still on the de-cline

Not too much to report except for some more losses unfortunately. Poker can be a pretty cruel game. When you're losing it's easy to question why you even play the game in the first place and without the confidence my game definately suffers. So, what's the damage? Since the new year i've lost a quater of my bankroll which is pretty shocking. The trouble is, I'm chasing my losses at the moment trying to get back on track. Never a good strategy, but sometimes hard to avoid.

Tilt kicked in pretty hard when I got two outtered in the deep stages of a multi, but come on, that's pretty standard. I've got to learn to roll with the punches if I'm going to be a good MTT player. Since then, like I've said I've been chasing losses and don't really think I've been in the right frame of mind to play nuttin but A. About two years ago me and a mate started taking MTT's seriously, and although I don't think our strategy was the best our focus and concentration on each game I think was unmatched. We were constantly assessing people's ranges, what fold equity we had, who was playing aggressively etc etc...It gave us a massive edge. I need some of that focus back, trouble is you can't have it if you are chasing your losses. So, a pretty boring and low spirited post but after a few days of not playing I'll be back ready to destroy it again.

more down's then up's

An interesting and frustrating 3 weeks of poker. As much as I enjoy playing multitables they just take up too much time. I decided to try and focus just on 6 max 25c-50c for this month and was 9 tabling most of the time with an effort to try and get to gold star status. Although I don't really think there much point in getting to gold star doesn't seem like you can do much with it, although I have alot of FPP's to spend now.

Anyways, my pokertracker isn't working but basically I went 6 buy-ins up and then proceeded to lose 11 buy ins... in pretty standard/brutal fashion. So basically I dropped $250 which although not a HUGE amount of money is more painful due to the hours I put in. Atleast I got to gold star status.....GRRRREAAT.

A few leaks in my game which I need to sort out:

- Calling raises OOP too much.
- 9 tabling isn't probably optimal, should really stick to 6.
- Not betting for value on the river once it's checked to me.
- When I have the nuts of the river and someone bets into me, alot of the time I just jam my whole stack in there, even if it's 3 or 4x the pot. This probably works 5% of the time (in that I get called) and although is pretty funny when I do, I could be getting so much more value if I just put a sensible raise in there. In short, I get greedy!
- Most importantly, don't play when I'm not feeling like playing well.

Poker: you love it and hate it.

The last week of poker has been a bit of a rollercoaster where I've lost some discipline and played a bit too much; something I'm not too pleased about and will improve upon. It stems from the tournament win the other day, getting use to larger buy-in tournaments, the new found money and a bit of over confidence. Luckily I haven't damaged the bankroll but could have quite easily. I had one session where I had a $700 swing playing cash, I'm not doing that again....until I have the bankroll.

The MTT's haven't exactly been going very well. No cashes online in the last 20 tournaments. I'm not sure exactly what the standard variance is in MTT's with such large fields as I'm not a regular MTT player but losing consistently isn't much fun. What's more frustrating is that I haven't been playing well. I've had a couple of poker binges in which I just fired up as many tables as I could, out of the bankroll, and played without focus.

The one cash I did have was in the live poker tournament last week. The structure was really good, you could start with 10k if you took the add-on, blinds 25/50 and a 20 minute clock. It was a real local boys game, everyone knew each other and the type of game where if you took a few hundred quid from a mate in the cash game you could wind him up the next day on the high street. I eventually finished up 4th, trying my luck one too many times stealing the blinds but was good for a small profit. The friend I was with came 2nd which was pretty impressive especially as he was one card away from the £500 first prize.

So, this week has really taught me a lesson. No more poker binges, you may aswell play slot machines if you are going to do that because it's pretty much the same process imo. No more playing out of the bankroll, getting over-setted in $1-$2 taught me that. From now on I won't be playing anything higher than 25c/50c until I hit $4k. It's all about being a bankroll nit.

A few goals to go with the new year too:

- Finally get the life/poker balance
- Stop playing whenever it's not fun.
- Record every entry/win/loss
- Win enough money to pay for a Vegas and Brazil trip

Current bankroll situation:

$2k- Just to be used for MTT's and 25c-50c
W$450- To be used to try and Satalitte into a big live event

starting well

Last week I had my biggest cash ever in a $10r, 5th place for $1.7k which I'm really pleased about but at the same time a tad annoyed as I came into the final table leading in chips. First place was $6.5k, but at one point I could of easily come 7th or 8th and obviously to get to the final table I won a couple of flips so I can't be too greedy!

On the final table the average stack was about 500,000 and I had 1.1m and position on the guy who had 2nd in chips so it was looking pretty ideal. As the prize jumps were very big for the level of buy-in I was raising about 70% of flops preflop and getting no one playing back at me so soon got my stack up to 1.4m. The first time somone played back at me they had 350,000 and was priced into call their all in with A4o. They had deuces which held, which was a huge flip for me if I win. I then shoved in the SB on a short stacked BB with K4 which was dominated by K9. That put me to average stack and we had only lost one player. In hinddight, I could have played the final table more conservatively and guaranteed a 3rd or 4th position but I was going for the win so no regrets.

At 5 handed each jump was over $1k so play was pretty tight and I was in push/fold mode with an M of 4. Final hand I jammed the button with the mighty 5,2o and lost to 9's. Both blinds had similar stacks to me and were playing fairly tight so I don't mind pushing there. It's definately made me have more belief in my game and the money will be good in building my BR and it's means I don't have to deposit.

During the month off I had from poker I was watching some of the proven winners of MTT's online, i.e Annette_15 and Chris Moorman which definatley helped and made me think alot about strategy in a different way. The biggest realisation I had was the level of aggression they both have and how well timed it is. Also reading their blogs it seems like they have a real winning mentality and hunger to win which I think is a fundamental part of their success and something I'm trying to improve in each tournament I play.

That was last week and after that I've had a few smaller cashes and yesterday decided to see how hot I was runnning by entering some medium sized games as the prize pools were looking pretty juicy. I played 3 $50-60 tournaments, so not sticking to my 1% rule...

The first game tilted me pretty hard when I got 2/5 of a guys stack in pre-flop with his 5's against my aces. A 5 on the flop was pretty nasty. Later on he mentioned that he mis-clicked called preflop which tilted me further! The second tourney someone soulread me as I RRAI on the turn with no hand and got called by second pair, no kicker. Owned. The final tournament I made a debateable push with an M of 6 with K8 UTG+2, and got beaten by 10's. So, a pretty dissapointing evening but thrown in with a bit of poker-burnout as I had hit the tournaments fairly hard that week.

Going to take a break for a day or so and next poker will be a live game a mate invited me to which is a £60 dealer dealt tournament. Again out of the BR so not the best idea but it will be (hopefully) more fun and good to get some live experience in. If any of St.Albans finest poker players are out there and want to join me it's Tuesday night and I can drive...

tournament times

Had a pretty good month off from poker, and now I'm back time to start destroying some tournaments.

The last two days I've been back playing I'm about $400 up which is a good base to build the roll. My plan is to deposit a furthr $1K and use it for 10-20 buck MTT's and put in a good amount of volume to see if I can get rolled for $20-$50 MTT's; whilst never using more than 1% of my roll in one tournament. Time to win a donkament.

playing like an uber zoid...time for a break

The last few entries of my blog have taken a similar vein: I haven't been able to concentrate whilst playing poker because I've been trying to get sorted in London..however that hasn't been stopping me from playing. In summary during the last few sessions I've:

- Played out of my bankroll
- Blamed bad play on bad luck
- Tried to force my way to win pots
- Played way too LAG
- And the main thing is...I've played to avoid sorting more important things out which has led to consistent losses!

Not a very good combination but atleast I know what I'm doing! Last week was not much different and i've lost a furter $120. I did have a pretty enjoyable tournament though, I was playing a $5r to a $55 tournament. I got my stack from 2k up to 4k and then at 100-200, and one limper I made it 850 with 7's. The BB decides to push for 3.5K and after the limper folds it's on me. As we are still in the rebuy and I'm very likely to be flipping I call and get showed 66. Ideal. Not so ideal when he runner runner flushes though. Losing the pot is fine but he then goes on to properly berate my play in the chat box. Wow, nice winner.

In the freezout stage I manage to get up to 8.5k and my now nemesis is on about the same stack. He limps UTG I call in the SB with 87o, and the BB checks. The flop is an enjoyable 888 and we all check the flop. A 7 hits the turn and, still wanting people to catch up I check and unfortunatley the BB and nemesis check too. The river is a 9 and I shove my 8K stack in to a pot of about 1,200. Obviously the nemesis has limped with A9 and insta calls. I like to think karma played a part in that pot...

Anyways that was the only satalitte I managed to win, the rest of my tournaments have been a mixture of bad play and bad luck, but leaning towards more bad play. So, the plan is to take a month off from poker. To be honest I need it and I've done this before with good success, so here goes. See you in a month.

Quick update

An overdue update here. Over the last month I've been busy searching for a new home to live in and have been getting more and more involved with my course at Uni. The house hunting has been an absolute mission, although I think the end is in sight. I've found a nice three bedroom place, where I'll be getting a double room but there's a catch, I need to find someone to fill a single room and pay £110 p/w for it. That's pretty pricey for the area I'm living in. Fingers crossed it works out though.

On the poker front, it's been going.....AWFUL. From satalitte's alone I had built an $800 roll. Titly internet cafe sessions where I should have been working or sorting out the house huting front has led me to a roll of $250. The one thing I've learnt is that you really need to have your head on when your playing poker, you can't be distracted from anything, especially something big like finding a place to live, be distracting you. The way I was playing was just ridiculous, it was like I was trying to lose. Who know's maybe I was.

Anyway, I've banned myself from playing until I'm up to date with work/reading and have a place to live in. I still want poker to be a part of my life, as sad as that sounds, but not sure what to do with my $250 roll. I need a new target, some new motivation. The whole game has been getting a bit stale for me. Suggestions are very welcome.

P.S Come on Obama...one time!