words fail me

Un-effing-believable

Don't know whether to laugh or cry.

Then again, the WSOP Circus has started so that always makes me smile



Shuffle up and deal !

Alkehol N Pokah

Got slightly drunk last night on wine at my flat owners association meeting, it was good though. I'm fortunate to live in a block with some great people (but there's always one) fortunately he wasn't there last night !

Alcohol and poker don't mix so I made the genius decision of playing a $50 MTT on Stars, I'm such a smart cookie. Proving my smartness I committed myself to a hand where my opponents betting was suspicious and looked very much like he had either nothing or an overpair. When he re-reraised allin I knew he had the overpair but "I was committed I tell you!" I called and he flipped AA. I felt so smug that I knew what he had. That's why poker and alcohol dont mix.

After that I watched what seemed like 3 hours of England vs USA (soccer) It was a very dull game as friendlies often are. England won 2-0 from a Terry header and a classy Gerrard finish. Whilst England looked OK but not great, the USA looked nothing like the team we've heard are improving so much. I think it was the USA coach after the game who said they played poorly even by their standards.

Just heard Against Me! and Supergrass are supporting the Foo Fighters next weekend at Wembley. Next Friday can't come quickly enough !

I've ditched the bankroll counter on my sidebar as it was making the sidebar as big as the rest of the page, for now it will appear at the bottom of my posts once a week instead... like this :





P.S. Youranus looks like a great place to visit, I'm just not sure I've got the bankroll for it !

Almost forgot

England vs USA tonight in a soccer friendly. Should be interesting !

So far this year the USA have beaten Sweden 2-0, Poland 3-0 and drew 2-2 with Mexico. They aren't the soft opponents they used to be, though I still have doubts about the claims of US commentators during the 2006 World Cup that "Kasey Keller is definitely one of the top 10 'keepers in the world" (in-joke, only funny because they debated for it a whole game)

Wow, the last time I was in Vegas, 2006 seems sooo long ago...

Deja Vu

"It'll all end in tears"

Mum always would say that when me and my brother, who had the huge advantage of ten years growth on me, started play-fighting. She was right 99% of the time. And now something round my neck of the woods is ending in virtual tears too. The Brit-bloggerment as it became known appears to be no more. The official reason is dwindling numbers but the cause of the dwindling numbers is down to the so-called banter during the game.

I've been on a refresher course for work recently. It was about e-communication. Email, IM, Forums, Chat windows. The main factoid upon which the course hung was that in 50% of all e-comms the tone of the message is misinterpreted, but 90% of e-comms recipients think they have interpreted the correct tone. That's a massive gap of miscommunication to fill and the course went on to teach us how to identify statements that can be misconstrued, ensure you just state the facts etc etc.

This is easy enough to do at work, but with the emotion and adrenalin of cards falling it's even easier. Various situations have arisen where I'm sure people where trying to be amusing, or were having a "in joke" that was amusing to someone, that has clearly hurt someone else's pride at the table. This quickly escalates into a flame war and has caused the situation happening today.

I am 90% sure that when this all started it was "a bit of banter", but its very easy for it not to be seen that way. I have been on the receiving end of it at one of the forums I post at. Every time a hand history question is asked one poster responds in manner that can easily be construed as "WTF did you do that for". He probably doesn't mean for it sound that way, but it’s the way it comes across and it takes a degree of restraint not to get defensive about ones responses.

My final word on the matter is that it's a great shame and slightly embarrassing that things didn't work out. But life goes on so turn the chat-box off and let your cards do the talking.

On a brighter note I'm starting to think this blog could do with some more pictures or hand vids like I did a while ago so I'll probably going to start recording some of my tourneys again and hopefully will get the flash player working properly this time (some folks had trouble seeing the videos previously). It should brighten the posts up a bit as I'm sure ya'll getting bored reading about how I just made the money and failed to take down yet another online tournament.

Thanks for reading. Until next time I'll mostly be trying to build my bankroll at Stars and Bodog. Good luck on the felt.

Fantastic Weekend

Friday night, pushed a little too hard at poker and ended the night somewhere around $90 down on Stars - tournament busts and cash game bad beats just let the monies slip through my fingers. I even spent some of the money that's been sitting on bodog doing nothing but went out just short of the bubble in their 10k gtd when AK couldn't improve on JJ and AQ. The stag weekend was brilliant in every respect. Lots of laughs, memories recalled and new ones made. Ideal. I'm still shattered and in recovery, sure I've left some brain cells in France that will never be seen again.

Back on the poker horse tonight then, with two weeks left to make enough cash to cover the Foo Fighters on the 6th June for ActionRich's 30th !

Mediocre

I played pretty poor poker last night, which was mostly caused by tiredness. I entered around $30 worth of little tourneys and didn't money in any of them but bubbled in one 45 player SNG. To my credit I did recognise that I wasn't playing very well and stopped for an hour while I made dinner, had a coffee and entertained my cats for a bit. Not to my credit I went back to playing after that in a $4 180. I was determined to right my wrongs from earlier.

Though I played better in snatches, it wasn't a smooth flowing feeling of cards falling that you get when you're playing in the zone poker. I did ok though and final tabled even after some donkey tried to bust himself with A9o and made a flush vs my trip 7's. That netted me a little payback of $25 for 7th so I ended the night $9 down or thereabouts. I should hopefully be on better form this evening after a decent nights kip.

The french have stopped their blockade so we will be going to Dinan for the weekend. Leaving 8am Saturday and returning 8pm Sunday. I should be back in time for the Sunday million so I might try and sat my way in just for giggles.

Good luck at the tables folks, until I see you again I will mostly be driving go karts with the speed and skill of Lewis Hamilton and avoiding paintballs with the agility of a wildcat !

Late win, good times and bad times

After the excitement of the Champions League final I finished the night with two SNG's, a 9 and 27 man game. I bust from the 9 man game in 6th when I ran JJ into AA. It was so obvious too, it should have been an easy fold. I did win the other one.

That game was yet another example of surviving on the bottom rung until the game to came to me. My luck for survival with a short stack has definitely improved of late. I was in last place from when we 19 left until there were only 9 of us, then with escalating blinds I went on a tear and was chipleader by 2:1:1 when we were down to 3. After a long-fought heads up battle I sealed the deal with A3o vs K3o and neither of us improved… Ship it ! Bankroll growing slowly but surely and good decisions being made most of the time. Good times.

But, (there's always a but) it's my mates stag do in France this weekend and we're taking the boat over on Saturday morning for Karting and Paintball. We're all really looking forward to it. The problem is those pesky striking french bar stewards. Their fisherman have decided they don't like paying high prices for Diesel so they're on strike. But rather than just strike (that's not good enough if you're a frenchman) they've blockaded the port of St Malo, amoungst others, which means no ferries have got in for the last 2 days. All we can do is cross our fingers that the lazy pigs get bored of their blockade before Saturday, either that or wait till they go on their 3 hour bloody lunch and try to sneak in while they aren't looking. Another alternative would be an assualt on the landing beaches, but I don't think 6 of us is going to be enough manpower. Bad times.

Champions League Final

Manchester United vs Chelsea

It's the biggest game in club football (soccer) and I'm going to try to blog it live. Because of my bets this evening I'm a Red Devil for the night.

7:30
Draw 1-1 & Drogba first goal @ 30/1
Man Utd win in Extra Time @ 8/1
Last Goal scored by Ronaldo @ 5/1

Lots of talk about the pitch which was only laid a few days ago, it doesn't look too bad but I'm sure the 50-odd dancers prancing about on it pre-match isn't going to help ! Stadiums with running tracks round the pitch usually have a bit of a weak atmosphere compared to pitchside seating. Shouldn't be the case tonight though, in such a big game.

7:40

Teams are out and no-one touched the cup on the way out to jinx themselves.

7:45

Utd kick the game off

7:50

Nervy start by both teams, to be expected in the first 5 mins. Ronaldo starting on the left, Rooney right with Tevez suppoting in the middle at the moment. Nice to see Utd line up attacking as they did for most of their league games rather than defensively like they did for a lot of their Euro ties

7:56

Good tackle by Ferdinand to win the ball before Drogba can get to it, Drogba skips over the tackle and DOESNT DIVE ! (first time for everything?)

8:00

Ashley Cole changes his boots, after 15 mins it looks like chelsea are set up to stifle the midfield with 5 there and 1 up front. Ronaldo's done his first step over, seems to be warming to the game.

8:05

Manchester Utd corner, cleared off the head of Malouda for a throw

8:06

Scholes' head connects with Makelele's shoulder in a 50/50 and blood poors from his nose which could well be broken. Looks like both players got booked there. Scholes off the pitch for treatment and Utd down to ten men for a minute.

8:08

Chelsea corner, skims off the head of Terry and goes for goal kick.

8:09

Scholes is back on the field, nose plastered and looking painful

8:11

GOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLLL !!!!!

Ronaldo scores with a perfect header at the far post from Brown's cross !

8:15

Chelsea have to come out and play now... we have a football match :o)

8:18

Just two of my bets still live
Man Utd win in Extra Time @ 8/1
Last Goal scored by Ronaldo @ 5/1

Ronaldo's confidence visibly sky high after scoring.
Ballack header on goal, Van Der Sar saves but he does look a bit nervy

8:19

Brilliant football on the counter from Utd, Rooney plays in Ronaldo with a cross pitch ball, crossed to Tevez who heads on goal and Cech makes a great save

8:26

Chelsea have a few minutes of sustained possession
Utd break again and Tevez just misses a chance to slide in on the ball, it was a gift of a chance if he'd gambled.

Yellow card for Ferdinand on the edge of Utd's Pen area. Free Kick. Can Chelsea draw level before half time ?

No. Ballack hits it over. Utd still looking far the better team.

8:30

GOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLLL !!!!!

WTF was that ?! Essien hits a speculative effort from way out, it ricochets off Vidic then Ferdinand and lands right in Frank Lampards path for him to slot home. Chelsea scrap an equalizer against the run of play.

8:34

Carvalho gets booked for leaving his foot in on Ronaldo's shin. Chelsea players surround the ref protesting his innocence

8:35

1-1 Half Time
Man Utd win in Extra Time @ 8/1
Last Goal scored by Ronaldo @ 5/1

Two bets still live and my prediction from yesterday still in shape
Utd have been the better team but we're back to square one now. The pitch has held up and the balls moving nicely across the surface, there'll be no excuses after the game. I'm in the money in my 180 tourney too :o)

8:50

Chelsea kick off the second half, game on. I lose half my stack in my tourney with AJ vs a guy who cant fold the hammer preflop in his BB. Then bust 14th when I push 88 and the same guy calls with A9 off and I flop trips but he runner runner flushes me.

8:58

Chelsea are doing much better in the midfield battle this half, but Utd still playing the better football

9:00

Chelsea turning the tide, good cross cleared by Vidic. Drogba heads the resulting corner over. The blues are having a lot more possession and its beginning to open up the play. Every time Chelsea shoot Van Der Sar looks shaky.

Lampard drives forward, and another Chelsea corner, which is cleared by Utd.

9:06

Utd are having to withstand heavy pressure. Chelsea firing on all cylinders now.
Man U have gone out to 4.5 on betfair... have to keep an eye on that one, if it reaches 6+ I might put some more money down.

9:08

Drogba claps the linesman for giving him a free kick (incorrectly), Lampard takes and Utd clear again.
Lampard shoots and it goes for yet another blue corner. Utd clear again.

9:11

Another blue corner. Will this be the one ?

No, Utd clear again. Surely time for a substitution ? Ferdinand goes down with what looks like cramp.

9:15

Ferdinand's playing on, but seems still worried about his leg. Carrick has a shot for Utd which deflects for a corner. Makelele is dragged down in the box by Tevez and appears to have hurt his face. Ref didn't see it so no card for Tevez. Hargreaves puts the corner in but there's a foul on the keeper. Goal Kick.

9:17

Ronaldo wins a corner for Utd, a wrong decision by the ref but it goes long anyway and out of play. Ferguson signals to his players from the bench to make some adjustments to the formation. 15 minutes of normal time remaining.

9:19

Malouda DIVES in the area ! No Penalty.

9:21

Drogba hits the woodwork from way out ! Almost but no cigar !

9:24

Utd @ 6.2 to win in the next 10 mins, I've put a tenner on it.

Ballack skies one. For all their possession, all Chelsea shots in the second half have been from outside the area, and apart from Drogba's excellent strike they've been pretty speculative shots.

9:27

Giggs is warming up on the touchline.

9:28

Chelsea freekick from the right, finds Drogba at the near post but he can't turn it inside and smashes wide. 5 mins left of normal time.

9:30

Ryan Giggs on for Scholes, it's Giggs' 759th appearance in a Man U shirt, a new record.

9:36

Full time. 1 - 1. As forecast by me yesterday ! Now we just need Utd to kick it up a gear and Ronaldo to score the winner. Extra time coming up next...

9:41

Chelsea kick off the first half of extra time.

9:43

Kalou on for Malouda. I've just switched over onto the HD channel (they lost sound earlier) you can see now that actually the pitch is getting pretty torn up, divets and you can clearly see the patchwork of turf they've laid.

9:45

Lampard spins like a ballerina in the area and pings a brilliant snap shot against the crossbar ! What a chance !

9:49

Chelski win another corner... and again it comes to nothing.
Slacker Nic Anelka comes on for Joe Cole.

9:51

John Terry saves a certain goal from Giggs with a defensive header, the keeper was no-where to be seen. Terry's neck twisted improbably to clear that one !
Rooney off for Nani.

9:53

Man Utd appear to be in the ascendency now.

9:56

Chelsea win a free kick and the clearance results in another corner. Carvalho leaps to get his head to the ball but the chance goes wide.

9:59

Half time in extra time. 15 minutes to find a hero or its going to pens.

10:00

Utd kick off the final 15 mins.

10:04

It's started to rain, odds on someone slipping when they take a pen ?!

10:05

Vidic brings down Anelka who does a brilliant mid-air forward roll. Vidic booked and Drogba lining up the free kick. Drog smashes it but it goes wide and he gets all petulant about it.

10:07

Ronaldo drives forward and is bullied off the ball by two chelsea players. No freekick, though it looked like it should have been. Everyones getting cramp now. 7 minutes left.

10:09

Chelsea cause a handbags fracas because Tevez did exactly what they did earlier and didnt kick the ball back. DROGBA RED CARD for reaching into Vidic's face during the melee. Chelsea have done this all season, it's nothing less than they deserve for they way they've hounded officials and bitched about decisions. I presume Drog will be saying that wasn't his fault either !

Looks like Tevez and Lampard got yellow carded in the same incident.

10:15

The rain is chucking it down. Come on United !

10:16

Ashley Cole and Nani clash heads in the Chelsea area. They both go down and everyone gets another rest for those tired legs.

10:18

Ronaldo cross for Tevez but he can't make good contact with his head and the ball goes wide. Juliano Belletti on for the pens, Anderson on for Wes Brown for Utd.

10:19

Full Time in Extra Time. Penalties. Squeaky bum time.

10:24

Here we go then. Utd win the toss and elect to have first crack.

It's Tevez first up... and he slots it nicely sending Cech the wrong way.


Ballack first for Chelski... places it to V-D-S's right and scores


Carrick for UTD. Scores sending Cech the wrong way again.


Belletti for Chelski, hasn't had a touch yet. But he scores with a well placed shot.


Chris Ronaldo... and Cech saves it !


Lampard for Chelsea, and he scores. VDS looks really weak tonight in goal.


Hargreaves for UTD, scores a great pen in the top left corner.


Ash Cole for Chelski, I predict a miss here ! VDS gets to the ball but it still goes in... just.


UTD have to score now, and Nani is the boy taking it under pressure.... He does score.


If Terry scores for Chelsea now the Cup is theirs. OMG ! OMG ! Terry slips in the rain and hits the upright !


Sudden death now !

Anderson for UTD. Scores a driving pen straight down the middle.


Now its Kalou who has to score to keep Chelsea in it ! He manages it.


Ryan Giggs, United veteran steps up now. Sends Cech the wrong way and scores.


Mr Lazy - I mean Anelka is up for the blues next... SAVED BY VAN DER SAR !


MANCHESTER UNITED ARE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS !!!

Lots of action, even for the night

Another good night filled with lots of poker, the end result of which was even on Stars and up $24 on Betfair.

I took an early exit from my first 180 of the night when a genius decided that AQ was good to call an allin on a J high rainbow flop with no straight draw. He river the A to bust my TT. While I was getting sucked out on in that game I regged for another 180, a $3 rebuy to the Sunday million and the standard $3 rebuy. I also joined a $5 tourney with 2537 entrants, I think it was 10k gtd.

I made big early progress in the Sunday million rebuy and was way ahead of the blinds, whilst hitting some good cards in the $5 big tourney, so they were good to just simmer while I thought about the other rebuy and 180. After getting no improvement to my stack in the first hour of the rebuy I quit when I couldn't double up on the last hand before the break, I'd spent $12 by having one double-rebuy. Reached a medium stack in the 180 though when I trapped with a fullhouse and got paid.

As you can probably tell my screen was getting a little busy. The worst thing about having multiple tourneys up is they obviously don't break at the same time, and as I wasn't on my laptop I couldn't get mobile to relieve myself or cook dinner. When the next tourney to break came I clicked away from all of the others and made dinner. I missed about 8 hands in the other tourneys, unfortunately one of them was this -

Free hand converter brought to you by CardRunners

Seat 1: Odyssey2001 ($28291)
Seat 2: tirrenoset ($10045)
Seat 3: Les Lalondes ($18880)
Seat 4: jangeno ($5596)
Seat 5: Oregone ($7495)
Seat 6: TanOrpheus ($27750) Sitting Out
Seat 7: paul hermann ($18015) -
Seat 8: Evolnomar ($17515) -
Seat 9: Bricklayer30 ($30330) -


PRE-FLOP:

Evolnomar posts small blind $150
Bricklayer30 posts BIG blind $300
Dealt To: TanOrpheus


ANTE Odyssey2001 ($25)
ANTE tirrenoset ($25)
ANTE Les Lalondes ($25)
ANTE jangeno ($25)
ANTE Oregone ($25)
ANTE TanOrpheus ($25)
ANTE paul hermann ($25)
ANTE Evolnomar ($25)
ANTE Bricklayer30 ($25)
FOLD Odyssey2001
FOLD tirrenoset
RAISE Les Lalondes ($900)
FOLD jangeno
RAISE Oregone ($7470)
FOLD TanOrpheus
FOLD paul hermann
FOLD Evolnomar
FOLD Bricklayer30
CALL Les Lalondes ($6570)


FLOP:

Pot: $15615
   



TURN:

Pot: $15615
     



RIVER:

Pot: $15615
      



SHOWDOWN:
Les Lalondes:

Oregone:


Oregone collected $15615 from main pot

SUMMARY:
Total pot: $15615 Rake: $0

Final Board:
     

Seat 1: Odyssey2001 folded before Flop didnt bet - Net Gain/Loss: ($-25)
Seat 2: tirrenoset folded before Flop didnt bet - Net Gain/Loss: ($-25)
Seat 3: Les Lalondes showed [Jd Kc] and lost with a pair of Jacks - Net Gain/Loss: ($-7495)
  
Seat 4: jangeno folded before Flop didnt bet - Net Gain/Loss: ($-25)
Seat 5: Oregone showed [Ad Qh] and won 15615 with a pair of Queens - Net Gain/Loss: ($9020)
  
Seat 6: TanOrpheus folded before Flop didnt bet - Net Gain/Loss: ($-25)
Seat 7: paul hermann button folded before Flop didnt bet - Net Gain/Loss: ($-25)
Seat 8: Evolnomar small blind folded before Flop - Net Gain/Loss: ($-175)
Seat 9: Bricklayer30 big blind folded before Flop - Net Gain/Loss: ($-325)


Free hand converter brought to you by CardRunners

Aaaargh curses ! I eventually busted 31st from this Sunday million satellite, how different it could have been if I'd been at the computer when my aces were folded !

Meanwhile, BurnleyMik from RtR had offered to stake someone in the 8:30 pm $10 MTT at Fulltilt on a standard 50/50 less buyin deal. As I've pretty much cashed out at Fulltilt I offered my services hoping we could both make a little money. BM took me up on the offer and that game started with 188 players (18 paid). At the same time a load of RtR members joined a freeroll at Betfair which Annette 15 was playing in with a price on her head. 248 were in that and 27 paid.

The freeroll was fun and fairly smooth going, Annette was on my right for one orbit but didn't steal my blind. Myself and YorkshirePud both cashed, but he did far better than I, making the final table and finishing 4th for $160 compared to my $24 for 13th. I busted 13th in my 180 too (coincidence ?) which was itm for a tiny score.

While I continued to feel my way through the 2500 entrants in the $5 game my focus turned to the game I'd been staked in. It was tough going at times, playing bottom rung poker for a lot of it but I've been getting used to that in the last few days and my short game has improved a bit. Alas it hasn’t improved enough for me to actually get a cash for BM. I went out 10 shy of the money with 55 vs AJ when a J spiked the turn. Presto is gold for anyone but me ! Shortly after that I was out of the long game too in 134th. Which was good for just $17.

I rounded off the night with some quick SNGs, 3rd, 2nd and 4th in one-table games and 7th in a 5-table game were good for another small profit and brought me even for the night at Stars.

Tonight it’s the Champions League Final between two English teams with American and Russian owners, on a dodgy Russian pitch in the middle of Moskow. Leaving possible pitch troubles aside, there's only one way I really see this going, it'll be a very tight game and go to extra time or pens. I suspect Chelsea might score first but Utd will certainly score at some stage. So 1-1 after 90 minutes seems reasonable. Given the season it's been, there is only one fitting way for it to end, and that way is for Christiano Ronaldo to score the winner at the death of Extra Time. You just know it. Unfortunately I've yet to find a bookie who'll take an accumulator on that bet. They will let me do all 3 separately but not one bet.

Anyway that's all for today, tonight I'll mostly be watching Utd beat Chelsea and playing more 180s.
Good Luck !

E-Z

It's easy to smile when your aces are cracked by a gutshot if you've just hit quads on one of your other 3 tables.



(No we weren't allin preflop)

Something profound should spring to mind here about how it's all a long term game and you're always getting quads will even out every gutshot-busted AA, but it doesn't work like that usually does it ?!

It's hard to find the words to describe last nights session. That's because I should know more words for a man my age. It was comfortable, easy, right. Most importantly it was enjoyable. I fed the cats, entertained them for half an hour and then booted up 4 180's. With nothing on TV worth wathing it was easy to focus on 4 tables and get into the game. A lot of things went my way (like the quads/ AA > KK / 77 > AQ & AJ) and a played some good poker and some not so good poker. The finishing positions were 179th (aces) 16th (itm) 11th (itm) 19th (bubble) and finally 2nd.

I should be pleased with 2nd, when we reached the FT I was the short stack and I remained the shortest stack until we got down to 5. With 3 left the table looked like this



I feel if I was playing the A game I should have won it from there. Instead I was giving all the action and having wild swings with my stack. At one point I had the chip lead, then lost it to a set. I kept getting real low then doubling up but it was only a matter of time and my luck ran out when my paired J was no good against Senki's two pair. Still, not a bad string of short term results.

As you can see on the top right (above my long list of links) I've set a brief target for the next few weeks, turn $100 into $1000 at 'stars. Yep, cash is tight at the moment and two trips away in the next 3 weekends are making me tighten my belt even more. It'll be worth it though.

Good luck boys and girls, I'll mostly be playing more 180's tonight and reading about CK and F-train's journey through america.

Ventilation

Just a few things a need to get off my chest. I am no expert, so feel free to add yer own opinions in the comments. This is what my blog is for anyway, right ?

1 - Big Brown just won the preakness putting him on course for the first triple crown since affirmed in 1978. We should be filled with great excitement about this amazing achievement but instead it's a massive disappointment to read that the horse is pumped full of the same steroids which have tainted the likes of Barry Bonds and Ben Johnson. It's a great shame that the record won't be comparable to any of the previous triple crown wins and will be yet another in recent history to stand alone with an * next to it. I've done my best to appreciate the "sport of kings" but for every step forward in this arena there are two back and it often leaves me feeling disappointed.

2 - Another sporting one. UEFA cup final. Thank goodness that the team playing positive attacking football won out over the team that was playing negative defensive football. From a neutrals point of view this was a relief. The game was awful and Rangers did manage to bore us with back-passing and defending for 72 minutes but finally succumbed to Zenit's attacks. Judging from their behaviour after game (attempting to destroy Manchester) and since (crying about how many games they have to play because they were still in 4 competitions) Rangers fans got what they deserved. Only one question remains, McCoist said they knew the first goal was going to be important… in that case why didn't they try to score it ?!!

3 - LOST. I am either too stupid to "get it" or the show is just a well wrapped parcel of crap. When it all started we all got LOST ourselves in the novelty of a show that left us confused at the end of each week. Unfortunately the season break gave us a chance to reflect and realise how disappointing it was to not have any reward for the investment we put in the show. I still watch LOST just to see if there's anything good happening but it's the same storylines making no sense week in and week out. More questions than answers. I hate LOST for cheating me into watching it.

On a high note Indiana Jones is back this week, judging from reviews so far it seems there is hope that George Lucas hasn't ruined it like he did with Star Wars. Fingers Crossed.

If you made it this far thanks and sorry… I'm a first class whinge-bag :o)

Until next time… I'll mostly be loading up $4 180s and finishing ITM

TanO - 1 ROW - 0

9:20 Start work

11:15 Slow day, mind wanders, plan hatched
11:30 Request afternoon off
11:31 Approved with a smile
12:30 Weekend starts !

Enjoy work suckers! I'll be at home pushing people off better hands :o)

I's still got it

Played the old faithful $3 rebuy last night. I cashed small finishing 180th/2300 when I pushed back with QQ into AA. It was a move I could have avoided but the guy earnt my money a bit by pushing over the top of my previous two or three raises when he probably had nothing but air.

It was the second time I'd ran into Aces, and the first time I knew i was running into them but it was cheap and I got to boost some read-confidence, which made it good value for me.

After the bust I played a cash table for about an hour and broke even.

Tonight - I'll mostly be drinking no beer and playing my cards :o)

Brief

Does every post need to say something and be coherent sentences ?

Today it's enough to say

I'm here
It's 5pm and the day flew by
I played poker and won $26 last night
Sun is shining and I haven't smoked for 48 hours.

See you soon, in the meantime I shall mostly be playing poker :o)

Good Luck !

Blocked

Writers block and poker block are my daily double lately. Anytime I log in to poker site I think about what kind of poker game I feel like playing. What I think I'll play my A-game at, and conclude that whatever I play it won't be my A-game. Uninspiring. Then I skoot through some of the masses of blog posts you guys have written and it inspires me to scribe a post. But without a poker angle to get the ball rolling and the words of much better writers still ringing in my ears I'm left after 30 minutes again with a dumb title and no content. I'm adding some creativity enhancing produce to my diet this weekend in the hope it will break this dam and the juices start flowing again !

Any questions ?
What about the live game ?
Ah, I got sick, I spent the whole 3 days of the bank holiday weekend on the sofa with man-flu feeling sorry for myself and never even made it to the live tourney. I'm such a girl when I get the slightest hint of the sniffles.
Positions are still open for a permanent nurse however…...

Live play at last

It's hard remember I'm a brilliant poker player when there's no one around in my real life who's really that into poker to remind me. With no live games round here it means that sitting in front of the pc is the only way to play. Tomorrow that all changes with a live poker tournament and hopefully side cash game at a local pub. I'm not sure if it's legal, but lawyers are organising and technically it's a charity tournament, so it won't be rough-and-tumble. Now my island will get to see that I'm the best player within 45 square miles. Shuffle up and Deal !