still leave about 40K behind with 79spades. I called and he showed Q8os. A Q on the flop gave us both the obvious emotions, but the other two cards got me a straight redraw ... and I filled my straight on the river.

So a few more winnings again to add to a very small cash table win at the Gala last week (£3) my live bank roll sits at £193.

Just a quick note on my live bank roll ... I will be adding a small amount from other gambling funds every month ... so I expect to still be able to play live poker if my current bank roll falls back to zero.

So onwards and upwards with my bid to play some bigger buy in tournaments ... but for now I remain a Poker Wannabe.

Until Next Time

Keep It Tight!

Live Poker Interesting Exit Hand

2011-09-04T21:52:00.012+01:00

I eventually got to start my "serious" live poker playing at the Gala in Leicester ..

The tournament was a £10 NLH, two rebuy or one rebuy and one add on or 2 add on at the break; basically you can buy in 3 times by the break if needed.

I played quite well starting on table one, had a good handle on all of the players and was just starting to get going before the break. Mainly this was thanks to winning a big pot from the person who I thought was the most threat to the table when his KK ran into my AA, all but knocking him out of the tourney. Also another key hand I made a good call with an A on the board holding JJ when an opponent had a pair of tens and had represented the A.

I hadn't had a rebuy by the break so took my 2 add ons to keep my chip count above average.

Shortly after the break I was moved to another table which seemed to have most of the chips, and most of the best players. I got cut off quickly by one particular regular who I read a few times as being very strong (given the body language). The biggest lay down being my flopped 2 pair against his all in shove following my flop lead out. I read him for a set and after he told me he had a set .. but then he would wouldn't he?

I will be watching him next time to see if it is just me he is having a go at and may just call light once to see what he's up to in the future.

So it then took ages to reach the final table from about 16 left (54 started and paying 6), in that time I lost about 11K of my 50K stack. Then just before the final table assembled I had a go at the player on my right who had limped in the SB first to act. Admittedly I had AJ but a big raise did not see him off and my all in on the flop saw him call with an open ended straight draw on a low board holding 78. My A high held and I went to the final table with about 89,000 chips.

After a couple of rounds on the final table we were down to 7 and the blinds and antes were so high that every ones stack had seemed to even out except for 2 smaller stacks who would soon be in by the blinds.

I suggested we did a bubble saver for 7th place, and it was agreed that the bubble would get their £30 buy in back.

So it was when it folded to me in the SB that I completed with my 9Jos and the BB checked.
The flop came 89Thh. I bet about 16K into a 11,600K pot and got re raised all in (by a different player to before). I still had about 30K behind but chose to call with my open ender bottom pair, he had 89 for two pair. The turn came a 9 and I was out to a full house.

I have replayed this hand a few times in my mind and will probably post the hand on a forum to get some differing views mainly to answer the following questions:

1. Should I limp in the SB? ... the blinds were 2,000 / 4,000 with 800 Ante 7 players. The pot was reasonably big for my 2,000. I didn't want to commit my stack with a raise holding J9. I felt any re raise would be a real hand and I could drop it there and then just limping ....

2. Should I lead with mid pair on the flop? .. I think so given my redraw chances and the size of the blinds.

3. Should my lead have been so big? I wanted to win it there and then scaring away any hearts. I had already committed myself to winning this pot given the action so far, so I think the size of my bet reflected that I was going all in before my bet, it just happened that he'd hit 2 pair.

4. Should I have folded after his re shove? Looking back I had about 30K left and about a 45% chance, certainly getting pot odds. However I was through the blinds so I could have folded, if only to get a couple more places up the prize money. On the other hand by outdrawing in this position I would have had a very good chance of winning the tourney.

5. Given the turn card any play after the flop was to go all in with my set .. the only possible ways out would have been to fold pre flop, raise pre flop (if he would have folded) or fold on the flop following his shove.

I am still not sure what lesson I have learnt yet other than setting up a bubble saver was worth while ... it could just be one of those hands although I did make my actions under definite reasoning at the time.

Any way I was only 6 hours out of time as I got my buy in back and loved every minute of the game.

So now waiting for the next time to build my live bank roll.

Until Next Time

Keep it Tight!

My Ladder of Hope

2011-08-15T13:17:00.002+01:00

I have been thinking about how I can motivate myself to go forwards in pursuit of live game success.

I understand that my personality and the value I place on my bankroll can hold me back when I should be pushing on. I need to devise a method of tracking my progress as well as giving myself targets to achieve so that I don't become stagnant and satisfied with lower levels of success.

So I am formulating, what I call, my Ladder of Hope.

I will be starting on the first rung of the ladder as a Poker Wannabe and I will outline clear goals that allow me to reach a certain rung of the ladder.

So far I have the levels as follows, with some of my initialy thought out targets.

WANNABE - Where I am now!

CANDIDATE
Bronze - Live Bankroll = £1,000
Silver - Finish in top 50% in local tournament (e.g. Dusk Till Dawn)
Gold -
APPRENTICE
Bronze - Live Bankroll = £2,500
Silver -
Gold - Cash in a local tournament
RISING PLAYER
Bronze - Live Bank Roll = £5,000
Silver -
Gold - Cash in a National Side Event (e.g. GUKPT side event)
PLAYER
Bronze -
Silver - Final Table Local Tournament
Gold- Cash in a National Event (e.g. GUKPT)
RISING PRO
Silver -
Gold - Final Table National Side Event
PRO
Gold -
RISING STAR
Gold - Win National Event, Cash in an International Event
STAR
Gold - Final Table International Event
SUPERSTAR - Win an International Event

This is still pretty much work in progress in thinking out what goals I want where, and I will probably add more goals as I think of them ... but you get the idea.

More when I have this sorted out a little better.

Until next Time

Keep it Tight!

Making it in the Live Arena

2011-08-08T15:34:00.005+01:00

As a Poker Wannabe I have wanted to break onto the live poker scene for a long time. I have always wanted to be able to rub shoulders with the big names in the game and to pit my wits against a multitude of lesser known good players. -

I want to be challenged rather than grind out 400 SnG's a month for a small profit.-

I want to be drawn to the big prizes and exposure that the live arena has to offer a recognised poker player.-

I have decided that the time to start along this path is NOW!-

I understand that I will probably lose more than I will win - unless I really can make it. That is a price that I will have to pay to find out.-

I know I am not starting from the bottom. I have won local casino tournaments and have won in Vegas in the hotel daily buy ins. I also think I have a better than average grasp of the game ... but this is how I see me ... am I good enough to do it in the real world?-

So starting at the end of August I will be trying to build a live bank roll in which I intend to find out ... -

Rise ...-

or -

Fall ...-

It will be posted here.-

Until Next Time-

Keep it Tight!

Trying to get back to normal

2011-06-20T23:09:00.003+01:00

I decided to do a week of work for my usual customer in Truro and stayed at the usual stop ... the Victoria Inn.

Thursday night, Poker Night, I decided again to join in for my third outing at this pub's poker offering.

Unfortunately the entrants have dwindled from about 36 to about 20 but the guys that are left are good eggs.

So with a £5 buy in and two tables to get through I soon won a big pot doubling my starting chips. I had already identified that my table had a loose aggressive on board that was very successful in small pots against the regulars. I also knew he was playing light and wouldn't be able to slow down. So when he all inned for about about 2/3rds of my stack and all folded to me in the SB, I re raised all in with K4os to push out the BB knowing that if I won the pot I could take his role. He duly turned over T6os and hit a 6 on the river to leave me hurt but not out.

Luckily 3 hands later I get JJ and all in ... our loose friend calls and I double back to above my starting chips.

A few hands later I get AA and manage to look like I'm trying to push out the limpers in a multi way pot. I manage to survive a twitchy 3 way pot with the 2 other players that remained and I was suddenly in a strong position.

Anyway to cut a long story short I got heads up with a guy when the blinds were so high we decided to split the £70 pot 50/50.

So in 3 outings here I have won 2 times and 4th once.

Not bad to earn an evenings free drinks ...

Until Next Time

Keep it Tight!

Impossible to put into words!

2011-05-29T07:56:00.008+01:00

I predominantly wanted this blog to be just about my poker exploits however sometimes personal life has to take the fore and I feel I have to publish this post before I can continue to move on.

Many unexpected things are thrown at you in life, most of which you can deal with as and when they happen and you are able to carry on as normal.

However when the one thing that is eventually guaranteed for all of us happens to someone very close to you the ability to carry on as before seems to be taken away forever.

It is to this end that sadly my mother eventually lost her fight against cancer last month.

I managed to spend a lot of time with her in the last weeks of her life and I know she was comforted by me being there in helping care for her and to keep her company.

Although we said everything we wanted to to each other before she went to that better place I know nothing will be able to fill the empty void that used to be her support, care and love in a way only a Mum can give it.

You will be greatly missed forever Mum ... more than anyone will ever know!

Quick Update

2011-04-02T16:49:00.003+01:00

Not a lot on the poker front to talk about as unfortunately real life has taken over. Between working solidly for the last 2 weeks (with a third to come) and personal and family issues not much time is left for quality poker.

So consequently I have parked my PartyPoker.Fr account at about 1,600 euro's and am playing on small stakes tables to clear a multitude of free bonuses PartyPoker.com has inundated me with.

So here is the lesson:

I still love the game and still want to play whenever I can. I know that when I play I am not 100% focused or am playing tired. So when I play I am better playing at the lower buy in's than before where I can't do my bank roll any serious damage. I am also clearing bonuses which might make up for the edge I am losing.

Don't let pride get in the way of playing at smaller stakes if the conditions to play well are not right.

The main thing is that you play.

Another thing I am doing is investing in more poker literature so when I am unable to play I still can get a poker fix and hopefully improve my game.

So until there is something more to show on the poker front.

I'll sign off ....

Keep it Tight!

The Wilderness Months

2011-02-14T10:18:00.003Z

Its at times like these that I am glad I don't play poker for a living.

To play approx 500 SnG's and still only be just where you started can be very demoralising.

I think it is even more pronounced because of the flying start I had on PartyPoker.Fr. I turned my initial €150 into approx €900 in about 5 months. Now I can't get above €1000 and have dropped as low as €800 euro .

The other problem I have is that my bank rolling method drops me back down the levels when I am losing and so I am now messing about at the very low stake SnG's again hoping for a run to hit.

On top of this things are not going so well in France and it looks like I will be here on my own from now on. This has left me in a very bad mental state; but if it wasn't for me to be able to throw my time into poker (despite my affected play) then I am sure I would feel even more isolated. At least with poker there is always something there at any time of the day when I need my mind diverting from the real world.

Who was it that said ... ?

" ... you never know your on a peak until you are coming down, and you never know you are in a trough until you are climbing out" ...

Ahh thats right it was .. D.Brent (The Office)

They say poker mirrors life, and with that phrase it has never been more true.

Until Next Time

Keep it Tight!

Party Poker France points problem!

2011-01-09T12:49:00.003Z

Last month (and going into the new year) I had a bit of a problem with my points status on PartyPoker.Fr.

I had cut it very fine in earning my 400 points to maintain my Silver Status in December. However by playing for about 4 hrs on New Years Eve (finishing at around 8pm) I managed to get my points balance to around 401.5 ... and was happy that I would be able to buy my 50 euro bonus.

However when I logged in on 1st January I found that they had demoted me to Bronze Status.

I contacted them and they stated that I had only earned 397.5 points in December.

I checked my lobby and found that it showed I had already earned 4 points in January despite having not played yet!

So I re contacted them and assured them that the lobby stated on 31st December I had over 400 points.

They stuck to their story but did raise my complaint to another department.

Anyway yesterday I find my status HAS been restored to Silver ... but with no explanations or email contact, which is unusual because I always find their customer service excellent!

However I am very happy with this outcome as my account now sits as it should be!

But it does show that what we see in the lobby could be different to what is happening on their systems.

So I suggest that if your points balance is very close to the next level, take a screen dump. Either that or make sure you earn more than enough points to get your status levels.

Oh and if their is a descrepancy make sure you contact them!

I do like happy endings though!

Until Next Time

Keep it Tight!

Why bonuses and promotions are important to a grinder!

2010-12-20T16:45:00.003Z

This is just a quick post to show how (at the stakes I am playing at the moment) bonuses and promotions can make a difference in your earning ability!

Monthly Stakes - 2446.06

Monthly returns - 2651.36

Monthly Profit - + 205.3

Monthly ROI - 8.39%

Now add in my Promotions and Bonuses

Gladiator Promotion - +16.43

Monthly Leaderboard - +29.93

10K Gladiator Freeroll - +76.47

Weekly Leaderboard 250 freeroll - +0

Total Monthly Profit - +328.13
-

Total Monthly ROI - 13.41%
-

And this doesn't take into account the points earned which are contributing to my reload bonus that will mature later this month.

So as you can see, qualified tournaments and leaderboards can make a vast difference to your statistics. They can turn a losing month into a break even one or a winning month into a better one.
-

Do not think any bonus is too smalll to be earning ... you'll be surprised how they will add up over a lifetime of poker.
-

Until Next Time
-

Keep it Tight!

Bad weather hits me in the pocket !!!

2010-12-02T11:09:00.003Z

Until now the snow had been a welcome break from my dundrum, hotel life in London. It meant I had an excuse to go home and not go back until the weather cleared.

However as a "semi-proffessional" gambler ...

... yep that is what I am now calling myself as about half of my earnings now come from gambling!

I'm not saying I can live like I used to ... my monthly income is about 1/4 of what I used to earn, then again my monthly outlay has dropped considerably too!

Still I am always looking for additional markets to add to my portfolio.

So with many of the race meetings and sporting events being called off because of the weather it means my only source of income during this inclement weather will be poker. Which, incedentally, is giving me the least return for my efforts.

So heres hoping for a warm spell to clear the grounds and courses all over europe ... otherwise i may be sitting beside our dog waiting to see what scraps i can pick up!

Until next time

Keep it Tight!

PartyPoker.FR Leaderboard Pays Off

2010-11-04T15:12:00.003Z

Not a big pay off but a nice little bonus.

I finished 56th in the monthly tournament leaderboard for a 35 euro bonus ...

... and for finishing in the weekly leaderboard I again got to play in the weekly leaderboard 250 euro freeroll.

Despite doubling up early with JJ against 3 opponents and then losing most of my stack KK against AA, I managed to manouver my way to the final table as the short stack.

From there on in I was never going to win it but I did manage to push and fold my way to 4th place for another 25 euro.

So how many sit and goes did I have to play to get to this position?

A measly 503 SnG's in the month...

... I don't think I can play any more than that with the time I have ...

... but I will try!!!

Until next time

Keep it Tight!

Is this what they mean when your "On a Heater"

2010-10-24T12:17:00.003+01:00

What an unbelievable run of form I'm on at the moment.

Its as if I'm in tune with the game!

If I have a big hand I can get it paid off ...

If I have to bluff, its the right amount to get a fold ...

When I have to push I get called by a worse hand ...

... and when I need some luck I'm getting it.

These moments have led to me having my longest ever run of 20 double up SnG cashes in a row before losing one.

This is when Poker is at its best!

So now .... now that I have probably cursed my game by airing this joy ....

... I must remember to re read this post when I hit my next downswing.

You can't win them all ... but this feels damn close to it!

Until Next Time

Keep it tight!

Made it ... but Oh No!

2010-10-16T10:03:00.003+01:00

Yep I made the PartyPoker.FR weekly leaderboard ....

Yes it was relatively easy to reach ...

Yes I got my entrance to the 250 euro guaranteed ...

Yes there were only 43 entered ...

... a great chance for just under 100 euro first prize!

But OH NO!

I had to go out the evening of the tournament.

Basically I could squeeze 45 minutes out of the tourney, and after 30 minutes I was sitting in 9th.

So my plan was to try a gamble double up and then see if I could leave the tournament running and fold into 6th place prize money.

Just my look when I push my A7 suited as I was leaving for the pub that another player called with QQ. Despite two of my suit on the flop his hand held up and I was out.

So the moral of the story is ...

If you are going to try and qualify for a tournament, at least know you will be able to play it.

Until Next Time.

Keep it Tight!

Going for the PartyPoker.FR leaderboards

2010-10-10T16:11:00.004+01:00

This week I have decided to try for the French Weekly Leaderboard. This starts on Mondays at 00:01 and finishes Sunday night at 00:00.

Top Player gets 250 euro

2nd and 3rd get entry to the 250K guaranteed

4th to 150th get entry into the 250 euro guaranteed tourney

Up until Yesterday I had played every night from about 8pm until midnight 4 tabling 3 euro Double Up STT. This had gotten me into 84th position. However I didn't play at all yesterday as I was travelling back to the UK, now I have dropped to 135th.

So still on target for my target 250Euro tourney entrance.

At present on these stakes whilst still building my French bank roll there is no chance of reaching positions 1-3 .... I'll save that for a later challenge.

The side effect of this effort is that I was also 85th on the monthly leaderboard where cash prizes are paid to 100th. However after my little break yesterday I have dropped back to 109th.

So my new target is to also hit the top 100 on the monthly leaderboard.

To give you an idea of how my French Bankroll is progressing (now just over 300 euro with bonuses from my initial deposit of 100 euro) I have posted my latest Sharkscope Graph.

So heres to another afternoon of SnG grind!

Until Next Time

Keep it Tight!

Slowly coming to terms with the French game!

2010-09-17T13:54:00.003+01:00

After a couple of months on the small stakes tables I am finally making some progress on PartyPoker.fr.

As you can see from my sharkscope SnG graph I am at last making some profit. Add this to my small multi tournament 3rd out of 51 last night my account is sitting at 185 euro (initial deposit of 100) and I am 80% of the way through a 40 euro bonus.

So I am feeling a little more at home on the poker tables here in France.

All I need to do now is start increasing the stakes I'm playing at ... same old story eh?

Until Next Time

Keep it Tight!

A small live win!

2010-08-28T19:47:00.012+01:00

At last I have got another live win to add to those of Gala Casino Leicester circa 2008 and Paris Casino Las Vegas circa 2007.
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Yes it is the Victoria Inn Truro Thursday night pub league.
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First off a little about the Pub ...
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It is in a village called Three Milestone just on the outskirts of Truro City. A very nice pub that has previously been ticking over ... until recently.
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Under new management it has had a full refit of TV's in the Pool room, new carpets and a splash of paint in the bedrooms.
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The food there has always been fairly good but has now got a very reasonable Tuesday steak menu to add to their existing varied offerings. In addition to this the new management are starting to add a few events to the weekly calendar and this Thursday I was able to sample the new Thursday Poker League.
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Now I have played pub leagues before but it has to be said that this one is one of the better ones I have played in.
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Firstly the guys that run it have 4 good quality poker playing surfaces with padded edges, non dog eared packs of cards and a reasonable set of chips.
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Secondly the people that play in it want to play poker and not just hold 2 cards whilst they drink. You can hear from the table chat that they play regularly together a few times a week and enjoy their games.
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The format is a NLH freeze out, £4 buy in for 2150 chips starting blinds of 25/50 with about 1/2 hour for the first level then 10 minute (approx) for the rest of the levels. You have to bear in mind the game has to be finished by closing time and with 32 players max the levels have to be quite short.
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So on Thursday they had a full complement of 32 players (sign in at 19:30ish to get a place for an 20:00 - 20:15 start).
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I just took it steady for the first couple of levels not winning any hands at all until, with about 1500 chips left, I got into a hand by completing in the SB after the lady on my right had called in the BB. Three to the flop I had AK and on a flop of A## all hearts I didn't like the fact that I didn't have a heart (no pun intended!). The lady put a small bet in so I called, no heart on the turn and she goes all in for 700 more, I deliberate then call. Q of hearts on river and I think I'm dead but am forced to call leaving me 400 chips. She had AQ no heart ... gutted!

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AK pre flop should be reraised I know ... but we would have ended with the same result!
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Anyway with the blinds raising immeadiately after to 300/600 I couldn't wait for a decent hand and had to put my chips in. Luckily I had AJ on the button and managed a triple up. Then I had another triple up before the blinds had reached me again holding a better A high than the next highest A7 high.
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Then came the hand that gave me the chance to the final table:
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A lad who had been raising with weak holdings raised to 1800 and only the SB and BB were behind me. I look down at A9 and thinking the lad was 1800 all in I raised my stack all in to isolate him. The blinds fold and then the lad asks how much is it ... he moves his arms aside and there I saw enough chips to have me covered ... whats more he'd called .... Damn!
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Any way he had A2, I dealt the flop turn and river really quickly not wanting any agony and my A9 held ... wow! ... I had masses of chips.
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With high blinds and plenty of short stacks I didn't have to play a hand to the final table of 9 players.
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On the final table I just played my usual game until 5 left (which was the money) and having identified the tighter players on my left just raised in position to keep me afloat with the blinds.
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I did get very unlucky ... then lucky with 3 left when I put a guy all in holding 99 and he made a stand with 9T ... T on the flop and I was feeling crushed ... 9 on the turn saved my depression.
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So going in to heads up we did a deal on the £60 first place £30 2nd place by having £40 each and playing for the last tenner with very even chip stacks.
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First hand I get AKos - all in he calls with K7s ... I win the hand and he hasn't enough left for the blind. All his chips are in and my any 2 card hand beats his for the victory.
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Not the WSOP ... but still beating 31 players holding 2 cards.
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Until Next Time
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Keep it Tight!

Settling in and underway

2010-08-11T10:32:00.008+01:00

First off a little about France ... (if this bores you just skip to the next section where I will be talking poker) ...

We've been here almost a month now and are settling in nicely .. it is great not getting up until 10am every morning (despite wanting to get up earlier). The problem with getting up later here is that by the time you are washed, dressed and breakfasted all the shops are closed (between 12.00 and 2.00 pm). So I will soon have to set an alarm so that we can get more things done.

We have made a lot of headway with the garden and our attached small building (this needs completely renovating) ... oh yeah and we have already smartened up the bedroom with a fresh coat of paint.

I have lots of photos on my phone but am unable to get them onto the PC so I will post a few in later posts.

However in an attempt to NOT make this my "French Adventure" blog I have also been playing some poker.

As I have posted before, France have introduced some new internet gambling laws. This doesn't stop the individual from playing on non approved sites but it does make it illegal for sites to open accounts with french residents (at least thats the way I think it works). In response most of the major sites have initially blocked French IP addresses so as not to Pee off the French government in the hope that they may get a legal license.

The whole thing is run by an association called ARJEL and a full list of approved sites is available on their website ... http://www.arjel.fr/

So I have opted to initialy join PartyPoker.fr under the affiliate pokerlistings.fr until I have done some more research on affiliates to find out who offers the best benefits. However they are very hot on ID etc so if it wasn't for the fact I have a French bank account I may not have been playing in France.

So far I have started on the low limit tables - up to 6 euro buy ins - and have had a bit of a culture shock ... just look at this sharkscope page of a typical evenings SnG quality (even at the low levels) ....
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First off my initial 100 euro deposit fell to 50 euros.
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However I have played 3 of their 250 euro guaranteed and had 3 cashes -a 16th, a 12th and a final table 3rd out of an average of about 250 entrants per tourney.
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So now with those cashes and a few heads up wins my balance is sitting back at 110 euro.

I am also keeping my eye on the leaderboards and do want to attack the weekly SnG leaderboard just once to see where I can get.

So for now I am very happy with the move, extremely happy with the pace of life here but frustrated at not being able to play the bonuses I am constantly sent by email from my UK gambling sites.
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Some of that will be rectified next week however because I am back in the UK for a couple of weeks; one for work and one for pleasure.
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So Until Next Time

Keep it Tight!

Here we are in France - Not without unforseen events!

2010-07-18T13:37:00.003+01:00

So we have arrived in France safely ... that was not the unforseen event!

The engineer turned up to install the telephone line 3 hours early and the internet connection was live the same day ... that was not the unforseen event!

All happy with my connection it was time to fire up Betfair and test the connection speed!

Enter username ... enter password ....

"You are trying to access Betfair from a restricted country!" said the screen.

WHAT! I connected last time I was in France ...

Opened up a poker site ... Ladbrokes ... same message ...

Onto google to see what is happening!

With not much surfin I find out the French government have introduced a new online gaming law (begining of July for Betfair how about that?) allowing only approved sites to allow access from French soil.

Damn .. this is costing me £20 a day.

So what to do ....

First off I have joined http://www.partypoker.fr/ with a 200 euro deposit bonus to get me underway.

Secondly I am investigating whether or not a UK VPN will help .... one thing I do not want to do is something that can get my broadband cut off, so whatever I do needs to be legal.

Thirdly will be awaiting the Betfair european enquiry as to whether the French move is legal under European Law.

If any of my readers have any views of what I can do let me know ... it would be much appreciated.

So from my new life in France ... slightly marred by the unforseen gambling restrictions ... I will sign off this post.

Until next time

Keep it Tight!

White Van Man

2010-07-10T22:09:00.003+01:00

This weekend is the one where I finally move to France.

Currently I am sitting in a hotel writing this in waiting to get on the Ferry tomorrow.

For the final leg I have decided to buy my own white van (for two reasons).

1 - This will allow us to take (almost) the last of our things over with us without having to return back with a hire van.

2 - The white van might also be a little part time earner whilst in France; either returning with items for other people or bringing things back for them!

So I have purchased an Iveco Daily - 100,000 miles on the clock (to which I am told the engine is a baby). Drives nicely but so far I haven't had the smooth run in I wanted.

The first weekend I used her for a trip up to Yorkshire. When I got back there was an oil drip around the gear box. Now I know very little of these things, but the garage had a look, cleaned it up and said it looked like residue oil from the service - I wasn't convinced!

So the next trip I went to the boat out by Colchester, and, when I arrived .... yep .... there was an oil drip. So I did what I needed to do and then got it back to the garage for a second time. It ended up to in fact be a diesel leak from the injectors ... which they fixed! So far, there are no more leaky drips ... but ....

The rear tyre now seems to have a slow puncture, although no one can be blamed for that. I may have picked up a tack or something at the boat yard! However ... Damn! Damn! Damn! ... there is no way I am going to get that fixed before 9am tomorrow (when I am due on the ferry) and I doubt very much if I can get it changed on a Sunday in France, mainly because France shuts at the weekend!

So it is going to be a limp ... pump up .... limp .... pump up for about 350 miles ... (well it did get me the 180 miles here on one pump up).

And now to add to my van worries it is making horrible metallic noises in the lower gears - like a grinding ... no idea what that is but if it is a problem it sounds expensive ...

Really hope I haven't bought a pain in the ass van!

Anyway, van worries aside ... I have an Orange engineer fitting a telephone line next Tuesday and then hopefully Internet access within 15 days after that!

So the Poker withdrawals might not be too harsh ... the Van worries will probably keep me occupied ... aagghhh they were supposed to be aside ....

Until Next Time

a bientot

Oh ... and

Keep it Tight!

WSOP near miss!

2010-06-21T22:55:00.011+01:00

For anyone whos been reading my Twitter you will know that I have been trying to qualify for the WSOP via Pokerlistings on Bet 365.

I earnt enough points to first enter a 34 player sub qualifier : 1-6 won a super satelite $500 ticket, 7-12 won a $215 WSOP Main event rebuy ticket.

Well in that one I won the $215 rebuy ticket.

I then also got enough points to enter me for a 34 player freezout winner takes all main event qualifier - this was to be my best chance?

As it happens I went out of the freezout in 14th after a really uneventful tourney.

The rebuy was to be my chance ... 39 entrants ... winner takes all $20,000 package.

I wasn't going to rebuy (at a further $215) and I wasn't going to add on (at a further $100). But patience is my game.

After 3 hours of play there were about 18 left ... and I was the short stack.

However I do think my strongest point is short stack play!!!

Somehow I managed to get myself to the final table with 5 left and the position you see in the picture below as NoEi8ht (I can't even remember how I got there!).

5 left and I have a great image, everyone believes I have it when I bet ... so I bet!

Short handed I obviously open up my range, and for a start they still believe me, then I get the pre flop 3 bet, and I fold (mistake number 1).

It happens again (mistake number 2) and suddenly I go from being a bet dominator to a bet foldinator. With no cards, i am a lost soul on the poker table.

However I then end up getting a JJ and an AA to take me to second in chips with 3 left. At this point, after about 5 hours of play I can hear those Vegas bandits a jingling.

With the big hands and my image restored I manage to play the chip leader d0dd087 off of a couple of pots without having to worry about ZZ1000 who was being really tight passive ... d0dd was my target and if I beat him I have the Vegas prize. On the button he raised any 2 cards, consistently. On this occasion he raised a little bit bigger which made me think midish pair ... ZZ folded and I sit with A5spades. I thought about folding then called thinking that there are going to be plenty of cards to scare him with my read. The flop paired J77 - no spades. First to act I checked and he continued with a 1/3 pot bet ... I thought for a while and check raised ... (mistake number 3 ... I have little to no outs, just a complete bluff), he called. Turn brought a card that meant nothing. I half pot bet ... (mistake number 4, I have completely nothing with little or no outs) he thinks then over the tops all in ... I have to fold (his mid pair would be good at this point!) preserving about 25,000 in chips.

So my whole tournament hinged on getting too deep with a bluff ... poor play.

The coup de gras that saw me going out 3rd was when d0dd rarely folded the button and ZZ went all in on the SB - desperate I call with 9Tos.

Flop 289 ... turn blank river 8 - he holds A8 - Boom! Gone as was my Vegas dream!

Third was not too bad was it in a rebuy and add on with just my starting chips ... ?

I am sorry I didn't win but I can however take away some plus points from this:

... I don't think these players were muppets and I held my own.

... Don't get involved in a hand with a complete bluff unless you have to!

... It makes me want to qualify for something big!

Soon people I will do something big .... SOON!

Until Next time

Keep it Tight!

WSOP Qualifier ticket

2010-06-10T22:41:00.004+01:00

Just finished a WSOP Sub Qualifier on Bet 365 and won a $215 ticket to their rebuy satelite ($13,000 WSOP Main Event Package).

This will probably be my best chance at a shot of getting to the WSOP although I should have a ticket to a winner takes all $20K WSOP package on the 15th June.

Playing as "NoEi8ht" on Bet 365

Anyway fingers crossed.

Until Next Time

Keep it Tight!