End of Year
Well, a disappointing year on the poker front comes to a close, my first losing year so far. It would have been worse had it not been for a good visit to Vegas, but basically there were far too many…
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Poker Month - Day 1
I'm going to be in and out of the office for the next few weeks, so thought I'd use today's day off to play a solid session online. The online Omaha started pretty disastrously, but I managed to claw back…
The Neverending Weekend
I’ve been cobbling together a plan for the next month or so on the poker front. Originally I was planning to play a lot of live events, but having seen how miserable playing all weekend made me I’ve sharply aborted…
Christ Embassy
I was accosted last weekend outside McDonalds by some happy religious people with balloons, who thrust some literature into my hands before I could escape. Since I had no newspaper I decided to read it over my Big Mac, and…
More Run Good
I don't have time to write much, but I ran extremely well yet again in the final cash game of 2009 in the Loose Cannon on Wednesday night. A win in the region of £1,500 was generated mostly by a…
Festive Cheer
I had another big score last night at the Loose Cannon, winning £1800 in the £1/£2 game in a long session. It could have been a lot different though, I was £400 down after losing a QQ v AK encounter…
Just ran terribly online
Just played FT $1/$2 Round of Each and disastrously lost $1k. Nothing went right, and got in some bad spots as well as getting unlucky (which led to bad play). Highlights include: 1) Got in on the flop with nut…
Comedy Online Chat
I played a 4 hour online cash Omaha session on Sunday, dropping down a level to 0.5/$1 and ground out a $200ish profit. I played pretty solid, and only had my stack at risk once (which I lost), holding top…
Online Weekend 2 - WCOOP - $215 Omaha
I decided to play this tournament on Friday, as I hadn't had any poker action in the week, and was pleasantly surprised to find a really well structured Omaha tournament. The 5k starting stack, with blinds beginning and 10-20 and…
Online Weekend 1 - Invasion of the retards
I plan on playing a lot of online tournaments this weekend. I opted to play super solid and this what happened. Will blog WCOOP Omaha separately (no cash but big run). Tournament 1 3bet AK to 1200, guy with 3600…
Better Spots?
I had the luxury of some spare time on Saturday, so fired up a couple of those Full Tilt $75 45 man SNGs to pass the time before the football started. For some reason, I played very well, probably due…
Turgid Weekend
I played online tournaments on Saturday night, with fairly disappointing results. Despite cashing three times I was left with a moderate loss for proceedings, and as seems to be the case these days, didn't make much progress in any of…
Online Marathon
I played a long session of online tournaments for 12 hours on Saturday night, before retiring with exhaustion. The session went pretty well - involving 8 cashes and 3 final tables (all on Party), but I woke up the next…
Attempted New Leaf
I played a mini session of tournaments online tonight, and in line with my last post decided to try and play with enjoyment in mind. This worked for a while, but my mood turned darker hour by hour as illustrated…
Vegas Day 2 - WSOP $1500
I really felt stuck in the mud in this tournament - nothing got going and I busted shortly before the end of level 3. The table was as as you would expect at the WSOP - about 4 young internet…
LC Cash Game Invitational - Episode IV
Tonight sees the latest installment of the all stars cash game at Loose Cannon. Similar to high stakes poker, the player pool has been revolved this week - out go Devski and the Nit. Making their first appearance for ages…
Host Selection
Following my tournament success on random sites on Saturday, I had a significant amount of money tied up all over the place, due to the idiotic 48 hours rule some sites have on deposits. Whilst bored on Sunday I decided…
Mini Boom !
It had to happen. As soon as I made my last post about now attempting to be a cash game specialist, I promptly embarked on my most successful evening of online tournaments this year by a long shot. With Shazbo…
Live and Learn
Well, my drunken adventures in the big buy in Sunday tournaments predictably ended badly, as I took a big hit to the P&L after only cashing once. Whilst it was fun, the decision to play them inebriated was foolish, and…
Back from ToyTown
I haven't looked at a card for nearly two weeks now, having been out of London for a week to get some fresh air and have a much needed break. I went to Norfolk, to a small town called Happisburgh…
Personality Deficient
Work finished early today, so I thought I'd continue my hate/hate relationship with online tournaments and promptly lost $600 without ever coming close to the money. I played poorly, but seemed to be cold decked a lot. The highlights: -…
Full Tilt Trip
Master Computer Lederer: "You shouldn't have come back Jimbo" Jimbo launches sixty four MTT tournaments Lederer: "That isn't going to do you any good, Jimbo" Lederer: "Stop, please. You realise I cannot allow this!" Jimbo "How are you going to…
Another Sunday Majors Flop
As I had Monday off work, I decided to give the major Sunday online tournaments a spin, and unfortunately didn't play well at all. I think I entered about 6 tournaments, including the $500 Full Tilt million, and didn't get…
Four on the Bounce
Last night I registered my fourth consecutive live cash game win, to further repair my ailing start to 2009. I have been playing very disciplined live cash recently and, since people are still expecting me to play pretty wild, I'm…
Sigh........
Just remembered why online tournaments are one of the most frustrating inventions in history. I was flying in the Pokerstars $50 rebuy, being chip leader from about 100 runners out till about 30 left. With 15 left I had dropped…
Thursday Tournie/Cash Game Nutter
The £50 tournament at the LC on Thursday drew a healthy field of 22 this week. With only 2 free tables we had alternates - a feature not seen at LC for a long time. I played VERY tight for…
Tonight Matthew I'm going to be..........Rafael Nadal
Saturday saw Sir Mike's home game in Kew. We had 12 runners for two tournaments - a £60 round of each, followed by an £80 deep stacked Main Event. Unfortunately for me, the high point of my night was taking…
The Missing Link
I played the online Sunday majors yesterday with fairly dire results, resulting in another heavy loss. Something isn't working at the moment for me in all forms of the game, and I need to figure out what it is. I…
Bad session
Just came off a very poor Omaha session on the $0.5/1 tables registering a £450 loss. A combination of factors resulted in this loss - in order: 1) Playing poorly (refusing to lay down top set to an obvious flopped…
Eurodonk
I put in a marathon 12 hour session online yesterday, electing to play the evening tournaments instead of going to the Loose Cannon for a live game. I cashed twice, but unfortunately lost big coinflips when looking to move up…
Burning Money
In 5 of my last 6 cash sessions the format has been the same - make steady profit for the first few hours when sober, before drinking compulsively and ending up a few hundred down. For some reason my brain…
2009 Preview
I had intended 2009 to be a real make or break year on the poker front, in that I'd play in a number of EPT and WPT events as well as the WSOPE and WSOP Main Events. However, the fragile…
Quarterly Review - hmph
A pretty dire quarter comes to a close, with me registering my first losing 3 month period in over a year. $5,300 was the damage, and results in a disappointing end to a good year on the poker front. Consequently,…
Jekyll and Hyde
There is an awful duality to my cash game play these days, which needs to stamped out. On the one hand, when there are strangers on the table, I play an aggressive, yet strategic game. An analytical approach, with a…
Back in the Winners' Enclosure
After the disappointment of missing out on playing the UKPT £300 event at the Vic, I decided to play online for the first time in a while, to quench the poker thirst. I was a little apprehensive after some brutal…
Biggest Downswing So Far
Wow. I'm now on my biggest downswing of my poker career, after losing $1200 in PLO over the last 2 evenings. I've decided to blog now to put a line under it and hopefully start afresh tomorrow. Tuesday night brought…
Horrendous Online Saturday
Saturday was a complete mess on the online tournament front - I cashed once, played the FTOPs Omaha for $500, rebought seven times in the FTOPS $100 rebuy, and by the time the dust had settled I was in the…
Get Cool, Be Cool, Stay Cool!
I'm not one for poker lingo, but at The Baron's impromptu home cash game last night, I lost £330 in two consecutive hands - first when someone who will remain nameless played the role of ultimate "calling station", and then…
Nice Score Professor Jalfont
Professor Jalfont won a seat at the PCA EPT event this weekend, to be held in the Bahamas in January, so huge congratulations to him. He fought off a huge field to win a $30 rebuy on Stars to take…
An Uninspiring Sunday
Sunday's tournaments didn't work out well - I played 6 and only cashed in 1 for an $800 dollar loss on the evening. The lowlights: PokerStars Sunday Warmup Started well in this one - moved my 10k starting stack up…
No Follow Up
After online success last week, this midweek session produced very little of note. I played my standard batch of 5 tournaments, and busted from all of them out of the money. The $10 PS/$24FT/$55FT were all fairly uneventful and hardly…
Home Game + FTOPS
My home game was a smaller affair than usual, but a great evening nonetheless. 7 runners attended - myself, Shazbo, Jody, Debs, Professor Jalfont, The Doctor and Deven. Unlike many home games, nobody really won or lost a huge amount…
The chips go from me to you
Poor old Pete Best. Talk about missing the gravy train - one minute he's happily playing the Hamburg club circuit in a young band known as The Beatles, and the next he's been kicked out, just as they have secured…
Meltdown in the 75k Guaranteed
Meltdown noun 1) (in a nuclear reactor) the melting of the fuel rods, escape radioactivity 2) a sudden disastrous failure Utter frustration. After playing pretty well during my 10 hour Saturday session online (I had made 5 cashes in various…
A Quick Night's Work
I played 4 tournaments last night and then decided to stop for the evening, when I was eliminated from all of them in short order. I think the longest I lasted was about 90 minutes. I didn't really do too…
Everest Bandits
Before I review last night's online action, a word on Everest Poker. I signed up for this supposedly reputable European site on Monday night, with the aim of playing on there on Tuesday. Having set up my account and deposited…
Dipping a toe back into the online waters
I played four tournaments last night - my first foray into online tournaments for months. I cashed in one event, but lost overall. I feel I played pretty well, and got back into the different swing of things in these…
A Month In Elba
We all need a rest from time to time. After a rather over ambitious jaunt across Russia, Napolean spent a brief period exiled on the Tuscan islan of Elba, before regrouping, escaping and then getting a good pasting a year…
Quarterly Review - Rudderless
I've floated along for the last three months since Vegas, with no real aims except to enjoy myself. The results have been predictably uninspired - I've won a little over $1,000 in poker related activity, whilst paying $431 in rake.…
Sir Mike @ WSOPE 1.5k Event
As you know, I wasn't able to play this event due to other commitments, but I had a small investment in Mike from the Loose Cannon, a player in red hot form. He sent me (and the other investors) a…
Winning run over
A slight setback last night - I rocked into Loose Cannon after works drinks to play the cash game and was pretty abysmal, losing £340. However, I also staked someone else who won £600, so that gave me £300 claw…
The Other King High Hand
I hardly played a single hand of poker last week, due to a combination of illness and feeling pretty burned out, but I did remember a staggering hand I witnessed at the GSOP last week. I think the intrepid player…
Online Omaha Sessions
I played a couple of interesting Omaha 1/2 sessions 6 handed over the weekend, on Friday night and Sunday morning, ending up $380 across the pair of 2 hour sittings. Some observations: 1) Friday night was nasty. Every time I…
Getting Distracted
Using my basic knowledge of military history, together with the historical documentaries that were the Indiana Jones films, it seems that key Nazi goals during the war were: (in no particular order) Invasion of Poland Genocide Opening Ark of the…
8, 21, 31, 32, 46, 47 - Gutshot Omaha
El Lotto. I've been playing it since 1994 now - one line a week. £1028 spent to date, and I think I have won £10 three times. It also seems that the lottery machine "Arthur" has it in for me.…
A Sunday Omaha Stroll
I haven't been playing much online recently, as I've started to find it a little boring without the social aspect of the live games. However, I was at a loose end for a couple of hours this Sunday morning, so…
Rikki B @ City100
I read a lot of poker blogs when I have the time, mostly to see how different styles of player approach different situations. The aspect I find most amusing, is the style of writing employed by young internet guys, and…
Quarterly Review
I was bitten by a donkey on Sunday. This being a poker blog, I imagine you think I am talking about a poker analogy, but no, I was actually bitten by a real donkey. I was at a donkey sanctuary…
Returning to form at just the right time
I was nervous about my form going into Vegas - I wasn't worried about my play, just the fact that I couldn't hit a flop, and opponents would always hit the draw against me when I was ahead. Thankfully the…
What is it about flush draws online?
Well - good news and bad news....... Good news I placed 6th in the FT 40k guaranteed for 3.1k. Bad news is no internet player is capable of laying down a flush draw. I mean, come on - I've lost…
FTOPS Omaha
Just busted out of the FTOPs Omaha tournament in about 400th. A couple of interesting hands for the Omaha specialists out there to digest: I have had one rebuy and the add-on and am happily going along with a 14k…
Newcastle Preview
Some towns produce an inspiring list of famous people, bands and institutions over the years........take Seattle for example: Jimi Hendrix, Bill Gates, Nirvana, Microsoft and The Seattle Coffee Company (since rebranded as Starbucks). Some places don't do quite so well.…
Losing Key Pots
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 -…
Provisional Vegas Schedule
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…
Online Weekend + Upcoming Live Events
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…
Refusing to do a "Moya"
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…
FTOPS Time Again
I notice that Full Tilt has announced another installment of their excellent FTOP series, to take place in May. These tournaments cater for all the games, offer excellent structures and have huge fields. It's a little awkward timing for me…
Scissor, Paper, Stone
It's been a great performance. I have gone deep in the Scissor, Paper, Stone 110k USD guaranteed tournament, sponsored by MansionPoker.com. There are 23 gladiators left, and my next clash is with the Italian in seat 3. If I can…
Following Ebbo's Wisdom
It's a new week, and I'm about to go and sign up for the gym. Hopefully I can make it there 3 times a week, either at lunchtimes or first thing in the morning. Besides being worried about my general…
Quarterly Review
Well, I guess to keep on top of your game you need to consistently evaluate how you've done, and set yourself goals for the future, so I thought this would be a good point to review progress. The Labour government…
Visiting The Inner Temple
Have spent the weekend working out what is going on in my head poker-wise......feel a bit refreshed. After all, if you'd given me this position at the start of January I'd have taken it with open arms. I'm really disappointed…
The Hand of Apology
Sebastian Grosjean looks vexed. It's the Monte Carlo Masters 2006 and he's serving at 4-5 in the deciding set, and is match point down. He has already saved 3 crucial match points and has fought gamely to stay in this…
Disappointing Night Online
A quick update for the record. Played 8pm till 3am so far tonight, registered for $1,200 worth of tournies and still alive in 2 of them. I've only managed 2 cashes so far for $358 and $325 so it's probably…
Fire versus Ice
If you have to play like God to go deep in a large 10 seater MTT, then you need to play like the Devil to do the same in the 6 seater equivalent. Oddly, although the rules are the same,…
How Many Real "Pros" Are There?
How big a bankroll do you need to go pro? A huge amount in my opinion. I think there are lots of young guys who set themselves up as professionals with bankrolls that are about 10% of the size required.…
Cash Game Improvement
Not much to report.................the tournament was a non-event for me. I grinded along short stacked for most of it, with few interesting hands to report. Eventually I lost the race which would have put me in the running against Professor…
EI-EI-EI-0..........Up the Poker League we go......
An eventful evening...........2nd place, 22 points, £430, a big suckout and an unbelievable cash hand to report. Tournament first - 24 runners for the 3rd installment of the LC poker league. A veritable table of death to begin with -…
Online Weekend
Had a very successful weekend online, to get the year off to a winning start. Decided to brave the Omaha cash tables for the first time and was pleasantly surprised at my standard compared to the rest of the table.…
Memories - 2007 NPL Open Main Event, London
I'd won enough online over the previous 2 months to justify the hefty £3,400 buy in for this one. There were disappointingly ony about 35 runners, although it was crammed with pros (De Wolfe, Judah, Colclough, Tony G, Dan Carter,…