Tuesday 30 September 2008

September review

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:)

Monday 29 September 2008

Online MTT win

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!

Saturday 27 September 2008

Circus rebuy..

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%)

Sunday 14 September 2008

Cashtastic!

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

Tuesday 9 September 2008

Final table again

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