boring blog

just read through some recent posts and they're boring as hell

forgot i was supposed to write at least one funny per post

today's is something my friend recently said to me on the phone whilst they were watching jeremy kyle on unruly kids.
referring to the mum my friend says "she has post natal depression. and her kid's like 11"

awful month improved in 300 hands today where i hit 3 sets, 1 flopped straight.

roll up to 11.5k

keep on truckin

not much to post about except same old not winning faster

checked out my stats for the year

running at 3 ptbb/100 at 1/2

this includes tilting away 30 buyins.

been playing more 2/4 recently and every time i do my luck just nosedives.

of my last 4 sessions i've been over $1k down on all in ev in one, and 750 down last night.

however, that doesn't excuse bad play and I have to play better. only playing when i want of late, but really need to sit down and concentrate for the first 1/2 hundred hands and not do anything stupid.

also wanna qualify for a live tourney this year, preferably aussie millions thru betfair so gonna deposit, play some 1/2 there and see how the sats go when they become available later in the year.

priority however remains increasing roll on stars to $30k by end of year to be rolled for 5/10

5 months to go. roll currently at 11k

bonus chasing

well last month ended alright, hit platinum in 2 weeks which is good to know i can do that.

this month littlewoods were doing a bonus where you get an iPod for 2000mpps. i figure i can reach that in a week or two but played stars to start with on double vpp week and made about 7kvpp so don't need to play so much this month. as playing well on stars and hourly rate was about $150

switched to littlewoods and playing for the 2000mpp would also give me a £100 bonus, an ipod and rakeback. so i just needed to break even. first 4 sessions gone and i found myself up a few hundred. then it went pair shaped, i started playing omaha and hilo, playing lower stakes holdem and just finished the bonus last night. lost the £500 i put in so after rakeback of around £150-£200 pounds i will have paid around £300 for the ipod. not to mention i could have been winning on stars in the meantime.

that'll be the last time i bonus chase. i should point out i have no confidence in the crypto software and was running horrible in terms of sklansky bucks and all in luck. i took so many runner runners and managed to give out a few as well. in not many hands at all. play is very different there but something really doesn't sit right at that site. still, with all that said, its no excuse. if i can't take responsibility for my results i shouldn't play.

if i want some variety in future i may go back to playing on betfair or mansion, but will just wait and see. still have some monies in mansion, should really take it all out since it's doing nothing in there.

for he remainder of this month i will start playing more and more $2/4. maybe starting with 3 tables of each, but really should step it up if i wanna be playing 2/5 by the end of the year. if i am, i may get some coaching to speed up learning.

about a year ago i felt my cash game improved dramatically and in the last year i feel mentally i've improved a lot.

not sure how next to improve my game. i still try to learn at the tables, and adjust to opponents but beyond that i can't yet see too much more at these levels of cash.

i have in the meantime forgotten how to play tournies especially the middle stages. and you really just need to luckbox your way through a 6000 player tourney to get a huge payday so maybe they are worth the occasional try.

plus i really really wanna go to the aussie open this year so am gonna make a concerted effort win a satellite.

turned the corner

finally stopped being on tilt and last couple of weeks results improved greatly

up $3k this month, and playing 5/6 tables at once doesn't let me play as many hands as previously but i'm playing better postflop and tilting less finally.

many fewer mistakes i see when i review my sessions and thinking properly when i'm at the tables. an almost 2 week break helped with this. interesting to find out that in the remaining 2 weeks of this month i should hit platinum on stars for the month.

have been looking at all the supernova stuff and rake equivalent and i'm pretty sure you need to hit at least 300k vpp for it to be equivalent to 30% rakeback. and i seem to get more vpp than anyone else. o no idea where others are getting the figures from.

100k vpp = 350kfpp when already supernova where each 100fpp can be converted to $1500
so that gives $4500
each 10kvpp is equivalent to about $700 rake back at 30% so 100kvpp is $7000

at 200kvpp you get a bonus of $2k so thats 700kfpp to give $10.5k plus $2k giving total effective rake of $12.5k whereas 30% rake is $14k. though this is slightly better than the 27% you get at full tilt.

though its not like you have points leftover to spend like you would a other places with rakeback.

next year when i am supernova my aim will be 200k vpp which i hope will be possible since i aim to be playing 3/6 and 5/10. though more likely to be 2/4 and 3/6

though if i can play 35-40k hands per month i should hit 200vpp even at 1/2.
problem is i may not have enough time next year. will have to wait and see how things pan out.

anyways, have to mostly spend time concentrating on my game rather than any other nonsense!

stuck

i'm always looking for ways to improve but am a bit stuck.

taken a week off, and will take another soon (both involuntary)

my game has improved upon my return back to when i was half decent.

not sure where to go now other than trying to win consistently for the next 6 weeks.

but when thats done and i move up levels with a modicum of brm, then wat?

awful may, but better than both of the last two years losing around $2k, and my all in ev luck being around -$2k so i played level after rake which is pretty bad imo.

the next 2 months i will be away for another week, after which i aim to have 5 fig roll back on stars, and also going for a littlewoods deal which includes a £100 sign up bonus, and iPod touch along with rakeback all for only 2k mpps which i hope to make in 2-3 weeks. also want to keep up platinum status on stars to hit supernova soonish.

yesterday went up $600 then down $500 then finished level. made 5/6 mistakes which i know about and weren't hugely -ev but -ev imo nonetheless.

been working on cutting them out and improving. also not tilting which has been my biggest downfall last 2 months.

platinum

again for this month hit platinum. on my way to supernova, although i worked out the rakebkc rate is pretty poor. only when you hit 400k vpps for the year do you get a decent 30% or so. this might change if i move up levels as i may get more points for less rake since the pots will in general be bigger but will really have to just play lots of hands at higher levels to see.

earlier than before now that i'm 4 tabling, and playing some $2/4.
playing so badly i'm gonna leave off the $2/4 for now, even though it's just as easy as $1/2, and the only person who beats me is myself.
in fact, there's only one person i avoid at the tables since they always seem to have a hand against me, and they're a decent player from what i can make out.
which is another thing stars players are quite bad at. table selection. i sit on a table that ends up having for other multitabling tight abc players, and then a 5th joins! i know i'm not great but its still a stupid time and place to sit down.

alas, it's turned into my worst month since last may. in fact, every may has seen me lose for the past 3 years.

£2k each of the last two years so the current month loss of $2k is half as bad.

according to poker ev, my equity over the last 3 days play is about $2k.

so essentially i'm playing rubbish this month and also being unlucky. whilst the luck will even out i have to start playing better.

my mentality really really needs to improve. i just need to concentrate especially on not making basic mistakes. this is what is costing me lots., last session i lost $500 and straight away i could name 3 spots where i made bad calls costing over $500 in total. and every time i knew i was beat.

i read a blog on limit poker where each call is either a bigbet or 1/2big bet post flop, and if you can save one big bet per hour, your win rate will rocket. so i should really concentrate on saving 125 of them on three bad calls.

wish me luck!

may so far

pretty disgusting swings going on, due to good/bad play syndrome rather than variance

sigh

i must be breakeven over the last 40k hands or so and it's so depressing

so many +$1k and -$1k days and its so tiresome when the beats all come in one go

last few days pokerev says i'm owed about $30,000 or sumthin

grrr

still playing terribly


ended last month down $700 which was pretty awful

started this month playing well. that lasted two days

gone from $750up to $750 down and barely played any hands this month. all starting with my 3rd session of the month where i get aa on the bb and lose to a button stealer who actually had a pair of 4's and hit a set. thanks. downhill all the way since then. also lost with aa to 99 where 9 wouldnt fold at all in a multiway pot only to spike a 9 on the turn. thanks again.

need to change my mentality of trying to win lots all at once, and just play slightly tighter, not assume everyone else is always bluffing and calm down just cos i don't get any decent hand hands for a bit.

need to play with no distractions also if i'm gonna take it seriously.

may take $3k out my account and then another 3 at the end of the month.

if i start playing well i'll also be taking shots at 2/4. maybe that'll work as an incentive.

gonna buy a 22" screen and comp to be able to play 3/4 tables without overlap. getting that next week so need to win some monies please

playing so baaaaaad

profit so far of $1k for the month, from a peak of $2.7k but what worries me is how bad i'm playing.

on target for 10k vpps half way through the month, and quite enjoy playing but i'm trying to force it too much and making basic basic mistakes which i really need to cut out.

luckily i find the occasional idiot to help me out a hole. today a guy ran up $100 to $1k on a $1/2 table before finally leaving with $300. i helped myself to most of it and don't understand why more people don't try to play hands against these people. hit anything and you get paid! his bet sizing was so easy to read though it didn't stop me paying him off twice when i know i should have folded. basic mistake.

think i may get a new comp and the 24" screen from the stars shop. or maybe i'll just but a screen and get a ps3 and wii instead.

where to play?

still playing between 3/4 tables. seem to play better with 3 and running hot so far this month. though haven't played as many hands as i would like.

however, having said that, as i was going to sleep last night i realised that stars vpp's are reset every year, so my plan of hitting the rakeback targets was shot to pieces since i was looking at doingit over 2/3 years.

so i might have to move to fulltilt for cash games. the only problem is stars games are so weak. it's more profitable there than playing at crypto inc rakeback and bonus's which i don't get on stars.

gonna keep playing at stars for a few weeks at least i reckon till i work out what to do.

looking again at what fpp's can buy, and even though i'd make over 25k per month there isn't very much appealing things. am trying to work out what's the best value for money since i guess i have to use them. perhaps the sunday warm up? maybe a 24" monitor. might get a new comp anyway from dell which comes with a monitor and would be cool to have 2.

any ideas about where to play (somewhere with lots of players and rakeback obv) or ideas about what to spend the fpp's on would be much appreciated. not that anyone reads this!

march roundup - was up at 4k profit before i finished off hitting plat status, but dropped about 1k reaching it. well worth it!

have since played a couple sessions of $2/4 and once bought for 300, rebought 200 twice and eventually left with 630. time before was last month and i got stacked by a fish with bottom set!

worst experience for a while was 2 days ago with a massive useless fish on my left who kept beating me! never called my river value bets when i had monsters. always knew when to bet/call when i was bluffing. one time when i check the river with the nuts is the one time he doesnt bet it. and he just gave all my monies to everyone else at the table!!!

other than that all good so far this month. just need to play more hands, more hands!

mentality

even though i'm playing 4 tables at once i find myself checking whether i'm currently up or down for the session. i used to do this all the time playing 3 tables, and i've realised it's a bad thing to be doing since it affects my decisions.

i've caught myself doing this recently, as i've been trying to stop and just concentrate on making the right decisions.


and whilst there's been lots of ups and downs and obvious bad tilty decisions these last few weeks i've finally broken $2k for the month and hoping to hit $3k (short of the $5k min i had hoped for from this month)

also look likely to hit 10k vpps on stars and platinum status. should reach it at about 16k hands.

so basically i need to play more hands every month.

at the moment i sometimes find myself stopping concentrating after 1-2hours and i've been disciplined to stop. only rarely have i been able to play more than 4+hours a day. and i might start having to if i'm gonna make some inroads into the 500,000 vpps i want. and my current rate it'll take about 4 years!!

me plan

i finish studying in two years and by that time i want to have made enough to purchase a house
seeing as how i can't get much of a mortgage, i reckon i'm gonna need about $200k

currently, i can play maybe 20k hands per month and running ok $5-8k should be a realistic
over 24 months (assuming $6.5kpm) this comes to $156k. that would be pretty sweet.

this is at $1/2 and i'd be hoping to move up to $2/4, $3/6 and $5/10 as my roll allows.

this month i've hit 10k hands, though have played terrible for part of the month when i first started 4-tabling. somewhy i played looser!? anyways, back on track last few days, and about $1k up, so a bit of catch up to do to hit 5k in the next 10k hands.


as an aside, i think that poker is like driving. getting annoyed at the idiots that surround you and stooping to their level is a bad idea. do it in poker and you'll lose monies. do it on the road and you can lose a lot more.

a 2nd aside, i read a few forums, and there is soo much nonsense on there, with the occasional eye opening bit of info. i think there are only 2 real good bits of advice that i've ever read. and lots of bad things, which explains how even regular players can consistently make bad plays. at 1/2 people are happy to get 200big blinds in preflop with KK. obviously you are up against aces!
also people quote pokerstove as the reason you should call aipf with AK against a 4bet. unless you are weighting the range you are up against, it will look like you should call, but AA and KK are the majority of that range so it's definitely a -ev play!

i say this, but i am actually rather pleased people play and think so badly about the game. gives me a chance to win since i'm not particularly good!

and since tilt is defo my biggest leak, the moral of the story is practice less road rage, and less table rage.

and one last thing before i forget, wanna hit 500kVPP on stars within these 2 years, to get a decent amount of rakeback + stuff from their fpp store. 500kvpp is roughly where rake and presents from stars almost equals rake. though i do need to work out the vpp to rake ratio and higher stakes. only prob is there's no direct correlation.

tilt

not the tilt you notice but the subtle play marginal situations badly all the time tilt

gone from $1100 up to $1100 down so far this month.

thats pretty shocking.
coincides with increasing from 3 to 4 tables. might have to drop down to three till i can get a screen with no overlap. oddly enough my vpip and pfr % have both gone up as i increased number of tables played. i thought i would play tighter with more tables.

need to concentrate next session i play, by not playing rubbish cards at the start. be patient. wait for good hands and situations. gonna buy in with 60% of full amount to make sure i don't chase with sooted connectors etc.

i wanna play 4 tables so it will be easy to hit supernova and by the end of april would be able to get either a 24"monitor or something ps3. though its the low end ps3 and is less points.

i still don't like playing on stars with no rakeback but lost £1k in hills over the course of 2 months, and since i'd won $1.5k on stars in the same amount of time i figured even with rakeback i'd make more on stars.

i think i just need to play better.

i have decided some yearly aims too.
but the end of next year i wanna hit £100k to afford a house.

play $1/2 and $2/4 this year and reach $50-60k.
next year $3/6, $5/10 and make $100k.

all using good brm.

here goes.....


(oh yeah, january was -$500 in cash, +$2k in tournies
february was +$4k
march -$1.1k so far...)

interlude

3 funnies from the bbc

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7070564.stm
"It would be surprising if he didn't know something of what was going on, but I've got absolutely no evidence that he had. On that basis it would be wrong of me to suggest that he had."
well, you can't say it would be wrong of you to suggest something and then go ahead and suggest it!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/7109058.stm

and the best for last

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6187080.stm
"Two thirds of people also sit down at home when they get home from work."
which leaves 1 in 3 people to stand up/crouch/kneel/lie down when they get home, but not sit!


not played a great deal recently.
a few stars tournies and one 6th place for $1.5k in a $50 buy in, and one other cash when finishing 250/18000. lost countless 60/40s, 50/50s and 40/60s whilst winning 1.
lost in 2 other tournies the same night just before the money in pots for 3x avg stack

i quite enjoy the mtts again, and the infrequent playing keeps the interest levels up. been going out too often recently to get some time in to play them. they finish so late even if they start at 8 so need the whole night, and preferably the next day too, free.

tilt

tilted like a moron yesterday and blew £300. hadn't run that bad for ages. played some $1/2 for some reason and lost about $350 there

didn't want to play for a while but had 2 freerolls today. lost in an interpoker one with 2 pair vs set when i was playing very laggy early to build a stack and dont really care.
betfair had a $5k freeroll worth winning. first hand i play is against a shortstack (165) at 10/20 with AQ aipf, and hit a queen on the turn. 2 hands later i get AA in the cutoff. folded round to me and i raise to 100 to look like a steal since the big blind is sitting out (although it's only 20 some tard might think im doing it with nothing). i get reraised all in by the blind. instacall and i see his kings the same time as i see the flop come Kq8. oh well.

played some $0.5/1 and made $200 with people unable to fold QQ to a preflop reraiser on a king high board. both times i had ak. also won a pot with kk. again i reraised pf from the button and only the intial raiser called. flop is 2 diamonds and q high. he check raises me all in and since i ly had 20 behind and there was 100 in the pot i couldnt fold and he had aq. amazingly my hand held up and they were the only 3 big pots. lost a bit blind vs blind on a 9j9 flop. me 93, him 98. no high card 9 j or 3 to save me. possibly could have folded the river though.

few things i've been meaning to write about and will when i get a chance (obviously it's for me since no one else reads these words of wisdom)

value bets
emotions at the tables (very bad thing)
patience
[insert here the other things i forgot]

total for month = -£300 including about £100 on satellites as i attempt to win a trip to australia. maybe i should have just stumped up $550 and bought straight into the final?

great parenting

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/7085241.stm

anyways, got my ipd touch from stars today. and what a touch it is! just need to get a decent case for it now.

as for my balance on betfair, it has been yoyoing like a julian thew. 700 at start of month up to 880 then down to 620 after a horror day two days ago. back up to 830 yesterday. now at 770. though i did spend 60 on tournies. got nowhere in the $20k, and played two sats. aussie millions round 2 for $55 where 1st gets seat, second gets $132. i came 3rd of 12. lost two 50/50s to go from chip lead to third when 4 left. then lost to 80/20s to go out finally with kk vs 55.

played cash at same time and started off on a horror show getting no hands against uber donks who left after hitting. then i start to get hands. paid off 3 times by three different players in about 5 mins and was not in the right frame of mind so have logged off for the day.

amazingly won a couple fo quid at cash. so 70 up overall for the month. the other tourney i played was a set to a passport final which i won (only 5 players and 1 seat gtd so that was a nice $50 overlay). got that on sunday. not expecting much but will be a decent experience since i really want win a seat to the aussie mills but may have left it to too late.

still dunno where to play the poekrs after this month. betfair traffic is quite slow. and thats at $0.50/$1. it's only gonna get worse if i move up to $1/2 and $2/5.

woop

since i last posted things been going well on the poker front.

in about 8 days i made £500 on betfair cash games (plus £50 rakeback), then played a $50 $3k guaranteed 65 runner tourney, paying $1k for first and i won that. this was after coming 4th in my local live donkfest. they're doing a monday night league with winner getting a trip (for 1?!) to vegas and entry into a tournament there. came 4th, and now on 16points after 4 weeks, leader on 27. though i missed one week. am gonna really try to win this. not quite sure why it's only a trip for one.

withdrew $1500 from stars (so my account there is level) and i have pokertracker, 3 books, and iPod and a $1200 roll to show for it. no real point in playing there without rakeback though.
withdrew the £500 win from betfair, and now have£800 after another £100 win on the cash games tonight. going to try to qualify for the aussie millions. will play the $50 satellites to try to get into the main $550 dollar qualifier.

also i noticed that on betfair leaderboard i made almost 100,000 points in about a week's play. winner had just under 300,000. so in a month, surely i can win it?

anyway, will play at betfair for one more month, then probably move to william hill since i'll get $250-$350 (up to $550) bonus just for playing there plus rakeback.

not sure what to do with the money i have in stars. i don't really like the massive field mtt's, and there's no point it not making interest for me, so either will take a shot, buying in for $200 at maybe $5/10 table, or just withdrawing the lot.

touch

played this afternoon and was 90 points shy of the 34k fpp point target and made about $300 at the same time.

this evening i made the points i needed but was having a mare at the tables playing like a tard. losing 99 to ak for $150 didn't help. but then i refocused and started winning some back. stuck for $250 at one point i made it back to between 50 and 25 down before a lovely run of cards including aa vs kk all in preflop amongst other outdraws by me (money went in when i was ahead though) saw me finish with a profit in the second session of $350! made $400 in about 5 mins. after 90 mins of leakage.

so roll is at $2750 and the iPod has been ordered. 4-6 week wait but what a touch!

now i just need to decide about where to carry on playing. need 6 seater tables and soft games but with rakeback. might leave a couple of hundred in stars for some tourneys (maybe even try some say's to big sunday tournaments.

want to avoid crypto. not sure where to go. though the hills bonus's are pretty sweet. may deposit £200 and try it out for a bit....

900 points to go

till i can order the iPod 'what a touch' touch

plus good 2 hour session. up then down then up then level then up. bit swingy and lost one massive 5050 early when i've got one over and the flush draw (thought i would have two overs) with my ajcc vs qq on a low board with 2 clubs. that was a $300 pot. obviously he folds for a token round before running away.

made one hero call with j10 on a jack high board after being reraised pre. guy bets flop (all diamons J72) checks the 2 turn, bets the 3 river. i call and he shows kqss

made one immense fold. lp raises to $4, button makes it 12 and since everyone is over $120 i call from the sb with 88 as does initial raiser. flop comes A83. i check and it's checked round. turn is a k and again it's checked round. i did want to check raise the flop but maybe should have lead.
river is a J so Q10 is the nuts. good luck to anyone with that!

i value bet/blocker bet the river with a $20 bet and cutoff folds, button shoves all in for another 71 dollar. i think and think for about 2mins before folding. can't see him having anything other than kk. 2 diamons on flop means aaa of ak leads flop or at least the turn, not sure why kkk doesn't bet turn though.
i figure he has me beat 75% of time here at least and calling $70 into a $150 dollar pot isn't worth it.

roll $2130
900 points to go