Looking for Clues

Date: Wed, May 7, 2008 Professional

It's been a pretty ropey 6 weeks since the Irish Open. I looked back and it seems to be three cashes (albeit one win) in 12 tournaments, which isn't really good enough. I suppose these runs happen, but I thought I'd look back over the tournament knock out hands to see where things were going wrong. I really don't feel like I am playing badly, certainly not like the October/November period last year, when my game went to pot in a hyper LAG experimental stage. Data is displayed below, but from some quick analysis:

Bad points
I am getting into too many race situations (which I am losing)
I am overvaluing medium pocket pairs

Good points
I am generally the aggressor in exit hands
I am rarely in worse shape than a coin flip
Eliminations are occurring generally late in tournaments around bubble area

Of course, all this data is of limited use taken in isolation, because you have to account for stack sizes, player reads, payout structures and blinds. The data is below, most recent tournament first, displaying hand matchup (mine first), whether I was aggressor or caller, and also whether elimination was early or late in the tournament (late being final 9 players).

Tournament1: AK v AQ v JJ, Aggressor, Early
Tournament2: AJ v A10, Aggressor, Late
Tournament3: T2 v A5, Aggressor, Late (cashed)
Tournament4: TT v A5, Caller, Late
Tournament5: 99 v QQ, Caller, Late
Tournament6: Mid pair with Ace v Set, Aggressor, Late
Tournament7: Winner
Tournament8: Top pair with Ace v Flush draw, Caller, Early
Tournament9: 22 v AK, Aggressor, Late
Tournament10: 88 v KQ, Aggressor, Late (cashed)
Tournament11: 99 v AK, Aggressor, Late
Tournament12: J10 v 77, Aggressor, Late

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Good Idea - Terminal Outcome

Date: Wed, May 7, 2008 Professional

Thomas Cromwell was a genius. Methodical, detached, calculating - he was the thought tank behind much of Henry VIII's reign, and revolutionised government in England. Already popular with his ruthless King, he sought to cement his position following the death of Jane Seymor, by securing a 4th wife for 'ol Henry.

This is where his ingenuity came into play. English wives were out of the question - Cromwell had already hacked off the English noblemen with his streamlined new government (clearly he did not want to strengthen an enemy's position). Catholics where not an option either, as his boss had already stuck his fingers up at the Pope during the Katherine of Aragon debacle. Eureka! "If I marry him into the Protestant German nobility" mused Cromwell "it will forge a diplomatic alliance against the European Catholic powers. The boss will be most pleased".

Undoubtedly a fine plan, but Cromwell hadn't factored in the painting style of the artist he sent over to "capture the beauty" of Anne of Cleves. It seems he adopted a bit of creativeness in his work, and happy Henry finalised his marriage on the basis of the painting. Upon meeting her face to face, it seems Henry experienced the medieval version of "who the hell is that lying next to me?". It was the beginning of the end for Mr Cromwell and he was executed within a year. Cromwell had come up with an idea that could have benefited England on a global scale, but it ended up costing his life.

And so on to the Better Poker tournament last night - £50 freezeout, and 3k guaranteed so not to be sniffed at. 55 runners, so Better only just fell short of their guarantee, but the field contained several beginners and the action was fast and loose.

I had already suffered a bad beat with QQ v K9 all in preflop in a 1800 pot, when my "Cromwell Hand" occurred:

I am back up to 2800 (from a 3500 start) after winning a few small pots after the QQ nonsense. I am UTG and get dealt AcKc.

I decide to limp for 200, and the person next to act raises to 800. Now, normally I'd flat call him here when it is folded round to me, because if an Ace comes on the flop, if he has a weaker Ace, it is virtually impossible for him to put me on AK, and I will likely win all his chips.

However, I am forced to change the plan when THREE other people call the raise to 800. Since there is now 3700 in the pot before I have decided what to do, a unique opportunity has presented itself. I actually have to chance to execute a squeeze play with a premium hand. Make no mistake, when I push for 2000 more I don't want any callers, because of the size of the pot. However, my actions certainly look like AA or KK rather than AK, and it is pretty hard for people to call without really strong hands, even given the size of the pot.

I give it a little thought and decide to push (I really think there is no other option here given the way the hand has played out), but unfortunately I am called in two spots by JJ and AQ. In fairness, they both give it a bit of thought before doing so, and incredibly it's the AQ with scoops the 10k plus pot as two Queens rain down on the flop to bust me and the JJ holder.

Good idea, terminal outcome.


PROFIT/(LOSS) USD 2008
Live Holdem Tournaments 3,330
Live Holdem Cash (1,961)
Live Omaha 110
Live "Professional" Tournaments (10,291)
Home Games (760)
Online Holdem Tournaments 53,932
Online Holdem Cash 17,026
Online Omaha 630
Rake (1,817)
60,199

Read Full Poker Blog Post

Home Game IV

Date: Mon, May 5, 2008 Professional

The latest installment of the home game provided the usual mix of alcohol, a deep stacked tournament and a hyper agressive short handed holdem/omaha/irish cash game. In attendance were myself, Shazbo, Fluke, Maltese Mike, Sir Mike, Honest Dave, Tom, Briony, Jody, Jason, Uncle Paulie and Professor Geoff.

The tournament started with 10k in chips and 30 minute blinds, so plenty of room for manouver. However, this didn't stop the other table going potty during the first two levels, the action likely caused by Tom. Professor Geoff and Briony were early casualties in the tournament.

I placed 3rd to sneak into the cash and a £200 payout, so doubling my money. A few key hands:

Hand1
I raise with A9 to 300 on the button and it's called by Fluke in the BB.
Flop 10, J, 4
Check, Check
Turn Q to give me a ton of outs
Check Check
River is a 5
I bet 400 hoping to steal the pot, but Fluke makes a hero call with Ace high. However, my 9 kicker luckily secures the pot.

I bumble along to the final table, winning a number of small pots and, at that point, a number of key hands occur

Hand2
Folded round to Jason in the SB who limps (blinds 300/600). I am relatively short stacked on about 6k so I push to pick up the 1200 in the pot with A9. Pretty questionable play, and I am instacalled by Jason with A10, who limped anticipating this move. However, a 9 arrives on the flop and all is well - Jason now shortstacked.

Hand3
Fluke raises UTG to 1800. Folded round to me in the BB and I flat call with QQ.
Flop 10, 7, 2
I check, Fluke pushes for about 5k and I instacall. Fluke is drawing pretty thin with AJ and the Queens hold to elimate him. The check on the flop did the trick there - Fluke was relatively short stacked after suffering a bad beat to Shazbo a few hands earlier.

Hand4
Infuriating hand. Shazbo raises to 1800 on the button (we are down to 5 players). I flat call in the BB for 1200 more with 8h9h. At this stage I have worked up to about 22k in chips after the Fluke elimination.
Flop 8s, 4d, Jh
I bet 3k and it's called
Turn 9s
Check Check
River As
I have two pair and am feeling pretty good about the hand. I check to give Shazbo the chance to bluff, but what I wasn't expecting was for her to bet 150% of the pot by going all in for 14k. Horrible situation - if I call and lose I am crippled and down to about 3k. Not much makes sense but perhaps I've let her river a flush. Set? Doubtful as she would have bet the turn with the straight and flush draws. Q10 perhaps? I pass and am shown pocket 3s. Gutted. This hand costs me the chance of winning the tournament, as Maltese Mike and Jody are very deep stacked.

While I dribble down to about 8k, Shazbo is elimated, so at least I make the money. The blinds catch up with me so fast tough, because I am the short stack and we are only 3 handed. I end up pushing from the SB with 10s2d but get called by Jody in the BB with Ace rag.

The second tournament I am eliminated in 4th place (I think). It was a blind v blind battle my AJ verses Tom's A10. The ten on the river was particularly galling, because not only had I missed out on the chance to cash in the tournie, but also had a £50 last longest bet with Tom, so the river card was a £100 card!

That brought me back to level for the night, but the cash game would cost me £150, so my dodgy run in April continues. I started nicely, but then suffered a disasterous Omaha hand described below, against Honest Dave. This hand also had implied tilt odds built into it, as after that hand I spent an hour happily tilting off anoth £70 or so to Dave, in a heads up game which finished at about 7am. It was a heavy night, and such was the severity of my hangover that I had to abandon plans to play the Sunday night online tournaments, which was a shame. Anyway:

Omaha Disaster Hand:
We are playing 4 handed, I think, and I have about £250 after a decent start. Dave is playing about £100 after losing a few recent pots. Memory is a lttle hazy at this stage in the morning, as myself and Dave have been drinking some weird lemon spirit for the last few hours, so Dave is invited to fill in any details of the hand in the comments if there are any inaccuracies ;)

Dave raises in the SB to £8. I call with 6c, 8d, 9d, 5c, and there is one other caller

Flop is 6s, 7s, Kd giving me bottom pair and a wrap straight draw

Dave bets the pot for £24 which I call and other player drop out - pot is £72

Turn is 10h giving me the nuts.

Dave bets £50 and I push, but Dave only has about £8 behind so makes the call.

He has (I think) Qs, 4s, 3d, Ad which gives him middle pin nut straight draw, togetger with Queen flush draw

River is a spade, and the £190 pot heads off to Honest Dave. Win that pot and it would have been a profitable night. Ah well. It's predominantly a tournament week this week, with 3 Loose Cannon tournies on consecutive nights. Hopefully I will achieve at least one cash to try and get some momentum going ahead of Newcastle, otherwise I'll be playing the UKPT as one of the most out of form players in the field!

PROFIT/(LOSS) USD 2008
Live Holdem Tournaments 3,430
Live Holdem Cash (1,901)
Live Omaha 110
Live "Professional" Tournaments (10,291)
Home Games (760)
Online Holdem Tournaments 53,932
Online Holdem Cash 17,026
Online Omaha 630
Rake (1,817)
60,359

Read Full Poker Blog Post

Losing Key Pots

Date: Fri, May 2, 2008 Professional

A disappointing couple of the nights down at the Loose Cannon. I played in two tournaments, and felt like I was playing well in both, building a decent chip stack. However, when the crucial pots came I missed out - one was a bad decision, the other was a bad beat. I'm not too disappointed, as at least I am getting into decent positions in tournaments, so hopefully a run of cashes will be just around the corner.

On the Wednesday, I had built myself up to about 7k from a starting stack of 2.5k. I then lost a medium size pot with 5 players left to go back down to 4k when the following hand came up. Blinds were 200-400 and I was in the Big Blind. It was folded round to the small blind, who put me all in! I looked down to see pocket 9s. I couldn't imagine he would do this with a big pair, so I figured he had AK/AQ in which case it would be a race, but I also thought there was a decent chance he would do this with 77 or 88 (him being the big stack and just looking to bully). I called, and he turned over QQ. Wow. A clever bet on his part I suppose, as he disguised the strength of his hand with the overbet, and was lucky enough that I woke up with a hand.

On Thursday I again began strongly, and was just getting some momentum up, with my stack sitting at 7k. Blinds were 200-400 and Hugh pushed all in for about 3.5k from early position. I pushed over the top of him with pocket tens but unfortunately was beaten out by A5. The final table started pretty much straight afterwards, and I drew seat 3 so was straight into the big blind at 300-600 and I never recovered. Busted out soon afterwards pushing with 77 and being called by 99.

A busy poker week coming up now. I am hosting a home game on Saturday, which features some pretty wild and agressive players, so the cash game post tournament should be fun. Sunday I am taking the opportunity to play the big online Sunday tournaments, because it is the bank holiday on the Monday. I am particularly looking forward to this, because I just haven't had enough time to play online recently, and these Sunday tournaments, while featuring huge fields, offer the chance of a big payday if you get a decent run going. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday will be spent at the Loose Cannon, as I play the Better Poker event, City 100 and the League on the three respective nights. The week after that I leave for Newcastle to play in the UKPT, which will be a decent warm up for WSOP.


PROFIT/(LOSS) USD 2008
Live Holdem Tournaments 3,430
Live Holdem Cash (1,901)
Live Omaha 110
Live "Professional" Tournaments (10,291)
Home Games (460)
Online Holdem Tournaments 53,932
Online Holdem Cash 17,026
Online Omaha 630
Rake (1,817)
60,659

Read Full Poker Blog Post

Provisional Vegas Schedule

Date: Wed, Apr 30, 2008 Professional

Vegas looks like it's going to be brilliant this year. I'd love to be able to stay for the full 6 weeks of WSOP, but will have to make do with 10 days. All the other casinos seem to have cottoned on to the fact that the WSOP simply doesn't offer great structures at the lower buy-ins, and there are numerous tournaments all over town which offer deep starting stacks, and reasonable buy ins. What the blind levels will be like in these tournaments remains to be seen, but I have heard the Venetian has a particularly slow one.

I've put together a schedule for the trip below - I've opted for all no limit holdem, because I haven't had enough time to practise Omaha this year, so entering big buy-in Omaha tournaments is likely to be negative expected value for me at the present time. My schedule may change, of course, depending on how many second days I make, and also, if I win early on, I may give the 10k heads-up championship event a bash. Failing that, this is what we are looking at:


8 June $540 Caesars
9 June $500 Binnions
10 June $540 Venetian
11 June $5,000 WSOP Event Rio
12 June $2,000 WSOP Event Rio
13 June $2,500 Venetian
14 June $250 Binnions
15 June $3,000 WSOP Event Rio
16 June $225 Caesars

Add to this 500 dollars for a few smaller "fun" tournaments, plus a 1,500 USD cash poker budget and I think we are looking a great few days. Stamina will be one of the biggest challenges to be faced - with 12pm starts every day, it will be vital not to be out on the pop too late into the Vegas mornings. Easier said than done..........

I am back on the live tournament trail for the next 2 nights, probably both times at Loose Cannon - I'll blog them later in the week.

PROFIT/(LOSS) USD 2008
Live Holdem Tournaments 3,590
Live Holdem Cash (1,661)
Live Omaha 110
Live "Professional" Tournaments (10,291)
Home Games (460)
Online Holdem Tournaments 53,932
Online Holdem Cash 17,026
Online Omaha 630
Rake (1,801)
61,075

Read Full Poker Blog Post

Online Weekend + Upcoming Live Events

Date: Sun, Apr 27, 2008 Professional

Played a number of tournaments on Friday night, and it didn't go too well. I think I cashed once quite deep in the PokerStars 25k guaranteed, but this was not enough to prevent me being USD 800 down for the night. I think my treatment of online tournaments is going to have to change a little. At present I play many at the same time (up to 7 on split screens), but there are numerous downsides to this:

1) If you don't have a good night you lose $1k+ instead of $300
2) You can't see how the other players on your table are playing
3) You can't evaluate odds correctly and chase too many draws

Clearly, there are also advantages as well, but I play pretty loose in the early stages of online tournies, and my brain is just going into overload at the moment. I think I'm going to try to play 2 or 3 tournaments maximum from now on, and see how that works for me. I'm sure it's no coincidence that the 6 or so times I have cashed big in online tournaments over the last 2 years, I have played (for the most part of the evening) that tournament alone. This coming bank holiday weekend I have a rare chance to play the Sunday tournaments, so I'm going to try and put together a schedule that won't overcrowd my screen. It's always tricky, of course, as you are never sure how long you will last in a tournament, but I'll try and budget for 3 hours in each one I enter and see how that works.

I also had another small $100 win in my online cash challenge, which takes the roll up to $2k, but to be honest, I'm just not getting the time to play this enough, so I think I'm going to knock the challenge on the head for the time being.

It will also be Newcastle UKPT in a few weeks, so I need to get a bit more live tournement practice in before that, so I'll be playing (and blogging) live tournaments twice a week for the next month or so. After that, it's only 3 weeks till we leave for WSOP which I'm really looking forward to. Unfortunately, post Vegas I'll have used up most of my days off for the year (I've committed several days in the future to seeing my son) so it will be a bit less exotic after that. There's a chance I'll play WSOPE (althought the 10k GBP entry fee is eye-watering) and perhaps the UKPT Grand Final in November. Otherwise, it will be about building up the bankroll for next year, and trying out a few new playing styles ahead of 2009.


PROFIT/(LOSS) USD 2008
Live Holdem Tournaments 3,590
Live Holdem Cash (1,666)
Live Omaha 110
Live "Professional" Tournaments (10,291)
Home Games (460)
Online Holdem Tournaments 53,932
Online Holdem Cash 16,996
Online Omaha 630
Rake (1,801)
61,040

Read Full Poker Blog Post

Musings on receding hairlines

Date: Thu, Apr 24, 2008 Professional

Have you noticed that, since about 1995, any man under the age of 50 with a receding hairline has opted for the grade 1 or 2 all over buzz cut to disguise the soap opera unfolding on top of his head?

I have been off work for 2 days now with a virilent case of man-flu, and have had to endure wall to wall daytime television, punctuated by the world snooker championship. My thoughts on the receding hairline came while watching today's second round match between Peter Ebdon and Mark King. Now these boys have opted for a grade zero up top, and the relections coming off their heads, combined with the Crucible lights reflecting off the snooker balls didn't do my headache any favours. Whilst the skinhead option is understandable, it's a bit uniform and seems to have been taken up by the entire population. Perhaps trends will change, and in the 2012 match up between Ebdon and King, Peter will be sporting a Bobby Charlton style comb over and King will have a patchy affro similar to Dr Emmett Brown from Back to the Future.

You can tell it's been a boring few days...............anyhow - thought I'd give a quick update on this week's league match at LC on Tuesday night. Only 12 runners, which often happens when the day has to be changed from it's usual berth of a Thursday night. We were split into two tables of 6, and the action was fast and furious. Can't remember too many hands as I'm flued up, but here are a few:

Hand1
I raise to 150 with 5c7c and get called in two spots.
Flop: Ac, 10d, 2c
I bet 300 and get one caller
Turn is a brick - check, check
River misses my flush draw, but the guy has played the hand pretty weakly, so I put him on Ace Rag. I bet 700 which I hope would make him pass but he calls with A4. Bad start........

Hand2
Get involved in a large pot with Tom and McDee. Both myself and Tom end up all in on the turn with identical top 2 pair, and we chop it. McDee put a fair amount in the pot though, so it wasn't a bad result

I then win a few pots without showdown and head to the final table with about 6k, which is a bit below average. I win a few more pots with raises, and win a decent 1k pot pre-flop by re-raising a raiser to 1800 with QQ. We are down to 6 players:

Hand3
Deven pushes all in for 3000 total on the button (blinds 150/300) and I hold AJ in the Big Blind. If I lose this it will really cripple my stack, and I worry that I am completely dominated or racing. I suppose he might have A10, but my read on Deven is that that is the only hand I am beating, so I pass. I think he probably had 77-JJ there, but we'll never know. Not sure about whether that was the correct laydown or not to be honest.

Hand4
Very next hand I find Ah8h in the small blind. and when folded around I make up the small blind (400 now). Chip leader Fluke, who has been experimenting with a new LAG approach bordering on manical, raises to 1200 in the BB. I'm starting to feel pushed around after the lay down last time, so decide to flat call and see what the flop brings.

Flop 3, 8, 9

This looks a pretty good flop for me - it's low enough to not give Fluke a straight draw with big cards, and also if I was dominated with a big Ace preflop I am winning now. I decide to risk that he doesn't have a big pair and push all in for 5k in total (it's an overbet, but this pot is big enough to put me in decent nick for the run in.

Unfortunately he has the one hand I can't see, a set of 3s and I'm virtually drawing dead, and out in 6th spot.

A bright spot, however, is that I am pleased to report a winning live cash session! Not much, about £70 I think, but maybe it's the start of better form in that discipline. I also played a little online cash while ill, and boosted the bankroll challenge by 70 dollars or so in a little under an hour. Updated results below:

PROFIT/(LOSS) USD 2008
Live Holdem Tournaments 3,590
Live Holdem Cash (1,666)
Live Omaha 110
Live "Professional" Tournaments (10,291)
Home Games (460)
Online Holdem Tournaments 54,832
Online Holdem Cash 16,896
Online Omaha 630
Rake (1,801)
61,840

Online Cash Challenge Bankroll 1,870

Read Full Poker Blog Post

Playing monsters when short stacked

Date: Tue, Apr 22, 2008 Professional

From time to time, I like to go over previous entries in my blog and see if I am playing any situations in a way that doesn't seem to be optimal. I think I have found one - the situation where you are short stacked (7 big blinds or less), and get dealt AA or KK.

For me, if I see someone with a small stack limp or raise 3 times the blind in early position, I frequently put them on a huge hand. If you have AK, AQ, or pocket pairs you should push every time with a short stack. Several times, when I am the big stack, I have passed a decent hand in this scenario and it has turned out they have Aces or Kings. However, I am not sure that some players pay the same attention to opponents' stack size as I do.

Four times this year, I have been in the situation where I have about 7 big blinds, and been dealt Aces or Kings. To me, the best way to disguise the hand is to push all in. If you limp it looks like Aces, if you raise 3 times the blind it looks like Aces. If you push all in it could be anything, particularly if the pot is unraised. However, the results when I have done this have been disappointing - Fold, Fold, Fold and Fold.

I'm going to make a slight adjustment to my game and do a small raise in future in this scenario. I'm going to keep a dirty stack when I get short, and see if anyone makes the effort to count out what I have to see if this improves results in this scenario.

I would add though, that in a major tournament, pushing is still the way to go. When I got short stacked in Dublin, I pushed all in from the small blind with pocket Jacks with ten big blinds, and an unraised pot. Graeme Newman, a top player, called me with K10. No way in a million years he calls if I raise it to 3 times the big blind in that spot.


PROFIT/(LOSS) USD 2008
Live Holdem Tournaments 3,690
Live Holdem Cash (1,806)
Live Omaha 110
Live "Professional" Tournaments (10,291)
Home Games (460)
Online Holdem Tournaments 54,832
Online Holdem Cash 16,826
Online Omaha 630
Rake (1,801)
61,730

Online Cash Challenge Bankroll 1,800

Read Full Poker Blog Post

Another Clay Court Car Crash

Date: Fri, Apr 18, 2008 Professional

Good grief...........when will the live cash game pain end. I don't think I was even outdrawn in a hand.

:(


PROFIT/(LOSS) USD 2008
Live Holdem Tournaments 3,690
Live Holdem Cash (1,806)
Live Omaha 110
Live "Professional" Tournaments (10,291)
Home Games (460)
Online Holdem Tournaments 54,832
Online Holdem Cash 16,826
Online Omaha 630
Rake (1,801)
61,730

Online Cash Challenge Bankroll 1,800

Read Full Poker Blog Post

Bus Pass

Date: Thu, Apr 17, 2008 Professional

I had my first live tournament win since the Irish Open last night. Only a £30 tournament, so £190 for first, but it was nice to get back in the winners' enclosure after a barren month or so on the live scene.

Both the hand that kick started my tournament, and the hand that won me the heads up, involved me holding the mighty hole cards of T6 offsuit. I was hoping to find a fancy nickname for this starting hand, but it doesn't seem to have one yet. The best I could come up with was 6T = 60 = old age freedom pass on the London Underground. So Bus Pass it is then.

Anyhow - on to the key hands of the evening:

Hand1

I raise to 150 with KhKd in early position (sometimes I get cute here with a limp, but the table was playing pretty loosely so there wasn't much point).

One customer (Mitch) and we go to the flop:

Ks, 9d, 8d

I bet 300 and am called by Mitch.

Turn is Ace clubs

I risk a check, because I want him to think I am scared of the bullet, and he is an agressive player. However, he checks behind.

River is a blank.

I bet 500 and he passes.

I then fritter down to about 2400 from a starting stack of 3000.

Hand2 - (stone cold bluff alert)

Sonny raises on the button to 500 (blinds 100-200). Slider calls in the SB and I find a "Bus Pass" in the BB. Hmmm - terrible hand but only 300 into a total pot of 1500. I call.

Flop A, A, 2

Checked around

Turn is a 3

Slider checks, I bet 500 and Sonny calls, looking a bit reluctant. Slider passes.

River is another blank, and I decide that since I am first to act I am going to push for 1400 to try and pick up the decent pot. I've played the hand like I have Ace rag - I flat called in the BB. I checked the flop with the initial agressor behind me. I bet small on the turn, and now I've pushed on the river to maximise my value. Sonny eventually passes pocket 7s and the bus pass is triumphant! Phew. Up to about 5k heading to the final table.

Hand3

Tom is deepstacked and has raised four pots in a row. Sure enough he raises to 1250 in early position (blinds 200-400) and I resteal with AsJs by pushing all in for about 5k. Unfortunately, he has AK on this occasion and snap calls me.

The first 2 cards are low red cards, and it's looking bleak, but my favourite dealer, Hassan, delievers three running spades to save my bacon, and give me the nut flush.

Hand4

We get down to 6 handed. I make up the SB to 600 with A9 and Slider checks.

Flop 2, 5, 10

Check, Check

Turn is a King

I check and Slider bets 900. Now, Slider knows that I think he is too tight as a player so I will respect his bets. However, I wondered if he was trying to make a point by loosening up specifically on me, so I decide to call.

Check, Check - my Ace high is good ;). That was a case of I know, that he knows that I know.

Slider, Sonny, Fluke and a young new guy are all elimiated and it leaves myself and Tom heads up.

I start about 3-1 down on the chip count, but get back to near parity when the huge heads up hand occurs:

Hand5

Blinds are 600-1200, and Tom makes it 3600 to go. I call with Q9.

Flop K, K, 3

Check Check

Turn is a Queen

Tom bets 5000 which I call

River is a 3

I check and Tom pushes all in, and has me covered (I have about 9k behind). This is a tough one - there is not much I am beating except an outright bluff. I have the Queen, but there are 2 pairs already out there and I don't like my kicker considering Tom raised pre-flop. I still have a playable stack left as well. However, eventually I make the call and beat Tom's Ace high kicker with the 2 other pairs.

Tom was now left with about 4k, and I wanted to finish it off quickly. Tom stole a few blinds, when I couldn't call with 23 etc, but on the 3rd hand I find another T6 "buss pass" and put him all in from the small blind. He calls and is ahead with Queen rag, but I am not far behind, and hit one of my cards on the river to finish the game.

These bus passes are magic - good old Red Ken.


PROFIT/(LOSS) USD 2008
Live Holdem Tournaments 3,790
Live Holdem Cash (1,106)
Live Omaha 110
Live "Professional" Tournaments (10,291)
Home Games (460)
Online Holdem Tournaments 54,832
Online Holdem Cash 16,826
Online Omaha 630
Rake (1,791)
62,540

Online Cash Challenge Bankroll 1,800

Read Full Poker Blog Post

Refusing to do a "Moya"

Date: Tue, Apr 15, 2008 Professional

Whilst having my tooth extracted on Saturday, I was mulling over the content of Fluke's recent blog post, where he talks about the striking difference between tournament play and cash play (http://extremepoker.co.uk/). He, in fact, suffers from the opposite problem that I have in that he has great patience, tenacity and reading abilities in cash games, but perhaps doesn't change gears quick enough and suffers from lack of agression in the tournament arena. Of course, he doesn't suffer from the significant blow outs on the cash tables I have, due to impatience/excess aggression/drunkeness/all of the above.

I am starting to wonder, whether tournament and cash games are in fact completely different disciplines, and whether it is possible to be truely strong in both arenas. There are numerous professional players who follow the tournament circuit, expecting to make most of their money from the cash tables. There are similarly many successful pro tournament players, who squander fortunes on the cash tables. How many are true masters of both arts? Ivey, Antonius and Negreanu spring to mind, but not too many others.

On a smaller scale you can take the Loose Cannon. For example: Sir Mike, Jody, Geoff, Briony and Volcano are all strong tournament players. Fluke, Maltese Mike, Deven and McDee are strong cash players. Only arguably Tom, Sonny and Jason make the transition between the two disciplines successfully.

I didn't used to think the difference was so marked, but now I think it is similar to the difference between high level grass court and clay court tennis. If you consider the following match ups, from down the years:

Pete Sampras v Carlos Moya
Andy Roddick v Guilermo Coria
Greg Rusedski v Jaun Inacio Chela

If you played these three matches (when all players were at their prime) on grass, the first named player would win probably 99 times out of 100. However, make them play on the clay of Roland Garros, and you would get the exact opposite outcome - the surface really makes this big a difference.

The analogy even works for the styles of the two games. A break in grass usually means the end of the set. In clay there will usually be opportunites to break back, similar to being able to reach into your wallet and reload at a cash game after making a marginal decision. Clay courters grind patiently from the back of the court waiting for an opening to pounce, much like a cash players, whereas tournament agression reflects the crash bang wallop of grass court tennis, where serves and volleys are key. Finally a grass court match is relatively quick, whereas clay court matches regularly go on for five hours plus - 4am at the Loose Cannon anyone? ;o)

Where this analogy is useful is as follows. Whilst all of the above players knew their own limitations, there were some remarkable differences in attitude. Sampras would pitch up at the French Open year after year without fail, even though he knew he was on a hiding to nothing. However, Carlos Moya used to continually pick up a "hamstring pull" every time Wimbledon was on, and only recently even attempted to play on the grass.

I was pretty close to throwing my toys out of the pram last week after yet another live cash loss, and deciding that I would just play tournaments. (Note that, for me, online cash is different to live cash in that you can multi table, and following an ABC poker style pretty much guarantees profit at certain levels. Is online cash the equivilant of hard court tennis perhaps!!??)

Anyhow, as I sat there in the dentist chair, I decided that I really must try and apply myself to live cash games, even if I feel it's a negative expected value for me at the moment. If that is still the case in a year, then perhaps it will be time to shift to the tournament only approach, adopted by several players. I have reclassified the categories of my P&L to help this analysis.

In the meantime, the key is to adopt the Sampras mentality towards clay, rather than the Moya mindset to the grass.......



PROFIT/(LOSS) USD 2008
Live Holdem Tournaments 3,590
Live Holdem Cash (1,106)
Live Omaha 110
Live "Professional" Tournaments (10,291)
Home Games (460)
Online Holdem Tournaments 54,832
Online Holdem Cash 16,826
Online Omaha 630
Rake (1,781)
62,350

Online Cash Challenge Bankroll 1,800

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The Mistresses Of The River

Date: Mon, Apr 14, 2008 Professional

Sometimes, people get on runs of form where they always seem to hit their draws. On Saturday night, at Jody's home game in Cheltenham, it was the turn of Shazbo and Debbie to experience this wonderful phenomenon, predictably against their respective other halves.

We played a £100 tournament, with 10k starting chips and a 30 minute blind. There were only 7 runners (myself, Shazbo, Jody, Debbie, Hugh, Sir Mike and Debbie's brother Pete), but it was a good number for the circular table we were playing on.

I explained to Hugh, who was unfamiliar with deep stack play, that he should be cautious and that there was a lot of play with the 30 minute clock.

Anyway - THIRD hand.

I limp for 50 with Js10s
Debbie and Shazbo call. Jody pumps it up to 200, which is called by myself and Debbie

Flop Jd, 3s, Jc

Jody leads for 300. I raise to 1000. Jody reraises to 3000. Now against any other player on the table I pass, but it's Jody who can be a bit loose at times. At the time, I justifed my push all in with the fact that he could have AA, KK or QQ, but looking back the 300 lead on the flop was not consisent with that - I think he'd have bet out a bit more with the overpair there. Anyhow - he has AJ, and I am bust third hand.

After a 2 hour drive to get here, this is somewhat disappointing, but thankfully the table allows me a rebuy. This snowballed into Sir Mike and Jody (twice) also rebuying, so we had 110k of chips in play between 7 players!

Enter the "Mistresses of the River"..............

Jody has about 20k in chips now of course, and is looking to take control of the table. He quickly gets involved in a decent sized pot with Debbie. I don't know his hole cards, but by the end of the betting Jody has been rivered by an obscure straight, and immediately hands over about 4k of his loot.

Blinds are up.

I find 7d9d in mid position and raise to 300. Called by Debbie and Shazbo in the SB.

Flop is Jd, 9c, Js

I lead for 500, called by Shazbo

Turn is 2d, giving me flush draw and 2 pair.

I bet 1200, called by Shazbo.

river is 10s

Shazbo leads for 2k. I'm struggling to think of a hand she has here as surely she would have re-raised with a Jack to get rid of the drawing hands. I call, and she shows KcQc for the dirty, rivered, gutshot straight ;)

The Mistresses operate their rotating substitution policy, and it's now Debbie's turn. Jody raises and is flat called by Debbie.

Flop has 2 spades and Jody bets out 120% of the pot. He then adds "if it helps this means you don't have the odds to call the draw". Debbie ums and arrs and then calls. The turn is a spade as we all knew it would be and Jody bets, but instamucks to a re-raise.

I should add at this point that both of the Mistresses played very strongly, and the outdraws dried up from here on, although not too early to save them from their new nicknames. Debbie was to go on to win the tournament in agressive style.

Over the next hour or so, I start to play well, and hit a few cards to boot. I have worked my stack up to 25k, with a number of hands without showdown. Myself and Jody are the most active players on the table at this point, and it's going pretty well as we approach the end of the rebuy period.

The next key hand occurs between myself and Sir Mike.

I find 22 UTG and limp for 200, as do Debbie and Shazbo. Mike in the SB raises to 600, and both myself and Debbie call.

Flop 9, 9, 2 (the ducks have done it again - all is forgiven!)

I lead for 1500, Mike pushes for 6.5k more and his pocket Aces can't catch up.

This hand means that at the rebuy break, I am chip leader with about 33k. However, things are about to take a turn for the worse.

Terminal Hand (1 of 2)

Blinds 200-400

I raise to 1200 on the button with 6d7s

Called by both Debbie and Pete.

Flop 7d, 8c, 9s

This is a pretty good flop for a big stack to be agressive with - a pair with an open ended as back up.

Blinds check, so I lead for 2000.

Debbie folds but Peter re-raises to 4000. Hmmm. This is an interesting one. From my chats with him the smoking area, I gather that this buy in is higher than is normal for his bankroll. I got the feeling that cashing in this tournament would mean a lot to him, so I push all in, thinking that he won't call without a monster hand, as he has been playing pretty solid and would still have a decent stack if he passes.

I am the master of timing. Pete has THE NUTS - Jack Ten for top straight. I can't even win. A 10 on the turn completes my useless straight, and in fact gives the chance for a pretty sick split, but it doesn't arrive and I am down to 16k.

Terminal Hand (2 of 2)

Blind now 300-600

I have regrouped and have tightened up my range considerably. I find AsQd in early position and raise it up to 1800. Called by Jody in the BB.

Flop 2s, 6d, Qs

Jody pushes in from the BB! It's a huge overbet - about 11k more. I don't think he does this with a set, and 2 pair seems remote on this board. I think he has a draw here - spades. A craftily played overpair is also a possibility, but I think I am probably good here to call with TPTK.

Jody shows Js9s so I'm looking good to get the big stack back.

Turn is blank, but then I realise that Shazbo, one of the Mistresses of the River, is dealing the hand, and sure enough, with a flutter of the eyelashes, a spade pops up on the end. That is me pretty much done for the tournament. I play shortstacked for a few hands but am soon gone, and able to practice my dealing skills.

A very enjoyable evening, as home games always are. I will hopefully host one next month before we get ready for Vegas.


PROFIT/(LOSS) USD 2008
Live Holdem (Local) 2,484
Live Holdem (International) (9,076)
Live Omaha (Local) 110
Live Omaha (International) (1,215)
Home Games (460)
Online Holdem 71,658
Online Omaha 630
Rake (1,771)
62,350

Online Cash Challenge Bankroll 1,800

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Cheating Ducks

Date: Fri, Apr 11, 2008 Professional

I remember the first time a girl cheated on me. I was 7 years old and had been sitting next to a girl in class for 3 days in a row, during the heady summer of 1982. (I think her name was something really bizarre - Ribeena(?)). Anyhow - I was quite smitten and remember feeling at the time that "this was it". Unfortunately, I was off sick on the Thursday and, when I returned to school the following day, Ribeena had taken up classroom residence with Liam, the trendy guy with the Shakin' Stevens haircut. My conservative bowl cut was no match, and I was consigned to the scrap heap by Ribeena. I was devastated.

Last night - these old wounds were re-opened as I was cheated on by my special hand - pocket twos.

Many players have small pocket pairs that they consider lucky. Mine are pocket 2s. Whereas the chances of hitting a set on the flop are about 17% with a normal pair, it seems this percentage is closer to 60% with pocket ducks in my hand. The downside of playing these "lucky" cards, is that you end up folding them very rarely - for example after the first few levels I fold 33/44/55 UTG but I always limp/raise with 22.

It was league night at the Loose Cannon, but only 15 runners turned up for battle. I ended up placing 6th, after the twos were unfaithful to me, which wasn't good enough for the money or any points.

Only really two defining hands:

Hand1 (blinds 50-100)
I have been reasonably active and have trickled down to 2300 from a 3500 starting stack.
Fluke limps UTG and I call with 22. Professor Geoff also calls, but Jody pumps it up to 500 in the big blind. Fluke calls, as do I, and only the Professor folds.

Flop A, 9, 2 (never in doubt)

Everyone checks the 1600 pot.

Turn 9

Fluke bets 1000, and I push for 1800 total, which he pretty much has to call with AK. He doesn't hit a 9 or an Ace on the river, and the beautiful 2s have worked their magic again.

This hand sets me up for the tournament, although I never really get above 8k. The final table played 7 handed for quite some time, at which point McDee bows out (after playing a much more solid game than in previous weeks).

I've just had to fold a 1500 raise with J10, to Jason's re-raise preflop, when the infidelity occurs. I have about 3900 chips and blinds are 300-600.

HAND2
Tom min raises to 1200 in mid position. I am in the big blind and have the winning hand in pocket 2s. I push all in for my 3900 and it is snap called. No worries of course - I'm about to double up.

Tom has AK

Board runs out............. Q(ok), 8(uh-huh), Q (yep), 5 (ship it)..........KING

I have Tom covered but am crippled and out soon after. If Federline was upset by Britney dumping him by text, he should read this to realise that there is always someone worse off. I was ditched in the cruelest way in front of Tom, Sir Mike, Hugh, Jason and Jody.

However, since then, the pocket 2s have called this morning. After some suitable grovelling and a promise of never doing it again, I have taken them back ;)

Next stop for the mystery tour............Jody's saturday night home game.

PROFIT/(LOSS) USD 2008
Live Holdem (Local) 2,484
Live Holdem (International) (9,076)
Live Omaha (Local) 110
Live Omaha (International) (1,215)
Online Holdem 71,658
Online Omaha 630
Rake (1,771)
62,810

Online Cash Challenge Bankroll 1,800

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0-3? Are you serious?

Date: Thu, Apr 10, 2008 Professional

I got really drunk last night - I had toothache and decided to go for the white wine for medicinal purposes. Clearly this was a disaster for playing dealer's choice. I have no idea how much I lost - arrived with £400 - had £14.25 in my wallet this morning. Bought 3/4(?) bottles of wine and got a cab home. I'll call it £300. I am going to have to stop playing live cash for a while, as it's simply not working. I win online when I can multi-table, but I simply don't have the patience at the moment for a live cash game.

Some hazy recollections:

1) I don't enjoy stud or razz
2) I like irish holdem
3) I still like Omaha and Omaha8
4) 2-7 triple draw is a good game but 5 card draw isn't
5) I play speed holdem like a total idiot

So a disasterous night, which couldn't get much worse. But it did. I popped on the TV when I got home to notice that the eleven care-in-the-community patients currently rehabilitating in Watford's 1st XI managed to lose 0-3 at home to Barnsley.

FFS. A chance to go 2nd in the league, against a team in the relegation places, and we get thrashed at home. I never thought I'd say this, but I think it's time for Aidy Boothroyd to step aside. Since Keith Burkinshaw left the club for personal reasons in 2007, the team have been ABYSMAL. The guy has spent a fortune on new players, and yet the team plays the worst football in living memory.

There are a number of "ball playing" players stuck in the reserves - Rinaldi and Hoskins, for example, who haven't been given a single league game this year. Yet, we have Lloyd Doyley and John-Joe O'Toole in the first eleven who can't even pass the ball 20 yards to a team mate. Seriously, my 2 year old son has better control than this pair.

Anyhow, if anyone fancies a bet this weekend, we are playing away at West Bromwich Albion live on Sky.

Selection: WBA
Odds: Evens
Stake: All the equity in your house


PROFIT/(LOSS) USD 2008
Live Holdem (Local) 2,584
Live Holdem (International) (9,076)
Live Omaha (Local) 110
Live Omaha (International) (1,215)
Online Holdem 71,658
Online Omaha 630
Rake (1,771)
62,920

Online Cash Challenge Bankroll 1,800

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