GUKPT London, Online Sundays!

Hey!

Well my GUKPT London attempts were a bit fail. I'm not going to go into it, but I doubt I've ever ran as bad before playing poker. Of course its kind of inevitable to come some time as I figure I've played well over 1million hands by now so you've got to have some moments where you lose every flip, every 80/20 etc. To not go into a bad-beat post, over the weekend I lost 4/4 times with my flopped sets, 2/2 times with AAs, 2/2 times with KK's and 1/1 time with Queens. I literally didn't win a showdown sigh.

Thankfully I was playing £2/£5 with over 50 buy-ins and somehow didn't lose more than I did given the run of cards I seemed to get fucked over with. One day I will hit big live. It's due!

Other than that, the weekend was actually a whole lot of fun. It was really fun chilling with Andi in London and Edgeware Road never dissapoints. Doubt I'll ever get sick of Lebonise food, just a shame they don't seem to have any restaurants near my house or at uni! The shisha was also great. London is an amazing town, and I do aim to live there sometime in the next 10 years. What I would do however, is not have a car. I made the epic mistake on the Saturday of driving into town from Sutton (Andi's house who I was crashing at). It took 3 hours in the afternoon to drive the 15 miles. FML haha. It was probably a sign from the poker gods that the day wasn't going to go well as I lost close to £1.5k once I did finally arrive. Woops :p.

I think the important thing though is to be decision orientated not results orientated. After hands, particularly live as they come around so much less, I always try to think of many other possible lines I could have taken in the hand. Such as check/raising rather than leading, different bet sizes and how I feel my opponents would have reacted given their range not just their specific holdings.

I think live cash will also be really beneficial as when I'm out of hands, rather than zoning out, I try to improve my hand reading game. You can learn a lot about how people play if you put them on hand ranges and if the pot does get to showdown (which is seems to more so than online) you can get a great deal of satisfaction by pin-pointing down the participants almost exact holdings.

My future plans remain to focus on my MTT game, and this will inevitably lead me to the live arena where tournaments are often much deeper and hand analysis plays a much greater role than online where stacks are often shallower and having a close to flawless preflop game is of much greater importance. If I do see myself playing higher stakes in the future, such as $100r and $1k freezeouts, I will need to define an edge and due to so many of the top MTT'ers having very accurate preflop MTT games, I think that practicing live on hand reading and developing a more solid post-flop game can only lead to benefits. You often find many top cash game players doing well on the tournament circuit due to the deeper level of play where they can fully exploit their opponents 100bb+ deep whilst having a relatively optimal preflop game with 30bbs and less. I would like to be in the situation where I would not be ran over 200BB deep or something against an aggressive opponent who has position on me if such an event did occur.

OK, enough of the ramblings!

Sunday was pretty cool. Got back from London about 6ish and suprising not disheartened from being fucked over all weekend, decided to load up some tournaments. Nothing special, but I did get a few deep runs and knocked out another pro on full tilt. GG chad, thanks for the t-shirt :). The best was in the $30 rebuy which I final table bubbled AK to AQ. Kind of summed up the weekend, but whatever, this shizz happens!

The iPoker ECOOP (European Cup of Online Poker) has started this week. I'm 1 tabling the $215/$250k gtd. I don't plan on playing many of the events, partially due to my recent downswing putting some monetary pressures but also I'm getting a load of deadlines coming up soon. That and 3 weeks til the end of term, so I plan on partying it hard with my friends before I become too isolated back home in Dorset away from the hustle and bustle of uni life.

Hope all is good for everyone, keep up the grind and keep smiling :)

WSOP 2010 Schedule Leaked

The events are all subject to change, and I'm sure many of them will be. But this seems to be the rough-draft so far.

Fri, May 28th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #1: Casino Employees No-Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $500

Fri, May 28th
12:00 PM
2-Day Event Event #2: The Player’s World Championship
No Rebuy/Add-ons $50,000

Sat, May 29th
12:00 PM
2-Day Event Event #3: No-Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,000

Sun, May 30th
12:00 PM
2-Day Event Event #4: Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Mon, May 31st
12:00 PM
-149-Day Event Event #5: No-Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Tue, Jun 1st
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #7: 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500

Tue, Jun 1st
12:00 PM
2-Day Event Event #6: No-Limit Hold’em Shootout
No Rebuy/Add-ons $5,000

Wed, Jun 2nd
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #8: No-Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Thu, Jun 3rd
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #9 Pot-Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Thu, Jun 3rd
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #10: World Championship Seven Card Stud
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000

Fri, Jun 4th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #11: No-Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Fri, Jun 4th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #12 Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Sat, Jun 5th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #13: No-Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,000

Sat, Jun 5th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #14: 2-7 Draw Lowball
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Sun, Jun 6th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #15: World Championship Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000

Mon, Jun 7th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #16: No-Limit Hold’em/Six Handed
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Tue, Jun 8th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #17: No-Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $5,000

Wed, Jun 9th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #18: Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,000

Wed, Jun 9th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #19: World Championship 2-7 Draw Lowball
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000

Thu, Jun 10th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #20: Pot-Limit Omaha
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Thu, Jun 10th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #21: Seven Card Stud
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Fri, Jun 11th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #22: Ladies No-Limit Hold’em World Championship
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,000

Fri, Jun 11th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #23: Limit Hold’em/Six Handed
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500

Sat, Jun 12th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #24: No-Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,000

Sat, Jun 12th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #25: World Championship Omaha Hi-Low Split 8 or Better
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000

Mon, Jun 14th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #26: No-Limit Hold’em/Six Handed
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500

Mon, Jun 14th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #27: Seven Card Stud Hi-Low 8 or Better
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Tues, Jun 15th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #28: Pot-Limit Omaha
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500

Tues, Jun 15th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #29: World Championship Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000

Weds, Jun 16th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #30: No-Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Weds, Jun 16th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #31: H.O.R.S.E
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Thu, Jun 17th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #32: No-Limit Hold’em / Six Handed
No Rebuy/Add-ons $5,000

Thu, Jun 17th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #33: Pot-Limit Hold’em / Omaha
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500

Fri, Jun 18th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #34: Seniors No-Limit Hold’em Championship
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,000

Fri, Jun 18th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #35: World Championship Heads Up No-Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000

Sat, Jun 19th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #36: No-Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,000

Sat, Jun 19th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #37: H.O.R.S.E.
No Rebuy/Add-ons $3,000

Sun, Jun 20th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #38: World Championship Pot-Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000

Mon, Jun 21st
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #39: No-Limit Hold’em Shootout
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Mon, Jun 21st
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #40: Seven Card Razz
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500

Tues, Jun 22nd
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #41: Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split 8 or Better
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Wed, Jun 23rd
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #42: No-Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Wed, Jun 23rd
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #43: World Championship H.O.R.S.E.
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000

Thu, Jun 24th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #44: Mixed Hold’em (Limit/No-Limit)
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500

Fri, Jun 25th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #45: No-Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Fri, Jun 25th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #46: Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split 8 or Better
No Rebuy/Add-ons $5,000

Sat, Jun 26th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #47: No-Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,000

Sat, Jun 26th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #48: Mixed Event
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500

Mon, Jun 28th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #49: No-Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Mon, Jun 28th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #50: Pot-Limit Omaha
No Rebuy/Add-ons $5,000

Tue, Jun 29th
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #51: Triple Chance No-Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $3,000

Wed, Jun 30th
12:00 AM
3-Day Event Event #52: No-Limit Hold’em/Six Handed
No Rebuy/Add-ons $25,000

Wed, Jun 30th
12:00 AM
13-Day Event Event #53: Limit Hold’em Shootout
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Thu, Jul 1st
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #54: No-Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,000

Thu, Jul 1st
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #55: World Championship Pot-Limit Omaha
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000

Fri, Jul 2nd
12:00 AM
2-Day Event Event #56: No-Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500

Mon, Jul 5th
12:00 AM
11-Day Event Event #57: World Championship No-Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000


Interesting parts include the players world championship $50,000 buy-in which will surely create a truly epic final table worth watching. Details of this massive buy-in aren't clear yet, but after the success of the $40k NLHE freezeout last year there are chances of this. Other rumours include that this could be an EPIC mixed game tournament in the form of 8-game out-dating the pretty boring limit-based HORSE tournaments of the past.

Of course I hope the main event is going to be sick, and that I manage to satellite in to play it. Kind of been my goal in poker ever since I first started watching it on TV. I bet I'de lose AA v AA first hand or something but still, the atmosphere would be insane.

I don't get my uni exam dates for a while, but I will indefinately have to miss a good proportion of this due to my exams being placed at the start of the series. How convenient. Meh, I guess they don't figure too many UK students can afford to be jetting off to America to gamble for $1000's anyway. Fair enough..

Anyway, from now until then I'm going to really hope I bink something big tournament-wise so that I feel much more comfortable playing a few of the $1k events and possibly $2k buyins. There are so many good ones to choose from I can't wait. You definately get more value for your £ in English tournaments, but it's the whole feeling of Vegas that is drawing me in. VEGAS BABY. Can't wait. After the new year, I'm going to try and sort out some sort of accommodation over there when I can get my rough exam dates, but it looks like I'll try to be over there from roughly the 19th June to the 9th of July.

I'de be interested about what people thought who have been to vegas before for the WSOP. Do you get heavily burnt out after a couple of weeks and just want to get the hell out or for my first time should I just try to go mental and play as much as I can throughout the series. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Tomorrow I'm off down to London for the GUKPT £300 prelim, then cash games for the rest of the weekend. Hotels booked and bags are packed. Bring it on. Tonight I'll just chill in the flat with the flat mates and bust some headshots on the new call of duty game. Life is good :)

Going back to Ireland!

I had a pretty good Sunday in the end. It was the first proper long sunday session in a while and it felt pretty good! I started playing at 5pm registering and finished registering at 2am. Highlights include:

-Winning a satellite into the FTOPs main event for $550 and then cashing in that for ~$1300.

-Final table $50 turbo on ongame, 7th for $500ish

-Final table bubble €50r ladbrokes, $100 turbo Ongame

-Winning a $7300 package back to Ireland.

So you could sum it up as quite a decent Sunday! I have yet to have that big score, but I'm working on it and think I played really well yesterday. Checking through a few of my hand histories, some of my reshoves were slightly marginal but overall I was quite happy and sort of wanting to play again tonight. But due to staying up in the FTOPs to 7:30am, then sleeping through my lectures today I think it's time to put poker to the side and get some work done.

The Ireland package is going to be so fun. I had a blast last time I went. I really feel like I'm due something big live as I just haven't managed to piece anything together let alone a min cash all year on the live felt. Is it worth asking for my one-time now?

Saying that, later this week on Thursday there is a good chance I'll be going down to London for the GUKPT final and to hopefully play a couple of their prelims.

I would like to play the £330 starting on Thursday night and running through to Friday with a 7000 starting stack. I'm not sure how tough the field will be as it's on a weekday but I hope it gets a few runners and makes the trip worthwhile. I'll also grind out a lot of hands in cash and maybe try my luck satellite into the £1000+£60 NLHE tournament at the weekend. I hope there are some good £2/£5 games running this weekend, I feel like raping the cash games hard.

After the recent downswing things are looking up a bit, I'm still like $10kish from my highest point, but if you count the Irish Open package to the bankroll (which I don't) I'm only $2.5k down from my highest which is definately good news.

Hope everyone has been playing/running good. Speak soon!

November, November

Hey!

It's been a while since I last updated the blog on here, but that has mainly been down to me not really playing too much poker. I had originally intended to put in quite a lot of volume at the cash game tables to undertake in the DTD promotion in which you have to generate 10,000FPP's in which DTD would give you a free seat to their Monte Carlo £1090 tournament in December. I roughly worked out with my play-style it would take around 22,000 hands at €1/€2 with 5 weeks to achieve the deadline. Now this is probably no biggie for me as in the average tournament night I estimate I play around 3000-6000 hands a night. Yet there is something with the monotony of online cash games where I just cannot seem to maintain my focus and actually play.

Unlike tournament poker which I really enjoy due to the constant changing dynamics at the table and the thrill of a big final table, I just find cash games repetitive and boring. That and the fact that DTDpoker software looks like it was designed by a failing GCSE computer student. So after a week and I had only put in a somewhat lowsy 750 hands, I thought the goal was a bit unachievable with my current work ethic.

Live cash on the other hand is a completely different animal altogether. I really enjoy it especially playing deepstacked and watching as the flow of the table fluctuates throughout the night. I've played more live than online as of lately but unfortunately having got much in the way of big profits going. I did blog a couple of weeks ago about a big £5/£10 game that I was invited to play in with a somewhat juicy line-up. Well the first week it didn't go too well, yet didn't go too badly either in fact with me making a loss of £900. I attributed this down to playing slightly too loose out of position and mixing it up with the other good players at the table when I should have instead been focusing more on getting involved in more pots with the weaker players at the table. As they are, afterall, where I expect to make most of my money from.

Anyway, I returned on the second week, not too disheartened from my previous weeks work to find a much tougher table. Regardless, I stuck at it and played a much tighter more solid game and despite losing a £4000 pot with JcQc on a 9c10c4s board (getting it all in on the flop) I still managed to make a pretty impressive £1200 profit. Not bad considering I was stuck £1500 after the first hour. Sometimes patience and not tilting really are a virtue in this game.

Dusk til Dawn also had their £300 weekend. I really love this tournament, but have historically ran horrifically in it. Sticking with tradition I lost 5/5 flips busting out. It really does feel like I'm cursed when I know whenever I see I'm racing/ahead/behind in a live tournament for a lot of chips that I'm just going to lose the pot. Gahhh, I know it's variance but this is getting onto 40 tournaments now I haven't cashed in live! It will be my day soon. Maybe the big comeback will be at the DTD montecarlo £1k buy-in with a £250k gtd prizepool. Yeh, I'll save all my run good for that...if I can satelitte in.

I might play a couple of online sessions and keep watching some cardrunner videos, but the work rate is piling on and now that I've recovered from my cold, I'm working out and playing squash again. That and partying like a madman leaves little time for poker, but I'm fine with that and plan to make a big comeback in the christmas holidays when there will be fewer distractions around.

Hope everyone has been running good, if you have, share some of the love ;)

edit: played a session tonight, cashed in $300 shootout for $700ish on full tilt and also:



pretty good night in the end!