Monday - Under the gun

Good afternoon, good lord it's 2.30pm already and I'm only just getting around to lunch. I have had a wonderfully successful morning though, and all my outstanding issue have been busted without even putting up a fight. Life is good. Hopefully it means I'm on course for scoring some time off next week too. Pretty surprising that I'm having a good day, 'cause I only got about 3 hours sleep last night. During the insomnia I checked up on our calling station who I'd bluffed my stack into earlier on. When I finally dozed off he was chip leader with 100 left ! For a minute I thought I'd been properly suckered by a pro, but after watching him play a few hands I realised he was still just calling everything down without knowing whether he was ahead or not, gutshot river straight beating two-pair, river flush beating trips, the cards were running pretty hot for him. That's part of the beauty of the game, and the reason we're all here trying to be better players, anyone can win. It's what keeps people coming back when they've never even looked at a book about poker. When I woke up this morning I checked again to see if he'd taken the big prize down, he finished around 50th, scoring $1,200. I know, it's a bit vindictive to not wish the guy luck after he did me like a kipper, but I did feel better about life in general after seeing that eventually the odds caught up with him.

Anyway, it's now a new week and there are new decisions to be made.

I'll more than likely play every night this week except Saturday which is out 'cause its J's birthday. That probably means I'll be hungover for the million on Sunday but I'll give a couple of satellites a shot anyway. Lots of World Series of Online Poker events are on their way shortly too, with satellites already starting on Full Tilt, Ladbrokes, and I imagine PokerStars any day now, 'cause they were running test events for the WCOOP this weekend. That's all from me for now, here's what you should be reading …

Pauly's coverage live from the WSOP
Iggy's latest uber
April stalking Phil

And of course some of the bloggers in the WSOP main event -

Rizen
Absinthe
Jeff Pulver
Tuscaloosa Johnny
Lee Sullivan
Jan & Katja

Million GTD

Now, I could tell you I got busted out of the tourney with an M of 4.6 when I pushed into pocket Kings, and you'd say "ah that's unlucky dude". But that's not entirely true. My own foolishness cost me this tournament and below is the explanation why.

I am officially a complete muppet. I did possibly the stupidest thing I've ever done in a tournament. Having got through the first hour nicely, with T4050 and in 390th out of the 1510 who remained, I had spotted the poor player at our table. He would play too many hands, limp UTG, and bet any flop which he had a piece of, including when he had bottom pair. He also called everything down. My notes were as long as my arm, I had to scroll down to read them all. The main point of them was "DO NOT BLUFF INTO THIS IDIOT". Then, 15 minutes into the second hour, ignoring all that good read, I bluffed into him on every street, betting the pot on the flop, when he had what turned out to be a gutshot straight draw, so of course he called. The gutshot hit the turn, and I bet the pot again, which he called when there were two two-flushes on the board. Not to be outdone, when he checked the river I bet yet again, and he just called yet again, when he had the nuts!

I know what came over me, the same thing I shake my head at when I see arrogant twats on TV claiming they believe they'll beat everyone at their table. For those few moments in that hand I totally ignored the only feasable way to beat this guy because I had a total lack of respect for anything he did. It's annoying and now I'm the dumb idiot, instead of the fish who's still in the tourney and has, briefly at least, a stack putting him in the top 100 of those who remain.

The bluffing left me with an M of 4.6, so when I was UTG with Jh10h I pushed what I had left, the button called with KcKh and I donked myself out. At least I didn't get bad-beat out, in a funny way it's easier to take when it's your own mistake rather than cards. It's something one can eliminate easily in the future.

Close, but no cigar

The $450 EPT London Open satellite. Starting stacks 2,500. Blinds up every 30 minutes.

What a test of patience this was. With the blinds going up so slow it took a long time for people to bust and with 106 entrants it was four hours before we reached the final 16 and were in the money. That said, the slow rate of blinds meant there was absolutely no pressure to take big risks during the journey down tourney road. I put myself in Dan Harrington tight mode and played the best poker I've ever played in a tournament so far, and I'm really happy about it, towards the end though the cards flat out refused to fall my way.

With what I remember to be about 23 players left everyone at my table had spotted the two suckers who'd just been lucky enough to survive so far, they were both keen to throw chips into the pot when it wasn't necessary and the rest of us were pretty much avoiding each other.

I had T6800 with the blinds at 200/400/25 when I picked up Qd As on the button. The first of our fishes was sat to my right in the cutoff and raised to 600, knowing what a big range of hands he could have I reraised to 1200, both the blinds folded and the fishy pushed allin, making it 2050 more to me. Even if he had a good hand this was still a good call for me since there was now 3175 in the pot and it was much more likely that I was a favourite or coinflip than dominated. We turned our cards over and he had Ah 4h, sweet, my hand is a 65% favourite. The flop is all diamonds, Kd Ad 8d. Even sweeter my hand is now 82% favourite. Fish needs either running fours to win or the board to pair the 8 for him to get a split. He types "8" in the chat, and just like that the dealer gives it to him ! The river is the 3h and I'm stuck with T7012 instead of T10507, still it's better than him hitting the flush and I just hope to get a similar situation later.

25 hands or so later I'm on the button again with Ac Kh, the blinds are still 200/400/25. One of the better players at our table raises to 1600 UTG+1 everyone folds to me and I just call to see how the flop develops, the blinds fold and the flop comes Qh 3h Ah. UTG+1 bets out 3200, just under the size of the pot. With top pair and the nut flush draw I push making it 2437 more, which he kinda has to call, he turns over Ad 9s, making my hand 92% to win. The turn is the As, actually making my hand less of a favourite (79% to win 14% tie 7% get done by a full house) Unfortunately for me the river paired the 3 on the board and we both had a full house. So I end the hand with T7649 instead of double that amount.

I could tell this dealer had been sent to test me ! It was going to be hard work with things like that not going my way. Six hands later with blinds still 200/400/25 I pick up Kc Qc in the Big Blind. A new player to the table has been moved into the seat between me and the fishy who split with me when I had AQ. We're two players from the bubble so it's tight and everyone folds to the fish on the button. He pauses for about 10 seconds and then pushes his 5015 stack allin. I don't have much to think about, it looks like a steal and if it's not I think it's about time I got lucky ! I call and he has 8h 2s ! Sweet, I'm a 69% favourite to win the hand. The dealer wasn't being friendly so far though and the flop was 2c 7c 5h, he'd paired and I was still a favourite with all the clubs but only 53% now. When the turn was the 5d I thought it was going to be another case of dumb luck but thankfully the sweetest 4 of clubs I've ever seen hit the river and I got to bust fishy 2 places before the money :o)

Seven hands later with T12964 I get JcJd UTG, and raise 1000 more to 1400. The other poor player at our table pushes his stack in on the button making and the blinds fold leaving it 1890 to me. The guy's been on a rollercoaster with his stack and I call to see AhKh so I'm only a small 53% favourite, but can afford to take this hit if the coin flips the wrong way. Everything looks good when the flop and turn are all rags but he rivers a K so I lose the hand and take a small dent.

We get down to the final 16 shortly after that and so everyone is guaranteed $475 in real cash rather than tourney dollars but the top 5 will get their $8000 seat in the EPT plus $1000 spending money. With T8924 and the blinds still 200/400/25 I'm dealt Qd Ac UTG I'd let this go sometimes, but I could still do with winning a hand and things are still reasonably tight with me having a comfortable read on everyone. I raise to 1400 and the good player who split the full house with me reraises in the cutoff, but he reraises the minimum, another 1400. From a good player that usually means one of two hands - AA or KK and most times its aces. Surprisingly after this the poor player who had AK v my JJ then pushes from the small blind making the total bet 6830. It doesn't take long for me to fold after that, and the cutoff instantly calls with his aces, the small blind had 77 by the way ! He was instantly busted when the flop came A-5-5.

My final hand went down like this - with T9174 and the blinds up to 300/600/50 I was dealt Ac Ts on the button. The big stack at our table with T33000 had gone into uber-aggressive mode raising everything and made it 3600 to go from UTG. I couldn't see him raising that much UTG with a great hand, and he'd folded to my pushes previously when he'd raised on my big blind, so when it was folded to me I thought for a bit and then pushed making it 3674 more. Folded back around to UTG, he called with Jc Tc. 67% favourite, I'm pleased but fully expecting the worst, given how things have gone recently. The jack high flop wasn't nice, a king on the turn gave me some more outs, but when the 9c fell on the river it was bye bye Tan, you finished the tournament in 12th place, winning $475.

Though I'm a little disappointed that the cards wouldn't help me, I'm still very pleased with the way I played, I didn't make any costly mistakes, only risked my whole stack once on a total bluff where I had a very good chance of winning the pot and didn't get to a point where I had to take coinflips that were going to make or break me. Another day, another good tourney finish. That's about all I can ask for. Tomorrow... the million guaranteed... bring it on!

A final table

I just made the final table in the $20+2 rebuy on ladbrokes. We were ten at the final table when it started, and I was chip leader with over $100k in chips and the blinds at 2k/4k. Then it all went wrong ! I wasn't over aggressive, i didn't make any dumb plays, but I did have some rotten luck. First a shortish stack who'd been going allin a lot pushed from the cutoff with $32k, I was in the SB with pocket 5's. The hand Dan got me to fold at the final table earlier in the week. Figuring the guy for any ace, and thinking the BB who was also a short stack with $30k would be unlikely to call if I did, I called. The BB called instantly behind me ! First pusher showed A8off, and the BB had pocket Kings which held. I was down to $95k, no biggie.

I stole a few blinds and got my stack back up to $110k when I was dealt Ad10d on the button. I raised to $12k again and the BB with $40k pushed allin. I figured that he was fed up losing his blinds to me and it was another coinflip I could afford to take. I called and he showed 77. Just what I was hoping for, until the 676 flop gave him the nuts and me a kick in the nuts. Down to $70k.

The blinds went up to 3k/6k and I was dealt 10h10d in the cutoff. A player in middle position with $48k pushed allin, I called and he showed AdJc, surely this coinflip would go my way ? All was good when the flop came all rags with two diamonds and a club. The turn brought another rag diamond. Then I stopped breathing for a second and the Queen of Diamonds landed with a thump on the river, giving us both a flush, but his was A high and won the pot. 3 people have busted, but I've now gone from chip leader to short stack in about 30 hands. Still I am not tilting, I remember Raymer's comment when Matusow did the same at the WSOP 2005. He said in the commentary "If it was me I'd try and think like I'd just doubled up"

So I continued to wait for a big hand or blind stealing opportunity, a couple of orbits later it's folded to me in the SB with Ks10s, I push my last $18k into the pot and hope for at least a think delay from the BB who easily has me covered. He called in a heartbeat with AdKc and neither of us improved.
Busted !
TanOrpheus has left the tournament in 7th place, winning $251.30

It's still satisfying to have got to a final table in a money game for a change rather than a satellite, and I think I played pretty good throughout, including those calls, they were coinflips I thought I could afford to take when I made the decisions and if they had gone the other way this would have been a different post. I had some lucky moments for sure, but you need them during a tourney and most of them came at times when I could afford to push my luck a bit against shorter stacks. I didn't rebuy, as there were only 167 entrants and no one else on my table rebought unless they busted. So my $22 got me $251, which is nice.

It was a good experience for me too, perhaps I'll think twice before taking decisions like those at a final table again when I'm chip leader, I guess I'll find out next time I get there cause so many of these choices are made in the heat of the moment based on all the factors that give you a read on the other guy.


I said earlier this week that I'd hook up 3 posts together, so what follows is like a weekly summary of what turned out to be good times...

Monday - Dog Tired

I'm absolutely knackered ! I got hardly any sleep last night and had a really tough time at work today. You know you're having a bad monday when before lunch you've spilt not one, but two coffee's across your desk and all your papers. A quick nap at lunchtime kinda did the trick and gave me enough energy to make it through this afternoon. When I got home I decided it was time for a tourney - note to self (again) - this is not clever when you are totally drained. I donked my way out of two $4 180's quite quickly and got sucked out on in two 40FPP EPT Barcelona satellites. That was my warm up I guess. I knocked back a strong coffee and signed up for a $27R satellite to the $450 EPT London Open sat which will be played Saturday. I took 2 rebuys and the add-on so my outlay was $102, and thankfully after 2hrs 45mins I finished with a seat. It was good value really, only 63 entrants and 8 seats given out.

As far as I can remember there was only one really 'critical' point in this tourney and that was with 12 left, when the SB, who just about had me covered raised my BB. We were both close to the stage where it would be push or risk blinding out and I went allin with 66. To my surprise he called quickly and turned over Q5 off. Fortunately the only card he hit was the 5 on the river and it pushed me into 3rd place and left him with just 2BB's. I also made a couple of good laydowns quite late on, in 3 consecutive hands I was dealt great starting hands. The first time I was dealt JJ in middling position, action folded to me so I raised 3x the BB and was reraised 5x more by the button, who was a strong player that I'd made a note to watch out for. I flat called his reraise looking to see if any overcards hit the flop. The flop came 2,4,5 rainbow. Perfect. I bet out around half the pot, the button reraised me allin ! Now there are many times I'll call people who I think are idiots in this spot. A great deal of the time players will think a hand like 88 is good for a push in this spot, even when they don't need to risk all their chips, either that or they convince themselves that your preflop action says you have AK and missed. This guy was smart though, he was tight when it came to risking a lot of chips and I used some time bank, figured him for a higher pocket pair than me and then folded. He showed me Ad3d for a wheel ! I dunno why he reraised preflop, but it sure worked out for him, I was pleased with that fold and typed in the chat "JJ"

The very next hand I get hooks again, and raise 3x preflop again. A different player calls me this time, one who I have less respect for, but the flop comes AK6 rainbow and he bets out 2/3 pot. I have to respect that bet with two overs on the board and when I fold he showed me Kc6c, giving him two pair. I guess he called the PF raise because he thought I might be tilting. This time I typed in the chat "JJ AGAIN!... so bad!"

That must have made the table think I was on tilt, cause the very next hand I got two beautiful black aces and raised 4x BB. One shortish stack player pushed Js10s, and a guy behind him reraised with AdQs, obviously I called, it held up and I gained more chips than I'd had before the two hooks hands, in fact after that hand I was in 3rd place.

So I'm pretty chuffed with that, and feeling both lucky and stupid for playing while I was so tired.

Tuesday - Tourney Time Two

I just finished 10th / 448 in the $18 20k GTD rebuy at Doyles Room, busting on the final table bubble, though i didnt realise it because there list of entrants left is a bit slow to update. I rebought at the start and took the addon so my outlay was $54. I hit a huge double up when there were 7 tables left when UTG slowplayed AA and allowed my 88 to trip the flop. Then with 3 tables left I took a fairly big hit when I layed down Ad Jd on a Ac-10h-8h flop after showing strength preflop and on the flop and still getting a check-raise push by the big blind who was playing tight. My read was that he had me beat, at best he had a big draw and I didnt feel I needed to risk everything at that stage.

Later on, with around 8 BB's left I made one of those moves thats on the fine line between brilliance and stupidty, 6 handed the button raised my BB, which he'd done the last 3 orbits. I picked up Kc6c and thought by pushing could get him to fold. He didn't even think about it and called me with Ah9s, the first card down gave him a pair of aces and I was busted for a score of $328.59. Not a bad tourney, I'm content but not over the moon about my play, there will always be room for improvement.

Wednesday - I'll be in the monthly million on Sunday

Played a $5 rebuy to get a seat in sunday's million on stars. I rebought at the start and everything went swimmingly, so after the addon at the first break I had a decent stack of 12k. My outlay was $15, and now thanks to some good play and luck I have a $530 seat in the big one :o) The result was thanks in large part to winning 4 or 5 coinflips at critical times, my 88 beating AQ, my 77 beating AK... that sort of thing. Obviously I'd rather avoid the 50/50's if I can but these were at fairly critical spots where I had to my chances and hope for the best. I also owe a big thank you to Hurricane Dan who popped round and railed. He advised me to fold pocket 5's preflop at the final table when a short stack pushed for around a third of my stack when we were 7 handed, it turned out to be a critical moment as another player behind me also pushed and the big blind busted them both when his pocket queens tripped the flop.

So four of us progressed out of 134 starters and I'm feeling pleased that I played better than last night and will be having fun in some big prize tourneys this weekend.

- Back to the present -
That's all folks! I'm stating to believe it's possible to go deep in tourneys on a regular basis. If you can evaluate risk successfully, get some cards to fall your way and get solid reads on your opponents it might even be possible to aspire to be 10% as good as Phil Ivey.
Hope this good run continues through the weekend !

Lunchtime fix

Think I've sorted the image at the top of the page here, at least it's not repeating anymore. The table border still extends to the right if you go full screen, but I think I can live with that. Am terribly busy and grumpy here at work today, but sorting the above has cheered me up a bit so I'll be a bit sweeter to people this afternoon. I've got a 3-post summary of the week saved up in draft at the moment, so I'll probably bash them all together into one uber-ish post tonight so you can share my delight at another fun week with the fishes.

Speak later. And good luck if you're playing in The Game

Brightening up the place a bit

Yeah, I finally prettied up the blog. It's only taken me a year to make this place look at little more welcoming. There's still some problems with the template, like the way the header image repeats across the table at the top of the page, this font doesn't like certain characters, and of course I have a load of bloggers to link up on the right there. Don't be offended if you aint there yet, I just took the first ones on my old template and will hook up with everyone else tomorrow. But now it's late and I'm to beddie byes....

Something IMPORTANT for a change ::: For Peyton

Content copied and shamelessly regurgitated from Iggy, who nabbed it from Al.

Posting per Bobby Bracelet and reprinted. Yes, Bobby does talk about himself in the third person but who doesn't. The auctions will be going online later today, I will link them up when they are. Pass it along.

~

That Bobby Bracelet is quite the guy. He's gone and set up a whole bunch of new items to be auctioned. It won't stop there, either. Look for additions like 2 tickets to Howard and Suzie Lederer's WSOP party, a signed cowboy hat by Kenna James, Matt Savage running your home game, Greg Raymer signed a fossil for some lucky bidder, and even more!

Oh yeah, there will be a poker table auctioned off thanks to Bluff Magazine. It will be signed by every pro that Gavin, Spaceman, and Bluff staff can muster. It'll also be signed by the brand spanking new WSOP Main Event Champion. Then of course, Bobby Bracelet will be auctioning that off to one lucky bastard. Better bring your checkbook for that one though, cause it'll go for over 10k.

Here is a rundown of the stuff you will soon find on Ebay and ready for your bids. And by "soon" I mean later today, July 19th.



Two tickets to the Full Tilt Poker Gala Event at the WSOP! There are two tickets available, each one is allowed to bring a guest. This is up already and will end in 5 days because the event is July 26th. It's at Pure nightclub in Caesar's. Check it out, make a bid, meet and marry a celebrity.

LATE ADDITION!

One lucky sob and a guest have a chance to attend Howard and Suzie Lederer's (and Steve Zolotow's) 4th Annual WSOB and Karaoke Championship. Thursday July 27th, from 6pm - ??? at a restaurant off the strip. Many of the top pros will be there, and you never know, possibly a celebrity or two. I can't think of much that would be more entertaining than seeing somebody like Phil Hellmuth belting out Endless love.

Gavin Smith, poker professional and all around great guy, has the tickets and we will get the winning bidder in touch with him to ensure the tickets are in your hand in time.

(Note: this does not mean to imply that Phil Hellmuth will be there.)
(Also: WSOB apparently stands for World Series of Beer. NICE!)



Steve Zolotow has donated a night out at one of his favorite hangouts, a place called Nice Guy Eddie's in New York. Dinner for two, drinks, and whatever sort of poker conversation you'd like to have. Ask questions, listen to stories, get some tips and pointers, or just shoot the breeze. He's a great guy that truly enjoys conversations on a variety of topics.




Robert Mizrachi has offered a 2 Hour Lesson. This will be by phone unless by some chance you can work out a time and place that works for him. With tourneys and travel, chances are you'll have to settle for a phone lesson, but you never know. Doesn't hurt to ask.



Annie Duke sent two signed copies of her book along with 3 DVD's. They were split up into two packages. The first is the hardcover edition with the advanced secrets DVD, while the other is the paperback version with two DVD's, one for beginners and one for women.



Mike Krzyzewski signed a Duke hat. Bobby Bracelet tells me it has taken every ounce of his will not to stomp it into oblivion before setting it on fire. If you're a fan, it's a great Nike fitted hat. If you aren't, buy it for charity and do exactly as Bobby would do in hopes it will work like voodoo on Duke's chances next season.

There is another Card Player package like last time, only this time we have the ability to also add a one year subscription to Card Player Magazine.

There is another Phil Hellmuth DVD package similar to last time, though it will also be joined by a one year subscription to Card Player Magazine.

Go To For Peyton and keep in eye on these items. Should be up today.

PLEASE DO THE BRACELET A FAVOR AND POST ABOUT THIS ON YOUR SITE. Again, if you'd like to help out, but don't have the means to bid on something, please pass this information along and/or post it on your blog.

The million gtd

Last night, after sitting in the garden all afternoon getting sunburnt while playing on the wireless laptop, I decided to deposit money in a poker account for the first time in 8 months. This was to allow myself to play in the $1m gtd without damaging my bankroll any further… and besides it's payday tomorrow and with the exchange rate so good at the moment it only costs £110 to buyin to the $215 event. After 4 hours of solid, but to be honest too tight play, I busted 50 away from the money. Eight-hundred and something out of six thousand folks. It was a tough tournament for me, I got some good hands in the first hour which got my stack up to just above average at the break, I made a mistake with trip tens, winning fewer chips than I should have but otherwise it was fine. In the second hour I got moved to a pretty donkish table, but had few good opportunities, or was too distant to notice when they came my way so I just maintained my stack. In the third hour I twice failed to make the right move when my instincts told me to do so, playing scared instead of well. I was so lost in one hand that actually let a guy beat me with 7 high in a showdown because I bottled my river bet even though I knew he hadn't hit! That left me pushing my 4 BB's I had left with KJo into an equally short stacked BB who had no option but to call with 10-8. An 8 popped up on the turn to leave me crippled with just 7 chips left and out of the tournament on the next hand.

The really frustrating part of this is knowing that I could have played better. If I had been more focused on tourney style, as I was before I went to Vegas, I'd be trusting my instincts still and would have had a healthy stack in the 3rd and 4th hour. Unfortunately because I've been playing so much NL cash the last two weeks I was in cash game tight mode, getting a bad run of cards for 2 hours in a cash game is virtually a non-issue. In a tourney if you aren't focussed on how everyone else at your table is playing it means a slow, painful death.

So I'm quite frustrated today, and can't decide whether to play a cheap 180 tonight or carry on at the cash games, which I'm beating at the moment, but poker is pretty boring on the cash tables whereas the tourneys really fascinate me and give me a bigger sense of achievement. Speaking of tourneys, the wsop main event starts this Friday, so you should be reading the Tao of Poker.

Bankroll building

G'day folks, so it's been like a week since my post cause nothing to exciting has happened on the poker front. Work has been insane thanks to the new (old) computer system I inherited which has been totally fubar'd for the last 2 years but cowboy's have hidden all the cracks. The main problem with pointing out, and subsequently fixing, bugs in a computer system is that you also become associated with the bugs you point out, users of the system assume that they're your fault in a 'he who smelt it, dealt it' kind of way. Troublesome times, thank god for the relaxation I get each evening from the rhythm of the cards, otherwise I'd likely be a grand-theft-auto induced serial killer by now.

Onto poker… in case you don't know, which you probably don’t seeing as I didn't post, last weekend saw some serious decimation of my bankroll. It was the usual stuff, aces vs kings and the kings won, trip 9's vs aces with an ace on the river, you know the stories so I won't go into hand histories. The final outcome was that I'd dropped three-quarters of my bankroll at Stars and was down from $560 to $140 in the space of 3 days.
Yeah, I hear ya
"Tan, I thought you said you were a winning poker player, how could you let this happen?"
Well, I'm an idiot on occasion. Not with my cards but with my bankroll.
"What went wrong?"
I tried to run before I could walk, with a bankroll of only $560 I was sat at a $200 table - that's 35% of my bankroll on the line in a single game. This is the sure road to two problems… 1 - playing too tight tilt and 2 - oh my god I just lost 35% of my money tilt. I hope my example serves as a lesson to someone, but to be honest I think this is one you have to learn for yourself by going through it, which in my case is the FOURTH TIME ! How dumb is that !
"So what's the plan now ?"
I've spent the week playing back at the uber-fishy 25c-50c tables which has suprisingly been a joy. Last night my bankroll tipped the $400 mark again and I've also pushed my measly $30 bankroll at Fulltilt up to $140 playing on their even more fishy 10c-25c tables. I have to admit it's a relief to have made the money back, but it's also nice to know that the safety net is there if I do something so silly again. Who'd have thunk you could make $370 in a week playing 25c-50c.

Hopefully you won't be offended to hear I've been having to read your blogs whilst on the toilet, at work, on my mobile this week. Things are that busy that there's no other way for me to keep up with all the vegas report goodness and WSOP mania. Good to see that everyone had yet another awesome time though, can't wait to join the crew one day for a blogger gathering. As it's tourney time in vegas it means that the time of year is approaching when us Europeans get to enjoy the poker spotlight, Stars are running satellites to the first event of this years EPT which will be held at the Casino Barcelona, Spain from September 13-16 and just after that it'll be the EPT London event on the 21-24th. So, being the high-aiming flyer that I am I've set myself the challenge of winning entry to both, and shall mostly be playing in the 40FPP satellites to get there, they're just such good value.
In other news the weather is absolutely red-hot in the uk right now, which is wonderful if you can get of the office to enjoy it! Yesterday saw record temperatures for July and I hope and pray that I won't have to work this weekend so we finally get a chance to use our boat for the first time this year, as the forecast is sunny, 26-29c, with a 6mph sea breeze. In other words perfect conditions for the bliss of going around our island on the speed boat and spotting dolphins… my idea of heaven :o)

Good luck folks, and in case I don't see you…

Good afternoon, good evening and goodnight :o)

Dont tap the glass

I ran into some really nasty players at the tables last night, of course part of the problem was that I was really too tired to play, but still I ran into the good, the bad and the ugly as I bounced around pokerstars. So far this week I'm up $320 despite losing two stacks of $100 when my full house's have been bettered, but last night I took a $150 dent through a couple of dumb errors at fishy tables and then my set got me stacked by a guy with a flush draw which hit on the river. Oh well that’s the nature of the game and I'm very used to it by now, but being down a bit on yesterday just makes me want to jump back on the horse asap and get it back. The worst thing I saw last night was not one, but two players calling others idiot or dumbass after winning money off them !! Sorry, but you're the dumbass if you're going to slag someone off for bluffing into you and then paying you off when you reraise. Talk about tapping the glass !
Well anyway I'm unlikely to play tonight as it's my old man's 73rd birthday. Pressies and family dinner in store round at my sisters so should be a fun night.
I think on Friday and Saturday I'll probably be in 'tourney mode' trying to win entry to the 1 mill on Sunday. It depends, the cash games are really juicy at the moment… must be the college kids on summer holiday ??
Good luck at the tables folks.

Germany so unlucky !

Whaddayaknow ? Last night I actually played some poker. Work was suprising quiet, it seems the hard work quarter will pay off with a smooth valuation run. So I left on time, at 5.15 and Hurricane drove down to my place. He lives on the opposite corner of the island to me, so his drive is almost a whole 20 minutes ! Yes, that's how 'local' this little place is. Anyway, he arrived about 6.15. Before the world cup semi between Germany and Italy started we played a little counter-strike, decided it was too intense and then played a little TOCA, a few fender-benders later we decided that was too much for us as well and logged into the poker accounts instead. I played on my laptop at a $100nl table on Stars, while H, on my main pc played $ .5/.10 nl with what was left on my account at absolute. While Germany and Italy battled it out in one of the highest quality football matches I've ever seen, we battled it out against the cards. At the end of the match, with just 2 minutes of extra-time remaining Italy struck the winning goal, and then banged another one in as the final whistle blew just for good measure. The poker we played was ABC, because the football was grabbing far more of our attention. In the end I quit up $30 and H quit up $8, and he only sat down with $4. In fact he should have finished up $14 but on the final hand after flopping the nut straight he got allin on the flop with '2-pair guy' and '2-pair guy' turned the full house to steal a bit of the evening's profit.

Italy played superbly, and deserved their win, even though Germany were very very nearly a match for them and also played with skill and bravery. Another good thing is that it's put poker back on my mind, and for the first time since vegas, I can't wait to get home and win a tourney tonight.

WSOP Time

Now that the World Cup is over, it's time to get back to poker :o) I've played just one tourney since I got back from Vegas two weeks ago, I did cash for a very small return, but after going from playing 4 hours a day to a month of almost no online poker I'm finding it tricky to get myself "match fit" again and into the zone when I'm playing. I know it'll come after a few more sessions, so for now I'm just easing back into it with some cheap games. Those sessions might take another week or so to materialize cause it's the end of the half-year so work is very busy right now, plus we're in a mini heatwave so anytime not at work we're out in the sun.

I'll be back to my best soon, hopefully you won't have too long to wait.

In the meantime you should be reading The Tao of Poker