It wasn't intentional, but last night I took a much needed break from poker. I never thought I'd be in a position to say this, but I was actually starting to get a bit bored of playing poker. I suppose it's to be expected, as I have played over 125 hours this month (average of 4.3 hours per day) - but it's still a bit of a revelation for me. Every professional poker player blog that I read always says that it does turn in to a grind, and I can see how they feel like that just from playing this month. Having said that - I'm sure it still beats working 9-5 for a living! I'll be able to make a fairer assessment when I get back to UK and start work again in 2 weeks..... horrible thought.
Anyway, so last night I was all set for a long slog on the tables against the weekend fish, but I ended up having to change my plans. I was going out anyway for the England game (KO at 12:15 am thailand time) but decided to go suit shopping before food and my sprites. Anyone who has ever been to Thailand knows there are a millions suit shops here but I think we managed to geta good deal - I bought 2 suits, a tuxedo and 3 shirts (all tailored fit) for £240. Brenos bought 3 suits and 5 shirts - including a gay pink one - for £200. Briggs got measured up, picked out 2 suits his shirts and a mint 'all weather' jacket but then decided at last minute to pull out of buying- claiming his upcoming diet would render the purchase pointless. No excuse now Briggs - diet really does have to start on Monday (when you get back - obviously)
The tailors have asked that we go back this afternoon for a second fitting so that left me with two options - stay awake for 30 hours straight to make it through to Sunday night, thereby playing Saturday but not Sunday - or have a few medicinal drinks to help me get to sleep at a reasonable time. For those that don't know, I've recently truned nocturnal and my sleeping time here is usually 1pm to 9pm local time to help me catch the best times to play poker - not healthy.
Cue alcohol, pool, dancing and sitting by the sea drinking beer at 4 am this morning - probably your average night out in Whitley Bay, but somehow a bit nicer over here.... and a lot cheaper. I'm looking forward to getting home and catching up with everyone (obv. especially K ;-)) but not looking forward to spending £70 on a night out in freezing Newcastle not being able to be served for 30 minutes at a time. Guess that's the price you have to play for living in such a great footballing city..... oh... hang on..... :-)
I think I've rambled long enough for one hangover - GL to all those playing later - except anyone in the Laddies WSOP qualifier tonight who bubbled me this week!
Sunday 29 March 2009
Friday 27 March 2009
Cursed, CURSED I tell you!!
My STT and MTT accounts are jinxed beyond belief. Just busted out of the Vegas Dream satellite on the bubble with a race, all in pre flop. This is the 2nd time this week I've finished one place outside of the money, meaning this little adventure has already cost me $210. I could have bought in to main weekly final for a straight $550, however I don't think it would be worth my while with this (mis)fortune.
My previous STT's bad beats have been far worse, albeit for less cash involved. When I first started playing poker I thought it would be good to make a living from playing STT's all day but now I think I'd slit my wrists if I ever had to play tournaments for a living - the frustration on hands at bubble time knowing you can't reload is rediculous.
Anyway, hitting cash tables soon (after my pot noodle) so wanted to get the stress out of my system first - hence this post. Hoping for better luck in my brick and mortar NL100 game....
My previous STT's bad beats have been far worse, albeit for less cash involved. When I first started playing poker I thought it would be good to make a living from playing STT's all day but now I think I'd slit my wrists if I ever had to play tournaments for a living - the frustration on hands at bubble time knowing you can't reload is rediculous.
Anyway, hitting cash tables soon (after my pot noodle) so wanted to get the stress out of my system first - hence this post. Hoping for better luck in my brick and mortar NL100 game....
Thursday 26 March 2009
I hate poker
Awful night. I played for ages and lost £380. I think out of that, I probably tilted off about £80 that I didn't need to. Others were horror stories / set ups...
me various cocks
KK vs AA pre flop (fair enough - but 120BB)
AK vs KK pre (again - not much I can do - 90BB)
AA vs 89 J93 board (4bet pot!! he shoves over my flop cbet - 100BB)
AK vs TT pre (flip - 50BB)
QQ vs K9 AJAAA (3bet pot pot - 80% money on turn.... wanker! - 65BB)
JJ vs AQ pre (another flip - 64BB)
I know I sound a lot like Soap, but I'm fuming. Also annoyed with myself for losing concentration on two other hands that cost me that £80.
Hoping to make some of it back over weekend, and realise I need to get my emotions back in check. I nearly broke some things today (including my hand) when smacked the desk here so hard. I thought I'd got over my poker anger issues but guess not - need to learn to feel indifference and not just 'feel sick'.
Whinge over :-)
me various cocks
KK vs AA pre flop (fair enough - but 120BB)
AK vs KK pre (again - not much I can do - 90BB)
AA vs 89 J93 board (4bet pot!! he shoves over my flop cbet - 100BB)
AK vs TT pre (flip - 50BB)
QQ vs K9 AJAAA (3bet pot pot - 80% money on turn.... wanker! - 65BB)
JJ vs AQ pre (another flip - 64BB)
I know I sound a lot like Soap, but I'm fuming. Also annoyed with myself for losing concentration on two other hands that cost me that £80.
Hoping to make some of it back over weekend, and realise I need to get my emotions back in check. I nearly broke some things today (including my hand) when smacked the desk here so hard. I thought I'd got over my poker anger issues but guess not - need to learn to feel indifference and not just 'feel sick'.
Whinge over :-)
Wednesday 25 March 2009
I run goooooooood
At last - a good beat post. I ran £200 above EV tonight for another £600 night, winning some flips and even when I was an underdog in a couple of spots. It's as if someone has changed my fortune by firing a good luck gun at me - I'm not complaining :-)
I'm not tired but starting to feel a little bit complacent at the end so decided to stop after trying to outplay someone with AQ after being check raised on the flop of T72 (he had 77) - needless to say it didn't end well. Luckily I stopped myself shoving the river representing the flush, so only lost £50 on the hand.
After treading water for what felt like ages, I'm on a bit of a heater at the moment and won £1.5k since Thursday. Only 5 nights left of poker before I come home so plan is to put in some hours (without losing concentration!) to see where I end up profit wise.
I'm not tired but starting to feel a little bit complacent at the end so decided to stop after trying to outplay someone with AQ after being check raised on the flop of T72 (he had 77) - needless to say it didn't end well. Luckily I stopped myself shoving the river representing the flush, so only lost £50 on the hand.
After treading water for what felt like ages, I'm on a bit of a heater at the moment and won £1.5k since Thursday. Only 5 nights left of poker before I come home so plan is to put in some hours (without losing concentration!) to see where I end up profit wise.
Tuesday 24 March 2009
See saw
Up, down, further down, recover a bit, down, end £70 up. That was a bit of a stress. Up as much as £250 before falling to £350 down. I then win a slight underdog flip with AA on 246 board (he had 56 for flush and straight draws) when I say 'hell with it' and reraise his big check raise for £100. This would have been a completely different post if he'd hit, as would have logged off tables in disgust. Luckily I 'held' and ended the 7 hour session by playing some very profitable heads up at NL50 against a guy who could not accept defeat. He reloaded continuosly until he lost a total of 3 buy ins, getting it in on the turn with QT (no draw) versus my made flush on T963.
All the hours I'm playing mean I'm also in line for a tidy bonus on the Ladbrokes Rake Race. I'm currently in the top 90 and if I keep playing until the end of the month, will get something like $1.5k from Ladbrokes - with Rake The Rake giving me a furher $1k. All I need to do now is break even for the rest of the month and I'll be happy.... easier said than done!!
All the hours I'm playing mean I'm also in line for a tidy bonus on the Ladbrokes Rake Race. I'm currently in the top 90 and if I keep playing until the end of the month, will get something like $1.5k from Ladbrokes - with Rake The Rake giving me a furher $1k. All I need to do now is break even for the rest of the month and I'll be happy.... easier said than done!!
No more progress
Not much to report so I'm not entirely sure why I'm posting - I think it's because I've just woken up (9 pm here) and not quite ready to start playing yet. A coffee, some food and I'll hit the tables again.
Didn't play at all Sunday as was shattered after long nights on Friday / Saturday and didn't get the required 8 hours sleep to make me feel awake enough to concentrate. Instead settled for watching another 4 episodes of The Wire - which is class. While buying the millions (and I mean millions!!) of DVD's we bought in Bali / Thailand, I thought I'd give this series a go and now I'm hooked. I've nearly finished the 3rd series in about 4 weeks, and reckon I'll be close to finishing series 4 and 5 before I go home. Not bad when you consider each series has about 12 hours to watch... although I'm not even close to the level Briggs gets through!
Played a few poker sessions yesterday, totalling about 9 hours of cash play..... for about £10 in profit. Awesome. I also bought in (as well as Brennan) to a $50 + $25 + $25 MTT to try and win a seat in the weekly final on Ladbrokes for the Vegas Dream package, and we were both looking in good shape with 10 left. 4 seats were available for Sunday plus cash compensation for 5th - 7th, but alas we managed to get ourselves knocked out in 8th and 9th for diddly squat. Brennan pushed with A6 and lost to Q5 monster, me with AK and lost to JJ on BB - who nearly folded. Cheers to Soap for his 'encouragement' from the rail to get the BB to fold - sadly was in vain. Will see how cash goes in next couple of days but definitely on for trying this daily tournament again - the weekly final is a $550 buy in so a bit too expensive for me, but at the same time I don't want to jizz off $300 each week and not qualify for the weekend.
More of an update to follow after long session tonight - GL all.
Didn't play at all Sunday as was shattered after long nights on Friday / Saturday and didn't get the required 8 hours sleep to make me feel awake enough to concentrate. Instead settled for watching another 4 episodes of The Wire - which is class. While buying the millions (and I mean millions!!) of DVD's we bought in Bali / Thailand, I thought I'd give this series a go and now I'm hooked. I've nearly finished the 3rd series in about 4 weeks, and reckon I'll be close to finishing series 4 and 5 before I go home. Not bad when you consider each series has about 12 hours to watch... although I'm not even close to the level Briggs gets through!
Played a few poker sessions yesterday, totalling about 9 hours of cash play..... for about £10 in profit. Awesome. I also bought in (as well as Brennan) to a $50 + $25 + $25 MTT to try and win a seat in the weekly final on Ladbrokes for the Vegas Dream package, and we were both looking in good shape with 10 left. 4 seats were available for Sunday plus cash compensation for 5th - 7th, but alas we managed to get ourselves knocked out in 8th and 9th for diddly squat. Brennan pushed with A6 and lost to Q5 monster, me with AK and lost to JJ on BB - who nearly folded. Cheers to Soap for his 'encouragement' from the rail to get the BB to fold - sadly was in vain. Will see how cash goes in next couple of days but definitely on for trying this daily tournament again - the weekly final is a $550 buy in so a bit too expensive for me, but at the same time I don't want to jizz off $300 each week and not qualify for the weekend.
More of an update to follow after long session tonight - GL all.
Saturday 21 March 2009
Here fishy fishy fishy....
.... I love weekends!!
There are some AWFUL players on the tables on a Friday and a Satrurday night, but I must admit it is high variance against these guys who just want to put their money in on every flop. I managed to run well tonight (first time I've said that for a while!) and so finished my 5 hour session £496 up. That's roughly £1100 in two nights - fucking awesome!!
As you can tell from the last couple of week's worth of posts, I'm not exactly doing much out here other than play poker, sleep and eat. In hindsight, it probably would have been better to have a 2 month holiday to Thailand and then go home with Katrina to play 'normal' hours in the UK. Despite her many teasing comments in the previous posts (Mark or K??? hmmm) , I am missing her, and my health is probably suffering at the moment from my current lifestyle.
There have been a fair few days here where I don't get outside for the sunlight, as I crash at 11 am time and get up at 7pm. My 'breakfast' usually then consists of a 3 course meal (Indian / Italian / Buffet / Burger King??!!??) and then I fail to eat again for the next 15 hours - barring some butter crackers, or if I'm feeling extravagent, 2 slices of toast. I should be losing weight but because of the sheer number of calories I am eating - and the absence of any exercise since we left Karon at the beginning of Feb - I actually think I am putting on weight. I am DREADING my first game of football when I get back. In fact, I am even considering making myself unavailable for a while until I get some fitness back. I am definitely beginning to see how Brennan turned in to such a fat bastard :-)
Anyway, my night is done. All that is left for me to do before I crash is read some match reports from the football today, where MIGHTY Spurs continued their fine form, as did Arsenal.... looks like time might be running out for the Toon. I'm not sure if I really want them to go down - especially as I have a mate working there - but it is HYSTERICAL watching them suffer after the grief they have given me in the past 10 years :-) Chelsea (H), Stoke (A) then the big one at the Lane.... can't wait!!! :-)
There are some AWFUL players on the tables on a Friday and a Satrurday night, but I must admit it is high variance against these guys who just want to put their money in on every flop. I managed to run well tonight (first time I've said that for a while!) and so finished my 5 hour session £496 up. That's roughly £1100 in two nights - fucking awesome!!
As you can tell from the last couple of week's worth of posts, I'm not exactly doing much out here other than play poker, sleep and eat. In hindsight, it probably would have been better to have a 2 month holiday to Thailand and then go home with Katrina to play 'normal' hours in the UK. Despite her many teasing comments in the previous posts (Mark or K??? hmmm) , I am missing her, and my health is probably suffering at the moment from my current lifestyle.
There have been a fair few days here where I don't get outside for the sunlight, as I crash at 11 am time and get up at 7pm. My 'breakfast' usually then consists of a 3 course meal (Indian / Italian / Buffet / Burger King??!!??) and then I fail to eat again for the next 15 hours - barring some butter crackers, or if I'm feeling extravagent, 2 slices of toast. I should be losing weight but because of the sheer number of calories I am eating - and the absence of any exercise since we left Karon at the beginning of Feb - I actually think I am putting on weight. I am DREADING my first game of football when I get back. In fact, I am even considering making myself unavailable for a while until I get some fitness back. I am definitely beginning to see how Brennan turned in to such a fat bastard :-)
Anyway, my night is done. All that is left for me to do before I crash is read some match reports from the football today, where MIGHTY Spurs continued their fine form, as did Arsenal.... looks like time might be running out for the Toon. I'm not sure if I really want them to go down - especially as I have a mate working there - but it is HYSTERICAL watching them suffer after the grief they have given me in the past 10 years :-) Chelsea (H), Stoke (A) then the big one at the Lane.... can't wait!!! :-)
Friday 20 March 2009
New Start
Turns out I'm not that lucky, and the thieving Thai gits didn't return the bike after their joy ride the other night. I went back to the police again to give them the details of the bike number (had no idea when I first reported it) and one of their elite law enforcers accompanied me to the bike place ot try and save me some cash. To be fair to him, even though he spoke no English and had more teeth showing than Ronaldinho and Cleetus from the Simpsons combined, he managed to save me a little bit on what they were initially asking. Therefore insteading of paying £1.2k I 'only' had to £920. Painful, but I think I might be lucky and able to claim back some of it on my insurance.... will be making sure the insuarnce company gets phoned to find out as could do with that cash!!
On brighter note, I've finally pulled together a decent evening on the cash tables. I think I've pocketed in to the region of £600 tonight - however in true Holmes Big Deal fashion I am going to complain about the pots I should have won too!!! All these years I used to take the piss out of Soap for always whinging on his blog...... 'bad beat this' / 'bad beat that'..... but now that it's happening to me I can totally see what drives him to write it all down. Poker does still owe me money this month though :-)
Right - sleep time now before waking up tonight and hopefully taking the money off the Saturday drunks too!!!
GL to all that are playing....
On brighter note, I've finally pulled together a decent evening on the cash tables. I think I've pocketed in to the region of £600 tonight - however in true Holmes Big Deal fashion I am going to complain about the pots I should have won too!!! All these years I used to take the piss out of Soap for always whinging on his blog...... 'bad beat this' / 'bad beat that'..... but now that it's happening to me I can totally see what drives him to write it all down. Poker does still owe me money this month though :-)
Right - sleep time now before waking up tonight and hopefully taking the money off the Saturday drunks too!!!
GL to all that are playing....
Tuesday 17 March 2009
Worst Nightmare
Did I lose my entire poker bankroll by going on tilt a la Carl Richardson? Not quite - but I am in a bad run at the moment
Did I get woken up by the sounds of Briggs and Brennan engaging in some man love and requesting that I join them? No - but it wouldn't surprise me that much!
Did I manage to lose our rented moped while making a phone call and eating a Big Mac? Sadly yes.
Some twats - no idea who - managed to wheel the moped away while I was on the phone to K at 2 am this morning. There were a few people around but when you have the moped key in your pocket you don't think much of it. Turns out I didn't turn the steering wheel in to 'lock' position when I parked it, meaning that it's possible to wheel it away. What the fuck do these people want with a moped that won't start, has 25 million scratches on it and is worth shit??
I have no idea - but what I do know is that it's going to cost a fortune. I read through the contract that I signed automatically when we got it at the beginning of the month and it states 'if the moped is lost or stolen then undersigned agrees to pay 60,000 Baht compesnation'. That's £1.2k. Take that house deposit / vegas trip.
I am hoping in vain that we'll go out tomorrow and someone took it for a walk but we will find it in an alley way close to where I parked it before I have to go to see the owner, but it's a real long shot. Most likely outcome is that I'm fucked.
Thought night couldn't get any worse but after finally getting home after a visit to the police station to report the moped and then a long walk to find a taxi still operating after 3 in the morning, I loaded up poker and quickly found myself another £400 down. Probably should have quit then but for out of stubbornness - and the fact there were some AWFUL players online - meant that I persuaded myself to stay on my tables for an extra 20 minutes to see if my luck would turn. 2 hours later and I managed to drag myself out of the hole and finish £10 up. It's small mercies but right now that £10 win feels like the best result ever!
Hopefully I've now encountered all the bad luck I'm going to on this holiday now and I can grind my way back in to serious profit on the poker front - and pay back this shitty fine. I definitely think I am due some good fortune after this past week!!
Did I get woken up by the sounds of Briggs and Brennan engaging in some man love and requesting that I join them? No - but it wouldn't surprise me that much!
Did I manage to lose our rented moped while making a phone call and eating a Big Mac? Sadly yes.
Some twats - no idea who - managed to wheel the moped away while I was on the phone to K at 2 am this morning. There were a few people around but when you have the moped key in your pocket you don't think much of it. Turns out I didn't turn the steering wheel in to 'lock' position when I parked it, meaning that it's possible to wheel it away. What the fuck do these people want with a moped that won't start, has 25 million scratches on it and is worth shit??
I have no idea - but what I do know is that it's going to cost a fortune. I read through the contract that I signed automatically when we got it at the beginning of the month and it states 'if the moped is lost or stolen then undersigned agrees to pay 60,000 Baht compesnation'. That's £1.2k. Take that house deposit / vegas trip.
I am hoping in vain that we'll go out tomorrow and someone took it for a walk but we will find it in an alley way close to where I parked it before I have to go to see the owner, but it's a real long shot. Most likely outcome is that I'm fucked.
Thought night couldn't get any worse but after finally getting home after a visit to the police station to report the moped and then a long walk to find a taxi still operating after 3 in the morning, I loaded up poker and quickly found myself another £400 down. Probably should have quit then but for out of stubbornness - and the fact there were some AWFUL players online - meant that I persuaded myself to stay on my tables for an extra 20 minutes to see if my luck would turn. 2 hours later and I managed to drag myself out of the hole and finish £10 up. It's small mercies but right now that £10 win feels like the best result ever!
Hopefully I've now encountered all the bad luck I'm going to on this holiday now and I can grind my way back in to serious profit on the poker front - and pay back this shitty fine. I definitely think I am due some good fortune after this past week!!
Sunday 15 March 2009
Budha shits on me
That wasn't nice. Luckily I escaped with only limited damage (£130) but that was awful. AA lost AI pre flop vs AJ and AQ for £160, and KK runs in to (and loses to) AA. I also lose pair vs overs and overs versus pairs, with exception of AK beating QQ near the end to save the day. If that didn't happen then I would have been throwing the laptop out the window!!
On a more positive note, the mighty spurs outfought and outplayed Villa today, meaning we are slowly dragging ourselves away from the relegation zone and towards European qualification. We only need to make 7th and I think we are now 5 points, however W Ham do have a game in hand (vs W Brom at home) and we still have all the big guns left to play. I'll be happy with safety though after the start we had, and of course 3 points against the hapless Toon to send them spiralling towards the championship :-)
On a more positive note, the mighty spurs outfought and outplayed Villa today, meaning we are slowly dragging ourselves away from the relegation zone and towards European qualification. We only need to make 7th and I think we are now 5 points, however W Ham do have a game in hand (vs W Brom at home) and we still have all the big guns left to play. I'll be happy with safety though after the start we had, and of course 3 points against the hapless Toon to send them spiralling towards the championship :-)
Saturday 14 March 2009
Budha smiles on me...
At last - some luck. Just finished another monster session, playing for 7 hours, and won £470 - even finishing above EV for the session - I guess miracles do occur!! More of the same for the rest of the month please oh great all knowing god :-)
Friday 13 March 2009
I'm so slow
This is not news to anyone that plays football with me - even if there are at least 2 slower people in our 11 a side team (you know who you are!!!) - but I just can't seem to win a race at the poker tables at the moment. I played for 9 hours tonight for a profit of £150, but my EV says I should be more than 4 times that in profit. I also ran QQ in to KK and AA pre flop, and AK in to KK - all for buy ins which doesn't reflect the range they could have had going AI pre.
I should be happy with the play that I played as it was very solid, but I just can't help but think I am due a lot of (good) luck soon....
With all the play that I am putting in it does mean I am nicely positioned in the Rake Race for Ladbrokes. I was 130th before tonight, which would give me a $1200 bonus if I stay there at the end of the month. I'm also hoping that Rake The Rake will double their payments to their members, which could mean a $2500 pay day at the end of the month - maybe more if I can climb the leaderboard a bit more. At very least, if I can brake even on the tables for the rest of the month then this would mean my highest ever grossing month - will just have to wait and see how it goes.
I should be happy with the play that I played as it was very solid, but I just can't help but think I am due a lot of (good) luck soon....
With all the play that I am putting in it does mean I am nicely positioned in the Rake Race for Ladbrokes. I was 130th before tonight, which would give me a $1200 bonus if I stay there at the end of the month. I'm also hoping that Rake The Rake will double their payments to their members, which could mean a $2500 pay day at the end of the month - maybe more if I can climb the leaderboard a bit more. At very least, if I can brake even on the tables for the rest of the month then this would mean my highest ever grossing month - will just have to wait and see how it goes.
All too familiar
Just when I think I have myself on track for the month I fuck it up. Lost £600 yesterday in about 3 hours, and really only have myself to blame. I did have a couple of set ups (KK vs AA etc) and lost a race or two, but the main reason I lost the cash is that I tried to play when my head was not in the right frame of mind - specifically I was still mortally hungover 18 hours after I stopped drinking and therefore found concentrating on poker really difficult.
I've done this before, including many a Saturday / Sunday in Newcastle after being legless in the Toon the night before, but this time I really mean it when I say I'm never going to play poker at same buy in level / large number of tables etc when I can not concentrate. If I ever really feel like playing in this state then I will short stack with minimum buy in to counter the negative decisions I might make, or play a few cheap multis to keep me entertained without risking a large portion of my bankroll.
I have hopefully recovered now though so plan on putting in a long session tonight to try and rediscover the winning formula - with a lot of hours to be played in the next couple of days. I will keep the blog posted with results of course....
GL to all those playing this weekend - unless of course you play NL100 on Ladbrokes :-)
I've done this before, including many a Saturday / Sunday in Newcastle after being legless in the Toon the night before, but this time I really mean it when I say I'm never going to play poker at same buy in level / large number of tables etc when I can not concentrate. If I ever really feel like playing in this state then I will short stack with minimum buy in to counter the negative decisions I might make, or play a few cheap multis to keep me entertained without risking a large portion of my bankroll.
I have hopefully recovered now though so plan on putting in a long session tonight to try and rediscover the winning formula - with a lot of hours to be played in the next couple of days. I will keep the blog posted with results of course....
GL to all those playing this weekend - unless of course you play NL100 on Ladbrokes :-)
Tuesday 10 March 2009
Long Night
I'm officially nocturnal - and shattered. It's 11:45 a.m. here and I've been playing poker all night following the football, and now plan on sleeping for the next 8 hours or so - as long as my eyes stay closed. I think I've knackered them a bit again by staring at the laptop for too long, as they are all bloodshot and my head is throbbing. I'm beginning to get the imnpression that poker is not the healthiest of livings!!
Facts wise, I played around 4k hands (8 hours) and won about £160 today. I should actually have won far more, as had AA beaten by KK and QQ beaten by 77 AI for £90 each - among others. I'm not complaining too much though, as I needed a big comeback to actually end in profit tonight after those hands, and was massively helped by my biggest ever pot - £450. I had the nuts when shoved all in on the river, but still felt nervous!!! That's what happens when you are a spurs fan I guess, you can never be certain that you / your team won't manage to lose a game somehow - even when you seem unbeatable.
Sleep time.
Facts wise, I played around 4k hands (8 hours) and won about £160 today. I should actually have won far more, as had AA beaten by KK and QQ beaten by 77 AI for £90 each - among others. I'm not complaining too much though, as I needed a big comeback to actually end in profit tonight after those hands, and was massively helped by my biggest ever pot - £450. I had the nuts when shoved all in on the river, but still felt nervous!!! That's what happens when you are a spurs fan I guess, you can never be certain that you / your team won't manage to lose a game somehow - even when you seem unbeatable.
Sleep time.
Nice win
Stayed up late last night making sure K got home OK and kept myself busy by 6 tabling on Ladbrokes for about 4 hours, winning about £480.25 - ish. Caught some great cards pre flop and every big pair seemed to hit trips too so I would have to have played REALLY bad not to finish up last night.
Only had about 4 hours sleep and shattered now so think I'll be crashing this afternoon, wake up and play a long session through the night. Same amount of luck as I had last night would be very welcome indeed!!!
Only had about 4 hours sleep and shattered now so think I'll be crashing this afternoon, wake up and play a long session through the night. Same amount of luck as I had last night would be very welcome indeed!!!
Monday 9 March 2009
Bye K :-(
Short and sad - my gorgeous girlfriend Katrina has headed home as planned today and is currently en route to Doha before transferring on to a flight to 'sunny' London. I'll miss her shit loads but have a million happy memories of our time together out here - underlines again to me how lucky I am to have her in my life. It'll be 3 weeks until we see each other again and already can't wait!!!
Friday 6 March 2009
Long session.... (Thai Boxing)
.... did not materialise after all.
Instead I went out last night to watch some authentic Thai boxing with K, Briggs and Brennan. We paid £24 each for ring side sofa seats, and saw 8 fights of 5 rounds each. At least they were all scheduled for 5 rounds, but I think onlny 3 of them went the distance, with the rest stopped for a mixture of knockouts / cuts / retiring hurt.
The most emphatic knockout was probably in the first fight, with the red corner fighter being knocked down once, only to get back up and be pollaxed with a straight right to the floor - smashing his head to the floor and knocking him out cold. This would have been brutal enough but even worse when you consider the 2 fighters were in the 'under 33kg' category, and the 'proffesional' fighters were only 11 years old!!!! The westerners in the audience - me included to some extent- were pretty shocked but the Thai's loved it!!! They were betting loads in the standing section all night and this first fight clearly put them in the mood for the rest of the night's entertainment.
Thankfully the kid came round and walked out the ring after a few minutes, and the rest of the evening was fought by (gradually) increasing weight categories. I really enjoyed it and thoroughly recommend anyone visiting Thailand to go to a 'real' fight night. There are loads and loads of 'fight' nights promoted in Patong / Bangkok / Chang Mai but from what we've heard and seen (in Chang Mai) only a handful are real fights, with the rest being for the tourist industry. I guess the rule of thumb is, if there are no Thai people watching and betting then it's not real!!!
I ended up crashing when I got home last night but woke up in time this morning to catch the late stragglers back home - i.e. 9:30 am here - 2:30 am in UK. I played for an hour and banked a £150 profit, which is always nice. As every good player thinks though, I want a lot more this month!!!
Instead I went out last night to watch some authentic Thai boxing with K, Briggs and Brennan. We paid £24 each for ring side sofa seats, and saw 8 fights of 5 rounds each. At least they were all scheduled for 5 rounds, but I think onlny 3 of them went the distance, with the rest stopped for a mixture of knockouts / cuts / retiring hurt.
The most emphatic knockout was probably in the first fight, with the red corner fighter being knocked down once, only to get back up and be pollaxed with a straight right to the floor - smashing his head to the floor and knocking him out cold. This would have been brutal enough but even worse when you consider the 2 fighters were in the 'under 33kg' category, and the 'proffesional' fighters were only 11 years old!!!! The westerners in the audience - me included to some extent- were pretty shocked but the Thai's loved it!!! They were betting loads in the standing section all night and this first fight clearly put them in the mood for the rest of the night's entertainment.
Thankfully the kid came round and walked out the ring after a few minutes, and the rest of the evening was fought by (gradually) increasing weight categories. I really enjoyed it and thoroughly recommend anyone visiting Thailand to go to a 'real' fight night. There are loads and loads of 'fight' nights promoted in Patong / Bangkok / Chang Mai but from what we've heard and seen (in Chang Mai) only a handful are real fights, with the rest being for the tourist industry. I guess the rule of thumb is, if there are no Thai people watching and betting then it's not real!!!
I ended up crashing when I got home last night but woke up in time this morning to catch the late stragglers back home - i.e. 9:30 am here - 2:30 am in UK. I played for an hour and banked a £150 profit, which is always nice. As every good player thinks though, I want a lot more this month!!!
Thursday 5 March 2009
Quick Update
Not played much in the past 2 days, only about 1k hands, and won a grand total of £6 in this time. There's no way I can't go pro with that kind of win rate...
More updates following a long (poker) session later.
More updates following a long (poker) session later.
Tuesday 3 March 2009
Early March Results
It's a mystery!! I know I am up, but the internet here does not have the best connection so Holdem Manager misses a lot of hand histories. I've played in the region of 8.5k hands and think I'm about £400 up - using Ladbrokes balance as a guide. I'm going to record it from now on so I know how I'm doing as hate being in the dark on these things.....
I'm still not feeling the best (cold / flu etc) so been hitting the antibiotics and throat mediactions, but wasn't helped by the following: I left some strepsils on the side in our room, along with some half eaten biscuits. I thought nothng of it, and while trying to navigate through 9 cash tables felt a bit peckish, so lent over to grab a bite to eat. I pick up the biscuits and luckily catch the fact there are shit loads of ants crawling over them, so count my lucky stars and throw them in the bin. 20 minutes later and I'm still hungry / my throat is aching, so numbnuts here reaches straight over and pulls out a strepsil without looking - placing in my mouth. I then look down and see the other half of the ant colony happily beavering away at the remaining strepsils - sending me into panic mode!!! I jump up the chair, pull the strepsil out of my mouth and spend the next 5 mins rinsing and re-rinsing, without ever feeling that I have cleared them all out... I still feel them on my hands / face / arms now, but hoping it's just imaginary. I hate those little monsters and will spend most of tomorrow on the witchhunt for the remaining survivors so that I can reap my revenge. Then I'll play some more poker. :-)
I'm still not feeling the best (cold / flu etc) so been hitting the antibiotics and throat mediactions, but wasn't helped by the following: I left some strepsils on the side in our room, along with some half eaten biscuits. I thought nothng of it, and while trying to navigate through 9 cash tables felt a bit peckish, so lent over to grab a bite to eat. I pick up the biscuits and luckily catch the fact there are shit loads of ants crawling over them, so count my lucky stars and throw them in the bin. 20 minutes later and I'm still hungry / my throat is aching, so numbnuts here reaches straight over and pulls out a strepsil without looking - placing in my mouth. I then look down and see the other half of the ant colony happily beavering away at the remaining strepsils - sending me into panic mode!!! I jump up the chair, pull the strepsil out of my mouth and spend the next 5 mins rinsing and re-rinsing, without ever feeling that I have cleared them all out... I still feel them on my hands / face / arms now, but hoping it's just imaginary. I hate those little monsters and will spend most of tomorrow on the witchhunt for the remaining survivors so that I can reap my revenge. Then I'll play some more poker. :-)
Sunday 1 March 2009
February P&L / March Plan
I actually lost money on the cash tables this month but due to the high volume in early Feb was saved by rakeback to put me a little bit up for the month:
NL Cash: -$90
PLO Cash: -$52
STT: -$28
Rakeback / Bonus: $440
Overall: +$270
(43 hours played NL, estimate 25 TOTAL TABLE hours PLO)
March plan:
- Log a lot of hours on Ladbrokes - I think the standard is weaker than Big Slick and they also have a monster Rake Race this month which means high volume players should earn a healthy bonus.
- Log most hours at prime UK time - i.e. change my sleeping arrangements so that I can play against the weaker evening / recreational players rather than the professionals who play during the day.
- Watch lots and lots of poker videos to learn PLO / catch leaks in NL.
- Give PLO a decent shot this month - I like the game, it appeals to my mathematical / statistics driven mind, and just as importantly I think the general poker population (me included - atm) have no clue how to play it. My theory is that if I learn PLO then my edge should be greater than playing NLHE, as it seems more and more people are playing standard 'winning' poker, meaning it's harder to make money at this game long term.
- Hopefully find some time to play some MTT's.
Right, off for lunch then will hit tables this aftrnoon for first session in a long time - actuallt feeling quite nervous and excited!! GL to all playing and all those working I hope Monday isn't too shit a day!
I'll report back soon
NL Cash: -$90
PLO Cash: -$52
STT: -$28
Rakeback / Bonus: $440
Overall: +$270
(43 hours played NL, estimate 25 TOTAL TABLE hours PLO)
March plan:
- Log a lot of hours on Ladbrokes - I think the standard is weaker than Big Slick and they also have a monster Rake Race this month which means high volume players should earn a healthy bonus.
- Log most hours at prime UK time - i.e. change my sleeping arrangements so that I can play against the weaker evening / recreational players rather than the professionals who play during the day.
- Watch lots and lots of poker videos to learn PLO / catch leaks in NL.
- Give PLO a decent shot this month - I like the game, it appeals to my mathematical / statistics driven mind, and just as importantly I think the general poker population (me included - atm) have no clue how to play it. My theory is that if I learn PLO then my edge should be greater than playing NLHE, as it seems more and more people are playing standard 'winning' poker, meaning it's harder to make money at this game long term.
- Hopefully find some time to play some MTT's.
Right, off for lunch then will hit tables this aftrnoon for first session in a long time - actuallt feeling quite nervous and excited!! GL to all playing and all those working I hope Monday isn't too shit a day!
I'll report back soon
Back From The Wilderness
Where has the time gone? It's now 19 days since I posted on my blog, and I am fast realising that my 3 month adventure in SE Asia is passing by quickly. To make matters worse, my girl (Katrina) is returning to UK next week (planned - not a fall out!!) and I have been struck down with Thai Man Flu - which is far worse than the UK variety as I am sweating buckets in the 30 degree plus heat. I've dosed up on drugs and K has been looking after me though so I am hoping for a fast recovery.
Here is a quick run down of the things I've been doing in the past 2+ weeks - more or less in order:
1. Visited Angkor Wat in Cambodia.
For those who do not know what this is, it's one of the largest / oldest temple sites in the world, and it's an awe inspiring sight. We spent about 2/3 of a day walking round the different areas, looking at the stone carvings etc, and took a gazillion pictures which are now safely stored on Facebook (Katrina / Briggs) and my PC.
We only stayed 2 nights in Cambodia and barely left the hotel - mainly due to the fact it's one of the poorest and deprived countries on the planet! There were so many beggars at Angkor Wat, the roads were not really roads (merely dust highways) and when we did leave the hotel it was in constant fear of the Malaria mosquitos getting us- it all added up to a far from ideal traditional holiday location.
It was fascinating to see and maybe if I was at a different stage in my life, e.g. 20 year old backpacker straight out of Uni or in my mid sixties and need-to-see-everything-before-I-get-too-old-to-walk-unassisted, then I might have been tempted to venture out to experience more of the culture - however at this very moment I have got used to the comforts of life, therefore a quick 2 night stop and shuttle between airport / Angkor Wat / Hotel / Airport was enough for me.
2. Spent a week in Bali
We booked ourselves in to a nice 4 star hotel for a bit of R&R, and it turned out to be a really nice place. The weather turned on us though and we experienced about 4 days of thunder storms and heavy rain, which ruled out the sunbathing plans. This wasn't the end of the world though as we all needed a break from the constant heat, and some of the downpours and lightening storms were good to watch.
After contemplating but giving up on learning to surf, we spent most of the time relaxing and did a bit of shopping, picking up some very good bargains which I know Katrina was ecstatic about! Prada handbags / D&G purses galore meant one very happy girlfriend :-) Between the 3 lads we must also have bought about 150 DVD's for less than 50p each so we left with heavier suitcases too.
3. Spent a week in Krabi hotel / Krabi Sunset bungalows
The past week or so has involved a lot of time trying to find a good location in Krabi to spend the rest of the holiday - and it turned out to be a lot harder than we thought. Thailand is a beautiful country and I love the place, but the internet connectivity is not exactly perfect everywhere. I know this comes with the territory, but it did mean that our 'dream' location in Krabi sunset (a 3 bedroom detached bungalow, terrace, shared pool and cheap restaurant with about 4 other occupied homes) turned in to a frustrating time when trying to get connected to the internet / poker sites. After 4 days of lying by the pool we have moved and now residing in a more central house with miles better internet - a good result.
4. Spent a night in a beach front bungalow on a secluded island with Katrina
Left Krabi sunset for a night away from the lads so both 'couples' could have a romantic night alone - I'm not sure how the boys got on but I had a great time with K on Jum island. The lack of electricity in our hut, the ocean view and the millions (and I mean millions!!) of gekkos sharing our living quarters made for a memorable occasion. That's forgetting to mention the local spliff smoking hippies who sang us to sleep, and a few other things I won't mention..... ;-)
All in all I've had very limited time for poker since I left Karon, with just a couple of sessions in Bali which ran at a slight loss. I'll check out all my results now and will post them on here soon, but my gut feeling is that I lost money on the tables but broke even due to rakeback - not exactly anything to shout about!! March is going to be dedicated to playing LOTS AND LOTS of poker though so expect frequent updates here. This will be especially true when K leaves and I've promised not to leave the houose in case the lads involve me in any of their 'crazy' drinking nights :-)
Here is a quick run down of the things I've been doing in the past 2+ weeks - more or less in order:
1. Visited Angkor Wat in Cambodia.
For those who do not know what this is, it's one of the largest / oldest temple sites in the world, and it's an awe inspiring sight. We spent about 2/3 of a day walking round the different areas, looking at the stone carvings etc, and took a gazillion pictures which are now safely stored on Facebook (Katrina / Briggs) and my PC.
We only stayed 2 nights in Cambodia and barely left the hotel - mainly due to the fact it's one of the poorest and deprived countries on the planet! There were so many beggars at Angkor Wat, the roads were not really roads (merely dust highways) and when we did leave the hotel it was in constant fear of the Malaria mosquitos getting us- it all added up to a far from ideal traditional holiday location.
It was fascinating to see and maybe if I was at a different stage in my life, e.g. 20 year old backpacker straight out of Uni or in my mid sixties and need-to-see-everything-before-I-get-too-old-to-walk-unassisted, then I might have been tempted to venture out to experience more of the culture - however at this very moment I have got used to the comforts of life, therefore a quick 2 night stop and shuttle between airport / Angkor Wat / Hotel / Airport was enough for me.
2. Spent a week in Bali
We booked ourselves in to a nice 4 star hotel for a bit of R&R, and it turned out to be a really nice place. The weather turned on us though and we experienced about 4 days of thunder storms and heavy rain, which ruled out the sunbathing plans. This wasn't the end of the world though as we all needed a break from the constant heat, and some of the downpours and lightening storms were good to watch.
After contemplating but giving up on learning to surf, we spent most of the time relaxing and did a bit of shopping, picking up some very good bargains which I know Katrina was ecstatic about! Prada handbags / D&G purses galore meant one very happy girlfriend :-) Between the 3 lads we must also have bought about 150 DVD's for less than 50p each so we left with heavier suitcases too.
3. Spent a week in Krabi hotel / Krabi Sunset bungalows
The past week or so has involved a lot of time trying to find a good location in Krabi to spend the rest of the holiday - and it turned out to be a lot harder than we thought. Thailand is a beautiful country and I love the place, but the internet connectivity is not exactly perfect everywhere. I know this comes with the territory, but it did mean that our 'dream' location in Krabi sunset (a 3 bedroom detached bungalow, terrace, shared pool and cheap restaurant with about 4 other occupied homes) turned in to a frustrating time when trying to get connected to the internet / poker sites. After 4 days of lying by the pool we have moved and now residing in a more central house with miles better internet - a good result.
4. Spent a night in a beach front bungalow on a secluded island with Katrina
Left Krabi sunset for a night away from the lads so both 'couples' could have a romantic night alone - I'm not sure how the boys got on but I had a great time with K on Jum island. The lack of electricity in our hut, the ocean view and the millions (and I mean millions!!) of gekkos sharing our living quarters made for a memorable occasion. That's forgetting to mention the local spliff smoking hippies who sang us to sleep, and a few other things I won't mention..... ;-)
All in all I've had very limited time for poker since I left Karon, with just a couple of sessions in Bali which ran at a slight loss. I'll check out all my results now and will post them on here soon, but my gut feeling is that I lost money on the tables but broke even due to rakeback - not exactly anything to shout about!! March is going to be dedicated to playing LOTS AND LOTS of poker though so expect frequent updates here. This will be especially true when K leaves and I've promised not to leave the houose in case the lads involve me in any of their 'crazy' drinking nights :-)
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