going in cold

Until yesterday, I hadn't played online in the last 6 weeks. I don't have internet access at the moment, so it's not really on the agenda. However, all the WSOP build gave me the itch to play so I couldn't help enter one of the sunday majors last night....

Playing meant trecking all the way to the 24hr uni computer suite. The last bus home was at 1am, so I figured I wanna be out reasonably early OR in for the long haul when the cumputer geeks get there for 7am. Unfortunately, it was a relatively early bust out when I played the following hand.

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Blinds 200-400

My stack 12k

Villains stack 34k.

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Pre flop:

Active villain makes it 1k UTG+2.

I make the call with AJo on the button.

Big blind comes along too.

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Flop: (Pot= 3,200)

Ah, 10d, 9s

Villain leads for 2k

I flat (I figure, either well ahead or well behind reassess on turn)

Button folds.

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Turn

3s (Boards A,10,9,3)

Villain bets 4k (Pot 7.2K)

I shove for 5k more.

He calls.

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I think flop call is fine with the attitude to re-assess but I think I got my info with his turn bet and should really fold. Pretty scary board for villain to bluff at (despite his activeness and chip stack) and I only really beat a bluff. Turns out I'm drawing dead.

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But even during the tournament I kinda felt like I was dead money to be honest. Poker is a game of practice, and not playing for over a month and then trying to play well in a big tourney is very very hard. Little things like concentration, reading hands, general table awareness are completely diminished and I never felt like I was really going to go deep.

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I've been doing more and more sport psychology recently and its very interesting and very relevent to poker in my opinion. Whilst watching some of the WSOP build up I saw Hellmuth talking about who was going to win, and he said "it would be someone who had imagined themselves winning, and prepared themselves for what it would be like". I gotta agree with him- I think that preparation is crucial in making the difference between you are your oponents, and I'm guessing that not enough people do it.

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As far as poker for me in concerned I'm going to try and grind HU very hard over the next 6 weeks before a Vegas trip at New Years. Cheapest game there looks to be $200NL so I wanna take a fair few buy ins with me. I was hoping to do more and more triathlon training to do the big race next August, however I decided against it for different reasons BUT will be doing at least a couple of Olympic triathlons next year so be good to get out training.

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We do have a regular live game running though in London. Well I say regualr but we are one week in. Thursday night's, its a great crack. Lots of people learning but everyone loves it. One guy i'm not sure if he's running a huge bluff on us all. One time, at blinds 20-40, he bet 20 on the flop into the pot of 100. I reminded him that the minimum bet was 40 now, and he then proceeded to bet 4000. Mind games. He ended up finishing 2nd.

small cash in the WCOOP

Still a little gutted about this tournament because I went pretty deep and didn't manage to play my big stack very well. Overall, happy to cash but I still seem to be stumbling at the final hurdle(s) which is definitely a leak in my game. I should of really bubbled also, when I two outted someone so the cash is very welcome. Things generally just went my way alot of the tournament, had AA v AK twice, hit two sets which both got paid and generally I picked good spots to bluff. I got up to 100k with 400 players left and then lost two big pots, firstly when I flat called a re raise with KK and lost to A7 and then when I didn't 4 bet with JJ and lost to Q10. The flop was Q high and I couldn't fold....Anyway, I got back to 50k, with average around 90K and then I played the following hand....

Folds round to serial raiser in the cutoff (stack 110k) and he makes a standard raise to ~4k
New player in the SB (Stack 80k) flat calls.
I'm in the BB with 50k and squeeze it all in the 63o.

Surprisingly I get two calls! lol. Cutoff reraised all in with AK and newbie calls with JJ. Good timing. Anyway i came 391/8538 for $580ish. Not sure about playing some more WCOOP, I'll see how the sat's go...

back on the felt

After 6 weeks off from the game I'm back playing. I've been working full time too so I've hardly put in many hours. It started horribly playing 50c-$1 cash and I have just about recovered the losses through a few tournaments. I think my cash game is pretty weak tbh, probably because I'm not rolled to play! However, after a cheeky satalite win I'm going to take a shot at the first WCOOP event, 6 max $215 buy-in with 20 min clock. Hopefully it will fund my entrance into the rest of the tournaments...I got my eye's on the Main event.

a break-even month of sorts...

Warning: boring post.

I haven't played a single hand of poker for the last month.
It's been good having an extended break from the game and during it I've never had a real urge to play. However, I am looking to start back up fairly soon, but I'm not sure if I'm ready yet!!! It's sad but, the whole package that comes with the game when you take it seriously is quite a lot...the discipline, the frustration, the highs and lows....it's a lot to take in! That's why its so good isn't it...

Also, in four days it also marks a year until the start of this Ironman in August 2010. I'm not sure if I've got my place yet, I'll find out in September but I'll use this month to atelast get myself ready for a long year of training.

So...this month is likely to be back to the tables and back on the road for training.

more on mindset

As per my last post I was hoping to play alot of MTT's and go on a huge grind. I booked a vegas trip for New Years 2010, so time to fund it.

I made a $500 deposit and got off to a pretty bad start, dropping a $100ish or so and got pretty dispirited, even though I've lost a lot more in the past, I'm not earning at the moment so the money hurts a bit more. I turned to the cash tables and had a few sessions where I played far too long (4 tabling for 5-6 hours isn't great for the eyes) and played very badly and too high, a bad combination. Needless to say it hasn't been my finest poker week.

I'm not really in the right frame of mind to be playing my best - I'm on a long break from my degree and not working, so without income. The added pressure doesn't seem to be working... Playing for 5 hours and then getting two outted for the CL on the bubble doesn't do much for your mood either and I'm not sure I can take it!

Away from poker, I've been been getting in to some long distance training recently, I'm semi-addicted to it. One aim is to complete this ironman next year. There's a big chance I won't get accepted because it's pretty compeititve to get a place and although I'd love to do it, it's a massive committment. I reckon it's a great time for me to do it though, I'll have a fair amount of time to train and some mates to do it with.

Back to what I'm going to do with poker. I'm going to take a break from it, take down the odd tourney, and just enjoy the summer and hopefully also get some work experience. It's not like poker is going to go anywhere.

playing better and the sunday million

After another dissapointing week on the tables, I took a small break and started playing smaller more focused sessions. I only had a few W$ left in my account so attempted some more step ones, this time running a lot better getting all the way up to step 4 on my first attempt. With the step 4, you can either continue to try and turn into a WSOP seat or play the sunday million. I chose the million.

Seeing as it's 11pm and it started at 9.30pm, I can't say it went as planned but I think I played well so i'm fine with it. Haven't really discussed many hands in my blog so I'll go through the one's I played. Early on, blinds 25-50, i'm on the button with AJ and raise to 150, sb folds & the BB re-raises small to 350. I call and the flop is A Q 10. He bets 500. I try a small raise to see where I am, and he pushes so it's an easy fold. Down to about 8k....

Still at 25-50, I open with Jc10c in MP and get 3 callers. It turns into quite an interesting hand. What's my move on the flop?

PokerStars Game #29105894708: Tournament #167588029, $200+$15 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (25/50) - 2009/06/07 16:39:17 ET
Table '167588029 525' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: gray31 (9725 in chips)
Seat 3: AUSTRIA-1000 (9900 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 4: Playing A (8500 in chips)
Seat 5: effendi11 (11125 in chips)
Seat 7: Krisrom06 (11025 in chips)
Seat 8: melikman (9800 in chips)
Seat 9: Hatts83 (9925 in chips)
melikman: posts small blind 25
Hatts83: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Playing A [Jc Tc]
gray31: folds
AUSTRIA-1000: folds
Playing A: raises 100 to 150
effendi11: calls 150
Krisrom06: calls 150
melikman: calls 125
Hatts83: folds
*** FLOP *** [6d Th Ts]
melikman: checks
Playing A: bets 250
effendi11: raises 550 to 800
Krisrom06: calls 800
melikman: calls 800

My move...?

Moving on, at 50-100 I open with KQ in MP and the SB calls. The flop is 7-2-2, he checks, I c-bet 500 and he makes it 1200. I really just didn't believe him here, and grew some balls and shoved it in. He folds quickly....phewww...Back up to starting stack.

I then get a bit of a card rush and get my stack up to 13k at the first break. At 150-300 I get AA in MP and make my standard small raise of 750. I get called on the button and in the BB. The flop is pretty ideal J 7 3- two diamonds. I bet 1200 and the button then makes it 5200, with 5k behind. I push and he calls and shows KK. Ideal. But the sick two outer comes on the river. Would of been sweet to have a big stack on the table at a low level but that's poker. I'd been running pretty hot in other game uptil then it just so happens that variance catches up on the big game.

On a more positive note I'm feeling alot more confident when I'm playing and really feel like I can take down a tournie when I'm in it. Just need to build the roll now and keep pushing for the big result I know will come.

it's been some time

I haven't blogged it up in a while. Three factors why I think, a) I'm not playing the same volume I use to play b) When I have, I've been losing like a bitch (not a good reason not to blog though) and c) I'm not sure I have the answers to my last post, but I'll come to that, later on in the week.

Straight to the bankroll facts then. I cashed out just over $1k from the MTT result, in a moment of panic, when I lost KK v AA twice in a row for $100 each and went on the kind of tilt when just want your money. The other $1K I had, in a mixture of w$ and $ I've lost. Pretty agonising to report that. Most of it playing 100NL and 50HUNL and being on the wrong side of big hands. Thats poker though, and another lesson in bankroll management. On the plus side though I have cashed out some money!

On the tournie front, its been ranging from a couple of cheeky $50FO and mainly $10-$20 buy ins. Went deep in two, but yeah not too exciting. Had some pretty funny live games with a few mates in London. The majority of my mates are just picking up the game and there's been some classic hands. After winning the pub quiz for £70 (booya) we divided up the funds and decided to run a poker cash game, pretty sweet! An hour in and there's only 3 of us left, and we are playing 40p/80p blinds. One of my mates, who hasn't played much at all calls on the button, SB folds and I raise to £3 77. He calls, and the flop is 9-2-6 rainbow. I bet £4 he calls. The turn is a 3 completing the rainbow and I check. He thinks, and announces "I bet the minimum". Hmmmm. So, it's 80p to call about £14. I've only got about another £6 behind, and that very funky bet has got me confused to the max, he looks like he never wanted to be in the hand in the first place... so I push the rest in. He flips two aces. Gotta love that play, anyway its the new catchphrase when we play now..."I bet the minimum".

So, back to online poker and my funds are looking low. I've got about 50ish and its all gonna go on tournies today. Another attempt to build the roll, and after playing a huge selection in games I think my HU is most profitable. I'd love to get rolled for $50NLHU soon as I think there's a lot of money to be won there and really is a pure form of poker. A change of fortune would be good though, yesterday I played 12 step one's and didn't make a SINGLE step two, that's pretty hard to do. Could of just gone to step three with that cash! oops. Although away from poker it's gone Ok the last few months, had £2 on the grand national winner at 150-1 and an accumlator came in for another £160 so that's been a litte better on the gambling front, although poker isn't gambling right?!

Hopefully be blogging more regularly, weekly ideally as I pick up the volume and start crushing the MTT's.