anomaly16

In the last 6 months I've more than doubled my bankroll from $1900 to $4900 from around 150k hands and have made the switch from mainly playing STT to ring games. Its been quite a transition but I feel smarter in almost all aspects of the game now and think I am on the right track to improve further. Its also been 4 +ve months in a row :)

Goals for the next 6 months
----------------------------
1) Move up to $1/$2 (200NL). (I'm working off a 30BI threshold so reaching $6000 would be right for $1/$2, and if I continue the way I am I should be there soon to give it a try and am prepared to move down if need be). I've played 1.6k hands of this during december and have run very well and didn't find it too different to 0.5/1.

2) Continue to study, analyze and be coached. Also, finally get around to signing up to CardRunners and watch the good vids.

This month I've gained $1000, license for HoldemManager, 5 hours of coaching, 2 T-shirts and a pair of slippers from a total of 31k hands! I reached Gold iron man level so will have some bonus to work off in January.

Overall I'm really pleased with the month. Its the largest volume of hands I've ever played and although I didn't play at my best through all of it ($900 downswing mid-month) I feel my game has come on a long way. The coaching, analysis and some extra studying as well as the volume has helped me make some good adjustments to my play in almost all areas.

December goals review
-----------------------
1) Finish reading Poker Mindset
Oops.. forgot about that!
2) Try and exclusively play FR $0.5/$1
I didn't manage exclusivity (and doubt I ever will) but 19.5k of my hands were at 0.5/1. I don't think playing some variety is necessarily bad as long as you don't breach bankroll management.
3) Play enough volume (10k-20k hands) to reach one of the Iron Man levels for December (mental note from last month noted, but this will unlock at least $250 of bonus for my Iron Man play this year, so probably worth the effort)
volume target exceeded, gold level achieved and should have $300 (-27%) for January
4) Take up an offer to receive some coaching sessions from a better player
Coaching has been really useful and I'll definitely try and get some more sessions as well as hook up with another of the coach's students

$15.30 invested and $590.38 won :)

I was around 80th with 200 left as the bubble approached then had a run of good hands and some luck (KK beating AA, KQ beating AQ and JJ holding up...) taking me to 2nd with 50 left and i held on for to be 5th at the final table. I touched on 750,000 chips at one point, finally going out in 5th with a hand I wish I hadn't played (15BB A3 shove on the button v 99) but I was pretty tired after this 6 hour marathon. A nice way to finish the year!

I've been playing a lot recently - probably a little too much and have definitely played some sessions when not in the best frame of mind - consequently its not been a hugely profitable month so far especially running $500 below EV. However, the volume of hands I have played have given me a good taste of the grinding lifestyle and what I'd need to do if I ever tried to play professionally. I never quite appreciated what an apt word "grind" is before this. I've beaten my records for most hands in a day, FTP and rakeback a few times (2164 hands, 1100FTP in a day and 21.5k hands for the month so far). I've also started playing at another poker room on occasion due to the softer tables as well as bonus & more rakeback opportunities - the software isn't as good but there are some real idiots.

Software & HUD
-----------------
I've made a few changes to my setup recently: a clearer customised deck on FT as well as replacing PT3 with HoldemManager and a new HUD. Holdem Manager (although lacking a couple of tiny features of PT3) is SOOO much better. I'm still on the free trial but will definitely get a license soon. It still took some time to import 1.5 million hands!

Coaching
---------
I've had my first session with my coach now. He railed me playing 3-4 tables for a couple of hours and we discussed various things as they came up. I'm not going to go into the details but there was some really good advice and I've made some small adjustments to my play as a result. I've got a second session tonight and am looking forward to some more good advice.

All in all I'm pretty happy with the month so far: even if it isn't the most profitable I feel I'm investing in a better poker future. I'm 1 day away from Gold iron man level so will have secured at least a $300 bonus to start me off in January.

Cold feet today, so couldn't resist for 3800 FTP!

I've played in a few iron man freerolls but without much success so far.

This time it was 385 people going for a prizepool of $30,000 with $120 for 90th up to $5k for first. I finished in 33rd for $150. It was pretty sick the way I went out though.. allin UTG with AK and called by BB with 88: I hit a K on the flop and then he got runner runner to hit a straight. Its all bonus cash though so can't complain :)

EDIT: It took a big chunk of my rakeback away for the day so guess it is included in their "-bonus" calculation :( Still a decent profit on it though.

I spotted this a few days ago and with a buyin of only 2000 FTP I thought I'd give it a shot. Prize pool was $100 for 361st-540th up to $8000 for first.

Sign up has been popular so they've now extended it to 10,000 entrants. However, the prize structure is making me hover over the unregister button. Its now only $10 for 901st-1800th and $10k for first.

I do remember finishing 17th in a 10,000 freeroll 3-4 years ago at ladbrokes when I must have played like a muppet. I think I was able to take a long shower over the break as I had so many chips! Unfortunately I had to go out and threw my chips away in the end. So I'll probably stay registered and see if karma can give me the win I didn't deserve back then!

On the playing as a pro front I broke a few records yesterday: most FTP in a day, most rakeback in a day and most cash hands in a day and made some $$ too. In my last session I almost threw my profit away when playing too tired but I focussed for a bit longer and got it back with my KK v QQ v JJ before heading to bed. I'm definitely aware of some lifestyle changes I'd need to make if I ever did go pro.

I finished up at work today and don't have to be back till 5th January. Yayyy! :)

With few plans for Christmas and little non-poker money to spend (credit crunch etc.) this gives me an opportunity to try out life as a poker pro for a few weeks. The change in my schedule should mean that I can

• Play a larger volume of hands
• Play more often at times when tables are fuller and softer

Keeping sessions focussed and quitting when planned will be key as well as dealing with any poker mindset issues. I'm sure any form of tilt when playing more hands can really hurt bankroll.

I've also got my first session being coached coming up on Wednesday which I'm really looking forward to - I'll post some more about this later.

The mind reset discussed below seems to have worked and I played much better tonight (aided by some decent cards and luck) and had a +3 BI session over 522 hands.

I finished wanting to play on but had reached my target 200 FTP for the day and so quit as planned.

I hope now the good decisions and mental state continue :)

I decided to delete my last post - "The night of horrible big pairs" as there was absolutely no point to it. Its just variance and for the large part I made the right decisions for all the posted hands and just didn't get lucky that night. I guess I just felt the need to vent some frustration but posting isn't the way to go.. it certainly won't make any fun reading for anyone else other than reminding them how crappy poker can feel at times.

Another hand came up recently that I almost posted about, but resisted the urge as I made the right decisions again and just got unlucky. It was just that it was the largest cash pot I'd ever been in ($495) and so hurt all the more to lose 2 of my normal BI in one hand.

Exactly how I ended up at a $1/$2 6-handed table is probably more interesting... I was playing my usual FR $0.5/$1 and one of the players was perhaps the biggest fish I had ever seen. He was playing 95/3/? for 500+ hands and was a consistent loser. Unlike most other fish though he reloaded several times. You could almost feel everyone else at the table praying for a decent hand so that they could take this guy's cash.. it was just so easy. His revealed hands showed he was calling down huge raises all the way to the river with nothing.. not a pair or even a reasonable draw. I managed to get at least 1 BI myself from him before he left the table. I checked for his player ID and he was seated at a $1/$2 6-handed table so took a decision to sit down and try and get some more. He was playing in exactly the same way and I was soon up $140. He sucked out on one hand against me and reduced the gain to $60. In the final $495 pot before I left he was also well behind and beaten by both me and the other player. I guess the player that beat me had a decent draw and I could well have been trying to bully him out of the pot so I that could be alone against mr fishy. I'd raised well above the odds he would have needed to call with his draw so it was probably a -EV call by him but again the variance got me rather than my play. I'm sure it can be a bad decision to hunt fish on tables/levels you don't usually play at but in hindsight I think it was a reasonable decision in this instance even if it didn't pay off.

I've been a little on tilt since and definitely not making the correct decisions every hand. Fortunately it hasn't hurt financially too much and I'm only marginally down for the month (less than 1 BI), so time to refocus my head, forget what could have been and grind on!

The clean look of my PokerTracker stats from the beginning of the month has definitely changed:(

There is something very nice about reaching the beginning of the month and changing the PT3 date filter to hide all your bad play and bad beats from the month before and start afresh. I've been reading and thinking about how we are all quite results-orientated - its human nature. Some have tried to hide their poker account balance but they seem to end up making up fictional results in their head anyway. I think the best idea is to always be aware of it but try and reach that zen state before each decision that you have to make.

Goals for the month:

1) Finish reading Poker Mindset
2) Try and exclusively play FR $0.5/$1
3) Play enough volume (10k-20k hands) to reach one of the Iron Man levels for December (mental note from last month noted, but this will unlock at least $250 of bonus for my Iron Man play this year, so probably worth the effort)
4) Take up an offer to receive some coaching sessions from a better player

This month I've gained $200, 2 books, a $5k freeroll entry, a $30k freeroll entry, a $26 satellite token and a copy of SpadeEye from a total of 22k hands.

I reached the top "Iron" Iron Man Level at FT - its taken quite an effort to get 200 FTP for 25 days of the month. I've definitely played a few sessions when my mind wasn't as focussed as it should have been and probably drop a few $$ as a result. Mental note: bonuses are exactly what they say they are .. bonuses. Play to win and if you get a bonus then great, not the other way around.

I've mainly been grinding 0.5/1 FR which has gone a lot better than my other poker so wish I'd stuck to the main task for all my hands (only 16/5k @ 0.5/1). (I'd be up $900 including rakeback if I'd won at the same rate).


November goals review:
1. Play mainly cash (0.5/1) - probably target around 20k hands
Achieved
2. Move to 4-tabling from 3-tabling
Achieved and have done a couple of sessions with 5 & 6 tables.
3. Try and play more focussed sessions (1-2hr) and learn to quit better (poker element #5)
Done ok but still needs constant work ... had the quit feeling on the last day of the month and would have been $300 more up if I'd listened to myself
4. Read more and watch more
Not watched any videos but have read some 2+2 posts, articles and have read some of Poker Mindset. I definitely plan to join CR/Stox and watch more videos next year.
5. Play a few MTT/Multi-Table SnG
I did but it didn't go very well :( Best was a low cash in a $5 6-handed rebuy MTT.
6. Play a few live casino games
I did but haven't cashed for a while there now. I'm sure I'll play a few in December over the holidays.
7. Try and do more/better analysis and maybe get some coaching?
Coaching looks like it will happen but still need to analyze more.
8. Win $$££!
Barely achieved!

I came back from quite a bad downswing 3/4 of the way through the month and feel my A-game has come on quite a bit as I finish the month. It would have been better if my month hadn't seen me drop $300 in my final few hands including these below. The first is just a horrible suckout for the other guy (he was playing 73/23/6) and the second they had quite a few outs and hit.

$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem
6 players
Converted at weaktight.com


Stacks:

UTG		($121.80)
UTG+1		($100.00)
Hero (CO)		($108.15)
BTN		($97.00)
SB		($287.35)
BB		($168.80)

Pre-flop: ($1.50, 6 players) Hero is CO

2 folds, Hero raises to $4, 1 fold, SB calls $3.50, BB calls $3

Flop: ($12, 3 players)
SB checks, BB bets $4, Hero raises to $20, SB folds, BB calls $16

Turn: ($52, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $49.50, BB raises to $99, Hero goes all-in $34.65

River: ($235.15, 2 players)

Final Pot: $220.30
Hero shows:
BB shows:

BB wins $232.15 ( won +$109.15 )
Hero lost -$108.15
SB lost -$4.00


$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem
4 players
Converted at weaktight.com


Stacks:

Hero (CO)		($113.50)
BTN		($91.00)
SB		($279.00)
BB		($142.50)

Pre-flop: ($1.50, 4 players) Hero is CO

Hero raises to $3.50, BTN raises to $12, 2 folds, Hero calls $8.50

Flop: ($25.50, 2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $18, Hero raises to $61, BTN goes all-in $79, Hero calls $18

Turn: ($183.50, 2 players)

River: ($183.50, 2 players)

Final Pot: $183.50
Hero shows:
BTN shows:

BTN wins $181.50 ( won +$90.50 )
Hero lost -$91.00

I'm looking forward to tomorrow as I'm going to get a chance to play in my first live casino Omaha tournament, to be run by Office Poker. I've no idea how many of the usual 70-odd will be playing but it should be fun :) The format is a £10 Omaha Hi rebuy so I expect the play to be pretty random, especially at the beginning.

I'm mainly playing Holdem these days, but I've played a fair amount of Omaha Hi / Omaha 8 online in the past, so hope I might have a good chance to cash if I get some cards and a little luck.

EDIT:

It was a bit random as expected at the beginning with some misreads and everyone played as if a pot sized bet was compulsory. I suffered pretty badly for the first hour, my drawing hands not hitting and my good starting hands beaten (AAKQ lost in a 4-way allin pot by 95xx) so cost me a few rebuys. After the hour it got much better and I was at 19k chips after the add-on (double the average stack). I made a couple of bad calls after the break at lost a few k. I finally went out in 17th/34 after missing all 20 outs on the river (had nut straight draw, nut flush draw and would have won if the board paired too I think). It was a lot of fun though and made a nice change to the usual Holdem games.

Net result : -£61 (-buyin - 4*rebuy - addon)

As a programmer/scripter I'm very interested in the possibilities of scripting and automating for multiplayer online games. I spent a lot of time the in 90's (gosh that makes me feel old) writing scripts for playing telnet text-based MUDs (Multi User Dungeons). Different MUDs had different rules regarding this. The one I played most allowed scripting but only on the premise that you were atk at the time and the scripts were just aids to help you deal with repetitive tasks. The advent of unmetered internet access also had a big effect and truly allowed 24/7 botting. It became a form of competition in itself to write a better, faster, more intelligent bot that could cater for many scenarios. As time has moved on and the player base has drifted off into playing CStrike, WoW, poker and the next generation of online gaming the rules have slackened to allow full botting when afk although restrictions do still apply. My MUD bot still runs although I haven't been atk there in months and I'm sad to admit it (along with those that are left) after all the hours put into characters and scripts the game is dying. My online time there puts the game hours of the current generation to shame. In the 16 years since I joined this MUD in 1992 I probably have an online time of around 8-10 years.

The illegality of all poker botting activities has kept me away from attempting anything with online poker, but I was interested to read this article on poker bots.

I wonder if the future of poker will see our bots playing each other as we all move our concious selves to the next big thing? If poker botting advances beyond the capabilities of detection with neural nets on quantum PCs then any poker other than live play could become futile.

Its halfway through the month and I've settled into mainly 4-tabling at 0.5/1, trying to put in 1-2 hours per day. Consequently I've just hit 10k hands (1/2 of the month's target) and have also qualified for Silver in the FT Iron Man Challenge. Another 5 days at the same level of play and I'll reach Gold, or another 10 days and I'll reach the maximum level of Iron. Overall I'm up around $250 including rakeback after some tourney and 6-handed losses.

The casino has moved all games to start at 8pm rather than 9pm - I showed up the other week for the Friday rebuy late to see a much reduced field of players, so I don't think I'll be going to that again.

This week I went to the Saturday night £30 double chance freezeout instead with a more respectable 68 entries. I did pretty well up to the break finishing with 8.5k chips with the average at 5.5k.

After the break the blinds started to eat my stack and finding myself with 5BB and AA i pushed hoping for at least one call but none came :( A few hands later I pushed with 88 and got a call from AK who hit their A on the flop and I was out in around 37th. I didn't make a wrong move all night but just wasn't my day.

Net loss : -£33

$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem
8 players
Converted at weaktight.com


Stacks:

UTG		($45.50)
UTG+1		($200.10)
MP1		($18.50)
MP2		($101.50)
CO		($167.70)
Hero		($122.60)
SB		($99.00)
BB		($100.00)

Pre-flop: ($1.50, 8 players) Hero is BTN

1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $2, 2 folds, CO calls $2, Hero calls $2, SB calls $1.50, 1 fold

Flop: ($9, 4 players)
SB checks, UTG+1 bets $5, CO raises to $13, Hero calls $13, SB folds, UTG+1 folds

Turn: ($40, 2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $20, CO calls $20

River: ($80, 2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $42, CO says "so sick if you have it", CO calls $42

Final Pot: $164
Hero shows:
CO shows:

Hero wins $161 ( won +$84 )
SB lost -$2.00
UTG+1 lost -$7.00
CO lost -$77.00

Cash games : +$378 (10k hands)
SnG + MTT: -$201 (13k hands)
Rakeback : +$173
Live Casino Play : -£55 (3 visits)
FT Iron Man Status : Qualified Silver
FT One-a-day freeroll : Qualified

Quick review of last month's goals
----------------------------------
1. Register at cardrunners.com if they are still offering a free week
It was deucescracked and I have watched and downloaded a few vids.
2. Read some more books
I've read some of Elements of Poker which has some really good stuff. I've also ordered my own copy of the Slansky book with FTP points but its yet to arrive.
3. Focus on playing $20 SnG
I started out with this in mind but had a bad run and decided to focus more on the cash
4. Play a few $5 MTT/Multi SnG
I did and had a good place in a $10 MTT but the SnG losses wiped any profit out :(
5. Play a few sessions at $0.5/$1 (around 2k hands) and analyze
Played way more than target 2k hands due to some early success. I'm finding 9-seaters more suited to my play but probably need to think about why most grinders play 6-seated
6. Play a few live casino games
I did, but no big wins this month
7. Win $!
I finished up, so thats always good :)
8. Stop playing 300 chip super-turbos!
Played a handful but way less than before!

New goals
-----------
1. Play mainly cash (0.5/1) - probably target around 20k hands
2. Move to 4-tabling from 3-tabling
3. Try and play more focussed sessions (1-2hr) and learn to quit better (poker element #5)
4. Read more and watch more
5. Play a few MTT/Multi-Table SnG
6. Play a few live casino games
7. Try and do more/better analysis and maybe get some coaching?
8. Win $$££!

With a smaller than usual field, I got AA early on and doubled up against QQ but it went downhill from there. There was a lot of aggression at the table from both good and bad players so had to try and win a few races but came off worst each time. Post-break I had a puny 3.5k chips after 3 rebuys and addon. I gained a little and then had to take my chances with 88 vs AQ and held on until the river Q and I was out.

I ended up going home much earlier than usual so joined a $10+1 knockout multi online finishing 3rd for around $500 so it wasn't all bad :)

£10 rebuy placed:
1st=(with 3 others)/5? (£330) DEAL +£289
8th/53 (£0) -£41
8th/60 (£0) -£31
6th=(with 1 other)/54 (£75) +£44
2nd/53 (£420) DEAL +£359
17th/61(£0) -£21
30th/41(£0) -£21
10th/71(£50) -£1
8th/45(£40) -£31
5th/53(£140) +£89
8th/58 (£40) +£29
25th/39 (£0) -£51

£10 rebuy profit/loss : +£613
Final table appearances : 9/12 (75%)
Average profit :+£51.08
ITM : 7/12 (58.3%)

buyin : $11
rebuys : 0
addons : 0
entrants : 58
placed : 8th
prize : £40
profit : £29 (£39 if you count the £10 I was given by my manager for fixing a problem late on Friday afternoon that payed for most of my buyin!)

rebuy period
-------------
final hand : blinds 100/200 Q9 SB, button limps, i limp, BB (welshman) checks, flop Ad92 (rainbow), i check, BB checks, 300 raise from button, i call, BB calls. Turn Qd. I open for 1000, BB pushes all-in with around 4k. button folds, I call with my last 4k. He has K7d (nut flush draw), and river is 9d. Panic'd when it first came out but made a FH to have stack of 11.5k at the break so didn't add on.

post-break
-----------
a lot of rubbish..(some terrible play from others.. 6k stack all-in with A9d and called by 15k stack with 42o who hits a 2!). With blinds 400/800 I had around 6.5k. Drunk welshman raises 2k, and I push all-in with A3. He calls to show J9 and I hit 33 on flop to get back to around 14k.
with blinds 600/1200 and a stack around 10k I push from button with 97d and called by AJ (the guy who played 42 earlier). I hit a 9 on the flop and hold on to double up.
Sneaked onto the final table with 16.5k chips in around 8th position - chip leader has 52k.

final table
---------
opening hand, blinds are 1000/2000 and dealt 88. I pushed all-in and called by chip leader on BB with KK. Flop shows an 8 and I have around 34k :)
Few hands later chip leader calls an all-in from another shortstack with 33. Chip leader shows 88 and 3 comes on the flop!
Few hands later on SB with ATs. Agressive player raises from button and I decide to fold, happy with new stack and not with my position. In hindsight probably a mistake - he showed one card - a Q I think (he was to go out in 9th shortly).
Chip leader goes out first in 10th.. pushing with QT and beaten by KQ.
Couple of hands later a 16k stack goes all-in. I push over the top with AK to see his A5 hit a 5 on the flop and win leaving me with 14.5k.
Blinds up to 1500/3000 and I have to fold my BB and SB.
On the button I have 10k chips (3.3 BB) and K7. There was a limper from MP3 (around 25k chips) and I decided to fold. Flop came K22 then 7 then Q and I think I would have won. It seems to be borderline in the Moshman push tables so not sure if it just looks like a mistake in hindsight due to the way it played out. BB was as short as me and I was worried a little that MP3's limp had strength and was thinking BB or I would push (reading this thought back now seems pretty dumb.. they would have just pushed over us with strength). K7 is a pretty weak push hand and I expected a call from one of the 3 still in the hand anyway.
Next hand in CO I had QJd. All folded round to me and I pushed. SB with similar stack called with AJ. I had 7 outs before the river (3*Q and 4*T for straight) but they never came and I was out.

Think I played the final table ok and was just wasn't my day?

£10 rebuy placed:
1st=(with 3 others)/5? (£330) DEAL
8th/53 (£0)
8th/60 (£0)
6th=(with 1 other)/54 (£75)
2nd/53 (£420) DEAL
17th/61(£0)
30th/41(£0)
10th/71(£50)
8th/45(£40)
5th/53(£140)
8th/58 (£40)

£10 rebuy profit/loss :
+£289
-£41
-£31
+£44
+£359
-£21
-£21
-£1
-£31
+£89
+£29
------
+£664

Flattering Stats:
Final table appearances : 9/11 (81.8%)
Average profit :+£60.36
ITM : 7/11 (63.6%)

Full Tilt has introduced an interesting new format of tournament called "Enter the matrix". Just tried one (only $2+0.25).. came 1st, 2nd, 6th, 7th to end up 4th in the matrix (just out of the overall money) but did make a small profit overall.

I've been playing a lot of $0.5/1 and almost at my target of 2k hands for the month already. Sit n Gos haven't been going so well so may take a break from them for a while. FT points and rakeback sure flow in faster at this level of cash play - around $50 rakeback per week and heading towards silver/gold/iron Iron Man level if I keep up the same amount of play.

Just had a good session with 2 very profitable hands straight after each other at the same table but felt very uncomfortable with my play. Also posted a couple of other hands that happened soon after. Left the table with $500 after sitting down with $100 but did lose $130 across 2 others.



Donkey or genius?

QQ : http://weaktight.com/443713

JJ : http://weaktight.com/443715

KK : http://weaktight.com/443717

K9 : http://weaktight.com/443718

T8 : http://weaktight.com/443721

57 : http://weaktight.com/443730

EDIT:
had to add this one from later on... (a +$150 session)
QQ : http://weaktight.com/443764 - the guy is playing VP$IP : 94 and PFR : 66 after 40 hands. Glad he didn't have the A though! He left the table after another reload and donk to cries of 'please rebuy' :)

Go Queens :)

Queen of the South 6-1 Livingston

I tried the circus £30+3 double chance freezeout this saturday. Players get 3500 chips to start and a 2000 chip token which can be cashed at any point during the first 3 levels. It was my largest live field with 78 players.

I dealt for the opening 3 levels and although I gave myself AA once it didn't turn into many chips and I arrived at the break 500 chips down at 5k. Post-break I won a couple of pots but the rising blinds were eating away at my stack, so with around 6BB I pushed with AQ and got a call from a KK. The flop brought an A, and so did the turn, and so did the river! :) Thats twice with quad aces in just over a month. I took another pot with a re-steal and then our table was broken up.

On the final 2 tables I had around 16k chips with blinds of 800/1600 before my final hand. I'm kicking myself about how I played it still... :(

I was dealt 55 in early mid position. The blinds were about to hit me and the clock only had a few minutes to 1k/2k blinds so I knew I didn't have much time and opened with a raise to 5k. The player to my left with about the same chipcount as me pushed all-in and I called to see his AQ. The board came 9TJK.. and it was all over:(

I'm pretty sure I played this hand all wrong and will run some calculations to check. The raise to 5k was definitely a mistake.. a shove would probably have been best even though AQ may have called anyway. A min raise might have been better and I could probably have got away from he all-in. However, perhaps the correct play would be to fold? In such early position 55 is pretty weak with so many left to act and it being at that stage of the tournament. I've played against the guy who shoved a few times and I've seen him play 2 high cards far too strongly before. I put him on AK,AQ,AJ,KQ so realised it would be a race and probably not a great one. Part of the reason I called was the upcoming blinds and the end of the level (was just over 2 minutes at this point). My opening bet had commited a large chunk of my stack and with the blinds I decided to take my chances. I'm sure I was partly beating myself up over the initial raise and called to try and correct the mistake... tilting at its best!

VICTORY!!


Sorry baz for stealing your headline, but it feels appropriate for the month I've had too :)

Overall its been my best month for some time with a profit of $1500 towards vegas fund and £122 in my wallet.

Cash games : +$209.52 (1.5k hands)
SnG : +$618.45 (351 tournies, 16k hands)
MTT : +$488.45 (10 tournies, 1.1k hands)
Untracked (Cash/STT/MTT Omaha hi, Omaha hi/lo, Horse, HA) : +$93.58
Rakeback : +$90
Live Casino Play : +£122 (3 visits)
FT Iron Man Status : Qualified Bronze
FT One-a-day freeroll : Qualified

I started out the month playing $6 SnGs and did pretty well, but a few failed attempts at $11 threw my game off and I couldn't get into a good rythm at $6 again. In one of those stupid moments I registered for a $55 turbo and won recouping some of the losses. Since this I've been playing higher stake tournaments - mainly $20 (non-turbo) and a few $30 & $50 and have had a good run. I somehow feel more comfortable at the higher stakes.. it all seems more predictable and less random than the $6 can be. With the other benefits of increased rakeback and bonus points achieved quicker I'm going to continue to play at higher stakes as I have enough bankroll to support it, and I can always drop back to the lower stakes if I have a bad run.

The recent MTT win was a bonus as well as the profit on the cash tables. I definitely prefer the 9-seater cash tables rather than the 6-seaters - I know that most cash players play the 6-seaters, but thinking of cash as early level tournament play seems to work for me.

I've done very little studying this month and almost no analysis, but I'm thinking much deeper about decisions and consequently seem to be making better ones. I hope that my reading from the previous couple of months is slowly sinking in.

Plans/Goals for next month
----------------------------
1. Register at cardrunners.com if they are still offering a free week
2. Read some more books
3. Focus on playing $20 SnG
4. Play a few $5 MTT/Multi SnG
5. Play a few sessions at $0.5/$1 (around 2k hands) and analyze
6. Play a few live casino games
7. Win $$$!
8. Stop playing 300 chip super-turbos!

Its nice to feel that Vegas is moving a little closer rather than further away, so I hope October will be just as good if not better:)

Just won a $5+0.50 MTT on Full Tilt beating 429 others to win $537.50 :)

Final hand : http://weaktight.com/402300

Have also won $300 on the cash tables playing $0.5/$1 while the MTT was running :)

If only I could pull in this much every day!

First hand of the rebuy I got KK so raised to 250 (25/50 blinds) and got 2 callers. The flop came T73 and one of the callers opened by moving all-in and I called as did the other player. The raiser showed T6 to my KK and the other had QQ. A 6 came on the turn and it was back to the wallet. The rebuy period continued to be pretty poor and I had to rebuy 3 times in total and add on to get to the break with 4.8k chips.

After the break I progressed steadily then hit a run of bad cards and was starting to get in short supply of chips. I took a few chances and got to 12k before sinking back down to 3k with 600/1200 blinds. I went all-in in the dark and won to recover and ended up with 23.2k chips to get to the final table (around 5th in chips).

With a lot of short stacks and large stacks I patiently waited for a decent hand as players started to fall, but didn't get an opportunity and had to go all-in in the dark again with my last 7k as the BB of 6k was about to hit next hand. I hit the board pretty well but it didn't hold up and I finished 5th to win £140. I perhaps should have taken a risk at the final table, but was pleased not to be 7th-10th as they only got £50 and I would have been down on the night.

Apparently the guy who seemed most senior in the circus cardroom has been scamming the poker players for months.. somehow unregistering players when they got knocked out and pocketing their buyins! He'd been spotted doing something suspicious and they soon found evidence once investigated.

Came 5th/53 to win £140 after 3 rebuys & addon.

Net win : +£89 (£140 - initial buyin - 3*rebuy - addon)

£10 rebuy placed:
1st=(with 3 others)/5? (£330) DEAL
8th/53 (£0)
8th/60 (£0)
6th=(with 1 other)/54 (£75)
2nd/53 (£420) DEAL
17th/61(£0)
30th/41(£0)
10th/71(£50)
8th/45(£40)
5th/53(£140)

£10 rebuy profit/loss :
+£289
-£41
-£31
+£44
+£359
-£21
-£21
-£1
-£31
+£89
------
+£635

Flattering Stats:
Final table appearances : 8/10 (80%)
Average profit :+£63.5
ITM : 6/10 (60%)

I skipped the usual Friday rebuy and went to the Office Poker saturday event instead this week - £30 freezeout. I started ok winning a decent pot with KK but was back at starting chips as we reached the break. It didn't get much better after the break and I was fairly soon out losing with AJd to KK.

I was about to leave the casino but decided to try my luck at the cash table with a £20 buyin. 3rd hand in I doubled up with AK vs A3 and then won another big pot with AK again taking me to around £70. The play was pretty loose and aggressive and I joined in the fun with a double straddle to £2 (25p/50p blinds) and found myself with AK yet again. There was some early betting and raising and I pushed all-in to be called by 77. The board came TTJ88 for my ace to play and I was up to around £140 :) I saw a few flops in the next hour but didn't hit and announced my exit after the next round. I was on SB for my final hand and found myself with AK yet again, but there had been a raise and re-raise before me with 1 more to act after. I almost pushed all-in with the AK but the original raiser was pretty deep also and with one to act I thought I should take some profit and run so folded. As it turned out it was a battle of JJ vs 88 and I would have won with a QT4QK board - it could have been a pot of £300 if I'd got some calls but was happy to leave the table with £117 in the end.

Net win : +£64 (£117 - £33 T buyin - £20 C buyin)

I haven't kept track of all my Office Poker results, but reckon I'm about even till now. I've never cashed in the individual but did get £265 for the original team event, so thats probably covered my other buyins.

OP £30 freezeout placed:
??/?? * ?? (£0)
24th/40 (£0) + £97 (cash)

OP £30 freezeout :
+£0
+£64
------
+£64

It was one of the worst rebuy periods I've had at the Circus on Friday.. couldn't win when ahead and couldn't win with draws. I finally got some luck towards the end after 5 rebuys with AK a couple of times and ended up with 7.5k after add-on.

The post-break period was pretty good - my JJ doubled me up to around 30k after beating AK. One crucial hand was after I raised pre-flop with KJ and was called to see a flop of AQJ. I made a continuation bet and was also called. I checked the turn K even though it gave me 2 pair as it was such a scary board. He took over the betting and I reluctantly folded putting him on AQ/AJ/AT. It turned out he had a lower 2-pair of QJ and I would have won - it was a decision that would come to bite me later.

I reached the final table with around 24k (about average). With the blinds rising fast and no decent cards my 24k had dwindled pretty low and I was about to have 6BB with the next level of 1500/3000. I had ATc in late position with no early action and bet half my stack (8k). In hindsight I should probably have pushed, especially as the villain from above was on the BB and I knew he called raises. He called and the flop came KT3 (rainbow). With a straight draw and 8k chips left I had to go all-in and he called with AQ which held up and I was out 8th.

If I'd pushed all-in I suspect I may still have got a call from the AQ and would have been out anyway. However, if I'd taken him out before the final table I'd have had around 40k chips and wouldn't have hit this situation.. oh well :( A saver was being discussed prior to my final hand and fortunately they decided mid-hand that it would apply even if I went out, so at least I had some of my rebuys paid for.

Net win : -£31 (£40 - initial buyin - 5*rebuy - addon)

£10 rebuy placed:
1st=(with 3 others)/5? (£330) DEAL
8th/53 (£0)
8th/60 (£0)
6th=(with 1 other)/54 (£75)
2nd/53 (£420) DEAL
17th/61(£0)
30th/41(£0)
10th/71(£50)
8th/45(£40)

£10 rebuy profit/loss :
+£289
-£41
-£31
+£44
+£359
-£21
-£21
-£1
-£31
------
+£546

Its been a pretty poor month online again but not as bad financially as last month. I've still not settled down into a game and style that is working for me at the moment. I have done some reading and feel I am a better player for it even if its not paying off right now. I particularly like the Slanksky book pictured opposite although I'll need to read it quite a few more times as its brimming with good information to take in.

I also got Collin Moshman's Sit 'n go Strategy which I'm just starting with now (free with FT points) and also have a copy of Harrington Volume 2 to re-read (free with PS points).

I didn't make Iron Man status this month at FT mainly due to playing the first couple of weeks at PokerStars. However, with an invite from FT to get rakeback enabled on my existing account I'm back there and have had some micro-payments back already.

I placed 3rd in one multi (only 90 entrants) which was $10 HA (PL Holdem, PL Omaha rotation). I really liked this format and went out with AA to chipleader's A7 so should have done better.

So, I'm pretty much back to where I started a couple of months ago, but think I'm a wiser player so shouldn't complain even if Vegas isn't getting any closer yet. I'll continue to study and try to analyze a little more for September.

The Circus rebuy saw our table pitted against a portugeuse super-donkey with luck. I didn't get entangled with him too much but he reduced 2 good players at our table to a tilting mess. One example of his play was to go all-in with K2h over a shortstack's raise with 2 good players yet to act, one of which called knowing he had rubbish. The good player hit 2 pair on the flop only for SD to hit a flush on the river. I scraped through the rebuy period with 5.7k chips (3 rebuy, 1 addon) after a decent AK win towards the end.

Soon after the break I was dealt AA and had one caller to my pre-flop raise. Flop was A92, turn 9 and river A. I made a small bet on the river but didn't get called but nice to get my first live quads :) Fortunately we were soon split up and super-donkey went on to cause grumbling elsewhere with his antics (I think he finally went out around 30th). I hung on to get to the final table with 17k (2nd lowest).

I then went out first a few hands into the final action. 3rd lowest in chips had been all-in almost every hand so far so when he raised my BB all-in I called with AT: flop came T2T and I thought I was good but other guy had runner runner QJ to get the straight with his AK :(

Down a pound but worth it for the quads :)

Net win : -£1 (£50 - initial buyin - 3*rebuy - addon)

£10 rebuy placed:
1st=(with 3 others)/5? (£330) DEAL
8th/53 (£0)
8th/60 (£0)
6th=(with 1 other)/54 (£75)
2nd/53 (£420) DEAL
17th/61(£0)
30th/41(£0)
10th/71(£50)

£10 rebuy profit/loss :
+£289
-£41
-£31
+£44
+£359
-£21
-£21
-£1
------
+£577

The circus rebuy was uneventful this week with a much reduced field of 41 due to satellites to the scottish open running at the Maybury. I started ok, doubling up with AA then QQ a few hands later but then the cards and opportunities dried up :( I reached the break with 4k chips including 2k addon but no rebuys.

Soon after the break needing more chips I pushed after hitting 2 pair on the flop (Aces and twos) worried about the club flush draw out there. I got called by a larger stack with the nut flush draw, a club came and it was all over probably finishing around 30th.

Net win : -£21 (£0 - initial buyin - 0*rebuy - addon)

£10 rebuy placed:
1st=(with 3 others)/5? (£330) DEAL
8th/53 (£0)
8th/60 (£0)
6th=(with 1 other)/54 (£75)
2nd/53 (£420) DEAL
17th/61(£0)
30th/41(£0)

£10 rebuy profit/loss :
+£289
-£41
-£31
+£44
+£359
-£21
-£21
------
+£578

Pre-flop: (60, 7 players) , Hero is UTG


Hero calls 40, 1 fold, X calls 40, 2 folds, X calls 20, X checks

Flop:
(160, 4 players)

X bets 40, 1 fold, Hero calls 40, 1 fold

Turn:
(240, 2 players)

X bets 160, Hero raises to 320, X calls 160

River:
(880, 2 players)
X bets 80, Hero raises to 480, X calls 400

Final Pot: 1840

X shows:

Hero shows:


Hero wins 1840 ( won +960 )